Towards the end of the twentieth century academic debates in social policy have increasingly focused on social exclusion. Housing, especially housing tenure, has become of central concern to policymakers, planners and academics alike when contemplating mechanisms for the alleviation of social exclusion at the local level. In particular, the development of multi-tenure housing estates have been seen as strategy for tackling the detachment of local neighbourhoods from the mainstream by the current Labour Administration and its advisors (see Urban Task Force Report, 1999).The research, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, undertaken in this thesis predates the current enthusiasm for such developments and attempts to trace the evolution of the multi-tenure housing estate in the British housing system. It highlights both the potential possibilities and limitations of multi-tenure estates, and housing tenure, as a tool for aiding social inclusion. It finds that these estates marginally influence the social networks and behaviour of its residents, but fail to significantly alter the stigma attached to social housing. Therefore, indicating that the geographical proximity of different tenures does not necessarily lead to integration. It cautions against the belief that these estates will 'solve' the problem of social exclusion, but rather should be seen as one of many measures at the Government's disposal.

Children or young people with Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) are at an increased risk of school exclusion (Hayden, 1997). The support provided through educational psychologists’ engagement in preventative and reactive approaches at the individual, group and systems level for children or young people with SEBDs at risk of school exclusion, is presented in existing research (Clarke & Jenner, 2006; Hardman, 2001; O’Brien & Miller, 2005; Thorne & Ivens, 1999). The studies are, however, limited in providing transferable knowledge into educational psychologists’ practice and accounting for individual level support for crisis management situations for children or young people, at immediate risk of school exclusion. The studies are limited in exploring effective strategies and methods employed by a Specialist Educational Psychologist (SEBD) and the distinctive contribution of Specialist Educational Psychologists’ (SEBD) support. In the present study, a Specialist Educational Psychologist (SEBD) from an Independent Educational Psychology Service was identified to take part in the study. The Participant Specialist Educational Psychologist1 identified two casework examples of positive practice, whereby her input led to positive outcomes for the children with SEBD, at risk of permanent school exclusion. An in-depth single case study design was utilised to explore the strategies and methods employed by the Participant Specialist Educational Psychologist and her unique contribution from the Participant Specialist Educational Psychologist’s perspective and from the perspectives of the school professionals and parents involved in the two caseworks. Semi-structured interviews were used as a data gathering method and were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phased model of thematic analysis. An Integrated Thematic Map was produced made up of Seven Organising Themes. A content analysis was completed on documentary evidence of the Participant Specialist Educational Psychologist’s action plans and was triangulated with aspects of the findings from the thematic analysis. The effective strategies and methods applied by the Participant Specialist Educational Psychologist and the distinctive contribution of her support are described. The study provides ‘new’ and ‘confirmed’ insights into effective practice that aims to contribute to the skill set and knowledge of practitioner educational psychologists and through which, strengthen the support provided to schools for children or young people with SEBD, at risk of permanent school exclusion. The findings also provide insight to the distinctive role of the educational psychologist in effective specialist support and the specialist role within the profession. The insight is considered important in light of the current changes occurring within the profession and the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Review (DfE, 2011a; DfE, 2012a).

After the North American wave of “welfare reform” in the 1990s, much research has measured the success of the work-to-welfare model. Lone mothers as a group have proved a particularly intractable challenge to policies aimed at moving welfare recipients into the labour market and financial independence. The present dissertation focuses on lone mother welfare recipients and explores the processes they live as they receive and attempt to leave social assistance. This research adds to current scholarship by identifying factors that promote or frustrate the process of exiting social assistance, and by examining the effectiveness of policies and programs aimed at integrating these welfare recipients into the labour market. Concentrating on the welfare regime in Ontario, this dissertation explores the experiences of a diverse sample of thirty lone mothers participating in Ontario Works, the provincially-mandated work-to-welfare program. Each lone mother was interviewed annually for a series of four interviews. Focus groups with caseworkers provided insight into the lone mothers’ processes of attempting to leave social assistance, highlighting the differences between program design and program delivery. The dissertation asks three overarching research questions: What is the role of the provincial welfare regime in transitioning lone mothers from receipt of social assistance to paid employment? How did the lone mothers’ lives change over the study period? What elements facilitated exiting social assistance and what elements acted as obstacles or barriers? The research and analysis are shaped by three theoretical lenses; gender, social exclusion and social capital. The results highlight that there is no predictive factor: no profile emerged of the lone mother most likely to achieve independence. The research identifies “stayers”, “leavers” and three additional groups: “blenders”, “traders”, and “betweeners,” and establishes that while many exit the welfare stream, few did so because of financial independence. These results point to substantial inadequacies in the provincial work-to-welfare programming in addressing the particular needs of lone mothers. Gender neutral policies proved to overlook the key aspects to lone mothers’ experiences, such as their caregiving responsibilities and the realities of a labour market that stratifies based on gender. Lone mothers were effectively excluded from programs designed to increase bridging and linking social capital; such programs are only available to recipients who have succeeded in eliminating their barriers to joining the labour market. Bonding social capital, which is not targeted by Ontario Works and which depends on the personal resources of each woman, emerges as the key determinant of success in exiting, as it allows the lone mothers to overcome the caregiving challenge. The research also indicates that those without bonding social capital are those most likely to be socially excluded from multiple social realms.

The system of assistance in material deprivation regulates aid to people in need, i.e., persons who finds themselves in a situation where they are unable to provide for themselves. At present, greater emphasis is being out on each citizen?s responsibility for themselves and their families, as well as their active role in the finding of solutions for social events that impact on them. The point to try to motivate people in need to improve personally and actively their income. The aim of the Diploma Thesis is to map the findings gathered in the process of applying selected mechanisms in the system of assistance to persons in need. Five basic questions have been formulated for our research: 1. How do the clients see the idea of selling property or other uses of property? 2. How can we prove a client?s endeavor to improve his income by working? 3. What requirements and demands do recipients of welfare benefits have when they improve their income by working? 4. Is the concept of positive effect of higher income earned by own work apparent more on the part of social workers than clients? 5. What options of controlling do the recipients of welfare benefits have when trying to prove their effort to improve their income by own work? The qualitative survey was conducted by questioning, using the technique of semi-structured interview. Data collection was done from July to October 2011 ad in March 2012. The survey sample consisted of 12 recipients of welfare benefits selected by random, 12 social workers from municipal offices, and 5 social workers from regional branches of the Labor Office. The collected data were processed by casuistry specialists. Other data were sorted by theme, mutually compared, and summarized in the form of tables. The research survey revealed that most of the questioned social workers do not consider the system of material assistance stimulating. They believe that the system forces clients to rely on the system, rather than seek employment actively.

Immigration has over the years been looked upon in many different ways: At times, as something positive, bringing in manpower and new influences, but at other times as something negative – something bringing problems along with it. I have for a long time been interested in social interaction in general, and when it was time for meto write my thesis, I decided to narrow that phenomenon down and write about the socialintegration of immigrants. Along with that came mechanisms promoting it as well as intercultural appreciation, this because it quite simply felt very relevant to the initial subject. The purpose of this thesis was to identify and discuss social integration for immigrants and the mechanisms promoting it, as well as to investigate intercultural appreciation in Gävle, Sweden. Two semi-structured focus-group interviews were conducted with both immigrants and nativeSwedes. Analysis was guided by grounded theory. It was found that both native and immigrant Swedes appreciate each other’s cultures, but also find parts of them disturbing. For example the immigrant participants found the Swedish literature very interesting, while the native Swedish participants were very appreciative and fascinated by all the different foods that have been introduced thanks to immigrants. However, the native Swedes found muslim traditions such as the burqha to be offensive, while the immigrants found the general Swedish attitude towards strangers to be just the same. The mechanisms promoting integration were often seen as insufficient by the immigrant participants, but those that did exist, for example SFI, was very much appreciated and seen as a very important source for getting help with the Swedish language, thus integrating oneself. The study suggests more research on the subjects of both intercultural appreciation between “new” and “old” Swedes, as well as on the different mechanisms for social integration for immigrants, investigating its actual impact.

This dissertation examines the dominant discourse of welfare dependency and its implications for lone mothers in Ontario, Canada. This hegemonic discourse has been instrumental in positioning lone mothers as deviant, pathologically flawed and ineffective citizens. Using a repeated survival analysis, I examine the spells of participants identifying the significant variables influencing social assistance exit rates. Social constructionism and critical feminism are the theoretical lenses underpinning the analysis. The quantitative study examines the current composition of the Ontario Works caseload, interrogates the legitimacy of the welfare dependency supposition, debunks numerous social constructions surrounding welfare receipt and highlights the barriers impeding participants. The study culminates with a new understanding to counter the welfare dependency paradigm, recognizing the overlooked provisioning work of women in the neoliberal post welfare state.

This dissertation examines the dominant discourse of welfare dependency and its implications for lone mothers in Ontario, Canada. This hegemonic discourse has been instrumental in positioning lone mothers as deviant, pathologically flawed and ineffective citizens. Using a repeated survival analysis, I examine the spells of participants identifying the significant variables influencing social assistance exit rates. Social constructionism and critical feminism are the theoretical lenses underpinning the analysis. The quantitative study examines the current composition of the Ontario Works caseload, interrogates the legitimacy of the welfare dependency supposition, debunks numerous social constructions surrounding welfare receipt and highlights the barriers impeding participants. The study culminates with a new understanding to counter the welfare dependency paradigm, recognizing the overlooked provisioning work of women in the neoliberal post welfare state.

Como indica el título, este trabajo de tesis doctoral trata de comprender las interrelaciones que existen entre la pobreza y el manejo de los espacios socio ambientales, e indaga sobre los procesos históricos que configuran el escenario social y ambiental de la población andina rural a fines del siglo XX, se pone especial interés en el problema de la exclusión social de las mujeres. El área de referencia empírica está ubicada en América del Sur, en la parte centro-sur del Perú, escenario de violencia estructural y zonas casi devastadas en el contexto de la guerra iniciada por Sendero Luminoso de los años ochenta y noventa del siglo pasado. La construcción del espacio proviene de procesos de larga duración, en un ensamblaje de elementos endógenos y exógenos de poder en el cuadro de modelos y estilos de desarrollo. El elemento central de relaciones de poder esta marcado por los intereses de apropiación, acceso, utilización y control de recursos del medio ambiente donde la exclusión de las mujeres en los espacios de decisión y de poder es un signo histórico de la construcción de estas sociedades marcadas por su inequidad. Por ello en el cuadro de las interrelaciones sociales la dimensión de los derechos tiene importancia particular. El PODER, entendido no solo como dominación sino como capacidad de actuar permite hacer funcionar los derechos y poner en movimiento los engranajes del propio desarrollo, constituidos por: recursos-derechos-capacidades. La pobreza, signo característico de la mayoría de la población rural en la región andina, aparece cuando los derechos y las capacidades son insuficientes para vivir. Entendemos por derechos los reconocimientos sociales de las personas en general y de las mujeres en particular a tener propiedad, ingresos, acceso a bienes públicos, a los recursos naturales en cantidad y calidad suficientes. Estos derechos se adquieren a través de sistemas institucionales públicos (estatales, comunales, mercado) y privados (familia). La ampliación de estos derechos permite que la personas puedan acceder a los recursos.. Este proceso se hace en sociedad y no individualmente. El desarrollo de lo local pasa por la construcción de mas sociedad. / Cette thèse de doctorat essaie de comprendre les relations existantes entre la pauvreté et la gestion de l'environnement social et explore les caractéristiques et conditions de la pauvreté de la population andine rurale, vers la fin du XXème siècle, en mettant l'accent sur le problème de l'exclusion sociale, en particulier, des femmes. A ces fins, on propose une vision socio spatiale pour l'analyse de la pauvreté, en milieu rural. La zone de référence empirique est localisée au Centre-Sud du Pérou, en Amérique du Sud, ces zones ont été le scénario de violence structurale et ont été presque ravagées par la guerre entamée par le Sendero Luminoso, dans les années 1980 et 1990 du siècle passé. La pauvreté, signe caractéristique de la majorité de la population rurale dans la région andine, apparaît lorsque les droits et les capacités sont insuffisants pour vivre. Nous appelons droits, les reconnaissances sociales des personnes en général et des femmes en particulier, à avoir accès à la propriété, aux revenus, aux biens publics, aux ressources naturelles en quantité et qualité suffisantes. Ces droits s'acquièrent grâce aux systèmes institutionnels publics (publics, communautaires, marché) et privés (famille). L'élargissement des droits implique que les personnes peuvent avoir un accès plus facile aux ressources. Il est indispensable d'ajouter au centre même du schéma le concept de pouvoir, rendant ainsi possible l'élargissement des capacités. C'est-à-dire, le développement et l'expansion des capacités des personnes se fait en société et non individuellement. Le développement de ce qui est local passe par la construction de plus de société. La construction sociale de l'espace provient des processus de longue durée, où les sujets sociaux développent ou non leurs capacités en jeu des interrelations endogènes et exogènes de pouvoir, dans le cadre de modèles et styles de développement de l'Etat. A l'intérieur, l'élément central des relations de pouvoir est marqué par les intérêts d'appropriation, accès, utilisation et contrôle des ressources de l'environnement où l'exclusion des femmes dans les espaces de décisions et de pouvoir est un signe historique. La voie pour réussir à ce que les droits légaux deviennent droits réels est un processus de construction sociale de longue date. Le POUVOIR leur permet de faire fonctionner leurs droits et d'agir de façon concertée afin de mettre en mouvement les engrenages de leur propre développement : Ressources-Droits-Capacités.

A SOCIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF STREET CHILDREN IN ANKARA Pehlivanli, Ezgi M.A. Department of Sociology Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Kayhan Mutlu January 2007, 105 pages This thesis draws a profile of children who work/ live on the streets of Ankara relying on children&rsquo / s life histories and social workers&rsquo / opinions about the situation in the context of Social Exclusion. Social is a new concept, was first used in 1960&rsquo / s around Europe in order to define the groups, who are faced to material and socio-cultural deprivation due to the difficulties experienced by the Welfare States. This study assumes that street children can be explained in the context of social exclusion. Employing qualitative methods, this study main aim of this study is to understand the reasons for children to start working on street. After the introductory chapter, Chapter II provides a theoretical framework, in which street children and the concept of social exclusion are examined. Chapter III focuses on the findings from the life histories of children who work/live on streets of Ankara. Chapter IV contains the information about the interviews with social workers and a comparison part, in which two types of information, is analyzed in the context of Social Exclusion.

The South Australian Rann Labor government elected in 2002 became the first in the nation to address ‘social exclusion’ through the implementation of a Social Inclusion Initiative. The increasingly popular term ‘social exclusion’ was first used overseas in the early 1970s to describe serious symptoms of socio-economic disadvantage linked with global economic restructuring. Taking the South Australian policy initiative as a point of departure, this thesis provides a multi-layered analysis of social exclusion discourses and policy approaches, exploring their significance in the context of Australia’s shifting welfare state terrain. In so doing, the thesis seeks to break new ground both at general theory and specific case study levels by utilising a regulation approach (RA) to test the research hypothesis that ‘social inclusion’ policies are reflective of a transitional neoliberal (or, in some instances, Third Way) mode of social regulation which is inadequate to arrest rising socio-economic inequality linked to the collapse of the post-war ‘Fordist-Keynesian’ consensus. The cross-disciplinary regulation approach is a method of inquiry used to analyse spatially and temporally specific shifts in phases of capitalist accumulation and the different policy and institutional arrangements that support accumulation in each phase. The complex and interrelated institutional shifts at the Australian national level are critical to understanding the origins and impact of ‘social inclusion’ policies. Hence the adoption of this type of policy approach at the South Australian state level is considered in a broader national political economic context where the phenomenon of social exclusion is located within national welfare to work reforms. By applying a regulationist lens to examine the global concept of social exclusion in a local and broader national setting, the thesis offers empirical evidence to one of the ‘missing links’ in the ‘post-Fordist’ literature. That is, it contributes to the debate about whether nascent neoliberal or Third Way modes of social regulation have potential to stabilise capitalism’s inherent crisis tendencies, or whether they merely extend a period of institutional searching. The thesis concludes that the South Australian Social Inclusion Initiative in various ways appears to be not only partial and inadequate in its own terms, but fundamentally in conflict with the South Australian government’s broader policy objectives. In short, it shows that the Initiative has inadequate capacity to address the impact of global structural changes that have caused the polarisation of wealth and increasing poverty. Furthermore, it is argued that this approach attempts to suppress class dissent by silencing potential critics, and fails to intersect with or compensate for national level policies which have served to depress wages and simultaneously reduce the welfare safety net. It is concluded from these findings that these policies do not have the capacity to contribute to an equitable or sustainable new mode of social regulation. The thesis argues that a more comprehensive approach to ‘social inclusion’ is required in the post-Keynesian era and proposes further research to this end. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1348509 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2008