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[socoflasvegas]

Vegas in my eyes

When I think of home, I think of Las Vegas, as do many other people. I have grown in the past four years and became immensely aware of my social position as well as the position of those around me. As a commuter that lives far from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I am constantly driving around town at all times of the day. Whether I am in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, or Downtown, I see a repeated crisis that sweeps the nation, homelessness, yet I am not away of policies that treat this disheartening situation as one (a crisis). Although I have never experienced homelessness, I have met people who are or have been in the past. I feel so connected to Las Vegas, yet disheartened because I do not have the ability to make structural changes to my community. So many of my sociology classes have brought me the ability to look at social problems as structural issues, and that is exactly how I characterize homelessness.

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How is this even relevant?

Homelessness is not exclusive to the strip, it is a clear and urgent social problem that persists in all directions of Las Vegas and the nation. Many societal issues can connect to homelessness, but the main ones that I would like to highlight pertain to housing insecurity, characterizations and stereotypes, and mental illness. This topic is sociologically relevant because core concepts within sociology are used to examine this issue in this blog. As I worked on this project this, I constantly thought about the sociological imagination, which notes how individual problems can be connected to societal issues/problems. In the context of homelessness, there are a myriad of complex systemic or institutional factors that exacerbate or facilitate this condition to occur (condition as in the setting/environment of homelessness). Homelessness is relevant across the nation and around the world. People are either homeless or trying to escape the chance of homelessness. Our institutions (of which we all play a part in) do not operate in a manner that helps against this, we can see this because.... homelessness characterizes a large part of the United States. If our structures did not operate in this manner, then homelessness would not be a thing

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Homelessness is obviously bad–why talk about it... again?

Many people are already aware about the saddening conditions that surround homelessness, but that does not mean that there is not a group of people who do not. It is also important to highlight that even if people do have disheartening feelings about homelessness, that does not mean that their perspectives are made with the proposition of systemic issues in mind.

Although I do not characterize homelessness as an individual problem, meaning that the condition of homelessness is placed on to the individual experiencing it, there is a population out there that does. There are people holding governmental or authoritative positions that act or vote as if homelessness is not a structural issue, even though they have the ability to make significant changes within federal policies. It is important for them to connect the dots in this regard because they facilitate programs that affect us. Exposure to this topic through a structural perspective can advise them on how their actions may be unjust/create unintended consequences for people facing housing insecurity. Instead of contributing to a systemic issue that exacerbates marginalized populations, a new point of view may create an equitable path for those currently experiencing the effect(s) or path of homelessness.

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"On a single night in 2023, more than 653,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States." (Garcia et al. 2024)

I think having 'Vegas' in mind while thinking about homelessness shows so much irony. So much money gets poured into the casinos, yet it feels as if none is poured back into programs that facilitate the betterment of the people of Las Vegas (or even Nevada in general).

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"In January 2020, over 580,000 people in the United States reported experiencing homelessness... Amongst the total population of reported households experiencing homelessness, around 60% were sheltered, and the rest lived in places not meant for habitation (streets, cars, parks, etc.)." (Wooton 2023).

If we compare this data from 2020 to the data we saw in the previous quote (from 2024), we see that the amount of people experiencing homelessness increased by over 70,000 people. I think that this quote is very important because it breaks down the kind of homelessness that is out there. Although these people may have some kind of 'shelter' if they live in a car, streets with a tent, or even if they house surf, they are not living in conditions that give them security and stability.

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"Empirical evidence increasingly suggests that homelessness results from structural problems at a societal level or, more recently, from he convergence of individual and structural factors. Policy makers, however, more often attribute the causes to individual factors." (Cronley 2010)

People have agency. We have the ability to choose what we want to wear or what we want to eat, but it is all influenced by our social position. Although we are individuals, we each come from a socially prescribed background that influences the paths that we go on. Marginalizing positions can make individual actions occur in a manner that seems as if it has no outside influences, but it is important to understand that we all operate within institutions that are structured in a way that takes our backgrounds (gender, class, race, etc.) into account.

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"Minoritized populations–including Black, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander people and gender and sexual minorities–and populations with specific adverse experiences, such as domestic violence survivors, young adults exiting foster care, and people exiting incarceration, are overrepresented within the homeless population." (Garcia et al. 2024).

The prevalence of "minoritized populations" in experiencing homelessness is not just a coincidence. Things like systemic racism and discrimination enable the path to homeless in a manner that does play out as it does for more privileged groups of people.

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Victimization and blame is central when it comes to characterizing homeless people.

“Las Vegas engages in the “sympathetic segregation” of homeless persons to an area where charitable institutions are concentrated far away from tourists and the community.” (Borchard 2000). They later note, “In Las Vegas the themes of fear and sympathy that are present in various texts also promote a subtext of segregation and social control as the manner in which homelessness is best addressed.” (Borchard 2000). Although these quotes may seem broad on their own, they are essential when it comes to understanding how the perspective or public reaction to homelessness has evolved in the community.

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"As homelessness rose in major U.S. cities in the 1980s, city governments and other agencies utilized the remaining aging hotel stock in urban areas as shelter housing." (Seymour 2020).

It is important to think about 'urban areas' in relation to homelessness. As we can see in Vegas, there prevalence of those experiencing housing insecurity tend to live in urban communities–urban communities that are made up marginalized populations.

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Housing insecurity can mean many different things, but in Las Vegas, the root connects to the recession OF the 2000s and the result of foreclosure, mortgage lending, and corporate landlords (Seymour 2020). Renting became the only means of obtaining housing because landlords invested in homes that became the backbone of rental markets (Seymour 2020). The researchers later discussed the eviction process and how housing advocates and legal aid attorneys altered eviction laws in Nevada, which gave tenants more time to prepare for past due dates and eviction (Seymour 2020). I think that it is important to note that policy change is possible, so those with powerful positions should use it to better the community.

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"Evictions make it more difficult to find subsequent housing, particularly given the widespread use of tenant screening services. Those with eviction histories are therefore more likely to double up, live in their car, rent substandard housing from slum landlords, or experience homelessness… Eviction is also linked to adverse health outcomes, including acute anxiety and depression." (Seymour 2020)

How do (some) people end up homeless? They get faced with eviction.

This quote really allows us to think about the sociological imagination (personal problems = societal issues). Let's say a single mother got her hours cut from her job because its the 'slow' season so they don't need as many workers. This lessens her pay check, which she uses to take care of her self and her kid(s). It may affect every single way she lives her life. Suddenly she is short on rent, food, and bills, all some how leading to eviction.

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“Homelessness is associated with poor health… Compared to low-income populations with housing, people experiencing homelessness have a higher prevalence of acute and chronic physical and mental health conditions and higher mortality rates. This disparity has been attributed, in part, to evidence indicating that homelessness has direct and indirect deleterious impacts on health and that it interferes with access to primary health care.” (Garcia et al. 2024)

If we bring back in the example I had of the single mom who just got evicted, this quote lets us see how homelessness can affect her health-wise. She may engage in actions that would not be typical of her if she was not homeless (not even "bad" actions like substance abuse, her mental health may just decline and she would no longer act as her "normal" self).

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Under the casinos that bring in millions of dollars a day resides a community of homeless people who take shelter in the tunnels that map that city. It is still important considering how isolating and dangerous it is to stay there. This article notes how weather (like floods) can be extremely devastating, “the last three flood-related drowning deaths in the city involved homeless people in the tunnels” (Smith 2019). They also discuss how their position makes it harder for social workers to reach them (Smith 2019).

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“People with this lived experience (PWLE) face a range of challenges and are often underserved by behavioral health systems.” (Roger 2023)

Behavioral health systems in the United States are not as accessible to people experiencing the effects of homelessness. This may be attributed to the fact that they do may not have access to health insurance, the money to cover what insurance will not, and they also might not even have the ability (mental or physical) to get the help that they need.

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