This thesis draws upon in-depth qualitative interviews with 33 young people in Melbourne, Australia, to examine the impact of homelessness, violence and policing on their sense of self, place and belonging. Specifically, this research highlights the pervasive presence of violence and policing in homeless young people’s lives, and argues that these experiences exclude young people from public and private spaces that are important to them, undermine their sense of belonging as citizens, and violate their own constructions of self and place in the world. By engaging with scholarship from human geography, youth studies, sociology and critical criminology, this thesis builds upon the existing criminological literature on marginalised young people’s experiences of criminalisation and victimisation, and offers a nuanced understanding of the impact of these processes from young people’s perspective. In doing so, it seeks not only to extend the criminological literature, but also to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of youth homelessness that can inform policy and practice responses, and to broader discussions regarding marginalised young people’s place in society.
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