ABSTRACT
Our understandings of the terms `youth', `young people', `homelessness' and `youth homelessness' are framed by the social context and discourses in which they are employed. As such, they are contested terms and our speci®c uses of them in this study need to be clearly de®ned. What are the parameters of `youth'? At what age does someone cease to be a `young person'? If someone is living in medium-term supervised accommodation can they be considered homeless? What if they self-identify as such? What are the causes of youth homelessness? To what extent are these social or individual? These issues of de®nition and cause are elaborated and clari®ed in the following discussion.
