Thoughts on Homelessness

By Samoan Barish, Ph.D.

In "Major Barbara," G.B. Shaw tells us that "the Greatest of Our Evils and the Worst of Our Crimes is Poverty."

Since time immemorial, there have been poor people, needy people, hungry people; people without a place to stay, a bed to sleep in, troubled people. People who felt they had to beg in order to survive societies, then and now lacking the structure, ability, willingness, to help those people who fall between the cracks.

Throughout the ages, different societies have assumed different attitudes towards the needy. Moral tenets relating to charity and protection of the weak are found as far back as the Code of Hammurabi in ancient Babylonia. Aristotle in ancient Greece wrote it was more blessed to give than receive. We find in both the Jewish tradition and the Christian, important references to the duty to give. (I'll leave any further elaboration of this to our clergy)

Eventually in England the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 established both a set of punishments for vagrancy and begging as well as a system of private and public relief for those in poverty. Think of some of Dickens' novels of the period (e.g. "The Poor House"). These laws greatly influenced America's laws and treatment of poor people, including judgmental attitudes towards the poor as being unworthy.

This evening my charge is to present an overview of the nature of homelessness in order to provide some context for you; a backdrop, if you will, upon which you can consider our distinguished panel members' remarks and formulate your own thoughts. A caveat before we go any further. Even though we will be talking about people who are homeless, as a group, each person in that group is unique and has his/her own subjectivity as individuals.

Regardless of our point of view about homelessness, the phenomenon of homelessness seems to have become chronic. Homeless people, men, woman and children are part of the landscape sweeping across modern urban America. Santa Monica, with our temperate climate and large sandy beaches, is just one of the many cities so effected.

Granted that the actual census of homeless people is difficult to definitively ascertain. Nonetheless, it is estimated (1998-Dept of Health and Human Services) that in the U.S over the course of a week there are approximately 600,000 homeless people. Further, as many as 2 million different people may be homeless at some point over the course of a year.

As many of you know, the most recent census in SM reported that 1,000 homeless people are in SM at any one night. The enormity and complexity of this phenomena is simply staggering!

Being introspective by nature and a Clinical Social Worker and Psychoanalyst by Profession, if I ask myself what are some of the things that come to mind when I think about homelessness. The answer that pops up is controversy and confusion, upset, shameful.... Perhaps each of you could think about your own associations to homelessness

Indeed, passionately held, divergent attitudes about this troubling phenomenon seem to abound. Unfortunately, divisiveness and blaming occur only too frequently... Confusion and contradictory points of view swirl around like fog on an early summer's eve in Santa Monica.

There are so many unanswered question and so many areas of disagreement, starting with how do you even define homelessness? How many nights does a person have to spend outdoors to be considered homeless? How many people are homeless? What causes homelessness? How many homeless people suffer from serious mental illness? From substance abuse? From both? From neither? How can we prevent homelessmess? Are we spending too much money attempting to care for homeless people? Too little money? Do we offer too many services? Not enough? Do people have the right to be homeless? And if so, how should they exercise that right? Do those of us who are housed and in business have a responsibility for people who are homeless? If so, what is it? I could go on, but I think you get the point.

There have been a number of studies, large and small, that have investigated different facets of homelessness. Some of these studies have attempted to answer some of the questions posed above. I will limit my discussion of those due to limitations of time and our desire to hear from our panel as well as leave time for our conversation where we all can think out loud.

Starting in 1990, RAND embarked on a series of studies entitled The Course of Homelessness. They engaged in a vigorous study, surveying large number of homeless people to ascertain the quality of life across different subgroups of homeless people. A smattering of some of their findings reveals the following.

Evidence suggest that many of the homeless are not likely to move out of their prediction by relying on themselves or their families alone. Receiving some form of government transfer substantially increases the economic well being; and yet… It is estimated that about 25 percent of the homeless are mentally ill, almost two-thirds are chronic substance abusers and 17 percent dually diagnosed. Although, I might add that other studies state that one-third of the homeless population is cmprised of the mentally ill (manic-depressive or schizophrenic).

RAND researchers proceeded to study homeless adults who suffered from mental illness. They concluded that while homeless mentally ill may collect SSI, VA disability, still as an overall subgroup they fared significantly worse in terms of physical health, level of subsidence needs met, victimization and subjective quality of life. It is the homeless mentally ill who are more likely to be rummaging in garbage cans for food, and who are at far greater risk of physical violence. What a tragedy is occurring many times at our doorsteps here in SM.

Another study investigated childhood risk factors for homelessness among homeless adults. They concluded that the problems homeless individuals experience as adults have very clear analogs in their childhoods. Certainly, not all homeless people came from poverty, nonetheless there were strong correlations between children who had had out of home placements-residential instability, poverty and family problems, including physical and sexual abuse.

The researchers acknowledge there is no one cause of homelessness, rather, it is an interaction of a large number of intersecting conditions. They cite two major conditions that intersect; namely, (risk factors) Structural Factors (e.g. inadequate low cost housing) and Personal Vulnerabilities (e.g. mental illness, substance abuse)

Over 30 years ago, the Lanterman, Petris, Short Act was passed. Its goal was to prevent inappropriate commitment for those who were deemed mentally ill. With the advent of the early anti-psychotic medications and the grass roots civil liberties movement, there was a push, as many of you know, to close mental hospitals, de-institutionalize patients and have them be cared for in their local communities through an expansion of community mental health programs. However, the necessary web of services never substantially materialized due in part to cuts in funding; thereby leaving many mentally ill people with nowhere to go except the streets and /or jail.

Some 5 years ago or so, the Lanterman, Petris, Short Reform Task Force was convened. After three years of study and public meetings they issued a report (Mar.1999) entitled "A New Vision For Mental Health Treatment Laws." The authors stated that "the California statute regarding involuntary treatment for people with mental illness as well as diagnostic and treatment practices must be re-examined, streamlined, and re-written to be more therapeutic and effective…

"They proposed legislative changes intend to maintain a necessary balance between individual liberties, therapeutic treatment, and the state's obligation to provide safety and treatment for individuals with mental illness in the least restrictive environment…"

Based on the information and recommendations in the report, Assembly woman Helen Thomson (D-Davis) is currently requesting the Assembly Judiciary Committee to amend (AB1421) the LPS Act. (The challenge is to respecting the patient's due process rights, insure cooperation and consultation with family members and mental health professionals, and to get mentally ill people to take medication or follow other treatment plans.) Many of you may have seen the two editorials in the LA Times, April 23 and April 30 supporting passage of this legislation that will be coming up in the next few weeks.

The last study that I want to share with you is quite different from the ones I summarized earlier. This was a small pilot qualitative study conducted by advanced doctoral students at the California Institute of Clinical Social Work. The study sought to explore the subjective experience of panhandling and of being panhandled.

In attempting to learn something about the core elements of the panhandling experience as it affects each of the participants, they share the following findings. The panhandlers talked about feeling rejected, avoided and invisible. All of them talked about fears of danger. All of their lives had been touched by violence, and substance abuse and some degrees of mental confusion.

Maintaining their personal freedom was important for all of them, and they did not want to become dependent on or feel enslaved by the social service or mental health systems. Somewhat reminiscent of the hobo's of the 1930's; they all wanted the freedom to travel. They seemed to struggle to maintain some sense of identity and self worth and conveyed underlying feelings of shame, humiliation and lack of worth.

On the panhandlee's side, their reactions seemed to fall into two main categories: empathy or alienation. Those who felt some empathy for the homeless person's plight recognized that unpredictable misfortunes could occur in anyone's life. And that nobody in America is completely immune, including him or herself. They felt some basic respect for the homeless person and some desire to help.

On the other hand, those who showed evidence of feeling alienated by the panhandlers saw them in more derogatory terms -- as lazy, scam artists, not wanting to improve their lot in life, and the like. They were suspicious of the panhandlers and felt fearful. However, all of the panhandlees, regardless of their specific attitude toward the homeless person, felt overwhelmed, helpless and powerless about the sheer magnitude of the problem of homelessness.

The researchers talk about a "disturbing finding of their pilot study; namely that the residents who are housed in their community, may become desensitized, to the plight of the people living in the streets." Almost as if it's becoming so commonplace, and so much a part of our social fabric and landscape, that we ignore people who are homeless and tune them out as if they don't exist. The researcher reminds us that "to the extent one participates in dehumanizing others, one becomes somewhat dehumanized him/herself.

I'll conclude with a quote from a book entitled "Down and Out in Berkeley (U of Ca Berkeley, School of Social Work, 1974 by Baumohl and Miller "They do what socially marginal people have done throughout the centuries. They scrounge, they hustle, they beg, they steal… in a phrase they try very hard to survive."

Samoan Barish is a member of the City's Social Services Commission.