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“The System is Built to Exclude Them”: Using Sociality to Manage Health Amongst Women Experiencing Homelessness

dc.contributor.authorElliott, Kate, 1996-
dc.date.accessioned2020-01-22T19:04:52Z
dc.date.available2020-01-22T19:04:52Z
dc.date.issued2020-01-22
dc.date.submitted2020-01-17
dc.description.abstractThe lives of women experiencing homelessness are often invisible from both statistics and the public eye. Yet, to support the population, specifically their health, their lived experiences must first be understood. Practicing engaged anthropology, this research uses a combination of non-participant observation, a focus group, and semi-structured interviews with both residents and staff at a shelter open to women, families, and trans and non-binary individuals. The shelter, Valdridge House, is in a medium-sized city in Southern Ontario. Using anthropological understandings of structural violence and gendered dynamics of homelessness alongside the data collected, this research explores how women experiencing homelessness manage their health through sociality within the shelter. Adapting to the perceived inaccessibility of the healthcare system, the residents use sociality to narrate their mental health and trauma, placing blame on their environment for their situation rather than individual fault. Here, they create support amongst residents without any perceived judgement. However, alongside this supportive dynamic, it is shown that structural violence still impacts the shelter sociality negatively, where theft and tensions are still present alongside the group bonding.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10012/15528
dc.language.isoenen
dc.pendingfalse
dc.publisherUniversity of Waterlooen
dc.subjectwomen experiencing homelessnessen
dc.subjecthealthen
dc.subjectsocialityen
dc.subjectfeminist research principlesen
dc.subjecthomelessnessen
dc.subject.lcshHomeless womenen
dc.subject.lcshWomenen
dc.subject.lcshSocializationen
dc.subject.lcshHealth and hygieneen
dc.subject.lcshHomelessnessen
dc.subject.lcshFeminist anthropologyen
dc.title“The System is Built to Exclude Them”: Using Sociality to Manage Health Amongst Women Experiencing Homelessnessen
dc.typeMaster Thesisen
uws-etd.degreeMaster of Artsen
uws-etd.degree.departmentAnthropologyen
uws-etd.degree.disciplineAnthropology (Public Issues)en
uws-etd.degree.grantorUniversity of Waterlooen
uws.contributor.advisorDagtas, Secil
uws.contributor.advisorLo, Adrienne
uws.contributor.affiliation1Faculty of Artsen
uws.peerReviewStatusUnrevieweden
uws.published.cityWaterlooen
uws.published.countryCanadaen
uws.published.provinceOntarioen
uws.scholarLevelGraduateen
uws.typeOfResourceTexten

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