ABSTRACT
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies housing as a basic right. The presence of homelessness violates this right along with other human rights, including the right to life, non-discrimination, health, clean water and sanitation, security of the person, and freedom from cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment. C. Wright Mills proposed the concept of the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination allows people to see the connection between personal troubles and public issues. It encourages them to contextualize individual-level outcomes as being influenced by structural factors. While homelessness is a social problem with structural causes, most of the people authors meet, and many of the service providers who work with them, perceive homelessness as a personal problem. People experiencing homelessness are stigmatized by government officials, service providers, and each other. Neoliberal ideology purports the notion of an undeserving poor and the idea that people should work for any benefits they receive.
