Abstract
This article draws on survey data on child, family and neighbourhood well-being in the Republic of Ireland to examine the nature and extent of immigrant social inclusion. Focusing in particular on results for an area known as ‘the Liberties’ in Dublin, in which immigrants are overly represented, the article specifically examines: (1) the relationship between levels of adult immigrant social inclusion and well-being, (2) child well-being scores of immigrant and Irish families and (3) immigrant and host community perceptions of neighbourhood characteristics. The article also considers how and to what extent immigrant human, social and cultural capital explains these findings.
Résumé
Cet article fait appel à des données d’enquête sur le bien-être des enfants, de la famille et du quartier dans la République d’Irlande pour examiner la nature et l’étendue de l’intégration sociale des immigrants. En se centrant particulièrement sur une région connue sous le nom de ‘the Liberties’ à Dublin, où les immigrants sont sur-représentés, l’article examine spécifiquement: (1) la relation entre les niveaux d’intégration sociale et de bien-être chez les immigrants adultes, (2) le bien-être des enfants de familles immigrantes et de familles irlandaises et (3) les perceptions des caractéristiques du quartier, chez les communautés immigrantes et hôte. L’article considère aussi comment et dans quelle mesure le capital humain, social et culturel des immigrants permet d’expliquer ces résultats.
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Notes
This study draws together the data from five separate but related studies of well-being, all of which were carried out during 2007 and 2008 by the same group of researchers: Kieran McKeown, Trutz Haase and Jonathan Pratschke. The five client organisations were Barnardos (a children’s charity working with vulnerable families), the Respond! Housing Association, the Bray and Wicklow Partnerships (representing respectively a town and county south of Dublin) and the Liberties (inner city Dublin) Regeneration Area. A re-analysis of ‘Well-being of Children, Families and Neighbourhoods’ data, funded by the Irish Research Council for the Social Sciences and undertaken by the authors, disaggregated immigrant respondents.
‘Most other studies in Ireland have measured the needs of children using the Rutter Scale—which has a high correlation with the SDQ—and these show that about 20% of children living in disadvantaged families and communities show evidence of difficulties, mainly behavioural problems’ (Haase and McKeown, 2008: 18).
The local authority building and the new apartment complex from which both sample clusters were selected cannot be disclosed for reasons of confidentially.
Respondents rated a list of 12 potential neighbourhood problems on a five-point scale comprising the options: ‘very big problem’, ‘fairly big problem’, ‘unsure’, ‘minor problem’, ‘not a problem’. The 12 categories were: perceptions of appearance, roads and walkways, light, litter, dog dirt, roaming dogs, graffiti, noise, drink, drugs and safety after dark.
The 14 categories were: playgrounds, green areas, sports pitches, access to schools, public transport, shops, libraries, health services, leisure facilities, swimming pool, facilities for young children, facilities for older children and policing.
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Fanning, B., Haase, T. & O’Boyle, N. Well-being, Cultural Capital and Social Inclusion: Immigrants in the Republic of Ireland. Int. Migration & Integration 12, 1–24 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-010-0166-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-010-0166-0