Perception of Social and Physical Environmental Risk Factors Affecting Women Experiencing Homelessness: A Qualitative-Based Study

• In Event: Victimization and Vulnerable Populations

Abstract

Homeless people, in general, confront many difficulties that make their lives very challenging. However, when it comes to women experiencing homelessness, those challenges can threaten their own well-being by increasing the risk of victimization and decreasing the levels of personal safety. This research project has three aims: first, to better understand the link between homeless women and their social and physical environment as it relates to victimization; second, to recognize which aspects of the social and physical environment homeless women find threatening and difficult to overcome; and third, to examine the areas of conflict within the coexistence of homeless women in a mixed-gender transitional shelter. This study will be based on a qualitative approach. The data will be drawn from ten in-depth interviews and from secondary data from Ozanam Manor, a faith-based agency. The qualitative analysis will use a naturalistic perspective to study homeless women in their own living settings in a transitional shelter and provide a rich, contextualized understanding of homeless women’s perception of risk.

Author

• Francisco Alatorre, Bridgewater State University