Social Work with the Traumatized Homeless

Social work was the first profession to focus on homelessness, and as professionals, social workers are well aware of the comorbidity of homelessness and trauma. During the past three decades, there has been significant research on the antecedents and consequences of homelessness in the United States. Much of this research explores homelessness in the context of various population groups, as well as causal relationships such as mental health problems, substance abuse problems, poverty, lack of affordable housing, job loss, and the like. The issue of trauma often emerges as being significantly related to factors associated with homelessness such as those just mentioned. Whether due to instances of domestic violence, is as the case with many women who experience homelessness, childhood trauma experiences, posttraumatic stress in ...