Introduction
Homelessness is a global human problem that is becoming more prevalent by the day. Roughly 100 million people are homeless, and another 1.6 billion people globally live in deplorable conditions, with another 15 million facing forced evictions(Vissing 137). The number of homeless individuals is increasing both in impoverished and affluent countries (Vissing 137). The reasons for this include growing urbanization, a shortage of affordable housing, and population poverty.
Many young individuals who are homeless suffer from mental diseases and psychological issues. Homelessness is a particular issue for unique people, typically the result of trauma, substance abuse, job loss, and mental illness. Homelessness exposes and discloses societal flaws, as well as evidence of expanding global socioeconomic inequities. As a result, nations should provide better housing for people and ensure their right to housing, helping eliminate homelessness and making the world more just.
Define the Problem
Homelessness violates the fundamental human right to housing. Homelessness is a social phenomenon that encompasses a wide range of economic, sociopolitical, civil, legal, and cultural-psychological issues that leave a large proportion of the population without the basic housing circumstances that are acknowledged as an essential component of a civilized society. The unmet right to housing implies the inability to register at the place of residence, as well as a slew of other legal issues, making it impossible for homeless individuals to exercise nearly all of their constitutional rights. This effectively excludes the homeless from the social connections system, leaving them in a predicament that requires significant effort and non-standard methods to meet their basic needs (Giano et al. 699).
Many nations do not provide circumstances for people experiencing homelessness to exercise their rights to jobs, medical treatment, education, participation in societal and political life, and other basic rights. To this must be added the low economic state of homeless individuals, who live in the most harsh conditions possible. Lack of stable shelter, healthy food, access to safe drinking water, deplorable sanitary and hygienic conditions, poor health, social marginalization in society, and loneliness are all exacerbating factors.
The Need for a Solution
Prejudices regarding homelessness in the general population turn against homeless people, making their efforts and those of social services to move out of their current circumstances difficult or ineffective. The issue of homelessness is not well covered in the mass media, which contributes to misunderstandings of the situation and the cultivation of unfavorable attitudes against homeless people among the relatively rich segment of the population (O’Regan et al. 329). This breaches humanitarian principles, distorts social reality, and jeopardizes the interests of millions. The absence of circumstances for homeless persons to follow personal hygiene requirements is a critical issue influencing relationships with others. This closes up informal routes for a homeless person to obtain aid, making it nearly impossible for him or her to engage with others.
It is worth noting that a lack of resident registration and documentation makes it difficult to get permanent employment, whilst temporary and casual earnings are insufficient to offer a minimum acceptable level of living, including rent. Furthermore, in casual and temporary work without recognized employment, homeless persons are frequently deceived by employers who refuse to pay them the promised wages, knowing they cannot protest (Giano et al. 698). Even if you obtain steady work, the absence of a permanent place to live, which leads to domestic uncertainty, impedes labor activity. After a year of unemployment, most people lose all or some of their incentive to work.
The next step of marginalization is when it is simpler to beg or seek assistance from charitable groups than to attempt to achieve something on one’s own. A homeless person ceases spending money on meals; if a voucher to a charity canteen is available, clothing is not purchased, and there are always acquaintances from whom it is possible to beg or borrow a modest quantity without returning it. Petty thievery and beggary are also utilized to make money. Even when given the possibility, people appear to constrict their wants, refusing to strive for more.
Individuals and groups on the margins have uncertainty about their social position. However, unlike other disadvantaged situations, in which this uncertainty is fleeting, it is a constant state in the case of the homeless person, which is often the ultimate stage of maladaptation and manifests itself in the lack of a set of social roles or in a very restricted number of them. Indeed, the absence of a social role in the family, a professional function, the uncertainty of position in society owing to the lack of a fixed place of residence and documentation, and the lack of a meaningful reference group all contribute to a homeless person’s limited selection of social roles (Kidd et al. 391). In this collection, “minor” social positions are often acceptable in local social groups but are not necessarily regarded by society as a whole.
Solution
Governments should develop comprehensive assistance for homeless people. Such assistance includes not only assistance with overnight shelter but also socialization, rehabilitation, psychological assistance, restoration of documents, and employment. It is also critical to keep these outcomes for a long time since returning from the street is difficult and needs significant efforts from both sides to receive and offer assistance. Such initiatives may concentrate on three areas: homelessness prevention, homeless families, and chronic homelessness. Thus, initially, it is required to identify the risk factors for being homeless, followed by an understanding of what social help should be provided to prevent the loss of housing and work.
The third level involves the state providing practical help in collaboration with public institutions, philanthropic foundations, and churches. It is also critical that the state assist in resolving the issue of documentation, which will enable people experiencing homelessness to obtain employment and a place to live. Financial support is one form of alternative assistance. Creating work for people experiencing homelessness can also be beneficial. Another viable option would be rehabilitation clinics dedicated to combating addictions and reintroducing homeless persons to normal social life.
Counterargument
Many people assume that homeless individuals are at fault for their predicament. Such people believe that this section of society does not deserve to be saved and should solve their own issues. However, the causes for the lack of registration and housing might vary. Fire, disputes with a spouse or other relatives, a desire to live in the city but an inability to obtain a job or study with housing, and fraud in apartment transactions are some examples (Lima 112945). This is accompanied by the lack of a registration stamp on the passport.
Thus, the cause of homelessness can be both forced deprivation of housing and variations, such as when a person willingly leaves his flat upon divorcing his wife or when he leaves home to avoid confrontation with his children. That is, the individual has the right to housing but does not choose to use it. A small minority of all homeless persons choose to be homeless on purpose. However, the longer a person remains homeless, the more difficult it is for them to return to society, even if there is a real chance of finding a permanent place to live.
However, even if a person is homeless due to a criminal record or alcohol or drug addiction, he or she requires outside assistance. The number of homeless individuals would be reduced if countries had a more effective jail system that included rehabilitation. The goal of sentence execution is to instill in inmates the ability to live a socially responsible life in the future without committing crimes while imprisoned.
For that purpose, numerous rehabilitation methods should be used throughout the incarceration period in order to remove criminal inclinations and, after serving the sentence, help social integration into society (Lee et al. 11). The same may be said about alcohol or drug addiction. If a person who is addicted to particular substances is identified in time, they can be referred for treatment, preventing negative outcomes and reducing the number of homeless persons.
Conclusion
As a result, at the societal level, the loss of social capital manifests itself in the disregard for constitutional and moral rights that every human being is born with. These rights include, first and foremost, the right to a place of habitation, inviolability, medical treatment, a respectable job, and remuneration. Homeless individuals react to such attitudes with suspicion and resentment, resulting in a reluctance and inability to follow society’s normative standards. Dignity, health care, social safety, and legal help should be provided as standard. Indeed, the rights of homeless persons are infringed on a daily and minute-by-minute basis.
Homeless persons are often denied access to first aid because ambulances refuse to respond. If they do arrive, volunteers must be there to ensure that homeless persons receive adequate care. Social support for homeless individuals is restricted to the activities of social care homes or social centers, which cannot fulfill the demand for their services. To address this worldwide issue, authorities should establish a united system of help for homeless individuals, and society should discard biases and treat the underprivileged with understanding.
Works Cited
Giano, Zachary, et al. “Forty Years of Research on Predictors of Homelessness.” Community Mental Health Journal 56 (2020): 692-709.
Kidd, Sean A., Susan Greco, and Kwame McKenzie. “Global Climate Implications for Homelessness: A Scoping Review.” Journal of Urban Health 98 (2021): 385-393.
Lee, Barrett A., Marybeth Shinn, and Dennis P. Culhane. “Homelessness as a Moving Target.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 693.1 (2021): 8-26.
Lima, Nádia Nara Rolim, et al. “People Experiencing Homelessness: Their Potential Exposure to COVID-19.” Psychiatry research 288 (2020).
O’Regan, Katherine M., Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Sophie House. “How to Address Homelessness: Reflections from Research.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 693.1 (2021): 322-332.
Vissing, Yvonne M. “Ideology, Social Justice and Global Homelessness.” Globalisation, Ideology and Social Justice Discourses. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. 137-167.