Homelessness: definitions

Homelessness is theorised as a social problem in which definitional debates take place in the real world of social policy formation. Homelessness is a socially constructed concept that accounts for variation between countries, and the proliferation of definitions, as different operational definitions are created for different purposes. Case studies of the official definitions of homelessness in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States illustrate how definitions are grounded in particular legislative and policy contexts. After a brief review of how homelessness was theorised sociologically in the 1960s and 1970s, the contemporary conceptual work of researchers is summarised. This discussion focuses on the ETHOS Typology and Eurostat developmental work and the established Australian cultural definition of homelessness and the Counting the Homeless enumerations done with the 1996, 2001, and 2006 census data. There is a consensus among researchers that a meaningful definition of homelessness is broader than 'rooflessness' or 'literal homelessness'. Nonetheless, it is argued that the notion of a 'universal' definition is an unlikely prospect