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6/2020 – Evaluation in Social Work 1/2021 – ERIS Journal - Winter 2021 - Forced Migration and Minority Groups 2/2021 – 3/2021 – 4/2021 – ERIS Journal - Summer 2021 - Histories of social work

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Issues » 2010/1 - Social Work and the Fight Against Poverty »

Homeless People Expectations from Shelter Services and How to Interpret Them

Jana Havlíková

Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to give a voice to the homeless people themselves to learn what they expect from social services offered to them. This article draws on the findings of a qualitative study of fourteen homeless users of a shelter carried out in 2008. We focused on their expectations from this social service, which they had when entering the shelter, and consequently whether or not the service has met their needs. Our findings suggest that homeless people expect from shelter services satisfaction of their basic needs – accommodation and meal. They had no awareness about other help intended to solve their unfavourable social situation, which was also provided by the shelter social workers. Subsequently some of them have greeted this kind of support but some not. Although there was no difference in expectations among men and women, there was a difference depending on the age of the users. On the background of these findings, we finally discuss the importance of listening to service users’ perspective, but we also draw attention to the difficulty with picking up users’ voice and with its interpretation in the context of social services.

Keywords:
homelessness, homeless people, shelter, users’ needs

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