What can be an empathic (Stage 5) solution to the problem of homelessness?

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What can be an empathic (Stage 5) solution to the problems of homelessness?

Homelessness has been an issue for many cities in the world’s most socio-culturally advanced countries. Officials in these countries have had no clue how to solve the problem except to clear the streets by driving the homeless out, after which they would return. The irony is that people seem more generous toward stray cats and dogs to provide shelter for them.

We can imagine how other countries in the lower tier of socio-cultural development would also have issues with homelessness. However, there are some surprising findings from some collectivist countries.

However, this approach is challenging to implement in an individualist culture or country, seeking freedom as a core value. For example, even among Asian countries with relatively low homeless populations, Japan considered an individualist country among Asians, has many older adults dying without anyone noticing their time of death.

America is challenged by the conflict between two social values—people’s right to freedom and their right to a quality life.          

The 5 stage solution, according to my model, involves an empathic approach to the problem. In other words, studying and understanding the emotional and socio-cultural state is the first step before embarking on any project to solve the issue.

Since every city’s homeless population may have its own unique reasons for being homeless in addition to more general causes such as mental health issues and addiction, each homeless population must be approached with the mindset of a new learning opportunity for policymakers.

Considering the homeless population as an ingroup family, we can approach each homeless person or family by imagining how any caring and concerned family would solve the issue if one of their family members were out on the street.

Before we can understand the status and condition of each homeless person, the critical step is to approach them as a part of the larger ingroup under the wings of care of the social system, which is the 5-stage approach. These can be done by the social workers or any other civil servants hired by the government who would like to participate in the project of including the homeless in our family.

Another stage 5 approach can be rewarding companies or states through public recognition and appreciation and letting them compete among them. In this effort, the government needs to lead those companies toward the stage 5 spirit of community building. The government in America has been leading the social climate, believing no companies will be interested in the welfare of the community unless monetary or tax incentives are offered. In other words, the pessimistic prophecy about the voluntary participation by American companies in social issues such as homelessness made by the government in America has been helping it to be fulfilled the way they have believed. Calling tax obligation as paying tax to Uncle Sam has been another example of the government’s assumption that no citizens will want to pay tax voluntarily.

In an advanced socio-cultural stage such as Stage 5, giving financial rewards such as tax breaks is unnecessary, as in  Stage 2 culture, since citizens and companies are willing to collaborate or participate in the homeless project out of their empathic community concern.

Therefore, we need to apply the wisdom we can learn from the 5 stage model of compassion. Empathy involves emotional understanding of any unfortunate situation, even those considered outgroup members as part of the bigger family group. According to the 5-stage theory, Finland, in the stage 5 category, has been an excellent example of successfully implementing the policy to eradicate homelessness from the street.

The issue of homelessness cannot be resolved in a society or culture that values individual achievement or freedom more than sympathy or empathy. We need the paradigm shift from apathy or pity from valuing competition and achievement in Stage 2 or indifference from valuing individual freedom in Stage 4 to sympathy by valuing harmony among citizens in Stage 3 or empathy to share community concern in Stage 5.

Empathy over freedom can help us understand that the problem of homelessness happened because of the breakdown of our family system due to the emphasis on individual responsibility and discipline over empathy. In many individualist countries, family members are not interested in knowing where and in what condition their adult members live once they move out of their family system, regardless of whether they are emotionally and mentally ready to be independent and responsible.

We can learn the wisdom from Stage 1 cultures or countries where the problem of homelessness is immediately addressed and solved as a family issue under authoritarian leadership, as in Asian countries such as Bhutan, Kazakhstan, or Thailand, even if individual freedom is sacrificed. In these family-oriented countries, though the entire family may starve as a family unit, they may not allow any member left to starve without being noticed and intervened by a family member. Some countries, such as South Korea, have implemented these individualized approaches toward the indigent elderly population to check to prevent their death without being known to anybody.

The advantage of utilizing Stage 5 wisdom in tackling the problem of homelessness is to incorporate the family values of inclusiveness using Stage 5 compassion, i.e., empathy, to the situation without sacrificing the freedom we have upheld to reach the current Stage 4. The difference in the approaches between Stage 1 and Stage 5 cultures is that while Stage 1 culture may need to sacrifice their freedom and privacy to be included as a family, the Stage 5 culture can satisfy the needs for both freedom and quality of life with the use of empathy through education and persuasion by the leadership.

CountryHomeless
(avg. day)
Data yearHomeless
per 10k
Unsheltered per 10kMain article, other notes
 Liechtenstein02004[40]0  
 Jordan02010[37]0  
  2017[38]   
 Bhutan02015[8]020 
 Japan3,9922020[36]0.3 Homelessness in Japan
 Thailand2,7002020[59]0.4  
 Kazakhstan5,5002020[39]0.6  
 Iran15,0002015[32]1.9  
 South Korea11,3402016[55]2  
 Hong Kong1,8002018[28]2.4  
  Switzerland2,2002022[58]2.55 Homelessness in Switzerland
 Russia64,0002010[52]4 Homelessness in Russia
 Spain30,0002021[56]6.4 Homelessness in Spain
 Grenada6820116.46.4[24]Homeless in the national census seems to mean unsheltered. High variance after hurricanes.
 Costa Rica3,3872020[13]6.6  
 Romania15,0002004[51]7  
 Norway3,9092016[45]7  
 Croatia3,0002018[14]7  
 Chile14,0132019[6]7.4  
 Portugal8,2092020[50]83.3Homelessness in Portugal
 Poland30,3302019[49]8  
 Italy50,7242016[35]8.4  
 Turkey70,0002021[61][62][63]8.5  
 Finland4,8862020[17]8.80.1[18]Homelessness in Finland
 Canada25,000-30,0002021[11]10 Homelessness in Canada
 Brazil222,0002020[9]10  
 Iceland3492017[13]10.3  
 Denmark6,4312019[13]11 Homelessness in Denmark
 New Zealand5,0312006[43]123.1Homelessness in New Zealand
 India1,800,0002020[30]12.6 Homelessness in India
 Lithuania4,0242017[41]14.1  
 Estonia2,000201815.2 Citation/website link is blocked.
 Ireland8,0142021[33]16 Homelessness in Ireland
 Vietnam162,0002020[4]16.6 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 United States580,4662020[69]17.65.9Homelessness in the United States
 Netherlands32,0002021[42]18 Homelessness in the Netherlands
 China2,579,0002011[12]18 Homelessness in China
 Slovenia3,7992019[13]18.3  
 Czech Republic23,8302019[15]22  
 Austria22,5802019[6]25.4  
 Serbia20,0002017[53]28.5  
 Germany237,0002018[22]28.64.9Homelessness in Germany
     *Does not include “around 441,000 asylum seekers and refugees in temporary accommodation”. Only 4.9/10000 people are without any shelter
 Israel25,0002019[34]29 Homelessness in Israel
 Hungary30,0002018[29]30.7 Homelessness in Hungary
 Ghana100,000202032.9 Citation/website link is blocked.
 Haiti37,8672018[26]34  
 Latvia6,8772017[13]35.3  
 Mexico456,0002020[4]35.4 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Sweden34,0002011[57]36 Homelessness in Sweden
 South Africa200,0002015[54]36 Homelessness in South Africa
 Greece40,0002016[23]37.1 Homelessness in Greece
     In citation, the population figure is found under Table 12.
 Luxembourg2,0592014[13]37.5  
 France300,0002020[19][20]454.5[21]Homelessness in France
 Australia100,5682016[5]49.1 Homelessness in Australia
 United Kingdom365,5352019 [65][66][67][68]54.40.9Homelessness in the United Kingdom
 Kenya394,0002020[4]73.3 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Côte d’Ivoire308,0702020[4]117  
 Indonesia3,000,0002004[31]136 Homelessness in Indonesia
 Uganda500,0002014[64]143  
 Mali332,7002020[4]164 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Ukraine734,2402020[4]168 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Chad342,6802020[4]209 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Togo100,0001999[60]211  
 Peru700,0002017[47]223  
 Ethiopia2,693,0002020[4]234 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Mozambique769,0002020[4]246 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Iraq1,224,0002020[4]304 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Bangladesh5,000,0002019[7]307  
 Guatemala475,0002012[25]315  
 Burkina Faso700,0002020[10]335  
 Cameroon1,033,0002020[4]389 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Libya278,0002020[4]405 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Philippines4,500,0002018[48]424  
 Congo DR5,332,0002020[4]595 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Sudan2,730,0002020[4]623 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Azerbaijan735,0002020[4]725 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Georgia304,0102020[4]760 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Zimbabwe1,200,0002013[70]848  
 Pakistan20,000,0002018[46]943  
 Colombia4,943,0002020[4]971 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Afghanistan4,660,0002020[4]1180 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Egypt12,000,0002020 [16]1200 Homelessness in Egypt
 Honduras1,000,0002013[27]1235  
 Yemen3,858,0002020[4]1294 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 South Sudan1,542,0002020[4]1378 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Central African Republic686,2002020[4]1421 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Nigeria24,400,0002007[44]1658  
 Somalia2,968,0002020[4]1867 Internally displaced, per IDMC
 Syria6,568,0002020[4]3753 Internally displaced, per IDMC

Wikipedia (2022). List of countries by homeless population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homeless_population