Trash or Treasure? Hoarding Among a Low-income, Inner-city, Elderly Population

• In Event: 123 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtable Session (co-sponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions and Section on Sociology of Mental Health).
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 07. Coping/Meaning-Making

Abstract

Hoarding has recently been the subject of significant psychological research and media attention. To address missing discourse on the social influences of the disorder, this research utilizes qualitative methodologies of participant observation and intensive, semi-structured interviews with a population of low-income, inner-city elderly individuals who hoard. It is grounded in theories of Durkheim and Goffman in order to illuminate both how social factors contribute to hoarding and how individuals conceptualize, make meaning of, and manage hoarding behaviors. The research finds that hoarded belongings are viewed as extensions of the self and imbued with meanings specific to individual values. Different forms of trauma, loss, and unresolved grief emerged as consistent justifications or reasons for hoarding behavior. Participants categorically rejected the “hoarder” identity, suggesting stigmatization of hoarding, inciting participants to engage in impression, emotion, and stigma management. These findings suggest future implications for treatment of hoarding by policymakers, public health officials, and social services organizations.

Author

• Emily Anne Parker, Cornell University