By Sleight of Neoliberal Logics: Street Youth, Workfare, and the Everyday Tactics of Survival in London, Ontario, Canada

Exploring Mental Health and Holistic Healing through the Life Stories of Indigenous Youth Who Have Experienced Homelessness

Indigenous youth are the fastest growing population in Canada, yet are marked by profound and disproportionate personal, societal, political, and colonial barriers that predispose them to mental health challenges, employment and educational barriers, and experiences of housing insecurity and homelessness. It is only from the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous community members themselves that we can gain appropriate insights into effective supports, meaningful interventions, and accessible pathways to security. This paper will explore the mental health of Indigenous youth who are at risk of, or who have experienced, homelessness, as well as the lifelong perspectives, teachings, and guidance from Indigenous Elders and traditional knowledge keepers; their perspectives are weaved throughout, in order to provide a more effective means to addressing holistic healing and the mental health needs of Indigenous homeless youth. As educators, researchers and clinicians who have sought to understand this issue in more depth, our analysis aims to raise awareness about the complexities of Indigenous youth homelessness and push back against systemic barriers that contribute to homelessness, fail young people, and subject them to oppression. We also offer recommendations from a clinical perspective in order for clinicians, researchers and those working within communities to serve our Indigenous youth with a diverse set of methods that are tailored and ethical in their approach.

“Looking Out for Each Other”: Street-Involved Youth's Perspectives on Friendship

In public discourses, friendships among street-involved youth are often regarded as sources of delinquent or risky behaviour. Through interviews with street-involved youth in Victoria, BC, we explore youth's ideas about their friendships. Our analysis suggests that the youth we interviewed have created a “relational refuge,” that is, a social space and metaphorical home constituted through trust, proximity, and sharing of emotions and resources. Our research highlights how friendships can mediate some of the harmful aspects of street life for youth by enabling collective forms and practices of generalised reciprocity, acceptance and collaboration.