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.
![American Refugees
Film
[Click for Info]](At_Home_on_the_Street_files/shapeimage_8.png)
![Supplement A - Coded Excerpts of Data by Chapter and Theme [click to download pdf]](At_Home_on_the_Street_files/shapeimage_16.png)
