I had the opportunity to visit St. Vincent de Paul last week. It was early in the morning and there were many people hanging around the entrance of the facility as well as behind the gate in the quad area. While I was at St. Vincent de Paul, I was able to take a tour of the facility. The living quarters comprise of an open room with multiple cot beds lined up one after another. There is no privacy for the residents that stay there. The dining hall is set up with various tables lined in rows. There was a computer lab and other offices where clients were able to utilize the resources that are available. After interviewing one of the case management supervisors, he informed me that the state of the recent economic changes has made it very difficult for the facility to provide all of the resources that are needed for their clients. As with many social service agencies, there are a vast amount of budget cuts.
Finding employment is hard enough when a person has a degree and skills to offer, but when a person has other life challenges such as not having a residence to reside in; it makes it much more difficult. This is where Conflict Theory comes in. Conflict Theory proposes that social life creates exclusion of a particular population which in turn causes conflict. It is the simple idea of the “haves” and “have nots”. People who are homeless in our society are viewed as lower class. There are many different stories as to how people have lost their jobs and/or homes. Now they are just trying to survive.
It sounds like you had a great experience at St. Vincent de Paul's. I found it interesting how the economy has caused a great deal of issues from personnel changes and cutting program. I agree that conflict theory accuretlly showes how the oppression of the homeless population causes conflicty within society even with regard to being homeless and being turned away from work because you do not have a home.
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