Abstract
Young people experiencing homelessness and who use drugs are vulnerable to being attributed with ‘spoiled identities’ due to stigmatising attitudes by wider society. This article is underpinned by a symbolic interactionist account of self-identity and stigma. It draws upon ethnographic research in a UK-based supported accommodation hostel for young people and explores how the residents in the hostel related to the labels of ‘homeless,’ ‘drug user’ and ‘youth’ and how these were expressed through their self-identities. Over a period of seven months, in-depth participant-observation, semi-structured interviews and a focus group were conducted involving 22 hostel residents, aged 16 to 21 years old. The data highlight how the residents engaged in processes of ‘distancing’ or ‘othering’ by making disparaging remarks about other people in similar situations based on stereotyping. These processes reinforced spoiled identities while enabling the residents to disassociate from them. However, residents also appeared to embrace and celebrate certain features of each label, indicating an acceptance of these more positive features as forming a part of their self-identities. The article concludes by arguing for a nuanced approach to understanding stigma and identity among homeless people, one that accounts for more than just a person’s housing situation.
Highlights
Young people experiencing homelessness are socially constructed as simultaneously vulnerable and deviant
The following findings are structured in relation to the three identity labels at the centre of this article—being homeless, a drug user and young
This article has focused on a group living in a supported accommodation hostel and explored their self-identities as they relate to the ‘generalised other’ labels of ‘homeless,’ ‘drug user’ and ‘youth.’ Vulnerability and deviance are concepts which penetrate these labels as those who are young, drug users and/or homeless are simultaneously believed to require help and social control to ensure their lives align with acceptable, normative standards of behaviours
Summary
Young people experiencing homelessness are socially constructed as simultaneously vulnerable and deviant. 241) summarised this dual narrative in arguing that: The very term ‘homelessness’ has had contradictory consequences, drawing attention to a significant form of poverty whilst simultaneously constructing symbolic and moral boundaries around a population of disordered, unruly subjects that attract more moral condemnation than those who are ‘merely poor.’ These contradictory narratives weave their way into legislative and policy responses as well as the public imagination meaning they exert powerful influence over how people are viewed, treated and interacted with. Research exploring the identities of people experiencing homelessness has documented its associated stigma and the strategies that people use to cope In their classic study, Snow and Anderson (1987) used the phrase “salvaging the self” to describe some of the ways in which street homeless people eschew negative stereotypes to Social Inclusion, 2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages 76–85 preserve their self-respect and dignity. It is argued that when considering the stigma faced by homeless people and their attempts to cope with it, it is important to recognise other identity categories that operate alongside homelessness
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