Exploring the socialization of homeless children in Czechia: sibling relationships

Abstract

The paper aims to describe the specific context of the homeless children’s living environment and to show the consequences that this context has on the sibling relationships of homeless children in Czechia. The text is based on a psychosocial perspective. The context of the space, where homeless children live strongly affects their socialisation. Sibling relationships, which are transformed in such an environment, become increasingly important. Using a qualitative research strategy, we carried out 30 sets of interviews with homeless parents and children (a total of 60 interviews). We found that the environment of homelessness alters sibling roles in the family, reinforces sibling closeness as a compensation for material deprivation, makes it more difficult for children to detach, escalates sibling conflicts, and generally reinforces a certain exclusivity in relationship. The results show that social work and other helping professions should focus on supporting sibling relationships in the homelessness environment.