John has been homeless for most of his adult life. He is often seen on the medians of busy intersections asking for food and money or wandering through the park talking to himself. John used to seek housing in a homeless shelter but often chooses to sleep in the local park. During the winter, the local homeless coalition attempts to talk to John about staying in the shelter but he refuses. Staying out in the cold has led John to being hospitalized on several occasions, but he maintains that he is better off without anyone’s help.…
John has been homeless for most of his adult life. He is often seen on the medians of busy intersections asking for food and money or wandering through the park talking to himself. John used to seek housing in a homeless shelter but often chooses to sleep in the local park. During the winter, the local homeless coalition attempts to talk to John about staying in the shelter but he refuses. Staying out in the cold has led John to being hospitalized on several occasions, but he maintains that he is better off without anyone’s help.…
Antwone never had anyone to talk to or someone to listen to his problems. Dr. Jerome Davenport is the first person to hear Antwone Fisher’s story and guides this young man to find light in his life. Dr. Davenport hears all about Antwone’s rough life, from his father being killed before he was born and his 17 year old prison inmate mother giving him up for adoption. He got stuck in a foster home where he had to endure emotional and physical violence, and his foster ‘auntie’ abused him sexually, verbally and abusively.…
The article “How Instability Affects Kids” talks about aspects of instability in households and the negative effect it has on children's mental and physical health and behavior. This coincides with one of the main themes of the novel, Hillbilly Elegy, being that an abusive, unstable home environment can cause hardships in not only one's childhood but also their adulthood. J.D Vance, the author, describes throughout the story of the several house he lived in, each with the newest boyfriend of his mother, who fell under the cycle of drugs, alcohol and abuse. Vance explains the reasoning behind his mother's unstable lifestyle, stating that, “Whatever might be said about my mom’s parents’ roles in my life, their constant fighting and alcoholism…
Susan Smith’s life was plagued with tragedies and abuse. When she was seven years old, hear parents divorced, then just five weeks later, her father committed suicide. This devastated Susan to the point that she became very distant(Montaldo, 2010). It wasn’t long before Susan’s mother remarried to a successful businessman. On the surface, the family appeared to be normal, but underneath the all-Amaerican family facade, incest was the families deepest secret. For many years, Susan Smith’s step father carried on an inappropriate sexual relationship with her. When Susan tried to report the abuse to her mother and to social services, little was done other than the step father moving out for a short while. Susan’s mother and the rest of the family was more concerned with their reputation being publicly questioned rather than the safety and metal health of Susan. Susan’s stepfather eventually moved back in only to continue to…
Adam Mitchell faces the horrible tragedy of the death of his daughter. He begins to review every parenting decision he made…
Baby’s father Jules has raised her in a very deprived environment. Ultimately, this has made obstacles for Baby which she manages to overcome and learn from. One of the most drastic examples of Baby’s hardships is Jules being arrested for possession of heroin outside of their apartment building. Baby tries to reach him but is hit by a car as she crosses the street, without Jules even realizing. It was in this moment that Baby realizes Jules needed more care than she did, “I ran across the street to get to Jules and to try and save him” (O’Neill, 56). Nevertheless she still needs a parent figure, but manages to cope without any help.…
By tying the tale of this family, and the part each person plays in the story, together with notes from family therapy, Schectman easily paints a picture for the reader to see how quietly and without notice fathers can become emotionally absent in a fractured family relationship. She takes this a step further by describing the real emotions and actions that the other family members endure and the benign actions that lead up to the “wicked step-child” and…
Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home is an investigative documentary that gives us the untold story of the homeless and disadvantaged living on Skid Row. Skid Row is a name given to fifty blocks radius in Downtown Los Angeles whose residents tends to have a lower income or are homeless. Many people view the homeless as being dirty, poor and even lazy; it is very rare that we wonder why how they came to be in such a predicament. For many on Skid Row their battles are mental illness and grave poverty. The documentary introduces us to eight different but very similar individuals living on Skid Row; they tell us their very different stories and then explain their similar experiences living on Skid Row. We meet a transgender Caucasian male, an African- American mother of three, an old Caucasian female and her African American “fiancé”, they all suffer from mental illness in one form or the other and there is even an ex Olympian who battled through substance abuse. The only difference between these people and us are certain circumstances and situations. The film just sheds light and gives understanding to the fact that yes they are homeless, yes they lie in the street but they are people just like me and you. Watching this film had me literally questioning why we are socialized to believe being homeless is demeaning and a social taboo.…
In July 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs published a story of a man named Michael who had spent the last 10 years living under a Los Angeles bridge. When the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Mental Health America (MHA) of Los Angeles offered assistance, Michael refused their help. Although he didn’t want to be homeless, like many homeless people Michael was ashamed of his status and appearance which made him “reluctant to offers of support” (Department of Veterans Affairs). MHA Outreach workers never gave up on him and continued to try to help him. Every week, the outreach workers visited Michael and eventually gained his trust. Although Michael begins to feel more comfortable with the outreach workers, he was not yet ready…
All over America, there are people wandering the streets without a home. These individuals are seen as a crowd, a separate collective existence. They are called the homeless, as if that defines who they are, but we too often neglect to add the unspoken word in that title; people. It seems today that the more fortunate citizens of America who have a roof over their heads have forgotten their innate responsibility to watch over those in this world whom are incapable of caring for them-selves. The fact is, that there are millions of homeless in America today. Many of these people had no choice but to become homeless. Economic problems such as being laid off work, or the rise in the cost of housing had lead people to live on the streets. Many of the homeless are women that have become divorced or have left home because of physical abuse. These women have no education because they have not been given the chance to go and get the education that it takes nowadays to get the job, so they are forced to live on the streets. People with mental illnesses also become homeless quite often. These people are incapable of handling the stress of living on their own.. Teenage mothers are also forced to live on the streets because their families will not help them. There are many other people that become homeless for many different reasons. Some of these people cannot help becoming homeless. Some of these people are the illegal immigrants that come here from other places to get a better life but end up not having enough money to make it in this hard world that we live in. Teenage runaways have different reasons for leaving home but all have the same reason for becoming homeless.…
Our memories and experiences from a young age shape our reality and what we see as our identity. As youngsters our understanding of who we are is very little. We are often too worried about seeking adventure and amusement that we do not take into consideration much our identity and who we really are. We all have an identity and how much we understand of it has a lot to do with how our memories and experiences have shaped our realities to who we are today. Through experiences and memories we build for ourselves a reality and we can see this through Keith and his experiences with his domineering father. Through experiencing abuse from his father and control, Keith builds a reality for in which he mirrors his father’s trait in possessing dominance and control over his one and only friend, Stephen. This signifies how Keith’s experience leads him to hold an identity of an oppressor when he is in is his own playing field with people his age. Likewise, as we go through school we see bullies and right them off as horrible people. But often are these bullies’ victims themselves of abuse and themselves use abuse on others to free their minds of the burden of their own trauma. What they understand of their identity consists of oppression both on the receiving and distributing ends of…
Studies have consistently found, in the histories of both individuals and families who are homeless, high rates of physical and sexual abuse in childhood, frequent foster care and other out of-home placements, and a variety of other family disruptions. Those constantly getting assaulted by their families may choose to run away and seek refuge in the streets rather than accept a life of daily beatings and…
Homeless people often have been through some of the worst hardships a person can endure. Abuse is so prevalent with homeless single mothered families that around 92% of homeless mothers were either sexually or physically abused (greendoors.org). According to studies one out of every four homeless mothers are homeless as a result as a violent act from a previous lover or partner. Although women are the main abuse victim, men actually have been found to be the prey of an abusive relationship that results in homelessness. However, violence doesn’t only occur with the mothers of the families. Not only are women usually the one being abused around 85% of homeless families are headed by a woman (greendoors.org). Around 83% of homeless children will have witnessed a severe violent event by the age of twelve (NSCAHH). Not only does this violent event usually leave one parent severely injured, it leaves the other to move out and often live on the street, thus becoming homeless. It may not be the child’s first choice but often the kids are forced to move to the street with the parent leaving the house. This extreme violence will often leave the child traumatized and he or she will adapt violent habits and will be the same way with their family to come (usich.gov). Children taking after their parent or guardian that lives on the street causes many of the cases of homelessness.…
Ralph Nunez. (Autumn, 2001), Family Homelessness in New York City: A Case Study Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 116, No. 3 pp. 367-379 Retrieved August 20, 2010, from The Academy of Political Science.…