A Literature Review and Secondary Data Analysis of the Political, Psychological, and Medical Factors That Have Affected the Homeless Population in the United States Before, During, and Post-Reagan Era

Abstract

In the contemporary United States, there is an increasing need to address the issue of homelessness on the local, state, and federal level of government. Homelessness is a growing social issue that transcends race, gender, and political affiliation. In the past decade, there has been an exponential growth in community social programming, community outreach resources, and governmental policies addressing various factors that compose the greater issue of homelessness. There have been various forms of local policies addressing such things such as sleeping, housing, possessions, job availability, individual rights, etc. The purpose of this is to study is to examine the social, political, psychological, and medical factors that have directly affected the larger homeless population in the United States from 1980 into the present. Furthermore, the project will assess homeless policies during that period to gauge their success and move toward improvements in future policy.