Homeless pathways and the struggle for ontological security

Stonehouse, Darran; Threlkeld, Guinever; Theobald, Jacqui

doi:10.1080/02673037.2020.1739234

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Three main themes were identified to describe the ways in which subjective housing experiences improved the mental well-being of Inuit adults (and their families) after rehousing: (1) refuge creation; (2) self-determination and increased control; (3) improved family dynamics and identity repair. The rehousing experiences of participants in this study share multiple similarities with the experiences of socially marginalized groups who transitioned into public or supportive housing in non-Indigenous contexts [ 24 , 27 , 66 ]. Across these studies, common themes include longing for safety, stability, autonomy; participants generally viewed their new homes as havens and as an opportunity to contemplate a future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

Perreault

Lapalme

Potvin

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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This study explores the ways in which a rehousing intervention shapes the mental well-being of Inuit adults living in Nunavut, Canada, where the prevalence of core housing need is four times the national average. More specifically, it compares the housing experiences of participants who were rehoused in a newly built public housing unit, to the experiences of participants on the public housing waitlist. The study was developed in collaboration with organizations based in Nunavut and Nunavik. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed, and a deductive-inductive thematic analysis was performed based on Gidden’s concept of ontological security, and Inuit-specific mental health conceptualization. Twenty-five Inuit adults participated (11 rehoused, 14 waitlist). Three themes were identified to describe how the subjective housing experiences of participants improved their mental well-being after rehousing: (1) refuge creation; (2) self-determination and increased control; (3) improved family dynamics and identity repair. Implicit to these themes are the contrasting housing experiences of participants on the waitlist. Construction initiatives that increase public housing stock and address gaps in the housing continuum across Inuit regions could promote well-being at a population level. However, larger socio-economic problems facing Inuit may hamper beneficial processes stemming from such interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

Perreault

Lapalme

Potvin

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…However, over recent years there has been an increasing amount of attention placed on the third dimension, the subjective sense of ‘home’ and its relationship to psychological wellbeing. A notable and increasing volume of this study has drawn on the theory of ontological security (Hiscock et al, 2001 ; Padgett, 2007 ; Rosenberg et al, 2021 ; Stonehouse et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locked down: Ontological security and the experience of COVID‐19 while living in poor‐quality housing

Brown

Newton

Armitage

et al. 2022

Journal Community Psychology

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The aim of the paper is to illustrate how the housing system in the United Kingdom (UK) has contributed to creating vulnerabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Drawing on the concept of ontological security we look at how living with housing insecurity whilst enduring poor housing conditions has impacted the lives of those living in households. The paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with 50 residents and 8 housing professionals. The findings outline the grinding impact of the pandemic on the ontological security of residents and the coping strategies adopted by a wider range of households who are now increasingly vulnerable. A number of people went into lockdown in vulnerable situations, experiencing deep inequalities and living in poorly maintained homes. This has weakened the ontological security experienced by many households. These represent significant failings of the housing system and housing policy impacting on the health and wellbeing of a wider cohort of people creating additional vulnerabilities.

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“…Day-to-day routines were challenging to maintain for people who had experienced persistent, unsheltered homelessness (Stonehouse et al, 2021). The design of the apartment has the potential to create a stable platform so that individuals can focus less on maintaining the protective habits around privacy and security that Stonehouse et al observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, while the hallmarks cannot be directly assessed through floor plan analysis, affordances and related attributes provide a bridge to evaluate the potential for ontological security. The initial list of attributes/affordances was developed by the author based on limited literature on ontological security in PSH (Henwood et al, 2018b;Padgett, 2007;Stonehouse et al, 2021) and dwelling design (Brueckner et al, 2011;McLane & Pable, 2020;Rollings & Bollo, 2021). The face validity of this list was evaluated via feedback from two academic and professional housing experts invited to review the affordances/attributes for relevance and representativeness.…”

Section: Ontological Security Constructs and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As seen in Table 2, each hallmark was assigned four binary affordance-attribute pairs so they could be weighted equally, and their sum provides an aggregate evaluation for the hallmark. Assuming, as the literature suggests (Dupuis & Thorns, 1998;Henwood et al, 2018b;Padgett, 2007;Stonehouse et al, 2021), that the hallmarks are also intended to be weighted equally in assessing the overall potential of ontological security, the total sum of the affordance-attribute pair presence across hallmarks then provides a simplified assessment of the potential for ontological security for each unit design.…”

Section: Ontological Security Constructs and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Designed for Home: Opportunities for Enhanced Ontological Security in Permanent Supportive Housing Apartments

Bollo

2022

Journal of Interior Design

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To maximize the number of new dwelling units for people experiencing long-term homelessness, permanent supportive housing (PSH) developers have minimized the floor area of such units, creating very small studio apartments in purpose-built, single-site housing projects. The objective of this study was to reveal the variety of spatial organization patterns of these apartments and to assess if theoretical hallmarks of ontological security-constancy, the ability to conduct day-to-day routines, identity construction, freedom from surveillance-may be supported by design decisions. This is the first study to closely examine the interior layouts of such dwellings, despite 1,840,000 PSH apartments having been built in the past 13 years. The dataset is a representative sample of 24 PSH studio apartment floor plans. The archival plan analysis examined typological features of the apartments and the affordances and attributes related to the hallmarks of ontological security. A key finding is that overall layout is determined primarily by entry sequence decisions: constancy and freedom from surveillance may be enhanced by close attention to the layering of this space. A second key finding is that the ability to conduct day-to-day routines and construct identity may be enriched by apartment layout and storage provision. Thus, despite the size constraints of PSH apartments, designers could possibly enhance ontological security affordances through defined layout, ample storage, and a layered entry sequence. For PSH residents, achieving ontological security in their dwellings is a necessary step toward recovery from long-term homelessness.

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Homeless pathways and the struggle for ontological security

Cited by 19 publications

References 33 publications

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

“We’re Home Now”: How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada

Locked down: Ontological security and the experience of COVID‐19 while living in poor‐quality housing

Designed for Home: Opportunities for Enhanced Ontological Security in Permanent Supportive Housing Apartments

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