Homelessness

Homelessness
Imagine…it’s snowing, temperature below zero or on the flip side it is blistering hot and the temperature is approximately 105 degrees. Now imagine sleeping outside in either of these conditions. Homeless people do sleep in these conditions. So I ask, what causes people to live in these types of conditions? The answer is not that simple because there are so many variable to homelessness.
Symbolic interaction is the most common form of communication, whether it is verbal or through symbols. Symbolic integrationists’ state that the roles of individuals create society. This interaction tells a lot about the relationship between two individuals or a whole group of people based on the ways of communicating with each other. Status symbols are very easy ways to determine which class people are categorized. In the video clip, when the policeman said, “Homeless people are nothing but a piece of shit”. This shows very clearly the way he felt about the situation even though he was completely wrong just like a lot of people in society. His is just one point of view which could be agreed with by other people in the functioning society at large. People of higher status look at the homeless as if they are from another planet and they are afraid to associate themselves because of what society might think of them. The relationship between the individual and society is that the individual and society are both co-dependent. This point of view looks at homelessness through symbols which can be anything: the clothes that they are wearing or the food that they are eating. Conflict theorists believe society is based on competition, conflict, and domination. The domination shows through the situation involving the police officer.