Practice with Homeless Persons: the Prospect of the “Invisible” Personality Return

Abstract

Objective. The article analyzes the practices of homeless assistance programs and the possibility of developing a methodological approach, where the restoration of the lost subjectivity of the individual will become one of the methodological foundations of the psychology of homelessness. Background. The problem of homelessness is urgent both for Russia and foreign countries. Improving the effectiveness of the re-socialization practices for people living on the street implies a deeper understanding of the psychology of the homeless by social services. Methodology. This article considers the methodological principles of the historical-evolutionary approach (A.G. Asmolov), the approach to the analysis of cultural and personal development from the viewpoint of the chronotope (N.N. Tolstykh), the principle of supra-situational activity (V.A. Petro¬vsky), the idea of personality development pathways in challenging conditions (D.A. Leontiev), etc. Conclusions. It is concluded that assistance to the homeless is of an ad hoc nature and mostly includes the provision of material and emergency support. The authors propose a comprehensive model based on the idea of the homeless personality returning and upholding the following principles: 1) retention of activity on the side of the person, 2) effort on the part of the person, 3) maintenance of oversituational activity, 4) reliance on the personality, its potential, 5) support and organization of social relations, 6) polysystem.