“Mental Vacations”: Book Club Meetings in a Homeless Shelter for Women

• In Event: Writing Left: The Educational Potential of Literary and Artistic Practices for People on the Margins

Abstract

Literacy provides a way for people to understand and make meaning of their lives (Sumara, Davis, & van der Wey, 1998; Smith, 2006). For individuals whose lives are in crisis, literacy can create a safe space which allows one to anchor a sense of self and (re)affirm relationships (MacGillivray 2010a; MacGillivray, Ardell & Curwen, 2010b). Based on this view of literacy’s potential as a tool for personal growth, we began a long-term investigation of the literacy experiences of one particularly vulnerable population, homeless mothers who are recovering addicts.
This case study occurred in one long-term homeless shelter serving mothers in recovery who have custody of at least one child under ten years old. Reading and writing were explicitly used throughout the day to develop skills and habits that would help clients meet multiple goals, including leading a sober life, developing economic independence, and establishing positive parenting skills. This paper focuses on one aspect of a larger study: a researcher-led book club with the mothers in which we ask, “What is the nature of the literacy practices in a family homeless shelter for mothers with addictions? The establishment of the weekly book club, created at the request of the shelter director, reflects her understanding of the potential impact on people’s lives when solitary reading is made into a communal experience (Hartley, 2001; Long, 2003; Rooney, 2005). The women were mandated to attend, as was the case with most other shelter activities, but reading and the nature of participation was determined by the individual. This activity offered insights into the director’s goals for the women and the participants’ perceptions of book clubs and literacy in general. Data was drawn from individual and group interviews with the mothers, children, and shelter staff as well as over forty book club transcripts.
We draw upon Bourdieu’s notion of fields (1986), which are subareas of the broad social world, but for the most part have their own rules, values, and ways of relating with respect to both relationships and distributions of resources, or capital (Carrington, 2001). For our analytic purposes we focus on the role of cultural capital, particularly literacy skills and habits, which reflect a type of embodied cultural capital in the social field of one homeless shelter. Our findings center on the notion of the women’s description of the club as a place to take a “mental vacation.” In exploring this concept through the lens of Bourdieu (1989), we consider the notion that for a traumatized population, discussing literature as a form of escape is critical as a rehearsal space for the cultivation of a new habitus, or way of being in the world. These includes opportunities to heal, build a new sense of a sober self, recover memories, and develop strategies for building healthy relationships with others (e.g., Sumara, et. al., 1998). Consequently, this study offers insights into the role of book clubs as ways to serve populations in crisis.

Authors

• Laurie MacGillivray, The University of Memphis

• Amy L. Ardell, Chapman University

• Margaret Sauceda Curwen, Chapman University