A Nation In Denial: The Truth About HomelessnessWhen homelessness became increasingly visible in the early 1980s, most Americans were reluctant to admit that the homeless people they encountered were chronically disabled by alcoholism, drug addiction, and mental illness. The media, policymakers, and the American public, persuaded by advocates for the homeless, came to believe that the homeless were simply victims of the hardships of poverty and the lack of affordable housing, both of which were exacerbated by economic recession and unresponsive government. Policies were created in the belief that emergency shelters, soup kitchens, job training, and transitional housing would help the homeless regain their independence. A Nation in Denial challenges these accepted notions. It presents a comprehensive and readable review of the scientific evidence that up to 85 percent of all homeless adults suffer the ravages of substance abuse and mental illness, resulting in serious social isolation. The authors provide new insights into the causes of increased homelessness in the early 1980s, linking the population explosion of the baby boom to increases in the numbers of Americans at risk for substance abuse problems, mental illness, and homelessness; assessing the relationship between the inner-city drug epidemic and increases in family homelessness; and reviewing the failed policies of deinstitutionalization, decriminalization of alcoholism, and the gentrification of skid row neighborhoods and substance abuse treatment centers. Combining solid demographic and epidemiological research with personal accounts of homeless individuals, this unique study not only provides a new understanding of homelessness and prompts a serious reexamination ofcurrent policies but also proposes more honest and effective ways for helping America's most disabled and destitute citizens. |
Contents
Homelessness and the American Social Experience | 89 |
A More Reasoned Approach | 149 |
Notes | 189 |
Copyright | |
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11 November Abuse and Alcoholism abuse and mental Address Unknown advocates affordable housing African American Alcohol Abuse alcohol and drug America's Homeless American Psychiatric Association American Psychologist 46 baby boom baby boomers Bassuk causes of homelessness Center Chapter chronically mentally ill denial Department of Health Department of Housing disabled Drug Abuse drug addiction economic Ellen facilities federal Fuller Torrey guys Health and Human help the homeless homeless alcoholics homeless families Homeless in America Homeless Mentally Ill homeless mothers Homeless Persons homeless population hospital Housing and Urban Human Services Ibid increase Institute on Alcohol Issues jail Kim Hopper Linda Keen living mental health million Mitch Snyder patients percent Policy political poor poverty Report Research Richard Lamb Rossi skid row social society streets substance abuse suffer tion today's homeless U.S. Department U.S. General Accounting underclass Urban Development welfare women