Homelessness: what are the first images that come to mind when you read this word? Were these images accompanied by a feeling? Poverty can just be an idea, a series of mental images for many of us. Something we just read or hear about, or something that we see from afar. Is it difficult to stay with these images, to dwell on these situations? And is it difficult to imagine yourself in the shoes that belong to someone who lives on the streets?
My hope with this article is to give you a deeper understanding of the lives of those who have to dwell on these situations because they are within them and those who have to stay with these images because that’s all they see around them. Another intent is to highlight the psychological nuances which are associated with poverty. To communicate how a life lived battling poverty can’t be fixed by alleviating the individual financially because poverty leaves a more profound, and more persistent imprint on one’s psychology.
I work as a counsellor with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ Field Action Project called Koshish. The project was started in 2006 by Mohd Tarique, with the intent to repeal the draconian ‘Beggary Prevention Law’ as it failed to take into account the realities which force the homeless towards destitution. Instead of providing support, punitive measures were used, hoping that they would prevent them from living on the streets. The insights shared in the article are informed by my work at Koshish.
There have been many instances where I sat across from a client and all I could feel was a pity: an overwhelming, enveloping pity. I realized how, for the longest time, I only looked at the homeless with one label and one feeling. It took me a while to change that. As a counsellor, it is a prerequisite for me to understand and reflect on what my client is feeling. For a good therapist, empathy precedes sympathy and it took me a while to access it when working with the homeless.
I wanted to feel something beyond pity, solidarity and powerlessness. As I gradually worked through their stories, I could pick up on small victories they cherished, mistakes they repeated and dreams they moved miles for. It was only then that I could understand patterns which repeated across gender, caste, language and religion. Let’s see how a seemingly insignificant aspect of life can have profound impacts.
How Socio-Economic Class Influences A Poor Man’s Life
Imagine a hypothetical scenario where you don’t have access to water for a few days. This would impede any social interaction because of your physical state. Making connections or even initiating a resourceful conversation suddenly becomes very difficult. Research shows that the more time an individual spends in a state of homelessness, the fewer their pro-social (behaviour intended to promote social acceptance and friendship) interactions [1].
This hypothetical scenario shows how one’s access to necessary resources can make their existence go unnoticed, almost invisible. Communication with other human beings is not just a fundamental need; it is also a means to an end. When communication is hampered, it becomes hugely implausible to learn new ideas or explore new perspectives. You will eventually get stuck with what you already know. And what you already know isn’t enough to get you out of your situation.
Thanks to the advent of mobile phones and affordable internet plans, even if you are one of those individuals to whom new information can reach on a virtual medium, you might not know how to verify it. Chances are you will believe it. This goes on to show how duping this already marginalized section is so convenient. What if you are left unable to trust your own decisions? How unsteady would that make you feel? Second-guessing their choices is very common for these people because society often makes them think they aren’t smart and that someone else knows better.
Viewing this from an Orwellian perspective, it benefits the higher socio-economic classes if a large section of the population is susceptible to manipulation, or is gullible [2]. The inability to understand the larger socio-political dynamic and question the hierarchy ensures that their services can be leveraged with very little compensation for long periods, benefitting the big companies with big turnovers. It is essential to understand the psychology behind poverty because this is the missing link in the vicious cycle of events.
The Psychology Of Poverty: The Missing Link In Understanding The Lives Of Poor People
What is so different between them and us, from a cognitive standpoint? We have the same biological structures and mechanisms in place, but why is it harder for them to change their circumstances? As I questioned this during my work, I noticed that a lot of my clients ended up where they were because they struggled with making long term plans, battling indecisiveness and changing paths whenever a new opinion was presented. People have a ‘mental bandwidth’ or brainpower made up of attention, cognition and self-control [3]. This is a replenishable resource. However, the period taken to renew it is based on a multitude of factors: access to nutrition, levels of stress in the environment, healthy coping strategies, etc.
We have a specific part of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) which is involved in processing functions like planning, scheduling and making choices. However, if basic needs for security and nutrition are not met, this part of the brain does not function properly. People struggle to build long term plans because their immediate needs are more paramount. The fight or flight response (a physiological response triggered during exposure to threats in the environment) can be hyperactive when the next meal is uncertain, activating the amygdala (part of the brain responsible for processing fear, amongst other emotions).
An activated amygdala can lead to intense feelings of fear and anxiety, making one feel overwhelmed. Often, clients said that they believed in the “live each day at a time” philosophy. This mindset can be tricky; while it can help you be present at the moment and make the most of your day, it can also hamper finding solutions to overcome your situation due to poor planning and strategy.
The term coined for this is called the ‘Scarcity mindset’ [4]. When someone is bound by it, they have to make multiple trade-offs in the same day. Every penny is accounted for. The ₹10 you spend over biscuits might be the ₹10 you run short off while buying medicines. These decisions can be very taxing on the brain, especially for one that runs on limited nutrients and energy. The scarcity mindset depletes the mental resources needed for planning. When your energy is entirely focused on getting through the day, while minimizing costly decisions, it can be laborious to enhance your skillset or seek opportunities. Changing gears from surviving to thriving becomes very challenging.
Apart from making more difficult choices than the average man, that too more frequently, this population is also predisposed to using substances to cope. This predisposition can be partly explained by their life situations, where they feel challenged continuously, battling loss, financial struggle and unstable personal relationships. Substances offer an affordable and quick respite from the relentless dull pain of life. A vast majority of the clients I have worked with were battling substance use and struggling with withdrawals. The substances are often used as a coping mechanism. One client said, “I have to consume alcohol before I sleep or I would cry myself to sleep every night, and I can’t cry so often.”
Turning to substances can occur early on in life, before or during puberty for many individuals, which can make abstinence even harder. Seeing their parents consume substances can normalize their consumption, thereby making the children more vulnerable to substance use and addiction. In a study observing the prevalence of substance use in adolescent boys in the Observation Home (an institution for neglected and delinquent juveniles) in Mumbai, 81% (n=163) were found to be addicted to substances [5].
Knowing the deteriorating consequences of a decision and still choosing to engage in it highlights the absence of alternative healthy coping strategies. Another major psychological setback is low self-esteem. We live in a society where it’s often money and power which grant you status, respect and dignity. What then for these individuals who have neither? Imagine being the head of your family and being humiliated in front of them by the police or anyone else who has more power/status. How would you feel? It can be very disheartening and condescending [1].
Those Who Have A Why To ‘Live’, Can Bear With Any ‘How’
A large part of our work at Koshish is to ensure their dignity and encourage them to demand the same when they interact with authorities. The distinction between what is achievable and not is different for all of us. It depends on a complex matrix of our backgrounds, access to education and opportunities, mental and physical resources and so on. The prerequisites needed to maximize the achievable are not very accessible to someone who comes from an underprivileged background.
For instance, the opportunity for a middle-class adolescent to get through a top-ranking college in the country requires a good command over English, the ability to access the internet, social skills to acclimate to the new environment and the know-how to avail an educational loan amongst other things. The same opportunity for someone belonging to an underprivileged household would be much harder to achieve and would demand more time and effort to meet the essential pre-requisites.
They might need to shell out extra money to pay for ‘spoken English tuitions’. It might take them more time and multiple trips to the bank to avail an educational loan. Moreover, a low self- esteem would make this entire ordeal seem insurmountable. Constant pain, suffering and helplessness mould the brain in harsh ways. Patterns of mental ill-health emerge, as the aspects discussed predispose such individuals to several mental disorders. Socio-economically disadvantaged populations have a higher prevalence and are at a higher risk of mental illnesses [6].
The treatment options a homeless individual battling psychological issues will have would be institutionalization (in government-run setups like beggar’s home, mental hospitals, observation homes, etc.) or continuing to live on the streets. This further justifies why 75–90% of people with mental illness in low and medium-income countries are not being treated [7]. Having discussed some of the psychological challenges which can make life harder for this population, it is also important to highlight their resilience and perseverance. The grit to go against the odds and find success on their terms speaks volumes about the human spirit and hardiness.
I remember a client saying, “Bhagwan ne yehi jeevan diya hai, is par kya afsos karna. Vo Uske hath me hai, lekin jo mere hath me hai use to mai sudhaar sakta hu (This is the life I was given, what is the point wallowing over it? That was in God’s hand, but I can still rectify what is in my hands.)” This client went on to join Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to manage his substance use, worked on anger management to be a better father and husband and started saving money for his kid’s future.
It is heartwarming to see clients take control of their lives, decide to make the right choices, work on their shortcomings and be a better version of themselves for their loved ones and achieve their dreams.
Viktor Frankl’s words seem to capture moments like these for me when he said, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”
References:
- Rice, E., Stein, J. A., & Milburn, N. (2008): Countervailing social network influences on problem behaviours among homeless youth. Journal of Adolescence, 31(5), 625-639.
- Orwell, G., Brodeur, K., & Brodeur, K. (2017). George Orwell’s 1984. Tempo Haus.
- Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2013): Scarcity. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
- Covey, S. R. (2014): The 7 habits of highly effective families. St. Martin’s Press.
- Abhay M. Gaidhane, Quazi Syed Zahiruddin, Lalit Waghmare, Sunita Shanbhag, Sanjay Zodpey & Sudhakar R. Joharapurkar (2008): Substance abuse among street children in Mumbai, Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 3:1, 42-51.
- Trani JF, Bakhshi P, Kuhlberg J, Narayanan SS, Venkataraman H, Mishra NN, et al: Mental illness, poverty and stigma in India, a case-control study.
- Demyttenaere K, Bruffaerts R, Posada-Villa J, Gasquet I, Kovess V, Lepine JP, et al: Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA. 2004;291:2581.