Will Work For Food

by bfost1 on March 14, 2014 - 10:50pm

             In an investigation that took place between April 2003 and March 2004, 5,629 people were studied to find the relationship between substance abuse, income, human capital, mental health, social support, and homelessness. The investigation was done by the Drug Evaluation Network System. DENS is a computer-assisted admission interview designed to collect information on clients entering addiction treatment programs in the United States (Eyrich-Garg, Cacciola, Carise, Lynch & McLellan, 2008). 158 programs participated. The sample of people were broken into four groups; people that were literally homeless, marginally housed, housed but poor, and housed but not poor. The results showed that the majority (55%) of the people that entered addiction programs were the people that were housed but poor (Eyrich-Garg, Cacciola, Carise, Lynch & McLellan, 2008). To me, this makes sense because if they have a house, they obviously had a source of income and can afford more drugs, but because of it, are now poor. It makes sense that homeless people can’t afford to have an addiction as much as someone who has a job. The results don’t show this though. The group that spent the most money on drugs and alcohol was the people that were literally homeless. It was then followed by the marginally housed. It seems to me that many of the homeless people now, may have started out the way that this majority of the sample is going. They probably had a house and had money, but had an addiction that led them to become homeless. The results also show that the majority (43%) who were in the programs were minority males. Minority females were second with 36% (Eyrich-Garg, Cacciola, Carise, Lynch & McLellan, 2008).

            The main purpose of this article was to point out all of the possible correlations between substance abuse and homelessness. It shows how income, human capital, mental health, and social support, are factors that have effects on the results. The most important information in the article is what the results show. The author wants readers to understand that the results show that addiction programs need to target the group of marginally housed people in an attempt to save them from a very possible outcome of becoming homeless. The main assumption that the author is taking for granted is that the group that is housed but poor may not be the biggest group with addictions. It may just be that they are the ones that are the most common to enter an addiction program. Also, this is still a very small sample being used compared to the actual number of substance abusers in the United States. If we take this seriously, many people can be saved from becoming homeless. If we do not do something about it, many people may die either from the drug abuse itself, or from being homeless. One of the main conclusions that this article shows is that income is not the main reason that substance addicted homeless people are homeless.

Eyrich-Garg, K. M., Cacciola, J. S., Carise, D., Lynch, K. G., & McLellan, A. T. (2008). Individual characteristics of the literally homeless, marginally housed, and impoverished in a US substance abuse treatment-seeking sample. . Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(10), 831-842. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-008-0371-8



Interesting article you got there! Its interesting to get another point of view on the homeless. I like that that your summary points to the path a person has taken after consuming addictive substance. We often tend to focus on why the homeless are the way they are assigning labels of alcoholics or crack heads but as the statistics mentioned its important to consider it might happen to anyone, given the right circumstances. However although this was interesting I suggest that you structure your arguments/information better. I had trouble reading your first paragraph because there was so much that you tried to tell without any logical pastern. If you want read "Thank you for arguing" by Jay Heindrichs its a fun read (not like some of those literature heavy university book) to understand the basics of persuasion in writing and speech.

This brings up some interesting point about the correlation between homelessness and drug abuse. I never thought of this issue before. While I have never personally do not know anyone with these problems of homelessness or drug abuse, I have however seen a T.V show a few months ago that dealt with a person with a drug addiction. After the person ran out of money for the drugs they started stealing the money from their parents and other people. So therefor I agree with your statement that drug addiction most likely leads to homelessness. As a result of having such an abdication they would do anything in order to fulfill their addiction, even to the extent of selling their own home. However I do not believe that all homeless people have a drug addiction or deal with drugs. We cannot assume these things without knowing their whole story. I enjoyed the second paragraph when you added your own voice into it, unlike the first paragraph witch was straight facts from the article.

. I agree with your post, and think that it is an important subject to talk about. I think that people have too much on their plate now days. I think that in today’s society, we are pushed to our limits in everything we do. We are pushed so much that we collapse mentally and emotionally which is why I believe that people have addictions to help cope with the stress and their problems. It is fascinating that the people who spent the most money on drugs were the people who were housed, but poor. Maybe they are the people who spent the most on drugs, because they need a distraction to ease the stress of worrying about being able to pay the bills. I think that help centers should counsel people who are poor but housed just to help them talk about their problems, and prevent them from having an addiction.