Media Framing of Homelessness within the Context of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)

Background/Purpose:Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have implications for longevity and have been linked to the leading causes of death in the U.S. and social and behavioral problems associated with homelessness.  In a recent study of homeless individuals, 87% had experienced at least one ACE, with over half experiencing four or more.  Research shows that media frame issues such as homelessness to influence public agenda setting. Studies have examined frames journalists use when reporting on homelessness, however, no previous research studies have identified an ‘ACE frame.’ Given these findings, our object was to understand whether newspaper media frame homelessness within the context of childhood adversity.  Since political party preference is a powerful predictor of perceived causes of homelessness, we compared articles from two media outlets that represent opposing political perspectives.  Research questions:  Is news of homelessness framed within the context of childhood adversity? How does the use of an ACE frame differ between The New York Times (NYT) and New York Post (NYP)?

Methods:A qualitative review of newspaper articles was conducted.  An advanced search of Lexis-Nexis Database using the search terms “homeless and homelessness” was performed to obtain news stories between November 6, 2012 and November 5, 2013, published by NYT and NYP yielded 161 NYP articles and 338 NYT articles. Our purpose was to examine stories about adult ACE survivors; therefore, stories of homeless children that did not discuss consequences over the lifespan were excluded. A second observer reviewed the articles from each source to establish inter-rater reliability.

Results:The NYP articles used primarily episodic frames of individual token success stories with themes of conservative values (such as rugged individualism and self-reliance), the stigma attached to accepting public assistance, and shame associated with childhood adversity. The NYT also published stories about resilient individuals who had overcome childhood adversity, but they were about people in everyday circumstances, most of whom were on the path to success with at least some spells of help from public assistance.  The NYT articles covered a range of ACE categories (e.g. parental incarceration; loss of a parent; physical, sexual, or emotional abuse), and linked them to experiences of adult social problems associated with homelessness, such as prostitution, drug addiction, and poverty.  The NYT utilized an ACE frame to illuminate economic consequences at the individual and community level in explicit terms as well as in metaphors such as a “stubborn cycle,” or a “trap,” that people “fall into.”

Conclusions/Implications: ACEs have been shown to have a strong, cumulative impact on healthy development across the lifespan and this information is starting to find its way into the news.  An understanding of ACEs prevalence and consequences might be used as a rhetorical framework to decrease stigmatizing perceptions of homelessness. There is a strong association between how vulnerable populations are represented in the media and support for public assistance policies.  If publicized more explicitly in the news, homelessness linked to childhood adversity could capture the attention of policymakers and the public and influence more comprehensive homelessness policies.