Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders

Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders
Author :
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages : 367
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780816648696
ISBN-13 : 0816648697
Rating : 4/5 (697 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders by : Teresa Gowan

Download or read book Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders written by Teresa Gowan and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gowan shows some of the diverse ways that men on the street in San Francisco struggle for survival, autonomy, and self-respect. Living for weeks at a time among homeless men--working side-by-side with them as they collected cans, bottles, and scrap metal; helping them set up camp; watching and listening as they panhandled and hawked newspapers; and accompanying them into soup kitchens, jails, welfare offices, and shelters--Gowan immersed herself in their routines, their personal stories, and their perspectives on life on the streets. She observes a wide range of survival techniques, from the illicit to the industrious, from drug dealing to dumpster diving. She also discovered that prevailing discussions about homelessness and its causes--homelessness as pathology, homelessness as moral failure, and homelessness as systemic failure--powerfully affect how homeless people see themselves and their ability to change their situation.


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