Beyond Homelessness: Frames of Reference

Interviews with nine knowledgeable and socially engaged individuals attempt to break down and analyze the contributing factors to a crisis that has seemingly outgrown conventional solutions.

Collected here are nine engrossing conversations with people who have thought deeply about homelessness: Peter Rossi, the late Jerzy Kosinski, Hazel Dukes, James Dumpson, Robert Jay Lifton, Robert Coles, Sister Mary Rose McGeady, Herbert Parades and Robert W. Reiber. Giamo ( On the Bowery ) and Grunberg, a Columbia University professor of clinical psychology, provoke heartfelt, incisive comments from each discussant. Those interviewed make clear that the cause of homelessness isn't only a lack of housing: racism, poverty, urban development, deinstitutionalization of the sick and selfishness are also important factors. Noteworthy is the history of New York City homelessness as portrayed by Dumpson, former head of NYC social services. Gripping, too, are psychiatrist Lifton's views on the dehumanization of the general populace confronted daily by the homeless. This slim book speaks volumes. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Giamo (Univ. of Notre Dame) and Grunberg (Columbia Univ.) interviewed Robert Coles, Hazel Dukes, James R. Dumpson, the late Jerzy Kosinski, Robert Jay Lifton, Mary Rose McGeady, Herbert Pardes, Robert Rieber, Mel Rosenthal, and Peter Rossi, all individuals actively concerned about poverty, homelessness, and racial and social injustice. No panaceas, prescriptions, or solutions are offered in this literate, readable compendium. The interviews reveal diversity of interest, approach, and focus yet a common underlying expression of humanitarian humanism. Homelessness is the initial focal theme, but these thoughtful exchanges range far beyond it, eschewing simplistic responses to the broader complex context of the condition and position of individuals in American society today. Highly recommended for interested lay readers and academics.
- Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll . of Technology, Alfred
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.