Street and home. A theoretical approach to an understanding of the homelessness from the protagonists’ point of view

Abstract

In this article, the author approaches the study of the phenomenon of homelessness from the point of view of its own protagonists, that is, agents who choose to act and are aware of their own actions; a perspective that is almost completely absent, both in the study of the homelessness as well as in our daily interactions with them. To this effect, the paper’s design proposes an approach in four complementary directions: an approximation to the meaning given by homeless men and women to their own life experiences; an understanding of the behaviors and interactions that homeless establish in their daily routines; their dialogue with other discourses of marginalization interwoven in the construction of homelessness; and the relationship of homelessness with its context and other wider processes that encompass its development.