The adoption of a research-informed approach to teaching about homelessness has allowed the authors to provide diverse groups of learners with a range of traditional and more embodied educative experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom. While conventional research methods and outputs have provided a useful starting point for learners with no or limited working knowledge of homelessness, innovative approaches to research and outputs – which have prioritised giving a voice to homeless people themselves – have been particularly important in developing the critical empathy of learners towards the subject. To ensure an effective relationship between research and teaching (particularly when teaching those who work in the homelessness sector), the authors needed a good understanding of the prior learning and experiences, roles, operating contexts and needs of their learners, to teach from a position of empathy, and to work collaboratively with learners to further understanding.

In this article, we explore the changing ways in which the homeless body has been conceptualised by architects and providers of accommodation for single homeless individuals. Tracing developments from the post-war period to the present, we focus on the needs and characteristics of single homeless individuals as they are variously imagined and constructed through the architectural design process. Through detailed examination of the life course of the Ryder & Yates-designed Salvation Army Men’s Social Services Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, we explore how conceptions of the homeless body—shaped by, inter alia, architectural references, professional orthodoxies, and prevailing ideologies of homelessness—influenced the lived experience of the building. In so doing, we bring renewed attention to the capacity of architectural design to generate and shape the affective responses of the single homeless body, and thus the architectural profession’s vital role in tackling the homelessness problem.

While housing can facilitate many of the freedoms associated with a ‘well-lived’ life, the Capabilities Approach (CA) is yet to have transformed housing research and evaluation. This paper explores the relationship between housing conditions and well-being, using Nussbaum’s version of the CA as the basis for analysis. It draws on data from a UK-based qualitative study of the experiences of individuals residing in privately-run hostels in the North of England. The analysis reveals much diversity in terms of the ways in which the residents perceived their housing conditions and the impacts of these on their exercise of key functions, despite all living in similar environmental conditions. This highlights the highly subjective and complex nature of the relationship between housing conditions and well-being. It is argued that a more robust understanding of the key factors that mediate the relationship being investigated is needed if the potential of the CA to advance housing research and evaluation is to be further realized.

Post-industrial urban landscapes connected with neo-liberalism may provide novel opportunities for the emancipation of working-class women who were traditionally, like women of other social classes, largely subjugated to men socially and economically in the period of collective male-led unionization and manufacturing. Based on qualitative data, our interpretative study locates itself in an international field of criminality and illuminates the criminal practices of women connected with the criminal world of illicit drugs. Our contribution extends this field of scholarship into the culture of the West of Scotland. We identify through an intersectional sensibility of ‘doing femininity’ on the street and the nexus of a familial domicile, the ways in which women’s agency remains restricted, contrary to an emancipation argument. We conclude that their ‘liberation’ is negatively truncated for two reasons: firstly, criminality necessarily distorts freedoms and secondly, subtle ties with an overarching violent masculinity were retained.

Imaging Homelessness in a City of Care was a participatory mapping project undertaken with 30 single homeless people in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) in 2014. The project's objectives were threefold: to pilot an innovative mapping based methodology; to offer single homeless individuals an opportunity to comment on local service provision and delivery; and to inform and challenge public perceptions of homelessness. In what follows, we outline the context for the project and the reasons for adopting a mapping approach. We then discuss the research process and the various insights generated. Finally, we reflect on the effectiveness of the methodology used.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the under-considered perspectives of service users engaged in various community sentences based on a “strengths-based” approach to desistance. Further to recent changes in the sector, the paper considers service user views for programmes delivered by combinations of agencies from private, public and third sectors. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on analysis of 64 semi-structured interviews with users of four programmes, accompanied with informal fieldwork observations by the researchers as they carried out the research at the premises of service providers. Findings The research finds that service user perceptions of the legitimacy of programmes are closely related to their understanding of three key dimensions: first, the “authenticity” of those delivering the service; second, the instrumental (in broad terms) gains they expect from engagement; and third, their understanding of the identity and ethos of the programme. Originality/value The paper adds important understanding based on service user perceptions in a period when service provision is being diversified. Further directions for other research are identified and it is recognised that a limitation of the current study is that it incorporates a sample drawn from one area.

A promising approach to the management of dementia is social prescribing'. Social prescribing is a form of co-production' that involves linking patients with non-clinical activities, typically delivered by voluntary and community groups, in an effort to improve their sense of well-being. The success of social prescribing depends upon the ability of boundary-spanning individuals within service delivery organizations to develop referral pathways and collaborative relationships through networks'. This article examines the operation of a pilot social prescribing programme in the North East of England, targeted at older people with early onset dementia and depression, at risk of social isolation. It is argued that the scheme was not sustained, in part, because the institutional logics that governed the actions of key boundary-spanning individuals militated against the collaboration necessary to support co-production.

Using Newcastle Youth Offending Team (YOT) as a case-study, this report presents the findings of the evaluation of the British Red Cross (BRC) Educational Pilot Project (EPP) for service users serving reparation as part of Community Orders. The EPP was implemented between November 2011 and June 2012. However prior to this development, the BRC and Newcastle YOT had been working in partnership since 2005, to offer young people alternative forms of youth justice, focused around more physical tasks, such as cleaning and re-stocking on-site ambulances and creating packs for events in the North East such as the Great North Run. Whilst such tasks were generally considered successful, such work was not sustainable due to staff change-overs. In 2007, the BRC and Newcastle YOT once again entered into collaboration to meet the needs of young people serving reparation as part of Community Orders. This time, individuals were tasked with the maintenance of wheelchairs and litter picking. Regrettably, service users found it increasingly difficult to engage with these tasks and thus such work did not have the positive impact envisaged. Latterly, the EPP was introduced in 2011 - initially as a five-week programme - designed to introduce service users to the humanitarian work undertaken by BRC.

This report outlines the findings of the fourth year of Youth Homeless North East’s (YHNE) annual survey of youth homelessness. The survey aims to establish the nature, extent and causes of youth homelessness in the North East, and to identify how the wider social, political and economic context is impacting on the experiences of young people, as well as the levels and nature of service provision over time. We hope that the findings are used by local authorities, housing associations and homelessness agencies to inform strategic and operational priorities in the North East. The key questions explored through the programme of research include: - How many young people fall victim to homelessness in the North East? - What are the main causes of youth homelessness? - How many young people falling into homelessness have experienced local authority care, rough sleeping and engagement with the criminal justice system? - What homelessness prevention activities are in place across the North East and how effective are these? - What accommodation and support services are available to young homeless people? - What impact is welfare reform having on young people?

The election of a Conservative government in May 2015, with a commitment to cutting welfare benefits for people of working age, has heightened concerns over the process by which people are sanctioned (i.e. have their benefits reduced or stopped completely) because they are judged not to have taken steps consistent with seeking work. The North East Homelessness Think Tank undertook the research discussed in this report because it was particularly concerned about the relationship between benefit sanctions and homelessness. In addition to outlining the policy position, and highlighting previous research about the impact of sanctions, the report discusses the findings from stakeholder interviews and a survey of organisations working with homeless people in the North East of England. The report highlights the manner in which sanctions can aggravate the difficulties of people who are homeless and makes recommendations for the steps that could be taken by the government, Jobcentre Plus and agencies working with homeless people to improve the situation. A service users’ perspective is incorporated into an accompanying video which is available at http:// youthhomelessnortheast.org.uk/nehtt/sanctions-is-there-another-way/benefit-sanctions-service-user-videos/. We are very grateful to the Northern Rock Foundation for funding this research and to everyone who gave up their time to provide their views.

Men who sell sex to men are largely invisible in sex work research and policy discourse (Whowell and Gaffney, 2009; Whowell, 2010). Violence against sex workers is considered to be a gendered act, with men constructed as hyper-masculine pimps, clients or traffickers. Rarely are they considered sex workers or vulnerable to crimes being committed against them (Gaffney, 2007). This chapter draws on case studies and monitoring data from the National Ugly Mugs (NUM) scheme (a national reporting mechanism for crimes committed against sex workers), in order to highlight the range of incidents that male sex workers encounter and the barriers they face to reporting crimes. It argues that positioning sex workers and their performed sexual encounters within a queer conceptual framework is necessary in the context of progressive policy and practice. Exploring the experiences of male sex workers offers a more nuanced understanding of sex workers’ experiences of work-related crimes and sex work, more broadly; laying bare the flaws in radical feminist analyses, which present the extremity of simplistic ideological theory (Weitzer, 2005). Such theories have heavily influenced policy in recent decades, drawing attention away from the lived realities of male sex workers and marginalising their experiences as victims of crime. NUM has the potential to play a critical role in making visible the experiences of male sex workers and providing important learning about their support needs in relation to work-related crimes. The linking of NUM to formal police systems is a vital step towards recognition of the rights to protection under the law and justice for all sex workers who are victims of crime.

In September 2013, the Department of Social Sciences and Languages at Northumbria University was contracted by the North East Regional Homelessness Group to conduct an evaluation of the Through the Gate Plus (TTGP) service provided by Foundation in the North East of England. Specifically, the aims were to: - Assess the effectiveness of the TTGP Service delivery model; - Understand the specific approaches to service delivery of Shelter and Foundation; - Assess the distance-travelled by service users in respect of housing, offending and key risk factors; - Identify gaps in service provision for offenders with housing needs; and - Identify key learning points for future support services. It was hoped that the evaluation would provide a greater understanding of the value of the support provided by Foundation and help identify lessons for the future delivery of housing support to offenders.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a discussion of the value of early diversion schemes, underpinned by the principles of restorative justice (RJ), for First Time Entrants (FTEs) into the criminal justice system (CJS). Design/methodology/approach – The paper focuses specifically on the findings of a 12-month study into the introduction of “Triage” by one Youth Offending Team (YOT) in the northeast of England. Findings – Re-offending data suggested that Triage is more effective in reducing re-offending than conventional justice practices, due to the restorative nature of the scheme. However, the qualitative data raised a number of issues, particularly relating to problems of “net-widening” and the impact of recording processes on young people's desistance, as well as the role of victim engagement in the process. These issues could undermine the long-term effectiveness of Triage and its successful application within other youth justice contexts. Originality/value – The paper aims to contribute further understanding regarding the impacts of RJ practices on reducing re-offending compared to traditional processes, and in particular, consider the role of implementation issues in the production of outcomes and impacts.

Historically, the visible engagement of homeless people in activities considered to be 'anti-social', such as drunkenness and begging, have made them the target of government action on public disorder, engendering antipathy, as much as sympathy, from policy makers, key regulators and the wider public (Takahashi, 1997, cited in DeVerteuil et al., 2009: 647). Governments have long been keen to blame increases in homelessness on individual failings, resulting from wilful idleness and dangerous criminal/anti-social tendencies (Humphreys, 1999: 167), with policy responses underpinned by the principles of enforcement and exclusion, rather than care and support. During the period 1997 to 2010, the New Labour governments demonstrated a more nuanced understanding of the causes of homelessness, giving increased recognition to the importance of factors beyond the control of the individual. At the heart of government policies towards homelessness was the idea of balancing rights with responsibilities. However, even under this more ostensibly sympathetic approach, concerns to tackle social exclusion among homeless people existed in tension with a perception that their antisocial behaviours needed to be addressed. Following a historical discussion of the key interventions designed to tackle wilful idleness and anti-social behaviour among homeless people, this chapter will focus on policy developments since 1997.

The Audit of Faith Group Activities and Community Projects in the London Borough of Sutton Report? presents findings from a survey of faith group organisations and interviews with representatives of those organisations in the London Borough of Sutton. It details the activities delivered, their relevance, information about service-users, the nature and extent of collaborative working and the challenges facing faith groups in the Borough. The report also includes a set of recommendations to support partnership working between individual faith groups ? and between faith groups and the public sector.

The Evaluation of the People's Kitchen Services report presents the findings from a project that critically examined the services delivered by this voluntary organisation (which supports individuals who are disadvantaged). The report includes findings from surveys and interviews undertaken with service-users and interviews with those managing and delivering services, and with representative of partner agencies. The report identifies the impacts and outcomes achieved by People's Kitchen services, key challenges facing the organisation and also includes a set of recommendations to inform future service development and delivery.