First and foremost, how do we defined a homeless person? According to National Health Care for the Homeless Council, homeless is defined as “an individual who lacks housing, including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in a transitional housing” (“definition of homelessness,” n.d.). It is important to recognize that homelessness is worldwide and social problem because it is directly affected by large social forces that affects individual’s social life. In a research made by Coalition for the homeless says that in December 2015, there were 60,096 homeless people in New York city, including 14,553 homeless families with 23, 885 homeless children. Moreover, this becomes a social problem, due in large part to structural inequality and it affects a wide variety of people that can range from those people experiencing eviction, unemployment, family relationship breakdown, domestic violence, health crises, poverty, mental illness and substance abuse. These reasons can be the precipitating factor in the onset of homelessness. One of the sociological theories that can be used to explain homelessness is Marxism. Marxism is based on idea of Karl Marx (1818-1883), who is a sociologist, historian, revolutionary and an economist. His theory is focused on society, economics and politics, which is term Marxism or what is known as conflict
“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 one of the oldest problems that exist, fast forward almost 40 years since it’s been recognized as one and still there has been no avail to finding a real solution. The definition of homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act is defined as an individual: “who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and a person who has a nighttime residence that is supervised publicly or privately operated shelter, and c) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or a private or public place not designed for, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.”
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 an issue in American society today that affects anywhere from 800,000 to 3.5 million people. There are a substantial amount of people that are without shelter, food, or employment, and there are numerous other people affected by poverty and homelessness. People living in nearly every city in the United States are affected by homelessness due to the large amounts of homeless individuals living on the streets and begging for money, food, and other necessities. The issue of homelessness has been a constant problem since the conquering of the New World, and soup kitchens and homeless shelters have not been able to fully end homelessness. Especially today, with a lack of affordable housing and high unemployment rates, homelessness is prevalent.
When we start talking about the homeless population there are some key terms that we need to understand. The first of those terms is sheltered homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2014) defines sheltered homeless people as “individuals who are staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs or safe havens” (pg. 2). These would
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
New York city’s population is 8.5 million, one in one hundred and forty-seven New Yorkers are currently homeless. it is estimated that 58,000 homeless men, women and children sleep in homeless shelters and at least 3,100 sleep in the streets during winter. (Bowery). By looking at the sociological impact of homelessness, I will argue that New York city’s greatest problem is homelessness.
The sun rises, birds are chirping, and everyone is ready for their day at work. Some people take their cars, some, carpool. Others, take buses, trams, and ride sharing. Some however, find their method of transport less desirable, next to a homeless person who hitched a ride on the 24/7 bus. Everyone in the Bay Area has seen the increasing amount of haggard, limping, sleeping people on the streets. Groups of people trying to survive on what they can Over the past few years, the problem has been worsening. If anyone goes to San Francisco, Oakland, or some of the bigger cities, they will see crowds of people sleeping on the sidewalks. Cluttering the streets as they try to walk to their destination.
Over the years Los Angeles has had the highest number of homeless people; this situation has been highly overlooked by media and political attention. Cities in many parts of the world may be known as centers for poverty whether if it 's a developed or developing country. No city, state, or country is prone to homelessness. Los Angeles in particular is an entry point for many immigrants who come to look for jobs. The intentions are not to cause there to be a vulnerability to poverty but to try to make a living some how. “Skid Row homeless population originates in South LA – where services and shelters lack resource adequacy and unemployment rates are high among adult men – and policy discussions rarely focus on this trend” (Howard, 4). Los Angeles Skid Row, is known to have the heaviest homeless population compared to other cities. Los Angeles does provide some homeless services like shelter and low-cost housing options for the poor but one of the issues that many homeless people come across is the lack of healthcare. Everyone can suffer from physical and mental health issues but there is a bigger impact on the homeless people in the Los Angeles county because they are not obtaining the proper help mentally, physically, and socially. Many people lose their lives or spread many disease amongst the community. The city of Los Angeles should provide healthcare for the homeless because this issue affects the homeless and everyone else around. More disease are passed around, more
Every New Yorker has the right to a safe and affordable place to live in. New York’s shortage of affordable housing has reached a crisis point. Poor and elderly people throughout New York City are at a greater risk of homelessness and forced low-income residents do not have food or medical care to stay in their homes. A sinful structure of homelessness in New York City is New York’s shortage of affordable housing. Millions of New Yorkers are desperate to find affordable housing and tens of thousands are forced to live either in dirty shelters or on the streets. Recent data indicates that nearly 60,000 people, including more than 23,000 children, stay in the city’s main homeless shelter system (Guelpa). A small amount of poor renter households received a housing subsidy from the local government. Little assistance is being provided which means that most poor families and individuals that seek assistance
A homeless person is one who lacks a permanent place to live. This person is therefore forced to live on the streets, in abandoned buildings, in cars, and some lucky ones get to live in shelters where they are safe from the dangers of the night and also from the harsh elements. These people find themselves in such a situation because they cannot afford to pay for a place to live. This can be caused by a variety of reasons. Economic factors is one of them, where one is unable to get enough money to pay for their house either because they don’t have a job or the money they get at the end of the month is insufficient. There is also the issue of high cost of housing which renders a permanent place to live way out of their reach. They
Homelessness is a prominent problem in the United States. Homeless people are unable to find permanent housing or essential supplies such as food or drinks.
“In 2010, … the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness issued a comprehensive plan to eradicate homelessness for all people through interagency collaboration and aligning mainstream services. A key goal is to prevent and end homelessness for all families, youth, and children within 10 years” (Bassuk, 2010, P.496). Homelessness is a situation that a person who could not afford a life and decide to beg people for help and money. Why do people become homeless is a complex question and the answer is that each person has a unique story that describes there experience. There are
The word homelessness can have many meanings in today’s society because the word home can be taken vague. Some individuals might be taking shelter in a cardboard box or even underneath a park bench, while others travel from shelter to shelter to keep a roof over their head. In the United States the Federal Definition of Homelessness is referred to as people who include: anyone who does not have a fixed night-time resident that is adequate for their needs, and those individuals who live temporarily in an institution or anywhere that has not been created as a place for a human to sleep (Homelessness and Substance Abuse, 2014). It is estimated that 3.5 million people in the United States are homeless, which shows that 1 percent of the population is homeless and 1.5 million are children (Homelessness and Substance Abuse, 2014). The list of reasons for individuals becoming homeless is a continuous list, but some of the causes include: poverty, divorce or other relationship breakdowns, no local affordable housing, escaping an abusive house, unemployment, and debt problems (Homelessness and Substance Abuse, 2014). Although there are many causes for homelessness the leading cause is due to alcohol and drug abuse.
There are many causes that cause homelessness. These causes are unemployment, lack of affordable housing, and poverty. One of the biggest causes of homelessness ismany New Yorkers being unemployed. When one is unemployed the tend to lose everything they have. For example, if a person was to become unemployed and had a house or car, they'll eventually lose the car or the house and become homeless without the job. The second big cause is the lack of affordable housing. Many New Yorkers know the struggle of not finding affordable housing. While living in New York many people come across housing that they can't afford being that rent is increasing as more buildings are being made and people from other countries move into New York. The last but not least big cause is poverty.those who are dealing with poverty are families that are hanging on a thread. Families who are living in poverty are also extremely poor families. These families struggle to keep