America's Shame: Women and Children in Shelter and the Degradation of Family Roles [Hardcover]

Barbara A. Arrighi (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275957322 | ISBN-13: 978-0275957322 | Publication Date: July 30, 1997

Rejecting those who urge a bootstrap approach to people living in extreme poverty on the edge of society, sociologist Barbara Arrighi makes an eloquent, compassionate plea for empathy and collective responsibility toward those for whom either the boots or the straps are missing. This book further offers solutions in consciousness raising, community collaboration, and informed, responsible public policy. The book is a critique of a system that purports to serve yet sometimes impedes the welfare of those who are in need of the basic elements for survival, including affordable shelter. It analyzes the structural factors of poverty and the social psychological costs of being poor and lacking a home. Utilizing interview findings from families who have lived in a shelter in northern Kentucky and from staff members, the book examines the degrading effects of shelter life on women's self-respect and children's development. Rather than an examination of individual pathologies leading to lack of shelter, it centers on women and children living in shelters and offers a sociological study of poverty and the family.

Editorial Reviews

Review

?In general, Arrighi has written a valuable book with sound observations on welfare and poverty. Her recommendations for changes in public policy are equally valuable.?-Social Work With Groups

Book Description

While the American family is held to be sacrosanct, societal responses to struggling families in deep poverty amount to a betrayal of children, whose needs are unmet by their primary caretakers and are further denied by public policymakers.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (July 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275957322
• ISBN-13: 978-0275957322
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,363,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Poverty > Homelessness

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Sociologically sound and objctively compassionate., September 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: America's Shame: Women and Children in Shelter and the Degradation of Family Roles (Hardcover)

An excellent study of a national problem, regardless of the regional focus. A great read whether you're a social scientist, concerned citizen, or a feeling human being. Another clear case for the oppression of American women. -A fellow sociologist-