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If you wanted to examine young people's experiences of homelessness, would you use qualitative methods, or quantitative methods, or a mixed methods approach, and why?
Homelessness is Australia is most commonly explained by a cultural definition (Chamberlain & MacKenzie 2008). By this definition, we find homelessness to be a living situation which does not meet the minimum standard of living amongst the community. This definition reflects on not only the adequacy of the dwelling, but also how secure tenancy is, and whether the tenant has control of their physical and social space (Mallett 2004).
This moves away from the ‘traditional’ definition of homelessness, which can be referred to as primary homelessness, or homeless without shelter. A broader definition is now considered, which also includes secondary homelessness, moving frequently between forms of temporary accommodation, and tertiary homeless ness, living long term in accommodation that falls below community standards for housing (Chamberlain & MacKenzie 2008). The inclusion of varying types of homelessness highlights the understanding of homelessness to be considered without a ‘home’, not just without a ‘roof’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011).
According to the 2011 census, 105,237 people in Australia are homeless, with approximately 25% of them being young people aged 12 – 25 (Homelessness Australia 2012). However, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) states that these figures are severely underestimated, as many homeless young people are not recorded as so in the census. In particular, young people who “couch surf” may not be recorded as homeless, but ‘temporarily staying in another household’, although by definition, these young people may be homeless as the...
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...cher can conduct interviews and/or immerse themselves in the world of youth homelessness. This type of research will allow for complexities, and garner a better understanding of the participants' perspectives. The researcher may choose to use a mixed methods approach with a strong qualitative bias, if they were also looking to collect statistics on the participants in order to have an understanding of the demographics of the participants in the study.
This paper has given the reader a brief overview of homelessness in Australia, in particular, youth homelessness. Social research methods have also been explored, looking at the definition of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, and the purpose for each. It has been concluded that in order to examine young people’s experiences of homelessness, researchers should focus on qualitative methods of data collection.
Even with the daily struggle faced by youth in obtaining shelter and homelessness becoming a reality for a growing number of Canadians, Canada, with its high quality of life is one country that has always had a global long-standing reputation. This paper will be working towards giving the reader a better understanding with regards to homeless youth. It will be focusing on the reasons why they leave home, their lives on the street and steps they are trying to take to be able to leave the streets. An important finding from this research suggests, “the street youth population is diverse, complex, and heterogeneous”. According to Karabanow, made up of a number of subcultures including hardcore street-entrenched young people, squatters, group home kids, child welfare kids, soft-core twinkles, runaways, throwaways, refugees and immigrants is the generic term ‘street youth’.
Secondly, I would like to state that the government is cutting funds each year towards helping the homeless, for example, in 2014 they cut the funding by $21.13 million. So its no wonder why we see homelessness growing all over Australia, when more and more people become homeless and the agencies that are there to help
Johns, G. (2012). Paved with good intentions: The road home and the irreducible minimum of homelessness in Australia. Agenda : A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, 19(1), 41-59. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/1032658396?accountid=14543
Homeless Youth: Characteristics, Contributing Factors, and Service Options. Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment, 20(2), 193-217. doi:10.1080/10911350903269831
Homelessness is defined as a person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence, and has a primary night time residence that is:
If you do not already know what homelessness means, it is someone who is not able to live in a stable residence because of financial or psychological problems, so they are forced to live on the streets or put themselves on the streets, because they feel it would be a better fit. Homelessness in Canada is a very large and concerning issue because of the growing population.
Many believe that a common thread among the homeless is a lack of permanent and stable housing. But beyond that, the factors leading to homelessness and the services that are needed are unique according to the individual. To put them into one general category ? the homeless- suggests that people are homeless for similar reasons and therefore a single solution is the answer. Every homeless person shares the basic needs of affordable housing, adequate incomes and attainable healthcare. But a wide range of other unmet needs cause some people to become or remain homeless which include drug treatment, employment training, transportation, childcare and mental health services (Center 8.)
Youth become homeless for a number of reasons, including: family violence and neglect, rejection due to sexual orientation or gender identity, the overwhelmed child welfare system and extreme poverty. These youth almost always have experienced unimaginable abuse and trauma, in their homes, their communities, and on the street. It is the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA)-funded services and programs that help to rectify the deep injustices that homeless youth experience on a daily basis.
Individuals often have their own perceptions and definitions of homelessness. These perceptions generally are over exaggerated. Over exaggerated definitions of what homelessness looks like can be explained by movies, TV shows, internet, and ev...
Homelessness has different meanings to different people; someone who has never been homeless might think homelessness is a person who lives on the street, in a tent or in a box. Many people don’t realize that there are a number of homeless people, who couch surf with friends, family or the ones who live in motels which are unaccountable in the numbers of homeless people. People including families with children, seniors, single parents, youths and those that are single are living in accommodations that are below standards and consider themselves as homeless.
Homelessness is divided into three subsections, these are primary, secondary or tertiary homelessness. Primary is when a person does not have access to conventional housing, secondary affects people who frequently move from one temporary housing to another and tertiary affects those who live in housing that falls below community living standards, i.e. no housing whatsoever or caravan parks. Homelessness currently affects 105 thousand people in Australia, roughly 0.5% of the entire population. 25% of this number are Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander Australians and 30% are born overseas, there is an average of 49 people per 10,000 who are homeless, but in the Northern Territory there is a shocking 731 people per 10,000 who are
Homeless youth, otherwise referred to as unaccompanied youth, are minors who lack parental, foster, or institutional care (Homeless Youth). At any given moment, approximately six hundred thousand teenagers between the ages of 10 and 17 gain homeless status and suffer from the bitter realities of homelessness in the streets of America; the disturbingly large rate rises high above that of countries throughout the developed world. While one-third of homeless American teenagers belong to a chronically homeless family, the remaining two-thirds are independent stemming from many causes.
There are numerous and complex variables that determine the journey to homelessness. Homeless people are the most vulnerable and subject to abuse and attacks from the general population. As seen in the documentary Storied Streets, many people hid their homelessness, because of the stigma and shame associated with it. The preconceived notion that people would prefer to remain homeless fails to examine true reasons behind their decisions; these notions are extremely damaging, to homeless people and those working tirelessly to aid
An individual who has never experienced homelessness, would just think that it would be living on the street. Which yes, they are correct but there is a more detailed definition of this that states there are many types of homelessness, not just living on the street. Per Tipple & Speak “homelessness as featuring a lack of a right of access to secure and minimally adequate housing, variously described as rooflessness (living rough), houselessness (relying on emergency accommodation or long-term institutions), or inadequate housing (including insecure accommodation, intolerable housing conditions or involuntary sharing)” (2005). There are so many subtopics to homelessness and those who experience this at some point in time, many youth experience
Equally important, a three-tiered analysis will be used as we further evaluate homelessness and its associated stressors at the national, state, and local levels. Through a comprehensive literature review and local data exploration, one of the principal purpose