Theorising Homelessness
Peter Somerville
University of Lincoln
The meaning of homelessness
• Homelessness is a multidimensional ideological
construct (Somerville, 1992)
• Homelessness cannot be sufficiently explained in terms
of either the actions of individuals or of forces outside
those individuals
• Homelessness is not a ‘social fact’ – it cannot be
understood independently of our experience of it
• Homelessness is not just a ‘social problem’
• Homelessness is constructed by all of us, not just by
powerful ‘others’
• Homelessness is a cultural phenomenon as well as a
structural one
McNaughton’s theory of
homelessness
• The significance of capital
• The link between low capital and edgework, and
the ‘duality of edges’
• The nature of human agency
• Divestment and integrative passages – routes
into and out of homelessness
• The unintended consequences of welfare
interventions – counterproductivity, stigma,
institutional discrimination
• A theory of complex behaviour?
• Misled by structure/culture dualism?
Ethnographic approaches
• Studies of homeless people in their own
settings and in relationship to others
• Ravenhill (2008)
• Gowan (2010)
• Cloke et al (2010)
Ravenhill (2008)
• Interviews with 150 homeless people over a period of ten
years
• The importance of relationships
• Becoming homeless is a process of learning how to be
homeless
• The concept of homeless culture – abjection, identity
change, institutionalisation, intensity of relationship,
hierarchy inversion; and associated subcultures
• The homeless industry – links the homeless culture to
mainstream society, facing both ways
• Exiting from homelessness involves a different learning
process, especially recognition of the caring ‘other’ at the
‘breaking point’, plus relevant organised practical longterm assistance
Gowan (2010)
• San Francisco: ‘Homelessness is all about
being deprived of claim to place’ (p80)
• Subcultures of homeless people:
‘hustlers’, ‘recyclers’ and ‘dumpster divers’
• The wickedness and hypocrisy of US
homeless policy – ethnic cleansing for
those who can work and shelterisation for
those who cannot
Cloke et al (2010)
• The emotional and spiritual dimensions of
homelessness – postsecularism and the ethic of
kindness
• The performative and affective geographies of
homelessness
• Subcultures of homeless people: ‘pissheads’,
‘junkies’ and ‘straightheads’
• ‘Service without strings’ plus continuity of care –
the key to successful rehabilitation
• The importance of place-based cultures for
understanding homelessness
Conclusion
• The importance of spirituality – hope and
purpose, signalled by unconditional care
giving at key points, is the key to
‘salvation’, i.e. rehabilitation
• Ethnographic approaches offer the
greatest promise for increased
understanding of homelessness,
especially those that make innovations in
gathering and telling stories