Choosing invisibility? Exploring service (dis)engagement of women experiencing multiple disadvantage
ISSN: 1460-8790
Article publication date: 13 October 2023
Issue publication date: 30 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The shift in policy discourse towards individualism is affecting service provision and access, which has become increasingly conditioned on individual agency and the “deservingness” of the recipient. Gendered and intersectional experiences of homelessness and excluded populations less likely to be living on the streets remain overlooked and unaddressed. This study thus aims to uncover what drives “invisibility” in services for women experiencing multiple disadvantage and the gendered constraints the women are facing when exiting and navigating multiple disadvantage.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on in-depth interviews with women who face severe and multiple disadvantage and their support staff. Data is also gathered through survey data and observations with a wide range of frontline service providers, as well as support notes and numerical progress data recorded by one of the service providers.
Findings
Contradicting the common assumption that people act as rational actors in their interaction with services, the author found that women’s decisions to (dis)engage may be blinded by forces of multiple disadvantage and mistrust. These are often developed as a result of systemic and gendered constraints that limit women’s capabilities and exercise of choice. Barriers in service access often amplified the personal barriers they were facing and reinforced women’s decisions to not engage with services.
Research limitations/implications
The author hopes that this paper sheds light on the particular set of barriers women with multiple disadvantage face, which will be vital to reach women who face severe disadvantage and provide more effective policies, care and support.
Originality/value
This study gives voice to a particular hidden population: women with multiple disadvantage. It contributes to existing frameworks on agency and choice by understanding gendered barriers behind service engagement and how services themselves may be contributing to women’s invisibility.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks all the female beneficiaries and support staff who took time out to interview. Special thanks to Grant Everitt, Ellie Lupton and Joanna Lea, who were involved in the data collection and analysis of an earlier report on which this study was based. The author thanks the anonymous referee and Professor Jill Manthorpe for their helpful comments and feedback on an earlier version of this paper. The author is also immensely grateful to Dr Graham Bowpitt for his valuable comments and reflections and for sharing additional interview data that greatly assisted the research in numerable ways.
The research on which this article is based was funded with generous support from Opportunity Nottingham.
Citation
Hess, C. (2023), "Choosing invisibility? Exploring service (dis)engagement of women experiencing multiple disadvantage", Housing, Care and Support, Vol. 26 No. 3/4, pp. 115-133. https://doi.org/10.1108/HCS-01-2023-0002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited