Sunday, 16 January 2005 - 8:45 AM

This presentation is part of: Homeless Youth

The Relationship Of Violence Exposure On Psychological Distress And Functioning While On The Streets: A Canadian Study Of Homeless Youths’ Experiences

Purpose: Research on youth homelessness has documented the complex circumstances that lead youth to leave home for the streets. Some of these factors are family discord and violence, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, and sexual abuse. Studies have shown that many left home because they perceived the streets as a safer alternative to living at home. Ironically, the factors that drove them to leave home also exist on the streets; exposure to violence on the streets is one of the major safety risk factors while on the streets. This paper presentation will focus on Canadian homeless youth in the inner city of Toronto and their experience of exposure to violence and the association of the effects of violence exposure on their psychological health. Methods: 165 homeless youth completed a survey that yielded quantitative data on the types and frequency of violent events homeless youths were exposed to while on the streets, as well as data on psychological distress and functioning. In-depth interviews were also used to collect qualitative data with homeless youth to understand their experiences of violence exposure and how they coped with violence in the homeless context. Drawing from previous research, it was hypothesized there would be gender differences in the types and frequency of exposure to violence. A second hypothesis was that violence exposure would be associated with poor psychological functioning and psychological distress. Results: The first hypothesis was partially supported as the findings showed there were no significant gender differences for exposure to violence as a witness or a victim except for recent exposure to sexual abuse. Consistent with existing findings on exposure to sexual abuse, females in this study were significantly more exposed to sexual abuse than males (z = -2.74, p<.01). Results from the correlation analyses between exposure to violence and measures of psychological distress and psychological functioning showed there were significant findings ranging from r = .23 to .38 (p<.001). These findings confirmed the second hypothesis of the association between violence exposure and poor psychological functioning and psychological distress. Themes from the qualitative interviews provide support that the experience of violence while on the streets has a negative impact on how homeless youth carry themselves on a daily basis leading to coping strategies that may lead to more exposure to violence while on the streets. Implications for policy and practice: At the service programming level, a holistic and comprehensive approach to service delivery is needed to effectively meet the needs of young homeless clients. This approach must consider the impact of psychological distress in the homeless context, and the fact that homeless youth need support beyond that which meets subsistence needs. Also, social workers need training in how to assess for psychological distress and to provide supportive services to deal with the traumatic effects of violence exposure on these clients both as victims and witnesses. Such assessments are important for contextualizing and understanding homeless youths’ “acting out” behaviours that may be related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

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