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Homelessness and rough sleeping are currently on the rise in England. Literature evidences an empirical relationship between substance use disorders and offending behavior within homelessness. This qualitative study explores this relationship from the perspective of those currently experiencing homelessness and substance use disorders, with an offending history. Thematic analysis identified substance use disorders as the dominant factor in the continuous relationship between three. Furthermore, when discussing their experiences of prison, participants did not identify prison as a deterrent from committing offenses. Feelings of stigmatization and marginalization from mainstream society were also identified, but participants expressed feelings of social inclusion within their marginalized groups. These findings, and their implications for support services in the community, are discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Roofless individuals represent the most severe category of homelessness. Their clinical characteristics and mortality patterns in Central and Eastern Europe are little known. Methods: A single-center retrospective case-control study at the internal medicine department in Bratislava, Slovakia was conducted. 5694 mortality records from 2010 to 2023 were screened, and 141 (118 men, 23 women) roofless individuals were identified. Patients were sex- and age-matched, with 141 patients from the cohort of nonhomeless deceased patients. Results: Compared to controls, roofless people had a higher incidence of immobility (p = 0.02) and hypothermia (p < 0.0001) at admission. 83% of the roofless people were men, and 59% of the roofless people died before reaching old age (60+). Homeless men died more often from infectious disease (p = 0.02), pneumonia being the most common one (60%). Men from the control group died more often from liver diseases (p = 0.03). There were no significant differences in the causes of mortality between women. Conclusion: These findings could help to reduce the invisibility of the issue of massive premature mortality amongst homeless populations and roofless individuals, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectivesRoofless individuals represent the most severe category of homelessness. Their clinical characteristics and mortality patterns in Central and Eastern Europe are little known.MethodsA single-center retrospective case-control study at the internal medicine department in Bratislava, Slovakia was conducted. 5694 mortality records from 2010 to 2023 were screened, and 141 (118 men, 23 women) roofless individuals were identified. Patients were sex- and age-matched, with 141 patients from the cohort of non-homeless deceased patients.ResultsCompared to controls, roofless people had a higher incidence of immobility (p = 0.02) and hypothermia (p < 0.0001) at admission. 83% of the roofless people were men, and 59% of the roofless people died before reaching old age (60+). Homeless men died more often from infectious disease (p = 0.02), pneumonia being the most common one (60%). Men from the control group died more often from liver diseases (p = 0.03). There were no significant differences in the causes of mortality between women.ConclusionThese findings could help to reduce the invisibility of the issue of massive premature mortality amongst homeless populations and roofless individuals, in particular.

In response to the predicted increase in homelessness in Edinburgh, Scotland, following the Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a ‘live’ digital resource, Street Support Edinburgh (SSE), was launched in the city in January 2021. SSE is a website and smartphone application run by Street Support Network (SSN), a registered charity, working online and offline, connecting and supporting local people and organisations to tackle homelessness. The resource is the first of its kind to be implemented in Scotland. This study aimed to assess the implementation of SSE in response to the predicted increase in homelessness in Edinburgh following the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative approach was taken to understand users’ experiences of SSE. The evaluation found a generally positive response to SSE from organisations in the homelessness field. We report on nine themes developed through analysis of the qualitative data: positive feedback on SSE; need for SSE resources; uses of SSE; joined up-working; user-friendliness of SSE; suggestions for alterations to SSE; COVID-19 and other implementation challenges; need/opportunities for promotion and engagement; potential wider rollout across Scotland. In conclusion, initial responses to the launch of SSE have been generally positive, but further awareness raising is likely required to increase SSE reach as in-person services and COVID-19-related protections reduce. Ongoing evaluation is required to track progress over time.

In response to the predicted increase in homelessness in Edinburgh, Scotland, following the Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a ‘live’ digital resource, Street Support Edinburgh (SSE), was launched in the city in January 2021. SSE is a website and smartphone application run by Street Support Network (SSN), a registered charity, working online and offline, connecting and supporting local people and organisations to tackle homelessness. The resource is the first of its kind to be implemented in Scotland. This study aimed to assess the implementation of SSE in response to the predicted increase in homelessness in Edinburgh following the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative approach was taken to understand users’ experiences of SSE. The evaluation found a generally positive response to SSE from organisations in the homelessness field. We report on nine themes developed through analysis of the qualitative data: positive feedback on SSE; need for SSE resources; uses of SSE; joined up-working; user-friendliness of SSE; suggestions for alterations to SSE; COVID-19 and other implementation challenges; need/opportunities for promotion and engagement; potential wider rollout across Scotland. In conclusion, initial responses to the launch of SSE have been generally positive, but further awareness raising is likely required to increase SSE reach as in-person services and COVID-19-related protections reduce. Ongoing evaluation is required to track progress over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexit brought an end to the free‐movement rights of EU citizens in the United Kingdom, but the rights of the poorest Europeans were being actively curtailed even before that. From 2010, street homeless EU citizens were deported through a series of pilot schemes operating in London. In 2016, their 'administrative removal' was instituted as national policy. Using process‐tracing methodology, we have analysed publicly available documents and others obtained through Freedom of Information requests to assemble an account of how and why a range of 'stakeholders' worked together to deport rough‐sleeping EU citizens. Our paper addresses two research questions: (i) what actors contributed to these deportations and (ii) through the use of which analytic framework(s) can we begin to understand the deportation of street homeless foreigners? As we find, London's deportation apparatus involved national and local‐level state actors, homelessness NGOs and local businesses. The deportation of rough‐sleeping EU citizens was a racist biopolitical practice that reflected a concern for 'hygiene' at local and national scales, as well as the prevention of 'harm' to individual and social bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives: To examine the prevalence of Australian Defence Force veterans among people sleeping rough and explore their health and social needs relative to non‐veteran rough sleepers. Method: Analysis of responses to the Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritisation Decision Assistance Tool (VI‐SPDAT) collected from 8,027 rough sleepers across five Australian States from 2010‐2017. Results: Veterans were found to comprise 5.6% of people sleeping rough in Australia, with veterans reporting having spent an average of 6.3 years on the street or in emergency accommodation (compared with an average of five years for their non‐veterans counterparts). Veterans had a higher prevalence of self‐reported physical health, mental health and social issues compared with non‐veteran rough sleepers. Conclusions: This is the first study of its kind to elucidate the presence of Australian veterans among people sleeping rough. That they are likely to have spent more years on the street, and have a higher prevalence of health and social issues, highlights the imperative for earlier intervention and prevention of veteran homelessness itself, and its health impacts. Implications for public health: Veteran homelessness has been comparatively hidden in Australia compared to other countries, and consequently the myriad of health, psychosocial and adjustment issues faced by homeless veterans has also been hidden. With heightened attention on veteran suicide and self‐harm, earlier intervention to prevent veterans becoming homeless constitutes sound public health prevention and mental health policy.

Emerging research suggests autistic people are disproportionately represented in homeless populations. Less is known about how autistic people experience homelessness and what prevents them from exiting homelessness. This article presents findings from a narrative enquiry investigating the link between autism and homelessness. Ten autistic adults consented to participate in narrative interviews which explored their life histories and pathways through homelessness. This article considers how participants experienced rough sleeping and sofa surfing before attempting to access hostels. It then examines how participants navigated support systems, arguing that barriers to accessing services perpetuated homelessness. Because of these barriers, some participants disengaged with services, preferring to sleep rough. The extent to which participants could be said to have 'chosen' homelessness is balanced with consideration of the lack of autonomy autistic adults are able to exercise over their lives. This article concludes with discussion of practical implications for services and policy in England. Recent research suggests many autistic people experience homelessness. However, little is known about the types of homelessness autistic people experience and what barriers autistic people face when trying to exit homelessness. This study involved gathering life stories of autistic people who had experienced homelessness. Ten autistic participants talked about their pathways through homelessness and the difficulties they had in accessing support. After first becoming homeless, participants tended to experience rough sleeping and sofa surfing. When participants approached housing and homelessness services, they were often told they were not eligible for support. This could happen when support workers were not aware of autism, or when autism was not considered 'severe' enough. Overcrowding, confrontation and lack of control over routine and environment were particular issues for participants when they entered homelessness hostels. Some participants chose to sleep on the streets rather than stay in environments which increased social anxiety and sensory difficulties. This study discusses ways in which homelessness and housing services can increase accessibility and improve engagement for autistic people. It is important to increase awareness of autism while understanding that autistic people who experience homelessness may have complex needs. In addition, services need to listen to autistic people with lived experience of homelessness to decide what changes will have the most impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: older people experiencing homelessness can have mental and physical indicators of aging several decades earlier than the general population and experience premature mortality due to age-related chronic conditions. Digital interventions could positively impact the health and well-being of homeless people. However, increased reliance on digital delivery may also perpetuate digital inequalities for socially excluded groups. The potential triple disadvantage of being older, homeless, and digitally excluded creates a uniquely problematic situation warranting further research. Few studies have synthesized available literature on digital interventions for older people experiencing homelessness., Objective: This scoping review examined the use, range, and nature of digital interventions available to older people experiencing homelessness and organizations supporting them., Methods: The scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's proposed methodology, PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines, and recent Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. We searched 14 databases. Gray literature sources were searched to supplement the electronic database search. A narrative synthesis approach was conducted on the included articles, and common themes were identified inductively through thematic analysis., Results: A total of 19,915 records were identified through database and gray literature searching. We identified 10 articles reporting on digital interventions that had a clearly defined a participant age group of >50 years or a mean participant age of >50 years. A total of 9 of 10 studies were published in the United States. The study design included descriptive studies, uncontrolled pilot studies, and pilot randomized controlled trials. No studies aimed to deliver an intervention exclusively to older people experiencing homelessness or organizations that supported them. Four types of intervention were identified: telecare for people experiencing homelessness, distributing technology to enable digital inclusion, text message reminders, and interventions delivered digitally. Interventions delivered digitally included smoking cessation support, vocational training, physical activity promotion, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Overall, the included studies demonstrated evidence for the acceptability and feasibility of digital interventions for older people experiencing homelessness, and all 10 studies reported some improvements in digital inclusion or enhanced engagement among participants. However, several barriers to digital interventions were identified, particularly aspects related to digital inclusion, such as infrastructure, digital literacy, and age. Proposed facilitators for digital interventions included organizational and peer support., Conclusions: Our findings highlight a paucity of evaluated digital interventions targeted at older people experiencing homelessness. However, the included studies demonstrated evidence of the acceptability and feasibility of digital interventions for older people experiencing homelessness. Further research on digital interventions that provide services and support older people experiencing homelessness is required. Future interventions must address the barriers older people experiencing homelessness face when accessing digital technology with the input of those with lived experience of homelessness., Trial Registration: OSF Registries OSF.IO/7QGTY; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7QGTY., (©Emily Adams, Eddie Donaghy, Caroline Sanders, Maria Klara Wolters, Lauren Ng, Christa St-Jean, Ryan Galan, Stewart William Mercer. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 21.02.2025.)

Experiencing homelessness is associated with poor health, high levels of chronic disease and high premature mortality. Experiencing homelessness is known to be socially stigmatised and stigma has been suggested as a cause of health inequalities. No previous review has synthesised the evidence about stigma related to homelessness and the impact on the health of people experiencing homelessness. The present mixed‐methods review systematically searched four databases and retrieved 21 original articles with relevant data around stigma, homelessness and health. Across all studies, there was broad agreement that some people experiencing homelessness experience significant stigma from providers when accessing health care and this impacts on general health and service access. There is also evidence that perceived stigma related to homelessness correlates with poorer mental and physical health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to assess the health, social and economic outcomes associated with rough sleeping among women and compare those outcomes with those of (1) men sleeping rough, and (2) women experiencing other forms of homelessness (such as being housed in temporary supported accommodation due to family and domestic violence). The paper analyses survey data using the Vulnerability Index‐Service Prioritization Decision Analysis Tool (VI‐SPDAT) collected from 2735 women experiencing homelessness and 3124 men sleeping rough in Australian cities from 2010 to 2017. We find that women sleeping rough report poorer physical and mental health outcomes and greater problematic drug and or alcohol use relative to both men sleeping rough and women experiencing other types of homelessness (all p < 0.5). Women sleeping rough report significantly higher levels of crisis service utilisation (Β = 17.9, SE = 3.9, p < 0.001) and interactions with police in the previous 6 months (Β = 1.9, SE = 0.3, p < 0.001) than women experiencing homelessness not sleeping rough. Women sleeping rough also report greater healthcare utilisation, and, therefore, healthcare costs, than women experiencing homelessness not sleeping rough and men sleeping rough (all p < 0.05). From a policy perspective, the evidence presented in this paper supports a social determinants approach that moves from addressing symptoms of poor health outcomes associated with homelessness to preventing and ending homelessness with a particular focus on the life trajectories of women. Integrated services and homelessness strategies need to be developed through a gender lens, providing women sleeping rough with tailored permanent housing with wrap‐around supportive housing to address poor health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased morbidity and mortality rates are prominent issues among homeless individuals. To help reduce these health inequalities, dedicated senior mental and physical health nurses have been deployed to work within and alongside local statutory and voluntary organisations. This qualitative evaluation examined the impact of nurse‐led homeless healthcare in Warwickshire, United Kingdom. During January and February 2021, online semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 17 professionals including the mental and physical homeless health nurses (n = 4), statutory health and local authority professionals (n = 4), and voluntary and community sector professionals (n = 9). Interviews were qualitatively analysed using inductive, reflexive thematic analysis. Data analysis identified three overarching themes related to the meaning, impact and future development of nurse‐led homeless healthcare: (1) Nurse‐led homeless healthcare and health inequalities, (2) The multi‐agency approach of nurse‐led homeless healthcare, and (3) Future development of nurse‐led homeless healthcare. The findings confirm the benefits of homeless healthcare in reducing health inequalities and promoting a more accessible, flexible and person‐centred approach to holistic care. Yet, prevailing organisational and system‐level barriers were also identified as currently limiting the capacity, provision and practicalities of delivering nurse‐led homeless healthcare. Recommendations were identified with international relevance and included: (i) continued implementation of person‐centred healthcare for homeless individuals, (ii) strengthening of organisational collaboration and communication pathways to improve coordinated care, (iii) development of the managerial and structural aspects of provision, (iv) addressing limitations associated with scope and capacity to ensure that delivered healthcare is adequately intensive, (v) increased availability of clinical or therapeutic spaces, and (vi) implementation of long‐term plans supported by evaluation and commissioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is situated within wider debates about the changing shape of policy and practice within the field of homelessness. It reports on a small scale case study of an intensive key worker support service operating in England designed to move multiply disadvantaged rough sleepers off the streets. The discussion of the empirical data draws attention to different modes of control inherent within the project's working practices that are designed to incite rough sleepers to make positive changes. The article suggests that the project is a useful example of a 'nascent trend' within homeless support services of tolerant and less conditional approaches for those who are the most disadvantaged. The article suggests that this move towards tolerance offers positive benefits for rough sleepers with complex needs that mark a shift away from more punitive and coercive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Lawyers and allied professionals who have experience supporting, advising and representing people experiencing homelessness are uniquely placed to identify problems with the operation of the criminal justice system—from policing to courts to punishment—and to conceive reform options. This article reports the findings of qualitative interviews with lawyers and allied professionals in all Australian states and territories. Participants identified multiple points where decisions about criminal law enforcement fail to take adequate account of the complex factors that underlie ‘offending’ by people experiencing homelessness, producing outcomes that exacerbate disadvantage. They advanced a range of proposals for reform directed at breaking the nexus between homelessness and criminalisation, including re-conception of the role of police, adoption of therapeutic jurisprudence (or ‘solution-focused’) models in criminal courts, and major changes to the use of fines as a criminal punishment.

This paper examines how deportation became a solution to rough sleeping in pre-Brexit England. It identifies relationships between the social regulation of vulnerable and marginalised adults, contemporary governance arrangements and bordering practices characteristic of Britain's 'hostile environment'. Drawing on media reports and grey organisational literature, the focus of discussion is events across 2015–2018 in which three London-based charities were criticised for working with the Home Office to deport homeless migrants under its European Economic Area Administrative Removal policy. The overall tenor of criticism was that collaboration with the government compromised the organisations' independence and charitable missions and aims. This diminished their capacity to both advocate for vulnerable adults and effectively challenge oppressive state practices. The paper observes how state and nonprofit relations structure institutional and socio-legal responses to marginalised and 'othered' adults through commissioning and contracting mechanisms. It demonstrates that the social and legal control of homeless migrants may be differently constituted by institutions delivering services in relation to citizenship, vulnerability and marginalisation. This analysis incorporates a broader appraisal of institutional motivations, values and beliefs in social welfare delivery, including the historic role of charitable agencies in the criminalisation of social welfare users. Taken together, the paper offers an interdisciplinary critique of the relationships between border control, neoliberal governance and the sociocultural and historic construction of homeless migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On a single night in 2018, over 194,000 individuals experienced unsheltered homelessness across the United States. Homeless outreach programs are often a first point of contact for these individuals, providing essential services, including connecting them to emergency shelter. Guided by the socio-rational choice model, this qualitative study aimed to address two questions: 1) How do experiences with outreach workers affect the way individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness determine the utility of services offered by outreach programs? 2) What specific factors related to outreach interactions are involved in street homeless individuals' decision to utilize or reject services from homeless outreach programs? Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with street homeless individuals who had experience with homeless outreach in New York City. Interviews were first coded using a template approach followed by the use of a theory-guided approach for further analysis. Five main themes were identified that provided an understanding of individuals' decision to engage with outreach services: credibility, transparency, offering choices, bureaucracy, and opportunity cost. This study provides insight into unsheltered individuals' perspectives on homeless outreach workers and programs and offers suggestions for implementing micro- and macro-level changes to better meet the needs of our homeless neighbors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Many day centres for homeless people remained open during the first national lockdown in England following the COVID-19 pandemic. Lacking any official guidance on how to adapt, day centres for homeless people had to navigate risks of infection and changes in the situation of homeless people during this time.Objective: This small study aimed to discover how some day centres for homeless people approached and experienced the implications of lockdown. The objective was to draw early learning points to inform further research on the future trajectory of day centre provision for homeless people during the pandemic and beyond.Methods: This rapid qualitative study included semi-structured phone interviews with day centre managers (n = 5) and a systematic search of public facing websites of day centres (n = 10) across four South London boroughs. Data were analysed inductively, using the framework method.Findings: Findings indicate three learning points 1: the importance of strong networks between day centres with local authorities and other organisations for homeless people to enable services to provide humanitarian assistance, 2: the significance of day centres in their role as humanitarian assistants as a first point of contact for newly homeless people 3: the value of a central information hub.Limitations: The regional focus on South London and the sample size, which reflects ethical imperatives involved in avoiding undue pressure on day centre staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, limit this study. The findings are to be considered as a springboard for in-depth research into day centres’ support for homeless people during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Implications: Findings are valuable as a snapshot of this largely under-researched group of services and service users during the first lockdown. Further research based on the findings could lead to good practice examples to inform the future trajectory of social care provision for homeless people.

Living in temporary accommodation (TA) can impact negatively on social and emotional well-being, particularly where it is poor-quality, large-scale, or congregate in nature. None-the-less, the 'avoidance' of TA, where an individual will sleep rough or squat when a bed space is available for their use, often provokes puzzlement on the part of the public, service providers and policy makers. Homeless people who abandon or avoid TA are often viewed as holding beliefs, characteristics or traits that render them unable or unwilling to make choices which prioritise their own well-being. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, and qualitative testimony from those with direct experience of TA in Belfast, this article challenges these perspectives, arguing that the avoidance of TA is better understood as a rational and reasoned response to an environment where intolerable levels of stress often pertain and individual control over stressors is extremely limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study utilizes Australian survey evidence to estimate the heath and justice costs of a cohort of young homeless people. Health and justice costs for young homeless people are highly skewed with median costs well below mean costs. This is particularly true of justice costs resulting from a relatively high proportion of young homeless people having no interaction with the justice system. Having a diagnosed mental health condition is a primary driver of both health and justice costs. Having been homeless or sleeping rough in the previous year is associated with approximately four times mean health and justice costs compared with not having experienced homelessness. High justice costs are associated not only with having a diagnosed mental health condition homelessness and rough sleeping, but also a high-risk of dependence on one or more drugs or alcohol, identifying as Indigenous and a history of out-of-home care before the age of 18. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who sleep rough/experience unsheltered homelessness face barriers accessing mainstream healthcare and psychosocial services. The barriers to service access exacerbate poor health, which in turn create additional challenges for rough sleepers to access health and psychosocial services, including stable housing. The study presents descriptive statistics to identify housing outcomes of people working with a Multidisciplinary Model that comprises integrated healthcare and psychosocial support, and qualitative data with clients and service providers to investigate how the Model is experienced and delivered in practice. Fieldwork was conducted between December 2016 and March 2018 with the Multidisciplinary Team operating in Cairns, in the far north of Australia. Qualitative data are drawn from in‐depth interviews with 26 rough sleepers and 33 health and psychosocial service providers from the Multidisciplinary Team and the wider service system. Descriptive statistics show that 67% of clients who were sleeping rough were supported to immediately access stable housing, and at the end of the program, all clients remained housed. The qualitative findings illustrated how integrated healthcare and psychosocial outreach enabled people sleeping rough to overcome barriers they experienced accessing mainstream healthcare and other services. With the benefit of healthcare, people felt sufficiently well to engage with the psychosocial service providers to have their housing and other psychosocial needs addressed. This article demonstrates how individual responsibility for and control over healthcare is not only a matter of the individual, but also a matter requiring systems change and the active provision of resources to cater for the constraints and opportunities present in people's immediate environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst data on statutory homelessness is well recorded in the UK, there is a lack of data on informal homelessness (such as ‘sofa surfing’) and rough sleeping, other than that which relies on partial information and street counts. This paper presents findings from a recent online survey of young people and helps to fill this gap. It found that rates of sofa surfing and rough sleeping among young people were much higher than previously thought. Twenty-six percent of young people (aged 16–25) had slept rough at some point in their life and 35 percent had ‘sofa surfed’ (stayed with friends or family on their floor or sofa because they had nowhere else to go). The paper explores the implications of this for how we conceptualise homelessness. It suggests that homelessness may often be neither cause nor consequence of wider forms of exclusion, but that we may need to explore further the factors that enable some people to move swiftly out of homelessness more easily than others.

50 years since the first screening of the powerful TV drama 'Cathy Come Home', and 30 years after the first homelessness legislation in the UK, this paper reflects on the continued invisibility of women's homelessness in scholarly and policy debate, It argues that homelessness is inherently gendered, yet rarely recognised as such, and that new conceptualisations of homelessness that take account of gender differentials is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been assumed that homelessness is a personal choice. As a choice, homelessness is embedded within debates about deviant behaviours and problematic pathologies. The “homeless person” is either making calculated and immoral choices to be homeless, or they are perceived to be powerless agents who lack the capacity to exercise choices. Rarely has it been adequately explained, however, what choosing homelessness means and how people who are homeless make sense of their choices. The structural and individual circumstances that situate and make choices meaningful require robust consideration. Drawing on ethnographic research with people sleeping rough, this article unpacks and illuminates some of the hidden complexities that underpin choices to be homeless. With an objective of retaining people’s sense for autonomy, the article contributes to the field by arguing that choice can be understood as an expression of agency and a commitment to a “normal” identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contributors to the housing field broadly agree that home is a multi-dimensional concept. Indeed, informed by the proposition that home and housing should not be conflated, the social, psychological and emotional elements of home have been well documented. Home is thought to be subjectively experienced. As such, some have shown that people defined as homeless may not actually feel homeless, but rather experience their accommodation or situation as home. This paper is based on ethnographic research with a group of people sleeping rough in Brisbane, Australia. It argues that their problematic experiences residing in public places, together with their biographies of feeling disconnected from society, underpinned their ideas of home. For people in this study, housing and home were synonymous. The physical structure of a house was important to assume control over their day-to-day lives. Home, however, stood for something beyond housing. Home was constructed as a signifier of normality, and as a commitment to participation in Australian society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within a social justice ethical framework, the use of 'enforcement' measures to prevent people from engaging in 'street activities', such as begging and street drinking, can only be morally justified if such initiatives can be shown to benefit the welfare of the vulnerable 'street users' affected. It may be hypothesized that this is unlikely, and such measures are bound to be regressive in their effects, but in fact evidence from an evaluation conducted in five locations across England suggests otherwise. Drawing on a normative framework which engages with both moral and political philosophy, this paper argues that the motivations and impacts associated with enforcement are more ethically complex, and less punitive, than they may at first appear. It demonstrates that the use of enforcement measures, when accompanied by appropriate support, can in fact lead to beneficial outcomes for some individuals involved in begging or street drinking in some situations. The outcomes for other members of the street population can, however, be very negative, and are highly unpredictable, such that the use of enforcement is always a high-risk strategy, even if ethically justifiable in certain circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A community survey using a structured questionnaire was used with 389 homeless 1 people currently or recently sleeping rough (on the streets)in London.Data were collected on respondents 'histories of homelessness and of substance use,and dependence on the main substance used in the last month was measured.In the month before the interview,83%(324)of the sample had used a drug,36%(139)were dependent on heroin and 25%(97)on alcohol.Sixty-three per cent (244)reported that their drug or alcohol use was one of the reasons they first became homeless,but the majority (80%,310)had used at least one additional drug since then.Overall,drug and alcohol use,injecting,daily use and dependency increased the longer the respon- dents had been homeless.A clear link exists between substance use and homelessness:initiatives to tackle homelessness must simultaneously tackle the drug use of homeless people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a sample of 389 homeless people in London, the characteristics of those who used services for homeless people are presented and the implications for service planning and delivery explored. Staff providing services for this client group need knowledge about drug use and the confidence to work effectively with homeless drug users. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The training of combat troops is oriented at producing high levels of physical fitness and strength. In order to be effective “in the field”, soldiers must be tolerant of deprivations ranging from extremes of temperature through to resilience in the face of “sleeping out” in uncomfortable conditions. This ability to survive is likely to persist into civilian life in terms of both the transformed physical capital on which it depends, and the associated knowledge - including the importance of food and diet - vital for sustenance of the body in times of hardship. I argue that the ex-soldier's resilient body represents a useful point of departure in attempting to account for the disproportionate number of ex-servicemen among the single homeless population, within the context of limited conditions of possibility. This line of enquiry is particularly appropriate within the context of rough sleeping, an experience characterized by surprising continuity with life as a combat soldier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]