Exploring Constructions of Self and Identity amongst South Africa s Homeless Population

Francis, Aim e-Kariba

Exploring Constructions of Self and Identity amongst South Africa s Homeless Population

Thesis / Dissertation

2024

Abstract

Homelessness in South Africa has rapidly increased in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the majority of research into homelessness has focused on its causation and alleviation through macro-levelled interventions concerning housing, poverty and unemployment, not enough research has been dedicated to understanding homelessness from the perspective of those experiencing it. The following cross-sectional, qualitative study sought to investigate homelessness by exploring constructions of identity and self amongst a sample of 15 self-identified homeless individuals in Johannesburg, South Africa. Guided by the social constructionist principle that “language produces and constructs” one's experience of oneself as well as that of the other, the study focused on participants' use of language as a representation of their reality, experiences and consequently their identities (Burr, 1995, p. 44). Following the transcription of semi-structured interviews conducted with participants, the study utilised a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to determine the various identity discourses unsheltered individuals drew on as well as the subject positions they occupied and lastly to discern the agentic possibilities available to participants within these positions. Of the seven discourses identified, the two most prominent related to absence and the homeless identity itself. While subject positions were polarised between “good” and “bad” homelessness responses, they revealed sites of power and resistance along with mediated expressions of agency. Although these findings did not produce tangible intervention or policy outcomes, they illuminated the complexity not only of homelessness but the construction of identity and self within marginalised sectors of society. As a final contribution, the study presents a discursive base to consider the interpellated implications of discourse, power, and resistance within a subset of South Africa's homeless population. Keywords: Homelessness; Identity; Social Constructionism; Discourse Analysis; South Africa; Absence

Keywords

Psychology

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