Predictors of employment among sheltered homeless women

Abstract

The effect of homelessness on the psychological and physical health of women is damaging and long lasting. Understanding of the personal factors that enable homeless women to secure employment and re-enter mainstream society is of utmost importance. A sample of homeless women residing in a US Midwestern nonprofit treatment and transitional living shelter for homeless women and their children were surveyed regarding the extent to which life satisfaction, social self-efficacy, and hopeful thinking predicted women's expected capabilities to obtain employment above and beyond social support provisions, while controlling for participants' age, ethnicity, and education level. Findings failed to reveal that social psychological (i.e., life satisfaction and social self-efficacy) and intrapersonal (i.e., hope) variables predicted homeless women's job procurement self-efficacy above and beyond perceived social support. The social support provision of social integration and younger age significantly predicted women's self-efficacy to secure employment. Implications of results for social justice initiatives and interventions are discussed.

Los efectos de vivir sin hogar en la salud física y psicológica de la mujer son dañinos y duraderos. El entendimiento de los factores personales que le permiten a la mujer sin hogar conseguir empleo y reintegrarse a la sociedad es de suma importancia. Una muestra de mujeres sin hogar que residen en un alberge sin fines de lucro para mujeres sin hogar y sus hijos en el medio oeste de los Estados Unidos fue encuestada con respecto al grado en que su satisfacción con la vida, autoeficacia social, y pensamientos de esperanza predijeron las capacidades previstas por las mujeres para obtener empleo más allá de las provisiones de apoyo social, mientras controlamos por la edad de las participantes, etnicidad y nivel de educación. Los resultados fallaron en revelar que variables psicosociales (es decir, satisfacción con la vida y autoeficacia social) e intrapersonales (es decir, esperanza) predijeron la autoeficacia de las mujeres sin hogar en la obtención de empleo más allá del apoyo social percibido. La provisión de apoyo social de integración social y edad más joven predijeron significativamente la autoeficacia de las mujeres para obtener empleo. Las implicaciones de estos resultados para las iniciativas de justicia social e intervenciones son discutidas.

Keywords:

• employment
• homeless
• women
• social support
• self-efficacy
• hope
• life satisfaction

Palabras claves:

• empleo
• sin hogar
• mujeres
• apoyo social
• autoeficacia
• esperanza
• satisfacción con la vida

Notes on contributors

Chris Brown is Professor and Chair of the Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her primary research and teaching interests include cultural dimensions of career development and professional ethics. She is a licensed psychologist in Missouri and Kansas and provides counseling for New Directions Employee Assistance Program.

Conrad T. Mueller is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. His interests focus on the use of quantitative research methodologies to understand social and moral development in diverse context.