Pathways to Empowerment - Judith Wolf

1 Pathways to Empowerment

‘After my husband died, there came a point when I no longer knew how to cope with everything. Then I went to have a cup of coffee at the local community centre. A young man approached me for a chat. He asked me whether I would like to have a longer talk with somebody one day. Then Thea came to see me at home. Together we looked for solutions. That was nice, because when we thought about things together, I suddenly had all sorts of ideas for making life a bit more enjoyable. I don’t need any professionals to do that.’ (Client) 1.2.2 On the defensive Social exclusion is characterised by a lack of future prospects, combined with deficiencies in two dimensions ( Jehoel-Gijsbers, 2004; Hoff &Vrooman, 2011): 1 the sociocultural dimension: with deficiencies in social participation and insufficient cultural and normative integration; 2 the economic and structural dimension: with material deprivation relating to poverty and an unequal distribution of income and wealth, and limited access to basic social rights. A process of social exclusionmakes people fall even further behind in society. The problems they face can be so severe or can accumulate to such an extent that the burden becomes too great for them to bear. If protective factors are not sufficient, people experience a loss of control over their lives (Van Hemert & Wolf, 2011). This process and the factors that play a role in it are addressed in Chapter 6. The situation of the target group is often a chaotic and complex interplay of forces involving developments in society (structural), relationships between people and groups (relational), the functioning of our institutions (institutional) and people’s own ability for self-regulation (individual) (Edgar, 2010; Jehoel-Gijsbers, 2004; Wolf, 2002). Interventions and policy measures are necessary in all these areas to counter social exclusion and promote participation. The likelihood of social exclusion is greater for people with a lower level of education, a low income and a non-Western background, and for single people, older people and single-parent families (Hoff & Vrooman, 2011). People with these background characteristics also make greater than average use of social services (Bijl, Boelhouwer, Pommer & Andriessen, 2015).

1.3

Disruption in self-regulation

It is probable that a disadvantage at an individual level indicates disruptions in self-regulation. This is not the same as personal control. Self-regulation concerns ‘the regulation of the self ’ through psychological processes that enable people to take control of their own lives and to practise self-care (Van der Stel, 2013). Specifically, it is about the efforts people make to control and adjust their

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