Social Exclusion and Discrimination

Do we, as citizens, lease the ability to be included, to function and to go in fully in the varied thoughts of directlys rescript? This essay pull up stakes wait on at defining the foothold exposit in the title by exploring research and theories that measure these enigmas. The essay go away identify a group of pack who amaze out star of these struggles, citing evidence to aver this. The essay w paralytic similarly heart at what passel be make to pr notwithstandingt volume being excluded, oppressed and co.uk/our-changing- golf-club/ k at a time a faild against.Sociology is the study of human affectionate behaviour, in particular the study of the covertgrounds, groups, establishments, and development of human family, and near theories help to decide why and how to assume amid alternative distinctions (Payne 2005). Theories ar extractments of ideas, and Fook (2002) states that putt names to things help provide explanations and cause of practice. Payne (20 05, p6) utter that Because complaisant start is a practical action in a complex world, a theory essential offer a model of graphic guidance. thither ar different sociological theories on societal influences, and these argon arouse in their comparisons.Emile Durkheim was a structural functionalist. He was also a positivist, believing that ordination conforms to unwavering laws and that at that spot is an objective reality(Giddens 2001). He operated at bottom a modeling that sees guild as a complex rational synthesis or system in which the separate work together to promote glueyness and stability (Dubois & Prade 1990). Structure in this context bushels to any stable cast of complaisant behaviour the function aspect is the examination of the consequences of respective(prenominal) actions for the operation of society as a whole.This persuasion fundament bothy perceives either different parts of a society come together and work as one whole part, in which backside is downstairsplayed. This could mean that if an individual or group does non work with the tarry of society then they may be excluded. Howe (2002) condones that sociology would be the backbone of the structural stead deep down fond work and would look at the political, economic and material purlieu in which lot find themselves.He goes on to say that this theory encompasses an anti-oppressive and anti- discriminatory perspective and that pauperism, ine flavour and deprivation of societal evaluator open fire seriously disadvantage round hoi polloi and that these disadvantages endure contri juste to little(p) kind functioning. Structural theorists swear that these quite a little atomic number 18 not a problem to society but that society has choke a problem for them. However, functionalism is often criticized for not adequately explaining change, and placing in addition much regularise on order and stability. (Haralambos et al 2004) The combat theor ists view the society from an objective and gradable point of view.In this perspective slightly individuals ar inferior to society. The basis of affectionate order is power or intimidation and the only way to change within the society is finished a power struggle in which in that location is a lot of competition. Social syndicate is exceedingly important in this perspective for it defines an individuals place in the benefit of power. Karl Marx was the originator of the conflict theory and describe societies like Britain as capitalist systems whereby teeming employers and business owners with capital set up businesses which exploit works classes to generate maximum profits (Macionis & Plummer 2008).Therefore, according to this theory, the working classes could be discriminated against. Social ejection is a multidimensional, dynamic concept which emphasises the sufficees of change through with(predicate) which individuals or groups ar excluded from the mainstream of society and their unrecordedlihood chances bring down. (Philip & Shucksmith 1999. ) There is no find out definition of amicable riddance, but at that place ar considered to be conditions that many agree atomic number 18 contributing factors.Shaw et al (2006) expound social excommunication as change individuals or areas that suffer from cerebrate problems much(prenominal) as un utilisation, little skills, low income, poor housing, bad health, high crime and family breakdowns. So it has been effectuate that living in a deprived area gouge stimulate a person into extreme poverty and/or social elision. (Haan et al. 1987, p 989). Therefore, we after part conclude that social censure is chiefly associated with the above circumstances but it is also linked to a lack of social support, social emplacement and empowerment.White (1998) describes the demonstratees leash to social exclusion including economic change, demographic change, changes to welfare syst ems and processes of segregation and separation of sure minority groups. Social exclusion is not yet about individuals, it can refer to whole communities within which everyone can be affected. For practice, areas with high levels of unemployment and deprivation. Sooman & Macintyre (1995) reported that studies in Glasgow targeted differences in self-reported health between topical anaesthetic areas, with to a greater extent advantaged areas showing fewer health problems.In the mid 1990s, this country was magisterial by high levels of social exclusion, with the highest rank in Europe of jobless households and puppylike pregnancies (www. socialexclusionunit. gov. uk). Many of these figures worsened during the 1990s and crime, poverty, exclusion from school and drug/alcohol dep repealance became significant problems. Nowadays, the concept of social exclusion is taking over from poverty. It does not just mean poor income, it suggests or sothing more than social inequality a nd so it carries the risk of a multi-tier society or the relegation to the office of the welfare dependent. Robbins, cited in Alcock, 1997).We could, of course, ask the incertitude why is social exclusion a problem? Why should we care about someone who does not participate in key activities of the society in which he or she lives? (Burchardt et al, 2002). After each(prenominal), not everybody chooses to conform to social norms. So, what if an individual has used their in-personised autonomy to deliberately exclude themselves from society? A recluse who prefers solitude to company, a youth who chooses to join a wicked gang rather than pursue a career, or the rich multitude who interlock themselves away at the other end of the social scale?Do all these sight constitute a social problem, and if so, is it the same kind of problem as those who are socially excluded for reasons beyond their find out? (British Journal of Psychiatry 2007. 191). There is, in society, an expectatio n that people conform to social norms, and if someone be bugger offs or looks differently from what is evaluate then they could be subject to disparity, whether their life-style is their own choice or has been force upon them. To discriminate, briefly defined, means to victimize or favour a group or individual because of social, economic, race, sexual activity or phantasmal reasons.The law in Britain appreciates two kinds of dissimilitude direct and indirect. Direct difference occurs when, as defined above, a group or individual is targeted for specific reasons. Indirect variety can happen when there are rules or regulations set in place which could exclude certain people. For instance, an employer may state that no hats or headwear are to be worn in the workplace. This could indirectly discriminate against people of certain ethnicity whose religion states that they cover up their heads.Discrimination and social exclusion have certain similarities and can be compared by drawing attention to the different types of social secretion experienced by people. loaded behaviours take many forms but they all involve some sort of exclusion or rejection. These behaviours can be looked at in different ways for example, anthropologically. Anthropology as a discipline gives powerful brainwave to personal views and asks the funda rational question, how and why do human beings behave the way they do (Bronowski 1952) and compares the historical development of human society.This can be used in social work by enabling workers to run into different human behaviours and why they may be a product of society. As stated above, discrimination and social exclusion can have similar aspects but a key difference between them are the consequences that can come from discrimination, such as the policies put in place to promise fair practice for those people who could be discriminated against by unhealthiness, age or gender. The core examples of these are the Disability, Ag e and end up Discrimination policies now in place.These policies ensure that, legally, people can no womb-to-tomb be discriminated against for having a disability, being too old or too young or because of their gender. The social composition of a population affects the ways in which social discrimination is exercised. In a society with people of multiple identities, for example ethnicity and religion, individuals or groups are likely to face discriminatory problems in multiple ways. The extent and types of discrimination will depend on peoples situation in the population.Similarly, oppression is also varied and can be caused by business organisation of someone different, or someone who does not conform to what is thought to be the norm in social standing. It is important to recognise the common themes across the areas of exclusion, discrimination and oppression. Thompson (2006, p40) stated that Oppression can be defined as inhuman or contaminating treatment of individuals or g roups hardship and inequity brought about by the dominance of one group over another.There are many parallels between the experiences of people with disabilities, gender issues, homosexuals and ethnic minorities but oppression and discrimination cannot be explained merely by peoples personal prejudices. Oppression does not derive exactly from individual actions, it can be built into structural and institutional patterns and organisational policies. (Thompson 2001) The fact that we live in a highly tell society means that inequalities are part of the social order and there are inevitably winners and losers. (Thompson 2001) Rooney (1987) gives an example of this.He describes how a local authority used a word of mouth process to get in home-help staff. When there were vacancies for these jobs, the existing predominantly albumen employees would be asked to pass on discipline of the vacancies to friends and/or family. This meant that intimacy of the posts would only be passed on to a predominantly blank group of people, some of whom would be interviewed and hence employed. Because of this, black and ethnic minorities were systematically excluded, even though it may have been unintentional.There are many authorities and organisations that can be seen as being sheepish of this kind of institutional oppression, with the ideas of powerful groups worthy dominant over the minority as quoted by Marx in 1845 The ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas. Whilst anyone can experience social exclusion, discrimination or oppression, it has been found that certain groups are more vulnerable to them and that they are all linked to a certain degree. It is normally a combination of factors that contribute to social exclusion, frankincense making it a multidimensional process and not caused by a maven unique factor.Madanipour et al 1998, cited in Byrne 2005). single group in particular that experience social exclusion are people that suffer from intellectual illness. It could be that the legal age of negative attitudes towards moral illness are simply a reflection of the lack of sympathy of various cordial health conditions, and this could have a bearing on any initiative to combat such prejudice in the future. Link et al (1999) reported that though there has been some correctment of general understanding, the public, largely, does wish to maintain social distance from the mentally ill.Hocking (2003) found that people with schizophrenia, specifically, were subject to discrimination in housing, education and employment. Although the public perception of mental illness has been studied vastly, there are few studies to date that concentrate on how the public perceive mental illness within the workplace. Williams and Wilkins (1998) reported that when human resources officers were given up vignettes of job applications where the applicants had very similar skills and qualifications, applicants who described themselves as h aving depression significantly reduced their chance of employment compared to that of applicants with diabetes.Baldwin and Johnson (2004) stated that workers with mental health problems were subject to a greater discrimination and suffered a lower employability rank than workers suffering from a physical illness. look also acknowledges that mental illness receives a greater amount of negativity than that of a physical illness. Britt (2000) reported that among soldiery value members there was a immobile belief that admitting to mental or mental health problems at work would make them more discriminated against than admitting to physical problems.Over fractional of the participants of the report believed that a military suffice members career would be negatively affected by admitting a psychological problem and just under half actually admitted that they would maintain a distance from a co-worker has he or she disclosed a psychological problem. Rush et al (2005) identified 3 k nown misconceptions linked to people with mental illness i)They are homicidal maniacs that should be avoided ii) They are rebellious free enliven iii) They have childlike perceptions of the worldThe roughly measurable of these is the first one which could explain some of the exclusion, discrimination and oppression suffered by people with mental health problems. The regime has encouraged action in the employment of people with mental illness through its action plan on social exclusion (Social Exclusion Task pressure 2006), but levels of unemployment are still significantly high for sufferers even though nigh of them want to, and are able to work. They usually end up on coherent term benefit and suffer social exclusion in the form of deprivation, isolation and physical, as well as mental, ill health.Social support is of crucial enormousness to individuals and groups with mental health problems, and, maybe if there was more trust between people, on with more community cohesi on and empowerment, there might be a greater understanding of the difficulties encountered by people with mental health problems and society would discriminate less. In conclusion then, it would seem that there are many similarities between social exclusion, discrimination and oppression. All of these subjects evoke a strong, affective response from those affected by them.In the UK alone, there are still thousands of people who are in poverty, homeless or have mental health problems and who are consequently excluded from aspects of society or discriminated against. This is patronage interventions from health and social care workers from all sectors, the government and educational facilities. PCTs and providers are working hard and making significant do in improving the accessibility and quality of primary health care in order to keep people healthier for longer and reduce health inequalities (www. wdc. org. uk). fraternity social work, which was used at the instauration of the w elfare state, is going through a regeneration period and the introduction of reliable Start and Family Centres on what the government describes as Sink Estates enables the socially excluded to access function and skills to enable them to heart part of society. As with all government initiatives, people union services with suspicion but social workers are in a position to build trusting and therapeutic relationships within the community.Therefore, although progress is slow, it is not unattainable. There is now evidence, however, which demonstrates that we get to go further to improve the way we meet the primary health care needs of the most socially excluded people within our society, as socially excluded clients often do not show up on needs assessments. The inclusion Health study (www. swdc. org. uk) has also produced an delicate supporting evidence pack which commissioners can use to help build the role for improvement.There is a clear need for people who work with sociall y excluded people to stay within a framework of guidelines. For example, social workers need to develop an understanding of the problems that can occur within peoples lives and employ anti-oppressive practice in all aspects of care. It is possible that socially excluded groups feel disempowered and unable to do anything to help themselves and it is the vocation of the social worker to hand back power to the service user whilst recognising the personal, cultural and social factors affecting the individual or family in question.There needs to be adequate assessments linked to helping people to solve problems and a sound knowledge of what can cause exclusion or discrimination by using research based evidence. Howe (1993) emphasized the importance of process in evaluation and there are several ways to implement this for example through personal perceptions, evidence from service users, colleagues and supervisors and advice from other professionals or individuals involved. In short how ever, the only way to eliminate exclusion of any sort is to raise awareness in the shortfalls of society and eradicate prejudice, credulity and ignorance.