Search

Brendan O'Flaherty's 'Making Room' explains the rise of homelessness using numerical data without trivializing the human aspects of the problem. Although the book is less elegantly written than Christopher Jenks's 'The Homeless,' O'Flaherty's conversational prose lends fluidity to his theoretical perspectives which, in less able hands, could turn tedious. This reading is a must for social scientists involved in poverty research, housing and urban policy.

Christopher Jencks' book 'The Homeless' analyzes the possible reasons for the growing number of homeless people and suggests possible measures. Homelessness may be due to the inability of the mental health system to care for mental patients outside institutions, the proliferation of crack cocaine, the reduction of job opportunities and the massive replacement of low-cost hotels and lodges by expensive hotels. Jencks' suggestions include the provision of jobs for single mothers and the establishment of services for the those who cannot work., Over the last decade and a half, substantive political, economic, and social transformations have produced a rapid growth in the number of homeless people within the United States. In The [...]

A student of French culture considers the idea that the human condition is basically homeless. From this theory it follows that nothing comes to humans by birthright or gratis. Those who cross cultural boundaries increase the condition of homelessness, and they do not believe that home possession equals safety and comfort. All tradition in America is invented.

A study of the cause and effect of poverty and homelessness in America indicates that, compared to the traditionally homeless, recent homeless comprise visible, younger people, more women with children and more ethnic minorities. The policies addressing the problems related with homelessness may be grouped into health, economic, housing, social programs and religious approaches. Various programs aimed at providing short-term rehabilitation along with strengthening personal responsibility and reforming the welfare system are essential.

Limited research has been conducted on elderly homeless people, particularly in the UK. Data on the coping strategies of such groups, their daily needs and the story of their entry into homelessness are scarce. Concerned sectors are urged to develop and refine concepts and methodologies which can help elucidate the nature of homelessness in the aged and combine them with the political and social mechanics required to provide substantial solutions.

Poverty debates have recently focused upon the emergence of an underclass characterised by a detachment from society's normative behaviour and values. Alternative contributions invite us to view the growth in social assistance as the 'new poor' measured against the 'traditional' poor. In neither the accounts of 'new poverty' nor of the underclass is there any theorisation of space or th role that housing plays in contributing to these experiences of poverty. This paper argues that a multidisciplinary perspective must be used to understand ne forms of poverty and, whilst dismissing the underclass thesis, analyses the rol that housing plays in the creation and sustenance of deprivation. It concludes that new patterns and concentrations of poverty are better explained by an approach which incorporates the housing dynamic as it relates to structuring where the poor live.

The commentators I selected for this special issue were invited not because of their reputations for extraordinary kindness and politeness but because they each knew a lot about homelessness and [...]

Homelessness between men and women, which markedly differ in fundamental ways, does not provide a clear information on gender differences. The selection process for classifying men and women into homelessness should be similar in attributes and experiences. The differences in the causes of physical symptoms do not account for higher female morbidity rates. Lastly, there is no sufficient evidence to conclude health status as a function of observed sex differences.

Sociologists have long observed the tendency of the public to support individualistic explanations for poverty, and critiqued the role of academics in the victim blaming process. At the current time, as economic inequality increases and homelessness becomes a problem of growing public concern, the potential for sociology to facilitate victim blaming is of interest and concern. Some of the motivations and mechanisms of victim blaming that emerge in academic publications are examined, and their impact on mass media publications and in the classroom discussed.

Politicians always try to attribute the problem of hopelessness to the closure of mental hospitals and individual character weakness rather than to failed government policies. However, the closure of mental hospitals can hardly be seen as a cause of rising numbers of homeless people since most were already closed before Pres Ronald Reagan's term. The number of alcoholics and drug dependents has also stayed fairly constant during the 1980s. Actual cause of the housing problem can be traced to Reagan's policy of cutting government expenditure on low-cost housing construction.

HUD's Administration of the McKinney Act: A Problem in State-Federal Relations The federal government's response to homelessness generally has taken the form of sporadic reactions to pressure from advocacy groups [...]

BOOKS ANALYZING the problem of homelessness often frustrate those of us who work with homeless people. Too many authors oversimplify the issues or put the blame on homeless people rather [...]

1