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Rural Homelessness in the USA: Factors and Remedial measures
Abstract
Rural homelessness, to no small extent, differs from suburban or urban homelessness. While the street life or shelter in less in the rural areas it exists. However, as a result of the geographic vastness of many parts of rural America and the subsequent lack of centralized resources and services, rural homelessness is less reported and documented. As such, this study purposes to shed light on the state of homelessness in rural America and suggest remedial measures necessary to help solve the precarious housing condition faced by the individual who resides in the rural areas of America. The researcher will, therefore, adopt a mixed methods research design that integrates both qualitative and quantitative data to help paint a picture on the research question and help offer short-term and longer-term policy strategies. The study revealed that limited housing, favoritism towards urban areas regarding federal priorities and programs, limited methods of transport are some key factors contributing to rural homelessness, the study also suggests that prevention is the most sustainable method to curb homelessness in the rural areas.
Keywords: Homelessness, rural homelessness, mixed methods, snowball sampling
Introduction
The United States, to a more considerable extent, is an urban-centric society. Therefore cities are considered cultural incubators as well as centers of growth and development. As such many social problems like homelessness and poverty have mostly been addressed based on the urban perspective. This initiative pays lip service to a rural perspective. However, preliminary studies have revealed that the rural areas experience high pervert levels, which is on the increase while the contrary, the urban region has had a steady decline in poverty. Homelessness in the rural U.S. areas has had little attention from scholars as far as literature is concerned with more focus being in the urban context.
Among the factors that cause challenges in quantifying homelessness in rural regions is the existence of multiple definitions. These are often made based on administrative, geo-location, economic, and land-use variations that determine the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of the targeted population (Cromartie and Bucholz 29). Because of the various definitions of what areas qualify as rural, challenges emerge in the assessment of the scope and prevalence of homelessness in rural areas in the United States. According to Rollinson, today, homelessness is a multifaced social-service delivery issue that both the urban and rural communities face in the U.S.
Problem Statement
While there are various statistics on homeless individuals, there is little information and data regarding homeless individuals in rural areas. Most of the data and information used to measure homelessness in rural areas are often estimates because many rural homeless individuals reside in places not obviously seen, such as campgrounds, woods, abandoned farm buildings, cars, or other places not meant for habitation (Endhomelesness.org). Significantly, there are challenges in the location, definition, and sampling of homeless individuals in rural America. As such, it is increasingly challenging for social services to determine the actual locations to manage and offer the needed assistance to homeless individuals in rural areas.
The rationale for The Research
The current research will aim to identify the challenges that make it difficult to obtained data regarding rural homelessness, its causes, and, most importantly, the remedial measures to help reduce the ever-increasing problem. This study will help bring the gap of insufficient literature concerning rural homelessness in the United States. This study will, therefore, allow the development of future studies focused and targeted at rural homeless individuals that could help social service organizations and government institutions in service delivery.
Research Questions
The study will endeavor to address the following as the primary research;
What are the factors and remedial measures to reduce homelessness in rural America?
Research Objectives
The study will endeavor to address the following as the primary research objectives
- To identify the challenges that make it challenging to get the right rural homeless figures.
- To ascertain the existence of permanent homelessness in rural America
- To identify factors that cause rural homelessness
- To suggest remedial measures that can be applied to reduce rural homelessness
Research Hypothesis
The following formed the research hypotheses;
H1: Favoritism towards urban areas regarding federal priorities and programs is the leading cause of rural homelessness in America.
H2: A preventive approach is the best strategy for solving the problem of homelessness in rural America (of homelessness?)
Literature
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (p.2), a homeless individual is described as a “person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” While the definition is adequate in the definition of a type of homelessness, it does not include events that are characterized as episodes of homelessness. For instance, Gkartzios and Ziebarth (p.495) observe that rural homelessness is often considered as fitting the definition of homelessness episodes. Homeless people in rural areas are often hidden, especially when they live with other people, including their friends or find shelter in farm structures such as barns and sheds. Further, rural homelessness may constitute camping in the woods, living in a parking lot, or even a vehicle.
In a study conducted by Aman and Yarnal (p.85) examining mobile homes in the rural regions of the United States aimed to gather evidence to determine whether living in mobile homes led to conditions of quasi homelessness. The Housing Assistance Council (p.62) indicates that 14.4% of rural households live in mobile homes in contrast to 6.5% depicted across the nation. Though mobile homes are seemingly secure and affordable, the reverse is true since the owners are at a higher risk of forfeiting their property since most of them are financed by taking personal property loans or loan sharks who are less sympathetic to their clients. Because of the constant relocation of mobile homes, it is difficult to keep track of those who lose their property and become homeless; therefore, documenting homelessness in rural areas becomes more challenging.
According to Edwards et al. (p.330), rural geography is often characterized by more impoverished people living in areas that are remote and inaccessible; hence, they are unreachable by social services. As such, those that may need assistance are far away from service providers, and it is significantly challenging to help them. Claus (p.405) agrees with Edwards et al. (p.331) that homeless individuals tend to isolate them from other people, and such behavior has been observed among veterans, especially those that have PTSD. The challenge of identifying and tracking homeless people is further affirmed by The Rural Research Note (p.1). A comparative examination of rural and urban homelessness situations is conducted, and there are indications of challenges in measuring rural homelessness. According to the Rural Research Note (p.2), rural homelessness can be construed as an act of living in precarious housing situations, the constant movement from one substandard shelter to another, or doubling up with family and friends.
Gaps in research emerge as most of the studies have relied on data that was gathered by various homeless services in the rural regions. In addition, the data samples used in most of the studies do not have comprehensive coverage of the homeless people in the rural U.S. since those who live in remote or frontier regions and do not use the services are not counted (Rollinson). There is a tendency for researchers to combine data from mixed areas and rural areas into one category, which has the impact of masking critical differences occasioned by location and distance from urban regions (Rollinson). As such, it is irresponsible to make conclusions regarding rural homelessness without comprehensive representative data.
Methodology
Research Design
The study adopted a mixed-method strategy. This strategy was adopted because it offers the strengths that counter the challenges associated with both qualitative and quantitative aspects. As such, the strength of the individual approach makes up for the problems associated with the other strategy (Creswell and Clark 11; Cohen 54). Quantitative research methods usually “involves gathering and converting data into a numerical form in order to conduct statistical calculations and draw conclusions” (Creswell and Clark 206). Conducting a statistical analysis enables researchers to identify complicated “causal relations and determine to what extent one variable influences another” (49). Quantitative research is based on objectivity, and “for this reason, the people involved in the survey must be a representative sample of the wider group” (Cohen 48).
This type of research is focused on recording, analyzing, and attempts to uncover and understand human behavior. Researchers are not concerned with collecting information in order to generalize them to other more substantial groups, but rather to get a rich understanding of human experience. “Qualitative researchers develop a theory or look for a pattern of meaning” (Cohen 44), which involves moving from the specific to the general. This type of research is not based on some predetermined hypotheses, and theories are just a basis for the study (Creswell and Clark 31). Data collection and analysis are methodical but allow more flexibility than in quantitative research.
Sampling and Sampling Techniques
Additionally, the researcher employed snowball sampling, without having any valid means of contact with any homeless people, it would be best to use sampling methods to gather information. More specifically, snowball sampling is our best option. As stated earlier, the researcher does not have direct contact with someone who can give us information, so our best option is to go to places like soup kitchens to seek people who are willing to participate in our survey. With their cooperation, we can use snowball sampling by having them reach out to others and have them get in contact with us. This strategy was the best means of sampling for our research because not only is it cheap and cost-efficient, but there is also not much planning that needs to go into it, and the snowball effect allows us to get referrals from a population that is difficult to reach. The study also adopted the questionnaire as a data collection tool. The questionnaire was used because it is a useful tool for measuring attitudes, behavior, preferences, intentions, and opinions faster and cheaper.
Knowing rural homelessness exists, we are proposing the question of “Does permanent homelessness exist in rural areas, and if it does, what are some factors that support permanent homelessness in rural areas?” Snowball sampling in service centers will help get an idea of who these people are that are homeless and will also help network us to other homeless people that are not as easily accessible. The researcher interviewed people to find out if they know of anyone who has been long-time homeless, after which, the researcher followed up with the referral to see if the identified person meets the operational definition of rural homeless or whether the researcher should keep rolling the snowball from there
Reliability and Validity
The researcher understood the fact that a strong research design is a requirement for valid and reliable results. Therefore, this study chose the mixed method approach to eliminate methodology inconsistencies and snowball sampling techniques to ensure appropriate samples were obtained for the study. The research also opted to interview individuals from rural America for more specificity. Data reliability was also ensured through the standardization of interview questions to gather similar information under the study context.
Ethical consideration
The ethical issues will be addressed by guaranteeing the participants that their responses and contributions to the research would remain anonymous. The participants will be informed prior to the research that their contributions during and after the study would be kept private details of which are discussed in the sampling and sapling technique section. A consent form will be developed and issued to all participants delineating their contributions. The researchers will be expected to append their signatures, expectations, and responsibilities of the researchers. The participants will not be compelled to remain in the study and free to leave the moment they choose to do so.
Works cited
Aman, Destiny D., and Brent Yarnal. “Home Sweet Mobile Home? Benefits and Challenges of Mobile Home Ownership in Rural Pennsylvania.” Applied Geography, vol. 30, no. 1, Jan. 2010, pp. 84–95.
Claus, Brian. “Homelessness: Alone in the Country: National Guard and Reserve Component Service and the Increased Risk for Homelessness among Rural Veterans.” The Journal of Law in Society, vol. 13, Jan. 2012, p. 405.
Cohen, Jack. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Routledge 2013.
Creswell, John W., and Plano Clark Vicki L. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. SAGE, 2018.
Cromartie, John, and Shawn Bucholtz. “Defining the ‘Rural’ in Rural America.” Amber Waves: The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, & Rural America, vol. 6, no. 3, June 2008, pp. 28–34.
Edwards, Mark Evan, et al. “Paradoxes of Providing Rural Social Services: The Case of Homeless Youth.” Rural Sociology, vol. 74, no. 3, Sept. 2009, pp. 330–355.
Forchuk, Cheryl et al. “Gaining ground, losing ground: The paradoxes of rural homelessness.” Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, vol. 42, no.2, 2010, pp. 138-152.
Gkartzios Menelaos and Ann C. Ziebarth. “Housing: A lens to rural inequalities.” In: M. Shucksmith and Brown, D (Eds), International Handbook of Rural Studies (pp.495-508). London: Routledge, 2016.
Rollinson, Paul A., and John A. Partick. Homelessness in rural America: Policy and practice. Routledge, 2018.
The Housing Assistance Council. The rural data portal: Taking stock of people, poverty, and housing in your community. December 2012. http://www.ruraldataportal.org/docs/HAC_Taking-Stock-Full.pdf.
The Rural Research Note. Homelessness Declines but Is Still Difficult to Assess in Rural Areas. December 2014. http://www.ruralhome.org/sct-information/mn-hac-research/rrn/1059-rrn-homeless-point-in-time.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress: Part 1: Point-In-Time Estimates of Homelessness. December 2018. https://www.wpr.org/sites/default/files/2018-ahar-part-1-compressed.pdf.