1. Exploring the ‘Spoiled’ and ‘Celebrated’ Identities of Young and Homeless Drug Users
- Author
-
Jennifer Hoolachan
- Subjects
Stigmatisierung ,Sociology and Political Science ,Stereotyp ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,soziale Probleme ,Identity (social science) ,Großbritannien ,Stereotype ,02 engineering and technology ,institutionalization (persons) ,Goffman ,spoiled identity ,stigma ,Exklusion ,ddc:150 ,stigmatization ,Psychology ,Sociology ,homelessness ,media_common ,youth ,05 social sciences ,Jugendlicher ,Great Britain ,021107 urban & regional planning ,Gender studies ,Selbstbild ,lcsh:Sociology (General) ,Soziale Probleme und Sozialdienste ,Sozialpsychologie ,050703 geography ,Social Problems ,Social Psychology ,Distancing ,Wohnverhältnisse ,media_common.quotation_subject ,lcsh:HM401-1281 ,0507 social and economic geography ,Stigma (botany) ,Social issues ,Symbolic interactionism ,self-image ,Drogenkonsum ,housing conditions ,exclusion ,Obdachlosigkeit ,drug use ,goffman ,Heimunterbringung ,Self-image ,Focus group ,ddc:360 ,Psychologie ,adolescent ,Jugend ,Social problems and services ,stereotype - Abstract
Young people experiencing homelessness and who use drugs are vulnerable to being attributed with ‘spoiled identities’ due to stigmatising attitudes by wider society. This article is underpinned by a symbolic interactionist account of self-identity and stigma. It draws upon ethnographic research in a UK-based supported accommodation hostel for young people and explores how the residents in the hostel related to the labels of ‘homeless,’ ‘drug user’ and ‘youth’ and how these were expressed through their self-identities. Over a period of seven months, in-depth participant-observation, semi-structured interviews and a focus group were conducted involving 22 hostel residents, aged 16 to 21 years old. The data highlight how the residents engaged in processes of ‘distancing’ or ‘othering’ by making disparaging remarks about other people in similar situations based on stereotyping. These processes reinforced spoiled identities while enabling the residents to disassociate from them. However, residents also appeared to embrace and celebrate certain features of each label, indicating an acceptance of these more positive features as forming a part of their self-identities. The article concludes by arguing for a nuanced approach to understanding stigma and identity among homeless people, one that accounts for more than just a person’s housing situation.
- Published
- 2020