Making home? Permitted and prohibited place-making in youth homeless accommodation

Abstract

Based on the premise that ‘home’ is more than bricks and mortar, a growing body of literature has considered how the concept might be applied to homelessness. Aligned with ‘home’, home-making refers to the construction of living spaces so that their sensory features and the practices that occur there create a pleasant environment that enhances wellbeing. However, the instability and structural constraints within which homeless people live can limit their ability to home-make. Hence, in this article, ‘place-making’ proved a useful alternative concept. This article draws on an ethnographic study in Scotland involving 22 young people and 27 staff who lived and worked respectively in a supported accommodation hostel. It demonstrates how the residents engaged in sensory practices within the tightly regulated confines of the hostel. A distinction is made between ‘permitted’ and ‘prohibited’ practices to argue that home-making is not a morally-neutral concept. Rather there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways for homeless people to personalise their living spaces.