"Jag känner mig själv bäst" - En undersökning om vad hemlösa människor själva anser att de behöver för hjälp

Sammanfattning: Author: Elisabeth Mårtensson & Marianne Vagnemark Title: “I know myself best” – A study of what people with drug- and alcohol problems believe that they need help with [translated title] Supervisor: Arne Kristiansen Assessor: Gunilla Lindén The purpose of this study was to examine what people with drug- and alcohol problems believe that they need for kind of help if a change would become possible in their lives. Another reason why we did this study was because we wanted to examine what people with drug- and alcohol problems think about the Social service. Many addicts find themselves so deep into an addiction, that it can be hard for them to find motivation. Do users and social workers have the same perception of the necessary elements for a person to be able to change his or her life? We have for our study interviewed 26 homeless people with drug- and alcohol problems and seven social workers. The reason why we choose to interview that many homeless people was because we wanted to bring forward their perspective. According to social psychology, humans develop their emotions, thoughts, actions and attitudes within a social context and in interaction with other people. If a change would become possible, the addict must acquire new social identities, experience new things and meet new people without drug problems. Housing First is a new kind of perspective on how to get away from homelessness and drug problems. The basic idea is that homeless people have the same need for housing and social support as everybody else. The goal is that the homeless immediately should move into a property and after that, receives individually tailored help. A conclusion we can draw is that many of the addicts we interviewed believes that a home they can call their own, is an important factor in order to change their lives. Housing First may then be a solution to that problem. In this study, we have used materials that dealing with subjects like homelessness, drug abuse, Housing First and Social Psychology.