United States As A Social Problem Essay

778 Words Apr 4th, 2016 4 Pages
As per conflict perspective different groups compete with each other to demonstrate

ownership for power, and resources. The more powerful group use their power in order to

exploit groups with less power. In the late 19th century, many residents of the major urban areas

of the United States found themselves suddenly awakening to the fact that people were living out

of cardboard boxes, sleeping over heating grates, or living in their vehicles. Seeing sleeping, and

prostrate people in bus, and train stations was shocking, and being asked for change by groups of

people who looked like beggars. For the first time since the Great Depression, homelessness

remerged in the United States as a social Problem (Nunez & Fox, 1999, p-290). Despite broad

disagreement about the “deservedness” of such people, and what caused them to become

homeless, there was little question that something apparently new and stunning was happening.

Many homeless people do not look homeless, for the very reason of seeking work, going to

school, and blending in with society. Some people may look homeless, but only be poor. The

English term roofless would also help us differentiate those without any place to stay from those

the advocates call homeless but who do have a roof, a motel, a friend, or relative’s couch, or a

jail cell. Generally, government has favored a restrictive definition that accepts as homeless only

those who are literally homeless meaning those who have…

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