Understanding the Lived Experiences of People Sleeping Rough in Tehran

In the recent two decades, a special kind of homelessness which is named ”rough sleeping” has appeared and paid attention to in Iran, especially in the great city of Tehran. Meanwhile, sleeping rough is seen as a social concern and could be transformed into social harm. It is a sign and results in other social concerns and harms in society. The aim of this study was to understand the lived experiences of rough sleeping individuals, discover and bring out theory within these experiences, and draw the related paradigm, including conditions (structure), action (process), and outcomes. The research is of qualitative type and follows the Grounded Theory (GT) method. Data were collected through deep and semi structured interviews with people sleeping rough on the surface of Tehran city, during the year 2016-2017. The sampling method was purposeful and with a sample size of 34 individuals, theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were coded and analyzed through phases of open, axial and selective coding suggested by "Strauss and Corbin".The disconnection-dependency limbo” appeared as axial category. This term means disconnection of the individual from the society, family and support sources and being dependent on the abnormal group of people sleeping rough for compensating for their losses and deprivations. The people sleeping rough confront this phenomenon by taking on survival, continuation and going-out strategies and face the consequences. Results indicate that rough sleeping is shaped in the context of structural and macro factors interacting with individual factors. A solution is to change the social conditions of these persons, and the rough sleeping person can be an active agent in this process.