Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America (Paperback)

by Yvonne Vissing (Author) "We don't have any homeless kids in our town..." (more)
Key Phrases: housing distress, rural homelessness, episodic homelessness, New Hampshire, United States, New England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In six years of research in New Hampshire, sociologist Vissing saw runaway teens, malnourished children, and upside-down family functioning in which child nurtures parent. Small-town homelessness, Vissing contends, is as bad as, and often worse than, urban. While the rural homeless "live in chaos, out of the chaos there results an orderly existence." Unfortunately, neither contention is well developed. Instead of a sharp focus, Vissing offers a sprawling literature review with snippets from her own findings woven throughout. Vissing prefers the terms housing distress and displacement to homelessness, and these bring within her purview not only people on the streets but families living in trailer parks and campgrounds, and those unfortunates doubling up with relatives. Interview quotes have the ring of truth, but jargon, overly elastic categories and subjective reporting muddy the discussion. Frequently, Vissing crosses the line from analyzing to sermonizing: "Imagine how much better and more appropriate poor, distressed parents would be if they had the same resources as other parents!" "Many heroic students were interviewed." However, she offers sensible advice to social workers and community activists, and the 679-item bibliography will give sociology students something to mull over. Photos by the author.

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Vissing (sociology, Salem State Coll.), who has worked extensively with social service agencies, draws on six years of study to inform us that homelessness is no longer just an urban problem. She further contends that in rural areas it has assumed a different character; children and families are being stricken in large numbers, with peculiarly rural factors such as the lack of jobs, housing, and social services exacerbating the situation. Vissing examines the causes and offers steps toward solutions. Throughout her book, she allows the homeless to speak for themselves. Recommended for public and academic libraries.?Jim G. Burns, Ottumwa, Ia.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813108721
• ISBN-13: 978-0813108728
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,122,144 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond myths and beyond statistics, December 23, 2000

By	Anitra L. Freeman (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This is the product of six years of research and work with homeless rural children and families. But while Vissing does her homework and musters the facts, the book goes beyond the statistics. This is not a scientific study of a problem -- this is a person talking about people.

The book is full of photos: of children hungry; children playing; a pregnant young woman on a park bench; a mother in a homeless shelter cradling two toddlers close to her, with a determined look on her face; a teenage girl nodding off to sleep at a coffeeshop table with dawn lightening the window. Fourteen University of New Hampshire photography students worked with homeless children and families for six months in 1991. The results are incorporated into this book. Also available is a twenty minute, award-winning, videotape, "I Want to Go Home"

Just as the book goes beyond the statistics to show human beings suffering, it goes beyond the suffering to show solutions. Vissing spoke, in her initial study, with about three hundred people from school and community groups about programs to help the homeless. The first results were discouraging; for example, "Almost none of the communities had special summer programs for homeless children. I became convinced that 'homelessness' was not a term that most agencies used when serving children." But by the end of the book, Vissing has a program for rural communities to "'take the bull by the horns' and rely upon themselves to address the causes and consequences of homelessness." In the back of the book is a lengthy personal story -- fourteen pages -- of a child who grew up in poverty, abuse, violence and a rootless existence. Her story is searing and heartbreaking. But it has a very short postscript. ".. employed full-time and planned to attend college the following fall. Each member of the family seemed emotionally, financially, and socially secure, because of their own determination and because they had found help when they needed it."

This book vividly illustrates how our families and our communities have been shattered. It also vividly illustrates how they can be mended.