Comparing men's and womens' experiences of multiple exclusion homelessness

This article explores gender as a variable in multiple exclusion homelessness in England. Much past research has taken insufficient account of the gender of homeless people, especially the predominance of men in the single homeless population and of women heading homeless households with dependent children. Drawing on qualitative data generated in a study of multiple exclusion homelessness in London and Nottingham, the article considers three ways in which gender may act as a homelessness variable: in people's susceptibility to homelessness, in their experiences of homelessness and in their encounters with accommodation services. By comparing the accounts of homeless men and women with complex support needs with evidence from staff working for support agencies, the overall aim of the article is to offer a critical examination of the gendered assumptions of homelessness policy and practice

`Beyond silent organizations': A reflection of the UK Chinese people and their community organizations

The UK Chinese community has long been perceived to have a high degree of solidarity and self-sufficiency. On the other hand, it is argued that the sense of community and mutual help among Chinese people has been weakened by their competitive approach to business. Based on findings from an ESRC-funded national study of the UK Chinese people's help-seeking behaviour, this study found that Chinese people, both where their population is dispersed and where it is concentrated, actively formed organizations to meet their social and cultural needs. However, Chinese organizations were weakened by inadequate resources and the diverse needs of different Chinese groups. Thus, the UK Chinese people were neither self-sufficient nor isolated from each other. The experiences of Chinese organizations further show that in spite of government expectations of community organizations, state input has been mainly in terms of regulations and control. Without financial support, UK Chinese organizations will slip from being weak organizations into 'silent' ones