The aim of this study has been to achieve an increased understanding of the meaning of home for people in homelessness. The study is based on texts written by people in homelessness and a qualitative content analysis has been used to process the material. The result has been analysed with an inductive approach, using parts of the analysis method grounded theory. Three aspects of the meaning of home was identified in the texts; control, self-determination and independence. The lack of a home means a major limitation concerning these aspects, according to the texts. An interpretation of the material based on the notion of identity shows that a large part of the meaning of home for some people in homelessness is to protect, maintain and defend the identity. This creates a deeper understanding of those cases where housing solutions that doesn´t involve control, self-determination and independence, are not successful. The concept of empowerment is also used in the analysis, since the content of empowerment can be linked with the three aspects of the meaning of home that the result indicates. The study justifies an increased level of empowerment for people in homelessness.

Diploma work deal with problems of work with life stories of homeless. The aim of the research is analysis of life stories of homeless and analysis of changes in homeless lifes after some time. The data collection was obtained by individual interview and the respondents were searching in the shelters. From the analysis was found some life periods of homelesses lifes and their attitudes and opinions on their situation. Then was found the changes, which came in thein lifes after five months. Then was analyse the question of responsibility of homeless.

1 Annotation This master's thesis focuses on a specific area of mass media functioning, with reference to a particular social problem - homelessness. Descriptive analysis is used to investigate media content by original research, and to identify frames, which typically accompany the topic of homelessness in the Czech nationwide media. Therefore, the main theoretical framework is outlined by the paradigm of social constructivism and the theory of media framing. The major part of the presented text is the research itself, initially inspired by the foreign media studies of T. G Shields (2001) and C. Zufferey (2014). The method of quantitative content analysis is used to explore the contents of six selected nationwide media, covering three various media types. To be exact, the contents considered are media news issued by daily Právo and Blesk, by television channels ČT 1 and Nova, and radio channels Radiožurnál and Impuls, within the decade of January 1st 2007 to December 31st 2016. Primary attention is drawn to the media space dedicated to reporting on the topic of homelessness, to the manner in which homeless people are represented in the media, to framing of causes and treatment of homelessness, and to the speakers, who are given the chance to explicitly speak in the media. Last but not least, the scope and...

Human realities are formed in particular contexts, and can be understood through telling the story of experiences related with these realities. Homelessness is a reality for many in various parts of the world. The condition of homelessness involves various discourses, each of which can be dominant in different people. Dominant discourses bring with them inherent understandings which in the case of the reality of homelessness can negatively influence the daily activities and future prospects of homeless people. These dominant discourses define the experiences of the homeless people and cause them to assess themselves negatively. This study is in the field of Practical Theology, based on a social constructionist paradigm which holds that meanings are socially constructed and there is no single “Truth”. The processes of telling stories, listening to these stories and constructing new meanings make up a narrative approach to counselling, which I use in the context of interactions with homeless youth at the Street Centre run by Pretoria Community Ministries. My approach is qualitative, and the data are evolved from narrative interventions and unstructured interviews with homeless youth. As this process is a journey into the experiences and stories of these young people, empirical sampling is irrelevant. Listening to the stories of the young people from the streets filled me with enthusiasm to take this narrative journey with them through their stories. Examining the impact of economic factors in their discourses and narrations gave me new understanding of their meanings and challenged me, because many of these were unpredictable. The epistemological approach of postfoundationalism used on this journey allowed a wide range of knowledge types and interactions, which I elucidate through interdisciplinary investigation and identification of the traditions that inform the dominant discourses. The seven-movement methodology used for this work is relevant in the context of the homeless youth, because it allows me as researcher to continue the full length of the journey with the homeless youth, leading eventually to new possibilities. On the way certain themes evolved and their meanings constructed. Listening for the discourses and identifying their economic factors helped me to deconstruct these discourses, and so guide the stories into more hopeful channels. Of course, constructing alternate stories and acknowledging the importance of economic factors will not alone change the future of these young homeless people. Economic restructuring of society is needed. This possibility challenges jobless, homeless individuals not to acquiesce in the negative patterns of society, but rather to work with conviction to create new possibilities. In this project I listened to the stories of ten homeless young people, for each of which two sessions are presented in this report. These stories show that the story tellers are the real researchers, who create new alternate stories of hope in the course of this project. “God-talk” and the discussion of “God-experiences” throws light on the role of God in their lives and in their stories. The research journey charted in this report describes first the theological context and research model, and then the particular context of these young people’s lives. This is followed by descriptions of the discourses. Description of the context of the stories and interpretation of the stories themselves moves into assessment of the stories in their individual context. Interdisciplinary investigation and identification of the traditions that inform the discourses thicken our understanding of the realities experienced by these young people, and deeper interpretations arise which are applicable beyond the local context. Each petal of this flower blooms with new colours of understanding and new fragrances of possibility. The findings of this project are not the final end of this journey, but rather lights for future journeys into the experiences of homeless youth. / Thesis (PhD (Pastoral Family Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / PhD / unrestricted

ŠPIRKOVÁ, Veronika: "Homeless shelter" [Diploma Thesis]. Charles University in Prague. Faculty of Philosophy; Department of Ethnology. Thesis supervisor: Doc. PhDr. Marek Jakoubek, Ph.D., Degree of Qualification: Master. Prague: FFUK, 2017. ?? p. The diploma thesis deals with the socio-spatial aspects of the social service of the day center and the dormitory designed for people without a roof. It presents its current state of affairs with regard to the clientele, the function of the shelter, the principles of affiliation in it, but also the reflection of the homeless people and the employees on the necessity of change. The aim of the thesis is to visualize the living space, opinions and values of the clients of the shelter and their relation to the place, mediated by their statements and everyday practices. The thesis is divided into eight chapters. Thematically they describe previous investigation of issue, theoretical basis, methodics of research, goals, etics and auto- ethnographic experience. They describes also clients of the shelter, its purpose and values, rules, habits that are in the shelter, and last but not least its possible reconceptualization. The conclusion of the thesis summarizes the findings of research and their possible usage in future research. Diploma thesis is elaborated on...

A presente pesquisa partiu de uma compreensão sociológica da crise da modernidade para refletir acerca da constituição do grupo social denominado pessoas em situação de rua na tessitura da dinâmica urbana e seus desafios para vencer essa situação de vulnerabilidade extrema. Tendo como referência o município de São Carlos/SP, caracterizamos o perfil do grupo, debruçando-nos sobre os fatores limitantes relacionados às formas de acesso e uso da água doce. Valorizamos a experiência de sofrimento social na interação precária com o território da cidade como constituinte de um conhecimento empírico relevante, o qual pode, eventualmente, subsidiar a formulação e implementação de políticas urbanas socialmente includentes. / This research started from a sociological understanding of the crisis of modernity to reflect on the constitution of a homeless social group on the organization of urban dynamics and its challenges to overcome this situation of extremely vulnerable situation. Considering Sao Carlos as reference group profile was characterized and limiting factor related to freshwater access and use were adressed. Social suffering experience was taken into account on the poor interaction the town territory as a relevant empirical knowledge, which could eventually assist the formulate and implement socially inclusive urban policies.

This study supported the hypothesis that short-term shelter programs can help reduce depression in homeless parents.

Uppsatsen utgick från att fördjupa förståelsen för den problematik som visats i tidigare forskning gällande boendetrappan som metod i arbetet med socialt hemlösa individer. Uppsatsen utgick från Malmö stad eftersom hemlösheten stadigt har ökat i staden under det senaste decenniet. Kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes där sju socialarbetare som arbetar med hemlöshet i Malmö stad intervjuades. Insamlad empiri analyserades utifrån Foucaults teori om normalisering och disciplinering samt organisationskultur. Det som påvisades i uppsatsen var de föreliggande svårigheterna som var rådande för socialarbetare i arbetet med social hemlöshet vid användning av boendetrappan som metod. Det framkom att boendetrappan ställer för höga krav på socialtjänstens klienter och är en metod som i många fall resulterat i misslyckande. Resultatet visade även att organisatoriska svårigheter förekom både genom motstridiga krav och brist på gemensam måluppfyllelse gällande hur arbetet med socialt hemlösa individer skulle genomföras. Vidare visade resultatet att socialtjänsten är en ekonomistyrd organisation där fokus ibland kan förskjutas mot att hålla budget framför klientens bästa. Det förelåg även svårigheter inom socialtjänsten som organisation att implementera andra metoder än boendetrappan utifrån de ekonomiska förutsättningarna och krav från samarbetspartners såsom hyresvärdar. / The aim of the essay was to deepen the understanding of the difficulties that has been proven in previous research of the staircase model as a method in the work of socially homeless individuals. The essay was based of the homelessness in the city of Malmö since it has had a steady increase in the city over the past decade. Qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews was performed with seven social workers who works with homelessness in the city of Malmö. The collected empirical data was analyzed based on Foucault's theory of normalization and discipline and also organizational culture. The results presented in the essay was the present difficulties that were prevalent for social workers in the work on social homelessness when using the staircase model as a method. It turned out that the staircase model places too high demands on the social services clients and is a method that in many cases has resulted in failure. The results also showed that organizational difficulties existed both through conflicting requirements and lack of common goal fulfillment regarding how work with socially homeless individuals should be implemented. Furthermore, the result showed that the social service is a financially controlled organization where focus sometimes can be shifted towards keeping budget to the disadvantage of what’s best for the client. There were also difficulties within the social services as an organization to implement methods other than the staircase model based on the economic conditions and requirements from partners such as landlords.

The presented diploma thesis focuses on the awareness of homeless people about available social services that could help improve their current life situation. The main goal of this work is to find out what social services for the homeless these people know, which of them they have used, what is their experience with them and whether these services can lead to a return to the majority society in their opinion or whether they only help the homeless to survive. This is a case study that took place in the capital city of Prague. Data were collected in the form of semi- structured in-depth interviews directly with homeless people. A total of 29 interviews took place. The diploma thesis first describes the definition of homelessness in the theoretical part, possible causes of homelessness and the social system of the Czech Republic. In the methodological part of the work, I describe the target population, the technique of selecting informants, the method of data collection, the advantages and disadvantages of semi-structured interviews, the method of data processing and analysis, and the ethics of research. This is followed by a presentation of the results, their analysis, answering research questions, discussion of the methods used, reflection on the shortcomings of my own work, and recommendations...

This thesis tests a new theory about the role that public perceptions on target populations play in designing homeless policies - as demonstrated through the Homeless Policy Design Model. The theory and model present an expansion of theories on the target populations and policy design from Lowi (1972), Ingram, Schneider and Deleon (2007); and Schneider and Ingram (1993). The model is tested through a case study of homeless policy in Seattle, WA from 2007 to 2016 and the correlating perceptions of the homeless generated through the rhetoric of the political elite and the general public. The homeless policy design model indicates that the public's perceptions about homeless target populations will impact policy design choices. Through qualitative research methods, the thesis finds that there is a recognizable correlation between how the public views the homeless and what type of policy the Seattle City Council passed from 2007 to 2016.