Homelessness and the Politics of Social Exclusion

<p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt><em>Homelessness is not one problem but many different kinds of problems involving many different kinds of people each of them homeless for different reasons or who have become homeless in different ways... Among the homeless of today are men women children and whole families; victims of domestic violence and male abandonment; young middle-aged and elderly; veterans; illegal immigrants; persons of every ethnic description; people who are homeless for strictly economic reasons; others who are homeless because they drink and drug too much; the lucid and the deranged; and on through a long list...</em>.</p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt> </p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt><span style=mso-tab-count: 8>                                                </span><strong>James Wright</strong></p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt><strong><span style=mso-tab-count: 8>                                                </span>University of Central Florida</strong></p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt> </p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Bringing together international perspectives from sociology political science public policy criminology urban studies adolescent research and social work this fascinating April 2005 issue of <strong>American Behavioral Scientist (ABS)</strong> entitled <strong><em>Homelessness and the Politics of Social Exclusion</em></strong> focuses on pioneering research about how the homeless are marginalized in societies around the world and the consequences of this social exclusion.<span style=mso-spacerun: yes>  </span></p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt> </p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Based on presentations at the American Sociological Association's 2003 Annual Meeting the authors of this unique volume discuss:</p><p class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt> </p><ul><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Why the characteristics of both Los Angeles and Berlin homeless populations are similar despite different welfare systems and public policies (<em>von Mahs</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>How staff create sustain and escalate conflict in a drop-in center for street kids (<em>Joniak</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Structural changes in Japanese society and the recent growth of homelessness (<em>Hasegawa</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>The risks and conditions of semipermanent makeshift housing such as RVs (<em>Wakin</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Whether the presence of homeless persons near or in residential areas is a mark of encroaching urban disorder that undermines neighborhood quality and engenders fear among neighborhood residents (<em>Farrell</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>Marginality and criminal victimization among homeless people (<em>Lee and Schreck</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>The complex relationships between homeless women and their intimate partners (<em>Wesley and Wright</em>)</div></li><li><div class=msoplaintext style=MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt>How peer networks affect substance abuse among newly homeless adolescents (<em>Rice Milburn Rotherham-Borus Mallet