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Opportunity House
Michael V. Angrosino
€ 68.45
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Description for Opportunity House
Paperback. By weaving together a life-histories approach to ethnography and with a concept of culture, the author presents an intimate and complex picture of Opportunity House, a highly functional community of mentally-retarded adults. Series: Ethnographic Alternatives. Num Pages: 232 pages, bibliography. BIC Classification: JFFG; JKS. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 229 x 154 x 18. Weight in Grams: 468.
Calling on a decade of participant observation at a residence for mentally retarded adults, anthropologist Michael V. Angrosino's riveting and de-mystifying account offers an insider's picture of the lives of the inhabitants of Opportunity House. Using the narrative device of a dozen fictional short stories told in the voices of various community members as well as that of the researcher, Angrosino weaves a life-histories approach to ethnography together with an innovative culture concept to tackle the complexities of representing marginalized subgroups. As opposed to traditional clinical or statistical studies, which have insufficiently conveyed the subjective and experiential perspectives of retarded people themselves, Angrosino presents an intimate and complex picture of a highly functioning community with its cast of entrepreneurs, bullies, victims, and do-gooders. This wonderfully readable and captivating account is therefore an important resource for those interested in mental illness and disability, as well as a model for those experimenting with forms of ethnographic writing.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
1997
Publisher
AltaMira Press,U.S. United States
Number of pages
232
Condition
New
Series
Ethnographic Alternatives
Number of Pages
232
Place of Publication
California, United States
ISBN
9780761989172
SKU
V9780761989172
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About Michael V. Angrosino
University of South Florida
Reviews for Opportunity House
This is one of the few books in which people with mental retardation are presented as what they are: human beings....[Angrosino] not only presents the objective, but also the shared subjectivity of his experience and the recollection of the voices of individuals with mental retardation, recreating the stories in a "creative fiction" mode in order to protect the identity of his participants. The book is worth reading for those who want to understand the world of mental retardation and in doing so confront their own humanity face to face.
Claudia L. Moreno, School of Social Work, Columbia Univ
Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Vol 3.4, November 2002
Opportunity House is a collection of fictionalized stories about individuals who are classified as mentally retarded, written by an anthropologist who has conducted research and community service in a home for retarded adults in Florida. Angrosino is especially interested in the deinstitutionalization of the chronically mentally ill and their interactions in the wider society. His book is one of a series stressing experimental forms of qualitative writing that blur the boundaries between social science and the humanities. Because of the fictional quality of the stories, the volume is accessible to a wider readership than is usual for anthropological and ethnographic writing. Interspersed with the stories are helpful interviews with the author in which he explains his methods, insights, and perspectives.
L. Beck, (Washington University)
CHOICE
Claudia L. Moreno, School of Social Work, Columbia Univ
Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Vol 3.4, November 2002
Opportunity House is a collection of fictionalized stories about individuals who are classified as mentally retarded, written by an anthropologist who has conducted research and community service in a home for retarded adults in Florida. Angrosino is especially interested in the deinstitutionalization of the chronically mentally ill and their interactions in the wider society. His book is one of a series stressing experimental forms of qualitative writing that blur the boundaries between social science and the humanities. Because of the fictional quality of the stories, the volume is accessible to a wider readership than is usual for anthropological and ethnographic writing. Interspersed with the stories are helpful interviews with the author in which he explains his methods, insights, and perspectives.
L. Beck, (Washington University)
CHOICE