Question

a.         To what extent do you think it is ethical to view the social problem of homelessness from a functionalist perspective that focuses on its positives? Explain.

b.         To what extent are “social service agencies, religious organizations, and community groups and service workers” dependent on the homeless for their existence (Leon-Guerrero, 2011, p. 14)?

Answer 1

a. Although homelessness maybe viewed positively from a functionalist theory perspective, I do not think it can be classified as ‘unethical’. The functionalist perspective provides a general framework of how social processes function and it is not a view that is developed exclusively for explaining homelessness only. In fact, I believe that this perspective would add more depth into understanding the phenomenon as we would be able to analyse who homelessness is benefiting and therefore why it is perpetuating.

2. I would say that social service agencies, religious organisations, community groups and service workers are not essentially dependent on homelessness. Such agencies have been developed to solve the problem of homelessness and if we were to assume that homelessness did not exist, they would be serving another case such as racial justice.