Rapid re-housing of the homeless into permanent supportive housing has proven to be cost effective. The improved quality of life and stability reduces stress on the formerly homeless and therefore increases their viability as self-sufficient individuals. Hillsborough County (which encompasses Tampa, Florida) reported 9,532 homeless persons on any given night in the year 2007. Currently, there is not enough housing to meet the needs of every individual. While existing housing facilities contribute a great deal to this community, their locations in dilapidated urban conditions are not the most conducive environments for homeless persons to succeed. The stigma associated with the homeless also dissuades the general public from interacting with them as equals. The researcher has designed a model which utilizes a historic site, an innovative program, and a flexible design as equal components in the facilitation of transitioning the homeless into self-sufficient individuals. The site is a vacant Tampa Cigar Factory which embodies a history of community building that metaphorically represents the rebuilding of homeless individuals within a greater community. The program consists of a combination of leasable commercial space, supportive retail, permanent supportive housing, and ample communal space that provides for self-sufficiency at an organizational level, onsite employment opportunities, and social interaction. The intervention with the factory is a flexible design that combines utilitarian and communal space to encourage maximum activity, and provides 18 unique units which residents can identify with as their own. A connective tissue contained within the secure confines of the heavy brick walls manifests the transition that the homeless must face, but in a secure, stable, and positive environment. The result is a gestalt which is comprised of many schematic design concepts aimed at empowering the homeless individual to succeed while simultaneously reducing the general public's fear of the homeless. The concepts from this thesis could be applied in any city to help decrease homelessness. The design of many of these spaces, both interior and exterior can be employed in neighborhood planning for any population. This thesis represents the beginning of a new model for permanent supportive housing.

Doctor of Clinical Psychology/ Master of Science (DCP/ MSc) / A number of international studies reveal high prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within homeless populations. Recent research on PTSD indicates that cognitive responses to trauma are critical in determining who develops the disorder. In Australia, a number of studies indicate exceptionally high rates of trauma experience among homeless adults, yet PTSD has not been investigated in this cohort. Therefore, the primary aim of this project was to improve understanding of PTSD and related cognitions in a sample of homeless adults in Sydney. The project attempts to determine the prevalence of PTSD and its onset in relation to homelessness (Study One) and also explores the role of cognitions in PTSD (Study Two). The sample consisted of seventy homeless men and women aged 18 to 73 years, who were randomly sampled through eight homeless services. A computer-assisted face-to-face structured clinical interview was conducted for each participant. The majority of the sample stated that they had experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime (98.2%). The twelve-month prevalence of PTSD was higher among homeless adults in Sydney in comparison to the Australian general population (41.1% versus 1.5%). In 59.1% of cases, the onset of PTSD was found to have occurred before the age of the first reported homeless episode. In a comparison of those with and without a current diagnosis of PTSD, it was found that those with PTSD scored significantly higher overall on measures of posttraumatic cognitions and early maladaptive schemas. In particular, this group scored higher on schemas that centre on the world being entirely dangerous and the self being totally inept. A mediational analysis showed that when trauma and mental health care were controlled, the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and PTSD symptom severity was mediated by posttraumatic cognitions. It was concluded that homeless adults in Sydney frequently experience trauma and PTSD, which typically precedes homelessness. It was also concluded that among homeless adults, posttraumatic cognitions and early maladaptive schemas appear to play an important role in PTSD and may be associated with symptom severity. These findings have implications for public policy on homelessness and mental health, homeless service provision, PTSD theory, and PTSD treatment for homeless adults.

<p>This is a qualitative study, whose purpose is to examine if night shelters effects homeless peoples self-perceived psychosocial health. In Sweden alone there are almost 18000 homeless people, and 12% of them uses a night shelter. The homeless can’t be seen as a heterogeneous group but instead homelessness counts as a state of being in. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare have done mapping over the homelessness since 1993 and the problem is an important part of what the welfare system has to fight against. A night shelter is one of many contributions to aid the homeless people in an effort to get them off the streets. To do this research, we have conducted seven interviews in total with the homeless men and the supervisor of a nigh shelter. The data analysing tool we used was inspired by the IPA-method and we found out that the shelter had both positive and negative effects on the users. The shelter provided the basic need for the homeless such as food, shelter and the opportunity to rest and also to wash themselves and clean their clothes. The shelter also provided important contacts with the local hospital and the social welfare for its users. The negative impact it had on their self-perceived psychosocial health was that they had nothing to do during the day other than drift around the town, drinking alcohol and using drugs. Another negative influence was that the homeless men felt a loss of their right to self-determination and that they sometimes felt treated like children. Other findings were that they found that the society made harder rules and demands for them than other citizens has to apply to.</p>

This study describes the experience of homelessness and pregnancy for seven women and their partners in Lane County, Oregon. Homeless pregnant women provide a unique challenge to health care providers and social workers. These women are at increased risk for many negative factors that could affect their pregnancy outcomes. The purpose of the study was to collect information from pregnant women experiencing homelessness in Lane County. Data was analyzed to identify demographic characteristics, service use patterns and recurring themes. It is expected the results will be the basis for further research with homeless pregnant women in Lane County. The project utilized a mostly qualitative research design supported by limited quantitative data. The sources of data included client records, written surveys, and face-to-face personal interviews. Findings indicated that there is a service gap for women less than eight months pregnant with no other children in her custody and that over half of the participants had other children that were not in their current custody. The investigator recommends that further research examine the psychosocial aspects of homelessness and pregnancy. Also, the association between current pregnancy and the previous removal of a child from a mother's custody should be further explored. / Graduation date: 2000

This is a qualitative study, whose purpose is to examine if night shelters effects homeless peoples self-perceived psychosocial health. In Sweden alone there are almost 18000 homeless people, and 12% of them uses a night shelter. The homeless can’t be seen as a heterogeneous group but instead homelessness counts as a state of being in. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare have done mapping over the homelessness since 1993 and the problem is an important part of what the welfare system has to fight against. A night shelter is one of many contributions to aid the homeless people in an effort to get them off the streets. To do this research, we have conducted seven interviews in total with the homeless men and the supervisor of a nigh shelter. The data analysing tool we used was inspired by the IPA-method and we found out that the shelter had both positive and negative effects on the users. The shelter provided the basic need for the homeless such as food, shelter and the opportunity to rest and also to wash themselves and clean their clothes. The shelter also provided important contacts with the local hospital and the social welfare for its users. The negative impact it had on their self-perceived psychosocial health was that they had nothing to do during the day other than drift around the town, drinking alcohol and using drugs. Another negative influence was that the homeless men felt a loss of their right to self-determination and that they sometimes felt treated like children. Other findings were that they found that the society made harder rules and demands for them than other citizens has to apply to.

People who are homeless rely heavily on acute health care facilities to meet basic health care needs. Medical-surgical nurses play a fundamental role in the health care and health outcomes of patients who are homeless. According to the Institute of Medicine, health care providers’ bias and stereotyping contribute to health disparities among marginalized and vulnerable populations. Because attitudes are linked to clinical decision making and behaviors, revealing how nurses’ attitudes towards patients who are homeless develop and transform is paramount to improving health disparities of the homeless population. The purpose of this study was to explore nurses’ clinical experiences with patients who are homeless in order to discover how attitudes toward care of the homeless develop and transform. Interpretive phenomenology was used to describe and interpret the experiences of 11 medical-surgical nurses who cared for patients who were homeless and reported their attitudes toward this marginalized population had transformed. Nurses’ clinical experiences ranged from 3 to 40 years. Audiotaped semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis was ongoing throughout data collection as delineated by Diekelmann and Allen (1989) and expanded by Minick (1992). Five themes were revealed through interpretation of the rich data. The themes were ‘Discovering homelessness,’ ‘Finding common ground,’ ‘Piecing it together,’ ‘A daily struggle,’ and ‘Relationships based on distrust.’ Nurses’ attitudes were in constant development and transformation. Nurses’ life and clinical experiences created opportunities for attitude transformations. Experiences associated with attitude transformation were identified. Nurses’ experiences revealed how nurses enter practice with an established attitude toward this marginalized population. As nurses came to realize that homelessness was no longer an abstract, intangible concept rather homelessness existed and was present in their day-to-day nursing practices their attitudes began to transform. Nurses sought common experiences with patients who were homeless to create a sense of connectedness in nurse-patient relationships. Nurses described a daily struggle of maintaining positive, non-judgmental attitudes. Nurses shared how early experiences of negative encounters with patients who were homeless created feelings of distrust thus altering nurse-patient relationships with future patients who were homeless. This study contributes to nursing knowledge by revealing how medical-surgical nurses’ attitudes develop and transform and how experiences are associated with attitude change. Recommendations for nursing practice, education, research are identified.

This study investigates social psychological strategies homeless persons use to develop and maintain the self while homeless. To understand this topic, I apply the identity theory of Stryker, self-esteem ofRosenberg, self-efficacy of Gecas and Schwalbe, and homeless identity meanings and behaviors of Burke. Additionally, I examine what is needed to no longer be homeless. In all, 326 surveys were collected at six different homeless service agencies such as shelters and meal sites. The data analysis includes descriptive statistics and multivariate regression. The results only partially support identity theory in that interactive commitment (increased number of homeless friends) predicts salience (frequently invoking the homeless identity across different situations) which predicts increased length of time in role. However, affective commitment and centrality of the homeless identity have no effect. This study does confirm Snow andAnderson’s findings that homeless persons on the streets for a shorter period of time will distance themselves from the homeless identity, while those on the streets longer will embrace the homeless identity. As opposed to previous research, I find that the majority of homeless respondents do not have low self-esteem or self-efficacy. Instead it is certain factors such as being homeless longer and more often, accepting the homeless identity, viewing the homeless identity as most important, little to no family support and having a high school diploma (or less) that result in homeless persons having low self-esteem or self-efficacy. With homeless identity meanings, people thinking negatively about themselves is the result of having more homeless friends, being homeless longer and more often, possessing low self-esteem and low self-efficacy. Placing great importance on homeless identity behaviors such as helping other homeless people and staying sober influence these outcomes: thinking positively about the self, stronger ties with other homeless people, more homeless friends and invoking the homeless identity more often in different situations. For homeless people to obtain housing, two factors, income and social support systems, are most important. Of all the control variables, sleeping on the streets and multiple disabilities demonstrate the greatest impact for almost all of the independent variables. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Vårt syfte med denna uppsats har vart att undersöka om den sekundära bostadsmarknaden påverkar socialarbetarna i arbetet med hemlösa klienter som har eller haft missbruksproblematik. Då vi ansåg att det är socialarbetarnas upplevda verklighet som är av störst intresse valde vi att utföra kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra socialarbetare. Intervjuguiden formades med hjälp av Michael Lipskys bok Street-level Bureaucracy (2010) i vilken han beskriver sin teori om gräsrotsbyråkrats yrket, denna bok har även genomsyrat hela arbetet och sedan använts som ett verktyg i analysen av vår empiri. Bakgrunds avsnittet avser att ge en vid förståelse av hur komplex hemlöshetsproblematiken är, för att sedan i tidigare forskning smalna av till den forskning som behandlar vår syfte mer specifikt. Vi kommer i vår avslutande diskussion argumentera för att den sekundära bostadsmarknaden påverkar socialarbetarna på olika sätt då de måste acceptera hyresvärdarnas krav. Lägenheterna som utgör den sekundära bostadsmarknaden tillhandahålls i huvudsak av de allmännyttiga hyresvärdarna, då dessa nu skall drivas affärsmässigt har kraven på hyresgästerna höjts. Vi har valt att kalla denna uppsats Sekundära hyresgäster och vi som har skrivit uppsatsen är Marcus Vesterlund och Anders Wallin. / Our purpose with this paper was to examine if the secondary housing market affects the social workers in their work with homeless clients who have or have had substance abuse problems. Since we felt that the social worker's perceived reality is of most interest to us we chose to conduct qualitative interviews with four social workers. The interview guide was formed with the help of Michael Lipsky's book Street-Level Bureaucracy (2010) in which he describes his theory of the street-level profession, this book has also permeated the whole process and was used as a tool in the analysis of our empirical work. The background section is intended to provide a broad understanding of the complexity of homelessness, and then in the prior research section we taper to the research that deals with aspects of our purpose. We will in our concluding discussion argue that the secondary housing market affects the social workers in different ways when they have to accept the lessors requirements. The apartments that make up the secondary housing market is provided mainly by public lessors, as these are now to be operated commercially the demand on the tenants has increased. We have chosen to call this essay Secondary tenants and we who have written the essay are Marcus Vesterlund and Anders Wallin.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 79 p. Includes abstract.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.