Sociological theories to account for the way homeless young people are treated and percieved?

Question

Sociological theories to account for the way homeless young people are treated and percieved?

Answer 1

. Almost all 'homeless people' are of negative value to society. Therefore they're easy targets since they're mostly defenceless. that's nature.

Answer 2

Well, the primary one that comes to mind is Labeling Theory (social reaction theory).  It is generally used in deviancy/criminology, but I think that it can apply here.  Labeling Theory states that when an individual engages in "primary deviance" when they act outside society's norms.  This could be anything that violates our norms.  This could easily include homelessness and many of the behaviors that might be closely associated with that (drug use, alcohol use, lack of hygiene for obvious reasons, et cetera).  Once an individual has engaged in this behavior they are labeled (hence the name of the theory).  We call them homeless, or a bum, or an alcoholic, or a druggie, tweaker, doper...  This label is reinforced through either (or both) very powerful applications of the label (say a mother calling their son a bum) and/or through repeated applications of the label (everyone scoffing at the dirty guy sitting on the sidewalk).  This is particularly true of vulnerable young adults.  Young adults have not had the life experiences to establish a positive self image and when we look at ourselves through the looking glass (the looking glass self is a great academic read in the field of sociology) of society, we see only what others see.  Again, young adults are particularly vulnerable to this type of negative social reactions due to a lack of positive ideas about themselves as well as the fact that many adults will readily apply their labels to the young when they might not have the courage to confront a homeless adult.

Okay, so that took a bit longer than I thought.  However, the next aspect of labeling theory (beyond the application of the label and the internalization of the label) is the secondary deviance.  This is the deviance that is manifested as a direct result of the internalization of the label.  In our case, our young homeless man might not ever strive to find a home, find a job, seek medical care, get straight...  because he accepts that he is simply that, "Bum" that everyone laughs at, picks on (especially with the recent upsurge in violent crimes against the homeless), or simply disregards.  This behavioral set that the individual wraps themselves around is their secondary deviance.  

That is my explanation of labeling theory.  I think that it fits into the homeless example well.  However, there are a great number of theories from sociology that could be applied to the homeless and particularly the homeless young.

Conflict theory- Rich adults try to control the poor young by not affording them opportunities to get back onto their feet.

Structural/Functionalism- The homeless serve as an example of what the rest of the world is not.  They allow the lower, upper, and middle class to say, "We are not them."  It gives a sense of identity through exclusion to other groups.  

The homeless also can serve positive social roles, like cleaning hard-to-biodegrade recyclables from public areas, increasing sales of certain goods, providing jobs at shelters (which in turn give an altruistic feel good feeling to volunteers and donaters), et cetera.

I think those should answer your questions a little bit.  I hope that helps.