Making home? Permitted and prohibited place-making in youth homeless accommodation

Hoolachan, Jennifer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1957-5774 2022. Making home? Permitted and prohibited place-making in youth homeless accommodation. Housing Studies 37 (2) , pp. 212-231. 10.1080/02673037.2020.1836329

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Abstract

Based on the premise that ‘home’ is more than bricks and mortar, a growing body of literature has considered how the concept might be applied to homelessness. Aligned with ‘home’, home-making refers to the construction of living spaces so that their sensory features and the practices that occur there create a pleasant environment that enhances wellbeing. However, the instability and structural constraints within which homeless people live can limit their ability to home-make. Hence, in this article, ‘place-making’ proved a useful alternative concept. This article draws on an ethnographic study in Scotland involving 22 young people and 27 staff who lived and worked respectively in a supported accommodation hostel. It demonstrates how the residents engaged in sensory practices within the tightly regulated confines of the hostel. A distinction is made between ‘permitted’ and ‘prohibited’ practices to argue that home-making is not a morally-neutral concept. Rather there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways for homeless people to personalise their living spaces.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	0267-3037
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 October 2020
Date of Acceptance:	6 October 2020
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2023 16:32
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/135480

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