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(About) Living on the Street: Narratives of Homeless People about the Support Network

Abstract

The street population, in their daily lives, relates to different people, groups and/or collectives linked to the execution of public policies, to non-governmental organizations, family members, or to members of civil society. Thinking about these dynamics of work, cooperation, and assistance leads to thinking about a support network that builds strategies with this population. Having these problematizations in mind, this study aims to analyze the narratives of homeless people about how their support network is produced. To this end, a qualitative study was carried out, with ethnographic orientation, using participant observation, records in a field diary, and narrative interviews. Participated in the research six homeless people who receive food offered by social projects in a municipality in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul. The data produced were analyzed using the Thematic Analysis. The analyzes express the specifities of the narratives of life trajectories associated with the arrival on the streets and the composition of a support network on the street. By knowing how the support network is produced and operated, the complexity of this gear and the challenge of producing integrated actions between the different instances of the network are problematized. Thus, it highlights the potential of practices that consider listening, dialogue, and articulation in the operationalization of public policies that are attentive to the needs of this population.

Keywords:
Homeless people; Public policy; Support network

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