With that being said, discrimination plays a role for individuals who are of ethnic, religious, sexual or racial minorities. The reason is that it may affect their ability to get a job. From a functionalists point of view, all of these factors are correlated in one way or another, which will impact an individual negatively. In turn, this can leave him/her homeless.
Individual and relational factors are situations and issues the homeless may face on a personal level. These factors may include: .
Personal Crisis.
Traumatic Events.
Disabilities.
A personal crisis can occur when events cause tension and stress within an individual, which require major decisions or actions to resolve. An example would be someone experiencing domestic violence because this can force individuals and families to leave home suddenly, possibly without proper support in place. A traumatic event is an experience that causes physical, emotional, psychological distress, or harm, which in turn can cause homelessness (e.g. house fire, losing a job, being robbed, etc.). Disabilities is an ambiguous term because it can mean a number of things. It can range from someone who suffers from mental health challenges or addictions. Issues such as brain injury or alcohol addiction fit into this category. .
Although it seems that one can rebound from one of these situations, it is far more difficult to actually be in that situation. This is especially true when all of these factors are correlated just as a functionalist would look at it. To see how this may work, imagine for example, someone who was abused as a child who turned to alcohol for comfort. This individual may have been fired from his/her job to due this addiction. This lay-off can lead to a stronger addiction to alcohol, which can lead to a low motivation to find a new job, and spending a lot of money on alcohol. With no money left, this can leave a person homeless.
Systems failures are situations that occur when a support group or care system fails.