Social Research Case Study

Nov 2009
A recent groundbreaking research process completed by Unique Perspectives for the Southside Partnership (Dun Laoghaire Rathdown) has received significant coverage in the Irish Times. The article entitled 'High level of social exclusion on Dublin's Southside' published on October 20th, details some of the key findings of the research report and in particular how the numbers of people at risk of and experiencing social exclusion in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown is underestimated by official methods used to measure social exclusion. The article describes how the research report has systematically challenged the myth that DLR is a wealthy county only. The article concludes by quoting the Unique Perspectives report: 'In some ways therefore, the socially excluded in DLR may be more marginalised and isolated due to the perception (and official assessment) of the county as not being the location of significant pockets of disadvantage'.

See the Irish times article HERE
See the report HERE

Southside Partnership DLR commissioned Unique Perspectives to research and write a report comprehensively profiling the extent, nature and causes of social exclusion in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.

A key consideration for this research was the context of DLR: according to the official account, DLR for all intents and purposes reveals limited pockets of disadvantage when compared to other partnership catchment areas and/or counties around the state. Yet, local knowledge points to significant concentrations of disadvantage in a number of locations in DLR. In view of this, the SI profile utilised a methodology that went beyond the use of Census ED data solely to further include other quantitative sources such as local authority, social welfare data and also undertook qualitative research with representatives and advocates of disadvantaged communities and groups in DLR.

This exploration of social exclusion underpinning the approach to the profile showed that in order to define and understand social exclusion, a wider analysis of social exclusion is needed which goes beyond traditional understandings which relate to income poverty solely. The profile research examined where social exclusion is most likely to be located, revealing that in urban areas, such as DLR, there is a very high correlation between experiencing or the presence of indicators of, social exclusion and social housing tenure.

The SI profile also probed Irish Government policy surrounding social inclusion. This showed that in such policies there is a rhetorical emphasis on the broader, progressive understanding of social exclusion, however, this is often contradicted in practice where the emphasis is by and large on inclusion through mainly paid employment, i.e. participation in the labour market. Thus social inclusion practice, derived from apparent inconsistencies in policy, does not adequately respond to the complex nature and causes of social exclusion. Consequently, in Ireland over the past decade economic growth and employment has not had the desired effect on social exclusion.

The substantive aspect of SI Profile provides comprehensive data on indicators of social exclusion in DLR. This is presented across a range of social inclusion indicators (i.e. groups/areas at risk).This reveals a range of key trends and findings. It shows for instance that a number of EDs in DLR repeatedly exhibit high relative levels (relative to DLR, Dublin and nationally) of social inclusion or lifecycle indicators.

Overall, the profile shows that when the number of people falling into a range of social exclusion categories (unemployed, educational attainment, housing tenure etc.) is compared with numbers in similar county or partnership catchment areas – including some considered among the most disadvantaged in the state - the numbers in DLR are as large and in some cases larger than those in other areas. Due to the measurement of deprivation such areas may exhibit a significantly higher proportion of an excluded grouping, relative to their respective total populations at electoral division or county level, than is the corresponding case in DLR. This suggests that in DLR the true scale of social exclusion, measured in persons rather than percentage proportions, represents significant real and largely unmet needs. These needs are unmet, relative to some others areas, due in part to the social inclusion service provision and infrastructure legacy that has considered DLR as almost exclusively affluent (in comparisons to many other catchments in the state). In some ways therefore, the socially excluded in DLR may be more marginalised and isolated due to the perception (and official assessment) of the county as not being the location of significant pockets of social exclusion.

The main recommendations arising from the findings in the SI profile revolved around: the challenge of understanding social exclusion; appropriate data gathering on social exclusion; the role of ‘partnership’ in responses to social exclusion; and strategies for the promotion of social inclusion.

The full report, ‘A Social Inclusion Profile of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown’, was publicly launched in 2009. The launch was attended by Mary Hanafin, Minister of Social and Family Affairs;  a number of TDs including  Eamonn Gilmore (Labour Party Leader), elected representatives from the County Council; members of the County Development Board and the Southside Partnership Board.  This comprehensive piece of research offers the most significant data analysis on social exclusion in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown undertaken to date. The report is printed in summary report format which includes in its cover a CD of the full and sizeable report.

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