Citation

Woelfer JP. Interactions 2014; 21(1): 54-57.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Association for Computing Machinery)

DOI

10.1145/2543580

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Jill Palzkill Woelfer discusses vulnerability, susceptibility, and more than six years of research with homeless young people. In the US government and international organization documents, vulnerability has been assigned to groups as diverse as pregnant women, children, prisoners, students, employees, members of the armed forces or police, nursing home residents, people receiving welfare benefits or social assistance, other poor people, the unemployed, patients, some ethnic and racial minority groups, homeless persons, nomads, refugees, politically powerless individuals, and people unfamiliar with modern medical concepts. Identifying all these groups as vulnerable may help to frame research that is less likely to cause harm to participants. Once homeless, a young person may be further harmed by persistent negative experiences with institutions such as police and the court system, by violence, or by the situational exacerbation of mental illness or substance abuse, and so on. Harm may also arise through societal factors such as stigmatization and stereotyping.

Language: en