Discrimination Against The Homeless

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Discrimination against the homeless
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 Lakshmi.Greggles
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By Lakshmi.Greggles 2011-11-16 13:16:19
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I'm writing a Paper in my English class about discrimination and homeless people and I was kind of curious about what people might think: do you think people are discriminated against for being homeless?

From what I've been reading and seen, it seems that people tend to treat homeless people as if they're not really as much of a person as one that has a home. This to me is reminiscent of the rampant racism that used to go on in our country.
 Odin.Liela
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By Odin.Liela 2011-11-16 13:18:59
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I think a large part of the problem is that people don't believe many of them are homeless. Driving through large cities around here, people who claim to be homeless will stand at big intersections with signs asking for handouts. Most people think that those folks are not really homeless at all, they are just trying to make a buck off other peoples' kindness and gullibility.

I think if there was a way to distinguish the fake homeless tricksters from the actual homeless and needy, there wouldn't be so much tension.
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 Fairy.Spence
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By Fairy.Spence 2011-11-16 13:21:36
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They're still people. You get nice ones and dbag ones.
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 Bahamut.Cuelebra
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By Bahamut.Cuelebra 2011-11-16 13:22:31
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I'd suggest u look at papers written about the general public's' view on psych patients, because the thesis and conclusion should be near identical.

Reason i state this is the majority of homeless individuals suffer from manic depression, schizophrenia, PTSD(in the case of veterans) or other psychiatric conditions. Many of which would be diagnosed as a 51-50.

The fact that they have no means to see physician's results in a process known as "self-medication" via street-drugs. Where the patient will depress or manic themselves to suppress their condition due to lack of prescriptions.

Personally when I see a homeless individual I don't judge, you don't know the trauma they have gone through or condition they suffer from.
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 Cerberus.Sevvy
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By Cerberus.Sevvy 2011-11-16 13:26:14
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I think there is a general "aura" about the homeless in general which causes people to think negative thoughts about the homeless as a whole. I wont lie, I asssumed that people got to be homeless because they were lazy until I did my masters thesis on "The Finances of the Homeless."

I actually went out and talked to the people and found out they aren't so different than the everyday people I work with. They, sadly, had unfortunate circumstances whether it was family issues, work, mortages, they could not handle. A lot of people are mentally impared as well which can cause a catalyst in which they become homeless.

Of couse you do have the people who dont actively try to get out of their situation and indeed take donations and buy alcohol and drugs but the majority of those are just good people in bad times, which has reformed my own opinon. For the most part they are good people who just need to get off their feet.

Fairy.Spence said: »
They're still people. You get nice ones and dbag ones.

I like how Spence said it. They are just like everyone else.
 Bahamut.Cuelebra
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By Bahamut.Cuelebra 2011-11-16 13:34:55
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BAM!!! found one its by a Psychiatric Medical journal discusses stigmas, stereotypes, descriminations various types of psych patients deal with from family and the public

Stigma of mental illness
 Fenrir.Skarwind
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By Fenrir.Skarwind 2011-11-16 13:35:16
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*** move I know I know...
 Quetzalcoatl.Dawnn
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By Quetzalcoatl.Dawnn 2011-11-16 13:42:30
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I've been asked soooo many times for a dollar for food from homeless people, then i say "No, I dont have cash on me but I'm willing to buy you something at Mcdonalds or whatever"

and guess what they say, oh no its okay, thank you though!


>.>
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 Leviathan.Chaosx
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By Leviathan.Chaosx 2011-11-16 13:45:49
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Fenrir.Skarwind said: »


*** move I know I know...
Reminded me of this part: here

Can't embed it.
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By zahrah 2011-11-16 13:56:15
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Hmmm...Danger zone. I don't know if I should comment or not.

/pauses

I have a very cynical view of the poor. Unfortunately, it stems from extended family. When my grandfather died, the grifter portion showed up unexpectedly salivating at the chance to suck anything and everything off of his corpse. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I have a hard time feeling charitable or kind toward "poor" (see Leila's post) adults. Maybe I'm cold, but I don't tolerate what I perceive as laziness. (Cuelebra is an exception, but it's not as if you can tell all the time.) Poor children pluck at my heart strings, but that's about it.
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By Sylph.Tigerwoods 2011-11-16 14:03:54
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I don't discriminate against homeless people. If "discriminate" against someone who is homeless, it'll commonly be for another reason, such as their personality or if they beg me for change, etc. rather than the fact they sleep outdoors.

If I don't give change to a homeless person, chances are I wouldn't have given that change to someone with a home, either. (given the same conditions; I.E. idk the homeless person and idk the person who does have a home asking me for change)
 Leviathan.Chaosx
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By Leviathan.Chaosx 2011-11-16 14:08:28
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Say if you lived in a cardboard box on let's say 51st street in NYC, what do you put down as your street address on a job application?

Would look like this I suppose:
Joe Homeless
The Big Cardboard Box on 51st Street & 11th Avenue
New York, New York 10036
 Fenrir.Mariane
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By Fenrir.Mariane 2011-11-16 14:12:51
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Lakshmi.Greggles said: »
I'm writing a Paper in my English class about discrimination and homeless people and I was kind of curious about what people might think: do you think people are discriminated against for being homeless?

From what I've been reading and seen, it seems that people tend to treat homeless people as if they're not really as much of a person as one that has a home. This to me is reminiscent of the rampant racism that used to go on in our country.


In the country I live in, the main factor for discrimination is how much you're worth (wealth) not color/race/religion. -_-

So here it's more about being poor than anything else. And being homeless is the bottom of the pit, no ?
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By zahrah 2011-11-16 14:17:59
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There are church, private and civic supported shelters. Not my problem if they don't take advantage.
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By Bahamut.Cuelebra 2011-11-16 14:20:31
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zahrah said: »
Hmmm...Danger zone. I don't know if I should comment or not.

/pauses

I have a very cynical view of the poor. Unfortunately, it stems from extended family. When my grandfather died, the grifter portion showed up unexpectedly salivating at the chance to suck anything and everything off of his corpse. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I have a hard time feeling charitable or kind toward "poor" (see Leila's post) adults. Maybe I'm cold, but I don't tolerate what I perceive as laziness. (Cuelebra is an exception, but it's not as if you can tell all the time.) Poor children pluck at my heart strings, but that's about it.

The general public cant tell most of the time that's the huge problem and why its unfair to judge them.

1)The guys with Veteran signs are probably suffering from Post-Traumatic War Syndrome. The US military isnt known for providing the best psych-med care for veterans.

2)If they are asking money for boos. Yes it could be due to alcoholism. However, alcohol is also a depressant which can be an indicator that the individual suffers from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and require tranquilizers to depress manic episodes.

"Wanting" to live in a cardboard box is not normal behavior. I don't think anyone desires to do that. (Well maybe Emerson he was a naturalist and weird.) Any desire should be an indicator that the person isnt completely competent and requires social worker/pscyh care.
"having" to live in a cardboard box because ur house burned down e.g. or what not, is just as sad imo.

I dunno i was raised to assumed the best in people. Cause at the end of the day your no one to judge.
 Lakshmi.Aurilius
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By Lakshmi.Aurilius 2011-11-16 14:21:24
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Two individuals in my wife's sociology class back at LSU did some tests on somethiing like this. A guy and a girl both went out on multiple occasions and pretended to be homeless. The guy made $177 the first day, and the girl made $207 the first day. The guy made $168 the second day, and the girl made $221 the second day. They then donated the money to a charity.

Sadly it's hard to know who is really homeless. By their results, that's a decent amount of money for doing nothing at all. I believe she told me they were out there for 5 hours each, each day.

I have offered several "homeless" people food from McDonalds and Wendy's, but was told no thanks. I've only had two of them ever take the food.

It's just hard to know.
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 Bahamut.Cuelebra
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By Bahamut.Cuelebra 2011-11-16 14:24:38
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zahrah said: »
There are church, private and civic supported shelters. Not my problem if they don't take advantage.

And what are they supposed to do when the county has reached their maximum for the quarter?
Counties, churches, support shelters dont have infinite funding or spacing to care for the homeless population. Many are turned away. And lets face it, homeless support/funding isn't a major Presidential election matter....
 Odin.Gosuapple
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By Odin.Gosuapple 2011-11-16 14:25:07
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Lakshmi.Greggles said: »
I'm writing a Paper in my English class about discrimination and homeless people and I was kind of curious about what people might think: do you think people are discriminated against for being homeless?

From what I've been reading and seen, it seems that people tend to treat homeless people as if they're not really as much of a person as one that has a home. This to me is reminiscent of the rampant racism that used to go on in our country.

To be academically honest you'll want to be sure to address the fact that the homeless are not a static class of people (although we do tend to think of them that way). That is, the vast majority of homeless people do ultimately find somewhere to live, it's a group with high turnover.
 Leviathan.Chaosx
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By Leviathan.Chaosx 2011-11-16 14:32:37
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Bahamut.Cuelebra said: »
zahrah said: »
There are church, private and civic supported shelters. Not my problem if they don't take advantage.

And what are they supposed to do when the county has reached their maximum for the quarter?
Counties, churches, support shelters dont have infinite funding or spacing to care for the homeless population. Many are turned away. And lets face it, homeless support/funding isn't a major Presidential election matter....

Here's supporting evidence of that for you.

Quote:
According to the NYC Department of Homeless Services, 64 percent of those applying for emergency shelter in 2010 were denied. Several were denied because they were said to have family who could house them when in actuality this might not have been the case. Applicants may have faced overcrowding, unsafe conditions, or may have had relatives unwilling to house them. According to Mary Brosnaham, spokeswoman for Coalition for the Homeless, the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg employs a deliberate policy of “active deterrence”.
Source
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By zahrah 2011-11-16 14:36:21
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Cuelebra, it's completely fair of me to judge if I'm the one who is donating time, money, clothes, shoes, etc... Honestly, I'd rather give to children's charities, disaster relief, battered women's shelters, and animal shelters. Whether you like it or not people are going to make judgement calls like mine.
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By Caitsith.Zefiris 2011-11-16 14:38:58
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I believe it's much better to donate to a charitable organization that can develop a relationship with the person in need, and help them get on their own feet. I just think there's a lot more accountability in that case. The problem with giving a dollar to a stranger is that you have no idea what they plan to do with it, or if it will help them in the least.

Anyone who truly wants to work to improve themselves deserves respect, homeless or not.
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 Phoenix.Sehachan
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By Phoenix.Sehachan 2011-11-16 14:41:01
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 Shiva.Nikolce
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By Shiva.Nikolce 2011-11-16 14:42:03
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Lakshmi.Greggles said: »
I'm writing a Paper in my English class about discrimination and homeless people and I was kind of curious about what people might think: do you think people are discriminated against for being homeless? From what I've been reading and seen, it seems that people tend to treat homeless people as if they're not really as much of a person as one that has a home. This to me is reminiscent of the rampant racism that used to go on in our country.

Odin.Liela said: »
the fake homeless

First of all racism still goes on.

Secondly. There is a monsterously huge difference between hanging up a "Restroom is for Customer's Only" sign so as not to let junkies shoot up in your restaurant's bathroom and putting up a "White's Only" sign and killing people for having a different skin color than you. You are wrong, start your paper over.

As Liela pointed out, There are many subtle shades of the group generaly refered to as "homeless people" from grifters that "dress down" to panhandle to people who perhaps have jobs but live out of their cars, hobos, travelers, bums, junkies and so on "homeless by current circumstances", let's say. Spending a few weeks on a friends couch while you move between apartments is alot different from real homeless people.

The group I think you are refering too are the "chronic homeless" are ones that are suffering from severe mental impairment that argue with themselves and/or against invisable adversaries with visable stink lines radiating from their seventeen layers of "clothes" like pigpen from Charlie Brown.

Maybe not all of them are going wildly attack you with broken bottles for wearing something yellow and then ***on your chest, but enough of them do that we tend to give these people a "wide birth", that's not prejudice, that's your survival instinct clicking in and screaming"DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!" that guy is hungrily starring at your jugular!!!

Whether or not these people can be helped, let's at least agree that they should be helped by institutions or groups and not by individuals, who alone are extremely vunerable.
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 Fenrir.Schutz
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By Fenrir.Schutz 2011-11-16 14:46:33
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Lakshmi.Aurilius said: »
Two individuals in my wife's sociology class back at LSU did some tests on somethiing like this. A guy and a girl both went out on multiple occasions and pretended to be homeless. The guy made $177 the first day, and the girl made $207 the first day. The guy made $168 the second day, and the girl made $221 the second day. They then donated the money to a charity.

Sadly it's hard to know who is really homeless. By their results, that's a decent amount of money for doing nothing at all. I believe she told me they were out there for 5 hours each, each day.

I have offered several "homeless" people food from McDonalds and Wendy's, but was told no thanks. I've only had two of them ever take the food.

It's just hard to know.

Whenever this subject is brought up for me, I always think of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel "The Man with the Twisted Lip". :p Not to spoil a 120-year old story, but it involves Sherlock Holmes investigating the disappearance of a businessman, who as it turns out, ended up being found masquerading as a beggar because he made far more money as a beggar than he did in his newspaper trade.

It just underscores that this isn't really a modern sort of issue--ever since human beings have gathered together in groups there were always "haves" and "have-nots," which results in people developing either compassionate views or cynical ones regarding whether those "have-nots" are sincerely disadvantaged, or are simply "try-nots."

It really isn't until the modern notion of the Welfare State (a systematic governmental approach to providing for all of society through redistribution of wealth) that you get this issue of "classist resentment" for those paying into the system versus those benefiting from it (or abusing it) whether government-funded shelters or directly-paid assistance.

For sure when it comes to suffering, I am thoroughly compassionate-liberal type and I try to give to people who are in need (using my own judgement) but I do at times have to bite my lip and take people at their word when they claim to have nothing at all.

In terms of true homelessness, I do see it being hard to get back on their feet given no address for job applications but I do know that there are many programmes at job shelters to help people find job placement. So while I am compassionate and give when I am able, and know how it is to be in hard times, I do think it's better for people to try to improve their own conditions rather than thinking either it is society's obligation to do so, or relying on the largess of others to survive day-to-day.
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 Siren.Entrerie
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By Siren.Entrerie 2011-11-16 15:05:36
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Bahamut.Cuelebra said: »
I'd suggest u look at papers written about the general public's' view on psych patients, because the thesis and conclusion should be near identical.

Reason i state this is the majority of homeless individuals suffer from manic depression, schizophrenia, PTSD(in the case of veterans) or other psychiatric conditions. Many of which would be diagnosed as a 51-50.

The fact that they have no means to see physician's results in a process known as "self-medication" via street-drugs. Where the patient will depress or manic themselves to suppress their condition due to lack of prescriptions.

Personally when I see a homeless individual I don't judge, you don't know the trauma they have gone through or condition they suffer from.

Here is the thing about this.....I am a psych assessment officer and if a homeless patient presents for a psychiatric evaluation they cannot be refused for the inability to pay. Also if they meet certain criteria they are to be admitted under mental health laws. Also they cannot be released unless they have a place to go , Shelter, family ect...
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By Leviathan.Chaosx 2011-11-16 15:14:28
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Before I forget...
The only real homeless people are NPCs, and since they're not really people it doesn't really matter. Everyone else has a MH.
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 Bahamut.Cuelebra
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By Bahamut.Cuelebra 2011-11-16 15:16:52
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Siren.Entrerie said: »
Here is the thing about this.....I am a psych assessment officer and if a homeless patient presents for a psychiatric evaluation they cannot be refused for the inability to pay. Also if they meet certain criteria they are to be admitted under mental health laws. Also they cannot be released unless they have a place to go , Shelter, family ect...

You are correct. By law they cannot be turned away IF they are diagnosed to be a 5150 by the admitting physician, i emphasize physician. (ONLY and only a licensed MD, PhD Psychologist or Psychiatrist can perform an official psych evaluation. U may be allowed to view it as an officer, however, its ultimately conducted by the licensed physician or PhD.) They have to be held for the mandatory 72 hours at least here in CA.

IF they are not deemed 5150. The hospital can turn them away and forward them to mental health services....It all depends on the evaluating physician. A lot of physicians and rn's in ER don't have the patients best interest in mind. Their main concern is getting patients in and out fast.
(e.g. when i worked at General Hospital Los Angeles, for my pharmatoxicology internship, i saw a psychiatrist give a homeless bipolar 5150 guy seroquel and remeron and said "call mental health services schedule an appoint" thats all i can do goodbye.)

zahrah said: »
Cuelebra, it's completely fair of me to judge if I'm the one who is donating time, money, clothes, shoes, etc... Honestly, I'd rather give to children's charities, disaster relief, battered women's shelters, and animal shelters. Whether you like it or not people are going to make judgement calls like mine.
It is and isn't fair if the judgement is ignorance. U mean to tell me its a fair judgement to call someone lazy, then u find out its an ex-war vet who suffers from PTSD, because the veterans hospital turned him away? and YES veteran hospitals do turn veterans away... sad to say Ive seen it many many times.
 Leviathan.Bimbam
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By Leviathan.Bimbam 2011-11-16 15:27:08
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Riddle me this. How long would it take for any of you if put out on the street for whatever misfortune may behold you, to save enough money to rent a half decent suit, shower and interview for any labouring/factory/pushing trolleys round a car park job using any number of hospices as a temporary address and seek help from the myriad agencies designed for this purpose. Hell I would sell the Big Issue if it came to it (and respect those who do).

At the end of the day, I see the vast majority of homeless as being homeless by choice. They seem to be exclusively able bodied individuals who would be more than capable of performing any manual labour/line work.

They are also perfectly able to drink crates of Special Brew behind the train station after a day of begging (seen this), and likely return to their government paid for council estate house, with more amenities than me, paid for by spurious jobseekers/disability benefits. Also known as the tax actually working people pay to make sure they get to live nice.
Every family I knew in school on benefits had considerably more luxuries than I did coming from a working family. The house itself would look like ***, but every games console, new game, sky channel etc. etc.

I would like to say "If I were homeless, I may feel differently", but as I consider it to be purely a matter of attitude towards work (laziness), ie. doing what needs to be done no matter what, I will likely never be homeless.
I have more issue with people sponging off benefits, but as they almost certainly do that too, they receive my highest level of contempt.

Personally I would like to see our government tackle the almost ~2.7 million jobless people in England by simply turning benefits off. Spend half of that money in creating a new industry or bolstering an old one and then offering every single person on benefits a job in said industry on minimum wage. The job is literally handed to you on a plate, but if you don't work, you *** die.

Unfortunately my flatmate informs me this is what Hitler did. It worked, but nobody wants to follow in his footsteps, even the ones he took in the right direction.
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 Leviathan.Bimbam
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By Leviathan.Bimbam 2011-11-16 15:29:44
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As part of your study, go see if you can actually get jobs for the homeless people.

See if they actually take up the offer.
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By Phoenix.Sehachan 2011-11-16 15:32:04
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Trying to avoid getting into the debate and I won't speak for a general rule. However keep in mind that many homeless need the alcohol for warmth.
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