Social work students' attitudes toward the poor

This study assessed Social Work students' attitudes toward the poor. The subjects were 243 B.S.W., M.S.W., and Ph.D. students from six major universities in the MidAtlantic and Southeastern United States. This is the first such study to include doctoral students. The disguised structured instrument for the Assessment of Attitudes Toward the Poor (AATP) assessed students' attitude position toward the poor (favorable-neutral-unfavorable) and attitude intensity (degree of emotional involvement with the poor). A 33-item questionnaire gathered educational, personal, and profession-related information. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedures compared students on the 33 characteristics regarding differences in attitude position and intensity. Cross-tabulated tables with a chi-square measure of association identified characteristics associated with high/low position scores, intensity scores, and levels of social action behavior. MANOVA discovered significant main effects on variables: level of education, explanations given for the existence of poverty, peer expectations, race, and N.A.S.W. membership status. Also, nine significant interaction effects were found. Chi-square analysis identified five significant associations. Descriptive information regarding the sample is provided.