Editors’ Introduction: Homelessness and substance abuse in the 1990s

Development and initial demonstration of a community-based intervention for homeless, cocaine-using, African-American Women

“…Even when clients receive intensive residential treatment with comprehensive services, clients are unlikely to remain abstinent if they return to the same social and environmental conditions that contributed to their addiction. As we have suggested elsewhere (Penn, Stahler, Shipley, Comfort, & Weinberg, 1993;Stahler & Cohen, 1995;Stahler et al, 1997), treating homeless substance abusing women may require building strong community supports that not only focus on the maintenance of sobriety, but also address the social isolation, tangible needs, and alienation from the community. This may be particularly important for women, because they are likely to have fewer resources and be more socially isolated than men (Boyd & Mieczkowski, 1990;Inciardi, Lockwood, & Pottieger, 1993).…”

“…We suspect that one of the critical elements in the maintenance of sobriety and abstinence for women who undergo residential treatment for cocaine use is some form of aftercare and continuing support to help reintegrate the client into a community which provides support for continuing abstinence and a prosocial lifestyle (Penn et al, 1993;Stahler & Cohen, 1995;Stahler et al, 1997). Forging ties with the natural helping networks in the community may provide social reinforcement for prosocial and abstinent behaviors established during treatment (Meyers & Miller, 2001).…”

Understanding homelessness, mental health and substance abuse through a mixed-methods longitudinal approach

“…Homelessness and substance abuse have long been studied as intertwined conditions that are diffi cult to sort out and treat (Devine & Wright, 1997;Skinner, 2005;Stahler & Cohen, 1995). Relatively few large data sets have been collected and analyzed on homelessness, substance abuse, and their interactions.…”

A Comparison of Need within a Social Business Model: Residentially Stable and Residentially Unstable Substance Abusers

“…Thus, a gap exists between a chronic disease and acute treatment, and there are many threats to client sobriety upon discharge. Among these, homelessness and other forms of residential instability are particularly menacing and much research exists demonstrating a strong relationship between substance abuse and homelessness (McKeown, 2007 [7]; Anderson, Shannon, Schyb, & Goldstein, 2002 [8]; Devine & Wright, 1997 [9]; Stahler & Cohen, 1995 [10]). Also, residential instability and homelessness among addicts are related to a variety of negative recovery outcomes.…”