Homelessness: Perception of Causes and Solutions

Phillips, Lindsay A.

doi:10.1080/10875549.2014.951981

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In 2016, 116,427 people in Australia were homeless, representing 0.5 per cent of the population, and an increase of 14 per cent since 2012 (ABS, 2018). There are several definitions of homelessness, but the common aspect is being without a permanent home (Chamberlain and Johnson, 2001; Shinn, 2007; Phillips, 2014). A ‘home’ is not just a roof over one's head, but also a sense of privacy, safety, security, stability, and the ability to control the living space (Bonnefoy, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

There's nowhere to go: counting the costs of extreme weather to the homeless community

2019

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People experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to extreme weather in unique ways. The entrenched inequalities that underpin disaster vulnerability are compounded by extreme isolation and the stress of transient living on mental and physical health. However, the impacts of extreme weather on the homeless in Australia are largely undocumented and rarely incorporated in emergency planning. Interviews with and surveys of emergency and homeless services and service users revealed that the primary ramifications of losing shelter and worsening mental health deepen the cycle of homelessness and trauma. Consequently, homeless shelter losses, such as tents, should be included in pre‐ and post‐event impact statistics and subsequent recovery support. Extreme weather response plans should include early triggers and strategies for ‘non‐severe’ weather events, as the homeless community is affected earlier and by a wider range of meteorological conditions. Moreover, this study also explores the benefits of a trauma‐informed response to extreme weather when working with the homeless.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

There's nowhere to go: counting the costs of extreme weather to the homeless community

2019

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“…As previous studies have discussed, people who are homeless may themselves consider their position to result from personal choices, whilst acknowledging that these choices were severely restricted. [48] Despite this, another study in the USA showed that around 57% respondents believed laziness to play a role in homelessness,[49] and it is likely that our results suggest that such negative perceptions of people who are homeless persist across Europe, with variances between countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

European public perceptions of homelessness: A knowledge, attitudes and practices survey

Petit¹,

Loubière²,

Tinland³

et al. 2019

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundAddressing Citizen’s perspectives on homelessness is crucial for the design of effective and durable policy responses, and available research in Europe is not yet substantive. We aim to explore citizens’ opinions about homelessness and to explain the differences in attitudes within the general population of eight European countries: France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.MethodsA nationally representative telephone survey of European citizens was conducted in 2017. Three domains were investigated: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about homelessness. Based on a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a generalized linear model for clustered and weighted samples was used to probe the associations between groups with opposing attitudes.ResultsResponse rates ranged from 30.4% to 33.5% (N = 5,295). Most respondents (57%) had poor knowledge about homelessness. Respondents who thought the government spent too much on homelessness, people who are homeless should be responsible for housing, people remain homeless by choice, or homelessness keeps capabilities/empowerment intact (regarding meals, family contact, and access to work) clustered together (negative attitudes, 30%). Respondents who were willing to pay taxes, welcomed a shelter, or acknowledged people who are homeless may lack some capabilities (i.e. agreed on discrimination in hiring) made another cluster (positive attitudes, 58%). Respondents living in semi-urban or urban areas (ORs 1.33 and 1.34) and those engaged in practices to support people who are homeless (ORs > 1.4; p<0.005) were more likely to report positive attitudes, whereas those from France and Poland (p<0.001) were less likely to report positive attitudes.ConclusionThe majority of European citizens hold positive attitudes towards people who are homeless, however there remain significant differences between and within countries. Although it is clear that there is strong support for increased government action and more effective solutions for Europe’s growing homelessness crisis, there also remain public opinion barriers rooted in enduring negative perceptions.

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“…Stereotypes of unhoused people as lazy, mentally ill, substance-abusing criminals are grounded in attributions for poverty and homelessness that emphasize personal responsibility and minimize structural sources of hardship (Bullock, Truong, & Chhun, 2017; Phelan, Link, Moore, & Stueve, 1997; Phillips, 2015). Unhoused women also contend with being stereotyped as “bad” mothers who are unable to materially provide for their children (Connolly, 2000a).…”

Section: Mothering While Homeless As a Violation Of The “Good Mother”mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reclaiming “good motherhood”: US mothers’ critical resistance in family homeless shelters

Reppond

Bullock

2019

Feminism & Psychology

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Unhoused mothers not only contend with housing precarity and economic hardship but also intersecting classist, racist, and sexist stereotypes that position them as unfit mothers. Classed, raced, and gendered conceptualizations of “good” and “bad” motherhood are reified in US shelter regulations (e.g. strict rules governing parent and child behavior, curfews, mandatory participation in parenting classes) that seek to “reform” homeless mothers. To gain a better understanding of perceptions of and responses to shelter regulations, we interviewed 28 formerly unhoused US mothers about their experiences in family shelters. Participants overwhelmingly rejected “bad mother” stereotypes that equated lack of material resources with inadequate parenting and engaged in a range of overt (e.g. strategic recounting of life histories) and covert (e.g. subverting paternalistic rules) strategies to reclaim “good motherhood” and negotiate daily shelter life. Instrumental, discursive, covert, and overt critical resistance strategies were used to maintain parental authority, preserve one’s self-image as a “good” mother and obtain needed resources from shelter staff. Our findings highlight the complexity of critical resistance to class, race, and gender oppression and call for greater interrogation of how seemingly well-intentioned shelter rules and policies reinforce status hierarchies.

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Homelessness: Perception of Causes and Solutions

Cited by 23 publications

References 20 publications

There's nowhere to go: counting the costs of extreme weather to the homeless community

There's nowhere to go: counting the costs of extreme weather to the homeless community

European public perceptions of homelessness: A knowledge, attitudes and practices survey

Reclaiming “good motherhood”: US mothers’ critical resistance in family homeless shelters

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