Desmond, Matthew. Evicted: Poverty and profit in the American city. Crown, 2016.
There are no fiction elements in this work which is broken into three parts: Rent, Out, and After. In general, Matthew Desmond investigates the struggles of eight Milwaukee households to retain their homes. The author has observed these stories personally and has disguised their names to conceal their identity. These human accounts of renters and property owners, backed by years of study and fieldwork, reveal how significantly housing availability impacts the impoverished. Whereas there is always the notion that homelessness is usually the consequence of bad decisions, Desmond disproves this. He shows that most impoverished tenants spend more than 50% of their wages on housing and are always on the verge of being evicted.
He weaves these experiences collectively to show that eviction is not merely a prerequisite for impoverishment but a driver of it as well. In addition, he underscores how housing is entangled in the production of poverty. Using Evicted, Desmond illustrates that the absence of low-cost housing in Milwaukee and other cities in the U.S. is a long-standing crisis. Ultimately, the author tells the experiences of the households, but he also offers answers to one of contemporary America’s most pressing societal problems. This book is helpful for my research because it proposes logical, comprehensive changes to homelessness, including publicly financed legal programs for individuals facing homelessness and enough financing for housing tribunals.
Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth, et al. “Homelessness, unsheltered status, and risk factors for mortality: findings from the 100 000 homes campaign.” Public Health Reports 131.6 (2016): 765-772.
This was a vigorous study with three main goals as follows. First, to identify the demographics of those facing homelessness who slept predominantly in unsheltered conditions against those who used homeless facilities and related sheltered options. Here, the researchers determined that unsheltered participants were more likely to be white men, have a background in armed forces duty, jail, or foster care, and admit to misusing drugs, alongside a lack of a high school certificate. Second, to determine the factors that influence whether or not a person is sheltered. The findings showed that unsheltered homelessness was more likely among those who used drugs and alcohol and did not receive rehabilitation for those substances, as well as those who had mental health difficulties.
Furthermore, people who used narcotics regularly or were hospitalized involuntarily were more inclined to dwell in unprotected areas. Third, to examine the link between being unsheltered and an elevated risk of dying. Participants who slept in open spaces had a 12% greater adjusted probability of presenting at least one risk indicator for untimely death. Additional risk factors included being a woman, previously in the armed services, staying homeless for more than half a decade, and recently being jailed. I found this research to be comprehensive; hence, valuable to this research as it associated homelessness with many factors, including being in the military, gender, alcohol and drug abuse, mental health status, and many more.
Bradley, Caroline, John McGowan, and Daniel Michelson. “How does homelessness affect parenting behavior? A systematic critical review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research.” Clinical child and family psychology review 21.1 (2018): 94-108.
Multiple predictors of parenting behavior were recognized in this research after evaluating 13 investigations on homelessness and its consequences on parenting. These predictors included low self-concept in the parental responsibility, parental psychological well-being, material wealth, difficulties with independence and self-concept, daily stressors, physical conditions and environmental circumstances, stigma, child traits, and insufficient support. Homeless kids are more prone to being subjected to poor nutrition, aggression, and parental psychiatric problems. These issues lead to greater incidences of emotional and behavioral disorders, sleep disruptions, aggressiveness, and irritability. In addition, children who are homeless have higher percentages of anxiety, sadness, and PTSD.
The research also showed several countermeasures that homeless parents might employ—parental responsibility appreciation, spirituality, workable solutions, getting assistance, and cognitive restructuring. Positive parenting is critical for promoting favorable outcomes for adolescents and young adults, particularly homeless kids. The parent creates a secure, stimulating, and conducive educational atmosphere through responsible parenting. I find this study crucial because it bases its findings on past explorations of the topic.
Morton, M. H., et al. “Missed opportunities: LGBTQ youth homelessness in America.” Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago (2018).
This article research was conducted by scholars from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. It is the second publication in the series Missed Opportunities. The project’s primary goal was to draw attention to the unique circumstances of young individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) and are homeless. According to the research findings, LGBTQ youth are more likely to be homeless than their non-transgender and heterosexual peers. For these and other reasons, the elderly are at greater risk of early mortality. Positively, the findings of this study hint at ways in which people can work together to ensure the well-being of LGBTQ adolescents in our fight against youth homelessness.
Additionally, the research revealed that most LGBTQ youths were homeless. This was not linked to their “coming out” but to familial dysfunction and damaged ties over time. Overall, the researchers found that approximately 4.2 million adolescents and young adults in the United States faced some homelessness in the study period. This research is important to my investigation because not many studies have been conducted to examine the experiences of LGBTQ concerning homelessness.
Schneider, Benjamin. “CityLab University: Understanding Homelessness in America.” Bloomberg.com, 2020, Web.
Benjamin Schneider lauds this article as a necessary lesson on the roots and implications of homelessness, which has become a complex urban problem. In this context, he embarks on a thorough analysis of homelessness in the U.S., which allows him to organize the article thematically. This approach provides the article with a flowing structure according to; homelessness history in the U.S., the number of individuals affected, demographic characteristics, homelessness laws and policy, and how COVID-19 has exacerbated it. Ultimately, Schneider reports that homelessness has a significant impact on many people’s physical health, as they must deal with extreme weather conditions throughout the winter months. At the same time, the author argues that homelessness may also significantly impact their psychological well-being.
To highlight this correlation, Schneider points to interesting statistics which indicate that California is home to 40% of the country’s homeless camps and 40% of the country’s perennially homeless population. The author describes these individuals in this category as persons who have been without shelter for a minimum of a year and have a drug addiction issue, psychiatric disorder, or developmental or physical disability. The author also links the possible impacts of the current pandemic to the homelessness problem in America, noting that the economic upheaval, housing instability, and widespread joblessness caused by the coronavirus in the United States might result in a 45 percent increase in total homelessness in 12 months. This article is an essential addition to my research as it suggests solutions to ending homelessness, like getting homeless people into permanent residences rapidly without emphasizing sobriety requirements.