The criminalization part is the only way the "problem" is taken care of. If we had institutions that could house people that provided healthcare, food, shelter, education, training and all the other aspects of rehab it would be much easier to convince the taxpayer who is going to be footing the bill for all these services to say hey - "This is our social contract- you pay for this and there will be no homeless people" . You would have a far better chance of appeasing the tax payers and actually getting a larger system in place that would tackle the problem. The problem always is there are people who simply do not want to get clean, who do not want get medical and psychological treatment and literally the only way to do that is by force. People who are suffering from mental instability and mental health issues are AFFRAID of assistance in many cases as part of their disorder.
Its uncomfortable, I know but we will simply never get universal agreement and the desire to PAY for it if we dont all agree that we do not want homeless people sleeping outside regardless if they choose to or not.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, especially as a step to getting to an ideal society; there are people who we have failed beyond the ability to help, but putting structures in place that the majority benefit now and later would hopefully ensure that crime as we see it wouldn't exist. Or would on such a scale that it wouldn't be a problem.
I agree that is why the first step is putting up the money for valuable institutions that actually do the things we need for rehabilitation. There are really two "types" of homeless people and it never helps when the discussion is its one or way or the other way but there are people who truly are just down on their luck and need housing and need services and need all those things then there are people who truly do not care and have zero desire to be a healthy part of society. I have a lot of experience with the "homeless pandemic" from being homeless myself a few times growing up to working in security dealing with homeless people directly on the street and at the management level within security and also as a volunteer.
The people that generally "cause a problem" the violent, the ones breaking into peoples homes, stealing bikes, openly doing drugs, begging etc are generally the ones that have zero desire to be a functioning member of society and the truth is we rarely even see the people who truly need the help so outward looking in most of society is going to see the transient that is trespassing on their property, digging through their trash cans etc and the families, women, children and men who are really utilizing services to get out of their situation or have some decent cling to the desire to get out of the situation are not really "representing" the problem so to speak so they go largely unseen.
I ve been assaulted by homeless people, stabbed at, bitten and even had a few bottles thrown at me working in security and while volunteering and Im just not sure people truly understand what the problem is. There is this bigger wider population that is unseen and then there is the smaller population that is the loudest most obnoxious most violent that get the attention. That is why I think a two prong approach is necessary.
I think we definitely need some form of rehabilitation for people who are a danger to themselves and others if other strategies don't work, but for those that "just don't want to change", there are underlying reasons for that and that's a piece that Id like to address (clarifying that this doesnt mean let people just do their things and stay on the street to harm others).And I am always, always going to give people a chance rather than just throwing them away. And when I say that, that doesn't mean sacrificing boundaries or not expecting accountability. I just don't believe that punishment, as a general rule, helps people change their ways. Sure for some it does, but if it was that effective recidivism rates wouldn't be so high. That's what is so frustrating about the whole conversation, is that if you are against a carceral state that you're a namby pamby and the conversation is shut down, instead of trying to figure out creative solutions that will protect everyone involved but give folks a chance, when they're ready, to trust larger society again and stop reenacting their trauma on others. that's what it is typically, when they start changing into more jaded, hardened folks who think their situation is what it is so they really sink into it.
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u/[deleted] Aug 04 '22
The criminalization part is the only way the "problem" is taken care of. If we had institutions that could house people that provided healthcare, food, shelter, education, training and all the other aspects of rehab it would be much easier to convince the taxpayer who is going to be footing the bill for all these services to say hey - "This is our social contract- you pay for this and there will be no homeless people" . You would have a far better chance of appeasing the tax payers and actually getting a larger system in place that would tackle the problem. The problem always is there are people who simply do not want to get clean, who do not want get medical and psychological treatment and literally the only way to do that is by force. People who are suffering from mental instability and mental health issues are AFFRAID of assistance in many cases as part of their disorder.
Its uncomfortable, I know but we will simply never get universal agreement and the desire to PAY for it if we dont all agree that we do not want homeless people sleeping outside regardless if they choose to or not.