Pinkney States Homelessness As A Social Problem example essay topic

Pinkney states that when you discuss social problems among black American you must take in account the role of racism in American life and the persistence of inequality generated by racism. Pinkney goes on to state that individuals, social agencies, and social institutions responsible for the enforcement of social norms, operate with in a long- established framework that precludes the equality of treatment for black people. The efforts to move toward equality of opportunity are strongly resisted by those who benefit from the current social arrangement. By this he means that those who enforce the social norms prevent equal treatment of blacks and therefore strongly oppose to any progress that will give blacks a chance for equality. Pinkney also states that the social structure forces people to engage in conforming and non- conforming behavior. The majority of the social problems that affect minorities in the United States result form their low status in society and the poverty that accompanies with this status.

Pinkney goes on to state when individual share a comparable socioeconomic status, that are remarkably similar in behavior, this the social problems mainly stem from the social structure. Pinkney discusses three main social problems black Americans share with millions of others, they are homelessness, adolescent pregnancy and drug abuse. When Pinkney discuss homelessness he starts off by going over the history of homelessness, discussing some of the causes of homelessness, the health problems the homeless have, the race and ethnicity of the homeless, homeless veterans and the attitudes we have toward the homeless. Pinkney states homelessness as a social problem is not a new development in the Unite States, before the depression it affected few.

The permissiveness of homelessness during the depression, led to the first federal programs to help the homeless including soup kitchens and public housing. After World War II the government made a decent home and suitable living environment for an American family a national goal. Ultimately, federal aid and improved economic conditions served to end mass homelessness for nearly thirty years. Economic developments and public policy decisions in the 1970's triggered an increase in homelessness that accelerated in the 1980's. Those affected by the results of those policies are the elderly, women, children, minorities, immigrants, veterans, disabled persons, and the mentally ill. Pinkney goes on to say that the single greatest impetus to the present situations of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.

The funding for new low income public housing were reduced by seventy-five percent between 1981 and 1988 and the ascent of political conservatism is one of the causes of this. Funding for many programs that might have ameliorated the problem of homelessness were eliminated or drastically reduced. The response of the government officials has been to ignore the homeless, to denigrate them, blame them for their plight and even deny their existence. When the problem became pervasive it could no longer be treated lightly, the federal government enacted the Stewart B Mckinney Homeless Assistance Act That has had little impact on the homeless and had never been completely funded.

Pinkney states that it is difficult to know exactly how many homeless they are in the United States estimates by the federal government state that they are anywhere from 250,000 to 350,000 although research by the National Coalition for the Homeless state a more realistic figure of 3 million. To sum it all up, there is not clear cut definitions of homelessness; however, at the very least, the homeless are people who do not have a place of residence in the conventional sense. Pinkney states that some of the causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, economic changes, the deinstitutionalization of patients in mental hospitals and the ascendancy of conservatism. Pinkney states that the lack of affordable housing is due to the sharp drop in construction of public housing in the early 1980's, appearance of gentrification of the inner city properties, such as conversion of rental space into condominiums and the decrease of practical hotel and rooming house space, has forced many of the poor on to the streets.

The economic changes contributing to the homelessness include high unemployment and longer periods of unemployment. It is difficult for homeless person to obtain jobs because of no permanent address and home telephone number. Also, there has been a decrease in the number of manufacturing jobs and concurrent increase in high technology jobs requiring greater education and skills. The deinstitionalization of patients in state and county hospital and the failure to provide residences for them in community group homes has forced many into the ranks of the homeless. In conclusion the ascendancy of the conservatism in the 1980's brought forth significant reductions in financial support for public programs that might have ameliorated the problem of homelessness. The major programs that were affected were food stamp reductions, cuts from child nutrition program, job training virtually eliminated, Medicaid benefits reduced, minimum wage remained unchanged, and school lunch program reductions.

Health problems of the homeless could be divided into general health problems, mental disorders and substance abuse disorders. Studies show that 80 to 90% of homeless people suffer from psychical health problems and most suffer from several conditions. Study show women suffer an average of nine health conditions while men suffer on average eight. Some of the most frequent diagnosed physical problems are oro dental problems, gynecologic problems in women, dermatologic problems, anemia, respiratory and neurological problems, sexually transmitted disease, infectious disease and hypertension. Those suffering from AIDS pose a special problem among the homeless. It has been estimated that 20,000 homeless persons are infected with the AIDS virus.

Furthermore, more studies report that the AIDS rate among the homeless are growing rapidly. It is commonly reported that one third of homeless people suffer from mental problems. Most of the people live in large shelters with hundreds of cots packed into one room. They are said to range from violent psychotics, to schizophrenic who rarely communicate, to those who are able to live peacefully with others. The most common mental disorders in these shelter are said to be manic depressive and schizophrenia. About 50% of these people are said to be addicted to crack cocaine.

Drug abuse is reported to be widespread among the homeless. It is reported that one third of the nations homelessness are impaired by alcohol and other drug dependencies. Research show that men are more likely to be impaired than women. Drug abuse among homeless runaways is also high. Research shows, alcohol is the most widely abused substance among homeless followed by cocaine and then crack cocaine.

Pinkney states that it is difficult to identify the homeless by race and or ethnicity because the data is often enumerated and black and minorities are vastly over represented among the homeless. Pinkney concludes that as is the case with other social problems minorities (especially blacks) are disproportionately represented among the homeless. Pinkney goes on to state that one third of the single homeless men are veterans and the federal government estimates that 150,000-250,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Of the homeless veterans, those whose who served in the Vietnam are over represented when it comes to the national population of veterans. Homeless veterans are victims of problems similar to those encountered by non veterans; among them are drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness. It is significant that blacks and Hispanics are over represented among homeless veterans and that they are more likely that whites to suffer medical, psychiatric and substance abuse problems.

In the 1950's and 1960's the homeless in New York City were largely white males who congregated along the city skid row known for cheap hotel and bars. Since then, the homeless have soared and in numbers and the characteristics have changed radically. The typical homeless person is a young black or Hispanic man who is housed in one of New York Shelters... It is reported that New York City spends $18,000 a year for a single man to sleep in a shelter and for a family in barrack styled shelters the cost is $53,000. Typically, a homeless family in a shelter is headed by a young black or Hispanic woman with a very young child. The vast majority of these cases the mother themselves was raised on welfare.

Reports show one in five have been physically or sexually abused and one and ten have been in foster care. In addition, to the shelters owned by the city, some social agencies also operate homeless shelters. The Partnership for the Homeless establish and coordinated 153 emergency shelters in churches and synagogues which provide 1,700 beds for the homeless. In recent years, the attitudes toward the plight of the homeless have fluctuated from compassion to irritation to apathy. The federal government, especially in the 1980's, appeared to adopt the attitude that the homelessness was the fault of the poor, and many municipalities enacted laws aimed at regulating there behavior. Oppositions of group homes in residential areas is wide spread and citizens and community groups frequently succeeds in prohibiting them.

As the homeless people flood the streets throughout the country the mood of the citizens appears to have harden but in a nationwide poll in January of 1992 revealed that the vast majority of citizens say homelessness is "something the government can do something about". Pinkney suggest that homelessness violates the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. What is clear is that homeless people suffer serious deprivations of what people in the industrialized world consider to be basic human rights. Pinkney goes on to say that the impact of massive homelessness in social values has yet to be determined. In adolescent pregnancy and childbearing, Pinkeye discusses sexual activity among adolescents, contraceptive use, adolescent pregnancy, adolescent childbearing, abortions among adolescents, the fathers of children born to teenage mothers and the consequences of teenage childbearing. Research shows that sexual activity among adolescence in the United States is widespread and it begins at an early age.

Studies also show that sexual intercourse begins as early as 13 or 14 for males and 14 or 15 for females. Black adolescence generally initiate sexual activity earlier that whites by the average of two years. Studies of teenage sexual behavior show that in addition to sexual activity, black teenager had more sexual partners, but fewer acts of intercourse than their white counterparts. In 1979, 51 percent of all female teenagers reported having sex with two or more partners since first intercourse; for black females the proportion was 62 percent. Research also shows that sexual intercourse was not frequent among white teenagers than black also black males had intercourse less frequently that whites, but not significantly so.

Additional data shows that black teenagers are more likely than their white counterparts to us contraceptives, especially condoms, during intercourse. Among sexually active teenage females in 1982, 7.5 percent used some form of contraceptive; for black females 13.5 percent use contraceptives, compared with 6.4 percent for whites. Data on adolescence pregnancy show that the number of teenage pregnancies and the teenage pregnancy rate rose gradually during the 1970's but leveled off in the 1980's. Among minority teenagers, the pregnancy rate dropped to a low of 181 pregnancies per 1,000 teenagers in 1984 and then rose 5 percent in 1987, while whites in the this age category, rate declined. White teenagers, more than black, resolve premarital pregnancy through marriage, they are about six times more likely than blacks to marry before the outcome of the first premarital pregnancy. Black teenage mothers lead all other racial and ethnic gropes in total births.

Currently about 64 percent of all black children born out of wedlock many to adolescent mothers. In 1980 adolescent births represented 26 percent of all births among blacks, compared to less that 14 percent among whites. The teenage birth rate for blacks is more than twice that of whites. Blacks accounted for 28 percent of all adolescent births in 1980, and they accounted nearly one half of premarital births. When Pinkney discusses abortion, he refers to the national data that states that all women having abortions in the United States in 1987 65 percent were whites and 35 percent minority.

However, minority teenagers have higher abortion rates than do whites about 78 percent minority to 38 percent whites. He goes on to say that the abortion rates for teenagers 15-19 roes during the 1970's and had remained stable after 1980. Among white teenagers, the abortion rate declined from 85 in 1982 to 71 in 1987 which was a drop of 16 percent. Among minority teenage the abortion rate increased from 66 in 1980 to 73 in 1987. In a 1970 study, white pregnant teenagers who were unmarried were about three time more likely than black to choose abortion. Pinkney states the pattern has changed significantly in subsequent years.

Pinkney states, one of the significant differences between black and white adolescent mothers is that blacks are less likely that whites to place their babies for adoption. Studies show that 18 percent of white teenagers give up their children for adoption, but only 2 percent of blacks do. In some cases, adoption was hardly considered as an option for a largely black population. Pregnant teenagers who choose to place their children up for adoption rather than parent them did so because they thought the outcomes, such as their continuing in school and assuring and adequate future as well as the baby's development would benefit from their choice. Those who did not consider adoption felt that these outcomes would be more likely to happen if they parented or that he outcomes would not be affected by their choice. Those who elected to place their children for adoption were more advantage economically and held more positive attitudes about adoption than others.

Studies show that black males are the most sexually active adolescent in the United States: they initiate sexual activity earlier and have more sexual partners than so black females and Hispanics and white adolescent Data on the fathers of children born to adolescent mothers are not extensive. However, national data indicate that in 1984 approximately 3 per cent of all lice births in the United States were fathered by males under the age of 20 and of the children born to teenage mother, 23 percent had teenage fathers. Studies show that adolescent fathers are more likely to have academic and other school problems, engage in aggressive antisocial behavior, t use drugs and to be involved in the criminal justice system. They are more likely to work at low status occupations and more likely to come from homes that are educationally and financially disadvantage.

Pinkney states, that the data indicates that adolescent males are ill prepared for the responsibility of fatherhood and many voice concerns about vocational, educational, health, and family problems. In an national study, academic and drug problems as well as general conduct problems were more common among adolescent fathers that among adolescent in general. Black teenage fathers, like teenage mothers, are younger than their white counterparts and are more likely to be unemployed than whites. Nearly one half of black women aged 15-17 lived with one parent and only 45 per cent lived with both parents. By comparison with their white counterparts 78 percent lived with both parents and 16 percent lived with the mother only. More black adolescents that whites lived in families below 100 percent of the poverty line: 41 percent of black women aged 15-21 in 1981 had family incomes below 100 percent poverty, compared with 14 percent of whites.

By 1990, 73 percent of all children under 18 lived with both parents. Nearly one third lived with parents who have never been married. Twelve percent of white mothers living alone with children were under the age of 25, 27 percent had less than a high school education and 36 percent were unemployed. For blacks 18 percent were under 25; 34 percent had less than high school education and 52 percent were unemployed.

For Hispanics, the proportions were 15 percent, 55 percent and 54 percent. Pinkney states, that studies show that because teenage mothers are emotional immature, they place themselves and their babies at risk for medical problems. In addition, school aged children born to adolescent parents exhibit more behavioral problems and score lower on intelligence test than other school aged children. In conclusion, Pinkney states, that a basic problem of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing is poverty. Given the nature of American society, it is difficult to foresee any positive outcomes for of adolescent childbirth, especially among minorities.

Pinkney states, of all the industrialized countries, the Unites States alone has no consistent family planing policy. On substance abuse, Pinkney focused on both legal and illicit drugs. The legal drugs being alcohol and tobacco; the illicit ones being cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin. He discuss crack cocaine in some length because it is fairly new and believed to have the most serious adverse effect of any drug on both the individual involved and the larger society. Alcohol is potentially dangerous drug, but its sale and use are not prescribed and it is the major drug of choice in the United States.

Research shows that more males than females have used alcohol and whites are slightly more likely that blacks and Hispanic to be frequent drinkers. Among men, however, roughly the sane proportion of each group were frequent drinkers. White women on the other hand are somewhat more likely to be frequent drinkers than blacks and Hispanic women. Whites are also more likely that blacks or Hispanics to drink at early and at older ages. Of all the categories, Hispanics women are the least likely to drink and white men are the most likely.

Studies show, blacks drink somewhat less that whites and are more likely to abstain from drinking. Also, alcohol plays a smaller role in home and family life among blacks that whites. Although alcohol is legal in the US, its recreational use is socially acceptable, and it adverse social effects are greater than those of all illicit drugs. It is said to be the direct cause between 80,000 and 100,000 deaths annually and it is a factor in nearly on all of murders, suicides, and accidental deaths. Alcohol related traffic death are the leading cause of death of adolescence. According to the U.S. Public Health Service, alcohol is more than 10 percent of all health problems in the country and 50 percent of all homicides.

Also, cirrhosis of the live killed some 30,000 people annually in the US, and the mortality rate form the disease among black is double that in the white population. Fetal alcohol syndrome, is another alcohol related health problem it is diagnosed in one of every 750 live births. The diseases is marked by birth defects and usually occurs in women who drink heavily during pregnancy. The symptoms include brain damage, low birth weight, and facial and bodily abnormalities. According to the 1990 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 147 million Americans 12 years of age and over have used cigarettes.

Males are more likely have smoked than females and to be regular smokers. Whites are more likely to have smoked than blacks or Hispanics and are more likely to smoke regularly. Hispanic women are least likely to smoke and white men are the most likely. Smoking increases with age among each of the three groups; within each group the youngest persons are more likely to use tobacco than any other drug. Tobacco is a psychoactive substance that stimulates the central nervous system.

It addictive potential is so great that the surgeon general of the United States declared it to be as addictive as cocaine and heroin. According to the Centers for Disease Control, cigarette smoking is declining in the United States, and the annual rate of decline had been higher among men that women. However, cigarette smoking remains the most preventable cause of death in our society and is responsible for an estimated 390,000 deaths annually. According to the CDC, Black men were more likely to smoke than white, but the rates for black and white women were similar. According to Statistical Abstracts, the proportion of blacks in the population who smoke cigarettes has exceeded the proportion of whites since 1965. In addition, person who smoked cigarettes were more likely than nonsmokers to use alcohol beverages and to consume a greater quantities of alcohol.

Cigarette smoking had been found to be a major cause of several life threatening diseases such as emphysema, cancer of the lungs and airways, coronary heart disease, and vascular disease. Pinkney states although the destructive potential of tobacco use is well established, cigarettes are one of the most heavily advertised products. The advertising usually associates smoking with a glamorous life style, healthy activities, and social success. Evidence shows that cigarette companies target their advertising campaigns to minorities, women, blue collar workers, and teenagers these groups make up an increasing proportion of the smoking population. It is reported in the 1990 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse some 23 million Americans have used cocaine and of that nearly one million use some form of the drug at least once a week.

Males more than females are likely to have used some form of cocaine and are more likely to be frequent users. In terms of race / ethnicity, whites and Hispanics are more like to used cocaine that blacks. Hispanic males are more likely than white and black males to have used cocaine and are more frequent users. White females are more likely than black or Hispanic females to have ever used cocaine and are more likely to be frequent users.

Cocaine releases adrenaline, thereby stimulating the central nervous system. It also usurps the need for food and sleep and in high doses it produces extreme euphoria. Adverse reactions may include cardiopulmonary, psychiatric, gastrointestinal, and as well as eyes, ears, nose and throat problems. Pregnant women who use cocaine frequently experienced spontaneous abortions, premature birth, low birth rates, congenial fetal malformations, fetal irritability and malnutrition. Also, cocaine is likely to be use in combination of other drugs, and because it can cause an increased libido, it has been associated with the spread of STD's and AIDS.

The 1990 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, reported that 2.7 million Americans 12 years of age and over had used crack and that nearly half a million were regular users. Males are more than twice as likely as females to be regular users. A higher portion of black had used crack cocaine than Hispanics or whites. Blacks were more likely to be regular users and considerably more black females had used the drug than Hispanics and white and of the nearly 500,000 regular crack addicts, more than 200,000 were said to be black.

Cocaine hydrochloride is a white crystalline powder that is about 95 percent pure, is converted into crack by boiling it in a moisture of backing soda and water. The mixture is then dried until it becomes a soap like substance. It is most often smoked in crack houses were users frequently remain for several days. The name crack comes from the sudden, sharp sound the drug makes when smoked. Because it is smoked it goes directly into the lungs when inhaled and the reaches the brain in a few seconds. It produces extreme euphoria in a very brief time, and for this reason it has become the drug of choice for many.

Crack cocaine is inexpensive, highly addictive and easy to use; it is therefore popular among adolescents. It addictive power is so great that constant users require hundreds or thousands of dollars a week to support the habit, and crime is usually the source on income. Crack first appeared on the West Coast in the early 1980's and made it debut on the streets on New York in 1984. Scientist doing research states, crack is the most addictive drug in existence and that the addition comes more quickly and last longer than any other illicit drug because the drug stimulates the pleasure center of the brain. The euphoria leaves quickly leaving users depressed, anxious, and with out pleasure. The biochemistry of crack addiction is such that the craving for the drug in addicts is so intense that relapse is almost inevitable the cravings last much longer that for other drugs.

Crack cocaine abuse is associated with the same adverse reactions as cocaine but often to a greater extent and more severely. Studies show, the use of crack during pregnancy has serious effects on the he fetus. It has also been linked to increases in child abuse and neglect and has been associated with the increase of aggression, resulting in increase in violent crime and other strains on the criminal justice system. Although crack has been reported to be prevalent in the suburbs of New York and elsewhere, its damage has been greatest in poor black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Pinkney states, one of the most destructive results of the increase of libido and impairment of judgment, that result from addition to crack, has increased the role in spreading STD's and AIDS. In crack houses where it is often smoked, crack is frequently used in exchange of sex.

In some cases many as one half of the crack users seeking drug treatment tested positive for HIV. The 1990 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, reported that 1.6 Americans 12 years of age and older have used heroin. Men are more than twice as likely as women to have used the drug and blacks are more likely than Hispanics and whites to have used heroin. Heroin use appears to peak at a later age that than that of other illicit drugs. Regionally, heroin is used mostly on the East and West coasts followed by the Midwest and least often the South. Heroin is deprived from opium and is therefore is a depressant.

It induces sleep and lessens nervous tension. Like most opiates heroin produces relief from pain, hypnosis and euphoria. It is usually ingested intravenously with hyper hypodermic needle although it can be sniffed or smoked. The effects on heroin use have euphoric feelings that give the user a general feeling of well being an escape from reality.

With one injection those feeling can last for hours. Heroin addicts are usually not violent because the drug depresses aggression and unlike users of some other illicit drugs, those who use heroin have little or no interest in sex. Some of the many side effects are respiratory arrest, anxiety, increased blood pressure, nausea, insomnia and cardiovascular collapse. Also the hypodermic needles are often shared is associated with AIDS and hepatitis. Minorities, especially blacks, have long been over represented among heroin addicts. However the increase use of cocaine and crack decrease the use of the drug.

The use has been on the increase since 1990 according to drug enforcement officials. The increased can be linked to improved growing conditions for opium poppies. There is a wide spread myth that heroin is not addictive and is less harmful when snorted, but that was soon shattered in 1991 when several addicts died from snorting toxic heroin called "Tango and Cash". Although it was sold as heroin, lab test reveled that it contained a chemical, fentanyl, which is used as a tranquilizer during surgery.

The New York City Health Commissioner said of the new drug that "it overwhelms opiate receptors in the brain, causing the users to stop breathing. Because the addicts are constantly looking for a more intense euphoria the drug was immediately popular despite it deadly potential. Heroin use is said to be on the increase, because newer forms are widely available and they are less expensive than in the past. Underground chemist continue to experiment, seeking ways to create synthetic form of heroin that can be made inexpensively in labs.

Pinkney concludes minorities in the US, especially black Americans, are over represented among the homeless, adolescent who become pregnant, and those who are addicted to harmful drugs. Although the data on the extent of these social problems are sometime contradictory they are persuasive. Research on these problems reveals that to a great degree they result from wide spread poverty, brought about by the racist nature of society. He goes on to say that this makes it difficult for black citizens and other minorities to conform to standards of behavior society sets for all citizens.

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