Public attitudes to homelessness: findings from a Scotland-wide survey
December 2008
Rachel Ormston, Research Director, Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen)
Rachel Ormston outlines the results of a survey identifying attitudes to homelessness among the public, commissioned after a prior survey suggested that practitioners working in the homelessness field thought they would find their jobs easier if public attitudes were more positive. Findings indicate that many people did indeed hold critical opinions on the causes of homelessness and on people who find themselves homeless. The article concludes with a round-up of suggestions for how practitioners can take practical steps to try to alter these negative attitudes to more positive ones.
