Homelessness Think back last week; how many homeless people did you come across? When you see these people, what comes to mind? Sympathy? Compassion? Or do you judge them right away? Most people are in this position not because they chose to, but because of a situation that happened in their life that put them there. Homelessness is a serious societal problem affecting our communities. Katel of Housing the Homeless says “about 1.5 million Americans use a shelter in a given year- and advocates for the homeless say that figure badly understates the problem.” Yet, society looks down at these people, not doing anything to help them. They are judged, criticized, and bombarded by false assumptions everywhere they go. I have heard people say “they are like that because they chose to” or “they are lazy and don't want to work.” This is not true in most cases. The reality is life can go wrong at any moment for anyone. For some people there is no one there to help them and their only option is living on the streets or a shelter. As I said, homelessness can happen to anyone. My parents exemplify this as they were homeless at one point in their life. They had just moved to Oregon from California, looking for a new start for their soon to be born son. Life wasn’t as they had expected. My mother’s family, whom they were staying with, without a warning decided to move out of state. They now had nowhere to live and no one to ask for help. With no choice left, they were forced to live in a shelter in terrible conditions as most homeless do. The shelter was not a safe place, property was often stolen and although it was not allowed there were drugs and alcohol. My parents did not choose to be homeless, they were more than willing to work, they searched for employment and tried very hard to find housing but it wasn’t an easy process, it took time. Every homeless person has their own story for why they don’t have a home or income whether it is they immigrated to a new country, a disability, or they lost their job. Whatever the situation is, they all have their unique story. We shouldn’t be quick to judge or assume it was their decision. Sometimes we aren’t able to control a situation and for some people they are forced to
33.7% of people who are homless will stay homeless for more than a year. This means that a large majority of vulnerable individuals such individuals living in poverty will stay living in a shelter or on the steets for more than a year until they are able to get back on their feet.Having a home is something many of us take for granted and until we face the the reality of seeing more individuals living under briges and on the corner of our communities. Becoming homeless can happen to anyone. Immigrants are more vulnerable to be be homelessness and stay homelessness than a resident (Thurston, Roy, Clow, Este, Gordey, Haworth-Brockman, & McCoy, 2013). They lack social support, not enough resources available, shortage of
The Homeless are a vulnerable population. Homelessness is a social issue that anyone can almost be subjected to despite his or her age, race, ethnicity or geographical background. Kornblum (2012) defined homelessness as… “as a social condition in which people do not have regular housing and are forced to sleep in public places, public shelters, or facilities designed for homeless individuals and families” (p.280). The homeless population faces several adversaries in their lifetime of being homeless. Their adversaries are a lack physical and emotional disabilities, and possibly drug abuse. Grant some are homeless by choice, whereas most are homeless by mishaps, but nevertheless, they are humans deserving to be treated with fairness, dignity,
Homelessness is basically another form of poverty except more extreme, yet society treats it as if it was on another spectrum of problems. Some in society stigmatize this population by saying things like: they’re homeless because they are drug addicts, alcoholics, they don’t want to work and just live off the government for free. What many forget to think about are the factors that have these people on the street, or the fact that they are not only experiencing personal hardship by being without a permanent residence but emotional ones as well. Add the fact they are sometimes discriminated against and excluded by society, and you will realize you are looking at one of the most vulnerable populations.
Growing up I’ve heard many reasons why people are homeless. One is that they didn't have enough money to support themselves, because they spent it on wants, and not necessities like, drugs, and alcohol. Another is that a person is mentally challenged, and doesn't have the capacity, or skills to function in, “the real world” and can't support themselves, and end up on the streets. They also don't have a support system, or the means to find assistants, and their only option may be, to end up on the streets.
Homeless people are not always the victims that the media have portrayed them to be. The alarming fact is that many of the homeless are there by choice. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to portray all homeless people as lazy people who dont want to take care of themselves. This couldn't be further from the truth. In my experience with the homeless they are usually either in bad health, addicted to drugs, mentally ill or a combination of any of these. To compound matters worse, they are usually without any type of legitimate income to support themselves.
A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not
In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would
There is a misconception regarding people who are homeless. People assume that people are homeless because they are drug addicts, alcoholics or they are just lazy and don’t want to work to have the money to support having a place to live. There are actually many different reasons people are homeless. One of the most common factors aiding in people being homeless is poverty. There
Homeless people have been around us for a long time. It occurs when the family faces problems and leave each other with nothing on them. Disabled people often get rejected from social services and end up in the streets. Veterans get robbed by the government and end up on the streets too. Everyone dreams of living in a house someday and not living on the streets. The government should make rules that help and benefit homeless people. Sometimes kids, at a young age, leave their parents because they have a lot of conflicts going on around the house. Homeless people’s lives are hard. Homeless people apply to get the job but get rejected by the manager because they have nothing on them and because they are poor. Sometimes a person getting out of prison will have a hard time getting a job too. Let’s see how there are sociological perspectives and how they view homelessness.
Although most American citizens do not typically notice government programs in their daily lives, implemented policies have major effects on American citizens. It is estimated that around 1.35 million children suffer from homelessness due to their families living on the streets (Crook). With this massive housing conundrum, the United States government should increase funding for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Increased funding would decrease homelessness by lowering the crime rate, educating students, and improving American living conditions.
Many people throughout the world look at homeless people negatively, and that is some thing they do not deserve. People automatically assume homeless people are dirty, uneducated, and dangerous, but this is not always true. Many homeless people are war veterans and need help to get their life back on track, but they are too scared and hated to seek it. The stereotypes associated with homeless people make many people shy away from helping them and that is one of the reasons why they are really suffering. I chose homelessness as my topic because it is an issue that should be addressed and examined more carefully. People treat homeless people unfairly because of the stereotypes associated with them and choose to ignore them instead of helping them.
Here in America there is a high percentage of homeless people. People often label homeless people as lazy, not willing to work, or they believe they are just looking for hand out. But that is just other people 's views on the homeless. My point of view is that maybe they had a rough start in life, or something happened to them or maybe they didn’t have a mother or father figure in their lives to tell them right from wrong. Other might of grown up in broken homes which might of caused them to be the way they are. Lastly, since they didn 't have anyone there for them they might of not known how to keep a job, known right from wrong and that is why they are put in a position that they are now. Although there is people who are actually suffering due to the fact that they are homeless there are people who pretend to be homeless just so they can get an extra couple bucks. That 's probably why some people actually believe that people are just lazy.
Being homeless can be the least or one of the least desirable circumstances one could imagine, causing great difficulties to one more than one could imagine. People usually become homeless as results from a combined of different effects from of extreme poverty, the lack, and limited affordable housing and the decline of government supports, lack of employment opportunities, poor healthcare, and limited health services for mental illness, domestic violence, foreclosures, and evictions (Wikipedia, 2009, p. 6). These are just some of the major reasons that cause people to become homeless. But not all homeless are without jobs. There is a small percent of them do work, but the minimum wage is simply not enough to cover their rent since they are already struggling living paycheck to paycheck or the work is not steady. Forcing more and more not only single people but also entire families.
According to suitcaseclinic.org, homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home has been declared unsafe or even unstable. According to Habitat.org, this issue affects between 1.6 million to close to 3 million people within the United States ("World Habitat”). The issue is growing throughout the world, yet what is the root cause? Numerous people wonder how they can help. Most tend to believe that the solution is as simple as just giving them money to use for daily living. Even though their root cause for their issue isn’t money. It is the fact that they don’t grasp how to use their money properly/ responsibly. The homeless can’t be helped with just cash, they need the proper support systems along with education to become successful.
Homelessness as an issue in today's society is largely ignored. To many, the problem of homelessness is invisible or barely noticed. When these people do see the homeless it is found in the form of beggars who need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” or mentally ill people who “just can't help themselves”. In either case the central point remains; the homeless must be people who are incapable or unwilling to help themselves. After all, wouldn't they stop being homeless if they just tried? These sorts of rationalizations cover a more disturbing truth; that for many in today's society, the spectre of homelessness is more pressing of a problem than helping those who are already on the