Homelessness Brings Atrocious Effects to a Country - Research Paper Example

Homelessness Brings Atrocious Effects to a Country INTRODUCTION Mahatma Gandhi once asked, “What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?” This question openly probes into the reception of poverty and homelessness by the community and the role of political dogma in resolving it. Homelessness undoubtedly significantly affects an individual’s well-being. Homelessness influences people in various ways and on numerous different levels. Being homeless affects every aspect of an individual’s life and ultimately spreads to other facets of his or her society. Countless research findings point out that the experience of the homeless prevents the physical, psychological, social, and behavioral development of a person (Hovington-Neville 2012). When a large portion of a country’s population is residing without a permanent, house, several stressors can be especially detrimental to the country’s economic status and social well-being. The following paper discusses and analyzes the adverse effects of homelessness in the United States from an individual and holistic point of view. Homelessness brings atrocious effects to a country from a social, health, and economic point of view. MAJOR POINT ONE-HOMELESSNESS BRINGS SOCIAL ATROCIOUS EFFECTS TO A COUNTRY. Homelessness affects a country socially in terms of picking up the expense of basic needs and services. Among the basic needs are social isolation, premature pregnancies, and the mental wellbeing of children. Paying for these services is the role of the government, and the higher the cost is, the more the country’s budget and focus on infrastructure is affected negatively (Dennis 105). Since the homeless often undergo numerous kinds of social isolation, the solution out of this isolation is not direct. Social isolation is unacceptable in terms of human liberties, especially in a wealthy country like the United States. Unplanned pregnancies by the homeless mean an entire new generation will be born into the homeless population, thereby making the social impact of this problem less solvable. The damage occurs when the child lacks food, proper physical and emotional care, and standard education. Reason One-The harm caused the lack of food also brings about an extreme form of social isolation. Homelessness is a strong sign of social unfairness in any country (Smith 44). Most people become isolated when their economic incapacitation restricts or fully inhibits their opportunity to partake in the mainstream community. Isolation happens when the mainstream community inhibits homeless people from partaking in social, economic, political, and cultural activities. Social isolation of the homeless comes along with an increase in poverty in the country. When the country has an inadequate number of people partaking in activities that society considers normal, economic growth or output will suffer (Curtis 2247). Categorizing the homeless as poor impedes United States government’s calculated response to dealing with poverty and social isolation. Social isolation is uneconomical and poses risks for social cohesion and overall communal welfare in the long-term (Williams-Jacobs 46). Reason Two- Social isolation is not the only social effect of homelessness on a country, but premature pregnancy as well. Such homeless children would conceive infants with low birth weights, and gradually enter the homeless lifestyle of other physical problems such as malnourishment, ear infections, and exposure to ecological contaminants. Statistically, homeless women have the highest rates of pregnancy in the United States (Fantuzzo 398). This statistic means that an entire new generation of children will enter a life of homelessness. Early pregnancy and child rearing raises the risks of homelessness. Occasionally, the intensified stress of nurturing a child while residing in a congested or public living environment compels mothers to move to the streets. The newborn contributes to the numerous challenges of being homeless for a new and often adolescent mother (McCoy-Roth, Mackintosh, and David 2). Young and homeless mothers do not have established and autonomous homes with sufficient support from spouses, friends, or relatives. The lack of role models limits the homeless mothers’ knowledge and abilities about nurturing the child. An entire new generation born into a homeless demographic means the government has to increase its dedication to welfare in terms of resources for appropriate cooking, decontamination, and medication facilities (Smith 39). Reason Three-premature pregnancy also leads to a child whose psychological well-being is another social effect of homelessness (Dennis 102). Before absolute homelessness, families often move from house to house to secure a house or a line of work that is within their means and expertise respectively. Research shows that Changing houses or schools more than two times manifests turbulence that affects children’s emotional and behavioral tendencies (Gould and Williams 187). When this turbulence is unbearable, parents separate and put their children under child services programs or the care of family members or friends (Fantuzzo 400). In numerous cases, these new guardians not have regular and stable houses. Such an adverse transition damagingly influences a child’s emotional and intellectual development (Hovington-Neville 2012). Statistics by the National Centre on Family Homelessness indicate that children are two times probable to sleep hungry in contrast to children who are not homeless (Gould and Williams 181). Furthermore, symptoms of asthma, hyperactivity or inattentiveness, and behavioral irregularities are more common amongst homeless children. The same statistics indicate that homeless children suffer from emotive and behavioral conditions. Examples of these conditions include nervousness, severe sadness, sleep issues, withdrawal, and violence (Fantuzzo 396). Government sponsored traditions such as National Centre on Family Homelessness are consequently forced to pour more resources into treating homeless children’s psychological problems (Dennis 108). Unhealthy homeless children will most likely develop physical health problems in the future. MAJOR POINT TWO-HOMELESSNESS BRINGS HEALTH ATROCIOUS EFFECTS TO A COUNTRY. The admission of a homeless individual to a hospital usually means an average of four more days at the facility. During this stay, the hospital often deals with causes of HIV/AIDS, drug addiction, and illnesses attributed to poor sanitation. Constantly moving from one home to another causes instability for children who grow up constant disruptions in the education, which affects their academic performance negatively (Bauss 38). The homeless are likely to get respiratory problems, insufficient dental care, feet diseases, and skin problems. Lastly, the government often incurs the healthcare cost that the additional days the homeless spend during admission in public facilities. These high costs of living lead to homelessness. Reason One-When the costs of living are high, the development of children is affected, which ultimately causes learning disabilities and physical health problems as still homeless adults. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness found out that homeless children are two times more probable to develop a learning disability or repeat a class than children from a stable home (McCoy-Roth, Mackintosh, and David 3). Homeless children also experience hunger twice as frequently and long as their housed peers. In the end, hunger affects the children’s physical and cognitive development. The impairment of these factors causes learning disabilities for the children and sets back their academic performances (Hovington-Neville 2012). When homeless children develop learning disabilities, their future will most likely be riddled with physical health problems. Reason Two - When a child has learning disabilities, he or she grows up exposed to great risks to its physical health and care. The lack of a stable living environment means there is a lack of preliminary healthcare and inaccessibility to physical health care services (Gould and Williams 183). The deficit and inaccessibility make the homeless at a much greater possibility of contracting diseases and chronic physical health problems. This risk means that the homeless might not notice or attend to common symptoms of sickness, which makes them even more susceptible to other serious diseases. Being homeless raises the risk of contracting preventative illnesses, morbidity, and experiencing premature death. In the United States, homeless are susceptible to and experience much higher rates of Hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and substance and alcohol addiction (Williams-Jacobs 44). The resources that indicated to fighting these diseases by United States government have to consider homelessness a risk factor when creating strategies and treatment models for the public. This consideration means the country has to allocate more resources to programs aimed at fighting these diseases. A homeless way of living often aggravates a majority of these physical problems, which often involves malnutrition and insufficient health care services (Curtis 2251). Reason Three-The homeless’ physical health and care are not the only health factors affected, but the country’s cost of losing workers to homelessness and catering for them (Smith 43). This high cost arises from the high usage of extensive health amenities and the implementation of the criminal justice system. Costly short-term accommodation and extended periods of welfare benefits make the cost of homelessness, especially the youth extremely high. Statistics by New Economic Foundation in 2008 found out that the yearly cost to the United States for every homeless individual surpassed $15,000. Allocating funds to homelessness amenities saves a substantial amount for the taxpayer by inhibiting some of these expenses (Curtis 2229). For instance, programs that support the homeless in the United States can save billions yearly. Such programs offer support by meeting the expenses of housing-related services in contrast to periodical governmental allocations made out to these programs. The expenses met by local and state authorities like taxes finance support initiatives designed for the homeless (Gould and Williams 180). For instance, in Pinellas County the number of overnight shelters accounted for 559 shelter beds available for the homeless within the state in 2010. This figure represents a shortage of shelter beds within the county, which the National Alliance to End Homelessness found out was insufficient providing places to sleep for 2,282 homeless Pinellas County residents. The same alliance approximated that every shelter bed accessible across the United States generates an average cost of $8,067 annually (Smith 45). When the government is passing on this cost unintentionally to taxpayers, the economy suffers, and the social services turn to grants and other sources of funding. As a result, the government resorts to dealing with increased debt amongst its citizens. MAJOR POINT THREE-HOMELESSNESS BRINGS ECONOMIC ATROCIOUS EFFECTS TO A COUNTRY. Homelessness harms a country economically, which is the one of most significant atrocious effects. Increased debt by a nation serves as a barrier for the government and the homeless individuals themselves to accomplish their goals and get out of debt respectively. Crime is a hidden cost of homelessness in the United States evident in the criminal justice and correctional system. One can easily associate these risk factors with homelessness, which equally triggers substance abuse and aggravates other personal hardships. Determining whether homelessness for substance abuse comes first requires extensive research by the country. Dedicating a great deal of the national budget to combating homelessness also conveys a negative image to the international community, especially for a super power nation. Reason One-A negative image of the country also arises when the government exhibits low wages and disorderly ways of living, thereby forcing numerous homeless individuals to incur high amounts of debt. The majority of these homeless individuals are young. Centrepoint conducted a survey and found out that 82% of young Americans in debt owed an average of $1000 to the government and private institutions. Out of this population, some of those who were homeless owed as much as $31,000 (Smith 38). The reasons given for accumulating these amounts of debt were the lack of advice concerning ways to manage savings. Out of desperation, the homeless wind up taking loans with extremely high rates of interest from credit institutions, credit card companies, and even loan sharks to meet the costs of basic commodities (Curtis 2244). When the homeless do not meet their basic goals and needs such as independent living and healthy eating, they often turn to crime. Reason Two-Low wages and disorderly ways of living statistically lead to an increased likelihood turning to crime to meet the homeless’ basic personal needs and addictions. Numerous study findings emphasize this likelihood, especially in the United States. These findings reveal the relationship between crime and homelessness in terms of the causal factor and the outcome (Curtis 2238). Causal factors related to homelessness frequently underlie the possibility of criminal behavior. As an outcome of homelessness, crime affects a country by lowering the opportunities of the homeless to find employment and get out of debt. Young homeless individuals are more like turn to crime because of their vulnerability (Gould and Williams 190). A majority of the $15,000 spent on every homeless individual in the United States yearly goes to overnight jail accommodations (Smith 41). Homeless people are notorious for frequent overnight jail accommodations more than actual criminals are because of minor crimes such as panhandling and idling in private premises. This cost on the criminal justice system does not include the cost of court proceedings, police man-hours, and public defender fees that jailed individuals orders have to meet at the expense of the taxpayer. Reason Three-Lastly, the cost incurred by the criminal justice system also extends to a risk factor for drug abuse that the United States government addresses with huge financial obligations to rehabilitation centers and drug abuse agencies. The pathway to drug abuse after realizing that one does not have a permanent house in the longer becomes shortened. Coming to terms with this type of news realization is difficult and traumatizing (Curtis 2247). Unable to deal with this reality is what drives the homeless to resort to drugs. The loss of self-esteem, institutionalization, the gradual increase in substance abuse, carelessness, aggression, and the likelihood to commit crimes ultimately lead to addiction. Substance addiction often relates to individuals who experience issues such as domestic abuse or psychological problems (Dennis 105). The United States government allocates tremendous sums of money to rehabilitation centers and the criminal justice system to drug abuse and related crime rates. As a result, addressing homelessness may be the key to lowering the frequency of drug addiction and related crimes in the country. COUNTERARGUMENT Homelessness does not bring atrocious social, health, and economic effects to a country. Researcher Smith defends homelessness in the United States to a certain extent. According to Smith, homelessness is considered a demerit for a government simply because it tarnishes its image or name to the world (Smith 36). Smith does not consider impression a crucial factor a leading nation like the United States. As a result, Smith contends that homelessness is a vice that the government can deal with gradually by acknowledging it before other developed nations such as the UK and Germany (Smith 38). On the contrary, scholars Curtis, Gould, Williams, and Williams-Jacobs contend that image is important. High homelessness rates for a superpower country sets a bad image for the government (Curtis 2230; Williams-Jacobs 14). Other developed nations can use the United States’ high homeless demographic to their advantage, especially during commercial and political exchanges (Williams-Jacobs 19). Gould and Williams argue that such a country gradually suffers bad public relations and tarnished foreign affairs that can take several years to amend (Gould and Williams 172). CONCLUSION Homelessness brings atrocious effects to a country from a social, health, and economic point of view. Social isolation brought about by homelessness harms a country’s workforce. Homelessness is a causal factor for drug abuse that a country addresses with rehabilitation centers and drug abuse agencies. Premature pregnancy is a social effect of homelessness that births an entire new generation of homeless people with an expense that the government will have to incur. Homelessness impairs children’s psychological well-being. Homelessness impairs the cognitive development of children and ultimately causes learning disabilities. A homeless individual’s physical healthcare is always at great risks. The cost of losing workers to homelessness and catering for them is high for the United States. Extremely low wages and disorderly ways of living lead to high amounts of debt for the homeless. The homeless statistically frequently commit crime to meet their basic personal needs or addictions. Works Cited Bauss, Hannah R. The Effects of Homelessness on School-Age Childrens Attendance and Academic Performance. Order No. 1527883 California State University, Long Beach, 2014 Ann ArborProQuest. 14 May 2015. Curtis, Marah A., et al. "Life Shocks and Homelessness." Demography 50.6 (2013): 2227-53. ProQuest. 14 May 2015. Dennis, Toi Neshae. The Effects of Homelessness on the Mental and Behavioral Health of Children: A Phenomenological Study. Order No. 3404610 Capella University, 2010 Ann ArborProQuest. 14 May 2015. Fantuzzo, John W., Whitney A. LeBoeuf, Chin-Chih Chen, Heather L. Rouse, and Dennis P. Culhane. The Unique and Combined Effects of Homelessness and School Mobility on the Educational Outcomes of Young Children. Educational Researcher 41.9(2012): 393-402. Gould, Thomas E., and Arthur R. Williams. "Family Homelessness: An Investigation Of Structural Effects." Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment 20.2 (2010): 170-192. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 14 May 2015. Hovington-Neville, Danielle. The Homeless Scholar: The Effects of Homelessness on the Academic Performance and Social Development of Children. Order No. 1513942 Long Island University, The Brooklyn Center, 2012 Ann ArborProQuest. 14 May 2015. McCoy-Roth, Marci, Mackintosh, Bonnie B., and Murphey, David. When the Bough Breaks: The Effects of Homelessness on Young Children. Child Trends: Early Childhood Highlights 3.1(2012): 1-11. Smith, Andrew F. "In Defense of Homelessness." Journal of Value Inquiry 48.1 (2014): 33-51. ProQuest. 14 May 2015. Williams-Jacobs, Jacqueline. Perceived Needs of Homeless Families and the Effects of Homelessness on Childrens Psychological Well-being. Order No. 1459154 California State University, Long Beach, 2008 Ann ArborProQuest. 14 May 2015. Read More