Control and Contain: a “Hidden Strategy” where a Common Strategy is Lacking: Perspectives from Italy

This article examines the configuration of homeless services in Italian metropolitan areas from a neo-institutional perspective based on the results of a number of local focus group studies conducted by fio.PSD, and on initial evidence from national research on homelessness and homeless services. The article highlights how the absence of a strategic common framework to combat homelessness in Italy, at local, regional and national level, has an isomorphic effect on local service systems, such that even without an express policy, local authorities and service providers invariably configure services to allow for the simple check, containment and management of homelessness.