Understanding Homelessness Through Intersectional Stigma

• In Event: Institutional Harms and Failures

Abstract

This research uses Bangor, Maine as a case study to explore the intersectional stigma of homelessness and its impact on unhoused populations. Homelessness is not a singular identity but a multifaceted experience, often compounded by other stigmatizing identities, including mental illness and/or disability, criminality, substance use, unemployment, welfare recipient, LGBTQ+, among others. This study examines how these intersecting identities shape the lived experiences of homelessness and contribute to the dehumanization of unhoused individuals, creating barriers to aid and housing. Through an analysis of newspaper articles from the Bangor Daily News and interviews with 18 precariously housed and unhoused people, I demonstrate how the intersections of multiple stigmas reinforces negative stereotypes, enabling the public and policymakers to rationalize and justify the marginalization of these individuals. This process of intersectional stigmatization diverts attention away from the root structural causes of homelessness, instead positioning unhoused people as responsible for their own disenfranchisement. Additionally, intersectional stigma helps explain the struggle of unhoused communities to build movements and solidarity by examining how intersecting stigmatized identities lead unhoused individuals to “other” those within their own community as they may attempt to distance themselves from the stigma of being unhoused

Author

• Brenna Jones, Illinois State University