Trauma Among Unaccompanied Homeless Youth: The Integration of Street Culture into a Model of Intervention

ABSTRACT

Homeless adolescents comprise a population particularly vulnerable to developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Research has shown that prevalence of trauma-related symptoms among homeless youth living in shelters and on the streets without families is approximately 18%. The detrimental effects of traumatic experiences often inhibit homeless youths' ability to employ the psychosocial skills necessary to a transition out of homelessness. Consequently, interventions targeting the mitigation of post-traumatic stress symptoms among this population are crucial. This article aims to address the symptoms and needs of unaccompanied homeless youth who experience post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology and offers a strength-based intervention framework for understanding, identifying, and beginning to address trauma-related mental health needs within the cultural context and experience of youth homelessness.

KEYWORDS:

• Homeless youth
• street youth
• post-traumatic stress
• youth intervention
• strength-based interventions
• cognitive behavioral interventions