Intervention Project - Part I

Integrated into the subject Globalization, Social Justice and Human Rights, and seen as a method of evaluation, but rather as learning method, we were proposed to make an intervention project that was useful to the association concerned, in my case the association “CAIS” .

According to the information presented at the association's website, its mission is to contribute to the global improvement of the living conditions of homeless , socially and economically vulnerable in situations of deprivation, exclusion and risk. Founded in 1994 the first big project of this association was the creation of a magazine ,  “CAIS”  with the name of the association, sold on the streets by homeless people or in situations of deprivation or exclusion. In 2003, “ CAIS” has established its center thus expanding its operations.

Issues such as poverty, social exclusion and inclusion and social justice, have always been areas of study that particularly interested me and still interest.
So this week I focused on the theme of exclusion. For that, I read a part of a well-known book of Giddens (2001), Sociology published by the Calouste Gulbenkian. To start this theme it seemed to be the most suitable book, and so according to Giddens,I tried to find:
- A definition of social exclusion,
- Relate this theme to poverty,
- Try to understand why social exclusion exists and
- connect Social exclusion  homeless people (since it is essentially about these that my project will focus).

Starting with the first point, Social exclusion and according to Giddens, this topic was first introduced by sociologists to refer to new sources of inequality. Thus, it is understood by exclusion the ways in which individuals can be deprived of full involvement in society.
The issue of social exclusion is also a different issue of poverty itself.  Exclusion we can say say that focuses its attention on a broader set and factors that prevent individuals or groups have the same opportunities that other people have.
Exclusion can be seen at various levels, the economic, the political level, or  the social level.

However, the concept of exclusion also raises a question, the question of  action. Exclusion always implies that someone or something is being removed from each other.
Regarding  social exclusion and according to  Giddens , there are two chances to answer. The first is that there are actually instances in which individuals are excluded in accordance with decisions made outside their own control, as an employee of a certain age, who is dispensed and can’t get a new job because of his age, etc.. Another hypothesis is people that  are "self-excluded", if I may say this in this way,   the central aspects of society, for example : an individual decides to give up studying, abstains from voting, etc..
So, when we are studying this subject of social exclusion we should be alert to the relationship between human action and responsibility and, on the other hand, the role of social forces in the construction of situations in which people find themselves.

Finally, I decided to choose to understand what  is then the relationship between social exclusion and homelessness, and so once again according to Giddens, the homeless are people who haven’t, for several reasons, some type of home or a permanent shelter. The lack of a permanent place of residence is one of the most extreme forms of social exclusion. People without a permanent residence may be excluded from many daily activities, going to work, getting  letters by mail, going to the bank, etc.. All this excludes the person  of everyday life in all societies and even of the resident population.
What leads people to  to a  situation of exclusion and in more extreme cases of homelessness , are several factors as we have already reflected. However, what seems most relevant to study is the way of those people who want , being inserted  again into society and return  to be"included" as citizens of a society and as  active and socially integrated people.

There is still no consensus on how to help these people getting out of the streets to a permanent accommodation and to have a more stable life. However, and although this is not the final decision,the majority of the  sociologists who have studied the problem agree that the supply of housing in conditions, is an important aspect to end homelessness.
Finally, I finish quoting  Christopher Jenks from his book” The Homeless” (1994) and cited in Giddens(2001): "Regardless of the reasons people live on the street, giving them a place to live that offers a minimum of privacy and stability is usually the most important thing you can do to improve their lives. Without stable housing, nothing more will result . "

Of course, this issue is not consensual and that this is just an opinion that even though it is more or less consensual, it is still the target of criticism. It can also be particularly important to contribute to  improve the lives of these people, to offer more helps   either to the psychological level or the social level and even of training always bearing in mind   the improvement of self-esteem of these people  and bet that they can do more and be more and even better. All this  seems unrealistic now, however, with proper helps and a  bet on people  may perhaps become   quite profitable and better to everyone.

So this week I have detained myself  essentially in the creation of the conceptual and theoretical foundations for this intervention project ,in a  still very early stage I thought I should start framing the first ideas theoretically, but it does not mean they can not be

 Changed  because they are not tight, however I thought it would be a good starting point to begin by reading what Giddens says about this topic.
To conclude, I would like  to explain what  I  thought I could do and study  and help to improve the project in question, and so I built  the following scheme:

Right now, and at  a first glance, this is  the idea of project I have, it is not concrete yet and if anyone wants to help or give some opinions that may be useful,  they are accepted .