A Feminist Approach to Working With Homeless Women

Abstract

This article describes the application of a developmental model in work with groups of homeless women in two shelters and delineates the types of homeless women and the stages through which the women go as they develop. The women's development occurs in the context of affiliation, attachment, and relationship and moves from an emphasis on self to a reconnection to the community.Women's development takes place in the context of affiliation, attachment, and relationship (Gilligan, 1982;Miller, 1976). The authors define feminist social work practice as activities that help women act effectively from a context of relationships and view competence and empowerment of the self as consequences of increased connections to others. Within this definition, they developed a feminist service model for work with women who have experienced violence and loss through sexual assault, which disrupted their connection to the community and produced feelings of helplessness and powerlessness (K. S. Brown & Ziefert, 1988). This model describes a developmental growth and healing process for women that moves from an emphasis on self to a reconnection to the community.In developing this service model, the authors were indebted to the framework developed by P. Brown (1981) in her discussions of women and competence. Brown extended the ecosystems perspective to exam-

Innovative Therapeutic Care for Homeless, Mentally Ill Clients: Intrapsychic Humanism in a Residential Setting

“…However, some clients are unable to participate in these programs because they may be frightened of the community experience. Moreover, since research about these models tends to focus on specific services that are found to be helpful, such as groups (Brown & Ziefert, 1990;Martin & Nayowith, 1989) or drop-in centers (Segal & Baumohl, 1985), practitioners still lack overarching principles to be used in planning care. Thus, a theoretical approach is needed that can be more universally applied.…”

A Short Term Approach to Intervention with Homeless Mothers: A Role for Clinicians in Homeless Shelters

“…Homeless families arrive at the state of homelessness for different reasons. Strauch, Brown, and Ziefert (1990) divide homeless women into three categories. The first category is the chronically homeless women who have been homeless for at least one year.…”

Homeless families: Program responses and public policies.

“…With the exception of a few quantitative data bases describing services and programmatic issues at some family shelters (Barge & Norr, 1991; Jacobs, Little, & Almeida, 1991) and data specific to focused efforts, such as the information on health services collected by the national Robert Wood Johnson-Pew Memorial Trust Health Care for the Homeless Program (Wright & Weber, 1987), current information is largely limited to descriptive reports (Better Homes Foundation, 1990; Macro Systems, 1991). A small, but growing literature describes programmatic efforts specifically related to the needs of homeless women (Breton, 1984; Brown & Ziefert, 1990; D'Ercole & Struening 1990).…”

“…As the growing literature on homeless mothers points out, homelessness among this population is associated with loss of financial security, severe emotional distress, and various difficulties that include health problems, substance abuse, and victimization (Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988; Brown & Zeifert, 1990; D'Ercole & Struening, 1990). To address this range of problems, a comprehensive strategy is necessary, and among its components should be: 1) service-enriched permanent housing; 2) services addressing the special needs of poor and homeless mothers; 3) measures to prevent homelessness among precariously housed families; and 4) epidemiological and evaluative research into more effective interventions.…”