Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:57:03.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paths to resettlement: understanding the interplay of work and other factors in journeys out of homelessness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2020

JENNY MCNEILL Open the ORCID record for JENNY MCNEILL [Opens in a new window]  and
GRAHAM BOWPITT Open the ORCID record for GRAHAM BOWPITT [Opens in a new window]
JENNY MCNEILL
Affiliation:
Research Associate, Sheffield University Management School, Conduit Road, Sheffield, S10 1FL, 07825 220814 email: [email protected]
GRAHAM BOWPITT
Affiliation:
Associate Professor in Social Policy, School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, 50 Shakespeare Street, NottinghamNG14FQ, 07504 255588 email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Paid employment has been viewed by successive governments in the UK as critical in making transitions out of homelessness, even when combined with problems like substance misuse, criminality or mental ill health. This article presents evidence from a study that sought to subject this belief to critical examination by exploring the relationship between promoting employability and other aspects of resettlement in the lives of a sample of thirty people experiencing homelessness and complex needs. Participants were interviewed twice at six to nine-month intervals to explore their changing motivations and perceptions of housing, work, relationships and hopes for the future.

Analysis used ‘pathways’ imagery to locate participants along an integrated pathway to understand how these factors related to one another in the pursuit of resettlement. We conclude that all respondents valued work, but its pursuit depended on the structural obstacles that participants faced. People’s location along a resettlement pathway was determined by their sense of control over circumstances, their success in overcoming barriers and the presence of significant others in their lives, and the pursuit of employment among homeless people needs to take account of progress in their resettlement journeys and the place of work in their aspirations.

Keywords

Resettlement pathwayshomelessnessemploymentrelationshipsaspirations
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , October 2021 , pp. 745 - 763
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, I. and Tulloch, D. (2000), Pathways through Homelessness: A Review of the Research Evidence, Edinburgh: Scottish Homes.Google Scholar
Batty, E., Beatty, C., Casey, R., Foden, M., McCarthy, L. and Reeve, K. (2015), Homeless People’s Experience of Welfare Conditionality and Benefit Sanctions, London: Crisis.Google Scholar
Bowpitt, G., Dwyer, P., Sundin, E. and Weinstein, M. (2011), The HOME Study: Comparing the priorities of multiply excluded homeless people and support agencies, Salford: University of Salford.Google Scholar
Bowpitt, G. and Harding, R. (2009), ‘Not going it alone: Social integration for formerly homeless substance users’, Social Policy and Society, 8, 1-11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bramley, G. and Fitzpatrick, S. (2015), Hard Edges: Mapping severe and multiple disadvantage, Lankelly Chase Foundation, https://lankellychase.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hard-Edges-Mapping-SMD-2015.pdf [accessed 09.01.2019].Google Scholar
Bretherton, J. and Pleace, N. (2015), Housing First in England: an evaluation of nine services. York: Centre for Housing Policy, University of York.Google Scholar
Clapham, D. (2003), ‘Pathways approaches to homelessness research’, Journal of Community and Social Psychology, 13: 2, 119-127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clapham, D. (2005), The Meaning of Housing: a Pathways Approach, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Clapham, D. (2012), ‘Structure and agency’, in Smith, S. and Elsinga, M (eds.), International Encyclopaedia of Housing and Home, 1st ed., Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Crane, M., Warnes, A. and Coward, S. (2011), The FOR-HOME Study: Moves to independent living, Sheffield: University of Sheffield.Google Scholar
DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) (2006), Places of Change: Tackling homelessness through the Hostels Capital Improvement Programme, London: DCLG.Google Scholar
DCLG (2008), No one left out: communities ending rough sleeping, London: DCLG.Google Scholar
DCLG (2011), Vision to end rough sleeping: No Second Night Out nationwide, London: DCLG, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6261/1939099.pdf [accessed 22.08.2017]Google Scholar
De Decker, P. and Segers, K. (2014), ‘Chaotic, fluid and unstable: an exploration of the complex housing trajectories of homeless people in Flanders, Belgium’, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 29: 595-614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DETR (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) (1999), Coming in from the Cold: The Government’s Strategy on Rough Sleeping. London: DETR.Google Scholar
Dobson, R. and McNeill, J. (2011), ‘Review article: Homelessness and housing support services: Rationales and policies under New Labour’, Social Policy and Society, 10: 4, 581-589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FEANTSA (2005), ETHOS – European Typology on Homelessness and Housing Exclusion, http://www.feantsa.org/en/toolkit/2005/04/01/ethos-typology-on-homelessness-and-housing-exclusion?bcParent=27 [accessed 22.08.2017].Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, S., Bramley, G. and Johnsen, S. (2013), ‘Pathways into multiple exclusion homelessness in seven UK cities’, Urban Studies 50: 1, 148-168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fopp, R. (2009), ‘Metaphors in homelessness discourse and research: exploring ‘pathways’, ‘careers’ and ‘safety nets”, Housing, Theory and Society, 26: 4, 271-291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HCA (Homes & Communities Agency) (2015), Homelessness Change and Platform for Life: Prospectus 2015-2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/412047/150309__homelessness_change_prospectus_full.pdf [accessed 22.08.2017]Google Scholar
Jones, A. and Pleace, N. (2010), A Review of Single Homelessness in the UK: 2000-2010, London: Crisis.Google Scholar
Lemos, G. (2010), Steadying the Ladder: Social and emotional aspirations of homeless and vulnerable people, London: Lemos & Crane.Google Scholar
MacKeith, J., Burns, S. and Graham, K. (2008), The Outcomes Star: Supporting change in homelessness and related services, 2 nd ed., London: Homeless Link.Google Scholar
Mallett, S., Rosenthal, D., Keys, D. and Averill, R. (2010), Moving Out, Moving On: Young People’s Pathways in and through Homelessness, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Marr, M. (2012), ‘Pathways out of homelessness in Los Angeles and Tokyo: multilevel contexts of limited mobility amid advanced urban marginality’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 36: 5, 980-1006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maycock, P., O’Sullivan, E. and Carr, M. (2011), ‘Young people exiting homelessness: an exploration of process, meaning and definition’, Housing Studies, 26: 6, 803-826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNaughton, C. (2008), Transitions through Homelessness: Lives on the Edge, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNaughton Nicholls, C. and Atherton, I. (2011), ‘Housing First: considering components for successful resettlement of homeless people with multiple needs’, Housing Studies, 26: 5, 767-777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeill, J. (2011), ‘Employability pathways and perceptions of ‘work’ amongst single homeless and vulnerably housed people’, Social Policy and Society, 10: 4, 571-580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) (2018), Rough Sleeping Strategy, Cm 9685, London: Crown Copyright.Google Scholar
MHCLG (2020), Rough sleeping snapshot in England: autumn 2019, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2019 [accessed 15.04.2020]Google Scholar
Neale, J. and Brown, C. (2016), “We are always in some form of contact’: friendships among homeless drug and alcohol users living in hostels’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 24: 5, 557-566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pleace, N. and Bretherton, J. (2017), Crisis Skylight: Final Report of the University of York Evaluation, London: Crisis, https://www.crisis.org.uk/media/20620/crisis_skylight_evaluation_report_final_2017.pdf [accessed 09.01.2019]Google Scholar
Pleace, N., Baptista, I. and Knutagård, M. (2019), Housing First in Europe: An Overview of Implementation, Strategy and Fidelity, Brussels: Housing First Europe Hub, https://housingfirsteurope.eu/assets/files/2019/10/2019-10-10-HFinEurope_Full-Report2019_final.pdf [accessed 15.04.2020]Google Scholar
Raitakari, S. (2019a), ‘Using expressions of past, present and future homelessness pathways as a linguistic resource in meeting interaction in a low-threshold outpatient clinic’, Housing, Theory and Society, 36: 1, 25-43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raitakari, S. (2019b), ‘Explaining homelessness as a movement using metaphors in European academic writings of homelessness’, Housing Studies, DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2019.Google Scholar
Ravenhill, M. (2008), The Culture of Homelessness. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
Seal, M. (2005), Resettling Homeless People: Theory and practice, Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing.Google Scholar
SEU (Social Exclusion Unit) (1998), Rough Sleeping, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Shaheen, G. and Rio, J. (2007,) ‘Recognizing work as a priority in preventing or ending homelessness’, Journal of Primary Prevention 28: 3-4, 341-358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, P. (2005), No Home, No Job: Moving on from transitional spaces, London: Off the Streets and into Work.Google Scholar
Somerville, P. (2013), ‘Understanding homelessness’, Housing, Theory and Society, 30: 4, 384-415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, J., Deacon, A. and Walker, R. (1995), Homeless Single Men: Roads to Resettlement?, Aldershot: Avebury.Google Scholar
Warnes, A., Crane, M. and Coward, S. (2013), ‘Factors that influence outcomes of single homeless people’s rehousing’, Housing Studies, 28: 5, 782-798.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wooley, G. and McNaughton, C. (2006), Working it out: Towards an employability strategy for those facing homelessness, Communities Scotland.Google Scholar