Editorial

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Erratum

The editors of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development have devoted this special issue to the subject of social inclusion. Social inclusion has always been at the heart of social policy and social work practice, in a variety of forms. The past 20 years, however, have seen major social changes that only serve to reemphasise its importance. Conflicts, mainly in the Eastern hemisphere have important consequences in the form of displacement, migration and immigration with associated requirements for social support and intervention. However, most forced migration in the world is not international. At the end of 2014, forcibly displaced (internal to the country) persons totalled 38 million, whereas refugee numbers were half this total and asylum seekers only one and a half million. The proportion of these people reaching developed countries is less than 1% of the total. This means that many countries face internal or international migration (or in some cases both) and social work and social development interventions are needed at the heart of national and international responses.

One needs to recognise the positive impact that internal migration can bring. As Deshingkar (2006) put it

The potential benefits of internal migration are not being fully realised because of an inadequate understanding of migration patterns (especially temporary and circular migration), continuing policy barriers to population movement, urban middle-class attitudes, social exclusion on the basis of ethnicity, caste, tribe and gender and poor enforcement of legislation meant to protect the rights of the poor. (p. 88)

The development of social work has a long association with migration. For e.g. rural–urban migration occurred with the development of factories during the industrial revolution and led to early attempts to provide welfare for the workers and their families. Issues of social inclusion and migration were present in the work of social workers Jane Adams and Ellen Gates Star. They used the UK settlement model to provide social and educational services at Hull House in Chicago (1889) for European immigrant women and their children.

Migration remains a major global issue and none more so than in the development of the major cities in China. Not only is there a need to include migrant workers in civil society, but also there is the question of how best to attend to the needs of the estimated 61 million children left behind with family members or other carers. Hu (in this volume) has pointed to the possible future consequences of long-term family separation of this kind, and the personal and social difficulties that may result. Sakomoto (this volume) looks at the rapid assimilation of Japanese immigrants into Canada and how rapid assimilation has resulted in a high proportion of mixed unions, which have not necessarily increased the acceptance of diversity or promoted real inclusion.

An interesting aspect of this collection of papers in the Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development is the way in which social inclusion can be thought of in the same framework of life domains in different countries. Coombs (this volume) reports on the development of a social inclusion measure, using both objective and subjective indicators in the same life domains as Leong (and Chiu) (both this volume) in Singapore, Chan, Evans, Ng, Chiu, and Huxley (2014) in Hong Kong and Huxley et al. (2016) in the UK and Warner (1993) in the USA. One of the perceived differences lies in the family life domain, where the family based economic system still prevails in many Eastern societies. In the present volume, the effects on family and carers are described in the papers by Sakamoto, Hassan and Hsueh. Deinstitutionalisation can put the burden of care on family members, and in some societies this responsibility is expected and anticipated.

The articles show the increasing realisation of the negative effects of exclusion and the positive effects of inclusion. This is actually nowhere clearer than with regard to mental health and the stigma associated with it. Irving Goffman in 1990 said that ‘prejudice and discrimination … reduce (their) … chances of bettering their lives’ (Hassan, present volume). Hassan has suggested that if the stigma of being a carer for someone with HIV/AIDS can be reduced then greater social inclusion is a result. Tong (in the present volume) has also suggested that in Shanghai, increased social participation among older people results in an improved quality of life. In a recent paper in the Asia Journal Terbish and Hawthorne (2016) report that in the Ger districts (tented cities) in Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, almost 90% of the population had no participation in community activities of any sort, and basic services and supportive social networks were largely absent.

The central role of employment (for social services users and for social inclusion) has been increasingly evident over the last decades. The growth of ‘workfare’ in western nations has travelled to some Asian locations, such as Taiwan (Hsueh this volume). In the mental health field the place and train model has replaced the train and place model in most places and its growth can be seen in Singapore (Leong this volume). In just a few years, the number of people engaged in employment rehabilitation in Singapore tripled. Social workers are the predominant professional group working in community mental health in both Hong Kong and Singapore, but also in the USA and Australia. Social exclusion and inclusion have particular resonance for mental health, and in concluding I turn briefly to this topic.

Because people with mental illness often face problems associated with social and economic marginalisation, monitoring the extent to which a consumer has positive social inclusion outcomes would add essential information about the person’s overall recovery and would complement the clinical outcome data that are currently collected, for example in Australia through the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (Coombs this volume).

As Coombs et al. note, ‘while social exclusion is known to be a risk factor for the development of mental health problems..., social inclusion can have protective benefits, ameliorating the negative effects of stress and contributing to mental illness recovery…’ (p. 178).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that in relation to social work and social inclusion the East and the West probably have more in common than is usually thought. This may be because when we examine together the fundamental values at the basis of Confucian, Christian and Moslem belief systems there are great areas of commonality, and these values inform social workers’ anti-discriminatory practice around the world, something of which social work can be rightly proud.

Peter Huxley
Centre for Mental Health and Society, School of Social Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, UK
[email protected]