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“You Just Gotta Do It, ’Cause Those are Your Kids”:
Survival Parenting and Rural Homelessness
Timothy P. Hilton and Deanna L. Trella
This research identifies patterns related to parents’ struggles to meet their children’s needs while
homeless in a rural area. Using grounded theory and drawing on recordings of semi-structured
interviews with 53 homeless parents in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.) we introduce the
concept of survival parenting to describe parents’ survival-related efforts, associated stress, and
methods of coping with this stress. Survival parenting and the use of coping mechanisms are
examined in the
oader familial context. Policy and service implications are also presented.
KEY WORDS: homelessness, parenting, rural, children, coping behaviors, poverty
Introduction
An extensive body of existing literature examines the family context of
homelessness, primarily research focusing on single mothers, and the challenges
they face parenting children while living in u
an shelter environments. We
know much less about rural homelessness, homelessness among non-sheltered
families (e.g., doubled-up with family and friends, living in transitional housing),
different family structures (e.g., two-parent families), and the experience of
parenting in these different contexts. The cu
ent work uses grounded theory to
examine the experiences of homeless parents, many of whom are not living in
shelters, in a rural environment. We introduce the concept of survival parenting to
describe parents’ hyper-vigilant and extraordinary efforts to meet their children’s
asic needs while homeless.
Literature Review
Family Homelessness
Point-in-time estimates from 2013 suggest that approximately 610,000 people
were homeless in January of that year (Henry, Cortes, Mo
is, & Abt Associates,
2013). Approximately three-quarters (77 percent) of the total homeless population
World Medical & Health Policy, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2014
446
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Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX42 DQ.
is located in u
an areas and only 4 percent are in areas considered completely
ural (National Alliance to End Homelessness, XXXXXXXXXXHomeless families comprise
approximately one-third (34 percent) of the entire homeless population (Henry et
al., XXXXXXXXXXAmong all homeless families, the vast majority is living in u
an areas
(86 percent) and only a small percentage (9 percent) lives in rural areas (National
Alliance to End Homelessness, 2009).
The majority of homeless families (84 percent) are single-parent families
comprised of a mother and her children (Henry et al., XXXXXXXXXXThis family
structure is especially indicative of homeless families living in u
an areas.
Existing research on family homelessness generally focuses on single mothers
and their children, especially those living in u
an sheltered environments
(e.g., Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988; Bassuk, Rubin, & Lauriat, 1986; Goodman,
1991; Grigsby, Baumann, Gregorich, & Roberts-Gray, 1990; Letiecq, Anderson,
& Koblinsky, 1996; North & Smith, 1993; Rossi, Wright, Fisher, & Willis, 1987;
Wood, Valdez, Hayashi, & Shen, XXXXXXXXXXThere is a greater diversity of homeless
family structures in rural areas (Fisher, 2005) yet existing research on the
experience of homelessness in these family structures is scarce (Fisher, 2005;
Trella and Hilton, 2014; Vissing, XXXXXXXXXXRural families experiencing homeless-
ness tend to be less visible and are often harder to account for compared to
those in u
an areas given limited shelters and other human services that serve
the homeless, and limited shelter use (Fitchen, 1991; Henry & Sermons, 2010;
Hilton & DeJong, 2010; Hoover & Carter, 1991; Kusmin & Hertz, 2010;
Lawrence, 1995; Patton, 1988; Post, 2002; Strong, Del Grosso, Burwick, Jethwani,
& Ponza, XXXXXXXXXXCompared to homeless families in u
an areas, rural homeless
families are nearly twice as likely to be unsheltered, are more likely to be
homeless for the first time, and will experience homelessness for a shorte
period of time (Fisher, 2005; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2009).
Homeless families in rural areas are also more likely to reside in campgrounds,
cars, and other substandard dwellings, and doubled-up with family or friends
(National Rural Health Association, 1996; Patton, 1988; Wagner, Menke, &
Ciccone, 1995).
The existing body of research on family homelessness examines basic
demographics, precursors (e.g., poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, lack of
affordable housing), and consequences of homelessness. This work overempha-
sizes the experiences of single-mothers living in u
an sheltered environments
while de-emphasizing family homelessness within diverse family structures,
unsheltered environments, and rural areas. Less is known about the day-to-day
experience of parenting within these homeless families or the felt experience of
accumulated stressors associated with parenting while homeless.
Homeless Parenting
Much of what we know about homeless parenting is based on studies of
single mothers living in u
an sheltered environments. Our understanding of
Hilton and Trella: Survival Parenting and Rural Homelessness 447
parenting while homeless is largely embedded in the context of shelter life,
namely meeting the rules and regulations set forth by shelter staff and
negotiating tenuous relationships with shelter staff. This research highlights the
incongruity of autonomous parenting and the development of parental efficacy
within the context of sheltered environments (Swick & Williams, XXXXXXXXXXGeneral
guidelines that are intended to maintain order and structure in the shelte
environment often impinge on parents’ authority and ability to establish rituals
and schedules with their children (Mow
ay & Thrasher, XXXXXXXXXXSheltered
parents must compensate for a lack of privacy by establishing unique and
creative rituals with children that circumvent shelter rules (Boxhill & Beaty,
1990). Furthermore, homeless mothers must reconcile children’s developmental
needs to explore their environment and test their boundaries within the confines
of sheltered environments that are often unsanitary, crowded, and potentially
dangerous. These conditions are also a contributing factor in high levels of
emotional distress and anxiety for parents and children (Mow
ay & Thrasher,
1995). The emotional challenges associated with parenting toddlers (e.g., nea
constant negotiation and rationalization) are also an added complexity fo
homeless mothers who are already emotionally ove
urdened and hyper-aware
of the scrutiny they face while parenting in public (David, Gelberg, & Suchman,
2012).
There is relatively little research concerning daily parenting struggles faced
y homeless families living in unsheltered environments and in rural areas. As
such we can look to existing research on parenting among single mothers in
u
an sheltered environments to structure our examination of homeless parent-
ing struggles though these experiences are likely to be qualitatively different
(Cotter, 2002; Craft-Rosenberg, Powell, & Culp, 2000; Fisher, 2005; Fitchen, 1992;
Vissing, XXXXXXXXXXSheltered homeless families have resources at their disposal (e.g.,
food, blankets, and bathrooms) to ease the burden of parenting young children.
Among unsheltered homeless families these resources may have to be sought out
or negotiated multiple times a day to ensure children’s basic needs are met. Both
sheltered and unsheltered homeless parents share a similar lack of autonomy
and self-efficacy. Parents who are doubling-up with family and friends lack self-
efficacy to the extent that they must rely on others to meet their own and thei
children’s basic needs (Trella and Hilton, 2014; Vissing, XXXXXXXXXXThey experience a
lack of autonomy in the context of forgoing privacy, space, an ability to schedule
their daily activities, and having to abide by established house rules while living
with others (Trella and Hilton, XXXXXXXXXXAs Trella and Hilton XXXXXXXXXXfound, families
who are doubling-up often experience an overwhelming sense of gratitude and
guilt for burdening their relatives and friends with the responsibility of
sheltering multiple people. They often forgo comforts and privacy to minimize
distu
ance in the daily lives of their relatives and friends. Unsheltered families
are also hyper-sensitive to the potential scrutiny they may experience while
living with relatives and friends. Homeless parents often do not have anything
to offer their relatives and friends in return for being housed. As such, parents
may accept less than ideal circumstances and burdensome requests from family
448 World Medical & Health Policy, 6:4
and friends if it ensures that their children’s basic needs for shelter, warmth, and
protection will be met.
The experience of homelessness undermines parents’ ability to meet thei
children’s basic physical and emotional needs (Bassuk, 1993; David et al., 2012).
Parents who are emotionally overwhelmed are often forced to prioritize children’s
physical needs at the expense of establishing emotional connections—a deliberate
coping mechanism employed by homeless mothers to avoid feelings of parental
inadequacy (David et al., XXXXXXXXXXThe ability to maintain structured relationships
and schedules with children is often dependent on whether parents feel subjected
to scrutiny while parenting in public, feel that their roles as parents have been
diminished because of their circumstances, and also feel subject to external
control by shelter rules or other individuals who they are dependent upon
(Boxhill & Beaty, 1990).
Parenting Stress
Previous literature on homeless parenting tends to focus on how parenting
quality decreases with exposure to adverse conditions that undermine family
functioning and threaten family stability (Perlman, Cowan, Gewirtz, Haskett, &
Stokes, XXXXXXXXXXExternal factors (e.g., relationships with social service staff,
tenuous relationships with family and friends, lack of affordable housing,
a
iers to education, unemployment, poor health) can increase parents’ distress
and adversely impact parents’ ability to meet their children’s basic needs and
psychological well-being (Deater-Deckard, 1998; Howard, Cartwright, & Barajas,
2009; Jozefowicz & Israel, 2006; Lindsey, XXXXXXXXXXChildren in families marked by
high levels of parenting stress and a significant number of major life concerns
are particularly at risk for behavioral problems, lower academic achievement,
and poor mental health outcomes (Danseco & Holden, XXXXXXXXXXParents who are
not able to provide a stable home for their children experience a particularly
acute sense of guilt as this is viewed as failing to meet a primary responsibility
to one’s children (Averitt, XXXXXXXXXXResearch suggests that an inability to provide
children with shelter, food, clothing, warmth, and protect them from harm is
associated with higher rates of parental depression, suicidal ideation, and
anxiety (Averitt, XXXXXXXXXXBeyond meeting their basic needs, many parents are
keenly aware of their need to protect children’s self-esteem and provide
opportunities for their children to thrive despite adverse circumstances associated
with homelessness (Averitt, XXXXXXXXXXParents who can alleviate their stress
y utilizing social support systems and tapping into personal resiliencies are
etter able to cope with the daily struggles of homelessness (Averitt, 2003;
Danseco & Holden, XXXXXXXXXXStudies suggest that social support is associated
with greater parenting quality (Oravecz, Osteen, Sharpe, & Randolph, 2011).
Families with lower levels of parenting stress tended to have greater protective
factors (e.g., social supports, parents’ skill levels, and self-reliance) and thei
children tended to have more positive developmental outcomes (Danseco &
Holden, 1998).
Hilton and Trella: Survival Parenting and Rural Homelessness 449
While we