Description
Book SynopsisHomelessness 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.
Trade Review“This is one of the best texts on the homelessness problem to date, whose wisdom is sure to influence our thinking for years to come. Cameron Parsell, an international expert in the field, draws on his direct service experience, his deep research knowledge, his first-hand engagement with the people who must endure homelessness, and his understanding of the public discourse on poverty and housing policy.”
Dennis Culhane, University of Pennsylvania
“As I would expect from Professor Parsell, this book is engaging, incisive and utterly compelling. It provides a comprehensive yet highly accessible analysis of homelessness across the wealthy democracies, offering the reader a humane, readable but always challenging perspective on an enduring and unacceptable social injustice. I was particularly pleased to see the book debunk harmful myths that romanticize homelessness as a lifestyle ‘choice’ and assume all and any charitable ‘giving’ to homelessness is an unalloyed good. I would highly recommend it to students, scholars, policy makers and also the general reader and concerned citizen who wants to see an end to this devastating social harm that rich countries can and should make a choice to end.”
Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Heriot-Watt University
“An affecting, cogently argued, and important work, Homelessness: A Critical Introduction not only dismantles socially destructive preconceptions, but replaces them with practical solutions benefiting both those who experience homelessness and the general population.”
The Australian
Table of ContentsChapter 1: What is Homelessness?
Chapter 2: Homelessness as a Societal Problem
Chapter 3: Homelessness as the Experience of Violence
Chapter 4: Being a Homeless Service User: Dependence and Autonomy
Chapter 5: The Experience of Homelessness: Identity and Identification
Chapter 6: What Can Societies Do about Homelessness?
Chapter 7: Supportive Housing Models
Chapter 8: What Should We Do about Homelessness?
