Sample Literature Review On Homelessness

Introduction

The purpose of this literature review is to explore how homelessness affects the overall well-being of mothers who are suffering from a mental illness. My reason for choosing homelessness as the topic was a reflection of my interaction in the homeless community while currently serving as an intern at the Brigid’s of Hope at the Beacon. The goal of the Beacon is to serve the homeless in downtown Houston area. According to the Compass organization within the Beacon, mental health peace is on front with more than fifty percent of the homeless clients requesting services being diagnosed with some type of mental illness.

Homeless mothers would fall in the social work’s purview based on many core values that would force a social worker

According to (Benbow, S., Forchuk, C., & Ray, S.L., 2011), “Individuals with mental illness are over-represented in the homeless population. However, within this group, the increasingly growing sub-population of mothers who are homeless with mental illness faces a unique set of challenges.” Mothers are looked upon as more than likely to immediately receive the services needed when faced with homelessness, but because many are suffering from a mental illness they will experience discrimination and

”The evolutionary, adaptive view of people proposed in this model sees the adaptive achievement of individuals as the outcome of interaction between inherited genetic traits and environmental circumstances” (Robbins, Chartterjee, & Canda, 2012). If a homeless mother with a mental illness is able to receive the correct assistance without the expectations such as institutionalizations of the social environment she may have an actual opportunity to live a better and healthier life. “Mothers experienced discrimination based on their homelessness status, mental illness, income source and/or motherhood status…Nurses are in unique positions to advocate for this group, but must first recognize and become aware of the extensive structural barriers faced by these women.” (Benbow et al., 2011). This theory helps explain how much homelessness can be detrimental to mothers with mental illnesses who do not receive all services required due to the inequities and problems that many face because of their lack of