Losing a Little Part of Yourself: Families’ Experiences With Foreclosure

Abstract

While quantitative studies have described foreclosure’s correlates, and qualitative work has shed light on homeowners’ experiences in general, research has not focused specifically on how families with children younger than 18 years experience foreclosure. This study was an exploratory qualitative examination of families’ experiences with home foreclosure, focusing especially on the meaning(s) the foreclosure had for them. In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 adult homeowners living with children younger than 18 years during their foreclosures. The analysis revealed key themes of foreclosure threatening personal and social identity, family relationships and routines, and emotional attachment and experiences of loss. Adults tended to blame themselves for the foreclosures as opposed to seeing structural forces as responsible for their predicaments. The findings help illuminate some of the potential mechanisms underlying the negative impact of foreclosure. Understanding families’ experiences is critical to formulating services and policies to help affected families regain stability.

Losing Hold of the American Dream: A Qualitative Exploration of the Relationship Between Foreclosure and Psychological and Physical Health

“…Being responsible for school-aged and often, other children and aging parents, many were the primary wage-earners in their families, and much pressure rested on their shoulders. Discussions of their homes were infused with deep meaning, and the loss of the home through foreclosure was described as a profound loss (devastating, as found in previous studies (Collins & Berg, 2019).…”

“…Families in this study described experiencing extreme stress that was frequently expressed physically and psychologically through stress-related physical ailments as well as mental health struggles. This study adds to previous qualitative research examining the meaning of losing one’s home (Collins & Berg, 2019; Collins et al, 2018) by identifying participants’ experiences regarding how psychological and physical issues both contributed to and resulted from the anticipated loss of their homes. Stress was described as being a result both of having a tenuous financial situation, which was in part due to their own or a family member’s physical health issues (and associated bills and/or loss of wages to deal with them), as well as uncertainty about their housing situations.…”

“…When housing is insecure, it can instead be a source of anxiety, fear, and trepidation. Owning a home has been such an important part of the American dream and of people’s conceptualization of having “made it” that losing a home can be one of the most devastating experiences of a lifetime (Collins & Berg, 2019; Collins et al, 2018; Nettleton & Burrows, 2000). In 2008, during the economic downturn and the housing crisis, 1 in 54 households experienced the loss of a home through a foreclosure, an increase of 81% from the previous year (Christie, 2009).…”