The Community Privacy Trade Off In Supportive Housing

The housing component of supportive housing can take a variety of social and physical forms ranging from dispersed apartments to cooperative houses. This project addresses the research question: What housing form is more supportive for people with mental health problems: private apartments of congregate housing that combines private space with some shared spaces/ is it privacy, autonomy and "normalcy" or community, peer support and camaraderie that support well-being? The research literature is divided on this question. This study was conducted among current and recent residents of supportive housing. Qualitative research techniques were used to encourage residents to express their views and preferences about housing environments that they consider to be supportive. The project had two parts. The first part was a series of group discussions on housing preferences among residents of one supportive housing agency. Second, in a more "hands-on" approach, participants spent a weekend designing a "dream house" for supportive housing. Some 20 supportive housing residents were recruited to form two charrette teams, each of which actually designed a supportive housing environment based on either the principle of privacy or community. The two teams worked intensively over the course of a single weekend in winter 1996 to produce a schematic plan for the design of a supportive housing structure which emphasizes either the principle of privacy or community. Each team worked with an architect who served as a technical consultant, translating the team members' ideas into drawings. Each team produced a series of rough drawings representing its house plan. Despite their different terms of reference, the two teams developed designs that were essentially similar. The results support the conclusion that both private space and common space are important elements of supportive housing.

In 1981, Toronto activist Mel Starkman wrote: ""An important new movement is sweeping through the western world.... The 'mad,' the oppressed, the ex-inmates of society's asylums are coming together and speaking for themselves."" Mad Matters is the first Canadian book to bring together the writings of this vital movement, which has grown explosively in the years since. With contributions from scholars in numerous disciplines, as well as activists and psychiatric survivors, it presents diverse critical voices that convey the lived experiences of the psychiatrized and challenges dominant understandings of ""mental illness."" The connections between mad activism and other liberation struggles are stressed throughout, making the book a major contribution to the literature on human rights and anti-oppression.

Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.

"If you've got nothing to hide," many people say, "you shouldn't worry about government surveillance." Others argue that we must sacrifice privacy for security. But as Daniel J. Solove argues in this important book, these arguments and many others are flawed. They are based on mistaken views about what it means to protect privacy and the costs and benefits of doing so. The debate between privacy and security has been framed incorrectly as a zero-sum game in which we are forced to choose between one value and the other. Why can't we have both? In this concise and accessible book, Solove exposes the fallacies of many pro-security arguments that have skewed law and policy to favor security at the expense of privacy. Protecting privacy isn't fatal to security measures; it merely involves adequate oversight and regulation. Solove traces the history of the privacy-security debate from the Revolution to the present day. He explains how the law protects privacy and examines concerns with new technologies. He then points out the failings of our current system and offers specific remedies. Nothing to Hide makes a powerful and compelling case for reaching a better balance between privacy and security and reveals why doing so is essential to protect our freedom and democracy"--Jacket.