A Nation In Denial: The Truth About Homelessness

by Alice S. Baum

With homlessness on the increase, the media, policymakers and other bodies have attempted to explain the problem by blaming the hardships of poverty, the lack of affordable housing, economic recession and unresponsive government. Policies have, therefore, focused on the belief that emergency shelter, soup kitchens and job training help the homeless to regain their independence. This book challenges the accepted notions of homelessness and presents scientific evidence to show that most homeless adults are also suffering from other problems, such as substance abuse and mental illness. The book uses the USA as its main example and weaves together demographic and epidemiological research with personal accounts of homeless individuals.

Genres: Nonfiction

247 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

Reviews

[Robert Kortus · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older, but excellent book on homelessness in America. The main few takeaways are that A) the main cause of homelessness in addiction and/or mental illness, B) continuing to deny this for fear of "blaming the victim" and instead focusing on the immediate needs of shelter and food has done nothing to alleviate the problem, and C) providing housing is not a viable solution because lack of housing is not the main problem.

This book was written in the '90's so some of the statistics are out of date, yet the overall message still rings true. My one complaint about the book was the repetition. Point "A" mentioned above is repeated in every chapter, sometimes multiple times, as are some of the other major themes. Besides that, it is a short, easy to read book that would be useful for anyone interested in this subject.