Task-designated Identities in Danish Homeless Shelters

Amir B. Marvasti, Nanna Mik-Meyer*

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

This paper is based on an ethnographic study of how domesticity is enacted and adapted at homeless shelters for determining which clients are “service worthy .” The study draws on nineteen placement meetings with homeless men and focuses on institutional mechanisms for encouraging homemaking skills or domesticity among clients. Adapting Robert K. Merton's typology of adaptations to social norms, as well as Jaber Gubrium's “task-designated identity,” we showcase male clients' self-presentation strategies for adapting to the institutional mandates of domesticity. Specifically, our qualitative analysis reveals four modes of task adaption: (1) task conformity by professing the desired norms in their service encounters, (2) task evasion to avoid conversations and related tasks, (3) task transformation by linking the task at hand with something other than originally intended, particularly by reframing biographies to meet the local goals of domesticity, and (4) task protestation, which involves questioning the rationale and necessity of assigned tasks.
Original languageEnglish
JournalSymbolic Interaction
Number of pages24
ISSN0195-6086
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Epub ahead of print. Published online: 05 August 2024.

Keywords

  • Domesticity
  • Homelessness
  • Client work
  • Service worthiness
  • Gender

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