Women negotiating power and control as they ‘journey’ through homelessness: a feminist poststructuralist perspective.

While homelessness is increasingly seen as differentiated by gender, dominant narratives only rarely incorporate the experiences of women. Using a feminist poststructuralist framework, this paper examines homeless women’s trajectories through and out of homelessness based on data from a qualitative longitudinal study of women’s homelessness in Ireland. Sixty women were recruited and interviewed at baseline and ‘tracked’ over a three-year period alongside the conduct of ethnographic fieldwork at strategically chosen sites throughout the duration of the study. At the time of follow-up, forty women were re-interviewed and reliable information was attained on the whereabouts of an additional nine participants. For the sample as whole, there was strong evidence that the presence or absence of children and the presence or absence of more complex needs impacted women’s ability to access housing and exit homelessness. Those women who had transitioned to stable housing by the time of follow-up were more likely to have children in their care and to report lower levels of need related to substance use and/or mental health. A detailed examination of the women’s service experiences and interactions reveals the complex way in which they engaged with the discourses embedded in the structures they encountered as they moved through the service system, very often along trajectories of long-term homelessness. The analysis uncovers women’s agency, mobilised through acts of ‘resistance’ and ‘conformity’, as they navigated a landscape where assumptions about ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ women prevailed and also significantly influenced their housing outcomes

Supporting LGBT lives in Ireland: A study of the mental health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

This research set out to examine mental health and well-being, including an investigation of suicide vulnerability (risk) and resilience, among LGBT people in Ireland. A survey instrument, which took approximately 15-20 minutes to complete online, was designed to capture the experiences of LGBT people living in Ireland in a variety of settings and contexts. This instrument included demographic variables, schooling experiences, perceptions of belonging, victimisation and harassment, workplace experiences, and patterns of alcohol use. Indicators of mental health and well-being were also ascertained, including history of self-injurious behaviour and attempted suicide. In the community assessment process phase of the research a total of 14 interviews were conducted. Specific interview topics and questions targeted experiences that may have been challenging, difficult or stressful (e.g. experiences of discrimination, homophobic bullying, stress associated with ‘coming out’ to family and peers). Questions also focussed where relevant on respondents’ experience of depression, anxiety and loneliness and on their use of alcohol and/or drugs. Other sections of the interview concentrated on positive experiences and protective factors. P.16 Alcohol use Prevalence • Ninety two percent of the survey sample were current drinkers, about half of whom consumed alcohol on a weekly basis. • The vast majority of survey respondents who drank (84%) also reported that they engaged in heavy episodic or ‘binge’ drinking either intermittently or regularly, a fifth of whom did so at least twice a week. Problem drinking • Over 40% of survey respondents reported that their alcohol consumption made them ‘feel bad or guilty’ and that almost 60% felt they should reduce their intake of alcohol. • Responses to standardised measures of alcohol use (CAGE and AUDIT-C) suggest that the alcohol consumption patterns of a significant minority of online survey participants could be characterised as problematic, as they exceeded the threshold for hazardous drinking or probable alcohol misuse. • Qualitative findings suggest that regular or heavy alcohol consumption was strongly associated with a felt need to ‘mask’ distressing emotional states and that some used alcohol as a coping mechanism or a form of self-medication

Living in limbo. Homeless young people’s paths to housing.

This publication documents the findings of a qualitative longitudinal study of youth homelessness in Ireland. Initiated in 2013, the research aimed to ‘track’ homeless young people over time in order to more fully understand their trajectories through and possibly out of homelessness. A key aim was to generate in-depth knowledge and understanding of the factors, processes and dynamics that impact the housing transitions of homeless young people over time. The research makes an innovative departure from previous qualitative longitudinal studies of youth homelessness, both in Ireland and elsewhere, by including the views and perspectives of a family member of approximately one quarter of the study’s young people. The findings presented in Chapters 3–7 are concerned primarily with uncovering the drivers of young people’s ‘journeys’ through homelessness, with specific attention directed to their experiences of accessing housing

'Scripting' risk: young people and the construction of drug journeys.

The concept of risk, and its centrality to social life, is theoretically much discussed within late modernity. This paper examines young people's drug use and their drug transitions within a framework of risk drawing on findings from a longitudinal ethnographic study of drug use among young people in a Dublin inner-city community. Fifty-seven young people aged between 15 and 19 years, including non-users, recreational, and problematic drug users, were recruited into the study in 1998. Contact was re-established with 42 of the study's participants in 2001. Individual interviews and focus group discussions, supported by prolonged participation within the study site, were the primary methods of data collection. Drawing on the young people's situated accounts of their drug-taking events, routines, and practices across time, the findings highlight the complex social negotiations involved in the construction of drug journeys. Analyses of change in drug use behaviour over the study period demonstrate that drug transitions unfold alongside dynamic and changing perceptions of safety and risk. Responses to 'risk' within youth drug scenes were contextually shaped,open to situational revision over time, and, in many instances, drug taking was habitual, not calculated. Put differently, young people 'script' risk as they gain experience in the world. The type of calculus involved in the making of drug journeys is fluid and relational, socially contingent rather than static, and subject, at times, to constrained agency linked to social and economic marginalization. It is argued that models of risk that rely on individualistic and rationalistic assumptions struggle to accommodate the fluidity and contradiction that characterizes much drug use. Implications for strategies and initiatives aimed at reducing drug-related harm are discussed

Choosers or losers? young people's decisions about the use of drugs.

This paper documents selected findings from 'Choosers or losers? Influences on young people's decisions about drugs in inner-city Dublin.' This qualitative study sought detailed knowledge and understanding about drug use from the perspectives of young users and non-users of illicit drugs. As a starting point, the paper briefly describes the research strategy and documents the key methodological features of the study. Findings pertaining to the drug-taking behaviours of the study respondents categorised as 'drug takers' and 'problem drug takers' are then presented. The issue of drug choices - a core concern of the study - is addressed by examining how young people related their drug decisions. The findings draw attention to the complex social dynamics surrounding drug use as well as the likely array of interacting influences on drug-decisions. In particular, they highlight the critical capacities of young people in the decision to use, or alternatvely, not to use a range of illicit drugs

Drug pathways, transitions and decisions: the experiences of young people in an inner-city Dublin community.

This paper reports on selected findings from an ethnographic study of drug use by young people in a Dublin inner-city community considered to be "high risk" for problem drug use. In-depth individual interviews and focus-group discussions were used to generate extensive data on the social and drug-related experiences of young people ages 15-19 years. Fifty-seven young people were interviewed individually, and a subsample of 24 took part in focus-group discussions. The paper explores young people's drug "journeys" and documents emerging drug pathways. It examines the processes relevant to young people's drug transitions, drawing attention to the role of risk perceptions and risk boundaries in decision-making about drugs. The findings highlight the role of social/contextual influences in the onward transitions to new drugs and suggest that drug choices are strongly mediated by young people's experience of, and interaction with, their social environment

Engaging 'difficult-to-reach' young people in a study of inner-city drug use.

This chapter examines some of the methodological difficulties which arise in when attempting a qualitiative study of drug use by a group of 15 to 19 year olds in Dublin. Issues of consent and confidentiality arise when attempting to recruit interviewees from within the community. Gatekeepers- who could provide contact with the sample group - were needed. Contact needed to be sustained over a long period, and the participants' acceptance of the reseacher required considerable investment of time within the community. This was the case particularly with those who remained outside the treatment setting. Contact with the most elusive of interviewees was aided considerably by information supplied by existing participants in the survey. The most useful contact points were public places where young herion users gathered, and confidence could be established over time. Despite the considerable difficulties involved in carrying out this research, there was a suprisingly high number of young people willing to participate

Cocaine use in Ireland: an exploratory study.

In this paper the author presents results of the first study on cocaine use in Ireland. The research attempted to build up a picture of cocaine use nationally, using available indicators of drug use/misuse. The combined information from the following data sources is presented and analysed: law enforcement and supply statistics; drug treatment figures; school-going, college-going and general population surveys; morbidity and morality; and qualitative and ethnographic research. The perceptions of key informants and service providers, including drug service staff, Gardai and prison staff, youth and student workers, counsellors and doctors were sought. These are assessed under the headings of cocaine availability, the nature and extent of cocaine use, and implications for drug treatment and service provision. The conclusion drawn from both of these general information sources is that while opiates remain the primary drugs of misuse among drug users who access treatment, there is an increased likelihood of cocaine use among individuals whose main drug of misuse was heroin. The exploratory study of social/recreational cocaine was carried out using in depth interviews with ten adult cocaine users. An analysis of interview transcripts is presented under the following themes: socio-demographic characteristics of the interviewees; patterns of cocaine use and routes of administration; other drug use; first use of cocaine; frequency and contexts of cocaine use; availability, purity and price of cocaine; perceived attractive and unattractive aspects of cocaine; and, risk perceptions and self-regulation of cocaine intake. All of the study's respondents emphasised the social nature of their cocaine use and none reported 'problems' as a result of their use of the drug. The findings of the study strongly suggest an increased availability and use of cocaine, especially among certain groups of recreational poly-drug users. There are, however, also signs of increased cocaine use among opiate users in deprived areas of Dublin. The author recommends further research and monitoring of drug trends at local level to determine whether cocaine use is an expanding 'problem', or not

Understanding youth homelessness in Dublin city: key findings from the first phase of a longitudinal cohort study.

This report gives a summary of key findings from the first of a two-phase longitudinal study of young homeless people in Dublin city. The research commenced in September 2004. 40 young people were recruited and interviewed in-depth during a 6-month period, which extended to the early months of 2005