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This is the second of Momeni's two-volume series on homelessness in the United States. While volume I concentrated on the statewide distribution, variations, trends, and characteristics of the homeless population, the present volume addresses the problem of data collection and specific causes and issues that relate to homelessness. Unique in its attempt to bring systematic data and analysis to bear on the subject, this groundbreaking study focuses upon such critical areas as drug abuse among the homeless, the housing situation that gives rise to homelessness, homeless children, food sources, and problems of employment. Although the contributors approach the topic from a number of different perspectives, they are united in their conclusion that realistic solutions to the problem of homelessness rest not in establishing new and dramatic programs, but rather in forging links between government and private agencies to create a system-wide response to the multiple needs of the homeless population.
In addition to exploring the serious and persistent problems homeless people face, the contributors highlight the difficulties inherent in measuring the extent of homelessness accurately, concluding that efforts to do so are likely to produce an undercount. A number of chapters provide a clearer picture of the homeless population in America by examining both the socioeconomic and demographic correlates and the social-psychiatric dimensions of homelessness. Finally, the contributors compare and contrast the characteristics of homelessness and the methods of dealing with the problem in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Two concluding essays provide an overview of homelessness on the national level and propose public policies likely to be most effective in reducing homelessness. Numerous tables and figures illustrate points made in the text. Students of social sciences, social practitioners, and public policymakers will find Homelessness in America provocative reading, and a reliable source of data and analysis.
List of contents
Foreword by Gerald R. Garrett
Preface by Jamshid A. Momeni
Introduction by Barrett A. Lee
Counting the Homeless by Richard Appelbaum
A Sociodemographic Profile of the Service-Using Homeless: Findings from a National Survey by Martha R. Burt and Barbara E. Cohen
Food Sources and Intake of Homeless Persons by Barbara E. Cohen and Martha R. Burt
Drug Abuse Among the Homeless People by Norweeta G. Milburn
Homelessness as a Long-Term Housing Problem in America by Elizabeth D. Huttman
A Social-Psychiatric Perspective on Homelessness: Results from a Pittsburgh Study by Jeffrey C. Wilson and Anthony C. Kouzi
Sweat and Blood: Sources of Income on a Southern Skid Row by R. Bruce Wiegand
Homeless Children and Their Caretakers by Sonjia Parker Redmond and Joan Brackmann
Programs Dealing with Homelessness in the United States, Canada, and Britain by Gerald Daly
Public Policies for Reducing Homelessness in America by Terry F. Buss
No Place to Go: A National Picture of Homelessness in America by Jamshid A. Momeni
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the author
JAMSHID A. MOMENI is Professor of Sociology/Anthropology at Howard University. He is the editor of
Homelessness in the United States, Volume I (1989), Race, Ethnicity, and
Minority Housing in the United States (1986), the author of
Housing and Racial/Ethnic Minority Status in the United States (1987), and many other books and journal articles.
