Edgren scholars Dr. Ripley Smith, professor of communication studies, and senior rhetoric and public influence major Kate Larson present their analysis of the 62 interviews they conducted over the course of the summer at the Primetime at Bethel University Library event. Smith and Larson shared many of these recorded interviews with the audience. “Kate had the opportunity to code and transcribe a majority of these interviews [with the homeless],” Smith said. | Photo by Hannah Hunhoff

The weight of social networks in the homeless population

Funded by the Edgren Scholars Program, communication studies professor and student conduct 62 interviews with those experiencing homelessness, seeking to benefit the Envision Community.

By Hannah Hunhoff, Lifestyle Reporter

Communications studies professor Dr. Ripley Smith and senior rhetoric and public influence major Kate Larson presented their comprehensive research project Thursday at the Primetime at Bethel University Library event, entitled “No Place Like Home: Understanding Connection Amongst Those Experiencing Homelessness.” Communication majors and other members of the Bethel community gathered in the main level of the library, grabbed a cup of coffee and listened intently to Smith and Larson share about their “transformational” experiences of conducting sixty-two interviews with people facing homelessness.

“This study helped me understand the layers and depth of communication discipline,” Larson said.

“This study helped me understand the layers and depth of communication discipline,” Larson said.

Smith and Larson began their presentation by showcasing devastating homelessness statistics, revealing that 580,000 individuals experience homelessness on given night in the U.S. Beginning in April and continuing throughout the summer, Smith and Larson conducted research for Envision Community, “micro-housing in Minneapolis for those experiencing homelessness” and unpacked the “social support network” (individuals that provide care and support in one’s life) of 29 females and 33 men of the homeless community.

Smith accredited Larson for her exceptional work in transcribing the majority of the interviews. They replayed many of the interviews during their presentation, along with slides that depicted the participants’ network density, alters, support satisfaction, community attachment and years spent homeless.

Prior to embarking on the study, Larson didn’t realize that homelessness wasn’t far from her own house. She said that this research project gave her “an opportunity to give voice to marginalized groups.”

Much of Smith and Larson’s transcribed interviews and analysis of their social networks revealed that a vast majority of homeless individuals felt detached from their community. Smith and Larson presented the participants’ social networks in the form of sociograms, a graphic that revealed social patterns placing the participant in the center and displaying the number of people that they were connected to. Over time, they both were continually amazed by the strength and perseverance of the participants in the study.

At the Primetime at Bethel University Library, Edgren scholars Dr. Ripley Smith, Professor of communication studies and senior rhetoric and public influence major Kate Larson invites the audience to write down some individuals that are a part of their own social networks and refer back to their research on the homeless peoples’ social networks. Smith and Larson took a couple of moments to pause, as the audience pulled out their cellphones and began to write down members of their social network. | Photo by Hannah Hunhoff

“All of us can be a resource [to the homeless] … a little piece of coming alongside them,” Smith said.

They invited the attendees of the Primetime at Bethel Library to also take time to jot down members of their own social networks and determine their own personal level of connectedness in their lives.

Smith and Larson’s research findings contributed to the continued development of the unconventional Envision Community, being used to

support its workshops and moving its community-building initiatives forward. In the coming months, Smith and Larson plan on submitting a publication based on their research: Larson’s first scholarly publication.

“She had explained what they did with the interviews and transcriptions, but I got to hear more about what patterns were formed through the data.” — Sister of Kate and freshman, Anna Larson

“It was exciting to learn more about what she had been working on all summer,” Sister of Kate and freshman Anna Larson said. “She had explained what they did with the interviews and transcriptions, but I got to hear more about what patterns were formed through the data.”