A Brief Look at Homelessness

Homeless is taking place throughout the world. That is an issue because some people still end back on the street or never had the opportunity to get off the street. Some inviduals may still be on the street and never go the opportunity to get off the street. Each inviduals have their own story of how they became homeless. Some inviduals may have ended up homeless due to unemployment, house caught on fire, was staying with a family member who later passed away, never had money save in case of a emergency and the list goes on. The issue that relate to housing for the homeless is that it is not enough space for everyone. The programs that is available tend to be overcrowded due to so many people being homeless with nowhere to go. Another issue with housing for the homeless is the environment in some programs. The environment can be harmful and unhealthy to an inviduals and especially a homeless child. When a child is homeless, that has a effect on them growing up as far as their mentality and their skills and ability of learning.

Currently, the rates of homelessness in America continue to drastically increase. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2012) depicted how many people are homeless in a single night in America. The findings revealed that there were approximately 633,782 people who are homeless in America or 20 out of every 10,000. Approximately 394,379 are single individuals and 239,403 are people in families with 77,157 homeless families in a single night, and approximately 162, 246 are children. Veterans are more likely to be homeless than those who are non-veterans, approximately 29 out of every 10,000 veterans are homeless. Unfortunately, 38 percent of those who are homeless are unsheltered, either living on the streets or in places that are not suitable for human inhabitation. Most states account of for less than 1% of homeless population, whereas Texas contains approximately 5.4% of America’s homeless population. In San Antonio, there are approximately 2,981 people who are homeless each day, and 1,243 are unsheltered. Through a sociological perspective, the social problems of homelessness can be analyzed through the concept of sociological imagination, the comparison of the person-blame approach and the system-blame approach, and through the analysis of one’s own community’s effort in helping those who are homeless.

Homelessness has been a problem in Hawaii, and especially Oahu, for more than two decades. The homeless have overrun the islands but it is no surprise as the circum- stances allow for it. Multiple factors contribute to the ongoing dilemma including the high cost of living, Hawaii being an island state, and the expensive housing. The prob- lems that cause homelessness are not going to go away by themselves. Although the problem is not increasing, the numbers show that it isn’t decreasing and shouldn’t be unless the state and community acts.

There are many common misconceptions about homelessness. Ideally, it is only problematic in poor third world countries; this is false. Homelessness is a giant problem in every corner of the world. Homelessness tends to be associated with people who sleep in the streets, parks, subways, and sidewalks. Although homelessness happened a long time ago it is still present today. There are many causes for one to be homeless, such as; economy crisis, having a mental illness, drug/alcohol addiction, no job, limit housing, low income. Homeless people face an intense struggle just to stay alive. Some laws that the government has to establish makes it illegal for them to survive and some make it’s so they can have an education. Some communities

There's No place like home... unfortunately for many people living in the UK do not have a place they can call home. Every person facing homelessness has ended up there for different reasons, however the lack of help, support and sympathy they get from our government is shameful. Despite rough sleeping being the most visible sign of homelessness, figures based on people living in temporary accommodation with no idea of their future is far more shocking. Over the past seven years those living in temporary accommodation has risen by about two thirds each year which clearly shows the problem is evolving and that our government have let this problem escalate into A national crisis.

No one should experience homelessness. No one should be without a safe, stable place to call home

The definition of homelessness can vary depending who you speak to, but according to Peter Rossi in his text, Down and Out in America, he defines homelessness as “not having customary and regular access to a conventional dwelling; it mainly applies to those who do not rent or own a residence” (Rossi 10). Robert Frost states in his poem, “The Death of the Hired Man”: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, / they have to take you in” (qtd. in Rossi 14). For people who are branded with the term, “homeless”, there is no place they can go to where “they have to take you in”. They are faced with hardship after hardship. There are several factors that can contribute to why people are without a home and living on the streets, most of which can happen to any one of us, especially in the economy that we are currently living in today.

What causes homelessness? Is homelessness the result of job loss? Does it result from drug and alcohol addiction? Just who are the homeless? The homeless are a mixture of people with many different problems. Many of them are mentally ill patients released from institutions. Some are single women with children. As John Grisham stated, 40% are substance abusers (Grisham 14). Some of the homeless want and need help, but to others being homeless is a conscious choice.

For an individual condition to be considered a social issue, such as “homelessness” a portion of the population can agrees that the condition presents problems and should be changed. Homelessness can be considered a social problem and it may change depending on one’s social economic condition and popular views on how specific social issues may be handled over time to change one’s condition. For example, at any time in one’s life “homelessness” can strike an individual family in any given moment, regardless of one’s color or background. Majority of Americans are just a pay check from this issue.

Homelessness has always been a problem, occurring in cities across the world. For example, homelessness became a problem “in the 1980s, as housing and social service cuts increased. This was in part a consequence of the transfer of federal dollars to a huge military buildup and consequent large budget deficits” (Donohoe). The government spent all the money on the military, leaving none for the housing; therefore people became homeless. Also due to “A lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs” ("Homelessness in America - National Coalition for the Homeless") homeless people can’t look to any one for professional guidance. This has created and contributed to the housing crisis for the homeless. Homelessness can make individuals “often [experience] feelings of isolation, [and] homelessness can also increase your chances of taking drugs or experiencing physical or mental health problems” (“Impact of

People must be aware regarding this homelessness issue because some of them are drug addicts which can contribute harm to our society. It is because when they are involved with drugs, they tend to commit a crime to get money for purchasing drugs. The type of crimes usually committed by them are arson, theft, murder, homicide or even burglary. Therefore, society need to be more concern regarding this issue. Besides that, they will also flop the reputation of the country. According to Homeless Connection (Homeless Connection, 2017), the homeless individual essentially sleeps at the bus stop, sidewalk and many more. This can give a bad impact to our country's image. In fact, when tourists visits our country, they will look down upon our country

Homelessness has an astonishing effect on people. For a homeless person, life can be very hard. With all of their time being spent on achieving their everyday needs. Starvation is a constant issue. Getting injured or becoming ill can be threats as well. Finding sustenance, hydration, lodging, and warmth become the most valuable priorities to someone without a home. Homelessness may be difficult. Homelessness can produce many causes. In some cases, the losing of an occupation can cause a person or persons to become homeless. One income can mean the divide between belonging in a home or a home on the streets. Other times domestic issues is the case of homelessness. Mental illness and substance abuse are other causes. (The hidden story of homelessness

Homelessness is the condition of people without a regular dwelling. (Wiki) All over America, there are people wandering the streets without a home. These individuals are seen as a crowd, a separate collective existence. They are called the homeless, as if that defines who they are, but we too often neglect to add the unspoken word in that title; people. It seems today that the more fortunate citizens of America who have a roof over their heads have forgotten their innate responsibility to watch over those in this world whom are incapable of caring for themselves. (Wiki). The fact is, that there are millions of homeless people in America today. Many of these people had no choice but to become homeless. Economic problems such as being laid off work or the rise in cost of housing has lead these people to be living on the streets. 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

Many homeless individuals used to have a stable home and job until their social and economic factors have changed to the worse. The two biggest reasons why homeless exists is because of poverty and the lack of affordable housing. Factors that can also contribute to homelessness are losing a job, getting a divorce, fleeing from domestic violence and losing the home due to a natural disaster (fire, flood, earth quick, tornado, hurricane and so on). Other factors such as depression, untreated mental illness, PTSD, and physical disabilities are also responsible for a large portion of the homeless here in the US. Homelessness is something that should not be judged because anyone could be affected by it, at any given

Some people are also homeless because they are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. A person who is addicted to something like that often can’t get out of it because they are so addicted to the drug, it is very hard to get clean. Many times they relapse and go back to drugs just as they were almost done with treatment. Often people who are addicted to drugs had a life that didn’t have anything to do with homelessness. At one point in their life they had a home, a family, kids, and a job. However sometimes things can get overwhelming and they decide to try drugs for the first time and that first time is where everything turns to worst. Doing drugs is a very costly thing and can waste all your money doing them. People try drugs for the first because they feel stressed and they think