Public Shelter as “a Hybrid Institution”: Homeless Men in Historical Perspective

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Abstract
The histories of public shelter in Chicago and New York show that homelessness among single men has typically been viewed as a problem of troubled—and troublesome—individuals. In this viewpoint, the link between the labor market and emergency shelter use, so obvious during times of economic depression, has been lost. Shelters historically have been “hybrid institutions,” plugging gaps in the formal institutional array of supports, while at the same time serving as dwellings of last resort for usually‐working men who have exhausted informal resources of assistance. This double burden has made program design incoherent, barriers to access commonplace, and mystification of shelter functions the rule. Today, families continue to play the largest role in avoiding homelessness among single men, with shelters serving as intermittent, stopgap accessories. A coherent unemployment relief policy is still lacking, despite the centrality of labor market dynamics in the homelessness of these men.

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