Exploitation and Criminalization of the Homeless
Chronic homelessness is a social issue worldwide. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development there were more than 84,000 people in the United States alone whom were declared chronically homeless in 2014. Then in 2016, 549,928 individuals were reported to be homeless and 1.36 million children are homeless or in instable housing. The meaning of being homeless is being a displaced individual who does not have a permanent address and lives on the streets or other places that are not meant for human habitation or shelters. These individuals a lot of the time suffer from mental illness, sexual and physical abuse, disabilities, and disorders. Homeless people are targets for criminalization although laws indicate that it is illegal. Individuals who are unemployed are at high risk for victimization. Routine activity theory helps us understand how the criminal justice system has been ineffective in creating social control and are only criminalizing homeless. Housing programs should be readily available for individuals who need support, but this is not the case. Housing programs are the means of solving homelessness in the U.S and are evidence of improving homeless individual’s health and are cost-effective for the government due to the decrease of hospitalizations of homeless individuals. Decreasing homelessness will help the public health system and communities.
There are five pathways to homelessness. The first one being drugs and alcohol, trauma with and without additional psychological problems. Second being trauma and psychological problems (with the absence of drugs and alcohol). Third one is drug/alcohol abuse and family problems. Fourth one is family problems and the fifth is trauma. Individuals do not have to commit crimes in order to become homeless but once they are homeless, they are more likely to be criminalized and fined for situations such as panhandling or sitting on a sidewalk. Some become homeless and then start committing crimes such as stealing and loitering. Instead of more programs to help people out of being homeless and turn their lives around, they end up being criminalized and in prison. This results in a constant cycle of exploitation.
In comparison, homelessness and exploitation go hand in hand. Karl Marx on conflict theory indicates that exploitation is the use of an individual to make surplus value. In this case, homeless people are thrown into prisons for small crimes, released with no rehabilitation into the civilian world, and then are thrown back in prison after they commit another crime or for sleeping on a street that has a no laying on the street ordinance, etc. The criminal justice system does this in order to keep the rates of people in prison high for cheap labor purposes.
Following, this also ties into the school-to-prison pipeline. Some neighborhoods are targets that fall victim to criminalization. Lower income neighborhoods lack funding and have strict no-tolerance policies. This can lead to youth homelessness. Examples of the school-to-prison pipeline is when a student is suspended/expelled from school due to the no-tolerance policies. A temper tantrum of a child in school could lead to expulsion at some schools. An example of a child being criminalized is six-year-old Salecia Johnson that was arrested in 2012 for having a temper tantrum in class. Schools are taking drastic measures instead of teaching the children discipline and morals. Students that have been suspended from school have been analyzed 12 years later, they are likely to have been arrested two or more times 51% of the time and 23% have been in prison. This is 49% more likely to have had probation when compared to non-suspended youth. This adds high rates of homelessness because when individuals are released from prison, they are thrown on the streets with no money and no place to live. In turn, many end up in prison and are exploited for cheap labor.
When correlating routine activity and homelessness, it is prominent that structural changes in routine activity can cause an individual to commit a crime at a higher rate compared to someone who has a routin. Homeless people live on the street therefore they are likely to have a routine of what shelters they stay in, what locations they frequent, or where they decide to rest or sleep. This makes them targets. Routine activity theory incases three main points; motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of guardians. Homeless youth are at high rates of being targets by motivated offenders because most of the time they do not have guardians that are present. Guardians might be watch groups, law enforcement, security. It is also important to state that routine activity approach indicates that households and family activities are at lower risk of criminal victimization than non-household/non-family activities. Homeless people do not have a household therefore they are at higher risk for criminal victimization.
To emphasize, homeless individuals are criminalized. There are crime free ordinances that are in place to push individuals away from their homes and neighborhoods. Since homeless individuals already do not have a place to reside, this makes them targets of ordinances and policies in which push them out of cities. This is the criminalization of being poor. Cities have banned camping in public, begging in public, loitering, loafing, sitting or lying down in public places, sleeping in vehicles, etc. These acts are considered illegal and equate to jail or prison time. Criminalization of living in a vehicle has increased by 143% and camping in public has increased by 69%. Criminalizing these acts and targeting the homeless does not reduce homelessness.
Continuing, it is said by the U.S Interagency Council on Homelessness that “criminalization creates a costly revolving door that circulates individuals experiencing homelessness from the street to the criminal justice system and back”. Fines and fees pile up for homeless people due to the ordinances in cities and since they are not able to pay them, they are sent to jail. Then they are released from jail, then sent back for the same reasons, it’s a cycle. This results in criminal records for many homeless individuals in turn making it very hard to obtain work or somewhere to live. It is said that homeless people are 11 time more at risk of being incarcerated compared to the rest of the population.
Solving homeless is important. The Housing First initiative has helped lower rates of homelessness with great success. It has been allowing individuals to obtain permanent housing without the check of sobriety and stability. This has been cheaper than the homeless staying in shelters, being hospitalized, or put in jail. New York City is a prime example of places that strive to end homelessness. They have provided over $1 billion on homelessness. Their programs keep thousands of people in their homes in turn saving money for the city. It shows that if a community comes together, cities can find funding for permanent housing.
In cessation, it is important to understand the severity of homelessness. There are factors that come into play such as the school-to-prison pipeline, routine activity theory, exploitation, and the criminalization of the homeless. This is not only happening in the U.S but worldwide. A country that especially the U.S should take away from is Finland in regard to solving homelessness. Finland has been using the housing first initiative. Individuals who are placed in permanent housing are paying for housing but at very low costs. Due to the stable living conditions, the use of expensive emergency services dropped which saves money for the country in turn. Although the U.S. has begun the housing first initiative, it has not been aggressive enough in funding the building of permanent housing and support programs for the homeless. The criminalization of homelessness is in addition contributing to stagnant rates of homelessness.
References
Cohen, L. E., & Felson, M. (2003). Routine activity theory. Criminological Theory: Past to Present (Essential Readings). Edited by Francis Cullen, Robert Agnew. Los Angeles, California, 284–294.
Edelman, P. (2017). Not a crime to be poor : The criminalization of poverty in America.
Foster, D. (2017, March 22). What can the UK learn from how Finland solved homelessness? Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/mar/22/finland-solved-homelessness-eu-crisis-housing-first
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. (2015). Chronic Homelessness Background, Research, and Outcomes. S.l]: [s.n.].
Martijn, C., & Sharpe, L. (2006). Pathways to Youth Homelessness. Social Science & Medicine, 1–12.
Morris, M. W. (2016). Pushout: The Criminalization of Black girls in schools. The New Press: NY.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine . Committee on an Evaluation of Permanent Supportive Housing Programs for Homeless Individuals, issuing body. (2018). Permanent supportive housing : Evaluating the evidence for improving health outcomes among people experiencing chronic homelessness (Consensus study report).