Hi, this is my first time on the forum and i'm using it because i need some public opinion for a report i'm writing about homeless people. I've read the other topics relating to the issue but i'm curious to know whose fault you think it is as to why these people are homeless. I did an interview with a manager of a drop in centre for street drinkers and she told me stuff i'd never considered before, such as some people choose to be homeless, like kids who have been in and out of care homes who are so use to a routine and being surrounded by others that they don't know how to live alone and it makes them really depressed, so they'ed rather be on the street and go to drop in centres for meals, where they'll be with other people. Crazy to me, but it opened my eyes.
What do you think?

Welcome to the forum Kate first of all.

I don't think, in a nutshell that you can say any 1 thing is to blame.

My other half is trying to help in her free time to help the younger end.

A local ( To Dinnington) group called "Safe at last" I hope to promote this charity more in the future.

Only a few weeks ago Good Morning with Phil and Fern covered the story of a homeless man over a course of I think a year.

I only caught the last of it but basically he was a successful business man at one point but then things went wrong and he got into trouble financially, I suppose he felt he had let his family down and just up and left unable to cope.

I am sure every homeless person has a story, its not always what people presume.

Welcome aboard and hope we are helpful with your report.

:thumbsup:

The unfortunate thing with homeless is its association with Drunks and druggies!!! Because our attention is drawn to people to we see to be disgusting drunks littering our pavements or begging for money we think they will spend on cider! brings the name of 'the homeless' into disrepute.

My personal view is that there are a small number of people who for whatever reason cannot hack life in our ever increasing materialistic world. They are fed up with the demands of the government in living a 'normal' life (work, eat, drink, sleep, work - filling out endless needless forms paying high taxes and getting little in return for hard work!!!) and to some extent I can understand the logic. There are a number of professional people who have chosen to live on the streets due to stress in the marital home/partner having an affair or possibly loosing a loved one in possibly an accident or criminal incident.

I am all for helping the true homeless....

It is a fact that there are however a large majority of people who do have valid addresses and choose to beg on the streets for money to buy drugs and alcohol.

Good luck with your work

:thumbsup:

THEMSELVES mainly

It dosn't take too much to lose everything in this world.

If you do hit financial problems then you can have a world of pain in getting back on top. If you get your house re-possessed, can't find work and can't get social housing then you can easily find yourself on the street.

And once there it's a very up hill struggle to get back in to 'normal' society.

Whilst some homeless people probably don't help themselves, many are in a position where they can't help themselves. Having been really up against it some years ago I realise how lucky I was to have a skill that I could sell for a fair amount of money to keep the wolves from the door.

People should excercise their imagination a little; once upon a time every homeless person was a child with a roof over their heads who grew up and somewhere in early adult life or later had soem life event that pushed them out from 'normal' society to be homeless. Now that might be anything from the 'self inflicted' losses caused by crime, drink or drugs to business failure, divorce, whatever.

Joe

I've also got a theory that when the weather is dreadful, freezing cold snow or pouring rain, if homeless people had an alternative, they'd take it.

Everyone reacts to situations differently, and what you or I may be able to pull outselves out of, others may not.

If you're including public opinion in your report.. is this research? Are our answers going to included in your report? Is this even an ethical means of research?

I wish it was as easy as this for me to collect data ... No more standing in the street with a ethics cover sheet and a clipboard!