Abstract

This research began as personal curiosity about the religious beliefs of persons experiencing homelessness, and in particular their beliefs about God. What do they believe about God, and how are their beliefs socially constructed? Social research has generally limited its focus to assessing religion as an asset in ameliorating homelessness as a social problem with little attention to the religious behaviors and thought processes of persons experiencing homelessness themselves. I conducted a classic grounded theory (CGT) analysis based on 14 in-depth interviews with homeless believers (HB's) and three interviews with pastors-service-providers (PSP's) for comparative analysis. The findings include two major theoretical categories: The God Who Provides (TGWP); and, the core category, Believing in the God Who Provides. The results include two hypotheses: first, that there is no particular concept of God unique to HB's as a substantive unit; and second, that there is a similar five-stage process of believing by HB's and their domiciled counterparts.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Donley, Amy

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Sociology

Identifier

CFE0009212; DP0026808

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026808

Language

English

Release Date

August 2022

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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