C H A P T E R 3 Homeless Women’s Service Use Patterns and Experiences This chapter of the report documents the findings to emerge from a secondary analysis of data from a biographical study of homeless women in Ireland (Mayock and Sheridan, 2012a,b). As documented in the previous chapter, the sixty participating women were recruited through a range of accommodation and support services targeting homeless women in Dublin, Cork and Galway. All were either currently homeless or had experienced homelessness during the six months prior to interview. We start by providing a sample profile, including information on the women in terms of their age, ethnicity, living situations at the time of interview, the age of their first homeless experiences and the duration of their homelessness. Selected data from the biographical interviews are then used to build a detailed account of the women’s experience of homelessness, their service utilisation patterns and their experiences of accessing homeless and/or domestic violence services. We examine the circumstances surrounding women’s initial entry to services and the challenges they faced when presenting to services for the first time. The experiences that influenced women’s service use patterns and the ways in which they attempted to manage their homelessness, particularly with the passing of time, are then discussed in some detail. Attention is also directed to the patterns of ‘institutionalised cycling’ that emerged strongly from the accounts of women who had lengthy homeless histories. We also examine women’s interactions with service providers and their perceived service needs. Sample Profile Age and Ethnicity The sixty women interviewed were aged between 18 and 62 years, with the average age of the sample being 34.8 years. Twenty women were aged between 18 and 29; twenty-six between 30 and 39; six between 40 and 49; and the remaining eight women were over the age of 50. Forty- three of the women were of either Irish3 (n = 38) or UK (n = 5) origin while the remaining seventeen participants were migrant women. Eleven of these migrant women were originally from the EU (ten were from Eastern European countries) and six were originally from non-EU countries (including countries in Asia, Africa and South America). 3 Six of these women identified as Irish Travellers.
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
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