Research on the Current Conditions and Policy of Homeless Services in Kaohsiung City: A Social Exclusion Perspective

[[abstract]]「遊民」是個顯而易見卻常被忽視的社會底層群體。在早期，遊民多被視為威脅社會的偏差行為者，必須透過取締、規戒、半監禁等方式進行處置，直到1980年代後期，遊民人權議題才開始獲得各界關注，並將遊民納入社會福利範疇，思考如何給予支援和救助。 本研究先以「文獻分析法」檢視台灣過往的遊民研究，得知既有的遊民研究較少以高雄市為研究主體，且未出現以社會排除理論進行遊民議題之多面向剖析，本研究認為社會排除理論可以提供吾人對於社會特定對象遭受排除的多重分析架構，且以高雄市為研究案例更可以補強高雄市遊民研究的不足。本論文除了次級資料的檢視外，尚以質性研究的「深度訪談法」，對高雄市遊民服務之相關行為者（遊民、社工、社區居民及政府人員）進行訪談，從經濟面、文化面、政治面、空間面及政策面之社會排除觀點，剖析高雄市現階段遊民服務體系的面貌，與服務、政策運作中的排除現象。 研究結果顯示高雄市遊民服務體系存有諸多問題，在服務的供需過程中遊民不但面臨多重排除的困境，且各項排除因素間還具有交互影響、累積性關係。現行的遊民政策，缺乏對各種排除作用之有效應對，尤其，遊民心理問題無法解決，將成為另一種排除力道，政策效果因此大打折扣。本研究提出的建議包括：高雄市府應加強服務提供者間的協調或整合；資源的有效運用；積極促進社區居民、遊民參與服務工作，以降低歧視；此外，市府應革新既有思維，重新安排都市空間政策與遊民就業政策。[[abstract]]The "homeless" is a significant but often overlooked social underclass. In the early days, the homeless are considered as deviants that threatened the society. They are often outlawed and half –imprisoned. It was not until the late 1980s that human rights issues of homelessness had gotten more attention. The government started to offer some social welfare to help the homeless. The society also thought about how to give them support. This study used qualitative research methods and employed “documentary analysis” to review the current homeless literature in Taiwan and found that past research rarely focused on homeless people in Kaohsiung City. Further, there was little research offering multi-dimensional analysis for the homeless issues from the social exclusion perspective. This research thus adopted the social exclusion theory to examine the homeless issue in Kaohsiung City. Through in-depth interviews, the author analyzed the conversation content with relevant actors that included the homeless, social workers, community residents and government officials who took charge of Kaohsiung homeless services system. Therefore, this study had a better understanding of the economic, culture, political, spatial, and policy aspects of social exclusion phenomena of the homeless. The study found that there are many problems in the Kaohsiung homeless services system. These occurred in the processes of the service supply and demand. The homeless faced not only the multiple excluding predicament but also the various interaction and accumulative relationships among the excluding factors. The current homeless policies failed to respond to the excluding effects, especially the homeless psychological problems. This will exacerbate the phenomenon and the policy effects will be greatly reduced. The study suggests that the city government should strengthen coordination or integration between the service providers, make efficient use of resources and actively encourage community residents and homeless people to get involved in service work to alleviate discrimination. In addition, the city government should try new ways to reconsider urban space arrangement and homeless employment policies.[[note]]碩