Introduction.

Homelessness is an increasingly problematic social issue which is present in all cities of the country. For a more objective understanding of the problem, this phenomenon must be studied interdisciplinarily so that public policies can propose options to deal with it.

Objective.

Conduct a descriptive analysis of homeless people to evidence some characteristic traits of their lifestyle from an emic perspective.

Materials and methods.

This work is of an ethnographic nature, based on semi-structured interviews related with the life experiences of the people interviewed at the homeless shelter La Posada in the city of Manizales.

Results.

The main findings are related with their daily lifestyle determined by socioeconomic and family aspects and by drug use.

Conclusion.

It is evidenced that circumstances of different nature associated with objective and subjective existence conditions could lead to this lifestyle. Furthermore, this work opens the discussion on the future of young people under 20 years old who start their homelessness process.

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