Literature Review

According to firsthand accounts from the homeless, many of these workers are largely motivated by their paychecks and not the people they are serving.

With the lack of space within shelters as well as many homeless losing faith in the shelters, we have our research question; how do the homeless deal with the extreme weathers of various locations.

Problems in the shelters

The problem of inadequate support for the homeless population is exacerbated by a lack of a common definition for the homeless.

The population is not just made up of the stereotypical alcoholic male, but a range of social groups which include women, children, minorities, teens, young adults, and families.

Stem of lack of support

“The public appears to hold increasingly complex views of the homeless population and factors contributing to homelessness”.

“A number of scholars have recently suggested that the West has turned neoliberal and thus become increasingly punitive in its attitudes and responses to the homeless and other marginalized groups”.

View of the homeless

Though not much research has been gathered on the specific subject, there are key points that are being noted.

“Requests for emergency shelter increased in the survey cities by an average of 6%, with 70% of the cities registering an increase. Requests for shelter by homeless families increased by 7%, with 78% of the cities reporting an increase”.

heat waves, storms, floods, and infectious diseases have already plague the homeless will become more of an issue as climate change progresses.

Homelessness in relation to weather

If organizations are unable to refine the services they offer for today’s weather they will have an even more difficult time adjusting to climate change.

to address the issues related to weather, the homeless and, the public’s perception of the issue.

Reasons for this study

Crane, R., Takahashi, L. (1998). Who are the suburban homelss and what do they want? An empirical study of the demand for public services. The Journal of Planning Education and Research, 18, 35-48. http://jpe.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/18/1/35

Congressional Research Service. (2005). Homelessness: Recent statistics, targeted federal programs, and recent legislation. Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30442.pdf

Huey, L. (2009). Homelessness and the ‘Exclusive Society’ thesis: Why it is important to ‘Think Local’ to ‘Act Local’ on homelessness issues. European Journal of Homelessness, 3, 261-273. http://eohw.horus.be/files/freshstart/European%20Journal%

Kryda, A. (2008). Mistrust of outreach workers and lack of confidence in available services among individuals who are chronically street homeless. Community Mental Health Journal, 45, 144-150. http://www.springerlink.com/content/k242137777p76r36/fulltext.pdf

Ramin, B., Svoboda¸T. (2009). Health of the homeless and climate change. Journal of Urban Health, 86, 654-655. http://www.springerlink.com/content/24x8m1j7051k4356/fulltext.pdf

Tompsett, C., Toro, P., Guzicki, M., Manrique, M., & Zatakia, J. (2006). Homelessness in the United States: Assessing changes in prevalence and public opinion, 1993-2001. American Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 47-61. http://www.springerlink.com/content/1603714076830121/fulltext.pdf

References