|
homelessINK
We are at the point where a split between rich and poor can become hardend, made rigid and permanent. When those who "have" give up on the "have nots", as in old and fosilized societies where "this is the way it's always been", has been and will continue to be. The U.S. gave rise to a new order that is still in development, and this is the dpoint. To give up and leave the poor to their own devises, or accepting the the poor are no diferent from the rich, except in their expectations and so in their enddeavors and enterprises as well.******************************** Paths to Homelessness Extreme Poverty and the Urban Housing Crisis/ Doug A. Timmer, D. Stanley Eitzen, and Kathryn D. Talley The homeless are the poorest of the poor. Like other poor people, the homeless receive inadequate or no medical care, tend to be malnourished, experience discrimination, and are the objects of scorn and condescension by those more advantaged. But the poverty of the homeless is extreme. They are homeless because their economic resources are exhausted. They have no personal safety net and they have escaped the one supposedly supplied by society. Finding food and shelter are troubles every day. And, most notably, the homeless are much more visible than other poor people. Whether they sleep in the streets or in shelters, they are quickly and easily identified as social pariahs. ******************************** Policy, Not People The homeless on city streets and in shelters will multiply. As long as we focus on the particular characteristics and/or deficiencies of homeless persons rather than on expanding poverty and the urban housing crisis, the root causes of homelessness will not be addressed. As emphasis is placed on individuals, it is all too easy to accept a behavioral explanation of homelessness, blaming victims for their own plight. Even when this attention is couched in sympathetic terms, as in the politics of compassion, with its provision of shelters and shelter services, the political agenda moves away from justice and empowerment and toward charity rather than real change. Neither blaming the victim nor compassion will end homelessness. Structural transformation is required, and this will not occur without major modifications in public policy. As Dreier and Appelbaum write in 'American Nightmare: Homelessness,' Public policy was responsible for creating this epidemic, and changes in public policy will be required to resolve this mounting problem The issue now: Do we have the will to act? Paths to Homelessness Extreme Poverty and the Urban Housing Crisis/ Doug A. Timmer, D. Stanley Eitzen, and Kathryn D. Talley **************************
|
close layer
How much of your behavior is intended autonomous action (undertaken
with clear purpose), and how much is unintended habit? An important
question... if you are homeless. Most likely it was your behavior
that brought you to this pass. Bad or unsuccessful behavior can
be changed. And this is where the homeless person can begin.
This is all that is certain. But it is also all that is needed. When we speak of behavior, we usual think in terms of people interacting, social behavior. But behavior is much more than this. What you do when you are alone is just as significant as what you do with others. How you approach uncertainty, how you deal with the unknown, will vary from person to person. You behave with your cat. You behave with your food and clothes. You behave with your thoughts. The purposes to which you apply yourself, and how you go about achieving them, determines who and what you are. Your behavior succeeds or fails in acheiving its end according to how appropriate it is to the situation. ************************ Homeless behavior arises from two primary forces. First, intended or not, the individuals own actions lead to homelessness. This may seem arbitrary, but as the parents, teachers and all, are not likely to be around, the individual in the situation is on the bottom line, win or lose this is where the buck stops. And this is where the homeless person gets it or not. Being homeless requires certain behavior in order to survive and to eventualy succeed as a homeless person. The second major shaper of homeless behavior is the behavior of the society as a whole toward the homeless. Classic homeless behavior is a response to negative social conditioning. Despised because you are homeless and pitied because you are alive. The official treatment of the homeless is lacking in insight, but you the individual see (and consequently treat) the homeless person the same way. The truth is that the kind of homeless you have arises from the way you behave toward them. *The homeless bag and the behavior that accompanies its possession exerts influence over every facet of a homeless persons existence. Control over the bag and its emotional influences is fudamental to being homeless successfully. The homeless bag is discussed elsewhere in greater detail, its importance should not be overlooked. It is the center of an entire universe of behaviors, and it is good a place to begin when helping the homeless. *************************** |
***BEHAVIOR: |