Home is Where the House is: The Meaning of Home for People Sleeping Rough.
Home as Family
Notwithstanding the empirical reality that some women, children and indeed whole families experience the family house in overtly negative ways, family and home have long been thought about as interchangeable terms (Oakley, 1976). Informed by a range of studies, it has been shown that when people are asked to think about what home means to them, they routinely describe family (Dupuis & Thorns, 1996; van der Klis & Karsten,2009). Like home, family is an ambiguous concept—the interchangeable and emotional laden nature of the two concepts means that explaining their relationship is difficult. Schrader & Birkinshaw (2005) and Bogac (2009) explained the home and family link by suggesting that it is the family memories and emotions associated with a time and a place that are salient with the meaning of home. For women, especially older women, the significance of home and family can be heightened. Leith (2006) suggested that older
women who have not participated in the labour market may more closely link their identities with the home, and the role that they played raising the family within the home.