Een doos voor daklozen

Samenvatting

A Box for the Homeless. The social construction of the problem of homelessness in Dutch society is examined. In 1993 the Rotterdam housing corporation, Onze Woning, proposed providing the homeless with cardboard boxes to sleep in. The proposal touched off public debate. Left-wing journalists and political activists viewed the homeless problem as symptomatic of the inadequacy of the Dutch social security system. Doctors, social workers, and psychologists viewed the problem as stemming from individual social incompetence. Sociologists emphasized the structural conditions that systematically work to the disadvantage of individuals. The objective reality of the homeless problem cannot be readily checked; therefore, it is subject to various claims about its nature and prevalence. 21 References. Adapted from the source document.