Thomas Maeseele

On the frontline or on the side-line? Homelessness care and care avoiders

Homelessness is a social problem that is subject to many definitional issues and problems. These problems can be discerned on both the conceptual and the practical level. Based on research carried out in Ghent, Belgium, this article deals with ways in which social workers involved in homelessness care construe the problem of ‘care avoiders’, who seem to be perceived as a separate category within the homeless population. We show that: (1) different categories of homelessness are created on an organisational and on an individual level (2) specific services have been developed for those who do not enter regular facilities and (3) a residual group has been created, which social work does not really know how to deal with.

Voluntariness as legitimation for social work interventions: A case study in Flemish homelessness care

Based on research into homelessness care, in this article we discuss the dominant interpretation of voluntariness as an individual characteristic. It will be demonstrated that this conceptualization runs the risk of becoming a tool to select those clients for whom short-term reachable goals can be set, and that clients are obliged to accept the conditions which are set by social work initiatives. We argue for an understanding of voluntariness as an appeal to social work’s commitment to social problems and aim to encourage dialogue about the grounds for, and meaning of, interventions in people’s life stories.

Between Institutional Inclusion and Invisibility? The Case of Flemish Homelessness Care

Abstract Over recent decades, vagrancy has been deinstitutionalised and a welfare approach has been developed in which the problem definition of “vagrancy”, perceived as a criminal problem, has shifted into a problem of “homelessness”, defined as a poverty problem. In this article, we discuss the findings of a case study in Ghent, Belgium, in which the implications of this welfare approach to homelessness in social work practices are examined. The research method involved interviews with social workers and coordinators of homelessness care programs, analysis of policy documents and observations of intake conversations. The following issues are discussed: (1) conditionality in regular homelessness care; (2) conditionality in organisations that are directly accessible; (3) counterproductive dynamics of residual care; and (4) invisibility of those labelled as “care avoiders”. In our concluding reflections, we argue that a new sort of institutionalisation of the problem of homelessness can be identified.