Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jan 27:9:810064.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.810064. eCollection 2021.

The Role of Debt in the Maintenance of Homelessness

Nick Maguire  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Debt in the Maintenance of Homelessness

Nick Maguire. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Debt is highly prevalent within the homeless population. This narrative review makes use of a varied literature to explore the relationship between debt and homelessness, focussing particularly on organisational (systemic) and individual factors and formulating the relationship between the two. A number of forms of debt and the causes of that debt are explored, in terms of individual factors such as motivation and organisational factors such as inflexible rent protocols. These factors are considered within the context of the cash economy operated by people who are homeless, together with the survival behaviours that drive such a way of operating. Conclusions are drawn about the nature of interventions and how individual psychological approaches to motivation need to be taken into account.

Keywords: debt; drug use; homelessness; individual; motivation; organisational; rent.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. MHCLG (2021). Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Rough sleeping snapshot in England: 2020. HM Govt. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-engl.... (accessed November 1, 2021).
    1. Fitzpatrick S, Pawson H, Bramley G, Wood J, Watts B, Stephens M, et al. . The Homelessness Monitor: England 2021. London: Crisis. (2021).
    1. Maguire N. Towards an integrative theory of homelessness and rough sleeping. In: Bonner A., Social Determinants of Health. Bristol: Policy Press. (2018) p. 250–263. 10.1332/policypress/9781447336846.003.0016 - DOI
    1. Bramley G, Fitzpatrick S. Hard Edges: Mapping severe and multiple disadvantage: England. Lankelly Chase Foundation. (2015). Available online at: https://lankellychase.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hard-Edges-Mappi.... (accessed November 1, 2021).
    1. Swales M, Heard HL, Williams MG. Linehan's dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder: overview and adaptation. J Mental Health. (2000) 9:7–23. 10.1080/09638230016921 - DOI