According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (3), approximately 10.3 million people renting housing earned extremely low salaries in 2012, based on the categories provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2012, just 5.8 million rental units were affordable to over 10 million people classified as extremely low income earners (U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development 3). Furthermore, just 31% of the affordable flats were available to persons earning extremely low salaries.
The Conflict Theory and Homelessness in America
The applicable sociological theory that clearly explains the cause of homelessness in America is the conflict theory. The conflict approach to sociology interprets the society as one involving struggle for power and money between groups that engage in conflict due to resources that are limited. As the originator of the conflict theory, Karl Marx argued that the industrialized societies comprise of two general categories of people including the capitalist as well as the working class. It is the division of these classes of people within the society that explains the cause of homelessness in America.The capitalist class of individuals in the society are the elite and consisting of those in position and power. These people have the means of controlling the access to production and means of production. Therefore, the elites control the working classes who have less power in the ownership or control of resources. They take advantage of the working class so that they can obtain a particular status quo as well as their own privileged positions (HomeAid America 1). When applying the conflict theory to the causes of homelessness in America, it is clear that the elites have power over income and housing ownership or occupancy. The poor earning less income or insufficient revenue get trouble renting houses owned by the elite. Further, the elites dominate the unaffordable houses to the poor and making the extremely low-income earners become homeless as they cannot afford the high rates of the houses. In the society, there is tension and conflict because of the limited housing resources for every person. When power, resources, and status in society are not distributed evenly, conflict is inevitable to define the social change needed in society (Crossman 1). Poverty and lack of affordability of housing create classes in society where low-income earners are at the risk of leaving and becoming homeless.Research Method: Social Survey
The research method that would be appropriate as a tool for conducting the study panel's social problem is a social survey. This is a useful approach to the social problem since it is affecting a wide range of individuals, each with his or her view. The reason for selecting this type of research method is that it utilizes questionnaires as tools for collecting data, which makes the method reliable for data collection. Looking at different populations in America and understanding that they face homelessness because of low incomes and unaffordable housing, it is useful for individuals to come up with an initiative to understand the cause of the problem directly from the people.The method of collecting data will be the use of a questionnaire. The social survey questionnaires will be prepared in advance, pre-coded, and with closed-ended questions (Collier 1). The questionnaire will be administered to the respondents for self-completion. The validity and reliability of data will be assured by first carrying out a pilot study to see the effectiveness of the data collection method for the panel. With the results obtained, the data will be reviewed to see its accuracy in reporting. The analysis of the collected data will be quantitative statistical tests as this is a useful data analysis technique for quantitative data that entails numerical figures (Williams 65). It will be easy to interpret numerical findings after completing the questionnaire.The panel would share the findings of the exercise with the human department in the U.S. It will also share the gathered information with the participants to help them understand how their feedback was useful.Teaching: Developing an Experimental Learning Field Activity
The service learning experience will entail teaching students to better understand the nature and scope of homelessness in America.Participants: StudentsLocation: In the classroom
Director: Teacher
Activities: reading the results explained in school, practicing English. Students will interact with each other in the service learning activities so as to share experiences of homelessness in the communities. They will also invite other students from the neighboring school and share their views with them. There would be collaboration of students from different schools intended to share their experiences with homelessness in America.
Work Cited
Collier, Paul, A Summary: Research Methods in Sociology – An Introduction. 2016 The Web https://revisesociology.com/2016/01/03/research-methods-sociology/
Crossman, Ashley, “Understanding Conflict Theory: A Brief Overview,” 2017, The Web https://www.thoughtco.com/conflict-theory-3026622
HomeAid America. “Top Causes of homelessness in America” 2012, The Web http://www.homeaid.org/homeaid-stories/69/top-causes-of-homelessness
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. Homelessness in America: Overview of Data and Causes.” 2015, The Web https://www.nlchp.org/documents/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet
Williams, Carrie, “Research Methods,” Journal of Business & Economic Research, 5, (2007), 3, 65-72.
U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, “The 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (Ahar) To Congress, Part 1 Point-In-Time Estimates Of Homelessness 1,” 2014, https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2014- AHAR-Part1.pdf.
