Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-9-2025
Abstract
Introduction
This study examines whether residents’ perceptions of the causes of homelessness and preferred policy solutions are associated with homeless-related behaviors and opinions, and whether such perceptions are attributed to internal or external factors.
Methods
California residents (N = 371) completed a survey and an exploratory factor analysis was conducted, which identified subscales of the perceived causes, preferred policy solutions, opinions, and behaviors. We used MANCOVA to examine which sociodemographic characteristics were associated with each subscale, and multiple regressions to assess relationships among subscales.
Results
As predicted by attribution theory, internal causes (e.g. lack of ambition) were positively associated with support for internal policies (e.g. policies emphasizing personal responsibility), while external causes (e.g. discrimination) were positively correlated with support for external policies (e.g. treatment infrastructure policies) (p < .001). Conservative participants were more likely to attribute causes of homelessness to internal characteristics, while also supporting internal policies (p < .001).
Conclusion
This study provides insight into our sample of Californians’ perceptions of homelessness and can be used to tailor interventions that update people’s understanding of the issue and encourage support for evidence-based policies.
Recommended Citation
Srivastava, S. G., Rosenberg, B. D., & Berardi, V. (2025). Californians’ perceptions of the causes of homelessness and potential policy solutions. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2025.2485684
Copyright
Taylor & Francis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Included in
Community Psychology Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Public Policy Commons, Social Policy Commons
Comments
This is an Accepted Manuscript version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness in 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2025.2485684. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.