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ABSTRACT
This project studies desistance from substance use and homelessness. In the early 1990s, the New Orleans Homeless Substance Abusers Project (NOHSAP) tested new treatment approaches for homeless substance users. The program ran for three years and enrolled 670 clients. The current project involved finding as many of these individuals as possible and reinterviewing them 25 years later. The methodology for this study consists of follow-up interviews with 50 individuals in a variety of settings, including at their homes and in correctional facilities. The principal finding is that stable, successful romantic relationships incline formerly homeless substance abusers to be sober, stably housed, or both. For persons of this description, successful romantic relationships are an important motivator for desistance.
Notes
1 All names used in this paper are pseudonyms.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rachel L. Rayburn
Rachel L. Rayburn is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at Indiana University Purdue University – Fort Wayne (IPFW). She holds a B.S. degree from Florida State University and a Ph.D. in Sociology from The University of Central Florida. Dr. Rayburn teaches courses in criminal justice, law, and public policy. Her current research examines desistance among homeless substance abusers. She has published articles on homelessness, drugs, and desistance from crime that have appeared in journals such as Applied Social Science, Society, The Journal of Long Term Home Health Care, and Sociology Health Review.
James D. Wright
James D. Wright is an author, educator, and the Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. In 2013, he was named a UCF Pegasus Professor, the University’s highest faculty honor. Wright also serves as the Director of the UCF Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences, served for 36 years as the editor-in-chief of the journal Social Science Research before stepping down in 2014, and served as the editor-in-chief of the International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, published in 26 volumes by Elsevier in March 2015. He has authored or coauthored 27 books and more than 300 articles, chapters, essays, reviews, and polemics.