The Homelessness Industry

A Critique of US Social Policy

Author: Elizabeth Beck and Pamela C. Twiss

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Description

Homelessness once was considered an aberration. Today it is a normalized feature of US society. It is also, argued in The Homelessness Industry: the embrace of neoliberal policies and piecemeal efforts to address the problem have ensured a steady production of homeless people, as well as a plethora of disjointed social services that often pathologize individuals instead of housing them. Tracing the transformation of homelessness from being a social-justice issue to one with solutions based on medical models and zero-sum-games analyses, the authors explore how government policies and practices have served to shape our limited response to the problem. Equally important, they consider how a more just, human-rights-based approach might be effected.

Critic Reviews

“"Provides important documentation and analysis of the evolution of U.S. homelessness policies." -Dennis Culhane, Contemporary Sociology”

“Provides important documentation and analysis of the evolution of U.S. homelessness policies.” —Dennis Culhane, Contemporary Sociology

About the Author

Elizabeth Beck is professor in the School of Social Work at Georgia State University.Pamela C. Twiss is professor of social work at the California University of Pennsylvania.