Violence is a critical issue in homeless shelters that affects service users and staff, yet there is limited evidence on how shelter-based violence occurs. The objective of this qualitative study was to investigate the antecedents and consequences of shelter-based violence from the perspectives of service users and staff. Purposive sampling was used to recruit individuals experiencing homelessness and shelter staff in a large metropolitan city in Ontario, Canada. Data from in-depth interviews with 56 individuals experiencing homelessness and 30 shelter staff were analyzed. Findings showed that shelter-based violence toward service users and staff was perceived to manifest in response to three interacting factors: (a) burden of homelessness and shelter living, (b) individual histories and marginalization, and (c) interpersonal conflict. These antecedents had a hierarchical structure in that each subsequent factor exacerbated the risk of previous ones and culminated with the most proximal factor for violence. There were three primary outcomes of shelter-based violence reported by service users and staff: (a) health and environmental harms, (b), procedural enforcement, and (c) avoidant behaviors. Avoidance was often a subsequent impact following health harms, as was procedural enforcement to a lesser extent. Overall, the study findings demonstrate that shelter-based violence is a complex and dynamic problem that is perceived to be the result of interacting structural, environmental, programmatic, interpersonal, and individual factors, with similar consequences for service users and staff. Implications for preventing violence through shelter design and service delivery are discussed.

中文翻译：

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无家可归者收容所中暴力的前因和后果：服务使用者和收容所工作人员的观点和经验


暴力是无家可归者收容所中影响服务使用者和工作人员的一个关键问题，但关于收容所暴力如何发生的证据有限。这项定性研究的目的是从服务使用者和工作人员的角度调查庇护所暴力的前因和后果。目的性抽样用于招募加拿大安大略省一个大城市的无家可归者和收容所工作人员。对 56 名无家可归者和 30 名收容所工作人员的深入访谈数据进行了分析。调查结果显示，针对服务使用者和工作人员的基于庇护所的暴力被认为是由于三个相互作用的因素而显现出来的：(a) 无家可归和庇护所生活的负担，(b) 个人历史和边缘化，以及 (c) 人际冲突。这些前因具有层次结构，每个后续因素都会加剧前一个因素的风险，并最终导致最近的暴力因素。服务使用者和工作人员报告了基于庇护所的暴力的三个主要后果：(a) 健康和环境危害，(b) 程序执行，以及 (c) 回避行为。回避通常是健康损害后的后续影响，程序执行在较小程度上也是如此。总体而言，研究结果表明，基于庇护所的暴力是一个复杂且动态的问题，被认为是结构、环境、程序、人际和个人因素相互作用的结果，对服务使用者和工作人员产生类似的后果。讨论了通过庇护所设计和服务提供来预防暴力的影响。