No Fixed Abode
Book: No Fixed Abode (Audiobook)
Author: Maeve McClenaghan
Year: 2020
Audiobooks are like vehicles, allowing my escape from the city while walking the streets of London. “No Fixed Abode,” however, took me on a bumpy ride deeper into those streets than I could ever walk.
The Fuel
In 2017, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported the number of people dying at home, in hospital, in care homes and in hospices in England and Wales. They did not publish the number of people who died homeless. In fact, this number did not exist in any central records.
For Maeve McClenaghan and her team at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, this discovery fuelled the yearlong “Dying Homeless” project, in which she would count and name the people who died homeless. With her book and its heartfelt narration, we become passengers on Maeve’s journey.
The Human
Realising the human rights of the homeless starts with realising the homeless are humans. The author interviews the psychology professor Dr Lasana Harris about her research on dehumanisation of the homeless. Dr Harris showed her research participants pictures of various people and objects while they were in an MRI scanner. All pictures of people activated a similar brain region - except for pictures of the homeless. They produced similar signals to inanimate objects.
Dehumanising the homeless protects us from feeling their despair, but it erases our empathy. We can short circuit the process by simply asking ourselves, “would this person prefer broccoli or carrots?” As Dr Harris explains, thinking about whether a person would prefer one food over another means that we relate with them on a more empathetic level.
The Epidemiologist
Patterns of homelessness are familiar to those studying disease trends. Homelessness carries a stigma, like mental illness. It weakens the body’s defences, like HIV. Ignoring its signs can be fatal, like cancer. Yet, like with all three, early recognition and intervention saves lives. That is why epidemiological research into risk factors is essential – and now it is also much easier to carry out. Since the Dying Homeless project, the ONS publish annual estimates of homeless deaths. According to their latest report, the number is rising unrelentingly, reaching 778 in 2019.
The Policy Maker
In her final chapters, McClenaghan’s message is clear: with the political will, we can end this crisis. She highlights work done in Finland, where homelessness has nearly been eradicated; promotes the re-establishment of social support; and encourages the coordination of efforts across sectors in the UK.
The Destination
“No fixed Abode” ends its journey by offering tools for change. Now - as policy makers, epidemiologists and humans - it is time to take the wheel, drive the change and bring our homeless home.
