Mental illness and homelessness in Detroit: Research and case studies.

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study of homeless guests in four temporary shelter agencies in Detroit. Quantitative results as well as case studies are presented. Results suggest that the homeless population in Detroit is quite diverse but is a multiproblem population that frequently has difficulties with mental and physical health, employment, substance abuse, interpersonal relationships, and victimization. The authors conclude that a comprehensive and coordinated effort is needed by a wide range of service providers to address the needs of this group.Homelessness in America has received increasing media and research attention in recent years. Much of this attention has focused on the extent of mental illness in the homeless population, addressing the allegation that deinstitutionalization policies have substantially contributed to the larger number of homeless persons in recent years. However, the extent of psychiatric symptoms and chronic mental illness in the homeless is far from well established. In published research studies, the percentages reported for homeless persons with backgrounds of psychiatric hospitalization range from 5% to 95% and for having mental illness from 21% to 84% (Mowbray, 1985).Although it is somewhat limited, research indicates that the homeless may suffer from substantial health problems (Green, 1985; Nobel, Scott, Cavicci, & Robinson, 1985;McBride & Mulcare, 1985). Perhaps unfortunately, researchers have given most of their attention to assessing the mental instead of the physical health problems of the homeless. This limited perspective ignores the fact that the two health areas are often intertwined and both may be exacerbated by factors associated with homelessness, such as harsh living circumstances, poverty, and substance abuse (Brickner, 1985;Flynn, 1985). For those concerned with the chronically mentally ill homeless, this is an important area of research.In 1983, the Michigan Department of Mental Health received fundingThis document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

Serving the homeless mentally ill: Mental health linkage

“…Reflecting a national consensus, Rosnow,Shaw, suggest that the homeless mentally ill might respond better to "outside help on their terms." Results from studies of homeless mentally ill persons in Michigan (Mowbray, Johnson, & Solarz, 1987;Mowbray, Solarz, Combs, & Johnson, 1986) are congruent with those summarized above.…”

“…Mental health interventions provided must be correspondingly diverse and flexibly tailored to meet needs, at any point in time, and over time as these needs change (Roth & Bean, 1986). and/or lack of income supports (Mowbray et al, 1986). In order to have any real effects on mental health, interventions must also address all of these problem areas through integration with other community services.…”

Research on Homelessness: An Introduction

“…Fischer et al (1986) Johnson and Kreuger (1989) Kroll et al (1986) McChesney (1987) Morse and Calsyn (1986) Mowbray et al (1986) Rossi, Wright, Fisher, and Willis (1987) Roth, Bean, and Hyde (1986) Snow, Baker, Anderson, and Martin (1986) 193 Bassuk and Rosenberg (1988); Bassuk, Rubin, and Johnson and Krueger (1 989) Mills and Ota (1989) Weitzman, Shinn, and Knickman (1989) Studies of adults in families 80 Shelter users in Lauriat (1986) Massachusetts 176 the differences as the cause of the problem, and setting up humanitarian programs to correct the differences (Ryan, 1971, p. 8). Efforts to identify the health and social problems of homeless persons have distracted us from studying and countering the growth of poverty, the erosion of welfare benefits, the destruction of low-income housing ,and other contributors to homelessness that are not characteristics of individual victims.…”

“…Members of a social network might offer instrumental support to find or maintain housing or emotional support to bolster coping resources. Several studies have found that homeless people often lack social ties, especially close ties with relatives (Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988; Bassuk et al, 1986; Grigsby, Baumann, Gregorich, & Roberts-Gray, this issue; McChesney, 1987; Mowbray et al, 1986; Rossi et al, 1987;Sosin et al, 1988).…”

When social support fails: The homeless

“…We can still say that most of the homeless are single (Bassuk et al, 1984;Bassuk, Rubin, & Lauriat, 1986;Burt & Cohen, 1988;Fischer, Shapiro, Breakey, Anthony, & Kramer, 1986;Kroll, Carey, Hagedorn, Fire Dog, & Benavides, 1986;Mowbray, Solarz, Johnson, Phillips-Smith, & Combs, 1986;Robertson, Ropers, & Boyer, 1985), although this is somewhat less true for women than for men (Crystal, 1984), and that they are isolated from their families: It is estimated that either one-third (Fischer, 1984), one-half (Cohen & Sokolovsky, 1983), or three-quarters (Bassuk et al, 1984) of the homeless have no family contact. Also, about one-quarter had no friends to provide support (Bassuk et al, 1984;Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988), two-thirds had no confiding relationships (Fischer, 1984), and less than half had weekly contact with a friend (Mowbray et al, 1986). Bassuk and Rosenberg (1988) found that the networks of homeless mothers were smaller and more fragmented than those of domiciled mothers.…”