Stephanie Begun – Youth Wellness Lab

“I know they would kill me”: Abortion attitudes and experiences among youth experiencing homelessness. Begun, S., Combs, K. M., Schwan, K., Torrie, M., & Bender, K.

RESOURSE Begun, S., Combs, K. M., Schwan, K., Torrie, M., & Bender, K. (in press). “I know they would kill me”: Abortion attitudes and experiences among youth experiencing homelessness. Youth & Society, 52(8), 1457-1478. doi: 10.1177/0044118X18820661 A significant amount of studies show that the most difficult challenge associated with youth homelessness is making decisions surrounding pregnancy. Compared to youth who are housed, pregnancy rates within the homeless youth population is 4-8 times higher. Although, a significant amount of research has been conducted on the experiences of pregnancy among this group, a gap continues to exist in the research on abortion related experiences of homeless youth. A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate decision-making processes, abortion attitudes and day-to-day experiences of homeless youth in the United States with a focus on how [...]

Homeless youths’ interests in social action via Photovoice. Bender, K., Begun, S., Dunn, K., DeChants, J., & Mackay, E.

RESOURSE Bender, K., Begun, S., Dunn, K., DeChants, J., & Mackay, E. (2018). Homeless youths’ interests in social action via Photovoice. Journal of Community Practice, 26(1), 107-120. doi: 10.1080/10705422.2017.1413027 Purpose Homeless youth have been viewed as difficult to engage, which may play a role on the lack of photovoice specific research among this population. They may not be as engaged with such approaches as they carry a mistrust towards service providers, and may view service providers as judgmental. Photovoice approaches have a goal to involve youth, provide them with the opportunity to feel empowered and reflect on social issues that they want to see improvements in. Thus, this study examines the motivating factors that may encourage homeless youth to participate in photovoice, the kinds of social [...]