Early Americans had little sympathy for the homeless. When not ignored, homeless people were regarded with fear and contempt. Animosity was especially strong toward the homeless mentally ill. The homeless were generally shunted from one community to another due to the prevailing attitude that a community's social responsibility extended only to their resident poor. Homelessness was considered a temporary condition brought on either by unforeseen tragedy or lack of personal diligence. Therefore, homelessness did not become an official concern of public policymakers until after 1930.
Sociologists agree that homelessness involves more than merely not having a roof over one's head. Albeit the lack of a stable residence is an important component of this definition. For people in extreme poverty, the lack of a domicile is a fluctuating phenomenon. Only a small proportion of this segment of the population are homeless for long periods, however. Most succeed in making precarious residential arrangements for extended periods, then find themselves back on the streets again: "A life of extreme poverty is one of extreme vulnerability" (Rossi, 1989, p. 9).
Homelessness implies a broad lack of material and social supports. A person living in temporary shelter is a person who suffers displacement. These people generally cannot receive mail or maintain contact with family and friends. Cherished possessions that link a person to his or her environment are often lost in the shuffle creating an atmosphere of disaffiliation. A loss of identity occurs: "Individuals undergo a number of role changes when they become homeless, going, for example, from prominence to unimportance, productive to unproductive, mainstream to marginated, and independent to dependent" (Koshes, 1992, p. 22).
In a sociological sense, there are various levels of homelessness. Those who are without shelter are different from those who literally live in the s...