Social Exclusion and Poverty: Translating Social Capital

into Accessible Resourcesspol_q. o...

Bronwyn Boon and John Farnsworth
Abstract
This article investigates the dynamic multi-dimensional processes through which the poor become
excluded from social participation. Drawing on social capital literature, it traces how bridging and
bonding capital do not always translate into expected levels of social participation. It does so by
detailing research ndings from low income focus groups undertaken in Dunedin, New Zealand.
These describe the experiences of group members in attempting to manage connections around
employment, their own broader social participation or the participation of their children. In each
case, the study highlights the difculties of translation they experienced: in particular, translating
available bridging or bonding capital into useful social, cultural or economic resources which could
mitigate their social exclusion or enable fuller social participation.
Keywords
Social exclusion; Poverty; Social capital; Translation
Introduction
Poverty, deprivation and social exclusion are central concerns in the social
policy literature. Yet, this work still raises difcult questions around the precise
social dynamics involved in the creation and persistence of poverty-related
social exclusion. Over the last .o years, notable research attention has been
given to the effects of social exclusion (Bradshaw et al. .ooo; Burchardt et al.
:qqq; Levitas .oo6). While this approach enables policy analysts to map the
social deprivation of a population, it is less helpful in explaining how this social
disconnection comes about.
Like others in this developing research eld, we dene social exclusion as a
dynamic multi-dimensional process (Doherty .oo; Levitas .oo6; Richardson
and Le Grand .oo.; Vobruba .ooo) that produces barriers for those living in
poverty. This brings a variety of issues into the research frame including
Address for correspondence: Bronwyn Boon, Department of Management, University of Otago,
Dunedin, New Zealand. Email: bronwyn.boon@otago.ac.nz
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DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2011.00792.x
Vor. 45, No. 5, Oc+onrn 2011, rr. 507524
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o Main Street, Malden, MA o:.8, USA
families (Martin :qq6), access to information (Buck et al. .oo), cultural context
(Foley and Chowdhury .oo), and state institutional practices (Good Gingrich
.oo8). Our aim in this article is to contribute to the understanding of the social
barriers to inclusion.
Examination of the links between social exclusion and social relationships
has been enhanced over recent years with the adoption of a social capital
theoretical lens (Bowen .ooq; Dahl et al. .oo8; Foley and Chowdhury .oo;
Good Gingrich .oo8; Hyggen .oo6; Martin :qq6; Wilson .oo6). A key
assumption underpinning social capital is that we gain access to resources
through our participation in particular sets of social relationships (Bourdieu
:q86; Coleman :q88; Putnam .ooo). As Portes (:qq8: ) argues, however, it is
important to distinguish the resources themselves from the ability to obtain
them by virtue of membership in different social structures. In other words,
it is not those connections themselves but their translation into resource
accessibility that matter: this is the important theoretical point we bring to our
empirical examination of the social mechanisms underpinning social exclu-
sion for those living in poverty.
Our article draws on qualitative data gathered from low income focus
groups in Dunedin, New Zealand, in relation to research undertaken by one
of the citys major welfare agencies, Presbyterian Support Otago. We draw in
particular on the ndings from focus groups facilitated in .oo8. By reporting
participants experiences in their own words, we detail how they discuss their
connections to social networks. This reveals the social and emotional obstacles
to participation that accompany the routine economic deprivation they
endure. We argue, then, that it is not the existence of a connection to social
networks that we should concentrate on. Rather, it is the possibility of trans-
lating this connection into accessible resources that will determine the poten-
tial for social inclusion. We emphasize this through our qualitative study of the
experiences of respondents who suffer exclusion because such translation has
not been possible for them.
While the study is located in New Zealand, its ndings are closely linked
to broader debates. It not only adds to the diverse range of national studies
on focus group investigations of poverty (Chambers et al. .ooo; Green .oo;
Saunders and Sutherland .oo6) but it also contributes to debates about
poverty and social exclusion in different social systems (Adepoju .oo; Davis
.oo; Zeller et al. .oo:). The dynamics of poverty, in particular, raise ques-
tions about how to conceptualize social exclusion and its portability as a
concept outside its European origins (Silver .oo) and in different social
settings (Stewart et al. .oo). This is central to what the present study explores
and articulates. Moreover, it does so by consistently drawing on participants
own construction of their experience in a local context to emphasize the
dynamics of their social networks (Laderchi et al. .oo; Saunders and Suth-
erland .oo6).
In what follows, we review the literature on social exclusion and social
capital before introducing the methodology of the empirical study. We
then analyze and discuss the obstacles that hinder the translation of
social capital into employability, adult social inclusion and their childrens
social inclusion.
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The PovertySocial Exclusion Nexus
The people at the centre of our study live on an extremely low income. In
order to understand their experience of social exclusion therefore, we begin
with the relationship between poverty and social exclusion.
Historically, the concept of poverty has been dened and measured in a
variety of ways over the last century (Bradshaw .oo). Early studies by Charles
Booth and Seebohm Rowntree introduced an income-based approach within
British social research (Townsend :q6.). Despite criticism, the identication of
poverty as insufcient household income to support a level of subsistence
continues to be subscribed to ofcially in a number of countries (Townsend
:q8: ). For example, New Zealand government reports dene poverty in
relation to a o% and 6o% of median household income threshold, a
measure that is widely used in the EU and OECD nations (Perry .oo8: ).
However, socio-cultural dimensions have increasingly been drawn into the
research frame (Townsend :q8). Peter Townsend emphasizes the concept of
relative deprivation, for example, shifting attention to a more direct denition
of poverty as insufcient resources to support adequate consumption and
social participation (Dewilde .oo8; Hallerd and Larsson .oo8). The signi-
cance of this relative deprivation concept goes beyond the shift from income
to consumption and social participation. Notably, it foregrounds lifestyle
expectations that operate within dynamic socio-cultural contexts (Townsend
:q6.). In this sense, relative deprivation implicitly locates the household or
individual as a member of a particular set of social milieux. Over the last :
years, the concept of social exclusion has been used to focus particularly on
the barriers to participation in these social millieux that are due to inadequate
access to resources (Levitas .oo6).
The concept of social exclusion is generally traced to the social democratic
traditions of continental Europe that crossed the channel in the :qqos (Brad-
shaw .oo: ; Burchardt et al. :qqq; Room :qq). Levitas (.oo6: :.) however,
links the use of social exclusion in Britain back to critical social policy of the
:q8os and the work of Peter Townsend. Like poverty, the terms ambiguity
leads to conceptual variability as well as political appropriation (Bradshaw
.oo; Doherty .oo; Levitas :qqq). One aspect of this variability is whether
social exclusion is studied as an effect, or a process (Berghman :qq; Doherty
.oo).
In taking an effect perspective, an individual is considered to be socially
excluded in reference to an ideal universal political subject (Good Gingrich
.oo8: 8). This can be seen in the non-participation-in-normal-activities
continuum developed by the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE)
at the London School of Economics (Burchardt et al. :qqq; Richardson and Le
Grand .oo.). Normal activities in this sense include consumption (including
savings), production, political and social interaction (Burchardt et al. :qqq).
Similarly, the :qqq poverty and social exclusion (PSE) survey of Britain gave
explicit attention to exclusion from social relations (including measures for
non-participation in common activities, poor social networks, isolation, per-
ceived lack of support, political and civic disengagement and connement)
(Bradshaw et al. .ooo; Levitas .oo6). On a more abstract level, OBrien and
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Penna (.oo8) evaluate social exclusion in relation to four social systems: the
democratic and legal; the labour market; the welfare-state, and the family and
community system.
While discussion around conceptions of chronic poverty (Hulme and Shep-
herd .oo), cycles of deprivation (Welshman .oo8), and routine isolation of
the poor (Dahl et al. .oo8) continue, research also acknowledges that the
poor population at one point in time is often heterogeneous, with poverty
taking different forms for different population groups or for people in different
life stages (Dewilde .oo8: .6; Martin :qq6).
In response to this latter assumption, a parallel process strand has devel-
oped. Given our research focus on the social mechanisms around poverty, this
is where our own interest lies.
An early CASE publication by A. B. Atkinson identies four elements
underpinning social exclusion as an active process: dynamics, agency, mul-
tiple deprivation and relativity (Richardson and Le Grand .oo.). Dynamics
highlights the important relationship between current experience and future
prospects (Doherty .oo; Richardson and Le Grand .oo.). Agency brings in
the concept of choice. In doing so, it also signals some of the complexity
associated with social exclusion processes. For example, voluntary exclusion
means individuals must know what their options are (Buck et al. .oo); whilst
involuntary exclusion may relate to cultural norms operating within the
immediate social context (Foley and Chowdhury .oo). Multiple deprivation
and relativity foreground the many and varied exclusions faced by those
living on an extremely low income (Doherty .oo: .). As Good Gingrich
(.oo8) argues, processes of exclusion can even play out through state institu-
tional practices that are created to ameliorate exclusion.
Doherty (.oo: ) notes that in considering social exclusion and notions of
poverty it is possible to identify two concepts that are distinct, and yet possess
considerable overlap in the frameworks from which they are constructed.
The analysis we report here is positioned within this conceptual overlap. More
specically, we dene social exclusion as dynamic and multi-dimensional
processes (Doherty .oo; Levitas .oo6; Richardson and Le Grand .oo.;
Vobruba .ooo) that produce barriers for those living in poverty, so that they
are unable to access the necessary resources to support an expected lifestyle
(Townsend :q8). Due to the pivotal role that social relationships play in
exclusion we, like others before us, nd social capital a useful way to theorize
social exclusion (Bowen .ooq; Dahl et al. .oo8; Foley and Chowdhury .oo;
Good Gingrich .oo8; Hyggen .oo6; Martin :qq6; Wilson .oo6).
Theorising Social Exclusion through Social Capital
Social capital has had a growing presence in social research since the :qqos,
even though it can be linked to early sociological thinking (Portes :qq8). The
multiplicity of denitions and operationalizations that have emerged in the
literature is well acknowledged (Bhandari and Yasunobu .ooq; Field .oo;
Robison et al. .oo.). At a broad level, social capital can be dened as a variety
of different entities, with two elements in common: they all consist of some
aspect of social structures, and they facilitate certain actions of actors
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whether persons or corporate actors within the structure (Coleman :q88:
Sq8). Here, we focus on a more instrumental denition of social capital that
connects the accessibility of various resources to particular sets of social
relationships (Bourdieu :q86). For example, social capital is what we draw on
when we get others, whether acquaintances, friends, or kin, to help us solve
problems, seize opportunities, and accomplish other aims that matter to us
(Briggs :qq8: :8).
Connection to these social networks is theorized as bonding or bridging
social capital (Putnam .ooo; Woolcock and Narayan .ooo). Bonding social
capital is associated with dense, multiplex networks [e.g. among immediate
family and friends], long term reciprocity, thick trust, shared norms and less
instrumentality (Leonard and Onyx .oo: :q), and helps people to get by in
life on a daily basis (Briggs :qq8). Bridging social capital involves large, loose
networks, relatively strict reciprocity, perhaps thinner or different sort of trust,
greater risk of norm violation, and more instrumentality (Leonard and Onyx
.oo: :q) thus allowing people to get ahead (Briggs :qq8). Extant research
suggests that those living on very low incomes develop strong bonded con-
nections to those within their immediate family and friendship networks, but
consequently have few, if any, bridging connections to other resource-rich
networks (Portes :qq8; Woolcock and Narayan .ooo). This nding underpins
government policy that seeks to develop the bridging social capital of those on
low incomes (Bowen .ooq), for example with employment (Good Gingrich
.oo8) and housing (Briggs :qq8).
While social ties can be a liability as well as an asset those that people do
not have can deny them access to key resources (Woolcock and Narayan .ooo:
..6) (original emphasis). It is here that the connection between social capital,
poverty and social exclusion can be seen most clearly. As Dahl et al. (.oo8: .)
note, if a person who experiences poverty also lacks social relationships
(bonding ties) and/or is not part of a broader network of acquaintances
(bridging ties), this is likely to reinforce the negative effects of economic
shortages, and reduce the likelihood of escaping poverty.
In his review of social capital, however, Portes (:qq8: ) cautions us to
distinguish the resources themselves from the ability to obtain them by virtue
of membership in different social structures. Analytically blurring the rela-
tionships and resources not only creates a tautology (Portes :qq8) it obfuscates
an important contribution this concept can make to our understanding of the
dynamic multi-dimensional processes of social exclusion.
One of the few detailed empirical studies of the mechanisms behind social
capital in relation to poverty is Noordhoff (.oo8). In his analysis of the strength
of the connection to bridging social capital that people living in poverty have
access to, he provides a clear picture of the social complexity that surrounds
the borrowing of money, food and child-care from family, friends and neigh-
bours. Put briey, Noordhoff (.oo8) nds that the challenges of honour and
status, expectations around reciprocity and the assessment of risk serve to
undermine the accessibility of these resources. This is in spite of the fact that
they involve bonding type social exchanges with closely tied networks. These
mechanisms are then copied on to social exchanges with more distant weakly
tied networks, or bridging social capital. The result is a disconnection between
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social contact and resource accessibility as well as a general weakness of weak
ties (Noordhoff .oo8: :o).
As Noordhoffs (.oo8) work illustrates, it is important to remember that the
relationship captured within the concept of social capital only creates the
possibility of access to resources, not the certainty. We suggest that Woolcock
and Narayans (.ooo) earlier statement needs to be modied slightly to read:
it can be the social relationships we have as well as those we do not have, that
deny us access to the resources we need. A more nuanced understanding of
the relationship between poverty and social exclusion becomes available by
emphasizing the translation aspect of social capital. Accordingly, our contri-
bution in this article is a qualitative examination of the social mechanisms that
impede the translation of social capital into social inclusion, for people living
in poverty.
The Empirical Study
In .oo8 Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO), a major community welfare
organization operating in Dunedin New Zealand (NZ), undertook a study of
those on low incomes in the city. This was part of an ongoing series of studies,
started in .oo., in which one of this articles authors has been consistently
involved. Groups consisted of four pakeha (white New Zealander) groups: one
middle income, one low waged, one solo parent and one low income. There
was also one Maori low income and one mixed income from the Cook Islands
(PSO .oo). The studies drew on a total client pool of :8,ooo Dunedin
households (PSO .oo.: ::). Focus groups in .oo8 were drawn from a sub-
sample of o clients who visited the organization in May .oo8. From these,
qo self-selected participants undertook a multi-method enterprise using three
poverty measurement tools: The Economic Living Standards survey devel-
oped by the Ministry of Social Development (Jensen et al. .oo); a budget-
setting focus group process established by the New Zealand Poverty
Measurement Project (Waldegrave and Stuart :qq6), and the qualitative
focus-groups we undertook.
We used a focus group methodology because, as Kitzinger (:qq: ::.)
argues, the focus group method is very successful in connecting with difcult-
to-reach individuals: Not only does safety in numbers make some people
more likely to consent to participate in the research in the rst place . . . but
being with other people who share similar experiences encourages partici-
pants to express, clarify or even develop particular perspectives. The design
and composition of the groups followed those for earlier studies in .oo. and
.oo. Since .oo., there have been twelve focus groups, with four in .oo8.
Groups contained six to eight participants. In .oo8, with the exception of a
foodbank staff group, these contained local welfare beneciaries regularly
attending one of the citys four main foodbanks.
1
One group was for solo
beneciaries while two were for beneciaries with children. We knew from the
earlier studies that these groups presented different issues for discussion.
While our aim was for a purposeful demographic sampling of people living
in poverty, the reality was more complex. Selection was in participation with
foodbank staff who approached individuals after completing the survey stage
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of the research and invited them to take part. Some individuals, particularly
those with chronic illness, mental difculties or physical disabilities, were
excluded because they were unable to manage such groups. Some individuals,
while initially agreeing to participate failed to turn up. In this sense, we note
that our sample contains an inevitable bias.
During the groups, we invited participants to complete a map of their
typical social interactions which we discussed in the session. This provided
further, comparative evidence of social connections and material that gener-
ated useful discussion in the groups themselves. Sessions lasted qo:.o
minutes. We took notes and taped all sessions which were later transcribed.
The three low income focus groups we co-facilitated in .oo8 were designed
with two aims in mind. First, to hear about the experience of living on a low
income from those who are actually living this day-to-day reality (Foley and
Chowdhury .oo; Richardson and Le Grand .oo.). Second, to trace the kinds
of social connections and the resources that were, or were not, accessible from
that relationship. A thematic analysis of the transcripts was undertaken by
both authors to trace the social connections and allowed us to compare these
to the maps completed in the groups.
Translation Obstacles within Social Capital: Tracking Social
Connection to Social Exclusion
Every day is an obstacle course, and its just a matter of trying to navigate the
obstacles (Paul)
2
A consistent message from all the focus groups was that participants were
motivated, wherever possible, to better their circumstances. This was not just
for themselves but particularly for their children. Frequently, however, they
were overwhelmed by the sheer number of daily obstacles they had to
navigate. The obstacles we focus on here are those that impede the translation
of social capital into an experience of social inclusion. Specically, we high-
light the obstacles to realizing three key lifestyle expectations (Townsend
:q6.): employability, adult social inclusion and the social inclusion of their
children.
Discussion of these themes often emerged through interchanges between
particularly articulate members of the same focus groups. These interchanges
voiced experiences that other group members assented to, often non-verbally
(Kitzinger :qq). As a result, Paul and Rachel, David and Tessa feature
prominently in the empirical discussion that follows.
Translation obstacles to realizing employability
All the focus group participants were unemployed or worked part time and
had all approached foodbanks for assistance. Employment features promi-
nently in the possibilities of social inclusion (Good Gingrich .oo8; Martin
:qq6). While work provides the possibility of economic independence, it is also
an important means of social connection. For example, Rebecca speaks of the
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social connection with other adults that is available from her small part-time
job: I come here two hours once a week. So this is my big people time, where I can be with
other adults. Even though its only cleaning, its something.
Second, attaining work can be read as a measure of ones social connec-
tivity (Martin :qq6). Employment opportunity is generally read from ones
access to bridging social capital (Good Gingrich .oo8; Martin :qq6). Extant
research, however, suggests that this is more likely for those already in pro-
fessional and managerial positions (Granovetter :q8). If you are unemployed
or living in poverty, studies generally indicate that it is your close bonding
social capital that is most useful (Good Gingrich .oo8). The possibility of
employment, however, is not just about connection to people who know of
work or can employ you. There are a number of factors that feed into whether
an individual is employable in the rst place. For example, ill-health is a key
issue for a signicant number within the focus groups. For adults with depen-
dent children, childcare becomes the central obstruction to employability.
Within the focus groups we facilitated, the highest level of employment-
related frustration was articulated by Paul. Four years ago, his life changed
dramatically when he took on the sole caring responsibilities for his daughter:
You know Ive earned decent money . . . The only reason Im not doing it is because I need
to work at night and I cant work nights and weekends with a six year old daughter. As
childcare during nights and weekends fall outside state support guidelines, for
Paul the one help that Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) gave me was
quit your job and come on the benet. Although his daughter is now at school,
Paul has still been unsuccessful in gaining any employment:
I just cant nd anything. Seriously, I cant even get a menial job at KFC even though
Im qualied, they wont give me a job. Even McDonalds wont give me a job, after
being a head chef. [They say] youve been a head chef, youre not going to like it
here. No kidding mate, but its money . . . and Im willing to work here. Na youre
gonna get bored, we wouldnt even take you on. So Ive gone past the low level jobs
that I cant get and yet I dont have the right time for the better paid jobs.
With no assistance from his close friendship networks and insufcient per-
sonally derived bridging capital, Pauls only source of assistance in nding
time-suitable employment is the work broker at WINZ, the government
employment assistance agency:
Well, I nd the work broker down at WINZ to be a pain. Lazy arsed . . . I mean Ive
sent him my CV, he never contacts you back . . . its like well, mate, youre a
government agency, youre supposed to be sort of doing something and Ive come to you
[for] help I want to nd some friggin work, you know.
In his dealings with WINZ, Paul makes a point of letting them know that this
whole poor and DPB [domestic purposes benet] thing . . . is not a lifestyle choice. It
is a situation he is in due to his inability to access childcare for his daughter.
Pauls experience echoes the women in Good Gringrichs (.oo8: 8) study
where the unpredictable and unusual work hours made it impossible, at any
price, to nd care for their children. With closer scrutiny, this childcare
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obstacle to Pauls re-inclusion in paid work is seen to be a product of four
social capital translation issues: a paucity of family social capital; the gender of
his friends; the copying of experiences with bonding to bridging social capital;
and the heterogeneity of bonding capital.
First, the issue of childcare emphasizes Pauls lack of access to a key source
of bonding social capital, the family:
I just fall through all the cracks because you know, they [WINZ] do expect, you know
friends and family can help you out . . . I dont have family so that puts a aw in that
pattern . . . [And] all my friends are males . . . I dont know many males who are
willing to look after, you know at the time, a :
1
/
2
year-old little girl.
Martin (:qq6: qo) suggests that while family instability is not always a cause
of weakness or alienation . . . for those who are already weak or vulnerable
economically or professionally, it reinforces the process by removing a source
of protection. Quite simply, without parents or siblings to call on, there is no
childcare buffer available to Paul that would enable him to work early
morning, evening and weekend shifts.
Second, a compounding problem in terms of Pauls bonding social capital
is the gender of his friends. While comfortable with most of my mates looking after my
daughter, Pauls concern is them feeling comfortable about the situation, them wanting
to take on a [then] : year old girl and . . . how my work would have impacted on their life
having to rely on them. What Paul illustrates here is an inability to secure benets
through membership in networks (Portes :qq8: 8). The primary obstacle in
the translation of social capital to childcare is the social structures within
Pauls male friendship community. In other words, implicit in his concern are
the elements of reciprocity, obligation and trust which distinguish social
capital relationships from market exchange (Coleman :q88).
Here, the translation obstacle is to do with the internalized moral obligation
a recipient has to be trustworthy and not ask for too much. Tied into this
reluctance are the sanctions that violating community norms can generate
(Coleman :q88). More often trust is viewed from the perspective of the donor
(e.g. Noordhoff .oo8). While not a member of Pauls friendship network,
Rachel illustrates this by her experience:
Eventually friends pick up the phone and go, well what do you want this time?
Because I did that. I had that with (a friend) . . . had her kids coming all the
time . . . it gets to the point where they ring and you look at the number and see that
persons number come up and I think Im not going to answer that because it will be
her asking can I watch the kids? or can you do this or can you do that?
A third dynamic at play is the connection between experiences with bonding
and bridging social capital. Interestingly, the focus group itself initiated enact-
ment of bonding as fellow participants offered information and advice to each
other. Rachel, for example, suggested to Paul that he could put a note up, like in
the [supermarket] and ask if theres any of the mothers that walk their kids to school that you
could drop her off at ,:o. Paul rejected this suggestion however, because of the
social obligation and lack of certainty that this non-formal arrangement would
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hold: Yeah, but thats once again somebody else in that position . . . [and] lets say you
organise with another parent and then theyre sick or their child is sick, so theyre not going
to school. Like, it inuences so much. Pauls reluctance to initiate connection with
a more socially distant network clearly illustrates the thick versus thin trust
distinction between bonding and bridging social capital (Leonard and Onyx
.oo) and the associated sense of reliability. There is also, however, an echo of
the obligation concerns Paul described with his friendship network: Yeah, but
thats once again somebody else in that position. As Noordhoff (.oo8: :) found, if
people in poverty are via social mixing provided with more weak ties, they copy
these mechanisms of reputation into these new situations, so that these social
constraints around reputation might consequently hinder people in poverty
from making use of their fresh weak ties (original emphasis). In a similar way,
Pauls concerns around obligation and trust within his closely bonded con-
nections are copied onto potential bridging capital. As a result, the obstacles
to translating bonding social capital to childcare accessibility are reproduced
in potential connections made through bridging social capital.
A nal point raised in Pauls account of his childcare obstacle to employ-
ment is the distinctions he constructs within bonding social capital: You dont
mind relying on family. If I had grandparents for my daughter or an aunty or uncle for them
or whatever . . . you can sort of put it on family a lot more than you can your friends. This
assumption might be easier for Paul to make because he is hypothesizing
about an abstract notion of family. While Noordhoff (.oo8) supports this
distinction between family and friends, we suggest that not all families,
however dened, will tolerate this reliance equally. This response from Paul
does, however, speak to the importance of hearing how individuals perceive
the specic relationships and resource options available to help them (Bur-
chardt et al. :qqq; Vobruba .ooo). It is not adequate to assume that while Paul
does not have a family he is clearly connected to a strong social network of
friends, and this will provide him with childcare support. In other words, it is
not the existence of a connection to social networks but the translation of this
connection into childcare assistance that dictates Pauls employability, and
therefore his employment inclusion.
Translation obstacles to realizing adult social inclusion
Social participation is important for maintaining psychological and emotional
well-being. Across the focus groups we facilitated from .oo., however, the
usual conventions of social participation were often represented as sources of
anxiety and despair. In .oo8, in order to capture the levels of general social
contact the participants engaged in, we invited them to undertake a social
mapping exercise. Here, participants were asked to note the frequency of
contact with others in various locations: supermarkets, leisure activities,
employment, non-resident family and friends. The minimal non-utilitarian
social contact for most participants was notable. Davids experience, for
example, was acknowledged as familiar by others in the group: I know in my
situation a lot of people go out and have fun. I sit at home and look at four walls. And that
really gets you, that you cant afford anything else, cos, as long as my kids have got clean
clothes and decent food, you know, Ill go without. Although David described feeling
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well connected to social networks eight years ago when money wasnt an object,
these have since weakened and new connections to social acquaintances are
largely absent. While the central factor in these descending levels of social
exclusion (Foley and Chowdhury .oo: 6) is economic (Townsend :q8),
fewer social connections translates into more restricted possibilities of access to
a wide range of resources (Woolcock and Narayan .ooo): from economic to
emotional.
As Tessas account also illustrates, the obstacles generated by poverty are
more than just economic. According to social capital theory, it is with family
and close friends that we enjoy strong, well bonded social connection
(Leonard and Onyx .oo). Despite her straitened economic situation Tessa
clearly maintains a strong connection to some dear friends. As a result, she and
her daughter were rescued last Christmas:
Christmas is a very sad time for me because I dont have my parents . . . but last year
we got rescued by dear friends. And we had to supply, being my friend, the cheapest
things anyway. And it was all laid on. But it was a really uncomfortable feeling for
me because .) it wasnt my family . . . and :) I felt really horrible because theyd laid
it on and Id just brought potatoes and carrots. So it was a feeling of guilt although it
was beautiful, because my friends didnt want us to spend Christmas alone.
To assume that this well bonded social connection between dear friends
equates with Tessa feeling a sense of social belonging and emotional pleasure
is, however, inaccurate. The primary obstacle to the translation of social
capital into important emotional and psychological resources is the shame,
articulated here by Tessa, which is associated with poverty.
Similar to Pauls concern about violating friendship norms, Tessa struggles
with the guilt of not being able to contribute equally to the Christmas dinner.
This situation of Christmas hospitality explicitly links to the norms of reci-
procity in the gift-giving dynamic of social capital (Dolfsma et al. .ooq). On
the one hand, gift exchange is different from market exchange because it need
not involve items of equal value. On the other hand, a highly unbalanced
exchange can generate an uncomfortable level of social indebtedness. The
maintenance of a pattern of gift exchange that is perceived as highly unbal-
anced, therefore, impacts on the emotional state of mind of the receiver
(Dolfsma et al. .ooq: ..). It is this we can see in Tessas feelings of guilt that
theyd laid it on and Id just brought potatoes and carrots.
It is important that Tessas statement is also read in the temporal context of
poverty. For the focus group participants, poverty is not a momentary situa-
tion or a lifestyle choice, as Paul put it. It is the emotional impact of an
accumulating social indebtedness that can easily obstruct the translation of
social capital into important psychological and emotional resources. As David
suggests, sometimes its easier emotionally not to be there: I have been at other
peoples places and you do sit there sometimes and think I dont really want to be here.
Some other people sort of look at you, and thats not just at Christmas either. Eric, a solo
beneciary, commented that When youre going through it, you think youre the only
one and youre suffering and you think youre different to everyone else. It is this emotional
dimension in the relationship between social connectivity and poverty that
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:
questions the voluntary dimension of social exclusion (Buck et al. .oo; Foley
and Chowdhury .oo). As participants frequently commented, the obvious
desire was to avoid the humiliation of poverty rather than engaging in social
participation. The end result, however, is an increasing level of social exclu-
sion. But, as Erics comment highlights, the socially excluded felt further
isolated amongst themselves, an experience that was frequently reported in
the groups.
Translation obstacles to realizing their childrens social inclusion
Despite these emotional difculties, focus group participants expressed far
greater anxiety and stress over maintaining their childrens social inclusion
than their own. This became obvious in their talk around managing their
childrens participation in extra-curricular sport and the giving of birthday
presents to their childrens friends.
Within the education literature there is a link established between chil-
drens participation in extra-curricular sport, inside and outside school, and
increased student development, social connection (Broh .oo.) and civic and
political participation as an adult (Smith :qqq). In the relationship between
low income and participation in sport, however, exclusion is widespread,
established early, persistent and difcult to overcome. Its core is poverty
(Collins and Kay .oo: ). In other words, when money is short, the cost of
participation in sport activities moves out of reach. There are community
grants available in Dunedin designed to enable children from low income
families to participate in sport activities. The challenge for these families,
however, is rst to know that they exist and then how to access the money
(Buck et al. .oo). Third, it is how to overcome the sense of shame associated
with the stigma of economic distress and the acceptance of charity (Fothergill
.oo: 66:). Rachel, for example, spoke of this, but reported overcoming shame
by putting her children rst: I used to feel like a charity case, and I dont like feeling
like a charity case. But then it just comes down to what my children need, and if they can
benet from me going, yeah, give me a hand with this cos they should be able to do sport,
then thats what Ill do.
For Paul, sport grants still do not enable his six-year-old daughter to
participate because they do not cover travel to practices and games. In this
context, transport to sporting xtures is key to developing and maintaining
connections to bridging social networks. Because his daughter has not been
involved in an extra-school sports team in the past and he lacks the requisite
bonding and bridging social capital, Paul is again left to cope with this obstacle
alone. His only solution is to withdraw: We cant afford sport. Dont do it. Pauls
situation can be contrasted with Rebeccas. Rebecca has older children who
have a history of sport activity. While relatively new to Dunedin, this history
of social participation has provided her (and her children) with the condence
to engage in a loosely connected, but helpful, social network that bridges the
transportation obstacle for her: Thats why Im lucky with my .o- and ..-year-olds
because its always their school mates that are in the same team, so we do the car pooling.
In effect, this is the same copying mechanism described by Noordhoff (.oo8)
but this time with positive rather than negative consequences for social inclu-
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sion. Having engaged with sport-based social networks in the past, Rebecca is
able to copy this experience onto a new bridging social network, and translate
this connection into social inclusion for her sons.
While sporting activities are important, parents expressed the highest levels
of anxiety around presents and parties for their children and their childrens
friends. Despite careful planning, an inability to cover weekly costs means that
for many parents within the focus groups there is no ability to save for
Christmas or birthdays. As a consequence, these annual cultural markers of
festivity and joy become translated into times of anxiety and despair. As David
said: you sit up at nights when theyre in bed and it does drive you to despair . . . the last
four Christmases I just wanted to dig a hole and bury myself in it . . . its an asshole of a time
for me. Within this context, a childs invitation to attend a friends birthday
represents an insurmountable obstacle:
I dread birthday invitations . . . I instantly look at a birthday invitation and go o
bucks [dollars]! Where the hell am I going to get that money from? For me thats the
one thing that I nd hard for the six year old . . . Weve had times when we just havent
gone (Paul)
As this last quote illustrates, children who live with poverty face continual
barriers to social inclusion. This is not necessarily due to a lack of connection
with other children. Education in New Zealand is free and compulsory, so
children are constantly exposed to diverse networks and opportunities to build
bridging social capital that might otherwise be out of their social, cultural or
economic range (Portes :qq8; Woolcock and Narayan .ooo). As Pauls state-
ment illustrates, however, benets accruing from social capital cannot be
simply assumed, even if the party invitation provides evidence of social con-
nection.
Obstructing the translation of social connection to social inclusion for
children living in poverty is the paucity of economic and social capital of
parents. Lin (.ooo: 86) argues that inequality in different types of capital, such as
human capital and social capital, contributes to social inequality, such as socioeco-
nomic achievements and quality of life (original emphasis). The social mecha-
nisms behind the reproduction of childrens inequality of social capital, and
potential resource accessibility, can be seen in parental strategies for handling
birthday party invitations and gift exchanges between children. For instance,
Rachel commented:
If its one of my friends I say, Ill go and get something on payday or Ill take the
kid out and well go to the $: shop . . . At a friends daughters party we cringed
because my daughters friend turned up with a $o barbie [doll]. And Im thinking
dont invite [my daughter] to your party because theres no way a $o present is
coming to your place. I actually said to her you know you spent too much money.
(Rachel)
It is the parties and present-buying of their friends, and friends children that
can be trusted; not those of unknown school friends. This is the thick trust
generated within a tightly bonded social network (Leonard and Onyx .oo;
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Putnam .ooo; Woolcock and Narayan .ooo). In other words, this is the trust
that those involved know the present should cost a small amount of money
and that it is okay if the present is late. On the other hand, the threat of failing
to meet expectations of gift-value reciprocity and the associated shame
renders birthday party invitations from school friends too threatening. The
result is withdrawal and self-protection from shame, undermining a potential
bridging connection for both parent and child. Conversely, Rachels attempts
to educate a transgressor about gift norms (you know, you spent too much money)
locates the transgressor outside her closely bonded network. When she thinks
dont invite [my daughter] to your party because theres no way a $o present is coming to
your place, she also limits the possibilities that her daughter would become
included in this more afuent social network. As Dolfsma et al. (.ooq: ...)
argue:
Individuals can then be (purposefully) included as well as excluded from a
Social Capital Community. Understanding the emergence, maintenance, and possible
disappearance of social capital as arising from gift exchange, it becomes clear how and
why boundaries are drawn between (groups of) social individuals, resulting in processes
of inclusion and exclusion (original emphasis)
The boundaries are drawn around bonded social capital communities so that
children are protected from the shame and embarrassment of poverty (Portes
:qq8; Woolcock and Narayan .ooo). In the process, however, these bound-
aries contribute to: (:) limiting the possibilities of translating bridging social
connections into useful social, cultural or economic resources; (.) limiting the
maintenance and development of their childrens connection to bridging
social networks; and () reproducing the emphasis on bonding social capital in
their childrens lives.
Discussion and Conclusion
The aim of this article has been to expand understanding of the dynamic and
multi-dimensional processes through which those living in poverty become
socially excluded. In theorizing social exclusion through the concept of social
capital, our focus has been on the social connections those living in poverty
have with their particular social milieux. On the assumption that more con-
nections equates to better resource accessibility, particularly those that form
bridges to resource-rich networks (Woolcock and Narayan .ooo), government
policy attention has been drawn to the development of social capital for those
living in poverty (e.g. Bowen .ooq; Good Gingrich .oo8).
In order to prevent the social capital literature turning into an unmitigated
celebration of community however, Portes (:qq8: ..) suggests that social
connections be studied in all their complexity, rather than as examples of a
value. In other words, social relationships must be conceptually differentiated
from the resources that could be obtained from that relationship (Portes :qq8).
This renders visible the translation of social capital to actual resource acces-
sibility.
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.o
In this article, our aim has been to develop an understanding of the social
mechanisms that obstruct, rather than facilitate, the translation of social
capital into accessible resources for those living in poverty. We have focused
on three key lifestyle expectations (Townsend :q6.) for citizens of contem-
porary Western-based nation states: employment; and social participation
for adults, and their children. As our discussion attests, there is not neces-
sarily a straightforward relationship between access to bonding or bridging
social capital and access to important economic, social, emotional and psy-
chological resources. The focus group material from .oo. to .oo8 suggests,
nonetheless, that the same practices and social mechanisms can be found
across the entire life experience of the socially excluded (PSO .oo., .oo,
.oo8).
The consistency of these ndings across groups and over time has implica-
tions for social policy (Bowen .ooq; Portes :qq8). Primarily, these concern
ways that effective forms of bridging can take place so that individuals can
translate social capital into access to resources. Key to this is the provision of
reliable, trustworthy relationships, or by providing possibilities where these
can be brokered or built. Brokering can range from such simple practices as
building social and relational skills. These can be developed through budget
management, negotiating skills, advocacy or assertiveness practices, all of
which promote social capital bridging capacities. Brokering can, equally,
involve socially excluded individuals sharing the commonality of their expe-
rience through mediated group interaction. This would serve to reduce their
common isolation: a comment repeatedly made to us in the process of running
the focus groups.
At the institutional level, policy implications point once again to the impor-
tance of creating access to trusted, reliable relationships that are separate from
the immediate family and friendship networks of those living in poverty. In
effect, this is a form of distributing social capital by bridging activities through
professional roles. An obvious example drawn from this study involves cre-
ative solutions to the problem of childcare for those willing, and otherwise
able, to engage in paid employment.
More broadly, there are implications that suggest further investigation of
precisely how the processual mechanisms we have outlined may enable or
inhibit the distribution of bonding and bridging capital across different groups
and communities.
Whatever the implications for policy or research, our article indicates the
intricate relationship between bonding and bridging social capital and how
this is played out in the lives of the marginalized poor. Greater understanding
of this is likely to mitigate the obstacles to their richer and more active
participation in social life as a whole.
Acknowledgements
We want to express considerable gratitude to Presbyterian Support Otago,
New Zealand for their commitment to and support of the research project,
and their permission for us to publish this material.
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.:
Notes
:. Foodbanks in New Zealand provide free food for those individuals and families
who live in poverty. They are run by community organizations, often Christian-
based. Many, like Presbyterian Support Otago, also provide budgeting advice,
counselling and social support and advocacy for their foodbank clients.
.. For anonymity purposes, participants have been assigned ctitious names.
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