Homeless in America /

The numbers of homeless in the US have increased substantially in the past decade and the composition of the homeless population has changed considerably as well. These topics have been competently addressed in several recent books (e.g., Peter Rossi's Without Shelter, CH, May'90; James D. Wright's Address Unknown, CH, Jul'90). Despite its title, Caton's book does not have the generality of the above cited works; this is both an asset and a weakness. The reader interested in understanding homelessness in broad terms would be well advised to turn to Rossi or Wright. On the other hand, Caton and her seven contributors provide useful discussions of selected issues in greater depth and detail than is available in the more general works. These selected issues include the mentally ill homeless, and housing programs directed toward them; medical problems of the homeless; existing programs and inadequacies of current housing policy; and advocacy for the homeless. Most of the contributors have a clinical orientation and are thus inclined to view homelessness and its related problems individualistically, although some of the chapters are written by structuralists who approach the problems systemically. Diverse approaches could be a virtue, but they are not well integrated here. Several simple tables, chapter bibliographies, author and subject indexes. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -K. Hadden, University of Connecticut