14 April 2020 Hermanus Richard Jacobs

Grade: 12A
CAT A Question 3

3.1
The homelessness situation would most likely have been exacerbated. Due to
societal misconceptions that the homeless are lazy, dirty or lesser(especially in
the society of Japan that heavily values self-reliance), it leads to discrimination,
either in terms of employment, socially or otherwise. In addition, with the act of
begging being a nonfactor, it further reduces the ability of the homelessness to
gain any income that could be used to better their unfortunate circumstances.
This creates a cycle of disempowerment where being homeless causes a lack of
access to resources that can lift one out of homelessness and poverty which
leads to one remaining homeless and disempowered. By acting, the government
changed the unofficial policy towards homelessness from hostility to sympathy.
They supplied the basic needs of their homeless so that they could focus on
bettering their situation instead of focusing on fulfilling their basic needs. If the
government had not acted, the homeless would still be forced to focus on basic
needs instead of improving their lives and homelessness would be the same or
even worse today.

3.2
New legislation: New legislation is vitally important in alleviating
homelessness. This can be in the form of welfare reforms that can drastically
reduce the negative effects of homelessness on the homeless, preference in
hiring to counteract societal prejudice, the expanding of the definition of
homelessness so that more can be helped by welfare and/or other new
legislation. It is vitally important because legislation is versatile and can be
carefully crafted to have the most impact in integrating and empowering the
homeless to empower themselves.
Free housing: A lack of shelter is one of the most prominent effects of
homelessness. People become homeless because they are unable to afford
housing. A lack of shelter is responsible for many of the negative psychological
as well as physical effects of homelessness. Physically, sleeping in the elements
is bad for your health and could result in pneumonia. Psychologically,
homelessness is devasting for mental health, as many see having their own
property as an accomplishment in life and without it, it could lead to them
thinking that they have failed. In addition, mental health is further jeopardized
as the homeless experience a constant stress/strain for shelter. Free housing is
important as it allows for the homeless to have access to shelter and lessens the
divide between them and the rest of society. With shelter, they are more
empowered and have a greater ability to integrate themselves into society.

Means to deal with loneliness: Many homeless people have lost all ties to
friends and family and, therefore, feel isolated from society. As social animals
we loathe being isolated/lonely and will turn to methods to reduce these
feelings. This can lead to substance abuse as drugs provide a way for them to
deal with this loneliness. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we
eliminate loneliness by integrating the homeless into society. This can be in the
form of forming personal connections, or just saying hello to a homeless person
so that they feel human and like a part of society. With close, personal
relationships, people are less likely to turn to drugs and these connections can
act as a “safety net” that prevents the homeless individual from falling into
despair.

3.3
Directory of physical needs: The advantage of the directory is that it helps
homeless people navigate and overcome their unfortunate circumstances. With
knowledge of how/where to meet their basic needs the homeless can focus on
improving their circumstances. However, it could be impractical if the directory
is limited (leaving some people underserved). For the homeless people that are
underserved by the directory it could make it completely useless to them or
extremely inefficient as they would have to travel large distances to take
advantage of it. For it to be efficient, the directory would have to be exhaustive
as even small distances are significant to the homeless as they generally lack
access to transportation.

Social Network: The advantage of a social network is that it can help alleviate
the feelings of isolation and rejection that many homeless feel. They give the
homeless individual a network of support and the ability to reach out to
someone that can help them. However, it may become impractical because
social relations require constant attention to be maintained, or they break apart.
This would mean the homeless person would need to have continued access to
the social network which may not be possible with the costs of data/internet.
The inconsistent income that is a daily issue for many homeless could render
their access to this service spotty at best and close, personal relationships almost
impossible to maintain.

Cloud Document storage: The advantage of the cloud storage of documents is

that it can simplify bureaucracy and make it easier for homeless people to get
the help they need. If you had to lose important documents or they are stolen it
is often a difficult and time-consuming process to have them replaced. This is
especially true for the homeless, as they often lack the resources/ability to
replace them and many would be unable to afford the fees to replace/ attain
these documents. Therefore, online copies of these important documents ensure
that the homeless can always acquire social assistance, even if the original is
lost/destroyed. However, the problem comes that cloud storage may not be
viable for a sizable portion of the homeless population that are technologically
illiterate. The process could be complicated and confusing to these individuals
and thus, discourage them from using it.

3.4
“Digital skills and learning” can be made accessible to the homeless by
volunteers who can provide technologies such as cell phones and laptops and
teach these individuals how to use them to look for a job, apply to government
programs, stay in contact with family and/or how to use the internet to learn
new skills. In addition, these volunteers can help teach them new skills such as
self-management and communication which can increase their employability.

3.5
The solution used in source 8, of giving homeless people willing to work
housing and meeting their basic needs would most likely be very effective in
South Africa. Many people in South Africa are too busy trying to survive to
focus on anything else and by supplying their basic needs this solution can
break the cycle of homelessness and allow homeless people to work hard and
empower themselves. However, the solution can be less effective based on the
location of the housing and transportation. South Africa is not as densely
populated as Japan, therefore, there could be large distances between the
housing and the rest of society. If the free housing is poorly served by public
transportation, it would be very hard to become employed and could, therefore,
retard the effect of the free housing and leave the homeless stuck with no way
of leaving.

The solution used in source 9 of using digital technologies would help alleviate
homelessness but would not be as effective. Some would be able to use it
effectively, however, many homeless South Africans are technologically
illiterate or would not be able to access it, due to the costs of a cell phone and
data. For it to be effective many South Africans would have to be taught digital
skills for the first time and the cost of a cell phone and data would have to be
reduced to make it more accessible to them.