Explaining the Homelessness Phenomenon in Familistic Mediterranean Societies: A New Analytical Framework

Abstract

This article studies the importance of the loss of family ties and its symbolic burden in the narrative of homeless people in familistic societies. The family is the main reason why poverty does not directly lead to social exclusion in southern European countries. However, the economic crises of the last two decades have weakened the ability of the family to protect its members. The new forms of poverty that imply processes of individualized social exclusion that lead to homelessness in southern Europe can be understood as a consequence of the overload currently suffered by families in those countries due to the recent economic crises. The loss of family ties in this type of society is so stigmatizing that, even if the person is living on the street for structural reasons such as having been unemployed and having lost their home due to the effects of the recent economic crises and not receiving aid from social services, always reproduces a characteristic story of self-victimization and mourning for not having had a good family that has helped him in times of need.