IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v39y1993i4p237-254.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Homeless Mentally Ill: Myths and Realities

Author

Listed:
  • Walid Abdul Hamid

    (The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, England)

  • Til Wykes

    (Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF)

  • Stephen Stansfeld

    (Social and Community Psychiatry, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex CM20 1QX)

Abstract

This literature review summarises the historical background of homelessness. It suggests that the current view of homeless people as chronic mentally ill is the latest phase in a series of the different ways in which society has perceived and labelled the homeless. We have argued that homelessness is a product of the lack of housing provision to the poorest section of society and that the psychiatric needs of many of the homeless might be a direct result of poverty and homelessness. This review also highlights difficulties in interpreting data produced by surveys of homeless people. These difficulties include the multiple definitions of homelessness used and also the major methodological errors which limit the usefulness of their findings. In particular sampling methods used may have overestimated the more visible part of the homeless population, overestimating the levels of psychiatric morbidity. Even if these limitations are ignored the data produced by these studies do not allow planning of effective mental health services for homeless people as their results depend mainly on diagnostic classification rather than disability or need. What is required is a study of needs where the appropriateness of particular services is defined, the sampling method is explicit and the definitions of homelessness are precise and consistent.

Suggested Citation

  • Walid Abdul Hamid & Til Wykes & Stephen Stansfeld, 1993. "The Homeless Mentally Ill: Myths and Realities," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 39(4), pages 237-254, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:39:y:1993:i:4:p:237-254
    DOI: 10.1177/002076409303900401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002076409303900401
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/002076409303900401?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fischer, P.J. & Shapiro, S. & Breakey, W.R. & Anthony, J.C. & Kramer, M., 1986. "Mental health and social characteristics of the homeless: A survey of mission users," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 76(5), pages 519-524.
    2. Whitley, Marilyn Peddicord & Osborne, Oliver H. & Godfrey, Mary Ann & Johnston, Karen, 1985. "A point prevalence study of alcoholism and mental illness among downtown migrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 579-583, January.
    3. Leona L. Bachrach, 1992. "The Urban Environment and Mental Health," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 38(1), pages 5-15, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alyssa Tate & Kaéla Edwards & Nichole Holmes & Steven Buffer & Zachary Fusfeld & Willie Baronet & Rosemary Frasso, 2022. "‘Even a smile helps’: Exploring the interactions between people experiencing homelessness and passersby in public spaces," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(3), pages 525-532, May.
    2. Walid Khalid Abdul-Hamid & Kamaldeep Bhui, 2014. "Psychiatry, homeless patients and welfare reforms: Historical links and chains," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(1), pages 71-74, February.
    3. Kamaldeep Bhui & Lisa Shanahan & Geoff Harding, 2006. "Homelessness and Mental Illness: A Literature Review and a Qualitative Study of Perceptions of the Adequacy of Care," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 52(2), pages 152-165, March.
    4. Guru S Gowda & G Gopika & Narayana Manjunatha & Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar & Ravi Yadav & Dwarakanath Srinivas & Bharath Rose Dawn & Suresh Bada Math, 2017. "Sociodemographic and clinical profiles of homeless mentally ill admitted in mental health institute of South India: ‘Know the Unknown’ project," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(6), pages 525-531, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Christopher Thomas & Guzman, David & Ponath, Claudia & Tieu, Lina & Riley, Elise & Kushel, Margot, 2016. "Residential patterns in older homeless adults: Results of a cluster analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 131-140.
    2. M. Audrey Burnam & Paul Koegel, 1988. "Methodology for Obtaining a Representative Sample of Homeless Persons," Evaluation Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 117-152, April.
    3. Pykett, Jessica & Campbell, Niyah & Fenton, Sarah-Jane & Gagen, Elizabeth & Lavis, Anna & Newbigging, Karen & Parkin, Verity & Williams, Jessy, 2023. "Urban precarity and youth mental health: An interpretive scoping review of emerging approaches," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    4. Daphne C. Hernandez & Sajeevika S. Daundasekara & Michael J. Zvolensky & Lorraine R. Reitzel & Diane Santa Maria & Adam C. Alexander & Darla E. Kendzor & Michael S. Businelle, 2020. "Urban Stress Indirectly Influences Psychological Symptoms through Its Association with Distress Tolerance and Perceived Social Support among Adults Experiencing Homelessness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Jeffrey Stovall & Joseph Flaherty, 1994. "Homeless Women, Disaffiliation and Social Agencies," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 40(2), pages 135-140, June.
    6. Berthold P.R. Gersons & Wouter van de Graaf & Rally Rijkschroeff & Flip Schrameijer, 1992. "The Mental Health Care Transformation Process: the Amsterdam Experience," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 38(1), pages 50-58, March.
    7. Allgood, Sam & Moore, Myra L. & Warren, Ronald Jr., 1997. "The Duration of Sheltered Homelessness in a Small City," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 60-80, March.
    8. Tobin, Karin E. & Winiker, Abigail & Moran, Marybeth & Felsher, Marisa & Owczarzak, Jill, 2023. "No one runs alone: Combining community-based program evaluation with photo elicitation interviewing among people experiencing homelessness," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Paraskevi Chondraki & Michael G Madianos & Elena Dragioti & George N Papadimitriou, 2014. "Homeless mentally ill in Athens area: A cross-sectional study on unmet needs and help-seeking," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(6), pages 544-553, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:39:y:1993:i:4:p:237-254. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.