About Homelessness

HOMELESSNESS
Name
Institution affiliation
Course
Date off Submission
Introduction and Definition
The experiences of homelessness are gathered in this report from a wide range in shedding light on ways to combat it. There is increased number of homelessness in both developed and developing countries which can be attributed to low income or poverty. The general trend toward reduction of social welfare is a factor which has increased the risk of homelessness. Increased commercialization in the housing industry has also contributed to low income earners to increasingly depend on existing housing benefits. The UN has recognized adequate housing as a human right, and therefore, the agency has embarked on developing strategies that are aimed at combating, reducing and eradication of homelessness. There is no clear legal definition of homeless since the definition differ from one country to another, homelessness can be defined as a condition of detachment from the society that is characterized by lack of associative bonds that link people to social structures. The implication of homelessness is belonging nowhere rather than lacking somewhere to sleep. Therefore, homelessness embraces the risk and causality whose interpretation involves overcrowding, substandard accommodation, involuntary sharing of shelter, and subjection to high level of noise pollution and infestation.
Causes of Homelessness
Homelessness with respect to developed countries is said to include living in accommodations which do not meet the set standards and those with no accommodations. Hence homelessness in these countries is classified into those deserving or undeserving. In developing countries on the other hand, homelessness is seen as having no land or shelter and in other instances living in sub-standard housing. Homelessness can be described as not having an acceptable level of housing provision below what is regarded as adequate. The available national statistics indicates that the developed countries have the highest number of homeless people because some people have experienced brief periods and had to use public shelters. Most people who are homeless are concentrated ion large cities; largely because of war natural disasters, economic depression and the collapse of Soviet Union in east Europe. The collapse of socialist economies adversely affected many citizens in east Europe because many people lost their jobs while workers hostels were closed down (Hegarty, 1997). Moreover the housing prices started to grow towards market level, and this made many household to face payment difficulties and the threat of eviction.
Homelessness is understood as comprising of two broad categories of people with problems that sometimes overlap. One category tend to be transient in homelessness but continually at risk because thy live periods of crisis which are marked by poverty. The other category of holes people comprise of minority who are visible in public domain dominating the image of homelessness (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), 2000). Substance abuse, mental illness and long standing family difficulties compound whatever unemployment and housing problem they face. This is the most severe problem than those who are rendered homeless due to crisis poverty. An analysis in an economic perspective suggests that the occurrence of homelessness is due to economic institutions inability to produce and distribute housing resources effectively (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), 2000). Therefore, for effective intervention, there is a need for accommodating the nature of economic institutions policy.
Despite the US economic boom before the great depression, the US experienced increased homelessness during depression because many people lost their jobs that rendered them into poverty. The depression saw the rise in housing prices and this forced many people homeless. Even after the crisis not many people were able to afford shelter and they ended up being homeless (Hope & Young, 1984). Homelessness has become a revolving door in the US as many people exit homelessness quickly, but many more individual becomes homeless daily. Homelessness in the US stems from desperate poverty combined with unaffordable housing in communities that are too strapped to help their troubled members. The vulnerability of homelessness is increased by loss of jobs and the situation of housing sector which is getting worse with economic conditions (Grunberg, 1998). The current cost of housing and the low wages and the economic contraction pushes the working poor out of their homes. Although the homeless services have increased significantly, it is not possible to meet the needs of people once they become homeless.
A social analysis indicates that homelessness occurs when the core social relations have changed such that the traditional households do not function adequately. The intervention with respect to social setting needs to support families, protect children and prevention of domestic violence. The risk that is faced by families that do not function well makes the households unable to satisfy their basic needs and thus, spend most of their time in the streets to work thereby adapting the street culture (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), 2000). Marginal groups have the highest prevalence of becoming homeless. Poverty is a major contributor to homelessness since it leads to breakdown of families and moral values pushing individuals into the streets in search of job opportunities. Land reforms, population growth and rural urban migration in addition t o violence are implicated in the issue of homelessness as individual move in an effort to look for new supportive relationships or responsibility for their own life (Daly, 1994). Immigrants are the most vulnerable people in the population because they are socially isolated thereby ending up being homeless. Due to lack of appropriate jobs and discrimination from the host community has seen many migrants being homeless due to lack of adequate cash to afford good housing thus, suffering from very low self-esteem (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), 2000).
Political analysis suggests that the political institutions have become unresponsive to the needs of the most vulnerable people who can not afford an equitable distribution of housing. Important aspects that needs to be highlighted includes attempts by homeless people and their advocates top influence the political process in opposing the powerful forces of homeowners and the housing industry (Daly, 1994). Since homelessness is a sign of inequitable distribution of housing cost and benefits to the society, there is a need for an effective intervention in the sphere of social policy and programs. In the case of Russia, the breakup of USSR saw the issue of homelessness sharpened because of the legal vacuum because there were many laws that contradicted leading to increased rate of fraud in the reality market (Hegarty, 1997). Many homes were privatized and many people sold their houses without success of buying another one thereby increasing the rate of homelessness. Renting of houses from private owners became widespread which gave owners a right to evict leaser in case the contract was over or inability to pay rent. Eviction became a source of homelessness for many households since many properties that were owned by the government were sold off to able people who rented them to households who ha...