Relevance of Systems Thinking to Homelessness in Australia

RELEVANCE OF SYSTEMS THINKING TO HOMELESSNESS IN AUSTRALIA

Introduction

The world is faced by a number of problems that fall in a web of interlinked interactions between multiple actors. According to Burns (2006), a system refers to a set of items that are interconnected to give rise to relationships that affect one another. System thinking thus refers to the ability of an individual to perceive a system as a whole, instead of its separate elements in order to reinforce or alter the behavior of the system (Daft, 2008). Daft acknowledges that success of the separate elements does not necessarily culminate into success of the system.

In an attempt to explain homelessness in Australia, it is thus necessary to view this problem as a system, since there are multiple actors that play role in the problem. There are about 105,237 homeless in Australia, a 17% increase from 89,728 people in 2006 (ABS Census, 2011). This essay therefore seeks to explain the fact that indeed system thinking is inevitable in solving homelessness in Australia. In so doing, the essay reviews the measures that have been employed by various actors in resolving the problem and assesses the effectiveness of these measures.

Leading Causes of Homelessness in Australia

To understand homelessness a system, let’s review some of the causes of homelessness as prioritized by Australia. According to AIHW (2012), there are several causes of homelessness in Australia. The leading cause is human domestic violence, which comprised of 25% of homeless people in Australia. Financial difficulties as the second cause has rendered 15% of the group homeless. Housing stress and inappropriate or inadequate dwellings come in at 13% and 10% respectively, while family breakdown and unaffordable housing closed in at 6% and 5% respectively. Chamberlain, Johnson and Robinson (2014) claim that some of these problems are beyond personal control by homeless people in the first agency approach to causal explanation of homelessness. A second agency that is less sympathetic however claims that homeless people are responsible for their situations. Whether this is true or not, it is worth noting that these causes cut across various fields that are in turn actors in the homelessness problem as a system.

Analysis of Causes With Respect to Systems Thinking

Looking at the causes identified by AIHW, it is evident that adopting measures to resolve one of them does not lead to the ultimate eradication of homelessness in Australia. Further, there are other causes that are not covered in the report. System thinking requires that all separables of a system be examined, and leaving some of the actors out of picture constitutes a weakness in attempts to change the direction of the system. Such causes as drug addiction, refuge, gambling, loss of a loved one