Concept Of Social Inclusion Research Articles

Inclusive Services for Children and Families From CaLD Backgrounds in an Australian Context

The current Australian government is proposing an agenda focused around social inclusion in an attempt to address the complex issues associated with inequality evident in this country. Despite valiant attempts, many agencies struggle to offer inclusive services, particularly to families who have migrated to Australia from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds. In this study, we surveyed a range of programs identified by key informants as offering inclusive service delivery with the aim of identifying those aspects of their practice they believed facilitated successful inclusion. We then attempt to position our findings within recently emerging critiques of the concept of social inclusion, of which our participants appeared unaware. This critique addresses the fundamental purpose of social inclusion, and the strategies commonly used to achieve it, arguing that these are based on a deficit approach that positions those who are excluded as “other.” In identifying those who are excluded as “other” and attempting to include them into a hegemonic idea of civil society as functioning citizens, are agencies actually being racist?

A Concept Mapping Study on Social Inclusion in Hong Kong

A focus group study involving concept mapping was conducted in September 2012 to investigate how the concept of social inclusion was understood by Hong Kong residents. It was a replication of an earlier UK study. Seven groups involving 61 participants (38 females; 23 males) were interviewed, including non-professional workers at a Non-government Organisation service, senior centre users, a mixed group of community residents, people with severe mental illness, professional social service providers, communication studies students, and social work students. Data analysis using Nvivo 10 and systematic thematic analysis identified six major themes including: (1) material resources and wealth, (2) work, (3) social (dis)harmony and diversity, (4) discrimination, (5) communication, and (6) participation in activities. An overall final model of Social Inclusion for Hong Kong based on concept maps for all seven groups is presented. The results will inform the conceptualisation and development of a Chinese-language measure of social inclusion (SCOPE-C) based on translation and cultural adaption of the Social and Community Opportunities Profile (SCOPE) developed in UK.

Use of Open Source Software for the Development of Web GIS for Accessibility to Tourist Attractions

Based on the concepts of social inclusion, universal design and accessibility, this paper aims to describe the stages of the development and implementation of a Web GIS (geographic information system for the internet) based on OS (open source) software. The Web GIS developed is called to Campinas tourist attractions, which provides information about cultural and natural attractions in Campinas/SP-Brazil, especially for people with disabilities or reduced mobility that prevents access these sites via public and private transportation. The verification of the existence or lack of accessibility equipment at bus stops and parking areas close to tourist attractions relies on current legislation (NBR 9050/1994) that establishes the right to accessibility for disabled people to transportation, local culture and leisure. An application that facilitates this recognition with low operating costs and high performance was developed using the OS software Quantum GIS 1.0.2, Apache 2.2.4, Mapserver 5.0.2, I3GEO 4.0, PostgreSQL 8.3 and PostGIS 1.3.5. This software is able to integrate the management of tourist areas and the advertisement of tourist information regarding accessibility devices at sights recognized as tourist attractions by Campinas city hall.

Social assistance in Austria: regulating the poor as in-between

Not only the concept of social inclusion is widely recognized as an important basis today for making social policy, but it also provides a platform for the policing of the poor. Thinking uncritically about social inclusion prevents us from seeing how it operates to re-inscribe subordination even as we help the poor overcome their marginalization. With an awareness of the paradox of inclusion, it is possible to examine how welfare policy today operates to discipline the poor as people who must accept their plight at the bottom of the socioeconomic order. While formal policy may not make this paradox apparent, the disciplinary effects of an inclusionary social assistance policy are starkly visible when we examine its implementation, where we can see how the excluded become included in ways that perpetuate their subordination. Social assistance recipients obtain a benefit, but the way they are treated does not correspond with full social rights, which is reminiscent of Georg Simmel's discussion of the poor. As exemplified by research at one local social assistance office in Austria, welfare recipients are ultimately neither included nor excluded. Welfare, as administered today, upholds the system of social stratification by perpetuating an ‘in-between’ status for the claimants of social assistance benefits at the frontline.

Free Software for Development of Web GIS in Tourism Accessibility

Based on the concepts of social inclusion, universal design, and accessibility, this paper aims to describe the stages of the development and implementation of a Geographic Information System for the Internet (Web GIS) based on open source (OS) software. The Web GIS developed is called "Accessibility to Campinas Tourist Attractions", which provides information about cultural and natural attractions in Campinas/SP- Brazil, especially for people with disabilities or reduced mobility that prevents access these sites via public and private transportation. The verification of the existence or lack of accessibility equipment at bus stops and parking areas close to tourist attractions relies on current legislation (NBR 9050) that establishes the right to accessibility for disabled people to transportation, local culture, and leisure.

Concepts of social inclusion, exclusion and mental health: a review of the international literature

Social inclusion and exclusion are concepts which have been widely associated with politics and policy in the first decade of the 2000s. People with mental health problems have become the focus of a range of social inclusion initiatives. A literature review was conducted to explore the peer-reviewed evidence relating social inclusion/exclusion and mental health. In total 36 papers were included in the review from the UK, Canada, Australia and Scandinavia. The papers had used a range of different approaches to research and evaluation. The included papers associated being socially included to: social roles and responsibilities such as employment, participation in social activities, environmental work and voting. Although some papers engaged in a critical discussion of the concept, many offered only simplistic accounts or definitions. Social inclusion is such a widely used term within political and policy discourses that it is surprising so little research is available within the mental health realm. There was a lack of clarity related to the concept of social exclusion and the qualitative studies focused entirely on the experiences of being excluded within an institutional or semi-institutional setting. The relationship between exclusion, inequality and injustice is identified and the relevance of the concept to current and future mental health policy is questioned.

Social inclusion of the poor: Concept for reaffirmation of social work

There is no universal definition of poverty, but there universal the poverty problem. It is present throughout human history and is present in all contemporary societies. An integral part of poverty in contemporary developed societies are different forms of social exclusion. Social exclusion, as a consequence of material deprivation (poverty in the strict sense) becomes a factor in the survival and deepening poverty. That is why the concept of social exclusion, adequate analytical tool for understanding the problems of poverty. Analogously, the concept of social inclusion is a suitable instrument for combating this problem. This concept is particularly important in societies that do not have the ability to fast economic prosperity overcome poverty. In such societies, social work is facing new challenges. These challenges are an opportunity for the reaffirmation of social work and taking a respectable role in the overall reaction to the social problem of poverty. Accepting the modern definition of poverty through the concept of social inclusion is particularly important for social work, whose epistemological and pragmatic polyvalence corresponds with multidimensional character of poverty.

La Paradoja de la Política Social y el Programa Puente: Superación de la extrema pobreza o inclusión/exclusión social

Since the first government of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy, one of the objectives in social and public was overcoming poverty, creating an institutional framework for the entire case. Hence, the Solidarity and Social Investment (FOSIS) is to participate in the country's effort to overcome poverty, bringing original answers on issues, work areas and complementary approaches to addressing other State Services . On the phenomenon of poverty has evolved a long debate, that here you will find a broad sense, however, the central point at issue and this article is that before the implementation of the Bridge Program and Chile Solidario system Protection, had made ​​an appearance other descriptions were aware of the problems of society: the concepts of social inclusion / exclusion. The theory underpinning this work is a result of this, the design of social policy and particularly the Puente Program two concepts now coexist, however, in practice that best describes the actions and results of it is the inclusion / social exclusion and this can be seen in the observations from all those that are subject to intervention.

Structures of Exclusion from Enterprise Finance

Business start-up is promoted to the labour-market disadvantaged internationally. This policy increasingly draws on the concept of social inclusion. In this paper we define ‘enterprise inclusion’ policy as situating the chance to start a viable business as a right and supporting the multiply disadvantaged to overcome strong barriers to enterprise. We draw on the resource-based view of entrepreneurship to argue that viable business ownership is contingent on access to resources. We explore how access to a primary business resource—start-up finance—relates to intersecting social disadvantages. We report a complex pattern of financial exclusion. Rather than supporting the concept of interconnecting yet separate social divisions, as argued under social inclusion theory, this supports a class-based interpretation of exclusion from enterprise finance. New research and policy agendas are outlined.

Activation and social inclusion: challenges and possibilities

The last two decades have seen an increasing focus on the activation of individuals receiving welfare benefits. This has entailed an attempt to transform employment assistance and social security systems to make them more employment‐friendly through the development of explicit linkages between social protection policies, labour market participation and labour market programs.At the same time there has been a growing interest in the concept of social inclusion, and social inclusion has been a commonly stated goal of activation programs. However, despite some synergies between these two approaches, in other respects it is not clear that they are always compatible.This paper explores the extent to which activation programs are central to the social inclusion approach and the similarities and differences between these approaches. It then briefly examines the evidence regarding the ability of activation programs to enhance social inclusion.

Dominant and competing framings of the productive ageing agenda in the Australian policy context

Productive ageing policy and programs emerged in Australia in the early 1990s, influenced both by international debate and proactive federal government leadership particularly in the area of economic and health planning for an ageing population. These economic and health frames have remained the dominant discourses surrounding productive ageing initiatives, driven both by the need to maintain growth and productivity in an ageing society and to restrain burgeoning health costs through more active preventative strategies. Social framings of productive ageing, from both the left and the right, have also been evident around ideas of mutual obligation, the building of social capital, and more recently, with a new government, around the concept of social inclusion. This paper explores the development of productive ageing policy and programs in Australia across the areas of employment/retirement, volunteering/civic engagement, care-giving, and lifelong learning. Program developments in each of these areas are briefly explored.

Are rural development programmes socially inclusive? Social inclusion, civic engagement, participation, and social capital: Exploring the differences

Considerable importance is attached to social exclusion/inclusion in recent EU rural development programmes. At the national/regional operation of these programmes groups of people who are not participating are often identified as ‘socially excluded groups’. This article contends that rural development programmes are misinterpreting the social processes of participation and consequently labelling some groups as socially excluded when they are not. This is partly because of the interchangeable and confused use of the concepts social inclusion, social capital and civic engagement, and partly because of the presumption that to participate is the default position. Three groups identified as socially excluded groups in Northern Ireland are considered. It is argued that a more careful analysis of what social inclusion means, what civic engagement means, and why participation is presumed to be the norm, leads to a different conclusion about who is excluded. This has both theoretical and policy relevance for the much used concept of social inclusion.

Experience base and system context in mental health care reform

Experience base and system context in mental health care reform

Professionalism, Personal Taste and Social Inclusion: Does it Matter What Clients Wear?

An earlier opinion piece considered the professional issues surrounding the occupational therapist's dress code within the workplace (Davys et al 2006). This second paper considers the role of the occupational therapist when a client's choice of clothing may conflict with social expectations and have a negative impact upon social inclusion. Three hypothetical cases that reflect clinical realities are presented, which serve as prompts for reflection upon informed choice, professional responsibilities and the therapeutic relationship. It is concluded that there needs to be debate about the conflict between each of these areas and the concept of social inclusion.

An Integrative Model for Developing Transition-Based Dormitory Experiences for Individuals With Developmental Disabilities on College Campuses

This article explores the efficacy of placing individuals with developmental disabilities into college campus dormitories in the interest of facilitating transition into adulthood. Developmental challenges for participants and families are addressed, in addition to concerns for normalization, self-determination, and the broader concepts of social inclusion and community integration. An interactive model that incorporates the perspectives of participants, parents, local agency providers, and the hosting college is recommended.

Rurality and Social Inclusion: A Case of Preschool Education

Abstract This paper begins by reviewing several of the ways in which social inclusion has been conceptualized in the literature. The paper then explores these approaches in the context of the provision of preschool education in rural Scotland. Preschool education is viewed by government as a powerful weapon in the fight against social exclusion, but higher per capita costs in rural areas as well as the availability and cost of transport are major problems, raising questions in turn about inclusive models of provision. Moreover, many parents are sceptical about their ability to access preschool education for their children while also continuing their own engagement in the labour market (a central pillar of social inclusion policy). Issues of choice, quality and governance arise and these are discussed in depth. The paper concludes with some reflections on the concept of social inclusion in the light of this case study.

Introduction of the concept of social inclusion to public library policy in the United Kingdom

Introduction of the concept of social inclusion to public library policy in the United Kingdom

Technology, Social Inclusion and Poverty: An Exploratory Investigation of a Community Technology Center

ABSTRACT Community technology centers (CTCs) are advanced as a major part of the solution to the so-called digital divide. It is believed that in the knowledge economy access to computing resources should level the playing field for low income people. Faced with a growing population that cannot afford computers or the Internet, government policy makers have been turning to technology community access points. This article presents a brief overview of the digital divide and whether or not CTCs can effectively address the problem. A CTC located at the Debra Dynes Family House in Ottawa, Canada–a center that has been highlighted in newspapers and government reports as a success story in bridging the digital divide-is reviewed. The concept of social inclusion is explored to determine how CTCs are addressing poverty and social exclusion.

Community participation and social inclusion: How practitioners can make a difference

People with mental disorders are marginalised and socially excluded from many aspects of community life. They often experience difficulty with obtaining employment, participating in community activities, affordable and sustainable housing, financial and legal issues, transportation, and limited information about, and access to, the options that are available to them. In this article, we describe a selected number of activities that promote social inclusion. Social inclusion not only offers us a framework for developing mental health policy, but serves to measure how well mental health services are achieving recovery-orientated outcomes. Examples are provided to highlight how the concept of social inclusion can be applied in the everyday practice of mental health practitioners.

Social inclusion and the City of Swan public libraries in Western Australia.

The focus of this paper is on an understanding of social exclusion/inclusion: the concept and how a specific public library service, namely the City of Swan Public Library service, has responded to this social issue. The terms social inclusion/exclusion are explored and clarified from an international, Western Australian State Government, and public library perspective. This is followed by a brief overview of Western Australia as an Australian state, and how public libraries operate based on a partnership with the State Library of Western Australia and Local Government. The City of Swan Public Libraries are described in some depth and also portrayed in their local setting namely the City of Swan, a city of extensive growth that offers a unique environment of both rural and urban areas. The concept of social inclusion is then applied to the City of Swan Public Library service and how the library service addresses social inclusion within its physical environment, policies, operations, future planning, programmes and services. This includes the results of a Library Non-user Survey that was conducted in 2001. The aims of this survey were to: ascertain why non-users within the City of Swan do not make use of the library facilities; explore why past members were not using the library services; examine the effectiveness of library promotions; and investigate the access to and usage of the Internet. The paper concludes with a list of the potential social conditions of which public libraries need to be aware in their strategic planning activities so that community members are not excluded from participating and accessing the public library service.