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Sociological approach to ending homelessness
Sociological approach to ending homelessness
Sociological approach to ending homelessness
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There are two types of homelessness, chronic and situational. A chronically homeless person is someone who has been homeless for over a long period of time. Stereotypically speaking, chronically homeless people usually are drug addicts or they have some type of mental health issue. The actual case in that theory is that: a vast majority of the chronically homeless suffer from serious mental illnesses (like schizophrenia), severe substance addiction, or a physical disability. People with mental health illnesses cannot help being homeless. Most lose their jobs due to their illness, causing them to not be able to work or to get a job, eventually leading them to not be financially capable to take care of themselves. This contributes to their
inability to secure or want to secure permanent residency. Chronic homeless people could spend decades going from hospitals to emergency shelters to living on the streets. In order to end their cycle of homelessness, they have to want to secure permanent housing which means seeking help and other types of support from government funded agencies. For example, as of 2011, most chronically homeless people in Worcester, Massachusetts sought help and consequently, were living in permanent housing (Kenny & Latchana). Unlike chronic homelessness, people suffering from situational homelessness are homeless because of a specific event. Situational homelessness is defined as a status of being forced to live without housing due to a specific emergency, such as a natural disaster, temporary joblessness, or death of a primary income earner. Natural disasters often cause current housing situations to become untenable and costly repairs are often not possible. For example, Hurricane Katrina happened a little over ten years ago, resulting in the displacement of people from their homes. People in cities like New Orleans are still suffering from this tragic disaster that happened in 2005 (HomeAid). In summary, homelessness is a harsh reality to accept regardless of the circumstances. We all thrive to have a place where we call “home”. A place where we can laugh with family, escape from stress, and regroup to face the daily challenges of life.
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...
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.
Homelessness is a real serious health issue all over the world that must be addressed. A lot of people in a public frequently misunderstand the cause of homelessness. Remarks regarding homeless people such as “they need to just get a job” or “go to school” are normally used liberally by members of society because they neglect to look at the complete issue. Homelessness does not discriminate. Individuals that have previously experience or may experience being homeless can be from different regions, have different cultural backgrounds, ages, and could be of any gender. Minorities seem to be mostly affected by homelessness. A study done in 2012 found that the homeless population is consisted of 39% non-Hispanic Whites, 42% African-Americans, 13% Hispanic, 4% Native-American, and 2% Asian (Now on PBS, 2012). The End Homelessness website provides the following statistics:
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.
In the word homeless there are two root words, home and less. Home is what most people would define as the place where they live, or grew up. Less, simply means not as much as. When you combine the two together homeless equals someone who grew up in a home that was held to less standards than what they would normally be held up to. For example, someone who is homeless could live in a box, it sounds terrible but unfortunately it is a part of our reality. Not everyone can afford to live in a house, pay mortgage, and all the other expenses that come with the responsibility of owning a house, or home. Today homelessness still has an affect on many people.
every aspect and institution in a society work as one to create a function; these institutions are said to be
After watching the video “Sociological Perspective Project: Homelessness,” and read the article “Community Level Characteristics Associated with Variation in Rates of Homelessness among Families and Single Adults I started to think about this more and started to read more on the topic and have I concluded , America could support its citizens better than it currently does by eliminating the progressive tax system, in which as wealth increases so does their income tax and implement tax incentives to encourage job creation. Loop holes should be eliminated in such systems as taxes, as well as welfare in order to prevent people from playing the system. The system should not be set up in such a way that filing for unemployment can be and often times is more profitable that holding a minimum wage job, which defeats the entire purpose of the welfare system. By adding these tax incentives to big business, it would encourage them to create new jobs, decreasing the number of people on welfare. While welfare should not be entirely disbanded, it should be made more restrictive and it, along...
?Over the past year, over two million men, women, and children were homeless? in America. (NLCHP) Homeless people face an intense struggle just to stay alive despite the fact that society turns its head from the problem. The government makes laws that discriminate against homeless people, which make it, illegal for them to survive. The mistreatment of homeless people is an issue that is often ignored in our community. When you see a homeless person on the streets how do you react? Do you turn your head and ignore them? Do you become angry that they are living on the streets? Do you feel frightened and avoid the situation all together? Or do you see these people as human beings and treat them in that way? Homeless people are ?subjected to alienation and discrimination by mainstream society?. (NLCHP) Most alienation and discrimination comes from the lack of education about homeless people. There are numerous untrue myths about homeless people. Many people believe that homeless people ?commit more violent crimes than housed people.? (NLCHP) The reality is that homeless people actually commit less violent crimes than people with homes do. Dr. Pamela Fischer, of John Hopkins University, studied arrest records in Baltimore and discovered that even though homeless people were more likely to commit non-violent and non-destructive crimes, they were less likely to commit violent crimes against people. (NLCHP) The crimes that these people are committing are necessary to keep them alive. These crimes include sleeping, eating, and panhandling. Making it illegal to perform necessary daily activities in public when homeless people have no where else to go makes it impossible for homeless people to avoid violating the law. (NLCHP) Another myth about homeless people is that they do not work and that they get their money from public assistance programs. A study done in Chicago discovered that ?39% of homeless people interviewed had worked for some time during the previous month?. (NLCHP) Many of the people who do not work are actively trying to find jobs, but are discriminated against by the work force. In an interview done at the River Street Homeless Shelter I found many people who have experienced this discrimination. ?People can?t get a job without an address. When they use the shelter?s address they get turned down.? (Mike) Speaking...
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.
Homelessness can be defined as a person or family that does not have a fixed, acceptable place to reside or lives in a place that was not meant for human habitation, such as living on the streets or in a car (HUD, 2014). Homelessness does not discriminate due to age, sex or race. The homeless population consists of single adults, families with children, teenagers, and the elderly. While although each have specific needs one issue they have in common is the lack of a stable place to live.
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 topic is important because it is now discussing children how are homeless and the health they are in. Their would be so many health problems with a child who is homeless because once again their is no way for them to afford proper health care.
The homeless situation around the world has reached epic proportions and the tropical paradise of Hawaii is no exception. Honolulu is the most densely populated cities in Hawaii, home to 387,170 of Oahu's people (US Census Bureau). “The counts estimated the total number of homelessness on Oahu as of January 2015 to be 4,903” (City and County of Honolulu Homeless Point-in-Time Count 2015 7). While there are wide variations of the meaning of homeless, homelessness goes further than not just having shelter. For those living on the streets it additionally denotes uncertainty, lack of security, and the denial of safety.
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.
Typically, people are homeless because they have just lost their job. Many people nowadays are getting laid off their job or getting fired. Many companies move around or the company cannot afford to pay their employees.