ipl-logo

The Homeless: Common Perception Of Homelessness

1338 Words6 Pages

Essay on The Homeless Introduction to Human Resources Columbia college By Kawana Roberts The issue of contemporary homelessness has took a huge shift from the common perception of homeless people. I am witnessing a shift from the image of ‘homelessness’ being a physically dirty, pan handling, poor, uneducated individual who does not have a physical home for shelter. Initially, I failed to recognize that ‘homelessness’ can be a temporary state on can live in. Not all homeless people are homeless by “choice”, sometimes people are homeless by “force”. Events such as natural disasters or even death of a parent/spouse are uncontrolled …show more content…

Today, the homeless person is different. There is a large amount of literature to support the shift in homelessness. This shift predominately lies within the common definition and common perception versus the perceived reality lived by the homeless. First, the idea of doubling up has been utilized by youth transitioning into adulthood, even college students, who may be in debt or homeless after graduating college. By staying with family and friends is seen as one of the best methods in avoiding homelessness. For example, in an article "Factors Associated with Doubled-Up Housing--A Common Precursor Homelessness”, it discusses the idea of “doubling-up” in a household. Doubling-Up is most commonly implemented by youth who are at risk for homelessness. Sometimes it is forced upon the youth to move out because they are considered and adult in their household but typically, it is a …show more content…

We must value the importance of homelessness being a temporary state and acknowledge the redefinition of homelessness. As a society, we also must self-reflect and value our own standpoint in correlation to the research being done. Standpoint is not just determining or concluding the results to be one thing or another; but it is more complex and one must recognize that particular perspectives’ you won’t be able to fully understand unless you were in the same predicament or circumstances as the homeless. With all the research in the world, we do not understand how it feels to be in that situation, but based on empirical evidence, we can imagine how it

Show More
Related
579 Words | 3 Pages

There are many circumstances that lead to homelessness. Homelessness has an issue in today’s society and is largely ignored. Everyplace you see around out urban society, parks and streets it is likely that you will witness a homeless person struggling to survive. Over the years, homelessness in the United States has become a dangerous social problem because of the choice made by a person, unemployment and lack of education, and addiction. In Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls explains how her parents led them to live a homeless life.

Read More
1547 Words | 7 Pages

“The two biggest factors driving homelessness are poverty and the lack of affordable housing” (Watson) which is why the Andre House started off with this idea of transition housing. With no one to turn too, one can be isolated all alone in this world and lose faith in humanity. Anyone can be homeless, “It affects men and women of all ages, and involves single people, married couples and those with families” (pg. 59, Crane). The Andre House has daily interviews with individuals who show that they are clean of drugs, employed or at least seeking employment to show that they can be in these houses that offers meals, and no charge of rent. By getting this offer of housing, the “guests live together in community, supporting one another on their journey and helping each other transition into permanent housing” (andrehouse.org).

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

In his findings, Dr. Liebow noticed that commonly society tends to see homeless individuals and categorize them in shared beliefs on why they are on the streets. Culture non-consciously usually feels pity for the homeless means but yet when seen out on the streets usually going about their day and not being sensitive to the actual idea of being homeless. The fact is that they are undergoing very difficult struggles that many of us would not be able to handle but do we ever really even think about those things when we see them? Alternatively, do we usually just stereotype them and blame them for their own fortune? This book is an eye opener and truly makes you open your mind to see homeless people as unique individuals made out of skin and bone

Read More
1650 Words | 7 Pages

According to Neal (2007, p.46) “Potent social forces [capitalism, patriarchy, imperialism, home ownership] do exist and being homeless is to lose a stake in several of them” This paper will explore three different theoretical approaches to addressing the homeless problem that plagues our society from three different social theorists in the historical context of Classical, modernist and postmodern. Karl Marx, a social theorist from the classical era challenged the status quo by illustrating the effect the rich bourgeoisie had on the proletariat. According to Marx the bourgeoisie, represented the rich oppressors who exploited the working class.

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

The article “The State of Homelessness in America” provides

Read More
520 Words | 3 Pages

It is hard to imagine life as a homeless family. I hope that I’ll never have to move my family from shelter to shelter as some families must do every day. According to the essay “Homeless” by Anna Quindlen, we should take more time in our lives to see the pain that homelessness creates. I agree with Anna Quindlen’s assertion that a home is everything. A home can provide certainty.

Read More
840 Words | 4 Pages

Homelessness is not a new issue as it has already existed for many years ago and the existence of homeless people is often being ignored. The reasons why they end up sleeping on the streets is largely because of individual factors (Main, 1998), which is contributed by structural factors (Cyndy Baskina, 2007). It is unsure whether homeless people choose to end their lives in this way or are among the victims of situations? Many researchers contribute homelessness to structural factors but advocates of human rights debunk this and highlights that the main reason for homelessness is due to mostly individual

Read More
1182 Words | 5 Pages

As time goes on, the rate of homelessness rises as the population rises. Homelessness then was mostly caused by a family’s history of being homeless, drug abuse, mental disorders, and tyrannical leaders forcing his people into poverty. In modern times, several organizations are now trying to end homelessness by building cheaper housing projects more affordable to the poor and homeless shelters; these projects usually cost a fair amount of money.

Read More
317 Words | 2 Pages

Homelessness ,an American Problem] [Homelessness is serious problem that America has come to face. Millions of people including families ,children, elder, babies , veterans live day after day without water ,food or a roof over their heads. The number of homeless, families with children and elder has considerably over the past decade or so. They are together the fast, growing portion of the homeless population. There are together almost 40% of all people who are homeless.

Read More
1397 Words | 6 Pages

Frankish et al. (2009) explains “there is no single pathway to homelessness, but rather homelessness is the result of a complex interaction of factors” (p. 24). Individuals who experience multiple factors with the potential to contribute to homelessness may be more vulnerable than others. Some of these vulnerable populations include indigenous people, victims of abuse, those suffering from mental illness, substance users, people with disabilities, and low-income earners or individuals already living in poverty (Gaetz, 2010). Since the impacts of homelessness typically worsen the longer one spends without adequate housing, it is important to consider which populations are most likely to get stuck in the cycle of homelessness.

Read More
386 Words | 2 Pages

In the United States homelessness has been a substantial problem for decades. The reason for homelessness is greatly debated especially

Read More
178 Words | 1 Pages

Homelessness is a product of social inequalities. Karl Marx stated that the capitalist society produces two prominent classes which are in conflict with each other, bourgeoisie and proletariats. The bourgeoisie are the oppressors who own the means of production and the proletariats are the oppressed workers who labor for the bourgeoisie. Capitalism is distinguished not by privilege but instead by individuality of property ownership and that those who create the conditions of the oppressed group express this power in the form of laws that function to serve the bourgeoisie’s interests (Marx, 2004, p.129).

Read More
1225 Words | 5 Pages

It is indiscriminate and has no concern for one’s status, race, ethnicity, background, religion, and so on. Therefore the fear of homelessness is the fact that it can happen at any time.. As a result of the United States economic situation, there is a lack of jobs and livable wages provided for growing communities. The insufficient provision of financial aid is among the factors that cause homelessness. Unable to be financially independent, the homeless tend to meet their financial needs through illegal avenues. These avenues involve the interaction with drugs and

Read More
1256 Words | 6 Pages

The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.

Read More
893 Words | 4 Pages

Goodman 4 Richard Goodman English Comp II S. Cravens 5 March 2018 Ending Homelessness Homelessness is everywhere and it’s a growing problem in America. There are many reasons in which become homeless, and many of us ask ourselves should we help the homeless. We must remember that they are people too, and some time or another in life we all need help, even then homeless. In order to end or prevent homelessness, there are a number of things we must fix, the main thing being the affordable housing.

Read More

More about The Homeless: Common Perception Of Homelessness

Open Document