ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the causes of the ‘new’ wave of homelessness. Although homelessness itself isn’t new, the characteristics of the “new homeless” (1980s-the present) and risk factors for homelessness are different today than in the past. Most people who experience homelessness today are not traveling for work or adventure. Instead, we see growing numbers of families, employed people, and individuals with who are sleeping rough or in shelters who have serious mental illness and no way to treat it. The rise of the prison industrial complex has created another risk factor for becoming homeless and an obstacle to becoming housed. This chapter examines the history of treatment of mental illness and the rise of the prison industrial complex to understand how each has contributed to homelessness.
