The deployment of discretionary power in the prevention and enactment of structural violence against young people experiencing homelessness

Background: Young people experiencing homelessness (YEH) interact with, and are reliant on, multiple social systems in their daily efforts to meet their basic needs. Criminalization of homelessness contributes to victimization, and social service providers can act as gatekeepers for access to services, yet little is known about how criminalization and social service policies impact access to food, housing, and other basic needs resources. Objective: This study aimed to explore how YEH access safety and basic needs resources and how they interface with social systems and systems agents while attempting to meet their basic needs. Participants and setting: Forty-five YEH participated in youth-led interviews across San Francisco. Methods: We conducted a qualitative Youth Participatory Action Research study utilizing Participatory Photo Mapping to interview YEH on their experiences of violence, safety, and accessing basic needs. A grounded theory analysis identified patterns of youth victimization and barriers to meeting their basic needs. Results: Analysis revealed the role of decision-making power of authority figures (e.g., social service providers, law enforcement officers, other gatekeepers) in enacting or preventing structural violence against YEH. When authority figures utilized their discretionary power to allow access to services, YEH were able to meet their basic needs. Discretionary power enacted to limit movement, prevent access, or cause physical harm limited the ability of YEH to meet their basic needs. Conclusions: The discretionary power of authority figures can contribute to structural violence when their discretion is used to interpret laws and policies in ways that prevent access to limited basic needs resources for YEH.