The purpose of this study was to examine how two of Sweden's largest newspapers wrote about homeless men and women. This was done by analyzing the approach to homelessness and homeless individuals from a gender perspective, by looking at how notions of homeless men and women appeared in texts. The material was analyzed with a discourse analytical approach and a gender perspective. The main results are that homelessness are defined and problematized in media with different terms of vulnerability. The portrayal of vulnerability in relation to homelessness differs in regards to the sexes. Women are portrayed as passive victims of homelessness and men as active beings who can choose to break off homelessness. The women are also portrayed as mothers in bad relationships with men and the home is viewed as an essential arena. The men are viewed as the norm for homelessness and identified as lonely and criminal individuals. / Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka hur två av Sveriges största dagstidningar skriver om hemlösa män och kvinnor. Detta gjordes genom att analysera hur tidningarna  förhåller sig gentemot hemlöshet och hemlösa individer med ett genusperspektiv samt genom att studera vilka föreställningar om hemlösa kvinnor och män som framkommer i texterna. Materialet analyserades med en diskursanalytisk ansats och med ett genusperspektiv. Huvudresultaten som framkommit är att hemlöshet definieras och problematiseras i media i termer av utsatthet och denna utsatthet varierar mellan könen. Kvinnorna porträtteras som passiva offer för hemlösheten medan männen är aktiva varelser som kan välja att ta sig ur hemlösheten. Kvinnorna porträtteras också som mödrar med dåliga relationer till män och hemmet är en betydelsefull plats. Männen framställs som normen av hemlöshet och han identifieras som en ensam och kriminell varelse.

abstract: On a given night in 2018, over half a million people were experiencing homelessness in the United States, and of those, about 36,000 were youth under the age of 25. Music is an indispensable part of young people’s identities and cultures, and understanding the ways in which homeless youth define their own musical preferences and use of music can help music therapists intervene effectively in youth homelessness as part of an interdisciplinary care team. The purpose of this project was twofold: 1) to conduct a descriptive research project pertaining to homeless young adults’ use of music and 2) to develop recommendations for music therapists based on research findings from the descriptive project and extant literature. Thirty-one homeless young adults (ages 18-26) were recruited for interviews from two resource centers serving homeless youth in a large metropolitan city in a southwestern state. Template analysis was used to systematically analyze and code participants’ verbatim transcripts from the interviews into a codebook. Quotes from the interviews were used to illustrate themes. Findings included that homeless youth used music, especially metal and rap, for coping and mood regulation, and that youth are also engaged in creative music making, especially singing and songwriting for self-expression. For some youth, certain music can be identity-forming (for better or worse) and certain other music can be triggering. Results are integrated with a review of literature and recommendations for practicing clinicians are presented. Music therapy with this population would likely yield best outcomes by using short-term interventions and culturally competent application of clients’ preferred music. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music Therapy 2019

Although interventions that take an individualized, holistic approach to service delivery have been recommended for homeless youth, few such interventions have been described in the literature. This study sought to examine a unique, multi-faceted, community-based intervention developed in 2009 in Tampa, FL to provide services to homeless adolescents who are no longer living in the custody of a parent or guardian (i.e. unaccompanied youth). The intervention, titled Starting Right, Now (SRN), has served over 100 youth to date. The program provides residential, educational, recreational, and professional development services, as well as mental and physical health care. Each youth also receives a trained mentor who is in frequent contact with the youth. Other individualized services are provided as needed. Although SRN has been in existence for six years, the program has only been evaluated using measures such as changes in GPA, absentee rates, etc. In the current study, individual interviews with nine program participants who had been in SRN for at least one year were analyzed to explore how the youth themselves perceived that their lives had been impacted. Thematic analysis of interviews provided an opportunity to examine common themes among participants. Results showed that despite encountering some challenges, participants perceived that they had been lifted to higher educational and personal levels through obtainment of resources; adult and peer support systems; renewed trust in adults; increased hope; improved mental health; and a heightened sense of community. Practical implications for practice and research are discussed.

This study examines the relationship between social support and youth's high-risk behaviors. The data were obtained from the Midwest Homeless and Runaway Adolescent Project (MHRAP) in 1996. In the Midwestern United States, this study examines the hypothesis that youth with high social support will have low sexual risk behaviors. The study found that youths who had someone to turn to, a greater number of close friends, and someone they could count on were less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors. The implications of the findings are discussed.

No description available.

This is a qualitative study of 13 homeless African American women living in several shelters in the semi-rural South. The study focuses on their powerful stories of their lives and the trauma, abuse, substance abuse and economic problems that led them into homelessness. The study began as an ethnographic study after the model described in Leininger‟s „Stranger to Trusted Friend Enabler‟ and evolved into a creative mixed methodology of Interpretive Description that integrated elements of Ethnography, Phenomenology and Narrative. „Darkness‟ and „Turning to Light‟ is a synthesis of the participants‟ vivid narratives presented in two major themes. Darkness explores the participants‟ spiral downward into depression, drug use, abuse (physical, sexual, psychological) and economic loss to the Darkness of „Rock Bottom‟. Turning to Light follows their struggle back to „the light of life‟; becoming independent, regaining their children and their health, desiring to “help someone” and building their futures. The major theme heard as the women tell their stories is how they rely on their spiritual beliefs and practices, no matter how dark life becomes. They expressed that their spiritual connection to God nourished their soul and gave them a sense of well being and hope. Previous research cited supports the contention that their spirituality improves the prospects of healing and promotes positive health care outcomes. Understanding difficult life experiences through the homeless African American women‟s eyes provides a framework from which environments of care and interventions of change regarding social, political, religious or healthcare programs can be developed. The recognition of spirituality can lead to programs that further strengthen this source of support, hope and resilience. Nurses are in a unique position to influence the lives of these people. They meet them in emergency rooms when they are injured, in clinics when they are ill and in mental health clinics when life is overwhelming. The women identified helpful nursing characteristics: 1) respect for the patient‟s humanness, the impact of her life experiences on her current situation and prospects of healing, 2) respect for the patient‟s spirituality regardless of the nurse‟s personal beliefs, 3) acknowledgement of the humanness of the patient by being fully present during the time of the patient‟s vulnerability, and 4) holistic care.

No description available.

La Rue House is a collection of short fictional stories set in and around a homeless shelter for adolescents.

Erin is returning to her childhood home on a Native reservation in New Mexico. She hopes to see her father one more time before he dies, but she has other motives as well. Her relationships with her family, and with her lover Maddie come under pressure through this change in her life. Between the looming dream of reuniting with her father, and coming to terms with the new stage in her life Erin is learning how to accept herself and others.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Sociology