The difficulties and dangers that our homeless face are the harshest bi-products of our society. Drug addiction, alcoholism, housing problems, violence, unemployment and discrimination are all issues that are concentrated amongst the homeless. Their plight is the most accute manifestation of problems that affect the general populace, which creates a spiral of deprivation all the more tragic because homelessness can happen to anyone. The stereotypical case of the heroin addict forced to live on the streets as his dependency deepens often rings true; however there are many other causes - unemployment, divorce, family issues and illness.

Sean, 37, has been homeless for three weeks. The death of his daughter put pressure on his marriage and ultimately resulted in divorce, leaving him with nowhere to go but the streets. As Sean is disabled, he faces additional difficulties and discrimination: his inability to stand means he is unable to support himself by selling the Big Issue, and he also finds it difficult to access facilities available to the homeless.

Hostels - constantly in demand and always oversubscribed - present particular problems, particularly as few are willing to accommodate his dog. Many are unable to provide high levels of support to assist people with multiple needs such as mental and physical disabilities, and it is often difficult for the homeless to find the right accommodation with the appropriate support to ensure their needs are met. Sean is therefore forced to seek out back alleys, crypts in churchyards and derelict houses in order to find somewhere to sleep.

Sean, like many of the homeless, feels threatened by violence on the streets. He avoids areas like Waverley station and Bread Street that are notorious amongst those sleeping rough for aggressive behaviour. Jim, 58, who has been homeless on and off for 15 years, ascribed the violence at Waverley Station to the fact that people congregate there late at night when the soup wagon comes round to provide food. The area is targeted by drug dealers who know that drug dependents will go there to eat. Bread Street, another violence hot-spot according to Sean, is home to one of Edinburgh's methadone clinics, and those that use its services are also targeted.

Any service that brings people together, especially those with multiple, complex needs, will inevitably become a source of tension. The homeless community, incorporating a broad spectrum of difficulties amongst its relatively small membership, merely amplifies the competition and conflict.

These tensions often boil over into violence between Eastern Europeans and Scots, which has previously resulted in stabbings. Billy, 48, has just been released from hospital after being stabbed; as a result of his disability, he has been unable to receive the appropriate care after being discharged. Quick to emphasise that he was not racist, he felt, similarly to Jim, that more should be more done to help Scots living on the streets. He finds it difficult to grasp that his country ignores the problems on its own doorstep, yet is happy to support immigrants or jump to the assistance of foreign powers.

Other nationalities feel equally strongly. Lily, a Bulgarian, feels that as Eastern European countries have been accepted into the EU, it is only fair that they are given the same opportunities and support as locals. But she feels that the homeless services prioritise the Scottish.

Prejudice and cultural tensions are not confined to the homeless: the fighting is most acute at the weekend when drunken youths prey on those sleeping rough. It is an unending cycle of need and victimisation; if the homeless want food they have to accept the potential risks involved, not only posed by those within their own community but by more fortunate members of society.

Jim spoke of his experiences with drugs. After becoming unemployed 15 years ago, unable to support himself and turned out of his council house, he ended up on the streets. Jim became reliant on heroin and alcohol as a result of his desperate situation. Although he was keen to commend the support available for the homeless through organisations such as Streetwork, the Bethany Trust and other church-related groups, he stressed that the medical services are acutely overstretched.

It took him nine months to get on a three-week methadone programme, and even then he was forced to administer the methadone himself, decreasing the amount from 110ml to 20ml. However, when the withdrawal set in, he found heroin much more readily available on the streets than legal supplies of methadone. His relapse meant that he had to wait another eight months to receive support, but has now been clean for three years.

Although she was listed as being in critical danger because she was injecting heroin into her neck, Sam, 27, still had to wait five months before she was put onto a methadone programme.

Many homeless people - and even those that have somewhere to live - beg in order to get money for drugs. As well as creating a negative perception of begging amongst the public, it is frustrating to those whose homelessness forces them to beg. Even though Big Issue vendors must prove that they are homeless in order to be certified, anyone is just as likely to earn the £20 a day begging as they are from the fiercely competitive Big Issue job market. Because drug dependents often impersonate the genuinely homeless, no signs saying ‘homeless’ or the like are allowed on the streets. These signs are taken away and any money collected is confiscated by the police.

The homeless have a difficult relationship with the police, preferring to be self-regulating; consequently, many of the crimes go under the radar.

It is not surprising that the face of the streets is changing: the older, hardy generation of Scottish homeless has been replaced by a younger much more mobile and racially diverse group that move on more quickly. I was told that within six months you can see a completely different set of people going to collect their soup at Waverley. The older generation were more self reliant, but now due to the political pressures put on government in the 1990s to deal with homelessness, there is much more support available. Not only are a bed and a hot meal available in churches throughout the winter months, but the establishment of Edinburgh Homeless Practices - a medical service specifically for the homeless - works to deal with drug related problems, mental health issues, and provides social nursing.

Thomas Digby of Edinburgh Homeless Practices likened the services supplied to building an extra lane on the M25 - as facilities are improved, so too does the traffic increase. Edinburgh has become a magnet for the homeless, he claims, and like the Royal Infirmary that has been put on emergency bed alert, the services are overstretched. Resources and funding do not meet the demand for sustainment and growth.

If you ask a homeless person for the solution to homelessness, they will invariably say permanent accommodation. But getting a house isn't the only step and often is not even the first step. There are many schemes in place to help people back into employment, from education and training, to work placements and help with CVs. >It is the transition from homelessness to working society which is most difficult, and other needs - such as help building support networks, budgeting, bill paying, household and life skills, alongside drug or alcohol services, mental and physical health services, and probably most important of all self esteem building - all have to be met. There are too few means to supply all these services to those who need them.

It has been said that a society is measured by the manner in which it treats its most vulnerable members. However, in addressing the needs of the homeless, it is an unfortunate truth that while the ills they must tackle are the same as those anyone can face, public apathy and disdain means that they are likely to have to fend for themselves for the forseeable future. There is still very much more to do for the homeless in managing the dangers inherent in their daily life on the streets and maximising the quality of services provided, but there is much more to be done to improve the attitudes of Scottish society as a whole.