The Veteran in the welfare state: ambiguous, invisible, marginal? A case study of housing homeless Veterans.

This project investigates the contested relationship between Veterans and welfare in the UK. As well as historical analysis, the research will focus on a case study of contemporary Veteran housing and homelessness. It will analyse what broader insights into contemporary approaches to welfare, housing and politics are exposed through analysis of the figure of the homeless Veteran in the context of the current housing crisis. Overall, this case study will unpick the history of the relationship between the development of the welfare state and the Veteran while examining many of the contemporary difficulties which the Veteran faces in interacting with welfare in contemporary society. 

This research will investigate the relationship between homeless Veterans and the local authority homelessness and welfare services. This will include analysing the ways in which the homeless Veteran, and the Veteran more generally, has played different roles in various welfare laws through time. This research also aims to interrogate the narratives that have developed regarding homeless Veterans and Veterans more generally, in particularly regarding vulnerability, which can often be crucial in determining whether someone is offered housing or not by housing officers. This will be done through an investigation of contemporary legislation and policy documents relating to Veterans and homelessness, and through gathering the experiences of Veterans and housing officers when interacting with one another.

This PhD involves two distinct empirical methods. A critical discourse analysis will investigate contemporary legislation and policy documents relating to homelessness and Veterans. Interviews with local authority housing officers and Veterans who have interacted with housing officers and homelessness services will provide understanding of their experiences in greater depth.

• What role(s) has the figure of the homeless Veteran played in the development of welfare law and policy in England?
• What effect do narratives about (homeless) Veterans have on the decision-making of today’s housing officers?
  a. In particular, what is their impact upon perceptions of vulnerability?
• What role do Veteran specific services play in the context of Veteran's interactions with welfare services?
• What narratives are deployed in Veterans’ accounts of their experiences with local authorities' homelessness and welfare services and provision, and how do they compare with those used by housing officers and policy makers?  

Veterans who have interacted with local authority homelessness and welfare services. Housing officers who have interacted with homeless Veterans during their work.