During the past decade, most Americans seemed to believe that homelessness was a new phenomenon caused by the combination of regressive governmental policies and the recession of the early 1980s. The truth is that homelessness is not new, nor are our efforts to respond to it substantially different from those of our forebears. Throughout history, society has been confronted by the problem of homelessness through, beggars, the dependent poor, the unemployed, and the unemployable. Americans have viewed them alternatively as a threat to their society and its strong work ethic, for they are heroic individuals on the path of the American dream. The shameful derelicts of skid row, and today's new homeless are viewed as an embarrassment, and as a society we try to force ourselves to not acknowledge that they exist. Only in the recent years has the public been willing to admit that social isolation, alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental illness were closely associated with homelessness, and from time to time reformers have designed programs intended to address these problems, some punitive, some generous. Today, fearful of blaming the victim, most people prefer to deny these conditions and view homelessness as a single problem: being without a home.
             As America has struggled with its attitudes about the homeless and how to help them, endless debates, repeated by each successive generation, have been fueled by the cycle of pity, distaste, fear, anger, and hatred felt by all, rich and poor, when there is impoverishment, homelessness, and destitution in our midst. The questions have always been the same. Should services provide direct financial assistance or should they provide shelter? Should policies force the homeless into institutions or respect their freedom and right to self-determination? Should assistance be an entitlement paid for by the general public through taxes or should it be available only when it has been e
             ...