Homelessness

Among Young People In Prague

Marie Vágnerová, Ladislav Csémy, Jakub Marek

KAROLINUM

Homelessness among Young People in Prague

A Narrative Analysis of Developmental Trajectories

Marie Vágnerová

Ladislav Csémy

Jakub Marek

Reviewed by:

Prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Helus, DrSc.

Doc. PaedDr. Eva Šotolová, Ph.D.

Published by Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press

www.karolinum.cz

ebooks@karolinum.cz

English translation by Phil Jones

Editor Martin Janeček

Cover by Anna Issa Šotolová

Documentary photo by Dana Kyndrová, Anna Pospíšilová and Ladislav Kážmér

First English edition

© Charles University in Prague, 2014

Text © Marie Vágnerová, Ladislav Csémy, Jakub Marek, 2014

Translation © Phil Jones, 2014

ISBN 978-80-246-2517-1

ISBN 978-80-246-2587-4 (pdf)

ISBN 978-80-246-3048-9 (ePub)

ISBN 978-80-246-3047-2 (Kindle)

CONTENTS

1. Cover Page

2. Title Page

3. Copyright Page

4. Contents

5. Foreword to the English edition

6. 1. The life stories of young homeless people

1. 1.1 Introduction

2. 1.2 Research objectives and methods and a description of the group under examination

3. 1.3 The life stories of young homeless people

7. 2. The childhood and emerging adulthood of young homeless people

1. 2.1 Family – the opinions of young homeless people regarding their home life and their childhood

1. 2.1.1 The problems of alcoholic, violent, or mentally ill parents

2. 2.1.2 The relationship of young homeless people to their parents

3. 2.1.3 Problems arising as a consequence of the breakup of the original family

4. 2.1.4 A home where the clients felt unwanted

5. 2.1.5 Grandparents as a substitute source of security and safety

6. 2.1.6 Foster parents or institutions

2. 2.2 School – the opinions of young homeless people regarding their scholastic success

1. 2.2.1 The behavioural problems of young homeless people at school age and during adolescence

3. 2.3 Contemporaries – relationships with peers during childhood and adolescence

4. 2.4 Summary of the childhood and adolescence of young homeless people

8. 3. The beginnings of homelessness

1. 3.1 The decision to sleep rough and its cause

1. 3.1.1 Drug and alcohol addiction

2. 3.1.2 Inability and unwillingness to work systematically

3. 3.1.3 Inability to manage finances and indebtedness

4. 3.1.4 Inexperience and an inability to organise life

5. 3.1.5 Criminal activities

6. 3.1.6 The influence of a problematic partner

2. 3.2 Life on the street

1. 3.2.1 Obtaining means of support

2. 3.2.2 Accommodation and sleeping rough

3. 3.2.3 Life on the street has its negative points

4. 3.2.4 Positive aspects to life on the street

5. 3.2.5 Change of values and norms

3. 3.3 Relationships with people on the street

1. 3.3.1 Interpersonal relationships within the framework of the homeless community

2. 3.3.2 The opinions of homeless youth regarding friendship and partnerships

4. 3.4 Relationships with people outside the homeless community

5. 3.5 Young homeless people and parenthood

6. 3.6 The mental health of young homeless people

1. 3.6.1 Mental health disorders and young homeless people

2. 3.6.2 The use of addictive substances among young homeless people

7. 3.7 Leaving home to sleep rough – a summary

9. 4. The opinion young homeless people have of themselves and their transformation

1. 4.1 The personality of young homeless people

1. 4.1.1 How young homeless people evaluate their own personality

2. 4.1.2 A tendency to aggressive behaviour

3. 4.1.3 The needs, fears and wishes of young homeless people

2. 4.2 The transformation that takes place as a consequence of life on the street

1. 4.2.1 Young homeless people’s opinion of their own transformation

3. 4.3 Summary of how young homeless people perceive themselves and rate their transformation

10. 5. How young homeless people visualise their future

1. 5.1 The requirements and barriers to returning to mainstream society – the opinion of young homeless people

2. 5.2 Change to the social standing of young homeless people after two years

3. 5.3 A summary of what young people think of their future and a possible return to society

11. Conclusion

12. Appendix

13. Bibliography

14. Subject Index

15. Name Index

Foreword to the English edition

1. The life stories of young homeless people

1.1: Introduction

1.2: Research objectives and methods and a description of the group under examination

1.3: The life stories of young homeless people

2. The childhood and emerging adulthood of young homeless people

2.1: Family – the opinions of young homeless people regarding their home life and their childhood

2.1.1: The problems of alcoholic, violent, or mentally ill parents

2.1.2: The relationship of young homeless people to their parents

2.1.3: Problems arising as a consequence of the breakup of the original family

2.1.4: A home where the clients felt unwanted

2.1.5: Grandparents as a substitute source of security and safety

2.1.6: Foster parents or institutions

2.2: School – the opinions of young homeless people regarding their scholastic success

2.2.1: The behavioural problems of young homeless people at school age and during adolescence

2.3: Contemporaries – relationships with peers during childhood and adolescence

2.4: Summary of the childhood and adolescence of young homeless people

3. The beginnings of homelessness

3.1: The decision to sleep rough and its cause

3.1.1: Drug and alcohol addiction

3.1.2: Inability and unwillingness to work systematically

3.1.3: Inability to manage finances and indebtedness

3.1.4: Inexperience and an inability to organise life

3.1.5: Criminal activities

3.1.6: The influence of a problematic partner

3.2: Life on the street

3.2.1: Obtaining means of support

3.2.2: Accommodation and sleeping rough

3.2.3: Life on the street has its negative points

3.2.4: Positive aspects to life on the street

3.2.5: Change of values and norms

3.3: Relationships with people on the street

3.3.1: Interpersonal relationships within the framework of the homeless community

3.3.2: The opinions of homeless youth regarding friendship and partnerships

3.4: Relationships with people outside the homeless community

3.5: Young homeless people and parenthood

3.6: The mental health of young homeless people

3.6.1: Mental health disorders and young homeless people

3.6.2: The use of addictive substances among young homeless people

3.7: Leaving home to sleep rough – a summary

4. The opinion young homeless people have of themselves and their transformation

4.1: The personality of young homeless people

4.1.1: How young homeless people evaluate their own personality

4.1.2: A tendency to aggressive behaviour

4.1.3: The needs, fears and wishes of young homeless people

4.2: The transformation that takes place as a consequence of life on the street

4.2.1: Young homeless people’s opinion of their own transformation

4.3: Summary of how young homeless people perceive themselves and rate their transformation

5. How young homeless people visualise their future

5.1: The requirements and barriers to returning to mainstream society – the opinion of young homeless people

5.2: Change to the social standing of young homeless people after two years

5.3: A summary of what young people think of their future and a possible return to society

Conclusion

Appendix

Bibliography

Subject Index

Name Index

1. 1

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3. 5

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1. Cover Page

2. Begin Reading

3. Copyright Page

4. Contents

5. Conclusion

6. Appendix

7. Bibliography

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

The generosity of Karolinum Press has made it possible for an English translation of this book on the lives of young homeless people to be made accessible to a wider readership. The Czech edition of the book came out in 2013 and was the first comprehensive analysis of the psychosocial and developmental psychological context of homelessness in the Czech Republic. As the authors, we feel it incumbent upon ourselves to offer a short foreword to the book for readers living in other countries.

Readers in more advanced economies may well be surprised to discover that the first publication on homelessness was only published in the Czech Republic in 2013. A short historical detour might be useful in this respect. After the Second World War what was then the Czechoslovak Republic, along with other Central and Eastern European countries, found itself within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. In 1948 the Communist Party came to power and a period of single-party government began that lasted four decades. One of the basic attributes of the totalitarian regime was the attempt to control the way that people thought by means of communist ideology and the imposition of draconian restrictions on access to information. The way that people behaved was subject to the same control. The right to work was transformed into a statutory duty to work. The farcical nature of this situation was epitomised by practically full employment and the criminal prosecution of those who for whatever reasons avoided this duty. Another instrument for enforcing control over people was the duty to report one’s permanent or temporary residence. Needless to say, homeless was not and could not be a social problem under the conditions of the totalitarian social system. The rapid collapse of the totalitarian regimes of Central and Eastern Europe in autumn 1989 revealed not only the internal weaknesses of the system, but above all people’s craving for freedom. The turning point in the Czech Republic was the Velvet Revolution, personified by the charismatic figure of Václav Havel. The country immediately set about reintroducing democratic social principles and economic transformation. The quarter of a century that has elapsed since that time has shown how difficult this is. The restoration of freedom was accompanied by both pleasure in the large gains made and anxiety resulting from the necessity to deal with the social problems that accompany freedom and a modern social organization. These problems include unemployment, new forms of criminality, corruption, drug abuse and homelessness. Society was forced to reflect upon these problems and to begin taking various measures to resolve them. Homelessness was never regarded as a priority. From the very start it was left to charities and NGOs to sort out. It gradually became clear that dealing with homelessness would require greater integration into the system of state-supported social services. The systematic resolution of homelessness is part of the Social Inclusion Strategy 2014–2020 unveiled by the government at the beginning of 2013. Another input was the results of the Census of People, Houses and Apartments 2011, which included a census of homeless people. In terms of homelessness, 11,496 met the criteria of the Czech Statistical Office. However, these results must be regarded as approximate, since they included only persons in contact with an institution at the time the census was taken, and the Czech Statistical Office itself says that the genuine number of homeless people in the Czech Republic may be far higher. Our research, which was conducted from 2010 to 2012, must therefore be regarded in the light of what has been written above.

Why have we focused on young homeless people? The findings of employees working at centres for the homeless indicate that young people comprise a relatively high proportion of the homeless. When defining the objectives of our research project we were aware that our findings regarding the lives of young homeless people could be valuable in respect of the process of their reintegration into society. Our research took in older adolescents and young adults aged 18 to 26. We did not include younger teenagers and minors, i.e. persons below the age of 18. This is because these young people are covered by the Act on the Social and Legal Protection of Children. Under this law and the provisions relating to it, minors cannot practically speaking remain on the street for any longer period of time. Of course, there are cases in which a dysfunctional family is incapable of looking after an underage child or a young person runs away from home and finds themselves on the street. However, in such cases after a certain period of time has elapsed they are returned to their family or placed in institutional care, usually in a children’s home or juvenile detention centre.

As far as research methodology is concerned, we combined a qualitative and quantitative approach. We based our work largely on analyses of structured interviews and responses to visual stimuli (selected thematic apperception tests (TAT) and original pictures created especially for this project). During the qualitative part of the research we administered the Eysenck personality questionnaire and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), with the aim of supplementing the quantitative analysis with the personality characteristics of those questioned and their psychopathological profile.

We will leave it to our readers to judge to what extent we managed to contribute to the recognition and understanding of the causes and course of homelessness among young people. We believe that this book will be of interest to students and teachers involved in the humanities, professionals working in the caring professions, and those members of the general public interested in the social problems of our time.

The authors

Prague, 17 September 2013

1.

THE LIFE STORIES OF YOUNG HOMELESS PEOPLE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Chronic homelessness can be perceived as a syndrome characterised by comprehensive social failure, which is manifest in an inability to accept and deal with everyday social requirements. It is usually accompanied by many other problems caused by the interaction of undesirable personality traits and adverse life experiences, i.e. an accumulation of stressful situations that a person finds difficult to deal with subjectively. Homelessness is a complex phenomenon that is not simply about the lack of shelter. This is now accepted by most specialists in the field. Průdková and Novotný (2008) point out that, along with the loss of accommodation, homelessness is linked with the loss of a home, social exclusion, and relegation to the margins of mainstream society. This in turn can lead to a homeless person becoming detached from the system of societal values and norms and to a fundamental change in their lifestyle. Social exclusion is manifest in all spheres of life:

• through job loss and hence legal access to financial resources,

• through the fracturing of close relationships and the collapse of social networks,

• through a drop in the standard of living and increased dependence on the support of charities, begging, scavenging, or criminal activities.

From a psychological standpoint the most significant loss is that of the sanctuary of a home and the people to whom an individual is close and who share his or her life. Mallett et al. (2010) maintain that the lack of a place that an individual feels part of and where he or she is wanted and supported by others is also important (though it is true that very often this does not apply to the home that these young people left or were expelled from). Home is associated with a certain privacy. It is a place that strangers cannot enter and it therefore represents both symbolic and real security. The loss of a home tends to lead to deracination, rootlessness, and the lack of a sense of belonging and allegiance to someone or something. This is often accompanied by an inability or unwillingness to act in accordance with generally accepted rules and with consideration for other people (Robinson, 2002).

Homelessness is associated with higher levels of stress brought on by the constant necessity to deal with the hazards that life on the street involves. It is not simply that a homeless person does not have a permanent residence, but that they lack people to whom they belong (or such people are changing too frequently) and a place where they feel safe and which they are willing to work on. On the one hand homelessness removes the pressure from a person to meet various requirements. On the other it deprives them of the protection that standard social integration provides. Opting for a life on the streets is very often the start of a declining life trajectory that can be irreversible. Homelessness is often linked with a process of gradual desocialization.

Homelessness also results in social stigmatisation. Mainstream society regards life on the street as an unequivocally negative deviation from the norm. For most people it is undeniable proof of social pathology. Their attitude to homeless individuals is one of disapproval and condemnation (Marek, Strnad and Hotovcová, 2012). Farrington and Robinson (1999) found that, to begin with, homeless people attempt to maintain an acceptable degree of self-respect by denying they belong to the homeless community and emphasising their own dissimilarity from it. The subsequent adoption of a homeless identity, which the authors claim takes place after approximately two years of sleeping rough, signals increased indifference and a continued personal and social decline.

A significant part of the homeless community comprises young people below the age of 26[1]. As Darbyshire et al. (2006) point out, approximately half of all homeless people belong to this age category. There may be many reasons why these young people took to the streets. One of them is the need for freedom and independence and the desire to experiment. Sometimes sleeping rough is merely a temporary glitch in the course of life. Other times it may signal the start of a gradual decline that the individual is unable to control whatever the reasons for their failure. On the threshold of adulthood, opting to sleep rough can represent a way of searching out new experiences and limits, a kind of variation on the adolescent moratorium, which does not have to last long. However, it may also be the result of serious and often long-term problems, over which a young person has no control and to which they are incapable of reacting otherwise than through escape and resigned acceptance of the lack of a more effective solution. In any event it is a risky decision that leads to further difficulties. These can impact negatively on the personal development of the individual in question, change their approach to life and their conduct, and militate against reintegration into society.

Young people most often belong to the category of the concealed homeless. Though living on the street, they cannot at first sight be differentiated from members of mainstream society (Průdková and Novotný, 2008). Most of them adhere to conventional social standards, i.e. they take care of their appearance, they are clean, and their conduct does not mark them out in any particular way. Even though they live a homeless lifestyle, for the time being they distance themselves from that community. Their social decline has not yet inured them to the opinions of people around them. They are usually convinced that street life is simply a temporary stage and that they will return to mainstream society at some point in the future. For the moment they do not accept that this is something they may not manage. Young people are in a better position to change their lives, and for this reason it is worthwhile ascertaining how best to work with them so as to ensure that they do not become chronically homeless. This was one of the main objectives of our study, the results of which we will present in the text below.

1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODS AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP UNDER EXAMINATION

As D. McAdams (1996, 2001, 2006) shows, one way of understanding a person is via their life story, i.e. the method by which they perceive themselves and interpret their life. This is not about the depiction of real events, but how these events are subjectively understood. A personal story provides interesting information, not only about the individual in question, but also about the incidents they recount. In their life story an individual may express their opinion of themselves, other people that were significant to them in some way, and their relationship to the world. What other people an individual chooses to include in their story, how they assess them, and what role they attribute to them in relation to themselves are all important. The events that are included in such a story have some personal significance and can be regarded as landmarks influencing the course of subsequent actions. The subjective principle is also manifest in the way that an individual explains the causes and consequences of various events and what conclusions he or she draws from them in respect of the future. Also of interest is the dynamic of a story linked with a transformation in the understanding of certain events and the evaluation thereof (e.g. an adult might evaluate the conduct of their mother differently than they did as an adolescent, etc.). The information cited does not have to be true. Some information is distorted (either consciously or not), other information might be omitted, etc. A life story is subjective truth and must be viewed in this light. Nevertheless, it represents very important information (Vágnerová, 2010).

Experiences from childhood and adolescence lead to the creation of patterns that actuate certain ways of perceiving and evaluating other people and ourselves. (This is how it was explained by G. Kelly, one of the representatives of social cognitive theory.) What is important is how a person understands their surroundings and how they interpret the various actions of other people, which, in light of their personality traits and the experiences they have had, may be very dissimilar. Not even social patterns must fully correspond to reality. Certain aspects may be accentuated and others repressed or simply overlooked. Someone may, for instance, idealise their mother and see only her positive traits, while evaluating their father in a generally negative way simply because he left his wife and children and started a new family. According to J. Bowlby (and his attachment theory), early experience is important in terms of the development of our opinions and relationships to other people (and ultimately to ourselves). The child acquires this experience on the basis of its emotional bond with its mother or other primary caregivers. Each individual projects their experience with their parents into their self-identity and relationships with other people. Primary experience with a secure, reliable person and with clearly differentiated social signals is a good basis for the continued development of social adaptability and the personality as a whole. If such experience is lacking, this development is disturbed and distorted. In the case of certain young homeless people the basis of future social decline may reside in such a lack.

The aim of the research was to identify the method by which young homeless people understand the course of their own lives and to determine the landmarks and people that most influence them. If work with the young homeless is to have the desired effect, we need to know what they are like as people, what problems they have, and what led them to a life on the street. Such findings can be acquired by means of narrative-based, semi-structured interviews that respect the chronological sequence of their lives. The life story is also a suitable method for grasping even such a complex phenomenon as the process of adaptation to a fundamental change in a person’s existence. It can provide information on how the subject perceives and experiences such a change and which events or decisions they regard as crucial. The interviews included the following spheres:

• The course of childhood and adolescence. Important here is the subject’s opinion of the family they grew up in, their relationships with their biological or foster parents and siblings, their school and scholastic success, and finally their relationships with their peers.

• The moment they left home for the street and an explanation of the circumstances that led to this. What is crucial here is the opinion the subject has of their current lifestyle, how they cope with it, and their relationships within the homeless community.

• The subject’s opinion of themselves, including the changes that have taken place as a consequence of sleeping rough and the degree to which their own identity and self-satisfaction has changed. It is important to ascertain any shift in their moral thinking and current hierarchy of values.

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Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Foreword to the English edition

1. The life stories of young homeless people

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Research objectives and methods and a description of the group under examination

2. The childhood and emerging adulthood of young homeless people

2.1 Family – the opinions of young homeless people regarding their home life and their childhood

2.2 School – the opinions of young homeless people regarding their scholastic success

3. The beginnings of homelessness

3.1 The decision to sleep rough and its cause

3.2 Life on the street

3.3 Relationships with people on the street

3.6 The mental health of young homeless people

4. The opinion young homeless people have of themselves and their transformation

4.1 The personality of young homeless people

4.2 The transformation that takes place as a consequence of life on the street

5. How young homeless people visualise their future