Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Dynamics of Family Homelessness

在过去的20年里，为无家可归者提供服务的组织和服务提供商注意到了他们客户的变化：越来越多的整个家庭都在寻找睡觉的地方。现有的研究很少告诉我们无家可归家庭的生活，以及人们试图通过工作回到稳定的住房的过程。这项博士论文研究首先假设，无家可归是家庭为忍受贫困而进行的更广泛斗争的一部分，社会网络和社区动态是这一战略的重要组成部分。该项目涉及对家庭无家可归、人口普查数据和政策档案的纵向研究，以考察(1)种族、阶级、性别和地方政策如何影响网络，(2)无家可归家庭的父母如何操纵和重组其网络，以谈判结构安排，以及(3)随着时间的推移，上述两项如何影响网络对社会福祉的作用。该项目的结果将具有重大的科学和政策影响。首先，它们将增加我们对无家可归现象的理解，而不仅仅是它的开始。其次，它们将推动努力发展关于结构和网络如何运作的更具活力的概念。最后，结果将告诉我们目前在联邦一级实施的无家可归者政策的影响。

In the last twenty years, organizations and service providers that cater to the homeless have noted a change in their clientele: Increasingly, entire families are looking for places to sleep. Extant research tells us little about the lives of homeless families and the processes by which people attempt to work their way back into stable housing. This doctoral dissertation research begins with the assumptions that homelessness is part of a broader struggle that families engage in to endure poverty, and that social networks and community dynamics are an important part of this strategy. The project involves a longitudinal study of family homelessness, Census data and policy archives to examine (1) how race, class, gender and local policies impact upon networks, (2) how parents of homeless families manipulate and re-structure their networks to negotiate structural arrangements, and (3) how both of the above impact upon the role of networks on social well-being as time goes on. The results of this project will have significant scientific and policy related implications. First, they will increase our understanding of homelessness beyond its mere onset. Second, they will promote efforts to develop more dynamic conceptions of how structures and networks operate. Finally, the results will inform us about the impact of a homeless policy now being implemented at the federal level.