Social Justice And Social Injustices

A place of safety and security is something that many of us take for granted, until we are confronted in our own neighborhood by someone holding up a sign pleading for help. Homelessness is a problem that has been afflicting hundreds of thousands of people around the world for ages. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on a single night in 2016, 549,928 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. That means that there were at least 500,000 individuals suffering without a place to lay their heads at night. In this report I will be discussing the causes of homelessness, who is affected, how it affects people, and homeless mistreatment.

In the United States, almost 2 people out of every 1000 people experience homelessness (National Alliance to End Homelessness). In 2014, statistics have revealed that on any given night, almost half a million people experienced homelessness. Many people have a misconception that homelessness simply means living on the street. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development suggests homelessness is a whole spectrum. According to the HUD, people experiencing homelessness are people who don’t have a fixed and regular residence (shelter, house, hotel, etc…), people running away from all sorts of domestic violence and sexual abuse, and/or people living in places not intended for residence, such as streets, cars, etc...(U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). Regardless of what definition society uses, homelessness is, and will always be, unjust.

The Homeless are a vulnerable population. Homelessness is a social issue that anyone can almost be subjected to despite his or her age, race, ethnicity or geographical background. Kornblum (2012) defined homelessness as… “as a social condition in which people do not have regular housing and are forced to sleep in public places, public shelters, or facilities designed for homeless individuals and families” (p.280). The homeless population faces several adversaries in their lifetime of being homeless. Their adversaries are a lack physical and emotional disabilities, and possibly drug abuse. Grant some are homeless by choice, whereas most are homeless by mishaps, but nevertheless, they are humans deserving to be treated with fairness, dignity,

Social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups on the basis of their control over basic resources (Kendall, 1998, p.24). By ranking each social class in society, those who fall in the underclass are referred to as the poor. They typically live in areas with high rates of poverty and few opportunities to improve their lives. But what about those who have less than the lower class. There is a rising population of people who have lost everything and therefore must take shelter in the local parks, abandoned buildings, overpasses, and any other form of protection against the elements (Schutt, 2011). Homelessness is a social problem affecting our nation, which can only continue to grow if society does not make

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that housing is a fundamental component to a decent standard of living, yet few city governments--even in the most developed economies--have proven themselves capable of ensuring such a basic right to their constituents (United Nations, General Assembly). Ranked 49th among the 50 U.S. states for its number of housing units per capita, California has notoriously struggled with chronic shortages in its urban housing market. With 118,142 homeless people recorded in 2016, California holds almost 22% of the nation’s homeless population (Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California 1).

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

Homelessness is ever-growing in America and every individual has their own view of how it should be handled. Many individuals think that criminalizing certain actions of the homeless will inadvertently reduce homelessness in the United States. They believe that pushing the homeless out of their cities will make it safer for the “normal” citizens. However, current methods of ridding cities of the homeless population are counterproductive, dehumanizing, and they infringe upon the basic rights of homeless human beings.

Though the concept of social injustice is universal in nature, the experience varies with each person. Factors like a person’ race, or gender can further influence the severity of the injustice; victims caught in the overlap between discriminations often go unrecognized by the law and society. Many people recognize the names Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice as African Americans who were murdered by local police. But names like Michelle Cusseaux, Tanish Anderson, and Meagan Hockaday often receive less feedback even though they are also murdered African Americans. The only distinction between the sets of names is gender. Even within racial injustice, discrimination is present between genders as some cases get national

The notion of justice is existence of proper balance of rights and its access under the laws of land. It refers to not depriving any person from availing privileges, opportunities etc. John Rawls writes, "Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override"It means that the interaction in a society must be free from any sort of discrimination such as religion, race, color, caste or sex. It ensures fair distribution of assets and equal opportunity. José P. Laurel defines Social Justice as “Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the state so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.”

Every year approximately 2.3 to 3.5 million people go homeless in the United States of America. Twelve million adults in the US were homeless in the year 2001, or are still currently without a permanent home (“Homelessness in the U.S.”). How does this happen in “the land of opportunity?” We think of ourselves as one of the greatest nations in the world, yet citizens are living a life of poverty, often without food, clothing, and shelter. When most people think of fighting homelessness, they think of providing medical assistance, showers, and counseling services for those who suffer mental illness, trauma, and substance abuse. Although these necessities are imperative in helping a significant

Homelessness is the condition of people that do not have a permanent place to live, like a house or an apartment. The issue of homelessness is not subjected to one area, but it is a worldwide problem. Homelessness can result by depending upon a countries economy, and their government because the officials often ignores the issue. Manila, Philippines has 22.8 million who reside in the slums, and 1.2 million of those people are children who live by peddling, or begging on the streets, (Castillo). The Philippines is not the only country that has many homeless children that beg to live or peddle. The number of homeless children in the world is unnatural, and by being internationally intertwined we should put an end to homelessness, especially

The social injustice I humbly relate to is the intolerance toward Hispanic populations in America; whether the person is documented or undocumented. Before moving to Carthage, Missouri; I had essentially no interaction with Hispanic people. Embarrassingly, I admit, I relied on stereotypes to build my opinion of the Hispanic population as a whole. On May 22nd, 2011, we lost our home, every personal belonging, and our car in the Joplin tornado. We anxiously awaited our homeowner's insurance payout; with three dogs and nowhere to stay, we fretted, meanwhile homes available for sale shrunk by the hour. Soon, an acquaintance approached us, he had a home in Carthage; that was for sale and vacant. Built in 1910, I immediately fell in love with the home; it is my perfect home, with historically abundant features.

Over the years in our country’s history it has been apparent that the idea of same sex marriages is becoming much more popular, however in most states there is still one thing stopping them. That one thing stopping two people from the pursuit of happiness which they desire is a social injustice. Social injustices are situations where a person or group of people is treated unfairly due to certain factors for example discrimination, prejudice, racism, heterosexism, sexism, and so forth. In the case of same sex marriages, the factor playing a major role in this social injustice is where most people believe that opposite sexes attract, but in the case of a same sex couple wanting to be married, this brings about many topics to be discussed by

Social sciences and social justice are both based on the structure of rights. Our rights were designed to create equality for all. However, there are always outliers in our justice system and these outliers can be seen by all. My background and demographic are aggressively average growing up in a small, rural community with little diversity which has affected my views about justice. The class Social Problems and Social Injustice has aggressively opened my eyes to new statistics about society and has made some of my intuitions validated and destroyed some of my prior views. My new understanding of social justice is that is was created for all by excluding some. Justice is the structure of our institutions and society.

Social justice is mutually a practice and a goal. The goal of social justice is complete and equal contribution by all people in a society that is equally designed to meet their needs. Social justice allows for all members of society to be physically and psychologically safe and secure. It is a set of values that allow us to understand what is right and wrong in our world regardless of race, culture and economic status. That we take care of those in need of help, so that they can take care of themselves. Social justice allows equal rights and opportunities to everyone in society.