Homelessness is one of the most critical social problems, which is normally associated with criminality, alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, child abuse, and neglect. The longer the “street” people live without a permanent home, the greater disruption of social values and rules in their understanding of rightness and justice they experience until they lose the ability to reproduce social behavior. As a result, these people begin to realize their abilities in a more destructive way, e.g. through committing transgressions, heavy drinking, or practicing violence against their peers. The present paper discusses two conceptual approaches to the causes of homelessness as outlined by Caton, Dominuqes, and colleagues in the article entitled “Reasons for Homelessness Among New Shelter Entrants” (2002) and by A.Rokach in the article “The Lonely and Homeless: Causes and Consequences” (2004).
Both articles present empirically tested models of homelessness, upon which intervention programs are based. In particular, Caton and colleagues consider the path to loneliness, in which the destructive factors gradually appear and reinforce one another. In this sense, the authors identify four types of causes, which might appear one after another in a cycle: the underlying causes (e.g. loss of sources of income); the direct causes or catalysts which result in the loss of a home immediately (e.g. eviction); the critical personal disadvantages, which might be associated with a social pathology (e.g. alcohol abuse, mental health problems, lack of professional training) and influential social factors (for instance, discrimination, loneliness) (Caton et al, 2002, p.7). Rokach views the cause of homelessness as a combination of five factors: developmental deficits (e.g. intellectual deficiency), psychological inadequacy (lack of the motivation for having a permanent home and stable job); social marginality (normally associated with poverty, de-socialization as a result of imprisonment and so forth), dissatisfactory intimate relationship and significant family transformations and life changes (e.g. loss of a spouse or a close relative) (Rokach, 2004, p.47).
Caton and colleagues’ viewpoints can be presented and illustrated in the following way. A number of social groups (e.g. refugees, older adults, racial minorities) encounter institutional discrimination, which makes it problematic to find a source of income and long-term employment, due to the fact that both landlords are employers have doubts in their commitment. Lots of people also have problems with drug and alcohol overuse, which also cause difficulties with finding a place to live and a job, often because the person’s only interest is earning money for purchasing the substance (s)he needs. They might also have debts and arrears in paying their rent (either in the private sector or housing association rent). The situation depends on the type of tenancy they have got and often ends with an eviction. Nowadays, lonely individuals, who have experienced an eviction are ‘forgotten’ by social policies and their debt is believed to be their personal responsibility.
While there exist community-based alcohol and drug services, few of them are in fact available to homeless citizens; furthermore, there are much fewer services meeting their needs precisely. People living without a roof over their heads and with difficult alcohol or drug addiction have to deal with certain problems while searching for accommodation or assistance and support to meet their needs. Many shelters and “b&b” hotels do not accept these people so they lose their last chance for social inclusion. Furthermore, these people might have dual diagnoses, i.e. in addition to their addiction, they might also suffer from mental disorders. Poor mental health makes independent living problematic and causes problems related to finding shelter. Furthermore, even short-term homelessness might contribute to the development or complication of a mental disorder, since the absence of a secure place for living intensifies the person’s fear and uncertainty and make them particularly vulnerable to a mental health disorder. As noted by Caton et al, “Securing accommodation is often a key step in dealing with mental health problems. However, once a homeless person with mental health problems has been resettled, mental ill-health can severely affect the ability to sustain a tenancy unless care and support are readily available” (Caton et al, 2002, p.8). As one can assume, racial minorities, alcohol and drug addicts, and mentally ill individuals are most likely to become the victims of the adverse cycle of loneliness, in which the direct causes change over time and are constantly reinforced by discrimination the person experiences and/or their health problems and limitations, which, in turn, intensify as a result of a loss of a job or a permanent home.
As it has been noted above, Rokach’s model implies a group of factors, which might not be interrelated or interdependent. In addition, the author assumes that there might be only one or two reasons for the loss of a permanent home, whereas the other factors such as social marginality and individual limitations might appear after the initial experience of homelessness. Therefore, this approach is much more flexible, whereas the model, developed by Caton and colleagues, is focused specifically on individuals who basically have social and psychic pathologies or particularly underprivileged racial minorities. As opposed to Caton and colleagues, Rokach’s model also covers the causes of homelessness, originally caused by family problems, which normally refers to women and older adults. In fact, females and seniors often lose the roof over their heads in an attempt to escape domestic violence. Violent behavior at home takes many forms and is normally directed against women, children, and the elderly. As Rokach explains, “Domestic violence can take many forms, including physical injuries, abuse, and rape or mental cruelty in the form of bullying, insults, and harassment. Very often, domestic violence is a combination of physical, sexual and emotional abuse” (Rokach, 2004, p.39). Furthermore, domestic violence might lead to personality disorders, limited perception of reality. In addition, it needs to be noted that the woman or older adult, who leaves their violent spouse, are also separated from their friends, relatives, and colleagues, so the relationship between domestic violence and homelessness is influenced by two factors from the model, which are unfulfilling intimate relationship and life changes including significant family transformations. It needs to be noted that many women and older citizens, who have fled from violent relatives and are living on the streets, feel much safer and more secure than in their so-called home. Many refugees and asylum seekers are offered temporary shelter for the victims of domestic violence since the problem of cruel treatment of women is extremely strong among the inhabitants of the Muslim countries, who get the refugee status in the United States, but still, live in pressing circumstances which might be a cause of domestic violence. However, if the person fleeing domestic violence is not housed in a re-socialization center for the victims of domestic violence, they are likely to develop personal inadequacy and become socially marginalized, as the major value of street life is survival at any price.
As one can conclude, the two articles offer dissimilar explanations of the social problem of homelessness: whereas the approach developed by Caton et al,
Draws the cycle of homelessness, in which the causes and factors are mutually reinforced, Rokach believes homelessness is a combination of several factors, which are further supplemented by social marginality and personality inadequacy after a certain period of street life.
References
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