THE COEXISTENCE IN THE HOMELESS SHELTER: A STUDY ON THE FREQUENCY OF CONFLICT
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Abstract
Homelessness, a complex reality influenced by various social factors, leads to the alienation of affected individuals from their social rights, limiting their exercise of citizenship. Shelter centers try to mitigate this social issue by offering different services. The dynamics of these centers are influenced by individual, structural, and institutional factors, which are also shaped by specific guidelines and operational procedures. However, beyond their undeniable assistance dimension, these centers are living spaces not free from conflictive situations that need to be understood for improvement. This research aims to explore the frequency of daily conflictive situations (themes: Rules, Material, Relationship, Indirect Verbal Aggression, and Direct Verbal Aggression) and their correlation with variables such as gender, age, addictions, and length of stay. In this quantitative and descriptive study, 104 shelter users participated by responding to a list of 20 conflictive situations. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS (v24) and JASP (v0.16.3). For women, the frequency of conflicts was higher than reported by men. People with addictions perceive conflicts as more frequent in the themes of Rules, Material, Indirect Verbal Aggression, and Direct Verbal Aggression. All themes showed a significant and positive correlation with the duration of stay at the facility. The results highlight the need to delve deeper into understanding conflicts in these centers to improve interpersonal relationships, the living context, and facilitate conditions for social integration. In this sense, understanding conflicts would help resources create educational living spaces, not just cohabitation, where conflicts are addressed positively, and social integration is facilitated.