Objective
YUSEDER- Short Summary
The six-country-project aims at empirical research on the causes and key mechanisms of social exclusion, among them especially unemployment. The most important group among the unemployed in Europe and the group, which the project concentrates on, are young people. The project focusses on this group but does not restrict its research on it.
The empirical research work in the six countries is, on the one hand, dedicated to different national problems of youth unemployment and on the other hand follows different scientific orientations and methodologies, namely sociological, psychological, psychiatric, and cultural.
There will be research on the vulnerability of specific groups of young people and on the processes and stages of social exclusion often associated with unemployment. The project follows the concept of victimization on three levels and aims to identify critical steps in order to formulate options to counteract this social process. The status of being socially excluded or being subjected to a process of exclusion is as well - in a psychological perspective - a question of perception of the victims themselves.
One partner from a public health institution therefore formulates as a critical interaction feelings of shame associated with financial difficulties. Another partner from a university hospital does research on attempted suicide in hopeless existential situations, the most radical form of selfexclusion from society. The Italian partner focusses on the weak bands of youth with the labour market being held responsible for social exclusion, whereas the Spanish contribution picks out as a central theme the cushioning effect of the informal economy which is for many young the only entrance to the labour market. One approach tries to identify the relationship between family support and control mediating the experience of young unemployed in Greece. A more psychological approach tries to identify the stages of experienced victimization.
Each partner does research on special topics on national level with appropriate scientific methods. But the work in the project is coordinated along three phases which are terminated in common workshops, at which the results and contributions from the six countries are compared and discussed.
- The first phase is definition of the term and concept of social exclusion and analysis and description of the forms it takes in the six countries,
- the second is empirical research (data analysis and qualitative interviews) with different socially excluded groups or groups-at-risk, and
- the third is orientated towards the options of institutional and political intervention and counteraction.
Research is not intended to be merely academic, but aims also towards consulting social institutions and political decision makers who are confronted with the processes of social exclusion among young people.
Funding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
28334 Bremen
Germany
Participants (5)
08193 Bellaterra
650 09 Karlstad
152 37 Athens
9000 Gent
40125 Bologna
