Graduation Term
Spring 2026
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Department of Criminal Justice Sciences
Committee Chair
Joshua Stout
Committee Member
Ashley Farmer
Committee Member
Kaitlyn Selman
Abstract
As homelessness rises across the United States, public discourse plays an important role in shaping how the housing crisis is understood and addressed. This study examines how homelessness is constructed through local media narratives and how these constructions shape the experiences of unhoused individuals. Using a case study of Greater Bangor, Maine, this research combines a critical content analysis of 315 news articles from the Bangor Daily News (2020-2025) with in-depth interviews with 18 unhoused and precariously housed individuals. The findings demonstrate how media portrayals construct homelessness as a stigmatized identity associated with disorder, addiction, and danger. These narratives contribute to processes of stigmatization that justify surveillance, criminalization, conditional services, and the management of visible poverty. At the same time, interviews reveal how unhoused individuals build alternative forms of support through community and mutual aid. Together, these findings highlight how the construction of homelessness shapes both institutional responses and the range of solutions considered possible.
Access Type
Thesis-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Jones, Brenna, "Constructing and Deconstructing Homelessness: Challenging the Stigmatization of the Unhoused Through Lived Experience" (2026). Theses and Dissertations. 2312.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/2312