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Part 4: Impact of Psychology on Homelessness

Psychological theory has contributed to my understanding of homelessness from the viewpoint of development and mental health impact. I have come to understand that this global issue has created an unwavering amount of psychological risk factors. From the perspective of diversity, several studies have contended that minorities and families headed by women are highly susceptible to experiencing homelessness (Elliott & Krivo, 1991). Minorities may be discriminated against in the housing market and do not have the financial ability to afford adequate housing. From the viewpoint of equity, homelessness is founded upon individual and structural factors which perpetuate inequity. Minorities are disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness in the United States; systemic racism has resulted in disparities with how housing programs influence diversity. From the lens of inclusivity, homelessness may be understood as consequences that arise due to social exclusion, rooted in structural inequities (Norman & Pauly, 2013). In order to promote inclusion, providing housing to the homeless community is essentially the first step; following this is sufficient income, access to health care, and economic inclusion (2013).

Society has contributed to solving this issue by creating programs that exist to reduce the global issue of homelessness such as federal housing assistance (public and federal) which assists lower income families with affordable rent. According to Pearson et al., “The Housing First approach aims to move homeless individuals directly into permanent housing without utilizing transitional placements (2009). This approach believes we must remove the mindset that treatment comes first before housing; housing must be the priority. A friend of mine conducted research on a solution to this which includes providing youth the access to education. According to Hicks-Coolick et al., “Homeless youth are entitled to an education and that at least 43% of this population do not attend school regularly (2003). Additionally, affordable or free preventative healthcare is available for individuals experiencing homelessness. Furthermore, there are emergency shelters and transitional housing available for individuals who are experiencing homelessness. In my town, there is a transitional housing shelter called Hope For Families. This shelter provides homeless families a safe and secure place to live with support while seeking employment. This program requires that the individuals find and maintain gainful employment and upholds family responsibilities while providing career building services and assistance. An additional center in my hometown is called the Source. This center assists with physical needs (personal hygiene essentials, food, water), civil needs (employment), social needs (social skills development), and spiritual needs (counseling). Programs such as these attempt to abolish the global issue of homelessness by supporting and empowering individuals with the resources and knowledge to get back on their feet and thrive in this lifetime.

As a member of society, I can contribute to creating change in this area by researching and educating myself on the topic, spreading awareness, and actively getting involved with organizations that assist individuals experiencing homelessness. This includes volunteering in the community such as food banks, supporting canned good drives, and sharing monetary donations. In hopes to gain a clearer understanding involving this global issue, I have been listening to Ted Talks which discuss this and the topic of charity. One of these discussions outlined five ways in which non-profit organizations are held back in their mission to help the community: compensation, advertising and marketing, taking risks on new revenue ideas, time, and profit to attract risk capital. Non-profit organizations are expected not to spend charitable donations on advertising and directly give to the individuals in need. However, the speaker explained that money invested in promotion can be returned back to the community in an amplified amount. Thus, non-profit organizations must be able to communicate with the public the impact they are creating, in hopes to encourage others to become involved. This perspective was enlightening to me because I find myself only donating directly toward the individuals in need rather than giving toward the fundraising platform. An additional Ted Talk I listened to explained that homelessness is not caused by a lack of resources, rather it is caused by the lack of a holistic, fully integrated, comprehensive service system that addresses the needs of the homeless community. The speaker discussed that individuals experiencing homelessness utilize the community’s first responders, emergency services, and hospitals; this global issue is not separate from other issues such as domestic violence, mental and physical illness, or addiction. Therefore, when we attempt to serve these communities, we must serve them with a fully integrated system that can address each of these needs collectively.

References

Elliott, M., & Krivo, L. J. (1991). Structural determinants of homelessness in the United States. Social problems, 38(1), 113-131.

Hicks-Coolick, A., Burnside-Eaton, P., & Peters, A. (2003). Homeless children: Needs and services. In Child and Youth Care Forum (Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 197-210). Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers.

Norman, T., & Pauly, B. (2013). Including people who experience homelessness: A scoping review of the literature. International journal of sociology and social policy.

Pearson, C., Montgomery, A. E., & Locke, G. (2009). Housing stability among homeless individuals with serious mental illness participating in Housing First Programs. Journal of Community Psychology, 37(3), 404–417. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20303

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global-illumination · 2 years

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Part 3: Application of Theory

Human beings were created with a vast range of emotions, some of these breeding positive effects, and others not so positive. People are constantly exposed to emotion-arousing stimuli which can range from internal to external factors (Koole, 2009). Emotion regulation is defined as the ability to manage emotional responses to these various stimuli. Emotion as a school of thought can be tied to homelessness because of how individuals facing this global issue perceive and react to their environment. Their experience conjures up various emotions such as depression, emptiness, fear, etc. These emotions can prolong the detrimental effects of homelessness if the individual remains consistently in a dark headspace. Emotion can be explained by the Appraisal Theory which explains that our interpretation of a situation creates an emotional response connected to that vision. In regard to homelessness, sadness felt when an individual loses their home may be elicited by the appraisals that their security has been lost and will not be recovered. According to Roseman and Smith (2001), “So physiological, expressive, and behavioral theories ultimately lead us back to stimulus events and the aforementioned difficulties of accounting for individual and temporal differences and cross-situational similarities in emotional responses to those events” (p. 3). The Appraisal Theory attempts to understand the origin of emotional response such as triggers and patterns of neural activity in the brain which begin the process of emotional response.

The construct of motivation is defined as an internal experience that is not directly observable, though the consequences are clearly discernible. According to Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health, “Central to the study of psychology is motivation, which is fundamentally concerned with emotion, personality, learning, memory, and with gaining an understanding of how behavior is most effectively active, organized, and directed toward the achievement of goals” (Shuman, 2019, para. 1). Motivation can be explained through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory which contends that needs are conditions within the individual that are essential for the maintenance of health and well-being. This theory is a five-tier model presenting human needs including: physiological, safety, communal, esteem, and self-actualization (Schultz & Schultz, 2016). The model was formatted in order of strongest needs for survival at the bottom. Therefore, the essential first needs for all humans are physiological needs: food, water, and air. Following this are safety needs: safety, security, and protection. When an individual’s basic needs are unmet, there can cause a disruption in development and growth. Thus, the global issue of homelessness becomes a by-product of this disturbance.

Psychopathology as a school of thought is an “endeavor to explain disorder or certain disorders in terms of psychological processes” (Buss, 1968, p. 2). Psychopathology can be explained by mental disorders and stress which may lead to homelessness if there is insufficient funding, resources, and a lack of adequate care. The consequences of stress vary among physiological, psychological, and behavioral factors. Physiological consequences may comprise of digestive problems, headaches, physical pain, and production of stress hormones. Psychological consequences may include burnout, emotional exhaustion, sleep problems, anxiety, and depression. Behavioral consequences may involve apathy, irritability, anger, etc. (Landy & Conte, 2016). The effects of homelessness exacerbate stress and mental illnesses, encouraging angst and fear.

References

Buss, A. H. (1968). Psychopathology. Wiley.

Koole, S. L. (2009). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Cognition & Emotion, 23(1), 4–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930802619031

Landy, F.J., & Conte, J.M. (2016). Work in the 21st century: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (5th ed.). Wiley.

Roseman, I. J., & Smith, C. A. (2001). Appraisal theory. Appraisal processes in emotion: Theory, methods, research, 3-19.

Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2016). Theories of personality (11th ed.). Cengage.

Shuman, R. B. (2019). Motivation (psychology). Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.chapman.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=ers&AN=93872110&site=eds-live

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global-illumination · 2 years

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Part 2: Global Issue - Homelessness

Homelessness is a persistent global issue that affects humans each and every day for reasons that may or may not be of their own doing. Homelessness occurs when there is a lack of stable, safe, and adequate shelter for individuals. According to Harrison (1999), “A ‘home’ is a dwelling that provides opportunities for independent living, serves social functions, and ideally is bound up with or facilitates productive social relationships. Consequently, people who are involuntarily dependent on refuge or hostel space, or living temporarily with friends, may be acknowledged as homeless alongside others who are without even temporary fixed abode” (p. 102). The major challenges of this global issue include but are not limited to: lack of affordable housing, poverty, mental and physical illness, substance abuse, unemployment, income gap, family conflict, veterans returning from war with lack of adequate support, systemic failures, etc. I have personally experienced short-term homelessness caused by family conflict. My parents and I disagreed on my lifestyle decisions which conjured up heated emotional conflict. I was kicked out of their home for a short period of time and experienced living out of a vehicle. I believe that the psychological effects were both difficult and beneficial for my developmental growth. Homelessness can psychologically impact individuals who face challenges in their lives through mental health disturbances. When one suffers from homelessness, their hope begins to deteriorate, followed by a constant sadness known as depression.

Depression from a behaviorist perspective suggests that this behavior is a result of an individual's interaction with the environment. For example, classical conditioning would explain depression to be learned through stimuli with negative emotional responses. Through conditioning, "the stimuli governing an organism's behavior are gradually increased from a few unconditioned stimuli to countless other stimuli that become associated to unconditioned stimuli through contiguity" (Henley, 2018, p. 368). Operant conditioning would define depression as the cause of removed positive reinforcement. In regard to the global issue of homelessness, the loss of a home and/or job would reduce the potential for positive reinforcement variables such as the social interaction with other individuals. In addition, reinforcement of maladaptive behavior is caused by depression due to the persistent feelings of hopelessness and apathy.

Depression from a psychodynamic perspective emphasizes unconscious psychological processes and how it affects behavior. According to Freud, unconscious processes were an influence, perhaps the cause, of mental illness. He discovered ego defense mechanisms which distort reality and operate from the unconscious (Henley, 2018). Some of these ego defense mechanisms include but are not limited to: repression, displacement, and projection. Depression conjures feelings similar to those of grief, as though there is something or someone lost. Freud believed that depression was inwardly directed anger, where an individual represses anger and directs it inwardly onto themselves. In relation to the global issue of homelessness, an individual has lost their sense of belonging and sense of self-worth through the loss of their home, which creates a repressed anger subjecting them to depressive behavior, much like grief.

Depression from a humanist perspective is founded upon the idea that human beings are ultimately good, focusing on the positive aspects of human nature (Henley, 2018). There is a need for self-actualization (reaching our full potential) and if there are certain factors blocking this ability to fulfill our potential, depression can creep in. For example, Carl Rogers explained humanity's need for positive regard, such as love and sympathy. Positive regard introduces conditions of worth, which stems from the need to receive love through conditioned responses aligned with the values of others (Henley, 2018). If these conditioned responses are not carried through, depression arises through the feelings of failure and worthlessness. In connection with homelessness, the need for positive regard is often abolished because these individuals are either looked down on, ignored, and/or treated with aggressive behavior. Consequently, this can produce the behavior of depression through feelings of inadequacy.

Depression from a biological perspective attempts to understand this behavior from an individual's biological foundation, in determining the relationship between physiology and psychology. For example, genetics, biochemistry (serotonin/dopamine), and neuroendocrine factors (stress and hormones), all are factors in the production of depression. According to Syvalahti, "Recent progress in understanding receptor structure and function and the regulation of neuroendocrine functions will substantially increase our knowledge of the biological deviations in depression and eventually lead to better drugs and treatment strategies" (1994, para. 1). Connecting to the issue of homelessness, biological traits, which may cause physical and/or mental disabilities may decrease job opportunities, causing failures to support survival.

Depression from an evolutionary perspective relies on the concept that human behavior is equipped with instincts which have enabled the human species to reproduce and survive. Depression can either hinder development and cause individuals to isolate, or it can benefit development causing individuals to adapt and evolve in order to continue reproduction and the human species. For example, adaptive benefits such as improved problem-solving skills can occur through the presence of depressive behavior. Individuals must learn to cope and problem solve their way through the effects of depression. In regard to homelessness, individuals learn to evolve and adapt similar to their primitive ancestors. They learn to utilize their resources, though it may seem minuscule, to survive and grow from that experience.

References

Harrison, M. (1999). Theorising homelessness and ‘race’. Homelessness: Exploring the new terrain, 101-121.

Henley, T.B. (2018). Hergenhahn’s an introduction to the history of psychology (8th ed.). Cengage.

Syvälahti, E. K. (1994). Biological aspects of depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 89(s377), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1994.tb05795.x

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global-illumination · 2 years

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Part 1: Impact of Psychology on Self

When I began undergraduate studies at a nearby state college, I was determined that my passion was to become a teacher. I had a love for children and learning; I wanted to uplift others while gathering and spreading knowledge. As I began to grow and adapt, my goals evolved as well. I delved deeper into self-reflection of my values, beliefs, goals, etc. I decided to transition from studying elementary education to studying psychology. I remember taking career assessments in high school with results repeatedly pointing to a career in psychology or counseling. I believe everything happens for a reason; I know in my heart that pursuing a psychology degree was meant to be. Psychology has shaped how I see and think about the world – I see the world from a lens of curiosity, openness, zest, connection, and service.

The field of psychology has equipped me the skills, knowledge, and resources to think through concepts critically and thoroughly. Psychology has taught me to not simply absorb new ideas, but to understand how they have developed and operate. More specifically, ideas related to human thought processes and behavior. For example, during research for a paper on controlling parenting styles and its effects on children’s development and health, I used the process of inductive and deductive reasoning to identify thinking errors and how to handle it through reasoning. I discovered that one possible thinking error may be that the usage of oppressive tactics in parenting will build children as strong-minded and independent individuals. One way to tackle this issue using inductive reasoning would be to observe various families that include controlling parental behaviors. Once similarities and differences are observed, generalizations will be created, which shall lead to a reasonable theory. Through this research practice, I was able to gain stronger confidence in my critical thinking skills and understand the benefit of being a critical thinker!

Psychology has nurtured my interest to delve into existentialism, due to my personal intrigue of abstract concepts such as: the meaning of life, creation, religion, philosophy, purpose, and the human condition in its totality. Existential psychology focuses on the establishment of the meaning of life based on human condition (Greenberg et al., 2004). I am inspired to understand global issues and how to create systemic change for processes which no longer benefit humanity. Psychology has inspired me to focus on self-reflection, personal growth, and understanding the root of my emotions/thoughts so that I can process and release in a healthy manner. I have learned that human behavior is constantly evolving; we must analyze it from various viewpoints and perspectives. I admire Carl Rogers’s humanistic approach to personality development; he believed that human beings have an innate tendency to grow and achieve optimal potential. He focused on self-actualization as the ultimate goal in life, placing emphasis on the environment’s influence in achieving this goal. He considered self-actualizing individuals as a fully functioning person (Schultz & Schultz, 2016). This term defines a person to be in touch with their abilities, receives unconditional positive regard, and congruence.

Psychology has inspired me to focus on the positive growth of humanity. Humans are a collective species and we were created to journey through life together harmoniously. Psychology delves into deep connection with other living beings, to understand their essence beyond the surface. During this journey, we create life experiences which provide us lessons and knowledge to carry through to the next generation. The realm of psychology has taught me the strength of the mind – our thoughts create our reality. I have also learned that life is a balance; our negative and positive thoughts are interconnected. All of these beautifully human emotions were created to each be felt deeply, with no remorse.

References

Greenberg, J., Koole, S. L., & Pyszczynski, T. (2004). Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology (1st ed.). The Guilford Press.

Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2016). Theories of personality (11th ed.). Cengage.

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