Homelessness as viewed by incarcerated women: participatory research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, by incarcerated women who were members of a prison participatory health research team, of a survey tool regarding homelessness and housing, the survey findings and recommendations for policy.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was developed by incarcerated women in a minimum/medium security women's prison in Canada. Associations were examined between socio‐demographic factors and reports of difficulty finding housing upon release, homelessness contributing to a return to crime, and a desire for relocation to another city upon release. Open‐ended questions were examined to look for recurrent themes and to illuminate the survey findings.Findings – In total, 83 women completed the survey, a 72 per cent response rate. Of the 71 who were previously incarcerated, 56 per cent stated that homelessness contributed to their return to crime. Finding housing upon release was a problem for 63 per cent and 34 per cent desired relocation to another c...