A case study: Retrospective analysis of homeless women in a Canadian city.

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Richter, S.
  • Chaw-Kant, J.

• A retrospective study was performed using the case files of women shelter users to profile and describe the factors that are associated with homelessness in the women population in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Case files (660) were extracted by selecting every fifth file in each group (one group per year) beginning in 1985. Of all the files examined, the mean age was 34 years. Fifty three percent were single women and half were Aboriginal. Main reasons given for using the shelters were housing problems and involvement in abusive relationships. Thirty eight percent of women used shelters only once, while 25.6 % were considered chronic users. Establishing the profile of homeless women proved difficult because of the lack of usable data. What is urgently needed for women shelters is the creation of a standardized admission form that incorporates sensitivity and flexibility for each shelter admission.

• Date created

  2008

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Women
  • Poverty
  • Health
  • Homelessness
  • Shelters

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3N873209

• License

  © 2008 Department of Sociology, University of Toronto. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.