Growing Old in the Streets: Perceptions of time among Older homeless people
Bourgeois-Guérin, V., Bourgeois-Guérin, É., Grenier, A., Sussman, T., & Rothwell D. (University of Quebec at Montreal)
As we encounter ‘population aging’, there is both a shifting age structure where people grow old in states of homelessness, and an emerging phenomenon where greater numbers of older people are becoming homeless for the first time in late life. When problems related to homelessness are combined with the realities of aging, the suffering and difficulties experienced can be numerous and complex. This combination can alter the interpretation of time, the experience of the present, and the perception of future amongst older people who are homeless.
Our presentation is based on qualitative findings from a mixed method research project, where 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with homeless people over the age of 50. Interviews focused on pathways, experiences, and interpretations of homelessness in late life. Using a phenomenological perspective that draws on critical gerontology and humanistic psychology, we consider interview responses in relation to time. The literature on the lived time, the storytelling, temporality, uncertainty, hope and despair will serve as benchmarks in this interpretation (Kupke, 2000; Minkowski, 1933; Ricoeur 2000; Randall et Kenyon, 2004; Wyllie, 2005).
The results provide insight into different aspects of the experience of time of older homeless people. For example, a focus on the past draws attention to the difficulties experienced in integrating certain past events. Similarly, a focus on the present demonstrates how needs and concerns are related to perceptions of the future that are colored by fears, despairs, uncertainties, and hope. This phenomenological reflection on temporality helps to better understand the experience of older homeless people and to think more broadly the concepts of aging, insecurity, marginality, in relation to time and uncertainty in contemporary society.
As we encounter ‘population aging’, there is both a shifting age structure where people grow old in states of homelessness, and an emerging phenomenon where greater numbers of older people are becoming homeless for the first time in late life. When problems related to homelessness are combined with the realities of aging, the suffering and difficulties experienced can be numerous and complex. This combination can alter the interpretation of time, the experience of the present, and the perception of future amongst older people who are homeless.
Our presentation is based on qualitative findings from a mixed method research project, where 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with homeless people over the age of 50. Interviews focused on pathways, experiences, and interpretations of homelessness in late life. Using a phenomenological perspective that draws on critical gerontology and humanistic psychology, we consider interview responses in relation to time. The literature on the lived time, the storytelling, temporality, uncertainty, hope and despair will serve as benchmarks in this interpretation (Kupke, 2000; Minkowski, 1933; Ricoeur 2000; Randall et Kenyon, 2004; Wyllie, 2005).
The results provide insight into different aspects of the experience of time of older homeless people. For example, a focus on the past draws attention to the difficulties experienced in integrating certain past events. Similarly, a focus on the present demonstrates how needs and concerns are related to perceptions of the future that are colored by fears, despairs, uncertainties, and hope. This phenomenological reflection on temporality helps to better understand the experience of older homeless people and to think more broadly the concepts of aging, insecurity, marginality, in relation to time and uncertainty in contemporary society.
Different griefs for different spaces? The phenomenological experience of grief of seniors living in residence
Blondin, R.A., Bourgeois-Guerin, V., and Millette, V. (University of Quebec at Montreal)
The living space is a place of becoming which is defined by its conditions of possibility. The organization of the living environment circumscribes the lived experiences of its inhabitants (Foucault, 1966). With aging, many seniors move into residences, and many experience grief. Many writings illustrate how experience and meaning are shaped by the environment in which we live, yet studies exploring how seniors experience grief while living in residence are almost inexistent. How do the different spaces of seniors' residences shape their experience of loss? What links exist between spaces and the meanings given to losses? To further explore these questions, we will conduct a phenomenological analysis of the experience of loss and how it unfolds in the different spaces of the residence (bedroom, hallways, dining room, activity room, oratory). We will use Bachelard's (1958) ""Poetics of Space"" and Rowles' (2008) writings to guide our interpretation based on phenomenology, social gerontology and humanistic psychology.
Our presentation will be based on the results of a qualitative research on the experience of loss of seniors living in residences during which 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with bereaved seniors. The interviews focused on various aspects of their grief. We focus here on the way they experience their grief in the different spaces of their residence.
Preliminary results of this study allow us to highlight different aspects of how bereaved seniors living in residence experience space. They also shed light on how certain spaces promote the expression of grief on emotional, cognitive and spiritual levels, while other areas rather contribute to inhibiting expression.
This phenomenological reflection allows us to better understand how different areas of the residence can influence the meaning given to mourning and, on a larger scale, points us to how different ways of arranging space can facilitate its experience.
The living space is a place of becoming which is defined by its conditions of possibility. The organization of the living environment circumscribes the lived experiences of its inhabitants (Foucault, 1966). With aging, many seniors move into residences, and many experience grief. Many writings illustrate how experience and meaning are shaped by the environment in which we live, yet studies exploring how seniors experience grief while living in residence are almost inexistent. How do the different spaces of seniors' residences shape their experience of loss? What links exist between spaces and the meanings given to losses? To further explore these questions, we will conduct a phenomenological analysis of the experience of loss and how it unfolds in the different spaces of the residence (bedroom, hallways, dining room, activity room, oratory). We will use Bachelard's (1958) ""Poetics of Space"" and Rowles' (2008) writings to guide our interpretation based on phenomenology, social gerontology and humanistic psychology.
Our presentation will be based on the results of a qualitative research on the experience of loss of seniors living in residences during which 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with bereaved seniors. The interviews focused on various aspects of their grief. We focus here on the way they experience their grief in the different spaces of their residence.
Preliminary results of this study allow us to highlight different aspects of how bereaved seniors living in residence experience space. They also shed light on how certain spaces promote the expression of grief on emotional, cognitive and spiritual levels, while other areas rather contribute to inhibiting expression.
This phenomenological reflection allows us to better understand how different areas of the residence can influence the meaning given to mourning and, on a larger scale, points us to how different ways of arranging space can facilitate its experience.
What we make of money: Understanding the symbolic use of money
McNabb, M., Chan-Brown, K., and Keller, J. (Seattle University)
Drawing upon the data collected during our study of money as experienced (Chan-Brown, et al, in press), we focus more specifically on how our participants used money for symbolic or meaning-making purposes. Our research team completed an overview of the philosophy of symbols, drawing on Langer (1957) in particular. The literature on semiotics we reviewed did not include money in the discussions of symbols, reinforcing our sense that money is rarely perceived as symbolic.
We then returned to our participants’ descriptions of actions (interactions, transactions) with money and systematically charted the economic function and the intentions, emotions, and reactions our participants described. We continued our use of the dialogal method (Halling, Leifer & Rowe, 2006) and to rely on communication among the researchers and with the phenomenon itself to arrive at understandings. We remained faithful to lived experience by continually going back to the initial interviews to check developing insights and emerging themes.
The symbolic use of money is both like and unlike the use of other common symbols. For example, each money transaction has a corresponding “symbolic intent” that the participant hopes to complete, and in this way money is like other symbols. However, because financial transactions always involve exchange (there are very few one-way financial transactions) there is always a “response” that impacts both the participant and the intent. We explore aspects of this intent-and-response cycle of money transactions such as an impact on one’s sense of self. We identify unique aspects of money that make it a potent and dynamic symbol, including its history as an (often unrecognized) archetype, its limited and concrete nature, and its centrality in an overarching economic system. Our study will be valuable to those who counsel people toward financial or emotional well-being and to inform programs and policies that address economic issues.
Drawing upon the data collected during our study of money as experienced (Chan-Brown, et al, in press), we focus more specifically on how our participants used money for symbolic or meaning-making purposes. Our research team completed an overview of the philosophy of symbols, drawing on Langer (1957) in particular. The literature on semiotics we reviewed did not include money in the discussions of symbols, reinforcing our sense that money is rarely perceived as symbolic.
We then returned to our participants’ descriptions of actions (interactions, transactions) with money and systematically charted the economic function and the intentions, emotions, and reactions our participants described. We continued our use of the dialogal method (Halling, Leifer & Rowe, 2006) and to rely on communication among the researchers and with the phenomenon itself to arrive at understandings. We remained faithful to lived experience by continually going back to the initial interviews to check developing insights and emerging themes.
The symbolic use of money is both like and unlike the use of other common symbols. For example, each money transaction has a corresponding “symbolic intent” that the participant hopes to complete, and in this way money is like other symbols. However, because financial transactions always involve exchange (there are very few one-way financial transactions) there is always a “response” that impacts both the participant and the intent. We explore aspects of this intent-and-response cycle of money transactions such as an impact on one’s sense of self. We identify unique aspects of money that make it a potent and dynamic symbol, including its history as an (often unrecognized) archetype, its limited and concrete nature, and its centrality in an overarching economic system. Our study will be valuable to those who counsel people toward financial or emotional well-being and to inform programs and policies that address economic issues.