Functionalism Theory Of Homeless Veterans

Introduction Homelessness among veterans has become a major problem in the United States. According to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, states with the largest numbers of homeless Veterans included: California, Florida, New York, Texas, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, and Oregon. The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states that the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with just a little of them are female. Most of them are single; live in urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, the military’s anti-drug

The functionalism theory is about social organization and how this organization is maintained throughout the society. This theory emphasizes the importance of stability and integration in a society. The ideas come from natural sciences and look at society like a biologist would look at a living organism. They both try to identify the various parts or structures and see how they work and/or function. In this theory homelessness is viewed as unavoidable and basically a must for the society to well, “function.” Individuals occupy specific, fixed roles in the society. Homelessness is just looked at as nothing more but a social class which is needed. It is believed that once one is part of this class, one will remain with this class for as long as he or she lives but if there ever is change and one moves up in class, the change will be very slow and

( “Homeless Facts”, n.d.) When a community ensures that housing within reasonable price ranges exists, offers its members living-wage jobs, provides quality schooling to develop individuals’ capacity to hold good jobs, and offers other supports for families and individuals, people can maintain stable housing. ( “Homeless Facts”, n.d.) Lastly, housing first is an approach that emphasizes stable, permanent housing as a primary strategy for ending homelessness. ( “Housing First”, n.d.) An evaluation of this strategy in San Francisco found that the number of people living on the streets dropped by 41 percent in three years. More than 1,000 units of "permanent supportive housing" were established, and, of those who moved into such units, 95 percent remained housed. (Chamard, 2010) As a result, homelessness can be decrease by educating the public about the problem, help the homeless by teaching them financial management skill and build more houses that is affordable, as homeless are human just like us. We should help them to make sure that they can overcome these obstacles and be able to make changes in their life by walking away from