Although social networks are essential for explaining protective and risk factors among homeless youth, little is known about the formation and composition of these groups. In this study, we utilized 19 in-depth interviews with homeless youth to investigate their social network formation, role relationships, housing status, and network member…

This article aims to contribute to understandings of youth homelessness and subjectivity by analysing identity construction in terms of young people's negotiation of the structural and institutional environment of youth homelessness. I suggest that while existing literature on this topic concentrates mainly on micro-social encounters, the…

This article examines the experiences homeless youth face and the influence of social networks on their education. Using a social capital framework, we analyze the experiences that are different for poor youth in general and those homeless. Data used include interviews with 123 homeless youth and more than 40 policymakers, school counselors, and…

Previous research documents that street-involved youth experience rates of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that are significantly higher than their housed counterparts. Trauma and PTSD are of particular concern for homeless youth as they can negatively affect youths' ability to function adaptively and to transition off the streets.…

This article reports on interview data gathered from 27 young people involved with a street-level service for young people considered "at risk" of diagnosis of personality disorder. Interviews with a self-selecting sample of young people explored the events that led to their initial contact with the service. Using Silverman's twin-track…

This qualitative study examined the meanings ascribed to the construct "home" by 208 youths defined by mainstream society as "homeless". Youth narratives on the topic of home ranged across a continuum with home as state at one end (i.e., home is a state of mind, comprised of one's friends) and home as place at the other (i.e.,…

Substance use is highly prevalent among homeless, street-involved young people. Societal estrangement is often associated with substance use, particularly among this population. The current study sought to identify four domains of social estrangement (disaffiliation, human capital, identification with homeless culture, and psychological…

There is widespread consensus in the research and policy-related literature over the last decade that young people who have been permanently excluded from school are at a far greater risk of a variety of negative outcomes than young people who have not had this experience. These negative outcomes include prolonged periods out of education and/or…

Economic and demographic changes in rural areas continue to introduce big-city problems in small towns. These communities' ability and willingness to respond are likely to be influenced by the geography, culture, and array of organizations in rural places. But how these characteristics of rural places shape local response is hard to predict and as…

The Youth Pathways Project tracked the life-course trajectories of street-involved young women (n=75) in Toronto over a one-year period. At first contact, 60% of these women had been pregnant, and 29% of those had children. In the interim leading up to the final interview 12 months later, five participants became pregnant and five had given birth.…

Homeless youth face many barriers that limit their ability to complete a high school diploma and transition to postsecondary education. The federal government passed the McKinney-Vento Act over 20 years ago to address issues of access to public education for homeless youth. The most recent reauthorization of the law expanded the definition of…

Three years of outcome data for foster youth (n = 106) discharged from a one-of-kind residential education service are presented. Findings were that 50% of respondents attended college at some point. Youth reported having 2 or 3 jobs a year with at least one bout of unemployment. Most of the non-college bound youth reported working in low-wage…

In the present report we describe patterns of traumatic events and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), both partial and full, among homeless youth and those at risk for homelessness, with an emphasis on gender differences. Participants were 85 homeless and at-risk youth (49% female) recruited from a drop-in center in New York City in 2000.…

Presented in this paper are the results of a qualitative analysis of the narratives of 208 homeless youth interviewed on streets and in agencies in New York City and Toronto. The interviews focused on the participants' stories about their struggles to survive and negotiate meaningful and healthy lives in coming to the streets, living on the…

This qualitative study used data from the Social Enterprise Intervention (SEI) pilot study, a comprehensive vocational training program with integrated clinical services for homeless youth. In-depth interviews were conducted with 28 homeless youth participating in the SEI study to explore their perceptions of family environment characteristics and…