The Causes and Effects of Homelessness on the Society - Dissertation Example

? Homelessness in the UK - "what are the causes and its effect in the society" The event of homelessness in United Kingdom is a social phenomenon where the people reside below the general living standards in unsecured and deprived condition. Five types of factors like economic, psychological, political, environmental and medical make the people homeless. Economic factors which develop a community also act in depriving others of their basic needs and putting them to poverty. Similarly psychological and health problems also lead the people to be driven out of their own homes. Political issues concerning change of home policies and conflicts also deprive people of their homes. The houses of the people can also be destroyed by natural calamities like floods and hurricanes. (Main Causes of Homelessness, n.d.). The events of homelessness makes an individual all the more physically and psychologically unfit to live in. These people suffer from diseases like cold and insomnia. (Bodine, 2010). Aims The research paper on Homelessness in United Kingdom aims to achieve the following goals which can be listed as follows: 1. The causes which lead to making the people homeless in United Kingdom. 2. Effects of the factors which causes the people to become homeless on the life cycle of the people affected by such. 3. The changes brought about by the government through the introduction of policy measures aimed at preventing the people to become homeless. Objectives The objectives behind studying Homelessness in United Kingdom are to: 1. Identify the factors which cause the event of homelessness in United Kingdom. The identification of such factors would help focus on the safeguarding of communities from being made homeless. 2. Evaluate the potency of such impacts in disturbing the lives of the people in United Kingdom by making them physically and mentally impaired. The people put in the streets continually face the climatic changes which turns fatal for them. 3. Assess the amount of damages to life of the people rendered due to homelessness and policy measures taken if any to counter such. Scope of the Research The scope of the research paper is to underlie the causes which lead to the event of making people deprived of their homely or domestic environments. In that the paper endeavors to gauge the impact of such factors in immensely affecting the life patterns of the people residing in United Kingdom. The paper also divulges to find any significant policy measures taken by the government of the country in helping the people put in the streets to gain a better life. The research conducted gains due importance for it specifically focuses on a particular social evil which aims at snatching the basic means of living from the general population for which they also meet fatal incidents. The event of homelessness in United Kingdom has huge impact on the construction and housing business of the country. These families which were rendered homeless posed several types of complaints based on the houses rendered to them by the government of the country so as to counter the event. Homeless applicants who were rendered private homes to dwell in complained of lack of proper spaces to help them move away freely in the apartment. Further the location of the private buildings being near the crowded corners caused the occupants major disturbances in maintaining a silent environment in and around their homes. Further other special types of accommodation provided to the homeless people also countered huge problems for the rise in the amount of drug peddlers in the region. The people living in such households appeared to fear from the impacts of such people on affecting their children. For homeless people the best housing solution rendered by the United Kingdom government is to allow the local communities to build in permanent homes for them. Permanent homes build by the local authority for these people were favored above the temporary homes firstly because of their sense of security. However the government of the country focused more on the construction of temporary housing projects for these families for the conflicting mentality they had regarding the amenities available for which they required spontaneous changes. Again the homeless people being given a place to dwell in buildings provided by groups of housing associations stated that such houses being properly refurnished before being opened for the public led to a healthier place to live in. (Hall, Powney & Davidson, 2000,pp.13-17). Thus it is found that the event of homelessness in United Kingdom has greatly impacted the construction policies of the government which has now become busy in developing permanent quarters for the homeless people. Literature Review Homelessness in United Kingdom has tuned to be a growing evil for the country. To this end, Wilson (2010) observes that the event of homelessness in United Kingdom is caused mainly by certain imminent factors which can be underlined as follows. Firstly the factor of supply of housing projects in United Kingdom has led to the rise in demand for such which inadvertently causes a rise in the price of such properties. Thus low economic groups fail to gain access to such high priced buildings for which they move over to rented quarters. Rise in demand for housing units also increases for the decline of government investment in such projects which has caused the decline of housing projects meant for communities. Wilson (2010) further observes that apart from such external factors the people are rendered homeless on account of the rise of some personal problems like deterioration of mental and physical health for which certain families not willing to take the burden pushes them in the streets. (Wilson, 2010, pp.2-3). The event of homelessness in United Kingdom renders significant impacts on the lives of the people. Bodine (2010) states that the people thrown out in the streets become amenable to harsh climatic changes for which their health gets hugely deteriorated. Further these people are observed to often resorting to drugs in such conditions which worsens their condition. Bodine (2010) also states that people put away from their homes often become the victims of psychic traumas. (Bodine, 2010). The event of homelessness in United Kingdom also jeopardizes the environment for the children by obscuring their freedom and growth opportunities. To this end, Jeanty (n.d.) observes that homelessness also brings upon a sense of insecurity in the minds of the children who fail to obtain the needed share of love from their parents. These children the victims of their irony go about in the streets begging for food for being denied of their basic rights to live and learn. Jeanty (n.d.) further states that such weak relationship pattern between the child and its parents ceases the elders to take proper care of the young ones who face undue struggle and sometimes get severely ill due to malnutrition and dehydration. (Jeanty, n.d.). To counter the ill effects of homelessness several organizations both in the regional and international scale are working to promote safety and security. Bodine (2010) mentions that apart from the work of regional social agencies which are working to render food and medicine to these people, international organizations like UNICEF are also working to collect large amount of funds to help these people revive. (Bodine, 2010). In regards to the case for street children (Jeanty (n.d.) also states that different social groups have become active in several areas who are making endeavors in providing the basic training and education to the parents to take proper care of their children. Further, Jeanty (n.d.) observes that these social groups are also extending needed facilities in the form both financial and non-financial help to these impoverished families to take special care of the children. (Jeanty, n.d.). Research Questions The paper on Homelessness in United Kingdom presents some significant research questions which must be probed to make a fruitful study. Firstly the research paper endeavors to locate the reasons which trigger the growth of homelessness in a developed country like United Kingdom. Secondly in the light of the knowledge of the causes behind homelessness the paper tries to understand the works of the government in endeavoring to reduce the impacts of the same on the people. Thirdly it also tries to identify the potency of the policies of United Kingdom government in helping to revive the conditions of the homeless groups. Methodology The paper on studying the causes and impacts of homelessness in United Kingdom takes into account a large amount of information from different literary sources. Further to gauge the impacts of the same on the lives of the people statistical data from both governmental and non-governmental sources would be incorporated to make the research meaningful. Secondary sources are mainly used for the research study for a number of salient advantages. Firstly with the growth of internet the secondary sources are easily accessible as compared to primary research data. Secondly the use of secondary research also helps in bringing down the research cost. Thirdly most importantly secondary resources help in the generation of authentic data and information which becomes hard to obtain from primary research. (Jugenheimer, Bradley, Kelley & Hudson, 2010, p.30). The use of statistical data is also used for making the research paper more meaningful. These statistical data can be obtained along different time periods which can be represented in the form of trend lines and bar charts. Further the data pertaining to such information must be thoroughly interpreted along the graphs to present a measured understanding of the tasks conducted. (Gillham, 2000, p. 80-83). The research paper in question also takes into account the specific case of homeless residents pertaining to the region of United Kingdom. Thus another research methodology the use of case study must be incorporated to grant due strength to the research project. The use of case studies while formulating the research helps in focusing on a specific point rather than making a general study. Further through the use of case studies the researcher can draw practical examples of real life situations in relation to the research topic. It also helps the researcher to present a holistic view of the event in relation to practical circumstances. Case study based research is generally conducted by the researcher alone without any external help which enhances the quality of the project. (Cohen, Manion, Morrison and Morrison, 2007,p. 256). Limitations The main concern of the project on homelessness in United Kingdom is to find the variegated causes and effects of such upon the victimized population of the country. It aims to understand the potential and magnitude of the effects rendered by the event in making the people feel helpless and in turn suffer from both physiological and psychological trauma. However the paper fails to render much attention on the different strategies and policies taken by the government of United Kingdom to cater to the needs of such homeless population. It only succeeds in drawing a brief outline of activities taken by the government in making separate housing bodies to help such impoverished population. The paper thus fails to reflect the different housing schemes and rehabilitation programs taken by the government from time to time in order to help the victimized population to get accessibility to better homes and get cured from their mental and physical illness. Work Schedule The following GANTT-CHART gives the layout of the timeframe required for each component of the research: WK1 WK2 WK3 WK4 Outlining Scope ****** Library research *************** Framing Research Questions ****** Designing Methodology ************** Drafting the Proposal ******* The Gantt chart thus constructed divides the entire work on designing the research proposal for Homelessness in United Kingdom basically into four weeks. First two weeks are taken for reflecting on the extent of the research objective and thereby collecting library information for satisfying the same. Having made the scope of the research clear the second week is devoted in framing the research questions upon which the paper would mainly divulge upon. Finally week three and four are used in designing the methodology to be used for making the analysis and making the final draft of the proposal respectively. References 1. “Main Causes of Homelessness “ (n.d.), ehow.co.uk, available at < http://www.ehow.co.uk/about_5086988_main-causes-homelessness.html> (accessed on March 18, 2011). 2. Bodine, A. (2010), Effects of Homelessness, available at < http://www.ehow.com/about_4621544_effects-of-homelessness.html> (accessed on March 18, 2011). 3. Hall, S., Powney, J. & P. Davidson (2000), The Impact of Homelessness on Families, available at , (accessed on March 18, 2011). 4. Wilson, W. (2010), Homelessness in England, available at < http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpapers/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsp-01164.pdf>, (accessed on March 18, 2011). 5. Jeanty, J. (n.d.), The Psychological Effects of Homelessness on Children, available at , (accessed on March 21, 2011). 6. Jugenheimer, D., Bradley, S., Kelley, L. & J. Hudson. (2010). Advertising and Public Relations Research. M.E. Sharpe. 7. Gillham, B. (2000). Case study research methods. Continuum International Publishing Group. 8. Cohen, Louis, Manion, Lawrence, Morrison, Keith, Morrison, and Keith R.B. Morrison (2007), Research methods in education, New York: Routledge. Read More