Down and Out in Atlantic City

Jacob Avery

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2012, vol. 642, issue 1, 139-151

Abstract: This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews to provide a sociological life history of a man the author calls George. George lived on Atlantic City’s streets between 1995 and 2009. Instead of accessing available social services, George stayed outside year-round, even during the cold winter months. He obtained small amounts of money by begging for spare change and slept in alleyways, casino bus terminals, underneath the Boardwalk, and behind garbage dumpsters until his death. George’s story reveals how someone who likely would have been committed during the era depicted in Goffman’s Asylums (1961) had viable alternatives to confinement within an institution. This article has two aims. First, it adds empirical depth to literature on working-age, unhoused men disconnected from formal labor markets and social service systems. A second, more analytical aim is to extend our thinking about Goffman’s concept of moral career.

Keywords: poverty; chronic homelessness; emergency shelter; moral career; Atlantic City (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:642:y:2012:i:1:p:139-151

DOI: 10.1177/0002716212438196

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