Human Behavior

Prevention is a proactive science-based process that aims to strengthen existing protective factors and to diminish or eliminate other factors that put individuals, families, and communities at risk for substance abuse. Prevention is important because alcohol and drug abuse are a leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and health expenditures in the United States. Alcohol and other drug abuse is also associated with infectious diseases, chronic diseases, emergency room visits, newborn health problems, family violence, and auto fatalities. The comorbidity of drug and alcohol abuse with mental health disorders and HIV adds urgency to the development, evaluation, and implementation of comprehensive and effective prevention interventions. The social work profession plays a key role in substance abuse prevention, as it not only targets the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs but also aims at reducing the related negative health and psychosocial outcomes and economic burden they produce on individuals and society at large.

This entry provides an overview of contemporary homelessness as a major social problem in the United States, focusing on the definition of homelessness and its prevalence, as well as on the composition and characteristics of the homeless population. It then discusses the dynamics and causes of homelessness and examines policy responses toward homelessness since the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. The entry points to the multifaceted nature of homelessness and highlights promising interventions that have shown to be effective in addressing homelessness among members of special needs populations.