Theorizing a Social Ecology of Displacement: Structural-, Relational-, and Individual-Level Conditions of Homelessness among Young People

Abstract

Every year 4.2 million young people in America experience some form of homelessness. The observation that homelessness has a complex etiology spanning structural, relational, and individual levels of influence is not novel. However, few studies have empirically demonstrated how conditions across these levels collectively shape a distinct social ecology of homelessness, particularly for youth. Using critical realism and the extended case method, we analyze in-depth interviews with 215 young people. Our findings suggest a social ecology of displacement prior to and during homelessness. Findings complement ecological perspectives on homelessness among youth but support a more dynamic, interdependent, and bidirectional theorizing of its causes and consequences. We propose a conceptual model illustrating these processes and call for critical placemaking as a much-needed, relationally just praxis with young people.