Defining a Social Problem: the Case of Family Homelessness
Description:
When family homelessness surfaced a decade ago as a serious social problem in this country, tis causes and solutions were characterized in starly polarized and unidimensional ways. At one end of the analytic spectrum, family homelessness was believe to result from a shortage of safe, affordable housing, pure and simple: familes are not typically homeless, so their appearance on the scene must have been a direct consequence of then-current housing policies that dramatically reduced the low-income housing stock. At the other end, homeless mothers, by virtue of their individual psychopathologies, were held largely responsible for their families' situations: Even though there wa snot enough housing for all poor families, some managed to remain housed. What was wrong, researchers wanted to know, with those who didn't - who ended up, as in a game of musical chairs, without a seat when the music stopped?
Type of Resource:
Journal
Publication Date:
1994
Volume:
37
Issue:
3
Pages:
396-403
Location:
Thousand Oaks