This article explores homeless men's visits to a public library. It shows how homeless men identified the library as a space for safety and social participation, at a time when the regional newspaper published an item questioning the appropriateness of their presence in the library. The news report promotes universal narratives that would exclude homeless people, showing the intimate relationship between the symbolic space of news, the material space of the local library, and the lifeworlds of homeless men. We report fieldwork in which we interviewed homeless men, library staff and patrons. In addition, we worked with journalists on follow-up articles foregrounding the positive function of the library in homeless men's lives, and to challenge existing news narratives that advocate the exclusion of 'the homeless' from prime public spaces.

No abstract

This article explores aspects of a homeless man's everyday life and his use of material objects to maintain a sense of place in the city. We are interested in the complex functions of walking, listening and reading as social practices central to how this man forges a life as a mobile hermit across physical and imagined locales. This highlights connections between physical place, use of material objects, imagination, and sense of self. Our analysis illustrates the value of paying attention to geographical locations and objects in social psychological research on homelessness.

No abstract

Cases are highly prevalent in teaching and practice in psychology. Case‐based research is crucial for engaged and relevant community and applied social psychologies, but is often subject to critique. This editorial responds to such critiques, clarifies various misconceptions regarding this research strategy, and argues for the utility of case‐based research. We explore the theoretical basis and implications of case‐based research for community action and participative interventions. This special issue offers a collection of articles that showcase the use of a range of methods in case‐based research. Contributions include: (i) a conceptual argument regarding the logic of case studies; (ii) a single‐person case study; (iii) a group‐level case study; (iv) a multi‐site case study, (v) a reflection on challenges of participative research, using the action‐researcher as the case. These contributions demonstrate how the use of exemplars is crucial for community and applied social psychologists developing knowledge about social issues in complex and diverse societies, with a view to improving the human condition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Street life can compromise a person's health. In response, homeless people exert considerable agency in attempts to preserve their health. Drawing on ethnographic research in central Auckland, this article explores the ways in which a homeless man maintains his health. We consider the tactics Clinton develops to maintain his health and to gain respite while living on the streets, an unhealthy place. Of particular note are the ways in which he works to transform a 'landscape of despair' into a 'landscape of care'. The case of Clinton foregrounds the fundamentally emplaced and relational nature of homeless peoples' health.

Homelessness is a pressing social and health concern that literally embodies broader inequities in society. This article provides an introduction to research in social psychology on homelessness and an emerging research agenda that situates the contributions of social psychologists within the broader social science effort. Attention is given to the consequences of homelessness, definitional issues, the relevance of a turn to place and interpersonal and intergroup relationships, and the importance of an action-orientated agenda for responding to the complexities of homelessness.

The dominant research approach to both food insecurity and charitable meal provision is nutritionistic, deficit-orientated and ignores wider socio-economic issues. This reinforces existing power dynamics and overlooks the agency of people living food-insecure lives. We critique this dominant approach and draw on the everyday experiences of families facing food insecurity to ground an alternative approach that emphasises food as a social determinant of health.