Abstract
Not often implemented with emerging adults (18 – 25 years), permanent supportive housing (PSH) is an intervention which aims to support transitions from chronic housing insecurity. Ontological security theory (OST) -- a sense of being whole and alive on a continuous spectrum – serves as a lens to understand this transition. Through longitudinal surveys using semi-structured interview questions, emerging adults living in PSH (N = 28) in western Colorado described their relationship to the concept of ‘home’ through an OST lens. We found that time in one place as well as emerging adults being able to ponder ‘what’s next’ served as key elements to defining home as well as trust in other residents and staff, consistent policies, a positive sense of safety, and control also impacted residents’ experiences. These findings offer insight into how PSH service providers may support residents and promote OST during unique developmental phases of emerging adulthood.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
