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According to current projections, the number of homeless in the United States will continue to swell in the 1990s unless more aggressive efforts to combat the problem are initiated. Based upon a thorough analysis of the underlying social and political causes of homelessness in this country, this study takes a hard look at the realities and misconceptions that surround the victims. Gregg Barak demonstrates how current public service programs inadequately address the issue, and proposes governmental policy changes that could prove beneficial.
In an effort to dispel the myths that stereotype the homeless, this study places their plight within the continuing domestic and worldwide economic emergency and defines their demographics according to such factors as age, sex, race, health, and education. Barak's subsequent focus on the violence and criminality associated with the condition and treatment of the homeless uncovers controversial issues of injustice and constitutionality, and aims the discussion toward possible solutions for this burgeoning problem.
List of contents
Preface
The Problem of HomelessnessIntroduction
The Changing Nature of Homelessness
The Political Economy of the New Vagrancy
The Crime of Homelessness versus the Crimes of the Homeless
Confronting the ProblemResponding to Short-Term Homeless Needs
Resisting Homelessness
The Rights of the Homeless
Social Change and Homelessness: Past and Future
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the author
Gregg Barak is professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology at Eastern Michigan University. His publications include
Violence, Conflict and World Order: Critical Conversations on State Sanctioned Justice 2006,
Crime, Inequality, and Justice: Integrating Class, Race, and Gender, 2nd edition,
Violence and Nonviolence: Pathways to Understanding,
Class, Race, Gender, and Crime,
Crime and Crime Control: A Global View,
Varieties of Criminology: Readings from a Dynamic Discipline,
Gimme Shelter: A Social History of Homelessness in Contemporary America, among other titles. He is widely published in academic journals and has contributed many book chapters.
