Socioeconomic Factors in Bergsjön

Discuss about the Learning Understanding Social Interaction.

There are numerous ways through which one can label an area poor, this may include measurement of:

1. Average income
2. Health status of individuals from the area

• Education levels

1. Unemployment rates etcetera

Ideally, high rates of unemployment and low middle age participation in productivity activities lead low middle income, while high unemployment rates are more or less linked to low unemployment and age. The destination for the outward journey is Bergsjön. Whereas one could expect a random sitting arrangement in public transport, it is interesting that travelers tend to have preferences on where to sit and better, who to sit with. At times it is almost like a segregation pattern where locals sit with locals; however there are sights of foreigners and locals. The trip takes well above one hour. As the stopovers from Saltholmel happen, there are fewer immigrants who board; the young tend to sit with the young and the female with female. Such a trend is also true for the ethnic inclination where the locals mostly sit with the locals or alone at times.

It takes about fifty minutes to drive the river’s tram from Långedrag by the sea to the west to Bergsjön up to the height in the east. According to statistics, there is a huge difference in life expectancy between the different regions.

The number of sample from the total tram boarders during the travel is 40. The distribution of several aspects is as in the:

1. Age
2. Educational level
3. Quarterly Average Income (Swedish Krona)
4. Profession
5. Ethnicity nature (Local born or foreign)

Statistics
		Age	Sex	Level of education	Local/Foreign	Employment status	Profession	Average quarterly income
N	Valid	40	40	40	40	40	40	40
Missing	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sum							699000

The persons with post secondary education in the sample make up 27.5%, while those with only secondary education make the majority at 37.5%.   

There are more locals who make up 52.5% whereas foreigners make up 47.5%.

Unemployment is coded by 1 and employment is coded by 2

From the statistics gathered, there are more workers who were in some kind of informal employment or were totally unemployed i.e. denoted by “0” in the graph making up 57% of the observed sample, those who engaged in menial jobs such as hotelier services and security services make up 2% while those who had formal jobs but in junior and middle positions make up 3%, those who had formal jobs with senior positions make up 1%. Additionally, it is observed that there are more males than there are females. Another observation is that of the proportion of passengers with high school education or more.

Most of the persons who tend to use public transport in Gothenburg are from low and mid level income brackets, considering the high percentages of unemployment; private transport means are kind of rare due to the need of survival on the meager income. There fewer foreigners in the Tram which may be due to a number of factors such as fear of moving of immigrants to certain parts due to insecurity posed by the locals or wider factors such as movement regulations by the authorities.

Social Interaction and Social Integration

Bergsjön, an eastern Gothenburg district is one of the poorest parts of Sweden prone with rampant unemployment and a myriad of society problems such as:

1. Aggravated crime rates
2. Domestic violence

• Violence against the vulnerable in the society (women and children) etcetera.

An article by Lumen learning, define social interaction as “…a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between individuals or groups.”[1] More often it is seen as a developmental foundation for a society. Through social interactions, a number of fabrics are founded which may comprise laws, institutions and even systems.[2]  Elsewhere, social integration is the means by which new individuals are adopted into a given society structure. Such new individuals may include newlywed members, children or immigrants[3]. Most often, Social and economic integration are key foundations for any newbie in the society. Moreover, social integration contributes to cementation of a society’s basic structure thereby fostering peace, corporation and development.[4]  

Christopher B. Doob infers social reproduction to be “…the emphasis on the structures and activities that transmit social Inequality from one generation to another…”[5] As such, it can be argued that at a given time, every fragment of the society tends to be influenced by prior factors such as decisions made by historical figures, i.e. human beings result from reproduction.

Gilbert in his paper on poverty, inequality, and social segregation, define segregation as the act of bias and separation of persons based on factors such as:

1. Race
2. Religion

• Tribe (Ethnicity)

Further, he argues that, processes like rural-urban migration aid in aggravation of urban social inequality through inherent problems that are related to such social activities. Most of urban-rural migrants do so in search of opportunities such as employment, business gaps, and education. Often, they end up disrupting the existing social structures hence drawing reactions such as segregation.  Bergsjön currently is versatile with a representation of almost 140 nationalities making it one of the most immigrant infested areas in Sweden. Reports by Wikipedia indicate that, between 2011 and 2013, approximately 48% population in Bergsjön was from outside the Nordic ad European Union countries. Societal development in the area has recently led to it being identified amongst urban centers with high crime rates.[6]

Such statistics are not surprising given the foundation that the society in Bergsjön is built on. From a large number of immigrants making up to 48 %, high illiteracy levels with low education of level whereby only around 22% of the sample population obtain a post secondary education of more than 2 years and a 14% of the population according to a Sweden statistics source. [7]

Cultural Reproduction in Bergsjön

Low levels of education seem to be a major cause of unemployment these areas, eventually leading to low income in a large number of households. Considering incidents where the locals may view foreigners as competitors to Job opportunities, they may end up segregating them or even resolving to violence through acts of crime on them. In the 1979s, Pierre Bourdieu linked education to production of class inequality, through its better ability to offer one an opportunity to engage in fields where the uneducated cant [8]. Nevertheless, Paul Willis publication of “Learning to Labor” proved that it is not always possible to reproduce class despite the best education system. For instance, the earlier statistics from my observation on the road trip indicate that locals and foreigners having the same educational level do not earn equally despite same professions. Cultural reproduction entails the notion of amassed recourses over time both material and immaterial that a society eventually passes on to new generation. However, in the presence of factors such as social inequality, segregation and low education levels the cultural reproduction of the previous generation tends to be low and the young generation inherit social problems including polarization and vast segregation.

Western districts such as Askim and Alvsborg which are predominantly populated by locals have increased their income over the years by almost 60%. Not so surprisingly the two areas are not in the most “vulnerable” areas.  

Conclusively, as seen from the field study of Eastern Gothenburg and the two western districts, one may infer that a society is defined by cultural reproduction which is dictated by factors such as education, segregation, integration, social interaction, and social reflection. Absence or minimal of social interactions caused by segregation may lead to social disintegration hence giving birth to social problems as witnessed in the region of Bergsjön.

References

Lumen Learning, Understanding Social Interaction, (January, 2018) www.courses.lumelearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/understanding-social-interaction/ accessed 28^th July 2018

Goffman, Social interaction, ( May, 2012) www.opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology2ndedition/chapter/chapter-22-social-ineraction/ accessed 28^th July 2018

Lumen Learning, Understanding Social Interaction, (January, 2018) www.courses.lumelearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/understanding-social-interaction/ accessed 28^th July 2018

Evans, K, Aims of sociology: Social interaction, (2012) www.sociologydiscussion.com/sociology/social-interaction-useful-notes-on-social-interaction  accessed 28^th July 2018

Christopher, D, Sociology of reproduction, (2007) www.utas.edu.au/courses/cale/units/hga209-sociology-of-reproduction  accessed 28^th July 2018

The local, So are they no-go zones? What you need to know about Sweden’s Vulnerable areas, (21^st June 2017) www.thelocal.se/20170621/no-go-zones-what-you-need-to-know-about-swedens-vulnerable-areas  accessed 28^th July 2018

Wikipedia, Bergsjön, (2018) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergsj%C3%B6n accessed 28^th July 2018

Meredith, N, Sociology and the society, (2012) www.utas.edu.au/courses/cale/units/hga200-sociology-and-the-society/ accessed July 28^th 2018

[1]: Lumen Learning, Understanding Social Interaction, (January, 2018) www.courses.lumelearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/understanding-social-interaction/ accessed 28^th July 2018

[2] Goffman, Social interaction, ( May, 2012) www.opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology2ndedition/chapter/chapter-22-social-ineraction/ accessed 28^th July 2018

[3] Lumen Learning, Understanding Social Interaction, (January, 2018) www.courses.lumelearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/understanding-social-interaction/ accessed 28^th July 2018

[4] Evans, K, Aims of sociology: Social interaction, (2012) www.sociologydiscussion.com/sociology/social-interaction-useful-notes-on-social-interaction  accessed 28^th July 2018

[5] Christopher, D, Sociology of reproduction, (2007) www.utas.edu.au/courses/cale/units/hga209-sociology-of-reproduction  accessed 28^th July 2018

[6] The local, So are they no-go zones? What you need to know about Sweden’s Vulnerable areas, (21^st June 2017) www.thelocal.se/20170621/no-go-zones-what-you-need-to-know-about-swedens-vulnerable-areas  accessed 28^th July 2018

[7] Wikipedia, Bergsjön, (2018) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergsj%C3%B6n accessed 28^th July 2018

[8] Meredith, N, Sociology and the society, (2012) www.utas.edu.au/courses/cale/units/hga200-sociology-and-the-society/ accessed July 28^th 2018