Social Networks and Social Inclusion. The Interest of a Relational Approach in Social Work Research

Martín Goyette
martin.goyette@umontreal.ca
École de service social, Université Laval

Abstract:

The present article is about how the integration of people and social groups into society,especially vulnerable populations, has always been central objective of social services inQuebec. Since the mid-seventies, insertion, alongside its mission of adaptation and socialcontrol, has captured much more attention of social work due to important social changes(Goyette, 2004). Hence, populations that were not used to resort to social services pro-grams—women and people in general, especially young people—occupy since then theinterest of social services and public policies. Faced with this, social services focuses itsattention on the subject of youth insertion, as the increase of figures of exclusion reinforcesthe necessity of favoring values of solidarity, social justice, respect and autonomy, principalpreoccupations of this discipline, in its ethics as well as its practice

Keywords: Social insertion, social services, social networks, public policies, youth.