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Kim, Park, and Hyun: A Phenomenology Study of the Lived Experience of Homeless Persons
Original Article

J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs 2017;26(1):88-100.

Published online: 7 March 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2017.26.1.88

A Phenomenology Study of the Lived Experience of Homeless Persons

Jin Ju Kim1, Eunyoung Park2, Myungsun Hyun3

1Graduate School, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

2Department of Nursing Science, Sangji University, Wonju, Korea

3College of Nursing ․ Insititute of Nursing Science, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

Corresponding author: Hyun, Myungsun College of Nursing · Insititute of Nursing Science, Ajou University, 164 World cup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 16499, Korea. Tel: +82-31-219-7014, Fax: +82-31-219-7020, E-mail: mhyun@ajou.ac.kr

Received 2 February 201725 February 2017       Accepted 3 March 2017

Copyright © 2017 The Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of homeless persons.

Methods

A phenomenological methodology was used for the study. Participants were people enrolled in the Center for homeless persons in Kyunggi Province and eligible for the study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with nine participants between October 13 and November 16, 2016. Data analysis was conducted using Colaizzi's method.

Results

Five themes and twenty meanings were formulated for experiences of homeless persons. The five themes were 'Abandoning their life', 'Being familiar with a free homeless life', 'Being isolated from the world', 'Being impoverished', 'Desire to break away from the life of homelessness'.

Conclusion

The study results suggest the need for a holistic understanding of the essential structure of the lived experiences of homeless persons. Mental health professionals need to understand the homelessness experiences from the client view and to develop programs that can help homeless persons reintegrate into the community.

Keywords: Homeless person, Life, Qualitative research

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Table 1.
The Characteristics of the Participants
ID Age (year) Education Religion Marital status Duration of homelessness (year)
A 35 High school Christianity Never married 2
B 61 Elementary school Christianity Never married 13
C 73 High school Catholicism Married 8
D 42 Middle school None Never married 25
E 62 High school Christianity Married 10
F 60 High school Christianity Divorced 10
G 60 High school Christianity Divorced 10
H 41 Middle school Buddhism Never married 2
I 55 Middle school Christianity Never married 1
Table 2.
Formulated Meanings and Themes
Formulated Meanings Themes
• Embarking on homelessness due to a dead-end situation Abandoning their life meanings
• Affording no hold for them to take  
• Throwing out their dream in life  
• Going downward in life  
• Being unable to give vigor to themselves  
• Difficulty breaking away from homeless life due to being familiar with free life Falling through the free homeless life
• Being too lazy to work  
• Laking the concept of daily time  
• Shutting themselves off from the world Being isolated from the world
• Being alone throughly in sick  
• Severing all contact with their family intentionally  
• Breaking down of their body Loss of human being dignity
• Being hurt due to getting the eye from others  
• Disregarding the duty as a human being  
• Having no a comfortable space of their own  
• Being anxious due to no prolong housing  
• Having an opportunity to think of themselves Desire for breaking away from the
• Desiring to get back up again homelessness  
• Wanting to live a normal life as others  
• Hoping to stand on their own feet  
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