Psychosocial studies degree (module topic: experiences of childhood - Essay Example

There are different groups that are at risk of social exclusion. One of them is of children whose religion is different then most of the others- for instance, Muslims or Jews in Europe, where most are Christian. Similarly, children from a different race are also likely to be excluded. These contain black, Hispanic, Indian and other children, whose origins arent similar to most childrens. Also, social exclusion can exist between both genders, as boys and girls fight amongst themselves and may exclude the other group.

Finally, there is the group of children whose social-economic status is low, that are extremely likely to be socially excluded. These can be children from families suffering from poverty, or rather children from dysfunctional families or ones who are at foster care. Those who come from a poor background are different from the others because they cant afford things everyone else can, and this is sometimes seen in their appearance. This leads to their being teased and excluded (Pamela A., 2006).

As for the children who are at care, they often do not receive emotional support and care, and are not raised in conditions which children need while growing up. Consequently, these children tend to behave badly at school, receive low grades and not make many friends and form social relationships with other children. These are all reasons why they are socially excluded. The current conditions of children in the latter group (those which do not have the support of a loving family) are beyond bad, they are dire!

A study done on 114 children at foster care, revealed only 42% achieved passing grades (Desmond K.R & Carolyn L.G, 1985). Moreover, another study was done by the Chapin Hall Centre for children at the University of Chicago on children of foster care in a 3-state area in the US. It revealed that only half the teenagers polled can read at a 7th grade level, about one-third have repeated a grade, and nearly 20 percent