The early and later-life care experiences of individuals using short-term homeless services: an attachment-informed interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the care experiences of individuals using short-term homeless services in the UK, who identify as being neglected in childhood. The study endeavours to give voice to the subjective experiences of homeless individuals in these specific domains and optimise therapeutic and housing services provided to individuals from this sub-population. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews containing elements of the “Adult Attachment Interview” (AAI) were conducted with eight individuals who had experienced childhood neglect and used short-term homeless services in adulthood. Interviews were analysed using an attachment informed version of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (AI-IPA). Findings Analysis parsed participants’ data into four master themes: “Everything was wrecking all the time”: Unsafe spaces; “Kind of pretending I was […] dead”: Strategies for survival; “My mum didn’t believe me”: Traumatic self-shaping; and “My first reckoning with self”: Restoration & Recovery. Together, themes indicated that participants had undergone traumatic early and later-life care experiences but were engaged in idiosyncratic recovery journeys. The meanings that participants derived from their past experiences of neglect were nuanced and interacted with their current relationships in complex and highly personal ways. Originality/value By applying an innovative methodology to a predominantly unchartered empirical area, this project extends existing research and presents a meaningful set of results. Implications for the delivery of short-term homeless services and therapeutic practitioners are discussed.