Causes of Homelessness - Essay Example

Homelessness Your Name University Affiliation Introduction One of the most fundamental human basic needs is housing, yet over one hundred million people live without this basic need, or in unacceptable and unhealthy conditions. This presents a serious problem in relation to their health. Homelessness is the condition of a person lacking proper housing, because he is unable to afford, or unable to maintain a regular, adequate and safe shelter. A homeless person lacks a regular, fixed, and adequate night time residence. This includes people whose night time residence can be grouped into three categories. Those whose shelters are publicly or privately operated offering living accommodations, for example, welfare hotels. Secondly, those living in private or public places not designed for human accommodations. Thirdly, people housed in institutions that offer temporary housing for institutionalized individuals. Homelessness can also be categorised in three levels. The primary homelessness includes individuals without any conventional accommodation who live on the streets and other makeshift shelters. The secondary homelessness involves people living on temporary shelters such as living with friends or in hotels. Lastly, tertiary homelessness include people living in marginal accommodation; single rooms without kitchen or bathroom for temporary or permanent basis (Bassuk & Gallager, 1990, p.21). Homelessness, a serious social problem, is facing nations and affects all aspects of the society. While people may think it can affect anybody, there are indicators showing some primary causes such as weak family structures, addiction problems, mental illness, poverty, and lacking means of housing which can compel a household to be homeless. Furthermore, eviction, and family breakdown may also trigger homelessness (Fitzpatrick & Kemp, 2000). Subjection to minimal periods such homelessness can result in more social problems and deterioration of a person’s health, yet many families undergo homelessness for years. The health of people characterizes the life they live. Worsening health and adversities demonstrate a lack in the quality of their life. Causes of Homelessness There are a number of factors that can lead a person to being homelessness. They can be grouped into: structural, institutional, relationship and personal factors. Structural causes include unemployment, poverty and lack of affordable, appropriate and quality housing. Low income families and unemployed individuals find it hard, almost impossible, to afford housing in many cities around the globe. Poverty and homelessness are closely interlinked. Poor families are forced to choose between health care, housing, food, transportation and utilities when the families lack adequate income to meet all the basic needs. Some of the housing available are quite expensive for low income families to afford and far too expensive for the unemployed. Changes in the industry dependent on the economy have rendered many people unemployed. Institutional causes arise from people disconnected from the society for short or long periods in their life. People in foster care and state care risk being homelessness when the institutions can no longer offer the services. Prisoners at the end of jail terms can encounter difficult situations in finding proper housing. They can be significantly increased if the prisoner does not have a welcoming family and may find a hostile society. Mental health patients from such institutions face trying times in finding their way back into the society and end up on the streets. People serving in the armed forces do not have time to establish proper housing and end up being homeless. Relationship causes family breakdowns. The family members may not have an immediate alternative home and end up being homeless. The causes of such family breakdown are broad and can include death in a family, divorce, separation among others. Women and children are the most vulnerable with research showing majority of them have had domestic violence that triggered the homelessness state. Children are often abandoned, thrown out or orphaned and end up on the streets. This may be because of neglect, mistreatment, or lack basic needs in their homes. They often find employment on the streets and help sustain the families back home. Persons who have issues such as mental illness and drug abuse form the majority of the homeless. These issues not only affect the housing stability, but also its success. Lack of proper education leads to unemployment, one of the major causes of homelessness. People disadvantaged in the society encounter hardships in obtaining proper documents for housing (O’Grady, 1998, p.407). Among these people are the coloured people who can account for a large share of the homeless. Some community policies, land use, government regulations can hinder the availability of affordable housing. Overcrowding and population increase also contribute to homelessness in certain circumstances. There are other causes of homelessness, some of which are caused by man. Eviction in times of war among communities can result in homelessness. During times of war, people who have decent housing, often lose their homes and join the statistics of homelessness. Natural calamities, for example, tsunami and cyclones destroy the whole region, the families displaced and their homes destroyed. Solutions to Homelessness Homelessness is on the rise, and this makes it necessary to put appropriate measures in place to stem it out fully in the society, and help households progress out of the situation. Failure of doing so means that the problem will continue being amongst us. The emergency costs to curb homelessness, the number of homeless people and crimes associated with homelessness will rise steadily. Majority of people are homeless because of the crisis in their lives and need support, information and advice to move into proper housing and prevent the problem from recurring. Although housing is the key to solving it, a lot is required to eliminate the root causes of homelessness. Some of the solutions are discussed herein. Prevention is better than cure and it applies in curbing homelessness. Governments have invested in homes and other crisis management services. However, long term, permanent and more coordinated solutions required. Prevention targets the root causes of homelessness and is divided into system reforms and family related problems. Majority of homelessness cases are caused by family crisis ranging from poverty, violence, gender identity, sexual abuse among others. Providing people with a house would solve one of their problems and helps them to focus their efforts in solving other issues affecting them. There is a need for reforms to ensure people who come back from detention facilities, mental health facilities, child care and foster homes do not end up homeless. Social barriers that hinder people from obtaining proper housing should be eliminated. Programs for the education system should be put in place to ensure the youth are maintained in school and out of the streets since this is a prime cause of unemployment. Reforms to cater for aboriginal communities are needed to ensure they are supported once they exit foster care or they are discharged from the justice system, and make certain they are no longer marginalised. Emergency responses have been put in place offering shelters to the homeless. Once these people leave the streets, they are able to focus on other basic needs and become more stable. The homeless are unable to have access to social services since they are without identification. By putting in places measures, to have these services accessible, the government creates a transition from homelessness to proper adequate housing. Providing food to the homeless ensures they have energy and enthusiasm to struggle from their situations. Providing better services to the rural communities would also reduce the migration of people into cities. Health facilities should be better equipped to address the needs of mentally ill and improve the access of such services to their communities. Harm reduction is of paramount importance in the fight against alcoholism and drug abuse by building trust in the affected people and slowly changing their lifestyles (Hutson & Clapman, 1999). Policies for transition from homelessness are put in place by building transitional structures and support interventions that are more valuable than emergency responses. These include providing basic needs and breaking down social barriers. The people in the transitional phase require education, pre-employment support and training in a wide array of issues like life skills, legal issues, among others. This support and follow-up by mentors helps the youth to become self-sufficient. Communities need to collaborate in order to solve their issues, and such collaboration has to include service providers, advocates, policy makers and the community members. Research has to be conducted in order to understand deeply the challenges experienced in solving the problem of homelessness. Conclusion The way out of homelessness is found on a strong foundation of supportive housing, education, employment and training. A range of ideal supportive services is required to help people make a smooth transition to stable life. The homeless require the government to dedicate resources from all levels to meet their basic needs and progress with their transition programs. Systems, opportunities, supports and favourable mechanisms are created in order to fight homelessness and help people move from the streets and have a quality life. References Bassuk, E.L. & Gallager, E.M. (1990). The Impact of Homelessness on Children. Child and Youth Services, 14(1), 19-33. Davey, T.L. (1998). Homeless Children and Stress: An Empirical Study. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 7(1), 29-41. Fitzpatrick, S. & Kemp, P. (2000). Single Homelessness: An Overview of Research in Britain. Bristol: Policy Press. Hutson, S. & Clapman, D. (1999). Homelessness: Public policies and private troubles. London: Cassell. O’Flaherty, B. (1996). Making Room: The Economics of Homelessness. Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press. O’Grady, B. (1998). Mean Streets: Youth Crime and Homelessness. Canadian Public Policy, 24(3), 408-409. Slesnick, N. & Prestopnik, J. (2005). Dual and multiple diagnoses among substance using runaway youth. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 1, 179-201. Read More