Introduction

There are many ills that bedevil several members of the society. Such ills threaten the integration, peace, development and existence of the members of the society. Social exclusion is a good example of such ills. Social exclusion is where some members of the society may be left out or remains lagging behind despite major transformations and development. There are several groups of people who can be categorized as socially excluded individuals. Such groups may include transgenders’, the mentally ill among many others. However, my main area of focus with regards to social exclusion is the mentally challenged and how they are socially excluded.

Social exclusion is something that can happen to anyone. The mentally ill has been particularly vulnerable. This vulnerability can be attributed to many reasons which may include social and economic changes in the society. The society is swiftly changing. The technology is also changing immensely. These changes may result in some members of the society becoming stronger socially and economically while others becoming even more excluded socially.

The mentally ill in the society have become immensely excluded socially. This may be due to the illness effects or lack of adequate financial resources to continue enjoying social inclusion. Such exclusion mostly leads to low self-esteem. In cases where the mentally ill are excluded socially, even proper recovery may become a huge problem (Somerville, 2000).

System Interactions

The society should pay close attention to the plight of the mentally ill. If that is not taken into consideration, then we risk having hugely segmented society with each part not able to sustain itself. This is because many system levels exist. The micro level is the interaction of people at a closer interpersonal level such as face to face conversations. This may also include specific reference to the main individual involved and why he or she might have been socially excluded.

Meso level, on the other hand, of interaction will specifically involve the search for causes for group behavior and response towards the mentally ill, for instance. Such analysis mainly seeks to understand group attitudes. It may also try to examine how they perceive their own states within the society (Liljenström & Svedin, 2005).

The exo-system level mainly focuses on the evaluation of factors that do not have direct effects on social exclusion of the mentally ill. Such a factor could, for instance, be the time of playing soccer. Policies on how the mentally ill should be treated can also be considered as exo-systems.

Macro, on the other hand, refers to the concept of where there is wider social interaction such as within a whole community. Many people tend to follow what the general society deems to be acceptable. In cases where the mentally ill are socially excluded, even young children are likely to propagate the act since it’s widely acceptable and may not bring punishments or seclusion by others (Lerner, Lerner, & Lerner, 2006).

References

Lerner, K., Lerner, B., & Lerner, A. (2006). Social policy (1st ed.). Detroit, Mich.: Thomson

Gale.

Liljenström, H. & Svedin, U. (2005). Micro, meso, macro (1st ed.). Hackensack, N.J.: World

Scientific.

Somerville, P. (2000). Social relations and social exclusion (1st ed.). New York: Routledge.