Homelessness is one of the tragedies that one can face unexpectedly as well as where one can choose. Being homeless is often defined as “sleeping on streets” and most people in the society only regard homeless people to be uncouth, uneducated and drug addicts that are epidemic in the community, where many do not put into context any other reason as to why people become homeless. However, individuals who chose to live on streets have placed this kind of bad reputation to homeless community and thus the society cannot be fully blamed for the judgment they give a person that is regarded as homeless.
Understanding how people become homeless is quite difficult as it can be caused by several reasons but generally fall into the two categories of “structural factors” such as unemployment, poverty and benefits issues. The other category is “personal factors” such as drug and alcohol abuse, family breakdown and physical issues as well as mental health problems (Shelter 2007, Butcher et la 2007). The number of vagrant individuals is almost impossible to accurately count due to the wide existence of “hidden homelessness”, who are considered to be homeless but non-existent on the streets or in the official statistic (Crisis 2007).
Additionally, there are wide ranges of definition Homelessness and it varies from country to country or among different institutions in the same country. According to, Liddiard M. 2001, “the immediate sense of the term as regularly employed by the mass media
“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not
Structural factors of homelessness affect people due to circumstances and out of the control of the individual while individual factors are individual apply to the surroundings of a homeless person. Structural factors such as the availability of low-income housing and higher rental of housing exacerbate on the already burdening individual factors. Many researchers contribute homelessness to structural factors but advocates of human rights debunk this and highlights that the main reason for homelessness is due to mostly individual factors, which are health problems, poverty, and family breakdown also the domestic violence of women and child. Addressing the driving causes is the most significant strategy to minimize the homelessness population. Future research must put more attention on individual causes without denying the reality of structural causes (Main, 1998). Based on my research, individual factors are the main cause while the structural factors put more pressure on burdening individual factors that lead to
In an authoritative and scientific voice, the author refutes the common belief that vast majority of the homeless are semipermanently distressed. Real experience and direct quotes from researchers help to convince the readers that the root of the problem is the people who are chronically homeless. With the use of statistics on this particular group of the homeless,
The issue of homelessness has been called as one that is "highly ambiguous and intangible" (Neale, 1997, p.7). Wright defines the homeless a "diverse, heterogeneous lot. No single catch phrase or easy myth can possibly describe them all" (p.46)
Homelessness has always been a major social issue for cities across the nation but in recent years it is reached astonishing proportions. In this essay I will try to summarize ten recently published articles and each of the authors view of homelessness. First I will discuss some of their opinions of the causes of the recent increase of homelessness and who or what is to blame. Next we will look into just a few of the effects of homelessness, both to the homeless and those around them. After that we will explore possible solutions that have been tried or proposed.
To be homeless means a person is considered homeless who "lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence; and... has a primary night time residency that is: (A) a supervised publicly or privately operated
Homelessness is often accompanied by many other problems such as mental disorders, substance abuse issues, isolation from family and friends, and poor general health. Often time’s people that suffer from homelessness experience a lower quality of life than those who have a place to call home.
Conceptions of homelessness focus on those individuals sleeping rough on parks and streets, men and women who sleep in shelters, sleep from night to night on people’s sofas without having a permanent address.
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.
Homelessness is the condition of people without a permanent place to live, such as a house. People who are homeless are unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure housing. It has been a problem for a long time but it has become a social issue from the past few decades. People think about homelessness as one’s personal problem and seek them to face it. Moreover, the majority of the people think that the only reason behind being homelessness is their choice and just laziness to do any work and lead to a better life. But that’s just one incomplete perception about the homelessness.
Nationwide homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. There are many ways an individual can become homeless, for the most part it is poverty. There are also different concentrations of homeless in different types of environments, such as urban or suburban areas. Last, there is the ever-growing homeless population, and how much money it costs us for others to live in poverty. A way we can help find the solution to this problem, is to know the facts about this lingering subject. People become homeless not because of lack of effort for success, but because of poverty, drug addictions, mental illness and financially unstable times in their lives.
Two other perspectives can also help us underline the issue of homelessness. On the one part you have the industrialized world and on the other you have the developing world. Homelessness in the industrial world is explained in terms of a lack of affordable housing, family disintegration, and drug and alcohol abuse, deinstitutionalization
Due to the relative nature of culture and language, the definition of homelessness varies across the world. What is a common thread among nearly all definitions is the difficulty in locating and retaining permanent residence and integration into normative society. (Elliott & Krivo, 1991, 114) Some of the stereotypes about the behavior of homeless people are true.
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.Homeless can be considered as living in a place where they have no right to stay, living in a home that they can no longer pay, and living separated from their families. Over 564,708 people are homeless,that is about half a million and this is only in the US! Can you imagine how many are in the world? A quarter of them are children. Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless. Our people that
Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.