Criminalization Of Homelessness

Throughout this paper I will be discussing the issue of homelessness and how it is steadily becoming a more serious problem as time progresses. I will discuss issues that surround homelessness such as the NIMBY, not in my backyard, issue and how it is causing the homeless to not receive the help that they need. This is an issue that needs to change, but due to NIMBYism, it is very difficult create such change.

The research paper addresses the selected community members of Great Falls, MT and the rates of incarceration and homelessness, as well as the affects of their long term spiritual and developmental state. Homelessness and incarceration rates are typically linked to one another in several aspects incliding the increasing numbers of people leaving carceral institations facing the increased risk of homelsessness, and how persons experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to incarceration. This paper will review efforts made to adress reentry issues and review research resunts on studies of homelessness among prison and jail populations and research on incarceration among people who are homeless. After reviewing common barriers to housing for people

Homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. This terrible misfortune has led to many unsuspecting people leading impoverished lifestyles, and facing the horrific and heart-wrenching tragedy of abandonment. The purpose of this essay is to not only persuade the readers to get involved in ending homelessness on local and national efforts, but to embrace new and creative ways of helping to end this rapidly growing problem, by taking action to end this catastrophic situation. Also, I will demonstrate the causes and effects of the homeless resorting to violence, by using comparison and contrast to examine the views and standpoints on helping the forgotten, so that we might end this calamity once and for all. In an increasingly

These stigmatizations have had a powerful effect on policy makers to implement policies that simply reduce the visibility of this issue. Social workers must work to bring this issue back into the spotlight and challenge the validity and constitutionality of anti-homeless policies. The current state of homelessness in the United States is an extreme social injustice and we as social workers must do all we can to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves and to ensure that basic human needs are seen as a right in our

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

The number of homeless citizens continues to grow throughout the country as well as the number of police officers being pushed to work the cities. Homeless seek refuge in places like shelters while the police correspondingly are trying to help clear the streets of the homeless. Many times shelters are maxed out with the amount of homeless utilizing these facilities and therefore are left trying to seek other options, whereas the police are forced to try and get the homeless out of sight out of mind on the public. As the police push for the homeless to find somewhere new to live each day the

Adoption of laws and policies that punish homeless people rather than addressing the problems that cause homelessness is an ineffective approach. Penalizing people for engaging in innocent behavior – such as sleeping in public, sitting on the sidewalk, or begging – will not reduce the occurrence of these activities or keep homeless people out of public spaces when they have no other place to sleep or sit or no other means of living. With insufficient resources for shelter and services for homeless people, enforce punishment for unavoidable activities is not only pointless, it is inhumane (Brown,1999, July/August). Relying on law enforcement officials and jails to address homelessness and related issues, such as mental illness and substance abuse, that are more appropriately handled by service providers, causes problems and widespread frustrations within the criminal justice system. Police officers are not adequately trained to respond to the situations that arise, the criminal justice system does not provide the necessary treatment

People drive or walk past a homeless person almost every day without thinking twice about the plight of that person or they may even unconsciously turn their heads the other way in disgust. Homelessness simply put, means without a home - therefore homelessness is an equal opportunity state that can happen to anyone. Even though we have seen some economic prosperity over the years, statistics show that the number of homeless remains very high. With this in mind, communities need to come together at the state, city, and individual level to come up with solutions to mitigate the spreading of this problem.

Homelessness is much more than not having a home. Most of the time, homelessness is not having any hope and chance. It is a crisis that continues to impact millions of American people every day. A crisis that gives them no choice but to sit on the streets and try to survive each day with extreme optimism. However, they are being criminally punished for such actions that they have no choice but to do it. The innocuous action of sitting on the streets and sleeping on the streets somehow is viewed as a criminal act. A number of resources wasted for criminalizing such harmless action are gratuitous. The government has two branches of law regarding homelessness in the United States. One branch is helping the homeless people to access shelter, food, and etc. The other branch is outlined to criminalize homeless people. Homeless people who do not have any place to go are forced to live on the streets in order to survive. Criminalizing homeless people reveals that it is actually quite inefficient, expensive, and most importantly it infringes the rights that they are entitled to.

Seeing homelessness develop is a process that the older generation can say they have been apart of. The young generation, on the other hand, cannot say they have seen the development of homelessness. People who are thirty years old or younger have grown up believing that homelessness was always part of the landscape. The younger generation has come to believe that there have always been homeless people sitting on park benches. When an individual is asked what they see most in a large city like Chicago or New York, ‘homeless people’ is a common response. According to the United States Census Bureau, 320.8 million individuals currently live in the United States of America. Imagine the proportion of individuals that do not own a car or even a house to live in. The National Law Center on Homelessness and poverty did studied to conclude that in America more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. Those concerned with the issue of homelessness are curious as to what events had to have happened that lead to the individuals living on the streets. The reasons are different for each and every person. Some of the more major issues that contribute to this are lack of affordable housing, declining welfare assistance, and most importantly, mental illness. Resolving the issue of homelessness is very possible with new ways of housing and treatment for the mentally ill. The relation between the homeless and the mental illness has risen, and the United States as a whole

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.

stink. We give abuse rather than compassion, beatings rather than sympathy and avoiding eye contacts rather than addressing an issue with more vigorous action. It is clear that change must come from within ourselves but the real question is, Are we willing to

” Around the world, homeless people are referred to in derogatory terms – vermin, cockroaches, and pigeons – things to be exterminated. They are seen as dirty, lacking morals, and burdens on society. And people who are homeless are subject to horrific acts of violence based in hate…… Instead of immediately responding to address the harm, as governments might be expected to do, the victims become statistics at best.” (Farha. 2015)

These laws are often justified under the dubious theory that they are necessary to protect the public interest. Laws prohibiting sitting down on public sidewalks,

The prestigious Bay Area is known for its remarkable tourist sites, pleasing cuisines, outstanding music festivals, devoted fans for their beloved sports teams, and an innumerable quantity of events. However, among these superb Bay Area characteristics, we ignore the conspicuous. Visible living beings sit on sidewalks, on street curbs, in front of Target, in front of schools, and scatter throughout prosperous cities. These human beings, we ignorantly punish and deem as futile individuals, are known as the ever-growing population of homeless people. Recent studies have shown that approximately over 7,600 people are estimated to be homeless in the Bay Area alone. I currently live in the midst of this horrendous situation where I notice numerous homeless individuals roam the busy streets, begging for food, water, money, and even a home. Is our society this inhumane to not step forward on acting upon a fragile community? As each day pass and the homeless continue to try living off of one dollar bills and dirty, ragged clothing, we are making them feel more and more invisible in life when we need to be more aware of them. We, as a community, are cruel for not assisting the homeless because they need more health care, they have the right to shelter and they require family benefits in order to reduce the escalating numbers of the homeless population in the Bay Area.