Complexity, Causes, and Compassion

By Jacob Davis

August 15th, 2018

Reasons for homelessness in the US according to the Coalition for the Homeless

Homelessness is a complex issue. The statement is so obvious that at this point, it is almost entirely taken for granted. It is taken for granted to such an extent that when I hear it, it is usually always at the end of a heated discussion about homelessness, in which young idealists find fault in jaded old people’s cynicism and experience with years of panhandlers and pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps ideology.

For many years I was part of the latter group, having been burned by people I actively tried to help. So often enough, I was the one ending the conversations with, “Well, homelessness is a complex issue,” like some sort of neoliberal coup-de-gras, an NPR version of Let’s agree to disagree.

However, it has begun to make more sense to me that the complexity of an issue that deals with human lives should be brought up at the beginning of the conversation. When someone says that homelessness is a complex issue, it shouldn’t lead to a subject change—it should lead, logically, to the question: “what’s complex about it?” Instead of ending a conversation, the complexity of the issue should lead us to deeper conversations, more conversations.

Chief among the complexities of homelessness are its causes. According to Houston's Coalition for the Homeless, the loss of the job is chief among reasons that contribute to a person experiencing homelessness anywhere in the nation, as well as continued inability to gain access to affordable housing. Yet several other reasons may lead to continual experience of homeless: mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and family breakdown, or even gambling addiction. To muddle things up even more, any of these reasons can influence one another, such as drug use being a result of family breakdown or mental illness as a result of domestic abuse. 

It is important to remember, even as facts and figures are quoted, that what we are dealing with is a human problem. Individuals are being affected by homelessness. The question of complexity should not be an excuse to not address the problem. Instead, the complexity behind homelessness should remind us that those affected are people, and encourage us to address the problem with compassion and hope for change.

Sources: 

http://www.homelesshouston.org/coalition-faq/what-are-the-major-contributing-factors-to-homelessness-in-the-u-s/

https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/our-work/Homelessness/Why-are-people-homeless/

https://endhomelessness.org/