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7. Sociology & Crimino-legal Studies

A pencil-crayon drawn image shows two people standing together, warming their hands over a barrel that contains fire. They are next to two tents set up in a grassy area. There is a sign next to the barrel that says “Tent Town 2021.”
Connection is the key to community and hope
Artist: Joe

On the evening of July 29, 2015, CBS New York broke an ‘exclusive’ story. According to the journalists covering the event, “It was a shocking scene at one of the city’s most visited landmarks” (CBSNewYork, 2015). A reporter was on scene to interview witnesses and report live updates, relaying details to the anchors sitting in shock at the studio’s news desk. The reason for the exclusive news story? See for yourself:

Exclusive: Photos Show Homeless Man Taking Bath In Columbus Circle Fountain – CBS New York (cbsnews.com)

Take a moment to stop and reflect on what you just watched. How did it make you feel? Was there anything about it that you found shocking? The story, “Exclusive: Photos show homeless man taking bath in Columbus Circle fountain” is indeed shocking, but not for the reasons the journalists think. What this news story demonstrates is a man who is in need of basic necessities of life – privacy, bathing facilities, and compassion. While quality of life is made out to be an issue, this story fails to ask the question “whose quality of life is at stake?”

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Understanding Homelessness in Canada Copyright © 2022 by Kristy Buccieri, James Davy, Cyndi Gilmer, and Nicole Whitmore is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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