Investigating Social Exclusion

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Investigating Social Exclusion

• INFORMATION SOCIAL EXCLUSIONModule code
  SM1061N Lecture 4 26 February, 2008
• Maykel Perez

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Defining Social Exclusion

• Multidimensional, relational concept
• Unemployment / low income
• Poor skills
• High crime environment
• Bad health
• Family breakdown
• It is a process resulting from the combination of
  linked problems

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Defining Social Exclusion

• Relational best defined in its relationship with
  related terms
• Poverty
• Social Inclusion
• Inequality
• Polarisation
• Social mobility
• Social closure

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Defining Social Exclusion

• SOCIAL EXCLUSION VERSUS POVERTY
• Broader concept encompassing low material means
  but also the inability to participate
  effectively in economic, social, political,
  cultural life.
• Alienation and distance from mainstream society

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Defining Social Exclusion

• Social Inclusion The development of capacity to
  play a full role, not only in economic terms, but
  also in social, psychological and political terms

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Defining Social Exclusion

• Inequality unequal appropriation of wealth by
  individuals or social groups
• Polarisation Specific process of inequality that
  occurs when both the top and the bottom of a
  scale of wealth distribution grow faster than the
  middle.
• Social Mobility the degree to which a group's
  social status can change through a system of
  social hierarchy or stratification.
• Social Closure describe the action of social
  groups, who restrict entry and exclude benefit to
  those outside the group in order to maximise
  their own advantage.
• DRIVERS OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION, NOT CONSTITUTIVES.

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Defining Social Exclusion

• Social exclusion has a material dimension (i.e.
  lack of material means)
• But also social, political, psychological
  dimensions
• RESPECT AND SELF-RECOGNITION
• Failure to respect those who are socially
  excluded by virtue of poverty or stigmatised
  statuses such as ethnicity.

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Investigating social exclusion

• Social exclusion can be viewed in levels
• Wide Exclusion Large number of people excluded
  in a single or small number of indicators.
• (e.g) 25 UK Population in poverty (1999)

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Investigating social exclusion

• Social exclusion can be viewed in levels
• Concentrated Exclusion Refers to the geographic
  concentration of problems and to area exclusion.
• e.g. London vs Beconsfield
• Hackney vs Fullham

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Investigating social exclusion

• Social exclusion can be viewed in levels
• Deep exclusion Refers to those excluded on
  multiple and overlapping dimensions

e.g. 1 individual

• Single mother
• Poor health
• Low income

• Living in deprived area
• Low level of education

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Investigating social exclusion

• Social exclusion is best studied in different
  stages of the life course of individuals
• Childhood
• Youth
• Working age adulthood
• Later life

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Investigating social exclusion
Match stage of life with relevant indicator of
social exclusion
Stage of Life Course
Indicators

• Children
• Youth
• Working age adult
• Elder (over 65)

• Employment
• Children in workless household
• Teenage pregnancy
• Access to pension
• Lone parent
• Drug use

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Investigating social exclusion

• Social exclusion is best studied by segmenting it
  into dimensions
• (e.g.)
• Resources
• Participation
• Quality of Life

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Investigating social exclusion

• Each of these dimension can in turn be divided
  into domains of potential importance in social
  exclusion

• Resources
• Material / Economic Resources
• Access to public and private services
• Social resources (resources available to large
  groups, such as pensions for elders

• Quality of Life
• Health and well-being
• Living environment
• Crime, harm and criminalisation

• Participation
• Economic Participation
• Social Participation
• Culture, education and skills
• Political and civic participation

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Investigating social exclusion

• Each of these domains can be divided into
  indicators used to measure social exclusion
  (E.g.)
• Literacy and numeracy
• Employment rate
• Lone parents
• Minority ethnic people
• Social participation and access to Internet
• Etc

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Investigating social exclusion

• Each of these indicators is measured using a data
  gathering technique, such as a questionnaire

Data gathering technique Questionnaire
Demographic Indicators

• Gender

• Marital Status

Sex Age Marital Status Number of adults in the
household Tenure
single
Male
Married
Female
Separated
Divorced
Widowed

• How many adults live in this household?
• Do you own or privately rent this
• accommodation?

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Investigating social exclusion
SOURCES OF INDICATORS OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION

• European Indicators of Social Exclusion
• Opportunity for All (2005) indicators
• Monitoring Poverty and social exclusion 2005
  indicators
• Index of multiple deprivation

Levitas, R. et al. (2007) The multi-dimensional
analysis of social exclusion. Bristol Institute
of Social Affairs, University of Bristol
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Investigating social exclusion
EXISTING DATASETS ON SOCIAL EXCLUSION

• Office of National Statistics http//www.statisti
  cs.gov.uk/glance/
• British Household Panel Survey
  http//www.iser.essex.ac.uk/ulsc/bhps/
• Economic and Social Data Service
  http//www.esds.ac.uk/
• Millennium Survey of Poverty and Social
  Exclusion http//www.esds.ac.uk/findingData/snDes
  cription.asp?sn4349
• TSO Official Documents http//www.official-docume
  nts.gov.uk/
• New Policy Institute (Monitoring Poverty and
  Social Exclusion series) http//www.npi.org.uk/ind
  ex.htm

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The Poverty and Social Exclusion Report (PSE) 1999

• Used 2 582 variables
• Full list of the variables available from the
  Economic and Social Data Service website (
  www.esds.ac.uk)
• The questionnaire used by PSE posted on my
  website
• A brief description of the report can be found
  in
• Levitas, R. et al. (2007) The multi-dimensional
  analysis of social exclusion. Bristol Institute
  of Social Affairs, University of Bristol, pp.
  55-67

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The PSE Report
PSE distinguishes 4 dimensions of social
exclusion

• Impoverishment (exclusion from adequate income or
  resources)
• Labour market exclusion (exclusion from paid
  work)
• Service exclusion (exclusion from public and
  private sector services)
• Exclusion from social relations (exclusion from
  social, civic, political participation, social
  support, social contact, confinement)

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The PSE Report
IMPOVERISHMENT, MEASURES OF POVERTY

• Income
• Subjective poverty respondents were asked
  whether they considered themselves poor and
  whether their household income was enough to keep
  it above poverty
• Lack of socially perceived necessities

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The PSE Report
IMPOVERISHMENT, MEASURES OF POVERTY

• LACK OF SOCIALLY PERCEIVED NECESSITIES (FOUR
  STEPS)
• Establishing which items and activities were
  perceived by the public as necessities for life.
  (Results in Appendix 5, Multi-dimensional
  analysis..p. 141)
• Identifying those who had an enforced lack of
  socially perceived necessities
• Determining what level of household income people
  ran a greater risk of not being able to afford
  the socially perceived necessities.

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The PSE Report
LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION

• Employed full time
• Employed part time
• Unemployed
• And why
• 43 of adults where without work
• 34 lived in jobless households

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The PSE Report
SERVICE EXCLUSION

• Libraries
• Public sports facilities
• Evening classes
• Public / community / village hall
• Hospital with and AE department
• Doctor

• Dentist
• Optician
• Post Office
• Places of worship
• Bus services
• Train / tube station
• Petrol station
• chemist

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The PSE Report
EXCLUSION FROM SOCIAL RELATIONS

• FIVE THEMES
• Non-participation in common social activities
• The extent of peoples social networks and the
  extent to whish they are socially isolated
• The support available to individuals on a routine
  basis and in times of crisis
• Disengagement from political and civic activity
• Confinement, resulting from fear of crime,
  disability or other factors

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The PSE Report
EXCLUSION FROM SOCIAL RELATIONS

• Included questions such as this
• Have there been times in the past year when you
  have felt isolated and cut off from society for
  any of the following reasons?

• Paid work
• Childcare responsibilities
• Other caring responsibilities
• Lack of own transport
• Irregular or expensive public transport
• No friends
• No family

• Problems with physical access
• Sexism
• Racism
• Homophobia
• Discrimination relating to disability
• Other
• None of these

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Organise your own research

• Bring down your sample population to manageable
  proportions. Choose which stage(s) of life you
  will focus in
• Childhood
• Youth
• Working age adulthood
• Later life

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Organise your own research

• Continue filtering your research. What
  dimension(s) of social exclusion will you study?
• Impoverishment
• Access to labour market
• Service exclusion
• Exclusion from social relations

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Organise your own research

• Further narrow down your research. What
  indicators of social exclusion will you measure?
• Choose relevant indicators according to the stage
  of life and dimensions of exclusion previously
  selected.

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Organise your own research

• Gather data
• Is there an existing dataset I can use? (e.g.
  Office of National Statistics)
• Do I need to collect the data myself?

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Organise your own research

• If you answered YES to 4.2, the
• How do you plan to gather data?
• Interview?
• Questionnaire?

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Organise your own research

• Devise and apply your questionnaire (or the
  data-gathering technique of your choice).
• Again, take into account the direct relationship
  between indicators and questions.

• Analyse the data and present your results

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QUESTIONS?
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Independent Study

• Make a preliminary research proposal taking into
  account all the aspects discussed today.
• Device a short questionnaire according to that
  research design

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Independent Study

• Identify and briefly describe key sources of data
  relevant to an analysis of social exclusion
  (databases, reports or information services). (no
  less than 3)
• Identify and briefly describe departmental and
  cross-departmental agencies (governmental or
  NGOs) engaged in social exclusion
  research/policy-making (no less than 3)
• Identify at least 2 academic articles relevant to
  the study of social exclusion from authoritative
  sources. (no wikipedia-style sources allowed)