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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Main entry under title: Encyclopedia of / David Levinson, editor. v. cm. A Berkshire Reference Work. A Sage Reference Publication. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7619-2751-4 (cloth)

1. Homelessness--Encyclopedias. I. Levinson, David, 1947-

HV4493.E53 2004 362.5'0973'03--dc22 2004009279 04—05—06—07—10—9—8—7—6—5—4—3—2—1

Berkshire Publishing Staff Sage Publications Staff Project Director: David Levinson Publisher: Rolf A. Janke Project Coordinators: Marcy Ross and Editorial Assistant: Sara Tauber George Woodward Production Editor: Diana E. Axelsen Copy Editors: Martha Keskinen, Mike Nichols, Production Assistant: Patricia Zeman Carol Parikh, Mark Siemens, Typesetter/Designer: and Daniel Spinella Tim Giesen/Straight Line Design xer: Information Management Inde Mary Mortensen and Programming: Deborah Dillon and Trevor Young Cover Designer: Ravi Balasuriya Editorial Assistant: Emily A. Colangelo Production Artist: Michelle Lee Kenny EofH_FM_V2 5/13/04 10:43 AM Page vi

GENERAL EDITOR David Levinson Berkshire Publishing Group

EDITORIAL BOARD Susan Barrow New York State Psychiatric Institute

Ellen Bassuk Harvard Medical School / National Center on

Jim Baumohl Bryn Mawr College

Martha Burt The Urban Institute

Robert Drake Dartmouth Medical School

Irene Glasser Community Renewal Team, Inc.

Kim Hopper Columbia University / Nathan Kline Institute

Paul Koegel RAND Health

Kenneth L. Kusmer Temple University

Gretchen Noll National Network for Youth

Debra J. Rog Vanderbilt University / Center for Mental Health Policy

Marybeth Shinn New York University EofH_FM_V2 5/13/04 10:43 AM Page vii

List of Entries

Abeyance Theory Networks; Homeless Families; Foster Care; Parenting; Africa. International; “” Youth, Homeless See Egypt; Homelessness, Approach; International Network Children, Education of International Perspectives on; of Street ; Children, Impact of Homelessness on Housing and Homelessness in International Union of Tenants; Cinema Developing Nations; Nairobi; National Alliance to End See Appendix 2: Filmography of Nigeria; South Africa; Zimbabwe Homelessness; National American Narrative and African-Americans Association of State Housing Documentary Films on Alcohol and Drugs Agencies; National Center on Homelessness; Images of the Almshouses. Family Homelessness; National Homeless in Contemporary See Poorhouses; Workhouses Coalition for the Homeless; Documentary Film; Images of the American Bar Association National Resource Center on Homeless in Narrative Film, Commission on Homelessness Homelessness and Mental Illness; History of and Salvation Army; UN-HABITAT; Continuum of Care Asia Urban Institute; Wilder Research Copenhagen Corporation for Supportive Housing See Australia; Calcutta; Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Homelessness, International Australia Criminal Activity and Policing Perspectives on; Housing and Autobiography and Memoir, Cuba Homelessness in Developing Contemporary Homeless Nations; India; Indonesia; Japan; Dallas Mumbai (Bombay); Sydney; Bangladesh Deindustrialization Tokyo Bombay Deinstitutionalization Assertive Community Treatment See Mumbai Denmark (ACT) Disorders and Health Problems: Association of Gospel Rescue Bowery, The Overview Missions Brazil Associations and Organizations Egypt See American Bar Association Calcutta Encampments, Urban Commission on Homelessness Canada Epidemiology and Poverty; Association of Case Management Ethnography Gospel Rescue Missions; Causes of Homelessness: Overview European Network for Housing Corporation for Supportive Skid Row Research Housing; Council of State Child Care Community Development Child Support Fair Housing Laws Agencies; European Network for Children Families Housing Research; FEANTSA; See Child Care; Child Support; Family Separations and Reunifications Goodwill Industries International; Children, Education of; Children, FEANTSA Homeless Assistance Services and Impact of Homelessness on; Food Programs

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viii———ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOMELESSNESS

Foster Care Nairobi; ; Paris; International Perspectives on; France Philadelphia; St. Louis; Sydney; Housing and Homelessness in Tokyo; Toronto; Washington, D.C. Developing Nations; Latino(a)s Gentrification Housing Latino(a)s See Appendix 4: Documentary Legal Advocacy Goodwill Industries International History of Homelessness; Legislation, Programs, and Policies, Great Depression Corporation for Supportive U.S. Federal Housing; European Network for Libraries: Issues in Serving the Harm Reduction Housing Research; Fair Housing Homeless Health Care Laws; Foster Care; Hidden Liminality Hidden Homelessness Homelessness; Housing and Literature on Homelessness History of Homelessness Homelessness in Developing See Appendix 1: Bibliography of See Appendix 4: Documentary Nations; Housing, Affordable; Autobiographical and Fictional History of Homelessness; Housing, Transitional; “Housing Accounts of Homelessness; Bowery, The; Chicago Skid Row; First” Approach; International Appendix 4: Documentary Deindustrialization; Great Union of Tenants; Interventions, History of Homelessness; Depression; and Tramp Housing; Low-Income Housing Autobiography and Memoir, Culture and History; Literature, Development; Missions; Contemporary Homeless; Images Hobo and Tramp; Missions; Municipal Lodging Houses; of Homelessness in Nineteenth- Poorhouses; Skid Row Culture National Alliance of State Housing and Twentieth-Century American and History; Workhouses Agencies; Right to Shelter; Self- Literature; Literature, Hobo and HIV and AIDS Help Housing; Shelters; Single- Tramp; Media Homeless Assistance Services and Room Occupancy Hotels; Survival Literature, Hobo and Tramp Networks Strategies; Workhouses London Homeless Court Program Housing, Affordable Los Angeles Homeless International Housing, Transitional Low-Income Housing Homeless Organizing Housing and Homelessness in Homeless Populations Developing Nations Marginality See African-Americans; Children; “Housing First” Approach Media Epidemiology; Families; Houston See Appendix 3: Directory of Homelessness, Definitions and Hunger and Nutrition Street Newspapers; Images of Estimates of; Homelessness, Homelessness in the Media; Patterns of; Homelessness, Rural; Images of Homelessness in Photography; Public Opinion; Homelessness, Suburban; Contemporary Documentary Film Street Newspapers Latino(a)s; Older Homeless Images of Homelessness in Narrative Men Persons; Street Youth; Veterans; Film, History of See Bowery, The; Chicago Skid Women; Youth, Homeless Images of Homelessness in Row; Great Depression; Homelessness, Course of Nineteenth- and Twentieth- Literature, Hobo and Tramp; Skid Homelessness, Definitions and Century America Row Culture and History; Estimates of Images of Homelessness in the Veterans Homelessness, International Media Mental Health System Perspectives on Indonesia Mental Illness and Health Homelessness, Patterns of International Network of Street Minneapolis and St. Paul Homelessness, Rural Newspapers Mobility Homelessness, Suburban International Union of Tenants Homelessness, Urban Interventions, Clinical Mumbai (Bombay) See Appendix 4: Documentary Interventions, Housing Municipal Lodging Houses History of Homelessness; Bowery, The; Calcutta; Chicago Nairobi Skid Row; Copenhagen; Dallas; Japan National Alliance to End Houston; London; Los Angeles; Homelessness Madrid; Minneapolis and Latin America National Center on Family St. Paul; Montreal; Mumbai; See Brazil; Cuba; Homelessness, Homelessness EofH_FM_V2 5/13/04 10:43 AM Page ix

List of Entries———ix

National Coalition for the Homeless Prostitution Survival Strategies; Work on the National Resource Center on Public Opinion Streets Homelessness and Mental Illness Street Newspapers Religion Street Youth and Violence New York City See Appendix 4: Documentary Stressful Life Events Nigeria History of Homelessness; Survival Strategies Association of Gospel Rescue Older Homeless Persons Missions; Goodwill Industries Sydney Outreach International; Missions; Salvation Army Tokyo Panhandling Research on Homelessness: Toronto Parenting Overview Trauma and Victimization Paris Russia Philadelphia UN-HABITAT Photography Safe Havens United Kingdom Poorhouses Salvation Army United Kingdom, Rural Poverty Self-Help Housing Urban Institute See American Bar Association Service Integration Commission on Homelessness Service Utilization Research and Poverty; Causes of Shelters Veterans Homelessness: Overview; Single-Room Occupancy Hotels Gentrification; Great Depression; Skid Row Culture and History Washington, D.C. Hidden Homelessness; Hunger Social Support Wilder Research Center and Nutrition; Panhandling; Social Welfare Policy and Income Women Poorhouses; Prevention of Maintenance Work on the Streets Homelessness: Overview; Social Soup Kitchens Workhouses Welfare Policy and Income South Africa Maintenance; Soup Kitchens; Spain Youth, Homeless Vagrancy; Workhouses St. Louis Prevention of Homelessness: Street Life Zimbabwe Overview See Panhandling; Street Youth and Program Evaluation Research Violence; Stressful Life Events;

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534———Street Newspapers

and cross-validation of a system for classifying homeless issues were first communicated to audiences people. Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 228–242. through . Morse, G. A., Shields, N. M., Hanneke, C., McCall, G., Calsyn, Street papers are directly related to the yellow R. J., & Nelson, B. (1986). St. Louis homeless: Mental press and radical workers’ media that health needs, services, and policy implications. Psychoso- cial Rehabilitation Journal, 9(4), 39–50. proliferated from the early 1800s through the mid- North, C. S., & Smith, E. M. (1992). Posttraumatic stress disor- 1900s. The papers emerged largely in response to der among homeless men and women. Hospital and Com- mainstream publications that ignored issues affect- munity Psychiatry, 43(10), 1010–1016. ing common people. Many mainstream newspapers Thorup, J. (2000). Homeless families in St. Louis: A report from and were reaching out to a politically the field. Journal of Children & Poverty, 6(1), 43–50. middle-of-the-road readership and avoided covering topics such as workers’ strikes and slum conditions. ᨘ In response to this lack of coverage, the yellow jour- STREET LIFE nalism and workers’ papers investigated issues such See Panhandling; Street Youth and Violence; as workers’ rights, living conditions of the urban Stressful Life Events; Survival Strategies; poor, government corruption, and abuses by capital- Work on the Streets ist businesses. One such paper was ’s Hobo , published by the International Brother- hood Welfare Association from the late 1910s to the ᨘ STREET NEWSPAPERS early 1920s. The paper printed items such as labor news and the personal stories of hoboes. “Street papers” refer to publications that address One prominent predecessor of contemporary social issues and are sold by homeless and formerly street papers was The Catholic Worker, a New York- homeless vendors or given free to the public. Street based founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day, papers first appeared in the United States and abroad a pacifist and . The paper was connected to during the late 1980s and the 1990s. Even though the wider Catholic Worker movement that Day also editorial styles differ between papers, street papers established. The movement established houses of are united in their attempts to increase public aware- hospitality in the poorer areas of cities and rural ness about poverty issues and to empower homeless areas, where they are still providing food, clothing, people through employment and other opportunities. and shelter to those in need. The paper, which still costs a penny a copy, continues to address the important social and political issues of the day. STREET PAPERS AND AMERICAN Today there are other Catholic Worker communities ALTERNATIVE MEDIA in areas across the country that distribute their own Street papers are rooted in America’s rich history of journals and newsletters on a local level. alternative publications that serve socially and polit- ically marginalized groups. Alternative media fill a gap in the media system by discussing issues that are THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE generally ignored by . DEVELOPMENT OF STREET PAPERS Historically, the American alternative media have Even though street papers are grounded in America’s communicated information both internally to rich history of alternative media, they emerged minority groups and externally to the public. From directly out of the social and political environment of the Civil War to the present day, abolitionists, utopi- the 1980s. Homelessness in the United States wors- ans, pacifists, immigrants, feminists, and working- ened during the worldwide recession of the early and class radicals have used alternative media to voice late 1980s for a number of reasons, including the causes and strengthen community ties. In fact, dur- shutting down of social welfare programs, the priva- ing the political movements in the 1960s, most tization of public housing, a general decrease in

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Street Newspapers ———535

affordable urban housing, and financial deficits at the ple for their situation and focus on individual quali- local, state, and federal levels. ties, like hard work, which supposedly could remove It is difficult to estimate the exact number of them from homelessness. When the media address homeless people for several important reasons. First, homelessness as the result of an individual’s short- it is difficult to define homelessness because home- comings, they do not analyze the wider social, less people live in situations ranging from shelters political, and economic reasons for the existence of and friends’ homes to automobiles. Studies that homelessness. Coupled with the increasing numbers count only the number of people on the streets or in of homeless people, these trends in the mainstream shelters do not capture other situations. Second, media’s coverage led to the development of street homelessness is usually a temporary condition. The papers. most accurate figures are those that measure how many people experience homelessness over time rather than the number of homeless people on a OVERVIEW OF AMERICAN STREET PAPERS given night. According to Clinton Administration Although every street paper speaks to a geographical estimates, between 1989 and 1994, 7 million people region’s readership and particular homelessness situ- were homeless on different occasions. The numbers ation, street papers emerged all over America for increased by the late 1990s, and after the economic three main reasons. First, most seek to provide alter- recession of the late 1990s, the Urban Institute esti- native coverage about homeless people in order to mated that 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them educate the public about the condition’s larger social children, were likely to experience homelessness in and political causes. Second, street papers aim to any given year. become one solution to homelessness by giving the As the number of homeless people increased from homeless and formerly homeless vendors who sell the early 1980s to the late 1990s, mainstream Ameri- the papers opportunities to earn income and develop can media began to cover homelessness more fre- job skills. Finally, many papers are connected to quently. Researchers who study the American wider initiatives and social networks that provide media’s coverage of homelessness point out that the housing assistance,drug and alcohol counseling,and economic recession of the early 1980s was the point other services. at which the media began to use the term “homeless There are currently more than fifty street papers in person.” In fact, the phrase “homeless people” as a forty-seven cities across the United States and narrative category did not even appear in the New Canada. They take many forms, including newspa- York Times Index until 1983, when it replaced older pers, magazines, and newsletters, and tend to fall into categories such as “vagrancy.” Homelessness cover- two categories. age in major American newspapers and The first category includes the many papers that increased again in 1986, when the national Hands are written about homelessness and only include Across America homelessness charity event was held. information of interest to a homeless audience. Such The mainstream media frequently covered home- publications might have variable deadlines and lessness negatively as it increased from the early might be written by a combination of homeless peo- 1980s onward. For example, media researchers on ple and paid and unpaid employees. Some street homelessness have found that some por- papers, such as Chicago’s Journal of Ordinary tray homeless people as criminals in negative news Thought, publish only material written by homeless reports that describe, for instance, homeless people people and persons from other marginalized groups. who are drug addicts or harass passersby on the These types of papers, which are often run by chari- street. Researchers also found that the mainstream ties, are sometimes published as newsletters or sta- media, which tend to cover homelessness mostly pled black-and-white booklets. during holiday seasons and cold-weather spells in The second category of street papers includes for- the contexts of charities, often blame homeless peo- profit papers that have glossy covers, color photo-

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into the 1990s. The American street paper move- ment traces its beginnings back to New York City’s , which was established in October 1989. Founded by Hutchinson Persons, a rock musician from Elyria, Ohio, the paper began publication with 2,000 vendors and a monthly circulation of 100,000. It is still published today on an occasional basis. The paper’s development and editorial style provided a model for many street papers in the United States and abroad. When Persons founded the paper, Street News was financially underwritten by Street Aid, a non- profit New York social advocacy agency that Persons founded in 1989 to help the homeless. The newspa- per included virtually no advertising and carried columns and stories about New York life. Celebri- ties, staff writers, and freelance writers penned the articles and other features. In addition, homeless people contributed articles, poetry, and short stories, and helped with the process. By the time that Street News went for-profit in August 1992, the A homeless man reads the (published from 1937 to 1948) paper was published twice a month and approxi- in a hobo camp in New York City, circa 1938. mately 200,000 issues a month were sold by 2,000 : Alexander Alland, Sr./Corbis; used with permission. vendors. The paper experienced financial problems and underwent ownership changes in the early and graphs, graphics, and a variety of editorial features. mid-1990s, but it survived. Today, the forty-page They are often run by full- or part-time paid staff. paper, which costs $1.00, is published periodically These types of street papers generally seek to appeal and sold in the New York metro area and by mail to mainstream audiences by including current event subscription to readers elsewhere. news, entertainment news, book reviews, personal ads, personality profiles, advice columns, and other similar features. Homeless or formerly homeless EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL vendors often buy the magazines at a reduced cost AMERICAN STREET PAPERS and then sell them at a higher cost. However, they The success of Street News inspired other individuals, might have fewer opportunities to write for the paper. organizations, and cities to establish street papers. In many cases, they contribute items such as poems, The success of many street papers reflects the impor- photographs, drawings, interviews, and short narra- tant role that they fill in American media culture. tives in special sections set aside for that purpose. One prominent American street paper is San These papers might also highlight a certain vendor Francisco’s , which was founded in during each issue with a photograph, interview, and December 1989 by volunteers at ’s testimonies from the vendor’s loyal customers. Coalition on Homelessness. The paper seeks to present information on homeless people that is not available in other news venues. It also aims to func- EMERGENCE OF AMERICAN STREET PAPERS tion as a space for homeless people’s expression. The number of street papers in the United States The paper originally appeared as a newsletter with a and Canada steadily increased from the late 1980s run of 500 copies. The paper expanded to a tabloid

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Street Newspapers ———537

ᨘ

Homeless Journalists Hone Their Reporting Skills

SAN FRANCISCO (ANS)—The homeless often have to settle that more mainstream reporters may shun, said Belinda for second best, but not when it comes to their own news- Griswold, program director at the Media Alliance, which papers. hosts the program. These street-based, free publications, which provide a Adam Clay Thompson, a staff writer for the San Fran- forum for low-income and homeless people around the cisco Bay Guardian who teaches in the program, says the country, have traditionally been long on personal essays students are insightful, informed and as talented as any of and short on hard news. That’s changing in San Francisco, the students he’s taught at local community colleges. where an innovative training program is helping homeless “They’ve done incredible things—things that daily news- writers hone the tools of their trade. paper reporters don’t seem to do anymore, like dredging It should come as no surprise that people with well- up quantities of records on charities they thought weren’t developed street smarts make for smart reporters. performing responsibly,” he said. More than 60 would-be correspondents have already Students have broken stories on a police crackdown on completed the four-month program, called Raising Our Food Not Bombs, a group that feeds the homeless on city Voices. All the graduates either are or have been homeless, streets, and are about to publish a story on a social serv- are surviving on poverty-level income or are providing ices agency whose financial procedures are in question, services to the poor. said Griswold. For four hours every Tuesday, students learn the tools The reporting model used in the program is “new jour- of the journalism trade: how to search public records and nalism,” which, unlike the objective stance sought by the verify information, and the basics of Web and desktop mainstream media, advocates telling stories from a partic- publishing. Students also learn what makes a good story ular point of view. It’s the approach used by many alterna- and how to write well. tive publications, including the Bay Guardian, for which By improving the quality and scope of information in Thompson writes. But it’s not a license to fabricate facts or papers like Street Sheet, which is a local sponsor of the hang a public official out to dry without evidence, he said. program, organizers hope policy-makers, the mainstream “We do struggle for fairness and being able to back up media and other readers will pay more attention to the anything that the writer is going to say.” needs of America’s poor. Raising Our Voices, which is free and includes dinner, “The main thing we’re trying to do is public education, may find its greatest long-term benefit in the personal sat- and we feel there’s a level of instruction that can be gained isfaction it affords reporters. Martin, who worked his way by allowing people who are experiencing poverty to share up from homeless advocate to Street Sheet contributor to with the public,” said Chance Martin, editor of Street Sheet newspaper editor, said the program countered the hope- and a graduate of the program. lessness of poverty. It turns out the students, many of whom live in shel- “A person who’s gone through homelessness—I’ve been ters, are especially adept at investigative reporting. Because there—it’s devastating as far as the impact on self-confidence,” of their hard-earned street smarts, homeless men and he said. “Regardless of what the instructor said, I was happy women are not afraid of potentially dangerous situations with what I wrote. It gave me a shot in the arm.”

Source: “Street-Smart Homeless Journalists Hone Reporting Skills,” American News Service, n.d.

size and increased its print run in late 1990. With a homeless or at risk of being homeless help write, monthly circulation of 36,000, Street Sheet accepts produce, distribute, and sell the paper. More than no advertising and is funded by vendor and mail sixty vendors purchase the paper for $.35 and resell subscription sales. it for $1.00. The paper’s Writer’s Fund, which is Founded in 1992 by Boston’s Homeless Empow- supported by donations and grants, allows the news- erment Project, Spare Change first appeared as an paper to pay writers who are homeless or living eight-page paper published once a month; the cur- below the poverty line. rent sixteen-page biweekly newspaper has a print With its slogan, “News that Empowers” and a cir- run of more than 12,000 copies. People who are culation of 25,000, Chicago’s StreetWise is one of

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538——— Street Newspapers

ᨘ tion established the Work Empowerment Center as an information center for employment opportunities. of Britain The rich diversity of these publications is Britain’s street paper, The Big Issue, was cofounded in reflected by other American street papers. Hasta 1991 by Gordon Roddick, vice-president of The Body Cuando, a free Chicago street paper, is bilingual. Shop, and John Bird, a friend of Roddick’s who had Miami’s monthly Homeless Voice is the only paper been homeless and a printer. The Body Shop initially attached to a shelter. ’s bimonthly Real funded the venture, providing that Bird would edit the magazine and that it would eventually become inde- Change, which has a circulation of more than pendent from The Body Shop. The Big Issue appeared 25,000, is part of the larger Homeless in September 1991 as a monthly London magazine Empowerment Project. In addition to the paper, the written by nine volunteers and part-time workers. Thirty project includes a homeless speaker’s bureau, a homeless vendors sold the first run of 50,000 copies. homeless art gallery and studio, computer facilities, The Big Issue is now a glossy weekly magazine with and activist organizing projects. In Cincinnati, a national circulation of 253,465. It has independent international, regional British, and Irish editions. The homeless and formerly homeless people write the editorial, which is written by freelancers, paid staff, and majority of the material for the monthly StreetVibes, volunteers, includes personality profiles, political com- which is a sister paper of ’s Homeless mentary, and arts reviews. One central feature is “Street Grapevine. Lights,” which includes several pages of poems, short stories, and articles written by homeless people. Following financial mismanagement and the late- DIFFICULTIES FACED BY STREET PAPERS 1990s’ recession, The Big Issue reduced its staff size and moved its primary editorial offices from London to Even though many street papers have become Manchester. However, as the world’s largest street important parts of their communities, street papers paper, the magazine sets an example by educating often battle issues of financial survival and anti- audiences about homelessness and giving homeless homelessness legislation that make it difficult for people employment options. vendors to sell the paper. —Teresa L. Heinz Like other alternative publications, some street Further Reading papers are funded by public donations as well as Big Issue, The. (2003). Retrieved April 12, 2003, from http://www.bigissue.com/ social, political, and religious organizations. Some Dodge,C. (1999,August). Words on the street:Homeless accept no advertising, but most include advertise- people’s newspapers. American Libraries, 60–62. ments as one source of revenue. Torck, D. (2001). Voices of homeless people in street newspa- Street papers have frequently been targets of anti- pers: A cross-cultural exploration. Discourse & Society, 12(3), 371–392. homelessness legislation. Street News battled such Wroe, M. (1992, August 5). London’s homeless sell a success legislation in January 1994, when New York City’s story. The Independent, p. 4. Transit Authority announced that it would crack down on the number of homeless people in the sub- ways. This was part of a citywide effort to remove the largest American street papers. Staffed by full- panhandlers and unlicensed vendors from the sub- time and part-time journalists and volunteers, Street- ways. The law heavily damaged the publication for a Wise was founded in 1992 with the mission to pro- time, because 70 percent of its readership bought the vide employment to homeless people and enable newspaper on the trains. them to reach self-sufficiency. After first hiring ven- Cleveland’s Homeless Grapevine faced similar dors in 1994, the paper expanded steadily and has difficulties in the 1990s. Established in 1991 by a since employed more than 3,600 vendors. It pro- former Kent State University student, Fred Maier, duced its first color edition in 1995, and the follow- the magazine was written by freelance and homeless ing year it expanded from a monthly to a biweekly writers and sold by homeless vendors. By the mid- publication with advertising. In 1998, the publica- 1990s, the Grapevine was under police scrutiny for

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Street Newspapers ———539

violating Cleveland’s peddling ordinance. The ordi- papers are bases for further community building and nance required vendors to acquire licenses and wear political . identification badges before they could sell goods on —Teresa L. Heinz city streets. After a Grapevine vendor was ticketed for selling the magazine without a license, the Amer- Further Reading ican Civil Liberties Union of Ohio argued that the Brandon, D., Wells, K., Francis, C., & Ramsay, E. (1980). The licenses violated the First Amendment and consti- survivors: A study of homeless young newcomers to London and the responses made to them. London: Routledge & tuted prior restraint against the paper, and the charges Kegan Paul. were later dropped. The monthly magazine, which Campbell, R., & Reeves, J. L. (1989). Covering the homeless: now has a circulation of 5,000, is sold by twenty ven- The Joyce Brown story. Critical Studies in Mass Communi- dors who purchase the magazine for $.20 and sell it cations, 6, 21–42. for $1.00. Curran, J., & Seaton, J. (1995). Power without responsibility: The press and broadcasting in Britain. London: Methuen. Fountain, N. (1988). Underground: The London alternative THE FUTURE OF STREET PAPERS press, 1966–1974. London: Routledge. Franklin, B., & Murphy, D. (1991). The market, politics, and the As street papers become an established part of the local press. London: Routledge. media landscape, they are embracing opportunities Glasser, I. (1994). Homeless in global perspective. New York: for growth and change. The street paper movement G. K. Hall. was strengthened in the 1990s when papers joined Glessing, R. (1971). The underground press in America. Bloom- ington: Indiana University Press. together in coalitions. Following the lead of the Karn, V. (1990). Homelessness in the USA and Britain. Detroit, International Network of Street Newspapers (INSP), MI: Wayne State University. which was founded in 1994, thirty-seven street Kessler, L. (1984). The dissident press: Alternative journalism papers from the United States and Canada met in in American history. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Seattle in September 1997 to form the North Ameri- Kozol, J. (1988). Rachel and her children: Homeless families in can Association (NASNA). The America. New York: Fawcett Columbine. Manoff, R. K., & Schudson, M. (1986). Reading the news. New organization’s objective was to create a more united York: Pantheon Books. movement of street papers, uphold ethical standards Merves, E. S. (1992). Homeless women: Beyond the bag lady for street papers, and provide assistance for new myth. In M. J. Robertson & M. D. Greenblatt (Eds.), Home- paper start-up projects. NASNA hosts an annual con- lessness: A national perspective (pp. 229–244). New York: ference that includes skills-building workshops and Plenum Press. other opportunities. Min, E. (Ed.). (1999). Reading the homeless: The media’s image of homeless culture. New York: Praeger. Helping to further expand the street paper move- Moore, J., Canter, D., Stockley, D., & Drake, M. (1995). The ment, the Internet is making it possible for papers to faces of homelessness in London. Aldershot, UK: Dart- publish electronically and share information, thus mouth. lowering production costs. The Street News Service North American Street Newspaper Association. (2003). NASNA: (SNS) is jointly run by NASNA and AlterNet.org, an North American Street Newspaper Association [Homepage of online magazine project of the Independent Media the North American Street Newspaper Association]. Retrieved April 12, 2003, from http://www.speakeasy.org/nasna/ Institute. SNS archives features, essays, and news Peck, A. (1985). Uncovering the sixties: The life & times of the articles written by homeless and low-income writers. underground press. New York: Pantheon Books. The material, which is also carried on AlterNet.org’s Petley, J., & McKechnie, S. (1993). Why Cathy will never come website, is collected from street papers nationwide home again. Gimme shelter: A special report [Special issue]. for use in member street paper and alternative publi- New Statesman and Society, 246, S23–S25. cations. Shields, T. G. (2001). Network news construction of homeless- ness: 1980–1993. The Communication Review, 4(2), Street papers demonstrate how effectively alterna- 193–218. tive publications can serve as mouthpieces for mar- Solomon, C., & Jackson-Jobe, P. (Eds.). (1992). Helping home- ginalized groups. As they educate readers, street less people: Unique challenges & solutions (pp. 15–28).

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540———Street Youth and Violence

Alexandria, VA: American Association for Counseling and domestic violence. Further, many street youth have Development. been repeatedly physically and/or sexually assaulted Spencer, J. W. (1996). From bums to the homeless: Media con- while living at home. These violent experiences not structions of persons without homes from 1980–1984. Per- only influence street youth’s decisions to leave their spectives on Social Problems, 8, 39–58. Urban Institute. (2000). A new look at homelessness in America. homes for the streets, but also increase the likelihood Washington, DC: Author. of their being involved in violent offenses once on U.S. raises homeless estimate by millions. (1994, May 18). the street. These backgrounds provide models for Sacramento Bee, p. A12. aggressive interaction styles and serve to train street youth for violent behavior. Street youth may incor- porate their parents’ aggressive behaviors, generalize ᨘ STREET YOUTH it to other contexts, and adopt violence as a strategy AND VIOLENCE for settling disputes or gaining compliance from oth- ers. These ideas about using violence to solve prob- Street youth is a term used to characterize young lems may also evolve into broader values that favor people who have run away or been expelled from violence, leaving street youth more prone to violent their homes and/or spend all or much of their time in behavior. public locations. Most of these youth lack permanent residences, spend a great deal of time without shel- ter, and suffer from conditions of extreme depriva- HOMELESSNESS tion. As a result, street youth are forced into risky The experience of being homeless also increases the lifestyles, spending much of their time in dangerous likelihood of violence. This relationship can be locations, where they often become involved in a explained in a number of ways. First, homelessness range of violent activities, including assaults, rob- places street youth in dangerous locations and risky beries, and group fights. Their participation in vio- situations in which violence is more likely to occur. lence is influenced by a host of factors: family histo- Being on the street increases the likelihood that ries, poverty, violent values, violent peers, and other street youth will meet and associate with people who street experiences, among them. are themselves violent offenders. This exposure to violent offenders increases the probabilities that street youth will become involved in violent alterca- BACKGROUND FACTORS tions. Second, being homeless severs a street youth’s To begin to understand street youth violence, it is ties to the conventional society. This isolation from important to explore the family backgrounds from the larger society can weaken street youth’s moral which these youth are often drawn. Research sug- constraints and lower the inhibitions that restrict the gests that many street youth grow up in families that use of violence. utilize ineffective child-rearing strategies. First, The poverty associated with homelessness can there is evidence that parents of street youth do not also contribute to violent behavior on the street. First, monitor their children effectively and fail to recog- the lack of financial resources can lead to violence. nize and sanction deviant behavior when it occurs. The inability to escape the stressful circumstances of As a consequence, street youth may fail to develop homelessness can increase an emotional arousal that self-control, leaving them more likely to be insensi- is often expressed as anger and can lead to aggressive tive, physical, impulsive, short sighted, risk takers behavior. Second, there is evidence that perceptions with low frustration tolerance. Evidence suggests of injustice and unfairness over economic circum- that street youth with low self-control are more stances can generate feelings of resentment and hos- likely to engage in violent behaviors on the street. tility that street youth may express in the form of vio- Second, there is evidence that street youth are lent crime. Third, economic factors can motivate drawn from families in which there is a great deal of instrumental offenses like robbery through which