Transcript Uncovering The Ties That Bind: Homelessness Among

Uncovering The Ties That Bind:
Homelessness Among Immigrants
and Refugees in the GVRD
Kathy Sherrell (UBC) and Silvia D’Addario (York)
Metropolis 8th National Conference Presentation
March 2006
Study on the Profile of Absolute and Relative
Homelessness Among Immigrants, Refugees, and
Refugee Claimants in the GVRD
Sub-Study 1
Absolute Homelessness
12 Key informant
interviews, and a
Systemic survey of
shelters in the GVRD
Collect information on
people using shelters over
seven 24 hour periods
between October 2004
and December 2004
Sub-Study 2
Relative Homelessness
36 interviews with successful
refugee claimants, and
4 Key informant interviews
Explore the housing trajectory of
successful refugee claimants
(SRC)
Sub-Study 3
Relative Homelessness
Immigrant and refugee
housing survey (IHRS)
October 4-8, 2004
Explore relative
homelessness and ingroups systems of
support
http://www.mosaicbc.com/The_Profile_of_Absolute_and_Relative_Homelessness.pdf
©MOSAIC
Context
• Immigration, Housing, Economic literatures all
point to the increasing evidence that immigrants
do not fare as well economically as their
Canadian-born counterparts.
– Recent cohorts are subject to lower relative
incomes, and experience a delayed catch-up
period (e.g. Picot, 2004).
If Not Here, Then Where?
• Despite high levels of economic disadvantage,
immigrants and refugees are disproportionately
under-represented in the shelter system.
– 38% of the population in the GVRD, but less
than 18% in our shelter survey.
• So, the question arises …. Where are they
receiving help from?
The answer (at least in part…)
relates to ‘social capital’
• “…the aggregate of the actual or potential resources
which are linked to possession of a durable network of
more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual
acquaintance” (Bourdieu, 1986).
• The networks of social relations that can provide
people and groups with (the access to) resources and
support. (Policy Research Initiative, 2006).
“Taking Care of Their Own” …
• When facing a lack of secure housing, it was
suggested that members of established ethnocultural and/or religious groups stay with family
or other acquaintances, instead of relying on
emergency shelters.
– Access to networks may be facilitated by
shelters workers and/or other service providers.
Living on the Edge…
• Results from the Immigrant and Refugee Housing
Survey reveal:
– 28 % of respondents receiving help
– 15% of respondents providing help
• Those providing assistance often do so despite
living in precarious situations themselves.
• These findings underscore the importance of ingroup networks that bring about mutual aid, such
that coping mechanisms are found and
homelessness among immigrants and refugees
remains largely hidden.
Why is this important?
• The literature on social capital talks about
bonding, bridging and linking, meaning
that people start with the bonds that they
have with close friends and family, and then
they move to bridging with others of
different ethnic, class, and/or gender groups.
This leads to linking with public services
and supportive institutions.
But ….
• This process (bonding, bridging and linking)
implicitly assumes that all people can attain
and/or access social capital either through family
and friends or through other networks.
• While the findings of the shelter survey and the
IRHS support this assumption, the findings of the
claimant study, however, suggest otherwise.
Falling Through the Cracks…
• The Refugee Claimant Study
– The availability of networks are not equal
across populations
– Given the combination of uncertain legal status,
lack of official language ability, unfamiliarity
with Canadian society, claimants are the most
likely of all newcomers to ‘fall between the
cracks’.
Questions….
• If immigrants and refugees are – at least for the
most part – ‘taking care of their own,’ then there is
no need for government services or funding, right?
• Certainly, critics could argue that highlighting the
importance of social capital will only prompt the
government to divert its resources away from the
public claiming that social services are no longer
needed since (social) resources within the
community are substantial in assisting the
integration of newcomers.
Continued role of Government
• On the contrary, the findings of the Policy
and Research Initiative (2006) study
acknowledges the key role that social
capital plays in assisting community
development but at the same time this
research notes that government is needed
(directly and indirectly) in order to
facilitate social capital.
Conclusions?
• We have seen that systems of ethnic
resources and social capital appear to
help newcomers escape the worst
forms of absolute homelessness. Can
these social networks be fostered in the
larger metropolitan community? If so,
how?