Homelessness and identity: a critical review of the literature and theory

Abstract

Within the news media and literature, alike, people experiencing homelessness are often categorised into various stereotypes revolving around their lack of abode. In such a practice a 'homeless identity' becomes the defining feature of a person's character. Very few theoretical studies have critically addressed this discursive construction and its implications. This paper contributes to the few existing debates around the 'homeless identity' by arguing that such constructions are binding and misguided. The paper takes insight from the many and varied theories of 'identity' -how different approaches have theorised it and what might be borrowed from them to (re)conceptualise the 'homeless identity'. After outlining several approaches to identity, the paper asks how someone experiencing homelessness might resist or challenge prescriptive identities and how the literature and research around homelessness might progress. It concludes that an intersectional approach will enrich a literature which tends to focus on a singular 'homeless identity'. Such an approach will address the intersection of lines of difference and recognise that the identity of any individual is multiple and fluid.

Anxiety and anger of homeless people coping with dental care

“…In accordance with the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations, our participants live like others with severe disability in a culture of poverty, stigma and victimization . They experience difficulties appraising and coping with street‐life, which influences the availability, affordability and ultimately the accessibility of healthcare including dentistry.…”

“…Homelessness is a chronic condition that disturbs personal identity through violence, oppression, victimization and stigma . It can also disrupt how people appraise and cope emotionally with illness, which, according to Lazarus's Theory of Emotions, is a cognitive, motivational and relational process of personal adaptation to stress .…”

Exploring the oral health experiences of homeless people: a deconstruction–reconstruction formulation

“…social interaction under the impact of the symptoms' and so 'attention to bodily states are not brought into consciousness'? (22) Homelessness is a dynamic process (23), with multiple pathways in and out of homelessness, a multitude of homelessness experiences, and a variety of ways that individuals negotiate their way around and through their homelessness journeys. Coles' (24) qualitative exploration of homelessness found that homelessness journeys were underpinned by a trajectory, which defined people's expeditions into, through and out of homelessness.…”

Homelessness Workers Negotiating the Relationship between Identity and Practice: How Gender, Age and Background Influence Worker-Service User Relationship

“…Goffman's (1959) impression management is where social actors present versions of their identity depending on the context of their interaction (Goffman, 1959). Identity is a performance, with social actors performing a particular role to a set of observers (McCarthy, 2013: Goffman, 1959. The "expressive equipment" that is consciously or unconsciously used in these performances was termed a front by Goffman (Goffman, 1959: 32).…”