Cause And Effect Essay On Homeless People

The majority American response to a homeless individual is one of instant disgust and fear, even though they haven 't met the person. Imagine walking through a city and glancing to the ground only to see a homeless man lying in filth on the sidewalk, surrounded by his few belongings. Most people would scuff at them and move along but these people all have stories to their privation. Homeless people are often conceived as "bums" but many have faced a lifetime of struggles and unimaginable hardships. With that, there are different categories of homelessness and a variety of causes, hardships, shelters, and solutions. Homeless people can be divided into three groups: chronic, transitional, and episodic. Chronically homeless people are likely to use shelter as long-term housing, older, long-time unemployed, suffer from disabilities or substance abuse. Transitionally homeless people are younger and probably have experienced a catastrophic event. They are only homeless for a short time. Episodically homeless people are young …show more content…
Surprisingly, divorce often ends up leaving one of the spouses homeless (“Factors Contributing to Homelessness”). Disruptive events in youth, such as foster care or death of a parent or parents, are also a popular factor of homelessness (Cohen). Many important factors that lead to homelessness include chemical abuse, mental illnesses, and prior imprisonment. Older homeless men and women tend to have abused alcohol or chemicals such as drugs although; the younger generation of heavy drug and alcohol users is increasing. Mental illness is common in both homeless men and homeless women, with depression being more prevalent among men and psychosis among women (Cohen). Majority of the older homeless population consist of people who had been imprisoned in their lifetime. These people face burdens that give them a harder time getting their life