Abstract
Homelessness impacts the experiences of the individual in unique and profound ways. To the individual, the experience of such an undesirable condition has dramatic social and emotional consequences. First, homeless people are continually confronted in each social interaction with the immense stigma imposed by their condition and as a result, struggle to uphold social prestige. In addition, homeless people experience a decreased sense of selfworth and social belonging because their individual identities and communities are considered to be stigmatized and disgraced by members of society. As such, homeless people engage in defensive communicative practices in order to combat these social and emotional implications. Specifically, this present study explores the practices that homeless people in Utica, NY use when speaking about their identities and relationships in order to bolster a sense of selfworth and social belonging. The findings suggest that “identity work” strategies are useful for homeless people to present acceptable individual identities and establish selfworth; however, this cohort of homeless people also highlight positive aspects of community to emphasize social belonging. Altogether, this work shows how important homeless people in Utica feel it is to be considered ‘normal’ and socially desirable.
Type of Work
Thesis - Limited Access
Department or Program
Sociology
Institution
Hamilton College
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Date of Graduation
5-2019
Faculty Advisor
Stephen J. Ellingson
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Greeley, Mikayla, "Identity Work Among the Homeless in Utica" (2019). Hamilton Digital Commons.
https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/soc_theses/29