The lived experience of homeless youth: A narrative approach.

Abstract

Homeless youth are an understudied and stigmatized group. In their daily lives, these youth confront negative social perceptions and harrowing circumstances related to survival, which may present challenges to the construction of a meaningful, coherent identity. Using the theoretical notion of narrative engagement (Hammack & Cohler, 2009), this study explores how youth experiencing homelessness make meaning of their lived experiences and engage with dominant discourses about homelessness that stigmatize and devalue them. A narrative analysis of 4 case studies, drawn from in-depth life story interviews with 11 unhoused youth in the United States, suggests that despite experience of struggle and loss, participants demonstrated the ability to (a) resist contamination through the construction of redemptive narratives, grounded in agency and resilience; and (b) resist dominant narratives about homelessness by attributing their circumstances to external causes and by critiquing institutions and figures perceived as holding power. In doing so, participants refused to adopt a "criminal" or "client" master narrative of homeless identity, instead affirming the value and worth of their knowledge, experiences, and identities. This study reveals the active agency of homeless youth to construct counternarratives in which they may restory their identities to find resilience in the margins.

Social Support Networks and the Mental Health of Runaway and Homeless Youth

“…Like most studies of RHY, we had very limited information about the pathways into homelessness or their struggles to find housing. As noted above, several researchers have demonstrated the promise of using qualitative data to begin to explore some of the nuances of these youth's dynamic lives, as well as their changing social networks (Toolis and Hammack 2015;Tyler and Melander 2011). We also relied on a very simple measure of the perceived number of supportive relationships rather than a formal network roster.…”

“…In their qualitative in-depth narrative analysis of the lives of homeless youth, Toolis and Hammack (2015) propose that how homeless youth interpret their experiences and the degree that youth adopt or reject a master identity as a homeless person can impact how they cope with difficult circumstances. For these authors, social network ties can be influential in this interpretive process, but their study also highlights the central importance of individual agency.…”

“…Indeed, many of the causes of youth homelessness reflect a breakdown in family support systems and/or the failure of formal care systems to provide adequate support to facilitate a youth's transition to adulthood (Edidin et al 2012;Fernandes-Alcantara 2013). At the same time, becoming homeless often involves a disruption in a youth's social and physical location that challenges both their sense of self, as well as the reorganization of their personal networks, which for most youth are heavily place-based (Falci et al 2011;Toolis and Hammack 2015;Tyler and Melander 2011). Indeed, in the one longitudinal study to date, researchers found that homeless youth's networks tend to deteriorate and get smaller the longer that they are homeless (Falci et al 2011).…”

“…RHY frequently turn to or are exposed to alcohol and other drugs, which can result in significant patterns of abuse and sometimes even clinical dependence (Bannon et al 2012;Bender et al 2014;Kipke et al 1997;Tyler 2013). Regarding mental health, researchers have documented high levels of depressive symptoms and psychological distress (Edidin et al 2012;Kamieniecki 2001;Toolis and Hammack 2015), as well as suicidality and suicide attempts (Fulginiti et al 2016;Moskowitz et al 2013). Consistent with the well documented high-prevalence of severe mental illness among homeless youth and adults (Henry et al 2016; National Health Care for the Homeless Council 2015), severe mental illness has also been found to be a significant concern among RHY, particularly post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and other major mood disorders (Davies and Allen 2017;Edidin et al 2012;Nyamathi et al 2005).…”

Personal, Master, and Alternative Narratives: An Integrative Framework for Understanding Identity Development in Context

“…In contrast, some developmentalists conceive of agency as phenomenological, emphasizing the experience of agency as individuals seek to link their broader life orientation to the enactment of specific goals. That is, people can feel agentic in the way that they construct their experiences and see their lives, perceiving control over their actions even in the face of great obstacles, regardless of the reality of their objective control or autonomy [Pasupathi & Wainryb, 2010; see also Toolis & Hammack, 2015]. In some ways, this distinction can be thought of in terms of levels of agency, from more situation-or context-based (agency as control) to more ontogenetic (agency to construct a life of one's choosing).…”