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Perceptions, Persecution and Pity: The Limitations of Interventions for Homelessness in Developing Countries
Author(s) -
SPEAK SUZANNE,
TIPPLE GRAHAM
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal of urban and regional research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1468-2427
pISSN - 0309-1317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2006.00641.x
Subject(s) - pity , persecution , psychological intervention , developing country , apathy , hostility , perception , psychology , criminology , social psychology , sociology , political science , economic growth , politics , psychiatry , law , economics , cognition , neuroscience
Interventions for homelessness in developing countries are frequently negative and unhelpful. They tend to exist in an environment of hostility, suspicion and apathy towards homeless people. This environment is cultivated and enhanced by negative and derogatory language and images used by politicians, the public and the media in their portrayal of homeless people as unemployed, beggars, drunks and criminals. Findings from a recently completed study of homelessness in nine developing countries suggest that this perception is largely false. This article argues that, until the popular misconception of homeless people is corrected, even the most well‐intentioned interventions will have little long‐term effect.