ations included the operational definitions used, which led to unclear findings.
The following is a review of the literature relevant to the proposed topic regarding the relationships between self-concealment, help-seeking behaviors, and incidence of domestic violence homeless victims, to include: homelessness characteristics, domestic violence, and self-concealment and help-seeking behaviors.
Toro, Bellavia, Daeschler, Owens, Wall, Passero, and Thomas (1995) conducted the most recent study found, regarding the characteristics of the homeless. For their study, a sample of 144 adults, randomly sampled from different homeless and housed poor sites were investigated. Findings showed that the homeless group were: more likely to have a DSM-III diagnosis of substance abuse higher levels of psychological distress as self-related, more likely to be domestic violence victims, more likely to have been physically abused as children, and less likely to be receiving public benefits (p. 280).
The authors note that in their review of over 50 studies regarding the homeless, in the last ten years, most were cross-sectional survey studies focused on describing the homeless population. Most have found high rates of mental illness and substance abuse, criminal behavior, and health problems. Methodological limitations of these studies include a lack of appropriate comparison groups of non-homeless individuals. Those studies that do compare homeless to others tend to find the homeless to be a more deviant population. The authors concl
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