Homeless pathways and the struggle for ontological security

Darran Stonehouse, Guinever Threlkeld and Jacqui Theobald

Housing Studies, 2021, vol. 36, issue 7, 1047-1066

Abstract: Homelessness is a significant social problem across advanced capitalist societies, with enduring effects on those who experience it. Consequently, detailed enquiry into people’s lived experiences of homelessness is critical to enhance understanding and inform more effective responses to the problem. This paper presents findings of a study examining nine individuals’ experiences of homelessness in Australia. Narrative analysis foregrounds the ontological dimensions and implications of their experiences, demonstrating how their homeless pathways were characterised by enduring feelings of ontological insecurity. Discussion of these findings highlights how participants’ attempts to overcome homelessness and attain ontological security represent an ongoing struggle, shaped by individual biographies and the structural constraints within contemporary Australian society. The paper argues that further consideration of the material and non-material dimensions of ontological security across all phases of homeless pathways can enhance understanding of homelessness and inform efforts to develop more effective responses to this complex social problem.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02673037.2020.1739234 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:chosxx:v:36:y:2021:i:7:p:1047-1066

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/chos20

DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2020.1739234

Access Statistics for this article

Housing Studies is currently edited by Chris Leishman, Moira Munro, Ray Forrest, Alex Schwartz, Hal Pawson and John Flint

More articles in Housing Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().