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Give Me Shelter
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17492 |
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BOOK WORLD
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7 / 1990 |
1,915 Words |
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Fred Friedman
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DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA
Peter Rossi
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989
237 pp., $15.95 (paperback)
THE EXCLUDED AMERICANS
William Tucker
Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, January 1990
354 pp., $19.95 (paperback)
Last year's marches in Washington by homeless advocates were largely exercises in symbolism and consciousness-rising. Nevertheless, beyond the rhetoric, America has a homeless problem that has worsened during the past decade. Two new books reach different conclusions about why we have homelessness in nation so seemingly affluent.
Why are People Homeless?
Peter Rossi's Down and Out in America is a study of the homeless of Chicago that offers observations about the problem nationwide. Homelessness has been caused primarily by changes in the economy that have eliminated blue-collar jobs, leaving a population incapable of acquiring modern economic skills, he maintains. In addition, he claims that cuts in social programs (the so-called safety net) have pushed the marginally secure to homelessness. Another cause: the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, combined with failure to provide them with services that would help them to function properly in society.
Homelessness is fueled by the decline is single room occupancy hotel (SROs) - over 70 percent of them were demolished in the past decade. The unwillingness or inability of families to provide homeless members with shelter is also significant. In addition, over 30 percent of the homeless have been involved in criminal activity, making even the most compassionate service agencies wary of providing help.
Thirty years ago, most of the homeless were men, while today, 25 percent are women. The average age was fifty, while today it is thirty-nine. Only 3 percent of today's homeless are steadily employed, while a majority are outside the job market completely. Many (about 40 percent) suffer from severe mental or physical disabilities (schizophrenia, drug and alcohol abuse) that prevent them from functioning independently.
Unasked Questions
Rossi's analysis of economic trends and social policy is incomplete. Undoubtedly some homeless are victims of economic change, but even he points out that approximately 70 percent of the poor in Chicago do manage to put a roof over their heads. Of these, over 50 percent own their homes or live with relatives. That leaves about 30 percent who are unclassified. Are they the mentally ill whom no one wants to house? Are they people between jobs without family ties? Or are they people living temporarily away from home because of a family dispute? Because Rossi does not provide the data, it is hard to support his conclusion that a majority of the homeless are simply victims of poverty.
Similarly, his claim that the Reagan administration cut the
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