Sociological Perspective on Homelessness

Homeless people are a vulnerable population in many respects that they always face discrimination and exclusion because of their housing condition. It is a social problem that typically low wages and shortage of affordable housing are the main factors contributing to homelessness. In fact, many poor people face significant barriers to maintain stable housing because they don’t have accessibilities to increase their economic stability. Overall, there are significant factors that contribute to homelessness that many homeless people usually struggle with limited access to resources, lack of information about services, and lack of support systems.

“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

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.

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

Currently, the rates of homelessness in America continue to drastically increase. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2012) depicted how many people are homeless in a single night in America. The findings revealed that there were approximately 633,782 people who are homeless in America or 20 out of every 10,000. Approximately 394,379 are single individuals and 239,403 are people in families with 77,157 homeless families in a single night, and approximately 162, 246 are children. Veterans are more likely to be homeless than those who are non-veterans, approximately 29 out of every 10,000 veterans are homeless. Unfortunately, 38 percent of those who are homeless are unsheltered, either living on the streets or in places that are not suitable for human inhabitation. Most states account of for less than 1% of homeless population, whereas Texas contains approximately 5.4% of America’s homeless population. In San Antonio, there are approximately 2,981 people who are homeless each day, and 1,243 are unsheltered. Through a sociological perspective, the social problems of homelessness can be analyzed through the concept of sociological imagination, the comparison of the person-blame approach and the system-blame approach, and through the analysis of one’s own community’s effort in helping those who are homeless.

Many individuals experience homelessness do not have certain needs, including affordable housing, adequate income and health care. Some homeless persons may need additional services such as mental health or drug treatment in order to be securely housed. This research paper will discuss what homeless means, various ways in which individuals become homeless, trends, laws that effect the homeless , and do decriminalization of the homeless community help or hinder the situation.

Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?

Homelessness tends to be associated with images of people who sleep in the streets, parks, subways, and sidewalks; who lack shelter of any kind, and are transient throughout the year, moving from place to place. The homeless are sometimes considered as undeserving of support; they are frequently stigmatized as being mentally ill, out of control, and are viewed by some as personally responsible for their situation (Phelan, Link, Moore & Stueve, 1997).

Homelessness is a prime concern for numerous countries across the globe, including the most advanced ones. Though the population of homeless people tends to be higher in developing countries, it is still a concern in developed nations. Homelessness is a state where someone lacks regular shelter. The term includes people who do not have a home and sleep on the streets, as well as those whose basic nighttime residence is a homeless shelter or other improvised form of housing. Such people lack the capacity to acquire or maintain sufficient nighttime shelter. Individuals and family units become homeless for many reasons. Assessing these causes can help to mitigate the issue.

Homelessness exists as a prominent issue that plagues society in various ways. It brings about hardship and controversy as individuals struggle to survive on a daily basis. Additionally, this complication tears families apart and ostracizes individuals from a society where they once belonged. A specific problem regarding homelessness consists of lack of interest from bystanders; some of these spectators refuse to even acknowledge homeless individuals sitting at their feet. As homeless people live their lives on street-corners, the more fortunate members of society choose to engulf themselves in their personal problems alone. Displayed by their clothing and accessories, most of these individuals possess the ability to help in some way;

Homelessness is a critical issue that requires everyone’s attention. Hundreds of thousands of homeless people live on the streets as their shelter. Historically, homelessness has always been a problem in society. Homeless people were known as “the wondering poor”, “sturdy beggars”, and as “vagrants,” but it was not until the late 18th century that homelessness because noticeable to society. Homeless person is anyone who lacks adequate shelter, resources, and community ties. People who are homeless can be categorized as chronic deinstitutionalized or temporary

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.

The current social welfare issue that I chose to explore is homelessness within Canada. First, this essay will give a brief description of homelessness. Secondly, it will describe how homelessness relates to some concepts and theories that we learned in this course Introduction to Social Welfare, it will also look at what may have happened to people facing homelessness one hundred years ago, next we will explore a possible solution to this social issue and where this fits within the political ideologies. Finally, I will give a brief explanation on whether social media is an effective tool for bringing about awareness regarding social issues.

Homelessness is an epidemic that affects millions of people all over the world. These people have no place to live, are rarely able to bathe, and they have little to no food to eat. There are many reasons why people become homeless, but they can be broken down into three categories; Structural factors, systematic failures, and individual and relational factors.

While a portion of today’s society turns a blind eye to the subject of the criminalization of homelessness, an even larger quantity of people are not aware of the situation that is happening in every major city of America. For those living an affluent lifestyle, it can be difficult to discuss the amount of poverty and homelessness that is constantly occurring. The definition and meaning behind the absence of home is also arduous to discuss. While homelessness is commonly associated with sleeping outside or in provisional areas, this word also identifies with an absence of belonging. This absence of belonging can relate not only to a community, but also to the people that dwell there (Baumohl 3). Within the portion of those who are aware of the homelessness situation, there is a section that detests the poverty stricken persons of our society. These biased members of the American population express their antipathy in several ways. It is necessary to reveal the privileges that homeless persons have been violently stripped of, and expose and broadcast the freedom they are entitled to. Through