Are local services meeting the needs of Fredericton’s homeless community?
(Photo provided by Emily Fabeck)
“I wanted to learn about what could be done to improve the human experience of those who are faced with homelessness and the hardships that accompany it. The homeless community is one that is often overlooked and treated with prejudice and discrimination, including from those that are meant to support them.” ~Emily Fabeck
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*In the following interview, EF refers to Emily Fabeck, and TS refers to The Synapse;
TS: Could you briefly introduce yourself, your supervisor, the topic of your research, and the field it contributes to?
EF: My name is Emily Fabeck, and I am in my third year of my Bachelor of Arts program. I am currently in the English honors program and am hoping to join the psychology honors program next year as well.
As part of the basic research course this term, I have been working with Dr. Scott Ronis and his PhD student, Laura Kabbash. I have joined Laura and Dr. Ronis in examining the disparities between available services for the homeless in Fredericton and the satisfaction of individuals who are homeless.
TS: What was your research project and your contributions? What drew you to pursuing this project?
EF: Overall, our project aims to look at how to best maximize the fit between homeless individuals and the services they are given access to here in Fredericton. Another aim of this project is to bring forward the voices of those with lived experiences with homelessness - these are individuals who are rarely asked for input.
The project consists of three phases. I contributed to the third phase, which involved transcribing interviews with the homeless that Laura conducted. I have also been working on a content analysis of the interviews, which involves determining the main themes - called “codes” - in people’s experiences with homelessness. Some identified codes include housing, issues with privacy, police and incarceration, and the impact of COVID-19.
I decided to join Dr. Ronis’s lab and work with Laura because I wanted to learn about what could be done to improve the human experience of those who are faced with homelessness and the hardships that accompany it. The homeless community is one that is often overlooked and treated with prejudice and discrimination, including from those that are meant to support them. When I was recently speaking to somebody about the work I was doing with Laura, I was met with the question “why don’t homeless people just get a job?”. The reality is that numerous factors contribute to homelessness, and very few issues can be solved by simply getting a job. I see homelessness as a complex social problem that needs a long-term solution that goes beyond providing access to necessities such as housing, food, water, and shelter. The best way to gauge what the solutions might be is to learn from first-hand accounts of those who have experienced homelessness.
TS: Are there any future studies that will be conducted based on your project?
EF: Individuals experiencing homelessness often experience social isolation, incarceration, are more prone to physical health problems, and have an overall poorer quality of life. Unfortunately, the resources provided to them are limited in both quality and quantity, and I think that more and more people are beginning to realize this. As such, I believe that future studies will be conducted to highlight what is needed to foster a sense of belonging, trust, and emotional support to help these individuals get back on their feet and lead more fulfilled lives.
TS: Why did you choose to take the basic research course? To what extent did the research experience align with what you’d expected?
EF: I decided to take the basic research course mainly because I am hoping to apply to the Honours program. However, I also wanted to take this course because it provided a great opportunity to participate in and contribute to research. Until now, my knowledge of and experience with research revolved around working with quantitative, numerical data; working with Dr. Ronis and Laura allowed me to discover the process that underlies qualitative research. What surprised me while working with Laura and Dr. Ronis was that there was no specific hypothesis to be tested. Instead, the focus was on the participants, what they chose to recount in interviews, and what emerged from discussing the interviews. Moreover, the transcription process has shown me that the research process can be quite slow, and that there is a lot of laborious work that needs to occur behind the scenes before information can even be interpreted.
TS: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your research experience?
EF: Despite being a long and tedious process, the research process is one that is necessary. Things will go wrong - like not finding enough individuals willing to be interviewed, or transcription time taking much longer than expected due to unclear audio recordings - but ultimately it can be rewarding to see all the work come together to represent a cohesive whole. Even if someone is not planning on working in a research environment or applying for the honors program, I would recommend participating in research because it has provided me with numerous skills that I will be able to apply across different settings. Once again, I have felt the research experience to have been incredibly enriching, and am very grateful to Laura and Dr. Ronis for having given me this opportunity to learn from and with them. Ψ
Created for The Synapse by Incé Husain.
