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WRIT8132 01
Barbara Buetter
Siobhan Narhi
December 1st , 2014
Youth Homelessness
Some of the causes of youth homelessness are substance abuse, family
abuse/ family conflict and sexual orientation. "Homelessness - simply defined - is
the absence of a place to live. A person who has no regular place to live stays
in an overnight emergency shelter, an abandoned building, an all-night coffee
shop or theatre, a car, outdoors, or other such places not meant to be living
spaces." ("What is Homelessness"). In society, individuals may not understand that
a major part of the homeless population is youth. " Youth age 12 to 17 are more
at risk of homelessness than adults" ("Homeless and Runaway Youth")
The reason why these are only some of the cause is because there can be
many different factors why youth decide or are forced to become homeless. No
matter what the reason may be to why the youth becomes homeless it can
either affect them in a negative way, it can affect the individual for the rest of
their life.
One of the cause to youth homelessness is substance abuse. Substance
abuse can lead a youth on all the wrong paths. For example it can lead them to
having a addiction, hurting themselves or hurting loved ones, or even having
problems with their sexual orientation. "Research reveals that approximately
two-thirds of homeless people cite alcohol and/or other drugs as a major, and
at times primary, reason for becoming homeless." ("Heretohelp") Individuals who
deal with a substance abuse have a problem focusing on anything else within
their lives.

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When a individual has an addiction; that addiction becomes the first

thing that they think about and the last thing to go through their mind before
bed. Those individuals can only focus on their addiction which causes them to
base their life around that substance. They feel like they can't do anything
without having that substance first. This can cause the individual to spend all
their money, as well as others money in order to fulfill their high. When it comes
to having an addiction, an individual can sometimes feel like nothing else
matters. Family members who have someone within their family with an
addiction can cause strains on that particular relationship.
In some cases, another cause of youth homelessness is because of family
abuse/ family conflict. "Family problems: Many youth run away, and in turn
homeless, due to problems in the home, including physical and sexual abuse,
mental health disorders of a family member, substance abuse and addiction of
a family member, and parent neglect." (Homeless and Runaway Youth) When
there is tension between family members it becomes hard on that particular
individual which then can cause them to feel like there is no other option but to
move out on their own. This can lead to being homeless due to the fact of the
individual only knowing the life of living at home with their other family members.
However, the tension between a youth and another member of the family
isn't always known by others. This particular individual could be scared of a
family member due to the fact of them undergoing physical, sexual and even
emotional abuse. It has been proven that within research that "46 percent of
runaway and homeless youth reported being physically abused, 38 percent
reported being emotionally abused, and 17 percent reported being forced into
unwanted sexual activity by a family or household member" (Homeless and
Runaway Youth)

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This can cause the individual to feel like there is no other option but to run
away from the problem instead of talking to a professional and dealing with it,
which then causes them to become homeless." 61% of youth reported being
either physically or sexually abused by an adult at some point of their lives."(
What is Homelessness) Family conflict may not always involve the abuse of other
family members, it can include other factors that are happening within their life.
Youth can have several factors that can affect their lives.
An additional reason why youth become homeless is due to their sexual
orientation. Throughout a adolescences life; the social norm is to have those
feelings for the opposite sex. However, not every individual is born that way,
every individual no matter the way they are brought up or not may not be able
to follow the social norm. Adolescences tend to have a hard time trying to fit
within the social norms of their peers, however not everyone is open to changes
within society.
Research studies have proven that due to a adolescences having a
different sexual preference then their family members and peers this can cause
them to become homeless. " Between 20 and 40 percent of homeless youth
identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning(GLBTQ)"(
Homeless and Youth Runaway). As hard as it may be for an adolescences to live
their life youth are suppose to, it's even harder when they haven't decided or
are confused about their sexual preference.
Youth being homeless is more known as it being that particular individual fault,
so what is seen as a consequence is the life they make up for themselves. For
example " Homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual transgender or questioning (GLBTQ)
youth are more likely to exchange sex for housing or shelter, are abused more
often at homeless shelters (especially adult shelters), and experience more
violence on the streets than heterosexual youth" ( Homeless and Runaway
Youth)

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As proven above some of the causes to youth homelessness are

substance abuse, family abuse/ family conflict and sexual orientation. However
there can be many other factors that can play into why an individual may
become homeless. Due to causes that are proven above they play a huge
factor on why youth could become homeless and why sometimes they stay
homeless.

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Works Cited
"Heretohelp." Substance Use: Pathways to homelessness? Or a way of
adapting to street life?. n.d. Web. 23 Nov 2014.
"Homeless and Runaway Youth." National Conference of State
Legislatures. n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2014.

"What is Homelessness." Raising the Roof. n.d. Web.12 Nov 2014.

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