a post on the Transforming Society blog
Research having an impact on policy, and the wider world, can be extremely hard to quantify, but on occasion we find an example that illustrates the great potential we have to make a difference.
One such example came when Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and his senior advisers, Bassam Khawaja and Rebecca Riddell, made an official visit to the UK in November 2018 [BBC News item]. They were tasked with conducting an investigation in the UK and subsequently presented their findings to the UK government in the form of a 21 page report [24-page PDF in clear English makes horrifying reading].
In order to maximise the efficacy of what are generally less than two-week visits, the time spent in the country must be carefully planned and structured extensively ahead of time. This involves “extensive advance work, including broad consultations and in-depth research”. It is during this planning that Alston used the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice [a plug for Policy Press's publication], later stating: “the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice is clearly one of the best in the field, as I learned in preparing for my visit to the UK”.
Continue reading
Showing posts with label homelessness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homelessness. Show all posts
Friday, 11 October 2019
Tuesday, 9 April 2019
Considering the legitimacy of homeless hostels as sites of discipline and regulation
Ian Mahoney (Nottingham Trent University, UK) published in International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy Volume 39 Issue 3/4 (2019)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critique the role of homeless hostels in contemporary society, examining their role and legitimacy as sites of discipline and regulation of behaviors, ideas and aspirations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws upon in-depth qualitative interviews and supplementary observations undertaken in two homeless hostels in Stoke-on-Trent.
Findings
The research finds that even the most benign interventions enacted in homeless hostels are infused with disciplinary and regulatory techniques and suggests that the author needs to consider the legitimacy and efficacy of such approaches when seeking to understand the role of the hostel in assisting residents in (re)developing their autonomy.
Research limitations/implications
While there are legitimate reasons for the deployment of such techniques in some cases, legitimacy can be undermined where expectations go unmet or where developing residents’ and service user’s needs are not necessarily the main object of the interventions.
Practical implications
Hostel providers need to consider the ethicality and legitimacy of the interventions in place when seeking to help service users and residents to (re)develop their autonomy and ensure that efforts are focused in an effective and meaningful way.
Social implications
Homeless people are among the most vulnerable and excluded in society. The paper seeks to draw attention to the disciplinary and regulatory techniques to which they are subject in order to ensure that approaches employed to support homeless individuals have a clear, ethical and legitimate basis.
Originality/value
The research draws upon original data collected as part of a doctoral research project into wider experiences of unemployment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critique the role of homeless hostels in contemporary society, examining their role and legitimacy as sites of discipline and regulation of behaviors, ideas and aspirations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws upon in-depth qualitative interviews and supplementary observations undertaken in two homeless hostels in Stoke-on-Trent.
Findings
The research finds that even the most benign interventions enacted in homeless hostels are infused with disciplinary and regulatory techniques and suggests that the author needs to consider the legitimacy and efficacy of such approaches when seeking to understand the role of the hostel in assisting residents in (re)developing their autonomy.
Research limitations/implications
While there are legitimate reasons for the deployment of such techniques in some cases, legitimacy can be undermined where expectations go unmet or where developing residents’ and service user’s needs are not necessarily the main object of the interventions.
Practical implications
Hostel providers need to consider the ethicality and legitimacy of the interventions in place when seeking to help service users and residents to (re)develop their autonomy and ensure that efforts are focused in an effective and meaningful way.
Social implications
Homeless people are among the most vulnerable and excluded in society. The paper seeks to draw attention to the disciplinary and regulatory techniques to which they are subject in order to ensure that approaches employed to support homeless individuals have a clear, ethical and legitimate basis.
Originality/value
The research draws upon original data collected as part of a doctoral research project into wider experiences of unemployment.
Friday, 27 April 2018
Here Are The Shocking Figures Behind the UK’s Homelessness Crisis
a post by Jem Collins for the Info Rights blog: Human Rights News, Views & Info
Homelessness has been one of the biggest talking points of 2018 so far, and for good reason. Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are forced to live on the streets, sofa surf, or are stuck in dangerous rentals and unable to speak out. And more than a million people have to deal with a rogue landlord who breaks the law.
For most people, homelessness is difficult to imagine. But it isn’t as far away as we’d like to think: in fact, given how prevalent it is, you probably know someone who is, or has been, temporarily homeless.
It’s also an issue that touches on the very core of our human rights: after all, a stable home has a huge impact on our entire lives. From our education and health, to our dignity and right to a family and private life, we need to be doing more to make sure these rights are real for everyone.
Continue reading
Homelessness has been one of the biggest talking points of 2018 so far, and for good reason. Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are forced to live on the streets, sofa surf, or are stuck in dangerous rentals and unable to speak out. And more than a million people have to deal with a rogue landlord who breaks the law.
For most people, homelessness is difficult to imagine. But it isn’t as far away as we’d like to think: in fact, given how prevalent it is, you probably know someone who is, or has been, temporarily homeless.
It’s also an issue that touches on the very core of our human rights: after all, a stable home has a huge impact on our entire lives. From our education and health, to our dignity and right to a family and private life, we need to be doing more to make sure these rights are real for everyone.
Continue reading
Sunday, 8 April 2018
New homelessness act fails to address root causes, charities say
an article by Patrick Butler, Social Policy Editor, published in the Guardian
There are fears that the act does not address the underlying factors driving homelessness. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex/Shutterstock
Cash-strapped councils in England now have legal duty to assist all eligible homeless citizens
Spiralling rents, welfare reforms and council funding cuts will undermine the impact of the most significant new homelessness legislation for 40 years, charities have said.
There is consensus among campaigners and local authorities that the Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force on Tuesday and imposes legal duties on English councils to take positive steps to prevent and relieve homelessness, is a welcome and positive move.
However, there are fears that the act imposes costly new duties on councils at a time when they face drastic funding cuts, and does nothing to confront the underlying factors driving homelessness such as housing benefit cuts, lack of affordable housing and insecure private sector tenancies.
Continue reading
There are fears that the act does not address the underlying factors driving homelessness. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex/Shutterstock
Cash-strapped councils in England now have legal duty to assist all eligible homeless citizens
Spiralling rents, welfare reforms and council funding cuts will undermine the impact of the most significant new homelessness legislation for 40 years, charities have said.
There is consensus among campaigners and local authorities that the Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force on Tuesday and imposes legal duties on English councils to take positive steps to prevent and relieve homelessness, is a welcome and positive move.
However, there are fears that the act imposes costly new duties on councils at a time when they face drastic funding cuts, and does nothing to confront the underlying factors driving homelessness such as housing benefit cuts, lack of affordable housing and insecure private sector tenancies.
Continue reading
Sunday, 18 March 2018
Women and homelessness: putting gender back on the agenda
an article by Kesia Reeve (Sheffield Hallam University) published in People, Place and Policy Volume 11 Issue 3 (2018)
Abstract
50 years since the first screening of the powerful TV drama ‘Cathy Come Home’, and 30 years after the first homelessness legislation in the UK, this paper reflects on the continued invisibility of women’s homelessness in scholarly and policy debate.
It argues that homelessness is inherently gendered, yet rarely recognised as such, and that new conceptualisations of homelessness that take account of gender differentials is urgently needed.
Full text (PDF 10pp)
Abstract
50 years since the first screening of the powerful TV drama ‘Cathy Come Home’, and 30 years after the first homelessness legislation in the UK, this paper reflects on the continued invisibility of women’s homelessness in scholarly and policy debate.
It argues that homelessness is inherently gendered, yet rarely recognised as such, and that new conceptualisations of homelessness that take account of gender differentials is urgently needed.
Full text (PDF 10pp)
Sunday, 4 February 2018
‘I get up in the night to cry’: The impact of homelessness on higher education students in London, UK
an article by Patrick Mulrenan (London Metropolitan University,UK) and Julia Atkins and Simon Cox (Genesis Housing Association, England) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 38 Issue 1 (February 2018)
Abstract
While the higher education landscape has changed radically since the late 1980s, a consistent feature of government policy has been to widen participation to students who were disproportionately excluded previously. Post-1992 universities in particular have experienced a substantial change in their student intake, but challenges remain in ensuring the retention and success of these students.
This article argues that student homelessness is a significant and an under-researched barrier to students reaching their potential. The problem is explored here, illuminated by a focus group and a series of interviews involving 16 students from one school at a London post-1992 university.
The impact of homelessness was far-reaching in terms of their emotional wellbeing and ability to fully participate in university life, including pressure on time and financial resources, inability to fully focus on studies, and limited engagement with fellow students and the wider university experience.
Abstract
While the higher education landscape has changed radically since the late 1980s, a consistent feature of government policy has been to widen participation to students who were disproportionately excluded previously. Post-1992 universities in particular have experienced a substantial change in their student intake, but challenges remain in ensuring the retention and success of these students.
This article argues that student homelessness is a significant and an under-researched barrier to students reaching their potential. The problem is explored here, illuminated by a focus group and a series of interviews involving 16 students from one school at a London post-1992 university.
The impact of homelessness was far-reaching in terms of their emotional wellbeing and ability to fully participate in university life, including pressure on time and financial resources, inability to fully focus on studies, and limited engagement with fellow students and the wider university experience.
Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Ombudsman finds fault in seven out of ten homelessness complaints
via the Local Government Lawyer blog [thanks to Inner Temple Library] 15 December 2017
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found fault in 70% of complaints about homelessness it investigated in detail in 2016/17.
In a report, Still no place like home, the LGO said it had received around 450 complaints during the year about services by English authorities. One in three of those complaints came from outside of London.
The Local Government Association called on the Government to include measures in the Local Government Finance Settlement to tackle the problems identified.The Ombudsman's report also said:
Homelessness was increasingly affecting families from areas and professions who previously might never have expected to face problems finding somewhere to live, but who had been forced to call on their local council’s help by the increasing unaffordability of private tenancies.
It was "worrying" that problems remained four years after the LGO's report on councils’ inappropriate use of bed and breakfast accommodation to house families and children. There were still “too many cases where councils are acting unlawfully by placing homeless households in bed and breakfast accommodation for lengthy periods of time”.
Families who have been stuck for significantly longer than the six-week legal limit– some for more than two years – were increasingly having to stay in conditions where damp or infestation was a problem, often affecting their physical and mental health.
The LGO’s report gives local authorities best practice guidance. It also offers councillors and scrutiny chairs a number of questions they can ask of their own authorities to ensure they challenge the number of families left in unsuitable accommodation for too long.
Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Our cases show many pre-conceived ideas about the people affected by homelessness simply no longer ring true. The increasing cost of private rents has meant we have seen a shift towards more people in professions such as nursing, and their families, becoming affected.
“Many of these families are being placed in poor quality accommodation, for periods significantly longer than the six-week legal limit. And we’re seeing signs the problems are growing more acute, particularly with an increase in the length of time families are having to stay in temporary accommodation.
“More worrying still, we are finding that many families are not being told of their review rights when placed in unsuitable accommodation, so they have no information on how to challenge the decision and improve their circumstances.”
Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s Housing spokesman, said: “This research demonstrates that housing is becoming more and more unaffordable, and that urgent measures are needed to tackle our national shortage of affordable homes. Councils are facing immense pressures when it comes to temporary accommodation, having to house the equivalent of an extra secondary school’s worth of homeless children every month, and the cost of providing temporary accommodation has trebled in the last three years.
“Local authorities do all they can to place people in the best accommodation available, but the reality is that with limited housing options, councils often find themselves having to extend stays in temporary accommodation, as the only alternative is that families and individuals find themselves out on the streets. With limited housing stock and a £5.8bn overall funding shortfall by 2020, councils are doing all they can to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place, but they urgently need more funding and resources from government.
“At the root of all of this is our desperate need to supply more affordable homes in the long term, and to help people most at risk of homelessness immediately. That means the Government lifting the housing borrowing cap across the country, and allowing all councils to borrow to build, and adapting welfare reforms to make sure that housing remains affordable for low-income families, because the need is urgent, and new homes won’t appear overnight.
“These are both measures that could be taken in the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement, and we would urge the Government to do so.”
And if anyone can easily find a copy of this 2017 report I would be grateful if you would comment on this post and let us all know where to find it.
I thought I was at least a reasonably competent information searcher but all I can find is the 2013 report (even when the link says 2017).
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found fault in 70% of complaints about homelessness it investigated in detail in 2016/17.
In a report, Still no place like home, the LGO said it had received around 450 complaints during the year about services by English authorities. One in three of those complaints came from outside of London.
The Local Government Association called on the Government to include measures in the Local Government Finance Settlement to tackle the problems identified.The Ombudsman's report also said:
Homelessness was increasingly affecting families from areas and professions who previously might never have expected to face problems finding somewhere to live, but who had been forced to call on their local council’s help by the increasing unaffordability of private tenancies.
It was "worrying" that problems remained four years after the LGO's report on councils’ inappropriate use of bed and breakfast accommodation to house families and children. There were still “too many cases where councils are acting unlawfully by placing homeless households in bed and breakfast accommodation for lengthy periods of time”.
Families who have been stuck for significantly longer than the six-week legal limit– some for more than two years – were increasingly having to stay in conditions where damp or infestation was a problem, often affecting their physical and mental health.
The LGO’s report gives local authorities best practice guidance. It also offers councillors and scrutiny chairs a number of questions they can ask of their own authorities to ensure they challenge the number of families left in unsuitable accommodation for too long.
Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Our cases show many pre-conceived ideas about the people affected by homelessness simply no longer ring true. The increasing cost of private rents has meant we have seen a shift towards more people in professions such as nursing, and their families, becoming affected.
“Many of these families are being placed in poor quality accommodation, for periods significantly longer than the six-week legal limit. And we’re seeing signs the problems are growing more acute, particularly with an increase in the length of time families are having to stay in temporary accommodation.
“More worrying still, we are finding that many families are not being told of their review rights when placed in unsuitable accommodation, so they have no information on how to challenge the decision and improve their circumstances.”
Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s Housing spokesman, said: “This research demonstrates that housing is becoming more and more unaffordable, and that urgent measures are needed to tackle our national shortage of affordable homes. Councils are facing immense pressures when it comes to temporary accommodation, having to house the equivalent of an extra secondary school’s worth of homeless children every month, and the cost of providing temporary accommodation has trebled in the last three years.
“Local authorities do all they can to place people in the best accommodation available, but the reality is that with limited housing options, councils often find themselves having to extend stays in temporary accommodation, as the only alternative is that families and individuals find themselves out on the streets. With limited housing stock and a £5.8bn overall funding shortfall by 2020, councils are doing all they can to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place, but they urgently need more funding and resources from government.
“At the root of all of this is our desperate need to supply more affordable homes in the long term, and to help people most at risk of homelessness immediately. That means the Government lifting the housing borrowing cap across the country, and allowing all councils to borrow to build, and adapting welfare reforms to make sure that housing remains affordable for low-income families, because the need is urgent, and new homes won’t appear overnight.
“These are both measures that could be taken in the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement, and we would urge the Government to do so.”
And if anyone can easily find a copy of this 2017 report I would be grateful if you would comment on this post and let us all know where to find it.
I thought I was at least a reasonably competent information searcher but all I can find is the 2013 report (even when the link says 2017).
Monday, 27 November 2017
Special Brew with George
an article by Will Self for The New Statesman
My time in the gutter taught me how much the homeless deserve our compassion.
George begs beneath the NatWest cashpoint across the road from Stockwell Tube station. Sometimes you’ll see other people begging there, but mostly this is George’s pitch. He’s a wizened man with the weathered-walnut complexion of the long-term street sleeper and addict-alcoholic. George is small and very thin and has hardly any teeth; I rather like him.
His backstory will be familiar to anyone who has ever taken an interest in the homeless: his father a drug addict who died young; his mother an alcoholic who couldn’t cope. George and his sister were in and out of care throughout their early childhood and then vanished into the system.
I haven’t been able to get from George a straight account of the events that precipitated him into a gutter near me, but that is not surprising: alcoholics are usually pretty resentful people, and because they are so ill-used by their malady it is difficult for them to distinguish between the world’s bemerding and the shit they’ve got themselves into. George speaks of a young daughter’s untimely death and an estranged wife. Once he had both a home of his own and a decent trade – plastering – but now he gets plastered to forget about everything he’s lost.
Continue reading
My time in the gutter taught me how much the homeless deserve our compassion.
George begs beneath the NatWest cashpoint across the road from Stockwell Tube station. Sometimes you’ll see other people begging there, but mostly this is George’s pitch. He’s a wizened man with the weathered-walnut complexion of the long-term street sleeper and addict-alcoholic. George is small and very thin and has hardly any teeth; I rather like him.
His backstory will be familiar to anyone who has ever taken an interest in the homeless: his father a drug addict who died young; his mother an alcoholic who couldn’t cope. George and his sister were in and out of care throughout their early childhood and then vanished into the system.
I haven’t been able to get from George a straight account of the events that precipitated him into a gutter near me, but that is not surprising: alcoholics are usually pretty resentful people, and because they are so ill-used by their malady it is difficult for them to distinguish between the world’s bemerding and the shit they’ve got themselves into. George speaks of a young daughter’s untimely death and an estranged wife. Once he had both a home of his own and a decent trade – plastering – but now he gets plastered to forget about everything he’s lost.
Continue reading
Tuesday, 14 November 2017
An uncaring indifference to wrong and right
a post by J. for the Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment blog
Behind every homelessness statistic sits a story – or, more accurately – 88410* stories. Stories of people fleeing violence or abusive relationships. Stories of people struggling with ill-health and addictions. Stories of care leavers being left to struggle thorough. And, increasingly, stories of people who just can’t afford the rent.** Some – the “lucky” or “deserving” few, find their way into temporary accommodation (t/a).*** Some sleep rough.**** Some turn to prostitution as a way of getting a roof for the night. It is a desperate situation.
Readers of this blog know this. We see it every day on our way to work or as part or our work. We fight with landlords to stop them evicting people (whether by acting for tenants or where local authorities try to persuade landlords to hold off on proceedings so as to keep someone in their home). We work to improve housing conditions. We come into housing because we believe that there is nothing more important than having somewhere to live. And it makes us angry – furious, even – that our society allows these problems to continue.
And it’s against that background that the recent National Audit Office report on Homelessness should be read. It’s only 52 pages but is a damning analysis of the DCLG and government as a whole. The overwhelming impression is that the government just doesn’t care about the homeless or about the effects of its policies. It just doesn’t care if people are pushed into poverty. The poor and homeless (as well as landlords receiving UC/HB payments) are just there to be the subject of experimentation. I shouldn’t feel this strongly about a NAO report, but, frankly, it makes me wonder how the DCLG staff can face themselves in the morning.
Let me explain.
Grateful thanks to the Current Awareness blog for this piece
Behind every homelessness statistic sits a story – or, more accurately – 88410* stories. Stories of people fleeing violence or abusive relationships. Stories of people struggling with ill-health and addictions. Stories of care leavers being left to struggle thorough. And, increasingly, stories of people who just can’t afford the rent.** Some – the “lucky” or “deserving” few, find their way into temporary accommodation (t/a).*** Some sleep rough.**** Some turn to prostitution as a way of getting a roof for the night. It is a desperate situation.
Readers of this blog know this. We see it every day on our way to work or as part or our work. We fight with landlords to stop them evicting people (whether by acting for tenants or where local authorities try to persuade landlords to hold off on proceedings so as to keep someone in their home). We work to improve housing conditions. We come into housing because we believe that there is nothing more important than having somewhere to live. And it makes us angry – furious, even – that our society allows these problems to continue.
And it’s against that background that the recent National Audit Office report on Homelessness should be read. It’s only 52 pages but is a damning analysis of the DCLG and government as a whole. The overwhelming impression is that the government just doesn’t care about the homeless or about the effects of its policies. It just doesn’t care if people are pushed into poverty. The poor and homeless (as well as landlords receiving UC/HB payments) are just there to be the subject of experimentation. I shouldn’t feel this strongly about a NAO report, but, frankly, it makes me wonder how the DCLG staff can face themselves in the morning.
Let me explain.
*the number of households that applied for homelessness assistance in England in 2016-17; so the number of people affected will comfortably be double that.
** The number of people homeless upon the ending of an AST has risen three fold since 2011
*** 77,240 households are in t/a in England as at March 2017, which is significantly more than an average Parliamentary constituency
**** 4134. An increase of 134% since 2010.
Hold on to your temper as you continue to read J.’s post.Grateful thanks to the Current Awareness blog for this piece
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
The Sustainability of the Youth Foyer Model: A Comparison of the UK and Australia
an article by Adam Steen (Charles Sturt University, Australia) and David MacKenzie (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)
published in Social Policy and Society Volume 16 Issue 3 (July 2017)
Abstract
The youth foyer model was designed to provide a package of support, including accommodation to homeless or at-risk young people, based on participation in education, training and/or employment as a supported transition to independent living and a sustainable livelihood.
Commencing in the early 1990s, the UK has developed a large number of foyers while Australia is a relative newcomer to this kind of supportive youth housing.
Unlike in the UK, existing and proposed Australian foyer income generated from current benefits and subsidies is not sufficient to cover the cost of support.
We highlight the need for an extensible source of funding specifically for supportive housing for homeless and at-risk youth in order to ensure the financial sustainability and therefore replicability of the foyer model in Australia.
We also discuss some issues relating to the translation of the model from one national context to another.
Abstract
The youth foyer model was designed to provide a package of support, including accommodation to homeless or at-risk young people, based on participation in education, training and/or employment as a supported transition to independent living and a sustainable livelihood.
Commencing in the early 1990s, the UK has developed a large number of foyers while Australia is a relative newcomer to this kind of supportive youth housing.
Unlike in the UK, existing and proposed Australian foyer income generated from current benefits and subsidies is not sufficient to cover the cost of support.
We highlight the need for an extensible source of funding specifically for supportive housing for homeless and at-risk youth in order to ensure the financial sustainability and therefore replicability of the foyer model in Australia.
We also discuss some issues relating to the translation of the model from one national context to another.
Saturday, 16 September 2017
I slept rough – the public’s contempt for homeless people is a disgrace
via the Guardian by Tamsen Courtenay
A London coffee shop caused outrage when it refused to sell food to a good samaritan for a homeless man. But I saw far worse during my time recording their lives
Illustration by Mark Long
Like many other people, I watched Adrian Pinsent’s video of coffee shop staff at Waterloo station last week [early July] refusing to let him buy food for a man with no home and an empty stomach. A member of staff claimed that it was company policy and the rules of the station. The employee was wrong, it turned out – but the incident brought back some vivid memories for me.
I recently spent several months in central London recording 30 homeless people as they chronicled their lives with great candour and humility. Much of what they talked about was their life, now, on the street. No front door key. Few possessions. Little dignity. I collected their stories and called the book Four Feet Under, because they live four feet under the rest of us.
Continue reading
A London coffee shop caused outrage when it refused to sell food to a good samaritan for a homeless man. But I saw far worse during my time recording their lives
Illustration by Mark Long
Like many other people, I watched Adrian Pinsent’s video of coffee shop staff at Waterloo station last week [early July] refusing to let him buy food for a man with no home and an empty stomach. A member of staff claimed that it was company policy and the rules of the station. The employee was wrong, it turned out – but the incident brought back some vivid memories for me.
I recently spent several months in central London recording 30 homeless people as they chronicled their lives with great candour and humility. Much of what they talked about was their life, now, on the street. No front door key. Few possessions. Little dignity. I collected their stories and called the book Four Feet Under, because they live four feet under the rest of us.
Continue reading
Monday, 3 April 2017
Welfare conditionality, benefit sanctions and homelessness in the UK: ending the 'something for nothing culture' or punishing the poor?
an article by Kesia Reeve (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 25 Number 1 (February 2017)
Abstract
In 2012 the UK government introduced the harshest régime of conditionality and sanctions in the history of the benefits system. The government insists sanctions are not punitive, but critics call this into question.
In particular, the régime has been charged with disproportionately affecting vulnerable people. Based on a survey and qualitative interviews with homeless people, this paper shows that homeless people are disproportionately sanctioned, and argues that it is difficult to see the régime as anything but punishment – punishment not for refusing to participate in the labour market, but for being unable to do so through homelessness, poverty and ill-health.
Full Text (PDF)
Abstract
In 2012 the UK government introduced the harshest régime of conditionality and sanctions in the history of the benefits system. The government insists sanctions are not punitive, but critics call this into question.
In particular, the régime has been charged with disproportionately affecting vulnerable people. Based on a survey and qualitative interviews with homeless people, this paper shows that homeless people are disproportionately sanctioned, and argues that it is difficult to see the régime as anything but punishment – punishment not for refusing to participate in the labour market, but for being unable to do so through homelessness, poverty and ill-health.
Full Text (PDF)
Friday, 28 October 2016
Growing up before their time: The early adultification experiences of homeless young people
Rachel M. Schmitz and Kimberly A. Tyler (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States) published in Children and Youth Services Review Volume 64 (May 2016)
Highlights
• Early adultification among 40 homeless youth is qualitatively explored.
• Premature caregiving burdened participants with familial responsibility.
• Early independence forced young people to provide for their own needs.
• Parenthood thrust young people into the adult role of childcare once they left home.
Abstract
This paper explores the experiences of early adultification among 40 homeless youth aged 19 to 21. Findings from semi-structured, face-to-face interviews revealed the experiences of early adultification among homeless young people. We used both initial and focused coding and the final qualitative themes emerged naturally from the data.
Early adultification encompassed the following processes, which were closely tied to prominent descriptions of family conflict and caregiver neglect: premature caregiving, early independence and parenthood.
Premature caregiving burdened participants with familial responsibility such as caring for younger siblings prior to their leaving home.
Early independence occurred when young people provided for their own needs in the absence of caregiver guidance when they were still residing with family.
Parenthood thrust young people into the adult role of caring for an infant once they left home.
Early adultification complicated participants' experiences with leaving home by imbuing them with premature independence and familial detachment. Identifying the unique aspects surrounding young people's lives prior to and after leaving home is crucial in preventing residential instability and in alleviating the issues that homeless young adults experience.
Highlights
• Early adultification among 40 homeless youth is qualitatively explored.
• Premature caregiving burdened participants with familial responsibility.
• Early independence forced young people to provide for their own needs.
• Parenthood thrust young people into the adult role of childcare once they left home.
Abstract
This paper explores the experiences of early adultification among 40 homeless youth aged 19 to 21. Findings from semi-structured, face-to-face interviews revealed the experiences of early adultification among homeless young people. We used both initial and focused coding and the final qualitative themes emerged naturally from the data.
Early adultification encompassed the following processes, which were closely tied to prominent descriptions of family conflict and caregiver neglect: premature caregiving, early independence and parenthood.
Premature caregiving burdened participants with familial responsibility such as caring for younger siblings prior to their leaving home.
Early independence occurred when young people provided for their own needs in the absence of caregiver guidance when they were still residing with family.
Parenthood thrust young people into the adult role of caring for an infant once they left home.
Early adultification complicated participants' experiences with leaving home by imbuing them with premature independence and familial detachment. Identifying the unique aspects surrounding young people's lives prior to and after leaving home is crucial in preventing residential instability and in alleviating the issues that homeless young adults experience.
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Academic Knowledge and Contemporary Poverty: The Politics of Homelessness Research
an article by David Farrugia (University of Newcastle, Australia) and Jessica Gerrard (University of Melbourne, Australia) published in Sociology Volume 50 Number 2 (April 2016)
Abstract
This article explores the field of homelessness research in relation to the dynamics of contemporary inequality and governmentality, arguing that the dominant perspectives within this field have developed in ways that can converge with the demands of neoliberal governance.
The article discusses the causal focus of much homelessness research, the emergence of the ‘orthodoxy’ of homelessness research and new approaches emphasising subjectivity and arguing for a ‘culture of homelessness’. We suggest that homelessness has been constructed as a discrete analytical object extraordinary to the social relations of contemporary inequality.
The authority to represent homelessness legitimately has been constituted through positioning ‘the homeless’ outside of a community of valorised and normatively legitimate subjectivities. The article concludes with reflections on an alternative politics of homelessness research that moves towards a critical engagement with the position of homelessness within the structural dynamics of late modernity.
Abstract
This article explores the field of homelessness research in relation to the dynamics of contemporary inequality and governmentality, arguing that the dominant perspectives within this field have developed in ways that can converge with the demands of neoliberal governance.
The article discusses the causal focus of much homelessness research, the emergence of the ‘orthodoxy’ of homelessness research and new approaches emphasising subjectivity and arguing for a ‘culture of homelessness’. We suggest that homelessness has been constructed as a discrete analytical object extraordinary to the social relations of contemporary inequality.
The authority to represent homelessness legitimately has been constituted through positioning ‘the homeless’ outside of a community of valorised and normatively legitimate subjectivities. The article concludes with reflections on an alternative politics of homelessness research that moves towards a critical engagement with the position of homelessness within the structural dynamics of late modernity.
Monday, 3 August 2015
Non-Household Populations: Implications for Measurements of Poverty Globally and in the UK
an article by Roy Carr-Hill (University of York, UK) published in Journal of Social Policy Volume 44 Issue 2 (April 2015)
Abstract
Data from household surveys have increasingly been used as a basis for social policy.
They are generally inappropriate for obtaining information about the poorest, and therefore for policies concerned with tackling poverty and deprivation. They omit certain groups by design: the homeless; those in institutions; and mobile, nomadic or pastoralist populations.
In addition, in practice, they typically under-represent those in fragile, disjointed or multiple occupancy households, those in urban slums and those in areas deemed as insecure. These sub-groups constitute a pretty comprehensive, ostensive definition of the ‘poorest’.
The sources of worldwide estimates of the missing populations are briefly described, with those for the UK discussed in greater detail, paying attention to their likely income and wealth.
At least 250 million of the poorest of the poor are omitted worldwide; and in the UK about half a million of the poorest are missing from survey sample frames. In the UK, these ‘missing’ population sub-groups bias the analysis of income inequalities and affect the validity of formulae that have been developed for the geographical allocation of resources to health and social care.
Abstract
Data from household surveys have increasingly been used as a basis for social policy.
They are generally inappropriate for obtaining information about the poorest, and therefore for policies concerned with tackling poverty and deprivation. They omit certain groups by design: the homeless; those in institutions; and mobile, nomadic or pastoralist populations.
In addition, in practice, they typically under-represent those in fragile, disjointed or multiple occupancy households, those in urban slums and those in areas deemed as insecure. These sub-groups constitute a pretty comprehensive, ostensive definition of the ‘poorest’.
The sources of worldwide estimates of the missing populations are briefly described, with those for the UK discussed in greater detail, paying attention to their likely income and wealth.
At least 250 million of the poorest of the poor are omitted worldwide; and in the UK about half a million of the poorest are missing from survey sample frames. In the UK, these ‘missing’ population sub-groups bias the analysis of income inequalities and affect the validity of formulae that have been developed for the geographical allocation of resources to health and social care.
Monday, 27 July 2015
Care and Repair and the Politics of Urban Kindness
an article by Tom Hall and Robin James Smith (Cardiff University, UK) published in Sociology Volume 49 Number 1 (February 2015)
Abstract
This article considers the possibility that small acts of urban care, maintenance and cleaning might make for a good city.
This might seem a slim possibility, given the vast sociology of hopelessness to which the contemporary city is home. But it can also be argued that a politics, and a sociology, of hope are best looked for not in big picture or utopian thinking but in the practical instances of everyday care and kindness that are as much a part of the urban everyday as anxiety, insecurity and damage.
We explore this possibility through a critical assessment of Nigel Thrift’s recent writings on urban repair, drawing (but not reporting) on our own research with street cleaners and outreach workers tasked to look out for the rough sleeping homeless.
Abstract
This article considers the possibility that small acts of urban care, maintenance and cleaning might make for a good city.
This might seem a slim possibility, given the vast sociology of hopelessness to which the contemporary city is home. But it can also be argued that a politics, and a sociology, of hope are best looked for not in big picture or utopian thinking but in the practical instances of everyday care and kindness that are as much a part of the urban everyday as anxiety, insecurity and damage.
We explore this possibility through a critical assessment of Nigel Thrift’s recent writings on urban repair, drawing (but not reporting) on our own research with street cleaners and outreach workers tasked to look out for the rough sleeping homeless.
Thursday, 22 August 2013
Homelessness prevention and relief: England 2012 to 2013
a Department for Communities and Local Government publication relevant to England
This is an official statistics release on homelessness prevention and relief in England that took place outside the homelessness statutory framework in 2012 to 2013. This is the fifth year for which figures on homelessness prevention and relief have been published by the Department for Communities and Local Government under arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
The main points from the latest release are:
This is an official statistics release on homelessness prevention and relief in England that took place outside the homelessness statutory framework in 2012 to 2013. This is the fifth year for which figures on homelessness prevention and relief have been published by the Department for Communities and Local Government under arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
The main points from the latest release are:
- in 2012 to 2013, a total of 202,400 cases of homelessness prevention or relief are estimated to have taken place outside the statutory homelessness framework in England; of these cases, 181,500 (90%) were preventions and 21,000 (10%) were cases of relief
- in 2012 to 2013, 53% of cases of homelessness prevention and relief involved the household being assisted to obtain alternative accommodation; the remaining 47% involved the cases being assisted to remain in their existing home; in 2011 to 2012 this was 57% and 43% respectively
- the total number of cases of homelessness prevention or relief increased by 2% when compared to 2011 to 2012; this is due to prevention cases increasing by 4%, while cases of relief decreased by 13%
- the most common action taken to prevent or relieve homelessness was the use of landlord incentive schemes to secure private rented sector accommodation; in 2012 to 2013, 26,200 cases (13%) were assisted in obtaining alternative accommodation this way, though this was a decrease of 5% compared to 2011 to 2012
Friday, 2 August 2013
Dashed hopes, lives on hold: Single homeless people’s experiences of the Work Programme
a report from CRISIS by Ben Sanders, Lígia Teixeira and Jenna Truder published June 2013
About Crisis
Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. We are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. Our innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services address individual needs and help homeless people to transform their lives. We are determined campaigners, working to prevent people from becoming homeless and advocating solutions informed by research and our direct experience.
Key points
Entering the Work Programme
About Crisis
Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. We are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. Our innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services address individual needs and help homeless people to transform their lives. We are determined campaigners, working to prevent people from becoming homeless and advocating solutions informed by research and our direct experience.
Key points
Entering the Work Programme
- Homeless people want to work but often face multiple and complex barriers to finding and staying in employment.
- The Work Programme was designed to help some of the most marginalised people in society. Yet, homeless people on the Programme are being forgotten and excluded, just as they are marginalised in society. All this reinforces feelings of exclusion and marginalisation.
- Many of the homeless people interviewed recalled feeling more positive about their employment prospects and the future when they were referred to the Work Programme. But their initial hopes turned into disappointment as it became apparent that it would not help them to find the right job and transform their lives as originally promised.
- The lack of high level personally tailored support appears to be in part the result of a referral and assessment process that struggles to adequately identify homeless people’s multiple barriers to employment.
- Courses and training intended to improve participants’ opportunities in the job market are often too generic and not specific to the particular needs of participants to be beneficial.
- Advisors’ large caseloads means that appointments are often cut short or interrupted. Feelings of exclusion are reinforced as it can feel appointments are no more than a tick-box exercise.
- High staff turnover as well as high levels of sickness absence also affects the quality of support homeless people receive. According to most of the people we interviewed continuity-of-care is lacking.
- The lack of personally tailored support combined with over-stretched advisors meant participants felt increasingly marginalised to the point at which they had ‘slipped through the net’. Participants’ experiences support growing evidence that those facing greater disadvantages in the labour market are being ‘parked’ by contractors, so that they may focus on people who are more ready to engage with work.
- Communication problems (e.g. appointment letters not arriving on time) appear to be endemic in all aspects of the Work Programme experience and can result in homeless people being unjustly sanctioned.
- A number of the people interviewed have been sanctioned. Yet, upon learning the news, many had not been told the reason why and had to wait several days before finding out (thus causing further distress and anxiety).
- One of the twenty-seven homeless people we interviewed has secured employment but they feel their success was in large part due to the support they received from Crisis and another charity – not because of their participation on the Work Programme.
- The vast majority of the homeless people interviewed are still on the Work Programme and continue to visit their advisors (often irregularly). Most deem these meetings a ‘waste of time’ as their early hopes of finding work that suits their personal circumstances have long been dashed. Many report feeling ‘forgotten’ as if they have ‘slipped through the net’.
- It is left to organisations such as Crisis to provide the personalised one-to-one employment support the Work Programme originally promised. But while third-sector organisations are effectively subsidising the Work Programme with all the pre-employment support that they provide, they receive none of the recognition or reward when a participant does succeed in getting a job.
- The Work Programme contractors are not motivated to risk spending on homeless people and/or those who appear hard to help. But even though these people cost more to help, they are also the ones that deliver a greater return in reduced long-term benefit savings. Therefore, if the Work Programme fails to help unemployed people with complex and multiple needs it will also fail to help reduce the benefit bill in the long-term (one of the Government’s original objectives).
Monday, 24 June 2013
Homelessness and identity: a critical review of the literature and theory
an article by Lindsey McCarthy (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) published in People, Place and Policy Volume 7 Number 1
Summary
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.
Full text (PDF 13pp)
Summary
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.
Full text (PDF 13pp)
Saturday, 25 May 2013
The complex NEET problem demands a tailored approach
via The Work Founation News by Katy Jones
The number of NEET young people continues to remains stubbornly high. The latest figures show that 15% of 16-24 year-olds in the UK are not in employment, education or training and the number has been hovering around the million mark for some time.
Full text of press release
The number of NEET young people continues to remains stubbornly high. The latest figures show that 15% of 16-24 year-olds in the UK are not in employment, education or training and the number has been hovering around the million mark for some time.
Full text of press release
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
