Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the ways in which difficult topics and heartbreaking testimonies were dealt with as well as the resilience and inability that was sometimes encountered in research relationships with homeless people in Croatia.

Paper long abstract:

This paper is based on recent fieldwork that examines the ways in which women and men experience homelessness in Croatia. As homelessness is a relatively new phenomenon in Croatia that has been largely ignored by both researchers and policy makers, this is a pioneering study that aims to increase understanding and shape policy changes. Specifically, this paper analyses the ways in which difficult topics and heartbreaking testimonies were dealt with as well as the resilience and inability that was sometimes encountered in research relationships with homeless people. From the outset, ethical considerations such as informed/renegotiable consent, researcher/researched relations, confidentiality, anonymity, power, responsibility and ownership of knowledge were priority concerns since homeless people are definitely a marginalised population in crisis. The practice and application of these issues are considered in this paper. As fieldwork was carried out at a number of shelters throughout Croatia in settings that were completely unfamiliar and rule ridden, intimacy and privacy were often difficult to attain. Overall, the difficulties and shortcomings in this project as well the potential of these fieldwork experiences for generating a wealth of knowledge, insights and understanding about homelessness in Croatia will be discussed.