Researching homelessness: Challenging exclusion?

This themed issue of Social Inclusion provides a timely opportunity to reflect on how contemporary research is addressing the multi-dimensional issue of homelessness around the world. The papers presented here provide a wide range of new evidence on homelessness including theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions. They draw on a range of national experiences in Europe and beyond, and addressing the issue of social inclusion and social exclusion of homeless or previously homeless people from a range of perspectives and approaches. It is hoped that the contributions to this themed issue will prove influential in terms of both scholarship and potential to enhance policy making and service delivery to some of our most excluded citizens.

Good is generally more alike than bad in the information ecology: Investigating the case of (the ABC model of) group stereotypes

On most if not all evaluatively relevant dimensions such as the temperature level, taste intensity, and nutritional value of a meal, one range of adequate, positive states is framed by two ranges of inadequate, negative states, namely too much and too little. This distribution of positive and negative states in the information ecology results in a higher similarity of positive objects, people, and events to other positive stimuli as compared to the similarity of negative stimuli to other negative stimuli. In other words, there are fewer ways in which an object, a person, or an event can be positive as compared to negative. Oftentimes, there is only one way in which a stimulus can be positive (e.g., a good meal has to have an adequate temperature level, taste intensity, and nutritional value). In contrast, there are many different ways in which a stimulus can be negative (e.g., a bad meal can be too hot or too cold, too spicy or too bland, or too fat or too lean). This higher similarity of positive as compared to negative stimuli is important, as similarity greatly impacts speed and accuracy on virtually all levels of information processing, including attention, classification, categorization, judgment and decision making, and recognition and recall memory. Thus, if the difference in similarity between positive and negative stimuli is a general phenomenon, it predicts and may explain a variety of valence asymmetries in cognitive processing (e.g., positive as compared to negative stimuli are processed faster but less accurately). In my dissertation, I show that the similarity asymmetry is indeed a general phenomenon that is observed in thousands of words and pictures. Further, I show that the similarity asymmetry applies to social groups. Groups stereotyped as average on the two dimensions agency / socio-economic success (A) and conservative-progressive beliefs (B) are stereotyped as positive or high on communion (C), while groups stereotyped as extreme on A and B (e.g., managers, homeless people, punks, and religious people) are stereotyped as negative or low on C. As average groups are more similar to one another than extreme groups, according to this ABC model of group stereotypes, positive groups are mentally represented as more similar to one another than negative groups. Finally, I discuss implications of the ABC model of group stereotypes, pointing to avenues for future research on how stereotype content shapes social perception, cognition, and behavior.

Liveable & just: a toolkit for local governments to address the social and equity impacts of climate change

The Liveable & Just Toolkit is the culmination of a project to explore how local governments across Victoria are responding to the social and equity impacts of climate change.In June 2009 the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) and Melbourne University’s McCaughey Centre travelled across the state to hear directly from local governments about issues of priority, success stories, challenges, and lessons learned in addressing the social and equity impacts of climate change. Workshops covered crucial issues such as heatwaves and bushfires, rising costs of water, energy and transport, physical and mental health, and the heightened vulnerability of groups such as the mentally ill, homeless, aged, and infants. In response to workshop outcomes and recommendations, the Liveable & Just Toolkit provides a practical framework to help integrate responses to the social and equity impacts of climate change across council activities. It also presents ideas and suggestions for local government to respond to climate change in ways that simultaneously promote social justice.

Incidencia del proyecto “ASEAN community” en el desarrollo humano de Tailandia (2004-2014)

Esta investigación se interesa en evaluar los logros y retos que ha presentado el proyecto ASEAN Community en cada una de sus tres áreas de acción (Comunidad económica, comunidad de política y seguridad, y comunidad socio-cultural) ante su aplicación en Tailandia. De esta manera, se busca analizar la incidencia que ha tenido el proyecto en el Desarrollo Humano de Tailandia durante el periodo 2004-2014. A través del análisis del estatus actual a la luz del concepto de libertades instrumentales se realiza la evaluación de los resultados de los proyectos y su conveniencia o no para el desarrollo humano de la sociedad tailandesa.

Cartas imaginarias a Freud y otros ensayos

"Las cinco cartas imaginarias a Freud recogidas en este libro son su columna vertebral y los efectos que producirán en la comunidad psicoanalítica están aún por verse. Pero las cartas no agotan los aportes de esta obra. Alberto Fergusson, médico, psiquiatra y psicoanalista, tiene toda una historia vital dedicada al estudio y el tratamiento de pacientes psicóticos. En los años ochenta creó el Instituto de Autorrehabilitación Acompañada, inspirado en las premisas del freudomarxismo de la Escuela de Frankfurt y en el mal llamado "movimiento antipsiquiátrico" (mal llamado en la medida en que no se opone a la psiquiatría, sino más bien a una mala práctica psiquiátrica) y en los trabajos y experiencias de Laing, Cooper, Basaglia y Szasz. La materialización de los conceptos del Instituto se produjo en una singular experiencia denominada Fungrata, pero conocida en el mundo académico y profesional como "La granja". Esa institución, pionera en nuestro país, sigue produciendo asombro en varias partes del mundo por haber llegado, desde ya hace décadas, adonde muchos otros dispositivos dedicados a la intervención psicosocial con pacientes psicóticos hoy aspiran llegar". (Extracto del "prólogo") Miguel Gutiérrez-Peláez

The right to adequate housing in International Human Rights Law: Polish transformation experiences

AbstractHousing rights are now one of the most fundamental social and economic human rights. It is therefore the duty of every country to implement such rights for its own citizens, irrespective of its economicdevelopment, political situation, or social conditions. Possession of appropriate living conditions determines, in fact, the possibility of using other, more advanced human rights (e.g. the right to health, right to development, right to peace, or access to culture). Realization of the right to adequate housing is increasingly problematic for developed countries. According to the United Nations, there areover 100 million homeless people worldwide and more than 1 billion inadequately housed. Poland is an example of a country particularly afflicted by housing problems after the Second World War.Experiences of Polish democratic transformation after 1989, therefore, provide interesting lessons (and warnings) for all countries wishing to deal with the social problems arising from housing difficulties.Keywords: right to adequate housing, human rights, housing rights, social transformation, transition, economic and social human rights, social issues, Poland, United Nations, communism.ResumenEl derecho a la vivienda es uno de los derechos humanos sociales y económicos más elementales. Por lo tanto, es un deber de todos los países implementar esos derechos para susciudadanos y ciudadanas, independependientmente de su desarrollo económico, situación política, o condiciones sociales. La posesión de adecuadas condiciones de vida determinala posibilidad de utilizar otros derechos humanos más avanzados (por ejemplo, derecho a la salud, derecho al desarrollo, derecho a la paz, acceso a la cultura). La realizacióndel derecho a una vivienda adecuada es cada vez más problemática para los países desarrollados. Según las Naciones Unidas, hay más de 100 millones de personas sin hogar en todo el mundo y más de 1000 millones alojadas en viviendas inadecuadas. Polonia es ejemplo de un país particularmente afectado por los problemas de vivienda después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Experiencias de la transformación democrática de Polonia después de 1989 ofrecen lecciones interesantes (y advertencias) para todos los países que deseen hacer frente a los problemas sociales derivados de las dificultades de vivienda.Palabras clave: derecho a la vivienda, derechos humanos, transformación social, transición, derechos económicos y sociales, cuestiones sociales, Polonia, Naciones Unidas, comunismo.