Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness - Hardcover

Rossi, Peter H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226728285 ISBN 13: 9780226728285

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1989

Synopsis

The most accurate and comprehensive picture of homelessness to date, this study offers a powerful explanation of its causes, proposes short- and long-term solutions, and documents the striking contrasts between the homeless of the 1950s and 1960s and the contemporary homeless population, which is younger and contains more women, children, and blacks.

About this title

About the Author

Peter H. Rossi is Stuart A. Rice Professor of Sociology and Director of the Social and Demographic Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Reviews

Homelessness is presented here in its historical context, although that is not, as the subtitle suggests, the primary focus of the book. Using recent studies along with his own study of those living in shelters and on the streets in Chicago, Rossi addresses the question: Who are the homeless? His report is an academic analysis of the homeless and the extremely poor and provides extensive comparative research data on homelessness: age, gender, marital status, income, appearance, health, alcoholism, drug use, and criminal record. He provides the raw data and its intrepretation from which can be gleaned the complexity of the problem and how it has changed over the decades. This is much more objective and comprehensive than Jonathan Kozol's Rachel and Her Children ( LJ 3/15/88). Rossi makes useful suggestions for solutions, many of which, he agrees, would require considerable legislation as well as increased financial commitment. Highly recommended.
- Anne Twitchell, EPA Headquarters Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226728285
• ISBN 13: 9780226728285
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 255