Table 2.

Results of the Attitudes Toward Homelessness Inventory

ATHI Subscale	Mean Score Prior to Course (N = 18)	Mean Score After the Course (N = 18)	P Value
Belief that homelessness has societal causes*	12.1	15.1	.001
Willingness to affiliate with homeless people†	7.9	9.8	.004
Belief homelessness is caused by personal characteristics‡	11.7	12.6	.15
Belief that homelessness is a solvable problem§	13.7	14.3	.32
ATHI total score	45.4	51.7	.001

^*This subscale consisted of 3 items: “Recent government cutbacks in housing assistance for the poor may have made the homeless problem in this country worse” (R), “The low minimum wage in this country virtually guarantees a large homeless population” (R), “Recent government cutbacks in welfare have contributed substantially to the homeless problem in this country” (R).

^†This subscale consisted of 2 items: “I would feel comfortable eating a meal with a homeless person” (R) and “I feel uneasy when I meet homeless people.”

^‡This subscale consisted of 3 items: “Homeless people had parents who took little interest in them as children,”“Most circumstances of homelessness in adults can be traced to their emotional experiences in childhood,” and “Most homeless persons are substance abusers.” A high score on this subscale indicates that the respondent believes personal characteristics are less likely to be an important cause of homelessness.

^§This subscale consisted of 3 items: “Rehabilitation programs for the homeless are too expensive to operate,”“There is little that can be done for people in homeless shelters except to see that they are comfortable and well fed,” and “A homeless person cannot really be expected to adopt a normal lifestyle.”

All items were rated 1 to 6 in terms of agreement with 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = unsure but probably agree, 4 = unsure but probably disagree, 5 = disagree, and 6 = strongly disagree.

(R), scoring reversed for that item.