Poverty alleviation studies are a common theme in social work research. However, the emphasis is often on the economic and material aspects of poverty. Not a large number of research pays particular attention to the psychological and spiritual conditions of people in poverty. On the other hand, the poor tend to describe their conditions in far more psychological and social terms. The impoverished typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, hopelessness, depression and lack of dignity. Therefore, one can see that poverty is mostly about a lack of biblical shalom, and not related to material needs alone.
Against this background, this study addresses the issue of poverty alleviation from the angle of establishing shalom in the lives of the poor as a means of alleviating the negative psychological effects of poverty. The Hebrew word shalom implies complete well-being and wholeness, taking into consideration physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual factors. Therefore, cultivation of shalom should be the ultimate objective of any ministry of social concerns. In other words, church ministry should pursue improvement in the psychological and spiritual conditions of the people it serves with an aim of propelling them and their communities towards shalom.
In this research, the presence or cultivation of aesthetic experiences in the lives of the poor is posited as the factor that will bring about shalom. More specifically, it advocates that aesthetic experiences can play a role in improving the overall positive psychological conditions in people’s lives. Beauty or aesthetics connect humanity with God’s creative life force; they interact with the spiritual as well as the psychological. This dissertation is limited in scope to the shalom aspect of healing effect of the arts and aesthetic experiences.
The findings of this study show that there is redemptive power in beauty or aesthetic experiences and its effects in the form of emotional healing, helping them to cope, reinstating a sense of self-worth and well-being, to name but a few. The objective of this project was to prompt further research into a shalom-based approach to poverty alleviation, in order to bring new knowledge into this field. Further, by recommending a transformational strategy in the form of an applied project to aesthetically enhance the common space of a less affluent neighbourhood in Singapore, it seeks to advocate changes in strategies churches and social service organisations employ in helping the impoverished in the city state. The ultimate aim is that the economically challenged in Singapore could be helped in a more sustainable manner.