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Abstract

This study investigates how public attitudes towards the homeless are presented within interaction. Public attitudes towards the homeless are a key factor in how interaction occurs, and the relationship between the domiciled and the homeless. Public attitudes make up how an individual enters interaction. The homeless are misunderstood by the public and it is deemed that this is part of the wider societal changes towards individualism. Interactions are entered with the idea that the homeless are drug addicts, mentally ill, dangerous, work-shy etc. By observing interaction using ethnography, we can further understand the meaning of these interactions and how strong the public attitudes behind them are. The research asks questions such as “In what ways are negative perceptions of the homeless shown through social interactions?” and “How do the homeless adapt to the public attitudes within interaction?”. Public attitudes towards the homeless are scarcely researched on an interaction level which leaves a hole in research, as it is interaction which is part of how attitudes are formed. Taking inspiration from two strands of research, social interactionism and urban ethnography, this study applies this thought within the backdrop of homelessness and public attitudes. A constructivist approach is utilised in this study therefore it assumes that all behaviours are learned, and seeks to understand how they are presented on an interaction level. The bustling nature of the city results in a restraint towards conversing with the homeless, even when a donation is given by a member of the public. The homeless adapt to public attitudes by humouring them. 

Course: Sociology - BSc (Hons) - C0315

Date Deposited: 2024-01-30

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14340.html