Traumatic Transitions

Abstract

This article presents traumatic experiences among 21 women residing in budget hotels after housing displacement. Framed in feminist and cumulative trauma theories, the purpose of this study was to explore types of trauma and adversity prior to and during housing at budget hotels. In this qualitative study, narrative and categorical content-analysis approaches were conducted to identify common themes across women’s narratives. Findings revealed trauma narratives of physical and emotional abuse, childhood maltreatment, loss, financial exploitation, sexual intimidation, eviction anxiety, environmental stress, crime exposure, and systematic subjugation. Trauma-informed intervention approaches for social work practice are outlined to promote women’s empowerment.

Homeless women experience high exposure to lifetime trauma and victimization (Browne & Bassuk, 1997; McWhirter, 2006). Although trauma is recognized as a precursor to and consequence of homelessness for women (Rayburn et al., 2005), the state of being homeless is also considered a traumatic event since losing one’s home induces stress and increases risks for depression and substance abuse (Rayburn et al., 2005; Yeater, Austin, Green, & Smith, 2010). Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness (Bassuk, Perloff, & Bassuk, 1998) and sexual and physical assault prior to homelessness is a common experience for women (Yeater et al., 2010). Once homeless, risks of assault and exposure to violence increase (Goodman, Dutton, & Harris, 1995; Lee & Schreck, 2005).

U.S. Code defines persons as homeless if they lack a regular residence, if they sleep in a place not intended for human habitation, or if they stay in emergency or transitional shelter (42 USC § 11302). According to this definition, over a half million women spent at least one night in emergency or transitional housing in 2011 (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD], 2012). Homeless women represented approximately 37% of the homeless population in 2011; a 2.4% increase in the last 5 years (HUD, 2010). These numbers do not include women who live on the cusp of homelessness, cycling in and out of budget hotels. Estimates regarding the number of women living in these situations are difficult. The size and needs of this population are not regularly assessed and the traumatic experiences of women in this population have rarely been studied (Moe, 2009).

Homelessness and Housing Instability for Women

Despite lack of regular enumeration, homeless women also live in budget hotels for temporary shelter (Lewinson, 2011; Moe, 2009). For many, budget hotels are regular sources of refuge for homeless individuals and homeless families who experience continuous cycles of living in emergency shelters, with family and friends, in cars, or on the street. Although hotels provide an immediate roof overhead, stability in this form of housing is precarious at best since changes in residents’ abilities to pay nightly or weekly rental fees can result in quick expulsions with very little notice (Warnes, Crane, Whitehead, & Fu, 2003).

Once homeless, women experience increased rates of mental and physical disorders, substance abuse, and exposure to trauma (Bassuk et al., 1996; Gelberg, Doblin, & Leake, 1996). Weinreb, Goldberg, and Perloff (1998) found that 50% of homeless mothers had major depressive episodes after losing housing and have higher lifetime prevalence rates of mental health disorders than the general population (see also Bassuk et al., 1996, 1998). Homeless women more frequently experience emergency room visits and hospitalization than their housed, low-income counterparts (Weinreb, Goldberg, & Perloff, 1998). Homelessness is also associated with strained and diminished social networks (Bassuk et al., 1996; Hawkins & Abrams, 2007) or in some cases, larger social networks without resources to assist the homeless woman (Toohey, Shinn, & Weitzman, 2004).

Research on health outcomes related to hotel homelessness is a growing area of study (Lewinson, 2010; Warnes et al., 2003; Woollcott, 2008). Recently, a group of researchers investigated mortality rates and health outcomes of Canadian adults residing in shelters, rooming houses, and hotels and found significantly higher mortality rates in hotel-dwelling residents than in low-income housed populations (Hwang, Wilkins, Tjepkema, O’Campo, & Dunn, 2009). The disparity was attributed to higher rates of suicide, violence, substance abuse, and disease among dwellers of budget accommodations.

Trauma and Homelessness

Traumatic experiences are precipitating events that may contribute to homelessness. Domestic and interpersonal violence is a key predictor of homelessness for women (Bassuk et al., 1998). Exposure to violence is associated with an increased risk of homelessness for adolescent mothers (Kennedy, 2007). Trauma and violence prior to homelessness is also a key risk factor for women who are not accompanied by children (Christensen et al., 2005; Goodman et al., 1995). In a recent study of homeless women veterans, Hamilton, Poza, and Washington (2011) identified premilitary adversity (violence, unstable housing), military trauma and substance abuse, postmilitary violence and revictimization (abuse, divorce), postmilitary mental illness, and unemployment to be factors that may lead to homelessness.

Homelessness is also associated with violence and trauma (Bassuk et al., 1998). Goodman, Saxe and Harvey (1991) refer to homelessness as a psychological trauma, and association between psychological trauma, depressive symptoms, and losing a home is well established in trauma and homelessness literature (Goodman, Saxe, & Harvey, 1991; Rayburn et al., 2005; Wong, 2002; Wong & Piliavin, 2001). Once homeless, women typically experience multiple traumatic events, increased victimization and sexual assault, and elevated rates of death whether accompanied by children or not (Cheung & Hwang, 2004; Kushel, Evans, Perry, Robertson, & Moss, 2003). When compared to the housed population, incidences of sexual and physical assault in childhood and adulthood are more prevalent among the homeless population (Lee & Shreck, 2005). Padgett, Hawkins, Abrams, and Davis (2006) completed in-depth interviews with 13 formerly homeless women with a serious mental illness and found trauma and reactions to trauma, like safety and regaining autonomy, to be key themes in the interviews. In another study, Rayburn and colleagues (2005) conducted a longitudinal study with 887 sheltered homeless and low-income housed women and found associations between various types of trauma and risks of clinical depression. Types of trauma included experiencing homelessness, living in a shelter, being physically or sexually assaulted as a child or adult, facing the death of a family member or friend, being affected by serious accident or natural disaster, being robbed, and being imprisoned.

With notable exceptions (Rayburn et al., 2005), research on trauma and homelessness among women focuses predominantly on the experiences of those living in emergency or transitional shelters (Bassuk, Perloff, & Dawson, 2001; Goodman et al., 1995). While the traumatic experiences of women living in budget hotels likely overlap with those who meet the federal definition of homelessness, that assumption needs additional empirical validation. The current study seeks to build on this line of study by contributing insight from homeless women about traumatic life events experienced before transitioning into and while finding shelter in hotels.

Conceptual Framework

This study is framed by interrelated theoretical perspectives, specifically variations of trauma theory that emphasize the cumulative nature of traumatic and adverse events (Kubiak, 2005; Turner & Lloyd, 1995) and feminist theory and empowerment perspectives that recognize the impact of oppression and the role of mutual relationships and self-determination in addressing and healing from trauma (Dietz, 2000; Kulkarni, Kennedy, & Lewis, 2010). A trauma may be defined as an event that causes intense feelings of horror, fear, helplessness, and anxiety, such as physical or sexual assault, war combat, and domestic violence (Finkelhor, Ormrod, & Turner, 2007; Kulkarni et al., 2010). Perspectives on cumulative trauma recognize the negative impact of multiple traumatic events and experiences of nonviolent chronic adversity such as job loss, sickness, hunger, loss of social support, and the loss of housing (Finkelhor et al., 2007). Studies examining cumulative trauma and adversity suggest a dose–response pattern, where for every added traumatic or adverse event, the negative outcome worsens (Kubiak, 2005); or, a pattern where traumatic and adverse events interact in such a way to increase risk for negative outcomes well beyond the combined effect of simply adding the risks of each traumatic and adverse event together (Parrish, Miller, & Peltekof, 2011). These studies and theoretical premises call attention to the importance of recognizing and addressing multiple traumatic and adverse events among vulnerable populations.

Feminist theories have historically been concerned with women and other’s experiences of trauma, particularly as trauma and resulting powerlessness are products of oppressive systems (Dietz, 2000; Kulkarni et al., 2010). Emphasizing the personal and political dimensions of oppression, feminist theory calls for responses to trauma that address systemic roots of violence and build individual power through programs and clinical interactions that emphasize self-determination and mutual helping relationships. Trauma theory, feminist theories, and empowerment perspectives are integrated in trauma-informed care (TIC) service models that are permeated by trauma awareness, safety, a strengths perspective, and opportunities to rebuild control (Elliott, Bjelaiac, & Fallor, 2005; Hopper, Bassuk, & Olivet, 2010).

Method

Participants

Twenty-one women were recruited from six budget hotels in Gwinnett County of Metropolitan Atlanta from 2006 to 2013 for this study. Recruitment strategies consisted of placing flyers at hotels and using snowball sampling techniques. Participants were eligible for the study if they were at or above the age of 18, spoke conversational English, earned less than US$33,000 annually, and lived exclusively in a budget hotel (offering relatively low pay by the week rates for extended stays) in Gwinnett County for at least 2 weeks as a result of housing displacement.

Data Collection

Approval for this qualitative, exploratory study was obtained through Georgia State University and University of Georgia Institutional Review Boards. Participants were engaged in 60- to 90-min private interviews using a semistructured interview guide. Broad questions encouraged women to share their stories about personal experiences before and during budget hotel stays, such as “Tell me about circumstances that created the need to live at a hotel,” “What do you like about living here?” “What challenges have you experienced since living here?” All interviews were conducted on-site at various hotels where participants resided. Each respondent was paid US$25 remuneration after informed consent was obtained. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and stored in password-protected electronic files.

Data Analysis

Narrative and categorical content-analysis techniques were used to construct individual women’s stories and to identify themes across interview data. After listening to digitally recorded interviews and checking transcripts for accuracy, we began analysis by connecting narrative segments of trauma and adversity events in each woman’s story of transition from home to hotel living. This approach is effective in exploring temporal dimensions of experience since stories allow individuals an ability to think through past events in order to understand ongoing situations (Marttila, Johansson, Whitehead, & Burstrom, 2013; Yamasaki & Sharf, 2011). Next, a categorical content-analysis technique was used to identify patterns between women’s stories about trauma, thereby allowing convergent themes to emerge (Smith & Sparkes, 2005; Sparkes, 2005). Trauma themes were explored in two temporal categories of homelessness: (1) traumatic and adverse events prior to homelessness and (2) traumatic and adverse events during homelessness at hotels.

Findings

Participant Profile

Respondents in this study ranged in age from 19 to 64, with an average age of 42. African American women (76%) outnumbered Caucasian American (19%) and Latin American women (5%) in the sample. Six women were either married or engaged and lived with their partners at the hotel. Six women were divorced, separated, or widowed. Nine women described themselves as single and never married. Forty-eight percent of women were accompanied with children at the hotel, children’s ages ranged from 1 to 18. The average room rental fee was US$220 per week. The average hotel stay was 32 weeks. However, the majority of women (67%) resided at the hotel for 16 weeks or less.

Trauma and Adversity Preceding Hotel Homelessness

All women in the sample described troubled or violent home environments prior to hotel living. In their narratives, physical and emotional abuse, child maltreatment, loss, financial exploitation, and sexual intimidation were common trauma themes before cycling in and out of homelessness.

Physical and Emotional Abuse

Six women experienced physical and verbal abuse when interacting with intimate partners, parents, and siblings. Whether through violence or manipulation, women told stories of fear and entrapment. Making a decision to leave abusive relationships was a difficult process. For two women with young children, Sophia and Mary, deciding whether to leave abusers was based on the intensity of the assault, social embarrassment, and perceived well-being of their children. Sophia reported severe and consistent physical and emotional abuse from her husband. She endured the abuse because she had two children and her husband was the primary income source for the family. Sophia described the complexity of her situation when she had to decide to leave a large home to avoid abuse.

Well, I was living in Brookwood [affluent community] when I was married. I had everything. I mean, all I had to do was ask. But, I was getting beat up like every day! It was a beautiful home, five bedrooms. We lived in a beautiful subdivision. I was driving a beautiful truck, but I was being abused physically, and more than that, mentally. I was tired of him saying, “You’re a bitch. You’re ugly.” I was really overweight and he would say, “Oh, you’re a fat whore and nobody wants you. What are you going to do when you leave?” I was very scared. My son was 6 years old and I had just had the baby. He was like 3 months. And one day, he [husband] just hit me really bad. And I said, “You know what? I can’t take it!” I called 911 and he fled. So the police came over. It wasn’t the first time, but they didn’t arrest him (crying). They didn’t put a warrant out. I was scared to come out to the world because everything was on the table for me. I had money but I was getting beat up everyday … and bad! It was not healthy for my oldest son. That’s when I decided that he [husband] has to go somewhere else and that’s it! I stayed in that house but he wouldn’t pay the rent and the house was too big. So that’s when I decided to move. At the beginning, I was like “wow!” You know … proud of myself. I got a job and I was okay. But then things started going bad and then the economy …

For Sophia, housing instability and homelessness were outcomes of ending an abusive relationship. After two apartment evictions, she and her two children were living in a budget hotel.

Mary was afraid of leaving her husband. During the interview, she angrily recounted his mistreatment and declared, “He was in jail from threatening to kill me and my momma.” During her interview, Mary often blamed her husband for the family’s money problems and housing instability. She described him as threatening, abusive, and a burden. She had plans to leave him someday, but was angry about her perceived obligation to remain in the marriage and take care of him. She felt guilty about reporting his threat to the police that resulted in his felony and imprisonment. She described feeling trapped by both the physical violence and her obligations to him. She also worried that her son could recognize her unhappy marriage and his father’s flaws. Mary just prays that her son will not “pick up those characteristics subconsciously and act those out with his wife.”

Childhood Maltreatment

For some participants, living in an abusive and controlling environment began in childhood. Tasha began living in a hotel when she was 18 years old with her daughter, yet living in a troubled home began in her childhood. Her aunt adopted her when she was only 2 months old because her birth mother was a “junkie.” With a flat affect she explained that her mother “was a crack-head [who] use to pimp me out to drug dealers.” When she would go home to report the sexual abuse, her aunt would get upset and tell her she didn’t want to hear it. In fact, Tasha recalled, “I would get punished for speaking about it, and that went on for years.”

After being pimped by her mother for several years, she was gang raped at age 15 by three men and became pregnant. Initially, she kept silent about the rape because she was afraid she would be punished. Her family did not acknowledge her pregnancy until she was in her third trimester. While recalling the events of her childhood, Tasha questioned, “A 15-year old girl in the home with grandma, mom, auntie and two sisters? How do you not notice your 15-year old is suddenly a lot bigger? That means you wasn’t paying too much attention in the first place.” At 8 months pregnant, Tasha’s aunt signed state papers, emancipated her, and kicked her out of the house. Luckily, a friend helped her get resettled. She recalled:

I had a school friend. Her mom took me around to a couple of places to help me find a little apartment because I was 15, eight-months pregnant, and still in school. She got me into another school where I could take my baby with me and take some parenting classes. I got my first apartment [when] I was about two weeks overdue. My daughter was born and we went home to our own place.

Tasha became completely estranged from her family. She was subsequently evicted from two apartments and then moved to a budget hotel with her daughter.

Michelle experienced significant family conflict with her mother and stepdad after disclosing her identity as a lesbian. At age 17, she left home to avoid complicating her mother’s new marriage. It was made clear in her narrative that, as a child, she had been exposed to witnessing domestic violence in her home. Michelle explained:

My mom had been through so much with other marriages and being beat and being raised by my grandmother who was beat and locked in closets and burned with irons. My mom had just been through so much that I felt like if he really loved her, and they wanted to be together, that I’d just go ahead and let them have that [softly sobs]. And I would just move on. So that’s what I did.

Michelle left home and went through several cycles of temporary housing and evictions before turning to budget hotels for shelter.

Loss

Another common theme among women’s narratives was loss of stable employment and income due to ongoing health challenges, which resulted in precarious housing situations. One third of the women reported job loss as a result of becoming ill from addiction relapse, lupus, breast cancer, multiple myeloma, renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/pneumonia, and chronic arthritis. They also reported other health challenges, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and depression. Most women received treatment for these chronic health conditions, but found it difficult to manage the combined financial stress of affording medications and housing. Turning to family members and friends was a short-term solution for most women, but extended reliance on informal support resulted in damaged and lost relationships, leaving them isolated, unsupported, and eventually homeless.

Death of loved ones was another category of loss for these women. Barbara Anne still grieves the death of her husband. Although she received a sizable death benefit, she admits that she spent it frivolously during her grief and depression. Subsequently, she was forced to move into a rented hotel room with her daughter and four grandchildren.

Carla still struggles with the murder of her family:

My family was murdered and that’s what brought me to Georgia anyway. That was 20 years ago. I’m from New Jersey, from Plainfield. My mother’s boyfriend killed her and my brother shot my sister and his friend. He’s [brother] a paraplegic now. I was the only one that wasn’t there, and I went to a psychiatrist for like two years. Two years!

Financial Exploitation

Some of the women in the study experienced financial exploitation before becoming homeless. Manipulation by roommates, landlords, and apartment managers was a common chronic stressor that resulted in loss of a home. Yaneen described an endless cycle of debt to an apartment complex from where she was evicted:

Being evicted from the apartment and having to pay attorney fees … they add up. If you don’t pay anything on them, they’re going to keep charging interest on it. The interest per day is about $4 or $5 dollars a day … for the attorney fees. When I had to go to court on [an] eviction, the attorney was there. He said, ‘Well ma’am if you can pay this amount by Wednesday of that following week, then you’ll be caught up. But if you’re unable to, then you’re going to also owe attorney fees.’ You have to pay them for filing something in court and the court cost. I owed $1,059 for rent and a dispossessory warrant, because they charge you $250 for that. I paid it by that day but more was added afterwards because I couldn’t pay [attorney’s fees]. When she sent me the letter in the mail, it was over $2,000 after they added the additional amount. Yeah, it’s like a rip-off and I’m still evicted. Prior to that, I hadn’t had any problem paying my rent throughout that whole four years that we’d been there.

Dee described a similar experience, but was defeated in her efforts to advocate for her rights. In regard to being overcharged, she stated, “I disputed some of the charges and … you know? I just gave up after that ‘cause I was tired and I was not working.” After evictions, women found it difficult to move into other apartment complexes due to poor credit ratings. Eventually, they moved into budget hotels.

Sexual Intimidation

Some women exited more permanent housing to avoid the sexual harassment they were experiencing from landlords. Keira and other women were approached for sex in exchange of rent payment or other financial matters. For Keira, sexual intimidation by her landlord was more dreadful than losing her home in a fire. She described discovering a fire at her apartment one evening when walking home from work:

I don’t know how it happened. I wasn’t there. I really wasn’t too mad. I lost a few things. I lost where I was staying, but I really wasn’t happy over there because the management was weird and I didn’t feel safe over there anyway. He was trying to come on to me, talking about he can pay my rent. I just didn’t feel safe because he got keys to the room. Anytime he felt like he wanted to come in, he could. So, I mean it was a blessing, but that’s why I’m here now [in the hotel].

Women’s narratives about traumatic events prior to moving into hotels included feeling victim to domestic violence, child maltreatment, loss, financial exploitation, and sexual intimidation. In retelling their stories, these women described emotional reactions to these negative life events, which included fear, misery, sorrow, and grief. While absorbing the psychological impact of these situational traumas, women also managed an undercurrent of chronic adversity, such as family conflict, unemployment, serial evictions, and poor health. Moving into budget hotels was considered a housing solution to gain a sense of safety and stability when other avenues of housing support were no longer available.

Trauma and Adversity During Hotel Homelessness

Despite serving as a refuge, hotels were also considered by women to be threatening and oppressive. Several women described a sense of entrapment due to stressors they faced. While residing at the hotel, women experienced eviction anxiety, environmental stress, crime exposure, and institutional subjugation.

Eviction Anxiety

Being evicted from the hotel, which was often the last option before street homelessness, was a frightful and real possibility expressed by many women. Although they understood that hotels are private businesses and that nonpayment leads to eviction, they described the eviction process as abrupt and discourteous. Tasha stated:

It’s stressful because, promptly at 10:30[am], it’s their job to call and find out if you’re staying over. If I haven’t made it down by 11:00, they’ll lock you out and keep your things. They will shut your key off and then charge you a $20 late fee. And, if you don’t come back in that night to pay, whenever you come back, you have to pay for all of those days that your things were locked and kept away from you.

After being evicted from the hotel, Constance and Sophia loaded their belongings in cars, along with two children, and parked at fast-food restaurants and nearby storage rental facilities. These locations were preferable to parks or other properties because of perceived safety. However, this sense of security was tenuous since these mothers experienced heightened anxiety from being homeless with young children. Both women described crying all night while watching their children sleeping in backseats. Constance recalled:

I was very scared. I went to the place where I’ve had a storage unit and I knew that place locked their gates at 9. So, I secured the back of the car and put pillows for the kids to sleep. I pretty much stayed up all night watching them (cries). And, I waited until the gate closed. Then I knew we were safe and nobody could come in until 6 the next morning. And we would get up and I would get them cleaned up and ready for school and take them to school. And we’d start over the next day. That was at a time when there was no money.

Environmental Stress

Several of the women expressed precipitous shifts in housing quality after leaving or losing their homes. Housing options were scarce and low-budget hotel conditions were worse than they imagined. Michelle described some budget hotels as deplorable. In addition to unclean restrooms and linens, women identified dirt, bugs, and poor ventilation to be common problems at rundown hotels. Despite finding refuge from the streets, many women found themselves stuck in a housing solution that was vastly different from what they were used to before displacement. Vanessa described her discomfort of budget hotel living:

It’s always very dirty, trash thrown everywhere. It’s always nasty. You see all the stains and the rips. How do you get curtains dirty from the outside? Looks like someone tried to break in. So of course, you fear for your life. You never know what’s going to happen. I try to have my door and the windows open just because I like outside air. But I’m afraid to do that because you just see hoodlums walking by. You can count them. One or maybe two will look at me. And, they’re looking in, so I’m closing my door and I’m closing my curtains because that’s my life and I’m afraid.

Even after enduring years of assault and breaking free, Sophia reevaluated her decision to leave her home. She stated:

I never imagined myself living at an extended stay hotel. I never imagined it would be this bad. I guess that’s why a lot of Hispanic women do not leave their husbands. I was scared to come out to the world. And you know, if I knew it was this bad, I don’t know what I would have done—probably still be married.

Sophia likened her hotel home to be “like a jail.” Moving out of the hotel was a priority for her since the space was small, confined, and unlike the housing she was accustomed to in the affluent, upper-income community where her children rode bikes in their own front yard.

Crime Exposure

The hotel also exposed women to drug use, prostitution, violence, and continuous police arrests. This created a great deal of anxiety, fear, and unrest for women who could smell marijuana in the hallways, hear children and women screaming through thin walls, and see people being confronted by police or drug dealers with guns and other weapons. During the retelling of her story, Ashay’s weary voice mirrored her fatigued expression, as she described:

The walls are too thin … so you hear everything in everybody else’s apartment. You shouldn’t have to hear it! You hear other people when they are upset and that makes you more upset, you know? You love children, but when it’s time to sleep, you want to sleep. But because of the environment, you hear everything. In that way, I’m not sleeping—as you can see. My eyes are looking terrible, and that is half the problem. At times, it gets real bad on the weekends because the walls are so thin. There have been times when you hear a child running up and down the hall and you hear them screaming and you wonder, “Wow, what kind of place is this?” You don’t really want to make complaints, because after all, you need a place to stay. So, it does make your life miserable while you are here. I have been awakened from sleep because of external noises—a burst of aggravational things happening in the night. I’ve had to call the police because I felt that my neighbor was abusing a child. You know—that kind of thing. You really don’t want to get involved. And you try not to snoop. But you can’t help it because it’s in your ears whether you want to hear it or not. And then there was somebody fighting across the hall. You hear the lady hollering and screaming for, I guess help or whatever. I called the police on that individual because I don’t believe in domestic violence.

Women in the study described exposure to drug sales, resident aggression, and family violence as commonplace. Additionally, police raids were not only typical, but were expected. Michelle explained, “Every other night, somebody’s door is getting kicked in and people are being drug out by police.”

Institutional Subjugation

Several women described adverse experiences while reaching out to social services agencies. They felt stigmatized, belittled, and forced to negotiate difficult application processes for scarce and insufficient resources. However, more disturbingly, many of these women feared interactions with representatives from public service agencies, particularly policemen and lawyers. A few women feared the police because of past brushes with the law. Sophia was arrested for writing a fraudulent US$22 check. Keira and Carla went to prison for selling drugs. Keira was also charged with possession of an illegal handgun. Yaneen was pulled over by police one evening and her car was impounded because she couldn’t afford to keep the insurance policy current. At the time, she and her son slept in the car to stay off the streets. Michelle did not have criminal convictions, but recalled exposure to violence and crime while living in blighted neighborhoods and rundown hotels. She witnessed police ignoring drug harassment and seemed, in many cases, to endorse deviant behavior. She exclaimed:

I couldn’t take it no more! One day, I was on my way to work, about 4:00 in the morning. I was catching the first bus and this guy walked up to me and her [girlfriend] and offered her some powder. And he was like, “Naw, Imma give it to you for free cause if you try it, you gonna come back.” I was just like, “what?” Every time we go to the store, we’ve got to deal with this! There’s always a problem with management. They let them [drug dealers] stand in their store and sell that stuff all day. We walk up to the store and might need some eggs or some bread and it’s five people lined up in front of the wall and out in the parking lot. “Hey, I got that. I got that.” I couldn’t live like that! They “got hard”—hard crack cocaine, “soft”, which is the powered cocaine that the rock stars use, marijuana, all different types of variations of marijuana. They had liquid ketamine, which is a horse tranquilizer …. Just about any drug you could think of—ecstasy, heroine, meth? They pay them [store managers]. Even the police out there don’t mess with them …. Now, when you go out there and you see the Georgia State Patrol or the Sheriff’s Office sitting in the parking lot … and hanging on their windows is a very well-known drug dealer and they just talking, chatting it up, having a good ole’ time. And right in front of them, somebody making a sale. And right behind them, somebody making a sell. I mean, it is what it is. It’s out there for you to see. Those neighborhoods stay like that because they’re [police] letting them stay like that.

These abused and abandoned women did not perceive police as advocates. Instead, they feared them. Several women preferred to have “no problem” with the police, even when landlords unlawfully withheld personal belongings or sexual intimidated them.

After exploitive eviction experiences with proprietors, women described being revictimized by attorneys and court systems. Harley recalled lawyers laughing at her in court when she made a formal complaint of property neglect by her landlord. Her words to the judge, who also demonstrated inappropriate courtroom behavior, represent thoughts of many women in her situation. Harley declared, “We’re supposed to be protected by you, and I can’t protect myself if you don’t let me.” She lost her case and was evicted.

Accumulating and compounding attorneys’ fees, court fees, late fees, eviction fees, and dispossession fees kept these women in a financial abyss, unable to satisfy delinquent rental arrears or remedy damaged credit standings. Revictimization was a common theme across women’s housing stories. They described being abused, abandoned, exploited, and trapped in a cycle of housing instability and homelessness.

Discussion and Implications

This study explored traumatic and adverse life events that preceded and accompanied housing displacement for women transitionally sheltered in budget hotels. The research extends knowledge of homeless women to include those living in hotels and it provides rich narratives that echo existing research on women, trauma, and homelessness (Bassuk et al., 2001; Goodman et al., 1995). Traumatic and adverse events preceded housing instability for the women in this study and additional adversity compounded stress once they found temporary shelter in a budget hotel.

Consistent with previous research concerning homeless women, the women in this study made decisions to leave home for their own safety and the safety of their children (Moe, 2009). As noted previously, many women who enter homelessness have experienced trauma, particularly physical and sexual abuse (Bassuk et al., 1998) and once homeless, women face increased risks of assault and exposure to violence (Lee & Schreck, 2005). This study suggests that additional adversities that the women experienced once they began living in a budget motel—the substandard housing environment, crime exposure, sexual intimidation, and institutional subjugation—further undermined the safety, control, and connection to others necessary to address initial trauma (Herman, 1992).

Budget hotels may provide a useful community resource of temporary housing for displaced people with damaged credit and negative rental histories (Lewinson, 2011). The ability to rent a room without a thorough credit check or large security deposit, or other eligibility criteria, makes this temporary setting more accessible than permanent housing, and sometimes more accessible than emergency and transitional shelters. Women may also seek shelter in hotels in an effort to maintain autonomy and avoid the formal homeless or domestic violence service systems. Further, service providers may use hotels as a source of temporary shelter when other emergency, transitional, or permanent housing is not available. This study, however, suggests caution in viewing budget hotels as a resource or step for rebuilding lives marked by homelessness and trauma. While initially helpful for women in this study escaping abusive environments, adversities that characterized women’s experiences further threatened their safety and prolonged their sense of powerlessness.

Study findings underscore the importance of TIC, rapid rehousing (RRH), and permanent supportive housing (PSH) models in addressing homelessness among women. TIC models recognize the likely role of trauma among those seeking social and mental health services (Elliott et al., 2005), as well as homeless services (Hopper et al., 2010). TIC models emphasize that trauma awareness must be cultivated among service providers and integrated into interventions and program structures. In recognition of how trauma can destroy a sense of safety and personal power in relationships, TIC models must also address physical and psychological safety, emphasize client choice and control, and provide opportunities for empowerment. For homeless services settings, TIC has been defined as, “a strengths-based framework that is grounded in an understanding of and responsiveness to the impact of trauma, that emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors, and that creates opportunities for survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment” (Hopper et al., 2010, p. 82). The adverse scenarios that study participants faced as they transitioned into hotels are what TIC models are structured to avoid.

RRH is a solution to homelessness that minimizes time spent in any form of temporary shelter and seeks to place homeless persons in permanent housing as quickly as possible without meeting extensive program eligibility criteria. RRH programs provide financial assistance that can include rental and utility assistance, rental and utility arrears, security and utility deposits, and moving cost assistance. At a frequency and intensity needed by the client, RRH programs also provide housing location assistance and housing stability services, and the programs link clients to other community resources. RRH models were developed from a housing first philosophy that recognizes the importance of permanent housing as foundational to service success, challenges the notion of housing readiness, and maximizes client choice and self-determination through voluntary instead of mandatory service participation. Initial studies of RRH models suggest high rates of housing stability and low rates of recidivism. In one study of over 1,000 families who entered the homeless shelter system in Hennepin County, Minnesota, between January 2004 and December 2007, 80% of the families did not return to shelter in the 3 years following shelter entry (Barnett et al., 2011).

PSH models built on a housing first philosophy may be necessary for homeless women with chronic physical or mental disabilities. Like RRH models, PSH provides permanent housing quickly, with limited barriers to program eligibility, but provides much more intensive, long-term supportive services. The success of housing first PSH models in ending homelessness and stabilizing health and mental health outcomes is well established in the academic literature (Padgett, Gulcur, & Tsemberis, 2006; Tsemberis & Eisenberg, 2000; Tsemberis, Gulcur, & Nakae, 2005). Initial research also suggests the potential of the model to address the effects of cumulative trauma and adversity in homeless women (Padgett, Hawkins, Abrams, & Davis, 2006).

RRH and PSH models do not necessarily specifically address the prevalence and impacts of cumulative trauma and adversity, unless emphasized by the agency administering the program. However, the values underlying the development of housing first RRH and PSH models are either congruent with or complement those of TIC. Unlike extended placement in temporary housing situations, securing permanent housing can reduce housing anxiety, increase a sense of security, and serve as a foundation to address other key issues in a woman’s life. When combined with TIC and when necessary, Trauma-Specific Services, RRH and PSH could more holistically address women’s housing stability crises. Future research should examine the integration of housing first models and trauma-informed practices.

Marginally housed women are at increased risks for victimization, sexual assault, chronic health challenges, and mortality. Women in this study found the courage to restart their lives after abuse and abandonment only to find newer challenges related to homelessness and housing instability. Improving well-being for these women calls for approaches to intervention that permanently and safely house women as soon as possible, while treating psychological and physical issues unique to women who break free from abuse and oppression. Micro practitioners must build affirming, supportive, and mutual relationships with women who have learned to distrust helping professionals. Macro practitioners must build organizations and craft system responses that permanently house women, recognize the prevalence of trauma, integrate safety and control at all organizational levels, and confront well-intended solutions that potentially retraumatize survivors. The findings of this study shed light on trauma and adversity experienced by women transitioning from permanent homes to transitional homelessness in budget hotels. The narratives described here underscore the importance of supporting women who want to move out of abusive and threatening households and into stable and healthy homes. Limitations in the study must be acknowledged. The small sample size precludes complete generalizability to larger populations of women transitioning into budget hotels. Selection bias in the data set is apparent since only English-speaking residents were interviewed. Future studies should explore traumas and transition barriers for women with diverse language competencies.