Institutional Coding of Homelessness. A Case Study

Abstract

The institutional coding of homeless people from care services is part of the social construction of a problem related to unequal access to housing, which, however, tends to turn personal factors into sufficient causes to explain the residential exclusion of these people. This paper presents the case of a Shelter and Insertion Centre, based on an interpretative research that systematises the data collected during a sustained participant observation between 2008 and 2016. The multidimensional analysis takes into account the normative framework, the organisation of the space and the professional practices that take place in the Centre. The conclusions point out the contradictions that arise when confronting these practices of institutional coding with the theoretical objective of social inclusion.