Sociological Analysis On Homelessness

Being a resident of Bergen County, New Jersey, I visit New York City frequently

and unfortunately witness homelessness every time. It breaks my heart to see people

living and begging on the streets, but it really hits me hard when I see a homeless a young

adult. This summer I also watched an old documentary directed by Martin Bell called

Streetwise, about homeless teens in Seattle. It followed about five kids surviving on the

streets, but mainly had a focus on a 14-year-old prostitute whose name on the street was

“Tiny”. After watching this documentary about kids trying to get by while living on the

street, I began to research everything I could find about the homeless youth and found it

very sad and interesting, if only there was something

Since the homeless youth has a challenge going to

school they face trouble in supporting themselves because the better the education the

less likely you are to be in poverty.

One of the main sociological perspectives is a functionalist perspective. The

functionalist perspective would focus on social systems as a whole whose parts work

together to ensure a sable ground. Every part of the society serves a purpose. The

functionalist would view teen homelessness as a necessary part of society that keeps

things going and gives out more jobs. The functionalist would view the teens as being

homeless as their fault; the blame is placed on the individual. The solution they would

propose to combat this social problem would be to give out more jobs like consolers, so

the society can benefit from the homeless teens.

Another sociological perspective would be the conflict perspective. The conflict

perspective is social life formed by groups and individuals that are struggling with others

for rewards that result in power and wealth and get you higher in the social system. The

sociological perspective would view this social problem by an imbalance of power in