Homelessness of Troops

Introduction

According to different sources, a high percentage of US troops in Iraq are returning home with mental problems and they are showing up at homeless shelters around the country. Recently, the government concluded that there are about 200,000 homeless soldiers in the United States. About 10 percent are either from the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq or from Afghanistan. The homeless troops of the United States need serious help. These heroic men and women risked their lives to protect and ensure well-being and safety of America. They are putting their personal lives (family, friends, social lives and relationships) on hold to help their country. Hence, it is the liability of the country and its citizens to assist them by any means.

The purpose of this paper is to argue a debatable concern which represents the support provided to the homeless soldiers of the United States. The paper will argue in light of different sources. Nonetheless, the paper will also focus on the positive and negative aspects of supporting homeless soldiers. The government has to step in and providing funding for this important cause. If the United States can donate money to help other countries build homes for their homeless citizens then the country can certainly donate money to help build homes for the homeless soldiers. Nonetheless, the welfare of homeless soldiers should come first. Homelessness has existed in various forms for centuries, as have general tensions between homeless people and the rest of society. In the late 1800s formerly transient workers from the railroad and lumber industries settled into U.S. cities as those labor sectors shrank. This trend caused reaction from local residents and city governments in the form of “ugly laws” meant to manage the problem of vagrancy. Still, the number of homeless people, particularly those living on the street, remained relatively low through the 1960s. In the mid-1970s homelessness began to increase as inflation raised, real-dollar wages began to decline, and manufacturing jobs disappeared at an alarming rate. In the 1980s federal funding cuts for low-income housing caused a decline in single-room occupancies and exacerbated the growing problem of homelessness. While in earlier periods homelessness was often connected to migratory employment, economic shifts, particularly in the 1970s, signaled the rise of homelessness connected to static unemployment.

Thesis Statement

The issue of homelessness of troops in America

Statistics and Analysis

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 0

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Source of earning

11.306

29

.000

2.40000

1.9659

2.8341

Physiological problem

15.577

29

.000

1.43333

1.2451

1.6215

Posttraumatic stress disorder

15.272

29

.000

1.36667

1.1836

1.5497

Acceptance issues from family

16.155

29

.000

1.50000

1.3101

1.6899

Job problem

16.551

29

.000

1.53333

1.3439

1.7228

From the above table, it can be observed that the significance values of the independent variables are significant as the significance value of the variables that include source of earning, physiological problem, posttraumatic stress disorder, acceptance issues from family and job problem is less than 0.05. Thus, the mean of the all the variables are equal.

Correlations

Are you homeless

Source of earning

Physiological problem

Posttraumatic stress disorder

Acceptance issues from family

Job problem

Are you homeless

Pearson Correlation

1

.071

.086

.107

.471**

.009

Sig. (2-tailed)

.711

.031

.004

.009

.962

N

30

30

30

30

30

30

Source of earning

Pearson Correlation

.071

1

-.129

-.085

-.058

.327

Sig. (2-tailed)

.711

.495

.656

.760

.077

N

30

30

30

30

30

30

Physiological problem

Pearson Correlation

.086

-.129

1

.172

.605**

.144

Sig. (2-tailed)

.031

.495

.363

.000

.448

N

30

30

30

30

30

30

Posttraumatic stress disorder

Pearson Correlation

.107

-.085

.172

1

.069

-.259

Sig. (2-tailed)

.004

.656

.363

.716

.167

N

30

30

30

30

30

30

Acceptance issues from family

Pearson Correlation

.471**

-.058

.605**

.069

1

.000

Sig. (2-tailed)

.009

.760

.000

.716

1.000

N

30

30

30

30

30

30

Job problem

Pearson Correlation

.009

.327

.144

-.259

.000

1

Sig. (2-tailed)

.962

.077

.448

.167

1.000

N

30

30

30

30

30

30

**. Correlation is significant ...