Marybeth Shinn

Predictors of homelessness among families in New York City: from shelter request to housing stability.

OBJECTIVES This study examined predictors of entry into shelter and subsequent housing stability for a cohort of families receiving public assistance in New York City. METHODS Interviews were conducted with 266 families as they requested shelter and with a comparison sample of 298 families selected at random from the welfare caseload. Respondents were reinterviewed 5 years later. Families with prior history of shelter use were excluded from the follow-up study. RESULTS Demographic characteristics and housing conditions were the most important risk factors for shelter entry; enduring poverty and disruptive social experiences also contributed. Five years later, four fifths of sheltered families had their own apartment. Receipt of subsidized housing was the primary predictor of housing stability among formerly homeless families (odds ratio [OR] = 20.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.9, 42.9). CONCLUSIONS Housing subsidies are critical to ending homelessness among families.

Social relationships and vulnerability to becoming homeless among poor families.

This study compares social relationships of 677 mothers in families requesting shelter with those of 495 mothers in housed families, randomly selected from the public assistance caseload in New York City. As hypothesized, women seeking shelter had experienced higher levels of a variety of childhood and adult events indicative of disruptions in social relationships. Contrary to our hypothesis, they were more likely than were housed mothers to have had recent contact with parents, other relatives, and friends, although they felt less able to draw on these resources for help with their current housing needs. More than three fourths of families seeking shelter had already stayed with members of their social network in the past year. The data suggest that they had used up potential sources of support before turning to public shelter.

The Impact of Homelessness on Children.

: This article reviews and critiques community-based research on the effects of homelessness on children. Homeless children confront serious threats to their ability to succeed and their future well-being. Of particular concern are health problems, hunger, poor nutrition, developmental delays, anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and educational underachievement. Factors that may mediate the observed outcomes include inadequate shelter conditions, instability in residences and shelters, inadequate services, and barriers to accessing services that are available. Public policy initiatives are needed to meet the needs of homeless children.

Father absence and children's cognitive development.

Reviews literature showing detrimental effects of father absence on childrens cognitive development as assessed by standardized IQ and achievement tests and school performance. Differential effects associated with characteristics of the absence (cause, duration, onset), the child (age, sex, race, socioeconomic status), and the skill tested (quantitative, verbal) are examined. The evidence suggests that financial hardship, high levels of anxiety, and, in particular, low levels of parent-child interaction are causes of poor performance among children in single-parent families; sex role identification, however, does not play an important role. An alternative hypothesis concerns the representativeness of father-absent families. The mothers ability to compensate for loss of the father is also considered. (77 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1978 American Psychological Association.

Gender differences in coping and social supports: Testing socialization and role constraint theories

Two theories have been advanced to explain gender differences in coping. Socialization theory states that women are socialized into using less effective coping strategies than men. Role constraint theory affirms that no gender differences in coping exist when men and women occupy the same roles. Three studies, where the roles occupied by women and men were the same, were conducted to test the theories. Two of them also compared role constraint and socialization theories for social support. The results for coping did not support the socialization theory and partially supported the role constraint theory. With one exception, men and women did not differ in the ways they coped with similar role stressors. The results for social support indicated that women reported using more support than men in similar role situations. These findings suggest that higher levels of psychological disturbance among women cannot be attributed to their coping styles independent of their social roles.

School mobility and student achievement in an urban setting

Many studies show negative relationships between school or geographic mobility and school achievement. However, two longitudinal studies show no relationship between mobility and subsequent achievement when prior achievement is controlled. The present study replicates both findings among 764 sixth-grade students in a mobile school district in New York City, with mobility defined by school changes, achievement assessed with standardized tests and age - grade progress, and eligibility for free or reduced price lunches (an economic indicator) controlled. Total mobility was related to sixth-grade achievement when earlier achievement was not controlled, but mobility after third grade was not related to sixth-grade achievement when third-grade achievement was controlled. Some authors suggest that a third variable, such as family background, accounts for both mobility and achievement. We provide evidence for a different explanation. Early mobility (prior to third grade) was a more potent predictor of sixth-grade achievement than later mobility.

Promoting the well-being of working parents: Coping, social support, and flexible job schedules

The associations of individual coping efforts, social support from four sources, and flexibility of job schedules with the well-being of working parents were examined. Full-time employees with children were sampled from eight firms and state agencies that varied in the flexibility they allowed in scheduling job hours. The 644 respondents, who completed a self administered questionnaire at their work sites, included 208 married fathers, 287 married mothers, and 149 single mothers. Individual coping was the most powerful predictor of outcomes, with problem-focused coping associated with positive outcomes and emotion-focused coping associated with negative outcomes. The generally weaker effects of social support varried according to both the donor of support and the outcome domain. Perceived flexibility in scheduling was weakly related to outcomes, but formal flexitime programs were unrelated.

Social integration and social support: Moving “social support” beyond the individual level

Despite the extra-individual nature of social relationships, social support and social networks have been treated by and large as individual-level concepts. This article describes some of the forms that an individualistic bias takes in our current approaches to conceptualization and measurement of social support and social networks and suggests three steps towards an extra-individual treatment of these concepts: (1) expand notions of social support to encompass social integration; (2) examine the role of groups and settings as social network “members”; and (3) explore functional and structural characteristics of social networks as independent and dependent measures.

Mother-child separations among homeless and housed families receiving public assistance in New York city.

We examined the incidence, characteristics, and predictors of separations of children from mothers in 543 poor families receiving public assistance, 251 of whom had experienced homelessness during the previous 5 years. Forty-four percent of the homeless mothers and 8% of housed mothers were separated from one or more children. A total of 249 children were separated from 110 homeless families and 34 children from 23 housed families. Children were placed with relatives and in foster care but were rarely returned to their mothers. Maternal drug dependence, domestic violence, and institutionalization predicted separations, but homelessness was the most important predictor, equivalent in size to 1.9 other risk factors. We infer that policies regarding child welfare and substance abuse treatment should be changed to reduce unnecessary placements. Studies of homeless children who remain with families may be biased if separated children are excluded.

Homelessness: What Is a Psychologist to Do?

Contrasts person-centered and structural explanations for homelessness. Methodological problems in studies of homeless people tend to exaggerate the role of individual deficits as causes of homelessness. A review of data on the distribution of poverty and of inadequate and unaffordable housing, with special emphasis on families, suggests the importance of structural causes. Data from 700 families requesting shelter and 524 families randomly drawn from the public assistance case load in New York City provide more support for a structural than for an individual deficit model. Individual demographic factors are also important. Implications are drawn for research and action by psychologists.