RACE, COMMUNITY GROUPS AND SERVICE DELIVERY

• NCJ Number: 142319
• Author(s): H Jackson; S Field
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 66 pages
• Corporate Author: Great Britain Home Office
• Sale Source: Her Majesty's Stationery Office
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Home Office Research Study 113.

Annotation

The survey whose design and results are reported in this booklet explored the way in which white and Gujerati Hindu people made use of social services in Great Britain, particularly those provided by the voluntary sector.

Abstract

The survey was conducted in two small areas of London and was limited to "family" households that included at least one child aged 18 or less. These samples of white and Asian households were, by virtue of their location and broadly similar family circumstances, the potential clients of the same range of local services. Within each of the two study areas, interviews were conducted with approximately 500 households, equally divided between those in which the head of the household was of Gujerati Hindu origin and those in which the head of household was white. The questionnaire examined respondents' need for and use of childcare services for children under 5 years old; youth clubs, adventure playgrounds, and holiday recreational programs; services for the disabled; services for the elderly; advice services; and participation in leisure activities, social clubs, and other local groups. Information was also solicited on experiences in the neighborhood and local community and the respondents' socioeconomic circumstances. The survey found that Asians used fewer childcare services, fewer youth services, obtained less advice, and participated in fewer community groups than did white respondents. White households used 50 percent more services than did Asian households located in the same area. There is no evidence that Asians have fewer needs or that the needs they do have are effectively met within the family. Neither is it likely that ignorance of services explains the pattern. The evidence indicates that volunteer social service organizations have not done an effective job in ensuring Asians that the social services they need are there for them as well as for white residents. 23 tables, 27 references, and appended supplementary tables