Homelessness is Not an Individual Choice--It's a Systemic Failure

    The public too often frowns upon the homeless as if their dilemma is a lifestyle choice. They are told getting a job is easy if you "just pull yourself up by your bootstraps," but there's a glaring error in that expression; it's an impossible task, literally and metaphorically. A self-sustained rise out of homelessness is little more than a fantasy today, largely due to the ways in which the system works against those in poverty. The homeless are antagonized for the large-scale failings of our own governmental systems. These systems have failed to sustain even the middle-class, but what's worse is that this isn't technically a "failure" of any kind; these failings are often by design, working exactly as intended to maintain a status quo protecting the privileged and powerful. 

    Recent events have proven this mindset is extremely prevalent among our police. Their typical solution for homelessness is not solving the problem itself, but rather forcing homeless communities to move elsewhere, destroying their things and violently threatening them in the process. This "out of sight, out of mind" approach is largely responsible for the individualistic perspective through which the public sees homelessness today. To make things worse, this had led to a general dehumanization of homeless people. Studies have revealed a distinct overlap of violent rhetoric against both black and homeless communities. Racism is often used in junction with barbaric anti-homeless policies, leading to an increase in police violence against these groups. Additionally, minorities are far more likely to be confronted by police or forced into homelessness. The police themselves are contributing to the homeless crisis thanks to their lack of nonviolent training and overabundance of racial profiling. If we want to truly end homelessness, we must also focus on nationwide police reform. 

    It is much easier for the police to avoid accountability for these incidents given their job and status. For this reason, they have succeeded in shifting the blame for crime upticks towards homeless communities. There exists a common belief that most homeless people want to be homeless, despite the inhumane conditions they go through day after day. Why would this belief be so easily accepted as fact? Why do we so often blame the victims? The answer lies in a concept known as the "Blame Frame." We usually associate "good" attributes with members of our own social group, quickly explaining away any bad things that happen to them. If your neighbor gets fired from their job, for example, it's easy to think "maybe their boss was a jerk." This benefit of the doubt almost becomes second-nature bad things happen to "good" people. Those outside our own social groups are treated differently. If they end up in the same situation, one might think "they're just lazy, they don't want to find a job." For some, it can be challenging to imagine circumstances so wildly different from their own; if you and your friends found jobs so easily, why can't they? We all fall into this Blame Frame mentality at one time or another. It's easier to view the world through such a polarizing lens of "good vs bad." In reality, we are all victims of an unjust system designed around this flawed framing.

    When considering homelessness as a widespread systemic issue, some may decide it is too big a problem for them to solve. However, it means exactly the opposite. If homelessness really were an individual choice in every instance, it would be impossible to change the minds of thousands of people all at once. The truth is that homelessness is a mix of societal conflicts and discriminatory policies bundled together, all of which can be influenced by the public. We can advocate for police reform to prevent violent anti-homeless practices, we can vote out authorities with inhumane policies, and we can fund avenues for mental healthcare. There are a number of ways we can change society for the better, all of which will contribute to ending homelessness. Instead of blaming the victims, we can stop this crisis at its source and fight for a system that supports us all. 

Resources:

National Alliance to End Homelessness

"Why Blaming the Homeless Makes People Feel Better"

"Homelessness: The Service Providers' Perspective On Blaming the Victim "

-Nathan Hammer