Down and Out on the Kaw: An Examination of Emergency Shelters in Lawrence, Kansas.

Abstract

Homelessness poses an enduring and formidable challenge to 21st-century urban America. My work draws from three years of ethnographic research on the streets and in the social service agencies of Lawrence, Kansas. I formally interviewed 31 people made up of shelter employees, board members, and homeless clients of the Lawrence Community Shelter and the Salvation Army emergency shelter. Eight people defined themselves as homeless, six were members of advisory boards associated with the shelters, and 17 were shelter employees. The central claim of this thesis is that beliefs about the causes of homelessness, and constructions of the homeless person, contain two distinct discourses: the systemic and the individual-based. Embedded in social policy, academic literature, and popular culture, these discourses influence care-provision for the homeless. My research investigated discourses at two emergency shelters and how they affected the shelter's operational strategies. "Theories on Homelessness" outlines the two discourses I identify as primary. Chapter Three traces those discourses through American history. The final chapters present my data and findings, offer some conclusions, and suggestions for future research.