(Prompt) - Objective - Write an ethnography outlining a culture or subculture of local people in the area you live.
My Observation, Research, and Field Work of the homeless culture in Lancaster CA.
Ethnography Essay 418 May 2005Homeless in LancasterThe homeless in Lancaster have a face, a name, and an identity. At any point in time these people are still someone's mother, daughter, father, sister, son, husband or wife. People are quick to make assumptions when they see these people living on the fringes of survival. Some may look on in disgust or pity, pass judgment based on mainstream beliefs, or worse refuse to acknowledge that another fellow human being is suffering right before their very eyes. Once a person has hit the bottom of homelessness, they say, without family support, their life chances to actually make it back above the poverty line are next to none.
According to a summary report given to the governor in the year 2000, on any given day in the state of California 361,000 people are homeless.(www.sen.ca.gov)
English: Homeless man, Tokyo. Français : Un sans ...
English: A homeless on the corner of Cologne Cathe...
English: Homeless man sleeping at the bus stop in ...Because Lancaster encompasses both the city and rural areas, there are no concrete statistics for the number of homeless in this community. It is difficult to comprise accurate statistical numbers, because many homeless people have found ingenious ways to survive without community support or shelter assistance and do not come forward to be counted. A recent UCLA study revealed the current estimate for the number of homeless in the Antelope Valley is 4,500 - 6000 people per month.(Foster, L. and Patricia Snowdown. 2004) This study also admits that that actual number in reality is three to six times higher than the census estimate.
It is important to note that the government assistance programs define homeless as, not having a fixed address or a place to sleep.