The role of Values in the Social Exclusion of the Homeless

Description

Previous research into homelessness focused predominantly on structural factors contributing to homelessness, such as lack of housing. There is very little research into the psychology of the homeless; particularly from the perspective of the homeless themselves. Values are believed to be underlying drivers of behaviour, and significant life events have been shown to change the importance people place on values (Bardi et al, 2009). The present research examines the value profiles and perceived value changes of the homeless community relative to the general population; proposing that value change and subsequent differences in values between these groups could explain some of the difficulties experienced by the homeless in reintegrating to society. The study found that overall the homeless reported higher levels of perceived value change than the general population and significant differences in value preferences. Self-enhancement values were significantly less important to the homeless and Conservation values were significantly more important to the homeless than the general population. Hedonism values had a negative relationship with Self-mastery in the homeless population and the inverse was true of the general population.

Period	12 Mar 2013
Event type	Other
Sponsor