This research is being conducted as part of my PhD candidacy, through RMIT University, Melbourne.

This research will explore the pathways that sustain and promote women's capacities to avoid recurrent homelessness.  This includes an examination of factors, conditions, contexts, practices and environments that promote these pathways.  To achieve this, 60 women who have had at least one experience of homelessness in the last ten years will be interviewed in an in-depth manner, exploring narratives about their histories and experiences of homelessness.  These interviews will take place in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia.  Women will be recruited with the assistance of homelessness service delivery agencies.

A broad cross section of women aged 18 years and over (with no upper age limit) will be invited to participate, characterised by variations in:

·        Having children in their care; in the care of the State (wards or temporary arrangements), in other formal and informal care arrangements such as with ex-partners, family or friends; grown children and those women who do not have children;

·        Cultural heritage

·        Homelessness and life experiences

In addition to interviewing these women, 15 service providers and 10 program administrators, funding representatives and policy makers in the homelessness field will be invited to contribute through in-depth interviews.  These stakeholders will be asked to contribute their understandings about sustainable pathways out of homelessness for women.

The primary research question is:

What promotes sustainable pathways out of homelessness for women?

The research objectives are to:

·        Identify factors, contexts and conditions that promote womens’ capacities to avoid recurrent and persistent homelessness.

·        Explore the roles and contributions of policy makers, program administrators, service providers and women in promoting womens’ capacities to avoid recurrent homelessness.

·        Scope service delivery practices that promote womens’ sustainable pathways out of homelessness.

·        Identify the relationships between structural factors (employment, income, housing, experiences of racism etc) and individual factors (experiences of domestic and family violence; substance use status; health, self esteem, personal resilience capacity; life experiences etc) in pathways out of homelessness.

The methodological approach is primarily qualitative.  However, the study will elicit quantitative data on demographics, housing history, labour market participation and the like.  The qualitative approach will incorporate feminist, post modern and critical social work conceptualisations.  Women's stories will be interpreted from a narrative analysis perspective.