Homelessness
Homelessness is first an issue that reflect society’s degradation about allowing people, including children, to sleep on the street. No one should be homeless in a country that commands as much wealth as America does, unless that person wants to be homeless. The wealth issue in this country is that people have less access to the wealth that allows them to purchase homes and more because of the widening wealth gap (DePillis, 2017). I think that my blog can inspire people to begin to think about what it means to sleep in the street at night. It can introduce the reality of this lifestyle to people who do not know it. If possible, I would like to add photos of the types of people that are on the street so that my readers can begin to see how much they have in common with the homeless.
Improving the Function of Society
Based on studies about poverty and homelessness, a stable environment makes a big difference in how people function in life. Students who live in stable housing do better in school (Voight, Shinn, & Nation, 2012). This is because the stress of never knowing where one will wind up and being able to study as well as do homework greatly improve for people who live in stable housing (Voight, Shinn, & Nation, 2012). Affordable housing equates to stable housing. Families are not forced to flee when they cannot make mortgage payments or rent payments.
Affordable housing also helps people in terms of employment. People who are not worried about losing their homes or finding a home do better on the job. They do better in endeavors such as opening their own businesses. All of this reflects a healthy society in terms of function and finance. According to Placer (2017), “Many employers have reported that a lack of affordable housing makes it more difficult – and thus more costly – to recruit and retain employees. In a national survey of more than 300 companies, 55 percent of the largest respondents acknowledged an insufficient level of affordable housing in their proximity, and two-thirds of the same respondents believed that the shortage negatively affected their ability to hold onto qualified employees. A recent study revealed that retail salespersons could not afford to rent a typical one-bedroom apartment in 184 of the 210 markets studied.” This inhibits local economies across America.
Affordable housing for both the poor and the homeless can improve the mood of an area. It helps get people off of the street so that the places they sleep are not littered with humans who have no-where to go, improves business areas that contain a lot of homeless people, and it just makes people proud of their communities again. Poverty hurt the overall drive of a community, and one way to help that is by offering affordable housing that inspires people to care about their communities again.
Facts about Affordable Housing
A pervasive myth concerning affordable housing is that it drives down property values. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, it improves them and as mentioned earlier, it stimulates business and employment which makes the property values of more expensive housing that much more expensive.
As Affirmed Housing (2017) explains, “Repeated research has shown that affordable housing has no negative impact on the price or frequency of sales of neighboring homes. A recent study of four very-low-income family housing developments in suburban Chicago – Victorian Park in Streamwood, Liberty Lakes Apartments in Lake Zurich, Waterford Park Apartments in Zion, and Brookhaven Apartments in Gurnee – revealed that affordable housing can have a positive impact on surrounding property values. A Wisconsin study of housing constructed under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program concluded that property values surrounding these developments rose, even in relatively affluent areas.”
In addition to this, affordable housing cleans up the area of building that are in disarray and that actually lower mid-income housing property values. Therefore, if those buildings are turned into affordable housing, then mid-income property owners can increase the value of their property. Affordable housing can be very stylish. Some people believe that it looks cheap, but this another myth designed to discourage the building of affordable housing, one that stems from misinformation as well intentions based in prejudice against lower income people (Placer, 2017). If public housing is funded with any public money, it must comply with standards that enforce higher building codes that market-rate housing, which is often built cheaply (Placer, 2017).
Another common misconception is that the affordable element of this type of housing is because the materials are cheap (Placer, 2017). The people who work on these projects want their buildings to last long-term for repeated use as well as to generate interest and stimulation in the areas where they are constructed. Using cheap materials does not make sense. And if any of the funds come from public sources, then the materials must be up to standard (Placer, 2017). This housing does not pose a safety risk and will be great for all kinds of people, including newly married couples and young families.
Role of Psychology in Homelessness
The role of psychology in the social justice issue of homelessness can be succinctly
divided into two broad and divergent camps. The first of these, and the one most commonly thought about when considering the issues and especially causes f homelessness is that the individuals who are homeless may have psychological problems and deficits (Moritsugu, 2015). There have been numerous studies over the years that have documented and demonstrated that there are higher rates of psychological disturbance amongst the homeless population in this country and that often times, people who were psychologically functional and competent before will suffer a psychological trauma. After this trauma has occurred and has damaged their
psyche, they will then be more prone to homelessness, and this can even be the precipitating factor in their development of homelessness.
The second, and much less thought about and considered impact of psychology as it
relates to homelessness is the fact that the problem of homelessness is a psychological problem on the part of the larger society and the members within it. The causes of homelessness can generally be broken down into one of two broad categorizations. There are those that are homeless for mental, social, and psychological reasons, and then there are those who are homeless because of financial reasons (Moritsugu, 2015). However, regardless of the cause of an individual’s homelessness, the society to which they belong should care about their well-being and should care about the other members of the society. The fact that so many parts of American society can turn their backs on the homeless and those who cannot afford housing demonstrates a lack of empathy, which is a critical clinical indicator to many psychoses.
Ethnic Inequalities in Homelessness
There are significant and important ethnic inequalities that are apparent in the rates and incidents of low income and homelessness in America. There are far more homeless and low-income individuals and families in this country that are of an ethnic minority, particularly black and native American. This is despite the fact that Caucasians still make up the majority of the population of this country. Therefore, there is a disparity in the ethnic representation of the whole of the population in terms of this social justice issue. White people do not face the same or as many challenges as do ethnic minorities when it comes to affordable housing and homelessness.
Ethnic Inequalities on Psychological Well Being
There are also significant ethnic inequalities as it relates to the psychological well-being of those who are homeless or near homeless. This is because those individuals who experience homelessness or housing not associated as income based or affordable housing because of the inequalities in their existence and experience based upon their race will also experience these same inequalities as it relates to the availability and the attainability of psychological services to help them deal with their issues and problems (Phillips, 2015).
Historical Biases and Oppression
A large contributing factor to the oppression of the population that is homeless or cannot afford their housing is the institutionalization of racism and the continuation and perpetuation of the idea of the white supremacy and the need to bring civilization to the savage. During the colonial period in American history, not only were any individuals who were not land owning white males not citizens, but if an individual was not white, they could legally be owned. This slavery was a problem that still lingers today. The psychology of the American psyche is one that is not willing to acknowledge, readily, its past mistakes and to make recompense for them. This means that many people with wealth and power today are still of a mindset that any people who are homeless must have made the choice to be so (Trepagnier, 2017) just as some black Africans and native Americans rejected the “civilization” efforts of the white conquerors and the imposition of Christianity on them.
Psychology and Social Change About Affordable Housing
The truth of the matter is that the majority of the time, affordable housing and
homelessness are just not thought about. A large part of the reason of this is that most of
America is just too busy to be bothered by those who are poor, have mental health issues, substance abuse issues or just find themselves struggling to make ends meet, or who are not as affluent or able as they are and so cannot afford, find or retain affordable housing. When, on occasions, affordable housing and homelessness are thought about, they are generally though of in a social change or social justice issue. While this is a monumental step in the right direction, it needs to be extended. People need to realize that one of the most significant and often overlooked contributors to a lack of affordable housing and especially to homelessness is psychological in nature. This is often because the individuals most at risk of being under-served by traditional housing sources, or those most at risk for losing their housing are those who demonstrate the traits we find in psychologically and mentally ill individuals. This lack of understanding is not a cause for chastisement on the part of the individuals who did not know or were not aware. That would achieve nothing, and creating more problems and concerns for the person. Instead of saying that people should know better and should act to intervene, it is the
intention of this blog to spread open information and to assist in getting the word out that if we, as a society, want to be concerned about the social justice and social change aspects of affordable housing and homelessness, we need to be better able and prepared to deal with the psychological issues that affect the homeless. Additionally, finding ways to prevent homelessness through mental health treatments, along with making more affordable housing available to those whose income is not enough to sustain them in housing.
Explanation of Relevance
The issue of affordable housing is, ultimately, of the utmost interest to psychology. The reason for this is because one of the primary causes of a lack of affordable housing and subsequent homelessness, aside form those factors affected and influenced by market forces (the tech boom in San Francisco and subsequent gentrification could not be affected by psychology), is psychological problems and mental illness. While homelessness is not necessarily a psychological experience, those working in the field can assist the general public in understanding homelessness and assisting in eradicating it through their work (Christensen, 2018). There are a number of studies by the housing and urban development authority and veteran’s affairs administration that indicate that mental disturbance among the homeless is one of the leading causes of their homelessness (Tsai, 2016). It then rests squarely on the shoulders of the profession and industry of psychology to try to help these individuals overcome their mental deficits. With their work psychologists will gain a better understanding of what their clients are feeling, and what factors contributed to the episode of homelessness, thus work to also
educate society on the many factors of homeless, in particular the attitudes of the way others react and look at those who may be less fortunate and help in finding permanent housing options (Christensen, 2018). If this can be done, then there can be a great shift towards reducing homelessness and increasing affordable housing.
Theoretical Frameworks and Behavior
Although behaviorists would argue that the homeless are such because their actions have created a situation where they end up homeless (Watson, 2017), studies have also found that those groups of people excluded from obtaining certain services in particular the United States, such as African Americans, and others with darker skin color, find themselves homeless more often than other groups (Christensen, 2018). While this might be true, it also falls short of what psychology can do. The functionalist and the cognitivist, however, would contend that there are mental traumas or hindrances in place that affect the ability of the affected individual to achieve a state of having safe shelter.
Psychology’s Role in Advocating for the Greater Good
Despite the limited and abridge perspective brought by the behaviorists, the role of
psychology and the psychologists in addressing homelessness and affordable housing for those who have none is paramount. Research has found some of the reasons believed to impact homeless disparities is in income, lack of employment, housing discrimination, and reasons found to create homeless situations. Psychologist can then work with clients and society by identifying these disparities or reasons of social exclusion, thus taking on the following two actions to help in these situations about the things they see and feel that will make a difference in the lives of others (Christensen, 2018). The first is the direct intervention to provide psychological service to those who are experiencing housing difficulties. The second is the fact that the psychologists will develop a trustful relationship with clients, stabilize and help their clients find ways of coping, then also seek to find ways to end the homelessness by advocate for the client and those at risk of becoming homeless (Slesnick, Glassman, Katafiasz, & Collins, 2012). This is perhaps the most important of the two roles because it includes better funding for research and a more impactful explanation of the problem and its various causes. Moreover, keeping the APA ethical principles in mind when working with and on behalf of clients, at the
end of the day psychologists can assist in changing societies viewpoints on many negative factors and unjust practices that impact us all by being an agent of social change, which creates a positive impact on the outcomes for the homeless population and others in need.
References
DePillis, L. (2017). America’s wealth gap is bigger than ever. CNN. Retrieved
from: http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/03/news/economy/wealth-gap-america/index.html
Placer Housing Matters Staff (2017) Economic benefits of affordable housing. Placer. Retrieved from:
Voight, A., Shinn, Marybeth, & Nation, M. (2012). The longitudinal effects of residential mobility on the academic achievement of urban elementary and middle school students. Educational Researcher, 41(9Retrieved from:
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189×12442239
Moritsugu, J., Vera, E., Wong, F. Y., & Duffy, K. G. (2015). Community psychology.
Psychology Press.
Phillips, L. (2015). Homelessness: perception of causes and solutions. Journal of Poverty, 19(1),1-19.
Trepagnier, B. (2017). Silent racism: How well-meaning white people perpetuate the racial divide. Routledge.
Christensen, H. (2018). How Psychologists Can Help to End Homelessness. Retrieved from
https://www.psychology.org.au
Slesnick, N., Glassman, M., Katafiasz, H., & Collins, J. C. (2012). Experiences Associated with Intervening with Homeless, Substance-abusing Mothers: The Importance of Success. Social Work,57(4), 343–352.
Tsai, J., Link, B., Rosenheck, R. A., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2016). Homelessness among a nationally representative sample of US veterans: prevalence, service utilization, and correlates. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 51(6), 907-916.
Watson, J. B. (2017). Behaviorism. Routledge.
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