Hidden to Whom? Aspects of Visibility among People Who Died While Affected by Homelessness and Implications for Outreach

Bibliographic Data

ID2363789
AuthorsR Neil Greene (0000-0002-1614-8822, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume67
Issue1-3
Pages109-126
Publication date2024-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0731-1214 • E-ISSN: 1533-8673
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/07311214241247795
OpenAlexW4396240456
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited69

Service providers and researchers often describe people affected by homelessness as hidden. This study aims to study social relationships and implications for outreach services through a qualitative content analysis of reports written by field investigators for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator that involve people affected by homelessness who died between 2014 and 2019 across the state ( N = 512). Findings describe variation in what is newly conceptualized as the aspects of the visibility framework, which organizes people as most engaged and surveilled, most visible and exposed, or most hidden. Recommendations include facilitating greater engagement with hotel/motel management and staff about harm reduction and engaging more with local business communities and first responders (including the criminal-legal system). This research also conceptualizes subsistence ties, acquaintances that both provide longer-term support and further hide people who are precariously housed. Future research and policy recommendations are described

Business · Criminology · Field research · Geography · Harm · Harm reduction · Outreach · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Subsistence agriculture · Visibility · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing