"One of the main theses of the Marienthal study was that prolonged unemployment leads to a state of apathy in which the victims do not utilize any longer even the few opportunities left to them. The vicious cycle between reduced opportunities and reduced level of aspiration has remained the focus of all subsequent discussions." So begin the opening remarks to the English-language edition of what has become a major classic in the literature of social stratification.

A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery.An upscale art dealer accustomed to the worldof Armani and Chanel.A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream.A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana. . . and a...

A searing account of life in the underclass and why it persists as it does, written by a British psychiatrist.

First published in 1890, Jacob Riis's remarkable study of the horrendous living conditions of the poor in New York City had an immediate and extraordinary impact on society, inspiring reforms that affected the lives of millions of people.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across gen...

2012 gold medal winner in the self-help category of the prestigious Ippy AwardsThis book offers effective strategies to help erase poverty. It advocates self-reliance, policy reform, and cultural awareness. Accountability is required from all: the middle class, the trust fund babies, and the underprivileged who see themselves as perpetual victims and have fallen into the entitlement trap. True blue prints are offered to rescue people from an economical slump and he...

In a provocative study that bristles with contemporary relevance, Himmelfarb demonstrates that the material and moral dimensions of poverty were inseparable in the minds of late Victorians, be they radical or conservative.

Jacob Riis (May 3, 1849 May 26, 1914) is best known as a social reformer who used photography to document different social classes. In particular, his journalism and photography displayed the plight of the poor in New York City, and his attempt to help them resulted in How the Other Half Lives, a turn of the century documentary of sorts that he hoped would shed light on the social issues of the day. Moreover, Riis is considered one of the fathers of photography due to his discovery of flash ...

David Hilfiker has committed his life, both as a writer and a doctor, to people in need, writing about the urban poor with whom he’s spent all his days for the last two decades. In Urban Injustice, he explains in beautiful and simple language how the myth that the urban poor siphon off precious government resources is contradicted by the facts, and how most programs help some of the people some of the time but are almost never sufficiently orchestrated to enable people to escape the cycle ...

A "remarkable" look at the flaws of the social safety net through one family's personal tragedy and the Catch-22 financial disaster that followed (Deborah A. Stone, author of Policy Paradox).When Andrea Louise Campbell's sister-in-law, Marcella Wagner, was run off the freeway by a hit-and-run driver, she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant. She survived—and, miraculously, the baby was born healthy. But that's where the good news ends. Marcella was left par...

With the biting wit of Supersize Me and the passion of a lifelong activist, Joel Berg has his eye on the growing number of people who are forced to wait on lines at food pantries across the nation—the modern breadline. All You Can Eat reveals that hunger is a problem as American as apple pie, and shows what it is like when your income is not enough to cover rising housing and living costs and put food on the table.Berg takes to task politicians who remain inactive; the media, which ...

The emergence of Britain as a fully fledged home-owning society at the end of the 20th century has major implications for how houses are used not just as a home but as an asset. The key debate in this important and timely book is whether social policy and people's homes should be so closely connected, especially when housing markets are so volatile. It will be essential reading for all students and practitioners of housing and those concerned with how social and public policy is being shap...

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of White Trash tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Nancy Isenberg's book.Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.This short summary and analysis of White Trash includes:Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charact...