Stigmatization and Victimization of People Experiencing Homelessness: Psychological Functioning, Social Functioning, and Social Distance as Predictors of Reporting Violence to the Police

Abstract

Abstract Homelessness is a serious social and health problem that is very important for community care and problem-oriented policing (POP). As this vulnerable population is difficult to reach, sound empirical data on psychosocial characteristics and contacts with the police are rare. This article reports a study of people experiencing homelessness from Berlin (Germany). Based on concepts of psychological and social functioning as well as social distance to the police we investigated their relation to reports of violent victimization to the police. A sample of 60 homeless males was contacted in the streets and anonymously answered interview questions and German versions of the Symptom Checklist 9, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Perceived Social Distance Scale. Only participants who had experienced violent victimization within the last 5 years were included for the study. The results showed enhanced psychological problems and social isolation from the society, although there were some close relations to other people experiencing homelessness. Psychological problems and social distance to the police clearly differentiated between those participants who reported their violent victimization to the police and those who did not. Multivariate analyses stress the importance of social distance to the police, psychological functioning, and age as predictors of reporting victimization to the police. Moderator analyses suggested that if social distance to the police is low, people tend to report victimization independent of psychological functioning. The findings are relevant for POP and support the involvement of police in multi-agency-based community crime prevention. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.