Homeless in Paradise

Rob Rosenthal is Associate Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University. For five years he conducted the Homeless People's Project in Santa Barbara, California.

"Homeless in Paradise combines participant-observation data, interviews, and analysis of structural data to produce one of the best books I have read on homelessness."-Elliot Liebow "Rosenthal has put a human face on the problem of homelessness. He gives us the opportunity to get to know homeless people as individuals not just stick figures or stereotypes. Homeless in Paradise traces the political, social, and economic forces that produce this destitution and suffering. Yet, as importantly, it directs us toward humane public policies at all levels of government."-Peter Dreier"In Homeless in Paradise, Rob Rosenthal gives us a powerful and disturbing picture of how society's structural conditions are played out in the lives of homeless individuals. This fascinating and provocative book is carefully researched and theoretically grounded, and it is unique in its rich portrayal of homelessness from the perspective of homeless persons themselves. This book is essential reading for anyone who studies homeless or any other 'problem populations.'"-Marjorie Robertson, Ph.D., Alcohol Research Group, California Pacific

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Why Are They Homeless? 1. Paradise 2. Becoming Homeless 3. Being Homeless 4. Hanging on and Hanging out 5. The Homeless Movement 6. Getting Ahead and the Barriers to Escape 7. Homelessness and the American Paradise Appendix: Researching Homelessness: A Case History Notes Index