No / This paper draws on ethnographic research in Tanzania to question ideas inherent to mainstream development policy that building social capital can be readily created, used, or substituted for other missing assets, and thereby overcome poverty. The poorest experience clusters of interlocking disadvantage that make it highly unlikely that they can draw on social capital to ameliorate their poverty, or that increased association and participation at community level is necessarily beneficial to them. Moreover, social relationships, collective action, and local institutions may structurally reproduce the exclusion of the poorest. As such, a politically neutral and undersocialized policy focus on strengthening associational life and public participation of the poor is unlikely to lead to their greater inclusion, nor to significant poverty alleviation.

No / Public discourse in Britain sees teenage motherhood as a pernicious social problem where mothers, their children and society generally will all suffer. Fathers are seen as feckless. This is reflected in New Labour's teenage pregnancy strategy, which understands teenage parents as victims of ignorance, mis-information, and low expectations. But a review of the research evidence finds that the age at which pregnancy occurs has little effect on social outcomes. Many teenage mothers describe how motherhood makes them feel stronger, and marks a change for the better. Many fathers seek to remain connected with their children. For both, parenting seems to provide an impetus to take up education, training and employment. Teenage parenting may be more of an opportunity than a catastrophe, and often makes sense in the life worlds inhabited by young mothers. The paper ends by asking how we can explain this yawning gulf between the experience of teenage parenting and policy, and concludes that this largely rests on assumptions of rational choice, in turn creating a `rationality mistake'.

Tyrimo objektas – vaikų iš socialinės atskirties šeimų psichosocialinės adaptacijos ypatumai. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti 8 – 9 klasių vaikų iš socialinės atskirties šeimų psichosocialinės adaptacijos ypatumus. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. nustatyti 8 – 9 klasių vaikų iš socialinės atskirties šeimų psichosocialinės adaptacijos ypatumus. 2. palyginti vaikų, augančių socialinės atskirties šeimose ir vaikų ne iš socialinių atskirties šeimų psichosocialinę adaptaciją. 3. palyginti berniukų ir mergaičių psichosocialinę adaptaciją atskirai vaikų, augančių socialinės atskirties šeimose ir vaikų ne iš socialinių atskirties šeimų grupėse. Tyrimo metodai: kiekybinis empirinis tyrimas: apklausa raštu, naudojant uždaro tipo klausimyną (K. Rogers ir R. Dymond psichosocialinės adaptacijos klausimynas). Išvados: 1. Tyrimu atskleista, kad 8 – 9 klasių paauglių iš socialinės atskirties šeimų psichosocialinė adaptacija yra šiek tiek aukštesnė už vidutinį psichosocialinės adaptacijos lygį nurodomą šiai amžiaus grupei. Nustatyta, kad tiriamų vaikų iš socialinės atskirties šeimų psichosocialinės adaptacijos komponento „savęs vertinimas“ subskalė turi aukščiausią vidutinį balą (75,36±13,43 balai), o „polinkio dominuoti“ subskalė – žemiausią (37,81±17,92 balai). 2. Lyginant tiriamuosius nustatėme, kad tirto amžiaus vaikai iš socialinės atskirties šeimų yra linkę mažiau dominuoti (37,81±17,92 balai) nei jų bendraamžiai ne iš socialinės atskirties šeimų (46,91±17,05 balai) (p=0,03). Kitų abiejų grupių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of research – peculiarities of psychosocial adjustment of children from the families of social exclusion. The aim of research – reveal peculiarities of psychosocial adjustment of 8 – 9 form children from the families of social exclusion. The goals of research: 1. Define peculiarities of psychosocial adjustment of 8 – 9 form children from the families of social exclusion. 2. Compare psychosocial adjustment of children, growing in the families of social exclusion and children not from families of social exclusion. 3. Compare psychosocial adjustment of boys and girls, separately and in groups, growing in the families of social exclusion and not from families of social exclusion. The methods of research: quantitative empiric method: written questioning, using closed questionnaire (K. Rogers and R. Dymond questionnaire of psychosocial adjustment). Conclusions: 1. The research reveals that psychosocial adjustment of 8 – 9 form teenagers from the families of social exclusion is a bit higher than average level of psychosocial adjustment specified for this age group. It is defined that the subscale of the component „self-esteem“ of psychosocial adjustment of investigated children from the families of social exclusion has the highest average point (75.36±13.43 points), the subscale of „the tendency to dominate“ – the lowest (37.81±17.92 points). 2. Comparing the research, it was found that children of investigated age from the families of social exclusion are tend to... [to full text]

Darbo tema: Nakvynės namuose gyvenančių vaikų adaptacijos ypatumai Vilniaus miesto mokyklose (vaikų, jų tėvų ir socialinių darbuotojų vertinimas). Darbo problema ir naujumas. Vaikų iš nakvynės namų adaptacija mokykloje yra aktuali problema, nes mokinys, sunkiai adaptuodamasis mokykloje, patiria nesėkmę, dažnai netenka noro mokytis, silpnėja jo mokymosi motyvacija – tai daro neigiamą įtaką jo tolimesniam gyvenimui. Neturėdami noro ar galimybių lankyti mokyklas ir įgyti išsilavinimą, benamiai vaikai neįgyja įgūdžių ir žinių, kurie ateityje padėtų jiems išsivaduoti iš skurdo. Norint keisti tokią situaciją, labai svarbu sukaupti kuo daugiau informacijos apie tokių vaikų gyvenimo problemas, sąlygas ir šeimos gyvenimo aplinkybes bei adaptacijos problemas. Lietuvoje benamių vaikų problemoms skirtų mokslinių darbų turime nedaug. Tai dažniausiai pavieniai straipsniai, kuriuose pateikiama empirinė tyrimų medžiaga, liečianti benamių vertybes, jų asmenybės ypatumus, gyvenimo sąlygas. Konkrečių tyrimų apie nakvynės namuose gyvenančius vaikus nėra. Taigi benamių vaikų adaptacijos problema mokykloje nėra plačiai išplėtota, o statistiniai duomenys nėra aiškūs, nes dažnai tokie vaikai tik paminimi trumpai. Šio darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti vaikų, gyvenančių nakvynės namuose, adaptacijos mokykloje problemas ir ypatumus. Ginamieji teiginiai: • Nakvynės namuose gyvenantiems vaikams mokykloje būdingi maišto ir atsiskyrimo socialinės adaptacijos tipai. • Nesėkmingą nakvynės namuose gyvenančių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Subject of study: The peculiarities of children living in housing/homeless shelter adaptation in Vilnius city schools (evaluation of children, their parents and social workers). Problem and novelty of the study: the adaptation in schools of children from homeless shelters is a relevant problem because while student is heavily adapting in school, he experiences failure, often looses intention to learn, the motivation to learn also weakens so it influences the rest of his life. Since children have no intention or possibilities to go to school and to get an education therefore homeless children do not gain skills and knowledge which could help them to escape from poverty in the future. In order to change this situation it is very important to collect as much information about children life problems, conditions, circumstances of their family life and also adaptation problems. There are jus few scientific studies in Lithuania about the problems of homeless children. It is often just articles which contains empirical studies information associated with the values of homeless people, their personal peculiarities and living conditions. There are no specific studies about children living in housing/homesless shelters. Thus the problem of homeless children adaptation in schools is not widely developed and statistical data is not clear because homeless children are just slightly mentioned. The purpose of this study is to analyze problems and peculiarities of adaptation in schools of... [to full text]

Based in a sample of middle class participants from Lima city (n = 81), intergroup relations’ dynamic is analyzed. Considering the stereotypes and prejudices towards diverse ethnic groups, higher and lower status groups in the society are identified following their possibili- ties of power access. Results are analyzed in terms of social, cultural, cognitive and affective processes that mediate intergroup relations and result in social exclusion demonstrations. Finally, these results suggest that the institutionalization of exclusion practices is a culturalform of power perpetuation promoted by dominant groups. / A partir de una muestra de personas de clase media de la ciudad de Lima (n = 81), se analiza la dinámica de las relaciones intergrupales en el Perú. Basándonos en los estereotipos y prejuicios hacia diversos grupos étnicos encontramos la existencia de grupos de alto y bajo estatus, cuya situación es percibida en función a sus posibilidades de acceso al poder. Las implicancias de estos resultados se analizan en términos de los procesos sociales, culturales, cognitivos y afectivos que median las relaciones intergrupales y que derivan en la manifestación de la exclusión social. Finalmente, estos resultados nos llevan a considerar que la institucionalización de las prácticas de exclusión surge como una manera de preservar el poder de los grupos dominantes.

The diploma thesis deals with the definition and explanation of the terms primary prevention, endangered child, social exclusion and the context of social exclusion or endangerment of a child by social exclusion with primary prevention. Component part of the work is a detection tool that can help kindergarten teachers in evaluating the child and his situation, so that any problems can be detected in time. Areas that the detection tool deals with and how it has been evolved are described here. It also suggests possible procedures for solving problems based on the cooperation of the kindergarten teacher with a special pedagogue. It points out the shortcomings of the current system and suggests possible changes to the system with regard to streamlining the primary prevention of endangering children (in kindergartens). Component part of the diploma thesis is research based on qualitative and quantitative methods, especially interviews and questionnaire surveys, the aim of which was, among other things, to map the primary prevention of threats to children in kindergartens and to map compulsory preschool attendance. Primary prevention of endangering children in kindergartens is not possible, primarily for children with disabilities or at risk of social exclusion, and with regard to this issue it is...

The neighbourhood became one of the key sites for urban policy development during the previous New Labour government, and Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders were amongst their final strategies to combat “the most difficult problems faced by deprived neighbourhoods” (SEU 2000:5). This thesis explores the process of neighbourhood management in the coastal town of Ilfracombe, Devon. Ilfracombe features the characteristics of decline found in a number of coastal towns across the country, and suffers from high levels of deprivation (House of Commons Report 2006). Consequently, the neighbourhood management pathfinder ‘Transform’ was deployed in Ilfracombe in an attempt to address high deprivation. This thesis uses empirical findings collected through interviews and focus groups to examine the process of ‘Transform’, from its conception to its practical operation. It specifically considers the ‘voices’ of residents whose opinions and experiences, as targets of neighbourhood intervention are not always sufficiently documented within policy narratives. Consequently, the thesis unravels the process of neighbourhood management through findings generated by qualitative research ‘on the ground’. These are then examined through the lens of governmentality, allowing the methods, practice and outcomes of government, to be unpacked through a presentation of my empirical findings (Foucault 1991). These examinations take a particular interest in notions of community engagement and participation, partnership working, and the process of social exclusion. Here, partnership is demonstrated to be a tentative and fragile process underlined by local histories and differing temporal frameworks for action. But, this research also demonstrates that joint working can be improved through neighbourhood management which widens routes of communication to officers ‘on the ground’. However, what this thesis hopes to demonstrate most strongly is the continuing depth of problems felt by residents in Ilfracombe and that the process of ‘inclusion’ through paid work and ‘active’ citizenship, underlined in Labour’s neighbourhood renewal strategies, is not tackling some of the main problems of ‘deprived’ neighbourhoods, as experienced by the residents themselves.

The main purpose of this thesis is introducing and proposing perceived accessibility as an important and so far overseen complement to conventional, objective accessibility in sustainable transport. Perceived accessibility is defined as the possibilities and ease of engaging in preferred activities using different transport modes. Implications for sustainable transport planning along with possible social outcomes related to perceived accessibility are also discussed.   The thesis comprises two empirical studies. In Study I a psychometric measure (PAC) that captures perceived accessibility was developed and validated in three different datasets by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. All data was collected in Karlstad, Sweden in 2013 and 2014 with a total of 750 participants (bus travelers). Perceived accessibility is suggested as a complement to objective accessibility by contributing with the traveler perspective.  Study II aimed at examining determinants of perceived accessibility focusing on service quality aspects, feelings of safety, age, and trip frequency. Study II used the same data as Study I in a conditional process model to look at the relations between perceived accessibility and its proposed determinants. Service quality and feelings of safety were found important predictors of perceived accessibility, and safety also explains part of the effect of quality on perceived accessibility. These relationships were not dependent on trip frequency (as in how often one travels by public transport). Age also predicted perceived accessibility, and a follow-up cluster analysis showed that elderly and people in their thirties experience significantly lower perceived accessibility than other age groups. / Denna licentiatuppsats behandlar upplevd tillgänglighet, det vill säga resenärsperspektivet på tillgänglighet, som ett viktigt komplement till konventionell (objektiv) tillgänglighet inom hållbart resande. Uppsatsen introducerar upplevd tillgänglighet och dess nytta och plats i forskningen samt implikationer för planering och utvärdering av hållbara transporter. Vidare behandlas påverkansfaktorer för upplevd tillgänglighet samt relaterade individuella utfall som subjektivt välbefinnande och social exkludering/inkludering utifrån teori och empiri.   Uppsatsen innefattar två empiriska studier. Studie I utvecklar och testar ett psykometriskt mätinstrument för upplevd tillgänglighet med data från tre enkät-tillfällen (n= 750) i Karlstad. Dataset 1 analyserades med explorativ faktoranalys för att få fram ett instrument som fångar upplevd tillgänglighet (PAC) och validerades därefter i två dataset. Studie II avsåg att undersöka vad som bidrar till upplevd tillgänglighet med fokus på kvalitetsattribut i resan (service quality), resenärens upplevda trygghet, samt ålder och resvana. Samma data som i studie I användes i en conditional process model för att undersöka sambanden, samt i en klusteranalys för att ytterligare undersöka skillnader i resultatet mellan olika grupper av resenärer. Resultatet visar att upplevd tillgänglighet kan ha betydelse som komplement till befintliga mätningar och utvärderingar av tillgänglighet genom att bidra med resenärsperspektivet. Ett antal påverkansfaktorer för upplevd tillgänglighet kan konstateras, däribland kvalitet samt resenärens upplevda känsla av trygghet. Betydelsen av kvalitet för tillgänglighet är densamma oavsett hur ofta man reser, däremot upplever de som reser ofta en signifikant högre tillgänglighet än de som reser sällan. Äldre resenärer och resenärer i 30-årsåldern påvisar signifikant lägre upplevd tillgänglighet. / This thesis proposes perceived accessibility as a complement to conventional accessibility in sustainable transport planning and evaluation. Perceived accessibility is defined as the possibilities and ease of engaging in preferred activities using different transport modes and captures the traveller experience and perspective of accessibility. The thesis introduces an instrument for measuring perceived accessibility (PAC) along with determinants for perceived accessibility, such as feelings of safety, age, and perceived quality. Related social outcomes such as social inclusion and subjective well-being are discussed, along with possible implications for transport planning and suggestions for future research.

The dissertation analyzes labour market projects co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) targeting unemployed migrants and ethnicized groups. The analysis is qualitative, discourse-oriented and based on Foucault’s concept of governmentality. More specifically, it is highlighted how the target groups are ethnicized through discourses of employability and learning. The thesis consists of four articles. In the first three articles, focus is mainly on how the projects present themselves through their project descriptions in the ESF project bank and the fourth article is mainly based on ethnographic material. Overall, this dissertation highlights different aspects of inclusion work directed towards migrants and ethnicized target groups that can be seen as problematic and sometimes contradictory. Tendencies to individualize unemployment and thus positioning the unemployed project participants as responsible for their situation is interrogated in the thesis. Further, it is analyzed how culture and ethnicity is used in ways that are likely to strengthen the target groups ‘Otherness’ in relation to a ‘Swedishness’ that often become synonymous with what is perceived as normal and thus widening the gap between ‘us’ and ‘them’ when the stated goal is the opposite. This dissertation can serve as a starting point to reflect on how inclusion efforts and labour market projects seeking to produce social inclusion and employability may be at risk to categorize people in different ways, which can sometimes be problematic in relation to what the efforts seek to achieve. / I avhandlingen studeras arbetsmarknadspolitiska åtgärder, i form av projekt finansierade av Europeiska socialfonden (ESF), riktade mot arbetslösa migranter och etnifierade grupper. Analysen är kvalitativ, diskursorienterad och utgår från Foucaults begrepp governmentality. Mer specifikt belyses hur projektens målgrupper etnifieras genom diskurser om anställningsbarhet och lärande. Avhandlingen består av fyra artiklar. I de tre första artiklarna fokuseras främst hur projekten framställer sig själva genom projektbeskrivningar i ESFs projektbank och den fjärde artikeln utgår främst från etnografiskt material. Sammantaget belyser avhandlingen olika aspekter - som kan ses som problematiska och ibland motsägelsefulla - av inkluderingsarbete riktat mot migranter och etnifierade målgrupper. Det handlar om tendenser att individualisera arbetslösheten och därmed i hög grad ansvariggöra de arbetslösa projektdeltagarna för sin situation. Det handlar också om att använda kultur och etnicitet på ett sätt som riskerar att förstärka målgruppernas ’annorlundahet’ i relation till den ’svenskhet’ som inte sällan blir synonymt med vad som uppfattas som normalt och på så sätt vidga gapet mellan ’vi’ och ’dem’ när den uttalade målsättningen är det motsatta. Avhandlingen kan fungera som en utgångspunkt för att reflektera kring hur inkluderingsinsatser och arbetsmarknadsprojekt riskerar att sortera och kategorisera människor på olika sätt, som kan vara problematiska i relation till vad insatserna vill uppnå.

Background Globally, there is increasing emphasis on the importance of understanding the ways in which social inequality and injustice impact individual and community mental health. Set in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, India, this thesis examines the complex relationships between individuals, communities and the social environment in relation to mental health. North India is characterised by stark gender and socio-economic inequalities and social exclusion for people with psycho-social disability (PPSD) and mental health services in these study areas were essentially absent. Community mental health competency means people are collectively able to participate in efforts to promote, prevent, treat and advocate for mental health. This thesis reflexively examines the presence and absence of community mental health competence in the upper Ganges region. Methods A mixed methods approach allowed for a multi-level examination of community mental health competence, and generated four sub-studies. In-depth interviews with thirteen PPSD and eighteen caregivers in Bijnor and Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh state) were carried out in 2013 providing data for qualitative analysis. These data were analysed using qualitative content analysis to examine experiences of exclusion and inclusion of PPSD in sub-study I, and thematic analysis to examine the gendered experiences of caregivers in sub-study II. A community based sample of 960 people in Dehradun district (Uttarakhand) were surveyed in 2014 to examine the prevalence, treatment gap and social determinants of depression in substudy III, and the attitudes and preferred social distance from people with depression and psychosis were investigated in sub-study IV. Multi-variate regression analysis in both studies was conducted with Stata software Version 13.1. Results Within the domain of knowledge, relatively low community mental health literacy, a diverse range of explanatory models of mental health, and creative and persistent efforts in helpseeking were the themes identified. Within the domain of safe social spaces, social exclusion was harsh and prevalent for PPSD, with contrasting sub-domains of belonging, social support, social participation and ahimsa (non-violence). Women were disadvantaged more than men in most spheres of caregiving. Social determinants of depression with an adjusted odds ratio of more than 2.0 included being a member of the most oppressed caste or tribal group, having taken a recent loan, and not completing primary schooling. The prevalence of depression was 6.0% in the community sample, and there was a 100% treatment gap for counselling, and a 96% treatment gap for anti-depressant therapy, even though 79% of those with depression had visited a primary care provider in the previous three months. Social determinants of health and access to care are proposed as additional domains of community mental health competency. The prevailing gender regime that values males and disadvantages women influenced every domain of community mental health competency, particularly increasing caregiver burden, social exclusion and experiences of physical violence for women.  Conclusions In this thesis I have refined and strengthened a conceptual framework that portrays community mental health competence as a tree, where foundational roots of social determinants of mental health support four branches depicting access to care, knowledge, safe social spaces and partnerships for action. This tree model proposes that all five domains must operate in unison to support action for community mental health involving: development of community knowledge; promoting social inclusion, gender equality and participation; addressing upstream health determinants; and increasing access to mental health care.