Some of our respondents felt life on the street had been a useful experience, though they would be happy to see it come to an end. l P (52, m, homeless for two years): “It’s been an interesting experience, but I now know that I will have to do everything in my power to ensure I don’t end up on the street ever again.” l M (55, m, homeless for 17 years): “I tell myself it was a good experience. I’ve hit rock bottom, so I know what it’s like. But right now I’d like to head upwards.”
SUMMARY Most of our respondents felt that life on the street brought nothing positive, but that if pressed they would cite freedom as a plus. They have no duties, they can do what they want and are not responsible for anything, not even themselves, a situation not many adults expect in life. One is justified in arguing that these people have not been successful in the transition into adulthood. They exist in a state of hiatus that they are incapable of breaking out of. Though many appreciate this freedom, others question it and are aware that they are simply surviving on the margins of a society that rejects them. They believe that life on the street has only one benefit, namely that they acquire experience and confirm their ability to survive under arduous conditions.
4. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HOMELESS PEOPLE Everyone needs to belong somewhere and to someone in order to feel secure. This clearly applies to homeless people, even though relationships in this community differ in many respects from those in mainstream society (Ravenhill, 2014). Homeless people’s experience of social exclusion affects their interpersonal relationships, the character of those relationships, and the way they are established and maintained. These are not traditional friendships or partnerships, but more about commonalities of lifestyle. Homeless people are a marginalised group with reduced social capital, and for the most part interact exclusively with others in their situation. Neal and Brown (2016) confirm that the social networks of people on the street is relatively small. Their research reveals that a third of homeless people have no friends and some of them do not even care. Such people are highly mistrustful of those around them and prefer to live a solitary life. Two thirds have friends, though these relationships are complicated. On the one hand they are linked by the bonds of solidarity. But on the other, they exist within a hierarchy and compliance with street norms is often imposed, sometimes by force. A hierarchy is created in the homeless community that is the inverse of that in mainstream society. The result is that individuals who are stronger and more ruthless often attain an important status they would be unable to under different – 98 –
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circumstances. (The situation is similar in prison.) Violence is a common, daily occurrence on the street and a part of homeless culture (Ravenhill, 2014). Relationships between homeless people feature exploitation and parasitism. They are very variable, because the people involved often do not remain in one place, but come and go, whether to prison or elsewhere. The circle of people living on the street who are linked by relationships is limited and dependent on ongoing contact and shared experiences. Such people spend most of their time together and participate in the same activities. These include drinking and drug taking, as well as non-standard means of livelihood. Relationships with other homeless people are important. People on the street often have no other social contacts and are dependent on those of their own community. They cannot isolate themselves completely, because they often share a common space where there is no privacy. Relationships with other homeless people may be affected by a decline in emotional sensitivity and empathy caused by social exclusion and the stresses of life on the street (DeWall and Baumeister, 2006). This attenuation of emotional experience can be seen as a defensive reaction that allows people to restrict the intensity of unpleasant feelings of insecurity and threat. Emotional apathy and reduced empathy are manifest in inconsiderate conduct towards other people and a greater focus on the satisfaction of immediate needs. As a result, deeper and more lasting relationships are not often created. Though a lack of empathy and the deployment of less common ways of reacting to people may serve as a defence mechanism, it also reduces the chance of a person being accepted by those around them and creating more stable friendships. Emotional apathy is not necessarily a momentary reaction to stress, but can become fixed and restrict a person’s ability to function in society. This in turn will impede their reintegration into mainstream society. Relationships with other homeless people take many different forms, most of them negative. However, there are people who are convinced that it is possible to find genuine friendship on the street. For the most part these are people who drink to excess and take drugs, though do not have other problems. l R (40, m, homeless for five years): “I met a friend here and he told me to follow him and not simply to walk the streets. So I did and the people I met were friendly to me from the off and I became part of their group. We look after each other and it works, though obviously from time to time we’re pissed off with each other.” l Some people view the people around them as replacement for a family they don’t have, as in the case of Z (47, m, homeless for 20 years): “I lived in a group for a long time. They were my friends. I think we kind of made up for the people each of us had lost and we formed a kind of family. And in the time we’ve known each other we’ve helped each other out.” l M (54, m, homeless for nine years): “I was sleeping at Main Station on a bench. I got to know loads of people some good, some bad. But there were only a few of the good ones and loads of the bad ones.” – 99 –
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Graph 19. Evaluation of relationships between homeless people
can be good tend to be bad
Our interviews showed that, though our middle-aged respondents have friends on the street, they do not number many, usually only two or three. In this respect they differ from their younger counterparts, who usually live in groups. l J (52, m, homeless for five years): “I have one or two friends. They can be found, though it’s not easy amongst homeless people.” l Č (42, m, homeless for five years): “There’s definitely two or three people I trust. After a while you begin to recognise what a person is like and what you can expect of them.” l The impression given by our respondents is that a friend is someone with whom they spend their free time, drink, and can trust not to steal from them. J (42, m, homeless for nine years) has such friends: “The people I hang out with I can trust. There’s not many, three at most. We walk around and have a drink together. Sometimes we’ll find somewhere to sit and relax.” l F (43, m, homeless for ten years) has a similar understanding of friendship: “I have two friends, and the understanding is we don’t steal from each other.” People who have been living on the street for several years have lost their former friends and often no longer exhibit any interest in forming new friendships. l Z (42, m, homeless for eleven years): “You can find good people here, but I unfortunately no longer have many because they’re dropping like flies. I have no desire to join one of the large groups. I’m quite happy with two or three friends that I can chat or a smoke or a drink with.” l Z (44, m, homeless for 15 years) has no new friends: “I have a few friends. Some of them are old school friends, but I don’t have many new friends. The older I get, the less I can be bothered.” Z might be increasingly mistrustful, but might also find it more and more difficult to find things in common with people who have a very different experience of life. In the homeless community, too, there exist different subcultures associated with age or other commonalities, e.g. drinking. Most of our respondents do not place much trust in friendships that arose on the street. This is very likely due to both negative experiences and the – 100 – Ukázka elektronické knihy