‘We are all human no
matter what our circumstances.’
What was the issue?
Our project focuses on the issue of homelessness, predominately
within Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, United Kingdom.
Homelessness is an issue because the lifestyle can be
brutal. Both mental and physical health problems can develop and an inability
to gain employment can exacerbate already substantial financial issues. Lack of
self-esteem, confidence and skills can make it hard to sustain a tenancy or
gain housing. Some homeless people have also been involved in sex work as well
as unwanted sexual relations. The Salvation Army informed us that they strive
to break the cycle of homelessness by helping people to take control of their
life circumstances.
Prior to beginning our project we spoke to members of
society who expressed negative connotations and a lack of understanding or
support towards the homeless. These negative views have been built on further
due to the confirmation bias. If people see a homeless individual taking drugs
or consuming large amounts of alcohol they are more likely to remember this and
therefore strengthen their already negative view. However, if they see a
homeless person working or studying then they are likely to forget this and not
pay attention to it because it doesn’t conform to their original views
(Nickerson, 1998). This makes attitude and behaviour change quite difficult.
Our aims included reducing prejudice and providing better
understanding towards the homeless and their circumstances. Ultimately, we aim
to increase support for the homeless and donations to The Salvation Army. In
particular, we wanted to stress the variety of reasons that can lead to
homelessness and show how those unfortunate events could happen to YOU.
Within the 2016 homelessness review Warwick district council
states that; “The council received 705 applications from people applying as
homeless in 2015/16….an increase of 132% on the number received in 2009/10
compared to a 29% increase nationally over the same time period.”
Chart 1: Incline in number of homeless applicants (obtained from: https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/downloads/file/3510/homelessness_review_2016)
Table 1: The 5 main causes of homelessness in
different years (obtained from: https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/downloads/file/3510/homelessness_review_2016)
What did we do?
Firstly, we got in contact with The Salvation Army; a
charity based in Leamington spa which helps the homeless. They offer a place to
do laundry, have a wash, access new clothes and toiletries and also provide an
opportunity to have a cooked meal. The Salvation Army also aids the homeless by
providing them with advice by signposting them to services and support and the
opportunity to talk and be respected.
Image 1: The Salvation Army Logo
Members of our group were inspired by their work and decided
to volunteer with The Salvation Army at their drop-in sessions each week for 7
months. This enabled us to get a real in-depth appreciation of the charity as
well as the struggles homeless people encounter. These drop-in sessions provide
homeless people with important respite from the stress of their daily
lives on the streets and help reduce how lonely or isolated these people feel.
After 7 months of volunteering, we were able to obtain
several interviews with people who currently are or previously were homeless.
They confided in us and spoke about their life stories, families and
achievements, the difficulties they face every day as well as the help they
receive from The Salvation Army. We decided the most powerful tool for changing
attitudes would be a video incorporating; images, statistics, footage in
Leamington, music and testimonies of homeless individuals. In our video we
emphasised the contrast between living in ‘North’ Leamington, the wealthier
part represented by consumer culture against the isolated, forgotten spaces
where homeless people seek refuge. This was achieved through various filming
sessions, where we obtained footage within Leamington Spa.
How did we achieve
our aims?
Within our video we used many different persuasion techniques
in order to change behaviour and attitudes, hopefully resulting in a decrease
in prejudice and an increase in donations. These techniques are included in
more detail within our subsequent essays. However, to summarise:
Availability: The
phrase ‘this could happen to you’ was repeated throughout the video. According
to the availability heuristic this makes it more likely to be easily recalled
and more emphasis is put on the message (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). This
effect is also exaggerated when people share and re-watch our video on social
media. This helps draw parallels between all members of society and the
homeless and shows how many different people from different backgrounds can be
affected. Ultimately, the aim here is to break down stereotypes associated with
homelessness.
Mere Exposure:
Zajonc (1968) suggests that we prefer what we are exposure to more. Many people
have limited interactions and knowledge of homeless people but by exposing them
to more information about homeless people through our video helps them to
appear in a more positive light and helps breakdown the associated stereotypes.
Cognitive dissonance:
This video helps to reduce the stigma towards homelessness. Pre-existing
negative views or thoughts about the homeless are challenged by our video, forming
conflicting attitudes and information. This therefore needs to be resolved and
is most likely to be done by creating new, more positive behaviours and
thoughts in line with the messages from our video (Festinger, 1962).
Contrast effect: We
used juxtaposition to contrast different areas of Leamington. This helped
highlight how different parallel lives can be from one another and helps with
our aim to raise awareness of homelessness.
Source relatability
and credibility: The video helps show similarities between the homeless and
other members of society. The case studies provide relatable, personal accounts
of an individual’s homelessness and their circumstances. Within the video much
of the information and experiences comes from homeless people and therefore
provides a credible source. Research has found that having a relatable and
credible source can increase the level and success of the persuasive message
(Hovland et al., 1953).
Just Ask: Simply
by asking people if they would be willing to do something such as donate
increases the likelihood of them doing so (Clark & Hatfield, 1989). We ask
people to consider helping the homeless by challenging their negative views or
by donating to The Salvation Army throughout the video.
Commitment: Towards
the end of our video we included some questions. These start with small
commitments such as by saying hello and build to bigger, more time consuming
requests. This use of graduated commitment makes it more likely that the larger
requests to help the homeless will be agreed to and carried out. The
foot-in-the-door technique is also used here, whereby a very simple request of
saying hello is used first which many people would agree to doing (Freedman
& Fraser, 1966). This again increases that likelihood of subsequent
requests being agreed to. This helps create behaviour change and help the
homeless due to the nature of our requests.
Emotion: The
emotion of guilt is likely to experience whilst watching our video and has been
found to increase charitable giving and behaviour change (Hibbert et al.,
2007). For example, we show a damp, dark doorstep and ask if you would like to
sleep there? This question is rhetorical and obviously the answer would be
‘no’. This may evoke feelings of guilt due to viewers realising that homeless
people have no choice, whereas you do.
Norm of reciprocity:
Our video features a homeless man playing the bongo drums. Here the norm of
reciprocity is acting (Gouldner, 1960). This is because many people walk by
listening to him playing his music and feel a need to give something back in
return, often money.
Social Learning
Theory: We often learn through observations of others and subsequently
adapt our behaviour (Bandura & Walters, 1977). Observing other sharing,
commenting and liking the video on social media increases the likelihood that
other individuals will also replicate these actions. This is particularly due
to vicarious reinforcement from the positive reactions to donations and
comments of others.
Social Proof: Our
video was shared on social media sites and apps, such a ‘Facebook’. This
increased the number of potential viewers. The positive reaction from viewers
(demonstrated by ‘liking’ or sharing our video) helps create social proof and
increases the numbers of subsequent positive reactions and attitude changes from
others (Cialdini, 1987).
Image 2: The video being shared on social media (Facebook)
Was there a measurable impact?
Our video was viewed hundreds of times and received many
likes and positive comments in the process. The video was also shared multiple
times onto a variety of different sites, from personal pages to more public
university society or hall pages. Ultimately, we believe that this will have
had a positive impact on the lives of the homeless, whereby donations are
increased due to more commitment being forged from smaller commitments such as
saying ‘hello’ and potential stigma is reduced.
Please watch our
video and consider making a positive difference to the lives of homeless people
within Leamington Spa and beyond.
To donate to ‘The
Salvation Army’, please use the link below:
“Without The Salvation Army – Many of us here would be
dead.” Andrew (Bicester drop-in centre)
References:
Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1977). Social learning
theory.
Cialdini, R. B. (1987). Influence (Vol. 3).
A. Michel.
Clark, R. D., & Hatfield, E. (1989). Gender differences
in receptivity to sexual offers. Journal of Psychology & Human
Sexuality, 2(1), 39-55.
Festinger, L. (1962). Cognitive dissonance. Scientific
American.
Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance
without pressure: the foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of
personality and social psychology, 4(2), 195.
Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A
preliminary statement. American sociological review, 161-178.
Hibbert, S., Smith, A., Davies, A., & Ireland, F.
(2007). Guilt appeals: Persuasion knowledge and charitable giving. Psychology
& Marketing, 24(8), 723-742.
Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953).
Communication and persuasion; psychological studies of opinion change.
Nickerson, R. S. (1998). Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous
phenomenon in many guises. Review of general psychology, 2(2),
175.
The Salvation Army. Retrieved March 14, 2017, from
https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic
for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive psychology, 5(2),
207-232.
Warwick District Council. Homelessness Review 2016.
Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/downloads/file/3510/homelessness_review_2016
Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal
of personality and social psychology, 9(2p2), 1.
Jane Wackett
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