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Effect Of Poverty And Homelessness
Sociology and social disadvantage in homelessness
Sociology and social disadvantage in homelessness
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Three families in Boston from different ethnical backgrounds with varying levels of domestic struggle have been in a six-year battle for their apartments. Room 404, the fictitious name I use, stands for the housing courtroom in Boston, Massachusetts. The film is about three families who have previously been threatened with homelessness. In using the first-person narrative, and engaging in a conversational style with graphic animation, the film focuses on the structure of, and social inequality behind, housing in Boston. It begins with a story about a Chinese immigrant couple, Ah-May and John, who have lived in Boston for 20 years. Ah-May, surrounded by piles of bills narrates her side of events. She is suspicious, overthinking, emotional, but …show more content…
She, unlike the others, was from an affluent family in the suburbs. However, her fortunes turned when she met her ex-boyfriend, who brought both pleasure and pain into her life. Renée, who is now 23, started doing drugs at the age of 16 and was unable to stay clean for more than three years. She was also diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) when she was in the center. She is determined to get better. She wants to get back on track, “I am trying, but… none of my parents or friends believes me …show more content…
The possibility of being homeless is scary and frustrating, and thus, the main theme of this project is to highlight the housing challenges these families face while comparing their habitations with those of majority of Americans in the 21st-century. As the film continues, audiences begin to question themselves: what stands for ‘majority of us’ and how should we address this situation? The problem is complex because it involves historical leftover, long-term racial tension, wealth inequality, and social injustice, among other
Judy Fong-Bates’ “The Gold Mountain Coat” discusses the childhood of the narrator who is a Chinese immigrant living in Canada. The narrator, even at a young age, possesses such admirable keen observation as she is able to notice the environment and even the situation of people around her. Living in a small town that is “typical of many small towns in Ontario” with only one Chinese family neighbor, the narrator is the only Chinese child. With the nearing day of arrival of John’s family, the narrator feels uneasy of her new responsibilities.
The film’s brilliance lies in the choice to show three distinct familial units with varying and different responses to their disadvantaged circumstances. The three boys who are the main subject of this film each experience a set of challenges and disadvantages associated with growing up in poverty. Appachey lives with his mother and younger siblings and has little to no adult supervision because his single mother must work long hours to support the family. Harley lives with his grandmother because his mother is incarcerated for attempting to kill the man who sexually abused her son. Harley suffers from anger and personality disorders and has a difficult time fitting in at school. Andrew lives with his father, mother and sister but is subject to repeated and frequent moves due his father’s inability to secure stable employment. His mother also suffers from significant mental illness and bouts of manic
On one side, there is Kathy Nicolo and Sheriff Lester Burdon who want the house from which Kathy was evicted. It previously belonged to Kathy’s father and she is reluctant to relinquish possession of it. Then there is the Behranis, a Persian family who was forced to flee to America in fear of their lives. They want the house because it symbolizes their rise from poverty (they had to leave everything behind and were quite poor when they arrived in the United States) back to affluence which, to this family, will help to restore their family’s dignity, lost when thrust into poverty. The story centers on gaining possession of the house. Unknowingly, all of these characters are doomed to tragedy by their inability to understand each other, hurtling down an explosive collision course.
In the Pulitzer prize-winning novel Evicted, sociologist Matthew Desmond follows eight families as he exposes how the lack of affordable housing perpetuates a state of poverty. He even goes so far as to assert that it is eviction that is a cause of poverty, not the other way around (Desmond 229). While this latter argument is as engrossing and it is striking, analyzing it with justice is simply not possible within the scope of this paper. Nevertheless, it is these two factors—inescapable poverty and eviction—that engender an unrelenting condition of financial, emotional, and communal instability, effectively hindering any chance of upward mobility.
John Singleton’s view of social problems in South Central Los Angeles happens in a tale of three friends growing up together. Doughboy and Ricky Baker are half-brothers and have opposite personalities. Ricky is a football player who hopes to win a scholarship and spends most of his time playing football. On the other hand, Doughboy is a young man who looks upon his environment for guidance. He is involved in violence, abusing drugs, and participates in violence. In between is their friend Tre, who actually has a father to teach him what is right from wrong. Furious Styles, who is Tre’s father in the film does everything in his strength to keep his son from becoming another startling statistic. As you can see, it is always important for parents to be a part of their child’s life because it can make a big difference not only in their life but also their child’s future.
I chose the movie Divergent because there is so many events in the movie to talk about that has to do with sociology. I could have chosen any of the Sociological Perspectives for this movie but I believe that Structural functionalism was the best option. The movie Divergent is about a futuristic society broken up into five factions. Abnegation is the selfless or generous, Dauntless or what I like to call the fearless group, Candor the honest, Amity the peaceful and Erudite which loves knowledge and are the smart ones of society. At the age of 16 you have to either stay in the faction you were born into from your parents or you can choose a different faction. If you choose a different faction you have to leave your family behind and stay with
It’s shown satirically on television, made fun of in music, and joked about in day-to-day activities: being homeless. I don’t understand what’s so funny about being homeless. The struggle to stay alive in an uninviting climate with nothing but the clothes on your back, doesn’t seem very fun. Yet in the media, being homeless is still treated like a joke. In the essay “Homeless” by Anna Quindlen, the reader is shown what it truly means to be without a home. My view on the struggles that homeless people have to endure is very similar to that of Quindlen’s in her essay, which perfectly captured the reality of what it is like to be without a home, and what it truly means to be homeless; while simultaneously demonstrating to me the negative effect
The 2009 film “Precious”, based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, tells the tragic story of sixteen-year-old Claireece Precious Jones; an overweight, illiterate who is now pregnant with her second child. Her life at home is a complete nightmare; her mother, Mary, verbally, emotionally and physically abuses her daily. Her father, Carl, molested her on multiple occasions and impregnated her twice then disappeared. Precious was kicked out of public school and took an offer to attend an alternative school where she meets her inspirational teacher Miss Blu Rain. Precious begins to believe in herself and prepares herself for her future. She becomes engaged in class and learns how to read and write; she was called stupid and dummy all her life and
A Pair of Tickets”, by Amy Tan, is a brief narrative about the conscience and reminiscence of a young Chinese American woman, Jing-Mei, who is on a trip to China to meet her two half-sisters for the first time in her life. Amy Tan is an author who uses the theme of Chinese-American life, converging primarily on mother-daughter relationships, where the mother is an emigrant from China and the daughter is fully Americanized --yellow on the surface and white underneath. In this story, the mother tries to communicate rich Chinese history and legacy to her daughter, but she is completely ignorant of their heritage. At the opening of the story "A Pair of Tickets" Jandale Woo and her father are on a train, the are destined for China. Their first stop will be Guangzhou, China where father will reunite with his long lost aunt. After visiting with her for a day they plan to take a plane to Shanghai, China where Jandale meets her two half-sisters for the first time. It is both a joyful time and yet a time of contrition, Jandale has come to China to find her Chinese roots that her mother told ...
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
Although most people know what homelessness is and it occurs in most societies, it is important to define because the forces of displacement vary greatly, along with the arrangement and meaning of the resulting transient state. The Stewart B McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 defined a homeless person as “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence or a person who resides in a shelter, welfare hotel, transitional program or place not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation, such as streets, cars, movie theaters, abandoned buildings, etc.” Resent surveys conducted in the U.S. have confirmed that the homeless population in America is extremely diverse and includes representatives from all segments of society, including: the old and young, men and women, single people and families, city dwellers and rural residents, whites and people of color, employed and unemployed, able workers and people with serious health problems. The diversity among people that are homeless reflects how difficult it is to generalize the causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless people. Robert Rosenheck M.D., the author of Special Populations of Homeless Americans, explains the importance of studying homelessness based on subgroups, “each subgroup [of homeless people] has unique service needs and identifying these needs is critical for program planning and design.” Despite these diversities, homelessness is a devastating situation for all that experience it. Not only have homeless people lost their dwelling, but they have also lost their safety, privacy, control, and domestic comfort.
These people, known as the Edgewater homeless, all come from different backgrounds and all have their own story. Even though the community is widely diverse, they share two commonalities: homelessness and addiction. Homelessness and addiction became the basis of their culture. Using firsthand interviews and accounts, this book illustrates the everyday struggles that the homeless population face. Schonberg and Bourgois give the oppressed an opportunity to have their voices heard. The lives of the Edgewater homeless were portrayed through characters like Frank, Sonny, Carter, and Tina. By allowing the voices of people who are actually living in the situation, such as the Edgewater homeless, a larger voice is given to the homeless community around the
In evaluation and recollection of Mary Ellen Mark’s photograph of The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, 1987, Mark captures the everyday struggle of the homeless community in the United States. Mark’s picture tells the story of the Damm family, whom are lounging in their chipped paint car, unkempt, with looks of tiredness and despair. Mark urges people viewing the photograph to better understand homelessness and allows people to put themselves into The Damm family’s shoes. Mark allows people to view homelessness in a very raw light by creating pathos, the family’s gaze, and the background.
Homelessness has gained mass attention throughout the world. It’s an ongoing, insoluble issue that continues to exist and affect many in the Unites States. “Approximately 3.5 million people are homeless in the United States at any given time” (McBride, 2012). Sadly, due to the nature of homelessness, it is difficult to obtain an accurate number of the homeless population (McBride, 2012). Many people have negative prejudice views of homeless individuals. Self-worth, dignity, as well as trustworthy affects the homeless, often questioned by society. Through the testimony of John Doe, a better understanding will enlighten others, myself included, and bring awareness to this mass population.
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.