Publication Date
12-2020
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
Graduate School of Social Work
Keywords
Peer-to-peer support, Homelessness, Youth, Participatory action research
Abstract
Young people experiencing homelessness are often apprehensive to engage in conventional service systems due to prior mistreatment by providers and others in their lives, as well as stigma associated with accessing services. Even when relationships between service providers and young people are initiated, they often end prematurely. Mutual aid, or peer-to-peer support, has a long and promising history within the mental health field, yet has received little empirical attention in work with young people experiencing homelessness. The present study used participatory qualitative methods to understand how peers uniquely initiate and build connection with young people experiencing homelessness. Through interviews and journaling with peer support specialists and program staff, this study found that peers initiate relationships with young people by becoming familiar faces in youth spaces, identifying themselves as peers, then formalizing relationships with young people. Peers build connection by showing they are on the “same side of the glass” as young people, establishing autonomy and availability over a preset agenda, and creating containers acceptable for failure. Peers, their supervisors, and organizations building mutual aid programs may consider these findings when working to build programs which flexibly and authentically engage young people experiencing homelessness in meaningful relationships.
Rights Holder
James Erangey, Connor Marvin, Danielle Maude Littman, Meredith Mollica, Kimberly Bender, Tom Lucas, Tara Milligan
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
36 pgs
File Size
476 KB
Publication Statement
This is a preprint of the following article:
Erangey, J., Marvin, C., Littman, D.M., Mollica, M., Bender, K., Lucas, T., & Milligan, T. (2020). How peer support specialists uniquely initiate and build connection with young people experiencing homelessness. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105668. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105668
Publication Title
Children and Youth Services Review
Volume
119
First Page
1
Last Page
36
Recommended Citation
Erangey, James; Marvin, Connor; Littman, Danielle Maude; Mollica, Meredith; Bender, Kimberly; Lucas, Tom; and Milligan, Tara, "How Peer Support Specialists Uniquely Initiate and Build Connection with Young People Experiencing Homelessness" (2020). Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship. 5.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/gssw_facultyscholarship/5
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105668
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105668