A case management intervention method will be utilized to examine homeless individuals in a social services setting. As part of the discussion, the following topics will be covered: homelessness in general, the agency setting, the five traits of a good social worker, the psycho-social assessment of homeless people in general, goals for the homeless, and practical issues with regard to intervention, such as ethical and legal concerns.
Homelessness is the condition of being without daily, customary access to regular shelter in a conventional housing unit, such as an apartment, a room in a hotel, or a house. A literal definition of homelessness hardly suffices if the state of homeless individuals is to be examined. The absence of physical comforts is nothing compared to the absence of human relationships taken for granted in household membership. The tearing away of human relationships will be the most important consideration in a social work setting, rather than the amenities that are typically available in a shelter of any sort. It should be pointed out that shelters do not constitute a home for the homeless, because they are not "regular" shelter in a "conventional" sense, and yet many who seek to serve the homeless believe that channelling vast amounts of money into homeless shelters will resolve the "homeless situation." Again, a look at the disintegrated and dysfunctional life patterns of such individuals shows that the physical discomforts of homelessness say less about the condition of being homeless than do more psycho-social factors.
In addition to being exposed to the elements, homeless people are prey to many of the other bottom-dwellers of society who would seek to rob them of what little they have, set them on fire, or terrorize them just for sport. The homeless person, who is already without a social support network, is alone in the strictest sense of the word. Most homeless people have divorced themselves...