The issue of criminalizing the homeless straddles the ideas of police overreach, and societal structuring. The idea is more so based in the structure and classicism of the current American culture, but this certainly serves to play a role in how police and law enforcement operate. Mostly, law enforcement is tasked with enforcing laws, ordinances, and legislation that is made by governments with the people's best interest in mind. Often times these government bodies fail to see the whole picture.
The issue of criminalizing the homeless, does not explicitly make it illegal to be homeless (which in and of itself is an utterly ridiculous notion), but rather it makes it so hard for a homeless person to survive because it outlaws anything that would help them to. This would be panhandling, asking for change, sleeping in public, and even eating in public. Laws are being passed to rid the streets of American cities of the blithe of homelessness.
A noble cause indeed.
Except, these laws are not ridding cities of homelessness, they are just hiding it, all while making the problem worse. Not allowing the homeless to survive by asking for money and even eating in public marginalizes them even more than they are already. Many of the people, veterans of American wars, are abandoned by society and their peers.
Criminalizing homelessness serves to help the issue of homelessness just as well as criminalizing alcohol in the early 20th century served to help the issue of alcoholism. Avoiding the situation, and doing your best to make sure that an issue is not visible is a disgraceful way of managing a problem. The proper way of eliminating issues is to confront them, and instead of pouring money into quick fix "solutions," it would be more prudent to begin sustainable programs that create awareness.
The Problem With Criminalizing Homelessness
Back On My Feet Foundation
Do you think the adoption of other countries principles of how they deal with homelessness would help in the situation in the US? Ive heard of European countries such as Sweden having good programs helping people in tough situations, but also it cost the country a lot to preform but they are able to cut homelessness down.
ReplyDeleteBesides kicking the issue under the rug do you think increase funding or a change in programs will have a larger affect, or are the programs we have presently the right direction just a lack of funding is available.
I would say that mostly all nations with a Democratic-Socialist model like Sweden (as well as other Scandinavian nations) have the best grip on how to deal with the issue. Since it is such a burden on the tax payer, Americans would be unlikely to take the same strides that Sweden has. America is historically known to hold fast to its libertarian values.
DeleteThis really is an interesting topic, and I'm conflicted on where I stand. While there are some really nice homeless people who were just dealt a bad hand in life, there are those who are drunks, drug addicts, and violent. I agree with creating awareness but I also think we need to do more to keep this from happening in the first place. More attention should be devoted to vets returning from war, no veteran should ever be homeless. And there are those who elect to be homeless. I'm sure part of this is also an attempt to protect them, as the homeless are often victimized. I really never fully considered this issue before. Poverty is a vicious cycle that will always exist, because there will always be those who have more and those who have less.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely an underlying issue of homeless veterans which is entirely unacceptable. The issue of homelessness leads in all different directions. Rae, I would suggest, in terms of your statement about homeless people who are dealt a bad hand and those who are simply addicts and drunks, that we look at the chicken or the egg argument. A lot of the time I think that drugs and alcohol are not the cause of homelessness, but are simply things that exacerbate the cycle of poverty and homelessness.
DeleteHomelessness is a growing problem in the United States that affects innocent children, families, veterans, and single individuals. The government needs to understand that homelessness is more than hiding people away or preventing people from being on the streets. It is a complex situation that needs to be handled from an ecological perspective. While it is also true, that some homeless individuals do have other challenges that may have exacerbated the issue, but in most cases, these challenges derive from other failures in the macro spectrum. Thanks for an interesting blog and good luck.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and your stance on the issue. I agree that cities do a great job of just hiding the problem instead of fixing it. I actually volunteer at a homeless shelter and have had a chance to work with and get to know many homeless people and hear their stories. Really a lot of times they just need a chance and I agree with you that giving them a little money will only temporarily solve problems. Programs for education and awareness need to be developed and shared more. Doing things like creating scholarships so a homeless person can go to college, or helping them get counseling and find a job. There are things that we can all do, great post!
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