Zufferey - Homelessness and social work: an intersectional approach

Homelessness and Social Work

Drawing on intersectional theorising, Homelessness and Social Work highlights the diversities and complexities of homelessness and social work research, policy and practice. It invites social work students, practitioners, policy makers and academics to re-examine the subject by exploring how homelessness and social work are constituted through intersecting and unequal power relations.

The causes of homelessness are frequently associated with individualist explanations, without examining the broader political and intersecting social inequalities that shape how social problems such as homelessness are constructed and responded to by social workers. In reflecting on factors such as Indigeneity, race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, sexuality, ability and other markers of identity the author seeks to:

construct a new intersectional framework for understanding social work and homelessness;

provide a critical analysis of social work responses to homelessness;

challenge how homelessness is represented in social work research, social policy and social work practice; and

incorporate the stories of people experiencing homelessness.

The book will be of interest to undergraduate and higher research degree students in the fields of intersectionality, homelessness, sociology, public policy and social work.

Carole Zufferey is a senior lecturer at the School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia. She has a social work background. Prior to entering academia, she practised in the fields of community welfare, child protection and youth justice in remote Western Australia; aged care and disability in London, UK; and mental health and homelessness in Adelaide, South Australia. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on social work, homelessness and intersectionality. Her recent research projects include exploring lived experiences of and diverse perspectives on home and homelessness, and the impact of domestic violence on womens citizenship, including on their mental health, housing, employment and social participation.

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Forthcoming titles

Homelessness and Social Work

An intersectional approach

Carole Zufferey

Supporting Care Leavers Educational Transitions

Jennifer Driscoll

Homelessness and Social Work

An intersectional approach

Carole Zufferey

Contents

This book draws on different research projects that I have completed dating back to 2001. Thank you to all the research participants involved in these projects. This includes people who experienced homelessness, social workers and community informants who were interviewed for the various studies referred to in this book.

Thank you to Routledge for their interest in this work and the University of South Australia for their support to complete this book.

Many people have contributed to this book. First, I would like to thank Dr Christopher Horsell, for his ongoing commentary on the development of the book, for contributing a reflexive case study for and his ongoing support in life.

As well, many thanks to Dr Margaret Rowntree for her editorial and conceptual support, her contribution to the book synopsis and her insightful feedback on the content, structure and writing of this book.

I would like to thank Professor Donna Chung, who supervised me in my MSW and PhD research studies, for her ongoing support and mentorship over the last 15 years. Our inspiring conversations have helped to shape my thinking about gender, domestic violence, homelessness, social work and intersectionality.

Finally, I would like to thank Associate Professor Adrian Vicary for his insights on academic scholarship during the writing of my PhD thesis.

Thanks also to my colleagues, Dr Nilan Yu and Dr Shepard Masocha, for our ongoing conversations about the complexities of writing and thinking about race and racism, that helped me think beyond gendered relations and homelessness.

I dedicate this book to my son Andre.

Homelessness is a topical issue generating substantial attention in Western countries. While there is considerable research on the subject, little has been written on intersectional social work approaches to homelessness. Homelessness is complex and diverse because it intersects with other social issues (such as gendered violence), and with multiple social markers that include gender, class, race, sexuality and ability. As well, understandings of both homelessness and social work are contested, and vary according to different countries and organisational contexts. Complicating matters further, both service users and providers are constituted by the complex interplay of these multiple social locations.