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A basic outline of Marx’s theory
Perspective of homelessness
The problem with homelessness
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Recommended: A basic outline of Marx’s theory
Food, water, clothing, and shelter are among the very basic and most important needs that a person requires in order to survive. When a person is homeless, they struggle to obtain all four of these basic need on a daily basis. There is not one single cause of homelessness. There are number of factors that can cause or contribute to a person becoming homeless. Some of these contributing factors include poverty, physical and mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence. In the following paragraphs we will look at homelessness through the conflict and functionalist perspectives. *Add summarizing line here.
Homelessness is not a simple to define term. While some may view homelessness as living on the street, this a very narrow definition
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There are number of factors that can cause or contribute to a person becoming homeless. Some of these contributing factors include poverty, physical and mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence (Lane 2014).
In conflict theory, society is in a constant struggle for power. A person or a group is in conflict with others to get a societies resources. Those who are homeless do not have access to these resources. Power and class structure is important to understand conflict theory. Those at the top of the class system have the bigger share of societies resources. They are the ones who have the power. Those who have very little of societies resources are at the bottom and have now power. Karl Marx, an influence on conflict theory, would view this in terms of a capitalist system.Homelessness is a result of the class structure. The ruling class, or bourgeois have control of the labor force. "The labor and the product only help add to the wealth or power of the employer." (Marx & Engels 1963) Poverty is caused by capitalism, wealth and power belong to those in control of the capitalist system. The homeless are those who suffer the most from this class
This can range from divorce to mental illnesses (“Factors Contributing To Homelessness”). In some statistics taken from The Homeless Resource Network, the biggest cause of homelessness is from the loss of job or income someone is bringing in. If someone were to lose a job unexpectedly, they could have trouble finding a job with the same income they were used to earning, making it hard to keep necessities in their life. Another important element that contributes to people becoming homeless is the use of drugs and alcohol. Even though most people who have one of these addictions do not become homeless, it becomes a problem when they are poor and the addictions take over their life (“Homelessness in
Tunstall, L. (2009). Homelessness: an overview. EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?hid=119&sid=d5f751fa-0d0d-4ed1-8deb-483e701af50c%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZW4tY2Emc2l0ZT1wb3YtY2Fu#db=p3h&AN=28674966
The (I would add like “term” right here so it sounds a little better)term homeless means a person that does not have a permanent place of shelter, such as a house or apartment. Homelessness affects 3.5 million people in the United States
One reason why people become homeless could be due to the decline of housing units affordable to extremely low income households (National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness).
Furthermore, as dominant discourse states that homelessness is due to individual failure much of the middle class and working poor criminalize individuals who are living on the streets. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize that in most cases homelessness is not the fault of the individual and directly related to the structural issues in society which it can then target any individual who may be in an economic
Many of the homeless are women that have become divorced or have left home because of physical abuse. These women have no education because they have not been given the chance to go and get the education that it takes nowadays to get the job, so they are forced to live on the streets. They have no family to help them, and they are left with no other choice. People with mental illnesses also become homeless quite often. These people are incapable of handling the stress of living on their own.
“3.5 million people will experience homelessness in a given year,”(Los Angeles Homeless Services). This shocking number is one of the sad truths in today’s society. Homelessness is caused by a wide range of things including financial issues. The life of a homeless person is hard and comes with set-backs and the constant need to overcome them. Homeless people go through many challenges in surviving without a home. They can suffer from health issues, hunger, and poor emotional well-being.
Homelessness is one of the biggest issues society (Unites States) faces today. Homelessness is caused by lack of affordable housing, economic situations and decline in federal funding for low income families and the mentally ill. A homeless person is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family) including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private (shelters) facility that provides temporary living accommodations and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing. This definition of housing is used by the U.S Department of Healt...
There are many things that can cause one to be homeless but this research will focus on the two main reasons, insufficient economic resources and affordable housing. Other causes include lack of education, domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse and etc.
Many of the homeless population are not homeless by choice, many have lost the only job in the household, many are military veterans that have not assimilated back to civilian life, and some are homeless due to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. It can happen to anyone of us. A hurricane, earthquake or wildfire that is out of control can destroy your home within minutes. We must never say never when it comes to the possibility of being homeless, especially when we consider the impact that natural disasters have. Worldwide natural disasters render middle class people near poverty and the poor, homeless.
According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors (2008) there are several key factors that cause homelessness and they differ between families and single adults. For families, the causes are lack of affordable housing, poverty, unemployment, low-paying jobs, domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse. For single adults the causes are substance abuse, lack of affordable housing, mental illness, poverty, unemployment, and low-paying jobs. The top things needed to combat homelessness is more housing for people with disabilities, better paying employment opportunities, and more substance abuse services.
Throughout history there has always been a lower class society and some even lower than that which are known as the homeless. The homeless are people who don’t own homes or don’t live in their own home so they have to live in public places like shelters or even on the street. Homeless like to come out from the shadows and target the weak like a father with his daughter. They target specific groups so they know they can get money out of them easily instead of having to work for it. Homeless people are lazy to get jobs unless they are handed it so they would just sit down on their butts and do nothing until an opportunity comes to them. Homeless people are lazy and don’t want to work for themselves and have to get others to do their work for them because we think they are useless and therefore won’t do anything.
Homelessness has different meanings to different people; someone who has never been homeless might think homelessness is a person who lives on the street, in a tent or in a box. Many people don’t realize that there are a number of homeless people, who couch surf with friends, family or the ones who live in motels which are unaccountable in the numbers of homeless people. People including families with children, seniors, single parents, youths and those that are single are living in accommodations that are below standards and consider themselves as homeless.
every aspect and institution in a society work as one to create a function; these institutions are said to be
Homelessness is a problem virtually every society suffers from. There are many things that cause people to become homeless, such as unemployment, relationship problems, and being evicted from ones domicile either by a landlord, friend or even a family member. However, with every cause there must be an effect. Some of the effects of one becoming homeless, besides the obvious change of lifestyle, are various health problems which often times may lead to death.