ABSTRACT
Drawing on many years of personal and professional campaigning work in the caring services, Gerry Skelton considers the concept and application of resilience through the prism of homelessness. He highlights the myriad causal factors in and out of homelessness, while offering a riposte to the prevailing simplistic, pathological social narratives that invariably conflate homelessness with an individual’s lack of responsibility and poor decision making (and related deficit-orientated explanations). Conversely, Skelton contends that homelessness—like resilience—needs to be understood holistically, with a wider appreciation of the interrelationships between personal and social experiences and circumstances of life. This is illustrated with insight from lived experiences, punctuated with challenging questions that anchor the reader in—and to—the reality of adversity, loss, trauma, stigma, labelization and the possibility of hopefulness, sensitive intervention and engagement, reminding us all of our basic humanity and frailty. Skelton challenges us to understand various “fault lines” in much broader and compassionate ways than simply attributing homelessness to irresponsibility. These include highlighting the role of social, economic and political policy and the (re)current pressures (poverty, inequality, loneliness, austerity): all of which can threaten the least and most resilient of people. Finally, Skelton reminds us that adopting an ecological approach to understanding how resilience can contribute to—and emerge from—traumatic experiences (including homelessness) is essential and offers recommendations for improved practice.
