Why are the Homeless without Homes?

Today a universal fixture in American cities is the visibly homeless. They are Americans who catch sickness, starve, live, and die on the street. This paper examines a possible explanation for why some Americans experience homelessness.The common explanation during the last two decades of the 20th century was circumstantial in nature rather than structural. Mental illness and substance abuse often dominated the discussion on homelessness (Quigley et al. 2001). These responses are correct to a large extent. Shoeni and Koegel reported approximately 25% of a surveyed sample of Los Angeles homeless in 1990 were mentally ill. Two thirds of those surveyed reported being chronic substance abusers while 1 7% exhibited both mental illness and substance abuse. Many of the homeless surveyed lacked a high school education, suffered from domestic strife, and did not carry health insurance (Schoeni and Koe gal, 1998).