(Re)Negotiating Homeless Identity through Technology-Mediated Social Interaction

Prior research has explored homelessness and barriers to accessing digital technology. Our study will build on this evidence base by moving beyond a discussion of what technology is used, to better understand how these technologies are used, and the content and nature of communicative practices within homeless communities. This will be done by drawing together two important streams of homelessness research. The first stream focuses on the importance of connectedness for homeless persons. The second stream concentrates on the importance of identity for homeless persons, recognizing the negative impact of homelessness on an individual’s self-concept. Through the lens of boundary objects theory, technology-mediated social interaction will be viewed as providing a safe environment where homeless persons and service providers can develop mutual respect. The insights gathered will inform future interventions that aim to facilitate better social interaction among homeless persons, non-homeless persons, and the formal institutions supporting the homeless.

[1]  M. Lamont,et al.  The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences , 2002 .

[2]  Susan Gasson,et al.  A genealogical study of boundary-spanning IS design , 2006, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Charlotte P. Lee,et al.  Boundary Negotiating Artifacts: Unbinding the Routine of Boundary Objects and Embracing Chaos in Collaborative Work , 2007, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).

[4]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  Understanding the nature of service design research: A theoretical classification and explication , 2013 .

[5]  Emmanuelle Vaast,et al.  The Emergence of Boundary Spanning Competence in Practice: Implications for Implementation and Use of Information Systems , 2005, MIS Q..

[6]  K. Weick,et al.  Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking , 2005 .

[7]  Marcia B. Cohen,et al.  Acting on Their Own Behalf: Affiliation and Political Mobilization among Homeless People , 1992, The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare.

[8]  Tor Hernes,et al.  Studying Composite Boundaries: A Framework of Analysis , 2004 .

[9]  B. Shneiderman,et al.  The Reader-to-Leader Framework: Motivating Technology-Mediated Social Participation , 2009 .

[10]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  The Anatomy of a Design Theory , 2007, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[11]  Sandeep Purao,et al.  Action Design Research , 2011, MIS Q..

[12]  Cameron Parsell.  Homeless identities: enacted and ascribed. , 2011, The British journal of sociology.

[13]  K. Eyrich-Garg.  Mobile Phone Technology: A New Paradigm for the Prevention, Treatment, and Research of the Non-sheltered “Street” Homeless? , 2010, Journal of Urban Health.

[14]  D. Snow,et al.  Down on Their Luck: A Study of Homeless Street People , 1993 .

[15]  Eric Rice,et al.  Social Networking Technology, Social Network Composition, and Reductions in Substance Use Among Homeless Adolescents , 2010, Prevention Science.

[16]  Counting the homeless. , 1986, Science.

[17]  James D. Wright,et al.  Counting the Homeless , 1992 .

[18]  Byron W. Keating,et al.  Designing IS service strategy: an information acceleration approach , 2012, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[19]  Mary Deaton,et al.  The elements of user experience: user-centered design for the Web , 2003, INTR.

[20]  P. Goering,et al.  Narratives of Identity: Re-presentation of Self in People Who Are Homeless , 2000, Qualitative health research.

[21]  Susan Leigh Star,et al.  Institutional Ecology, `Translations' and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39 , 1989 .

[22]  Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic,et al.  Communicative practices in an online financial forum during abnormal stock market behavior , 2011, Inf. Manag..

[23]  Kalle Lyytinen,et al.  The dynamics of IT boundary objects, information infrastructures, and organisational identities: the introduction of 3D modelling technologies into the architecture, engineering, and construction industry , 2008, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[24]  J. Humphry.  Homeless and Connected: Mobile Phones and the Internet in the Lives of Homeless Australians , 2014 .

[25]  Rebecca J. Erickson,et al.  The Importance of Authenticity for Self and Society , 1995 .

[26]  Dale Mackrell,et al.  Making Sense of Business Intelligence: Proposing a Socio-Technical Framework for Improved Decision Making in Not-for-Profit Organisations , 2012 .