Jacob Schoff

Abstract:

Is sleeping outside the safest option? Unsheltered homelessness is a complex societal and systemic issue that at face value is very misleading to many individuals. The complex issue has roots in many social systems; and this presentation hopes to make evident the stigmas unsheltered homeless face, and the systems rooted in this issue. The myths and causes of homelessness will be explored as well as the academic literature, news articles, and local and national policy trends related to those who are unsheltered homeless. Ethnographic research will also be discussed, as I will present findings from discussions with people I engage with at my senior field placement; doing outreach to those who are unhoused and not living in a shelter. These discussions with the unsheltered homeless population will be compared to the academic literature and policy trends related to systemic homelessness. These findings will be explored in this presentation as well as implications for the causes of and solutions to homelessness.