The Role Of Music in the Lives of Homeless Young People: A Preliminary Report

This paper is a preliminary report of findings in an ongoing study of the role of music in the lives of homeless young people which is taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, WA. One hundred homeless young people in Vancouver took part in online surveys, 20 of these young people participated in interviews and 64 completed design activities. Surveys included demographic and music questions. Interviews consisted of questions about music listening and preferences. In the design activities, participants envisioned a music device and provided a drawing and a scenario. Since the study is on-going, findings are limited to descriptive analysis of survey data supplemented with interview data. These findings provide initial insights into music listening behaviors, social aspects of shared music interests, and preferred music genres, bands and artists, and moods.