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.

The purpose of this study is to examine Malmö Municipality’s strategies regarding counteracting social and structural homelessness, by describing and comparing the strategic differences between the two categories. We will do this mainly by performing a problem-based policy analysis of three municipal documents regarding the city’s homelessness problem. We will also be performing a theoretical analysis based on Ian Gough’s marxist analysis of the welfare state and institutional theory, respectively. Through our analysis on the municipal policy we have found that structural homelessness is a problem that is prioritized in comparison to social homelessness. This is because of a large increase in the structurally homeless population during the past decade. However, the problem of social homelessness has far more concrete measures to counteract it. This is found through our theoretical analysis to be due to several factors. One of these factors is that structural homelessness is more deeply entwined with the housing market, which affects the difficulty with creating appropriate measures. Another factor is path dependency, which means that structural homlessness as a newer problem affects the municipality’s ability to apply drastic measures. Our conclusion is that Malmö municipality prioritizes solving the problem of social homelessness through concrete measures, even though structural homelessness is seen as a larger problem. This is because of the complex nature of structural homelessness and the difficulty in applying the correct measures.

Indigenous youth are overrepresented within homelessness and form approximately 20 percent of the total youth homeless population in Canada that uses emergency shelters. While extensive studies have been conducted and new practices have been put in place in an effort to reduce the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, the number of Indigenous youth journeying into homelessness continues to increase. This suggests that the solutions implemented to date have inadequately addressed the needs of Indigenous youth and the situations integral to their worlds. The purpose of this research was to explore Indigenous youths’ experiences of homelessness that promote positive identity development. It used a community-based Indigenous methodology. Building on research by Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics with the stories of Indigenous homeless youth, this research was centered at the intersection of Indigenous youth homelessness and their engagement in behaviours affected by past and present events that impact their processes of identity development. With its strengths-based lens, it deepens understandings of how Indigenous homeless youth create prosocial outcomes that bolster their self-esteem and encourage positive identity development that will support them in young adulthood and stages beyond. Indigenous youth prosocial outcomes must include holistic health outcomes that encompass spiritual, physical, mental and emotional well-being. Ultimately, this research challenges existing conversations held in society regarding Indigenous youths’ behaviours exhibited in homelessness and contributes to Indigenous resurgence, equitable colonial-Indigenous relationships, and reconciliation consistent with the goals put forth in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s recommendations. / Graduate / 2023-08-30

(in English): The diploma thesis is focusing on reality of homelessnes. It is supposed to be some kind of a probe into the life of homeless people. The main goal of this thesis is to chart the reality and idea of home of the homeless. Also to find out how they live, what relations they have with their families and with each other and last but not least, what are their hopes for future. The thesis is divided into theorethical and practical parts. In the theoretical part of it the main concepts are desribed. The reader is presented with evolution, typology, main causes of homelessnes and also with problems which homless people are facing daily. The last part is focused mainly on help for homeless. Practical part is focused on research itself, which implemented with semistructured interviews answered by 15 homeless people. The facts concerning mainly the idea of stable accomodations were determined within the research survey.

In this study, systematic reflection in professional practice is seen as a dynamic process towards socio-political action, negating a navel-gazing critique. Positioned within nursing, the pioneering narrative inquiry approach will be highly valuable in medicine, education and other health fields. When I embarked on this study, research to guide me in homeless health care was limited and there is, even yet, insufficient evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of advanced nursing practice in England particularly with homeless people. Through its reflexive narrative nature that research gap is addressed in a profound journey that illuminates my transformation over a three year period of being and becoming a Specialist Public Health Nurse (homelessness). The methodology draws dynamically on an eclectic, philosophical framework which includes reflective practice/guidance, narrative inquiry, hermeneutics, aesthetics, critical social science theory, storytelling, performance-ethnography and ancient wisdom. The Six Dialogical Movements (Johns, 2009) provides coherence to the twenty-one practice experiences that adequately marked my transformation towards my practice vision. I used the Being Available Template (Johns, 2009) as a reflexive framework which became the metaphoric net of my practice, showing where and how homeless people fall through the net of care, and my role in weaving a stronger net. I also drew on the work of Belenky et al's (1986) voice perspectives to show empowerment in my specialist role. Within the narrative, each story illuminates complexity and brings new knowledge about homeless health care. The study tangibly links childhood trauma to adult homelessness; it illuminates suffering in homelessness, showing where and how mainstream health professionals contribute to suffering when they do not grasp their role within the net, perpetuating homelessness. Appreciating precarious engagement in four quadrants: health services, homeless services, the homeless person and my SPHN role, is a concept that illuminates the precariousness of the net. The study concludes with a SPHN Homeless Health Care Model. Towards an ensuing social action through dialogue, I use the term 'audiencing' rather than transferability of findings. Hearing stories from 'street to boardroom' - making the invisible visible - has been profound in health services as evidenced in the narrative.

As the population ages and income disparities increase, issues affecting older adults and marginalized individuals are examined more frequently. Despite this, little attention is paid to the community experiences of women over the age of fifty who face marginalization, criminalization and homelessness. This study is an institutional ethnography of older marginalized women in Ottawa, focusing on their identities, lives and their experiences of community life. Its findings are based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as interviews with 27 older marginalized women and 16 professionals working with this group. The women described their identities, social networks, daily activities and navigations of their communities as well as the policy and discursive framework in which their lives are situated. Regardless of whether the women had housing or were staying in shelters, upheaval, uncertainty and change characterized their experiences in the community, reflecting their current circumstances, but also their life courses. Their accounts also revealed how, through social support, community services, and personal resilience, older marginalized women negotiate daily life and find places and spaces for themselves in their communities. As an institutional ethnography, this research foregrounds participants’ responses, framing these with theoretical lenses examining mobilities, identity, social capital, governmentality, and stigma. Specifically, it uses the lenses of mobilities and identities to understand the nature of their community experiences, before moving outward to examine their social networks and the world around them. Governmentality theory is also used to describe the neoliberal context framing their community experiences. The study concludes with a reflection on the research and a set of policy recommendations arising from the study.

To date, no published research has focused on women's homelessness within the comparative housing context. This thesis bridges that gap. In doing so, the thesis fuses the three theoretical frameworks of welfare theory, comparative analysis and feminism and social policy to reveal the similarities and differences between the "homelessness systems" of England, Ireland and France and how these systems respond to homeless women. The thesis demonstrates the value of using welfare typologies to ground comparative research but also shows how dominant welfare theory is inherently gender blind by its over reliance on the dichotomies of the state and the market. The thesis shows how welfare regime theory places an undue emphasis on paid employment to the detriment of women's unpaid labour as carers of children thereby reinforcing the gender stereotypes on which welfare typologies depend. By using Leeds, Cork and Lyon as instrumental case study cities, the thesis reviews the nature of each country's distinct welfare approach within a feminist review of welfare theory in England, Ireland and France. The institutional risk to homelessness for women in each case study country is assessed by focusing on four interrelated variables which have consistently been identified as causing and perpetuating homelessness amongst women. In assessing the institutional risk, reference is made to notions of modern risk society. The four variables selected for the analysis were: domestic violence; relationship breakdown; poverty and being a household type of a single parent family. Analysis of primary data from homelessness professionals in each case study city revealed that whilst being a single parent family was most frequently identified by respondents as a primary trigger to homelessness in women in the three case study cities, this institutional risk was substantially reduced in Lyon. The research has also shown significant variations between countries in respect of the relative risk posed by poverty, domestic violence and relationship breakdown and the thesis relates these differences to key debates surrounding welfare regime theory and feminism. The thesis highlights women's over reliance on state sponsored solutions to homelessness both at the point of housing crisis and in the longer term, despite the variation in homelessness systems, the nature and level of "social" housing stock and the relative ideological commitment towards homeownership in each country.

Multi-agency collaboration is often advocated as a means of tackling cross-cutting areas of public services and viewed as a solution to service fragmentation, with local agencies on the receiving end of government exhortations to collaborate. Yet there is relatively little research examining the effectiveness of policy tools and mechanisms aiming to stimulate local collaboration. This thesis examines the influence and dynamics of vertical and horizontal coordination tools, investigating their potential to enhance collaboration in local public service delivery networks and to reduce negative externalities. A theoretical framework is employed which synthesises models of policy implementation and bureaucratic decision-making. The empirical research is conducted in relation to organisations working with the homeless in England, and the research methods include a survey of Local Authorities and interviews with civil servants and frontline professionals. While governmental attempts to foster collaboration are partially effective, there are weaknesses with some of the policy tools employed, and limits to State control. Local actors’ collaborative decision-making is influenced more by ‘bottom-up’ than by ‘top-down’ factors. Moreover, the competitive context in which service providers operate leads them to pursue strategies to promote their own organisational interests rather than working towards a dominant common interest. The strategies employed are broadly in line with a bureaucratic politics perspective, and include failure to share information, possessiveness over client outcomes and projecting an image of success rather than sharing problems. Nevertheless, formal collaborative mechanisms do have the potential to alleviate externalities associated with fragmented systems. With strong local management and appropriate central facilitation, they can help to meet client needs and to counter fragmentation, ultimately leading to better services.

This study explored the risk factors for homelessness in single men, the largest group of people experiencing homelessness and a group about which little is known regarding their risks for homelessness. A case control design was used to differentiate risk factors between men who were homeless and men who were unstably housed. Risk factors included cumulative risk, negative life events, and demographic factors. Two models were tested using discriminant function analysis (DFA). The Cumulative Risk Model did not significantly differentiate between the two groups. However, the Negative Life Events Model yielded one discriminant function that significantly differentiated between the groups and correctly classified approximately 72.4% of the overall cases. Negative life events regarding the loss of housing, unstable housing, and family conflict/disruption were the most important discriminating variables. Furthermore, homeless men were associated with more experiences of loss of housing and family conflict/disruption, and with fewer experiences of housing instability. Implications for policy, social work practice, and research are discussed.

Thesis advisor: Lisa Dodson / In the United States, the majority of youth who become victims of sex trafficking are U.S. citizens. Most "at-risk" are those involved in the foster care system, the sexually abused and/or those surviving without stable housing- otherwise known as the homeless. Through in depth interviews with homeless teenage mothers, this study analyzed the connection between housing vulnerability and sex trafficking. The major finding of this study suggests that young girls are pushed into homelessness and sexually exploitative situations when they experience a loss of familial support. Without familial support, young, homeless girls are forced into a patriarchal street economy that limits their options for economic opportunity: men sell drugs, women sell their body. Participants also discussed the perceived effectiveness of structural interventions, including welfare, housing shelters and educational programs. By exploring the intersection of homeless teenage mothers and domestic sex trafficking, this study adds to a stronger dialogue between the homeless and human trafficking fields. Additionally, this study brings attention to the fact that young, American girls are just as vulnerable to sex trafficking as the international victims highlighted in most of the popular media and literary scholarship. Lastly, several interventions are proposed for working at the intersection of homeless youth and sex trafficking. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.