Fantasies of Ballin': The Educational and Occupational Aspirations of Homeless Youth of Color.

Abstract

This dissertation study explored how homeless young adults, particularly those who identify as racial or ethnic minorities, made sense of their educational experiences (formal and informal) and occupational futures given their self-proclaimed intersecting identities (i.e. race, class, gender, homeless status) and their interactions with schools and Empower, a nonprofit organization. More specifically, I investigated the adolescents’ past school experiences and present educational statuses, examined the supports and obstacles to their expectations and aspirations, and considered how their future life chances are influenced by the articulation of care in institutional settings.

This year-long study set in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area employs ethnographic methods (i.e., semi-structured interviews and participant observations) to capture the complex, situated experiences of homeless youth. Data consists of 25 homeless young adult interviews, 12 nonprofit organizational staff interviews, and over 150 hours of participant observation. My method of analysis involved an iterative process between data collection, coding, and memo generation as informed by constant comparative analysis.

Several findings emerged from the analyses. The youths’ identities, particularly the intersections of race and gender, shaped their professed aspirations of “ballin”—or living extravagantly and aggressively—in distinct, albeit fantastical ways. The homeless youth formed three distinct subcultures based on their aspirations, social identities, and past experiences—the Homeboys, the Sistergirls, and the EmoCores. These subcultures provided (mostly unvalued) social capital and a sense of belonging. The findings also suggest that school members (via youth and staff renderings) and non-profit staff interacted with these three subcultures in significantly different ways, shaping the educational experiences and occupational opportunities of homeless youth through formal and informal means. The Black boys and Black girls are most positioned to obtain occupations that reproduce their ascribed social status, while the White youth are poised to improve their socioeconomic conditions.