Alex
Tiffany’s question really has two major parts: whether giving money to a homeless person/ panhandler is a good idea, and whether these people are poor by choice. I think previous postings have given very good reasons why people can find themselves homeless through no fault of their own. I’m taking a psychology class, and I was actually just reading about this very issue. Another reason why some people believe that victims are responsible for their own misfortune is that this view makes it easier to believe that you could never be victimized in the same way. Therefore, by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, you may feel more inclined to blame their misfortune on bad circumstances (lost jobs) rather than their own tendencies (laziness, etc.). The question of giving money to the homeless, however, is more complicated. I know that I have seen people near my school asking for money day after day, which made me feel that my money was wasted on them because it wouldn’t help them progress. If you feel uncomfortable donating money, I would suggest that you look up the locations of some nearby homeless shelters so that you can at least direct the people to some source of help that they may not know about. Also, a good suggestion I saw in a response to a previous posting is to give money to homeless shelters themselves. This will ensure that you give money only to the homeless who use state services, which may reassure you that they are actually trying to help themselves as well.