Antonio Tosi

Re-housing and Social Reintegration of Homeless People: A Case Study from Milan

This article examines the different approaches taken by two social associations in Milan, regarding the role of re-housing in the reintegration of homeless people into the community/society. A marked improvement in the quality of life and the attainment of a varying degree of independence following reintegration was recorded for all those interviewed. At the same time, however, most continue facing problems and in several cases the independence achieved was limited. Re-housing homeless people in ‘normal’ accommodation is a basic ingredient of the social reintegration process, because of the power of ‘normality’ and the values that have historically been constructed around living at/having a ‘home’—freedom, security, privacy, comfort. The persistence of fragile situations sets the limits of reintegration, establishes the framework within which the meaning of the integration achieved must be understood and assessed, and demonstrates that taking responsibility for those in fragile situations even after reint...This article examines the different approaches taken by two social associations in Milan, regarding the role of re-housing in the reintegration of homeless people into the community/society. A marked improvement in the quality of life and the attainment of a varying degree of independence following reintegration was recorded for all those interviewed. At the same time, however, most continue facing problems and in several cases the independence achieved was limited. Re-housing homeless people in ‘normal’ accommodation is a basic ingredient of the social reintegration process, because of the power of ‘normality’ and the values that have historically been constructed around living at/having a ‘home’—freedom, security, privacy, comfort. The persistence of fragile situations sets the limits of reintegration, establishes the framework within which the meaning of the integration achieved must be understood and assessed, and demonstrates that taking responsibility for those in fragile situations even after reintegration ought to be a primary policy objective. The article addresses some critical aspects in order to define this framework: the analytical and policy relevance of poverty as a component of homelessness, the need to question the social construction of the problem of ‘extreme’ social marginalization, and the immense structural obstacles these people encounter with access to housing and work.