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5: Other Survival Strategies
- University of Nevada Press
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128 The Word on the Street ferent types of homeless people seemed interested in using an abandoned building for very different purposes. It would be wrong, however , to say that each group I have discussed was an entity unto itself or that there existed no sense of community among those who stayed at the ro. Although some alliances were stronger than others, almost everyone I met seemed aware of the presence of others in the complex through interactions, such as recognition of the complex’s dog, Hootch. The presence of stronger and weaker groups in the complex, however, shows that the ro “community” was also defined by intimidation , fear, and oppositional relationships. The individuals I encountered at the ro also show that this group of homeless people in Las Vegas who took over abandoned property did it primarily in an unorganized manner and often for immediate survival purposes. Other researchers, such as Welch (1992), discuss the formation of squatter communities as politically motivated actions by homeless persons and often present a politically idealized version of the practice. Using examples from the 1960s to the 1980s, Welch describes several squatting movements that were aimed at transforming their members’ own living arrangements as well as critiquing laws and government programs such as those of the Housing and Urban Development (hud) office that left thousands of abandoned buildings unused while homelessness in the United States continued to increase. Together, the varied groups that made up the ro community , the low visibility of many ro residents, and the transient nature of the partiers provide an example counter to Welch’s description of squatting movements. Overall, although there was some sense of community at the ro, it was tempered by stronger group affiliations and strong considerations of individual well-being. Discussion The way homeless men interact with both charitable and unstructured forms of shelter in Las Vegas primarily shows that once a man becomes homeless, he is forced to make many unpleasant decisions. A major, immediate concern for most men is how to rest or find shelter. Although there are choices homeless men can make about Shelters, Squatting on the Strip 129 where they will stay, each choice will limit their options in particular ways. Such socially structured choices affect a homeless man’s health, safety, and level of stress. Such choices also affect how long a man will endure homelessness, and perhaps even if a man will be able to end his homelessness. When encountering the charitable shelter system in Las Vegas, a man quickly learns that in order to stay he must give up certain rights and adhere to the rules of a shelter, or face eviction. Such shelters share many characteristics of total institutions—places that manage a problem population by removing that population from the public sphere and by working to monitor and control members of that population . Homeless men in Las Vegas recognize that assistance programs , such as the shelters mentioned in this chapter, are important sources of immediate assistance. However, some of the men who use shelters in Las Vegas disagree with those who run the shelters over the type of help they need, and are at times critical of shelter rules, structures, and/or programs that seem to hinder them from ending their homelessness. In keeping with the definition of total institutions as places where problem populations are removed from the wider society, some of the men I interviewed believed that each of the three charitable shelters is located in an economically marginal area to keep homeless persons away from tourist areas. The men at times seemed well aware that both the resort casinos and the city of Las Vegas, in an effort to sanitize the city’s resort corridor for tourists, promoted this centralization of homeless services. Some homeless men believed each shelter’s primary purpose was, not to help them become self-sufficient, but, in participation with larger efforts by the city, to exclude them from the Las Vegas community or simply contain them, away from tourist and upscale residential areas. Hank, for example, believed the concentration of shelters away from the most viable tourist sections of Las Vegas was part of a citywide conspiracy against any group or individual who might interfere with casino interests: It’s like I’m saying, these people would do anything and everything to keep you from fucking with the tourists that are coming [3.88.60.5] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 19:43...