Agency and clientship in public encounters: co‐constructing ‘neediness’ and ‘worthiness’ in shelter placement meetings

This article seeks to develop our understanding of the agency of vulnerable groups who at first sight may not seem to have much agency in their lives. It explores the co‐constructed nature of agency in three Danish homeless shelters. Unlike earlier interview‐based studies, our research is based on naturalistic data drawn from 23 video‐recorded placement meetings. Using concepts from Goffman, we examine how versions of the neediness and worthiness of homeless people are negotiated verbally and bodily between staff and clients. We find that homeless people have to juggle two partly contradictory roles when they are given or take the roles of either a (active) citizen or a (passive) client. Clientship is actively negotiated by both parties and demonstrates the agency of homeless people: they can collaborate with (as clients) or challenge (as citizens) the staff’s attempts to formulate solutions to their troubles. We further examine how the professional ideology of client centredness affects the meeting between the two parties. However, we show that, like any discourse, client centredness has no intrinsic meaning and is played out by actors in very different ways. In work with the homeless, the discourse of client centredness is related to discourses of ‘neediness’, ‘worthiness’ and ‘value for money’ that define agency in different ways and make three different client positions available: the resolute client, the acquiescent client and the passive client.     

“Hello! I know you help people here,right?”: A qualitative study of young people's acted motivations in text-based counseling

Mediated counseling services are becoming more and more common, thanks to the advance and availability of ICTs. The research on motivations for choosing such a service over a face-to-face one is a relatively new field of research and previous studies identified the most common motivations as narrated by clients in ex-post interviews. The present study aims to contribute to this field of research by identifying and describing how these motivations are directly enacted within the conversations between the counseling professional and the client. Twentyone WhatsApp conversations were analyzed using Qualitative Content Analysis. Results show that motivations expressed ex-post by young people found in previous research (e.g. privacy and autonomy, control over the counseling process, anonymity, accessibility of text counseling) are present in the conversations, but are more complex and nuanced in natural discursive productions. The article also presents the pragmatic implications of these occurrences in the practice of mediated counseling.     

Are There Homeless Youth in My Community? Differences of Perception Between Service Providers and High School Youth

While teen homelessness, like all homelessness, is increasing, there have been few solid estimates of the actual number of teens effected. A twofold methodology to count homeless teens was used in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Maine. Social service agencies were contacted to obtain a count of homeless adolescents, and over 3000 high school age teens were surveyed in the seacoast ofNew Hampshire and southwestern Maine to identify how many were homeless. By using different definitions of homelessness, it was found that a minimum of 5% of all teens in high school reported that they had been homeless sometime during the past year. When using a broadened definition of homelessness, it was found that 20% of the teens regularly stayed with others. However, this experience was not identified by social service providers, who reported that teen homelessness simply was not a problem in their communities. In order to more accurately describe the phenomenon experienced by teens, it is proposed that the term “homelessness” should be replaced with a more inclusive word, such as “housing distress.”     

Agency in advanced liberal services: grounding sociological knowledge in homeless people's accounts

This paper aims to understand how people who are homeless respond to advanced liberal social services that endeavour to promote their autonomy and responsible actions. We prioritize the experiences and positions of people who are homeless, and what agentic action means to them. Sociological literature is selective about what accounts are deemed agentic. Agency is associated with accounts that resist or subvert dominant neoliberal framings of homelessness as failure of individuals. When people experiencing homelessness or poverty themselves foreground autonomy or responsibility, sociologists treat them as cultural dopes who have internalized neoliberal discourse. Our analysis is driven by an ethnographic study in an Australian homelessness shelter. We demonstrate how people who are homeless neither outright reject nor completely embrace advanced liberal practices to influence their actions and promote autonomy. People engaged in relational reasoning. Paternalist and advanced liberal social services were both lauded and rejected for their capacities and limitations to realize a good life. We contribute to the discussion for sociology to value people's accounts and experiences, rather than broader social process explaining their accounts. From the perspectives of people who are homeless, we show that just because something appears neoliberal does not mean it should be automatically rejected.     

Stress,Coping, and Mental Health Differences among Homeless People

People who are chronically homeless are assumed to have higher rates of mental health problems than episodically or new‐entry homeless individuals. It is unclear to what extent early‐life and current stressors account for this disadvantage. Guided by cumulative disadvantage theory and stress research, we analyze data from a national study of the US homeless population to examine how stressors and coping resources throughout the life course are implicated in differences among homeless people in psychiatric disorders and alcohol or other drug abuse disorders. Logistic regression analysis reveals that new‐entry homeless persons are less likely than their chronically and episodically homeless counterparts to have current psychiatric disorders. This is explained by stressors and coping resources experienced in childhood and during adult homeless spells. Alcohol and other drug abuse is common but comparable across the three homeless types and shares an association with selected stress and coping measures. Findings lend credibility to an accumulation of risks perspective, highlighting how past as well as contemporaneous stressors are related to the mental health of homeless people.     

Youth homelessness and self identity: a view from Canada

ABSTRACT

This paper is based on the analysis of data collected from the National Canadian Homeless Youth Survey and addresses the question: why do some youth who received support from social service agencies that cater to the needs of homeless youth self-identify as being homeless while others do not? According to self-report survey data obtained from 1103 young people from over 50 youth homeless service centres from across Canada, findings show that youth who self-identified as being homeless shared several backgrounds and current situational characteristics not common among youth in the sample who did not consider themselves to be homeless. The findings illustrate the importance of past trauma and the intensity of day to day hardship in self-identifying as a homeless young person.     

Professional Socialization as Embedded Elaborations: Experience,Institutions, and Professional Culture Throughout Teacher Careers

Across a wide range of studies on professional socialization, there is a shared assumption that people carry forward what they learn in formal training experiences and somehow bring it to bear on the subsequent organizational settings they enter. Yet we actually know very little about whether, and exactly how, people carry forward the meanings they develop as part of their professional socialization experience. We address this gap in the literature by examining professional socialization that unfolds over the teaching career. Combining interview data with public and private school teachers across career stages with ethnographic data of a university‐based teacher education program, we examine how the meanings people develop about their work are shaped concomitantly by accumulated experience and institutional settings. We develop a conceptualization of professional socialization that we call embedded elaborations, which attends to the ways that people's ongoing meaning making (or elaborations) is situated (or embedded) institutionally and temporally. We also show how embedded elaborations act as meaning‐making processes through which people in local settings actively produce and reproduce elements of a wider professional culture.     

Anthropometric data of adult wheelchair users for Mexican population

The aim of the study was to obtain anthropometric data of adult wheelchair users at Mexico. This study count with 108 disabled people (56 men and 52 women) using the wheelchair and having the upper extremities sufficiently efficient to perform professional activities. The subjects were aged 18-60. From the measurements obtained, it can be said that in each of these measures was observed that men have larger dimensions than women, except for body depth, in which women had a slightly greater difference. When comparing the data in this study against other studies it shows that there is a significant difference between the averages of these studies. Similar results were obtained when comparing our data against data of standard population. Anthropometric data obtained through this study appear to be the only of this kind in Mexico and showed significant differences between measures of disabled persons and standard persons. the use of these data may be helpful for the proper design of workstations designed for use by adults who use.     

Age and gender differences and predictors of victimization of the older homeless

Using data from the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC) and an application of Felson's Routine Activities Theory, this paper examines gender and age differences in victimization experiences of a sample of more than 4,200 homeless and near-homeless people, mostly adults. Results suggest that there are no differences in victimization experience by homelessness status and that the negative relationship between age and victimization rates found in the general population is also found in the homeless population. However, the relationship is relatively weak and erratic, suggesting that homeless older adults who are at least 50 years old are at increased risk of becoming victims, a finding consistent with Routine Activities Theory. In addition, similar to research with other populations, younger homeless males are statistically more likely to report being victims of theft and physical assault while females of all ages are more likely to report being victims of sexual assault. However, for older homeless adults, the gender difference in likelihood of victimization disappears. Perhaps because older homeless women are labeled as easy targets, they were equally as likely as men to be victims of physical assault and theft in old age. This is also consistent with Routine Activities Theory.     

When homeless people are allowed to decide by themselves. Rehousing homeless people in Germany

Several surveys on homeless people in Germany and evaluation results of studies in other European countries show that a majority of homeless people want to live in mainstream, self-contained housing. Research in the UK and in Germany also proves that most homeless single people with special difficulties and rough sleepers, who are often stigmatized as 'unable to live on their own', manage to sustain a normal tenancy, when additional social support is provided for those in need of it. This article presents the results of a long-term evaluation of two projects in Germany, which aimed at the reintegration of single homeless people into normal, permanent housing and were evaluated for a longer period of time. Both projects were part of a research scheme funded by the German Government.     

Are there homeless youth in my community? Differences of perception between service providers and high school youth

While teen homelessness, like all homelessness, is increasing, there have been few solid estimates of the actual number of teens effected. A twofold methodology to count homeless teens was used in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Maine. Social service agencies were contacted to obtain a count of homeless adolescents, and over 3000 high school age teens were surveyed in the seacoast of New Hampshire and southwestern Maine to identify how many were homeless. By using different definitions of homelessness, it was found that a minimum of 5% of all teens in high school reported that they had been homeless sometime during the past year. When using a broadened definition of homelessness, it was found that 20% of the teens regularly stayed with others. However, this experience was not identified by social service providers, who reported that teen homelessness simply was not a problem in their communities. In order to more accurately describe the phenomenon experienced by teens, it is proposed that the term homelessness should be replaced with a more inclusive word, such as housing distress.     

How Runaway and Homeless Youth Navigate Troubled Waters: The Role of Formal and Informal Helpers

Most adolescents navigate the transition from adolescence to young adulthood with relative success. However, runaway and homeless youth experience formidable obstacles in their paths and engage in dangerous behaviors that threaten their well being and long-term prospects. This study is part of a larger exploratory research effort aimed at understanding how runaway and homeless adolescents navigate the troubled waters of their adolescence to make successful developmental transitions into young adulthood. The focus of this paper is to report findings related to the formal and informal helping resources that enable runaway and homeless youth to resolve difficulties, deal with hazards, and achieve some level of self-defined success in young adulthood. This study utilized a qualitative research design, and the primary data collection method was in-depth interviews with 12 formerly runaway and homeless young people. The constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Evidence emerged regarding who provided help, the types of help provided, conditions that facilitated acceptance of help, and advice to helping professionals. The findings illustrate the experiences youth had with helpers that they found valuable and experiences they perceived as detrimental.     

Ties,sites and irregularities: pitfalls and benefits in using respondent-driven sampling for surveying a homeless population

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a survey method for hidden populations and, as such, it offers a suitable approach for sampling the homeless. Surprisingly, the practical use of RDS in surveying homeless populations has only sporadically been described in the professional literature so far, and the specifics of using RDS for sampling this group have not been reflected in depth. The goal of the article is to investigate how three specific concerns, namely the transitional character of social ties among the homeless, problems with locating the interview site, and the irregular use of coupons, affect the sampling process. The findings of the article are based on experience using RDS for creating two independent samples of homeless persons in two Czech cities. Worries of poor referral effectiveness were disproved, but poor validity of the network size indicator, tendency towards irregular use of coupons, and negative effects arising from selecting service centres for the homeless as survey sites were confirmed.     

Prevalence of clinical autistic traits within a homeless population: barriers to accessing homeless services

ABSTRACT

Recent research suggests a high prevalence rate of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) amongst the homeless population. Although, it is well-documented that autistic people experienced many barriers to accessing health services, little is known about their challenges in accessing homeless services. Thus, the present study aimed to measure prevalence of high levels of autistic traits, and to identify barriers that prevent autistic people accessing homeless services. Participants recruited from homeless services (n?=?65) completed the Autism Quotient-10 (AQ-10) alongside a questionnaire regarding perceived accessibility of homeless services. Results revealed that 18.5% of participants scored Above the Clinical Threshold of the AQ-10 (ACT-AQ). Moreover, the ACT-AQ group reported that encountering big groups in shared accommodation represent a significant barrier to engaging with homeless services. Further research is needed to identify the full degree of ASC representation and the factors that might prevent autistic homeless people accessing homeless services, and thus overcoming homelessness.     

Characteristics of Homeless Jail Inmates: Implications for Social Work

This study set out to validate the hypothesis (belief) that homeless people were likely to commit minor offenses as solutions to their conditions. Jails, and maybe prisons, would provide three meals a day, a place to sleep, and minimal health care-especially during the winter months. Instead, the data did not support the hypothesis. Contrary to the reported practices of some homeless people in Colorado who are described as committing non-serious but timed offenses to go to jail, it found a homeless population in jail who give a literal interpretation to the political phrase “the invisible people.” They were not in jail because they were homeless, but instead they were in jail for serious crimes (murder, rape, drugs, robbery) and their homelessness was a side fact Since it was not likely that this group would seek to address or resolve their homelessness, it was recommended that jail social workers identify their needs to them, track them into social welfare networks, with a designated contact person, prior to their release.     

“I’m not homeless,I’m houseless”: identifying as homeless and associations with service utilization among Los Angeles homeless young people

Little is known about homeless young people’s identification of being homeless and how that identity may or may not be associated with service utilization. This study of 444 homeless young people attending Los Angeles area drop-in centers explores the associations of demographic characteristics, homelessness characteristics, negative lifetime experiences, mental health symptoms, technology use, and past month service utilization with identifying as homeless. Fifty-two percent of the sample identified as being homeless. Being Black, a current traveler, and history of injection drug use were all significantly associated with a decreased likelihood in identifying as homeless. However, having fair/poor health, accessing shelter services, and reporting one’s own substance use as a reason for homelessness were all significantly associated with identifying as homeless. There are important service implications for reaching young people who are in need of services but may not identify with the target population label of homeless.     

A habitus of instability: youth homelessness and instability

This research introduces the concept of a habitus of insecurity to account for the lives of homeless young people. It outlines how conditions of existence are internalised and how homeless young people come to expect and in turn recreate instability in their lives. This research addresses the internalisation and naturalisation of experiences of instability, insecurity and marginalisation and how people can come to subjectively aspire to what they are socialised to see as objectively probable or ‘for the likes of them'. The research draws on ethnographic research and participant observation to examine the complex lives of homeless young people and how they are shaped by instability and insecurity inculcated before, during and after experiences of homelessness. This research highlights that people should not be defined merely by their experiences of homelessness of housing status, but by the complex array of conditions that shape their lives.     

Homelessness in Ottawa County Michigan: The “Gap” Population

Abstract

Homelessness has gained increasing attention since the 1980s in the United States. And the numbers of individuals and families experiencing homelessness are growing, with a 20,000 person, or 3% increase, from 2008 through 2009 (“State of Homelessness,” 2011). In spite of persistent investigation and activism on how to prevent and end homelessness, there is not agreement on what causes homelessness or how to stop it (McNamara, 2009). What is apparent, however, is that the homeless population is not homogenous. Therefore, the standard models of service, whether from governmental or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), end up neglecting the needs of portions of the population of people who face homelessness. Governmental and non-governmental service providers have recognized the existence of the unique sub-populations of people who are homeless and are attempting to understand and meet the needs of people outside the prevailing understanding of homelessness. This project works with a collaborative of such service providers through a multiple methodological approach to generate better understanding on the two key areas necessary to create models of service for people who are in the “gap” subsector of the homeless population. First, investigation was undertake to learn systematically who is included in the “gap” population among the homeless community, or, in other words, what traits those who continue to cycle in and out of homelessness, and thus are part of this “gap” population, share. Secondly, the project explores what organizations are currently serving these people, and how are they doing so. In other words, this project also ask what are the trends or practices that exist nationally and locally for serving people who fall into this category of homelessness? Findings suggest central traits including mental illness, substance abuse and a history of incarceration as factors spanning members of the “gap” population. Though there are caveats and practices to be avoided, these people are surviving or even thriving through the service primarily of faith-based non-governmental organizations, unfettered by the policy and funding constraints of governmental entities.     

The impact of the crisis on homelessness in Spain: social intervention in a context of greater need and fewer resources

The purpose of this article is to deepen the understanding of the impact of the social and economic crisis on homeless people in Spain. To this end we present the results of research carried out prior to the crisis and later updated in the midst of the economic recession, underscoring the main results obtained in both periods and tracing their evolution. The number of homeless people in Spain has risen as a result of the crisis. Moreover, while some characteristics of this group remain the same, others have changed. Hence, difficulties in access to the labour market and cuts in certain economic benefits are resulting in an increase in the duration of social inclusion processes. This results in a worsening of the personal situation of the homeless, especially in relation to mental illness and substance abuse. The immigrant population is the group most affected by these impacts. The situation clearly demonstrates the need to reflect on how to deal with the problem of homelessness in Spain, and to rethink the way professionals intervene, especially during periods of economic recession.