AT HOME ON THE STREET

In their compelling examination of what it means to be truly at home on the street, Jason Wasserman and Jeffrey Clair argue that programs and policies designed to assist those who are homeless too often serve only to alienate them.

Wasserman and Clair delve into the complex realities of homelessness to paint a gripping picture of individuals—not cases or pathologies—living on the street and of their strategies for daily survival. By exploring the private spaces that homeless people create for themselves, as well as their prevailing social mores, the authors show that well-intended policies and programs fall short by failing to understand the perspective of people they are trying to help. They can even inadvertently replicate the very dynamics that cause homelessness and poverty in the first place. The result is an unvarnished look at the culture of long-term homelessness and a fresh approach to building relationships with this resurgent population.

Wasserman and Clair also made a documentary film entitled American Refugees in conjunction with their four-year ethnographic research, providing a further opportunity to experience the people and issues discussed in their book. Find out about the film here.

The book is now out with Lynne Rienner Publishers and also available online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

22.50 for paperback and 58.00 for cloth-bound hardcover.

More info is available from Lynne Rienner.

Latest Information:

9/17/2010: We are honored that At Home on the Street was selected to receive the Honorable Mention for the annual book award by the Association for Humanist Sociology. Our deepest thanks to all involved.

3/5/2010: The book is selling well, but don’t forget to tell all your friends and colleagues. Amazon is now stocked again after running out, but of course, you can always buy direct from our publisher, Lynne Rienner.

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“Wasserman and Clair build a complex analysis that honors research
participants’ lives yet shows how larger social structures affect them and
spawn their impoverishment. The authors also present a sobering picture of the negative effects of shelters and services as these homeless men confront a system that fails and marginalizes them. The freedoms of the street outweigh the constraints and dangers of shelters for the men who create community on the street. This book forces us to review and rethink our conceptions of individualism and social bonds, individual obligation and social responsibility, isolation and community—and the tensions between them.

Two notable strengths make the book an important ethnographic study and contribution to qualitative research, particularly to the growing literature based on grounded theory methods. First, Wasserman and Clair portray their observations and actions with remarkable candor. They reveal their mistakes in the field and reflect on their roles in the scene and relationships with the men. Second, in keeping with their objective to be transparent, Wasserman and Clair provide detailed excerpts of their narrative data and their codes for these data. The authors’ portrayal of how they used grounded theory strategies will spark instructive discussion and debate.

This book will be particularly useful to specialists in social problems, health and social welfare professionals, and researchers and students interested in homelessness, urban studies, and social psychology.” 
- Kathy Charmaz, Sonoma State University

“A revelation…. Wasserman and Clair offer a new way of looking at the diverse people living on the extreme margins of our society. Their rich ethnography confronts popular conceptions of homeless people and situates street homelessness as a choice distinct from living in shelters. Sociologists, service providers, and policymakers—not to mention students of homelessness and poverty—need to read this.”  
- Michael Rowe, Yale University

“What they told us just did not fit with what we had heard from the experts," write authors Wasserman (sociology, Texas Tech Univ.) and Clair (sociology, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham) in their preface, and this candor and determination to understand the underpinnings of homelessness in this country inform this splendid book. "As a society, how we deal with those who are homeless typically wavers between subtle paternalism and heavy-handed authoritarianism," they report after experiencing the "complexities and apparent contradictions" of street life for themselves and closely observing what began as a distrusting population and ended with real friendships. The authors' near-disarming sincerity is offset by the reliability of their reports and familiarity with the existing literature, as well as the useful index and list of references. Candid throughout, they conclude "by offering, not solutions on how to end homelessness, but rather insights about how to begin to think about it in new ways." VERDICT This meditation on friendship as much as a cutting-edge report on homelessness is recommended for public policy players, psychologists, social workers, urban planners, sociologists, and anyone interested in the vicissitudes—and pleasures—of the research process.”   - Ellen D. Gilbert, Rutgers University, in The Library Journal

“The author’s expansive data is firmly grounded in the literature and theory of homelessness, making this an exceptionally strong, interesting, and well-rounded study.”
- Timothy Pippert, Augsburg College

Supplement A - Coded Excerpts of Data by Chapter and Theme [click to download pdf]

This site is owned and operated by Jason Adam Wasserman and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Lynn Rienner Publishers or Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. © Jason Adam Wasserman, 2009.