Social inclusion: Adult education for roma women in Turkey and SODAM Project

Social inclusion can be defined as operational and strategic practices developed to combat poverty and social exclusion problems faced by individuals and/or groups with low income and low living standarts, within the social policies shaped and implemented by various states and welfare regimes. In order to define the strategic nature and practice of social inclusion policy, it should be considered within the scope of governance. In this thesis, to be able to understand the social and political truth of social inclusion policies as well as possible, it is aimed to examine why and how they are realized. In this regard, one of the largest projects carried out under the social inclusion strategy of Turkey which targets to "normalize" Roma people though non-formal adult education, SODAM (Social Solidarity Center) Project has been selected as the research object. The research area includes 10 SODAM buildings in four cities: Tekirdağ, Kırklareli, Edirne and Çanakkale. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and surveys were conducted with the trainees who attended the education given in SODAMs, which are operation depending on the Project carried out fort he social inclusion of Roma women. In addition, semi structured in-depth interviews ith the persons authorized in the administration, management and education processes of SODAMs. Quantitative datas were analyzed in SPSS and qualitative datas were analyzed in NVIVO programme; then presented together in the findings section of the study and evaluated in the conclusion part. Keywords: Social Inclusion, Normalization, Governance, Non-Formal Adult Education, Roma Women