Abstract
Objective
This study examines the impacts of structural violence on women and how this can influence their trajectory into and their sustainable exits from homelessness.
Methods
The research is qualitative and community-based, including 15 interviews with mothers living in emergency shelters and a group interview with nine professionals. An advisory group was formed through partnership with community services to provide project oversight and guide and interpret the results. A member check group consisting of seven mothers with recent experiences of homelessness was engaged to further refine findings and implications. The research team used Critical Social Theory, in particular feminist theory, as an analysis framework in order to account for the implications of structural violence on mothers with diverse and complex histories.
Results
The results highlight three structural-level factors: gendered pathways into homelessness, systems of support that create structural barriers, and disjointed services that exacerbate trauma.
Conclusion
The authors propose systems-level changes rooted in trauma-informed approaches to facilitate a sustainable exit from homelessness for mothers and their children.
Résumé
Objectif
Examiner les répercussions de la violence structurelle sur les femmes et son influence possible sur leur cheminement vers l’itinérance et sur leur sortie durable de l’itinérance.
Méthode
Notre étude qualitative et communautaire a comporté 15 entretiens avec des mères vivant dans des refuges d’urgence et un entretien de groupe avec neuf professionnels. Un groupe consultatif a été créé en partenariat avec des services de proximité pour assurer la supervision du projet et en guider et en interpréter les résultats. Un groupe de contrôle, composé de sept mères ayant vécu une expérience récente d’itinérance, a été recruté pour peaufiner les constatations et les conséquences de l’étude. L’équipe de recherche a utilisé la théorie sociale critique, en particulier la théorie féministe, comme cadre d’analyse pour tenir compte des conséquences de la violence structurelle sur les mères aux antécédents divers et complexes.
Résultats
Les résultats font ressortir trois facteurs structurels : les cheminements genrés vers l’itinérance, les systèmes de soutien qui créent des obstacles structurels, et les services fragmentaires qui exacerbent les traumatismes.
Conclusion
Les auteures proposent des changements systémiques ancrés dans des démarches sensibles aux traumatismes pour favoriser une sortie durable de l’itinérance pour les mères et leurs enfants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abercrombie, S. H., & Hastings, S. L. (2016). Feminization of poverty. New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell.
Agger, B. (2006). Critical social theories: an introduction. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Baker, C., Cook, S. T., & Norris, F. (2003). Domestic violence and housing problems: a contextual analysis of women’s help-seeking, received informal support, and formal system response. Violence Against Women, 9(7), 754–783.
Barrow, S. M., & Laborde, N. D. (2008). (2008). Invisible mothers: parenting by homeless mothers separated from their children. Gend Issues, 25, 157–172.
Bassuk, E. L., & Rosenberg, L. (1988). Why does family homelessness occur? A case-control study. Am J Public Health, 78, 783–788.
Bassuk, E. L., Weinreb, L., Dawson, R., Perloff, N., & Buckner, J. (1997). Determinants of behavior in homeless and low-income housed pre-school children. Pediatrics, 100(1), 92–100.
Bassuk, E. L., Volk, K., & Oliver, J. (2010). A framework for developing supports and services for families experiencing homelessness. The Open Health Services and Policy Journal, 3, 34–40.
Boritch, H. (1997). Fallen women: female crime and criminal justice in Canada. Toronto: ITP Nelson.
Broussard, A., Joseph, A., & Thomson, M. A. (2012). Stressors and coping strategies used by single mothers living in poverty. Affilia: Journal of Women & Social Work, 27(2), 190–204.
Calgary Homeless Foundation (2014). Winter point in time count. Available at: http://calgaryhomeless.com/content/uploads/Winter-2014-PIT-Count-Report.pdf. Accessed Oct 2017.
Calgary Homeless Foundation (2019). Coordinated access and assessment. Available at: http://calgaryhomeless.com/agencies/coordinated-access-assessment/. Accessed Mar 2019.
Covington, S. C., & Bloom, B. E. (2003). Gendered justice: women in the criminal justice system. In B. E. Bloom (Ed.), Gendered justice: addressing female offenders. Carolina: Carolina Academic Press.
Davies-Netzley, S., Hurlbert, M. S., & Hough, R. L. (1996). Childhood abuse as a precursor to homelessness for homeless women with severe mental illness. Violence and Victims 1996, 11(2), 129–142.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2001). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (Vol. 4). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
DeQuinzio, P. (2013). The impossibility of motherhood: feminism, individualism and the problem of mothering. New York: Routledge.
Farmer, P. (2004). The anthropology of structural violence. Curr Anthropol, 45(3), 305–325.
Ford-Gilboe, M., Wuest, J., & Merritt-Gray, M. (2005). Strengthening capacity to limit intrusion: theorizing family health promotion in the aftermath of woman abuse. Qual Health Res, 15(4), 477–501.
Gaetz, S., Gulliver, T., Richter, T. (2014). The state of homelessness in Canada. Available at: https://homelesshub.ca/resource/state-homelessness-canada-2014. Accessed Oct 2017.
Gaetz, S., Dej, E., Richter, T., Redman, M.(2016). The state of homelessness in Canada. Available at: https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/state-homelessness-canada-2016. Accessed Nov 2017.
Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of Peace Research 1969, 6(3), 167–191.
Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P. (2003). Educational research: competencies for analysis and application (Vol. 7). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.
Goering, P., Veldhuizen, S., Watson, A., Adair, C., Kopp, B., Latimer, E., & Aubry, T. (2014). National at home/Chez Soi Final Report. Calgary: Mental Health Commission of Canada Available at: http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/sites/default/files/mhcc_at_home_report_national_cross-site_eng_2_0.pdf. Accessed Nov 2017.
Goldring, L., & Landolt, P. (2013). Producing and negotiating non-citizenship: precarious legal status in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Goodman, L. A., Saxe, L., & Harvey, M. (1991). Homelessness as psychological trauma: broadening perspectives. Am Psychol, 46(11), 1219–1225.
Government of Alberta (2019). Find shelters. Available at: https://www.alberta.ca/find-shelters.aspx. Accessed Mar 2019.
Hatty, S. E., Davis, N. J., & Burke, S. (1996). No exit: violence, gender, and the streets. In C. Summer, M. Israel, M. O’Connell, & R. Sarre (Eds.), International Victimology: Selected Papers from the 8th International Symposium (pp. 47–61). Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Hoggart, L. (2005). Neoliberalism, the new right and sexual politics. In A. Saad-filho & Johnston (Eds.), Neoliberalism: a critical reader (pp. 149–155). London: Pluto Press.
Jenny, C. (2010). Child abuse and neglect: diagnosis, treatment and evidence. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Jewkes, R. (2002). Intimate partner violence: causes and prevention. Violence Against Women, 359(9315), 1423–1429.
Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2013). The action research planner: doing critical participatory action research. New York: Springer.
Kneebone, R., Bell, M., Jackson, N., & Jadidzadeh, A. (2015). Who are the homeless? Numbers, trends and characteristics of those without homes in Calgary, SPP Research Papers (Vol. 8, p. 11). The School of Public Policy.
Kohl, P. L., Edleson, J. L., English, D. J., & Barth, R. P. (2005). Domestic violence and pathways into child welfare services: Findings from the National Survey of Child and adolescent well-being. Child & Youth Services Review, 27(11), 1167–1182.
Krug, E. G., Mercy, J. A., Dalhburg, L. L., & Zwi, A. B. (2002). The world report on violence and health. Lancet Public Health, 360, 1083–1088.
Lyon, E., Lane, S., Menard, A. (2008). Meeting survivors’ needs: a multi-state study of domestic violence shelter experience. Available at: https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/materials/files/2016-08/MeetingSurvivorsNeeds-FullReport.pdf. Accessed Mar 2019.
McMahon, M. (1995). Perspectives on marriage and the family. Engendering motherhood: identity and self-transformation in women’s lives. New York: Guilford Press.
McTaggart, R. (1991). Principles for participatory action research. Adult Educ Q, 41(3), 168–187.
Montesanti, S. R., & Thurston, W. E. (2015). Mapping the role of structural and interpersonal violence in the lives of women: implications for public health interventions and policy. BMC Women’s Health, 15, 100.
Morse, J. M. (2001). What is qualitative health research? In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (Vol. 4, pp. 401–415). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Mosher, J. E., Evans, P. M., Little, M. (2010). Walking on eggshells: abused women’s experiences of Ontario’s welfare system. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1616106. Accessed Nov 2017.
Paradis, E., Mosher, J. (2012). Take the story, take the needs and do something: women’s priorities for community-based participatory research on action. Available at: https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10315/29386/CBPRwomenhomeless_report_0.pdf%3bsequence=1. Accessed Nov 2017.
Paradis, E., Novac, S., Sarty, M., Hulchanski, D. (2008). Better off in a shelter? A year of homelessness and housing among status immigrant, non-status migrant, and Canadian-born families. Available at: http://www.citiescentre.utoronto.ca/publications/Research_Bulletins.htm. Accessed Nov 2017.
Psychology Today (2019). Child abuse. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/conditions/child-abuse. Accessed Mar 2019.
Pynoos, R. S., Steinberg, A. M., & Pliacentini, J. C. (1999). A developmental psychopathology model of childhood traumatic stress and intersection with anxiety disorders. Biol Psychiatry, 46, 1542–1554.
Ryall, V., Radovini, S., Crothers, L., Schley, C., Fletcher, K., Nudds, S., & Groufsky, C. (2008). Intensive youth outreach in mental health: An integrated framework for understanding and intervention. Soc Work Ment Health, 7(1–3), 153–175.
Santiago, C. D., Wadsworth, M. E., & Stump, J. (2009). Socioeconomic status, neighborhood disadvantage, and poverty-related stress: prospective effects on psychological syndromes among diverse low-income families. J Econ Psychol, 32(2), 218–230.
Segaert, A. (2012). The National Shelter Study: emergency shelter use in Canada 2005–2009. Available at: http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.834898/publication.html. Accessed Oct 2017.
Shlay, A. (1994). Family self-sufficiency and housing. Hous Policy Debate, 4(3), 457–495.
Thobani, S. (2007). Exalted subjects: studies in the making of race and nation in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Thomas, C. (2007). Sociologies of disability, ‘impairment’, and chronic illness: ideas in disability studies and medical sociology. London: Palgrave.
Tutty, L., Bradshaw, C., Hewson, J., MacLaurin, B., Waegemakers Schiff, J., Worthington, C. (2012). Risks and assets for homelessness Prevention. Available at: http://calgaryhomeless.com/. Accessed Nov 2017.
van der Kolk, B. A., & McFarlane, A. C. (1996). The black hole of trauma. In B. A. van der Kolk, A. C. McFarlane, & L. Weisaeth (Eds.), Traumatic stress: the effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body and society (pp. 3–21). New York: Guilford Press.
Vedat Sar, M. D., & Ozturk, E. (2008). What is trauma and disassociation? Journal of Trauma Practices, 4(1–2), 7–20.
Watson, J. (2016). Gender-based violence and young homeless women: femininity, embodiment, and vicarious physical capital. Sociol Rev, 64, 256–273.
World Health Organization (1996). World report on violence and health: Summary. Available at: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/summary_en.pdf. Accessed Mar 2019.
World Health Organization (2005). WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women: summary report of initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43310/9241593512_eng.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed Mar 2019.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank our community partners for their guidance and feedback. We also thank our peer researchers for dedicating time and energy despite their complex and busy lives. Finally, we thank the mothers, whose expertise added sincerity and authenticity to our process and our project.
Funding
This work was supported by the Alberta Centre for Child Family and Community Research and the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary approved this study (REB15-1765).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Milaney, K., Lockerbie, S., Fang, X.Y. et al. The role of structural violence in family homelessness. Can J Public Health 110, 554–562 (2019). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-019-00219-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-019-00219-y