Memories of Homelessness: Four Myths

 On a daily basis we encounter myths and misconceptions about homelessness. We hear them from friends, family, community leaders, and strangers on the MAX. These harmful myths not only stereotype individuals experiencing homelessness, but prolong and perpetuate homelessness, the conditions that cause it, and the suffering it causes. By reviewing some of the most common and insidious of these myths, and by adding the anecdotal experience of a woman who survived three years of homelessness, you can arm yourself to combat these myths when you encounter them. Let’s start with the most common myth, that homelessness is somehow self-inflicted.

Myth #1: Homelessness Is Caused By Poor Decision Making

    We live in a highly individualistic society. The prevailing attitude that has flourished for roughly forty years was perhaps best summed up by Margaret Thatcher, when she famously quipped “there’s no such thing as society” in a 1987 interview in Woman’s Own Magazine maligning social safety nets and people experiencing homelessness. The belief held by Thatcher and countless others influenced by the brand of conservative politics she shared with Ronald Reagan was that social safety nets disincentivized personal responsibility and encouraged people to homelessness and imagined abuse of welfare systems. The thought that one would voluntarily endure the greatest of hardships from exposure to the elements to starvation and utter rejection by one’s community out of stubbornness and greed is laughable, but the rhetoric persisted to dominate even liberal views of homelessness.

    The rhetoric boils down to the claim that homelessness is caused by poor decision making and laziness, claims that have been thoroughly debunked. In reality, homelessness is caused by a number of major factors, with over-represented demographics often sharing circumstances that contributed to their homelessness. Unaffordable housing is one of the top factors in causing homelessness, with every 10% increase in rents causing a 13.6% increase in the population of people experiencing homelessness. Other circumstances include housing or employment discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or other protected grounds, family rejection of youth, mental or physical barriers to work, and job loss.

    When considering homelessness, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that almost every adult experiencing homelessness was at one time housed. Homelessness, then, should not be thought of as an independent state of being, but the deprivation of the necessaries of life. Homelessness is caused when people who are vulnerable due to factors like wage suppression, high housing costs, unemployment, or marginalization are pushed beyond their limits and can no longer afford or qualify for housing.

    In my personal experiences with homelessness, I’ve found that factors of discrimination as well as systemic barriers to housing were magnified by the experience of homelessness. Once a person, even someone who does not face discrimination in ordinary contexts, becomes homeless, it is virtually impossible to regain housing and gainful employment without outside assistance. Much of this is due to the stigma of homelessness, by which people apply their prejudices to decision making. People experiencing homelessness who are unemployed, which amounts to only 60% of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and less than half experiencing sheltered homelessness, face virtually insurmountable barriers to employment. Simply put, once someone is perceived as homeless, there are very few employees willing to hire them. This could be related to various stigmas around homelessness, including beliefs about homelessness and criminality or substance abuse, which we’ll cover soon.

Beyond barriers to employment, which includes keeping a job one has before experiencing homelessness, there are also structural barriers to acquiring housing. These barriers include the ongoing housing crisis of high rents and decreased availability in some markets, but also the process of qualifying for housing. With a lapse in housing history, many people experiencing homelessness do not pass the scrutiny of landlords when selecting rental applicants. Beyond that, those experiencing homelessness who have previously had issues with landlords lack the support required to get housing. That’s one way that housing discrimination can follow a person from one landlord to the next, even if the latter is not aware that they are participating in discrimination. For example, if someone is wrongfully evicted for coming out as transgender, a prospective landlord will likely look no further than the past eviction without considering if it was wrongful. That was part of my experience with homelessness and it’s not terribly uncommon, with with roughly 30% of trans Americans reporting experiencing homelessness at some point in their lives and 23% reporting housing discrimination in just the year prior to the survey. Between housing discrimination, landlord discretion, and the credit rating system, housing can be incredibly difficult to find even for the gainfully employed. We’ll come back to some of these issues throughout the other myths, but the key takeaway is that homelessness is virtually impossible to overcome without outside help, which means the most vulnerable among us are the most likely to experience prolonged homelessness.


Myth #2: Homelessness Is Caused By Substance Abuse

    There is a common misconception that the majority of homelessness is caused by substance abuse. This myth also takes the form of claiming the majority of people experiencing homelessness have a substance abuse disorder. In reality only 38% of people experiencing homelessness have an alcohol dependency and 26% are estimated to have a dependency on other drugs. Those numbers don’t stack, as there is significant overlap between the two groups.

    Substance abuse can be a cause of homelessness, but it’s important to consider that many people experiencing homelessness turn to drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism for the harsh conditions they experience. From my own time on the street, I saw many people, often teenagers, start using substances while experiencing homelessness and not beforehand. The brutal conditions of homelessness, including normal conditions like exposure to the elements, sleep deprivation, and malnourishment as well as less constant factors like bouts of illness or injuries are enough to drive people who have never touched substances to use them as a source of temporary relief.  

    There is also political resistance to housing those people experiencing homelessness who are living with substance abuse disorders. By demanding that people be sober before receiving housing, and by restricting access to addiction treatment through high costs, this country has essentially guaranteed that those who experience both homelessness and addiction will remain in both states. A housing first model recognizes that housing is the first step to recovery for many people, especially those who turned to substances as a coping mechanism for the harsh daily reality of homelessness. You can read more about housing first policies and the evidence that supports them here.

Myth #3: People Experiencing Homelessness Are Criminals

    This is a complicated myth that I will attempt to simplify as much as possible. Depending on the jurisdiction, some people are branded criminals simply for experiencing homelessness. That occurs because of loitering laws, “camping” prohibitions, and other laws intended to force people experiencing homelessness away from public view. You may say that the criminalization of homelessness is enough to brand all people experiencing homelessness as criminals, but that is giving into an unjust system of laws. The truth of the matter is that many people experiencing homelessness are forced into the criminal justice system because of discriminatory practices, profiling, or through no fault of their own. These people are being forced into criminal actions because otherwise harmless actions were made criminal specifically to spite them. You can read more about the criminalization of homelessness here.
    Beyond criminalization, which is a complex enough topic, there is actual criminal behavior among people experiencing homelessness to consider. There is not evidence to support claims that people experiencing homelessness engage in criminal activity at a higher rate than the general population. In fact, people experiencing homelessness are far more likely to be the victims of crime than perpetrators, with close to half reporting being the victim of some type of crime. My experience with homelessness is consistent with this.


Myth #4: My City Is A “Magnet City” For People Experiencing Homelessness

    This popular myth is based on the idea that because urban centers are home to more services for people experiencing homelessness than suburban or rural areas, they are essentially magnets attracting people who experience homelessness. The reality is that the vast majority of people experiencing homelessness stay close to where they were living before becoming homeless. Some surveys out of cities like San Francisco suggest that up to one quarter of people experiencing homelessness moved to the city within the last two years, but those surveys fail to account for relocation prior to becoming homeless. Across the US, people flock to coastal cities for opportunity, but are met with housing crises including high rents and low availability. People who have recently relocated to a new city also seldom have the friend and family networks needed to avoid homelessness during a time of crisis.  

 

How Do I Help?

    There are many ways to help people experiencing homelessness. Direct action is always appreciated, but so is political action. Consider donating time or money to these organizations working to provide evidence based solutions to homelessness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond:
 

National Alliance to End Homelessness

Outside In

Transition Projects