Interrogating the relationship between poverty, attainment and mental health and wellbeing: the importance of social networks and support – a Scottish case study

ABSTRACT

The poverty-related attainment gap is an internationally recognised problem. It resides within a culture of performativity in which international comparators, underpinned by neo-liberal ideology, drive national policy. This conceptual paper interrogates the relationship between poverty, attainment and children’s mental health and wellbeing to inform public policy and practice in Scotland and beyond. A key theme identified from the analysis of the literature is the nature, quality and strength of social and support networks around schools, families and children. This is contextualised within a discussion of the nature of childhood poverty and mental health in children in Scotland and the response of the Scottish Government. A focus on educational policy and schools alone will not in itself address the poverty-related attainment gap. What is required is a holistic focus on public policy, informed by interdisciplinary research, and a focus on building a strong infrastructure of support around schools, families and communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Poverty
• attainment
• mental health and wellbeing
• policy
• social support
• social networks

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Emeritus Professor John MacBeath for acting as a critical friend in the preparation of this paper.

Coda

This work has been taken forward through a Scottish Universities Insight Institute Seminar series led by the Universities of Strathclyde and Edinburgh. The organising team was made up of four Scottish universities, two local authorities and five third sector organisations. We worked with children in two local authorities to explore what a sense of belonging meant to them. The seminar series, hosted over four days, was attended by representatives of the Scottish Government and the policy community, representation from 16 professions (including education and the health service) and academics from 16 academic disciplines. Video/audio recordings and PowerPoint presentations are available on the SUII website, including the work with children relating to a sense of belonging. Sets of research briefs and key recommendations have been produced and are available at https://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/Programmes/OpenCall201819/PEAW.aspx.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. From this point on, the term children will be used to represent both children and young people (adolescents) unless the context is specific to adolescents only.

2. For a discussion of cultural capital, see Giddens and Sutton (2017, pp. 814–816).

3. In the financial year 2018–19, £120 million is directed towards the Pupil Equity Fund; £50 million to the Challenge Authorities and Schools Programme; £8 million to Care Experienced Children and Young People; and additional funding directed towards National programmes such as the establishment of Regional Collaboratives (https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/pupil-attainment/).

4. For further information, refer to the Education Scotland website.

5. A range of terms within the literature tend to be used interchangeably – mental health difficulty/condition/problem/issue/illness/disorder – with mental illness tending to refer to a diagnosable psychiatric condition and mental health disorder applied to more severe, enduring conditions, such as eating disorders (Murphy, 2016).

6. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is devised from a synthesis of 39 data sources which span across domains such as income, employment, health, education, housing, access and crime.

7. Young and Bainbridge (2014). Ask the children what they want: involving children and young people in the development and implementation of improvements to enhance school food provision. Children in Scotland: Edinburgh. (www.childreninscotland.org.uk/publications-and-resources/reports/ask-the-children-what-they-want).

8. The SCQF (Scottish Credit Qualification Framework) has 12 levels of attainment from 1–12 (where 12 is the equivalent of doctorate). Level 4 is the equivalent of GCSE (grades D–G) in England and Wales: Level 5 is the equivalent of GCSE (grades A* – C); and Level 6 the equivalent of GCSE AS and A level. Derived from the UK Qualification Comparison Chart.

9. This data has not been replicated in subsequent pupil censuses by the Scottish Government.

10. Unfortunately, this is an area which has not attracted attention in Scotland from academia. A search on ERIC, using the terms ‘social media’ + ‘Scotland’ + ‘children’ did not elicit a single paper specific to Scotland.

11. There is little differentiation within the literature between the use of terms such as belongingness, connectedness, relatedness and sense of affiliation.

12. A replication of the study in six clusters of secondary and primary schools in two local authorities in Scotland identified similar findings. These findings have yet to be published. In both studies, post-intervention, the differential between support group pupils and their peers reduced and were of less statistical significance across all measures.