1. Understanding Homelessness
  2. Causes & Intersections
  3. Causes & Intersections

Criminalization & The Carceral System

Laws against begging and panhandling, loitering, vagrancy, and sleeping in public disproportionately affect people experiencing homelessness. There is growing evidence that criminalization of homelessness may not only fail to properly address homelessness, but likely exacerbates it, as arrests, incarceration, fines, and sometimes trauma at the hands of enforcement bodies can prolong homelessness by creating new barriers to obtaining employment and stable housing. 

In their own words: Ed | Cardiff, UK

 

Learn more about criminalization & the carceral system in:

Guatemala, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, India

Resources

Public Hearing on Violence against Homeless Women in Delhi
Homeless women in Delhi face acts of violence on a daily basis, including verbal, physical and sexual abuse, and economic and social exploitation, which severely affects their mental and physical health. The media, however, seldom report...
Region:
South & Southeast Asia
Characteristics of Violent Deaths Among Homeless People in Maryland, 2003–2011
Jennifer L.Stanley
Alexandra V.Jansson
Adebola A.Akinyemi
Clifford S.Mitchell
Homelessness is a continuing challenge facing the U.S. A point-in-time survey in 2013 estimated about 610,042 people were homeless nationally on a given night, and of those, about 8,200 were located in Maryland. Morbidity and mortality...
Region:
North America
Litigating the Rights of Street Children in Regional or International Fora: Trends, Options, Barriers and Breakthroughs
Uché U. Ewelukwa
This article focuses on the fate of street children and interactions between street children and international law and international institutions. The landmark November 1999 decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Villagrdn...
Region:
Central & South America and the Caribbean
The Militarization of Urban Marginality: Lessons from the Brazilian Metropolis
Loı¨c Wacquant
This article examines the workings and effects of the penalization of poverty in urban Brazil at century’s turn to uncover the deep logic of punitive containment as state strategy for the management of dispossessed and dishonored...
Region:
Central & South America and the Caribbean
Punishing Benevolence: The Criminalization of Homeless Feeding as an Act of State Harm
Christopher P. Dum
Robert J. Norris
Kevin Weng
The homeless population in the United States increased substantially since the 1980s. As a result, research into homelessness and its effects, as well as policies aimed at addressing this vital social problem, have also grown. Because...
Region:
North America
No Right to Rest: Police Enforcement Patterns and Quality of Life Consequences of the Criminalization of Homelessness
Tony Robinson
Laws restricting the behaviors of homeless people in public places are proliferating. Proponents argue that such “quality of life” laws will encourage homeless people to move off the streets and into services, and thereby improve their...
Region:
North America
No Safe Place: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities
Tristia Bauman
Imagine a world where it is illegal to sit down. Could you survive if there were no place you were allowed to fall asleep, to store your belongings, or to stand still? For most of us, these scenarios seem unrealistic to the point of being...
Region:
North America
The Administration and Criminalization of the Homeless: Notes on the Possibilities and Limits of Bureaucratic Engagement
Lorne Sossin
This article argues that successfully addressing social problems such as homelessness requires that the vast and often hidden discretion afforded public officials be exposed, rehabilitated, and expanded. A more proactive bureaucratic role...
Region:
North America
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