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Social impacts of homelessness
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Introduction
Researchers from the Parliament of Canada have proven that there are “as many as 300,000 homeless in Canada” . Homelessness is a major social issue which is present in society throughout most of the world; when it comes to Canada it is no exception. The homeless are known as people who do not have a home or a stable place of residence, they are seen as individuals who sleep in “shelters, public places, vehicles, abandoned building or someone else’s home” . In the past few years homelessness in Canada has become a growing social issue. Researchers say that there are approximately one hundred million homeless individuals who live in public areas, which means they are that one hundred million out one billion homeless individuals
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In the 1980’s the homeless population started to increase . The increase of homelessness was lead by a variety of situations such as “criminality, public health and the economy” . The economy was not doing well, crime rates were increasing because of the economy and this was affecting many individuals health. In the 1980’s homelessness started to be viewed differently as compared to before. People in the 1980’s started to realize that homelessness definitely referred to poverty, which meant living without a place of residence. They also started to realize in the 1980’s that even poor quality homes were not affordable to the homeless. Twenty-five years ago the United Nations confirmed it was International Year of Shelter for the Homeless. This 1987 event lead Canada to have many conferences on homelessness rather it is local, regional or national. Ever since the 1987 International Year of Shelter for the Homeless there continues to be many more conferences as compared to before. This event has lead to many more people getting involved in doing research on the Homelessness as it is an important focus …show more content…
Homelessness in Canada is viewed with causes and consequences such as substances abuse, mental illnesses and media depictions and representation of the homeless. Nevertheless, its solutions include assistance by the government and other organizations such as emergency shelters, meal programs, etc. The growth of homelessness across Canada is a current issue that has increased in the past few years. Homeless are individuals who do not have a dwelling, and throughout the night-time or when they are in the search for food they try to go to specific shelters who are able to provide them with assistance. Homelessness is caused by different life situations such as individuals that have a hard time facing society. Many of the homeless may have faced a loss in society such as losing a job, losing a loved one, they may also have drug and alcohol addictions where they lose all their money and then do not have money to pay off their bare necessities. Some homeless may even have a mental illness not knowing how to deal with the world or they may just have been simply psychologically abused and abandoned by their loved
Boughton, Barbara. "Substance Abuse Rife Among Homeless With Mental Illness." Medscape Medical News. Medscape, 04 Nov. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
Even with the daily struggle faced by youth in obtaining shelter and homelessness becoming a reality for a growing number of Canadians, Canada, with its high quality of life is one country that has always had a global long-standing reputation. This paper will be working towards giving the reader a better understanding with regards to homeless youth. It will be focusing on the reasons why they leave home, their lives on the street and steps they are trying to take to be able to leave the streets. An important finding from this research suggests, “the street youth population is diverse, complex, and heterogeneous”. According to Karabanow, made up of a number of subcultures including hardcore street-entrenched young people, squatters, group home kids, child welfare kids, soft-core twinkles, runaways, throwaways, refugees and immigrants is the generic term ‘street youth’.
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...
Gulcur, Leyla, Padgett, Deborah K., and Tsemberis, Sam. (2006). “Housing First Services for People Who Are Homeless with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse.” Research on Social Work Practice, Vol 16 No. 1.
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
...ur society. It is important to realize that homelessness is usually not by choice, but a condition that occurs when the recourse needed for individuals or -6- groups of people (i.e. families) to be able to live in homes of their own are limited or in some cases even non-existent. Homelessness in most case is the result of poverty and unemployment or low income jobs. There are also other cases which contribute to the homeless population. Homelessness is a devastating issue to deal with especially for familles. It has many effects on every member, effects that could possibly be scarring for life. It is incredibly hard to find Canadian statistics on the homeless. On the other hand, it is unbelievably easy to find statistics on the United States homeless. Our problem, although smaller than in the US , is not on such a small scale that it should be so vaguely imposed.
Youth homelessness in Ontario is not a new phenomenon, it has become more and more severe over the past 20 years. “One third of homeless individuals on the streets are under the age of 25”(Cino, Rose). It is a significant social justice issue in Canada. Within our community people are increasingly aware of the sight of youth sleeping in parks, asking for money and sitting on sidewalks. Youth homelessness in Ontario is primarily caused by tragic life occurrences such as abuse, illness or unemployment.
Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention
“Homeless is more than being without a home. It is tied into education needs, food, security; health issues both mental and physical, employment issues, etc. Don’t forget the whole picture.” (“Boxed In” 2005 pg. 108)
If you do not already know what homelessness means, it is someone who is not able to live in a stable residence because of financial or psychological problems, so they are forced to live on the streets or put themselves on the streets, because they feel it would be a better fit. Homelessness in Canada is a very large and concerning issue because of the growing population.
in the society . In Canada, homelessness has become a crisis and communities have struggled to respond as the
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
O'Campo, P., Kirst, M., Schaefer-McDaniel, N., Firestone, M., Scott, A., & McShane, K. (2009). Community-based services for homeless adults experiencing concurrent mental health and substance use disorders: A realist approach to synthesizing evidence. Journal of Urban Health, 86(6), 965-985.
In 2011, 2650 people were found to be homeless in the city of Vancouver (Metro Vancouver, 2012). There are many sociological perspectives regarding the topic of homelessness in Vancouver such as gender, youth, social justice, and race and ethnicity. The key factors that I discovered when researching homelessness in Vancouver were the prevalence of various drug addictions, prostitution, violence, and physical and sexual abuse in the homeless population. By reading several articles regarding my topic I pose the research question: Is not having a home the main factor that marginalizes the homeless? In addition, what should be done to reduce homelessness in Vancouver?
This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.