4. Homelessness/exposure To Violence

Front 1

homeless young adults
-40 kids aged 19-21 in midwest
-qualitative interviews to assess pathways to homelessness

Back 1

family backgrounds
-substance abuse
-maltreatment (95% any form, 77% physical, 33% sexual)
-witnessing violence

-had not grown up homeless
-almost all reporting some form of maltreatment
-transition to homelessness is not only poverty
-majority said they left to escape the abuse
-out of 40, 7 were thrown out

Front 2

alot of bouncing around, intermittently homeless

Back 2

-kids going into self-destructive patterns--> juvenile detention & drug rehab, not stabilizing when they come out
-homeless: frequent transitions

Front 3

outcomes of these numerous transitions

Back 3

sample not well equipped for early independence
-sporadic, unstable support networks
-educational disruption, often haven't graduated HS
-unemployed or in part-time low wage jobs

-changing where they live frequently-->unstable support networks
-not making enough $ to support themselves

Front 4

homeless veterans: childhood predictors
-1161 homeless vets

Back 4

retrospective reports on their childhoods
-40% child abuse
-33% conduct disorder
-over 50% family instability

one year after enrollment in HUD supportive housing program, these factors did not predict housing outcomes: history of childhood abuse did predict lower social support and lower self-reported quality of life

Front 5

predictors of repeated runaway & homeless episodes
-179 substance abusing adolescents aged 12-17 recruited from a runaway shelter

Back 5

64% had at least one repeat episode in the next 2 years
-predictors of repeat episodes: lower levels of family cohesion, increasing levels of substance abuse (over the time of the study)
-NOT predictors: delinquency, school enrollment, depression, family conflict

*there are certain risk factors that are more important than others

Front 6

what predicts close family ties among the young, newly homeless?
-325 newly homeless adolescents aged 12-20

Back 6

positive predictors of family bonds a year later:
-child-fewer and decreasing problem bx (and fewer to start)
-family: child perception of more emotional and financial support

*identifying youth at the greatest risk might shed light on ways to intervene

*had to be homeless by choice, not kicked out, no major mental illness

Front 7

people serving people

Back 7

lots of services to help:
-childcare important: help moms have more time on their own, lower stress, able to work

Front 8

childhood violence exposure (including witnessed and being the victim) & sexual risk
-177 low income African american girls aged 12-16 followed for 2 years

Back 8

-exposure to violence before age 12 predicted early sexual experience, inconsistent condom use, and number of partners (what might be the pathways to risky bx?)

-public health implications

Front 9

Burundi street children
-112 children mean age 15-19
-exposed to violence domestically, on the street, & homeless

Back 9

assessed cumulative domestic & community violence exposure
-reactive aggression was positively related to PTSD
-appetitive aggression negatively related to severity of PTSD symptoms and related to more violent bx (better mental health even though aggressive)

-appetitive perception of violence may be a useful adaptation to insecure and violent living conditions

*appetitive: see violence as a good thing, find it appeal
reactive-survival mechanism

Front 10

witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV)
-African americans who witnessed IPV as low income youth

Back 10

-loss of safety, feelings of helplessness, growing up quickly, issues in adolescence (violence in own dating relationships, risky bx)

-qualitatively, attributed resiliency and tenacity to these negative experiences

*possible mechanism: devaluing your own safety