Helter-Shelter: Security, Legality, and an Ethic of Care in an Emergency Shelter

摘要

While much has been written about the plight of homeless people and the multiple challenges of providingboth temporary and permanent housing, there has been considerably less focus on the nature of these temporaryshelters, what the consist of and how they are operated. Helter Shelter provides a close examination of thedynamics of this type of environment through the lens of a single observer, the author Prashan Ranasinghe whospent over 300 hours spanning a year and a half observing the workings and interactions of a homeless shelterfor men. Th e work is primarily an ethnographic lens that explores various aspects of the workings of this shelterthrough the actions of front-line employees, case managers and supervisors. Th ere are few written works thathelp us understand the dynamics that exist in a homeless shelter and how they impact the ethic of care this is amain focus of the book, so this book is a venture into a new understanding of a complex world.