Roles, Labels, & The Homeless Population

I was never in jeopardy of finding myself on the street, and I am truly thankful for that. I had a strong support group in my family and plenty of connections in my community. The thought of being homeless would certainly be enough for me to not want to wake up in the morning. So it is quite apparent how this negative label can consume one's way of life, way of thinking, and their own self-perception. This issue is not restricted to the Homeless population though. It is the basic way our mind works when it comes to roles and labels. We hear of an educator, doctor, etc., we assume they are a good person. I don't have a problem with that. But what I do have a problem with is the negative connotations that we incorporate with our jobs and/or our behaviour.

An alcoholic is not a bad person, or inferior, because he or she is an alcoholic. The alcoholic label should be considered after the fact. More so in smaller communities, from my own experiences, this is a popular trend. People quickly judge others on these roles and labels that have been placed on them, and determine the life's worth based on these.

An activity that I've prepared for this workshop is one of a deserted raft out in the ocean. It has seven people on board, but can only stay afloat if three people get off. Any more than four people, it sinks. So I listed seven characters, all with pros and cons, and the participants need to determine who they are going to save. I have a politician who cheats on his wife, a lawyer without any immediate family, a doctor who spends no time with his family, a drug using mechanic with a baby boy on the way, a teenage mother who's been the victim of abuse, and a grandmother who cares for many of her grandchildren. I went into much more detail on each character, but that roughly sums it up. The participants will be asked to determine the worth of each life, and decide which four they are going to save. I'm quite interested to see how this plays out, and see what roles are going to be selected. Save the doctor who ignores his family, or the mechanic who has a baby boy on the way? The grandmother who loves her grandchildren or the politician that cheats on his wife? What is important to you? What is the worth of their lives?

All the usual excuses about labels apply here. People don't have the time, energy, or inclination to really know the individual, so it is much easier to just categorize them with a single word or phrase, such as alcoholic or drug abuser. It also helps the one doing the labeling to overlook their own deficiences.

You'll never be able to stop people from labeling. But what you can do, and what I think you are trying to do, is to help those that are labeled to rise above the label. That you will have some success with.

Very interesting "activity" you have scheduled, btw.

Originally posted by jsobecky
You'll never be able to stop people from labeling. But what you can do, and what I think you are trying to do, is to help those that are labeled to rise above the label. That you will have some success with.

EXACTLY!

I'm glad you think so, because I am working hard in hopes that this is possible. Even though society will behave in the same detrimental manner, if these individuals can be inspired to overcome, I think they can bust through this ceiling that has been keeping them down for so long.


[edit on 25-3-2007 by chissler]

Simply labelling theory, if you keep telling someone what they are sooner or later they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Good read.

Sounds like a fascinating and an educational book. I'm eager to see how the writer got himself OUT of that mindset.

I know for me, when I'm down, it's the little triumphs that pull me back up. For one guy I know, it was finding an old gravestone and "adopting" the neglected grave. He said he used to go talk to "my dead guy" as he pulled weeds and straightened the stones and all. Giving him something to care for worked some magic on his rage.

It seems that element of control over something is what's helping some of those in Tent Town.

Looking forward to reading more of what you have to say on this.

Byrd, it is so ironic that you say this.

Reading last night, this issue was addressed. The members of "Tent City" were saying that every year you spend on the streets, it takes seven years to overcome the experience. I thought that was quite interesting. As I read through this man's day to day experience, you can see how he is spiraling out of control. Has been consumed by drugs, is consumed by the label, and has altered his whole mindset. He finished one entry recently with, "I don't think I can survive the year, and if I do, I don't think I can actually leave".

I was waiting for it for awhile, and as expected, it was addressed. Even though he entered "Tent City" under his own free will, he is skeptical, at best, to think that he will actually be able to leave when the year has concluded.

[edit on 26-3-2007 by chissler]

Here in Seattle "tent city" was doing great until the camp tried to move to a more suburban affluent location.

The reaction on the Eastside is largely a function of people with limited exposure to the urban world letting stereotypes of the homeless obliterate their ability to reason. "Everywhere we go, it's always the same thing," says Leo Rhodes, a camp spokesperson. "People see drunks and druggies on the streets, and they think those are the homeless. We are trying to break that stereotype."

article link

After doing some browsing, I noticed this thread. (A personal favorite)

It's been a few months since I have finished this book, and I do recommend it to anyone who has found anything in this thread to be remotely interesting.

What labels can do to us is astounding. Whether it furthers our career, social life, etc., or if it causes us to crash and burn, why does a simple detail of who we are, mean so much?

One that I run into a lot is,

Disabled Children vs. Children with Disabilities

Working in a home with children who do have disabilities, I have witnessed the effect that this choice of words can have on a child. They are not "disabled children", they are "children with disabilities". While it may not seem like much, those that are aware, they tend to lose that jump in their step from time to time.

To view yourself as different, or inferior, really takes the wind out of your sale. To say you are a person who has this detail, is entirely different then saying you are this detail, who happens to be a person.

Anyone have any fresh thoughts on Labels, and the importance of them. ?

[edit on 12-10-2007 by chissler]

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Hey, chissler... Some people look down on me because I didn't attend high school at all. I have even been "teased" about it here on the board. What they don't know is that I didn't go because I was having 20 seizures a day and could not function in society. But by the time I was 17, I was taking medication that controlled it pretty well and I went into Phoenix College and took the GED without studying (with an 8th grade education) and finished a 10 hour test in 5.5 hours with incredibly high marks. The testers were all amazed.

I never knew that about you. (u2u me about the crap I and my family went through...it would rip your innerds apart.)

And you know what dear heart?

I don't give a flying frig. Seriously.

It's exactly what Chisler was trying to convey to ALL of us:

Don't judge a book by its cover

I'm going out within the next few days - (seek and destroy buying-mission on this book)

I plan on giving my take with this when I read the book. I don't toot my horn with many things, but I LOVE reading, and will finish a 300-400 page book on average- within 3-5 days TOPS. Seriously. I absorb alot.




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[edit on 12-10-2007 by chissler]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Your story just confirms what I've often said; there is a big difference between uneducated and ignorant. Those who sit in judgement of others because of educational or financial differences are ignorant. You remind me of my Mom who also didn't have a high school diploma but like you she was a woman of strength, grace and wisdom. Those are qualities you don't learn in school; they come through overcoming adversity and reaching your potential as you did.

Label serve nothing but to limit people in their pursuit of excellence. Wouldn't it be better to reserve judgement on each other til we actually know that person? Just because a person is down doesn't mean they are out.

[edit on 13-10-2007 by gallopinghordes]

It always amazes me when someone refers to homelessness as a "lifestyle choice." It's hard to imagine anyone choosing to live outdoors if they felt they had other options. Some of the homeless are mentally ill. These are people who would have been in mental hospitals thirty years ago, but in the 70's and 80's there was a movement to "deinstitutionalize" the mentally ill and move them back into their communities. This was no doubt a noble goal but what has happened is not all communities have the resources to house and/or treat them. The result is many of the mentally ill are out on the streets, some of them without medication and some who cannot remember when or how to take it. In my own community, if you're homeless you go to the top of the public housing list. There was also a very good community mental health service which treated the homeless as well as others, until the state pulled funding and now everything is privatized. Even at its best there were some homeless mentally ill people in our community who fell through the cracks. Now there are more.

While certainly not all homeless people are mentally ill, there needs to be more resources directed to those who are.

Originally posted by Sestias
It always amazes me when someone refers to homelessness as a "lifestyle choice." It's hard to imagine anyone choosing to live outdoors if they felt they had other options.

Trust me.

Some people choose to be homeless as a lifestyle choice.

There have always been people like this for one reason or another.

There are mentally ill people on the street and there are alcoholics and drug addicts who work the system by going from one shelter to another and migrate around the country looking for better weather and better systems to work.

It is best not generalize the homeless population, because there are indeed people out there who are homeless and who never intended to be, but to deny that some people choose to have no fixed abode is to deny a reality of life and society.

The rest of your post is an accurate rendering of the phenomenon of deinstitutionalization.

In the name of civil liberties and with the assistance of neuroleptics, one of the most heinous shams ever committed was committed against one of the most vulnerable populations in society.


[edit on 2007/11/3 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

In the name of civil liberties and with the assistance of neuroleptics, one of the most heinous shams ever committed was committed against one of the most vulnerable populations in society.


[edit on 2007/11/3 by GradyPhilpott]

Always is, politicians are cowards. Their clinging to precious position dictates it.