Experiencias de discriminación, violencia, victimización y relación con el sistema de justicia de las y los jóvenes en situación de sinhogarismo en EspañaUn análisis criminológico de la Encuesta a las personas sin hogar de 2022

Resumen

Homelessness increasingly affects young people in Spain. The objective of this study is to know about experiences of discrimination, violence and victimization, as well as contact with the justice system, of young people experiencing homelessness. For this purpose, we use the third wave of the Survey of homeless people, conducted by the National Institute of Statistics in 2022. The sample was composed by 926 youth aged 18 to 29. Results showed that around half of them had experienced discrimination and victimization while homeless. Moreover, violence represented the backbone of many people’s life history, particularly for women. Risky behaviors, like alcohol or drug use, were informed by a minority. The same applied to contact with the justice system, but for arrests and, to a lesser extent, convictions. This finding might be related to the criminalization of poverty and homelessness. We conclude the need for further research, as well as for adjusting preventive and intervention strategies to the reality of those at whom they are aimed. This must be done without forgetting that housing is the most effective measure to eradicate —or, at least, alleviate— many of the problems connected to lack of housing.