INTERACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF CHRONIC MALE HOMELESSNESS : RESPONDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON HOMELESSNESS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, CRIMINALITY/CRIMINAL HISTORY AND EFFICACY OF HOMELESS SERVICES

by

ANTHONY D. MC DUFFIE

THESIS

Submitted to the Graduate School

of Wayne State University,

Detroit, Michigan

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

2010 MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY Approved by ______________________________ Advisor Date

ii

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to the homeless populations of the City of Detroit, and

the State of Michigan. It is especially dedicated to those people who lost their

lives as a direct or indirect result of homelessness, which may include lack of

shelter or inadequate shelter, medical attention, mental health services,

substance abuse treatment, and lack of other services, or crime, etc. This is also

in loving Memories of Edwin Huby, Louise Ocie Steward, Edna Ruth Storey, Alex

McDuffie, and Napoleon Williams because they inspired me with hope and the

desire to help humanity.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I greatly appreciate the continuous support of Dr. Vernon Rayford, Dr.

Calvin Trent, and Dr. Noble Maseru for their relentless encouragement in this

endeavor to give voice to the homeless citizens of the City of Detroit. I am very

grateful to Dr. Renee McCoy and Dr. Luke Bergmann for their tutelage in

qualitative research, ethnography, analyzing data, and preparing the data for

presentation to my peers. I am even more grateful for my advisors Dr. Leon

Wilson, and Dr. Mary K. Stengstock for their expertise and encouragement in the

completion of this task. I am honored by the advice and scholarship of Dr. Leon

Warshay and for his lectures on social theories and the great sociological

theorists whom have contributed to the science of sociology and to the world.

I am thankful to have worked with some great people in Project Helping

Hands because they made a difference in the lives of many chronically homeless

persons in the City of Detroit: Pat Eaton, Jerome Chandler, Edward A Dr.

Christopher Parks, Philip Ramsey, Edwin Huby, Frank Jones, Frank Day,

Michael Allen, Stacy Brackens, and Stacy Coleman. Also, I applaud Dr. Yvonne

Anthony, Dr Kanzoni Asabigi, and John Jones of the Department of Health and

Wellness Promotions, and Dr. Michele Reid of the Wayne County Community

Mental Agency for their commitment to helping the people especially those that

are homeless so that they may achieve health and wellness in spite of their lack

of financial resources.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication………………………………………………………………………………..ii

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………iii

Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………...1

Chapter 2: Literature Review………………………………………………………….4

Chapter 3: Methods…………………………………………………………………..28

Chapter 4: Findings…………………………………………………………………..32

Chapter 5: Discussion………………………………………………………………..64

References……………………………………………………………………………..74

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………89

Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………..90

1

Chapter 1: Introduction

This qualitative study is about male homelessness in the Cass Corridor

and Central Business District in the City of Detroit, Michigan. Most of the

information for this study was gathered while I was a case manager for Project

Helping Hands. Project Helping Hands is an outreach program that engages the

chronically homeless population and links them with available services in the

community such as substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, shelter

and other housing and rehabilitative support services. The study examines the

effects of substance abuse, criminality/criminal history, and the availability of

services on homelessness in regards to answers provided on a survey by eleven

homeless respondents. This study also examines mental illness as a factor.

Their first hand experience fills a gap in our understanding of homelessness,

substance abuse, criminality/criminal history, mental illness, and the adequacy of

services.

Significance of the Problem

The intent of this study is to address the issues of respondents’ perception

of the adequacy of services, which is an under researched area of

homelessness. Most importantly, the aim of this study is to address some

aspects of the large gap in information about homeless males and their

perspective on how they are affected by homelessness, substance abuse,

criminality/criminal history and service provisions. It is important to examine

homelessness from the vantage point of these male respondents’

“definition of the situation” (Thomas and Thomas, 1928), the “looking-glass self”

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or reflected appraisal (Cooley 1902, 1922), also “role-taking,” and the

“generalized other” (Mead 1934) because their views differ from that of the public

and the people who formulate and implement social policy for this population.

Another aim of this study is to bridge the gap in information about chronically

homeless African American males. Detroit is a predominantly African-American

city and the Detroit homeless population reflects the same racial composition, but

there are visibly more homeless males than females. All respondents

interviewed for this study were African American males; they talked about their

experience of homelessness in three broad areas: (1) substance abuse and its

impact on homelessness; (2) criminal history and its implications for

homelessness; (3) the adequacy of services offered that are designed to alleviate

the homelessness problem.

Statement of the Problem The objective is to discover the relevant factors derived from interviews

with the eleven respondents. Some of the respondents have adopted a

homeless lifestyle whereas other men have not. Drugs usage appears to be

prevalent among the homeless population. The male segment of the homeless

population has expectations about service provisions. Incarceration, criminality,

and criminal history probably make it difficult for respondents and other homeless

people to overcome their homelessness. It also aims to ascertain what they

need to eliminate or rectify their substance abuse problem. Unfortunately, many

of the homeless male respondents have a criminal history and several

respondents became homeless upon their release from prison.

3

According to the Pew Report of January 1, 2008, 50,326 people were

incarcerated in the Michigan prison system. A significant number of them will be

released back into the community and, undoubtedly, an increasing number of

African American males will be joining the ranks of Detroit’s chronically homeless

street population. When working as an outreach case manager, I encountered

many homeless men who reported that they were recently released from prison

(some of those men were interviewed in this study). The dismal socioeconomic

climate in Detroit heavily influenced these men’s social position making it

extremely difficult for them to transition out of homelessness. However, they

represent a potential source for information on homelessness and its relation to

criminality/criminal history. There is admittedly a shortage of data about the

actual number of homeless males with histories of incarceration but it is

suspected that these numbers are significant because post release problems in

obtaining employment, housing, and the stigma of being a convicted felon

exacerbate ex-felons from being successfully reintegrated in society. Research

is a necessary component for the assimilation, assessment, evaluation, and

development of effective program planning to deal with the homelessness

problem among the formerly incarcerated population. A review of the literature

on homelessness will set the stage for this presentation.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

There has been a proliferation of studies conducted on homelessness

from 1987 through the present in the United States. The literature review will

begin with the landmark sociological studies of homelessness in the United

States including a discussion of the basic characteristics of homelessness. Peter

Rossi (1989) conducted a landmark study on the origins of homelessness in the

Chicago area titled “Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness,”

using a mix of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The present study

examines the local homeless population in Detroit using the qualitative method

as opposed to the mixed method like Rossi. Snow and Anderson (1987)

conducted a qualitative study of homelessness in Austin, Texas, examining

survival strategies, cultural or street life perspectives, and a typology of the

homeless population in that area. Like Snow and Anderson, the present

qualitative study examines the survival strategies, cultural or street life

perspective of homeless African-American males. Culhane and Culhane et al.

(2001; 2002; 2002; 1998; 1994) conducted numerous studies on the homeless

populations in Philadelphia and New York City, especially persons who became

homeless after their release from prison, their shelter usage, and recidivism from

homelessness to prison. Homeless men who had been formerly incarcerated in

prison where interviewed for the study. Rossi, Snow and Andersen discussed

substance abuse, mental illness, criminality/criminal history, and services. They

also mentioned the characteristics of the people who are homeless in the United

5

States and found that substance abuse and other factors where prevalent among

the homeless population.

Characteristics of Homelessness

The personal characteristics of the homeless include persistent poverty,

weak social networks, low social support, criminal activity, criminal history,

mental illness and substance use disorders (Sullivan, Burnam, & Koegel 2000;

Shinn, Weitzman, Stojanovic, Knickman, Jimenez, Duchon, James, & Krantz

1998; Fischer, Shapiro, Breakey, Anthony, Kramer 1986; Fischer 1988; Sosin &

Bruni 1997). Numerous mental disorders are prevalent among homeless

persons in comparison to the general public and housed people of extreme

poverty, specifically psychoses, neurosis, affective disorders, anxiety disorders,

alcohol and drug misuse disorders, and personality disorders (Abdul et al., 1993;

Timms & Balazs, 1997; Zima et al., 1996; Bhui et al, 2006). Consistent with this,

most of the present study’s respondents have a problem with alcohol and/or

drugs. Both alcoholism and drug misuse disorder are considered as mental

disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

(DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Alcoholism and drug misuse is especially characteristic of

the chronically homeless population.

According to the literature on homelessness, a relatively small number of

people are actually chronically homeless (Wright and Weber 1987; Sosin,

Piliavin, and Westerfelt 1990). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development (H.U.D.) defines: “Chronic homelessness” – “single adults (i.e., no

children present) who (1) are disabled and have been homeless a year or more

6

or have four or more homeless episodes in the last three years” (Burt 2007, p iii

(4), Urban Institute). Most of the literature on adult homelessness defines

homelessness according to the H.U. D. definition of homelessness and chronic

homelessness. For the purposes of this study, “chronic homelessness” or

“chronically homeless” has been defined in accordance to the H.U.D. definition,

but with the exception or exclusion of the disability determination because most

of the respondents have a disabling conditions such as substance abuse or

criminal history, but have not been deemed unable to work by the State

Disability Determination Board.

A person who is homeless can be diagnosed with a mental illness (mental

disability) by a mental health professional, but the Social Security Administration

(SSA) may determine that the mental illness is not a disabling condition, and as

a consequence the person is denied entitlement benefits. Substance abuse or

alcohol/drug addiction is considered as a disability by the State of Michigan, but

SSA does not consider it a disability. That is, the Social Security Administration

(SSA) determines whether a person is disabled to receive entitlement benefits

from the income support programs of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The Social Security Administration

and an employee of the State’s Disability Determination Service review medical

evidence to determine whether an applicant meets the disability criteria to

receive benefits from one of the previously mentioned income support

programs (Rosenheck, Frisman, and Kasprow, 1999).

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One respondent has been determined to have a mental disability by the

Social Security Administration and he receives Supplement Security Income for

his disability because the Disability Determination Board deemed him unable to

work due to his disability. Many of the male respondents in the present study

have been diagnosed with a mental illness, but have been denied for Social

Security benefits because the SSA determined that their mental diagnosis did

not make them disabled. Therefore, a person can be diagnosed with a mental

illness or physical illness, and not be deemed disabled by the SSA making their

criteria for disability far too narrow. The present study is based on respondents’

self-reported reasons for homelessness, and their “definition of the situation”

(Thomas & Thomas 1928), this also affecting their “looking-glass selves”

(Cooley 1902;1922)..

Many researchers have verified that racial and ethnic minorities are

overrepresented among the homeless population (Wright and Lam, 1987;

Freeman and Hall 1987; Frist, Roth and Arewa 1988; Wright and Weber 1987;

Burt and Cohen 1989; Lee et al 2003). According to Burt (1992) numerous

studies have reported a high risk for homelessness among males who belong to

an ethnic minority group, and who are less than 45 years of age, unemployed,

with severe psychiatric and/or substance abuse problems, and a history of family

problems in childhood (Burt, 1992). Furthermore, most people who experience

chronic homelessness tend to be male, non-white, and to be slightly older than

people who experience brief homeless episodes (Culhane and Kuhn, 1998). The

median age for respondents in this study is approximately 45 years old, and they

8

are all non-white males who have experienced homelessness for more than a

year.

Tessler, Rosenheck, and Gamach, (2001), conducted a study examining

the difference between males’ and females’ self reported reasons for why they are

homeless. The purpose was to show how some of the self-reported causes for

homelessness are socially constructed and related to gender (predisposed). The

significant point of this study is that males are more likely to claim their

homelessness is due to job loss, discharge from an institution (such as jail, prison,

psychiatric hospital) mental health problems, alcohol and/or drug problems

(Tessler et al., 2001:243).

Gateway to Homelessness

Morrell-Bellai and Goering et al (2000) conducted a qualitative study

based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 29 homeless persons to identify

the how and why by which some people became homeless. This line of

questioning is similar to the structure in this study, as the focus is on determining

how people become homeless and why some of those people remain homeless.

The findings indicate that people become and remain homeless as a result of a

convergence of both macro level factors (poverty, lack of employment, low

wages, lack of affordable housing) and micro factors such as personal

shortcomings (childhood abuse or neglect, mental health symptoms,

impoverished support networks, substance abuse). In this study, as in the

Morrell-Bellai et al study, many of the respondents reported substance abuse as

9

a factor in how they became homeless and as a factor in the continuation of their

homelessness.

Substance Abuse

The prevalence of substance abuse has been well document in the

literature on homelessness (Booth et al 2009). Sosin, and Bruni (1997),

investigated whether alcohol abuse is a ‘risk factor” for persons being vulnerable

to homelessness. The results indicate that problem drinking is both a

determinant of homelessness and a vulnerability to homeless persons. Tyler and

Johnson (2006) examined substance abuse among homeless young adults in the

Midwest through qualitative interviews with 40 persons, 19 to 21 years of age.

They found that untreated substance misuse of the homeless population may

contribute to long-term homelessness; and substance use is a common

experience among homeless people. In the present study my findings concur.

Vangeest and Johnson (2002) investigated whether substance abuse is a direct

cause of homelessness or if it operates indirectly through disaffiliation of the

social network and human capital factors (human capital refers to the people in

one’s socio-emotional support network who can assist in one’s social

development) that put an individual at a disadvantage or greater risk for

homelessness. Homelessness is linked with substance abuse indirectly by loss

of housing whereby a person who abuses alcohol and drugs has negative

interaction with others, family, friends, and employers. This negative influence

(substance abuse) adversely affecting social and institutional affiliations such as

10

being a factor in the breakdown in relationships with significant others, job loss,

and involvement with the criminal justice system (p 455).

Substance abuse plays a critical role in the breakdown of social ties, but

the role of disaffiliation is confirmed in this investigation as the proximate cause

of homelessness. The respondents reported that substance abuse was the

cause for their homelessness, and that the breakdown in their social network

(family) was attributed to their substance abuse as well. Substance abuse

factors heavily in the lost of jobs, but economic factors can also adversely affect

their employment status. There is research which supports a “social selection” or

“drift down” model (Vangeest et al (2002) p 456), wherein substance abuse is

one of several gateways to homelessness (Johnson et al 1997; Spinner and Leaf

1992; Winkleby et al 1992). This research examined how substance abuse

factors in the disaffiliation of the family and other social and institutional

affiliations leading to homelessness, whereas the present research looked at

substance abuse as a gateway into homelessness, but the information in the

present study does suggest that substance abuse had a negative impact on

familial relationships, institutional affiliations, and employment as well.

Homelessness, Mental Illness and Criminality

Gelberg, Linn, and Leake (1988), examined psychiatric and criminal

records of mental ill respondents who had been homeless for a number of years.

They found that homeless persons who had histories of psychiatric

hospitalization were more likely to have severe mental illness, use drugs and

alcohol the most, and have a greater involvement in criminal activities because

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of their drug and alcohol use (Lamb & Grant 1982; Brahams & Weller 1986).

Belcher (1991) examined the process of homelessness among patients released

from a Midwestern state psychiatric hospital and found that those patients who

became homeless were involved in criminal activities. Belcher asserts homeless

persons with mental illness are susceptible to criminal involvement because of a

lack of structure and a resistance to engagement with aftercare services, which

tend to exacerbate their illness.

Hartwell (2004) does a comparative analysis of mentally ill persons who

were involved with the criminal justice system and the dual diagnosed segment

of the population. The dual diagnosed group refers to the group of persons who

are diagnosed with both mental illness and substance use disorder. There is a

marked difference between offenders with mental illness and offenders dually

diagnosed. In most cases, the dually diagnosed are probably serving sentences

related to their substance abuse. Hartwell found that the dually diagnosed have

a higher likelihood of being homeless at release than their counterparts who are

not substance abusers. Hartwell states, “The dually diagnosed are likely to be

involved in the criminal justice system for public order offenses (25%), property

offenses (13%), and drug charges (11%) than their non-substance-abusing

counterparts who are more likely to be incarcerated for arson (3%), assault and

battery (34%), and murder (3%)(p 92).” Hartwell asserts, Homelessness, and

lack of service support and /or lack of correctional supervision (oversight) or

structure in the community increase the probability for re-arrest and return to

correctional custody.

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Greenberg and Rosenheck (2008) examined the rates and correlations of

homelessness and mental illness in a national survey of (6,953) adult jail

inmates. Inmates who reported “an episode of homelessness anytime during the

year” prior to “incarceration made up to 15.3% of the U.S. jail population or 7.5 to

11.3 times the standardized estimate of 1.36% to 2.03% of the general U.S. adult

population” (p170). Those inmates were highly probable to have criminal

histories for both nonviolent and violent offenses, to have mental health and

substance abuse issues, to be less educated, and to be unemployed.

“Homelessness and incarceration” seem “to increase the risk for each other.

Those factors appear to be mediated by mental illness and substance abuse and

by “disadvantageous socio-demographic characteristics” (p 170). This study

concurs with Greenberg and Rosenheck that men who were homeless prior to

incarceration are more likely to be homeless after incarceration and mental

illness and substance abuse tend to make it even more probable that they will be

homeless. This study further contends that criminal histories tend to have an

adverse affect on ex-felons’ social integration during the post release phase, and

put them at risk for homelessness because criminal histories function as barriers

to their reintegration into society.

Criminality/Criminal Histories

According to Rossi in “Down and Out in America: The Origins of

Homelessness,” the homeless population is considered to have higher rates of

disabling conditions, felonies, and misdemeanor crimes than the general adult

population and the domiciled poor populations. Rossi contends that a criminal

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record should be considered as a disability especially in terms of not being able

to work when the job requires the absence of a criminal record (Rossi, 1983:

144). Since the World Trade Center bombing on September 11, 2001, a criminal

background check is required for most jobs, especially the jobs (menial or

manual labor) typically held by the extremely poor and the homeless; this makes

it much harder for people with criminal records to get jobs.

The post incarceration experiences of ex-offenders have shown that a

criminal record is a barrier to obtaining employment opportunities (Rossi, Berk,

and Lenihan 1980). Most young men who spent time in prison lack employment

experience. Furthermore, many employers have an aversion to hiring convicted

felons for any position except for the less skilled and low paying jobs. A criminal

record, which includes numerous instances of brief imprisonments (i.e., 1 to 2

years), and/or long-term imprisonment can mean being a decade or more out of

the workforce and with no work experience (Rossi 1989: 144).

There are other kinds of disabilities related to social functional impairment,

which is indicative of an anti-social criminal history. In other words, many people

with a history of violence find it extremely difficult to make and keep friends or to

have normal and congenial relationships with their kin. Family or relatives

function as a safety net to prevent many poor people or people at risk of

homelessness from becoming homeless. The kinship networks prevent felons

recently released from jails or paroled from prisons from swelling the ranks of the

homeless population. Anti-social/ criminal behavior, no family affiliation, and no

support network are linked with homelessness (Rossi 1989: 144).

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Pollock (2004:257) concurred that not having access to employment is a

barrier, along with no housing, weak or lack of family adjustment, and a strong

socio-emotional connection to anti-social/criminal (prison culture) street culture

are also barriers to the ex-offenders reintegration. According to Freeman (2003)

ex-offenders face several challenges in being successful in the job market.

Employers usually prefer to hire workers who do not have criminal records.

Some employers cannot legally hire persons with criminal records for some jobs

(p10). Also, employers are reluctant to hire ex-offenders for fear of being sued

by customers or “other workers” if they are harmed by ex-offenders during the

course of work (Harris, and Keller 2005; Ross and Richards 2003). Harris and

Keller (2005) examined the utility of laws intended to limit ex-offenders’ access to

employment. For ex-offenders, access to employment is the most viable means

of reintegration (i.e., successfully reintegrating into society so that ex-offenders

can feel as though they are contributing members of society). They contend that

the barriers to ex-offenders employment are both direct and indirect. The direct

barriers are contained in the numerous “statutes, occupational codes and

licensing requirement” which mandate that “employers prohibit applicants with

criminal records.” “ The indirect barriers are embedded in “Title VII of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964” which set up restrictions affecting the scope of a prospective

“employer’s inquiries about prior arrests, convictions” and other characteristics of

an applicants criminal record (p 7). Under Title VII, employers may prohibit

applicants with arrest or conviction records if they can show that the applicants’

criminal history precludes the latter from fulfilling certain job requirements (p7).

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Employment is a key variable to the reintegration process of homeless males,

and especially those with criminal histories. They reported that most employers

require criminal background checks which makes it even harder or more of a

barrier (Harris, and Keller 2005).

Services and Barriers to Services

Historically, homeless people with serious mental illness are resistant to

both mental health and substance abuse treatment. A review of the literature on

treatment for the homeless with serious mental illnesses indicates that they are

an extremely difficult group to treat (Chinman, Rosenheck & Lam 1999).

Because of their symptoms and the transient nature of the chronically homeless

many are resistant to mental health treatment, and therefore mainstream service

providers have rejected them (Kuhlman, 1994).

J. Page (2007) conducted a qualitative study on barriers against

transferring homeless individuals with serious mental illness to mainstream

community mental health (CMH) programs. Many of the mental health agencies

have community mental health (CMH) programs that serve the poor. CMH

programs were established because of the deinstitutionalization of large state

mental or psychiatric hospitals (where person with mental illness were housed),

and persons with mental illness were released into the community for treatment

for their mental illness (least restrictive care). The CMH programs take the place

of state mental institution wherein persons with mental illness now receive mental

health treatment in the community where they live instead of the mental

institutions. Page’s study consisted of responses to questionnaire by 255 staff

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members, supervisors or designees of non-traditional street-based outreach

programs (i.e., “PATH, Health Care for the Homeless, and Safe Havens”) across

the United States for homeless mentally ill individuals. The results indicated

ninety-two percent of respondents (.i.e., nontraditional street based homeless

programs) reported barriers when they attempted to transfer clients to CMH care.

Seven percent reported that they did not experience any problems in transferring

clients to CMH care, and one percent reported being neutral. Health Care for the

Homeless programs reported the highest rate of barriers for the homeless, with

forty-five percent reporting major barriers to transferring clients to CMH

programs. The barriers preventing homeless person from obtaining mental

health services are associated with socioeconomic and political factors that affect

CMH programs and homeless clients.

There is a pressing need to assess barriers to CMH services for this

population because the literature indicates that many homeless individual with

serious mental illnesses have been unable to access mainstream mental health

services. Traditionally these mainstream mental health services do not appear to

work effectively with this population (Belcher & Ephross, 1989; Berman-Rossi &

Cohen, & Sullivan, 1988; Kuhlman, 1994; Levy, 2000; Morse et al, 1996;

Putnam, Cohen, & Sullivan, 1986; Rowe, 1999; Sheridan, Gowan, & Halpin,

1993; Susser, Goldfinger, & White, 1990). Local, state, and federal policies for

the last two decades have been unable to solve this pressing problem (Torrey,

1997). CMH programs have been blamed for failing to meet their responsibility

to give mental health treatment to this population (National Health Care for the

17

Homeless Council, 2004). Furthermore, homeless people have been blamed for

not getting mental health care (Drury, 2003), and in some cases by the programs

that provide mental health services to this population (McMurray-Avila, Gelberg,

& Breakey, 1999).

According to the respondents in the present study, they are more

concerned with their daily survival needs than with treatment because for them it

is a struggle to survive in the streets. They must strive to obtain necessities for

survival needs such as food, shelter, and safety. The data from the Page (2007),

McMurray-Avila et al. (1999), and Kuhlman (1994), indicates that mental health

service providers may be less inclined to work with the chronically homeless

because they are extremely problematic in the areas of initial engagement,

retention, and continuing compliance with the rigors of treatment. The issue of

how to treat homeless people with serious mental illness is exacerbated when

they sleep in the rough (outdoors and places not fit for human habitation),

because prior to treatment they have to be located or engaged to participate in

the treatment programs. Rowe (2002) contends that homeless persons are

skeptical about numerous outreach efforts, which may have some bearing on

their perception that the services available to them are incompatible with their

needs (Rowe et al. 2002).

According to McMurray-Avila et al (1999) when homeless persons have

been successfully engaged and their basic needs for service are met, then they

should be transferred to mainstream mental health services. It is critical that

homeless persons with serious mental illnesses be able to access the mental

18

health systems for services because they are among the most powerless people

in society (Cohn, 1989), and experience the highest frequency of victimization

(Lam & Rosenheck, 1998), suicide (Prigerson, Desai, Liu-Mares, & Rosenheck,

2003), acute medical illness, trauma and death (Martell et al., 1992). To be

successful engaging the homeless population it is necessary that they be treated

with respect and dignity. The service provider must treat the homeless consumer

with respect and dignity as they would treat other people who are fortunate

enough to have homes.

L. Hoffman and B. Coffey, (2008), examined how homeless consumers

view their interactions with service providers. This is based on transcription data

of 500 interviews with homeless service users. Their findings indicate negative

interactions between homeless service users and service providers and their

staff as expressed by the homeless respondents. Most homeless service users

expressed their disapproval of service providers and their staff. They were angry

and many decided not to utilize the service system so that they could maintain a

sense of dignity and self-respect. The present study affirms this point because

the respondents in the present study disapprove of their treatment by service

staff, particularly in the shelter system. Both Hoffman and Coffey contend that

the results should be analyzed in terms of power differential and social

inequalities in the service providers and homeless service users’ relationship.

This social inequality is entrenched in the service industry and function as a of

power differential which manifest itself in forms of authority which is experienced

by homeless consumers as an act of indignity and disrespect.

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Miller, A. B. & Keys, C. B., (2001), viewed dignity and respect as being

crucial to understanding the experience of homelessness and for enhancing

programs and services for the homeless. Miller & Keys’ study is based on a

thematic content analysis of interviews from 24 men and women who were

homeless. The stigma of homelessness and the degradation and

dehumanization that persons experience while homeless may have an adverse

impact on their sense of dignity (Seltser & Miller, 1993: Snow & Anderson,

1993). Seltser and Miller (1993) indicate that homelessness is an assault on the

dignity of human beings, which diminishes or eliminates their capability to see

themselves as worthy persons (p93.) Dignity is equated with “self-worth or inner

worth,” and is a fundamental aspect of being human (Gewirth, 1992; Seltser &

Miller, 1993). In the Miller & Keys article, dignity is referred to as “self worth.”

Generally, research on homelessness has ignored the inner world of persons

who are homeless and the way the experience their social world (Snow &

Anderson, 1993). Snow and Anderson (1993) contend that self-worth and

meaning (Cooley 1922) coexist with survival needs in the lives of homeless

persons.

The Miller & Keys (2001) study is based on Seltser and Millers

conceptualization of how persons experience dignity. They contend that dignity is

either validated or invalidated both internally and externally by our experiences of

interactions with others in our milieu. A lack of internal or external validation may

culminate in self-doubt about one’s self-worth. The study utilizes a transactional

model of stress, which views stress as influenced by others through interactions

20

with others (.i.e., general public and service workers) and the environment. This

framework views “dignity as being influenced by specific environmental events

(external validation pathways), and by individual internal variables which includes

a person’s biography, self-image, and cognitive appraisals (internal validation

pathway).” The present study emphasizes the external validation pathway and

looks at environmental events that impact a person’s sense of dignity. Miller &

Keys also view dignity as a mediating construct wherein the validation or

invalidation of the sense of dignity is influenced by positive or negative

consequence that homeless persons experience in their environment (Miller &

Keys 2001). Miller and Keys further contend that shelters usually have excessive

rules which constrain shelter guest movement -- i.e., as to when they must check

in, eat, bathe and where they can sleep in the shelter. This is perceived by many

of the homeless as limiting their ability to make choices in their lives. In essence

they come to think that they are incapable of being worthy of self-determination

(Seltser & Miller 1993).

Vamvakas (2001, examined the effect of shelter rules on shelter users

and their interaction with shelter staff. This study indicates that shelter staff is

rigid in enforcement of shelter rules on shelter users with severe mental illness.

Consequently, this results in a denial of services. Many homeless shelters have

responded by offering specialized services for homeless persons with mental

illness and/or addictive disorders (Vamvakas 2001). This may have some

bearing on positive outcomes for treatment retention and reducing

homelessness. The respondents in the present study report that the shelter

21

system denied them services when they were visibly intoxicated, and that the

rules are too strict. That is, they are not allowed the freedom to bring in food,

and some staff members belittle them or talk to them in a condescending manner

as though they are children instead of adults.

Thompson et al (2006), studied homeless young adults who often failed to

access services or underutilized the available health and social services for the

homeless population. Their information on barriers to services was derived from

focus groups conducted with 60 participants. Barriers to service utilization

included: unsuitable and unsafe environments, providers whom the participants

considered disrespectful, as well as rigid or unrealistic expectations. Those

services that provided for basic needs such as food provisions and clothing were

highly utilized by participants. Respondents In the present study likewise utilize

those services to satisfy basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter and to

maintain their status of homelessness.

Bhui et al. (2006) conducted a review of the literature on homeless

persons’ perception of the services for homeless persons with mental illness, and

conducted a qualitative study based on in depth interviews of 10 homeless

service users (Bhui 2006:152). In the Bhui study, findings indicated that the

respondents held strong views regarding the adequacy/inadequacy of services

and that was affirmed in the present study. The services were considered either

adequate or inadequate, but in most case the services were inadequate

according to the respondents. Contextually, the distinguishing differences in the

Bhui study and the present study is that in Bhui the eleven homeless persons

22

were drawn from the predominant (white) culture as opposed to ten Black

homeless males, which were drawn from predominantly Black Detroit. Unlike the

Bhui et al study, this study was successful in recruiting ethnic minorities because

the Detroit population is approximately seventy to eighty percent African

American. The services that provide for basic human physiological needs such

as food, clothing and shelter also help in the construction of the homeless social

identity and help the homeless person to maintain their homeless status.

Social Identity of Homelessness and Sociological Interactionist Framework

David Snow and Leon Anderson (1987), discussed identity construction

among homeless people of low social status and the means by which this group

attempts to create identities that provide a sense of “self worth and dignity,” as well

as to shed “theoretical light” on the relationship among role, identity, and self

concept. Snow and Anderson also elaborated on generic patterns of identity work

such as distancing, embracement, and fictive storytelling (pp. 1336) where

homeless persons engage in patterns of verbal behavior, which demonstrate:

(a) desire not to be linked with other homeless persons or institutions that serve them (i.e., distancing); (b) to confirm one’s connection with an identity or specific role, a group of relationships or a specific ideology (i.e., embracement); or (c) to enhance personal experiences (i.e., fictitious storytelling). The frequency and utilization of these strategies tends to vary with the duration of a person’s ‘street career,’ whereas persons who are newly homeless or have been homeless for a short time engage in distancing, embracement, and story-telling more than persons who have been homeless for a relative long duration.

23

Snow and Anderson’s findings indicated that persons who have been homeless for

a short time distance themselves from the homeless identity. Those who have

been homeless for a longer time tend to embracement a homeless social Identity,

which has implication on their perception of services.

According to Christian and Abram (2003), “Understanding social identity,

the impact of the normative influences and examining individuals’ perceptions,

motivations, choice and actions are central to understanding homelessness.” In

the Christian and Abram article, they explored attitudes and social identity

amongst the homeless population as they relate to the uptake of services for the

homeless. They assess the role of attitudes to institutional authority in homeless

people who participated in the study. It is highly probable that homeless people

have experienced rejection (e.g., eviction, court orders, arrest) from governmental

authorities (Fitzpatrick et al., 2000: Randall & Brown 1996). Research on

homelessness suggests that the homeless population frequently describe their

involvement or engagement with institutional systems as negative (Colson 1990;

Randell & Brown 1996; Snow & Anderson 1987).

Christian and Abram reasoned that homeless people who view themselves

as “homeless,” and identify with the informal support services are likely to possess

a more expressed hostile relationship with the institutional service system and

authority such as police. They are more likely to utilize outreach services that help

them to survive without depending on the institutional systems. Further, Christian

and Abram conducted structured interviews with 126 homeless people in

24

Birmingham of the United Kingdom about outreach services. In short, they asked

homeless persons:

…if they would consider giving their views about service programs for homeless people. Their findings suggested that homeless people’s behavior can be reliably predicted by ascertaining their subjective norms, attitudes, social identity, inclusive of identification with support services and attitudes to institutional authority. More accurately stated this study demonstrates the substantial impact of homeless people’s attitudes to formal authority, such attitudes which is consistent with theorizing that homeless people who utilized outreach services are likely to have an improved articulated position (opposition) toward official institutional frameworks (p 143).

An interesting conclusion derived from the evidence of this study is that

homeless people’s utilization of outreach services does not simply reflect a

deliberative process of weighing up the pros and cons of utilizing services

(Christian & Abram 2003, p 143). Social identity is linked with how homeless

persons view themselves and the adequacy of services, whereby identity is the

concept linking the person with the social structure. Social identity theory is

based on the psychological approach to social psychology whereas identity

theory is based on the sociological approach to social psychology. Sheldon

Stryker and Peter J. Burkes developed sociological versions of identity theory

which has its philosophical and theoretical basis in pragmatism and

interactionism (Symbolic Interaction).

Identity theory is founded on George Herbert Mead’s concept of “self” as

being self-reflective of society which implies that the self is multifaceted and

made up of many interdependent selves (Stryker 1987:91). This is derived from

William James’ concept of “self” in which persons have as many selves in

25

relation to groups and people they interact with in multiple social situations. The

specific identities are relevant to specific role behaviors as male, father, son,

friend, and minister or graduate student (James 1891). The self is developed

through social interaction; therefore there would be no self with out society.

According to Mead the self is composed of “me” as object and the “I” as subject

and the generalized other concept which includes the attitudes of the others of

the community. Mead’s concepts of “role-taking,” the “generalized other” are

relevant to reflected appraisal process whereby homeless males’ reflected

appraisal of themselves from the standpoint of the generalized others which

mirrors the attitudes and evaluations of the larger community (Mead 1934).

The convergence of role theory with interactionism (inclusive of identity

theory) by Stryker and other structural concepts have extended this sociological

brand of social psychology to be more comprehensive, structural, and instrumental

in the development of more scientific macro oriented framework (Stryker 1968;

Stryker 1980). The concept of role is used as a linkage to build down to the social

person and to build up to the larger social structure. Stryker claims that Turner,

McCall and Simmons are more traditional symbolic interactionists in their

respective identity theories. However, whatever their difference they all tend to

make a serious effort to adhere to symbolic interactionism’s basic emphasis on

social psychological process of linking interpersonal interaction, self and behavior

with the larger social structure that constrain those processes (Stryker 1987).

Theoretically, identity functions as a bridge connecting the individual with

society (Dawe 1978). This is in line with Morris (1998), homelessness contributes

26

to homeless males’ low sense of self-esteem because of the cultural importance of

personal accomplishments like having worthwhile employment, being financially fit,

and emotionally strong according to the masculine role prescription in the United

States. Consequently, homeless males who see themselves as failures in the role

of provider suffer from self-blame and low self-esteem. Thus, low self-esteem,

and decreases in family cohesion and affiliation create a downward spiral that is

extremely difficult to stop. American society views homeless men as being

responsible for their plight. The continuance of these views by American society

tends to strengthen rather than to negate the structural barriers that hinder the

homeless male from moving beyond homelessness, and denying them access to

the opportunity structure as well (Morris, 1998).

Furthermore, Snow and Anderson (1993) examined “contingencies and

dynamics that influence temporal patterns of life” amongst the homeless, and

thereby invoked the concept of “homeless careers” instead of chronic

homelessness. Although, “career” is associated with occupational trajectories

(related to work, job or professional endeavors) the concept has been broadly

referred to by sociologists as temporal organization and sequencing of activities of

mostly every area of social life. Snow and Anderson were interested in the career

paths common among the homeless population studied in Austin, Texas.

Interestingly, they found the career path of the homeless moves in one of two

directions: either overcoming homelessness or total immersion into homelessness,

street life, or culture of the homelessness (Snow et al 1993). The findings of this

study are that society should be moving the marginalized population in the

27

direction of housing, services, work, and social integration. The respondents in

the present study want housing with services, and they would like to feel as though

they are a part of society, and not as a group separate or ostracized by society.

28

Chapter 3: Method

This study used qualitative methodology based on ethnographic

participant observation and interview responses to a schedule of open-ended

questions. In this qualitative interview process, the researcher/interviewer is the

data collector, interpreter, and analyzer of the data. The researcher must obtain

the individual respondents’ consent, trust, and cooperation in this type of

research endeavor to gather the necessary information. According to Jamie

Baxter and John Eyles (1997), in qualitative interviews research “credibility refers

to the accurate representation of experiences while dependability focuses

attention on the researcher-as-instrument and the degree to which interpretation

is made in a consistent manner.” Qualitative researchers must account for “their

interests and motivations” by indicating how they have affected their analysis of

the data (Baxter & Eyles, 1997, 514; Lincoln & Guba, 1985, 317; Scriven, 1917).

During the course of this study, many of my co-worker and mentors

continuously warned me about the potential to go ‘native (to lose one’s objectivity

by thinking and acting as the group or culture being studied).” They told me not

to go native, by not becoming emotionally embroiled with the respondents or the

issues, by acting “healthier” than the (homeless) respondents act. Having been

forewarned, I was able to remain neutral as I immersed myself in the collective

world of the homeless respondents. I entered their world, and then returned to

the world of being an employed, housed individual. Although the potential for

bias in this type of qualitative research is extremely high, I was able to minimize

my personal reflections by sticking with the evidence as reflected in the audio

29

recordings and transcripts of the interviews. Obviously, the researcher’s

involvement and perspective is without a doubt reflected in his/her work, but

greatly minimized by my intended objective focus on the evidence collected. The

world of the homeless is similar to the marginalized world of people of extreme

poverty who do not have a place to call home.

The University Human Investigation Committee approved this study and

the method for collecting data. The interview format chosen for data collection

was based on open-ended questions as previously noted. The respondents who

were selected were read an informational, consent and confidentiality script by

the researcher prior to the commencement of the interviewing process. The

respondents consensually agreed to this form of research endeavor. The

researcher interviewed all respondents individually, and audio recorded all

interviews for accuracy, reliability, and credibility. They expressed within a

context of openness what they needed to alleviate their homelessness. In this

context, the author of this study, as participant-observer, has set down more than

just the data collected but a sensed depth of the homeless problem that has

been gathered from what was heard. Thus, the primary objective of this study is

not simply to give voice to the eleven African American men but hopefully to

provide impetus for devising exit strategies out of the socially marginalized world

of homelessness. My suggestions for resolving this problem of homelessness as

prompted by this study represent small steps in that direction.

These homeless men were selected by what is referred to as a convenient

sample, based on availability and willingness to participate in the research

30

process. Many of these men were asked to participate while being engaged on

the streets of Detroit. Most of the interviews (i.e., seven (7)) took place in a

closed office between the researcher/ interviewer and the respondent. There

were distractions or interruptions such as the phone ringing or people knocking

on the door. On a few occasions when that happened, the interviews stopped

and began again after the distraction or interruption was over; but most of the

time the distractions were ignored and the interview continued. Two interviews

were conducted in a parked van between the interviewer/researcher and the

respondent. The remaining two interviews were conducted outdoors. One was

while sitting on the grass and another at a picnic table. The interview process

indicates that many of the respondents have a shared understanding of their

homelessness problem, i.e., living patterns, interpretations or social reality, and

programs services and trajectories compelling a career of homelessness.

Operationalization of Homelessness:

The eleven African American participants in this study were recruited from

the central business district of Detroit. To be eligible for the study, all eleven of

the men met the requirements of homelessness as set forth under section 103(a)

of the McKinney Act, which states as follows:

a) An individual who lacks affixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence; and

b) An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is

1. An supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to

2. An institution that provides a temporary residence for individual

3. A public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human

31

beings (Glossary of Detroit’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, 2008, Appendix B).

All respondents complied with the above operational definition of homelessness.

Schedule of Open-ended Interview Questions:

The homeless men who agreed to participate in the recorded interviews

were asked to respond to the following questions:

1. Please tell me how you got to where are now in your life? 2. What do you believe are the causes or reasons that you are homeless? (That is, what are the pathways that culminated in the participant becoming homeless.) 3. Please describe what life is like for you now. Maybe you could start by telling me what a typical day is like for you. 4. What is the community like where you live and spend your time? (Environment, people, etc.) 5. What resources and services do you use to live and maintain yourself as a homeless person? (for food, shelter and security, etc) 6. If you could change the way you live now, what changes would you like to make? How do you think you could make these things happen? 7. What do you think you will need to help you change your homelessness and improve your lifestyle? (That is, what are the pathways out of homelessness towards housing, employment, drug free living and integration into society.) 8. What type of programs and services do you think are essential to help people get out of homelessness? 9. What do you think about the programs and services that are available to help you and others out of homelessness? 10. Why do you think some men seem to prefer being homeless or

appear comfortable without having a permanent home ?

32

Chapter 4: Findings

Question One: Please tell me how you got to where you are now in your life?

Substance abuse was found to be the major contributing factor to the

majority of the respondents’ homelessness. Eight respondents are active alcohol

and/ or drug users. Of the eight respondents, two are alcoholics (primary

drug/no-secondary drugs); two respondents are heroin Intravenous Drug User

(IDU), (heroin primary drug); four respondents reported that their primary drug is

crack cocaine with alcohol as a secondary drug. Three respondents reported

non-addicted, normal alcohol usage and recreational illicit drug use of marijuana,

but one reported a history of past drug usage and more importantly, reported that

his former drug usage has no bearing on his present homelessness.

The respondents had the option not to respond to the question, but they all

responded to question one: how you got to where you are now in your life? A

majority of the respondents (eight respondents1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10) reported

that drugs or substance abuse played a major role for their being homeless.

Respondent eight reported, “Drugs played a major part in me being homeless.”

For the purpose of this study, substance abuse refers to the habitual use or

addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Respondent nine admitted that he is an

alcoholic, and he reported, “The only thing I can say is alcoholism, basically, it

played a role.” Most respondents resoundingly reported that substance abuse

was the precipitating factor contributing to homelessness, lost of employment,

and disaffiliation from the family. Respondent ten reported:

A, well, I went through divorce. I lost my job. But first I smoked crack, and you know I started smoking

33

crack that was about twenty (20) years ago. And you know, I started smoking daily, got a divorce, I lost everything, after that I started smoking crack, but I started drinking, drinking and drinking that was it, Cannot keep a job, you know, so drinking too much.

Respondent one reported:

I used to work at Calvin construction. I got hurt and then I got laid-off. I am an addict and I started back using drugs again. First, I started drinking; drinking heavier, and then I started using crack. Which I used years ago, but I had stopped and started back (pause 5.0). I started stealing from my woman, (expletive) that things like that (pardon my French). So, I end up back down here. Most people down here is running from somebody, someone or something they did because anybody in their right mind, would not leave their healthy home to come down here.

The respondent is referring to living in the Cass corridor area where many of

the homeless population reside because of the availability of drugs, access to

soup kitchens, drop-in centers, shelters, and an environment conducive to

maintaining a person’s homeless status. Two respondents admitted that they

were diagnosed with mental illness prior to becoming homeless. They maintain

that their homelessness is due to their substance abuse problem. Respondent

two reported:

I came home, I lost my job, I had a good job. I gave my job up for drugs, The first thing on my mind, I put that, I put that, I put the drugs in front of my family and my family became secondary, but it cost me.

Respondent two further reported:

Yes, I am, I have been classified as a psycho, as a paranoid schiozophrenic by my psychiatrist and my psychotherapist. I was in therapy, even back in the day. I stay in the old Northville a State Mental Hospital, for about, wow for about, about a month. I

34

was taking a some um, a really highly-highly anti depressive drugs back then, but now I’m taking drugs ain’t got nothin again now, this update a twenty (20) years in the future now. I’m taking some drugs now.

Respondnet two in the last sentence is referring to alcohol and illicit drugs which

may be considered as a form of self-medication since he was not prescribed any

psychotropic medication. Another respondent has a problem with alcohol and

illicit drugs and has been diagnosed with a mental illness. Respondent three

claims that he became homeless as a result of a lack of discipline and drugs.

He reported, “a lack of discipline, using drugs, alcohol, using drugs!” Also, he

further reported, “I’ve been diagnosed with major depression, that is also a factor,

and I must keep straight.“ Both respondents two and three reported being

diagnosed with mental disorders that predated their homeless status.

Respondent two is receiving Social Security benefits, but Respondent three is

not receiving any Social Security benefits. They are dual diagnosed with both a

mental disorder and substance abuse disorder. Mental illness is a factor that

affected respondents two and three prior to them being homeless, and they are

involved in criminal activity as a result of using illegal drugs. Criminal

activity/criminal history is a factor in three respondents as follows. Respondents

five stated,

Well I have to say my homelessness has been going on for 15 years. You know, Because I really don’t want to count being incarcerated as home, It been 15 years I’ve been homeless, and it’s been cause drug usage, criminal activity. A just, how they say it bucking the system. Doing what I wanted to do and this is where I ended up at, being homeless

35

Two respondents believe that their homelessness is due to long-term

incarceration and their criminal record. They believe that their criminal record is

a barrier to employment contributing to their homelessness by their inability to

earn an income to pay for housing, which further prevents them from being

socially integrated into society. Respondent six stated

Yeah homeless, I aint had no income, no kind of income, nothing; you know have to have income to pay your bills, your rent and everything, right. I did not have any income. It is hard for me to get a job that s all, no income, it’s hard for me to get a job because I’m a convicted felon, convicted of felony convictions, and I put a applications in a whole lot of places. Nobody called! I been like that, I have been to prison three times, right. Ooh we…did I ever hurt myself, I do not blame nobody for it but me, you know what I am saying. I kind of suffering for it, but I am glad to be free anyway, and I’ve been out 8 years and a week, and I’ve been straight on a leash.

Respondent six stressed that his past criminal history was both a barrier and

exacerbating factor contributing to his homelessness. For this respondent, the

inability to obtain employment and earn funds to pay for housing (i.e., the

payment of the required security deposit and first month rent) is the reason for

his homelessness. All together four respondents cited a criminal record as a

barrier to them finding employment and as contributing to their homelessness.

One of the three non-active drug users (reported no past drug use) attributed his

homelessness to long-term incarceration, a history of violence and refusal to

burden his family with the attending problem. Respondent eleven stated:

A at the present time yes I am by choice.

36

Well as I have been explaining earlier I’ve been in the penitentiary two-thirds of my life. I ‘m 56 years old I’ve only been on the streets 6 years since I was 17 years old. …I also have a Bachelors degree, but the instant problem with my situation is when I do find myself in open-society and I try to be normal like everybody else and apply for employment. What stops me is my criminal history’, I can’t pass a background check because I have a violent criminal history.

Two respondents contributed their criminal history as the sole factor contributing

to their homelessness; one respondent claimed it is a factor along with the

determinant factor of substance abuse. Substance abuse was identified as the

major underlying factor for most respondents, even the respondents whose

mental illness predated their homelessness, along with criminal activity/criminal

history as a barrier to employment and consequential result of homelessness.

Question II: What do you believe are the causes or reasons that you are homeless? (That is, what are the pathways that cul minated in the participant becoming homeless.)

This question asked the respondents what they believe the causes or

reasons for them being homeless. This question refers to the pathway into the

culture of chronic homelessness. The objective was to obtain their rationale for

being homeless; however, this objective was achieved in their responses to the

first question. The first question meant the same as the second question to the

respondents because they were asked how they got to where they were in life and

that is the cause and rationale for their present reality of homelessness. The

object of the second question was to obtain what the respondents believed were

the cause or reason for their homelessness, and they tend to view this question as

37

similar to the first question. Their present reality of homelessness is closely linked

to the factors or causes culminating in how (the pathway) they got to where they

are (homeless) now in life. That is, the cause singularly or together of substance

abuse, criminal activity/criminal, and mental illness surfaced again under question

two. Although the pathway to homelessness and the causes and reasons for

homelessness are similar to questions one, the issues of job loss and disaffiliation

from family is an underlining factor, if not a major factor, for the respondents’

homelessness. Under question two, six (6) of the eleven (11) respondents

indicated that lack of family support or cooperation may have some bearing on

their homelessness. Under question two, six (6) of the eleven (11) respondents

indicated that lack of family support or cooperation may have some bearing on

their homelessness. Interestingly, all of the respondents are disaffiliated from their

family and lack social support. Consequently, the factors of substance abuse and

criminal/criminal history, mental illness, disaffiliation or lack of support network and

loss of job collated in the graph on the next page.

38

Substance Abuse/Drugs/Alcohol

Disaffiliation from family or lack of support network

Loss of Job/Unemployed

Criminality/Criminal History

Mental Illness

Unable to work/SSA-SSI

Respondent One

X X X X

Respondent Two

X X X X

Respondent Three

X X X X

Respondent Four

X X

Respondent Five

X X X

Respondent Six

X X X

Respondent Seven

X X X X

Respondent Eight

X X X

Respondent Nine

X X X

Respondent Ten

X X X

Respondent Eleven

X X X X

39

Question III: Please describe what life is like for you now. Maybe you could

start by telling me what a typical day is like for you?

“Hustling” seems to be the operational word utilized by the respondents in

responding to question three. The majority of respondent referred to their means

of obtaining money as “hustling.” “Hustling” may be described as a means of

getting money by less recognized methods or even criminal methods, i.e.,

stealing, panhandling, though it might also include legal methods, i.e., delivering

handbills, doing odd jobs, and day labor. Some respondents go out and look for

bottle and cans because they can return them to stores for their deposit value of

ten cents per bottle or can which adds up to dollars.

A typical day for most respondents consist of drug usage, and hustling for

drugs or money to buy drugs. Respondents get high wherever they can

outdoors, in abandoned buildings, drug houses, and other drug users’ dwelling

places. Two respondents identified as IDU heroin addicts are persistent in their

drug use at all cost, even if it includes criminal activity. Due to their responses to

question three, there exists an admitted proneness toward criminal activities in

order to obtain their perceived needs for drugs.

. A typical day also includes partaking of essential services to help maintain

their homeless status. They utilize services in order to meet their basic needs for

food provisions and daily hygiene. Respondents’ use of soup kitchens was a

major source of gaining access for nutrition. Respondents utilized the day

shelter services for entertainment such as watching television, and socializing

with other homeless persons. The shelter accommodation was the primary place

40

for some respondents during the winter months. Many of these daily activities

are common among homeless persons and they are essential to their homeless

culture, their community, and social environment.

Question IV: What is the community like where you live and spend your time? (Environment, people, etc.)

The majority of respondents typically responded negatively to the

community/environment question. They responded as follows: “Cass corridor is

wild”; “drugs and alcohol take over there,” and “nobody cares;” “some of them I

don’t trust;” “mostly drugs and criminal activities,” this is how those respondents

characterize the community. Refreshingly, three respondents did not speak in

generalized negative terms. They were not ignorant of the negative elements

present within their environment, but spoke specifically of peace and harmony at

specific locations (Cass Park and Roosevelt Park) and with persons of peaceful

dispositions. Respondent ten reported:

The people, they are alright in this park (Roosevelt Park). I aint had no trouble and the park is quiet. You know how Cass Park is, you know, how that park is when you spent the night out there. And the park over there on Trumbull and Grand River they have them young boys that keep coming over there and messing with folks I don’t understand it. This park here, everybody’s cool in this park, aint none of that junk in this park, this park is quiet, it’s quiet (emphasis added).

Respondent four reported:

Well, some people are good and some are evil. Some friends that I have out here are cool. They don’t like going to the library, so they hang out at the NSO or whatever, go downtown and panhandle, so we split up there. They got some people that will

41

steal from you, all bullshit gangsters and all that. The environment is like yen-yang, personally, some people are cool and some people are not (emphasis added).

Respondent six stated: To me the community is peaceful. I be downtown all the time right, and it’s peaceful. I still run into a few crazy people, but other than that It’s peaceful. Just like when you seen me to night, right. I usually get somewhere by myself, and that’s it.

Respondent eleven is fifty-six years old, reported that he has a history of

violence, and was incarcerated for over twenty years. He responded

philosophically in a triangular fashion, coming at the question introspectively,

retrospectively, and prospectively as he answered the question. Respondent

eleven stated,

Basically, I’m down here in an area, that they call Cass corridor area, and it’s mostly populated with people who are destitute. They have addictions, a lot of them are cross addicted with alcoholism, narcotics and several other things. And some of them are even mentally ill. Then you have people or just street people who do what they need to do to survive, and even some of them could be doing better than what they do. It’s just the choice that they make that keeps them were they are…

The nature and substance of this respondent’s responses were an

important experience—oriented in the homeless environment by a person

capable of describing the community/environment, the social world of the

homeless in the Cass Corridor. The greater the period of time a person

experiences (being) homeless, and the more the person becomes involved with

other homeless persons, the more homelessness becomes a way of life (Reid &

42

Klee, 1999, p 24). The longer the exposure to homelessness and to homeless

peers, the more a person becomes acculturated to homelessness, the streets,

and the street subsistence economy (Kipke, Unger et al, 1997). Homelessness

has become a way of life for the majority of the respondents in this study. The

respondents are absorbed in the culture of homeless of the Cass Corridor.

The participants have a worldview of their community, where they are

living and spending their time. The environment includes both the people who

are homeless and those who are housed. They both tend to have a lack of trust

or a disregard for others who are not part of their special group. Many of the

respondents see the world full of drugs and criminal activities, and their fellow

men as “being down,” and having an attitude full of anger resembling depression

resulting from not being able to obtain what others who are housed take for

granted. This anger is manifested in arguments over alcohol and drugs; this

anger perpetuates violence such as fights and assault, and sometimes ends in

the murder or the homicide of a homeless victim who may be addicted to alcohol

or drugs, and/or is severely mentally ill. These traits, in most cases, are those of

both the perpetrators and/or victims of the violence because they are usually

homeless themselves.

Respondent four reported

The environment is kind of up and down. It could be violent; some people I know have lost their lives, over bullshit, or arguing over liquor, dope. Some people have been killed. Last summer, a couple of friends of mine were killed. I have been blessed not to be killed because I am still here. I have been in a couple of fights.

43

Two respondents mentioned that it is a “bad environment to be around

homeless people and everybody wants to take it out on everybody else” (that is,

the pain and misery of their own personal world of homelessness makes them

lash out at others, even in their own community). Participants referred to ‘Cass

corridor as the land of homelessness.” One participant stated, “I could not say

anything good about being in Cass corridor area.” Another reported “the

homeless world of Cass corridor is a world full of violence, drugs, alcohol, and

oddball behavior that is the norm.” Respondent five reported:

Um, being in the Cass corridor area, um I believe the predicament I’m in homelessness, it nothing but drugs, criminal activity, a lot of pain and misery, Don’t know what to do or where to turn. It is a big old melting pot, and that is it--…. I say 90 something percent of the people there are in the same predicament I am in, homelessness, some type of criminal activity, or drugs or just wondering, mindlessly hoping something comes along.

They reported that drugs and alcohol take over the homeless folk, especially the

mentally ill. For the immediate gratification, the high derived from the

consumption of drugs and alcohol takes control of those homeless folk. They are

taken over by the desire to consume more drugs and alcohol. Respondent five

stated, “the drugs and the alcohol take over the folks where I’m at. A lot of

stealing, a lot arguing, fighting, backbiting, the whole nine.” Both alcohol and

other drugs are the addiction of the day to ease the pain of living on the fringe.

The men have no responsibility except for their own survival or the survival of

their women if they have them. Their worldview is to survive, to exist in the world

in spite of their personal shortcomings, and their failures in life. Simply by being

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homeless, many come to perceive themselves as failures, especially in not being

able to fulfill the masculine role prescribed by society: not being the breadwinner,

the head of household.

They may or may not be in command of their plight in the world, though

they seem to take the blame for their reality even if they cannot stop the eviction,

even if they cannot make someone hire them and give them a living wage. They

do not have the power to fire nor hire themselves, lay-off nor call themselves

back to work, to rent an apartment or buy a house. They do have the power to

survive in the world of homelessness, which some housed persons characterize

as a state of existence fundamental to learned worthlessness, hopelessness, and

helplessness. However, many of them long for the chance to have a job, a place

of residence and to be a member of the domiciled society.

These respondents tend to have a dim view of their environment. Most of

them spent a majority of their time in the Cass corridor area. This area is within

or adjacent to the Business district in downtown Detroit. A large number of

homeless people congregate and live in the corridor area where shelter, food and

other essentials are readily available to them. The homeless congregate in

places where they can eat, the indoor places (drop-in centers, day shelters, soup

kitchens, etc) that are used for refuge and to watch television, and places where

they can rest and discuss the events of their world with others who share the

same worldview as they do.

Many of the homeless persons in the area sleep outside: in the streets, in

doorways, on benches, in bus shelters, and in parks, especially Hart Plaza where

45

the Ethnic festival and other events take place. Many of the homeless who

congregate at Hart Plaza sleep there all year round. They camp out in the

underground area of Hart Plaza for protection from the rain, wind, and people

who may harm them. Homeless people still sleep outdoors in the streets,

although there are homeless shelters. Three major shelters are located in the

Cass corridor area, and one of the shelters usually can be accessed 24 hours, 7

days a week.

Two shelters on Third Avenue in Cass Corridor are heavily utilized for

socializing and sleeping by many of the area’s chronic homeless population. One

homeless shelter on Third Avenue is a dormitory style arrangement full of bunk

beds pressed close together. Some people do not use the shelters because they

are overcrowded. The sleeping area is crowded and clustered, and the adjacent

dining area is crowded with people sleeping in chairs because there are not

enough beds to go round. The other Shelter on Third Avenue greets you with

people standing against the building, on the curb, sitting on the grass, or the curb

across the streets. Many homeless people congregate on Third Avenue from

Martin Luther King Drive to Peterboro Street.

The informal subsistence economy of the Corridor mainly consists of

collecting bottles, hustling drugs, panhandling, doing odd jobs, washing cars, and

delivering sales papers door to door. There is plenty day of labor work for

homeless folk in the handbill trade, and many homeless males get up early in the

morning to be selected for the job, especially if they are not one of the regular

workers with a paper route. They call it delivering handbills. People in vans or

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trucks come to the Corridor looking for people to deliver handbills at 5:00 a.m.

Many of the men who do handbill work consider themselves as professionals and

call themselves “Handbill Hikers.” Delivering handbills gives many of the

homeless men something to do, to earn some money to spend on drugs and

alcohol to escape the misery of homelessness.

One homeless man referred to the trucks that come down into the corridor

to get workers as slave trucks. This man reported that they work for 14 to 16

hours a day without water or a lunch break, and that they earn a meager sum of

$30.00 to $35.00 dollars for their labor. Here is an excerpt from that interview;

the participant is angry about homelessness, his environment, and the handbill

trade in Cass corridor. He states the following:

Then they got the slave trucks, better known as handbills, put all that shit on your back, and most brothers and sisters now don’t understand that the damn Arab gets $65.00 a bundle and they pay you $12.00. If they doornob it they get a $125.00 , they still pay you $12.00. They come down here in this motherfucking shit they call Cass corridor, the ghetto or whatever you want to call it. And they come up and say “do you want to work,” everybody want to work to earn their own keep, but not for 16 hours for $35.00 or $30.00. You get up on the truck, you got to be up at 4:00 a.m., you get on the truck at 5:00 a.m., they take you out at 6:30 a.m., you get out the truck about 7:30 a.m. and you get back home at about 7:30 p.m.; you spent about 14 hours chasing, you don’t get lunch break, you don’t get water break, then some of these trucks they come out here and say if you don’t buy no crack you can’t get on my truck; they’re down here everyday (Respondent 7).

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They also hunt for bottles and cans while they are delivering handbills.

This respondent reported that he looks for bottles and cans when he cannot get

on the slave trucks this respondent four reported:

Sometime I do odd jobs, I may throw handbill, I have a church on Woodward and Adams they usually tell me to come in I do some filing or whatever, they pay me under the table cause they trust me whatever, You go and you do Farmer Jack flyers for about 5 or 6 hours. They put you in the truck and you do flyer, like Farmer Jack flyers, you put them on the door. Put them on the doorknobs or whatever. Some days, I do not feel like doing handbills, now they have their picker and chooser. Usually, I just go to the library and hangout until its time to go back to the shelter.

The role of work or “hustling” is important to the homeless community and

for example if they cannot get on the handbill truck, panhandling is another

option. A typical day for respondent five is as follows:

Um, a typical day for me, um well, first thing, when I get up in the morning my first objective is trying to find some work or get some money. I do handbills a lot, um when I’m doing handbills that takes about 6 or 7 hours of the day. Throw handbill or panhandling, you know, because sometimes it is hard to get on a handbill trucks. You know, I do one of those two things instead of going back into criminal activities. You know, I’m not trying to find a permanent home; I’m not trying to go back to prison just to find a home. After that, I try to find something to eat and somewhere to lay my head.

Those who are not involved in the handbill trade or other hustles during

the day go to the area soup kitchens to eat, obtain clothing, bus tickets, and

interact with other people who share their plight. Many pick up cans and bottles

along the way to the soup kitchens to put money in their pockets. They can get

breakfast, lunch and dinner at the soup kitchens and in many cases talk with a

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staff member at the kitchen about their problems. The community/environment is

comprised of the daily activities of the respondents, their worldview and the

people that they socialize with, and their methods of earning money.

Question V: What resources and services do you use to live and maintain yourself as a homeless person? (for food, shelter and security, etc)

All the respondents use some form of services to maintain their homeless

status, specifically soup kitchens whereby they avail themselves of feeding

services. This includes how they obtain food, shelter, and security for

themselves while living in the streets. All respondents reported utilizing the soup

kitchens and/or other food services in the area. Eight of the eleven respondents

resort to shelters as sleeping quarters at some point. The three remaining

respondents for the most part slept in non-established shelters i.e., abandoned

buildings, self-appointed areas, etc. Those respondents who do not normally

utilize the shelter system, but sleep in the rough outdoors on the streets use

other services for clothing, and showers.

Those homeless persons who sleep in the streets usually sleep in groups

or areas that they are familiar with for security purposes because they feel safer

in those groups or areas. They think of these supporting groups as resources for

comfort (for makeshift shelters blankets, cardboard etc) and security. Those

chronically homeless persons who are loners or sleep alone reported that they

serve as their own security out in the streets. One respondent stated, “I’m my

own security. For the simple fact that the places I sleep at, I secure me.” Most

respondents reported that the shelters are not safe, and that even there they

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must provide their own security as they do when they sleep in the rough

outdoors. Respondent five reported:

Well, I can say for food I go to churches or something passing out meals, you have different places, you know. Like you have the Rescue Mission, you have this place here Helping Hands, you have different resources if they have the room, then if, then places that are available to help a person like myself. You know, like I’m not the only person that’s homeless in this Detroit area, so it’s very thin. So that’s why sometime I just find myself in the streets, sleeping wherever, you know.

Most members of the homeless population use some form of services to help

them to exist and maintain their homeless status. Most homeless persons use

the services that are available for food, clothing, showers, or for whatever they

need, or for whatever is necessary to sustain them and to help them maintain

their status. Respondent four reported:

Normally I have a list of shelters I go to, certain shelters do certain things I like, certain shelter are better for showering, clothing, and I pick um. The church that I work at Woodward and Adams they give out bus tickets to church members and volunteers. Every shelter has certain needs, like the Rescue Mission give you peace and quiet, they do not allow no fighting up in there, I use them for like shower and sleep. For clothing it’s like a Washington Blvd. Food would be like Woodward and Adams and/or Fort Street. So every church basically that, most of them do that, like every shelter basically / has a certain purpose and I just about know which one to go to for my needs whether it be clothing or food.

The homeless need warm accommodations to help them survive the harsh winter

months. The homeless people who sleep in the streets required plenty of

blankets and food to maintain their body heat during the cold. The winter months

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pose a challenge for the homeless in terms of their survival. There is more of a

need to protect people from the harsh winter cold because people can die from

hypothermia.

In an effort to alleviate the problem during the coldest nights, the city’s

Human Services Department provides emergency shelters or warming centers

for the homeless. This is how the city addresses the lack of shelter space during

the coldest days of the winter when the regular shelter system cannot

accommodate the large influx of homeless people during the cold harsh weather.

However, when shelter space exceeds capacity including the city emergency

warming center, some people are turned away to deal with the freezing cold.

Unfortunately, the lack of shelter space for the homeless in the winter is due to a

lack of preparedness by the city, shelter space, and permanent housing for the

poorest of the poor.

Furthermore, many of the respondents reported that the shelters were not

safe places to sleep and that many of the staff persons were verbally abusive.

Several respondents reported that some staff members mistreated them. Other

respondents are negative about the shelter system. They reported that many of

the shelters are unsanitary, serve rotten donated food, have bed bugs in the

sleeping area, and that the shelters are too structured, having rules for

everything. During one of the interviews, respondent seven angrily reported:

Shelter is rat infested, bug, lice, they don’t force, they don’t have the proper showers, they don’t force people to take a bath, they don’t clean clothes, they don’t give out proper clothes, and they don’t wash the damn funky. You don’t take a cloth mattress and put

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it in a shelter. You dig, you don’t tell a man to sleep on the floor and eat leftover food.

Respondent nine claimed that he does not utilize the shelter because it

reminds him of prison. He stated,

No, I don’t and the reason being is that, I spent so much time incarcerated in my life under other people’s orders, be told when to go to bed, when to wake up, when to do this, when to do that, being yelled at, a threatened and coerced and in a lot of situations that. Going into shelters to me is too much like being in prison. So, I would rather be out here in the streets sleeping on a bench or whatever, you understand, rather than being under somebody guidance or control as far as telling me what to do. I am not a person who does not respect authority. I just do not like the way things are done. Where people like myself in this community, and services being provided by these people are too regimented and to rigid, and I do not like it.

However, some of the respondents reported that the shelters are safer

than being on the streets and they provide comfort that they cannot get out on

the streets like beds, mats, chairs and something to eat. Respondent four stated:

A typical day, right now I am at the Rescue Mission, they open around, about 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. I usually get there 9 p.m. If I am in the library doing research or whatever I get there at 9 p.m. They take your name, they give you a chair some time they give you a bed. If the beds full then they give you a chair. Now and the shower open up, you can take you a shower, through the night. They wake you up round bout 5:30 a. m. They tell to go to the dinning room for breakfast. We eat breakfast at 6:15 a.m., and then they put you out.

Here is an enumeration of the rationale why some respondents do not

normally utilize the shelter system as follows.

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1. The shelters do not try to help them locate permanent housing (especially those consumers with an income).

2. Shelters are not safe place to sleep.

3. Shelter staff are verbally abusive

4. Shelter staff member give preferential treatment to certain shelter users

(homeless folks).

5. Shelters are unsanitary places, they are not kept clean (they are filthy).

6. Shelters serve rotten donated food.

7. There is a problem with bed bugs in the shelters

8. Shelters are too structured; they have a rule for everything or the rules are too rigid.

Question VI: If you could change the way you live now, what chan ges would you like to make? How do you think you could make these things happen?

This question is referring to how they would change from a lifestyle of

homelessness to being a member of society who lives in a dwelling fit for human

habitation and not on the streets. What changes would they make in their life to

improve their plight? Generally, they did not appear hopeful about their

prospects for changing their life and many of them did not know what type of

action to take. They appeared unable to make a plan of action for obtaining

housing. Many of them did not appear hopeful about finding employment.

One of the respondents openly admitted that he wished to continue his

drug use, but desired to own his own home through means of employment. He

failed to mention how he planned to maintain his drug use while at the same time

obtaining a home via employment. Another respondent believed that a change

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of location away from Detroit constituted a necessary step to escape

homelessness. Similarly, another respondent saw the necessity of gaining

knowledge and employability through returning to school. He perceived that by

obtaining the two above named objectives--knowledge (schooling) and

employment--equals permanent housing. Four of the respondents understood

that the first hurdle to negotiate was their substance abuse problem and that only

then would they be able to overcome their homelessness status. One of the

respondents expressed that his barrier was his criminal record that frustrated

his goal of employment and housing. It must also be mentioned that only one of

the respondents related his homelessness to his mental state. He outright stated

that he must change his thinking. Another respondent insisted upon a necessary

belief in God or recognized place of religion in his life would contribute

immensely to the needed to change environmentally, socially, and spiritually.

Being able to obtain employment, job training or an education, and a

healthy socio-emotional support network are the usual pathways for persons to

improve their lifestyles or change their lives. Respondents reported that they

could possibly change their lives by getting a job, job training, or going to school

to getting an education. Respondents with substance abuse problems reported

that they must stop the substance abuse. It appears that many of the

respondents failed to recognize that they need a better socio-emotional support

network to help them change. They reported that substance abuse treatment

could help them with their substance abuse problems and subsequently help

them change their lives. Two respondents reported that involvement in

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Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and/or Narcotics anonymous (NA) as a support

group would further help them improve their lives. Then some respondents think

that a geographical change would he the cure to their substance abuse problem

and as a pathway to employment and housing.

One respondent reported that he would have to leave Detroit to improve

his lifestyle because life for him in Detroit as a homeless person was too dismal.

This one respondent reported that the authorities and the business owners treat

homeless people as though they had no right to exit in the areas surrounding

their businesses. He further reported that they are treated differently than the

people from the suburbs that spend their money downtown in the business

district for entertainment such as baseball games, football games, the theaters,

festivals, and other outdoor and nighttime activities. He reported that he and

other homeless persons could not drink a beer in public near those businesses

like the suburbanites who can drink alcoholic beverages with immunity, although

they do not live in the city. The police give homeless people who drink beer or

alcohol in front of the public a ticket, pour their beer or alcohol out of the

container, and order them to leave the area.

Question VII: What do you think you will need to h elp you change your homelessness and improve your lifestyle? (That is, what are the pathways out of homelessness towards housing, employment, dr ug free living and integration into society.)

The respondents considered both question six and seven the same

because both questions pertain to how the respondents could change the way

they live. Many respondents believed that substance abuse treatment,

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abstinence from alcohol and drugs, and having a recovery-oriented socio-

emotional support group are necessary to change, overcome homelessness and

improve their lifestyle so that they can obtain housing, employment and be a part

of society. Some respondents did not believe that they could change and some

respondents did not want to stop using alcohol and drugs. Most of the

respondents had some idea about what they needed to do to change, but having

the power or motivation to do so is the real issue. The majority agree that they

need help to change; that means programs and service as well as a new attitude

or way of thinking with the intrinsic motivation to achieve change.

Most respondents believe that they can change their lifestyle by changing

the way the think, by thinking positive. One respondent who admitted to being

seriously mentally ill reported that the Probate Court system declared him,

”mentally incapacitated.” He states, “I must stay positive and be around positive

people.” Another (Second) respondent stated “In order for a man or woman to

get back into mainstream of society he or she has to change his whole way of

thinking, his whole way of thinking about things life.” A third respondent stated,

“Stay positive and keep positive view of my situation.” This respondent

emphasizes that by him keeping a positive attitude of himself and taking

responsibility for his actions that he can somehow change his situation of

homelessness. These excerpts of respondents’ interviews indicate that they

believe motivation and encouragement are important in raising their self-esteem

and in devising an exit strategy or pathway out of homelessness.

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Question VIII : What type of programs and services do you think are essential to help people get out of homelessness?

Most respondents reported that many programs and services designed to

help people get out homelessness are essential, but they do not appear to be

working to eliminate homelessness. Detroit area programs and services

designed for the homeless population usually functions as temporary shelters,

soup kitchens, and bathing facilities. Respondents reported that programs and

services are essential that offer housing, education programs, job training and

job program, substance abuse treatment and mental treatment are essential to

helping people overcome homelessness. Respondent five reported:

I think educational programs, some type of working program where they teaching individuals, how to do different types of work. If people just take the time out and give a person a break.

Respondent six reported:

You know what I think, If you got a good program at least be a employment program right. And then like a GED if people need to go back to school or something that kind of thing, But I think good programs help people find jobs you know what I’m saying. Then if they got alcohol and drug problems get them out of that too.

Respondent ten reported:

Oh, I probably have to go to an alcohol program, I have to go back to school you know that’s about it. I probably to go to a rehabilitation program, you know, and go back to school.

One of the respondents rejected any type of program designed to deal

with homelessness. The majority of the respondents attached some validity to

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programs to educate and prepare them meet their needs for food, shelter and to

help them become rehabilitated. Further, they stressed that the educational

program must have a work component. Thus, this enables them to earn while

they learn. Another respondent, irrespective of programs offered, emphasized

that his most important barrier to availing himself of anything worthwhile was

primarily his criminal record. Respondent six further reported:

I’m a convicted felon. A lot of people don’t want to hire a convicted felons. a lot of people just don’t want to do it. I can take a job cleaning up, cooking or whatever, you know, it don’t matter, you know. I got an associates degree in business administration, I can operate a computer no problem….There are good healthy people right and they can work and they need jobs because a lot of them got criminal records, then they got bad attitudes, but me. Like I say, Good programs, just help me get a job a lot of other guys feel the same way.

From a practical perspective, it was viewed by one respondent that first,

he must take his medication and secondly, he must retain a support network in

order to maintain a positive mind. Respondent two reported

…. I had been classified as a psycho, as a paranoid schiozophrenic I had a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist, I was in therapy, even back in the day, when they had the old Northville, it was a place way out on 7 mile. I stay there, for about, wow for about, about a month. And I didn’t snap, but I was taking a some um, a really highly-highly anti- depressive drugs back then, but now I’m ain’t taking no drugs (he is referring to psychotropic medication for his mental illness) ain’t got nothin…….

Respondents contend that a number of programs are essential to help

them and other homeless people overcome homelessness. Educational

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programs to teach them life skills, job training, job search, and preparation for job

interviews. Substance abuse and mental health treatment are essential to help

them with their alcohol and drug problems. They need programs that help them

with their social development, so that they may be linked with their families and

support groups that are relevant for their substance abuse and mental health

issues to help them in their recovery. There is a need for specialized programs

to help ex-felons become gainfully employed. Housing, food, clothing, and other

essentials to help them become integrated in society.

Question IX : What do you think about the programs and services that are available to help you and others out of ho melessness?

The responses to question nine can be construed as representing two

extremes in regards to the programs and services available to help homeless

people overcome homelessness. They believed that the existing programs and

services are either “good” or “bad.” Permanent housing is the key, but some kind

of temporary or transitional housing is essential until they gain placement in

permanent housing. The need for transitional housing or housing with services is

essential to address those issues that may impede their integration into society

such as their mental health issues, health issues, substance abuse issues, and

other issues that may prevent them from benefiting from services. One

respondent contends that substance abuse treatment staff was not sensitive to

the needs of addict in treatment and that staff members criticized them.

Respondent eight reported:

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Some of them (staff) help and some of them are there just for a paycheck. They (staff) don’t have any remorse for an addict; all they do is criticize them. Knowing that they have been there [respondents is claiming that many of the staff members are recovering alcoholics or addicts], done that as well as [should] know what I’m going through. They put them selves on a pedestal because they overcame it [alcoholism or addiction]. Regardless or no matter of how many time it took them [i.e., being in substance abuse treatment] they finally got it. It could have took them 10, 12, 15, times but they finally got it, ok. I think it is wrong for them to give up on another addict if he fails maybe 4 or 5 times because no one didn’t give up on them and now they are counselors. They are now helping people, and someone had to give them a chance

The above respondent believe that recovering addicts employed in substance

abuse treatment programs lack empathy for people in treatment, and that they

speak to them in a condescending manner. He believes staff members should

not discourage persons from seeking treatment although they have failed to

abstain from alcohol and/or drug usage. He believes that a person should be

given as many opportunities as needed to help him achieve abstinence or

sobriety. Respondent five reported:

…. I don’t know of program per se, that specially help persons out of homelessness, you know, take a person from off the streets and put them in some place where they can reside at where they can get employment or education, things of that nature.

There is a need for development of programs to help train homeless persons for

employment and to seek employment. Those programs must be specifically

designed to address their special needs so that they can be more attractive to

employers as potential employees. Respondent six reported:

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….whatever program that’s going to help me get some employment, especially one that has employment to it. I don’t know where they [programs] are at, the bottom line. Then a lot of them [programs] don’t have a employment program. If, they do, would you please help me get a job then

The objective is to devise ways to help them become employable in spite of their

criminal history, lack of work history, and being over forty years old. Many of

them lack the necessary skills and education to complete an employment

application, to conduct themselves appropriately during employment interviews,

etc. Furthermore, when they become gainfully employed, they may still need

supportive services to help them maintain employment, permanent housing, and

ultimately help them remain socially integrated in society.

Question X: Why do you think some men seem to prefer being homeless or appear comfortable without having a per manent home?

Several of the respondents expressed their opinion about some

men appearing comfortable with being homelessness. They reported that

some men become complacent with being homeless and fear

responsibility. The respondents remarked that they like being homeless

so they can spend their money how they want. Respondent two reported:

they don’t have no responsibilities. They make money and blow it, They do not have to take a shower if they don’t want to. And a lot of guy, you know, feel comfortable like that because they have been doing it for so long, you know. They would not have it any other way.

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Three of the respondents believed that mental illness might be the reason why

some men appear comfortable with their homelessness. Respondent five

reported:

Personally, for me to say a man feels comfortable or complacent with (being homeless) that then I believe there some mental challenge there. No sane man wants to be homeless. I don’t believe that. No man in his right mind wants to be homeless. No. (Pause 5.0) There is a problem there mentally. If I can say mentally challenged that does not mean that there is something wrong with the way they think, it could be numerous things drugs, alcohol or whatever, but a normal man, no he does not wish to be homeless.

Respondent six reported:

That’s a mental problem to me, I think they got a real psychological problems. You know to feel that way, don’t want nothing! Jesus Christ grow up, have your own place and a job, and income. Then they are not trying to do nothing for themselves. That’s a psychological problem, they need mental help that’s what I believe (he laughs or chuckles). I’m not like that right, I be trying, but I want a place and I want a job right, it not that I got to act like I don’t want do nothing, that’s bad, that’s bad! I met guys like that.

Respondents six did not classify homelessness as a preference for him, but he

did reply that his homelessness was due to his criminal record. Sadly, the

comment of this respondent with the criminal record carries with it a sense of

resignation that his criminal record would result in permanently homeless status.

Respondents tended to distance themselves when asked directly, “Why

do you think some men seem to prefer being homeless or appear comfortable

without having a permanent home?” This pattern of distancing or disavowal of

homelessness is consistent throughout most of the interviews especially when

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asked that question. Many of them do not want to reply in the affirmative that

they appear to be comfortable being homeless without having a permanent

home. This is an indication that they are not comfortable with being homeless,

although they have been homeless and living on the streets for an average of 5

years or more. When asked directly they always reply, “No,” or “I don’t.” Snow

and Anderson (1987) referred to this pattern as “distancing” and Boydel et al.

(2000) referred to this interactional pattern as “disavowal.” Those studies are

relevant to the respondents’ social identity and concomitant stigma of

homelessness.

The majority of respondents reported that they do not feel comfortable

about being homeless or not having a permanent home. In fact, five (5)

respondents stated, “No, I despise it” (referring to being homeless). They tend to

talk about homeless persons as somebody other than themselves. Three (3)

respondents report that most men are comfortable with being homeless because

“they do not have any responsibilities”; or they reported “no responsibilities”

substantiating why some men are comfortable with being homeless or appear

comfortable without having a permanent home. Respondent one stated, “They

don’t have to answer to anyone….” He further reported

You know, they do not have any responsibilities, you know, what they do is what they do. Go make money blow it, and come back, you know. They aint have to take a shower if they do not want to, they live like you did years ago, they live out there on the range, you know. And a lot of guys, you know, feel comfortable like that they been doing it for so long, you know, they would not have it any other way.

Another respondent (six) stated:

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Cause a, a person that prefers being homeless, they don’t have any responsibilities, and a lot of the homeless people are afraid of responsibilities. And, you know they don’t have to worry about anything, cause like they don’t have to worry about bills, you don’t have to worry about living, cause like life pass you by.

Many of the men are afraid of facing social life with the responsibilities that

are integral to typical masculine roles. Their non-homeless social audience or

society views them as being a failure in the masculine role and that translates as

being a failure in society. Homelessness is a devalued social status, and being

viewed as a failure in the masculine role, along with being denied access to most

opportunities that the public takes for granted, tends to make some men feel

inadequate and angry that the public does not give them the respect and dignity

that they believe they deserve. Societal standards dictate that being a man

involves having a job, being the breadwinner in the family, having a home, and

having the respect of others. Unfortunately, homelessness has become a way of

life for most of these men, an extremely difficult habit or pattern for these men to

break. Most of the respondents have been homeless for more than five (5)

years, and they are absorbed in the homeless culture.

They share a homeless worldview, which may actually help them to cope

with a feeling of inadequacy as men, fathers, sons, and members of society.

Homelessness represents the underside of society, the very bottom of the social

stratification system, and the lowest social status there is in society, that of

homelessness and extreme urban poverty. These men require help to break the

bondage of poverty and the culture of homelessness.

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Chapter 5: Discussion

Substance abuse is the major cause of homelessness for the majority of

the respondents in this study. Another factor contributing to homelessness is

criminality/criminal history, which is a barrier to employment and reintegration

into society for some respondents. A secondary factor is mental illness that

predated two of the respondents’ homelessness. Their mental illness may have

had some impact on their substance abuse problem (as a form of self-

medication). However, they maintain that their substance abuse problem

contributed to their homelessness and not their mental illness alone. The

findings of this study are based on the interviews of eleven homeless male

respondents who gave voice to their experiences of substance abuse, criminal

history and the adequacy of services as it relates to their homelessness.

Questions 1 through 5 describe their pathways to homelessness and the

culture of chronic homelessness as they describe a typical day for them in their

community. They describe their social environment, peers, other people,

shelters, soup kitchens, and other facilities that help them maintain their

homeless status. The first and second questions obviously meant the same to

the respondents, because their answers to both questions were similar. The

antecedent factors that lead to their present existence (a life of homelessness),

and their belief about the causes and reasons for their homelessness are the

same. Homelessness characterizes their present condition and their gateways

into homelessness are the results of substance abuse, criminality/ criminal

history and mental illness singularly, consecutively, or simultaneously.

65

The third question asked respondents about their usual daily activities. A

typical day in the life of the respondents entails the activities or things that they

must do to maintain their homeless status, such as hustling to obtain money,

criminal activities and utilizing the services that provide for their basic survival

needs, which are food, clothing, shelter, socializing with others, etc. Most of the

respondents’ typical days are comprised of all of the above, along with alcohol

and/or drug usage. Many of them contend that alcohol and drugs make a typical

day bearable or worthwhile.

The majority of the respondents tend to have a dismal view of their

community/environment. They characterize it as thriving criminal activities

including the sell of illicit drugs, high consumption of alcohol, and high incidents

of violence. Three other respondents described specific areas of the

environment as peaceful. Roosevelt Park is one area depicted as peaceful and

harmonious by one respondent. The majority of the respondents have become

accustomed to living as homeless persons who are absorbed in the culture of

homelessness.

Chronic homelessness can be viewed as a culture in Detroit. Although the

homeless population is not a homogeneous group, they do have a design for

living homeless, and a distinct pattern for interpreting social life or social reality

distinct from persons who have not experienced homelessness. This cultural

perspective gives respondents a distinct local homeless worldview relevant to

Detroit Central area homeless population. Moreover, they have adopted this

local homeless worldview, which functions as a lens through which they see their

66

world. The cultural worldview acts as guidelines or guideposts to aid them in

interpreting reality and in maintaining their homeless status. Others with

experience in homelessness teach the newly homeless how to survive as a

homeless person. They show the newly homeless person how to act, where to

find food, where to sleep on the streets and, for those who prefer it, how to obtain

temporary shelter.

The cultural experience includes the feeding places, places to socialize

with other homeless folk, hustling, and criminal activities such as buying and

using drugs, etc. The social environment in comprised of other homeless folk

who participate in criminal activities and hustle to make money, mostly by

working subsistence-type daily labor, such as delivering handbills and picking up

cans and bottle for their deposit value. For many of the respondents’ alcohol or

drug usage is a cultural practice and is simply a part of dealing with the mundane

experience of their homelessness.

A majority of the respondents maintain their homeless status by availing

themselves of the services designed specifically for the homeless population

(such as soup kitchens, shelters, shower facilities, clothing, toiletries and other

services essential to the homeless population). Some of the respondents prefer

to sleep outdoors instead of the shelter. They reported that the shelters are not

safe, lack privacy, and staff does not treat them with dignity. Many of those

respondents believe that the shelter system does not help homeless persons

with jobs referrals or entitlement income as a means to obtain permanent

housing. Many respondents believe that the service system functions to keep

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them homeless by enabling them to survive as homeless individuals because

many of the organizations that they utilize depend on public and private funds for

their very existence, and without the homeless population, many of those

agencies would not exist.

Questions 6 through 10 describe what changes they would make to

change their homeless status. Many of the respondents were indecisive when it

came to thinking about what to do in order to change their homeless status, how

to overcome homelessness, obtain housing, employment, and integrate into

society. Most of the respondents with substance abuse problems reported that

they must deal with the substance abuse problem first by abstaining from

alcohol/drug use, and adopt a recovery-oriented lifestyle with a social support

network of recovering peers that reinforce abstinence and pro-social behavior.

Many respondents reported in behavioral terms that it might be possible to

change their lifestyle by changing the way they think, from thinking negative to

thinking positive. They said that they must believe that they can refrain from drug

use, maintain employment, housing, and function like other members in society

before they actually can achieve these things.

Respondents reported that job training, and employment programs would

help them to earn money so that they can pay for their own housing.

Respondents with criminal history reported that being able to obtain viable

employment in spite of their criminal history would help them to overcome

homelessness and to become reintegrated into society. Also, many respondents

reported that housing programs are essential to help them overcome

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homelessness. Also, many respondents reported that housing programs are

essential to help them overcome homelessness. Most respondents prefer to

distance themselves from the idea of being comfortable with homelessness, or to

disavow themselves when asked if they prefer being homeless. They tend to

think of other homeless persons as being comfortable with homelessness and

not themselves. This pattern of distancing or disavowal of homelessness is

consistent throughout the interviews.

The review of the literature on homeless persons’ perspectives of the

adequacy of services for the homeless population asserts that they tend to view

the service systems as inadequate. The service system is lacking because they

do not take into account the wishes of the people who utilize the services. This

study is in line with Bhui et al. (2006) where the homeless service users’

perspective or view is central to the redevelopment of future services for the

homeless population. The difference is this study was composed of African-

Americans and the Bhui et al. lacked minority representation in their study. The

present study concurs with Miller et al. (2001), wherein dignity is “critical to

understand the experience of homelessness and improving services and

programs for the homeless” (p 331). The difference is that the present study

was gender specific (containing only males) and the Miller et al. study examined

the views of both male and female homeless persons.

This study is in line with Harris and Keller (2004), Pollock (2004), and

Freemen (2003) in asserting that a criminal record is a barrier to employment

because employers typically deny employment to persons with criminal records.

69

The difference between the present study and the above studies is that they

examined statistics, occupational codes, state and federal statutes, and Title VII

of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the present study examined the views or self-

report of respondents on their criminal history and employment. Two

respondents were outspoken in pointing out that their criminal record prevented

them from obtaining employment further prevented them from obtaining housing

and from being successfully integrated into society.

Interpretations of the findings indicate that homelessness for the

respondents has become a way of life, wherein they are absorbed in the local

homeless culture. Respondents reported that the system is inadequate and does

not help them to overcome homelessness, but tends to perpetuate

homelessness. Substance abuse treatment and mental health treatment

programs must be designed to meet their needs so that they can abstain from

using alcohol and drugs. It has been suggested that mental health issues may

be a result of some individuals’ homelessness rather than the cause of their

homelessness (Koegel, 1986). In many cases, some homeless people’s mental

illness is evident in their overt behavior during interactions with others in the

community mental health treatment and/or substance abuse treatment setting.

This overt behavior (mental illness) may be view as a form of opposition to

authority where they may be expelled by staff for non-compliance with program

rules. The mental illness and substance abuse problems for the homeless

population must be addressed by development of new interventions so that they

can access pathways out of homelessness.

70

Respondents reported that substance abuse programs, mental health

programs, job-training programs, educational programs, housing programs and

other supportive programs are essential to help them overcome homelessness.

Housing programs with supportive services are important to help respondents

overcome their dilemma of homelessness. Most respondents reported that they

think that permanent housing is the key because most respondents want to be

independent and have the privacy that comes with permanent housing. Housing

with supportive services based on the abstinence model or housing first harm

reduction is essential to help them learn how to live on their own independently.

Retention in housing is a fundamental problem once you get homeless

folks housed to remedy those well-cited personal shortcomings or deficits.

Respondents with mental illness need supportive services to monitor that they

are taking their psychotropic medication and to help them develop a support

network to maintain the motivation to participate in their supportive programs. In

this connection, retention is a major problem for homeless persons with mental

illness or substance use disorder or both.

Many of the respondents have misgivings or negative perceptions of the

existing services that are available to help the homeless. They believe the

programs were either good or bad. Many of the chronically homeless have had

contact with community mental health agencies, but for various reasons their

connection to those agencies are disconnected. Many of these folks may have

severed their connection to mental health agencies due to a lack of housing,

transportation, stigmatization, negative consumer interaction with staff, a lack of

71

motivation to go on with the rigor of mental health treatment, and noncompliance

with taking their psychotropic medication. The idea of linking those homeless

persons with mental health issues to mental health agencies is important, but

the stress of finding a place to sleep, eat, and other personal things may interfere

with their retention in those programs. There should be more of an emphasis on

the retention of those persons in community mental health programs and housing

them so that they can benefit from the programs. They could benefit further by

not allowing their prior criminal history to prohibit them from federally subsidized

housing and certain employment opportunities that they may qualify for

especially when their behavior has demonstrated that they are unlikely to re-

offend.

Unfortunately, private sector employers require criminal background check

for their pool of potential employees, and in most cases, they excludes those with

a criminal history. In addition, many people are excluded from affordable public

housing under section 8, because applicants for housing assistance are required

to have background checks, and felons whose conviction occurred within the

past three years are denied housing. This problem is compounded with the

addition of other state or local governmental laws barring applicants with criminal

histories. This contributes to the homeless problems of ex-convicts and creates

the Public Safety issue of ex-convicts living in the streets with no housing, job or

supervision. Moreover, many ex-felons are release (i.e., discharged or paroled)

from prison into the ranks of the homeless without any sort of preparation,

without funding for housing, and without linking them to viable reentry or

72

reintegration programs that provide housing. This denial of access to housing,

employment, and reintegration programs further exacerbates public safety by

increasing homelessness, crime and recidivism. Access to employment for

respondents with criminal records is necessary to eliminate the barrier of a

criminal record, a program that can deal directly with employers that will hire

them. It is essential to provide them with the services that they and the

employers need so that they can be hired, and maintain their employment.

Unfortunately, many of the selected respondents were males of low social

economic status males and males of the lower social economic status tend to

have more criminal justice involvement-- criminal histories than white males and

other males of higher socioeconomic statuses.

The selections of respondents for this study are the result of a purposeful

sample. The researcher and all of the respondents are African-American men.

The findings do not reflect the perspective of other racial or ethnic group males.

Researcher bias can be cited because respondents were purposefully selected

based on their availability, and willingness to participant in the interviews. The

criteria to participate in the study are that respondents be both homeless and

male. This qualitative study is not representative of the general homeless

population in the United States because it does not randomly sample homeless

males in other area of the country, and excludes women. The study is non-

representative of homeless males in the city of Detroit. Because it is not based

on a random sample of the local homeless male population nor did every

homeless male in this population have an equal chance of being selected as a

73

respondent. The findings of the study are derived from the researcher’s

knowledge of homelessness, services for the homeless, and the eleven

respondents who gave voice to the interviews.

Recovery management, recovery coaching and a recovery oriented social

support network are important in helping homeless persons with both substance

use disorders and mental illness. They need support to remain drug free and

involved in their mental health intervention. The Detroit area lacks a true

integrated treatment modality to effectively deal with those types of consumers.

The transitional housing component, or housing with services, is essential to

achieve better outcome. They need to learn how to maintain housing and

themselves in this fast pace world.

Respondents further report that housing, employment, education, life

skills and supportive programs to help them adjust to living as persons who have

housing. The services need to be designed with homeless persons having a

voice in the development and implication of services to help them overcome their

dilemma of homelessness. A number of formerly homeless individuals have

benefited from Detroit’s outreach programs by being linked with existing services,

and they are on the pathway out of homelessness. Many of these individuals

have secured permanent housing, their substance use disorder is in remission,

or their mental health issue is under control (evident by a decrease in

symptoms), and then some individuals have learned to live healthier with their

chronic illnesses. Most importantly, they are living a healthy recovery oriented

lifestyle and they are beacons of hope for others.

74

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ABSTRACT

INTERACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF CHRONIC MALE HOMELESSNESS : RESPONDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON HOMELESSNESS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, CRIMINALITY/CRIMINAL HISTORY AND EFFICACY OF HOMELESS SERVICES

by

ANTHONY D. MC DUFFIE

August 2010

Advisor : Dr. Mary Sengstock

Major : Sociology

Degree : Master of Arts

This study is an analysis of qualitative interviews of eleven homeless male

respondents about homelessness, substance abuse, criminality/criminal history,

and mental illness in addition to participant observation (ethnography) with

homeless persons within the Cass corridor area and the Central Business District

in Detroit, Michigan. The respondents responded to a series of questions about

their gateway to homelessness, their community/environment, the adequacy of

services, and the services that they believed are essential to help them

overcome homelessness. The researcher as a participant-observer interacted

with the respondents and other homeless persons in their

community/environment by utilizing the same services that they utilized to

maintain their homeless status, and by getting to know them as individuals and,

also, as social types (Thomas and Znanieck 1918).

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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and educated in the Detroit

public school system. Growing up in the sixties in a predominantly Black

neighborhood, I experienced the riots or Black protest demonstrations against

the social inequalities of racism, discrimination and segregation. I witnessed the

polarization of the city of Detroit. This was referred to as “white flight” whereby

dominant culture members left the city for the mainly white suburban areas. This

resulted in the lost of business, industry, and Detroit becoming a predominantly

Black city. Somehow the community transformed from a thriving economic

metropolis to a community of urban blight and decay, an environment full of

Blacks living in extreme urban poverty. In spite of the social inequalities of

American society my mother instilled a sense of fairness and equality for all of

humanity. At an early age she instilled a desire for education and encouraged

my thirst for knowledge.

I was homeless a couple of times in the early nineties, and I experienced

first-hand the social reality of homelessness. As a result of that experience I

believe that homeless individuals must have a voice in the delivery of services.

Many of the homeless people I have encountered do not wish to spend the rest

of their lives without a home. Like every member of society they want to be

treated with dignity and respect as well as live under the umbrella of the law

(protection from crime). Also, they want services to address their needs for

physical health, mental health, substance abuse, education, jobs, income, and

most of all permanent housing, a place to call home.