Homelessness refers to a situation in which individuals or families, temporarily or long-term, live in inadequate housing. “Literal” or primary homelessness is experienced by those who live in the open spaces (on the street, in parks, under bridges), in cars, in abandoned buildings, or homeless shelters. The secondary type of homelessness is experienced by those who live in grossly substandard housing, usually in slums or shantytowns. In developed countries, people who live in encampments with makeshift shelters are mostly counted as being in a state of primary homelessness. Researchers of homelessness have focus on several key aspects of homelessness: 1) the absolute number of homelessness in a country or region, 2) geographical distribution of homelessness, 3) demographic characteristics of the homeless population – race, ethnicity, age, gender, and education levels 4) prevalence of certain medical conditions in homeless population - mental illnesses, physical and mental disabilities, alcohol and drug abuse, etc, 5) explanations for the homelessness, structural and individual, 6) duration of the homelessness – what percentage of homeless population is in that situation for the short duration comparing to those who are permanently homelessness, 7) familial and other social connections of the homeless individuals, 8) daily life and short and long-term strategies of survival of homeless individuals, 8) macroscopic trends in homelessness, 9) solutions for the problem of homelessness.

While absolute numbers and the percentage of the homeless population greatly vary across countries, in most of them, homelessness is more pronounced in big cities. Some trends in demographic characteristics of the homeless population are: they are mostly male, with a lower level of education, and they are proportionally more often from discriminated groups, races, and ethnicities. Some research showed that in modern times, there has been an increase in the share of younger people in the homeless population. The prevalence of mental illnesses, physical and mental disabilities, alcohol and drug abuse is more pronounced in homeless individuals than in the population as a whole.

The two main types of explanations are structural and individual (biographical). There are several structural factors for homelessness, and they most often, reinforce the influence each other: 1) decline in the availability of affordable housing; 2) increase in the population in poverty; 3) industrialization and urbanization have been one of the main causes for the homelessness in the period between two World Wars, while, since 1980s deindustrialization has become a major factor; 4) decline in marriages and family size; 5) deinstitutionalization of mental health care; 6) systemic shocks such as wars and economic depressions; 7) declining wages; 8) large veteran population (in USA).

Nels Anderson's book, The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man  (1923), which focused on the homeless population in Chicago, was the product of participatory studies, as the author spent a lot of time on the street with the homeless themself. Anderson concluded that the period of industrial development that spread from the east to the west of the USA caused the need for occasional and seasonal work, which led to an increase in homelessness because this type of work was neither safe nor sufficient for a normal life. Anderson discovered that homeless people have different economic and ethnic backgrounds and that the reasons for falling into a state of homelessness are different. What unites them is the distrust towards all institutions, organizations, and people who have power, which was, in part, justified.

References:

Anderson N. The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man (1923);

Park. The City: Suggestions for the Study of Human Nature in the Urban Environment (1925);

Sutherland. Twenty Thousand Homeless Men (1936).