Although refugees flee their homelands in search of a better life, they often face continued displacement and homelessness after arrival in their host countries. This constructivist grounded theory study investigated pathways out of homelessness through interviews with a mixed sample of 19 adult refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Syria who had experienced short or long-term homelessness after their arrival in Canada and who were subsequently adequately settled for at least 6 months. Data analysis yielded a theoretical framework consisting of four interrelated pathways for exiting the cycle of homelessness: (a) drawing on religiosity to replace the lack of one’s own physical dwelling with a virtual spiritual shelter, promoting resilience in dealing with housing obstacles; (b) creative problem-solving to move up the income ladder to make housing affordable; (c) crying out for help and stumbling on a housing advocate; and (d) engaging in self-advocacy. Social justice-oriented counselling with refugees can facilitate satisfaction of their basic needs after migration in order to realize their fundamental human right to access safe shelter. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Housing Homelessness Counselling Shelter Social justice Refugees

Pakistan social justice Afghanistan refugee basic needs Crying Rwanda Syrian Arab Republic human Iraq housing Congo satisfaction interview conceptual framework male counseling female Alberta drawing Article Ethiopia adult grounded theory human experiment Somalia data analysis homelessness problem solving Sudan