The Article Fear, Romance, And Transience - 870 Words

The article called Fear, romance, and transience in the lives of homeless women by Radley, Hodgetts and Cullen was a thought-provoking article. I did not grow up in a neighborhood where homeless people were present, nevertheless; I have learned many assumptions about homeless people through what I have seen, my family’s guidance and by watching numerous television shows and news reports on television and on the radio. Since these assumptions have been embedded in my life it has become a ‘norm’ for me to think about homeless people as different from other humans who are not homeless. Since I was a child, my parents would always tell me to â€Å"never talk to strangers† and ignore the homeless because they are dangerous, dirty and poor people. From a young age it was evident that homeless people were not like everyone else and they should be treated differently. The only place I have been that has homeless people present is Toronto. I rarely visit Toronto bu t when I do, I only see homeless males who usually have beards with low hygiene. In reference to the article â€Å"this image does reflect the over-representation of men among the street homeless† (Radley et al. P. 437. 2006). Now whenever I go to Toronto and see a man matching this description on the streets I automatically assume he is homeless. I also assume homeless people are intoxicated. I learned this assumption because many of the times I have been to Toronto the homeless people are stumbling around. For example, I went