Homelessness as psychological trauma: Broadening perspectives.

Abstract

Most mental health literature on homelessness has focused on characteristics that may be risk factors for homelessness. The authors of this article argue that homelessness itself is a risk factor for emotional disorder and use the construct of psychological trauma--focusing on social disaffiliation and learned helplessness--to understand the potential effects of homelessness. Psychological trauma is likely among homeless individuals and families for three reasons. (a) The sudden or gradual loss of one's home can be a stressor of sufficient severity to produce symptoms of psychological trauma. (b) The conditions of shelter life may produce trauma symptoms. (c) Many homeless people--particularly women--become homeless after experiencing physical and sexual abuse and consequent psychological trauma. Research suggests that negative psychological responses to traumatic events can be prevented or mitigated by a supportive and empowering posttrauma environment. The implications of trauma theory for improving the psychosocial conditions of homeless people are discussed.

A Risk‐Amplification Model of Victimization and Depressive Symptoms Among Runaway and Homeless Adolescents

“…The psychological impact of unprotected living has been documented for adults (Goodman, Saxe, & Harvey, 1991) but not for adolescents. The anxiety of precocious independence, coupled with the exposure to often exploitive deviant peers, high-risk behaviors, and physical victimization exacts an enormous psychological toll.…”

Mental disorder, subsistence strategies, and victimization among gay, lesbian, and bisexual homeless and runaway adolescents

“…These assumptions, in turn, were derived from a stress interpretation of homelessness. Goodman and colleagues use trauma theory to explain the psychological stress experienced by adults who become homeless (Goodman, Saxe, & Harvey, 1991). They suggest that experiencing homelessness is traumatic for adults in three ways.…”

To the Edge of the Urban Landscape: Homelessness and the Politics of Care

“…17 Alcohol and drug abuse is very frequent, partly as a consequence of their destitute situation. 18 Among street youth there is a high rate of unplanned pregnancy and HIV infection 19 and they are more likely to be socially isolated 20 and to attempt suicide. 21 Even if one tries to re-describe a recognition of difference in a moral language that seems more fitting, namely, tolerance, the same problem reappears.…”