INTRODUCTION

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to serve as an important resource for scholars and practitioners working to address the needs of marginalized populations. It focuses on a particularly vulnerable and marginalized population-people experiencing homelessness. The book then reviews the homelessness-incarceration nexus and highlight the structural- and individual-level barriers that unhoused individuals face, while noting the paucity of research examining how homeless defendants fare in felony courts. It also provides an in-depth look into how immigration policy can create double punishments for noncitizens who serve in the United States military. The book evaluates the predictive performance of the Modified Positive Achievement Change Tool-a highly utilized youth risk-need assessment-across racial/ethnic subgroups. It then takes a broader approach to the examination of risk assessment instruments for marginalized populations.