Advisor

Softas-Nall, Basilia

Committee Member

Johnson, Brian D.

Committee Member

Hess, Robyn S.

Department

Counseling Psychology

Institution

University of Northern Colorado

Type of Resources

Text

Place of Publication

Greeley (Colo.)

Publisher

University of Northern Colorado

Date Created

8-1-2015

Genre

Thesis

Extent

608 pages

Digital Origin

Born digital

Description

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to illustrate the contextualized, multifaceted life stories of individuals who are homeless by exploring the reciprocal influence between (a) attachment, (b) and resiliency themes. In-depth narratives were gathered from 13 adults who were currently homeless and residing in one of two transitional homeless shelters in the Rocky Mountain region. While participant narratives as a whole are stand-alone results for revealing stereotype-challenging counter-narrative elements, cross-narrative analysis was conducted to explore commonalities of themes. Nine tentative themes emerged, including: Plurality of Pathways, It is Scary to Become Homeless, Adversity and Resilience Abound, Individualized Coping Strategies, Catch-22 of Individual-Level Protective Factors, Secure Versus Insecure: Which is More Adaptive, Importance of Positive Attachment Ties, Importance of Community Response, and Context: Tangible and Relational Resources. Results are used to discuss implications for possible inroads for homelessness prevention and intervention, highlight strengths and protective factors that can be drawn on clinically, and develop a more layered and contextualized understanding of pathways into and current experiences of homelessness.

Degree type

PhD

Degree Name

Doctoral

Language

English

Local Identifiers

Roche_unco_0161D_10406

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by author.

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