Homelessness: un problema solo redistributivo? Una riflessione sulla rilevanza della dimensione sociale e umana per la comprensione del fenomeno

Homelessness is one of the most extreme forms of poverty. Rec ent literature explains this event using an approach that combines individual characteristics and structura l forces. However, in the homelessness’ s study few attention has been given to human dimension and the role of crisis of identity and recognition. The need to be socially recognized is not simply a need among many others, to which we can possibly give up: it is a basic condition of our being human persons. Becoming homeless is definitely a very traumatic event, but these persons su ffer before they begin this transition and continue even after that. In both phases, homeless peopl e might be victims of various forms of misrecognition: physical and psychological maltreatme nt, rights ’ depr ivation and social exclusion that affect the validation of their social identity. Homelessness is certainly an expression of material and economic poverty, but it might also reflect other human and social problems. The aim of this paper is to explo re how identity and recognition concepts can be used as a framework to understand homelessness experience more deeply