The Homeless Life of Ex-Prisoners from the Ecological Perspective: A Case Study in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur

The concentration of ex-prisoners being homelesnesss in big cities such as Kuala Lumpur has attracted the interest and curiosity of researchers to explore their lives from the ecological perspective. Using the Theory of Human Ecology, the street life of ex -prisoners have been explored. A study using a qualitative approach was conducted on 15 homeless former prisoner in the vicinity of Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. Study information was obtained using in-depth interview techniques and data were analyzed using Altas.Ti software. The results showed that there were four themes found that were related to environmental factors namely no support system, no opportunity to change destiny, no hope and motivation and complex life journey. All four themes explain that there is a disharmonious relationship between the respondents’ life and the systems within their environment that limits them to obtain a better quality of life and subsequently hinder them to integrate with society. Thus, interventions to curb the homelessness of ex-prisoners and help reintegrate them to society require an integrated partnership of the formal and informal systems in the society.