Understanding Of Social Inclusion Research Articles

Adult Migrants’ Endeavours for a Life as Included

In many European countries, Sweden included, social inclusion of adult migrants has come to mean second language learning and labour market establishment. This understanding of social inclusion has been problematised by previous research as it reinforces a deficit discourse where migrants are depicted as lacking skills or incentives, and social inclusion is seen merely as a matter of adjusting to society. This study aims to examine migrants’ positioning in relation to language learning and social inclusion. It is based on a longitudinal interview study with adult migrants, first when being enrolled in second language education, and later in the continuing process of making a life in a new country. We analyse five migrant narratives, drawing on the concepts of positioning, agency, rights, duties, and capital in relation to their past, present, and future aspirations. The results show that the position of the “good migrant” taking responsibility for language learning and job seeking is prominent. At the same time, positioning is also constructed in relation to individual aspirations and opportunities, depending on one’s circumstance of life and capital, such as previous education or social networks. Thus, inclusion is closely related to being recognised, not primarily as a migrant, but as the person one strives to be, both professionally and personally.

Além da inclusão: espaços sociais coletivos de segurança, comunhão e reconhecimento

Abstract This paper unsettles taken-for-granted understandings of social inclusion in the field of occupational therapy and links with the concept of radical inclusion developed in social occupational therapy. It traces the ways that, over time, inclusion has been reduced to a position within the inclusion/exclusion binary. Pierre Bourdieu’s reflexive theory of practice is introduced to expand understandings of how the negative value accorded to disability is reproduced through exclusionary social conditions and relations. Drawing on the results of a qualitative study that examined the everyday lives, practices and occupations of 13 Canadian youth who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) modes as a result of physical impairments, three elements of more inclusive social spaces - safety, communion, and recognition - are presented alongside implications of each for occupational therapy. These alternative approaches for thinking beyond inclusion are grounded by narratives illustrating elements of social spaces that can foster a sense of belonging and connection. The perspectives shared by youth in the study add complex insights into how they made ‘practical sense’ of prevailing calls for social inclusion. Their stories show how even as they struggled for inclusion, they were subject to and internalized negative valuations of disability. Importantly, the paper highlights strategies employed by youth to reformulate inclusion on their own terms. These reformulations go beyond over-simplified conceptions of inclusion and hold potential to inform the ways that occupational therapists work alongside individuals and collectives to improve life chances, expand occupational possibilities, and support flourishing for disabled children and youth.

Co-inclusion: problematising binary understandings of social inclusion

ABSTRACT This paper responds to a gap between theorists' bilateral understandings of social inclusion and the more unilateral understandings available to refugee support practitioners. We argue that scholarly work on social inclusion does not consistently reflect intercultural conceptualisations of societies as emergent spaces continually coming into being through the participation of all their members and bilateral understandings can institutionalise ‘local/newcomer’ power asymmetries. Our intercultural field can learn from the concept of co-inclusion which encapsulates key tenets of intercultural thinking and promotes a horizontal, collective, ongoing process of social inclusion that involves all members of a given society.

‘“Yesterday I Couldn’t See. Tomorrow’s Sun Shines Now”: Sharing Migrant Stories Through Creative Arts to Foster Community Connections and Wellbeing’

ABSTRACT This article documents the experiences of refugee and migrant backgrounds women residing in non-metropolitan areas of Australia, as they created works for the Stories to Freedom public exhibitions. In addition to confirming the positive impact of creative practice on the women’s wellbeing, this research revealed the women’s perceptions of social inclusion. Engaging in these activities increased feelings of happiness, confidence and pride. Visitors to the exhibitions commented on feeling inspired, which allowed the women to feel welcome and develop a sense of connectedness and belonging in their communities. This article makes an important original contribution to the growing body of literature in refugee studies and arts-based practice research. It uses a collaborative approach to acknowledge the success of arts practice in altering the negative narrative about ‘newcomers’, and progresses understanding of social inclusion. It does so by presenting a new case study, located in three different geographic locations within non-metropolitan Australian communities. Additionally, it details a unique, award winning, innovative community-engaged research process, through which a team of researchers were able to support and inspire new program directions, including the suggestion for the creative arts component which was embraced enthusiastically by participants and staff.

The social inclusion of young people with serious mental illness: A narrative review of the literature and suggested future directions.

Social inclusion involves objective participatory (e.g. education/employment) and subjective (e.g. sense of belonging/acceptance) elements across multiple domains. It has been associated with enhanced physical and mental wellbeing yet is a novel construct in the empirical literature (i.e. measures have not been sufficiently developed). Young people with serious mental illness are reported to be socially excluded. It is unclear whether this is reflected in the social inclusion/exclusion literature. The aim of this narrative review is to determine whether such literature permits a comprehensive (i.e. multi-dimensional, objective and subjective) understanding of social inclusion among young people with serious mental illness. Searches to identify studies related to the social inclusion and/or exclusion of young people with serious mental illness were conducted on 16 February 2016, 24 August 2016, 16 February 2017, 24 August 2017 and 16 February 2018 in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, Open Grey, Web of Science, Google and Google Scholar. There is a paucity of research in the explicit social inclusion literature involving young people either with or without serious mental illness as participants. Literatures exist in related independent areas of research (e.g. employment, social networks), but such studies employ heterogeneous methodologies. Multi-dimensional measures of social inclusion incorporating objective and subjective indicators must be developed for young people with and without serious mental illness. This will enable the generation of normative and clinical data. Existing evidence for the social exclusion of young people with serious mental illness comes from objective indicators in isolated domains (e.g. unemployment). Subjective indicators continue to be under-researched. The above-described measures must be employed to further understanding of the apparent discrepancies between young people with serious mental illness and those without serious mental illness. This will elucidate the relationships between objective and subjective elements of social inclusion and the relationships between these elements and the psychological distress that young people with serious mental illness often experience. This has implications for intervention.

Older adults’ understandings of social inclusion: Views from a healthy ageing community program

Keeping older adults over 65 years of age socially included is a challenge still being addressed. Older adults’ views of feeling socially included and avoiding social exclusion and isolation are individual. This ethnographic study examines the views participants have about feeling socially included in their community when attending a community healthy ageing program in Brisbane, Australia. Niche studies of social inclusion in particular settings are valuable as alternatives to large studies, because of the diversity they offer in finding out what older adults identify as making them feel socially included. Data was collected by participant observation and focus groups, with supporting member checks and brief follow-up interviews. The main finding was that the program encouraged program participants to view themselves as feeling socially mobile, mainly because of access to information resources and to the human networks the program offered. Five concerns dominated the analysis where participants felt exclusion and isolation was an issue: transport, housing and living arrangements, health, crime and personal safety, and technology use. This paper contributes to the understanding of views of social inclusion in a particular setting and brings an awareness of the types of solutions a community program can bring to older adults to help keep them socially included. Keywords: ethnography, social exclusion, social inclusion, social isolation, older adults

Older adults’ understandings of social inclusion: Views from a healthy ageing community program

Keeping older adults over 65 years of age socially included is a challenge still being addressed. Older adults’ views of feeling socially included and avoiding social exclusion and isolation are individual. This ethnographic study examines the views participants have about feeling socially included in their community when attending a community healthy ageing program in Brisbane, Australia. Niche studies of social inclusion in particular settings are valuable as alternatives to large studies, because of the diversity they offer in finding out what older adults identify as making them feel socially included. Data was collected by participant observation and focus groups, with supporting member checks and brief follow-up interviews. The main finding was that the program encouraged program participants to view themselves as feeling socially mobile, mainly because of access to information resources and to the human networks the program offered. Five concerns dominated the analysis where participants felt exclusion and isolation was an issue: transport, housing and living arrangements, health, crime and personal safety, and technology use. This paper contributes to the understanding of views of social inclusion in a particular setting and brings an awareness of the types of solutions a community program can bring to older adults to help keep them socially included.

Framing Social Inclusion Policies - Draft Background Paper for the World Bank Social Development Department's Flagship Study on Social Inclusion

Social inclusion discourse is nearly ubiquitous, but its meaning remains ambiguous. It refers to different things in different national, cultural, and political contexts. It is the objective of a plethora of policies in a wide range of institutional spheres. This paper seeks to clarify the variable understandings of social inclusion as a policy goal and to develop a broad framework for organizing, classifying, and analyzing social inclusion policies. Rather than an inventory of social inclusion policies and programs per se, the discussion presents broad kinds of policies, tools, and mechanisms that promote social inclusion. After clarifying the meanings of social inclusion, the first part of the paper discusses why it might be considered a worthy, if unattainable goal. There are in fact many values underlying the objective of social inclusion. Because the meaning and worth of social membership is so variable, the very ambiguity of the term may ironically facilitate reaching a reasonable international consensus to pursue it, despite significant cultural and contextual differences. The second part of the paper discusses policies aimed at realizing four notions of social inclusion. Social inclusion furthers the ideals, values, or goals of freedom, equality, democracy, and recognition. There are four corresponding conceptions or end points of social inclusion: capability, distributive justice, participation, and human rights. Different policies emphasize these to a greater or lesser extent. Inclusion as capability is the main objective of social investment, human capital, activation, and mobility policies. Inclusion as equality rests upon redistribution policies like minimum incomes and social assistance. Social inclusion as active participation is promoted procedurally by consultation and active involvement in decision making, such as participatory budgeting, and enabled by desegregation and mainstreaming. Finally, recognition is symbolic and legal. Cultural policies include memorials, apologies, ceremonies, holidays, and the like, as well as recognition of multiple languages, beliefs, and customs. Human rights also recognize people as members of the human community, thus protecting them from violence against their persons and other dehumanizing treatment. The third part of the paper breaks out one type of social inclusion policy that is controversial partly because it furthers some of these four ideals but may be considered contrary to others, namely, affirmative action policies.

Research Watch: making social inclusion happen through community-based projects

Purpose – This Research Watch reviews two recent papers reporting on work that seemed to increase social inclusion for people with mental health diagnoses. Design/methodology/approach – The first paper is about a social inclusion project spanning three European countries and using a novel approach to research. Mental health professionals and service users worked together and visited projects in the other countries, sharing their learning about social inclusion. The second paper is about a 12-session art course in a community setting. Participants completed questionnaires before and after, and some gave feedback in a focus group. Their responses were compared with people not on the course. Findings – The cross-Europe project seemed to create social inclusion by its very nature and activities. Staff and service users created together their understanding of social inclusion. Inclusion encompassed work and education, but also went beyond these to having safe places to work and learn together. Participants of ...

Using Photographic Picture Books to Better Understand Young Children’s Ideas of Belonging: A Study of Early Literacy Strategies and Social Inclusion

This study examined the ways young children (3 years 11 months to 7 years 9 months) talk about and demonstrate their understanding of social inclusion through the use of self-produced family photograph books. One hundred eighty-seven children from the Greater Toronto Area participated in the study by first sharing their personal photograph books with a small group of peers and then exploring books produced by children unknown to them. A mixed methods approach was used where children’s understanding of vocabulary was documented and small focus group discussions weretranscribed and analyzed. This article focuses on the study’s qualitative findings that children spoke about and conveyed their understanding of concepts surrounding social inclusion (inclusion, diversity, respect, acceptance, understanding) based on (1) their learning of the social inclusion vocabulary, (2) their personalexperience with social inclusion, and (3) their talk of social inclusionin relation to social identity. These themes and their implications for early childhood education are discussed.

Shifting our conceptualization of social inclusion

Objective: Social inclusion is a right as well as a goal for community-based services and supports. Yet, there is a lack of consensus as to what constitutes social inclusion, which means that there is no real way to determine and measure services effectiveness. This paper identified current key components, definitions, and conceptual approaches to social inclusion, and determined gaps in the scope and clarity of existing conceptualizations. Method: We conducted a synthesis review on the social inclusion of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We extracted data relevant to the definition of social inclusion, its key principles and elements, as well as its main challenges. We adopted a narrative approach to synthesize the findings. Results: The main challenges in understanding social inclusion are: social inclusion is at risk of being an ideology and may lead to ineffective and potentially harmful strategies; social inclusion is still mainly defined as the acceptance and achievement of the dominant societal values and lifestyle, which may lead to moralistic judgements; social inclusion is often narrowly defined and measured as productivity and independent living, which is inappropriate for people with more severe disabilities; and social inclusion is often limited to the measure of one’s participation in community-based activities. Conclusion and Implications: Shifting our understanding of social inclusion is essential. It means: adopting a proactive perspective that moves beyond theoretical discourse and leads to the identification of tools to improve social inclusion; abandoning the moralistic perspective that tends to impose the view of the dominant group and leaning toward an approach respectful of individuals’ expectations, choices and needs; defining social inclusion from a developmental perspective where one’s social inclusion improves with increased opportunities to interact with others and participate in activities; and including sense of belonging and well-being in our definition and measure of social inclusion.

On the durability and the decomposition of citizenship: the social logics of forced return migration in Cape Verde

This article explores the impact of deportation, a state practice increasingly applied by European and North American governments, on notions of sociality in transnational social fields. In particular, it concentrates on the dynamics between formal citizenship on the one hand and the moral economies of belonging and membership on the other. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork in Cape Verde, where deportation is producing a new social minority, this article examines the confluence of social and formal legal practices of exercising membership in transnational fields. After summarising the constitutive features of Cape Verdean transnational social formation, the trajectories and perspectives of deportees are highlighted in relation to their family networks, as well as in their encounters with the wider society and state structures. It is argued that understandings of social inclusion and perceptions of membership are embedded in moral discourses on ‘law’ and ‘justice’ as they circulate within transnational social fields. In the context of forced return migration, citizenship emerges as an arena for claiming legitimacy and integration and likewise becomes a key mode of the formulation of conditionalities for integration and social exclusion.

Proactive and Defensive Engagement: Social Citizenship in a Changing Public Sphere

Arguing that the nature of citizenship is changing as a result of the progressive fragmentation of the public sphere in late modern societies, this article suggests that contemporary citizenship is best understood as a series of ‘temporary solidarities’ contained within a social politics characterised by ‘defensive’ or ‘proactive’ forms of engagement. Beginning with a theoretical discussion which explores some of the reasons for the fragmentation of the public realm as well as its possible impact on citizenship and the conduct of social politics, the article subsequently considers a number of examples of defensive and proactive engagement in the general area of welfare. The article then moves on to examine the implications of a theory of citizenship as defensive and/or proactive engagement for contemporary understandings of social divisions, before concluding with a brief consideration of how this approach of citizenship might also contribute to a more detailed understanding of social inclusion and exclusion.

Towards a New Social Politics: Citizenship and Reflexivity in Late Modernity

There is little agreement about the meaning of citizenship in the rapidly changing social, economic and political conditions of late modernity. This article examines three accounts of citizenship - state-centred, pluralist and post-structuralist - and argues that none offers an entirely convincing understanding of the idea suited to the fragmented conditions of contemporary social politics. Instead, it is important to move away from these accounts and consider citizenship as a reflexive condition of `defensive engagement'. Citizenship becomes a variegated social form concerned with the differential negotiation of social change as social and political actors struggle to create new identities and solidarities across a range of possible settings in an increasingly fractured public sphere. This interpretation has implications for our understanding of social inclusion and exclusion, as the conclusion to this article suggests.