The Homeless Person in Contemporary Society

The Homeless Person in Contemporary Society
Author: Cameron Parsell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2018-05-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351381393

The homeless person is thought to be different. Whereas we get to determine our difference or sameness, the homeless person’s difference is imposed upon them and assumed to be known because of their homelessness. Exclusion from housing – either a commodity that should be accessed from the market or social provision – signifies the homeless person’s incapacities and failure to function in what are presented as unproblematic social systems. Drawing on a program of research spanning ten years, this book provides an empirically grounded account of the lives and identities of people who are homeless. It illustrates that people with chronic experiences of homelessness have relatively predictable biographies characterised by exclusion, poverty, and trauma from early in life. Early experiences of exclusion continue to pervade the lives of people who are homeless in adulthood, yet they identify with family and normative values as a means of imaging aspirational futures.

Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State

Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State
Author: James Wright
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351498045

A place like Orlando, Florida is not transformed from swampland to sprawling metropolis through Peter Pan-like flights of fancy, but through theme park expansions requiring developmental schemes that are tough minded and often worsen relationships between the wealthy and the poor. The homeless arrive with their own hopes and illusions, which are soon shattered. The rest of the local population makes its peace with the system. Meanwhile the homeless are reduced to advocacy models that neither middle- nor working-class folks much worry about. They are modern members of Ellison's "invisible men" but they comprise a racial and social mixture unlike any other in the American landscape.This book is primarily about the dark side of this portrait the poor, near-poor, homeless, and dispossessed who live in the midst of this verdant landscape. The phrase "down and out," has been used to describe people who are destitute or penniless since the late nineteenth century. Here the term is used in a more expansive sense, as synonymous with anyone who lives near, at, or over the edge of financial catastrophe.

Feather Boas, Black Hoodies, and John Deere Hats

Feather Boas, Black Hoodies, and John Deere Hats
Author: Joseph R. Jones
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2017-12-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9463512152

In Feather Boas, Black Hoodies, and John Deere Hats, Jones once again challenges our beliefs about difference and acceptance. As one reviewer writes, “through a series of rich narratives, Jones provides examples of attitudes, experiences, and institutional acts that continue to propagate the marginalization of people in our communities. Intertwined within these stories are thoughtfully selected ideas to help us understand that embracing difference, and not merely respecting it, can be the catalyst for real change in all of us.” The book engenders a dialogic space for individuals to grapple with the idea of difference and the importance of inclusion in educational environments, and by extension broader society.

The Kid

The Kid
Author: Dan Savage
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2000-06-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780452281769

Dan Savage's nationally syndicated sex advice column, "Savage Love," enrages and excites more than four million people each week. In The Kid, Savage tells a no-holds-barred, high-energy story of an ordinary American couple who wants to have a baby. Except that in this case the couple happens to be Dan and his boyfriend. That fact, in the face of a society enormously uneasy with gay adoption, makes for an edgy, entertaining, and illuminating read. When Dan and his boyfriend are finally presented with an infant badly in need of parenting, they find themselves caught up in a drama that extends well beyond the confines of their immediate world. A story about confronting homophobia, falling in love, getting older, and getting a little bit smarter, The Kid is a book about the very human desire to have a family.

How to House the Homeless

How to House the Homeless
Author: Ingrid Gould Ellen
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2010-06-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1610447298

How to House the Homeless, editors Ingrid Gould Ellen and Brendan O'Flaherty propose that the answers entail rethinking how housing markets operate and developing more efficient interventions in existing service programs. The book critically reassesses where we are now, analyzes the most promising policies and programs going forward, and offers a new agenda for future research. How to House the Homeless makes clear the inextricable link between homelessness and housing policy. Contributor Jill Khadduri reviews the current residential services system and housing subsidy programs. For the chronically homeless, she argues, a combination of assisted housing approaches can reach the greatest number of people and, specifically, an expanded Housing Choice Voucher system structured by location, income, and housing type can more efficiently reach people at-risk of becoming homeless and reduce time spent homeless. Robert Rosenheck examines the options available to homeless people with mental health problems and reviews the cost-effectiveness of five service models: system integration, supported housing, clinical case management, benefits outreach, and supported employment. He finds that only programs that subsidize housing make a noticeable dent in homelessness, and that no one program shows significant benefits in multiple domains of life. Contributor Sam Tsemberis assesses the development and cost-effectiveness of the Housing First program, which serves mentally ill homeless people in more than four hundred cities. He asserts that the program's high housing retention rate and general effectiveness make it a viable candidate for replication across the country. Steven Raphael makes the case for a strong link between homelessness and local housing market regulations—which affect housing affordability—and shows that the problem is more prevalent in markets with stricter zoning laws. Finally, Brendan O'Flaherty bridges the theoretical gap between the worlds of public health and housing research, evaluating the pros and cons of subsidized housing programs and the economics at work in the rental housing market and home ownership. Ultimately, he suggests, the most viable strategies will serve as safety nets—"social insurance"—to reach people who are homeless now and to prevent homelessness in the future. It is crucial that the links between effective policy and the whole cycle of homelessness—life conditions, service systems, and housing markets—be made clear now. With a keen eye on the big picture of housing policy, How to House the Homeless shows what works and what doesn't in reducing the numbers of homeless and reaching those most at risk.

Citizens without Shelter

Citizens without Shelter
Author: Leonard C. Feldman
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1501727168

One of the most troubling aspects of the politics of homelessness, Leonard C. Feldman contends, is the reduction of the homeless to what Hannah Arendt calls "the abstract nakedness of humanity" and what Giorgio Agamben terms "bare life." Feldman argues that the politics of alleged compassion and the politics of those interested in ridding public spaces of the homeless are linked fundamentally in their assumption that homeless people are something less than citizens. Feldman's book brings political theories together (including theories of sovereign power, justice, and pluralism) with discussions of real-world struggles and close analyses of legal cases concerning the rights of the homeless.In Feldman's view, the "bare life predicament" is a product not simply of poverty or inequality but of an inability to commit to democratic pluralism. Challenging this reduction of the homeless, Citizens without Shelter examines opportunities for contesting such a fundamental political exclusion, in the service of homeless citizenship and a more robust form of democratic pluralism. Feldman has in mind a truly democratic pluralism that would include a pluralization of the category of "home" to enable multiple forms of dwelling; a recognition of the common dwelling activities of homeless and non-homeless persons; and a resistance to laws that punish or confine the homeless.

Discrimination Law

Discrimination Law
Author: Sandra Fredman FBA KC
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 577
Release: 2022-12-22
Genre:
ISBN: 0198854080

A challenging, yet highly accessible, introduction to discrimination law which highlights the major issues and asks how the right to equality can be made more effective. This edition includes expanded material on how jurisdictions formulate grounds of discrimination with thematic analysis on topics such as racism, sexism, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Homelessness

Homelessness
Author: Cameron Parsell
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2023-11-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1509554513

Homelessness is a punishing condition that inflicts unquestionable harm on those who experience it. It is also a social problem that starkly lays bare deep societal failure. As Cameron Parsell shows, society – along with the public policy measures intended to address it – treats being homeless as an identity, casting those who experience homelessness as fundamentally different from “us.” To be homeless is to face daily victimization, to be a recipient of someone else’s care, and to have autonomy taken away. Parsell argues that we have at our disposal the knowledge and momentum to demonstrably reduce and even end homelessness. Our first task is to confront the fact that homelessness is a relatively predictable phenomenon that disproportionately impacts people who are failed by society in myriad ways. We must respond to the problem in ways that understand and thus do not recreate the dehumanizing conditions experienced by those who are homeless. Homelessness is a choice: of how we organize society. Sketching the defining features of homelessness, this critical introduction will be a valuable resource for students studying homelessness, housing, marginality, and poverty across the social sciences and social work.

Professional Lives, Personal Struggles

Professional Lives, Personal Struggles
Author: Trenna Valado
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0739174282

This edited volume illuminates critical research issues through the particular lens of homelessness, bringing together some of the leading scholars in the field, from an array of disciplines and perspectives, to explore this condition of marginalization and the ethical dilemmas that arise within it. The authors provide insights into the realities and challenges of social research that will guide students, activists, practitioners, policymakers, and service providers, as well as both novice and seasoned researchers in fields of inquiry ranging from anthropology and sociology to geography and cultural studies. Although many texts have explored the subject of homelessness, few have attempted to encapsulate and examine the complex process of researching the issue as a phenomenon unto itself. Professional Lives, Personal Struggles examines the many challenges of conducting ethical research on homelessness, as well as the potential for positive change and transformation, through the deeply personal accounts of scholars and advocates with extensive experience working in the field.