"Jag trillade nog mellan stolarna" - Kvalitativ studie om vägarna in i och ut ur hemlöshet samt insatserna på vägen

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this explorative study was to analyse five people’s life stories – in a city in the southern part of Sweden – regarding their own experiences of the way into homelessness and their views and experiences of support, assistance and treatment measures from social services, medical service and NGOs. The aim has also been to find out what kind of support and treatment measures the respondents were missing according to themselves. The life stories were analysed on the basis of narratives expressed in their stories. A qualitative content analysis was conducted based on predefined themes. The stories were analysed on the basis of Foucault’s disciplinary power and Bourdieu’s theories of social capital. The study found that the interviewees all had their own unique ways into homelessness, but when they once were in a homeless situation their stories shared many common denominators. The interviewees shared the experiences of ‘falling between the cracks’. Sometimes they didn’t get the most expedient intervention, and sometimes no one at all. They shared the same fears of living ‘on the streets’ and they all shared the same feeling of not being worthy and being an outsider. The interviewees all expressed the importance of receiving help from the social services, and having friends and relatives who can provide support and where they can stay overnight if necessary. The interviewees spoke warmly about the concept of Housing first (HF), as opposed to ‘the staircase of transition’, and they wanted to make HF permanent all over Sweden. They also wanted more sheltered accommodations in case of emergency, so that all homeless persons can be guaranteed a place to stay for the night. Many interviewees also requested better cooperation between the different actors in social work.