Graduate student Brenna Jones from the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences recently published the article “…They’re Still Blaming It on the Person Being Lazy”: Stigma in the Lives of Precariously Housed and Unhoused People” in the journal of Critical Criminology.
In this article, Jones offers insights into the lives of homeless people, which are often hidden from view. She also provides a discussion on how various stigmas can exclude or further marginalize people from housing programming or other supports.
Illinois State Scholar’s Maine roots
Jones was raised beside Acadia National Park in Maine. She began her academic career as a major in mathematics and then fell in love with the social sciences when she took an intro-level sociology course. These personal and academic experiences inspired her to bring attention to the lived experiences of vulnerable populations.
Jones is set to graduate in May with an M.S. in criminal justice sciences.
Personal experience drives research focus
Jones’ interest in homelessness was deeply personal. “I chose to do research on housing issues because of personal experiences struggling with housing, and at my minimum wage job, stocking the shelves at the grocery store, everyone around me was struggling to make ends meet.”
“I chose to do research on housing issues because of personal experiences struggling with housing, and at my minimum wage job, stocking the shelves at the grocery store, everyone around me was struggling to make ends meet.”
Brenna Jones
Her research led her to engage in the act of interviewing 18 unhoused individuals, resulting in groundbreaking insights and findings that are complicated by the experts and often missed in scholarly literature in the field of housing.
Unpacking stigma: Humanizing the homeless experience
One of the key contributions of her research is providing clarification on how stigma shapes the experience of homelessness, not only the stigma placed by society but also within the community.
She shared her experience during the research, where one of the participants said, “I’m not homeless. I don’t have a place to live, but if someone asked, I wouldn’t say I’m homeless.” To Jones, hearing this statement was confusing and contradictory, but at the same time, she completely understood that someone could not take on that label because of the associated shame with being “homeless.” So, from there, the question became, “Why?”
Jones also explained that stigma is more than name-calling: it impacts a person’s ability to obtain housing, jobs, and other food and services. She strongly disagrees that homelessness is a function of laziness or moral failure. “Most of the time, they (participants) have tried hard. It’s the system that failed—low wages, strict screening verification to even rent a place, intrusive aid requirements to receive any kind of support, and demands a full history of people’s lives.”
“Most of the time, they (participants) have tried hard. It’s the system that failed—low wages, strict screening verification to even rent a place, intrusive aid requirements to receive any kind of support, and demands a full history of people’s lives.”
Brenna Jones
This broader systemic lens reframes the problem of homelessness as a collective challenge of addressing the system.
Collaboration and Ethical Challenges
Jones’ approach stands out due to her deep collaboration with the research participants, viewed as co-constructing questions and narratives, which is not commonplace in academic literature examining these topics.
Jones also worked through and effectively negotiated the strict IRB (Internal Review Board) parameters that protect vulnerable populations (e.g., unhoused people), aiming for participant autonomy and fair compensation.
Her work contributed significant new data on stigma at work within the unhoused community, as evidenced by the community tensions as well as the sense of community and solidarity that emerged.
Communicating Research Through Media Analysis and Advocacy
As Jones prepares to wrap up her master’s thesis, she is also extending her work, which now also includes a media analysis of how homelessness is covered in regional newspapers.
This work more holistically looks to elevate intersecting stigmas related to substance abuse and criminality related to housing insecurity to better inform policy and advocacy.
Reflecting on her journey in academics and activism, Jones reminds us of the power of impacted people in community-driven social justice work.
“To really make a difference in social justice issues, students need to get involved in community organizations that start changing things locally. So many little decisions are made locally that can make a huge difference on a practical scale. The number one thing that I look for in community organizing is whether the organization is being led or learning from impacted people. There are so many organizations that try to come into communities from a top-down angle, but real change comes from empowering those who are impacted by the social issue that you are fighting to change and taking their lead.”
Learn about the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences graduate program.
