Bassuk E L, Rosenberg L
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School.
Am J Public Health. 1988 Jul;78(7):783-8. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.7.783.
We compared 49 homeless female-headed families with 81 housed female-headed families in Boston. Most housed families were living in public or private subsidized housing. In both groups the mothers were poor, currently single, had little work experience, and had been on welfare for long periods. Many of their children had serious developmental and emotional problems. Homeless mothers had more frequently been abused as children and battered as adults and their support networks were fragmented; the housed mothers had female relatives and extended family living nearby whom they saw often. The frequency of drug, alcohol, and serious psychiatric problems was greater among the homeless mothers. The homeless mothers may have been more vulnerable to the current housing shortage because they lacked support in time of need. This, in turn, may have been due to their history of family violence. Psychiatric disabilities may have been another contributing factor in the minority of homeless women. The notion that a "culture of poverty" accounts for homelessness was not supported by the data since the homeless were less likely to have grown up in families on welfare. The data suggest that solutions to family homelessness in the current housing market require an increase in the supply of decent affordable housing, income maintenance, and assistance from social welfare agencies focused on rebuilding supportive relationships.
我们将波士顿的49个由女性当家的无家可归家庭与81个有住所的由女性当家的家庭进行了比较。大多数有住所的家庭居住在公共或私人补贴住房中。两组家庭中的母亲都很贫困，目前单身，几乎没有工作经验，并且长期领取福利救济。她们的许多孩子都有严重的发育和情感问题。无家可归的母亲在童年时更频繁地遭受虐待，成年后遭受殴打，她们的支持网络支离破碎；有住所的母亲有女性亲属和大家庭住在附近，她们经常见面。无家可归的母亲中药物、酒精和严重精神问题的发生率更高。无家可归的母亲可能更容易受到当前住房短缺的影响，因为她们在需要时缺乏支持。反过来，这可能是由于她们的家庭暴力史。精神残疾可能是少数无家可归女性的另一个促成因素。“贫困文化”导致无家可归的观点并未得到数据支持，因为无家可归者在福利家庭中长大的可能性较小。数据表明，在当前住房市场中解决家庭无家可归问题需要增加体面的经济适用房供应、维持收入，并得到专注于重建支持性关系的社会福利机构的援助。
