Drug-Dependent Homeless African-American Women's Perspectives of Life on the Streets

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Abstract
Results of this exploratory and phenomenological investigation provide an understanding of the meanings of “living on the streets” for drug-dependent African-American women in a shelter for the homeless in the southeastern United States. Thirty-six interviews were conducted with drifting and impoverished chemically dependent women seeking help for their addictions. The women's narratives were subjected to qualitative analysis and revealed ways of life that began for them in childhood and continued into adulthood. Victimization, first suffered and later inflicted, was mediated by their chemical dependence and is explained by the Maltreatment-Dependence Mediated Relationship Model (MDMR). Physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, as well as prostitution, robbery, and child abuse and neglect were commonly experienced or imposed on others. Addiction counselors are instructed in ways to help women such as the participants in this study. Building a network of internal and external sources of strength is likely to be a helpful strategy for women to use in such circumstances to develop more successful ways of living.