Tackling Social Exclusion Through Neighbourhood Work

An understanding of neighbourhoods can be quite personal. To me, my neighbourhood is the village in which I live. To another person, it may mean their street or a few streets within their locality. It can simply be defined as the “sphere of the local”. (Chapter 4, p.126). It can be associated with popular culture and gangs that inhabit the ‘hood’. It may also relate to official and commercial ventures. (Chapter 4, p.127). Neighbourhood is linked to community. In fact, the term community has been replaced by neighbourhood in recent policy documents. In anthropological studies, community is defined by three common characteristics. These are; interests between people, environment and locality and social system or structure. (Chapter 4, p. 127). In 1998, Mayo argued that definitions of community are very ambiguous and can have a negative aspect as their restrictiveness can be oppressive to some groups of young people. Social exclusion refers to the way in which some people, or groups of people, are at risk of not being included in their society or community. Therefore, they are not fulfilling their potential and are being deprived opportunities that others would expect. In the case of young people, they may be at risk of social exclusion due to a variety of factors. For example, lack of training, employment or education, drug or alcohol abuse, involvement in crime, inappropriate lifestyles or economic hardship. (Chapter 7, p.237). The Social Exclusion Unit was set up by the Labour government in 1997. It analysed links between poverty and social problems. The analysis was used as a basis for policy developments, throughout which, a link was made between social exclusion and neighbourhood. (Chapter 4, p.131). It outlined how poor neighbourhoods can become increasingly detached from society, were in a ‘spiral of decline’, had high crime and unemployment rates and low educational attainment rates. It stated that these problems were caused by economic change and the decline of some industries. (Social Exclusion Unit, 2001a, p.7). In this policy, neighbourhood refers to ‘poor places’ and ‘poor young people’. Neighbourhood is very much a negative terminology in this context. It implies that these neighbourhoods don’t successfully support youth transitions. (Chapter 4, p.133).

It also suggests that neighbourhood is a localised problem in a particular physical space, rather than a wider social problem. Despite its negative outlook, the policy has highlighted the need to take into account young people’s experiences and participation. (Chapter 4, p.135). Young people’s experiences and perceptions of neighbourhood may differ from policy formulations, public agendas and the views of professionals and adults. Findings in a study entitled ‘Inventing Adulthoods’, showed that young people didn’t feel respected within their communities and felt resentful of the way they were perceived. These perceptions have shaped the agenda for neighbourhood practice. (Chapter 4, p.145). Neighbourhood practice can take many forms. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the term community became attached to various job titles. This sometimes meant that the person worked in a particular community or locality. Alternatively, it can be associated with working in a certain way. This implies a more collective, multi- agency way of working. A more collaborative, participatory practice. Sometimes, this entailed working to develop the community, enabling them to help themselves. (Chapter 4, p.136). This links with the initiatives of New Labour for communities to help themselves. Neighbourhood practise recognises the different ways in which young people may be disadvantaged and, as shown through collaborative work, involves many different occupational fields. (Chapter 4, p.150). Youth and Community Workers were encouraged to leave youth centres and engage with young people on their territory. This is referred to as detached or street work. (Chapter 4, p. 136). This is an area that I have experience, working for over five years as a Youth and Community Worker, for three years of which I led a team of detached workers. Detached work empowers young people and encourages participation. Detached work is often undertaken collaboratively with contributions made by other organisations, such as, local authorities, the police service and Connexions. It could be said that neighbourhood practice has emerged from Youth and Community work, as a way of working in a locality with young people. This type of neighbourhood practice may include a diverse range of work various cohorts of young people. (Chapter 4, p.144). An example from my own experiences of successful detached work was a project about two years ago to create an outdoor space for young people. The young people participated from conception, through to design and then implementation. We worked alongside young people, the police and local authorities to identify problems in the neighbourhood, these included drinking, lack of stimulus for young people and graffiti. The young people then planned various designs for the space including a skatepark, all-weather sports pitch, children’s play area, seating area and a graffiti wall. The idea behind the graffiti wall was that if young people had a space where they were allowed to create street art, then it would reduce incidences of graffiti elsewhere in the neighbourhood. The project proved a success and the area is well used. This is because the young people were empowered and encouraged to participate. The area is never damaged because the young people feel a sense of ownership over the area, it is something they worked for. It also gave young people who were at risk of becoming socially excluded the opportunity to be a valuable member of their community and to make a valuable contribution. The project was also beneficial in building mutual respect and trust between young people, Youth and Community Workers and other professionals. One of the negative aspects of youth work that I have experienced is the element of risk. You are working in the young people’s territory and have to be gradually accepted by them. When you make initial contact with a group, you do not know if they are under the influence of alcohol and drugs, if they are carrying a weapon or whether they will react in a hostile manner towards you. An example from the course material of collaborative neighbourhood practice is shown on DVD 3. This outline work undertaken by the police, Youth and Community Workers and other professionals. This involved young people from the London area, of mixed gender, the majority of wom were black and half were young offenders. Some were referred to the project and others were recruited from local youth clubs.