SOCIJALNO ISKLJUČIVANJE – PROCESI, MEHANIZMI I KONSEKVENCE / SOCIAL EXCLUSION – PROCESSES, MECHANISMS AND CONSEQUENCES

NA PRIMJERU PRISTUPA OBRAZOVANJU OSOBA SA INVALIDITETOM U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI / IN THE CASE OF EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Abstract

This article presents an attempt to conceptualize the multidimensional, complex and differently used term of social exclusion from various theoretical frameworks, and then to direct this notion to review the specific position of a particular social group - people with disabilities. The current European process of changing the social approach to the issues of persons with disabilities is clarified, and the role of the social community in the (in)ability of one part of the citizens to participate in it is approximated. Furthermore, the processes and mechanisms of social exclusion are presented through the presentation of empirical research, on the example of access to education and vocational training for entering the labor market for persons with disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the objective and subjective factors pointed out that lead to social deprivation that combined together create a hopeless situation in which the excluded population is passivated, thereby relieving the wider community of responsibility for further action. The isolation and differentiation of the socially excluded becomes structural when it is repeated and affirmed through social practices, which causes the population of the excluded to become powerless as a collective to demand reintegration into the society. The absurdity of the Bosnian- Herzegovinian society is also presented, which declaratively obliges itself to respect international standards in relation to persons with disabilities, but ultimately fails the awareness test necessary for changing the social practice.