HOMELESS PEOPLE, EMOTIONAL TIES AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THEIR EXPERIENCES

The phenomenon of homelessness goes beyond the lack of personal housing, as it involves, among other issues, the breaking of emotional ties. This raises the need to understand how individuals affected by this situation manage to establish new relationships and rebuild connections with others in similar or different circumstances. The purpose of this study has been to explore the experiences in homelessness situations regarding the social relationships and emotional ties established with others in similar or different situations, as well as the obstacles they encounter in doing so. The research is framed within an inductive and emergent qualitative methodology based on Grounded Theory. Eight individual semi-structured interviews and 26 workshop sessions were conducted with the participation of eight individuals housed in various shelters in the city of Cordoba. Thematic content analysis, supported by Nvivo software, reveals the existence of various obstacles in establishing interpersonal relationships, ranging from fear of failure to insecurities stemming from previous experiences of homelessness. Additionally, contextual factors, such as the brief duration of stays in shelter facilities, hinder the construction of stable support networks.