|
Add your comments: |
WHAT DO THE BIG ?BUZZ? WORDS MEAN ? - DAMMED IF I KNOW ( PAUL MC CULLOCH ) What follows are some thoughts and ideas about what exactly is meant by terms such as ?marginalised?, ?inclusion?, ?exclusion?, ?disadvantaged?, ?inpowerment? etc. It is only when I tried to define each term that I realised just how hard it was going to be. As soon as I thought of ?marginalisation? I remembered a particular school teacher of mine who insisted on the page margin in our copy books being drawn exactly 5/8? (15mm) from the edge of the page, it had to start at the first ruled line and finish at the last one and it had to be drawn in ink (not a biro, but with an ink nibbed pen). He was very particular about this margin and would dish out punishment with a cane if it and the rest of our written work did not come up to scratch, for anyone who has seen the way I write, it will not seem surprising that I was caned many times for miss-drawn margins, and scruffy writing, not to mention the ink blotches. This page was, (even if it was drawn badly), now marginalised, - it had a line defining where the writing should start from, it had a boundary and according to this teacher it should be kept crisp, neat and be positioned precisely. But what has this got to do with marginalisation in the context of society. Society sets boundaries through it?s norms. What is expected of societies members is clear to each one of us, although in most cases these norms are never written and are seldom taught in any conventional way, we are all fully aware of their existence. The lines are drawn and the boundaries are set. If you are on the right side of the margin, then you are accepted by society, if on the other hand you are on the wrong side of the line, then you are outside the margin and society soon let you know of it?s unacceptance. So then anyone who is obviously different to the accepted norm runs the risk of being seen as ?on the wrong side of the line?. Just being different does not mean that someone is marginalised. It is when society recognises their difference and treats them differently. Then they are marginalised. Being marginalised is not always a negative thing. Priests and clergy have been, and to some extent probably still are, held in reverence and treated differently by society, in Ireland. They are not expected to live with the same norms as everyone else, the have their own norms, and even when these are broken (eg. Bishop Eamon Casey) society still treats them differently and judges them in a different way. However when people or groups of people are marginalised by society, they are, in many instances viewed as threatening to the very norms that society sets, by their very existence they threaten the very society to which they are peripheral. This is a self perpetuating situation, for the people on the margins to be included requires trust on the part of those that form the bulk of the social group. It is this situation that is evident where the underlying reasons for the marginalisation are of a social stigma in nature. For instance this could be said to be the case with social groupings such as The Travelling Community. The inclusion of the travelling community to this group of marginalised people is not likely to be argued very strongly by many, they are not accepted by the majority when the live a travelling life and the are neither accepted or wanted by communities should they choose to settle - they could in fact be viewed in a no win situation. The travelling community is an obvious example of a group who are marginalised, other such groups that spring to mind would be the black population of North America, the indigenous, aboriginal population of Australia etc. But, it is the less obvious groups that are perhaps more worrying, this is not to lessen or diminish the plight and often anguish suffered by the already mentioned groups, at lest these groups know where they stand. Society is not, in very public terms behind the door about telling these groups how they are viewed, if you doubt this think of the recent issue regarding the ?right to refusal? of publicans, that debate put travellers in no doubt as to where the stand. It is the subtlety of society towards other groups of people that is to me most worrying, I speak of people who have a disability, the long term unemployed, people with a psychiatric illness, women in the home, single parents, and the list could go on. Now before rumblings of ?they have made their bed, let them lie in it? start to formulate, let me clarify my position. Yes, I agree that many people who find themselves a member of these groups are, in monetary terms at least, catered for by society, however, they are not treated in an inclusive manner. They are marginalised. Giving a person an allowance or a state benefit does nothing to lessen their degree of marginalisation or their level of disenpowerment, it merely provides a form of financial existence. For instance at present a person with a disability in Ireland, is eligible to claim ?Disabled Persons Maintenance Allowance? (DPMA), this is means tested and the maximum allowance is £64.50 per week, they are entitled to two further benefits in kind, a travel pass and a medical card. The person is allowed to earn up to £34.10 over and above this figure, without any loss of benefit, making a total cash amount of £98.60 plus the benefit in kind, equated by the department at £12.00 and £4.60 respectively. The total benefit package is then in monetary terms £114.60 per week. If the person earns more than the £34.10 then they loose the benefit in kind and their DPMA is deducted pound for pound. The implication of this being that the person is financially discouraged towards taking up full time employment, unless it pays well in excess of their total allowance package and are encouraged to take up low wage part time jobs. This allowance then, although of much needed financial help, to many who are in receipt of it traps the beneficiaries and limits their vocational choice, this too is a form of marginalisation. Keeping someone at a particular level or stratum of society, be it by financial or other means (eg. access to education) is to disempower them and heighten their propensity towards becoming marginalised. It is in essence a misguided form of social control and sadly many social policies although created to alleviate genuine need increase the control over the individual. This is in my view best portrayed by the following model; Ep = (I +K) + (T - F) - C -M, where Ep = empowerment, I = information ,K = knowledge, T = trust, F = fear, C = control (social), M = marginalisation. No, I am not going ?all mathematical? so it is safe to keep reading. The point is that disenpowerment is by definition the inverse of the above, (just change the plus and minus signs around), so it can be seen that actions to empower people must be an increase in; Information, knowledge and trust. And a decrease in; Fear, control and marginalisation. The formula may be changed around to read in terms of marginalisation; M = ( I + K ) + ( T - F ) - C - Ep ( note minus Ep = to disempowerment) So to lessen the degree to which a person or group is disempowered requires; An increase in Information, knowledge and trust. And a decrease in fear, control and disempowerment. As social control is not readily changeable either quickly or without changes in the majority of cases to social policy. Then it is beyond the scope of a group such as ours. Although that should not stop or deter us from advocating that such changes should be made. That then leaves us with the workable variables of fear, information, knowledge, trust and enpowerment. Thus it is in these areas that our efforts should be concentrated. Actions that are directed and focused to change any or all of these variables will, I believe prove beneficial to the people our initiatives are designed to serve. Going back to my teacher, instead of punishing me for the margins I drew so badly and which irked him so much. Perhaps if he had questioned as to why they were so scuffily presented he would have discovered that I suffered from dyslexia and could have been brought ?from the margins? as a child and not as an adult. |
