When Sarah was a fourteen year old girl, her mother’s boyfriend encouraged her to stash a crack rock in her underwear. Her mother’s boyfriend and the girl walked five blocks to meet up the buyer. She knows what she’s doing is dangerous. She fears being caught by the cops on bicycles that portal the neighborhood. Mostly she fears the likely violence from her mother’s boyfriend if she loses the drugs. The young girl witness this dealer beat up another woman in a flea-infested motel two weeks previous. Now I will ask you, what city is this girl from—Baltimore, Detroit or maybe Seattle? Sarah is actually from the Bellingham, WA.
Are you shocked? Is this image may be in conflict with the image of liberal Bellingham? The city of Bellingham is a midsize vibrant college town. The city is surrounded by endless natural beauty. The general level of income is higher than other parts of the nation. Many individuals feel that Bellingham is removed from the big city issues. Sarah’s self-report is direct conflict of the city’s popular image.
The Downtown Business Core Neighborhood has the most accessible vagrant population in Whatcom County. Homeless individuals are often seen on Railroad Avenue. Sometimes they panhandle for change on Magnolia Street. Groups of teenagers stand on the corner of Railroad Ave. and Magnolia chain smoking for hours. Drug and sex trafficking on Railroad Avenue is hidden in plain sight. Several clients at Catholic Community Services report past drug usage in Downtown. My goal is to increase my awareness of the street population to further develop as a skillful Human Service Professional.
Method
This research paper primarily uses the ethnographic research method. Anthropologists use this method to interpretive foreign cultures (Geertz, 1973; Emerson et. al, n.d). Emerson et. al (n.d, p. 1) ethnographic field research involves the study of groups and people as they go about their everyday lives.” This skill requires the researcher to “establishing rapport, selecting informants, transcribing texts, taking genealogies, mapping fields, keeping a diary” (Geertz, 1973, p. 6). I spent significant amount of time observing social interaction of individuals who appear to be homeless. I strived for “thick description” in my notes (Geertz, 1973, p. 6). I took detail notes while observing individuals. I felt that the quality of my notes would influence my ability to provide accurate findings.
I participated in four site visits and one in-depth interview that total six hours of time in the field. The first visit was primarily focus on Railroad Avenue during the lunch rush. My second observation took place on November 20, 2010 in the late afternoon. I focus my time on the corner of Railroad Avenue. The last thirty minutes of my second observation was spent in the active participant method. I purposely dressed causal, and leaned against a popular brick wall on Magnolia Street. The third site visit focused on walking around the “night corner” at 8 o’clock at night. The second half of my observation was at the Three Trees Coffeehouse. My last visit was at the Horseshoe Café on East Holly Street. The Horse Café provides a different site to view interactions between different social class levels.
The hour and half interview of Sarah provided an excellent final research activity. It should be noted that Sarah is not her real name. I changed her name to protect her identity. Sarah has eleven years’ experience as an individual who socialized within the Downtown Bellingham street population. Sarah started to do so at the age of twelve to twenty-three years old. Her personal story is marked by panhandling, under-age drinking, illegal drug usage, narcotic trafficking, and child victimization. The interview also provided historical context of the vagrant population of Downtown Bellingham. I am grateful I had the ability to interview her for my research. Sarah self-reported her personal history during the interview. It would be flaw to over generalize her experiences to everyone who socializes in the Downtown neighborhood.
The usage of ethnographic tools may conclude with inappropriate assumptions. The sheer act of characterizing human behavior may inappropriately label individuals. The author is aware that her conclusions rely on her social-cultural worldview context. It is important to be aware that ethnographic observational research is highly subjective. I want the reader to be also aware of my choice of labels. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vagrant) defines vagrant “as one who has no established residence and wanders idly from place to place without lawful or visible means of support; or one (as a prostitute or drunkard) whose conduct constitutes statutory vagrancy.” Individuals who panhandle and/or sit on the sidewalk may or not be experience homelessness. It may be incorrect to label someone homeless merely from observation. I am also aware that not all homeless individuals behavior in typical vagrant behavior. I am using the term vagrancy to describe human behavior, and not human value. Homeless and vagrant is two separate terms.
Discussion
Individuals who appear to be vagrant or homeless are often avoided by people of higher socio-economic levels is the most obvious conclusion. This lack of social interaction is most common during the practice of panhandling for change. I observed panhandling behavior in three out of four field visits. Sarah reported the practice of panhandling is called “spanging”: the commendation of the words spare and begging. “We asked for spare change for food, cigs, drugs, and booze”, Sarah reported. I did not witness anyone individual giving change to money to panhandlers. I did observe someone give away a cigarette in front of the Horseshoe Café. All but one target of the panhandling walked away without verbally addressing the panhandler.
Lack of social acknowledgement is not limited to individuals who panhandle. On my second field visit, I observe a group of twelve teenagers blocking the sidewalk on the Railroad Avenue and Magnolia Street corner. A pair of professionally dressed women used the crosswalk while the teenagers were blocking the pair’s access to the sidewalk. The teens did not move out of the way for the women. The pair chose to jay-walk on Railroad Avenues instead of saying “excuse me” to the teens. I notice numerous occasions of people moving out of the away from someone sitting on the street.
I experienced this avoidant behavior while I was actively researching the neighborhood. I was leaning on the brick wall on Magnolia Street near the Rite Aid taking down notes. I was trying to see if people would meet my eye contact. Only one individual out of fifteen returned my eye contact. I might have been perceived to be preparing to panhandle.
It should be noted that all individuals do not ignore the vagrant population. I observe normal social interactions between the smoking customers of the Horseshoe Café and the non-customer “street people”. The customers provide strong eye contact to the panhandling individuals. It should be noted that the customers appeared to be college students. The customers appeared slightly intoxicated: slurring there words, and smelling of alcohol. Alcohol may have affect social interaction norms.
Professional helpers are one group that broke the established social class norms. The owner and volunteers at Three Trees Coffeehouse mission is to reach out to social outcastes. Tree Trees Coffeehouse staff strive to build meaningful relationships with people in the Downtown Neighborhood. The police are another group who actively engage the vagrant population. A small police office is located directly across the high traffic corner of Railroad Avenue and Magnolia Street. I observe several police on bikes riding around the neighborhood. The attention of police is not necessarily wanted among the vagrant population. Sarah identified her largest fear was police harassment. She recalls that the police enforce the no sitting until nine o’clock at night.
The older group vagrant individuals appeared to belong to be more ethnically diverse group than the general population. The vagrants aged thirty and above appeared to be more likely non-Caucasian. I did not witness this high level of diversity in the teenage to twenty-something vagrant population. In my research I located around ten individuals (thirty years old or above) who appeared to be vagrant. Six out of ten appear to belong to ethnic minority groups: three Native Americans, two African Americans and one Hispanic Americans. Did I stumble onto data that shows high level of racial diversity among Downtown Bellingham vagrant population? The sample size is too small to make a too generalized statement. My racial identity may have increased my ability to notice people of color. Further research is needed to find if minority population at higher risk of homelessness in Bellingham.
Groups of vagrant teenagers appear to hangout in large numbers while older vagrants prefer to be alone or with one other person. The vagrant teenagers groups tend to interact with males in their twenties. I also observe that the majority of the teens appear to be well dressed with school backpacks. I would not label the majority of these individuals not to be homeless. Several of the young teenagers appeared to be young mothers. I witness two separate occasions of young women smoking while pushing their baby walkers. The amount of teenagers on the corner of Railroad Avenue and Magnolia was dependent on the school and bus schedules.
The older vagrants appeared to more likely to sit alone for long periods of time. This older population appeared to be more likely homeless than their younger counterparts. Younger individuals were more noisily than their older conterparts. The older vagrants seemed to like the Railroad Avenue and East Holly Street. I discovered finding older vagrant individuals was easier to do so at night. Older homeless people tend to be on corner with lower street traffic. There appears to be two separate behavioral norms between the age groups.
I wanted to learn why people socialize on Railroad Avenue. The population of socializer appears to be linked to the bus schedule. A large percent of vagrant population is more likely to be wanting for the bus. The bus station is located across the street from the popular hangout corner. Sarah pointed out that bus riders cannot smoke at the station. The smokers are forced to smoke across the street.
There appears to be a link between vagrant activity and crime. On my second field visit, I overheard a man in his twenties asking his friend “if he knew anyone who would buy my food stamps”. The selling of food stamps is welfare fraud. In addition, I notice a high level of underage smoking. In my first field visit I witness a group of girls around the age of fourteen smoking cigarettes. Public drunkenness also appears common in this population. It should also be address that public drunkenness is common in Downtown Bellingham neighborhood. The amount of drunken Western Washington University students greatly outnumbers the vagrant population.
The Downtown Neighborhood has a poor reputation due to the narcotics trafficking. I did not witness apparent evidence of drug using. A few times I witness individuals wait for a person on the corner to arrive. Sarah explained during her interview that this is a common step in drug dealing. The individuals most likely would walk to an alleyway, or forested trail to complete the drug deal. Sarah goes on to describe Railroad’s drug trafficking:
“Downtown is like the 7/11 convenience store-chain for drugs; they have whatever you want no matter the time of day. You can score pot, crack, cocaine, heroin, meth, pills (pills are
very popular). X and ‘shrooms depended on the time of the year. You don’t even need to
know anybody to score. Just wait long enough and people will go up to you and offer.
Drugs isn’t the only thing trafficked. Sex trafficking is also a common practice, according to Sarah. Women do the “stroll” late at night near the corner of East Maple Street and Railroad. The women look into slow moving cars trying to grab the drivers’ eye contact. Sarah reports the activity moves to the cheap motels on Samish Drive. I could not confirm this activity due to the hours and days I selected to observe the neighborhood.
Conclusion
I enjoyed collecting ethnographic, observational research methods. I feel that my level of learning was greatly impacted by this learning method. It was a nice change from a typical research paper. Some of my fellow classmates questioned the usability of this technic in the Human Service field. The development of observational skills is fundamental to be a skillful helper. Professionals need to have highly observational skills to provide case management and counseling. City developers may benefit from studying the behavior trends of the vagrant population.
System thinking theory is one way to explain organizational behavior. What is an organization? Is the vagrant population an organization? The in-class PowerPoint states that an organization is “a collective of people engaged in specialized and interdependent activity to accomplish a goal or mission.” The vagrant and/or homeless population mission is survival. They panhandle for money is support their livelihoods.
The “existing mental frameworks” shape this population. The rules of the street share a common value system. General population may judge people who practice vagrancy as “lazy” or a “drain on the system”. Blaming the individual is not useful tool. Social change for this population requires a “change of perspective”. One interesting point during Sarah’s interview, she recalled the physical change of the landscape of the Downtown neighborhood over the last ten years. The abandon builds have been replaced with “upscale” businesses. The new businesses encourage individuals to spend more time Downtown. City developers have recent years built condos and apartments in the neighborhood. The “thrasher trail” is a place of muggings, drug activity and rapes is now a high-end condos. In the last ten years the city developers had a shift in their frameworks in decreasing public vagrancy.
The Downtown vagrant population is interconnected with Bellingham’s greater society. The Bellingham Police department and Jail is connected to the vagrant population. The bike cops would not be employed if the vagrant population did not need police enforcement. The cheap land costs encourage redevelopment. The level of social stratification is high in this population. Homeless and low-income individuals have little social power.
The structural-functional viewpoint would recognize the vagrant population to be interconnected to greater society. The poor have a fundamental role in the general system. The critical-conflict approach views “society as a system of unequally distributed rewards and resources” (classroom PowerPoint presentation). The awareness does not change how it works; it is through power that it is run.
This term paper increased my awareness of Bellingham’s vagrant population. I learned specific behavior patterns of both young and old vagrant individuals. There is high possibility that I will be working with individuals who identify within this population. I know now academically that most individuals ignore vagrants. Second, I learned that this population has high level of cultural diversity. The final observational conclusion I made from my reflection is that older individuals do not pair up in larger group compared to the young generation.
References
Emerson, R.M., Fretz, R., & Shaw, L. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Geertz, C. 1973. Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture. In The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. pp 3–30. New York: Basic Books.
Former vagrant individual, 2010. Personal communication.