Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University. Previously a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. Interest in homelessness and housing, social inclusion, criminalization, critical criminology, social control, identity, and community-based methodologies.
Homelessness, as a construct, is premised on settler colonial technologies of land ownership and ... more Homelessness, as a construct, is premised on settler colonial technologies of land ownership and private property. Encampments, as one of the most visible forms of homelessness, compel us to confront how our socio-legal processes undermine human rights and perpetuate inequity and oppression. How municipalities engage in the legal governance of encampments, often through eviction, exclusion, and criminalization, is a result of interlocking colonial and classist political economies. Borrowing from Collins’ “matrix of domination” and Smith’s “ruling relations”, this article examines the management and ultimate eviction of No Place Like Home, a tent encampment in a mid-size city in Western Canada. Drawing on fifty-four interviews with people experiencing homelessness, law enforcement, and other community members, as well as legal documents that ultimately led to the eviction of the encampment, we unpack the political domination of encampments that legitimize and prioritize the desires and social position of the housed population over the human rights of encampment residents. We argue that in their efforts to retain public property as an exclusive commodity for housed people, political actors used three tactics through which to justify the displacement of unhoused people and ultimately the denial of encampment residents as rights holders: 1) the invisibilization of Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous women specifically, experiencing homelessness; 2) the construction of fire safety in the encampment as a public concern; and, 3) the prioritization of perceptions of safety among the general public to the detriment of the safety of encampment residents. Illuminating the intersection of colonial and class-based regimes embedded in the legal governance of encampments provides an avenue through which to advocate for the human rights of encampment residents.
Little is known about how rooming house residents perceive how housing influences their health, d... more Little is known about how rooming house residents perceive how housing influences their health, despite higher morbidity and premature death compared to other Canadians. The social exclusion framework of the Social Knowledge Exchange Network (SEKN) conceptualized by Popay et al. (2008) was used to investigate how rooming houses are linked to health among ten rooming house residents from six rooming houses in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Study activities included taking photos to show how living in a rooming house affects health, a community walk-about with the principal investigator, a focus group, and individual interviews. Thematic analysis revealed two broad themes: Housing is Health Care, and Just Managing Today. Findings suggest that structural inequalities and siloed care contribute to the health of rooming house residents, including the balance between poverty and desire to maintain housing, and how residents cope with this stress. If health care providers want to help alleviate the disparities in rooming house residents' health, they need to broaden the lens through which health is conceptualized.
As states move beyond simply managing their homelessness crises to looking for ways to reduce and... more As states move beyond simply managing their homelessness crises to looking for ways to reduce and ultimately end homelessness, broad-scale efforts to prevent homelessness are lacking. Experiences of homelessness are often harmful, traumatic, and costly, making a compelling case for why homelessness prevention should be prioritized. In recent years, countries such as Australia, Finland, and Wales have shifted their focus to prevention, but there remains a conceptual and systematic gap in our collective knowledge about what precisely homelessness prevention is, what policies, programs, and interventions are captured in a homelessness prevention strategy, and how to build a framework for orienting our response to homelessness towards prevention. This article begins to fill that gap by providing a definition and typology of homelessness prevention (THP). Our definition offers a schema to clarify the nature of homelessness prevention and to develop a collective response between various policies and practices that can and should be framed as homelessness prevention. Building off of the public health model of prevention and pre-existing homelessness prevention classification systems, our THP complements the definition by specifying the pragmatic nature of prevention initiatives and the range of sectors, stakeholders, and levels of government required to respond to the causes of homelessness. Our typology is made up of five interrelated elements: structural, systems, early intervention, evictions prevention, and housing stabilization. Each of these elements contains actionable strategies that cut across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention to ensure that people at various levels of risk have access to the tools and resources necessary to find and maintain safe, appropriate, and suitable housing. Together the definition and THP are useful tools to envision a new way forward in how we respond to homelessness.
In many countries around the world, our responses to homelessness
are changing. Communities and n... more In many countries around the world, our responses to homelessness are changing. Communities and nations are shifting from an emergency‑focused response, to prevention and supports for rapid exits from homelessness. The youth homelessness sector in Canada is increasingly adopting programs such as rapid rehousing and Housing First for Youth, with research focused on housing retention and wellness after a young person leaves the streets. Yet what’s missing from much of the literature is a focus on how gender impacts young peoples’ exits from homelessness. In particular, limited research exists on the challenges and opportunities women‑identifying persons face when exiting homelessness.
While some progress has been made in addressing chronic homelessness through
supportive models, a... more While some progress has been made in addressing chronic homelessness through supportive models, a comprehensive solution for housing loss must include prevention. The purpose of this article is twofold: to conduct a review of the literature on the domains of the Framework for Homelessness Prevention; and to use literature on the concept of quaternary prevention, preventing the harms of service provision, to theorise an additional domain. The Framework for Homelessness Prevention draws upon theory from public health exploring primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, and also integrates primordial prevention. This leads to a typology of homelessness prevention that incorporates the following five domains: (a) Structural prevention; (b) Systems prevention; (c) Early intervention; (d) Eviction prevention; and (e) Housing stability. By systematically reviewing the literature we build out the evidence-base supporting these domains. The team used research databases, internet searches and retrospective reference list reviews to identify high-quality journal articles on prevention, which were then sorted by level of prevention. Through this process, we evolved our thinking on the Framework in considering that quaternary prevention was not initially included. Therefore, we explored the literature related to quaternary prevention in the context of homelessness and offer a sixth domain for the Framework: Empowerment. Ultimately, a comprehensive Framework for Homelessness Prevention will support communities and governments to more effectively prevent homelessness through upstream approaches.
In all provinces and territories, women, girls, and gender diverse peoples experience some of the... more In all provinces and territories, women, girls, and gender diverse peoples experience some of the most severe forms of housing need. Black women, women of colour, Indigenous women, gender diverse peoples, (dis)abled women, poor women, LGBTQ2S+ peoples, sex workers, incarcerated women, newcomer women, and younger and older women are all disproportionately affected (Van Berkum & Oudshoorn, 2015). Best available estimates of women’s homelessness and housing insecurity are significant undercounts, in part due to the often hidden nature of their homelessness (Maki, 2017). Women are less likely to appear in mainstream shelters, drop in spaces, public spaces, or access other homeless-specific services, and are more likely to rely on relational, precarious, and dangerous supports to survive (Bretherton, 2017). The prominence and greater visibility of men in the homelessness sector has led to a male-centric policy and service environment, creating the conditions for women’s homelessness to remain invisible (Bretherton, 2017). As a result, we are greatly underestimating – and failing to respond to – the immense number of women who are homeless in Canada.
Research also shows that existing support systems fail to transition women and girls out of homelessness quickly (if at all), and in many cases they are left with no option but to return to situations of violence, precarity, and marginalization (Statistics Canada, 2019).
Women and gender diverse peoples face profound violence on the streets and in public systems and are regularly separated from their children because of their housing status and exposure to violence (Van Berkum & Oudshoorn, 2015). Despite this, housing policy rarely focuses on their realities, resulting in an acute lack of women-only, trauma-informed housing services (Fotheringham, Walsh, & Burrowes, 2013; Kirkby & Mettler, 2016). In the absence of access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing, women across Canada are driven into emergency systems that are insufficient and do not meet their needs. In many cases, these emergency systems are overwhelmed with demand and chronically underfunded, and thus regularly turn away women experiencing violence, homelessness, and extreme forms of marginalization (Vecchio, 2019).
In order to better understand these challenges, the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) decided to undertake an extensive scoping review of available evidence on women’s homelessness in Canada. The Canadian Observatory was hired to complete this literature review, guided at each step by the expertise of WNHHN members, including members with lived experience of homelessness.
This review explored evidence on the unique causes, consequences, and experiences of homelessness and housing precarity for women, girls, and gender diverse peoples in Canada. We relied on the expertise of our partners at Keepers of the Circle, an Indigenous Hub operated by the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group in Northern Ontario, to analyze the research on Indigenous women’s experiences. The review triangulated multiple data sources, including: scholarly literature, government reports, policy briefs, fact sheets, parliamentary committee proceedings, statistical data, and deputations made to all levels of government (published between 2000 and 2019).
We are at a pivotal moment in addressing homelessness in Canada. For decades, the Federal Governm... more We are at a pivotal moment in addressing homelessness in Canada. For decades, the Federal Government did not prioritize investments in safe, adequate, and affordable housing. Coupled with shifting economic and social landscapes, the modern homelessness crisis was made. In order to develop long-term solutions to homelessness, we must recognize that homelessness exists along a continuum. In this article, we discuss the full extent of homelessness in Canada, including the relationship between a lack of affordable housing and the homelessness crisis. We argue that preventing and ending homelessness is achievable so long as investments, strategies, policies, and practices account for those at risk of homelessness and/or who are precariously housed.
The What Would it Take? study asked young people with lived experience of homelessness: what woul... more The What Would it Take? study asked young people with lived experience of homelessness: what would it take to prevent youth homelessness in Canada? Between July 2017 and January 2018, A Way Home Canada and the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness consulted with youth across Canada to ask:
What would have prevented your homelessness? What programs, policies, services, and supports are needed to prevent youth homelessness? What do you want to tell the Canadian government about preventing youth homelessness? How do you want to be involved in making change on this issue? The purpose of this report is to amplify the voices, insights, and wisdom of these young people in order to drive policy and practice change.
Prevention makes sense. To prevent disease, we vaccinate. To prevent traffic deaths, we install s... more Prevention makes sense. To prevent disease, we vaccinate. To prevent traffic deaths, we install seat belts. While we recognize intuitively that preventing homelessness is a good idea, there has been little movement in Canada to make that happen on a national scale. A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention sets out to provide the language and clarity to begin that conversation.
Since mass homelessness emerged in the mid-1980s, we have largely used emergency services to respond to people’s immediate needs. While we will always need emergency services to help those in crisis, over time these short-term responses have become the standard method for managing homelessness long-term. In the last decade, Canadian policies and practices have begun to shift from managing homelessness to finding solutions, in particular the expansion of the Housing First approach across the country. The Housing First model provides housing and supports for people experiencing chronic homelessness with no housing readiness requirements. New research, innovation, and best practices have propelled our thinking to make the goal of ending homelessness realistic; however, we are still missing an important piece – preventing homelessness in the first place. Why must we wait until people are entrenched in homelessness before offering help?
In A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention, we set out to uncover what it will take to stop homelessness before it starts, to avoid its often-traumatizing effects. The aim of the framework is to begin a nation-wide conversation on what prevention looks like, and what it will take to shift toward homelessness prevention. Using international examples, the framework operationalizes the policies and practices necessary to successfully prevent homelessness and highlights who is responsible. Above all, it situates prevention within a human rights approach. Now is the time to prioritize homelessness prevention.
Psychocentrism is a governing neoliberal rationality that pathologizes human problems and frames ... more Psychocentrism is a governing neoliberal rationality that pathologizes human problems and frames individuals as responsible for socially structured inequalities. The homeless community provides an important case study to examine the ways psychocentrism manifests among an excluded population. This paper explores the paradox whereby homeless individuals are simultaneously pathologized and responsibilized through psychocentric discourses in which their status as economically poor becomes individualized as a symptom of mental illness and/or addiction. Although medicalized understandings of mental and emotional distress pervade the homeless industry, the obligations of freedom in the neoliberal era mean that individuals alone are held responsible for their failures. The paper examines the ways individuals experiencing homelessness are compelled to embark on an entrepreneurial project of the self that requires them to accept blame for their social precariousness. Further, it deconstructs the narratives that regard social explanations as an excuse and a failure of individual accountability. I argue that the " shamed poor " adopt empowerment discourses touted by the homeless industry, which paradoxically encourage individuals to find strength in their personal failures and to work toward self-governance, devoid of historical, social, and cultural context.
The criminalization of HIV exposure or transmission began in Canada in the late 1980s. Although t... more The criminalization of HIV exposure or transmission began in Canada in the late 1980s. Although the number of people charged with HIV exposure/transmission has risen consistently over the past two decades, there is little critical social-scientific research on the topic in the Canadian context, with a few notable exceptions. The goal of this research note is to take stock of the Canadian criminal justice system’s prosecution of individuals who knowingly expose a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing their positive sero-status. By framing the current state of the law within a socio-legal/critical criminological perspective, we can begin to make connections between different bodies of work and set the foundation for future research in this field.
The authors problematize essentialized notions of motherhood both ideologically and through crimi... more The authors problematize essentialized notions of motherhood both ideologically and through criminalized women’s accounts of correctional programming discourses that engage these notions as a way to foster “motherhood as praxis.” Using data from interviews conducted with former female prisoners, we analyze how substance using mothers invoke the concept of a “good” mother by negotiating its meaning through techniques of self-surveillance and the surveillance of other criminalized mothers. Women use this renegotiated identity as inspiration to move away from activities in conflict with motherhood, such as using drugs and/or alcohol. Correctional authorities in drug rehabilitation programs encourage women to use motherhood as an “anchor” upon which to stop using and the women appeal to this identity to responsibilize their actions. Dichotomizing conceptualizations of a selfless, nurturing, and chaste mother with an addict identity is in fact a precarious rehabilitation tactic. We hypothesize that women who feel they cannot live up to the idealized notion of motherhood might use drugs to cope with feelings of inadequacy, a point that requires further research. Using a framework where motherhood is the key to recovery not only reinforces the addict identity should a woman relapse, it necessarily indicates failure as a mother.
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is constituted by different networks and institutions. I d... more Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is constituted by different networks and institutions. I demonstrate that while the symptoms associated with FASD do not differ from childhood to adulthood, their conceptualization and thus societal and governmental responses to individuals with FASD change dramatically. This research is theoretically grounded in Rose's work on psy-identities and Hacking's concept of a looping effect. To unpack the reconstitution of the FASD identity from childhood to adulthood I have identified two linked but distinctive loops — that of the promising child and the deviant adult. These two loops conceptualize the different institutions, stakeholders, and knowledges that take interest in the " FASD child " and those that constitute the " FASD adult " identity within the criminal justice system. Résumé. Les définitions liées à l'ensemble des troubles causés par l'alcoolisation foetale (ETCAF) proviennent de différents systèmes de réseaux et institutions. Je démontre que la conceptualisation des TCAF et les approches sociales et gou-vernementales envers ceux qui en souffrent changenr radicalement malgré le fait que les symptômes associés aux TCAF demeurent les mêmes de l'enfance à l'âge adulte. À l'intérieur de cette recherche, je me réfère au travail de Rose sur les «identités psy» et de Hacking sur l'effet de boucle. Afin de révéler la recons-titution de l'identité associée à l'adulte qui souffre de TCAF, j'ai identifié deux boucles qui sont à la fois liées et distinctes — celle de l'enfant prometteur et celle de l'adulte délinquant. Ces deux boucles nous aident à conceptualiser les diffé-rentes institutions, les parties prenantes et les connaissances qui s'intéressent à « l'enfant souffrant des TCAF » et ceux qui servent à définir l'adulte TCAF à l'intérieur du système pénal.
Despite the torrent of the punitive state, people in conflict with the law are made up as 'client... more Despite the torrent of the punitive state, people in conflict with the law are made up as 'clients' of criminal justice. This article looks curiously upon the figure of the client, positioning her as a translation of the offender who flags particular relationships of justice. While the client is nowhere to be found on the public face of punishment, she emerges in the most unlikely of places (prisons, courts) when looking at punishment's inner workings. The client, we argue, is born of the elision of managerial and consumerist discourses in order to recruit people in conflict with the law and justice workers into contemporary penal project. The subject positions of criminal justice actors (offenders and workers) are reframed such that they are all active agents in the practice of social service delivery. These translations reveal the fluidity of identities and relationships within the criminal justice system and teach us about the political strategies underlying differing argots of punishment.
The not criminally responsible (NCR) designation is undergoing significant legislative changes th... more The not criminally responsible (NCR) designation is undergoing significant legislative changes that will see a greater focus on public safety and information for victims as well as the creation of a 'high risk' status. The NCR designation has an inconsistent history in Canada that highlights the complexity of straddling therapeutic and punitive frameworks. This latest development in NCR's formulation is a punitive response to the perceived clamour by the general public for safety and security and a loss of faith in the psy sciences ability to treat and manage mentally ill accused. In turn, the NCR designation has taken up the punitive rhetoric despite it being framed outside the system of punishment
Over 235,000 people couch-surf, stay in emergency shelters, or live on the street in Canada every... more Over 235,000 people couch-surf, stay in emergency shelters, or live on the street in Canada every year. But lack of housing security is just one barrier faced by people who are homeless,
As A Complex Exile shows, the homelessness sector inadvertently reinforces social exclusion as well. The very policies, practices, and funding models that exist to house the homeless, promote social inclusion, and provide mental health care form a homelessness industrial complex. These practices emphasize personal responsibility and individualized responses that ultimately serve to subtly exclude people on the street, which has profoundly negative effects among people experiencing homelessness. Erin Dej explores how a shift from managing to preventing and ending homelessness has taken shape over the past two decades. However, this movement has resulted in an increased focus on individualized responses to homelessness – individuals are charged with "fixing" themselves in order to secure housing and re-enter mainstream society. This book demonstrates that the causes of, and responses to, homelessness have become largely medicalized, limiting discussion on structural and systemic drivers such as income inequality, discrimination, and housing affordability.
A Complex Exile goes beyond bio-medical and psychological perspectives on homelessness, mental illness, and addiction to call for a socially transformed response to homelessness in Canada.
Homelessness, as a construct, is premised on settler colonial technologies of land ownership and ... more Homelessness, as a construct, is premised on settler colonial technologies of land ownership and private property. Encampments, as one of the most visible forms of homelessness, compel us to confront how our socio-legal processes undermine human rights and perpetuate inequity and oppression. How municipalities engage in the legal governance of encampments, often through eviction, exclusion, and criminalization, is a result of interlocking colonial and classist political economies. Borrowing from Collins’ “matrix of domination” and Smith’s “ruling relations”, this article examines the management and ultimate eviction of No Place Like Home, a tent encampment in a mid-size city in Western Canada. Drawing on fifty-four interviews with people experiencing homelessness, law enforcement, and other community members, as well as legal documents that ultimately led to the eviction of the encampment, we unpack the political domination of encampments that legitimize and prioritize the desires and social position of the housed population over the human rights of encampment residents. We argue that in their efforts to retain public property as an exclusive commodity for housed people, political actors used three tactics through which to justify the displacement of unhoused people and ultimately the denial of encampment residents as rights holders: 1) the invisibilization of Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous women specifically, experiencing homelessness; 2) the construction of fire safety in the encampment as a public concern; and, 3) the prioritization of perceptions of safety among the general public to the detriment of the safety of encampment residents. Illuminating the intersection of colonial and class-based regimes embedded in the legal governance of encampments provides an avenue through which to advocate for the human rights of encampment residents.
Little is known about how rooming house residents perceive how housing influences their health, d... more Little is known about how rooming house residents perceive how housing influences their health, despite higher morbidity and premature death compared to other Canadians. The social exclusion framework of the Social Knowledge Exchange Network (SEKN) conceptualized by Popay et al. (2008) was used to investigate how rooming houses are linked to health among ten rooming house residents from six rooming houses in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Study activities included taking photos to show how living in a rooming house affects health, a community walk-about with the principal investigator, a focus group, and individual interviews. Thematic analysis revealed two broad themes: Housing is Health Care, and Just Managing Today. Findings suggest that structural inequalities and siloed care contribute to the health of rooming house residents, including the balance between poverty and desire to maintain housing, and how residents cope with this stress. If health care providers want to help alleviate the disparities in rooming house residents' health, they need to broaden the lens through which health is conceptualized.
As states move beyond simply managing their homelessness crises to looking for ways to reduce and... more As states move beyond simply managing their homelessness crises to looking for ways to reduce and ultimately end homelessness, broad-scale efforts to prevent homelessness are lacking. Experiences of homelessness are often harmful, traumatic, and costly, making a compelling case for why homelessness prevention should be prioritized. In recent years, countries such as Australia, Finland, and Wales have shifted their focus to prevention, but there remains a conceptual and systematic gap in our collective knowledge about what precisely homelessness prevention is, what policies, programs, and interventions are captured in a homelessness prevention strategy, and how to build a framework for orienting our response to homelessness towards prevention. This article begins to fill that gap by providing a definition and typology of homelessness prevention (THP). Our definition offers a schema to clarify the nature of homelessness prevention and to develop a collective response between various policies and practices that can and should be framed as homelessness prevention. Building off of the public health model of prevention and pre-existing homelessness prevention classification systems, our THP complements the definition by specifying the pragmatic nature of prevention initiatives and the range of sectors, stakeholders, and levels of government required to respond to the causes of homelessness. Our typology is made up of five interrelated elements: structural, systems, early intervention, evictions prevention, and housing stabilization. Each of these elements contains actionable strategies that cut across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention to ensure that people at various levels of risk have access to the tools and resources necessary to find and maintain safe, appropriate, and suitable housing. Together the definition and THP are useful tools to envision a new way forward in how we respond to homelessness.
In many countries around the world, our responses to homelessness
are changing. Communities and n... more In many countries around the world, our responses to homelessness are changing. Communities and nations are shifting from an emergency‑focused response, to prevention and supports for rapid exits from homelessness. The youth homelessness sector in Canada is increasingly adopting programs such as rapid rehousing and Housing First for Youth, with research focused on housing retention and wellness after a young person leaves the streets. Yet what’s missing from much of the literature is a focus on how gender impacts young peoples’ exits from homelessness. In particular, limited research exists on the challenges and opportunities women‑identifying persons face when exiting homelessness.
While some progress has been made in addressing chronic homelessness through
supportive models, a... more While some progress has been made in addressing chronic homelessness through supportive models, a comprehensive solution for housing loss must include prevention. The purpose of this article is twofold: to conduct a review of the literature on the domains of the Framework for Homelessness Prevention; and to use literature on the concept of quaternary prevention, preventing the harms of service provision, to theorise an additional domain. The Framework for Homelessness Prevention draws upon theory from public health exploring primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, and also integrates primordial prevention. This leads to a typology of homelessness prevention that incorporates the following five domains: (a) Structural prevention; (b) Systems prevention; (c) Early intervention; (d) Eviction prevention; and (e) Housing stability. By systematically reviewing the literature we build out the evidence-base supporting these domains. The team used research databases, internet searches and retrospective reference list reviews to identify high-quality journal articles on prevention, which were then sorted by level of prevention. Through this process, we evolved our thinking on the Framework in considering that quaternary prevention was not initially included. Therefore, we explored the literature related to quaternary prevention in the context of homelessness and offer a sixth domain for the Framework: Empowerment. Ultimately, a comprehensive Framework for Homelessness Prevention will support communities and governments to more effectively prevent homelessness through upstream approaches.
In all provinces and territories, women, girls, and gender diverse peoples experience some of the... more In all provinces and territories, women, girls, and gender diverse peoples experience some of the most severe forms of housing need. Black women, women of colour, Indigenous women, gender diverse peoples, (dis)abled women, poor women, LGBTQ2S+ peoples, sex workers, incarcerated women, newcomer women, and younger and older women are all disproportionately affected (Van Berkum & Oudshoorn, 2015). Best available estimates of women’s homelessness and housing insecurity are significant undercounts, in part due to the often hidden nature of their homelessness (Maki, 2017). Women are less likely to appear in mainstream shelters, drop in spaces, public spaces, or access other homeless-specific services, and are more likely to rely on relational, precarious, and dangerous supports to survive (Bretherton, 2017). The prominence and greater visibility of men in the homelessness sector has led to a male-centric policy and service environment, creating the conditions for women’s homelessness to remain invisible (Bretherton, 2017). As a result, we are greatly underestimating – and failing to respond to – the immense number of women who are homeless in Canada.
Research also shows that existing support systems fail to transition women and girls out of homelessness quickly (if at all), and in many cases they are left with no option but to return to situations of violence, precarity, and marginalization (Statistics Canada, 2019).
Women and gender diverse peoples face profound violence on the streets and in public systems and are regularly separated from their children because of their housing status and exposure to violence (Van Berkum & Oudshoorn, 2015). Despite this, housing policy rarely focuses on their realities, resulting in an acute lack of women-only, trauma-informed housing services (Fotheringham, Walsh, & Burrowes, 2013; Kirkby & Mettler, 2016). In the absence of access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing, women across Canada are driven into emergency systems that are insufficient and do not meet their needs. In many cases, these emergency systems are overwhelmed with demand and chronically underfunded, and thus regularly turn away women experiencing violence, homelessness, and extreme forms of marginalization (Vecchio, 2019).
In order to better understand these challenges, the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) decided to undertake an extensive scoping review of available evidence on women’s homelessness in Canada. The Canadian Observatory was hired to complete this literature review, guided at each step by the expertise of WNHHN members, including members with lived experience of homelessness.
This review explored evidence on the unique causes, consequences, and experiences of homelessness and housing precarity for women, girls, and gender diverse peoples in Canada. We relied on the expertise of our partners at Keepers of the Circle, an Indigenous Hub operated by the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group in Northern Ontario, to analyze the research on Indigenous women’s experiences. The review triangulated multiple data sources, including: scholarly literature, government reports, policy briefs, fact sheets, parliamentary committee proceedings, statistical data, and deputations made to all levels of government (published between 2000 and 2019).
We are at a pivotal moment in addressing homelessness in Canada. For decades, the Federal Governm... more We are at a pivotal moment in addressing homelessness in Canada. For decades, the Federal Government did not prioritize investments in safe, adequate, and affordable housing. Coupled with shifting economic and social landscapes, the modern homelessness crisis was made. In order to develop long-term solutions to homelessness, we must recognize that homelessness exists along a continuum. In this article, we discuss the full extent of homelessness in Canada, including the relationship between a lack of affordable housing and the homelessness crisis. We argue that preventing and ending homelessness is achievable so long as investments, strategies, policies, and practices account for those at risk of homelessness and/or who are precariously housed.
The What Would it Take? study asked young people with lived experience of homelessness: what woul... more The What Would it Take? study asked young people with lived experience of homelessness: what would it take to prevent youth homelessness in Canada? Between July 2017 and January 2018, A Way Home Canada and the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness consulted with youth across Canada to ask:
What would have prevented your homelessness? What programs, policies, services, and supports are needed to prevent youth homelessness? What do you want to tell the Canadian government about preventing youth homelessness? How do you want to be involved in making change on this issue? The purpose of this report is to amplify the voices, insights, and wisdom of these young people in order to drive policy and practice change.
Prevention makes sense. To prevent disease, we vaccinate. To prevent traffic deaths, we install s... more Prevention makes sense. To prevent disease, we vaccinate. To prevent traffic deaths, we install seat belts. While we recognize intuitively that preventing homelessness is a good idea, there has been little movement in Canada to make that happen on a national scale. A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention sets out to provide the language and clarity to begin that conversation.
Since mass homelessness emerged in the mid-1980s, we have largely used emergency services to respond to people’s immediate needs. While we will always need emergency services to help those in crisis, over time these short-term responses have become the standard method for managing homelessness long-term. In the last decade, Canadian policies and practices have begun to shift from managing homelessness to finding solutions, in particular the expansion of the Housing First approach across the country. The Housing First model provides housing and supports for people experiencing chronic homelessness with no housing readiness requirements. New research, innovation, and best practices have propelled our thinking to make the goal of ending homelessness realistic; however, we are still missing an important piece – preventing homelessness in the first place. Why must we wait until people are entrenched in homelessness before offering help?
In A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention, we set out to uncover what it will take to stop homelessness before it starts, to avoid its often-traumatizing effects. The aim of the framework is to begin a nation-wide conversation on what prevention looks like, and what it will take to shift toward homelessness prevention. Using international examples, the framework operationalizes the policies and practices necessary to successfully prevent homelessness and highlights who is responsible. Above all, it situates prevention within a human rights approach. Now is the time to prioritize homelessness prevention.
Psychocentrism is a governing neoliberal rationality that pathologizes human problems and frames ... more Psychocentrism is a governing neoliberal rationality that pathologizes human problems and frames individuals as responsible for socially structured inequalities. The homeless community provides an important case study to examine the ways psychocentrism manifests among an excluded population. This paper explores the paradox whereby homeless individuals are simultaneously pathologized and responsibilized through psychocentric discourses in which their status as economically poor becomes individualized as a symptom of mental illness and/or addiction. Although medicalized understandings of mental and emotional distress pervade the homeless industry, the obligations of freedom in the neoliberal era mean that individuals alone are held responsible for their failures. The paper examines the ways individuals experiencing homelessness are compelled to embark on an entrepreneurial project of the self that requires them to accept blame for their social precariousness. Further, it deconstructs the narratives that regard social explanations as an excuse and a failure of individual accountability. I argue that the " shamed poor " adopt empowerment discourses touted by the homeless industry, which paradoxically encourage individuals to find strength in their personal failures and to work toward self-governance, devoid of historical, social, and cultural context.
The criminalization of HIV exposure or transmission began in Canada in the late 1980s. Although t... more The criminalization of HIV exposure or transmission began in Canada in the late 1980s. Although the number of people charged with HIV exposure/transmission has risen consistently over the past two decades, there is little critical social-scientific research on the topic in the Canadian context, with a few notable exceptions. The goal of this research note is to take stock of the Canadian criminal justice system’s prosecution of individuals who knowingly expose a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing their positive sero-status. By framing the current state of the law within a socio-legal/critical criminological perspective, we can begin to make connections between different bodies of work and set the foundation for future research in this field.
The authors problematize essentialized notions of motherhood both ideologically and through crimi... more The authors problematize essentialized notions of motherhood both ideologically and through criminalized women’s accounts of correctional programming discourses that engage these notions as a way to foster “motherhood as praxis.” Using data from interviews conducted with former female prisoners, we analyze how substance using mothers invoke the concept of a “good” mother by negotiating its meaning through techniques of self-surveillance and the surveillance of other criminalized mothers. Women use this renegotiated identity as inspiration to move away from activities in conflict with motherhood, such as using drugs and/or alcohol. Correctional authorities in drug rehabilitation programs encourage women to use motherhood as an “anchor” upon which to stop using and the women appeal to this identity to responsibilize their actions. Dichotomizing conceptualizations of a selfless, nurturing, and chaste mother with an addict identity is in fact a precarious rehabilitation tactic. We hypothesize that women who feel they cannot live up to the idealized notion of motherhood might use drugs to cope with feelings of inadequacy, a point that requires further research. Using a framework where motherhood is the key to recovery not only reinforces the addict identity should a woman relapse, it necessarily indicates failure as a mother.
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is constituted by different networks and institutions. I d... more Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is constituted by different networks and institutions. I demonstrate that while the symptoms associated with FASD do not differ from childhood to adulthood, their conceptualization and thus societal and governmental responses to individuals with FASD change dramatically. This research is theoretically grounded in Rose's work on psy-identities and Hacking's concept of a looping effect. To unpack the reconstitution of the FASD identity from childhood to adulthood I have identified two linked but distinctive loops — that of the promising child and the deviant adult. These two loops conceptualize the different institutions, stakeholders, and knowledges that take interest in the " FASD child " and those that constitute the " FASD adult " identity within the criminal justice system. Résumé. Les définitions liées à l'ensemble des troubles causés par l'alcoolisation foetale (ETCAF) proviennent de différents systèmes de réseaux et institutions. Je démontre que la conceptualisation des TCAF et les approches sociales et gou-vernementales envers ceux qui en souffrent changenr radicalement malgré le fait que les symptômes associés aux TCAF demeurent les mêmes de l'enfance à l'âge adulte. À l'intérieur de cette recherche, je me réfère au travail de Rose sur les «identités psy» et de Hacking sur l'effet de boucle. Afin de révéler la recons-titution de l'identité associée à l'adulte qui souffre de TCAF, j'ai identifié deux boucles qui sont à la fois liées et distinctes — celle de l'enfant prometteur et celle de l'adulte délinquant. Ces deux boucles nous aident à conceptualiser les diffé-rentes institutions, les parties prenantes et les connaissances qui s'intéressent à « l'enfant souffrant des TCAF » et ceux qui servent à définir l'adulte TCAF à l'intérieur du système pénal.
Despite the torrent of the punitive state, people in conflict with the law are made up as 'client... more Despite the torrent of the punitive state, people in conflict with the law are made up as 'clients' of criminal justice. This article looks curiously upon the figure of the client, positioning her as a translation of the offender who flags particular relationships of justice. While the client is nowhere to be found on the public face of punishment, she emerges in the most unlikely of places (prisons, courts) when looking at punishment's inner workings. The client, we argue, is born of the elision of managerial and consumerist discourses in order to recruit people in conflict with the law and justice workers into contemporary penal project. The subject positions of criminal justice actors (offenders and workers) are reframed such that they are all active agents in the practice of social service delivery. These translations reveal the fluidity of identities and relationships within the criminal justice system and teach us about the political strategies underlying differing argots of punishment.
The not criminally responsible (NCR) designation is undergoing significant legislative changes th... more The not criminally responsible (NCR) designation is undergoing significant legislative changes that will see a greater focus on public safety and information for victims as well as the creation of a 'high risk' status. The NCR designation has an inconsistent history in Canada that highlights the complexity of straddling therapeutic and punitive frameworks. This latest development in NCR's formulation is a punitive response to the perceived clamour by the general public for safety and security and a loss of faith in the psy sciences ability to treat and manage mentally ill accused. In turn, the NCR designation has taken up the punitive rhetoric despite it being framed outside the system of punishment
Over 235,000 people couch-surf, stay in emergency shelters, or live on the street in Canada every... more Over 235,000 people couch-surf, stay in emergency shelters, or live on the street in Canada every year. But lack of housing security is just one barrier faced by people who are homeless,
As A Complex Exile shows, the homelessness sector inadvertently reinforces social exclusion as well. The very policies, practices, and funding models that exist to house the homeless, promote social inclusion, and provide mental health care form a homelessness industrial complex. These practices emphasize personal responsibility and individualized responses that ultimately serve to subtly exclude people on the street, which has profoundly negative effects among people experiencing homelessness. Erin Dej explores how a shift from managing to preventing and ending homelessness has taken shape over the past two decades. However, this movement has resulted in an increased focus on individualized responses to homelessness – individuals are charged with "fixing" themselves in order to secure housing and re-enter mainstream society. This book demonstrates that the causes of, and responses to, homelessness have become largely medicalized, limiting discussion on structural and systemic drivers such as income inequality, discrimination, and housing affordability.
A Complex Exile goes beyond bio-medical and psychological perspectives on homelessness, mental illness, and addiction to call for a socially transformed response to homelessness in Canada.
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systematic gap in our collective knowledge about what precisely homelessness prevention is, what policies, programs, and interventions are captured in a homelessness prevention strategy, and how to build a framework for orienting our response to homelessness towards prevention. This article begins to fill that gap by providing a definition and typology of homelessness prevention (THP). Our definition offers
a schema to clarify the nature of homelessness prevention and to develop a collective response between various policies and practices that can and should be framed as homelessness prevention. Building off of the public health model of prevention and pre-existing homelessness prevention classification systems, our THP complements the definition by specifying the pragmatic nature of prevention initiatives and the range of sectors, stakeholders, and levels of government required to respond to the causes of homelessness. Our typology is made up of five
interrelated elements: structural, systems, early intervention, evictions prevention, and housing stabilization. Each of these elements contains actionable strategies that cut across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention to ensure that people at various levels of risk have
access to the tools and resources necessary to find and maintain safe, appropriate, and suitable housing. Together the definition and THP are useful tools to envision a new way forward in how we respond to homelessness.
are changing. Communities and nations are shifting from an emergency‑focused response, to prevention and supports for rapid exits from homelessness. The youth homelessness sector in Canada is increasingly adopting programs such as rapid rehousing and Housing First for Youth, with research focused on housing retention and wellness after a young person leaves the streets. Yet what’s missing from much of the literature is a focus on how gender impacts young peoples’
exits from homelessness. In particular, limited research exists on the challenges and opportunities women‑identifying persons face
when exiting homelessness.
supportive models, a comprehensive solution for housing loss must include prevention.
The purpose of this article is twofold: to conduct a review of the literature on
the domains of the Framework for Homelessness Prevention; and to use literature
on the concept of quaternary prevention, preventing the harms of service provision,
to theorise an additional domain. The Framework for Homelessness Prevention
draws upon theory from public health exploring primary, secondary and tertiary
prevention, and also integrates primordial prevention. This leads to a typology of
homelessness prevention that incorporates the following five domains: (a) Structural
prevention; (b) Systems prevention; (c) Early intervention; (d) Eviction prevention;
and (e) Housing stability. By systematically reviewing the literature we build out the
evidence-base supporting these domains. The team used research databases, internet
searches and retrospective reference list reviews to identify high-quality journal
articles on prevention, which were then sorted by level of prevention. Through this
process, we evolved our thinking on the Framework in considering that quaternary
prevention was not initially included. Therefore, we explored the literature related
to quaternary prevention in the context of homelessness and offer a sixth domain
for the Framework: Empowerment. Ultimately, a comprehensive Framework for
Homelessness Prevention will support communities and governments to more effectively prevent homelessness through upstream approaches.
Research also shows that existing support systems fail to transition women and girls out of homelessness quickly (if at all), and in many cases they are left with no option but to return to situations of violence, precarity, and marginalization (Statistics Canada, 2019).
Women and gender diverse peoples face profound violence on the streets and in public systems and are regularly separated from their children because of their housing status and exposure to violence (Van Berkum & Oudshoorn, 2015). Despite this, housing policy rarely focuses on their realities, resulting in an acute lack of women-only, trauma-informed housing services (Fotheringham, Walsh, & Burrowes, 2013; Kirkby & Mettler, 2016). In the absence of access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing, women across Canada are driven into emergency systems that are insufficient and do not meet their needs. In many cases, these emergency systems are overwhelmed with demand and chronically underfunded, and thus regularly turn away women experiencing violence, homelessness, and extreme forms of marginalization (Vecchio, 2019).
In order to better understand these challenges, the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) decided to undertake an extensive scoping review of available evidence on women’s homelessness in Canada. The Canadian Observatory was hired to complete this literature review, guided at each step by the expertise of WNHHN members, including members with lived experience of homelessness.
This review explored evidence on the unique causes, consequences, and experiences of homelessness and housing precarity for women, girls, and gender diverse peoples in Canada. We relied on the expertise of our partners at Keepers of the Circle, an Indigenous Hub operated by the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group in Northern Ontario, to analyze the research on Indigenous women’s experiences. The review triangulated multiple data sources, including: scholarly literature, government reports, policy briefs, fact sheets, parliamentary committee proceedings, statistical data, and deputations made to all levels of government (published between 2000 and 2019).
What would have prevented your homelessness?
What programs, policies, services, and supports are needed to prevent youth homelessness?
What do you want to tell the Canadian government about preventing youth homelessness?
How do you want to be involved in making change on this issue?
The purpose of this report is to amplify the voices, insights, and wisdom of these young people in order to drive policy and practice change.
Since mass homelessness emerged in the mid-1980s, we have largely used emergency services to respond to people’s immediate needs. While we will always need emergency services to help those in crisis, over time these short-term responses have become the standard method for managing homelessness long-term. In the last decade, Canadian policies and practices have begun to shift from managing homelessness to finding solutions, in particular the expansion of the Housing First approach across the country. The Housing First model provides housing and supports for people experiencing chronic homelessness with no housing readiness requirements. New research, innovation, and best practices have propelled our thinking to make the goal of ending homelessness realistic; however, we are still missing an important piece – preventing homelessness in the first place. Why must we wait until people are entrenched in homelessness before offering help?
In A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention, we set out to uncover what it will take to stop homelessness before it starts, to avoid its often-traumatizing effects. The aim of the framework is to begin a nation-wide conversation on what prevention looks like, and what it will take to shift toward homelessness prevention. Using international examples, the framework operationalizes the policies and practices necessary to successfully prevent homelessness and highlights who is responsible. Above all, it situates prevention within a human rights approach. Now is the time to prioritize homelessness prevention.
As A Complex Exile shows, the homelessness sector inadvertently reinforces social exclusion as well. The very policies, practices, and funding models that exist to house the homeless, promote social inclusion, and provide mental health care form a homelessness industrial complex. These practices emphasize personal responsibility and individualized responses that ultimately serve to subtly exclude people on the street, which has profoundly negative effects among people experiencing homelessness. Erin Dej explores how a shift from managing to preventing and ending homelessness has taken shape over the past two decades. However, this movement has resulted in an increased focus on individualized responses to homelessness – individuals are charged with "fixing" themselves in order to secure housing and re-enter mainstream society. This book demonstrates that the causes of, and responses to, homelessness have become largely medicalized, limiting discussion on structural and systemic drivers such as income inequality, discrimination, and housing affordability.
A Complex Exile goes beyond bio-medical and psychological perspectives on homelessness, mental illness, and addiction to call for a socially transformed response to homelessness in Canada.
systematic gap in our collective knowledge about what precisely homelessness prevention is, what policies, programs, and interventions are captured in a homelessness prevention strategy, and how to build a framework for orienting our response to homelessness towards prevention. This article begins to fill that gap by providing a definition and typology of homelessness prevention (THP). Our definition offers
a schema to clarify the nature of homelessness prevention and to develop a collective response between various policies and practices that can and should be framed as homelessness prevention. Building off of the public health model of prevention and pre-existing homelessness prevention classification systems, our THP complements the definition by specifying the pragmatic nature of prevention initiatives and the range of sectors, stakeholders, and levels of government required to respond to the causes of homelessness. Our typology is made up of five
interrelated elements: structural, systems, early intervention, evictions prevention, and housing stabilization. Each of these elements contains actionable strategies that cut across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention to ensure that people at various levels of risk have
access to the tools and resources necessary to find and maintain safe, appropriate, and suitable housing. Together the definition and THP are useful tools to envision a new way forward in how we respond to homelessness.
are changing. Communities and nations are shifting from an emergency‑focused response, to prevention and supports for rapid exits from homelessness. The youth homelessness sector in Canada is increasingly adopting programs such as rapid rehousing and Housing First for Youth, with research focused on housing retention and wellness after a young person leaves the streets. Yet what’s missing from much of the literature is a focus on how gender impacts young peoples’
exits from homelessness. In particular, limited research exists on the challenges and opportunities women‑identifying persons face
when exiting homelessness.
supportive models, a comprehensive solution for housing loss must include prevention.
The purpose of this article is twofold: to conduct a review of the literature on
the domains of the Framework for Homelessness Prevention; and to use literature
on the concept of quaternary prevention, preventing the harms of service provision,
to theorise an additional domain. The Framework for Homelessness Prevention
draws upon theory from public health exploring primary, secondary and tertiary
prevention, and also integrates primordial prevention. This leads to a typology of
homelessness prevention that incorporates the following five domains: (a) Structural
prevention; (b) Systems prevention; (c) Early intervention; (d) Eviction prevention;
and (e) Housing stability. By systematically reviewing the literature we build out the
evidence-base supporting these domains. The team used research databases, internet
searches and retrospective reference list reviews to identify high-quality journal
articles on prevention, which were then sorted by level of prevention. Through this
process, we evolved our thinking on the Framework in considering that quaternary
prevention was not initially included. Therefore, we explored the literature related
to quaternary prevention in the context of homelessness and offer a sixth domain
for the Framework: Empowerment. Ultimately, a comprehensive Framework for
Homelessness Prevention will support communities and governments to more effectively prevent homelessness through upstream approaches.
Research also shows that existing support systems fail to transition women and girls out of homelessness quickly (if at all), and in many cases they are left with no option but to return to situations of violence, precarity, and marginalization (Statistics Canada, 2019).
Women and gender diverse peoples face profound violence on the streets and in public systems and are regularly separated from their children because of their housing status and exposure to violence (Van Berkum & Oudshoorn, 2015). Despite this, housing policy rarely focuses on their realities, resulting in an acute lack of women-only, trauma-informed housing services (Fotheringham, Walsh, & Burrowes, 2013; Kirkby & Mettler, 2016). In the absence of access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing, women across Canada are driven into emergency systems that are insufficient and do not meet their needs. In many cases, these emergency systems are overwhelmed with demand and chronically underfunded, and thus regularly turn away women experiencing violence, homelessness, and extreme forms of marginalization (Vecchio, 2019).
In order to better understand these challenges, the Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network (WNHHN) decided to undertake an extensive scoping review of available evidence on women’s homelessness in Canada. The Canadian Observatory was hired to complete this literature review, guided at each step by the expertise of WNHHN members, including members with lived experience of homelessness.
This review explored evidence on the unique causes, consequences, and experiences of homelessness and housing precarity for women, girls, and gender diverse peoples in Canada. We relied on the expertise of our partners at Keepers of the Circle, an Indigenous Hub operated by the Temiskaming Native Women’s Support Group in Northern Ontario, to analyze the research on Indigenous women’s experiences. The review triangulated multiple data sources, including: scholarly literature, government reports, policy briefs, fact sheets, parliamentary committee proceedings, statistical data, and deputations made to all levels of government (published between 2000 and 2019).
What would have prevented your homelessness?
What programs, policies, services, and supports are needed to prevent youth homelessness?
What do you want to tell the Canadian government about preventing youth homelessness?
How do you want to be involved in making change on this issue?
The purpose of this report is to amplify the voices, insights, and wisdom of these young people in order to drive policy and practice change.
Since mass homelessness emerged in the mid-1980s, we have largely used emergency services to respond to people’s immediate needs. While we will always need emergency services to help those in crisis, over time these short-term responses have become the standard method for managing homelessness long-term. In the last decade, Canadian policies and practices have begun to shift from managing homelessness to finding solutions, in particular the expansion of the Housing First approach across the country. The Housing First model provides housing and supports for people experiencing chronic homelessness with no housing readiness requirements. New research, innovation, and best practices have propelled our thinking to make the goal of ending homelessness realistic; however, we are still missing an important piece – preventing homelessness in the first place. Why must we wait until people are entrenched in homelessness before offering help?
In A New Direction: A Framework for Homelessness Prevention, we set out to uncover what it will take to stop homelessness before it starts, to avoid its often-traumatizing effects. The aim of the framework is to begin a nation-wide conversation on what prevention looks like, and what it will take to shift toward homelessness prevention. Using international examples, the framework operationalizes the policies and practices necessary to successfully prevent homelessness and highlights who is responsible. Above all, it situates prevention within a human rights approach. Now is the time to prioritize homelessness prevention.
As A Complex Exile shows, the homelessness sector inadvertently reinforces social exclusion as well. The very policies, practices, and funding models that exist to house the homeless, promote social inclusion, and provide mental health care form a homelessness industrial complex. These practices emphasize personal responsibility and individualized responses that ultimately serve to subtly exclude people on the street, which has profoundly negative effects among people experiencing homelessness. Erin Dej explores how a shift from managing to preventing and ending homelessness has taken shape over the past two decades. However, this movement has resulted in an increased focus on individualized responses to homelessness – individuals are charged with "fixing" themselves in order to secure housing and re-enter mainstream society. This book demonstrates that the causes of, and responses to, homelessness have become largely medicalized, limiting discussion on structural and systemic drivers such as income inequality, discrimination, and housing affordability.
A Complex Exile goes beyond bio-medical and psychological perspectives on homelessness, mental illness, and addiction to call for a socially transformed response to homelessness in Canada.