Biomaterial Database

Beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about homelessness: a survey of the general public. 1992

P A Toro, and D M McDonnell

Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Buffalo 14260.

Obtained measures of policy-related beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about homelessness through a telephone survey of a representative sample of 240 persons conducted over nearly a full year in a medium-size northeastern metropolitan area. The study's data were compared to a national poll and to a local study documenting the actual characteristics of homeless persons. The results suggest that citizens are both supportive of and well informed about homelessness. For instance, 58% were willing to pay more taxes to help homeless persons and the mean estimate for the extent of mental illness among the homeless was within the range of estimates found in the local interview study. Few respondent background characteristics predicted belief, attitude, and knowledge variables. The main exceptions were gender and age. Women and younger respondents thought homelessness a more serious problem, saw fewer personal deficits among homeless persons, and perceived employment as more critical in the cause and solution of the problem.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009518	New York	State bounded on the north by Lake Ontario and Canada, on the east by Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and on the west by Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, and Canada.
D011632	Public Assistance	Financial assistance to impoverished persons for the essentials of living through federal, state or local government programs.	Assistance, Public
D011639	Public Opinion	The attitude of a significant portion of a population toward any given proposition, based upon a measurable amount of factual evidence, and involving some degree of reflection, analysis, and reasoning.	Interest Groups,Pro-Choice Groups,Public Opinion Polls,Group, Interest,Group, Pro-Choice,Groups, Interest,Groups, Pro-Choice,Interest Group,Opinion Poll, Public,Opinion Polls, Public,Opinion, Public,Poll, Public Opinion,Polls, Public Opinion,Pro Choice Groups,Pro-Choice Group,Public Opinion Poll
D011640	Public Policy	A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.	Social Policy,Affirmative Action,Migration Policy,Population Policy,Social Protection,Action, Affirmative,Migration Policies,Policies, Migration,Policies, Population,Policies, Public,Policies, Social,Policy, Migration,Policy, Population,Policy, Public,Policy, Social,Population Policies,Protection, Social,Public Policies,Social Policies
D012050	Rehabilitation, Vocational	Training of the mentally or physically disabled in work skills so they may be returned to regular employment utilizing these skills.	Vocational Rehabilitation,Rehabilitations, Vocational,Vocational Rehabilitations
D006703	Ill-Housed Persons	Persons without adequate housing or without permanent residence. The concept excludes nomadic peoples.	Homeless Persons,Homeless Shelters,Shelterless Persons,Shelters for Homeless Persons,Street People,Unhoused Persons,Homelessness,Homeless Person,Homeless Shelter,Ill Housed Persons,Ill-Housed Person,People, Street,Person, Homeless,Person, Ill-Housed,Person, Shelterless,Person, Unhoused,Persons, Homeless,Persons, Ill-Housed,Persons, Shelterless,Persons, Unhoused,Shelter, Homeless,Shelterless Person,Shelters, Homeless,Unhoused Person
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001523	Mental Disorders	Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.	Mental Illness,Psychiatric Diseases,Psychiatric Disorders,Psychiatric Illness,Behavior Disorders,Diagnosis, Psychiatric,Mental Disorders, Severe,Psychiatric Diagnosis,Illness, Mental,Mental Disorder,Mental Disorder, Severe,Mental Illnesses,Psychiatric Disease,Psychiatric Disorder,Psychiatric Illnesses,Severe Mental Disorder,Severe Mental Disorders
D012934	Social Isolation	The separation of individuals or groups resulting in the lack of or minimizing of social contact and/or communication. This separation may be accomplished by physical separation, by social barriers and by psychological mechanisms. In the latter, there may be interaction but no real communication.	Isolation, Social,Social Exclusion,Exclusion, Social,Social Exclusions
D012941	Social Responsibility	The obligations and accountability assumed in carrying out actions or ideas on behalf of others.	Obligation, Social,Responsibility, Social,Accountability,Communitarianism,Future Generations,Obligations to Society,Social Accountability,Accountability, Social,Future Generation,Generation, Future,Generations, Future,Obligations, Social,Responsibilities, Social,Social Obligation,Social Obligations,Social Responsibilities,Society, Obligations to