Links Between Poverty, Marginalization, and Crisis - Essay Example

?Introduction Poverty and social exclusion play a critical role in the overall well-being and mental health of millions of people. With the increasing incidences of poverty and social exclusion more and more people are falling into crisis and resultantly are developing issues such as suicide. Poverty, marginalization and resulting crisis therefore is considered as one of the major cause of health related inequalities in the world. These statistics also vary from region to region and also outline as to how someone can be relegated to the fringe of the society. Marginalization or social exclusion has multiple dimensions and is often interpreted from differently in the academia. It has economic as well as social connotations also wherein it also has significance in the field of psychology too. Marginalization is considered as a process wherein individuals or even entire communities are actually marginalized from their rights. Some of the key reasons can be political however; the links between the poverty and marginalization are well established. What is also critical to note that marginalization due to poverty can often lead to the suicide and other tendencies which further create crisis in the lives of individuals as well as the communities. The resulting traumas and psychological pressure on the individuals as well as on communities often reaches to a point where it becomes relatively out of reach to live a mentally stable life. Suicide therefore is often one of the common outcomes of any such phenomenon. (Pantazis, Gordon, & Levitas, 2006) This paper will explore and analyze the link between the poverty, marginalization, crisis with relation to the suicide. Poverty, Marginalization, Crisis and Suicide Marginalization as well as social exclusion are often used interchangeably and outline the situation wherein individuals as well as societies are often denied of their rights. Some of the rights include rights to having adequate housing, employment, healthcare etc. This marginalization is often the result of the poverty and other socio-economic situations where individuals face stringent economic situation of poverty. At the individual level, marginalization actually results into less meaningful participation by the individual within the society. Women are considered as one of the prime examples of marginalization and social exclusion and were subject to less welfare benefits as compared to men wen overall welfare system was evolving within the country. Further, disabled people are also considered marginalized because of their absence from the workforce. Poverty and related conditions are often the result of the inequalities prevailing within the society. Poverty therefore signifies both the social as well as economic disparities as well as other social factors. These inequalities are often considered as the violation of the fundamental human rights of the individuals including their right to social participation. Psychologists believe that social exclusion as well as the poverty and resulting crisis often result into lack of development of the skills and capabilities of the individuals to help them contribute positively towards the society. If the poverty persists, further marginalization occurs through intergroup conflicts, further inequalities, discrimination as well as other barriers to social cohesion of such individuals. (Parodi & Sciulli, 2011) It is also critical to note that the poor mental health is often considered as one of the consequence of the poverty and poverty often further leaders to social exclusion and marginalization besides creating further crisis in an individual’s life. What is also important to understand that these factors are often interconnected with each other causing further deterioration of a person’s mental and physical health? Marginalization in terms of social relations can lead to deprivation which can further lead to other issues such as malnutrition or homelessness. Such factors further contribute towards the creation of suicidal tendencies within the individuals and often pose greater risk to the overall health and life of individuals. What is also important is the fact that all those factors contribute towards the deprivation of capabilities of the individuals which further force them into the social exclusion, poverty and crisis. One of the key to marginalization and poverty is the unemployment which results into psychological misery, harm as well as ill health and higher rates of mortality. Persistent and sustained level of unemployment not only creates social exclusion but also force individuals to find new groups to formulate social relationships. Such new groups however, are often considered as more detrimental and result into discouragement and help develop cynicism. (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003) Various studies on the positive psychology have clearly established the link between the employment and psychological well-being of the individuals. Poor and unemployed people often face this strong consequence of psychological pressures as well as other related issues which force them to develop suicidal tendencies within them. It is also critical to note that marginalization often occurs in groups which are more vulnerable to suicide. Women, girls, refugees, migrants, rural population as well as minorities are considered as prime groups which are more vulnerable to the marginalization and crisis which can subsequently lead to their suicides and other health related issues. Marginalization also has different dimensions and the economic deprivation/poverty dimension coupled with social/welfare dimension of social exclusion can result into an increase in the suicidal mortality within the males. However, the data on females within Europe is considered as controversial. It is however, suggested that marginalization as well as poverty may be one of the key factors of suicides within Europe specially. Marginalization as well as poverty is often characterized by the lack of social connection, unequal access to resources as well as social isolation. All these factors are considered as contributory factors for committing suicides and increase the overall risk of committing the same. It is also because of this reason that social inclusion is often considered as one of the important methods for reducing the overall suicidal mortality because by ensuring social inclusion, some of the causes of poverty are actually being eliminated to reduce the incidences of suicide related with marginalization and poverty. (UNDP, 2006) Though in most of the aspects marginalization is associated with the poverty and crisis however, in cases where it is related with factors like age, there are certain other factors at play. A study shows the suicidal trends in the elderly facing the social exclusion despite the fact that they have better economic standing and status. It has been suggested that those elderly people who live with their families tend to have low rates of suicidal mortality as compared to those who are not living with their families. Admiration and the contribution of elderly towards the society also play an important role in deciding about the marginalization. In some European countries, the contribution made by the elderly during their youth is regarded highly whereas in some other countries, the same is not viewed with much admiration. Such factors therefore can result into systematic discrimination against the elderly and create bias and social exclusion for them. As such the overall attitude of the society especially towards elderly defines their marginalization and subsequent suicide trends within them. Further, if elderly are given an extended run within the labor market, it may further reduce the suicidal mortality within them. (Yur'yev A, et al., 2010) There is also an important gap between the marginalization and poverty and how it actually applies to different situations. Poverty is considered as a regional phenomenon wherein certain societies as well as individuals are considered as rich where some other is poor however, marginalization is often a global phenomenon with much larger consequences. Poverty often leads to marginalization and crisis and subsequently to suicide however, it may not be necessary that marginalization leads to poverty because marginalization has relatively diverse connotations and implications. Conclusion Poverty and social exclusion play a critical role in the overall well-being and mental health of millions of people. With the increasing incidences of poverty and social exclusion more and more people are falling into crisis and resultantly are developing issues such as suicide. Poverty, marginalization and resulting crisis therefore is considered as one of the major cause of health related inequalities in the world. There are various factors which actually can contribute towards poverty as well as marginalization and some of the factors are peculiar to create the suicidal tendencies within the individuals. All these factors however, are considered as interconnected with each other. The occurrence of one factor often leads to the development of another and as such a chain reaction of different causes and effects actually lead to the suicides of the individuals. Lack of social connection, cynicism as well as discouragement are some of the factors which directly result into development of suicidal tendencies within marginalized population. It is however; also critical to note that marginalization may be a global phenomenon whereas poverty is often a regional phenomenon. Various studies on the suicides committed by the elderly people with European Union suggest that recognition, retention with the labor market as well as praise for the economic status of the elderly results into fewer suicides among them. Besides, if elderly are living with their families and are not as marginalized as others may have low level of suicides as compared to elderly who are more socially and psychological marginalized. Bibliography A, Y., L, L., LM, T., Sisask, M., Varnik, P., Wu , J., et al. (2010). Social inclusion affects elderly suicide mortality. Int Psychogeriatrics, 22(8), 1337-1343. Pantazis, C., Gordon, D., & Levitas, R. (2006). Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain: The Millennium Survey. London: The Policy Press. Parodi, G., & Sciulli, D. (2011). Social Exclusion: Short and Long Term Causes and Consequences. London: Springer. UNDP. (2006). Poverty, Unemployment and Social Exclusion. Retrieved December 02, 2013, from UNDP: http://www.undp.hr/upload/file/104/52080/FILENAME/Poverty,%20Unemployment%20and%20Social%20Exclusion.pdf Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. (2003). Social determinants of health: the solid facts. Geneva: World Health Organization. Read More