Homelessness: Research, Practice, and Policy

This book provides insights into the experiences of ‘homelessness’, while exploring its psychological and socio-economic dimensions. Hunger, addiction, and disability, which often accompany homelessness, are brought into focus and discussed within the frameworks of promoting social welfare and enabling human capability in this volume.

Based on the author’s ethnographic and quantitative research on homeless families living on the streets of Delhi, this book identifies some of the most acute problems associated with homelessness. It analyzes the causes of homelessness and draws connections between social bonds and family, socio-economic status, and psychopathology. It also includes personal accounts of hardship and trauma which quantify the systematic discrimination and marginalization that people living on the streets face.

The volume offers policy recommendations to protect the right to self-determination, dignity, and self-efficacy of the homeless and help rehabilitate them. It will be a useful guide for students and researchers of social sciences specializing in psychology, sociology, economics, and development studies. The book will also be of interest to mental health professionals and policy-makers in designing effective strategies.

S. P. K. Jena is Professor of Applied Psychology at the University of Delhi. He teaches applied behaviour analysis and clinical psychology. Prior to this, he was head of the Department of Psychology as well as the Director of the Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar (2018–19). Some of his publications are Perspectives in Mental Retardation (2001), Behaviour Therapy: Techniques Research and Applications (2008), and Learning Disability: Theory to Practice (2013), which has also been translated into Hindi. He has also served as Editor of the Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology.