Psychoanalytic thinking on the unhoused mind (original) (raw)
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Housing un-housed minds: complex multiple exclusion and the cycle of rejection revisited
Psychoanalytic Thinking On The Unhoused Mind (G. Brown, Ed.), 2019
Despite the best, and at times the worst, efforts of systems of care 'to include', there remains a group of people whose refusal to be included remains a problem both for themselves and for society as a whole. In this chapter, we seek to relocate the problems arising from the antisocial stance at the heart of this refusal from the internal world of the refuser to phenomena associated with what we have call psychosocial dis-memberment and the 'un-housed mind'. We explore the complex reciprocal relationship between the housed and the un-housed, between society's members and those whom we dis-member and we consider some possible implications for individual workers, staff teams, and organisations who are tasked with attempting to house, remember , or otherwise to accommodate some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
Housing Studies , 2019
This article reviews institutional responses to adult homeless people, to argue that there is a contemporary flourishing of debates about complex needs across homelessness research and practice fields. These understand housing need as a mental and physical health issue and a care and support need, with foundations in biographical and societal events, including trauma. Responses to complex needs are conceptualized as enterprising; fresh, proactive, preventative and positive. There are a range of legislative, policy and funding drivers for these responses, from across English homelessness, housing support and adult social care fields. At the same time, debates about what complex needs are, and how best to respond to them, are evident in international debates about homelessness models of support in the Global Western North. 'Complex needs' is defined as a travelling concept, which provides foundation for interventions in different locations. The article conceptualizes institutional machinations around the governance of complex needs as 'new markets of vulnerability'. This term theorizes new markets and new marketizing strategies in the context of a larger reconfiguring of the mixed economies of welfare around market mimicking devices and practices. Intensification of activities around complex needs give insight into processes of neoliberalisation in contemporary modernized welfare 'mixes'.
Struggling along : The Possibilities for Experience among the Homeless Mentally III
As et up on a basketball court in the basement of a large government center in downtown Boston. If she is not staying in the shelter, she is sleeping in a psychiatric hospital or on the city's streets. She considers herself "estranged from society" since the state took her child away ten years ago; she now spends much of her time bumming cigarettes and reading the Bible. She bums cigarettes because she lacks money and does not want to start buying packs of her own lest she pick up an expensive habit. The Bible helps to lessen the noise, worries, and distractions that are part of shelter life. "If I can just read the Bible for 15, 16 hours a day." she says, "and just block out all the rest, then I'm okay." Given the lack of calm in the shelter, and Alice's own troubles, the task is not an easy one. When we cross paths in the building and I ask how she is doing, she often says she is "struggling along." Her response aptly describes what life is like for her and many of the 50 other "homeless mentally ill" who sleep on the basketball court. The nature of the struggle, where people live a routine existence marked by stress, fear, and distractions, has led me to question one of the basic goals of my ethnographic work there. I set out to understand what Alice and her companions experience every day. But the apparent absence of some of the distinguishing features of "experience"-reflexive interiority, hermeneutical depth, nanative flow-leads me to question the universal relevance of the term.
2001
Current-day psychiatric treatment of severely disturbed populations tends to focus on the biological, behavioral, and social dimensions of rehabilitation. This paper addresses the relative neglect of the complex psychodynamic and interpersonal aspects of treatment of individuals who are homeless and mentally ill by presenting two clinical cases that are discussed from various psychoanalytic frames of reference. Based on their clinical experiences, the authors conclude that psychoanalysis offers valuable frameworks to guide the treatment process and the structure of the treatment setting for individuals who are homeless and suffering from severe psychiatric illness.
Approaching Homelessness: An Integral Re-Frame
World Futures, 2007
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article maybe used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Psychology and Developing Society, Sage , 2015
This article is concerned with the relationship that exists between mental health practitioners and historical survivors-the mentally ill poor patient and the homeless poor. The writing seeks to explore a possibility of authentic relatedness in which psychologists can listen to and engage with those who exist at socioeconomic margins. The present effort is based in a belief that in dehumanising others and de-recognising the struggles of their existence, we dehumanise and split a part of our own humanity too. Our humanness is deeply connected to that of others and any aspiration towards growth is inseparable with how we relate with those whose dignity we continuously deny, bypass or render insignificant. The disregard, apathy and indifference towards the mentally ill, poor and homeless in India (as elsewhere in the world) is so pronounced that at best we consider them as non-beings, at worst as the repositories of evil and all social ills. Rather than being able to question the oppressive
The role of clinical psychology for homeless people
2000
Recent research has suggested that mental health problems are over-represented in the homeless population. Currently mental health services are under-utilised by this group in proportion to need. It is often assumed that psychological intervention is unlikely to be helpful with a client group where basic needs are often not met. The Transtheoretical Model of Change is used as a framework to describe the complex, dynamic processes that are likely to impact on a homeless person with mental health problems' ability to seek help for their mental health difficulties. This model is also applied to services. The empirical evidence for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a help or hindrance to help-seeking behaviour is examined. This study asked homeless people to identify their own needs and explored current working practices of the few clinical psychologists who work with them directly. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to explore the role for clinical psychology ...