Means Of Social Inclusion Research Articles

THE LIMITS OF TECHNOLOGY

Drawing upon the concept of capital and its uneven distribution, as outlined by Bourdieu, the article highlights the importance of social class, occupational status and place in understanding how individuals and communities make use of and benefit from technology in their everyday lives. Based upon quantitative and qualitative research conducted in the city of Sunderland, England, the article addresses the extent and manner to which those in ‘socially excluded’ areas of the city engage with technology, specifically personal computers and the internet and the impact of such engagement upon quality of life and social inclusion. The research indicates that the manner in which technology is experienced by marginalized social groups in this place, does not fit neatly with a dominant discourse of digital inclusion which emphasizes technology as a means for social inclusion, particularly in the realms of civic participation, educational achievement and employment.

Social Inclusion

In the context of mental health services, social inclusion is being promoted as a top priority, integral to recovery and good practice. What is less clear in the literature is what the process means for clinicians and service users. In this article we make the process more explicit by describing, from both a service user and clinical perspective, what social inclusion means and how it can be facilitated effectively. We go on to explore and describe the process of facilitating and measuring social inclusion as a healthcare intervention, and how the use of person centred practice and evaluation, supports people to achieve personal goals, participate in meaningful community based activity and improve their overall quality of life. We conclude by suggesting that social inclusion interventions should be the core business of mental health services and a top priority.

O catador de materiais recicláveis: um agente ambiental

A atividade de catador de material reciclável configura-se como um meio de inclusão social na medida em que gera recursos para compra de alguns bens de consumo. O objetivo neste ensaio é apresentar aspectos sobre o universo de trabalho dos catadores e, com isso, gerar reflexões sobre ambiente, recursos e trabalho. Na tarefa de coleta, separação, manuseio e transmutação do lixo em mercadoria, encontramos o modo de sobrevivência de um novo agente, que, ao se expor a diversos riscos de acidentes e de saúde, também se encontra socialmente vulnerável. Não possui qualquer tipo de apoio dos governos, está à mercê da própria sorte em caso de acidentes, adoecimento, oferta de material e rendimento. Faz-se necessário, portanto, que os profissionais atuantes nas unidades de saúde e do serviço social (re)conheçam as fragilidades do trabalho na catação do lixo e implementem ações de proteção.

Definitions Matter in Understanding Social Inclusion

AbstractSocial inclusion is an explicit goal of legislation, policies, and supports for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in many countries. However, evidence outlining the dimensions of social inclusion is still limited. How we understand social inclusion defines how it is measured. This study aims to better understand the concept and indicators of social inclusion. Retrospective analyses were conducted on 1,341 adults with intellectual disabilities residing in institutional and community‐based settings who were assessed with the “interRAI Intellectual Disability” instrument. Objective and subjective items in the instrument related to five domains of social inclusion (i.e., relationships, leisure, productive activities, accommodations, and informal support). The results highlighted the heterogeneity within domains, and by the nature of the indicator. Overall, percentages varied between 3.0% and 96.4% depending on which indicator was used; variability also existed in rates achieved using objective and subjective indicators. Acceptable‐to‐good levels of internal consistency were reported for three of the five domains; low correlations were found to exist between some, but not all, domains. The results of this study demonstrate that without an understanding of what social inclusion means for both general and vulnerable populations, it is not clear what is being measured, or how it should be measured. A clear definition of inclusion and its measurement is needed for decision‐makers and service providers to define the nature of their responsibilities, set actions, and assess their effectiveness in achieving inclusion.

Meaning of Social Inclusion to Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training

ABSTRACTThe ‘social inclusion’ of young people, particularly those who are ‘not in education, employment or training’, is a contemporary concern in policy discourses. However, it has been argued that the term ‘social inclusion’ is defined by adults and imposed on young people, and there is little understanding of what ‘social inclusion’ means to young people themselves. Using a participatory methodology, this study investigated what ‘being included’ meant to young people. A qualitative approach with a thematic analysis was used to explore the accounts of 11 participants and yielded three main themes. ‘“Acceptance”—the building blocks of inclusion’ reflected the power of interpersonal acceptance in determining young people's sense of inclusion. ‘“Learning why I don't matter”—when power and discourse shape inclusion’ illustrated how social discourses and power dynamics influenced young people's experience of inclusion. ‘“Keeping up or falling behind”—internalising the discourse of inclusion’ reflected how young people internalised some of these societal definitions of inclusion and responded to them. Those who felt ‘accepted’ or ‘included’ in a ‘mainstream’ sense articulated a sense of agency and hope. For those who did not, it appeared that agency dissolved as did a sense of hope for the future. Although the participants negotiated their ‘inclusion’ through close, trusting relationships with others, the application of the societal discourses of inclusion such as productivity, independence and career mindedness had the potential to leave them feeling excluded, isolated and distressed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Digitizing migration heritage: A case study of a minority museum

Museums are increasingly digitizing their collections and making them available to the public on-line. Creating such digital resources may become means for social inclusion. For museums that acknowledge migration history and cultures of ethnic minority groups as important subjects in multiethnic societies, digitization brings new possibilities for reaching source communities. This article describes Web projects conducted at Museum Maluku in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The article focuses on the museum’s experiences with cross-institutional Web projects, since digitization of the museum’s collection was initiated through collaboration with major national heritage institutions. The article also discusses how source communities through digital participation can become involved in building cultural heritage. Based on the case study of the Museum Maluku, it is argued that in order to design an appropriate mode of user participation as well as a sense of ownership it is crucial to take memory politics of source communities into account.

Diversity Matters: Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Contribution of Different Forms of Social Integration in Economic Performance of Cities

While it is quite common in studies of diversity to focus on its negative aspects, this paper specifically aims to emphasize the contribution of immigrants to the urban economic performance. By exploring different kinds of social integration, this paper discusses how immigrant groups can be important agents of urban economic growth and competitiveness by liberating creative forces and enhancing the competitiveness. Immigrant entrepreneurship is defined as the most important means of social inclusion and sustained economic performance in two different cities, with different features yet hosting considerable number of immigrants with diverse characteristics, namely Antwerp (Belgium) and Izmir (Turkey). The findings of our two case studies reveal that different kinds of diversity play an important role in urban economic performance. Immigrants contribute to the growth of different forms of production and services, not only because of their talents and skills, but also because of their social connections. Social capital enables immigrants to survive in a recipient country, and integrate into an economy as active agents. They can fill the gaps in an economy as entrepreneurs or the skilled labour, which are the most important assets for the cities aiming sustained economic growth in volatile economic conditions.

Social Inclusion

In the context of mental health services, social inclusion is being promoted as a top priority, integral to recovery and good practice. What is less clear in the literature is what the process means for clinicians and service users. In this article we make the process more explicit by describing, from both a service user and clinical perspective, what social inclusion means and how it can be facilitated effectively. We go on to explore and describe the process of facilitating and measuring social inclusion as a healthcare intervention, and how the use of person centred practice and evaluation, supports people to achieve personal goals, participate in meaningful community based activity and improve their overall quality of life. We conclude by suggesting that social inclusion interventions should be the core business of mental health services and a top priority.

Governing through non/recognition: the missing ‘R’ in the PLAR for immigrant professionals in Canada and Sweden

Despite claims that prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) can act as a transformative social mechanism and a means of social inclusion, this study reports that PLAR has become a serious barrier to adult learning rather than a facilitator. Drawing from Foucault’s concept of governmentality, the study examines the difficulties that immigrant professionals have experienced in having their foreign credentials and work experience recognized in the contexts of Canada and Sweden. Using document analysis and interviews, the study analyses how PLAR has created a system of governing through technologies of power and technologies of the self which work as dividing practices in discounting and devaluating immigrants’ prior learning and work experience. The study concludes that PLAR has become a technical exercise and a governing tool rather than a form of social transformation.

SCOPE for social inclusion?

This paper sets out to look at social inclusion among users within services, asking the questions is there a general measure of agreement about what social inclusion means to people, and is there an accepted way of measuring these views? The initiative was funded by the NIHR Research Methods programme now part of the Health Technology Assessment group at Southampton. Nine focus groups explored what people understand by ‘social inclusion’ and concept mapping was used to try and define the term. The research methods are reported here, along with plans for the future.

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.

The meaning of social inclusion

Driving home after finishing the day's work, I noticed someone familiar walking down the hill. There was nothing unusual about a middle aged man taking a stroll that glowing summer evening. But he was wearing an apron and holding a cup of coffee in his hand that was spilling over his clothes. Although there were people around, no one was paying him any attention. While driving past, I remembered seeing him before in a residential home for people with learning disabilities. I took the next turn, came back up the hill, and approached him after parking the car. Some …

Mental health, social inclusion and housing: Mapping the issues for service providers

Social inclusion means ensuring that all individuals, despite any particular perceived ‘differentness’ (Sayce, 2000; Harrison & Davis, 2001) or disadvantage in life, may nevertheless feel at home in the world and find a sense of belonging in their local community. But the most important place to feel at home is at home.

Voting as a means of social inclusion for people with a mental illness.

People suffering from mental illness are often disenfranchized from many functions of society. Voting is one such area where disenfranchizement and exclusion are unnecessarily experienced. The emphasis on service provision as a means of achieving social inclusion for those with mental illness may relegate it to a principle of treatment compliance. Should measures of social function remain the main indicators of successful community care or should measures of social integration be identified, assessed and maintained? Mental health professionals should actively pursue users' voting rights in light of the changing legal climate and the introduction of human rights legislation into United Kingdom law. With the potentially huge political capital in this area the author believes that the current debate regarding social inclusion cannot be adequately addressed unless this fundamental and democratic principle is included more extensively.

Researching social work as a means of social inclusion - notes on the Edinburgh seminar

The aim of the Edinburgh seminar was to explore those research issues which arise when investigating the part that social work plays in responding to social exclusion. From the outset, Juliet Cheetham, the chair of the morning session pointed to a paradox which was to run as one of the major themes of the day's discussions. While in the view of practitioners and academics, the contribution which social work can make to overcoming discrimination and disadvantage is apparent and powerful, in the eyes of the public and of many social work clients it is a source of stigma, a badge of exclusion, rather than inclusivity. From her perspective as member of the Scottish Mental Health Commission, Professor Cheetham suggested that part of this paradox is to be explained by the contradictory and competing views of what com prises 'inclusion' amongst those most closely involved in many social work encoun ters. From the perspective of providers, for example, hospitalization of mental health patients is regarded as strongly excluding, while for relatives it may be a preferred option. The scene for the morning session was thus set against a question which asked whether the apparent absence of subtlety in discussion of the social work and social inclusion interface was to be found rooted in a research use of the term as a