Social challenges faces by

criminals, the disabled and

the ageing population
By Steven TL

Social challengesrefer to problems

that people have interacting with
people in society or engaging in
normalsocialbehaviors. A person who
cannot hold a job or have a
conversation is an example of a person
withsocial challenges.

Responsibility

Criminals
Criminals face employment issues
Communication and trust with the rest of
society may be difficult to establish
Criminals face prejudice, discrimination and
social stigmas
Recidivism repeatedorhabitualrelapse,asintocrime.
(60% in USA and 50% in UK according to BBC),
causing reconviction (70% of criminals
reconvicted in UK according to
theguardian.com)

based on the Offender Reentry: Correctional

Statistics, Reintegration into the Community, and
Recidivism by the Congressional Research Service

 Aid with post-incarceration employment

reduces levels of recidivism (based on the
Offender Reentry: Correctional Statistics,
Reintegration into the Community, and
Recidivism by the Congressional Research
Service)
Crimnon, a rehabilitation centre working over
1700 institutions in 35 countries has thousands
of criminals graduate from its courses every
week

The Disabled
Inadequate information and advice about how
to enter the open workplace
Inflexible working environment
More limited opportunities for people with
disabilities
(According to https://www.humanrights.gov.au)
Disability Discrimination Act 1995,
EqualityAct2010 in UK

 17.6% of people with a disability were

employed in the US in 2013.
Students with disabilities have lower rates of
participation in after school activities, leading to
decreased socialization and leadership
development.
(According to www.disabilitystatistics.org)
28.1% of people with disabilities live in poverty,
compared to 12.2% of people without
disabilities

The Ageing Population

Households with members of age 75 and above
spend approximately half per week compared
to other households
Senior Citizens Act in the Philippines
In 2010, for every 100 people, there were 45
who were younger than age 20 and 22 people
aged 65 or older, meaning that there were four
and a half workers supporting each older
person

According to http://www.cct.org/

Majority of criminals, the

disabled and the ageing
population are still
underprivileged in modern
societies

 Criminals face employment issues

Communication and trust with the rest of society may
be difficult to establish
Criminals face prejudice, discrimination and social
stigmas
Property offenders were the most likely to be
rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property
offenders arrested for a new crime compared with 76.9
percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order
offenders and 71.3 percent of violent offenders. (Jun
17, 2014, according to the National Institute of Justice)
Italian professor and criminologist Cesare Lombroso
stated in his book LUomo Delinquente (The Criminal
Man) written in 1876 that he believed prisons were
criminal universities.
Being in prison is a major cause of reconviction
(www.bbhs-online.co.uk)

 Discrimination in the workplace

28.1% of people with disabilities live in poverty,
compared to 12.2% of people without
disabilities
23 per cent of disabled people have no
qualifications, compared with 9 per cent of nondisabled people
40% believe that their choice of subjects or
courses was restricted because of the attitude
of teaching staff or because of inaccessible
premises
Even if public transport is accessible, disabled
people are almost twice as likely as nondisabled people to say that they are fearful of
travelling on it.

 Ageism
Often viewed as a handicap, and often
rejected by the society (Dorothy Smith-Ruiz of
department of sociology, PhD, Howard
University)
In 2010, for every 100 people, there were 45
who were younger than age 20 and 22 people
aged 65 or older, meaning that there were four
and a half workers supporting each older
person. As the ageing population grows, this
ratio is projected to increase dramatically,
leaving fewer working people for every older
one.(http://journalistsresource.org/)