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Homeless Women's Personal Networks: Implications for Understanding Risk Behavior
Joan S Tucker1, David Kennedy, Gery Ryan
1RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 Christopher McCarty, Ph.D., University of Florida, PO Box 117145, Gainesville, FL 32611-7145.
Human Organization
|March 31, 2010
Summary
Homeless women
Area of Science:
- Social Science
- Public Health
- Sociology
Background:
- Homeless women represent a vulnerable population facing unique social challenges.
- Understanding their personal networks is crucial for addressing risk behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the composition of personal networks among homeless women.
- To identify the social context influencing risk behaviors in this demographic.
Main Methods:
- An exploratory study involving 28 homeless women in Los Angeles County.
- Detailed information collected on extended personal networks, including 25 named contacts per woman.
Main Results:
- Homeless women's networks are larger and more diverse than previously thought.
- Approximately one-third of relationships involved high-risk individuals (substance use, risky sex).
- Many women also maintained tenuous low-risk, high-quality relationships.
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight the need to strengthen existing low-risk/high-quality relationships.
- Interventions should focus on expanding network diversity for access to resources and positive role models.
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