ABSTRACT

Informed by the capabilities approach, this paper considers the importance of control over one’s environment for people experiencing homelessness. Drawing on a study of temporary accommodation in Scotland, we make four arguments. First, control over one’s immediate living environment has been insufficiently recognized as a foundational component of a minimally decent life within the capabilities literature. Second, such control is compromised, sometimes severely, in temporary accommodation provided for homeless households, with these impacts especially acute in congregate accommodation. Third, lacking control over one’s immediate environment can be understood as a corrosive disadvantage that actively damages people’s bodily and mental health and affiliation-related capabilities. Fourth, both intrinsic and contingent features of different kinds of temporary accommodation are implicated in constraining people’s control over their environment. This distinction enables us to identify changes to existing provision that can mitigate their negative impacts, and to clarify where accommodation models are inherently problematic.

摘要

根据能力方法，本文考虑了对无家可归者的环境控制的重要性。根据对苏格兰临时住宿的研究，我们提出了四个论点。首先，在能力文献中，控制一个人的直接生活环境并没有被充分地认为是最低限度体面生活的基本组成部分。其次，在为无家可归家庭提供的临时住所中，这种控制有时会受到严重影响，这些影响在集体住所中尤其严重。第三，对一个人的直接环境缺乏控制可以理解为一种腐蚀劣势这会积极损害人们的身心健康以及与从属关系相关的能力。第四，不同类型的临时住所的内在和偶然特征都牵涉到限制人们对环境的控制。这种区别使我们能够确定可以减轻其负面影响的现有规定的变化，并澄清住宿模式在哪些方面存在固有问题。