A comparative investigation of policy responses to homelessness in England and Australia.

This thesis uses a social constructionist epistemology against a comparative background in order to examine and compare policy responses to homelessness attributed to domestic violence in England and Australia. This is done with an intention to fulfil three specific objectives: to explore and understand how these responses have developed as products of culture and attitudes towards welfare and state provision, to explore if, why, and how, differences in conceptions and discourses surrounding homelessness have developed in two nations with similar language, legal systems and rates of owner-occupation, and lastly to investigate and interpret the policy context, and actual provision for homeless people, in the light of these differences by making links between cultural/historical discourses and their impact on provision.The research involved detailed reading of research and policy documents, and media articles from the time of the emergence of the feminist refuge movement in the 1970's, to 2005 when the research period ended. Interview questions to policymakers, homelessness practitioners and clients at both research sites were directed by the discourses that were revealed through the interrogation of these relevant historical policy documents and media articles. The interviews sought to identify how narratives become established and consistent, and the ongoing struggles that occur below the surface of policy responses.Existing theories and methodologies have been utilised and applied to my own data and analytical framework, in order to inform our understanding of the dynamic relationship between discourse and policy. It is the linking between different aspects of the research that makes it innovative and distinctive. The central argument, and contribution to knowledge, of this thesis is that we cannot ignore how cultural and historical context lessens or adds to the power of a discourse. There is also a broader contribution, as the same theoretical and methodological approach could be used to analyse the development of policy in any field.