Homelessness is an isolating and destructive experience and homeless people are some of the most vulnerable and socially excluded in our society.
Homelessness is a problem throughout the UK, although it is more prevalent in urban centres, especially in London.
Homelessness is about more than rooflessness. A home is not just a physical space, it also has a legal and social dimension. A home provides roots, identity, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing. Homelessness is about the loss of these. Homelessness is costly to the individual, society and the state.
People become and stay homeless for a whole range of complex and overlapping reasons and solving homelessness is about much more than putting a roof over people's heads. Many homeless people face a number of issues in addition to, but often compounded by, their homelessness. The isolation and destructive nature of homelessness means that homeless people find it difficult to access the help they need.
Crisis research[7] has found that, for many homeless people, social isolation preceded homelessness and the experience of homelessness then exacerbates that isolation.
Informal support, such as that provided by family members and friends, can be extremely valuable for all of us, but they can be especially key to a better future for someone with experiences of homelessness.
However, the main cause of homelessness is widely accepted as being relationship breakdown (such as disputes with parents, domestic abuse, marital breakdown or bereavement) and many homeless people do not have any contact with their families.
Alongside the lack of informal support networks, isolation and loneliness are common among people who are homeless. Less than a third of homeless people spend time with non-homeless people, and almost 38% of homeless people said they spent their entire day alone. A third of homeless men reported that their only daily contact was with service providers, and more than half of homeless people said they had no ‘family ties'[8].
Isolation of this kind erodes people's capability (e.g. employability, skills, knowledge, etc) as well as their resilience or ability to cope with life's adverse events, including having the ability to overcome life's difficulties[9].
It is important to emphasise that isolation and loneliness are also commonly experienced after people have been re-housed into permanent housing and are often linked to tenancy breakdown and repeated episodes of homelessness. One in four ex-homeless people find themselves unable to sustain a tenancy, with loneliness and isolation the main causes of this[10].
Building people's skills and confidence, engaging them with society, offering opportunities for volunteering and linking them to others, for example through mentoring, all help break isolation.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
The headlights blinding, the noise so clear,
Clinging to the blades, grass scratches my face,
Hiding from the shame, of being myself,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
The lights now blind, sounds move past,
A heartbeat races, danger so immediate,
Another car comes, Illuminating failure,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Sleep not an option, fear too close,
Beneath the branches, harbouring a child,
People scream, they walk the street,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Heart skips beats, tears abandon ducts,
Trickling down, clinging to the blades,
Laughter is sounded, masses rush by,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Morning coming through, safety so near,
Never believing, the other side of night,
They will come, and surely judge,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Walking on, as if I'm non-existent,
Never acknowledged, truly abandoned,
Trapped in my shell, to be ignored,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
I cry today, for a different moment,
Praying for a life, more than this,
Knowing there's something, elsewhere to be,
Reasons I'm here, questions not asked.
This feels like forever, an endless dream,
But all dreams end, a chance again,
One day I promise, there'll be a way,
I'll rise off the ground, for people to see
Clinging to the blades, grass scratches my face,
Hiding from the shame, of being myself,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
The lights now blind, sounds move past,
A heartbeat races, danger so immediate,
Another car comes, Illuminating failure,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Sleep not an option, fear too close,
Beneath the branches, harbouring a child,
People scream, they walk the street,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Heart skips beats, tears abandon ducts,
Trickling down, clinging to the blades,
Laughter is sounded, masses rush by,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Morning coming through, safety so near,
Never believing, the other side of night,
They will come, and surely judge,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
Walking on, as if I'm non-existent,
Never acknowledged, truly abandoned,
Trapped in my shell, to be ignored,
Sink into the ground, please don't see.
I cry today, for a different moment,
Praying for a life, more than this,
Knowing there's something, elsewhere to be,
Reasons I'm here, questions not asked.
This feels like forever, an endless dream,
But all dreams end, a chance again,
One day I promise, there'll be a way,
I'll rise off the ground, for people to see
There she is in her dirty clothes,
I think she wore that yesterday
(and the day before)
Same stains and dirt leave their mark.
She stands behind the fence
on the pedestrian walkway
On the cement bridge that towers
above the freeway.
(up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky.)
She grabs the fence up high
and leans into the metal
leaving her shopping cart alone
watching as close as she can.
Her gaze never leaves the sight of the cars
zooming beneath her at speeds of light
She looks at their faces going to wonderful places
But they don't know where she's been.
They never even see her,
they don't know she's there.
But I know she's there
and I watch her as she watches us,
My street angel.
I think she wore that yesterday
(and the day before)
Same stains and dirt leave their mark.
She stands behind the fence
on the pedestrian walkway
On the cement bridge that towers
above the freeway.
(up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky.)
She grabs the fence up high
and leans into the metal
leaving her shopping cart alone
watching as close as she can.
Her gaze never leaves the sight of the cars
zooming beneath her at speeds of light
She looks at their faces going to wonderful places
But they don't know where she's been.
They never even see her,
they don't know she's there.
But I know she's there
and I watch her as she watches us,
My street angel.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Mr B
Charles "Charlie" Bronson (born Michael Gordon Peterson, 6 December 1952) is an English criminal often referred to in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Britain".[2] Born in Luton, England, Michael often found his way into fights before he began a bare-knuckle boxing career in the East End of London. His promoter not happy with his name suggested he change it to Charles Bronson.
In 1974 he was imprisoned for a robbery and sentenced to seven years. While in prison he began making a name for himself as a loose cannon often fighting convicts and prison guards. These fights added years onto his sentence. Regarded as a problem prisoner, he was moved 120 times throughout Her Majesty's Prison Service and spent most of that time in solitary confinement. What was originally a seven year term stretched out to fourteen year sentence that resulted in his first wife Irene, with whom he had a son, leaving him. He was released on October 30, 1988 but only spent 69 days free before he was arrested again.
While in jail in 2001 he married his second wife Fatema Saira Rehman, a Bangladeshi-born divorcée who inspired him to convert to Islam taking the name of Charles Ali Ahmed. The second marriage lasted four years before he got divorced and renounced Islam. Known as one of the hardest criminals in England, Bronson has written many books about his experiences and famous prisoners he has met through-out his internment. A self-declared fitness fanatic, Bronson has also written a book on working out in small places.
"Total Isolation"
"Total Isolation"
In January 2008, the BBC aired a Horizon special entitled "Total Isolation." The premise of the show centered around 6 individuals who agreed to be shut inside a cell in a nuclear bunker, alone and in the dark. Prior to isolation, the volunteers underwent tests of visual memory, information processing, verbal fluency and suggestibility. After, they spent two days and two nights in isolation. The subjects noted that their inability to sense time and the hallucinations and visions that they experienced made the 48 hours inside the cell very difficult on their mind.
Of the six volunteers, two coped well. One woman was convinced her sheets were wet. Three experienced auditory and visual hallucinations - snakes, oysters, tiny cars and zebras. After the 48 hours was complete, the same tests were conducted. The results indicated that the volunteers' ability to complete the simplest tasks had deteriorated. One subject's memory capacity fell 36% and all the subjects had trouble thinking of words beginning with the letter "F". All four of the men (neither of the two women) had markedly increased suggestibility[13] .
"Its really hard to stimulate your brain with no light. It's blanking me. I can feel my brain just not wanting to do anything."
—Adam Bloom, "Total Isolation"
In January 2008, the BBC aired a Horizon special entitled "Total Isolation." The premise of the show centered around 6 individuals who agreed to be shut inside a cell in a nuclear bunker, alone and in the dark. Prior to isolation, the volunteers underwent tests of visual memory, information processing, verbal fluency and suggestibility. After, they spent two days and two nights in isolation. The subjects noted that their inability to sense time and the hallucinations and visions that they experienced made the 48 hours inside the cell very difficult on their mind.
Of the six volunteers, two coped well. One woman was convinced her sheets were wet. Three experienced auditory and visual hallucinations - snakes, oysters, tiny cars and zebras. After the 48 hours was complete, the same tests were conducted. The results indicated that the volunteers' ability to complete the simplest tasks had deteriorated. One subject's memory capacity fell 36% and all the subjects had trouble thinking of words beginning with the letter "F". All four of the men (neither of the two women) had markedly increased suggestibility[13] .
"Its really hard to stimulate your brain with no light. It's blanking me. I can feel my brain just not wanting to do anything."
—Adam Bloom, "Total Isolation"
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation[1] is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch, taste, thermoception (heat-sense), and 'gravity'. Sensory deprivation has been used in various alternative medicines and in psychological experiments (e.g., see Isolation tank).
Short-term sessions of sensory deprivation are described as relaxing and conducive to meditation, if sometimes boring; however, extended or forced sensory deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations,[2] bizarre thoughts, depression and death.[3
Short-term sessions of sensory deprivation are described as relaxing and conducive to meditation, if sometimes boring; however, extended or forced sensory deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations,[2] bizarre thoughts, depression and death.[3
wikipedia..not great i know but an idea
Solitary confinement is a punishment or special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding members of prison staff. It is considered by some as a form of psychological torture.[1] It is usually cited as an additional measure of protection (of society) from the criminal. It is also used as a form of protective custody.
Solitary confinement is colloquially referred to in American English as the 'hole', 'lockdown', the 'SHU' (pronounced 'shoe') or the 'pound', and in British English as the 'block'.
Those who accept the practice consider it necessary for prisoners who are considered dangerous to other people ("the most predatory" prisoners),[2] those who might be capable of leading crime groups even from within, or those who are kept 'incommunicado' for purported reasons of national security. Finally, it may be used for prisoners who are at high risk of being attacked by other inmates, such as paedophiles, witnesses, or celebrities who are in prison themselves. This latter form of solitary confinement is sometimes referred to as protective custody.
In the US Federal Prison system, solitary confinement is known as the Special Housing Unit (SHU),[3] pronounced /ˈʃuː/. California's prison system also uses the abbreviation SHU, but it stands for Security Housing Units.[4] In other states, it is known as the Special Management Unit (SMU), pronounced /ˈsmuː/.
Opponents of solitary confinement claim that it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment[5] and torture[6] because the lack of human contact, and the sensory deprivation that often go with solitary confinement, can have a severe negative impact on a prisoner's mental state[2] that may lead to certain mental illnesses such as depression or an existential crisis[7][8][9][10][11] and death[6].
Solitary confinement is colloquially referred to in American English as the 'hole', 'lockdown', the 'SHU' (pronounced 'shoe') or the 'pound', and in British English as the 'block'.
Those who accept the practice consider it necessary for prisoners who are considered dangerous to other people ("the most predatory" prisoners),[2] those who might be capable of leading crime groups even from within, or those who are kept 'incommunicado' for purported reasons of national security. Finally, it may be used for prisoners who are at high risk of being attacked by other inmates, such as paedophiles, witnesses, or celebrities who are in prison themselves. This latter form of solitary confinement is sometimes referred to as protective custody.
In the US Federal Prison system, solitary confinement is known as the Special Housing Unit (SHU),[3] pronounced /ˈʃuː/. California's prison system also uses the abbreviation SHU, but it stands for Security Housing Units.[4] In other states, it is known as the Special Management Unit (SMU), pronounced /ˈsmuː/.
Opponents of solitary confinement claim that it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment[5] and torture[6] because the lack of human contact, and the sensory deprivation that often go with solitary confinement, can have a severe negative impact on a prisoner's mental state[2] that may lead to certain mental illnesses such as depression or an existential crisis[7][8][9][10][11] and death[6].
SOLITARY PDP
Solitary confinement is a cruel punishment,but some times people are worse!
You dont have to be alone to feel lonley.
solitary confindment is not just one person in a box.
space can confine you.
people can confine you.
You dont have to be alone to feel lonley.
solitary confindment is not just one person in a box.
space can confine you.
people can confine you.
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