Abstract
Homelessness among families has become a growing social problem for communities, yet little is known about the types of daily survival strategies such families employ. This paper presents results of a qualitative study of the coping narratives of 64 mothers living in temporary emergency shelters with their children. The women reported using a variety of coping responses to daily stressful events. These included the use of direct actions and more palliative strategies. Results suggest that stress and coping theory may be useful for understanding homelessness. Implications for program development and future research are discussed.
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This study was conducted as part of the author's dissertation research at the University of Michigan. Portions of this paper were presented at the annula meeting of the American Psychological Association in Toronto, Ontario, in August 1993. Research funding came from a Dissertation Grant from the Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan and a Women's Studies Grant from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Preparation of this manuscript was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Training Grant 5-T32-MH15161. Acknowledgments go to Sherry Hamby, members of the Family Violence Research Seminar, and four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft.
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Banyard, V.L. “Taking another route”: Daily survival narratives from mothers who are homeless. Am J Commun Psychol 23, 871–891 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02507019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02507019