URL: http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2069/ehost/detail/detail?sid=64b9b366-5780-4488-b86a-fdc904d6821c%40sessionmgr113&crlhashurl=login.aspx%253fdirect%253dtrue%2526scope%253dsite%2526db%253deft%2526AN%253d507801245%2526msid%253d604009586&hid=123&vid=0&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=507801245&db=eft

Annotation: This piece takes a staunchly liberal, social constructivist's approach to homelessness. Amster focuses on drawing strong parallels between the homeless population in America and historically marginalized European populations. Amster's work relies heavily on a study that was conducted by he and his colleagues that aimed to locate contemporary manifestations of marginalization and exclusion both in a modern sense and historically. Data sets focused on how political regimes use spatial control and hawkish observation as a means of exerting social dominance. Amster's findings noted a recognizable demonization of homeless populations within the media and population in general and that these attitudes directly affect the quality of life for such judged individuals who are constant targets of criminalization, regulation, expulsion, or any measure of vitriol in between.

Citation: Amster, Randall. "Patterns of Exclusion: Sanitizing Space, Criminalizing Homelessness." Social Justice 30, no. 1 (March 2003): 195-221. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed October 23, 2015).

Annotation: A decidedly qualitative piece, Frischmuth discusses his own experiences with homelessness through the lens of an academic in retrospect. Much of this piece is focused on delineating the assumed “deprivation and humility” that seems so closely associated with a western societal view of homeless populations. This piece, like a great deal of housing policy research, relies on social construction theory as a foundation for discussion. Frischmuth’s ethnographic approach to the issue of homelessness and real time legislation is meant to contextualize homelessness as a portion of a greater personal narrative rather than an isolated experience or reaction. For me, this piece broke a period of quantitative gridlock. I’ve been reading statistical piece after statistical piece, frankly I was beginning to hate societal response on such a fundamental level that I was questioning its existence. Frischmuth characterized these issues and gave them a human voice beyond the statistical fluctuation of a few hundred thousand humans. Not that I previously lacked a human viewpoint, simply that I was bogged down in the inhuman treatment of this segment of society. I’ve done several public history pieces but this really placed the emphasis on qualitative application. I’m currently under the impression that statistical analysis works better when poised between qualitative efforts.

Citation: Frischmuth, Stephen Giles. 2014. "Keep your sunny side: a street-level look at homelessness." Culture, Medicine And Psychiatry 38, no. 2: 312-323. MEDLINE, EBSCOhost (accessed October 8, 2015).

URL: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=43.185B&full=true

Annotation: This piece, although not a theoretical or academic approach, is vital to anyone constructing an understanding of housing policy in the American Northwest in general and Washington State in particular. This text is the original housing legislation passed by the Washington State Legislature in 1993. Theoretically, the legislation relies heavily on social construction as well as, in my quasi-ignorant opinion, laying a relatively solid foundation for incremental policy at a later date. In addition to homelessness, the law focuses on the construction of housing advisory boards charged with ensuring fair and equal pricing and access to homes. Textually, the piece relates the notion of homelessness and an inherent set of societal “problems” associated with a lack of shelter. This sort of “problematic” association seems to have dominated a great deal of housing legislation; rather than analyzing and addressing the struggles facing homeless people, much of the legislation seems aimed at benefiting society rather than those who are struggling. Interestingly, notes have been added regarding legislative progress since the original passage of this piece in 1993, several concerns have been addressed and numerous sub committees have been convened. Sorry if this wasn’t academic enough, I found it very necessary to analyze the text of our state’s legislation before addressing housing policy any further.

Citation: Washington Housing Policy Act. Ch. 43.185B RCW

URL: https://www.ncsha.org/system/files/Washington_SC.pdf

Annotation: This piece functions as an overview, or timeline, of legislation enacted in Washington state addressing housing policy in low-income communities and families in need of assistance throughout the state. Distributed annually since 2007, this legislative overview is meant to provide citizens, representatives, city planners, regional coordinators, and other interested parties with a snapshot of the legislative history of housing policy within our state. Each piece of legislation is accompanied by a brief annotation (roughly sixty in all) that details the significance, successes, and failures of each specific law or action. Theoretically, this fits into the research discussion I have been having about which angular direction to take this research. Its pretty apparent that homelessness is the crux of housing policy – a societal fear of becoming homeless (and thereby legislatively scrutinized), dominates most serious discussions of housing and legislation throughout the state.

Citation: Washington State Housing Finance Commission/Washington State Multi-Year Legislative Information Campaign. “Bringing Washington Home,” A Status Report on Housing Affordability in Washington State. 2014.

URL: http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2062/stable/684950?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=homlessness&searchText=washington&searchText=state&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dhomlessness%2Bwashington%2Bstate%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bgroup%3Dnone&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Annotation: Without falling to the cries of the social constructionists, this piece analyzes the psychology behind common attitudes toward homelessness and street people. Research detailed by Conley works to examine the discrimination often faced by homeless populations who seek rental accommodations after having found employment or grant opportunities. The researchers used a case study model to interview 42 homeless people throughout New York State, thus providing an accurate view of their sample while compromising generalizability. For the purposes of my research, generalizability was not of great importance; my reasoning in seeking this piece stems from my belief that the attitudes constructed in population centers – primarily on the East Coast – have a far greater chance of impacting and altering legislative attitudes towards populations or policy.

Citation: Conley, Dalton Clark (1996). “Getting It Together: Social and Institutional Obstacles to Getting off the Streets.” Sociological Forum, Vol. 11 No. 1, 25-40.

I think this might actually work. This is a test, I'm attempting to fish my posts from the soup of untagged contributions.