"Based upon extensive ethnographic data, "A Roof Over My Head" examines the lives of homeless women who often care for children and live in small shelters and transitional living centers.

The author draws upon interviews with homeless women, interviews with housed people, and, finally, evaluations of shelter services, philosophies, and policies to get at the causes and social construction of homelessness. "A Roof Over My Head" is a ground-breaking study that unveils the centrality of abuse and poverty in homeless women's lives and outlines ways in which societal responses can and should be more effective."--BOOK JACKET.