Many people became homeless because of poverty, a situation that can occur because of unavoidable financial expenses or can be manifested through generation-to-generation of poverty. This paper focuses primarily why homelessness occurs in the society and problems associated with homeless people in the community. Homelessness According to Gale (2001) “Homelessness is
There are many causes to the rise in homelessness, and the way they are overlooked, or brushed aside. Most homeless people are down on their luck, temporarily, because of circumstances beyond their control. Anyone could be faced with these sorts of circumstances and become homeless at any time. One cause is the recent downturn in the economy. Jobs are scarce and homes are expensive.
Preliminary Outline I. Homelessness: Ignoring an epidemic. (Identifying where the homeless come from and how they got there.) Historically the homeless were everyday normal people in society that fall victim to mental illness, substance abuse, alcoholism and unemployment. The most important detail to notice is the role mental illness plays when discussing homelessness. When contemplating the amount of homeless people that suffer from mental illness the numbers are staggering.
(Baumohl, 2001) Some people felt like homelessness was caused by heavy drinking, drug abuse, and mental problems. Because of the new policies the government made, these people were not allowed to be housed in hospitals and jails. “Homelessness was described mainly as a problem in the rehabilitation and control of troubled and troublesome people who were not only houseless but barred from their traditional institutional shelters and estranged from family and friends who might take them in”. (Baumohl, p.
3) National reports estimate that veterans compose between 24% to 40% of the homeless population. Many of these veterans are homeless due to the general causes of homeless, but it is believed that an additional reason is due to the long-term effects of untreated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (National Coalition for Homeless, 2008b). Although the majority of homeless individuals are men, women and children are becoming homeless at a disturbing increasing rate. Some of the general causes of homelessness such as affordable housing and poor access to support networks are especially challenging for women and children experiencing domestic violence, who are estimated to comprise of between 46% to 92% of homeless
Homelessness: A Contemporary Social Issue in America Objective 111.6.2 Darcie M. Martin WGU BSN to MSN Bridge May 7, 2012 Homelessness in America is a problem that the United States is combatting on a daily basis. There are many words that have been used to describe the homeless population such a bag ladies, bums, and beggars. There are different degrees of homelessness depending on where you are lucky enough to sleep at night. Some individuals live in a tent, abandoned buildings or even under bridges. Others may be fortunate enough to have an automobile they can utilize as temporary shelter.
The causes of homelessness in America can be classified in to two broad categories, which are: (1) individual shortcomings and (2) societal issues. Individual shortcomings include mental illnesses, family breakdown, addiction to drugs and/or alcohol, lack of education, and amoral behavior. On the other hand, societal issues relate to interrelated social, political and economic factors which include joblessness, distribution of income and wealth and the profit structure of the housing market. People in America are vulnerable to getting homeless irrespective of their educational and ethnic backgrounds. Many studies have found that the homeless population has reached to the figure of 4 million in America that has altered the image of the homeless people as being beggars, hobos and winos.
Research, shelters, law enforcement, health care, programs, jails and countless labor hours are focused on the problem. The HUD director in an interview stated that cost less money to actually house a person than to continue to support them while they are homeless. (Donovan, 2012) What are the causes of homelessness? The causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and teen displacement to name a few. One of the leading causes across the board is lack of affordable housing.
Nijah Dix English 1301 September 5, 2013 Should There Be More Assistance for Homeless People? The word homeless is used to describe many different kinds of people with a variety of problems; the “homeless” includes veterans, the mentally ill, the physically disabled or chronically ill, the elderly on fixed incomes, men, women, and families that have lost their source of income, single parents, runaway children who’ve been abused, alcoholics and drug addicts, immigrants, and traditional tramps, hobos, and transients. Although these people all have different backgrounds, histories, and reasons for not having a home, they are categorized and stereotyped by society and all looked down upon for being homeless. Some people in society feel that the homeless should get up and make a change in their own lives and that there is no excuse for them not having a job or a place to live. Others in the world sympathize with the homeless and feel that more should be done to help those who fall on hard times get back on their feet and reclaim a place in the world where they can provide for themselves.
The connection between impoverished workers and homelessness can be seen in homeless shelters, which many house full-time wage earners. The lack of affordable housing and limited scale of assistance programs have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness. “ Twenty years ago, when the story of the homeless in America became a staple of news reporting, the solution was presented as a simple one: affordable housing. That's still true, now more than ever”. ( Anna Quindlen, 317 ).