Quality of Life and Social Inclusion

Abstract

The concepts of quality of life, anomie or marginalisation and social capital are introduced in the context of the impact of the post-modernising forces of globalisation, urbanisation, and mass migration on societal structures. Empirical relationships between the three concepts were explored using data derived from a study undertaken in south east Queensland, Australia in 2003. On the basis of descriptive statistics and a path analysis using LISREL procedures it was shown that although the majority of people did not feel marginalised and reported good quality of life, reduced quality of life was associated with low prestige occupations mediated by marginalisation or anomie. In addition social capital was found to improve quality of life both directly and by ameliorating marginalisation.