The Relevance of Four Narrative Themes for Understanding Vulnerability Among Homeless Older African-American Women

Narrative strategy can strengthen social work practice, given its usefulness in revealing how social forces influence people’s experiences with situations that can compromise their well-being. In this paper, a product of long-term developmental research, the authors consider the versatility of narrative strategy to address homelessness among older African-American women, a growing segment of the homeless population in the United States. After considering homelessness as a social issue, and the distress it can produce, often resulting in serious health and mental health problems among older minority women, the authors examine vulnerability from a narrative perspective, offer background on their long-term narrative research and summarise their observations about the nature of narrative practice in working with members of vulnerable populations. The authors develop a thematic framework for conceptualising narrative as a practice research tool for social workers and other human service professionals. For each of the four narrative themes (involving plight, efficacy, hope and recovery), useful in helping people who are vulnerable, the authors document the distinctive focus of each one, and they then conclude the paper with implications for helping people who are vulnerable.