Human-Animal Relationships in Supported Housing: Animal Atmospheres for Mental Health Recovery
Peer reviewed, Journal article
Accepted version
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2990513Utgivelsesdato
2021Metadata
Vis full innførselSamlinger
Originalversjon
Friesinger, J. G. Birkeland, B. Thorød, A. B. (2021). Human-Animal Relationships in Supported Housing: Animal Atmospheres for Mental Health Recovery. Frontiers in Psychology 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712133Sammendrag
Being in a relationship with an animal can promote the well-being of people. For
many individuals, this usually takes place at home. This study reports about homes
for people with mental health problems (with or without co-occurring substance use),
who live in supported housing operated by public landlords, entailing tenancies that are
usually stricter regarding their pet policies than ordinary homes. We thus addressed the
following research questions through ethnographic fieldwork at seven distinct places:
which types of human–animal relationships occur in supported housing, and how do
they affect the tenants? We analyzed the collected data informed by the Grounded
Theory approach and found three types of human–animal relationships within supported
housing affecting the tenants differently, namely, “no animals,” “visiting animals,” and
“shared/sole ownership of animals.” Animals in the buildings can stage atmospheres
that promote solidarity and connectedness among people. In contrast, situations in
which animals are forbidden can create emotional tensions between tenants and staff
or landlords. When discussing fostering animal atmospheres and limits to keeping pets,
we concluded that animals can contribute to the mental health recovery of tenants by
creating acknowledgment and rootedness. Therefore, public housing services need to
guarantee equal rights to the tenants as they do with every citizen, including the right to
keep a pet.