Rational Choice Model Essay

Homelessness and substance abuse are an issue for the U.S. and many other countries. There are numerous studies that articulate substance abuse as the cause for homelessness. Even though this may be true, this paper will explore how those who are homeless may be introduced to substance abuse once on the streets. While there is conflicting information of the cause and effect of both homelessness and substance abuse, this paper will give the reader the necessary information to conclude that substance can indeed lead to the abuse of various drugs and alcohol in many cases. It will discuss the importance of treating both of these issues together and the role that the church can have for those who are living on the streets and are abusing drugs and alcohol. This paper discusses various topics to support this claim by statistical research and research that has been given forehand by actual homeless individuals who have become substance abusers. Research has been gathered from various peer reviewed journal articles and textbooks.

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age (WHO, 2016). This current event relates to the social determinants of health because homelessness has a huge impact on someone’s overall health and quality of life. People who experience homelessness do not have the resources to maintain their health. This can lead to stress, depression, substance abuse, and a number of problems. They are exposed to communicable diseases, malnutrition and many other health issues. Over 500,000 Americans are homeless every night (Kertesz, 2016). This is why we have Health Care for the Homeless programs. The majority of federally funded organizations for the homeless are operated properly. But, there are some

Cities increasingly grapple with homelessness, while facing budget cuts to various services, but the failure to tackle homelessness creates more problems. While there are homeless people who are on drugs, some are there because housing is expensive and they have no reliable sources of income. Homelessness may result in the city spending more on welfare in a never ending cycle without finding a solution to homelessness. There are various factors associated with the risk of homelessness, including individual factors like those fleeing domestic abuse, and even those who can longer earn a living because of health conditions and disabilities. The problem of homelessness is further compounded when the homeless suffer mental health issues and alcohol or drug dependence (Benston, 2015). Homelessness is a problem that affects even the youth, and stakeholders ought to work together to tackle the problem, as city officials, and residents are the audience who should be concerned with the problem at the local level.

Treatment facilities are becoming more cognizant of the treatment needs for homeless females who are chemically addicted their focus will be primarily on the transitioning process of him homeless females and emphasis will be placed on the social economic issues classified as clinical. These will be addressed in the treatment planning stage or the release stage of these women who are incarcerated. It is imperative that the treatment community understand the false hope of these women’s lives. Today there are several holistic approaches that are being examined to attempt to address all facets of homeless addicted female while she is into transitioning back into society. Women who are chemically dependent and homeless have a multitude of social and legal issues they have impacted many social service agencies in the city of Philadelphia at an alarming rate. .

Homelessness is an issue in the United States. Individuals often become homeless for reasons such as; joblessness, underemployment, and enervation of unemployment benefits. People with families often do not earn enough income to support a family and provide adequate housing. Some people neglect to pay their rent, and as a result, he or she and possibly the entire family become homeless. In addition, people and families with barriers associated with medical issues, illicit drug use, and sexual/physical abuse may become homeless. The impact of multiple barriers on a person and/or family and lack of available resources to address these needs, is one of the many reasons why homelessness is such a serious issue within communities

Studies that take a deeper look into the rates of homelessness could lead to better treatment and help. It is especially important to study mentally ill homeless individuals that have substance abuse since these individuals are one of the most disadvantaged groups among homeless persons (Levine and Huebner 1991). There is no one explanation as to why an individual who is mentally ill will begin abusing their bodies with drugs, it is known though that when substance abuse and mental illness are combined contact with law enforcement is inevitable. All people with mental disorders, including those who are homeless, require ongoing access to a full range of treatment and rehabilitation services to lessen the impairment and disruption produced by their condition (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). Most people with mental disorder do not need hospitalization, what they do need is better housing options and more treatment options and but can live in the community with the appropriate supportive housing options. Further studies do show however that these community-based services are far and few in between and there is not enough housing to accommodate the growing number of patients affected by a mental illness.

For five of the seven states to be in the leading eleven of homeless population holds a 0.36% chance of happening, approximately 1 in 300. With the common knowledge of marijuana being a “gateway drug,” and Seattle now illegally approving sites for addicts to safely inject drugs, the attraction of addicts should not be a surprise. In combination with these addicts inevitably comes the homeless. This is represented by the unavoidable fact that two years prior to the legalization of marijuana, the Seattle-area saw an average increase of about 250 unsheltered homeless per year until the legalization of marijuana not so coincidentally brought that number to nearly 700 per year (Potts). In addition, according to a survey of 1,050 homeless in the Seattle-area, 55% admit to using drugs or alcohol, with a staggering 17.2% using methamphetamine, 12.2% using heroin, and 5.5% using crack (Klein). For people incapable of affording a home or maintaining a job, it is astounding that so many continue to afford and use drugs. Not only is the number of homeless in the Seattle-area a problem, but their habits are

Children with little to no supervision or protection are more likely to be abused or thrown into jail due to misdemeanor activities. Lastly, veterans suffer from high levels of depression and mental illnesses (Zlotnick, 2013). Living on the street brings unfortunate tragedies such as rapes, violence, and theft yet the biggest issues homeless individuals face are serious health conditions (cite). Exposure to unsanitary conditions leads to acute and chronic illnesses such as ulcers, respiratory infections and dental problems just to name a few. Compared to the general population, substance abuse plays a huge role in health conditions for homeless individuals (Zlotnick, 2013). With crack cocaine being the main choice of drug, individuals using infected needles are more prone to catching the HIV virus and not receive treatment (North,

Traditional methods of providing homeless services to the dually diagnosed homeless require individuals to abstain from substance abuse (Henwood, Padgett, & Tiderington, 2014, p. 80). This approach, referred to as treatment first (TF), fails to address issues associated with chronically homeless adults who had become habituated to this lifestyle (Henwood, Padgett, & Tiderington, 2014, p. 81). The rigidness of this approach, which includes abstinence and behaviour modification such as “curfews, daily supervision, mandatory attendance at day treatment, no visitors,

Currently in Canada, this is a social issue because people who are homeless have a higher chance of taking part in substance abuse (Tepperman & Curtis, 2015). By living on the streets and engaging in substance abuse, it leads to many difficulties. Some of these

Of the homeless, 33% are due to domestic violence and family issues, such assaults, family breakdowns, or just for time away from the family. Whereas, only 3% are homeless due to mental illness or substance abuse. There is a common myth that all of the homless people on our streets are ‘druggos’, but this is not true. Over half of all homeless people are men. Younger homeless men are less likely to seek assistance while they are homeless compared to evquivalent homeless females of whom tend to seek assistance on a higher rate. Homelessness can have massivley serious effecs on mental health, physical health and wellbeeing which can lead to mental and physical illness. There have been studies to prove that men whom have become homless due to abusing drugs or from mental illness are more likley to be homeless foe a longer period of time, compared to those who become homeless from other causes. There is also proof that suggests that males aged 25 and over will more than likely develop substance abuse issues due to being homeless, some have taken this as their way to cope and adapt with their new

People who are living on the streets tend to rely on drugs and alcohol to help them deal with their situations. After so long, the drug and alcohol problem could escalate into an addiction. Drug and alcohol abuse can be such a huge risk within the homeless community because the taker most likely will not have the means to treat the addiction and usually has no motivation to do so (The National Coalition for the Homeless 1). People who are homeless, like anyone else, will usually begin with gateway drugs such as marijuana, but as their need and dependence on the drug grows stronger and stronger, it can lead to other, harder drugs such as meth and heroin. A drug addiction could lead to even more prominent problems in homeless life that could go unresolved and potentially

Homelessness is often affiliated with substance abuse. While it is true that many within this group have a drug or alcohol problem or sometimes even both, some say it would be wrong to claim that the two are always linked. Most addicts don’t become homeless and most homeless people aren’t addicts. Homelessness occurs for many different reasons. It is a difficult situation that does not seem to have any easy solutions. Some individuals may later turn to addiction as a way to cope with their lack of a safe haven. It can be complex to determine how much substance abuse leads to homelessness compared with the rate by which homelessness leads to substance abuse. In the past it was common to punish the homeless people by whipping them in public or

Homeless young people remain constantly taking drugs after they leave home, and they take every kind of drugs more frequently than their peers do studied by Cohen and his workmates (1988) (as cited in Mallett et al., 2005). Hagen and McCarthy (1997) believe many crimes emerge on the street conducted by navy homeless young people as well, this “problem” behavior is somewhat trained with their peers by life experience (Rose et al., 2011). Ennett (1999) explains that the reason for that problem is peers on the street are one part of the social network of the homeless young people, which provides emotional support (as cited in Rose et al., 2011). Furthermore, homeless young people have less connection to family, classmates and the neighborhood (Rose et al., 2011), which are essential to build one’s character. Despite of drugs, survival sex and lack of hygiene knowledge are major causes of homeless young people’s bad health condition (Ensign, 2005). Some researches indicate that homeless people with physical or mental health problem would like to go to a healthcare center as their first access after being homeless, however, most alcoholics refuse to ask help from family or friends (Gibbon et al., 2007). Death of homeless young people is usually caused by drug abuse, infectious disease and HIV/AIDS, even in some

Drugs and alcohol have always been closely linked to homelessness and people who have committed violent or sexual crimes tend to have a harder time finding jobs. “Drinking alcohol is a choice, a temporary solution that makes the problem worse.” Because of drug testing upon entering the shelter, Raul was able to get the