Forms Of Social Exclusion Research Articles

Let Us to Live: Social Exclusion of Hijra Community

Indian Transgenders are commonly known as the Hijras which are marginalized, abused, scorned and callously neglected community in India. But they are also a part of our society and they have equal right to everything that is available to all other persons. The various types of discrimination based on their class and gender disorder makes the community one of the most stigmatized and disempowered group in Indian Society. The study aims to showcase briefly the socio living status of Hijras, focusing on the prevalence of the problems faced by them with special reference to their health and socio economic harassment. An exploratory cum descriptive research design with a non-random purposive sampling including the snowball technique was adopted, to collect data from 51 Hijras in Kharagpur town from the state of West Bengal, India. Majority of Hijras stated that they faced several health problems and also problems related to harassment, unlawful penalties, sexual and mental abuse, violence and deprivation of human rights. This study is centered on the continued denial of equality, and the prolonged in difference and apathy of the society towards Hijras who have been marginalized because of their paradox gender identity. These persons are usually rejected from their families and other social organizations and face varied forms of social exclusion. Being denied of proper education, health care and means to employment, they are most commonly forced into forms of ritualized begging.

Which way to go? Women's walking decisions and Ultra-Orthodox enclaves in Jerusalem

This article explores how material and ideological forms of social exclusion manifest at the borders of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem and play out in the walking patterns of surrounding (non-Ultra-Orthodox) populations. It is based on a pilot study that uses a mixed methods design consisting of mental maps and questionnaires to examine how (particularly female) residents living in close proximity to Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods perceive these spaces, experience themselves in relation to the gender norms reproduced there and make wayfinding choices accordingly. This study builds on previous ones that have explored both the contested terrain of Jerusalem's city center and the dynamic relationship between the social and the spatial to include a discussion of how religiosity and cultural politics express themselves in the commonplace, embodied act of the female pedestrian.

Poverty, Deprivation and Social Exclusion in Manipur

This article makes a humble attempt to examine different forms of social exclusion among several communities in Manipur. Poverty is considered as an important dimension of social exclusion which is closely associated with deprivation and discrimination. Since there are several other dimensions of social exclusions, the present article concentrates to poverty as important dimension of social exclusion among different groups of communities like Scheduled Castes(SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and others. The findings of the study show that poverty prevents participation of individuals and groups in social and economic activities in the developmental process in Manipur. The level of poverty also varies depending on different groups of society viz., SCs, STs, and others. Social exclusion, therefore, is a real problem in the state which leads to deprivation. That the level of poverty contributes to the exclusion process is a manifestation of social exclusion. The study suggests ‘strategy inclusive growth‘ as the means of empowering the disadvantaged group of people with the aim of enabling them to overcome their poverty, deprivation and social exclusion.

Australian Aboriginal Muslims in Prison

Australian Aboriginal Muslims in prison are a minority population that has provoked public and political concerns due to its conversion to Islam. In the past decade, Muslims across the globe have become all but synonymous with terror in the global debate, and have frequently suffered forms of social exclusion. Aboriginal Muslim prisoners, having survived on the margins of Australian society, now find themselves branded through the impact of global discourse on Islam and terror and live under the intensified gaze of both the media and agencies of the State. Our curiosity was raised by the fact that a conversion by a small number of Aboriginal inmates has created alarmist media statements, drawing on statements made by both mainstream Australians as well as representatives of the State. Our aim is to query these claims and to highlight the need for constructive analysis of the conversion to Islam amongst all groups of people. This article also brings for the first time in the field, such an extended analysis of quantitative data on this issue.

Are Former Male Inmates Excluded from Social Life?

Based on Becker's conceptualization of deviance, the phenomena of labeling and stigmatization of people who commit antisocial acts will result in their social marginalization and exclusion, which may result in relapse into criminal behavior. By the means of qualitative research, this paper looks at different forms of social exclusion, as possible catalysts of male recidivism in Romania. Turning away from the perspective that the offender alone is responsible for the acts he committed and for his own rehabilitation, the authors demonstrate that social exclusion was experienced by recidivists in different ways, favouring the perpetration of antisocial acts. The identified spheres of social exclusion that mainly need to be targeted by social policies and social assistance are: employment, housing, family relationships and social networks.

Solidarity and Reciprocity in the Social Investment State: What Can be Learned from the Case of Flemish School Allowances and Truancy?

AbstractIn this article, we discuss some of the new tensions that are emerging between the different foundations of the welfare state. Several developments have led to the advent of the social investment state, in which people are being activated and empowered instead of passively protected. We argue that this social policy shift has been accompanied by a normative shift towards a more stringent interpretation of social protection in which individual responsibility andquid pro quohave become the primordial focus. Using the Belgian (Flemish) disciplinary policy on truancy and school allowances as a case in point, we demonstrate that this social policy paradigm may have detrimental consequences for society's weakest: they will not always be able to meet the newly emerged standard of reciprocity. This implies an erosion of the ideal of social protection and encourages new forms of social exclusion. As these changes in the social policy framework are not confined to the Belgian case alone, our analysis bears relevance for all European welfare states.

Young people and the post-recession labour market in the context of Europe 2020

This article examines how the recent global recession, together with the general flexibilization of labour markets, is affecting young people. We examine different forms of social exclusion, including unemployment, temporary employment contracts and periods of inactivity, as well as the subjective insecurity arising from such labour market exclusion. We also examine what Member States have done to address this issue, especially as part of their response to the crisis. At both EU (through the Europe 2020 strategy) and national levels specific policy measures exist that target young people in the labour market, but these are mostly supply-driven. Thus, they do not take into account the true problems young people are facing, including problems finding first-time employment and bad-quality jobs with little prospect of moving up the employment ladder. In conclusion, a new generation with higher exposure to systematic labour market risks than previous generations is being left to fend for itself with little appropriate state support.

Experience of social discrimination correlates with neurometabolism: a pilot study in heroin addicts

Experimental social neuroscience has shown that being socially excluded is processed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We hypothesize that a chronic form of social exclusion resembling one aspect of social stigmatization is associated with altered neural plasticity reflected by neurometabolic alterations in the ACC. To test this hypothesis, a highly stigmatized patient group of heroin addicts (N = 15) during opiate maintenance therapy rated a questionnaire about being stigmatized, and neurometabolic markers in the ACC were determined using (1)H MR spectroscopy. We found a negative correlation between discrimination experience and N-acetylaspartate (NAA), indicating attenuated neuron functioning in the anterior cingulate cortex in those patients reporting high discrimination experience. Furthermore, perceived stigmatization showed an association with anxiety that was mediated by NAA. Although the correlative analysis cannot give evidence for a causal relationship, the relation of NAA in the ACC and discrimination experience indicates a malfunction of the neural system involved in cognitive control over emotionally relevant social stimuli in discrimination reporting heroin addicts. Further research is needed to elucidate factors associated with chronic stigmatization.

University ranking as social exclusion

In this article we explore the dual role of global university rankings in the creation of a new, knowledge-identified, transnational capitalist class and in facilitating new forms of social exclusion. We examine how and why the practice of ranking universities has become widely defined by national and international organisations as an important instrument of political and economic policy. We consider the development of university rankings into a global business combining social research, marketing and public relations, as a tangible policy tool that narrowly redefines the social purposes of higher education itself. Finally, it looks at how the influence of rankings on national funding for teaching and research constrains wider public debate about the meaning of ‘good' and meaningful education in the United Kingdom and other national contexts, particularly by shifting the debate away from democratic publics upward into the elite networked institutions of global capital. We conclude by arguing that, rather than regarding world university rankings as a means to establish criteria of educational value, the practice may be understood as an exclusionary one that furthers the alignment of higher education with neoliberal rationalities at both national and global levels.

Urban Regeneration, Digital Development Strategies and the Knowledge Economy: Manchester Case Study

In the late twentieth century, cities like Manchester, seen as the ‘original, modern’ [1] world industrial city, faced serious challenges in terms of how to respond to the massive economic restructuring that was taking place. On the one hand, Manchester needed to respond to the highest rates of unemployment and social exclusion seen for more than 50 years, whilst, at the same time, the city wanted to develop innovative and practical solutions which could bring real economic and social benefits to local people. The impact of even more rapid technological change, referred to as the emerging ‘information society’, which started to impact from the 1980s onwards, exacerbated this dilemma, accelerating the process of restructuring so that within urban areas new economic growth increasingly sat side by side with extremes of poverty, unemployment and other forms of social exclusion. This case study looks at the ways that Manchester, and key players from the city region, including the public sector, business, education and the community sector, responded to this and how those responses over the past 25+ years created new ambitions and aspirations for the city and its citizens. The conclusions focus on the concept of the ‘Smart City’ and Manchester’s ideas on creating a more inclusive, creative and sustainable city, including through the imaginative use of digital technologies, applications and services, and a commitment to open innovation and the co-production of new and innovative services.

Rendering Istanbul's Periodic Bazaars Invisible: Reflections on Urban Transformation and Contested Space

AbstractThis is a study of Istanbul's periodic bazaars and an attempt to place them in the context of contestation over urban space, urban poverty and informality. The periodic bazaars in the city are either disappearing or being moved to the outskirts. These trends reflect and reproduce spatial unevenness in the city, manifesting new forms of social exclusion and polarization. The city's increasingly commodified urban space has become an arena of social and economic contestation. We address these questions by focusing on the story of the relocation of one of Istanbul's most popular periodic bazaars, the Tuesday bazaar in Kadıköy. Our analysis reveals that the relocation and reorganization of bazaars in Istanbul in the 2000s have largely been driven by rising real‐estate prices in the city: land has simply become too precious a commodity to be left to the bazaaris. Furthermore, in the context of a pervasive neoliberal discourse on urban renewal and modernization that promotes the notion of a hygienic city, the bazaaris, it seems, have become the new undesirables of the urban landscape, leaving them under double siege from the commodification of public land and from spatially defined social exclusion.RésuméCette étude s'intéresse aux marchés de quartier d'Istanbul en les replaçant dans le cadre d'une contestation sur l'espace urbain, la pauvreté urbaine et la sphère informelle. Les marchés de quartier sont soit en voie de disparition, soit transférés en périphéries. Ces tendances traduisent et reproduisent l'inégalité spatiale dans la ville, en exposant de nouvelles formes d'exclusion et de polarisation sociales. L'espace urbain, de plus en plus marchandisé, est devenu une arène de contestation sociale et économique. Ces questions sont traitées à travers la relocalisation de l'un des marchés les plus populaires d'Istanbul, le marché du mardi de Kadıköy. L'analyse révèle que la relocalisation et la réorganisation des marchés d'Istanbul dans les années 2000 résultent largement de l'accroissement des prix de l'immobilier urbain: le foncier est devenu un bien trop précieux pour être laissé aux marchés de quartier. En outre, compte tenu du discours néolibéral généralisé sur la rénovation urbaine et la modernisation qui met en avant la notion de ville hygiénique, les marchés sont apparemment devenus les nouveaux indésirables dans le paysage urbain, et abandonnés aux attaques de la marchandisation des terrains publics, d'une part, et d'une exclusion sociale selon des critères spatiaux, d'autre part.

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.

Homo irretitus: politicus, faber, ludens

Homo Irretitus, a full-fledged netizen of information society posited as the netting and altogether netted human being, has already turned into the basic embodiment of contemporary homo politicus, homo faber and homo ludens. First, the digital divide ceased to be a universal, both endogenous and exogenous, form of social exclusion. The pace of telematically impelled social change has been accelerating for decades, so that the endogenous digital divide rapidly melted into the manifold patterns of continuous social differentiation, thus making digitally incited polarization more and more distinctively manifest only on the exogenous, international scale. Second, due to the globalising power of telematics, businesses and workplace realities are directly dependent on the pace of technological innovations and obtainable competential resources. The habitual habitat of homo faber has been forcefully translated into the digital format. Third, the telematic fabric of everyday activities and popular culture fused into one indistinguishable whole. Homo irretitus ludens became at once indisputable ruler and humble dependent of the global digital universe. Does this threefold transmutation herald a new beginning and abrupt end, or rather amount to a continuous alteration of basic perennials which have been part of life as we know it for centuries?

Effects of Social Exclusion on Depressive Symptoms: Elderly Chinese Living Alone in Shanghai, China

Research has identified social exclusion as one of the social determinants of health. There are risks of social exclusion in later life in recent years. However, despite the fact that China has the largest aging population in the world and reports a rapid growth in the proportion of older people living alone, research on the role of social exclusion on depression is limited. This study examined the effects of social exclusion on depressive symptoms in older Chinese who are living alone in China, based on the data from one Shanghai neighbourhood. The data used were obtained between August and October 2008 through face-to-face interviews, using a structured survey questionnaire, from a simple random sample of 228 Chinese 60 and older living alone in a Shanghai community. Depressive symptoms were measured by a 15-item Chinese version Geriatric Depression Scale. Social exclusion was represented by income adequacy, social relations, civic participation, and housing condition. Over 30% of participants reported symptoms of a mild or above mild level of depression. When controlled for the demographics and health variables in hierarchical multiple regression, social exclusion variables, represented by a lower level income adequacy, a less favourable housing condition, and feeling more lonely correlated significantly with more depressive symptoms. Contrary to previous studies on depression in the older adults in China, this study has obtained findings indicating that social exclusion variables are more important than other socio-demographic factors in the context of contemporary China. While two significant social exclusion variables (i.e. income and housing) are related to structural changes in the economic context in China, the intra-personal role of feeling lonely that ties strongly living alone and role of older adults in an increasingly competitive market economy should not be underestimated. To address depression and mental health of older Chinese who live alone, social policies and programs to reduce various forms of social exclusion should be developed. In additional to providing assistance in financial support and housing improvement, services to strengthen the social networks and social relations of these older people are essential.

University access for social justice: a capabilities perspective

The closely related, but often contradictory, issues of increasing access to university and improving students’ chances of success in their university studies have been and continue to be an important research focus within higher education studies and policy in South Africa and beyond. More recently, the challenge of underpreparedness of students entering university has gained prominence as universities struggle to increase their throughput rates. It can be argued that increasing access, without increasing chances of success, is becoming a new form of social exclusion within higher education. This paper proposes that approaching issues of access from a capabilities perspective (as developed by Amartya Sen) provides a means of fostering access for social justice and countering access that leads to social exclusion. As such, this is a theoretical paper building on existing work on the capabilities approach within education to argue that the notion of capabilities provides a useful theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding the complexities of meaningful access to university in a deeply divided society like South Africa. Keywords: access; capabilities; higher education; social justice

INCLUSÃO DIGITAL EM TELECENTROS E LAN HOUSES: AS NOVAS DINÂMICAS ESPACIAIS DECORRENTES DOS CENTROS PÚBLICOS DE ACESSO À INTERNET NA PERIFERIA DE PORTO ALEGRE/RS

A Internet tem proporcionado uma quantidade significativa de transformações na sociedade e, conseqüentemente, no espaço geográfico. No presente trabalho, procuramos enfocar nossa análise na nova forma de exclusão social decorrente da falta ou da precariedade no acesso à Internet: a exclusão digital. Ao mesmo tempo, analisamos se efetivamente ocorre o processo de inclusão digital nos centros públicos de acesso à Internet e quais são as dinâmicas que emergem a partir desses locais, tomando, como recorte espacial, o município de Porto Alegre, principalmente a regiões Norte e Eixo Baltazar. Essa pesquisa demonstrou um panorama atual dos impactos das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação e como as mesmas alteram algumas dinâmicas espaciais. Esses centros, sejam eles gratuitos ou pagos, atendem principalmente às camadas da população que não possuem pleno ingresso ao uso de computadores. Os dados obtidos na pesquisa demonstram que, embora haja uma diferença em termos de perfil socioeconômico entre usuários de centros de acesso, existem muitas semelhanças nos usos e na importância adquirida pela Internet para os mesmos. Ao mesmo tempo, foi possível constatar que os centros públicos representam apenas uma entre outras possibilidades de entrada, fato que evidencia uma maior facilidade de obter acesso à Internet atualmente, mesmo que a posse de um computador ainda esteja restrita a uma minoria da população brasileira. As políticas públicas de inclusão digital continuam sendo importantes para o aumento da acessibilidade.Palavras-chave: Centros públicos de acesso à Internet, Inclusão Digital, Internet. Ciberespaço, Porto Alegre.

Knowledge-Based Economy and Social Exclusion: Shadow and Light in the Roman Socio-Economic Model

The article aims to analyse the evolution and modernization of Rome in the last 30 years. To this end, we focus on both structural and institutional change and try to identify the main ruptures, continuities and driving forces of the new Roman model. After the second world war, Rome was generally considered to be a cumbersome capital city with a heavy bureaucratic sector and without any strong 'local' political forces and social movements capable of bringing about economic and political change. Nevertheless, a new and more democratic local governance and subregulation mode emerged during the post-Fordist era, which allowed the production and reproduction of new socio-economic relations that in turn influenced a new economic model for the city. This new governance has led to some interesting forms of 'democratization' that are difficult to find in other post-Fordist metropolises. However, the Roman model is also characterized - as in other global metropolises - by forms of social exclusion, poverty and polarization between the peripheries and central/high-income districts, in a sort of two-speed development. At the same time, the traditional bureaucracy and its connected 'state bourgeoisie', although still relevant, are no longer dominant. New service activities have brought about new agents, new powers and new institutions.

Exclusion from school: short‐term setback or a long term of difficulties?

This article draws on data gathered in a two‐year English government‐funded follow‐up study of secondary school children who were permanently excluded from school and who did not return to mainstream settings. It reflects on recent debates concerning different forms of social exclusion and considers what forms of service provision might prevent the multiple and overlapping forms of disadvantage that characterise ‘deep’ exclusion. This reflection is set in the context of recent policy moves in England that seek to promote practices of ‘joined up’ or interagency working. It is argued that more attention should be focussed on the organisational climate in which professionals in Children’s Services operate. This, it is argued, may make it possible to form meaningful relations and patterns of communication that join the services around the young people rather than be constrained by narrow targets that up until now have regulated professional action in the separate agencies that are now, supposedly unified, in Children’s Services.

Risk Groups in Exposure to Terror: The Case of Israel's Citizens

This research addresses a largely ignored question in the study of terror: who are its likely victims? An answer was sought through analysis of comprehensive data on civilian victims of terror in Israel from 1993 through 2003. The chances of being killed in seemingly random terror attacks were found unequally distributed in Israeli society, but the weaker sectors were not the most vulnerable. This pattern may be attributed to the perpetration of most terror attacks in public places, where members of underprivileged groups are less likely to be. Paradoxically, ethnic segregation, gender and other forms of social exclusion and inequality may have helped to protect marginalized social groups from the risk of terror victimization.

Contributions of Canadian community psychology.

The contributions of Canadian community psychologists to ethics, theory, methodology, research, and practise are highlighted in this article. Important debates about ethical issues in psychological research and practise have been advanced by Canadian community psychologists. Canadian community psychologists have also introduced theoretical perspectives (e.g., cognitive community psychology) that have provided an impetus for research and practise, and they have broadened the focus of research in community settings with contributions to participatory action research, program evaluation, and qualitative methods. A variety of substantive contributions have been made to the research literature, especially in the areas of community mental health, prevention, and social inclusion. Finally, Canadian community psychologists have contributed to practise in terms of policy, programs, and social interventions. The article concludes with a discussion of future potential areas of contribution for Canadian community psychology. Keywords: community, mental health, evaluation, prevention, action Contemporary Canadian community psychologists have made important contributions to psychology and the public good since the formation of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Section on Community Psychology in 1982 (Nelson, Lavoie, & Mitchell, 2007). Yet, as Walsh-Bowers (1998) observed, the contributions of Canadian community psychology receive little to no acknowledgement in reviews of psychology in Canada. Adding to the invisibility of community psychology in Canada is the fact that Canadian community psychologists tend to publish their work in the two U.S. community psychology journals (American Journal of Community Psychology [AJCP] and Journal of Community Psychology [JCP]) and the Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health ([CJCMH]; Fortin-Pellerin, Pouliot-Lapointe, Thibodeau, & Gagne, 2006), to which they have contributed substantially as editors and authors. Moreover, much of the Canadian community psychology theory and research originating in Quebec is published in French, which limits its diffusion to English speakers. The purpose of this article is to raise the visibility of Canadian community psychology amongst the broader Canadian psychological community by highlighting some of the major contributions of Canadian community psychology. Historically, community psychology in Canada, the United States, and many other parts of the world grew out of clinical psychology and community mental health (Nelson et al., 2007). Dissatisfied with an individualistic, deficit-based, treatmentoriented approach to theory and practise, community psychology strived to develop a more ecological, strengths-based, prevention-focused approach. Born in the 1960s, community psychology also emphasises social change to promote well-being and a more just world, especially for people who are disadvantaged by virtue of poverty, race, and other forms of social exclusion. To identify the contributions of Canadian community psychology, we began by identifying Canadian community psychologists who had published their work in Canadian Psychology, CJCMH, AJCP, or JCP. We then sorted the areas of contribution into five broad areas: values and ethics, theory, methodology, research, and practise. It is common in applied psychology to consider the domains of theory, research, and practise, and this approach seemed to fit the contributions of community psychology fairly well. However, we decided to break the research area down into methodology and substantive areas of research, as we believed it was important to capture some of the unique methodological approaches that have become widespread in community psychology. Finally, we decided to add the area of values and ethics, as values have long been a central focus for community psychology (Rappaport, 1977), and Canadian community psychologists have made important contributions to values and the examination of ethical issues in research and practise. …