Abstract

This article reassesses the policy concept of chronic homelessness in the light of women’s experiences of long-term homelessness. Chronic homelessness, associated with long-term homelessness and high levels of emergency and homelessness service use among men, has received increased focus in research, policy and services in recent years, and despite women’s comparative housing disadvantages, the overwhelming majority of people identified as experiencing chronic homelessness are male. This article draws on Carole Bacchi’s work on how policy problems are represented, and on the results of a small qualitative study with women experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness, to show how current representations of chronic homelessness obscure rather than reflect women’s experiences of long-term homelessness, marginalising their claims to housing and other assistance. The article concludes by suggesting opportunities to change this representation of the problem through research, evaluation, policy and program development that are informed by women’s experiences.

摘要

本文根据妇女长期无家可归的经历重新评估了长期无家可归的政策概念。慢性无家可归与男性长期无家可归以及大量使用紧急和无家可归服务有关，近年来越来越受到研究、政策和服务的关注，尽管妇女在住房方面处于相对劣势，但绝大多数人被认为正在经历长期无家可归者为男性。本文借鉴了卡罗尔·巴基（Carole Bacchi）关于如何表征政策问题的研究成果，以及对经历长期或长期无家可归的妇女进行的一项小型定性研究的结果，以表明当前对长期无家可归的描述如何掩盖而不是反映了妇女长期无家可归的经历。无家可归一词，使他们对住房和其他援助的要求被边缘化。文章最后提出了通过根据妇女经验进行研究、评估、政策和计划制定来改变这种问题表述的机会。