Pathways out of Homelessness in Los Angeles and Tokyo: Multilevel Contexts of Limited Mobility amid Advanced Urban Marginality

Abstract

The widespread entrenchment of gaping urban inequality has aroused concern about how economic, demographic and (neoliberal) ideological globalization interacts with local conditions to shape its magnitude, manifestations and experiences. This article explores how the process of exiting homelessness is affected by an interaction of social contexts operating at multiple levels, from the global to the individual. I advance and assess a multilevel framework of exiting homelessness by combining comparison of secondary data at multiple social levels and fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis of longitudinal interview data from persons using transitional housing programs in Los Angeles and Tokyo. In the two cities, individual vulnerabilities and acculturation to homelessness are superseded via different pathways out of homelessness. Pathways in Los Angeles rely on social and organizational ties amid a paucity of economic opportunities, whereas pathways in Tokyo use economic resources amid limited ties. Contrary to approaches that emphasize singular contexts driving marginality, I demonstrate differing local impacts of globalization and the important and interacting roles of the state, organizational contexts of social service delivery and cultural dimensions of social capital. This points towards the utility of a new poverty management framework for understanding interventions addressing homelessness as fragmented, contradictory and contingent upon multiple contexts. Résumé Le creusement généralisé de l'inégalité urbaine a suscité un intérêt pour la manière dont la mondialisation économique, démographique et idéologique (néolibérale) en dessine l'ampleur, les manifestations et les expériences en fonction des situations locales. Cet article étudie comment l'état de sans‐abri est affecté par une interaction entre contextes sociaux opérant à différents échelons (du mondial au local). On peut définir et évaluer un cadre multi‐niveaux pour l'état de sans‐abri, en combinant une comparaison de données secondaires à plusieurs niveaux sociaux et une analyse comparative qualitative d'un ensemble flou de données longitudinales tirées d'entretiens avec des personnes participant à un programme de logement provisoire à Los Angeles ou à Tokyo. Dans ces deux villes, les vulnérabilités individuelles et l'acculturation à l'état de sans‐abri sont surmontées via des cheminements de sortie différents. À Los Angeles, ceux‐ci s'appuient sur des liens sociaux et organisationnels face au manque d'opportunités économiques, tandis qu'à Tokyo, ils passent par des ressources économiques face à des liens limités. Contrairement aux approches qui mettent en avant la singularité des contextes conduisant à la marginalité, ce travail montre des impacts locaux différents de la mondialisation, ainsi que l'importance et l'interaction des rôles de l'État, des environnements organisationnels, de la fourniture des services sociaux, et des dimensions culturelles du capital social. Un nouveau cadre de gestion de la pauvreté paraît nécessaire pour ap...

Transitions into and out of homelessness among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting

“…This is consistent with previous research that emphasizes the importance of structural factors for a range of public health concerns (Des Jarlais, 2000, Heimer et al, 2002, Blankenship et al, 2000). The results from this study also converge with previous research on exiting homelessness, which found that recently homeless individuals were able to consistently exit homelessness if they were connected with minimum wage employment and at least one stably housed friend or family member (Marr, 2012). …”

Paths to resettlement: understanding the interplay of work and other factors in journeys out of homelessness

“…Understanding resettlement as a process has led writers to make prominent use of 'pathways' imagery in debates about the explanation of homelessness and resettlement. (See for instance Anderson and Tulloch, 2000;Clapham, 2003;McNaughton, 2008;Ravenhill, 2008;Fopp, 2009;Mallett et al, 2010;Maycock et al, 2011;Marr, 2012;Somerville, 2013;Fitzpatrick et al, 2013;De Decker and Segers, 2014;Raitakari, 2019a). In debates about homelessness, a pathway has been defined as 'the route of an individual or household into homelessness, their experience of homelessness and their route out of homelessness to secure housing' (Anderson and Tulloch, 2000).…”

Social Networks of Homeless People under the Influence of Homeless Self-Sufficiency Support Centres in Japan

“…Subjects such as homelessness among day labourers (Aoki 2003;Gill 2001b;Herbert 2004), the sudden increase of homeless people in the 1990s (Ezawa 2002;Kennett and Iwata 2003;Hasegawa 2005), movements for the rights of homeless people (Klinger 2000;Hasegawa 2006) and also countermeasures (Gill 2005;Marr 2012;Obinger 2009;Mizuuchi 2003) were examined. Research about the social networks of homeless people is rare: the work of Shinichiro Iwata and Karato Koji (2011), who conducted research on the impact of social networks on the geographical concentration of homeless people in Ōsaka city, and of Matthew D. Marr (2012), who did research on different strategies of exiting homelessness in Tōkyō and Miami, represents exceptions. Inazuki Tadashi , who published in Japanese, also deals with social networks of homeless people (2006) and the impact of self-sufficiency support on them (2008).…”