Module 4 Live Class 9 Tuesday, November 24, 2020 Readings: Trussell and Mair 2010, Theriault 2017, Stodolska 2015 Poverty, Leisure Services and Inclusion - "Poverty is found in urban and rural areas and in affluent regions; no community is immune." - "While leisure experiences may not solve the social ills of poverty and homelessness, they may help contribute to a higher quality of life" (Trussell and Mair, 2010, p. 514) Poverty and Homelessness - "Many individuals receiving social assistance face high levels of depression and shame. They also experience the de-habilitating effects of isolation and loneliness (Khosla, 2008). The stigma associated with accessing social supports comes from not only the support structures themselves, but also from the broader society and the feeling of being looked down upon by others" (Trussell and Mair, 2010, p. 516) Challenges to Accessing Recreation Programs and Services - In addition to the stigma experienced by low income participants (e.g. participants feel unwelcome when they enter a community center), other barriers include: - Models of municipal programming (fee for service) - Subsidized programs tend to be shorter in duration, have a lower quality of programming and have fewer openings - Require participants to publicly declare or prove their low income status in order to be eligible for subsidies - Limited access to telephone or web registration systems, cost of transportation, lack of childcare options, and fears of going out in unsafe neighbourhoods - Many community recreation workers who seek to make a difference in the lives of those who are socially marginalized are often low-paid, part-time, and temporary workers themselves What Makes a Difference - Vibrant and Accepting Organizations 1
Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - Providing participants time to heal or integrate into a new community - Provides elements of safety and basic resources - Staff were key to building sense of connection and outreach - Once basic needs were met then ... - Connecting to the Broader Community - Beyond those they lived with or near - Judgement, stigma and societal assumptions about productivity were greatest barriers - Finding judgement free spaces was key to building these connections Promising Practices for LGBTQ Inclusion - LGBTQ supportive policies may be unintentionally viewed as symbolic if organizations do not explicitly connect policies with action. In Allison's (1999) study of barriers to organizational diversity, some staff noted a lack of communication between organizational leadership and front-line staff about diversity issues, which in turn minimized the degree to which the stated policy was realized in practice. LGBTQ inclusion practices may also downplay needs that arise from other identities Framework for LGBTQ Inclusion - Theriault (2017) adopted Ferdman's (2014) social-ecological framework to looks at promising practices for LGBTQ inclusion with inclusion impacted by factors at six levels: - Individual experience - Interpersonal behaviour - Group norms and experiences - Leaders and leadership - Organizational policies, practices, and climate - Societal values and ideologies - Suggests that inclusion is a process which changes over time through interactions between individuals and those