Browsing by Subject "Homelessness--Texas"

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    Flying the sign: a year in the life of a homeless man
    (2005) Berry, Floyd Wesley; Lein, Laura.; Selby, Henry A.
    This work of narrative ethnography focuses on the life of a homeless man, a “street person” named Dan, who begged at an intersection of a major thoroughfare in Waco, Texas, near I35. The narrative is in the form of dialogues with the informant, in temporal sequence, and thematically presented. The fieldwork for this ethnography occurred over a thirteen-month period, from March, 1998 to April, 1999. The primary theme pervading this ethnography is that begging may be considered a form of legitimate vocation, with the usual concomitants of work. The ethnographer recognizes that the ethnocentric beliefs and values of the dominant culture portray a beggar’s life as devoid of a work ethic, and offers instead a corrective vision, from a member of that subculture, into the meanings attached to his work. Other issues and topics are addressed besides vocation, such as invisibility, dramaturgy and impression management, the disease concept of alcoholism, the existential features of this marginal lifestyle, and degree of criminal participation. The ethnography presents Dan’s lifestyle from his point of view, in the hope of fostering understanding, tolerance, and perhaps an appreciation for certain subcultural differences. And the challenges to prevailing cultural fashions that Dan presents with his provocative lifestyle are also, in some sense, defiant and subversive in character. Dan’s situation in life is embedded in a larger historical, economic, and cultural milieu. From an etiological point of view, Dan’s situation seemed to stem primarily from his predicament with alcoholism. At some point in time, his drinking behavior even became an essential ingredient in his identity. One cannot fully understand Dan’s life or the life of many other street persons without understanding the powerful force that addiction has in steering one toward goals within a marginal lifestyle.