Not Sheltered, Not Homeless

RVs as Makeshifts

Bibliographic Data

ID3756535
AuthorsMichele Wakin (University of California, Santa Barbara, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume48
Issue8
Pages1013-1032
Publication date2005-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764204274197
OpenAlexW2090319260
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited21

Since its recognition as a social problem in the 1980s, homelessness has not abated. A signature feature of contemporary homelessness is a life in public. Sociological research on the relationship between "sheltered" and "street" homeless populations emphasize their overlapping nature. Yet many homeless people who create "makeshift" housing solutions actively resist shelterization and contest the view that they are in fact homeless. Examining the resources and risks associated with makeshift housing suggests that it provides increased social and structural opportunities yet comes with risks that threaten community longevity. Vehicles are a type of makeshift housing that offer the potential for privacy, ownership, and mobility, unique resources among makeshifts. Using the case of otherwise homeless people living in their vehicles in Santa Barbara, California, this article examines how they acquire and maintain their vehicles and explores the conditions that provide for or threaten their status as a semipermanent housing solution

CONTEST · Criminology · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Sociology · Homelessness and Social Issues · Urban Planning and Governance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies