Interdependency Model of Homelessness. The Dynamics of Social Disintegration

"The reader emerges from the book well educated on homelessness with facts, tables and graphics that are not available elsewhere. It rewards the committed reader substantially. This is a very scholarly book. . . . His application of structural equation models is exceptional. His use of statistics is admirable and convincing. . . this will be a volume which requires citation. No one will be able to publish in the field without citing Professor Hudson's work." - Dr. Jeffrey Colman Salloway

"The book draws upon a fascinating conceptual orientation, utilizing economic theory, social work theory, as well as drawing upon social infrastructures such as the family, the government, education, the medical industry, and the deviance/criminal justice view. This eclectic merging of views helps to expand one's understanding of homelessness beyond its traditional boundaries. Dr. Hudson is a true scholar, and brings his academic art into analyzing this complex social phenomenon of homelessness. He does not shoot from the hip, or make unsubstantiated, biased statements. . . . He slowly and methodologically draws the reader into understanding the nature of the phenomenon as the data itself describes it. The conclusions that are achieved are those that logically derive from the analysis." - Dr. Yvonne M. Vissing

Table of Contents:

Figures, Table, Foreword by Robert A. Dorwart, Preface

1. Introduction: Theories of Homelessness - an Overview; A Social Interdependency Model; Plan of the Book

2. Dimensions and Context of Homelessness: Counting the Homeless; Geographic Distribution; Subgroups; Patterns; Tests of the Demographic Model

3. The Disability Hypothesis: Poor Education as a Social Disability; Marginal Employment Histories; Mental Illness; Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Physical Health Problems; Criminal Involvements; Multiple Disabilities; Disabilities as a Cause of Homelessness

4. Role of Economic Restructuring: Economic Restructuring; Impact on At-Risk Populations; Employment Studies of Homeless Persons; Causal Connection; Analysis of the Role of Economic Restructuring

5. Primary Supports - Family and Community: Trends in Marriage and Family; Overall Findings and Their Interpretation; Loss and Dysfunction in the Family of Origin; Disengagement and Support from the Family of Procreation; Isolation from Friends; Test of the Impact of Family Fragmentation

6. Secondary Supports - Human Service and Income Maintenance Programs: The Impact of Declines in Income Maintenance Benefits; Mental Health Services and Deinstitutionalization; Impact of Deinstitutionalization on the Homeless; Substance Abuse Programs; Other Mainstream Human Services; Theories on the Effects of Services; Services Specific to the Homeless; Multivariate and Structural Analyses

7. Housing Unaffordability - Cause or Symptom?: Low Income Housing Shortage; Causes of the Affordability Crisis; Reported Housing Experience of Homeless Persons; Multivariate Analyses of the Impact of Housing Conditions; Structural Analysis

8. In Interdependency Model of Social Disintegration: Review of Methodologies Used; The Explanatory Model; The Prediction Model; Model Fit and Testing; 1995 Model Projections; Interdependency Model Revisited

9. Strategies for Ending Homelessness: A Review of Current and Proposed Strategies; Linked Social Development Strategy (Competency Building Component, Community Building Component, Linkage Component); Concluding comments

Appendices: Data and Research Strategy; Statistics on Goodness of Fit Indices for Structural Models; Nonlinear Relationships of Service Indicators with Rates of Homelessness

Reference and Index.