Public knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about homeless people: Evidence for compassion fatigue?

@article{Link1995PublicKA,
  title={Public knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about homeless people: Evidence for compassion fatigue?},
  author={Bruce G. Link and Sonia Schwartz and R E Moore and Jo C. Phelan and Elmer L. Struening and Ann Stueve and Mary Ellen Colten},
  journal={American Journal of Community Psychology},
  year={1995},
  volume={23},
  pages={533-555}
}
Media reports suggest that the public is becoming impatient with the homeless—that so-called “compassion fatigue” has gripped the nation. This characterization of public sentiment could have important policy consequences—restrictive measures can be justified by growing public impatience, and progressive housing policies seem infeasible within a hostile climate of opinion. But evidence to support the compassion fatigue notion is anecdotal. We examine the issue by tracking the results of public… 
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109 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
16
Background Citations
50
Methods Citations
6
Results Citations
4

109 Citations

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TLDR
Most Americans care about homelessness as a major problem but there are divergent perspectives on solutions to address homelessness based on gender, income level, and political affiliation.
Explaining Public Support for Counterproductive Homelessness Policy: The Role of Disgust
Federal, state, and city governments spend substantial funds on programs intended to aid homeless people, and such programs attract widespread public support. In recent years, however, state and…
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Although it is clear that there is strong support for increased government action and more effective solutions for Europe’s growing homelessness crisis, there also remain public opinion barriers rooted in enduring negative perceptions.
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Attitudes to Homelessness in Australia
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The New Homelessness Revisited.
TLDR
Contributions by sociologists and other social scientists since the mid-1990s differentiate among types of homelessness, provide credible demographic estimates, and show how being homeless affects a person's life chances and coping strategies.
Explaining public support for counterproductive homeless policy: the role of disgust
Federal, state, and city governments spend substantial funds on programs intended to aid homeless people, and such programs attract widespread public support. In recent years, however, government has…
Homelessness in the United States: Assessing Changes in Prevalence and Public Opinion, 1993–2001
TLDR
Responses in 2001 had less stereotyped views of homeless people and were more supportive of services, but came to see homelessness as a less serious problem that was less often due to economic factors, a “mixed” set of findings.
Perceptions of Humanity: College Students on Homelessness
Initially focused on previous research regarding the demographics of the homeless population over the past three decades to develop a deeper understanding of issues homeless people face, a brief…
Homelessness in the US and Germany: a cross‐national analysis
A public opinion survey was administered by telephone to nationally representative samples in the US and Germany to assess prevalence of homelessness as well as attitudes, opinions and knowledge…
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