This master's thesis examines the situation of families that are facing housing vulnerability or homelessness in Slovenia. The theoretical part presents the concept of homelessness or housing vulnerability. An apartment is considered as a »right«, together with an overview of more important conventions, resolutions and the Slovenian legislation. The first theoretical part focuses on the apartment while the second part focuses on the family. At the beginning, different views of family are presented; especially the systematic definition and the concept of vulnerable families. Later, the focus shifts to the process of help and support of vulnerable families with an emphasis on the lifeworld-oriented family support and the concept of family resistance. The theoretical part is concluded with a research overview of (mostly foreign) families with residence vulnerability.
The main research goal is the overview of current situation of housing vulnerable families in Slovenia. The research of the phenomenon of housing vulnerability of families is done on three levels: family level, level of professional service, and media level. The research methodology is quantitative, and the measurement instruments used are »half-structured« interview and text analysis.
Results show that experts use a wide definition of housing vulnerability. The biggest problem families are facing is the poor private real-estate market. Poor private market is a problem because of the lack of non-profit apartments. Non-profit apartments do not resolve the housing vulnerability of all applicants. The second result is that the help for housing vulnerable families is still in the development stage with the biggest problem being the lack of programs for help and support. Media report analysis shows that there are two ways of reporting about families. The first way is used when the purpose of reporting is charity. In this case families are displayed in the "role" of the victims. The second way of reporting is used when housing vulnerable families are made of representatives from minorities or refugees. Most of the time family is not even the most important topic of reporting due to conflicts being in the foreground.
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