Experience of family among homeless individuals

The purposes of this article are to describe family experiences, both childhood and later, of homeless individuals, to propose some theoretical considerations of the influence of the family on homelessness, and to suggest programmatic structures and philosophies that consider the effect of these family experiences on the homeless experience. As part of a study of homeless people's health concerns, 40 homeless people were interviewed for 1 1/2-6 hours, each time using a semi-structured format. During the course of being interviewed, all individuals discussed experiences in their families. The commonalities among individuals' family stories were striking. As a result, experience of family was identified as an important theme in homeless people's lives. A thematic analysis of family stories was performed. As the result of the power of these stories, some theoretical considerations about homelessness that include the experience of family are proposed. Programmatic implications for psychiatric nursing's care of homeless people is discussed.