Introduction: Homelessness: What’s in a Word? Flashcards
When did the term “homelessness” enter into common usage, and what did it refer to before that time?
1980’s. In 1981, the United Nations announced that 1987 would be the In‐ ternational Year of Shelter for the Homeless to cll to attention a lack of housing in undeveloped countries
Before this triggered attention to homelessless in developed countries as well, homelessness was more about a lack of the social support structure attached to a home, shelter was provided by charities. No homelessness problem, people with poor quality housing arrangements were considered homeless.
What was the government’s focus up to the 1970’s in housing, and what philosophy persisted till that point?
focused on rehousing people into better housing and neighbourhoods. This was because, dur‐ ing the Depression and the Second World War, very little new housing was built and many people were living in poor‐quality, aging, and over‐ crowded housing- policy and society beleived our society/ gov has an obligation to see that all people are adequately housed as it is a human need and right. dedicated to making this a reality
According to Hulchanski, what created the problem?
Canada had a social problem that was and has ever since been called homelessness- housing has not been a high priority for governments, The cutbacks in social housing and related programs began in 1984. Reliance on the private market for hous‐ ing provision puts at a disadvantage not only those with low incomes, but also those facing discrimination in the housing and job markets. instead of continuing public policies, including appropriate regulation of the private sector
Hulchanski says we have limited resources for the prevention of dehousing and for rehousing. Where have we put our focus instead, and what has been the result?
Most resources and professional attention are focused on supporting people in their homelessness.
We have all the evidence we need about the health impacts, including premature death, of being unhoused for any extended period of time. Yet we still give priority to the homeownership sector and ignore the rental and social housing sectors.
What does the author mean when he says Homelessness is not a complex problem?
After all these years of research and policy analysis and document‐ ing the lived experience of those affected and those who provide support services, we know what the causes of the problem are. That means we know what the solutions are.
What are the three key necessities of an adequate standard of living?
housing, income, and support services
how was a homeless man defined in 1960
as one with few or no ties to a family group, who was thus without the economic or social support a family home normally provides. The committee made a clear distinction between house and home. The men were homeless, not unhoused. Home refers to a social, psychological space, not just a house as a physical structure.
2 The word “homelessness” came into common use in developed countries in the early and mid‐1980s to refer to the problem of
dehousing- once housed now not
all societies through history tend to have some peo‐ ple who are homeless – without a home – we have not always had homelessness, why?
the set of social problems we associate with the word homelessness.
Over the past two decades we relied on an increasingly deregulated society in which the … would meet our needs
“genius of market forces” would meet our needs, in which the tax cuts, made possible by program spending cuts that usually benefited poor and average income people, were supposed to “trickle down” to benefit those in need.
why does homelessness persist if no one wants it
but, rather, to achieve socially condoned aims such as making a living, becoming rich, obtaining a more desirable home, increasing the efficiency at the workplace, promoting the growth of cultural institutions, giving cit‐ ies a competitive advantage, or helping local or federal governments to balance their budgets or limit their debts. Homelessness occurs as a side effect
why does homelessness persist if no one wants it
but, rather, to achieve socially condoned aims such as making a living, becoming rich, obtaining a more desirable home, increasing the efficiency at the workplace, promoting the growth of cultural institutions, giving cit‐ ies a competitive advantage, or helping local or federal governments to balance their budgets or limit their debts. Homelessness occurs as a side effect.
why our our current approaching to homelessness not working
But simply condemning the problem while at the same time not doing anything to change the social dynamics that produce the undesirable outcomes, means that things will stay the same − or get worse. In addition, the social dynamics creating the problem remain un‐ named, subsumed under the rubric of the abstract term homelessness. The homeless‐makers carry on their work and the homeless‐making proc‐ esses continue.
2 main fronts we need to act on
rehousing, not supporting people in their homelessness
2 recognize not a complex problem
Hulchanski, J. David; Campsie, Philippa; Chau, Shirley; Hwang, Stephen; Paradis, Emily (eds.) Introduction: Homelessness: What’s in a Word? Finding Home: Policy Options for Addressing Homelessness in Canada (e-book). Toronto: Cities Centre, University of Toronto.
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