In the 1960’s Christopher Jencks presented his causes of homelessness in The Homeless. The causes discussed in his book included the closing of mental wards, the crack epidemic, marriage and jobs, as well as the decline in a variety of safety nets. Some new things to consider for today’s populations are the economic crash, the decline of the middle class, and the foreclosure crisis.  If surveyed, the majority of society may not include such causes. Many people tend to think homelessness is an individual circumstance. Through readings and class discussions, we are learning this is not the case. Each of these possible causes are all structural based sources.

Understanding the causes of homelessness if an important step to realizing the proper solutions to the issue. Many of these causes are structural and most of the solutions to these problems don’t take that into consideration. There are  many ‘band aid’ solutions, meaning that they will help the problem but they are not permanent solutions. Examples of this can include public aid/services. These band aids are important but they also allow for homelessness to continue as it is currently. There is little to no affordable housing or other more permanent solutions to the issue and the funding for ‘band aid’ programs continues to be cut year after year. What will happen to the homeless populations as funding continues to be cut and as more laws pass criminalizing the homeless? The current options for solutions are limited and do not seem to attack the structural part of the issue.

I think it’s important that when a community discusses homelessness they consider the structural causes rather than the individual causes. Such a gap in recognizing the true causes of homelessness can often result in more band aid type solutions. The permanent solutions won’t even be considered because many times the community fails to recognize the true issues.

To read a summary of Jenck’s The Homeless click here: http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/socy498/jencks.html