Reasons For Homelessness: An Empirical Typology

We investigated patterns of situational characteristics and service use among youth residing at metropolitan area homeless shelters. One hundred and three youth provided ratings on a five-point scale comprised of 17 reasons for becoming homeless. Cluster analysis yielded five distinct reason typologies: destitute, threatened, pregnant, resistant, and partnered. Demographic, social, and treatment characteristics were analyzed across groups, and a concurrent measure related to the initial clustering variable, a qualitative assessment of reasons for seeking services, was used to validate typologies. Distributions of demographic, social, and service characteristics lend tentative support to the typologies and suggest areas of unmet need.