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Homelessness is a serious problem in our society. Every night in our nation thousands of people are on the streets. This type of behavior is considered deviant because it does not reflect the norms and values of our society. In many cases the homeless people in our country are treated as total outcasts. Many of these people have severe mental disorders.
Some are victims of an economy that has failed them. One may ask how such harsh situations exist in such an advanced society. With all the money and programs created to help people it seems ridiculous that this behavior exists. In a society where people have so much how is it possible that there are still people that have so little.
The homeless are humans, no different than anyone else. They have rights and privileges just as any other citizen. As fellow humans we are obligated to help those in need. The homeless are in need. They are not only in need of money, but they are also in need of our attention and our support. Homelessness is something that we as a society need to address and eliminate completely.
In the past few years the number of homeless people has increased tremendously gaining the attention of the public eye. While there is debate over how many homeless people are in the United States, few disagree that the numbers are overwhelmingly high and they are growing. In the past the homeless population mainly consisted of white men who were alcoholics. Now the homeless consists of many different types of people ranging in ethical background.
They have also become a younger group of people and have a variety of different reasons for their homelessness (Farr, 1986). One of the most common reasons for homelessness is mental illness. The movement which released many of the mentally ill from psychiatric hospitals and did not place them in a place in the city that they would be cared for, have made these people regulars in the urban communities. Many citizens are scared of these people. Other people find it outrageous that our society has failed in taking care of those who do not have the ability to take care of themselves. The widespread media coverage has caused a demand for a solution.
A problem with trying to understand the reason people are homeless, is the different prevalence rates found in much of the literature. Since these people have no home, it is impossible to assess data through telephone directories. Research surveys and questionnaires are not important to homeless people. Many homeless people migrate from city to city which complicates this task of acquiring a sample that represents the population.
For the most part, the information found on homeless people has been taken from shelter population records. This excludes those who sleep on the streets or in abandoned houses and are unwilling or unable to sleep in a shelter. These people could be more psychologically stable in that they are capable of finding their own resources. This can cause the rate of mental disorder to be overestimated. They could also be a less psychologically stable in that they are unable to tolerate rules or being close to others. This could cause the rate of mental disorder to be underestimated.
In either case the sample would not be representative of the population (Jail, 1992). For the homeless, at no time is there physical health not at risk. The homeless in rural areas are at even greater risk due to the lack of medical facilities. Life with no shelter puts a persons health in serious danger. Minor health problems that people have are easily treated with medicines from the cabinet. These problems are much more complicated for those that do not have access to such.
Sickness that would normally be cured with a few days bed rest, become serious health issues to those that do not have access to a bed. Showering contributes a lot to ones health, something that most homeless people are denied. Homeless people have no bed to keep warm in if they get a fever or if the weather is cold. They do not have a cabinet with aspirin or cough syrup. They do not have a stovetop to make soup. They have no ice from the refrigerator and they do not have a bathtub to soak in.
These things are taken for granted by the people who have them. These seem as necessities for most adults, but even more so for children. Children that do not have homes grow up at risk for diseases that are not a threat to the general part of the nation. Illnesses such as whooping cough or tuberculosis that seem so rare in society are commonly found in homeless shelters. These children have not been given their vaccines over the years and therefore are not allowed to attend school. The homeless children that do attend school are sometimes as far behind as two grade levels.
Many of the children are very hungry and tired which makes it almost impossible for them to concentrate. Other children are embarrassed to go to school because the othe children know their situation and ridicule them. Sometimes a teacher might even keep away from a child that they believe to be dirty or may be sick. Most of these children are.
They do not smell good because they do not take baths. They grow up being outcasts (Connolly, 2000). The National Health Care for the Homeless project showed that children up to twelve years of age that are homeless, are twice as likely to come down with an ear or upper respiratory infection. They are three times as likely to have a gastrointestinal problem and four times as likely to have a skin problem and ten times more likely to have bad teeth. For children thirteen to nineteen there was a similar pattern. They had higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse.
Teen pregnancy was much higher for homeless children also. Asthma, hypertension, mental disorders, elevated blood lead levels, and chronic health problems were significantly higher for all homeless children. Regular sleep and nutritious food are something that these children lack. They do not get enough to eat and what they do eat is usually a part of an unbalanced diet. Nutrition, which is essential for good health, is not given to these children. Food that is cheap sometimes robs the children of this nutrition.
In some instances money may be so scarce that a parent may have to make a decision on whether not to buy food for the week or pay for gasoline for transportation to a job interview. Lack of good nutrition can cause a child to stay hungry. For mothers of infants, milk must sometimes be kept cold in the tank of a...
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Research essay sample on Mental Disorder Homeless People
