Let's Talk About Grief & Homelessness
Being homeless and in shelters is inevitable to initiate individuals predisposed to stress and mental problems. A vast amount of research exists on adolescence ages 15-24, examining the social and mental changes during this timeframe. The emergence of distinct, independent identities; self-consciousness; risky behaviors; sexual experiences; and emotional outbursts occurs naturally in this stage of life (Theurel & Gentaz, 2018). Imagine as an adolescent being subjected to these changes and couple that with being homeless. The adolescence will face more anxiety associated with being homeless.
Using a 28-item safety, housing stability, interpersonal relationships, immediate security, and concerns about the future survey (Rew et al., 2016) measured grief and loss’s positive or negative impacts in homeless adolescence. It was noted that this study was the first of its kind to measure the specific stressors of “safety on the streets, housing stability, interpersonal relationships, immediate security, and concerns about the future” (Rew et al., 2016, p. 17) in this population. The results reported that there were significant differences in levels of stress between homeless youths and university students. Additionally, results from this study show that this scale, with its 5 subscales, is reliable and valid for use with homeless or street-dependent youths.
One of the consequences of chronic homelessness is self-isolation and loneliness (Calvo & Carbonell, 2018). Perlman (1982) characterized loneliness as “the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person’s network of social relations is deficient in some important way, either quantitatively or qualitatively” (p. 31). The reactions experienced by this at-risk population are not intentional, social alienation and a detachment to society is an emotion felt by the housed and the unhoused. According to Rokach (2004), “It is widely believed that loneliness should not affect normal, healthy, and strong people” (p. 32). The general populace does not associate loneliness personally, but with those considered disengaged from society’s mainstream.
The differentiation of the concepts of loneliness is both positive and negative. Positive loneliness is characterized by voluntary separation from society as a time of renewal and refreshment. On the other hand, negative emotions and social loneliness are classified as “absence of an intimate figure or close emotional attachment; and the social component of loneliness stems from the absence of a broader group of contacts, and social networks” (Gierveld & Tilburg, 2006, p. 582). This study revealed that when working with the chronically homeless, paraprofessionals had observed self-isolation and loneliness in this population. Conversations, interventions, and legislation must address the core issues of social and emotional alienation to prevent a breakdown of public services to reintegrate the homeless population.
This state of void, emptiness, and isolation is a loss of a sense of self, identity, and stability (Calvo & Carbonell, 2018; Zehetmair et al., 2019). It is widely believed that “loneliness should not affect normal, healthy, and strong people; tend to identify it not with ourselves but with others, those that are considered marginal to the mainstream of our society” (Rokach, 2004, p. 33). It is a fallacy in belief that social alienation does not affect mainstream society and the homeless. In fact, 13.8% of adults in the United States have experienced the emotions of loss and loneliness (McGinty et al., 2020).
Family, I know this was a lot of information to digest. Let's think about it and meet here again next week. Until then, do what you can to make the world a better place in which we all must live!
All the best,
Dr. Cynthia B. Brown MSW
Founder CEO
The WayWesX17 Homeless Project
817.800.9610
Let's meet! Get on my calendar
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