Social Exclusion and Homelessness: Implications for Social Work
I propose to critically examine the relationship between homelessness and the concept of social exclusion with particular reference to South Australian initiatives currently being developed under the Labor government. The broad aim of the presentation will be to discuss the relevance and value of recent developments in social theory to the analysis of homelessness and social exclusion and the implications for social work practice.
The discourse of social exclusion has a broad appeal to a range of interest groups and has come to dominate political and popular debates about social disadvantage in Europe and the language of social inclusion has become increasingly important in the Australian context. The paper will consider the malleability of social exclusion as a tool of policy analysis in relation to the issues of homelessness in South Australia with an emphasis on the inner city of Adelaide.
My underlying premise is that the identification of a social problem involves a normative judgement which itself reflects dominant values. My presentation would aim to explore the ways in which homelessness has been conceptualised in the Australian context with a particular emphasis on social exclusion as a tool of policy analysis. This would lead to a critical examination of the way in which theories are operationalised as intervention methods and become part of practice wisdom.
My theoretical orientation would be informed by a variety of perspectives including social constructivism and critical post-modern social theory.
The presentation would hopefully make a positive contribution to current understandings of homelessness and social exclusion in the Australian context as well as potentially providing alternative operational and conceptual frameworks for social work endeavours in the homeless sector.