Homelessness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Homelessness - Essay Example The sociological perspective applied to the research paper is social constructionism. This approach allows a researcher to examine and analyze development of homelessness in particular social contexts. This sociological perspective is chosen for analysis because the constructionist position emphasizes that the activities through which social problems like homelessness are constructed are both implicitly and intentionally. Social constructionism accounts for maintenance of social activities which lead to such problems as homelessness. Sociologists use the assumptions as a warrant for defining problems as real and observable social conditions, portraying their studies as objective analyses, and describing themselves as experts on social problems. The notion of homeless is difficult to define because it involves diverse social groups and diverse populations. Researchers propose different definitions which take into account different age groups and different social causes of homelessness, location and neighborhoods environment. For instance, Chamberlain and Johnson (2001) state that: "the literal definition equates homelessness with rooflessness', implying that homeless people are literally under the stars', or illegally occupying deserted premises" (p. 35). Traditional definitions of homelessness (Arden et al 2006) involve such groups as children, women, veterans, racial minorities, young mothers and drug users. Homeless are considered children who have been separated from their homeless parents and are in foster care or are living with relatives; a young mother and her children who have lived for two or three months at a time with different relatives during the past year or so, and who expect that, within the next few months , they will have to leave where they now live; a family or single person who migrated to a new town looking for work, lives with relatives, does not pay rent, cannot find work, and does not know how long the present arrangement will last or where to go if it terminates. A person can be defined as homeless if: there s no accommodation available for him/her, together with any other person who normally resides with him/her or who might reasonably expect to reside with him/her, which he/she can reasonably occupy or remain in occupation of" (Homeless n.d.). Homeless are considered people living in stable but physically inadequate housing (having no plumbing, no heating, or major structural damage, for example). The remainder is considered "at imminent risk" of literal homelessness, that is, if their current precarious housing arrangements fail, or if an institutional stay comes to a predictable end, they have neither prospects nor resources to keep themselves from literal homelessness (Luba and Davies 2006). A more expansive definition of homelessness includes the institutionalized who have no usual home elsewhere, the most unstable group among the precariously housed, or both. In terms of social constructionism, homelessness is caused by social conditions and circumstances which influence a person. Pervasive and rising homelessness is caused by social factors; that is, that it is a function of the way society's resources are organized and distributed. Luba and Davies (2006) emphasize a dramatically