Samuel
How could I use Psychology to help the homeless?
#psychology #poverty #community #community-outreach #homelessness #nonprofits
4 answers
Ha (Windy) Pham
Ha (Windy)’s Answer
James Newbery
James’s Answer
Lauren Manar
Lauren’s Answer
I love that you are asking this question and it makes me so hopeful for our future knowing that students are thinking about this issue!
There are SO many ways that studying psychology can help people currently experiencing homelessness.
I studied psychology as well! I ended up working in corporate social responsibility and we do a lot of work to help are our currently unhoused neighbors through connecting our corporate employees to non-profits that are helping people experiencing homelessness, organizing volunteer events, drives, and fundraisers.
You could use your degree to help people that are unhoused due to mental illness by becoming a psychiatrist and help people medically. You could use your degree to work in a rehabilitation center. Become a social worker. You could use your degree to help at a multitude of non-profits that provide help and services to people.
Homelessness is such a complex issue. People end up without a home for a multitude of reasons! If you are interested in learning more about the complexity of homelessness there are a couple of books I would recommend reading:
The American Way of Poverty
Evicted
Hobo's, Hustlers, and Backsliders
Hope this helps!
-Lauren Manar
Daniela Silva
Daniela’s Answer
Hi, Samuel
Although the causes of homelessness are not primarily psychological, there are many roles for psychologists in ending it. The first is in educating policy makers, the media and the public. One important issue is the difference between point and period prevalence, and the vastly greater efforts that are needed to house the numbers of people likely to experience homelessness over a decade compared with a single night. A second is in the implications of the fundamental attribution error. It is wonderful that the Australian Psychological Society wants to do its part in ending homelessness, but it is important not to imply that the causes of homelessness are essentially psychological, letting policy makers off the hook. However, psychologists can work to understand attitudes towards social expenditures and the mechanisms by which social exclusion is associated with homelessness.
Psychologists can also design, implement and study programs to prevent and end homelessness for particular groups. For many poor people, affordable housing may be enough. Women additionally need safety from domestic violence. Adolescents need programs that respect their needs for autonomy and relatedness, and that provide support if they cannot be reunited with families. The French Foyer Model in which young people receive shared accommodation with supports on condition that they participate in education, training or employment (Homelessness Taskforce, 2008) seems promising. Adults with mental illness need ongoing assistance, such as supported housing. An especially successful and cost-effective model in the United States is called Housing First. Individuals with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance problems receive their own apartments with private landlords, directly from the streets, and ongoing services from interdisciplinary Assertive Community Treatment teams (e.g., Gulcur et al., 2003). Critical Time Interventions (e.g., Susser et al., 1997) that help to stabilise people in communities can be helpful for individuals leaving institutions. Older adults may need ongoing care in specialist facilities.
Psychologists should use their skills as researchers to evaluate intervention programs with rigorous designs.
Source:
https://www.psychology.org.au/for-members/publications/inpsych/Archive/How-psychologists-can-help-to-end-homelessness
Best of luck!