Stereotypes Surrounding Homelessness

Homeless people go through various struggles that many people seem to overlook. Homelessness is a tough and complex issue that affects so many people. It is also a struggle that goes deeper than just the lack of a place to call home. Financial instability, which later leads to financial irresponsibility, poor physical and mental health, and violence are all negatively associated with homelessness. The stereotypes surrounding homelessness can get in the way of individuals trying to access the help they need, and can even result in social isolation and a loss of connections to the community.

Being homeless causes financial instability, which prevents people from learning basic financial responsibility. The lack of employment opportunities has

Francis Fox Piven, an American professor and advocate for poverty, war, and subsequent welfare-rights protests, wrote an essay called “The Moral Economy of Occupy Wall Street.” In the essay, Fox Piven discussed “...the financial meltdown and the mix of greed and irresponsibility with which our political and economic leaders responded created a crisis of legitimacy.” The financial meltdown made it difficult for homeless people to save money because many people lost their jobs, which contributed to their financial hardships. This encouraged homeless people to spend money as soon as they received it, instead of attempting to save it. A fictional representation of this is Jackson Jackson from Sherman Alexie’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem.” Financial instability is also negatively associated with homelessness due to the lack of affordable and stable housing.

One form of violence is rape, many homeless women and children face this while living on the streets. Lana Stermac and Emily K. Paradis, came together to create a journal article called “Homeless Women and Victimization: Abuse and Mental Health History Among Homeless Rape Survivors.” Stermac and Paradis are both Sexual Victimization Professors, and in their article they referenced many research studies. The main one being, Breton and Bunston, Stermac and Paradis mentioned, “In their examination of sexual assaults, Breton and Bunston (1992) found that the majority of homeless women were assaulted by a known assailant, in a familiar place that was not public.” Even though the women are homeless, the sexual assault is taking place in a place they felt safe, with someone they felt safe with. This could mean it is somewhere they couch surfed before, or a “friend” they were staying with. Another kind of violence is physical abuse, where homeless people constantly get beaten, and this can happen to men, children, and women. Emanuel Xavier is the author of an essay called “Putting Homeless Youth on the Agenda.” He is a former homeless gay teen. In his essay, Xavier dwelled on a drag queen he knew when he was homeless, “Still, years later, when her body was found floating in the Hudson River after being brutally stabbed, I knew someone truly genuine and