EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY IN EUROPE International and European Perspecti

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EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCEHOMELESSNESS AND
POVERTY IN EUROPE International and European
PerspectivesPARIS, 18TH SEPTEMBER 2009

• Seminar 6 Homelessness and Poverty National
  Case Studies
• Homelessness in Croatia
• Lynette ikic-Micanovic (Institute of Social
  Sciences, Ivo Pilar, Zagreb)

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Introduction

• HOMELESS STUDY CROATIA 2009
• pioneering national study -- first qualitative
  study with the homeless in Croatia
• project is in its initial stages fieldwork
  started earlier this year
• aims to provide a fuller understanding of the
  perceptions and experiences of the homeless in
  Croatia
• This project is funded by the ERSTE Foundation

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Post-transition Croatia

• Post-transition countries experienced significant
  socio-economic and political changes in which
  economic reforms and political liberalisation
  transformed institutional structures, including
  social services, beyond recognition.
• Social policy in socialist countries was part of
  the ideology integrated in the political systems
  and part of the political rhetoric
• Some advantages included
• full employment, social security, food/ flat
  subventions, free health care, free education,
  gender equality, etc
• (although some authors have argued in reality
  these social policies were far from idealsome
  were more privileged Szalai Zrincak)

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Post-transition Croatia

• The transition phase of the Croatian economy from
  a socialist to a market economy was complicated
  by the war (1991-1995)
• This had a devastating impact on Croatias
  economic and social fabric characterised by
  hyperinflation and a decline in output,
  especially industrial output, depreciation of
  the countrys currency, increasing rates of
  unemployment, higher levels of poverty, and the
  growth of an informal economy
• (Human Development Report 1997).
• -produced an enormous population of poor
  unemployed persons, displaced persons, refugees
  dependant on relatives, friends, humanitarian
  organizations and the state
• -marked lack of NGOs in Croatia in the early
  1990s

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Post-transition Croatia

• Studies have found that there was a rapid and
  large growth of social inequalities in all
  transition countries (Bicanic Franicevic, 2005)
• -elimination of job security/higher
  unemployment
• -increasing social insecurity (adequate health
  care/social benefits)
• -decrease in living standard (explosion of
  public utility and food prices)

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Research on poverty in Croatia

• Knowledge about the incidence and scope of
  poverty in Croatia is very limited as little
  academic research was conducted on poverty until
  late 1990s in Croatia
• There is no official poverty line in Croatia
• -survey-based social statistics were not
  developed in Croatia in the pre-transition period
• There was no need for data on poverty,
  inequality during socialism /this phenomena was
  largely ignored by policymakers

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Research on poverty in Croatia

• However since transition, there has been an
  increasing need for this kind of data.
• Some examples of studies on poverty carried out
  since transition
• 1) World Bank and the Central Bureau of
  Statistics (Croatia) conducted joint national
  research on poverty in 1998 (World Bank, 2001),
• -a measure of absolute poverty was used, based
  on the FoodEnergy Intake (FEI) method
• -it was found that about 5 of the population
  was below the poverty line.

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Research on poverty in Croatia

• 2) Poverty Monitoring Study (Centre for the
  Promotion of Social Teachings of the Church and
  Croatian Caritas)
• -investigated financial difficulties of
  households, subjective poverty, trust in
  institutions, attitudes towards public assets,
  solidarity and willingness
• 3) UNDP study - Human Development Report
  2006-comprehensive analysis of social exclusion
  issues in Croatia and examines the ways in which
  individuals and groups of people may find
  themselves socially marginalized due to limited
  access to social services, employment, education,
  housing, and human rights.

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Research on poverty in Croatia

• Shortcomings
• very little statistical data are available on
  poverty dynamics in Croatia (on how long people
  remain in poverty and what happens to them during
  that period).
• a number of vulnerable groups are either not
  sufficiently covered by research or else are too
  small or hidden from large-scale surveys such as
  the homeless

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Homelessness in Croatia

• The homeless have become an increasingly
  vulnerable group in Croatia and are the definite
  losers of the transition
• Evidence
• 1) only 1 of GDP for unemployed and the poor
  in Croatia (Babic 2007)
• 2) more and more shelters have been opened,
  particularly in the last decade
• -7 more shelters are planned throughout Croatia
  -- Pula, Vukovar, Slavonski Brod, Vinkovci,
  Dubrovnik, Sisak, and Petrinja)
• 3) Media analysis -- only 10 articles were
  found on homelessness 20 years prior to 1991
  compared to over 400 in the following years.

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Homelessness in Croatia

• Following the collapse of socialism, Croatia was
  literally unprepared for a phenomenon such as
  homelessness
• -marked lack of resources and understanding.
• The homeless in Croatia
• - no legal status there is no law in Croatia
  that guarantees the social inclusion of the
  homeless (enormous problems for persons with no
  addresses since benefits or rights to employment
  are only available through the welfare
  system/employment bureau based on county
  residence)
• - no political representation/lobby groups no
  one is responsible for their welfare
• - no national housing programme for vulnerable
  groups such as the homeless
• -no national prevention programmes (e.g., for
  youth who grew up in institutions)

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Homelessness in Croatia

• Rough estimates on the number of homeless range
  around 400 for Zagreb, between 50-100 for Osijek,
  around 30 in both Split and Rijeka, and between
  20-25 in Varadin (Beovan 2008)
• No qualitative research has been conducted with
  this marginalised group as yet (only one
  quantitative study was conducted on the
  socio-demographic features of the homeless in
  Zagreb in 2002 (Bakula-Andelic ostar 2006).

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Research Methodology

• As almost no ethnographic research has been
  conducted with the homeless in Croatia, this
  study aims to contribute new data (on a
  completely unresearched social group in Croatia)
• Anthropological field methods
• participant observation and in-depth
  interviews/life histories
• (with special attention to ethical
  considerations since this work is with a
  marginalised population in crisis).

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Research Methodology

• Fieldwork was carried out in 7 cities
• Zagreb (capital) Varadin Karlovac Osijek
  Rijeka Split and Zadar by our team of
  researchers from the Institute Ivo Pilar and a
  number of students
• Since the homeless are a hard-to-reach group,
  research was mainly conducted at shelters
  throughout Croatia (arrangements were always made
  with shelter coordinators prior to fieldwork).
• Shelter life can offer a number of provisions
  such as food water, shelter, security, safe
  sleep, a place for their possessions, health
  care, structure to their day, companionship,
  independence, dignity, self respect, hope (but
  this largely depends on the shelter i.e., their
  objectives, services and the staff)

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Field locations
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Research Methodology

• Sample more men (60) than women (6)
• -Men more frequently use shelters of this type
  (separate facilities for women are often not
  available or are inappropriate).
• The project was designed to give voice to
  participants
• - interview transcriptions are collections of
  their perspectives that were sometimes confirmed
  or refuted by other shelter users and shelter
  workers (credibility issue)
• Sample of women still too small for statistical
  analysis

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Shelter Sample

• Homeless Study 2009
• Ages of research participants
• N57

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Shelter Sample

• Marital status
• Over half of the males in this sample are
  divorced (55) while a third are single (33)
• Education
• Most of the males in this sample finished
  secondary school (69) while a quarter either
  have only 4 or 8 grades of primary school (25).
  Only three have completed a tertiary education.

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Shelter Sample

• Years of formal employment (prior to homelessness)

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Shelter Sample

• N.B. None of the research participants had
  full-time/part-time jobs in the formal economy at
  the time of interview

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Shelter Sample

• Periods of Homelessness

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Paths into homelessness

• Their paths into homelessness include
• -violence and trauma (abuse and neglect) in
  childhood (dysfunctional families,
  institutionalised childhoods)
• -job loss and not being able to get another job
  (even after years of work experience)
• -poor health
• -family break-up following divorces
• -loss of home/displacement due to war
• -imprisonment
• -flight from abusive relationships

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Social exclusion and marginalisation

• Findings show that the homeless in this study are
  not only economically poor but often culturally,
  socially and symbolically poor)
• -low earnings/no economic capital/limited
  resources
• -low-educational backgrounds/lack of cultural
  capital
• -lack social networks
• -no political/social/ symbolic power
• They are often excluded and marginalized from
  participating in activities (economic, social,
  cultural, symbolic) that are the norm for other
  people

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Ethnographic examples

• Economic poverty
• many participants in this study have financial
  problems and do not feel valued, independent or
  connected to others
• Explanations
• - they work in the shadow economy (e.g.,
  collection of recyclables-bottles, construction
  work, care work, etc) that is characterised by
  irregular work, difficult conditions, poor pay,
  lack of security, discrimination / ill-treatment
  and no health coverage
• The risk of poverty is particularly high among
  this group because their low levels of education
  are combined with unemployment
• N.B. Just over a third of the sample has bank
  accounts (37) while two thirds (63) do not have
  a bank account

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Ethnographic examples

• Nutritional poverty
• Food (depending on the city) is
• -sometimes only available once a day
• -not available on Sundays
• -soup kitchens are sometimes too far away and
  public transport is unaffordable
• Many participants and shelter workers mentioned
  hunger as a problem of day-to-day living
  especially if they lack social networks (cravings
  for particular foods were very common)

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Ethnographic examples

• Nutritional poverty (cont.)
• coping mechanisms that have been developed among
  the poor relating to food (e.g., producing ones
  own food, receiving food from relatives, cooking
  meals, fruit and vegetable gardens, food storage
  for winter) are not options for the homeless in
  this study
• N.B. it is still legal to share food in public
  places in Croatia as there is no criminalisation
  of intervention

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Ethnographic examples

• Poor Health
• Being sick is more complicated when you live in a
  shelter because remedies such as good nutritional
  food/special dietary food and rest are beyond
  reach
• Strategies -often take aches and pains for
  granted -treat themselves by buying their own
  medications
• -go to doctors who will make exceptions if
  they dont have cover
• -dont go at all
• N.B. Almost three quarters of sample (74) have
  health insurance while as many as a quarter (26)
  do not have health cover

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Ethnographic examples

• Poor health (cont.)
• In addition, homeless people are further
  disadvantaged because they often have to cope
  with a whole range of health problems such as
• Mental health problems (PTSP, schizophrenia,
  depression)
• Addictions to nicotine, drugs, alcohol, gambling
• Acute and chronic illnesses
• Problem shelters often lack trained professional
  staff often dont even have a social worker

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Ethnographic examples

• Poor health (cont.)
• Fatigue
• -early mornings get up and out
• -not able to sleep in
• -do not have the luxury of staying in bed
• -often are deprived of sleep because it is too
  noisy for them to sleep
• -lack of privacy (men and women have to share
  sleeping/bathroom spaces)
• -lack of security (often do not feel that they
  are safe or that their belongings are secure)
• N.B. homeless persons can fall asleep in a public
  place and not get arrested for vagrancy)

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Ethnographic examples

• Social Poverty
• The participants in this study often lack social
  capital networks to alleviate any hardship
• - by choice (ashamed of their homelessness so
  hide it from others)
• - or have been disconnected from former work
  circles of support or family support
• - or have already exhausted all channels of
  assistance and do not wish to further burden
  relatives/friends

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Ethnographic examples

• Social poverty (cont.)
• As a result their days often lack structure and
  meaning
• - Shelter rules means that they have to be
  outdoors for 12 hours a day -- difficult when
  physical conditions are harsh (when it is cold,
  windy and raining outside) and when they are
  sick
• -being alone (with nowhere to go and nothing to
  do) does not alleviate the psychic conditions of
  homelessness such as hopelessness, despair, and
  loneliness.

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Concluding remarks

• Need to take into account the cumulative effect
  of all these problems in a context of
  non-recognition, stigmatisation and lack of
  support
• Homelessness is hard living particularly when
  their access to different forms of capital
  (economic, cultural and social) are limited no
  political/social/symbolic power
• Findings from this study suggest that
  homelessness is a mortifying (Goffman) and
  impoverishing experience in which a person is
  stripped of all identity and deprived of so many
  rights (to housing, suitable healthcare, social
  services, a respectable job, self-dignity, social
  networks, legal rights, etc.)

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Recommendations

• Systematic monitoring of shelter users and the
  wider homeless population by teams of qualified
  persons (assessment of needs, provision of
  comprehensive information and assistance to
  people)
• Programmes need to be developed at the local
  level to meet different contextual needs funds
  should be given to cities/local communities to
  develop their own continuum of care
• e.g., Introduction of public bath houses, day
  centres, doctors/dentists surgery for the
  homeless, subsidized accommodation for homeless
  persons

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Recommendations

• Professional qualified and sensitized staff at
  shelters to deal with the wide scope of problems
• Managers/supervisors at shelters to facilitate
  better communication with Ministries and other
  stakeholders for financial support
• Organisation (among all age groups) of suitable
  voluntary work to increase public awareness of
  this problem
• Introduction of prevention programmes-changes in
  social policy addressing the needs of those who
  are at risk of becoming homeless (eg
  institutionalised youth-child welfare
  institutions, youth who grew up in dysfunctional
  families

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Thank you