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There is, unfortunately, quite a big number of perplexing issues in the modern society. The problem of homelessness, which is one of the most acute ones, interests me in several aspects. Due to various reasons, more and more people become homeless, and while it seems that the problem should be eradicated, it progresses.
The reason why I wanted to investigate into this matter was because this problem concerns many people in the USA. According to the summary by National Alliance to End Homelessness, in the recent years generally nineteen people out of each 10,000 were homeless (The state of homelessness in America 2014, 4). The reasons causing homelessness include, but are not limited to, unemployment rate and poverty (4).
I felt that I lacked understanding of what homelessness is about. By the beginning of my research I had only thought of homeless people as of those who do not have the roof above their heads, but recently I started thinking that this might not be a comprehensive explanation. Thus, I wanted to investigate into the matter, as I felt unconfident about my knowledge.
Also, I wished to find out the reasons why people become homeless and the dangers which the homeless face.
The first source that I wanted to consider was the article "Life Shocks and Homelessness" by Marah A. Curtis, Hope Corman, Kelly Noonan, and Nancy E. Reichman, published in 2013 in Demography journal. I chose to consult this article because it suggests the definition and measurement of homelessness, as well as the economics of homelessness.
The article by Curtis et al. gave me insight to the problem. The authors' main point was showing the impact of the health shock on homelessness (2227), but they also provide much useful data on the subject matter of my research.
Curtis et al. remark that it is rather difficult to count the homeless due to the absence of standard methodology (2228). This particular fact increased my confidence about the complexity and the importance of investigation of this issue. According to the researchers, the following factors are generally connected with homelessness: unsatisfactory physical or mental health conditions, violence at home, and urban movability (2228). Also, as the authors remark, the risk of becoming homeless increases for those who are immigrants and for mothers with young children who do not have enough support (2228).
Curtis et al. also point out that the imprisonment of a father may lead to homelessness of the children or their mothers (2228). Also, they have investigated that the infant health shocks may serve as increasing factors for homelessness (2228). Finally, the researchers mention O'Flaherty's economic theory of homelessness, agreeing with him that the problem may occur due to the collision of personal circumstances and the market conditions (2228).
The article enriched my knowledge on the problem of homelessness and at the same time induced me to think of it as of a much more complicated issue than I used to imagine. It appears that not only the people who are antisocial or have some issues become homeless. What struck me most was that people may cause others to become homeless, too. For instance, it has never occurred to me that if the parents have problems with the law, it may result in their children's homelessness. Additionally, I now realize how closely connected is homelessness to the health problems of the people.
What attracted my attention most of all in the article by Curtis et al. was the mentioning of the mental health problems as one of the key factors of becoming homeless. As I have not given this issue a thorough thought before, I found it necessary to do more investigation on the matter. Thus, the next article I used for my research was "Pathways to Homelessness among the Mentally Ill" by G. Sullivan, A. Burnam, and P. Koegel, published in Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol in 2000.
In their article, Sullivan et al. investigate the connection of being mentally ill with being homeless. The authors remark that the people who became homeless and then mentally ill have bigger chances for disorders; and the people who became homeless already being mentally ill are usually alcohol dependent (444). The research by Sullivan et al. shows that there is a huge number of mentally ill people among the homeless, and that mental illness is one of the greatest risk factors leading to homelessness. The authors investigate the ways of the mentally ill people turning to homeless while having access to proper housing (444-445).
The research by Sullivan et al. suggested two major comparisons: they compared the mentally ill homeless to the mentally ill housed, and they also compared the mentally ill homeless to the non-mentally ill homeless. The results of the investigation showed that both mentally ill and non-mentally ill homeless are more similar between themselves than to the mentally ill housed persons (446). The homeless are mainly the representatives of some minority groups, whole the mentally ill housed people are mostly (70%) white. Also, the number of married housed mentally ill people is much higher than the number of married non-mentally ill homeless people. The same holds to alcoholism: whether mentally ill or non-mentally ill, the homeless people are more subject to drinking problems that the housed people (446). Having compared the mentally ill homeless to the non-mentally ill homeless, the authors came to conclusion that the latter had less problems concerning abuse or violence at home (446).
What I can reflect upon this article is that I never supposed how close the issues of homelessness and being mentally ill are. It is devastating to think that there are so many people who need help out there. And instead of receiving that help they have to suffer drastic living conditions and have no access to medical treatment. Reading this article made me realize that homelessness is not such a problem itself as it is when combined with other factors.
The article by Sullivan et al. inspired me to investigate further into the matter of mental health problems among the homeless. I found an abundance of sources whose object of investigation was the female homeless. Thus, my attention was caught by the article "The Link between Homeless Women's Mental Health and Service System Use" by Tammy W. Tam, Cheryl Zlotnick, and Kimberley Bradley, published in 2008 in Psychiatric Services, in which the authors investigate the services needed by the homeless women who suffer from mental disorders. The data provided in the article shows that only a small rate of homeless women have never experienced any kind of mental difficulties (1004).
Tam et al. investigated the women's needs of the following human service uses: receiving help with elementary needs, getting housing and financial aid, training and looking for a job, parenting advice, and assistance with violence problems (1004-1005). Apart from the human service needs, the women also seek for health care service use (examination and/or treatment by a nurse or a doctor) and behavioral health service use (treatment or counseling for mental, emotional, or drug and alcohol problems) (1005).
The results of Tam et al.'s research showed the linkage between the various services. For example, the behavioral health care services are crucial for females having substance use troubles or evidence of mental illness to connect with other kinds of services which may help the women get away from the homeless state (1009).
The study by Tam et al. helped me see the way in which the use of service system may function as a way out for the homeless women in the USA. Little did I realize before how many needs do the homeless have, especially the homeless women. Now it seems only logical to me, of course, that the women (homeless women, in particular) have much more needs than the men do. They have more needs due to their biology and to their psychological characteristics. Even the women who have homes and families are apt to have unexplained tantrums and need support at times. Meanwhile, the homeless women have these problems multiplied by a number of times: they do not have proper hygienic items, they often suffer from violence, and they need assistance much more than I have ever imagined.
The article by Tam et al. made me think more about the particularly female homeless' problems. The more I was getting into the research, the more astonishing and depressing facts I found. As shown in the article by Maya Vijayaraghavan et al. "Health, Access to Health care, and Health Care Use among Homeless Women with a History of Intimate Partner Violence", published in Journal of Community Health in 2012, there are problems much more devastating than alcohol or even drug abuse. Vijayaraghavan et al. investigated the access to health care by the women who suffer from intimate partner's violence (1032). The sad statistics is that between 30 and 90 per cent of homeless women experience intimate partner violence (1033).
The study by Vijayaraghavan et al. made me consider a lot more on the problems of homeless women. Now another fact has been added to my understanding: these women not only lack the necessary items and support, but very often they are subjected to violence, and this is what is the most terrible thing. They cannot or are afraid to complain, they do not know whom to address for aid, and in the end, they are left alone with their problems. I really feel for them much more now than before, when I used to consider homeless women as some lazy vagabonds who did not want to take care of their families or did not wish to work. It appears, they do want these things, but in most cases they cannot have them.
The previous articles shed light for me on the problems that homeless people face. I used to think that their main problem was the absence of a house, while it appears that they have much more serious threats to their existence. Thus, I decided to consult the article "Risk Factors for Homelessness: Evidence from a Population-Based Study" by Katherine H. Shelton, Pamela J. Taylor, Adrian Bonner, and Marianne van den Bree, published in 2009 by Psychiatric Services. The article provides the data collected from a big number of respondents who are lifetime homeless. The authors investigate the main risks faced by the homeless people.
Shelton et al. remark that there is a very high rate of physical and mental disorders, alcohol abuse and suicide attempts among homeless people (465). The reasons for becoming homeless, as concluded by the authors, are as follows: bad relationships with parents, indifference, sexual and physical abuse, and even being placed out of home (465).
The research by Shelton et al. showed that the factors related to homeless include economic disadvantage, drug use, and mental illness. The authors' aim was to trace the role of various factors in childhood adversity, and they concluded that the strongest connection happened when a child was separated or exiled from their family or parents (470).
Still, wishing to finish my essay on a bit of a positive note, I decided to search for some data on the ways in which the government is trying to eradicate the issue of homelessness.
The website National Alliance to End Homelessness suggests numerous reports, among which there is "Homeless Assistance in America" as a part of "The state of homelessness in America 2016." From this report I found out that in the past year over 800,000 beds were designated for the homeless, which together with the existing ones is nearly 39 per cent of the needed number (The state of homelessness in America 2016, 55).
It was also pleasant to find out that during the recent years the number of transitional housing and rapid re-housing beds has increased. However, this is just an overall number, and if taken separately, each state of the America has different percentage of providing the housing.
The website also provides information on the decrease in the number of homeless people in 2015: the majority of the states reported the decline in each of the major subpopulations: chronically homeless people (31 states and D.C.), family homelessness (33 states and D.C.), and veteran homelessness (33 states) (National Alliance to End Homelessness).
The suggested data sounds a little optimistic, but the problem of homelessness in the USA is still a rather big one. The decline of the number of homeless people is a positive feature, while the remaining numbers are drastic and worrying.
I have drawn several conclusions from my research. First of all, I cannot say that I have covered all the aspects of homelessness since, unfortunately, there are too many of them. But I did try to make my investigation consequent and I explained the logical connection between every chosen source.
Before doing this research, my knowledge about homelessness was rather poor and vague - all I could say if asked to define "a homeless person" would be "someone without a house." Now, however, I have found out many more ways of defining a homeless person. I know the reasons why people become homeless. Previously I used to think that people become homeless at teenage or adult period of life. After the research, I found out that there are terms "lifetime homeless" and "family homelessness," meaning that someone can be homeless from the very childhood.
Additionally, I got to know the risks that the homeless people face. If earlier I thought that their biggest problems were to find shelter and food, now I see that they have many serious problems regarding health and access to medical aid.
It is good to know that the government is doing a lot to help the homeless. However, I think they it should do more. And also, I think everyone should do something in order to solve the problem of homelessness.
I cannot say that my research is completed - there are many aspects which I did not cover due to the limitations of time and space (for example, I did not cover the problem of veteran homelessness). But I am convinced that it helped me realize the problem much better. I now both know much more about homelessness and understand the complexity of the issue.
Works cited
Curtis, Marah A., Corman, Hope, Noonan, Kelly, and Reichman, Nancy E. "Life Shocks and Homelessness." Demography 50 (2013): 2227-2253. Print.
National Alliance to End Homelessness, n.p., 2016. Web. 20 May 2016.
National Alliance to End Homelessness. The state of homelessness in America 2014. 2014. Web. 20 May 2016.
National Alliance to End Homelessness. The state of homelessness in America 2016. 2016. Web. 20 May 2016.
Shelton, Katherine H., Taylor, Pamela J., Bonner, Adrian, van den Bree, Marianne. "Risk Factors for Homelessness: Evidence from a Population-Based Study." Psychiatric Services 60.4 (2009): 465-472. Print.
Sullivan, G., Burnam, A., and Koegel, P. "Pathways to Homelessness among the Mentally Ill." Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 35 (2000): 444-450. Print.
Tam, Tammy W., Zlotnick, Cheryl, and Bradley, Kimberly. "The Link between Homeless Women's Mental Health and Service System Use." Psychiatric Services 59.9 (2008): 1004-1010. Print.
Vijayaraghavan, Maya, Tochterman, Eustace Hsu, Johnson, Karen, Marcus, Sue, Caton, Carol L. M. "Health, Access to Health care, and Health Care Use among Homeless Women with a History of Intimate Partner Violence." Journal of Community Health 37 (2012): 1032-1039. Print.
