Community Adversity and Resilience:

Community Adversity and Resilience:the distribution of social disadvantage in Victoria and New South Wales and the mediating role of social cohesion

Community Adversity and Resilience

SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE FACTORS

• Unemployment

• Long-term Unemployment

• Low Income

• Early School Leaving

• Non-completion Yr12 Schooling

• Unskilled Workers

• Low Birth Weight

• Child Abuse

• Psychiatric Hospital Admissions

• Criminal Offence Convictions

• Child Injuries

• Imprisonment

• Threat Severance Electric Supply

• Mortality

• Disability/Sickness Allowance


Unequal in Life (1999)


30% 43%

27%


SOCIAL COHESION FACTORS – *VICTORIA

• Participation in organised recreation/sports groups

• Volunteering

• Availability of informal help

*(277 of the 647 Victorian postcodes met criteria for inclusion – ie, minimum of 10 respondents for each of the three data sets used)

Low social

cohesion

High social cohesion

Limited Education

and Low Birth Weight

are strongly associated

(0.45)

with

with

The connection is even stronger

(0.55)

The connectionis much weaker

(0.12)

Community Adversity and Resilience, Tony Vinson, March 2004 (Jesuit Social Services) Ch 5

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONSDRIVE A WEDGE IN THE CYCLE OF DISADVANTAGE


COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS DRIVE A WEDGE IN THE CYCLE OF DISADVANTAGE

Early School Leaving

across local population

and Imprisonment

are strongly associated

(0.47)

Low social

cohesion

Connection remains strong

(0.46)

Connection is very much weaker

(0.11)

High social

cohesion

with

with




Low social

cohesion

The connection is even stronger

(0.75)

The connectionis greatly reduced

(0.22)

High social

cohesion

with

with

Unemployment rate

and rate of

Imprisonment

are strongly

connected

(0.65)




Low social

cohesion

Strength of association

remains about the same

(0.63)

The association is considerably

weaker(0.28)

High social

cohesion

with

with

Early School

Leaving

is strongly

associated with

rate of

Unemployment

(0.64)




Low social

cohesion

The strength ofthe relationship

remains unchanged(0.46)

There is adramatic reduction

in degree of association

(0.10)

High social

cohesion

with

with

Low Work Skills

and rate of

Imprisonment

are strongly

connected

(0.47)




TABLE 5.1 – CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ANTECEDENT AND OUTCOME VARIABLES FOR DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SOCIAL COHESION IN VICTORIA

OverallCorrelation

(Vic sub-sample)N=277

LowSocial

CohesionN=83

MediumSocial

CohesionN=120

High Social

CohesionN=74

Unemployment/Low Birth Wt. .46** .46 .39 .28

Early School Leaving/Low Birth Wt. .45** .56 .36 .16

Year 12 Incomplete/Low Birth Wt. .45** .55 .38 .12

Unemployment/Imprisonment .65** .75 .64 .22

Unemployment/Early School Leaving .64** .63 .65 .28

Unemployment/Court Convictions .73** .70 .73 .50


TABLE 5.1 – CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ANTECEDENT AND OUTCOME VARIABLES FOR DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SOCIAL COHESION IN VICTORIA

(cont’d.) OverallCorrelation

(Vic sub-sample)N=277

LowSocial

CohesionN=83

MediumSocial

CohesionN=120

High Social

CohesionN=74

Early School Leaving/Imprisonment .47** .46 .43 .11

Low Family Income/Imprisonment .55** .62 .52 .18

Year 12 Incomplete/Imprisonment .35** .26 .32 .03

Low Work Skills/Imprisonment .47** .46 .44 .10

Unemployment/Child Abuse .68** .56 .72 .40

Low Family Income/Child Abuse .68** .53 .72 .45


FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF TENANTS IN A PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATE:

• What factors could explain why residents participated in resident association action groups?

• What type of person was more likely to assume a greater degree of responsibility in such organisations?


PARTICIPATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GENERAL DEGREE OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION RESIDENTS POSSESSED WITHIN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD:

• How long they had lived in the area

• Whether they intended remaining there

• The extent of their local social networks

• The balance between family needs, personal aspirations and competing commitments


THE PROFILE OF AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT, LIKELY TO BECOME A COMMUNITY LEADER:

• Female

• Dependent children (not pre-school age)

• Australian born

• High sense of belonging to the area

• Working part-time or unemployed

• Already active in other associations

CONCLUSION

SOCIAL EXCLUSION BREEDS SOCIAL ALIENATION,

WITH INCREASES IN:

• CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

• YOUTH SCHOOL DROP OUT

• MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER

• SUBSTANCE MISUSE

• CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

• PRISON EXPANSION



CONCLUSION – cont’d

• SUCH HIGH BUDGET ITEMS ABSORB AN

INCREASING PERCENTAGE OF THE STATE’S

BUDGET, BUT GENERALLY FAIL TO CREATE

A MORE COHESIVE SOCIETY.

• STATE GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES WOULD BE

MORE EFFECTIVE IN BUILDING SOCIAL COHESION

BY TARGETTING AREAS OF ENTRENCHED SOCIAL

DISADVANTAGE.

Community Adversity and Resilience:the distribution of social disadvantage in Victoria and New South Wales and the mediating role of social cohesion

Community Adversity and Resilience:

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