This course examines the history, causes and consequences of U.S. poverty. It explores strategies for addressing it from the colonial era to the present. It covers the major theoretical explanations sociologists and other scholars have advanced to explain the persistence of poverty in the U.S. including family structure, parenting, residential segregation, labor markets, safety nets, and the criminal justice system. Within each topic area, students are introduced to a range of interventions aimed at alleviating poverty.