Policies in Reducing the Process of Social Exclusion - Essay Example

Policies in Reducing the Process of Social Exclusion Introduction: The chronicle of human kind is filled with accounts of lawlessness, deprivation of rights to live, discrimination and social injustice whose victims throughout the history have ranged from mere children to youth to adult men and women and elderly people. One injustice led to another and the solution to these injustices found by the victimized people often included illegitimate ways. And of those injustices discrimination and prejudice has always played a central role leading to systematic disadvantage. Discrimination still occurs even in the most advanced and developed countries at all levels and in all forms. People can be discriminated on the basis of gender, race, religion, income, education, background and social and economical status. With varying levels of discrimination, every sort of organization is affected by it. Such discriminated people tend to be excluded from the society and deprived of their rights; these people are generally poorer than the rest. Because of being socially excluded and poorer, these are the people who end up with no jobs and spend most of their time in unemployment or doing low jobs. Some people out of these find unlawful ways easier to earn money and they practice it increasing the crime rate in the society. Exclusion is gestated through many social processes such as cultural, physical, institutional, mental, spatial (geographical), political or economical. The term ‘social exclusion’ was first originated in England and France where it was made a part of their law. When a society excludes a person on the basis of race, income, social status etc. that person is considered to be the ‘socially excluded’. He’s deprived of a normal income which lets him fall under the poverty line. He is also deprived of various rights and job opportunities. Social Exclusion is also defined as a multidimensional process which halts social progress by breaking away groups of people and individuals from the society and its institutions and the lack of opportunities given to him to participate in, for the development of the society in which he lives. Poverty, on the other hand, can be understood as a state in which the sufferer is unable to afford the basic human needs and necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution. Relative poverty, however, is the condition in which the victim has fewer resources or income as compared to the average income of the people living within the same society. Youth crime or juvenile delinquency (sociological term used for youth crime) generally involves youth aged 10-17 acting against the law in an illegitimate manner. Their penalties are on the whole less severe than that of adults. Youth crime is generally the outcome of discrimination, poverty, and injustice and its intensity depends upon the social, economical and cultural conditions in a country (United Nations 1995). Many justice systems have been set up in countries to prevent juvenile delinquency but their popularity is at an all-time low. For example in a survey conducted in 2003 in England and Wales by the Institute of Criminal Policy Research (ICRP) (Hough & Roberts 2003), on the public opinion of youth crime and youth justice, 75% of the people who took the survey believed that the crime rate of youth has grown and increased over the past two years (which, according to the report, is true, but for few crimes) while the official records in the police department show a considerable decrease in the overall youth crime in the states. Though justice systems are in use to lessen and be in command of youth crime, yet youth crime will continue unless resource and opportunities are provided to everyone devoid of any discrimination. The links between social exclusion leading to poverty and then to youth crime are discussed in this paper. After grabbing the concept of social exclusion we will be looking in detail at the concepts of youth exclusion, poverty and youth crime and then with the help of social perspectives will analyze these issues. Body of Essay (Explanation): Social exclusion is often alleged as a cycle of components including poverty, unemployment and social isolation (United Nations Development Program 2006). These components are often inter-related and influence each other resulting in insecurity and denial from multiple resources. Unemployment is normally the starting step of this vicious cycle causing deprivation and also caused by lack of resources. With no income, the situation leads to a dreadful condition of living and with persistent state of unemployment, the risk of falling beneath the poverty line increases. But who excluded these people and who sets the standards? The process of exclusion of groups of people from a society is done in both willing ways and unconsciously. In many countries, social exclusion is mentioned in the laws of institutions of a country or of an organization. For example in Pakistan a woman’s evidence is counted as half as compared to that of a man (Department for International Development 2005). In many other countries, exclusion is practiced unofficially. For example in Saudi Arabia women are given rights to participate in political elections but that does not mean they’ll be selected. Sometimes social exclusion is done accidentally and without any intention. For example due to lack of resources, handicapped people are not given employment opportunities or on the basis of some prejudice in the organization or society. Racial discrimination in this regard is another example. A survey conducted by the University of Chicago in 2003 found that job applicants with names that sounded of African or Asian origin such as LaKisha or Jamal were twice as less likely to be called back for an interview as compared to the names that sounded British or “White” (Taylor 2003). Though it may be accidental but it often results in de-motivation and the victimized people lose their self-confidence. And if such a situation is faced by a worker or even a student, their output will eventually become less effective if they are aware of the fact that certain prejudices relating to the person’s character are being used to judge them. Then there is spatial exclusion which results when people are excluded from the society not on the basis of who they are but where the live. If a person of a village or a town with proper education tries and seeks a job in a developed city, the employers will automatically give him lesser consideration as compared to a candidate who is from the same city or a more developed city. Now with such type of social exclusions, many people are affected and are denied their basic rights. Discriminating against the identity of people and rejecting their potential and prospective future results in poverty, not only of an individual but that of a whole society (Department for International Development 2005). The powerlessness of socially excluded people is exploited by those who are in power. They may be given an employment status but inequality may surface on the income rate. This concept is much explained in the theories given by Max Weber and Karl Marx. One of the theories, the social closure theory, explains that the groups in power maximize their own benefits creating a group and excluding those members who do not fulfill the requirements of that group. Those standards are also created by the people in power. Weber used the term ‘closure’ to refer to as subordination (Murphy 1988) and according to him one group who is in power, benefits from resources by closing off these resources to inferior and ineligible people (whose inferiority is defined by the characteristics given to them by the people in power). Youth exclusion is a sub-part of social exclusion. This term specifically targets youth who are deprived and excluded from the society on the similar basis as that of socially excluded people but generally resources of organizations and institutions are kept from them. Normally the process of exclusion contains two groups: excluders and the people who are excluded. In case of youth exclusion, the excluded are the youth and by and large the excluders are the people of older generations who keep the resources from youth fearing their resources would cut short if they let the youth infiltrate in the organizations. This sort of behavior by the elderly is shown in governmental organizations where rank, grade, position and age calls for respect. Even if the person in their subordination is highly skilled, he would remain in their subordination unless the ‘politics’ of the older generation let him progress. This is one of the major reasons of less progress towards development in the developing countries. The youth of a nation who are much more energetic, active, lively and ready to learn, when deprived of such progress are led to being low spirited. They survive on their parent’s income and are forced to be dependent on them, prolonging their duration of unemployment. Many problems arise from the process of social exclusion and poverty is considered to be the major one as well as the inequality caused by this course. Poverty can be relative or it can be absolute. In absolute poverty the poverty line is defined, people below this line are poor and above this line are not. The poverty line is defined by setting a minimum income to be earned by an individual in any society around the world. A survey conducted by Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2000 on the poverty and social exclusion in Britain found that one in six people, which made up 17% of the sample, considered themselves and their families to be living in ‘absolute poverty’ as defined by the United Nations and 43% of the total sample had no paid work (Gordon 2000). But in relative poverty the poor are seen as the people who have lesser resources or earn less as that of the rest of the people living in the same society. This concept is dynamic and changes from society to society. Absolute poverty is about the powerlessness of people to afford basic necessities of life such as clothing, shelter and food. An individual under absolute poverty will remain there for a longer period as that of a person under relative poverty. Relative poverty refers to people who are not like the rest of the people i.e. majority, who make up the society (Bourguignon 1999). Studies show that poverty rates in Britain have risen sharply. In 1983, 14% of households lacked three or more necessities because they could not afford them. In 1990, this proportion increased to about 21% and to over 24% by 1999. At the end of 1999, 26% which makes about a quarter of the British population were living in poverty, measured in terms of low income and multiple deprivations of necessities (Gordon 2000). If the relative poverty is considered in a society, sometimes it so happens that even with the economical growth, some people still remain poor and this phenomenon is also considered as ‘permanent relative poverty’ (Bourguignon 1999). Such people have no chance, whatsoever, of development and progress and a larger income than that of the defined one. They are ensnared in the trap of low-income earners. These people can try hard as they may, but due to the structural barriers and lack of policies they may never get to the level of people who earn a decent amount of money and thus remain below the poverty line. At such a point, when no hope is visible for them to earn enough money to support themselves or their family, such people get into a state of mind that it is rational to go for illegitimate ways to earn money as they see no probability of earning enough money as compared to the society they live in. In these circumstances, the acts of juvenile delinquency take birth. Young people when deprived of their rights find it legit to go for unlawful ways which they repeatedly see (white-collar crimes). The conflict theory of Karl Marx covers up the topic of juvenile delinquency fairly. Karl Marx’s ideas gave birth to the conflict theory. His ideas were centered on the struggle of classes to overcome the classes under whose subordination they worked. Marx believed that the conflict occurred between two classes: Bourgeoisie (excluders) and proletariat (excluded). Unlike functionalists, conflict theorists believed that the rich and the elite compel their manipulated justice systems and social orders on the middle class. They design education, family and justice systems according to what benefits them. The excluders use law and law-enforcement agencies as well as justice systems to their own cause, which results in severe injustice with the middle and lower class (Giddens, 2006). Options left with them include either adopting the illegal ways and solutions to rise to the level of the dominant class by siding with the elite and leave the poor people to their state. In this process, the rights of the lower-class which are already not given to them by the systems governing them, is once again disregarded. Critique The process of social exclusion is the core problem of all the problems that arise from it. It excludes group of people or individuals from a society on many basis of discrimination such as religion, race, income and social status. This social exclusion results in low self-confidence of the affected people and even lower efficiency in the work performed, once it is obvious to the effected people that their performance is being judged on the basis of ‘who they are’. Poverty, injustice, increase in crime rate and all such prejudices that follow it are the outcomes of social exclusion of people on the basis of discrimination. Though many nations have progressed but these problems still persist. Poverty can be absolute in which the people cannot afford basic necessities of life and their income rate is set with the comparison of nations. Relative poverty, however, includes the people who are poorer or lack the resources that rest of the people, living in the society as they are, had. When the probability of earning income above the poverty line is zero, the excluded people find it rational to commit crimes and earn money in illegal ways, which increases insecurity in a society and thus, results in increase in juvenile delinquency. Conclusion If policies are made to reduce the process of social exclusion it will also help in the process of poverty reduction. Job opportunities should be provided at every level and racial and class discrimination should be practiced less by the ruling organizations to help in the diminution of crimes and poverty. References Bourguignon, F. (1999) Absolute poverty, relative deprivation and social exclusion, Villa Borsig Workshop Series: Inclusion, Justice, and Poverty Reduction Department for International Development (2005) Policy Paper on: Reducing Poverty by Tackling Social Exclusion Giddens, A. (2006) Sociology Ed. 5, Polity Press: UK Gordon, D. (2000) Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation Hough & Roberts, (2003) Youth Crime and Youth Justice: Public Opinion in England and Wales, The Nuffield Foundation, Institute for Criminal Policy Research Murphy, R. (1988) Social closure: the Theory of Monopolization and Exclusion, Oxford University Press: New York Taylor, K. (2003) Civil rights and civil wrongs: Racism in America today, International Socialist Review, Issue 32 United Nations (1995) The World Program of Action on Youth on Juvenile Delinquency, A Report by Youth and the United Nations United Nations Development Program (in Croatia) (2006) Poverty, Unemployment and Social Exclusion Read More