University of Maryland
Sociology 498: Homelessness 

Liebow: Tell Them Who I Am

Liebow's purpose in writing about the homeless

"Initially, my aim was to write a straightforward description of shelter life and, ideally, to try to see the world of homelessness as homeless women see and experience it.
Later, ... I realized another of my aims was to explain both to myself and others how these women remained human in the face of inhuman conditions."
Elliot Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am, introduction, page 1.

What sets these homeless women apart is that, sane or crazy or physically disabled, they are all engaged in a titanic struggle to remain human in an unremittingly dehumanizing environment. Most of them are successful...
Elliot Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am, Chapter 6, page 222.
 

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Last updated March 13, 2006
comments to: Reeve Vanneman. reeve@cwmills.umd.edu