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Sick Enough? Mental Illness and Service Eligibility for Homeless Individuals at the Border

Author

Listed:
  • Curtis Smith

    (Department of Sociology, Bentley University, Waltham, MA 02452, USA)

  • Ernesto Castañeda

    (Department of Sociology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA)

Abstract

This paper measures mental illness among individuals experiencing homelessness in a border city and compares it to the general housed population. We use original data from a homeless survey conducted in El Paso, Texas. Respondents self-reported any possible mental illness or related symptoms. We find that mental illness is not disproportionally common among the homeless, yet this is something that is often claimed by laypersons, some social service workers, and some researchers that limit sampling to institutionalized settings where formal mental illness is often among the prerequisites for admission. We find that “severe mental illness” among homeless persons is 6.2% (only around 2–3% higher than the general population), and “any mental illness” is 20.8% (only 1–3% higher than in the general population). Our results are consistent with other research focusing on street samples.

Suggested Citation

  • Curtis Smith & Ernesto Castañeda, 2020. "Sick Enough? Mental Illness and Service Eligibility for Homeless Individuals at the Border," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-23, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:9:y:2020:i:8:p:145-:d:398945
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric R. Wright & Brandon K. Attell & Erin Ruel, 2017. "Social Support Networks and the Mental Health of Runaway and Homeless Youth," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Stephen Gaetz, 2020. "Making the Prevention of Homelessness a Priority: The Role of Social Innovation," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(2), pages 353-381, March.
    3. Hopper, K. & Shinn, M. & Laska, E. & Meisner, M. & Wanderling, J., 2008. "Estimating numbers of unsheltered homeless people through plant-capture and postcount survey methods," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(8), pages 1438-1442.
    4. Ernesto Castañeda & Casey Chiappetta, 2020. "Border Residents’ Perceptions of Crime and Security in El Paso, Texas," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Patricia M. Chen, 2019. "Housing First and Single-Site Housing," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-10, April.
    6. Elizabeth Golembiewski & Dennis P. Watson & Lisa Robison & John W. Coberg II, 2017. "Social Network Decay as Potential Recovery from Homelessness: A Mixed Methods Study in Housing First Programming," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Gustavo Aviña Cerecer, 2020. "The Dispossessed of Necropolitics on the San Diego-Tijuana Border," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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