John Grisham's, Newsweek article brings up the plight of homelessness and some of the affects it as had on society in addressing this issue. As a society we should not look at ways to punish those that are homeless, thinking that this a way to curb or force those that are homeless from being so. Our anti-homeless laws need to be done away with and times and funds used to enforce these laws would be best used as a safety net to help those in need. Grisham's article was written 1998, but goes into his experiences he had in the 1980's-1990's. The term homeless as pointed out in the article was a term seldom used. Many times they were referred to as being hobo's, wino’s, and needy (Grisham 142). In the 1980's the term homeless began to be used more often as a political issue and to try to bring to light that political policies that were contributing to the problem. Many blamed then President Reagan’s policies aimed at cutting federal funding given to states for affordable and low-income housing and cuts in others areas for shelters to operate, which had devastating effects in increasing the homeless problem in the 1980's (Dreier). …show more content…
More advocate groups formed during the 1980's as pointed out in Grisham's article. Many of them by societies rich and famous holding fundraisers and high society dinners to bring light onto the plight of the homeless, but as with other issues it seemed to be just a fade short lived (Grisham 143). In the 1990's some of the federal funding was restored under President Clinton for low-income and affordable housing which helped those in poverty on the brink of being homeless but did little to help those already homeless (Dreier). The politic view seemed to changed instead of wanting to aid those in need and homeless, being homeless is a criminal
This paper will explain approaches to resolve the social issue of homelessness in the state of Delaware. It will also explain a few reasons why homelessness should be addressed the correct way to potentially end it. I will describe the correlations of homelessness and health, the crimes involving and against the homeless, and lastly the families subjected to homelessness. A few solutions will be recommended in this paper also to optimistically achieve the goal of assisting the homeless and improving the assistance already given.
In America the topic of homelessness is one that is rarely discussed. The ongoing issues faced by the less fortunate of society continues to be viewed as a public nuisance versus a problem that is in need of viable solutions. John Grisham’s “Somewhere for Everyone” and “Same Kind of Different as Me” written by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent explores the issues from various viewpoints. The two books are more of similarity than that of difference since they discuss similar themes Poverty and suffrage are key elements of both pieces of literature. A root cause for homelessness is financial stability so the theme of poverty prevalent for this discussion.
Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention
Take a drive down town and the problem will be apparent, take a look to the left and there one stands, take a look to the right and there’s another. Homelessness is a term used to define a person who does not have a home to go to at the end of the day. Homelessness does not discriminate against age, sex or gender. What is startling to many people is that reasons why so many people succumb to homeless ness in their life; people assume that when someone is homeless it’s because of bad choices that that individual made in their life, which might be true but not for all, “approximately 1 and 5 Phoenix residents live below the poverty line” and that in itself has a lot to do with the current
This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.
Homelessness is a problem that happens in many different countries around the world. Definitions of homelessness are defined in different meanings by different people. However, the Stewart B. McKinney Act defines a homeless person as “ one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings” (McNamara 1025). It is impossible to find out exactly the number of homeless; however, the researchers can do a study to estimate that number. Based on different statistics from different researchers, the homeless population in America has been increasing as “an alarming rate” (Markos and Lima). Therefore, even though America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, homelessness, which has many common causes, has always been a big problem in society.
Homeless individuals are known for taking hand outs and they prefer to plead for money rather than to go work for it. People assume most of the the money that is given to homeless people they spend it on drugs and alcohol because of the fact that many homeless people have drug and alcohol addictions. It is not uncommon to come across homeless youth and older homeless population that are known to abuse substances like drugs and alcohol. Because of the fact that homeless people have substance abuse problems, they tend face illnesses and infections. Many hard working Americans ask themselves “why don’t homeless people just get jobs?” The assumption is they are just lazy and unmotivated. Homeless people choose to live the life they live. Everyone goes through problems but not all people take the path homeless people do. The problems homeless people face is not an excuse for them to be helped and maintained by other hard working people. Although homelessness might be a choice to some, no one knows the hardships these people have gone through. Some assume these people are just lazy but in reality a lot of these homeless people have jobs of their own, they just can’t afford housing and a decent life. Everyone has their own opinion on homeless people, but that does not change the fact that one should still serve the homeless. Not because homeless people need help but because we are
If the homeless do not have a function in society they cannot compete for the resources available, but if we give them back their purpose they will have an equal opportunity to the resources they are due. The homeless- and most people in poverty- are in an endless circle of disadvantage, since there are no jobs available they cannot establish a place of residence and with no place of residence they cannot get a job or show previous work experience. Even if they have the skills that qualify them for a job they will not be able to take the next step and become a valued member of society once more. Many of the homeless population are not homeless by choice, many have lost the only job in the household, many are military veterans that have not assimilated back to civilian life, and some are homeless due to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. "It can happen to anyone of us. A hurricane, earthquake or wildfire that is out of control can destroy our home within minutes. We must never say never when it comes to the possibility of being homeless, especially when we consider the impact that natural disasters have. Worldwide natural disasters render middle class people near poverty and the poor,
...is to understand the factors that lead people into homelessness, that keep them homeless, and how they can recover from homelessness. Advocates for the homeless have proposed policies range from taking preventative measures, such as making housing and health care affordable, to policies that deal with individuals that are already homeless, such as rapid rehousing and redefining what it means to be homeless. Although many of the experts disagree on how the homeless epidemic should be handled, many acknowledge that the federal government plays an inexpendable role in helping the homeless. Homelessness is, obviously, a complex issue, but like all difficult issues it must be undertaken. It has become clear that homelessness is not something that will eradicate itself given time, homelessness will continue to grow and evolve unless an outside force stops it in its tracks.
The homeless are alienated by laws passed by government, at the federal, state, and local levels, that restrict them and their survival methods. David Bender, author of
Homelessness is a vast predicament in America and around the world. It is severely overlooked as people don’t really think of homelessness as real world problem. However, there have been ways that people have tried to fix the problem. They have come up with homeless shelters, emergency shelters, food banks and soup kitchens. These solutions have limitations though, which will hopefully come to an end.
“Homeless is more than being without a home. It is tied into education needs, food, security; health issues both mental and physical, employment issues, etc. Don’t forget the whole picture.” (“Boxed In” 2005 pg. 108)
This shows that homelessness is not a one stop shop. Significant factors and actions have to come into play for someone to become homeless. The theses goes into great detail on the lack of studies and analysis from past years. She hits hard on the fact that many homeless people are seniors or mentally ill people. These people have a hard time taking care of themselves and rely on faulty systems including, care homes, financial aid, disability and ect. General triggers from past events in life that were traumatising can also play a huge role in homelessness.
After watching the video “Sociological Perspective Project: Homelessness,” and read the article “Community Level Characteristics Associated with Variation in Rates of Homelessness among Families and Single Adults I started to think about this more and started to read more on the topic and have I concluded , America could support its citizens better than it currently does by eliminating the progressive tax system, in which as wealth increases so does their income tax and implement tax incentives to encourage job creation. Loop holes should be eliminated in such systems as taxes, as well as welfare in order to prevent people from playing the system. The system should not be set up in such a way that filing for unemployment can be and often times is more profitable that holding a minimum wage job, which defeats the entire purpose of the welfare system. By adding these tax incentives to big business, it would encourage them to create new jobs, decreasing the number of people on welfare. While welfare should not be entirely disbanded, it should be made more restrictive and it, along...
The plight of homeless families with children was initially addressed in 1987. Congress passed the...