BEING ON THE STREETS

AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECTIVITY OF PEOPLE IN HOMELESS SITUATIONS

Abstract

The number of homeless people is increasingly high and their occurrences have diverse reasons, leading to social and political concerns regarding the dignity and protection of these people. However, currently, we have seen political attitudes favorable to the development of public policies capable of mitigating the damage resulting from homelessness. Many movements are emerging in favor of housing and life with dignity, supporting the right to be on the streets, but fervent for the implementation of public policies that enforce fundamental constitutional rights. Thus, the present research is an excerpt from a Course Conclusion Paper – TCC, which sought to discuss aspects related to this situation. It aims to investigate the conceptions formed by homeless people about their experiences arising from their lives on the streets. As for the method, it is a field type research, with a qualitative approach. The participants included were 05 homeless people, users of the services of a Civil Society Organization. The instruments used were semi-structured interviews and participant observation. For data processing and analysis, content analysis was chosen. The research followed all ethical standards and recommendations. As a result, it is highlighted that taking to the streets is a multifactorial phenomenon, with policies in Brazil and around the world showing that the biggest reasons for taking to the streets are related to poverty, immigration, migration, unemployment and disruption of family ties. . It was possible to identify that, commonly, this collective is treated in a marginalized way and named negative figures, as a result, they begin to have perceptions of low self-esteem, feelings of fear, insecurity, loneliness, sadness and even failure. Therefore, without having anyone to turn to to deal with emotional aspects, legal and illicit drugs become immediate alternatives. It is concluded that the feeling of exclusion results in emotional suffering, leading to comorbidities, chemical dependency, violence and others. However, the street can also represent a place for meetings because, in order not to feel excluded, they form networks of support and affection as a form of protection and friendship.