"Vill du missbruka så blir vägen rätt smal" - Förklaringar till varför hemlösa kvinnor med missbruksproblematik utesluts från den reguljära bostadsmarknaden
Substance abuseHomeless womenSocial housingExclusionHousing marketSocial sciencesSamhällsvetenskaperSocial problems and welfareNational insuranceSociala problemSocial välfärdSocialförsäkringSocial SciencesLaw and Political Science
The background of this study stemmed from the notion that the majority of homeless women with substance abuse, most of all, wanted a secured place of their own to stay. Few involved professionals agreed and instead of perceiving housing as a human right the women were mostly offered various types of short-term social housing. The purpose of this study was thus to examine and analyze how professionals attached to the social services and public housing companies in Gothenburg explained that homeless women with substance abuse were excluded from accommodation on the open housing market. The qualitative approach included ten interviews with eleven professionals in Gothenburg. The theoretical framework consisted mainly of Bourdieu's analytical concepts of field, doxa as well as social, economic and cultural, alongside symbolic capital. The structural conflict and consensus perspective was integrated as an additional theoretical lens. The theoretical concepts were used to make the exclusion understandable and to show why there were differences among the explanations. The main conclusions showed that due to i.e. the women's deficient capital as well as lacking gender consciousness and paradoxical regulations within the social services the target group were not only excluded from the open housing market but also from the local social services housing institution. An institution that was built up to take care of people in weak positions on the housing market and the stepladder to the open housing market and, thus, a apartment of one's own.