Question

What do the metrics indicate in terms of Social cohesion and Incarceration in India?

Answer 1

Definition : Social Cohesion is defined as a cohesive society that

Works toward the well being of all its members,Fights exclusion and marginalisation,Creates a sense of belonging,Promotes trust,Offers its members the opportunity of upward mobility (rising from a lower to a higher social class or status)

While the notion of “social cohesion” is often used with different meanings, its constituent elements remain the same which include concerns about:

Social inclusion: process of improving the terms for individuals and groups to take part in society. It aims to empower poor and marginalized people to take advantage of rising global opportunities

Social capital: the resources that result from people cooperating together toward common ends

Social mobility: the ability of individuals or groups to move upward or downward in status based on wealth, occupation, education, or other social variables

Designing and Implementing Social Cohesion Policies

Civic participation

Providing citizens and migrants with the proper space to voice their concerns is fundamental to the creation of a sustainable, socially cohesive society. The harnessing of civic participation and political feedback mechanisms is essential for positive and continuous growth. This is particularly true in the context of shifting wealth, which quickens economic growth and social dislocation and requires innovative responses. The process of policy making is as important as the policies themselves for building social cohesion.

Social cohesion is enhanced by an inclusive, coordinated policy-making process: it brings in the views of all stakeholders – from those involved with their implementation to the final beneficiaries. Implementing a social cohesion policy agenda requires effective administration and coordinated action across multiple policy domains. Strong institutions and a quality public service are the foundation for successful public action. Besides, the involvement of multiple actors across different levels of government requires negotiated roles to ensure accountability.

Better data, better assessments, better policies

Policy making also needs to be more evidence-based. Economic and social policies to foster social cohesion in practice require a framework:

Do they lead to more or less social exclusion?

Do they foster trust and civic participation?

Do they help to improve social mobility?

Monitoring and evaluating social cohesion policies to answer these questions requires new indicators and data. As advocated in the SenStiglitz-Fitoussi commission’s report in 2009, progress measurement should embrace indicators beyond GDP growth to capture other dimensions of well-being. Absolute and objective measures of progress should complement with objective and subjective measures for more effective assessment. Efforts to collect data to calculate such measures currently focus on developed countries and are mostly carried out by private organisations, like the OECD. Comparability, availability and quality of data must improve in national statistical offices worldwide; in accordance to the Data Revolution (see also Choosing the SDG indicators). However, the full potential of the data is best exploited only if:There are international standards for data collection,Statistical capacity building is facilitated in countries where it is needed,Data is made public as much as is possible.

If an individual feels or is indeed trapped, especially those who are incarcerated, they are at suicide risk. Prisoners have a high rate of suicide; this is common during the first hours to first week of being placed in confinement.

Child incarceration displays even wider sociodemographic disparities than incarceration generally and is associated with even worse adult physical and mental health outcomes.

In India, overcrowding has aggravated the problem of hygiene. In many jails, conditions are appalling. At the tehsil level jails, even rudimentary conveniences are not provided. Prisoners in India are not even tested for specific infectious diseases, although all prisoners undergo a medical examination when they begin serving their sentence. No studies of the prevalence of viral infections among prison inmates have been done at a national level. India's prison manuals provide for

segregation of prisoners suspected of having contagious diseases. A few jails have established informal contacts with medical and social organizations for counseling of inmates to prevent the spread of infections.

Violence in prison settings has many causes. Clashes may have ethnic causes, or rivalries between clans or gangs. The closed, often vastly overcrowded, living conditions also lead to hostilities between inmates. The tedious prison environment, lack of occupation of mind and body and just plain boredom, lead to accumulated frustration and tension. This environment leads the way to high-risk activities, such as use of drugs and sex between men. Some indulge in these activities to combat boredom. Others, however, are forced to engage in them, in a coercive play for power or monetary gain. Risky lifestyles can lead to the transmission of diseases from one prisoner to other prisoners, and pose a serious public health risk if unchecked. Contracting any disease in prison is not part of a prisoners sentence. This fact becomes even more significant when the disease is potentially fatal, as is the case with HIV/AIDS.