Parenting and child experiences in shelter: A qualitative study exploring the effect of homelessness on the parent–child relationship

Abstract

Depending on the data source, between half a million and 2.48 million children in families experience homelessness each year in the United States. Recent data suggest that approximately half of all homeless children are under the age of 6. A considerable body of quantitative research has documented the occurrence of poor outcomes associated with childhood homelessness in the domains of social-emotional development, physical and behavioral health, academic achievement, and family stability. This qualitative study presents results from 19 interviewers with formerly homeless parents reflecting upon how the experience of being homeless affected their young children and their ability to parent. Findings are contextualized within an attachment perspective. Parental reported effects included confusion, sadness, anxiety or depression, withdrawal, lack of appetite, aggression, and disregard for authority. Parents also talked about the disempowering experience of parenting while in shelter. Unexpectedly, parents of infants said their children were not affected by homelessness, and few parents identified the need for mental health services for their children. The experiences of parents with whom we spoke provide invaluable insight into what shelter staff, social service agencies, philanthropy, policymakers, and researchers can do to support and respect the parent-child relationship in families who are experiencing homelessness.

Experiences of Homeless Families in Parenthood: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence

“…Concerning the research design, the studies are mostly qualitative in nature [15,25,34,35,[38][39][40]42].…”

“…They were mainly conducted in the United States, except for two studies that were performed in the United Kingdom [15,41] and one study that was carried out in Australia [40]. The context of the studies corresponded to temporary/transitional shelters for nuclear families [15,25,34,36,37,41] or single-parent families led by homeless women [35,38,42]. Only one study was conducted in multiple contexts (shelters, motels and transition houses) for homeless nuclear families [39].…”

“…Regarding the CONQual results, most of the selected studies obtained a moderate score [37][38][39][40]42], four reached a high score [15,25,34,36], one obtained a low score [35], and one achieved a very low score [41]. Despite their low classification, these last two articles were not eliminated, because their findings were unique and contributed to the knowledge of the phenomenon.…”

Hemlösa barns vardagsliv i Malmö : utifrån ett barnrättsperspektiv

“…Andra studier har visat konsekvenser som brist på privatliv och lekmöjligheter eftersom det kan vara svårt att ta hem kamrater. Skolsituationen påverkas också negativt eftersom hemlöshetssituationen ofta innebär många skolbyten och brist på en plats att studera (Anthony, Vincent & Shin, 2018;Baptista m.fl., 2018;Buckner, 2008).…”

“…Andra studier har visat konsekvenser som brist på privatliv och lekmöjligheter eftersom det kan vara svårt eller inte tillåtet att ta hem kamrater (se exempelvis Alstam, 2013; Gove, Hughes & Galle, 1979). Skolsituationen påverkas också negativt eftersom hemlöshetssituationen ofta innebär många skolbyten och brist på en plats att studera (Anthony, Vincent & Shin, 2018;Baptista m.fl, 2018;Buckner, 2008). I en amerikansk studie har man kommit fram till att fattigdom, social isolering och våld är nära sammankopplade med hemlöshet (Anooshian, 2005).…”