What came first? The chicken (Drug Abuse) or the Egg (Homelessness)?

It is very unfortunate that people commonly make the mistake of thinking that some people are homeless because they have made bad decisions in the past. Anyone remember the scene in Big Daddy where the kid sees the homeless guy outside of McDonald’s? He asks why the guy is sitting there on the sidewalk, and his reply is something along the lines of “In retrospect, I made a lot of bad decisions in high school”. He then alludes to having done too many mushrooms (Columbia, 1999)

For one, mushrooms is a very interesting choice of drug to ruin your life with.

Two, this is reflective of how Hollywood (and I’d say, many people’s) views homelessness, and some of the reasons why people become homeless.

See, people have this idea in their head of how people come to be homeless. They see a homeless man on the street with a crazed look in his eye – they may even be talking to someone that isn’t there. I know I’ve seen it before. But when someone comes across a person like that, they think “That guy is cracked the fuck out, no wonder he’s on the street”.

In some respect, it’s hard not to blame people for thinking this, but the reality goes a lot deeper than that. As Dommoff, Tompsett and Toro (2013) find, many homeless people may partake in the use of as least one type of substance before they encounter homelessness.

But who doesn’t? I know I enjoy doing certain types of drugs, along with countless others.

Domoff, Tompsett and Toro (2013) say that actually BEING homeless is one of the major risk factors of substance abuse. And I could see why – if I’m on the streets, it’s 2 am and I’m freezing cold. Someone comes up to me and offers me some crack, there is a very decent chance I might take it.

This is a stigma that deserves some critical attention. People need to realize that a lot of homeless people that are on drugs are using it as an escape from the harsh reality in which they traverse. These people aren’t lazy, they are in need of help that they aren’t getting because of Neoliberal governments hate spending money on the services these people need to get healthy and get on the right track.

So next time you see a homeless person you think is on drugs, stop and think “That girl is not homeless because of addiction. Most likely, she is an addict because she is homeless and simply doesn’t have the resources to get help".

Think.

References

Sandler, A. (Director). (1999). Big Daddy. Columbia Tristar Home Video. Film.

Tompsett, Carolyn J., Sarah E. Domoff, and Paul A. Toro. "Peer Substance Use and Homelessness Predicting Substance Abuse from Adolescence Through Early Adulthood." American Journal of Community Psychology Am J Community Psychol (2013): 520-29. Print.