University of Maryland
Sociology 498: Homelessness 

Rossi: Down and Out in America

Rossi's warning about causal direction:

"It is always debatable whether a difference between the domiciled and the homeless led to homelessness or whether homelessness created the difference... For example, it will come as no surprise that many of the homeless are depressed and do not believe their futures are promising: the conditions of life in either the shelters or the streets are depressing, and their futures are not promising. Depression may the the precursor to homelessness, but it also may be its consequence.

Peter Rossi, Down and Out in America, page 144

See also our broader list of questions about causal reasoning.
 

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Last updated February 15, 2006
comments to: Reeve Vanneman. reeve@cwmills.umd.edu