Community and Urban Sociology

The Dynamics of Homelessness: Research and Policy

Edited by Barrett A. Lee, Marybeth Shinn, and Dennis P. Culhane

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (693; January 2021)

Contrary to popular perceptions of homelessness as static and enduring, this volume of The ANNALS provides a more nuanced view. Its 16 core articles employ innovative research designs and multiple types of over-time data to 1) analyze changes in homeless populations and the people experiencing homelessness; 2) examine factors leading to episodes of homelessness; and 3) evaluate interventions intended to end homelessness and to help individuals and families thrive. Contributors to the volume illuminate the dynamic nature of the phenomenon, both at the micro level (where people enter, pass through, and exit homelessness on different trajectories) and at the macro level (where shifting structural forces and public policies influence the scale of the problem and whom it affects).

Editors Barry Lee, Beth Shinn, and Dennis Culhane have assembled a set of contemporary studies that are informed by diverse disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches. Taken together, these studies advance social scientific understanding of homelessness while suggesting how the problem might be more effectively addressed. Thus, they should be of interest to policy makers and practitioners as well as scholars.

For additional details about the volume, please see the attached PDF. The volume’s contents can also be downloaded for free by clicking on its title above. This period of open access runs from May 15 through June 30, 2021.