1OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH ON DRUG MISUSE AMONG THE

Measuring the extent of homelessness Over the last decade a distinct change in the nature and extent of homelessness has occurred in Ireland and elsewhere. As a result, the traditional image of the homeless person as the older, male, heavy drinker is no longer as accurate as it once was. Greater numbers of people are now homeless and the population is younger and includes more females and families. Since the enactment of the Housing Act (1988), local authorities are obliged to carry out assessments of homelessness in their area every three years. However, assessing the level of homelessness in an area is problematic mainly due to the hidden and shifting nature of this phenomenon i.e. that people move in and out of homelessness and can experience more than one episode of homelessness in their lifetime. In this respect, O’Sullivan’s (1996) definition of homelessness was aimed at capturing this range of elements by setting out a continuum of homelessness which spanned three broad categories: 1) Visible homelessness i.e. people sleeping rough or in designated homeless hostels o