Judicialization of Response to Homelessness in Iran: Case of Islamshahr and Lavizan Shelters

The purpose of the present article is to show that, under the 603/70 Enactment of the Supreme Administrative Council in 1999, the process of responding to homelessness has become judicialized, and to trace the causes and consequences of this judicialization. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to achieve these goals. The Enac. and some cases of the clients of the two centers established under the Enac. have been analyzed; Also, the clients of one of the centers were interviewed and a questionnaire was completed. The staff of both centers were also interviewed. Findings explain the way in which the process of responding to homelessness, has been judicialized under the Enac. Almost all decisions depend on a special judge’s approval and decree. The roots of this judicialization, at first place, goes back to the Enac. It is centered around a criminalizing attitude to behaviors that are usually associated with homelessness, namely vagrancy and panhandling. The following judicialization of the process has resulted in that the centers to find a punitive and semi-jail identity rather than a supportive one, causing dissatisfaction of staff and clients, in the way that, the clients wish to be released from Therefore, it is necessary to formulate new laws and procedures in the aim of responding to homelessness effectively.