Control Theories: Practice Orientation Verses Culture Of Poverty

A person is considered homeless when they do not have a permanent place to live. Homelessness is becoming more common every day. I had the rare opportunity to see and interact with the people facing the challenge of homelessness at the Homeless Connection Event. This paper will discuss my perceptions of the homeless before the event, a few interesting facts, and my thoughts after the event. The paper will also discuss my impressions of the homeless after the event and my opinion of the interprofessional relationship between students who participated in the event.

Poverty is not easily defined, because it plays out in many different ways. To be in poverty, one is generally making at most three times the amount of money they would need to sustain themselves and their family members living a minimalist lifestyle. These families tend to eat cheaper food, use public transport, have less access to good educational institutions, are exposed to harmful environments, and have less access to healthcare, among many other things. Through the lenses of conflict theory and functionalism, one can begin to understand why poverty so affects many aspects many people’s lives in ways that carry them through adulthood, and sometimes pervades later generations of their families.

Privacy, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is the quality or condition of being secluded from the presence or view of others, and the state of being free from public attention or unsanctioned intrusion. Interestingly, the Constitution of the United States does not expressly protect a person 's right to privacy; there are however some provisions to privacy within the Bill of Right and the Amendments to the Constitution. Among them are the first amendment, that ensures the privacy or belief, the third amendment, that ensures the privacy of home, and the fourth amendment, that ensures the privacy of person and possession.

Social work continues to be a necessary and important profession because there are such a wide variety and abundance of social issues that exist in the world today. Among these issues, one of great prevalence is homelessness. Homelessness is an important problem that needs to be directly addressed because it can lead to many other problems as well. Problems such as poor academic performance and malnutrition can arise as a result of homelessness. If the issue of homelessness is improved, many other issues can be improved as well. Two articles that contribute to addressing this issue are Examining Perceived Barriers and

Imagine a young child growing up, learning, and trying to further his or her life to obtain success in the future. For an “everyday” child this can be challenging, however “everyday” obstacles can be overcome. For thousands of children in the United States, this dream is almost impossible to achieve. These children are a part of the homeless population that is spread throughout the United States. Many times these individuals try to hide this major secret from the rest of the world, but homelessness is very prevalent among these youths today. Various problems occur in these peoples’ lives that others could not even begin to understand. Homelessness affects children in every stage of life physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Homeless families compose a fraction of the homeless population as they “represent roughly a third of the homeless population in the United States (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2010), and approximately 1.5 million children—1 in 50 youngsters—are homeless each year in the United States” (p. 389). These homeless families often struggle to find permanent residency as a collective unit. There are several types of housing situations available for homeless families such as temporary housing, transitional housing settings, and shelters, yet the housing situation for homeless families often causes stress for families as stability and a secure home is always in question. “The lack of stable, consistent housing is the central, defining characteristic of families experiencing homelessness, distinguishing them and their experience(s) from those with stable housing who experience other correlated conditions (e.g., poverty)” (Kilmer, Cook, Crusto, Strater, and Haber, 2012, p. 394). Homeless families often seek different types of housing usually by first reaching out to temporary shelters in emergency situations like domestic violence that often lead to homelessness, which provide services for children and families. There are many challenges families encounter in the process of seeking permanent housing.

The reality of homeless people in the South Bronx district of Hunts Point is still on the rise today. Everywhere a bystander goes whether in the parks, streets, trains, buses, unoccupied lots, under bridge landscapes, and cities they are likely to see a homeless person struggling to survive. The Hunts Point neighborhood deserves to be an affordable, safe, comfortable place to live in, and not to be forgotten, and not to be left in the streets with uncertainty. In today’s society, a lot of people tune out the homelessness situation that is surrounding them because they are so driven by work and money to make a livelihood, but at the same time, they can be placed in this situation and loss of a home and assets. For example, psychologist Abraham

Not every homeless person is to blame for the condition that they are in. It was a clear, sunny, and cold morning during my second visit to Woodruff Park on Saturday. To my surprise, the same couple was sitting by the same exact bench as the last morning. Firstly, I was confused by how this couple looked wretched, but both the man and the woman were smoking cigarettes. The couple was alone, so I decided to approach them. Moreover, I introduced myself and told the homeless couple the purpose of this interview. Without any doubt in my mind, I wanted to comprehend what made the homeless couple suffer in this condition. After asking the homeless couple why they have been on the streets, Andre quickly claimed that they cannot find a home that is

In 1994, I began working with the formerly homeless population in Dignity Housing, a non-profit organization located in the West Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, PA. Dignity Housing has assisted hundreds of families by providing permanent housing, life skills building, educational instructions, and many more life-sustaining fundamentals. After Dignity Housing, I went on to serve the homeless population through various other non-profit organizations experiencing the same stories of despair laden with poor parental guidance, drugs and alcohol, physical, mental and sexual abuse, poverty, and criminal behaviors.

The sorrow and fear that they face each day, not knowing where they will spend the night, and with their safety and security in question, is heart-wrenching to say the least. It is crucial that we find new and creative ways of helping the homeless, through education, recreation, religion, and the revamping of homeless shelters. I implore you to help the destitute, so that we might end this travesty once and for all. To grasp my viewpoint, it is important that you open your mind to gain a wealth of fascinating information, that will help you to understand that the homeless should be able to receive an education, in pursuit of a better life. Education is as old as civilization, and aims at producing intelligent, responsible, well-informed citizens, who take an active interest in the world around them. Education includes a variety of learning experiences. Acquiring knowledge, skills, habits, values, and attributes, can better help our homeless to become useful and productive members of society, and shape their character in hopes that it will remain with them throughout their lives. Education is more important today than ever before. It provides them with the specialized training that they will need, to prepare for a job or career. Education also helps people adjust to change. This benefit has become increasingly important, because social

Therefore, I recommend future students, if they have the opportunity, to stay longer with the organization to witness the changes in these individuals’ lives. To fully understand the consequences that homelessness creates for families, children, and individuals, time has to be invested. Further, these services are here to help homeless individuals and families develop long-term solutions with lasting success.

“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 is unsafe or unstable” (Suitcase). Over the past few years, homelessness has decreased in America. Even though it has decreased, homelessness is still very common in the US. Recent studies show that more than three million people in the United States are homeless each year. Thirty percent of homeless people have been living on the streets for more than two years (National). Adults, families, and even children struggle with the troubling and difficult issue of not having a place to call home. Homelessness is an unfortunate circumstance to be in and has become a growing concern for everyday people especially

In Judy Daniels’ article entitled "Humanistic Interventions for Homeless Students: Identifying and Reducing Barriers to Their Personal Development," the author is successful in describing real-life examples of the effects of homelessness on school-aged children. She starts out with the story of Angie, a high school student who lives in a tent with her mother and two siblings. After being caught for fighting with her classmates, Angie is sent to the counselor’s office where she confesses her frustration with her current living situation.

Privacy either encourages or is a necessary factor of human securities and fundamental value such as human embarrassment, independence, distinctiveness, freedom, and public affection. Being completely subject to mutual scrutiny will begin to lose self-respect, independence, distinctiveness, and freedom as a result of the sometimes strong burden to conform to public outlooks.