28 Simon Communities in Ireland “I found it very difficult living out on my own after being two and a half years in residential care because of all the support I got. The first four weeks I was ok, I was fine and then I just got lonely ... just to have a conversation with somebody like … It just came all to a head for me, I was sitting in my flat and I was just saying, ‘Is this what my life is supposed to be?’, you know at this age, you know being on my own and I tried to take my own life.” (Rosie, 38) A distinct absence of family and/or peer networks, as well as lack of follow-on or aftercare support following stays in institutional settings, were very apparent in the women’s narratives: “I felt like I was left on my own after leaving care, you’re out there in the big bad world and you have to face everything alone” (Emma, 18). Several recalled that they had moved directly from institutional settings to homeless accommodation with low or no aftercare support or that, alternatively, that they had ‘nowhere to go’ at the point of discharge: “To tell you the truth I only half wanted to get out of the prison” (Caoimhe, 35). With the passing of time, these women became further entrenched in a pattern of housing instability, an experience that exacerbated already significant mental health and/or substance use problems and also propelled a number along a path of ongoing criminal justice contact. In the following account, Debbie, who had been “in the system since the day I went into care at 11”, described the ongoing pattern of ‘institutional cycling’ perpetuated by the absence of a stable home. “I got out of one psychiatric hospital to go to the B&B and I overdosed and ended up in another psychiatric hospital. Then I moved to a B&B and I was there for nine months and I started shoplifting and then started goin’ into prison ... I went to a half-way house from prison but I’ve never been given any, this is places that I get, like here hostel 1 or hostel 2, that is all they’ll give me.” (Debbie, 27) Almost all of the women who reported patterns of institutional cycling had homeless histories that spanned a significant period of their lives. Those who embarked upon this pattern of movement between institutional settings, including homeless hostels, almost always reported poor mental health related to (often multiple) traumatic life events and experiences. These women’s stories demonstrate their extreme marginalisation as well as their complex and overlapping needs in relation to housing, health and life skills. They also highlight the far- reaching effects of institutional cycling and its negative impact on women’s ability to exit homelessness and sustain housing. Women’s Interactions with Service Providers Women’s perceptions of service providers and their accounts of their service interactions varied. While the conditions and resources available to them within individual services influenced their perspectives, equally important were their perceptions of how they were treated by staff members within these settings. As highlighted earlier, a majority of the women had life histories characterised by economic and social disadvantage and most had experienced multiple adversities throughout their lives. Their marginality, and the economic constraints that characterised their everyday lives, significantly restricted women’s ability to act independently in seeking a resolution to their unstable living situations. That is not to say that the women were passive victims of negative life events; on the contrary, most demonstrated considerable agency in seeking a way out of homelessness (Mayock et al., 2015). Nonetheless, women who experience homelessness face considerable stigma, stereotyping and discrimination in society generally (Shier et al., 2011) and also, in some cases, in the context of their interactions with services (Biederman and Nichols, 2014; Robinson, 2003; Sznajder-Murray and Slesnick, 2011).
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
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