Analysing Homelessness And Potential Causes Social Work Essay

Analysing Homelessness And Potential Causes Social Work Essay Homelessness is not a problem of Irish government housing policy; it is a problem of individuals. In order to discuss this statement both structural and individual causes of homelessness will have to be examined. There are a number of personal issues which contribute to the complex issue of homelessness, and how much these contribute to a individual becoming homeless in Ireland will have to be determined. Both statutory and voluntary agencies involved in the area of service provision for the homeless have different views on the definition of homelessness, and both definitions will need to be explored. Over the years in Ireland the government has attempted to address the homeless issue with various acts and strategies and I feel it would be necessary to review the implementation and impact of such interventions on the homeless problem. Finally the impact of government housing policy on homelessness will have to be examined and discussed. Homelessness and its causes cannot be easily explained. Both structural and individual issues interact to contribute to this complex problem. Personal problems such as psychiatric illnesses, domestic violence, poverty, unemployment, addiction and disability are just some of the problems that are believed to contribute to an individuals pathway to homelessness. Leaving state care such as prisons or psychiatric hospitals, without the proper safeguards being put in place can also be a factor in an individual becoming homeless. With regard to the definition of the term homelessness, it wasnt until the 1988 Housing Act that the first legal definition of homelessness was introduced. 1988 Housing Act Unlike a number of countries throughout the European Union, presently a right to housing does not exist in Ireland. However, there has been policy and legislation enacted to assist those who cannot afford housing in acquiring their own home. The 1988 Housing Act obligates local authorities to carry out assessments every three years, of those who are in need of housing or who are homeless. In regard to homelessness this Act cleared up earlier confusion as to which statutory body was responsible for the homeless, by leaving responsibility at the door of the local authority. Prior to this, under the 1953 Health Act, the Health Authority was responsible for providing assistance to those who were incapable of providing shelter for themselves. Although this Act does not oblige local authorities to provide accommodation, it does how ever permit such authorities to assist the homeless. Also prior to this, under the Vagrancy Act, homeless people were often highly criminalised for such offence s as wandering abroad, not being able to give a good account of ones self and not having any visible means of subsistence. The Act changed this by taking such offences off the statute books. Another provision of the Act authorises local authorities to provide assistance to approved voluntary agencies involved in the area of provision of welfare and housing for the homeless. An important part of this act was the first legal definition of homelessness. Under Section Two of the Act a person is classified as homeless if: there is no accommodation available and which, in the opinion of the authority, he, together with any other person who normally resides with him or who might reasonably be expected to reside with him, can reasonably occupy or remain in occupation of, or (b) he is living in a hospital, county home, night shelter or other such institution, and is so living because he has no accommodation of the kind referred to in paragraph (a), and he is, in the opinion of the authority, unable to provide accommodation from his own resources. While voluntary agencies welcomed this first legal definition of homelessness there were some criticisms of the Act. Focus Ireland, a leading voluntary organisation in the provision of services to the homeless, believed the Act failed to go far enough. One of their main criticisms of the Act was its failure to legally oblige local authorities to provide housing for the homeless. As well as this, they believed the act was too narrow and did not provide for those at risk of homelessness. Focus Ireland divides homelessness into three broad categories; the visible homeless, the hidden homeless and those at risk of homelessness. The visible homeless are those sleeping rough or those residing in emergency accommodation such as bbs or shelters. The hidden homeless are families or individuals involuntarily sharing with friends of family, in insecure, inadequate and often sub-standard accommodation. Finally those at risk of being homeless, these are people who have housing but are likely to b ecome homeless due to economic difficulties such as rent being too high, insecure accommodation or health difficulties (Focus Ireland, 2002). Reviews of the impact of the1988 Housing Act on homelessness Follow up reviews of the implementation of 1988 Housing Act painted a bleak picture in regard to its impact on the problem of homelessness. Kellehers (1990) review stated that the Act had minimal affect on the problem and that greater co-ordination needed to exist between statuary and voluntary agencies involved in the delivery of services to the homeless. He also pointed to the need for the development of a housing forum, consisting of both statutory and voluntary agencies to tackle the problem. Two years after this, in 1992, Lawless and Dillon carried out a survey on local authorities throughout the country and found that only five authorities had staff specifically trained to cater for the needs of the homeless. This led to authorities providing basic shelter, with very little services being developed to cater for the needs of the homeless (OSullivan, 2005). These studies were pointing to the need for co-ordination between services, but it wasnt until almost eight years later that the government acknowledged that such an approach was required. Homeless strategies The 2000 Homelessness: An Integrated Strategy, was the first real acknowledgement by government that an integrated approach to the problem of homelessness was required to tackle the problem. The report found that a wide variety of services existed for the homeless, but very little co-ordination existed between these services. Another part of the report suggested that the majority of services focused primarily on emergency needs such as shelter and food and as a result homeless people became stuck in such accommodation. The report suggested that the focus needed to be more on moving people out of homelessness and, in conjunction with this, putting preventative measures in place that would prevent homelessness. An important part of the strategy was to clear up earlier confusion as to who had responsibility for meeting the different needs of the homeless. The strategy clearly states that local authorities are responsible for meeting the accommodation and housing needs of people who are homeless, while health boards are responsible for meeting their health and care needs (www.homelessagency.ie). In 2004 the Simon Community, a voluntary organisation involved in delivering services to the homeless reviewed the Integrated Strategy. They believed that through focusing on the complexities of homelessness, the strategy takes away from the fact that the foremost need of someone who is homeless is housing (www.simoncommunity.com). As part of the overall homeless strategy, in 2002 the government introduced the Homeless Preventative Strategy. The key element in this strategy was to ensure that no one left state care without measures being taken to ensure they had a place to live upon leaving. This included people leaving prisons, hospitals and juvenile centres. While there have been improvements in this area, there is still much to be achieved. These strategies have had an impact on the homeless problem but the recent freeze in funding for homeless services by the HSE has put the achievements of the last 7 years in jeopardy. A new project ran by the De Paul Trust, which was going to provide 30 new homes to those moving from emergency accommodation, could not go ahead due to lack of funding. A number of other services have also being affected by this lack of funding (The Irish Times, 2008). Housing Policy The term Housing policy is used to describe policy implemented by government in regard to the housing market. Blackwell (1988, p75) defined housing policy as any deliberate course of action which is designed to affect housing conditions. Through policy and legislation, the government intervenes to create a well organized housing market. This can be done through direct interventions such as setting minimum standards for housing conditions as well as directly providing housing (local authority housing) to the public. In addition to this government may provide tax relief and state loans to people purchasing their own homes, as well as providing welfare (rent allowance) to those on low incomes who are renting in the private sector. The state can also act to determine which source of tenure will be predominant within society (Quinn et al, 1999). The three types of tenure that exist within Ireland are owner occupied, social housing and the private sector. In Ireland today the type of tenure promoted by government is that of owner occupied. This is shown in figures produced by euro stat () that 82.3 percent of the Irish population are living in owner occupied housing, compared to an EU average of 63.4 percent. Since the 1970s the Irish government have promoted this type of tenure in a number of ways; through tax relief, the waiving of stamp duty on the purchasing of new homes, etc. In addition, the government has also made it possible for low income households who are renting local authority housing to purchase their houses at a lower than normal prices, shared ownership, affordable housing. Although the promotion of this type of tenure appears ideal in theory it has the undesired effect of excluding those who can not afford such housing (www.cori.ie). Housing need Obliged by the 1988 Housing Act in 1991, local authorities carried out a count on those in need of housing and the figure recorded was 23,242 with - of these being homeless. Two years later a further count reported an increase of over 5000 and the figure stood at 28,624 with homeless people making up. Both these counts took into consideration those who were on the waiting list and those who were not. Voluntary agencies working with the homeless challenged the validity of these counts and were highly critical of methods used to conduct the count. In response to these criticisms, government commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute to investigate the criticisms of the count, and it was concluded that an undercount had taking place. One of the main concerns of this report was that local authorities lacked the skills and knowledge required to respond effectively to issues that often accompanied homelessness, such as addiction or mental health problems. It recommended greate r co-ordination between voluntary agencies and the health board and highlighted the need for clarification concerning policy in relation to the housing of one-person households by local authorities. Due to the shortage of social housing being provided and the continuing growth in numbers of households on the waiting list, there was very little provision for the housing of one- person households (OSullivan, 2005). Lack of social housing One of the effects of government promoting the tenure of home ownership is the lack of resources being allocated to the tenure of social housing. In 1996 there were 27,427 households on the local authority housing waiting list and by 2002 this had grown to 48,400. The 2005 count saw a slight decrease at 43, 684. At this rate it would take until 2033 to eliminate the current waiting list and this is providing there are no new entrants to the waiting list (www.cori.ie). Naturally families are given priority when it comes to the order of selecting those on the waiting list for local authority housing. Its interesting to note that () % of the homeless are individual households and this very fact means that they are inevitably not a priority for local authority housing. In an article written by McVerry Carrol (2007) they believed one of the main obstacles to addressing the homeless issue was the failure by government in the provision of long term accommodation. An interesting fact in thi s article was expenditure on homeless services in Dublin, the budget which stands at 54 million a year is the equivalent of spending à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬74 a day per homeless person, with the price of a mortgage for 1st time buyers standing at à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬46,22 (assuming an average house price of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬270,000). They felt the key instrument in addressing homelessness was firstly providing suitable long term accommodation and then provide a service which would support the individual or family in maintaining such accommodation. This approach, they believed would greatly diminish the need for the web of services that currently exist to address the homeless issue (www.cfj.ie). Conclusion In conclusion, it can be seen that there are a vast amount of circumstances that contribute to an individual or families becoming homeless. Stating that homelessness is a problem of individuals seems to be too simplistic a view and fails to allow for the failure of Irish government to provide housing for one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Although the government has increased funding in tackling the problem of homelessness, the question has to be asked, has this funding being used wisely? It seems as if the cart has been put before the horse as far as addressing the issue of homelessness is concerned. If theres to be any substantial progress made in addressing the homeless issue, providing housing has to be the primary objective. After addressing this very basic need, services need to be developed to assist people in maintaining such accomodation. http://www.simoncommunity.com/uploads/File/position/Taking%20the%20Integrated%20Strategy%20Forward%20Feb%2004.pdf The Irish times, February, 28, 2008 http://www.homelessagency.ie/about_homelessness/integratedStrategy.html http://www.cfj.ie/content/view/152/96/ 614781157279

Lars and the Real Girl

My perceptions and presumptions about people who order sex dolls is not limited on the morality of the person but on how he was raised as a child. In most cases, people who perform something unusual is a refelction on his childhood days. This perception and presumption was supported by the movie Lars and the Real Girl wherein Lars fell in love with a doll because of his unhappy childhood. In my case, if a family member or a friend ordered a sex doll, I will not judge the person right away.I will deal the matter with reasonable thinking and focus on the reason why the said act happened. 2. Discuss how Lars constructs a social identity for Bianca. Lars constructed a social identity for Bianca by means of introducing her as his girlfriend, as if she was a real girl. The fact that Bianca is just a doll was lost when the townspeople accepted her character as if she was a real girl. Since Lars treated Bianca as a real girl and allowed her to grow by working as a model and attending meeting s, he painted a scenario that Bianca is an active and normal girl who loves him.Hence, the social identity of Bianca is a girl who is willing to love him while reaching for her dreams. 3. How do the people of the town set up social phenomena (or systems—i. e. , concepts and practices) and follow through with them in relation to Lars and Bianca? In other words, how does the community create for Bianca a subjectivity rather than the objectivity of a doll? Give examples of the shared ideas the community adopts and accepts about Lars, Bianca and their relationship. The townspeople accepted Bianca as a real girl despite the fact that she was a doll.They also accepted her as the girlfriend of Lars which made Lars able to interact with them well. Aside from that, the people in the town allowed Bianca to work as a model in a clothing store and attend social activities. When Bianca was sick and later on died, the people in the town also offered flowers and support for the couple, Lars and Bianca. 4. What moral presumptions (rules that we follow) does the community share about family or romantic relationships? About humanity? About dignity? About sexuality? Explain.About family and romantic relationships, our moral presumption is that boy-girl relationships must be acceptable in the soceity in such a way that parents and family members agree to the relationship. The girl must be hardworking, attractive, and intelligent. In the human race, the person who knows how to interact well with other people are always accepted in the society. People base friendship and camaraderie with how a person agree to the norms and practices of the community he or she belongs. A person is also considered dignified when he has pride and wit to run his life.For example, in the movie Lars and the Real Girl, the attitude of Lars in buying a sex doll named Bianca in the Internet made people think that he was insane. But when he introduced Bianca to the people and the latter's acceptance m ade Lars capable of interacting well with them, he became a dignified person and was accepted as a real man (The Internet Movie Database, 2009, p. 1). Sexuality is based on the quest of becoming a real man and capable of performing responsibilities in the family and the society as a whole. 5.Use deductive reasoning to justify the community’s conduct in Lars and the Real Girl. (A one-sentence hypothesis) The people in the community believes that the presence of Bianca in the life of Lars made him a better person. 6. Use inductive reasoning to construct an idea about people who buy sex dolls using Lars and the Real Girl. (A one-sentence hypothesis) Buying sex dolls is not really an immoral act, and what is important is how the act touches the lives of many people. 8. Is Lars’ relationship with Bianca immoral?Why or why not? The relationship of Bianca and Lars is not really immoral. Their relationship is based on the norms of the society and the difference is only the fac t that Bianca is a doll and not the real girl. But it still depends on the way people think and perceive in a given situation. 9. Which statement best describes your assessment of this film? Why? a. I believe that the movie reinforced the belief that femininity (and females) is best represented by silence and passivity. b.I believe that the movie offered a view of femininity (and females) that is vibrant, active and engaged in their abilities and lives. I choose this description in the film as an assessment because it was proven in the movie that a vibrant, active, and hard working girl is mostly accepted in the society. Like Bianca, any girl who works hard and interact well with other people is a likeable person. References The Internet Movie Database. 2009. Lars and the Real Girl. Retrieved June 1, 2009, from http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0805564/.

Evaluating the Research Process Essay

This paper will be used to evaluate the research process. The chosen article is Pregnancy Risk among Black, White, and Hispanic Teen Girls in the New York City Public Schools. The research process is inclusive of several initial parts which are the selection of a problem, formulation of a hypothesis, a description of the subject, and the review of any literature as well as to construct a design plan, analyze data and write a conclusion. The paper will be used to discuss the literature and how it is used in the research. What are the considerations for data collection and what is the data telling us in terms of statistical analysis? In the article Pregnancy Risk among Black, White, and Hispanic Teen Girls in New York City Schools, the data was collected form the use of the (YRBS) New York City Youth Risk Behavior surveys. The survey was implemented by the (DOHMH) New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the (DOE) Department of Education. The surveys have been conducted since 1997 on a biennial basis. The data that is used was collected from surveys that were taken in 2005 and 2007. A total of 17,220 students from 87 public high schools were surveyed. Since this information was collected from individuals that were not of legal age, the researchers were extra careful to protect the confidentially of the students. This was done by having the students to complete a survey that requires that no personal information is given. The survey consists of 99 questions and it is self-administered. The data that has been collected has concluded that there is definitely a difference in the sexual activity of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 years old that attended public schools in the New York City area. The differences include more than just age, it also include race, ethnicity, schools, neighborhoods and economic backgrounds as well. Based on the findings of the surveys there is an unmistakable difference in the statistics for each group that participated. Therefore there is a definitely a correlation between the findings and the figures that were used. The numerical data that was retrieved from the survey proves that the data is significant and provides enough evidence to support the significance of the study. In the article the results concluded that (32.6%) of high school girls reported that they were sexually active in the 3 months prior to the survey. Out of all of the girls that participated in the survey, black students were more likely to be sexually active followed by Hispanics the whites. There were variations in the sexual activity which increased or decreased with age, race and ethnicity. The results also assessed the differences in each group access to and the use of contraceptive. The conclusion states that the use of hormonal contraceptive such as the pill was low among all racial and ethnic groups. Differences also occurred within the different neighborhoods. The conclusion noted that Hispanic girls in New York City were less likely when compared to white to use any type of contraceptive methods which put them at a greater risk of becoming pregnant. It also state that if there is any hope of preventing teen pregnancies, the proper information must be made available to educate these girls about long acting methods of contraception. Upon careful review of the conclusion it is evident that the conclusion does answer the research question as it is stated in the definition of the problem. The conclusion is appropriate because it re states the obvious facts from the date that had been collected from the surveys. It also summarizes the finding and breaks down the data so that suggestions can be made as a way to help to prevent teen age pregnancy within the area that was deemed to be high risk. Although the article has significant statistics and data, it is my opinion that there is not enough information to make a decision on the effectiveness of the study. There were several limitation within the study that allows one to question the effectiveness of the study overall. First, the YRBS only included limited questions pertaining to sexual activity and contraception which means it is possible that there are unmeasured differences in the frequency of sexual activity and the consistency in the use of Contraceptives which could make the collected data on each group incorrect. There are also limitations related to data that is collected by neighborhood schools. In some cases students choose to attend magnet or other specialized schools that are located outside of their home school. Another limitation is that the finding for the study was generalized to teens that attended New York City public schools. Therefore, many students that lived in the city but attended private schools or were in a special education program were not surveyed. The article lacked significant information on any other studies that the data could be compared to as a way to test for accuracy of the information. The literature review for the article was used to analyze the variation in the components that plays a major role in assessing the pregnancy risk among students attending New York City public high schools. The discussion portion of this article breaks down all of the difference and compares all of the similarities that exist between black, whites, and Hispanics which contribute to the high pregnancy rate within each group. The discussion also touches on the evidence that schools and neighborhoods can be a major influence in the risk of pregnancy for teen aged girls. Racial and ethnic differences have had an effect on the motivation and the expectation of girls to become sexually active in the early teen years. Fortunately the diverse nature of the study will help to provide the information needed to initiate programs that will give girls the knowledge to delay pregnancy until later in life.

The Life of Amy Winehouse - 1382 Words

The Life of Amy Winehouse Even though Amy was a drug addict and alcohol abuser, She still managed to release platinum-selling albums. Originating from the little known town of Southgate in north London, her inspiring music helped rise the popularity for female musicians in the industry. Amy was born in Enfield, London, in England September 14, 1983. She was raised into a culturally jewish family, but they didn’t consider themselves religious. Amy’s mother was Janis Winehouse, she was a pharmacist. Her father was Mitchell Winehouse. He was a part-time taxi driver. Amy also had an older sibling, Alex. He helped his mother around the house with Amy, at the young age of only four. Growing up in Southgate was rough for Amy and Alex. Amy’s†¦show more content†¦These are social influences that aim to change the behavior of a person. He use to persuade her of unhealthy habits and perceived it as harmful. After months of this treatment, she began to lose control of herself. Amy was hospitalized and was reported that she had Emphysema. Doctors said it could be an early stage of a disease. Weeks later she was back at the emergency room for an adverse reaction to a medication. Unexpectedly, the fans caught on to her personal drug life. The media noticed she began to lose weight. She had dropped three whole dress sizes within months. She then explained to the public that â€Å"I’m a musician, not a model.† Amy cared little about what people thought of her, as long as she put out selling music that attracted fans. Delaying the drugs for a few weeks, she recorded and dropped her second album â€Å"Back to Black.† The album was released November 5, 2007. It won Best pop vocal album and was nominated album of the year. Amy also tied with five other artists as being the most awarded female for a single award ceremony. â€Å"Rehab†, which became her hit single on the album hit number seven on the charts in the U.K and wa s number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The record alone won five grammys including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The song was written about her refusing to attend an alcohol rehabilitation center. On herShow MoreRelatedThe Life Of Janis Joplin And Amy Winehouse1605 Words   |  7 Pagesteam always seems to be some girls dream life. As fans we only focus on the musician’s music, where will they be at next to attend their concert, and following up on their romantic life, and vacations. We might hear stories on the television shows, news, and other sources of some of their drug uses, but we never think if they are just troubled or this is just something they do for fun. 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