Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: James D. Wright. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-78).

This anthropological thesis focuses on female homelessness in Christchurch, New Zealand. I am interested in how different groups in society understand female homelessness and how their perceptions compare to the experiences of homeless women. Consequently, my research centres on the narratives of women who have experienced homelessness providing a view from the "inside". It is also concerned with representations of homelessness in the media and by service providers. The different representations raise issues relating to "normalisation" and "abnormalisation", classification and dichotomisation, self-governance and control, and social participation. I take up these issues to explore the social exclusion of homeless women. My research reveals a dominant homelessness discourse as well as one that might be considered a counter-discourse. The first suggests a dehumanising and unsympathetic approach as it situates homeless people as "abnormal" and "deviant" while the second suggests an empathetic and charitable approach as it situates homeless people as "normal" and "human". The media seem to reflect and reinforce the dominant discourse while service providers seem to reflect the counter-discourse. The women's narratives indicate that they reinforce the dominant discourse by internalising social norms. However, they are unable to reproduce them. Disconnection from mainstream society results in their being caught in a cycle they find difficult to break. This research shows that homeless women are predominantly positioned as social failures. They seem to be unable, or do not know how, to reproduce social norms, to govern themselves and to create meaningful and enduring social networks. Essentially, I explore why homeless women often remain on the periphery of society as "outsiders" and why they find it so difficult to transcend their circumstances. As there has been no contemporary research undertaken specifically on homeless women in New Zealand, I hope the current research will provide a building block for further research on what I conclude is a marginalised and socially excluded group of people who are dominantly portrayed as dysfunctional and "out of place".

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Critical Social Sciences Research Group, University of Western Sydney" Bibliography : leaves 312-335.

Thesis (M.A. (Health Social Science))--Mahidol University, 2008. / LICL has E-Thesis 0039 ; please contact computer services.

Thesis advisor: Shanta Pandey / Thesis advisor: Paulette Landon / Homeless women in Chile live in high-risk situations; however, little research exists about how they face homelessness. This dissertation helps address this information gap through the inquiry into the question about what are the pathways to homelessness of homeless women in Chile? For this, a mixed-method research design has been used. The quantitative data were obtained from the Annex Questionnaire for homeless people of the Social Registry of Household, Government of Chile, updated to March 31, 2019, while the Qualitative information was obtained by conducting in-depth interviews with 4 homeless women and professionals who have worked with them in the context of their participation in social programs. The findings showed three main results: (1) The paths to homelessness for women in Chile begins with residential instability and individual adjustment to deal with it. (2) Residential instability transforms into homelessness through an extended accumulation of disadvantages and loss of significant resources and social networks. (3) Women's homelessness, even though it may become permanent or chronic, is cyclical with many entries and exits within a permanent context of residential instability. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Homeless women and families are among the most disenfranchised groups in society. Further, because of their homelessness and associated problems, many homeless women become separated from their children. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects on predictors of entering a shelter with or without children (shelter status) and whether or not one is separated from one or more children (child separation status) on various special need predictors. A second objective was to determine the relationship between shelter status and child separation and to understand the unique experiences of homeless women who are separated from their children. These objectives were achieved via thematic analysis, quantitative methods and qualitative methods. Results suggest that shelter status significantly related to mental illness, drug abuse and domestic violence, but child separation status only significantly relates to drug abuse. The qualitative findings examined the origins of homelessness, child separation and the women's desires to be reunited with their children. Suggestions for further research and program changes are included.

This purpose of this study is to incorporate women into the history of homelessness. Women's experience is missing from the narrative of industrial era homelessness, which causes researchers to make a distinction between the modem day homeless population and its predecessors. This distinction prevents researchers from examining the long term structural causes of homelessness and analyzing the role homelessness plays in U.S. society. This study explores the population characteristics and living conditions of three groups of women who were considered homeless during the early decades of the twentieth century in Portland. These groups include single working women who lived away from their family, prostitutes, and single mothers. This study also traces the development of charitable institutions and social welfare programs that arose to meet the needs of homeless women during this era and examines the relationships between homeless women and the reformers and charities that took up their cause. The inclusion of women's experience into the history of early twentieth century homelessness necessitates a broadened definition of the homeless phenomenon. Women's homelessness during this era was both defined and determined by their family situation. Women who lived outside of the patriarchal family were considered homeless and suffered economic hardship because of their non-traditional living arrangements. Incorporating an analysis of home back into homelessness will result in non-gendered policy implications. Labor market remedies and affordable housing solutions are still needed, but changes to the structure of the household economy are also called for. The unpaid labor women traditionally perform must be socially and economically valued and the sexual division of labor within the home needs to be challenged.

The city of Johannesburg has battled with the condition of homelessness for years, identifying a problem even before our emancipation from the ruthless apartheid construct (Beavon, 2004). Political measures have subsequently been implemented in order to combat its harsh effects, introducing various short-term housing policies and theoretical solutions for the homeless in the city. The temporary housing institution as a body is therefore representative, for many people, of the first step in the process toward a legitimate and permanent housing solution. However, the institution as it exists today, does so in both a social and political vacuum. The great divide between the temporary solution and the initial rungs of the social housing ladder give the user little to no option for situational improvement (Olufemi, 1998). These collective spaces for the ostracised community, through their layered autonomous nature, divorce the user even further from the community aimed to be reunited with. The institution as a typology requires investigation, interrogation and reintegration within existing and enforced political structures. The immediate accommodation answer needs to be seen both as an independent entity as well as only part of a greater strategy for a permanent, integrated and holistic housing solution. The contestation of the institution is not the argument, but rather a proposal for its deconstruction and ultimate innovative reconnection through a strategy of layered inversion. If we choose to view the city and many of its microcosmic constructs through a post-structuralist or deconstructivist lens, we begin to understand the prevalence of the disjointed other within the urban whole: The homeless woman is the city’s marginalised user. The alleyway; the silent ‘other’ to the prominent street. The vacant space is the forgotten site. And if the physicality of structure is the prominent former, the network and connections existing between built forms must be the secondary within the realm of architecture. If we connect the city’s marginalised elements, through the vessel of temporary accommodation as the initial part of an integrated housing model, the role of the institution is inverted rather than its function or programme. Therefore, the ‘exo-stution’ is the folding out and reconnection of the existing ‘in-stitution’ is an answer to the city’s detached collection of limited - where marginalised user, space and structure collectively connect street, suburb and city.

Este trabalho é um estudo sobre mulheres adultas em situação de rua, os profissionais que cuidam delas e a cobertura jornalística sobre essa temática. As mulheres em situação de rua da cidade do Rio de Janeiro são minoria se comparadas ao contingente masculino. De acordo com o Censo População de Rua 2013 \"Um Direito à Cidade\", realizado pela Secretaria Municipal de Desenvolvimento Social do Rio de Janeiro, dos 5.580 desabrigados do município, apenas 18,2%, ou seja, 1.044 eram mulheres. Partindo da hipótese de que as notícias divulgadas na grande mídia sobre as mulheres em situação de rua causam o descontentamento delas e de especialistas, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo principal desvendar o posicionamento das mulheres adultas em situação de rua e o dos profissionais que trabalham com elas acerca do jornalismo e das notícias que tratam sobre a situação de rua. A metodologia do trabalho comportou um levantamento bibliográfico, entrevistas semiabertas com mulheres em situação de rua e profissionais (MANZINI, 2004) e análise de conteúdo de matérias jornalísticas (BARDIN, 1970). O trabalho tem quatro partes. A primeira traz o relato das entrevistas de 15 mulheres adultas em situação de rua contactadas em Unidades de Reinserção Social (URS) da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A segunda parte revela os profissionais e suas trajetórias com a população de rua; discorre sobre as abordagens feitas pelas equipes de ordenamento urbano na cidade do Rio de Janeiro e sobre a vida regrada nos abrigos públicos aos quais as mulheres desabrigadas são destinadas. O terceiro capítulo avalia a compreensão que as mulheres têm a respeito da cidadania e expõe as teorias sobre notícias, jornalismo e jornalistas. A seguir, foi exposto o que os dois grupos entrevistados compreendiam ser o jornalismo e as notícias que viam nos meios de comunicação. No quarto capítulo, analisou-se algumas notícias sobre população em situação de rua coletadas de 2007 a 2015 nos jornais online Extra e O Globo, publicações citadas pelos entrevistados e que serviram para detectar as percepções dos entrevistados a propósito da cobertura de mídia mais adequada sobre o fenômeno da situação de rua. Neste capítulo, também foram trabalhadas as expectativas das entrevistadas sobre o futuro, sua realizações, frustrações, medos e anseios de vida. Concluiuse que os profissionais que trabalhavam com população de rua acreditavam que as notícias sobre o assunto causavam desserviços, enquanto a maioria das mulheres em situação de rua, pela suas condições de vida, não tinham acesso aos meios de informação que permitissem avaliar notícias jornalísticas / This is a study about homeless women, the professionals that care for them, and the media coverage of this theme. Homeless women in the city of Rio de Janeiro are the minority of the homeless population. According to the Homeless Population Census 2013 \"A Right to the City\", carried out by the Secretaria Municipal de Desenvolvimento Social do Rio de Janeiro, out of 5,580 homeless people in the municipality, only 18.2% (1,044 individuals) were women. Starting from the premise that all the news items about homeless women cause discontent amongst these women and of specialists in the subject, this research had the main goal of uncovering the position of homeless women, and the professionals that work with them, about the news items that deal with homelessness. The methodology of the work reviewed bibliography, carried out semi-open interviews with homeless women and professionals, (MANZINI, 2004) and analysed the content of media coverage (BARDIN, 1970). The work consists of four parts. The first brings a report of 15 interviews with homeless women contacted in Units of Social Reintegration (Unidades de Reinserção Social--URS) of Rio de Janeiro. The second part reveals the professionals and their work history with the homeless; it relates the work approach of the teams of urban ordering of Rio de Janeiro and the rules of public shelters to which homeless women go. The third part evaluates the understanding these women have about citizenship and discusses theories about news, journalism and journalists. Then, it is shown what the two groups that were interviewed understood of journalism and the news in the media. The fourth part analyses some news items about homeless people collected between 2007 and 2015 in the newspapers Extra and O Globo, publications that were cited by the people interviewed and which served to detect the perceptions of those interviewed about themedia coverage more adequate about the phenomenon of homelessness. This section also deals with the expectations about the future, their expectations, achievements, frustrations, fears, and desires in life. We conclude that the professionals that worked with the homeless believed that the media coverage of the issue causes damage, while most of the homeless women, because of the living conditions, did not have access to the media and were unable to evaluate the news coverage.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1996.