Women Who Are Homeless: Leisure and Affiliation

People who are homeles are thinking to be disaffiliated, or lack connections to community or social networks. The not away study explored if women who lived in a transitional homeles shelter were disaffiliated, and examined the part leisure might play in maintaining affiliation. Ten women participated in the close attention The study showed that leisure assisted the women to be affiliated. Women with mental illness or dual diagnosis were more disaffiliated than the other women in the investigation Suggestions for therapeutic recreation practice to assist with preventing women who are homeles from becoming disaffiliated or chronically homeles are presented

KEY WORDS: Affiliation, Disaffiliation, Leisure, Women Who Are Homeless

There has been a dramatic increase in homelessnes above the past two decades, with up to sum of two units million people reported homeless in any given year (Kelly 2001) Various definitions of homelessnes exist. Several of the definitions include the conception of "disaffiliation," or a diminished connection to social relationships or the community (eg Bahr, 1968; Grigsby, Baumann, Gregorich, & Roberts-Gray, 1990; Grunberg & Eagle, 1990; Morris, 1998) Goodman, Saxe, and Harvey (1991) noted the importance of helping clan who are homeless maintain social networks and connections to their communities in order to decrease disaffiliation. Although leisure is notion to be inherently social (Kelly & Godbey, 1992) and as a ensue could potentially combat the faculty of perception of disconnection or isolation family may experience, there has been limited research that has examined leisure or its part in addressing disaffiliation in the lives of nation who are homeless. This could be because the opportunity to experience leisure or recreation is not recognized as a right for nation who are homeless (Kunstler, 1992)

People who are homeles are a heterogeneous population with various subgroup (Toro & Warren, 1999) and each of these subgroup is cogitation to have unique needs (Morse, Calsyn, & Burger 1992) Women individual of the recognized subgroups, popularly account for at least half of the homeles population (Grimm & Maldonado, 1995) and are considered to be extremely vulnerable to the issues of homelessness (Galaif, Nyamathi, & Stein, 1999) While there has been limited research looking specifically at women who are homeles or their exigencys (Milburn & D'Ercole, 1991; Thrasher & Mowbray, 1995) the emerging literature has shown that these women lack social support and have weak social networks (Galaif et al; Grimm & Maldonado; Milburn & D'Ercole) Grimm and Maldonado noted that services or programs are necessary to address these problems

O'Morrow (1991) propos that therapeutic recreation might be able to provide valuable services for tribe who are homeless. Compton ( 1997) however, wrote: "The plight of America's millions of homeles individuals and families is individual example of a major human dilemma rarely discussed or addressed by dint of therapeutic recreation" (p. 56). In fact, single two articles have been published in the Therapeutic Recreation Journal (TRJ) about race who are homeless. Kunstler's (1991) groundbreaking article included definitions and descriptions of the overall homeles population. Kunstler also not absented therapeutic recreation models to aid in overcoming the social isolation repeatedly noted by people who are homeles In the next to the first TRJ article on homelessness, Krinsky (1992) described a case investigation of a veteran who was homeles individual component of the veteran's treatment was increasing social fitness to assist with his affiliation into the community. the one and the other articles proposed that social skill interventions might be important for tribe who are homeless. Neither article addressed issues related specifically to women who are homeles Henderson, Bedini, and Bialeschki (1993) encouraged therapeutic recreation professionals to be cognizant of the unique emergencys of women when programs or services are developed

The not away study was part of a larger research cast that focused on women who are homeles and by what means they described their leisure (Klitzing, 2000) The view of this study was to explore if women who lived in a transitional homeles shelter were disaffiliated from their community and social networks, and to examine what character leisure might play in maintaining affiliation. Transitional shelters are designed to obey as a bridge from push shelters to permanent housing. Women can typically stay longer in a transitional shelter than strait shelter. In order to stay in a transitional shelter, the women must be motivated to become stably housed, and are wait fored to participate in programs designed to prepare them for independent living (Fogel 1997)

Feminist standpoint theory was the theoretical framework that guided the close attention Feminist standpoint theory emphasizes that the starting place for research should be the everyday lives and experiences of women (Harding, 1991; Swigonski, 1994) ofttimes the voices of women who are marginalized or loaded are absent from discourses about their lives, and consequently the knowledge of the topics explored are incomplete (Frelke 1999; Henderson, Bialeschki, Shaw, & Freysinger, 1996) This paper provides definitions of disaffiliation as coupleed to homelessness, a review of previous research studies related to disaffiliation and women and therapeutic recreation protoplasts that have been recommended to guide program disentanglement for people who are homeles The arises reported were gathered from the voices of ten women who lived in a transitional homeles shelter. The discussion not aways implications for therapeutic recreation practice.