The article linked to this post is a good example of bringing the voice of lived experience to research. The research subjects in the study are young people who use substances and who also have experience of homelessness. All of the youth who were interviewed were living in Vancouver.
As part of the research process, the investigators shared their research findings with the Youth Homeless Advisory Committee (YHAC), which is a permanent feature of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. YHAC members also have experience of homelessness.
YHAC’s role in the study linked below included analysing the data gathered during the interviews. The article’s authors report how the YHAC’s contribution shifted the orientation of the research project:
‘The YHAC insisted on a move away from “damage centered” research that highlights the myriad forms of marginality that young people experiencing unstable housing and homelessness endure. Instead, they challenged us to focus on how young people are able to create provisional senses of home in un-homelike settings.’ [emphasis added]
The investigators went through the interviews again, specifically looking for evidence that the interview subjects were creating a sense of home. It didn’t matter where the sense of home was being created. Even if it happened in places where there was very little stability, or for a short time, it was noted.
This shift to looking for the sense of home drew attention to more efforts to create it. One person reported unpacking their single box of belongings (for the first time in years) while living in transitional housing. Another spoke about creating a sense of home while living outdoors:
‘I tried to be with people as much as I could. There used to be a little crew of
us [sleeping outside together] and it was awesome. We had—we used to call
them ‘cuddle puddles’ and it’s where, like, at some point when the daytime
is over, we would all meet up at one spot at night and do the cuddle puddle
thing—[cuddling together] like penguins and stuff, right? It’s really fun and you actually feel loved and stuff for a bit.’
The shift in focus also drew attention to experiences that undermined the sense of home. The article discusses experiences where people became less stable in transitional and permanent housing. For example, people were barred from having a pet, something that they wished to do to express their sense of home.
Here are a few thoughts about why this article is of interest:
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- It makes recommendations to service providers and policy makers based on a fuller understanding of how a sense of home is created.
- It is an example of a research method that centres on experiences of homelessness.
- It threads together the academic thinking that underlies a broad understanding of homelessness, which encompasses a lack of safe physical space and much more.
The article is published in Youth: Making Homes in Un-Homelike Places among Young People in Vancouver: Implications for Homelessness Prevention
