developing countries. Poverty continues to attract the attention of various circles, both
academics and practitioners. Various theories, concepts and approaches were continuously
developed to uncover the curtain and possibly "mystery" about this poverty. In the context of
Indonesian society, the problem of poverty is also a social problem that is always relevant to
be studied continuously. This is not just because the problem of poverty has existed for a long
time, but also because this issue is still present in our midst and even now the symptoms
increasing in line with the multidimensional crisis that is still faced by the Indonesian
nation. Although the discussion of poverty has experienced saturation stage since the mid-1980s,
poverty alleviation efforts more urgent now back for review. Some of the reasons underlying this
opinion include :
First, the concept of poverty is still dominated by a single perspective, that of "income
poverty" or "income-poverty" (Chambers, 1997). This approach has been criticized by experts as a
social science approach that is less able to describe the complete portrait of poverty. Poverty
seemed only a matter of economics as shown by the low income person or family to make ends meet.
Second, the number of poor people in Indonesia has always shown a high rate, both in absolute
and relative terms, in rural and urban areas Although Indonesia has recorded as one of the
successful developing countries in alleviating poverty, the problem turned out to be a central
issue of poverty back in the country is due not Just the numbers are rising again, but the more
complex dimension is also in line with the declining quality of life masyarakaat due to economic
crises since 1997.
Third, poverty has a negative impact is spread (multiplier effects) on the order of society as a
whole. Various events of the conflict in the country that occurred during the economic crisis,
for example, shows that in fact the problem of poverty is not solely affect the economic
resilience shown by the low purchasing power, but also affect social security and national
defense.
Aware that the issue of poverty is a latent problem that is always actual, review the concept of
poverty is a positive effort to produce the right approach and strategy in tackling crucial
problems faced by Indonesian people today.
CONCEPT OF POVERTY
Poverty is a concept that berwayuh face, bermatra multidimensional. Ellis (1984:242-245), for
example, shows that the dimensions of poverty related aspects of economic, political and
socio-psychological. Economically, poverty can be defined as a lack of resources that can be
used to meet basic needs and improve the welfare of a group of people. Resources in this context
involves not only financial aspects, but also all kinds of wealth (wealth) which can improve
people's welfare in a broad sense. Under this conception, then poverty can be measured directly
by specifying the resource inventory acquired through the use of standards known as the poverty
line (poverty line). This way is often called absolute poverty measurement method. BPS poverty
line amounted to 2.100 calories per person per day is comparable to a certain income or he World
Bank's approach is to use a U.S. dollar per person per day is an example of absolute poverty
measurement.
In politics, poverty is seen from the level of access to power (power). Power in this sense
includes the order of a political system that can determine the ability of a group of people in
reaching and using resources. There are three fundamental questions that bekaitan with access to
these powers, namely (a) how people can utilize existing resources in the community, (b) how
people can take part in decision-making use of available resources, and (c) how the ability to
participate in community activities.
Socio-psychological poverty refers to lack of networks and social structures that support in
getting the chances increasing productivity. The dimensions of poverty can also be interpreted
as the poverty caused by the presence of inhibiting factors that prevent or hinder a person in
exploiting the opportunities that exist in society. Inhibiting factors generally include
internal and external factors. Internal factors come from within the poor themselves, such as
low education or any other obstacle.
