This dissertation examines mobilization and collective action by the homeless in eight U.S. cities. Much of the focus of social movement research emphasizes either broad macro-level social processes or micro-level individual characteristics to understand movement dynamics. This research focuses on the organizational context and dynamics of homeless mobilization. I argue that the organizational level not only mediates dynamics at the macro and micro level, but that organizational processes themselves shape the possibility and course of mobilization and collective action. I identify the environmental factors that constrain the possibilities of organizational action by the homeless and the organizational characteristics of homeless social movement organizations (SMOs) that are associated with the ability to successfully negotiate these environments. The core of the dissertation is organized around four related issues: the organizational environment, resources, form, and action and outcomes. I map the organizational field of homeless mobilization and illustrate how the presence or absence of various organizational orientations within the field influences the potential for resource acquisition, the type of form adopted, and the types of collective action tactics and outcomes available to the homeless. Next, I examine the resource relationships of homeless SMOs, the types of resources they mobilize, and the influence of particular types of resources on SMO viability. Following this, I explore the role of organizational form on homeless mobilization and collective action and the various pathways by which the homeless SMOs came to adopt or not adopt nonprofit form. Finally, I examine the determinants of collective action tactics utilized by homeless SMOs and their efficacy in procuring various outcomes. By emphasizing the organizational level, this dissertation operates at the intersection of the organizational and social movements literatures. Thus, the research offers theoretical insights for both while addressing a neglected level of analysis in the study of social movements.

Chong Ho Wang Alex. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2005-2006, design report." / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 37). / Acknowledgements --- p.P.3 / Prefece --- p.P.4 / Chapter 01 --- Intoduction --- p.P.5 / Chapter 02 --- Research study --- p.P.6 / Chapter 03 --- Thesis design --- p.P.18 / Bibliography --- p.P.37

Stereotypes surrounding race and socioeconomic status often have overlapping attributes. That is, we tend to stereotypically associate African Americans and poor individuals with being incompetent. Further, people automatically associate African Americans with the concept of poor. The current research examined people’s mental representations of a homeless person, a poor person, and a person with a home, to see if people’s mental representation of a homeless varied from that of a poor person. Results from Study 1 (N = 524), using a bi-racial base image indicate that people, on average, mentally represent the poor and homeless in a similar manner. The results from Study 2 (N = 496), using a White base image, replicate the findings from Study 1, and indicate that the findings from Study 1 were not the result of idiosyncratic features of the original base image. Future directions are discussed.

Background: Providing mental health care to socially marginalized groups is a challenge. There is limited evidence on what form of mental health-care generic (i.e. not targeting a specific social group) and group-specific services provide to socially marginalized groups in Europe. Aim: To describe the characteristics of services providing mental health care for people with mental disorders from socially marginalized groups in European capitals. Methods: In two highly deprived areas in different European capital cities, services providing some form of mental health care for six marginalized groups, i.e. homeless, street sex workers, asylum seekers/refugees, irregular migrants, travelling communities and long-term unemployed, were identified and contacted. Data were obtained on service characteristics, staff and programmes. Results: In 8 capital cities, 516 out of 575 identified services were assessed (90%); 297 services were generic (18–79 per city) and 219 group-specific (13–50). All cities had group-specific services for the homeless, street sex workers and asylum seekers/refugees. Generic services provided more health-care programmes. Group-specific services provided more outreach programmes and social care. There was a substantial overlap in the programmes provided by the two types of services. Conclusions: In deprived areas of European capitals, a considerable number of services provide mental health care to socially marginalized groups. Access to these services often remains difficult. Group-specific services have been widely established, but their role overlaps with that of generic services. More research and conceptual clarity on the function of group-specific services are required.

This dissertation study sought to explore the hidden resilience among a homeless young adult population (ages 18-24). The majority of research conducted on homeless young adults remains limited to examining their multiple challenges and risk factors. While the high rates of substance use issues, mental health problems and trauma implicit in their lives warrant attention, research on the unconventional resilience of this group may enable service providers to better understand their unique needs. Recently researchers have begun to address the strengths and unique personal capabilities of this population. This dissertation follows this trend and utilizes the social estrangement model as a conceptual framework to examine predictors of resilience. Variables were examined within the context of four domains implicit in the social estrangement model that represent the amount of estrangement that exists in the lives of homeless young adults. The four domains explored within this conceptual framework included, institutional disaffiliation, psychological functioning, human capital and identification with the homeless culture. Findings from this study revealed that homeless young adults' self-esteem and optimistic perspectives of the future predicted higher resiliency, while drug dependency predicted lower resiliency. Additionally, homeless young adults' coping served as a mediating variable between their levels of self-esteem and optimistic perspectives of the future with resiliency. Implications for professionals working with a homeless young adult population include developing and strengthening substance preventions programs tailored to uniquely address their resiliency needs. Additionally, social workers and other direct service providers may incorporate intervention strategies that focus on improving self-esteem and increasing young adults' optimistic perspectives of the future. Homeless young adults will benefit from working with professionals who have a better understanding of their lives on streets and the unique coping strategies and survival skills that enable them to persist in a dangerous environment. Recognizing the strengths and resilience that homeless young adults are capable of, and incorporating strength-based perspectives in work with this group may empower these young adults to make positive choices and increase the likelihood of transitioning out of homelessness. / text

Not available / text

This study aims to explore the lives and narrative counts of five homeless people in contemporary South Africa: a post-apartheid context characterized by a rapidly emerging globalized consumer culture and an internal tension in the government commitment to social welfare and while simultaneously following less benevolent neoliberal economic models. The primary concern of the study is the ways in which these marginalized individuals talk about themselves, the stories of their lives and represent themselves through narratives. Their lives, identities and stories are constructed from marginal and socially neglected spaces. The study grapples with what makes us human and the human consequences of global capitalism and consumerism. The study explores the connections homelessness and 'home'; and between homelessness and economic agency. Here homeless identities are constructed outside of the socially valued place of the home and defined by their jobless status and by their lack of economic agency. This means that homeless people have to constantly negotiate their socially 'threatened' and 'threatening' identities from the margins of society. The narratives of the participants reveal gendered and economic factors that precipitate the choice of a street existence as well as structural factors that keep homeless people 'the other'. The narratives further reveal contested meanings of home as connoting security and as a space for identity construction but also as the site for risk, exploitation, violence, and abuse, especially against women. The study suggests that homeless people can be thought of as displaced people in search for 'home' and for positive social identities. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Among the negative societal consequences of homelessness, its potential environmental impacts are largely unconsidered. This study examines the impacts of trash and riparian zone alterations associated with a homeless population inhabiting the area surrounding the Guadalupe River in San Jose, California. Literature was reviewed to determine the environmental effects of elevated trash and sediment loads in rivers, estuaries, and the marine environment. Building upon existing trash assessment protocols, a methodology was developed to increase the accuracy of source identification. Sampling of four predetermined areas took place between November 2012 and May 2013. Results showed elevated volumes of trash and occurrences of anthropogenic alteration in the areas of the riparian zone most heavily used by the homeless population. Using existing research, inferences were made regarding the environmental effects of these disturbances. It is subsequently recommended that new mitigation measures be empirically evaluated, including long-term benefit-cost analyses regarding permanent housing of homeless populations.

Women who experience homelessness are faced with a myriad of challenges and struggles. Compared to women with housing, they endure higher than average rates of physical illness, mental health challenges, and substance use issues. They are often victims of physical and sexual violence and are subjected to daily experiences of deprivation, isolation, powerlessness, and marginalization. Given the immensity of these struggles, it is essential to better understand those aspects of their experiences and beliefs that promote endurance and resilience. Hope is readily acknowledged, across disciplines and across diverse populations, to be an experience that offers strength to individuals when faced with difficulty. It is understood to be a key component of well‐being and quality of life and has been shown to provide protection from despair, grief, and harmful behaviours. In this research, women who have recently experienced homelessness were asked to speak to their unique understanding of hope. The study participants were also asked to discuss what prevents and supports hope in their lives and finally, were requested to speak of how registered nurses foster or prevent hope. The approach used to guide this research was interpretive description. The use of this approach ensures that the generated knowledge not only addresses the study research questions but also that the data analysis is contextually placed within the clinical setting. This study involved interviews with nine women who had experienced homelessness within the preceding twelve months. Four major themes and multiple subthemes emerged through the process of analysis. Three major themes describe the complexity of living with hope for these women: ‘balancing on the edge’, ‘pushed to the edge’ and ‘pulled from the edge’. ‘Nursing on the edge’ captures the multiple understandings of how registered nurses impact the experiences of hope and hopelessness. Findings from this research explicate the unique struggles, strengths, capacities, values, and beliefs of women who are homeless. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the delicate balance of hope and how easily, often without thought and attention, registered nurses can upset this balance. These findings have implications for nursing practice and nursing education and provide considerations for policy development and future research. / Graduate / 0453 / 0569

No description available.