Homelessness and mental health in Ghana - Everyday experiences of Accra's migrant squatters

被引:26
作者
Aikins, Ama De-Graft [1 ]
Ofori-Atta, Angela L.
机构
[1] Univ Cambridge, Fac Social & Polit Sci, Dept Social & Dev Psychol, Cambridge CB2 1TN, England
[2] Univ Ghana, Dept Psychiat, Legon, Ghana
关键词
family disruption; Ghana; homelessness; mental health; poverty rural-urban migration;
D O I
10.1177/1359105307080609
中图分类号
B849 [应用心理学];
学科分类号
040203 ;
摘要
This article discusses everyday experiences of transient homelessness in Ghana's capital, Accra. Episodic interviews with individuals living in squatter settlements in the wealthy East Legon suburb explored: (1) roots of homelessness; (2) everyday experiences and coping strategies; (3) relationship between experiences and (mental) health; (4) needs and interventions. Three intersecting forms of insecurity framed participants' everyday experience: financial, legal and psychosocial. Physical and psychological stresses were common; physical illnesses rare. Coping strategies facilitated adaptation but not transformation of everyday circumstances. We explore possibilities for intervention and discuss relevance of this study to the health psychology and African literatures on homelessness.
引用
收藏
页码:761 / 778
页数:18
相关论文
共 53 条
[1]  
Acquah I., 1958, ACCRA SURVEY
[2]   Healer shopping in Africa: new evidence from rural-urban qualitative study of Ghanaian diabetes experiences [J].
Aikins, AD .
BMJ-BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL, 2005, 331 (7519) :737-742
[3]  
AIKINS AD, 2006, HARVARD U WORKSH AFR
[4]  
AIKINS AD, 2004, THESIS LONDON SCHOOL
[5]   Reframing applied disease stigma research: A multilevel analysis of diabetes stigma in Ghana [J].
Aikins, Ama de-Graft .
JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2006, 16 (06) :426-441
[6]   The state, refugees and migration in sub-Saharan Africa [J].
Akokpari, JK .
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, 1998, 36 (02) :211-234
[7]   On the "physiological dope" problematic in housing and illness research: towards a critical realism of home and health [J].
Allen, C .
HOUSING THEORY & SOCIETY, 2000, 17 (02) :49-67
[8]  
ANERFI K, 1996, STREET CHILDREN ACCR
[9]  
[Anonymous], 2006, GHANAIAN TIMES
[10]  
[Anonymous], 1950, REPORT SOCIAL SURVEY