The Social Issues of Homelessness
Sociology 2, Social Issues & Problems Section 80528
November 24, 2008
The Social Issue of Homelessness
Homelessness has always been a major social issue for cities across the nation but in recent years it is reached astonishing proportions. In this essay I will try to summarize ten recently published articles and each of the authors view of homelessness. First I will discuss some of their opinions of the causes of the recent increase of homelessness and who or what is to blame. Next we will look into just a few of the effects of homelessness, both to the homeless and those around them. After that we will explore possible solutions that have been tried or proposed.
Many of the causes for this alarming increase in homelessness have been identified, but there many we have not yet identified. What we do know is there is no one single cause. It is a multitude of individual contributing factors that turned them from mole hills to mountains.
The most popular opinion among Americans is that the housing crisis caused many to become homeless. As adjustable rate mortgages reset over and over again to higher and higher amounts, people were unable to pay their mortgages and their houses foreclosed on. Those people then found that their credit had been damaged and faced challenges when trying to rent affordable housing. The foreclosures also effected many of those who rented. Many people who rent houses found themselves without a place to live when their landlord had the home foreclosed on. Those people had little prior notice to find and a new home to rent and found themselves unable to pay the typical first, last and deposit on a new rental. This is again was because they had little to no notice and because those landlords were not able to return their deposits. This in turn added to the total of those who fell victim to the housing crisis. Connie Paige of The Boston Globe says in her article titled “Homelessness hits record high”, “the number of homeless people in
November 24, 2008
The Social Issue of Homelessness
Homelessness has always been a major social issue for cities across the nation but in recent years it is reached astonishing proportions. In this essay I will try to summarize ten recently published articles and each of the authors view of homelessness. First I will discuss some of their opinions of the causes of the recent increase of homelessness and who or what is to blame. Next we will look into just a few of the effects of homelessness, both to the homeless and those around them. After that we will explore possible solutions that have been tried or proposed.
Many of the causes for this alarming increase in homelessness have been identified, but there many we have not yet identified. What we do know is there is no one single cause. It is a multitude of individual contributing factors that turned them from mole hills to mountains.
The most popular opinion among Americans is that the housing crisis caused many to become homeless. As adjustable rate mortgages reset over and over again to higher and higher amounts, people were unable to pay their mortgages and their houses foreclosed on. Those people then found that their credit had been damaged and faced challenges when trying to rent affordable housing. The foreclosures also effected many of those who rented. Many people who rent houses found themselves without a place to live when their landlord had the home foreclosed on. Those people had little prior notice to find and a new home to rent and found themselves unable to pay the typical first, last and deposit on a new rental. This is again was because they had little to no notice and because those landlords were not able to return their deposits. This in turn added to the total of those who fell victim to the housing crisis. Connie Paige of The Boston Globe says in her article titled “Homelessness hits record high”, “the number of homeless people in