Author: Andre Coleman

The Relationship Between Social Class and Health Inequalities
Introduction

The birth of the NHS in 1948 was greeted with considerable optimism. It was believed that a fully comprehensive welfare state where people had their needs taken care of from the cradle to the grave would bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots. Governments were optimistic that increasing social equity would lead to a healthy and long living population, it was not envisaged that demands on the health system would increase rather than decrease. Those who founded the NHS believed that a lot of people were ill because they could not afford to pay for healthcare. This group had got bigger over the years and it was believed that once the backlog had been dealt with then there would be a reduction in the number of people who needed health care (Moore, 2002). However, instead of decreasing the number of people using the NHS continued to grow, this was partly because the idea of what constitutes good health changes over time. People demanded better and higher standards of healthcare and medical advancements meant that conditions that people would have died from could now be cured. All of this cost money, more money than the founders of the health system had ever envisaged and therefore the health service lurched from one financial crisis to the next with its biggest shake up occurring in 1990.

During the last twenty years there have been significant changes in healthcare policy making and in the way in which the NHS operates. Most of these changes have occurred because of politician’s concerns over the rising cost of public health.

In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher’s Government introduced marketing and business strategies into the NHS to control expenditure on healthcare and to change the health service. The most important factor here was that of the internal market. Rather than health professionals and patients it was now purchasers and providers of healthcare. This created a two tier system that created inequalities between hospitals and between patients. It split the NHS into competing NHS Trust organisations and parts of the health service were privatised. In 1990 the Community Care Act came into force and many people who were previously institutionalised were released into the community. Most of this type of care is undertaken by social services in conjunction with the health service and with voluntary organisations. The Act placed extra burdens on families to care for ageing or disabled relatives (Walsh et al, 2000). Opponents of the system argued that marketisation would lead to greater inequalities in healthcare provision and the poorer sections of society would be even worse off. It is arguably the case that the people most affected by these changes have been those in the lower classes of society. At the start of the 1970s the mortality rate for working men in the lowest social class was twice as high as for those in the highest, but by the late 1990s the figure was three times higher. This was mainly due to a decrease in the mortality rate for the most well off members where between 1970 and 1990 the rate fell by 30% but only by 10% for members of the lower class (Walsh et al, 2000). The Conservative Government’s failure to address the recommendations of the report commissioned by them to investigate the relationship between social class and health inequalities has meant that class inequalities in the standard mortality rate and the rate of morbidity continue to be matters of substantial concern, and thus, areas for continuing research.

Epidemology

Epidemology is the study of health across populations rather than in the individual. It studies diseases and their spread, and how to control them. Within the study of health and illness social class is associated with physical risk factors including birth weight and obesity. It is also associated with economic factors and standards of housing and with the social and familial structure.There are detectable patterns of morbidity or illness associated with social class and death or mortality rate statistics also vary widely depending on a person’s class. Those who belong to the higher (capitalist) classes tend to live longer than those who are members of the working class. There is also a strong relationship between a person’s occupation and their life expectancy.^[1]

Standard Mortality Rates

Browne and Bottrill (1999) have identified some of the major inequalities in health and they contend that unskilled manual workers are twice as likely to die before the age of 65 as are white collar workers in the highest class. Analysis for life expectancy differences across England and Wales from 1972-1999 found that there had been a noticeable growth in inequality in this area. During 1997-1999 males in professional occupations tended to live 7.4 years longer than males in unskilled manual occupations. The differences for women in the same period and with respect to the same categories had risen to 5.7 years from 5.3 years in the period 1972-76 There are also regional differences, males born in Glasgow between 1999 and 2001 have a life expectancy of 69 years whereas males born in North Dorset may expect to live until they are 79. Cause of death also varies by social class the major areas of health which showed such differences were, Ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory diseases andlung cancer. Semi-skilled and unskilled workers were five and half times more likely to die of respiratory diseases between the period 1986-1999 than were managerial and professional workers.

Patterns of limiting illness are also affected by social factors such as class. Forty three percent of all men were long term unemployed or had never worked and this group were five times more likely to suffer from limiting illnesses than were the nine percent that consisted of males in professional and managerial positions. During the twentieth century, as a result of improved living conditions and availability of healthcare, infant mortality had fallen substantially this is a useful indicator of the state of the nation’s health. Nevertheless differences do exist based on the economic status of fathers, birthweight, and mother’s country of birth. There was a 16% overall fall in infant mortality between 1994 and 2002 for babies whose fathers were in managerial and professional occupations, the mortality rate was highest among those babies who were registered by single mothers, for babies registered by both parents but whose fathers were in routine occupations, this fall was only 5%. The different rates within a thousand births across England and Wales are shown in figure 1 below.

The figures for the standard mortality rate, although lower than previous periods in the twentieth century, tend to show a noticeable increase during the late nineteen nineties.

Morbidity Rates

Asthana et al (no date given)^[3] undertook secondary analysis of the 1991-97 Health Survey for England found that there is a strong relationship between class and morbidity rates, although this is sometimes overshadowed by the effects of age The researchers also looked at other studies undertaken between 1984 and 2002 and again found a strong relationship between social class and self-reported morbidity. The study found that health inequalities by social class were not usually not the same for men as for women and concluded that there needed to be a separate class analysis by gender. The relationship between class and health inequalities therefore will vary by sex and will vary significantly by age. The study focussed on 16+ with respect to age and class was determined by the occupation of the head of the household. The study found that the impact of class differences was lower for the lower age groups, particularly those between 16 and 25.^[4] For every one professional man who suffers and later die from coronary heart disease there are three unskilled workers who suffer the same. Manual workers make up 42% of the workforce but account for 72% of work related accidents. Obesity is a killer and twice the number (28%) of women in unskilled work compared to 14% of professional women were obese, and suffered from related symptoms.^[5] Stomach cancer also varied with 2.2% of professionals suffering from this and 3% of manual workers, the figures were the same for cancer of the oesophagus. However deaths from cancer (of the alimentary system) varied widely. McCormak et al (1995) found that there was a strong positive relationship between social class and incidences of musculoskeletal disease such as osteoporosis. People of the lower social class were also at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes (Ismail et al, 1999).Littlejohns and Macdonald (1993) identified a strong link between social class and respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis, more unskilled workers tended to suffer in this way than did those from the professional classes.

There is a strong relationship between class and angina between the 45-75 age group and this increases with age. The difference is less marked for women but tends to peak in the age band 45-54.^[6] There is quite a significant class difference between women suffering from raised blood pressure, 17% of professional women reported this condition whereas in unskilled occupations 24% of women said they suffered from hypertension.^[7] People from the higher social class may be healthier because they tend to use medical services more often and also because they are more likely to eat a healthy diet. Most studies tend to take the view that although reported morbidity appears to have increased across the population generally the relationship between morbidity and social class has tended to remain much the same for the last ten years.

Strategies to Deal with Inequalities Between Social Groups

There have been a number of strategies that the Government has introduced since 1998 to combat ill health. In 2005 the Government published a report entitled Tackling Health Inequalities in an attempt to deal with the inequalities evident between different social groups. The Public Service Agreement states that by 2010 the Government will publish a progress report on whether and in what ways the measures to tackle health inequalities have been successful.

In 1998 the Government introduced Health Action Zones and twenty six of them were set up in 1999 in under-privileged areas, and where the health status of the population was particularly low. The notion behind the introduction of these zones was that tackling ill health and inequalities in health was not just a job for the NHS but should be tackled by different agencies such as social services, local housing departments and primary health trusts working together to combat inequalities and improve health. Health Action Zones work in two ways, firstly they try to reduce health inequalities by addressing the wider factors associated with ill health and secondly they attempt to improve the quality of health services and increase the access to them. There is, for example a strong link between asthma and cold, damp housing, one health action zone made improvements to heating systems, insulation and damp proofing in council and private homes where children had asthma. As a result of this there was a reduction of hospital admissions for children with asthma and they also had less time off school (Moore, 2002).

The Government also introduced something called NHS Direct, a telephone based helpline which gives advice to people who are unsure what to do about a health problem. The line not only makes health advice more accessible but in the long run saves money on unnecessary doctor or hospital appointments. NHS walk in centres are located in shopping centres and supermarkets as well as by the side of A&E Departments. They are staffed by nurses who give advice and treat minor health problems (Moore, 2002). In 2002 the Government set targets to reduce health outcome inequalities by 2010 with the standards of measurement being the infant mortality rate and the life expectancy rate overall. This standard was chosen because the long term trend in the gap in mortality between professional and manual workers evidenced the fact that it had increased by two and a half times since the period 1930-32. The latest figures on infant mortality and life expectancy show a continuing of widening inequality in those areas with the routine and manual work group being 19% higher than the total population in the period 2001-3. Certainly the Government are aware in this report that class inequalities are in health are a result of a number of inter-related factors including diet and housing. Government claim to have invested in the area of housing so that there are less people living in housing that is not suitable to positive health outcomes. They have also taken steps to ensure that vulnerable groups can afford to heat their homes properly in winter.

In their 2005 Report the Government say that their efforts to reduce child poverty are showing signs of success and that this will also contribute to children from less well off families having better health. The report claims that the number of deaths from heart disease and strokes is falling, that health inequalities generally are being reduced, and that the gap between disadvantaged areas and the country as a whole has fallen by 22% over the last six years. The Government aims to develop its Healthy Schools Programme in the most deprived communities which are measured by the number of children in receipt of free school meals.^[8] The introduction of Sure Start Centres and Healthy Living Centres provide pre-school education for nearly half a million children under four at over five hundred local centres and delivering health and social services to hard to reach groups. Government have increased their campaign to get people to give up smoking with massive advertising campaigns, smoking clinics and a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants comes into force in the summer of 2007. Community and school initiatives to back the five a day campaign for consumption of more fruit and vegetables shows that class five families are eating more than similar families in other areas.

The report claims that all new policy proposals by government departments also have to take into account health impacts and also how that might have an effect on health inequalities. There are some indications to assume that the gap in health outcomes is beginning to narrow, teenage pregnancies are beginning to fall and there has been an increase in the take up of flue vaccine among vulnerable groups since 2002. Local exercise action plans have been set up in some disadvantaged areas to encourage people to take more exercise and Government have managed to provide intermediate care for more people. Government seem to be taking a much more integrated approach to the problem, an approach which rests on the findings of the Acheson Report.

The Acheson Report

The Acheson Report needs to be seen in its historical context. In 1978 the Tory Government commissioned the Black Report to investigate the health of the nation. The Report was published in 1980 its brief had been to examine the reasons behind inequalities in health between different groups of people so that policy could be tailored to meet health needs. The report found that there were significant and worrying differences in health outcomes between the social classes. Research has come up with a number of different explanations for the relationship between social class and health inequalities. These are:

Artefact explanations

The artefact explanation is based on the argument that the growing gap between the classes is the result of a misreading of the statistics and claims for any relationship between the two should be treated with suspicion.

Social Selection explanations

The social selection explanation is that people who are in poor health are more likely to be unemployed or in low paid work whereas those who are healthy are more likely to have better jobs and living conditions.

Cultural explanations

Cultural explanations identify consumption and lifestyle as the main causes of poor health. Thus the individual must take responsibility for the sake of their health. Certainly some government campaigns have planted the suggestion that a change in lifestyle can leader to better health and greater longevity (Walsh et al, 2000).

Material explanations

Materialist explanations regard the cause of health inequalities as the result of wider structures of power, poor working conditions, low pay and associated living standards such as bad diet and poor housing and lack of education.

The Black Report concentrated heavily on materialist explanations of health inequality. It recommended that there was a need for a more effective anti-poverty strategy and for better education to combat such inequalities. Since that time there has been a considerable amount of subsequent research e.g. Macintyre (1997) that supported these recommendations, but Margaret Thatcher dismissed the findings on the basis that its recommendations were unworkable because of the amount of public expenditure that would be required to do this. The Conservative Government concentrated on cultural explanations and placed an emphasis on individual life style choices as being the result of inequalities in health.

The Black Report was highly influential on later health research and its findings have been used extensively to measure inequalities. Almost twenty years later in 1997 the Labour Government commissioned a similar report, the Acheson Enquiry. The resultant Acheson Report, published in 1998, also recognised the wider factors that contributed to the relationship between class and inequalities in health. The Acheson Report reiterated the fact that materialist explanations of ill health recognise the wider context of material deprivation and inequalities can only be reduced by addressing its root causes. Thus the Report recommended that any attempt at policy making across government departments had to pay attention to any particular health impacts, particularly as they affected those who were disenfranchised, and to legislate in favour of the less well off. The Report argued that the Government take an approach that used what it called both ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ approaches. Upstream work is characterised by initiatives such as Health Action Zones which attempts to improve health and reduce inequalities by working on the wider factors that contribute to poor health, such as insufficient income and poor standards of housing. There was a particular focus on the inequalities that faced young families and pensioners. There was a recommendation that an automatic Income Support top-up be paid to the poorest pensioners, i.e. those totally reliant on the state pension and who might not recognise their entitlement to further benefits. Such people are also at risk of what the report termed fuel poverty and they may feel unable to heat their homes properly. Government have now substantially increased winter fuel payments to all pensioners in an attempt to lessen inequality in this area. The Acheson Report recommended that there should be an increase in benefits for parents with young children, or a decent living wage for those in unskilled occupations, because bringing up a young child entailed more expense than when children got older. The Report also recommended that Government should address housing problems to ensure that people at the lower end of the social scale had decent living conditions. These recommendations were taken on board by the current government who have made inroads into addressing inadequate housing, have introduced a national minimum wage, and have restructured the tax and benefits system. Downstream work is connected with improvements in the NHS and easier access to health services, particularly in deprived areas. The Government has also made inroads in this are through the use of NHS Direct, Sure Start Centres, and Healthy Living Centres.

There were recommendations that health inequalities should be monitored and should take account of those groups who were often ignored in policy making, those from ethnic groups and in particular women who for too long had been seen only in terms of their husbands class and occupation.^[9] It was further recommended that Government improve conditions for pregnant mothers and for all women of child bearing age to reduce health inequalities and inequalities in infant mortality rates.

Conclusion

Medical researchers and social scientists investigate why people have poor health, what factors contribute to this and what might be necessary to improve people’s health. Social scientists in particular are interested in all aspects of social life and in the structures that govern society. They investigate why some people have better health than others, why we are a society of rich and poor stratified into classes, and what the wider social effects of the inequalities that result from stratification might be. This paper has looked at epidemiological evidence which indicates a strong and enduring relationship between class and health inequalities. It has found that when the aims of the welfare state for healthy nation and an end to inequity were not realised and Governments found the cost of providing healthcare for all was spiralling out of control. The answer has been, what some people describe as a gradual dismantling of the welfare state and of the health service. However, while such policies may have had adverse effects New Labour’s response to the recommendations of the Acheson Report offsets some of these effects and demonstrates an integrated attempt to reduce the inequalities in health outcomes that exist between social classes. Things are not yet on the decline but there is evidence to suggest that life expectancy and morbidity figures have remained much the same for the last ten years. With new policies coming into play, and Government promises to substantially reduce health inequalities by 2010 it might be said that there is some cause for optimism that the most worrying of these inequalities may, in the future, be satisfactorily addressed.

References

Acheson, D. 1998. Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report London, HMSO

Asthana, S Gibson, A. Moon, G. Brigham, P and Dicker J (no date given accessed 18/3/06) The Demographic and Social Class Basis of Inequality in Self-Reported Morbidiity: An Exploration Using the Health Survey for England http://eprints.libr.port.ac.uk/archive/00000016/01/jechdiv3.pdf

Black Report Inequalities in Health London, DOH 1980

Browne, K. and Bottrill, I. 1999. “Our unequal, unhealthy nation”, Sociology Review,9

Giddens, A. 2001 4^th ed. Sociology, Cambridge, Polity Press.

Ismail, A.A., Beeching, N.J., Gill, G.V. and Bellis, M.A. (1999) ‘Capture-recapture-adjusted prevalence rates of type 2 diabetes are related to social deprivation’, QJM: Monthly Journal of the Association of Physicians, vol 92, no 12, pp 707-10.

Littlejohns, P. and Macdonald, L.D. (1993) ‘The relationship between severe asthma and social class’Respiratory Medicine, vol 87, pp 139-43.

McCormick, A., Fleming, D. and Charlton, J. (1995) Morbidity statistics from general practice: Fourth national study,1991-1992, London: HMSO.

Macintyre, S. 1997. “The Black Report and beyond: What are the Issues?” Social Science and Medicine, 44

Moore, S. 2002 3^rd ed. Social Welfare Alive Gloucestershire, Nelson Thornes

Townsend, P. Davidson, N. and Whitehead, M. (eds) 1988 Inequalities in Health, the Black Report and the Health Divide Harmondsworth, Penguin

Walsh, M. Stephens, P. and Moore, S. 2000 Social Policy and Welfare. Cheltenham,

http://www.sochealth.co.uk/history/black.htm

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/fosi2004/SocialInequalities_summary.pdf accessed 18/3/06

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/fosi2004/Health.pdf ch. 6 p.4 accessed 18/3/06

http://eprints.libr.port.ac.uk/archive/00000016/01/jechdiv3.pdf accessed 19/3/06

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:STDauFm9KtQJ:image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Society/documents/2002/11/20/TacklingHealthInequalities.pdf+class+inequalities+in+morbidity&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=30 accessed 19/3/06

http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/doh/ih/part1b.htm accessed 19/3/06

http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/76/98/04117698.pdf p.6 accessed 19/3/06 Tackling Health Inequalities 2005

http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/doh/ih/part2a.htm part 2 no page number given accessed 19/3/06

1

Much of the current research on underachieving boys in education is focused on suggesting solutions in terms of teaching methods. It is possible to criticise this approach as one can argue that in order to effectively formulate strategies aimed at helping boys who underachieve, you need to actually understand why they are underachieving. Some research suggests that the phenomenon of ‘new laddism’ is just the old fashioned problem of boys behaving badly (Chaudhary, 1998). The solutions therefore do not actually focus on the cause of bad behaviour – just focus on dealing with the behaviour itself.

Media representations of ‘underachieving boys’ are also problematic. They all too often ignore important questions and issues, such as which boys are ‘underachieving’? Delemont (1999) points out the problems with the crude portrayals that suggest boys underachievement and laddishness are synonymous; they are not. Not all ‘laddish’ boys are underachievers and not all underachievers are ‘laddish’.

Objective 3 of this research was addressed in detail in the previous section – the literature review. Objective 1 and 2 of this research will be implemented through the collection and analysis of empirical data. This study is interested in an in-depth analysis of the year 10 and 11 boys at the researcher’s school, and specifically the reasons why they adopt laddish attitudes. Objective 1 will be focused on through analysis of the school staff as well, in particular looking at the process that causes certain types of behaviour to be labelled as laddish.

Cohen and Manion’s (1996) description of a case study – the researcher observing the characteristics of an individual unit – sums up this piece of research neatly. Howard Becker (1970) describes one aim of case studies as the attempt ‘to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the group under study’. This researcher be attempting to gain a comprehensive understanding of boys who underachieve at Tewkesbury School. Case studies can also be used to produce typologies, or a set of categories defining types of a social phenomenon. Douglas (1967) suggested that case studies could be used to discover the different types of suicide by uncovering the different social meanings of suicide. There is a possibility that this research can produce some typologies about the different types of behaviour that causes male underachievement.

The potential issue with this research strategy is that it is not possible to generalise on the basis of my findings. It is impossible to determine how far the findings of this research can be applied to underachieving boys in other schools. As Bryman (1988) suggests, one way around this would be to repeat the research in other schools looking at the same phenomenon. The issue though with attempting to repeat the research is that it is difficult to make direct comparisons of the results of studies carried out either by different people, or by the same people at different times.

Historical research as a strategy is not appropriate to this topic as it is generally associated with the study of non-contemporary phenomena – this research is clearly not interested in anything non-contemporary. Experimental research is also not appropriate to this topic as it’s very nature is at odds with what this research is attempting to do – experimental research will try to objective by taking phenomena out of it’s natural context, this research needs to understand what is happening in a school environment. Action research was considered due to the in-depth nature of the analysis it engages in – but this research is not focused on one specific problem that can be tackled this way, the researcher is interested in exploring a range of issues linked to laddish behaviour and underachievement.

This research will produce qualitative data in the main. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) describe qualitative research as studying things in their natural settings, and attempting to make sense of phenomena in terms of the meanings people give to them. Some quantitative data will also be produced as well, which Myers (1997) states is often produced through survey techniques within a social setting and as such works well when used alongside qualitative methods.

Orlikowski et al. (1991) say that there are three categories into which qualitative research strategies fall into, depending upon the researcher’s view of the world; critical, positivist and interpretivist. Whilst this researcher does believe that in terms of a critical perspective of the world, people are influenced by social and cultural circumstances, he does not believe that the main of his research should be to free people from the restraining forces that impact upon their lives. His role is simply to understand better the key aspects of laddish behaviour and underachievement. This research will also not be adopting a positivist methodology, as the researcher does not believe that human beings can be studied in the same way that the natural sciences use to study particles, gases and rocks. The French writer Auguste Compte was the first person to use the phrase ‘positivist philosophy’ (Compte, 1986). He believed that scientific knowledge about society could be accumulated and used to improve human existence so that society could be run rationally without religion or superstition getting in the way of progress. Compte believed that the scientific study of society should be confined to collecting information about phenomena that can be objectively observed and classified. He argued that researchers should not be concerned with the internal meanings, motives, feelings and emotions of individuals – these states only exist in the persons’ consciousness so cannot be observed, and cannot be measured in any objective way.

The fundamental part of positivism is its use of statistical data. Positivists believed that it was possible to classify the social world in an objective way. Using these classifications it was then possible to count sets of observable social facts and then produce statistics. You can then look for correlations between different social facts. If there is a correlation between two or more types of social phenomena, then a positivist might suspect that one of these phenomena is causing the other to take place. This can be criticised though, for example if you look working class boys underachieving in school, the correlation between those two factors is not necessarily causal. It may simply be an indirect correlation.

Positivism is based upon an understanding of science that sees science as using a mainly inductive methodology. This begins by collecting the data. The data is then analysed and out of this analysis theories are developed. Once the theory has been developed it can then be tested against other sets of data to see if it is confirmed or not. If it is repeatedly confirmed then positivists like Compte assume they have discovered a law of human behaviour.

Other researchers though have not accepted the inductive method. Indeed, many use an alternative, a deductive approach. This alternative methodology is supported by Karl Popper in his book The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1959). The deductive approach reverses the process of induction. It starts with a theory and tests it against the evidence, rather than developing a theory as a result of examining the data. Popper argues that scientists should start with a ‘hypothesis’; a statement that is to be tested. This statement should be very precise and should state exactly what will happen in particular circumstances. On the basis of this hypothesis it should be possible to deduce predictions about the future. Popper differs from positivists in that he denies it is ever possible to produce laws that will necessarily be found to be true for all time. He argues that however many times a theory is apparently proved correct, there is always the possibility that at some future date the theory will be proved wrong, or ‘falsified’. He suggests that scientists have a duty to be objective, and to test their theories as rigorously as possible. Therefore, once they have formulated hypotheses, and made predictions, it is necessary to try constantly to find evidence that disproves or falsifies their theories.

Some though argue that in practice scientists operate in very different ways from those advocated by Popper or positivists. Thomas Kuhn (1962) has developed an analysis of science which sees it as being far from the objective pursuit of knowledge. He argues that science is characterised by a commitment to a scientific paradigm. A paradigm consists of a set of beliefs shared by a group of scientists about what the natural world is composed of, what counts as true and valid knowledge, and what sort of questions should be asked and what sort of procedures should be followed to answer those questions. Kuhn does not believe that the same methods and procedures are found throughout scientific history; rather, they are specific to particular sciences at particular times. Scientists may ignore evidence that does not fit ‘their’ paradigm.

To Kuhn, a scientific subject is one in which there is an agreed paradigm. There is no guarantee that this accepted paradigm is correct: it may well be replaced by a new paradigm in the future. If Kuhn’s view of science is accepted, then it is doubtful social research can be considered as scientific. There is no one accepted paradigm in social research – the different perspectives all see the social world in different ways: they ask different questions and get different answers. Kuhn’s work has been criticised though as you can argue that it has little relevance to social science and based upon inadequate evidence. Anderson, Hughes and Sharrock (1986) believe that he has underestimated the degree to which there is conflict and disagreement in natural science. Most of the time alternative paradigms are debated. A careful examination of the history of science shows that ‘the periods of revolution grow in size while those of settled normality contract’.

The approach that this researcher will be adopting as identified by Orlikowski et al. (1991) is interpretivism. This most closely matches this researcher’s approach to research, and as a teacher of sociology it has been refined over the past ten years of either studying or teaching the subject. The interpretivist approach suggests that qualititative data collection techniques should be used. Social action can only be understood by interpreting the meanings and motives on which it is based. Many interpretivists argue that there is little chance of discovering these meanings and motives from quantitative data. Only from qualitative data – with its greater richness and depth – can the sociologist hope to interpret the meanings that lie behind social action.

Interpretivists reject the use of natural science methodology for the study of social action. The natural sciences deal with matter. Since matter has no consciousness, its behaviour can be explained simply as a reaction to external stimuli. People though, have consciousness – they see, interpret and experience the world around them in terms of meanings. Max Weber talks about how understanding the motives behind people’s behaviour could be achieved through verstehen – imagining yourself to be in the position of the person whose behaviour you were seeking to explain.

Phenomenology represents the most radical departure from positivism. Phenomenologists go even further than interpretivists in that they reject the possibility of producing causal explanations of human behaviour. They do not believe that it is possible objectively to measure and classify the world. To phenomenologists, human beings make sense of the world by imposing meanings and classifications upon it. These meanings and classifications make up social reality. They believe that researchers should limit themselves to understanding the meanings and classifications which people use to give order to and make sense of the world. Studies which utilise this method concentrate almost entirely on the subjective aspects of social life which are internal to the individual’s consciousness.

DATA COLLECTION

Convenience sampling was used to select the participants in the research project. It was convenient because the researcher works at the school involved in the study. There is nothing random about the students and staff who have been chosen and the researcher is making no claim of representativeness and generalisability to anywhere other than his school. That is not the focus of the research – instead it is focused on simply gaining an in-depth understanding of the key issues involved in laddish behaviour and underachievement. This method of sampling was also used due to the fact that it is by far the easiest way to access participants.

This research will use two main methods of collecting data: interviews and secondary data analysis. The main data collection technique will be semi-structured interviews. Interviews are as Yin (2003) states, able to provide insights into complex situations. And as Goldthorpe et.al (1968) found, interviewees could be prompted if they cannot decide how to answer a question. The interviews will be semi-structured because this will allow the students and staff to express their views, explain their individual circumstances and expand on any answers. The researcher though will be able to guide them towards the specific area of interest because there will always be some pre-planned questions. The key is, as Marshall and Rossman (1989) put it – the participant’s view on the phenomena of interest should unfold as they truly view it, not as the researcher views it.

The use of more than one method allows the researcher to engage in methodological pluralism. This is the idea that we should tolerate of a variety of methods in sociological research, because methods should be seen as part of the research process as a whole. (Bryman, 1998). The key advantage to the researcher is that it allows him to combine both positivist and interpretivist research methods, which allows him to benefit from triangulation, which is where the strengths of one method balance out against the weaknesses of another, and allow me to cross-examine the results. Methodological pluralism has become more and more popular in recent years amongst sociologists, although the idea itself has not escaped criticism: However, consensus over methodological pluralism is incomplete, and does not even mean that subscribing sociologists have actively sought to promote pluralism. As Bell, observed: aˆ¦ individual sociologists – no matter how tolerant, catholic and eclectic – are very unlikely actually to be methodological pluralists aˆ¦ . It is the structure of sociology that became pluralist not sociologists themselves. (Bell and Roberts, 1984). Indeed, Payne et al (2004) conducted research aimed itself at measuring the extent to which methodological pluralism is used in sociological research. They concluded: “Only about one in 20 of published papers in the mainstream journals uses quantitative analysis, ranging from simple cross-tabulations to multivariate techniques. This is not grounds for an argument that there should be less qualitative research, but rather that there should be more quantitative research.

The site for the research will be Tewkesbury School. The research project is not intended to be an exhaustive study of laddish behaviour and underachieving boys in the local area – it is specific to the researcher’s school and the needs and priorities of that school moving forward. The research will be focused on male students in year 10 and year 11. They have been selected for two main reasons – those are the two year groups for which we have the most accurate data on who is ‘underachieving’, and improving the performance of these boys is the main priority for the school moving forward. The data on underachievement is generated by subject teachers who are judging the progress of students against their FFT (D) (Fisher Family Trust) targets. These type D targets are based upon the progress made by schools in the top 25% percentile of value-added schools nationally. Also, as Epstein et al (1998) points out – it is at this age group that laddish behaviour begins to impact most heavily on educational performance. The staff that will be interviewed will be from a range of subject areas – including English, Maths and Science. The research will analyse the different levels of underachievement and seek to identify reasons why these boys may be underachieving more in certain subject areas.

Interviewing different staff allows for cross-comparison’s of responses – which will allow key themes to emerge. Indeed, as Holstein et al (1995) suggest, the interviewing process itself often creates new knowledge rather than just revealing data that was previously present in the interviewees’ heads. The following staff will be interviewed:

1 – Head of Maths Faculty.

2 – Head of Science Faculty.

3 – Head of English Faculty.

4 – Head of Humanities Faculty.

5 – Head of Arts Faculty.

6 – Head of Technology Faculty.

All these staff have an in-depth knowledge of performance in their faculties, and have specific experience of the underachievement by students. The interviews will be recorded, where possible, for two reasons – to ensure that the analysis of data is based upon an accurate record, and to allow the interviewer to concentrate on the actual interview. Secondary data in the form of school exam performance and monitoring reports will also be collected to form part of the analysis. This will allow the research to understand the scope of current performance levels.

To help focus the interviews in terms of reflecting the main objectives of this research they will be structured in according to key themes, for example patterns of behaviour that are labelled as laddish, understanding of current underperformance issues, awareness of the issues involved in boys choosing to behave in a laddish manner. In terms of analysing the interviews, as Bogdan and Biklen (1982) put it; the researcher should aim to work with the data, analyse and break it down into manageable units, search for patterns and decide what is important. This summarises neatly the modern interpretive approach to qualitative data analysis and the approach that this researcher will use.

LIMITATIONS AND POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

There are many potential problems in any research problem, and especially when researching a topic like this project is aiming to. The key one is generalisability – this research cannot be generalised to any other educational setting, as it is purely relevant to the setting that the researcher is currently employed in. This does raise a question mark over the validity of the findings, but as most interpretivists argue, including Ackroyd and Hughes (1981), the researcher is not limited to what he or she can immediately perceive or experience, but is able to cover as many dimensions and as many people as resources permit. The depth of data gathered by this research should enable the researcher to find the truth, or at least the best representation of it available, hence ensuring a good degree of validity.

The reliability of unstructured interviews can also be questioned as they are artificial situations, as Bryman (1988) notes, do they really capture the daily life, conditions, opinions, values, attitudes, and knowledge base of those we study as expressed in their natural habitat? Perhaps even more problematic is the issue of the researcher maintaining objectivity when interviewing colleagues in an environment in which he works. Labov’s (1973) work also points out the way that school children can respond differently when interviewed in different contexts. They often respond in a certain way when interviewed in a formal setting that is very different from how they respond in an informal setting.

Any research project which has interviews as the main source of data is hampered by interviewees who exhibit bias or poor memory recall, (Winlow 2001). This researcher has attempted to deal with this by gathering data from a range of sources, i.e. the various heads of faculty, and a range of students. This allows the researcher not to be dependent on one or two respondents for key data. But one must approach this research with the knowledge that people are not robots, especially school students, and that errors are bound to creep in, in terms of bias and honest mistakes of recollection. The issue of ecological validity pointed out by Hammersley and Gomm (2004) which is that interviews are unnatural social situations and the context affects the behaviour of interviewees so much that the resulting data cannot be seen as valid, does need to be allowed for, but overall it is expected that any bias or misinformation will be minimised.

The researcher himself needs to alter his mindset slightly when conducting the interviews – he has to view them not as colleagues but as research subjects, and this role change needs to be communicated to staff. Linked with this role change is the need for the researcher to gain the trust of his colleagues, as they may well be nervous about expressing their views openly, and so to encourage open and honest discussion, anonymity for academic staff will be guaranteed where required. (Biggam 2008).

The use of quantitative statistics to measure and understand the extent of underachievement also has it’s issues. Atkinson (1978) believes that they are simply the product of the meanings and taken-for-granted assumptions of those who construct them. This is particularly the case when analysing teacher’s perceptions of who is underachieving, so the researcher must be wary of this. As Byrne (2006) states, they are useful to most social scientists – they are made out of something, not nothing, and that provided we pay careful attention to the ways in which they are made, and in particular the processes of operationalisation they can be of very considerable value to us.

Finally, in terms of ethics there are a range of potential issues to take into account. The researcher will be abiding by the code of ethics as set out by the British Sociological Association and the BERA. Participants will all give voluntary informed consent, which involves the need for them to substantially understand what the research involves. This ensures that no deception of any participants is involved. This does of raise the methodological issue of ecological validity, but it is not possible for the research to remove this issue. All participants have the right of withdrawal at any point, and this right is explained to each participant at the outset of any research. This research does involved the participation of children, so appropriate consent has been gained first from the school headteacher, as gatekeeper, from the parents/guardians of any children involved, and of course from the children themselves. Brookman (1999) talks about the issue of confidentiality and it’s impact upon the research, but as discussed earlier, all participants were offered full anonymity as a condition of their participation.

Essentially, as Israel and Hay (2006) point out, the ultimate purpose of having research ethics is to avoid harm and do good. They comment that contemporary researchers are normally expected to minimise risks of harm or discomfort to participants. This research will strive to ensure that this is the case.

As a member of a minority group this subject is something of interest and has personal relevance to my experiences living in a pre-dominantly white society. The absence of appropriate Asian role models in the media such as television, films, history, newspapers and in positions of credible political and economic influence, stimulated a natural process of personal questioning of identify. The social labels which surround us either positive or negative shape our perceptions of self and influence the kind of decisions we make. If we don’t understand the social fabrics of society in which self is developed and do not nurture a genuine inquiry into how oppression functions, we end up living those social labels. Some of these can be harmful and cause us to become disadvantaged even to the point of oppression of ourselves. It could be argued that this is an unlikely phenomena but psychological oppression is a well-researched and uncontested concept amongst academics. I am simply referring to and naming what it really is, “internalised self-oppression”.

This paper will attempt to examine the discourses and ideas which shape and influence our understanding of oppression as well as establishing a link between this and social labelling. Oppression as a concept has a very broad meaning and relates to different forms of minority groups in different ways. In this paper I will explore the relationship of oppression drawing on various forms of resources and information to support a particular perceptive. It should be recognised that oppression is not exclusive to race but impacts on other groups such as women, disability, age, sexual orientation and class with varying degrees of intensity and differences. However, for the purposes of this assignment I will specifically focus on the concept of race. I will present the four key criteria’s of oppression presented by Ann Cudd in her book Analysing Oppression (Cudd, 2006) and then focus on the effects of social labelling as phenomena. I will present a view that in order to understand oppression we must also understand the social systems, structures and influences that facilitates internalised oppression. My conclusion will aim to provide some suggestions towards highlighting how to end oppression and limit or reduce its effect on individuals who are exposed to the dynamics of oppression.

Defining layers of oppression

History literature books document oppression in different ways from religious repression, class differences, poverty and wealth, language and knowledge just to name a few (Kernohan 1998). Oppression is traditionally understood to relate to the loss of freedom, free choice, independence and capabilities due to actions of those in positions of power (Wartenberg 1992). Half a century ago, if asked the question what is oppression, many would refer to slavery or colonialism. In this day and age there is a greater understanding and awareness of oppression. Iris Young a respected author on the subject of power and oppression highlights how oppression has a much broader understanding making reference to “systematic and structural phenomena that are not necessary the result of the intentions of a tyrant. Oppression in the structural sense is part of the basic fabric of a society, not a function of a few people’s choice or policies”(Young, 1992, p. 176). In this respect oppression can be considered to be in the psychological and behavioural patterns of every member of society including those who are well meaning individuals whether they are aware of it or not.

Oppression as we once thought of is far more subtle, as Jean Harvey explains civilised oppression “involves neither physical violence nor the use of law. Yet these subtle forms are by far the most prevalent in Western industrialised societies” (Harvey, 1999, P. 1). Recognising different forms of oppression means decoding cultural and societal norms which do not clearly categorise or has a clear distinct oppressor. We all contribute to oppression in different ways and perpetuate forms of harm consciously or unconsciously, either to ourselves or to others (Harvey, 1999).

Ann Cudd helps us to explain this further by outlining four key criteria’s which are necessary and appropriate in increasing our understanding of oppression:

“Oppression must involve some sort of physical or psychological harm, though it may not be recognised as harm by the ones who are oppressed” (Cudd, 1994, p.25). So harm can be imposed without being self-conscious limiting one’s “freedom of choice relative to other in one’s society” (Cudd, 1994, p.25).

“Oppression is a kind of harm that individual members of group suffer by virtue of their membership in that group. aˆ¦harm that comes to persons because they belong to a group that they closely identify with, so that the harm attaches to their very self-image” (ibid). Individuals are not oppressed as individuals but due to their membership to a specific group, such as race, gender, disability or sexual orientation. Keith Vaz MP might not be considered as being oppressed although black men in society are. He has the same limitations as other black men who have less power in society and will have obstacles to cross that other white men take for privilege.

The third criteria, is what Cudd refers to as the ‘privilege group’ (Cudd, 1998). She makes the point that an individual who has membership to a group which benefits from the oppression is advantaged by their association and status. However, not every individual member of the group will be intentionally or knowingly benefiting but they gain from the membership to that group.

Oppression must involve some kind of coercion or force ((Cudd, 1994). Coercion is the lack of ability to make free choice. Cudd goes on to explain that “coercion is not the absence of all choice, but a lack of the right kind of choices, namely, voluntary choices” (Cudd, 1994, p. 27). Cudd suggests that this is what explains injustices of oppression.

A further dimension

My concept of oppression will focus on Ann Cudd’s coercion criteria with some variation. Not all coercion might be considered immoral as an explanation towards injustices of oppression. There are other forms of oppression, more subtle kinds which equally are not coercive such as psychological oppression. Prilleltensky and Nelson make reference to Sandra Bartky who states “To be psychologically oppressed is to be weighed down in your mind; it is to have a harsh dominion exercised over your self-esteem. The psychologically oppressed become their own oppressors; they come to exercise harsh dominion over their own self-esteem. Differently put, psychological oppression can be regarded as the ‘internalisation of intimations of inferiority” ((Isaac & Prilleltensky, 2002, p. 13).

In this respect there is no force or coercion; individuals will have the ability to make free choice in making decisions, so the lack of voluntary choice is not affected. Individuals who are psychologically oppressed become their own persecutors. The options are available to them but they are only likely to make decisions and choices which their culture or community demands of them. There are other forms of elements of oppression at work which are dynamic, fluent and interact, as oppression doesn’t occur in isolation but many forces come together in order to hold people in a state of oppression (Frye 2005).

Oppression is well documented throughout history and in literature. Particular references are made to slavery of the treatment of African slaves, the holocaust and the suffering and torture of European Jews. The systematic discrimination against sexual minorities including gay and lesbians ((Cudd, 2006). The disproportionate use of ‘stop and search’ against black minorities being seven times more likely to be stopped by the police compared whites ((Muffler, 2006).

The above examples make reference to the way in which physical ill-treatment is used to subjugate particular groups of people. However, the most efficient and effective way a society can propagate oppression is by a system of non-physical means transforming into a process of what we call negative labelling or commonly referred to as stereotyping.

There are many studies undertaken which highlight the effects of stereotyping on particular groups. This includes how these groups of individuals self-categorise themselves into positive or negative stereotyping which either way leads to negative and damaging effects. Michael Hogg refers to a study undertaken by Jost and Elsbach suggesting the link between stereotyping and power differentials as a negative force within social relations which results in distortion, control and false awareness of the oppressed groups reality ((Hogg, 2002). The element of control is imbedded into the consciousness of the individuals being stereotyped. Altshuller refers to the following quote by Jost and Banaji “those with power can control ideas, beliefs, and stereotypes in the same way they control other social and material resources and can thereby instil a ‘false consciousness’ in the powerless such that the powerless become complicit in their own disadvantage” ((Altshuller, 1999, p. 325). The weak become accepting of their position of being oppressed and psychologically become their own oppressors by self-limiting their opportunities and life chances. Cudd makes the following point, “it is not that they (the psychologically oppressed) will prefer oppression to justice, or subordination to equality, rather they will prefer the kinds of social roles that tend to subordinate them, make them less able to choose, or give them fewer choices to make” (Cudd, 2008, p. 114).

There has been varying degrees of research analysing the relationship between oppression and stereotyping which support findings that individuals who are negatively stereotyped adopt the stereotyping. This in turn sets into motion self-defeating beliefs which develops into limiting factors in accessing life opportunities. In a study conducted by Devos and Banaji they refer to how stereotyping leads to a type of phenomenon that results in self-stereotyping ((Banaji, et el, 2005).

However, stereotyping distorts the reality of the lived experiences of individuals who are being stereotyped. Sayers suggests that “the media influences our perceptions and that these perceptions then influence our behaviour towards stereotyped groups (Sayre, 2009, p. 318). So for example if we see a rebellious young teenage black adolescent, we may perceive him/her as having a violent culture in comparison to a white civilised European culture. Instead of challenging institutional oppression we use blame to shift the focus of responsibility (Cudd, 2006).

Stereotyping can be damaging in other ways. According to the theory of stereotype threat ((Laurie A. Rudman, 2008) “the existence of such stereotypes means that anything one does or any of the one’s features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterisation in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one’s own eyes” (Steele and Aronson, 1995, p. 797).

A further dimension to stereotyping is direct situational threat that arises through negative stereotyping. This relates to the risk of being treated or judged in a stereotypical way or even perhaps self-fulfilling the stereotype.

Immediate situational threat is another result of the negative stereotypes against a group. That is the threat of the possibility of being judged or treated stereotypically, or even self-fulfilling the stereotype. This stereotype threat, according to Stangor, “Can befall anyone with a group identity about which some negative stereotype exists, and for the person to be threatened in this way he need not even believe the stereotype. He need only know that it stands as a hypothesis about him in situations where the stereotype is relevant”(Stangor, 2000, p. 370).

There are many studies carried out exploring the relationship between stereotype threat and poor intellectual tests (Weiten, 2012). Different people will react differently to situational threat. Individuals will either blame themselves for their lack of achievements or internalise inferiority, both of which leads to lowering their rank and status in society (Aronson, 1995). Internalising the blame leads to individuals not feeling they have the ability or confidence to succeed, therefore they are likely not even to make any attempt. So for example, I have always wanted to paraglide. It might not be in my capabilities, so have never tried and never will. However, it will not affect my life opportunities, impact on my quality of life or leave me in an oppressed social status. Nevertheless, self-blame could cause to decrease and lower quality of life. If self-blame is used for our lack of success on our incapacities, it would make it problematic to identify and challenge institutional oppression. Self-blame is the final ingredient in maintaining oppression.

Realigning the balance

In order to redress the balance, there are different ways to overcome oppression in culture and attain a more egalitarian society. This requires personal commitment in challenging oppressive structure. It requires re-structuring of established institutions and the thought processes that influences them. It is helpful to remember that simply making policies to encourage change does not help, although policies give some direction reflecting where society is going, it does not simply “promote social justice and reduce oppression” (O’Connor, 2003, p. 20).

It is not a far-fetched view, that stereotyping is used to justify all kinds of harms on groups of individuals. Harm causes damage to one’s ability. Therefore any harm that violates one’s self and their development of human ability is a violation of universal and human rights (Nussbaum, 2001). The impact and effect of negative labelling attacks and destroys his/her sense of self image by violating their experiences. This violation occurs not only physically but through years of ‘training’ and being subject to negative messages, instilling a false consciousness and it is this which results in oppression.

All human beings have a right to live free of physical and emotional violations which results in any form of harm. Each individual has the right to dignity, self-worth, and to maximise their internal potential without the fear of abuse. Through self-stereotyping, if we lack the confidence that we do not have abilities then we are less likely to pursue and develop our capabilities.

However, simply having basic human rights is not sufficient to bypass the harm which oppression causes. Challenging cultural dynamics, religious practices and social norms which create the kinds of conditions for oppression to flourish should be confronted through education and providing information enabling individuals to make decisions and choices that do not violate their sense of self.

Developing influential role models that advocate and develop a collective identify regardless of their individuality can assist in developing images of credible and honourable representatives. Such individuals would help to counter the negative portrayal of groups which are likely to be exposed to some form of negative labelling.

Conclusion

The path to ending all forms of oppression is by far not an easy journey. More often than not minority leaders rarely challenge the structures or the system but instead they adapt to increase their own access to power. It is not uncommon that many minority leaders holding positions of influence create an impression of equality of opportunity which is reassuring to the privilege groups. However, this kind of representation could be damaging to the oppressed groups, as it distorts the reality of the oppressed, ignoring the very real problem with cultural oppression. This has the risk of overlooking the conditions and social problems which keeps people in their underprivileged positions. Rather than focusing on readdressing the system, oppressed groups are ridiculed, blamed and stereotyped for their circumstances (Segal, 2009).

To overcome the impact of self-stereotyping, simply ending social stereotype is not enough. More needs to be done to increase individuals’ ability and self-worth, so that every member of society can enjoy their true human rights. Social conditioning starts at a very early age, which defines our identity and the realisation of our ability or the lack of it. If we focus on countering the destructive stereotypes in our communities, then drawing our attention at children when they are young might be a start. This would include improving the quality of education and funding for the schools, but also ensure that funding is distributed equally to avoid creating a culture of differential treatment.

Education of adults is another element which would assist in reducing oppression. What is needed here is effective training that not only focuses on the future members of society but also on those individuals who are affected by oppression and stereotype threat currently. In this exists the challenge and the goal at reversing the stereotypes and reconstructing individual capabilities. Re-establishing and re-developing the undermined capabilities is our primary task here. Education which raises the awareness and empower oppressed groups should benefit from public support. There is no doubt that education itself is not just simply a cure to a complex range of dynamics such as oppression but it remains the most firmly established institution towards seeking restoration. An educational method originating and centred from the experiences of the oppressed is what is needed. In his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire gives the following quote: “Just as the oppressor, in order to oppress, needs a theory of oppressive action, so the oppressed, in order to become free, also need a theory of action. The oppressor elaborates his theory of action without the people, for he stands against them. Nor can the people-as long as they are crushed and oppressed, internalizing the image of the oppressor-construct by themselves the theory of their liberating action. Only in the encounter of the people with the revolutionary leader-in their communion, in their praxis-can this theory be built (Freire, 2007, p. 183). Having leaders with integrity and institutional support are the necessary elements in the ending of oppression.

Greater understanding and awareness should be developed into making individuals motivation independent from the negative identities, so that we have a society that is built on strong ambitious people. As part of a broader community, restructuring the capabilities which have been damaged and developing people to an equal threshold of using their potential and capabilities. Encouraging positive perceptions of identity would result in opening up many different possibilities and experiences which is critical in undermining the negative patterns of thoughts and feelings which result in internalising the oppression. Reducing the patterns of oppressive thoughts would be one of the first challenges towards making progress in ending all forms of internal and external oppression.

Culture, Gender, and Religion at the Limit of Human Rights in Africa.

The essay will focus on how culture, gender and religion limits human rights in Africa and how the three come into conflict which leads to discursively construct each other via cultural. It will also cover the potential and limitations of the women’s rights as human rights in which, attension will be paid to Islamic law-sharia and some of it cases in Nigeria. The essay will also relate international human rights documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, African Charter on human and people’s rights, protocol to the African Charter on Human and people’s Rights of women in Africa, and Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam(sharia law) and conclusion.

Legal Pluralism in Human Rights Law:

The plurality of norms and values that exist in different African cultues and societies is also reflected within the human rights system itself. The human rights system embodies both individual and communal rights. The tension relationship between the principle of a group’s right to self determination and cultural identity, asembodied in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and Article 16.1 of the Women’s convention, which puts an obligation on the states parties to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relationg to marriage and family relation. In the African context is whether the protection of group rights such as culture and religious identity of ethnic group, constitutes a justifiable reason for differential treatment of women and men in African. There has always been great arguement when interpreting the convention in relationa to African States parties, it should be born in mind that African and Western cultures apply different values and norm(Grannes 1994:28) This is because the implementation of Women’s convention has proved to be particularly problematic in the area of personal and family law, where it comes into conflict with religious and customary laws and practices.

Human Rights in African

Over decades now, Africa have been ranked by international Human Rights organizationas like Human Right Watch, Ammesty International and International Crimenial Court as a continent where human rights violations are at it apex especially islamic countries, the violation of women’s basic human rights are mostly done in the name of culture and religion. [1] After the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 in which pursuit of equal rights for women through international law has been fair from reach. The principle says that everyone is free and equal in diginity and eveveryone is entitled to rights “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex…” was started in Articles 1 and 2 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights [2] , African Charter by the Organization of African Unity (now African Unity) in 1986, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam by the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1993. Anthropology as an academic discipline has embraced a predominantly ethical relativist stance toward the idea of human rights as a legitimate universal concern for all cultures. In the past years the rising prominence of women’s rights as human rights has challenged this point of view. Within the context of the global women’s human rights movement, feminist anthropologists are in the forefront of this challenge, striving to uphold anthropology’s important focus on cultural context, while at the same time paying deep concern for harmful pracetics against women, with female genital mutilation in African no exception, which may be argued to be morally objectionable outside of any given culture. “Human Rights” is a very difficult phrase to define. One’s idea of humanity varies in every culture especially in African societies; discrepancies are often found even within a singular culture.

Gender,Culture, Religion and social Causes a Barrie to Human Rights in Africa:

Violence continues to affect lives of millions of women in African in all socio- legal, economic and educational classes. This is cuting across cultural and religious barriers, which impeding women from taking full participation in societies. One of the greatest barriers to women’s economic advancement is violence they face on daily routine. Not only does such violence impede women’s ability to live full and productive lives, it also hampers their contributions to family, society and economic development. Violance aganist women is one of the most visible consequences of economic, social, political, legal and cultural inequalities that exist between men and women in Africa, as a result the continent is laging behind the rest of the world [3] . Given the subordinate status of women in Africa, women are most exposed to ill treatments, physiological abuse, and physical violence, such gender violence is considered normal and enjoys social sanction.

African continent is rich in cultural relativity(culture of discrimination) and norms, as a result it has showed a vital barrier to the implementation of the universal human rights act.

A universal agreement among certain human rights provisions is not likely to occur, specifically when dealing with islamic countries in African where transition to more equal rights is most problematic, where elements of Sharia law governing the behaviour of women remain active. In extreme examples in Northern Nigeria, these ancient laws still declaims that adultery is a crime when only carried out by women, and makes it impossible for a man to be convicted of rape. In certain circumstances, conforming to human rights would signify a fundamental change in societies that the elite is not willing to undertake, fearing a potential change in the balance of power while the cultural norms remains unchanged.

Violence against women in Africa comes in several forms discrimination, rape and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which the World Health Orgnazation (WHO) defines as ‘comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons’.

The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. Increasingly, however, FGM is being performed by health care providers and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.

Despirte global efforts by World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to combat the wild spred of FGM, it still remains donominant in Africa as a cultureal partices, which lives about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM and three million girls are at risk annually [4] .

The reasons behind female genital mutilation in Africa include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities.In most African countries where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. Traditions in African believes that FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising up process for girl(s), and a way to prepare them for adulthood and marriage life, it often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity and is also associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are clean and beautiful after removal of body parts that are considered male or unclean. The Africa Traditional Reglions (ATRs) is the only religion that fully support to the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support, other religious leaders take active positions with regard to FGM: some still promote it, some consider it unimportant to religion, and others are still kicking against the idea.

Potential and Limitations of Women’s Rights as Human Rights

Social and economic indicators for African countries consistently show that women bear the greatest brunt of hardship because of disciminatory lwas against them, efforts to modernise this discriminatory laws have been frustrated by deep-rooted cultural barriers that runs in opposite direction with developments . Women in Africa contribute in numerous ways to the national development of every country. They are responsible for nearly all household duties , starting from food productions and processing exercises. Often, women tend to be viewed not as individuals, but as part of the male-headed household with some unique needs of their own related to their preceived roles, if given the rigts they can be at the front line of major global issues.

Women organizations in Africa and around world such as Formum for African Women Educationalist (FAWE) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) have been actively involve in using different approaches in seeing the the rights of women as stated in various international human rights docuents be met,their efforts are far from reach in Africa.

Sharai Law:

The word sharia means “the path to a watering hole”. It denotes an Islamic way of life that is more than a system of criminal justice. Sharia is a religious code for living, in the same way that the Bible offers a moral system for Christians. It is adopted by most Muslims to a greater or lesser degree as a matter of personal conscience, but it can also be formally instituted as law by certain states and enforced by the courts. Many Islamic countries have adopted elements of sharia law, governing areas such as inheritance, banking and contract law.

Sharai Law in Nigeria -Case One:

Safiya Hussaini, age 35, was sentenced to death by stoning in October 2002 for allegedly having a child with a married neighbour. She had the child after her divorce, but maintained the father was her former husband and that they were married when the child was conceived. The court convicted her, but Hussaini won an appeal, this time alleging that she had sex out of wedlock before sharia law took effect.

Sharai Law in Nigeria – Case Two:

In 2001, a teenage single mother was given 100 lashes for adultery, even though she argued she was raped by three men. The court said Bariya Ibrahim Magazu could not prove that the men forced her to have sex. Sexual discrimenation is transparent in this case, The Sharai law failed to bring the three men to book for raping, insisted all the blame was put on the woman alone.

Sharai Law in Nigeria -Case Three: In 2002, Adama Unusua, who was 19 and pregnant, was recently sentenced to 100 lashes in public for having sex with her fiance. [5]

International Human Rights Documents and Sharia Law in Africa:

The African continent ratified international and regional human rights protection instruments, human rights violations such as discrimination against women persists widely both in law and practice.The international commettee remains particularly concerned by the currently violations of human rights in Africa especially the ones currently going on in North Africa andWest Africa(Ivory Coast). The persistence of discriminatory laws; lack of perfect harmonisation between statutory and customary laws and the application of Sharia laws constantly increase violence against women, including widowhood rites; and obstacles to access top employment opportunities leades tonor right in decision-making that even affects them.The Shariagoes in oppsite direction with all international and regional human rights documents, expect in the Cariro Declaration on Human Rights in Islam by the Organization of the Islam Conferencce in may 1993, which made provision in Article 2 [6]

Conclusion:

Increase in the violation of huma rights in Africa is at it apex point, both the international and regional commeteer need to pay much attension to this issues, especially the violation of fundamental rights which are clearly speelts in all human rights documents with execption to Articule 2(c) p 4 of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights.Women’s rights must be respected by eliminating all form of discrimination against them, so that they can see themselves as partners in development in African.

Immigration is a topic that not every individual would like to discuss, but its an issue that we hear and see every day. There is a high increase in immigrants entering the United Kingdom from European Union countries. Immigration is a subject that’s difficult to collect detailed data from as there is a lack of official statistics or evidence. As already mentioned, there are many immigrants from European countries but there are also immigrants entering London from many other countries (non-european). This depends on various reasons, as some may enter a specific country in order to escape from danger in their existing place or to claim asylum. So how do we know if immigration good or bad for the UK? I have conducted an ananymous interview and will use it to critically reflect on the journal article ‘Immigration and Social Cohesion in the UK’. The article mainly focuses on the negative aspects of migration in regards of population dimension. In this essay I will mention a few benefits that have been brought into London through immigration. I will make arguments in regards of economical and social benefits to the area. I’ll be arguing against the journal article and will announce positive aspects and my own view of migration. I will use the answers given by my interviewee and also use some external secondary data.

What is immigration? People who move from one nation to the other without being citizens to that specific national state are called immigrants. This is the movement of immigration (ImmigrationAssist, Undated). Immigration is an arguable topic in London as there are both, positive and negative aspects to it. I think that there are more positive aspects to immigration in London rather than negative aspects. London has become a popular place of immigration. People started migrating to London after the second world war (Migration Information, 2009). Immigrants are viewed as people who take over on jobs and houses and leave nothing for the existing citizens (Interview, Line). Criticisms of immigration to consider is that social solidarity gets weaker and secondly that immigrants do not adopt the culture and values shared in Britain, but rather express their own values within London. Immigration is viewed as a cultural eraser. Moreover the UK has a policy framework which prevents racial discrimination and therefore allows minorities to be visible within the country. Immigration levels have been constant from 1990 onwards (The Guardian, 2001). However, today London is receiving an unimaginable rate of immigrants.

Recently, there have been great arguments if there should be a limit introduced to immigration in London. Before attempting to give your own opinion it is important to consider both; negative and positive aspects of the topic. To announce it more accurately I think that it is difficult to maintain both sides at an equal level or to make a fixed statement for or against the matter. We, as the public have opinions about the limitation on immigration so do politicians. Let us consider some if these views. One of the main view is that the country is getting over populated. One of those over populated places in Britain is London. At present times there is a population number of 65 million people within London, however predicitions claim that within 70 years the population number will rise up to 108 million people (BBC, 2011). This means that immigrants will need houses to live in. The government is therefore building as many houses as possible. This means that the government is spending alot of money on resources. We’ll end up having less countrysides but a higher level of pollution as houses increase. If there was a limit set to immigration, the government wouldn’t need to spend money on building houses (Policy Network, 2013).

Not everyone has the same view about immigration, every individual has a different thought about it. Some of us certainly believe that it is better if we closed our borders in order to decrease the level of immigration (Gov.uk, 2013). But what do we gain from limiting the number of immigrants entering the country? The common perspective of immigration is that immigrants enter the country in order to obtain social benefits, which my interviewee also thought of (Interview, Line). However, immigrants do not possess the knowledge of the native language that is being used in the country, as they come from a different culture with different religions and different languages. These differences can lead to serious problems, such as violence. Dishonest immigrants enter the country in order to sell drugs or to carry out illegal activities. This is not a subject to be concerned about in London as much as it is in the United States.

On the other side, people view immigration as something positive, as I do. Immigration allows the society to be more diverse in terms of culture and religion. It is important to know the differences between various cultures, as it builds knowledge and may erase the issue of racism. Some believe that jobs are the country’s private property, whereas others claim that immigration is a key to spread a better economy to less developed countries. Immigration can therefore be announced as a tool that helps to overcome world property. Immigrants are known to be the most hard working and intelligent workers within the country. It’s an advantage to them as immigration allows to express talents and skills to another country (Independent, 2009).

Previous census results show that London has completely changed. The results clearly show that the number of immigrants entering Britain has gone up by 3 million. However, politicians claimed that this was not an issue to worry about. Moreover the 2011 census shows that London is now a place of multiculturalism; which means that the amount white population has decreased to a very low level (ons.gov.uk, interactive, 2011). This has also been mentioned in the dailymail, “It is believed to be the first time that British whites have become a minority in any region of the UK” (Dailymail, 2012). This certainly means that the country has a very low percentage of white population, however the population size seems to increase as the years go by. This is an outcome due to immigration. However, it is important to take into account that immigrantion is a not a bad thing itself. Immigration introduces many advantages to London, which can be gathered from the talents and ideas that have been brought into the country through immigration.

It was stated that English is a language that was made up of many foreign languages in Britain decades ago. Through immigration we see an increase in population and culture which has a positive impact on the society. Economically, the increase in population expresses the filled job positions within London, which allows an increase in tax input and therefore benefits institutions such as schools. However, a House of Lords report stated that immigration does not benefit London at all; “Minister Liam Byrne says migration has added A?6bn to the economy…” (BBC article, 2008). It does lead to a greater economy which is shared with a greater society which leaves us with nothing. My interviewee, stated that it is not fair on the existing population, as they work very hard to achieve. I certainly go against her saying as people don’t move out of one country to another just for the fun of it but for various reasons. The reasons could be the desire for a better living, such as good educational and job opportunities. It’s not easy to adopt a new athmosphere, and to seperate from family members and friends.

Just like any other place, London expresses that it contains racism to some extent. Even though we think that legal immigrants are treated fairly, there are still people who discriminate others as they possess different values and norms. The BBC news magazine announces, “for the most part legal immigrants are treated fairly but there are still racists out there, just cause someone is speaking a different language they start discriminating them…” (BBC ‘Does Britain’s sense of fair play attract immigrants?’, 2010). Illegal immigrants, however are treated not as fair as legal immigrants. Yet they are illegal residents, but they are here for certain reasons, such as the ideology of having a better life. This shows that “London is a place of opportunity and freedom” (BBC ‘Does Britain’s sense of fair play attract immigrants?’, 2010). The article also mentions that when people see someone from a different ethnic group, they tend to assume that they are illegal immigrants, when in reality they could be legal UK citizens.

The view is that London has economically benefited from immigration as the ‘new workers’ (immigrants) agree to take over on low paid jobs, which the existing population may not desire to opt for. Another reason is that the new workers allow the defeat in skill shortages within London. A recent home office research (Glover et al, 2001) states that there has been very little attention in force towards migration within the United Kingdom, “Immigration has been a market driven response to supply and demand, rather than policy-driven.”

There’s no solid solution for the increase of immigration in London, but there are some ways that could be used in order to reduce the amount of immigration. We already have security barriers at all British borders, although they are not strong enough. As I have already mentioned a method is to make those barriers stronger to prevent the high income of immigrants, this means that borders should be checked more frequently and strictly. There are actions taken at the border crossing, “The final set of recent immigration policy changes are designed to reinforce security at the border…” (Focus Migration, undated). The British police should be more aware of illegal entrance into the United Kingdom, and should therefore check immigrants if they have the correct documents to enter the country. The police should also be able to arrest those who enable immigrants to cross countries illegally. My interviewee stated that the government should take some action to decrease the amount of immigration, by providing a lower amount of benefits.

To conclude, it seems satisfactory to state that there are social and economic benefits and disadvantages to the UK through immigration, as migrant workers who recently entered London have brought such changes. The pressure on public services has been held responsible on immigration, moreover it is the government that was unable to set additional income into such services while obtaining the advantages of economic growth and greater tax profits. It is very difficult to follow an ‘open-door policy’ (the scheme of allowing equal business opportunities to all countries) without supplying any help to the community to deal with a greater population level. Immigration can be beneficial if the rate of immigration is maintained to a certain level and if the government fulfills the needs of the population. UK Borders should only be opened up to those who are hard working and who are in real danger. It is for certain that the immigrant population within London will change our lives by creating more diverse alterations to the country.

Word Count: 1,854

Interview transcription: Carried out on 12th April 2013

Q: Hi, how are you?

1. Alicia: Hiiii (big smile on face), not too bad actually, it’s just the weather that’s irritating.

Q: Let me just quickly explain what this is about, I will interview you and see what your opinion about immigration is. I’m doing this for an academic purpose and will use this interview for a critical reflection on an artical. I will not collect any personal details from you, as this interview remains anonymous. Is that okai with you?

2. Alicia: Yep, deffoo.

Q: Do you mind if I take a maximum of 15 minutes of your life?

3. Alicia: Haha, that’s not a problem. I don’t mind helping people you know.

Q: What’s your favourite town within London?

4. Alicia: Wembley.

Q: If you were to come from Wembley today, why would you get here, all the way from Wembley to Stratford?

5. Alicia: I like shopping, and Westfields is wow, it has a variety of shops. I don’t mind travelling, 6. it’s way better than sitting at home, hehe.

Q: How would you get here?

7. Alicia: I took the train. I drive but don’t own a car yet. I’m still looking for a part time job, coz I 8. don’t want my parents to get me a car. If it’s something for me then it should be from my 9. own money.

Q: Okai that’s a sweet idea. Would you be able to list any difference between Wembley and Stratford?

10. Alicia: Erm, no.

Q: Why not?

11. Alicia: Both places are pretty much multicultural. Erm, you can see people from everywhere, 12. erm you know like, ehhm, you see asians, whites and blacks, sorry I’m not trying to be racist 13. here, just answering the question.

Q: Interesting, do you prefer this country to remain multicultural?

14. Alicia: Yehh, curse I do. It’s cool how we connect with people from different backgrounds. 15. Not only Wembley and Stratford but all over London. I would say that London has people 16. from all over the world.

Q: What do you think, could be the reason for multiculturalism in London?

17. Alicia: I’m actually not sure you know. Erm (pause), I’m really not sure, maybe coz there are 18. better welfare services here..I think.

Q: Would you say that immigration has an impact on multiculturalism?

19. Alicia: Oh yh, actually that’s something to think about. Personally, I’m from Germany. I was 20. born there and spent 13years there. Originally I’m of a Pakistani background. I think there is 21. something about the government that makes immigration easier, coz in Germany you rarely 22. meet any people from different places. Immigration must be the reason, there must be 23. many people like me who migrated from other places to the UK.

Q: What do you think about immigration?

23. Alicia: Erm, it actually doesn’t matter of where you’re from, but it’s good to do it legally 24. rather than illegally…hehe (quiet laughter).

Q: Why do you say that?

25. Alicia: Well, illegal residents will of course call their children or relatives over and will opt for 26. benefits and free food and all that. It’s so not fair on us, coz we might end up being in a 27. position of hardship.(Quite tensed, forehead creased)

Q: What do you mean by hardship, do you mind expanding?

28. Alicia: It’s just you know, there is always a time where we might end up not getting 29. jobs…..erm, basically we’ll be jobless. We grow up in this country, and do everything legally, 30. and you know work hard to get into a decent job. That can’t be taken away from us by illegal 31. immigrants. It’s seriously not fair on the ones who work their bottoms off. (Smile faded, head still creased…pretty much into the questionnaire)

Q: But don’t you think that people may settle here due to their personal reasons?

32. Alicia: Well yeah, erm I know some people who came over coz they have some war or some 33. sort of problem going on in their place.

Q: Don’t you think that they work really hard too, to remain in a safe place?

34. Alicia: Hmm… (seems tensed)

Q: Do you think that immigration and population growth go together?

35. Alicia: I think so, the more migrates we have the higher the population will be.

Q: Is that something bad or good?

36. Alicia: I’d say bad, coz we’ll run out of houses to live in haha, I’m kidding, but as I said we’ll 37. experience hardship.

Q: So don’t you think that there are any good aspects to immigration?

38. Alicia: There are, as I said we connect to people who are of a different background. I would 39. say…(little pause), say that immigration makes us learn different cultures. Erm, it’s kinda like 40. getting to know different values and life styles, we’re basically learning…erm increasing our 41. knowledge. There could also be an opportunity to learn different languages.

Q: So you’re saying it allows cultural exchange?

42. Alicia: Er yeah, hehe.

Q: Is that the only positive aspect or do you have more to add?

43. Alicia: I would say that London is more welcoming than Germany. Erm immigration shows that the country is treating people fairly, whatever their background. (Big smile)

Q: That’s a really nice thought.

The aim of writing this paper is to share the prevalence of the child labour and to highlight the importance of this issue. Moreover, this paper will also discuss and analyse the factors leading to child labour. The intent of this paper is also to recommend some strategies in order to reduce the burden of this issue in the society.

Prevalence of child labour

Globally, 215 million of childrens are involved in child labour worldwide (International Labour Organization, 2010). Out of which, 90% of childrens are victim of child labour in developing countries from Asia and Africa (Rena, 2009). Specifically, 3.8 million of childrens are performing labour work in Pakistan (Sahir, 2010). The labour work varies from simpler task like begging to the more complex task like drug smuggling. According to International Labour Organization, it was reported that 69% of childrens are involved in agricultural work, 22% in household work and 9 % in industrial work (Vandenberg, 2007). This result reveals that a large number of childrens are contributing in different entities of labour market regardless of their age and the type of work they do, which is against the notion of basic human rights.

Importance of the issue and Reason for its selection

Though, child labour is not a new issue but still it has always been remained as a controversial and highlighted issue in every country. Childrens are considered as a future for the country growth, a twinkle light for the parents and a hope for the whole family, but what when these lights and hopes are shattered off. Child labour is one of those crimes which takes away bright future from the childrens at their early stages of life and ruins their life completely. It also adversely impacts the society as a whole. Therefore, it is important to discuss and point out this issue.

The reason for selecting this particular topic for my assignment is to understand and discuss the determinants responsible for child labour. Secondly, this issue has always been remained core to my heart since the time I have looked the innocent childrens, doing slavery for the benefits of the others. Moreover, the consequences of child labour are extremely devastating and therefore, I think that there is a need to address this issue by writing this paper. Through this paper, I got the opportunity to share my views along with the support of literature on child labour.

Analysis on determinants of child labour

Child labour is not the result of a single cause; however, there are several factors that give rise to child labour. These factors include poverty (economical factor), lack of awareness and poor educational opportunities (social factor), cultural taboos (cultural factor), natural and man-made disasters (environmental factor) and gap between laws and its implementation (Lego-political factor). Now, the upcoming part of this paper will shed light upon each factor leading to child labour.

Poverty and child labour

Poverty is one of the major determinants for child labour. Globally, 878 million of people lives in poverty (Chandy & Gertz, 2011), whereas, 22% of poverty is commonly found in developing world (The World Bank Group, 2008). There is a direct positive relationship between child labour and poverty. It is considered that continents like Asia where ratio of poverty is high, child labour exist more commonly. Families who are deprived of money make children as a source of their income. This phenomenon lead childrens to start working at their early stages of life and ultimately they get away from their basic education. In this way, it causes further increment in poverty rate as the next generation also remains poor due to lack of education and ultimately child labour reaches to its peak (Udry, 2003).

Global recession and inflated poverty particularly in the developing countries makes life miserable and raise a question that how to survive and how to fulfill the basic needs. Therefore, due to deprived conditions and lack of resources, families do not have many choices left with them. At that time, the only choice family have with them is the availability of human resources and that is their children. Thus, they direct their children to work with the aim of reducing the burden of poverty and to meet the essential needs of the family. Once, when childrens start earning reasonable amount of money, few of the greedy family members enforce childrens to continue with the same labour work for the rest of their life.

In addition, poverty also makes someone to act unethically and to do injustice for the survival. For instance, it is commonly observed that people who are poor, sold their childrens for the sake of money or in the exchange of fulfilment of their remaining loan agreements. Then, the culprit buyers of these childrens misuse them, like, for drug selling and they also enforce innocent childrens to do hazardous work. Thus, poverty seems to be one of the powerful factors for emerging public issue of child labour.

Poor educational system, Lack of awareness and child labour

Child labour also exists when there is poor educational system and weak infrastructure of schools. This makes people to think that instead of wasting money on educating their children from the low profile schooling system, it is better to utilized the time of their children for labour work and earning money (Grootaert & Patrinos, 2002; Sahir, 2010). Inefficient educational system also fails to raise awareness among family about the importance of education and how it can bring happiness & success in their lives. If educational system will promote the awareness about the importance of education, then this can lead to drastic decline in the rate of child labour as education is the only way which can change the mind set of people. In this way, more educated children will have better working opportunities instead of doing hazardous labour work.

In some of the countries, there is a big hindrance to the access of educational opportunities due to lack of funds and unavailability of school in the local areas. Therefore, childrens get deprived of basic education and ultimately they involve themselves in labour work.

Moreover, it is commonly observed that due to lack of awareness, few family members prefer to educate only their male child with whatever resources they have, as they think that the male child will help them in their older age. On the contrary, female child are degraded and considered as burden on the family, which makes her away from the educational system and enforces her to keep doing labour work all the time. Hence, lack of awareness and limited educational opportunities with poor schooling system gives birth to child labour.

Cultural taboos and child labour

Some cultures have belief that childrens are the gift from GOD. This socio-cultural norm leads to increase in number of childrens within family and hence increases overall population. However, this is the fact that increase number of childrens in family also brings extra expenditure and this situation leads to survival problems, particularly when there is just one bread earner in the family. Therefore, in order to balance the family income & expenditure proportion, the family expects their children to work and become equally hand holder for raising their family income (Sahir, 2010).

In some of the cultures, it is also expected that children should always be obedient to their elders and follow their orders in every circumstances, without any question or any argument. Therefore, this norm takes away freedom from the children and enforces them to do work guided by their elders.

Furthermore, it is also noticed that society creates huge discrimination between children on the basis of race, colour, gender and mental functioning. In particular, some societies do not give respect to mentally retarded and disabled children and misuse them for labour work. Thus, societal beliefs and socio-cultural norms are also significantly contributing for increasing child labour.

Natural Disasters, Man-made disasters and child labour

Globally, natural disaster on earth like floods and earthquake are the cause of massive destruction and ruins everything where it happens. The impact of this destruction is so intensive that it causes severe economic deflation and left families with nothing, but only with the hope. Therefore, families then see their child as a hope for restoring their life and for financial stability. Due to these devastating circumstances, families intend to involve their child in labour work. At times, this enormous disaster also results in loss of earning members or makes them disable, therefore, then children themselves feel responsible and starts working to fulfil their family needs.

Besides this, man-made disasters like terrorism or war is also equally responsible for giving rise to child labour. In the situation of war, need for human resources arise drastically and therefore, childrens are then used as weapon and are enforced to participate in criminal activities. In this way, childrens are not able to live a normal happy life and thus they become the victims of child labour (Sahir, 2010).

Inefficient legal system and child labour

In many countries, laws on prohibition of child labour do exist which discourages children to work in their early stages of life, but what when these laws are not strictly implemented. In reality, there is a huge gap between the laws and its implementation. Therefore, immoral employers take advantage of this gap and prefer to hire children for their work as childrens easily get ready to work for the sake of little amount of salary.

Moreover, inefficient implementation of laws also gives opportunity to misuse childrens in dangerous work. In most extreme cases of child labour, male childrens are commonly used in drug dealing, whereas female childrens are enforced to sell their bodies for the sake of money. Thus, incompetent Lego-political system is also one of major determinant of child labour (Sahir, 2010).

Lack of technology and child labour

Innovation in technology is always considered as worthful for business growth

because it helps in increasing productivity, but what happens when there is no access to technological advancement. In such deprived situations, it is commonly observed that childrens are being considered as a valuable asset for the company because childrens are more active, energetic and play a vital role for business growth. This phenomenon then diverts the mind set of children and therefore, they tend to focus more on labour work and adopt this act for their whole life.

On the contrary, sometimes there is an access to technology but still people prefer to hire children for the labour work. On the basis of cost-benefit analysis, employers consider children as a cheap source for their work as compared to investing heavy amount of money on buying technology and its maintenance. Hence, expensive technological resources and its unavailability in certain areas escalate the ratio of child labour (Galli, 2001).

Effects of child labour

The effect of child labour is distressful and tearful. Alike general crime, child labour is one of the worst evil that affects not only one individual, but ruins the whole population. There are several adverse physical and psychological consequences of child labour.

Physical outcomes of child labour include deprivation from education and minor to severe forms of health problems. In one of the study, it was identified that child labour causes eye problem, backaches, skin problems, injuries and respiratory problems. In the similar study, it was also reported that rate of school dropouts inclined significantly with the increase of child labour (Bunnak, 2007).

Besides adverse physical outcomes, child labour is also responsible for psychological detoriation in children. It is noteworthy that children who are loaded with too much work regardless of their age, are often becomes the victim of depression as they are not much capable of handling pressurised work in their early stages of life. This could also leads to low self-esteem among those children because they feel themselves incompetent. Thus, child labour is a very dangerous and immoral act on the innocent childrens due to the adverse effects associated with it.

Recommendations to reduce the burden of child labour

Child labour is a crucial issue; therefore, it is very essential to combat this issue from its root. In this regard, following strategies might contribute to mitigate the causes which are the reason for rising child labour.

One of the Millennium Development Goal is to eradicate poverty and provide basic education. Therefore, access to proper education and provision of funds can reduce poverty and raise awareness, ultimately decreasing the burden of child labour (Rena, 2009). Moreover, to breach the gap between laws and its implementation, it is very essential to keep check and balance from micro to meso level. In addition, strict penalty should be given to the individuals who enforce and misuse childrens for labour work. As a public health nurse, I can address this issue at different forums through presentations and publications, so that effective strategies can be planned and implemented.

Summary

Child labour is one of the major public concerns resulting from poverty, lack of awareness and poor educational system, cultural norms, disasters and incompetent legal system. Therefore, it is very significant to realize the adverse consequences associated with it and take prompt action in order to reduce the suffering of innocent childrens.

In order to discuss ways in which critical social psychology views the discipline differently to the mainstream approach, it is first necessary to define the terms “critical social psychology” and “mainstream approach”, and what they look for, followed by discussing how the critical approach views lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) research. The essay concludes by summarising what the critical approach is and what it questions in relation to the mainstream approach.

According to Allport (1985) social psychology is interested in how the social environment and group interactions affect people’s attitudes and behaviours. The discipline uses scientific methods to understand and explain social phenomena. Two approaches associated with social psychology are the mainstream and critical approaches. Rogers (2011) claims that mainstream uses quantitative methods and is preoccupied with looking for explanations in what makes people, cultures and social groups different, while attempting to discover ‘laws’ establishing why people behave the way they do, which can be generalised to the whole population. This approach is comparable to natural sciences, which use similar experimental methodologies. They use a hypothetico-deductive method which makes decisions by changing one variable and testing a hypothesis, stating there is one true knowledge, both are objective, neutral and value free. Whereas the critical approach uses qualitative methods, seeking better understanding, are not objective and concentrate on inter relationships between the individual and social context. It looks to produce idiographic explications, recognising broader social structures and unfolds the meanings of particular situations.

Gough & McFadden (2001) state critical psychology evolved from mainstream challenges, it confronts social institutions and practices who contribute to inequality and oppression. Lesbian and Gay psychology is one area which has emerged from these challenges.

Kitzinger & Coyle (2002:2) and Clarke, Ellis, Peel & Riggs (2010) define lesbian and gay psychology as an area which is explicit about its relevance to lesbians and gay men. It examines various aspects of their lives, and counteracts issues such as prejudice and discrimination to create a better world. One aspect of many lesbian and gays is family life; there is a lot of prejudice against homosexual parenting. Homophobic bullying is regularly used to demoralize gay and lesbian parents. Clarke, Kitzinger & Potter (2004) analysed 11 documentaries and 11 semi-structured interviews with gay and lesbian parents using discourse analysis. It could be argued parents refuse to acknowledge the reality of their oppression by not being aware or minimising the effects of bullying their children face. Additionally gay and lesbian parents face a dilemma of stake and accountability. By taking wider discourse and analysing the talk of homosexual parents it is possible to see their dilemma. Parents acknowledging bullying and reporting it, could be used to undermine them, however if they refuse to acknowledge bullying this can be used against them by portraying them as an unfit parent, this is problematic as society criticises homosexual parenting more than heterosexual parenting.

Sapsford & Dallos (1996) state the mainstream “scientific” approach has been widely used throughout history, suggesting how we should deal with major social problems at that time. For example Milgram’s (1961) electric shock study was motivated by World War two, studying conditions where people obeyed and tortured others. A great deal of social influence research, such as conformity and obedience were based on perceptions of individuals within society, however critical psychologists suggest social influence should be viewed as social practices in which people engage in as well as the interactions between people. Asch’s (1951) line study is taught in institutions as part of social influence, however Mercer and Clayton’s (2012) claim certain points to consider are how was the ‘social’ represented, there were small samples in each trial, and participants within the group were strangers therefore no relationships were established, this is not a true representation of society. Findings showed the participant conformed to the others, however this could have just been the effect of that situation and they probably would have interacted more and not conformed if they knew one another. Looking deeper into the results only 5% were conforming on each trial, therefore 95% were not, however the way the researcher interpreted and presented the data was biased showing a higher conformity rate than what was actually true.

Rogers (2011) argues the experimental method used by Asch is not the only way to gain knowledge, in contrast to mainstream she claims there are no such things as ‘universal laws of human nature’ that human nature varies and is dependent on time, place and socio-cultural positioning. Critical psychology argues there are multiple views on reality, an example of this is Feri et al’s (2003) British longitudinal study using participants born in 1946, 1958 and 1970, when followed up in 2000 all had different attitudes and behaviour towards relationships. Time and cultural differences had a big impact, those born in 1946 were mostly married by age 31 whereas it was more common for those born in 1970 to be cohabiting and often on their second relationship by age 31. However all participants were British and results of those single or cohabiting may have been influenced by the cultural change in attitudes towards marriage. The fact that this study only looked at British participants solidifies the mainstreams elitist ideological position. Focusing mainly on western white middle class participants and claiming findings are universal. However these participants are the minority population; therefore exploiting and oppressing less powerful social and cultural groups.

Feri et al’s study is an example of social constructionist research, which critical psychologists have adopted the framework. Willig (2001) defines social constructionist research as identifying the variety of ways of how people experience and perceive the world they live in and how it affects their behaviour. Mercer and Clayton (2012) claim research starts at the heart which is society not the individual. Meanings and practices which are socially and culturally organised impact human nature and behaviour, these meanings are constructed and re-constructed through the use of language, which is of central importance in this perspective as researchers listen to how people explain their world.

Kitzinger (1998) states the majority of psychological research before critical psychology emerged regarded homosexuality as a pathological condition; however in 1970 a shift due to protests and violent demonstrations by the gay community against heterosexist views during the stonewall riots marks a significant point in lesbian and gay history (stein 2004). The formation of lesbian and gay psychology investigates reasons behind prejudice and discrimination, while attempting to generate world changes.

Examples of research before the shift was stated by Morin (1977) he reviewed studies on homosexuals, finding 70% of studies focused on whether homosexuals were mentally ill, the causes and identifying characteristics. 82% compared homosexuals against heterosexuals, which have been objected strongly to as it assumes homosexuals have certain characteristics which differentiates them from heterosexuals. Overall homosexuality was seen as an illness that needed curing. Boehmer (2002) argues public health research has ignored LGBTQ populations as they are underrepresented as research subjects. After looking at articles on the MEDLINE database only 0.1% focused on LGBTQ individuals. The majority of these were based on LGBTQ participants with sexually transmitted diseases, focusing on HIV or AIDS, showing not only are homosexuals underrepresented in psychological research but when they are involved it is either comparing them against heterosexuals or whether they are mentally unstable. However a reason for the lack of lesbian and gay participants can be explained by Dunne (1997) he claims there are difficulties in finding these participants and many are recruited through personal contacts. However this sampling method is restricting only providing access to small discrete networks. Another reason Kitzinger (1987) found is lesbians and gays only agree to be participants because the interviewer was also a homosexual. Although having a homosexual interviewer can be good due to making them feel more comfortable and answer more honestly, however it could be bad as the interviewer could be bias in interpreting answers differently than an impartial interviewer might.

One of the first studies to look at homosexual research from a different view point and not just compare the two groups was Hooker’s (1957) paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual” in which self-identified homosexuals and heterosexuals groups participated in several psychological tests, experts had to identify the homosexuals. Results found no detectable difference in terms of mental adjustment. It was of great critical importance that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, as it shows is not developmentally inferior to heterosexualism. Hooker’s work influenced further quantitative measures to assess human personality such as Eysenk Personality Inventory.

Burr (1995) quotes “We are born into a world where the conceptual frameworks and categories used by people in our culture already exist.” Various psychologists including Herek (1987) and Kite (2001) agree views about male gender roles and sexual prejudices are culturally constructed from birth. From previous societal norms men learn what they are expected and not expected to be, for example they should be strong and heterosexual and not seen as weak or homosexual.

Gergen (1973) argues human behaviour changes over time. He concluded social psychological theories are a product of historical and cultural circumstances. Additionally the ‘truth’ and ability to generalise becomes misguided if the information produced only makes sense within specific contexts, for example findings in western culture. Gay marriage has been controversial within society, but has changed overtime. Baunach (2011) examined attitude trends towards gay marriage, she concludes attitudes have significantly liberalised; in 1988 71% were opposed to gay marriage compared to only 52% opposing in 2006. Even though more are supporting gay marriage, findings from a Gallop poll found 64% of Americans did not support equal marriage rights for homosexuals. (Gallup Poll News Service, 2007). Baunach (2011) suggests change could be due to individuals’ altering their attitudes, also later cohorts replacing earlier ones. Findings were replicated across various subgroups of the U.S. Critical psychology is committed to a social justice ideology that attempts to gain knowledge from all social groups and questions objective claims of the mainstream. Therefore they would agree with this research as it looks at all ages and subgroups across a period of time. However data was collected using a poll service, this survey method does not delve deeper into participant’s answers. Firebaugh (1989) suggests social attitudes change gradually as birth cohorts replace older cohorts. Ideological changes are due to long term social and cultural developments. Individuals are exposed to various socialising experiences and different people that may impact on their opinions, those who have greater contact with homosexuals’ increases identification and therefore weakens the prejudice against them.

According to Herek (2000) & Olson, Cadge, and Harrison (2006) younger individuals, females, those who live in cities and the educated are more accommodating of homosexuality and gay marriage. This is supported by Ellison and Musick (1993) who found education and interactions with homosexuals leads to greater acceptance. On the other hand it was found those less supportive are Southerners, Republicans and African Americans. Evidence of this was found by Lewis (2003) he states blacks are 11% more likely to express disapproval of homosexual relations and gods punishment results in Aids. Therefore African Americans are under more pressure to hide their sexuality. However research came from the general social survey (Davis, Smith, and Marsden, 2008) a national probability sample of non-institutionalized English speaking adults, where sample sizes varied over the years. Therefore this method cannot be used to generalise to the whole population as it excludes non English speaking participants and only targets adults leaving out adolescent opinions. Although contrary to the small sample size, the data provided is from the earliest national level sample on the issue.

To conclude Hepburn (2003) defines critical social psychology as being critical of society, the institutions and practices within it. It questions the assumptions made and its broader influences. Critical social psychology disproves of the mainstream “scientific” approach and believes focus should be on society as a whole not just on the individual. It takes an ideological position in believing there are multiple views on reality, claiming these views and opinions vary from time, place and socio-cultural positing. Mercer & Clayton (2012) state the critical approach is ideologically positioned in there is no one truth; therefore it questions objective claims made by mainstream which uses quantitative methodology. Critical Psychologists argue against this methodology which produces facts and statistics irrespective of politics and values and uses nomothetic approach where findings can be applied universally. They argue qualitative methods are better from recognising broader social structures and seek better understanding of particular situations. However by disregarding statistics and universal facts in favour of using smaller samples and more in-depth answers then studies lose the evidence needed for greater political and social changes to occur. Gough and McFadden (2001) suggest the best way to study social psychology is for researchers to situate themselves within society and develop a critical attitude. The majority of LGBTQ research has relied on western white middle class lesbian and gays therefore there is still a way to go in giving less powerful and oppressed groups a voice within social psychology.

Prostitution may be one of the oldest professions and could possibly be the example of government regulation and discrimination. Countries all over the world have legalized prostitution and are now considering the title of “sex worker” to be just as common as McDonalds Manager. The countries that have legalized prostitution range from Germany to Argentina. However, the United States that claims to exude freedom and dignity has only legalized eleven counties in Nevada. The most convincing argument against prostitution seems to be that legalizing prostitution completely, will contribute to the widespread AIDS epidemic. Researchers have contradicted this theory by proving that roughly half of street walkers in NYC, Washington D.C., and New Jersey are HIV positive, while those who are legal in Nevada are HIV negative. Some might say that this data is perhaps ironic. Another supporting factor for legalizing prostitution is protection. Illegal prostitutes are beaten and abused daily and risk their lives on many occasions. In Nevada legal “sex workers” have the same rights to police protection as the towns preacher. Prostitution cannot be stopped because there is no effective way to close down a market between consensual buyers and sellers.

Evil: Prostitution is immoral and countries that continue to legalize prostitution promote sex trafficking and abuse of women and children. Sex trafficking has been not only seen as derogatory, but also as a contemporary slavery. Women and children that are recruited into prostitution and human trafficking aren’t aware of the life they are destined to lead. These women and children who are trying to lead better lives and escape poverty find themselves in brothels, walking the streets, and pimped out by abusive individuals. The trauma that these women and children face cannot be reversed and often survivors claim that it didn’t feel consensual. Often the adults who survive prostitution/trafficking find themselves compensating pain with alcohol and drugs. These are problems that could have been prevented if prostitution was simply left illegal. If the United States completely legalizes prostitution the nation as a whole will witness the subversion of democracy. This is true because be legalizing prostitution women are left feeling like commodities because of the extreme gender discrimination. Prostitution is consuming and anyone involved can be wounded emotionally and physically.

The above two paragraphs compare and contrast the morality, discrimination, and decency of prostitution as a legitimate profession. This topic relates to sociology because the outcomes of prostitution are all according to societies views and interactions between persons. The strongest theory on prostitution seems to be provided by structural functionalists and the feminists.

Functionalists believe that they’re two reasons why an individual would want to become a prostitute; both reasons involve morality/immorality. The first reason is that society claims prostitution to be immoral, but condemning prostitution actually strengthens many people’s desires and encourages the deed. Society likes to believe sex is meaningful, so if men and women want meaningless sex then who else would they look to other then a prostitute. Another thought is that society believes that oral sex and anal sex is immoral, so if a man wants to engage in these acts, he goes to a prostitute. The prostitute not only fulfills the man, but also secures the moral integrities and purity of his spouse.

Feminists believe that the above theory is the prime example of sexism in society. Feminists also believe that the men who have sexual relations with prostitutes are equally immoral. Extreme feminists tend to believe that is prostitution is legalized it will teach young boys that dominating women is the norm and that it’s a woman’s “job” to please a man. The fear is that the young boys will carry this on into adulthood and spread to upcoming generations. Feminists strive to prove that if society legalizes prostitution individuals will assume that all women can be bought at a price and that men are more valuable than men.

The first source cited (Esselstyne) is valuable because this article examines the pattern of early sexual experience among prostitutes and how it differs from that common to “normal” women. This article will be useful in further research because it compares and contrasts common day prostitutes in the United States. The article also explains why some women actually become prostitutes. This source is credible because it was located through a scholarly search and found on JSTOR. JSTOR is a database where people can search through scholarly journals written by researchers.

The next Source listed is entitled “Prostitution” and is written by William Darity. The source was found in the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, therefore it relates to sociology making it reliable for further research. The source relates prostitution and gender relations, discusses the variety of prostitution societies experience internationally, and states the trends of sex trade. The source was found through Gale reference library.

Kingsley Davis wrote the next source “The Sociology of Prostitution” which obviously relates prostitution to sociology. The journal questions why prostitution is such a problem in Western communities. Davis compares and contrasts the views of people who approve and disapprove of prostitution. This journal would be most helpful if continuing a longer research paper. The journal is credible because it was found through JSTOR, which is filled with scholarly materials.

The next source discusses child prostitution among boys and girls. This article is written by K.L. Lerner. The article informs readers about the abuse and prostitution forced upon many children in Asian countries. This is relevant to Sociology as well as the United States because it discusses how children grow up believing prostitution is okay and end up infected and traumatized at a young age. The article was found through the Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Richard Symanski researched and wrote the next source entitled “Prostitution in Nevada”. The journal discusses the fact Nevada is one of the very few states that legalizes prostitution or even openly tolerates it. The journal informs the reader about the history of prostitution and brothels and also why prostitution has been legalized in Nevada. This source could really help if doing a longer research paper because the writer could compare and contrast Nevada’s outlook vs. other states around the U.S. The journal was found through JSTOR.

The last source included in the works cited is reviewed by E. van der Meulen, entitled, “Temporarily Yours”. The articles original writer is Elizabeth Bernstein who discusses male desire to consumption. The reviewer van der Meulen describes Bernstein’s take on prostitution as contemporary and highly recommendable. If a longer more in depth research paper were to be conducted a researcher might want to read this book to understand a contemporary view on an age old profession. This review was found through ProQuest, which is a database that allow a reader to search through peer reviewed scholarly journals.

The works cited provided includes sources that can help an individual understand societies view point on prostitution and hopefully help them determine their standing point on legalizing prostitution.

Introduction

Marijuana is also referred to as cannabis, marihuana, or ganja. Herbal form of marijuana is the most common drug, consisting of flowers and leaves which subtend and mature pistillate stalks. Cannabis history dates back to 3rd millennium B.C. In the modern world, the drug has been applied for religious, recreational, medical or spiritual purposes. UN’s estimation in fiscal 2004 revealed that 4% of the adults in the world population, which entails 162million people, use marijuana yearly, while 0.6% or 22.5million use it daily (Smith 50).

Marijuana illegality

Marijuana use is termed to be illegal due to its addictive aspect since it’s rated to be a highly abusive drug. When individuals start to abuse marijuana, they eventually become hooked up and the drug ends up dominating their lives. Marijuana has also been declared not to have an approved medical use. Although the drug has been associated with healings from glaucoma to cancer especially among the Americans, the deal has not been accepted widely enough on international grounds (Connoly 55). Such an argument has therefore rendered the medical value of marijuana an actual controversy. Similarly, use of marijuana has been associated with narcotics like heroin believed to have serious health repercussions once abused. Narcotics had been on regulation under the early antidrug laws. Marijuana has been termed to be an abnormal recreational drug, due to its links to narcotics. In addition, marijuana has been associated with hippies or losers hence rendering it unfashionable lifestyles. Imposition of criminal sanctions to the drug possession acts as type ‘tough love’ for the community. The drug has been associated with the oppressed ethnic groups. For example, within the Americans, it was associated with Mexican Americans. A ban on marijuana was therefore seen as a way of discouraging the community subcultures from developing. Similarly, court cases presented for marijuana legalisation has never been rendered appealing by the advocates. Advocates normally argue on the basis of its medical benefits, creativity promotion and moral progression among others. Particularly, that does not seem convincing since the public image of a marijuana user is that of a loser at risks of either imprisonment or arrest (Smith 194).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Marijuana

Marijuana has physical benefits that are widespread, long-term or far reaching. The drug is known to impact on the automatic nervous system. Such an impact expands the breadth and gives the body a relaxation. Similarly, the drug has enormous healing and health potential which have actually not been realised by the Western medicine. Opposing action of the drug is essential in balancing an individual entire system, which can be understood to be a charged equilibrium. Such a state is defined as a physiological expansion or psychological satisfaction which is responsible for our health. For example, a study by Costa Rican revealed that cancer developments are less within the smokers of chronic marijuana, considered to be cigarettes smokers as well (Smith 46). Psychologically, marijuana’s balancing of the nervous system has an effect on the mind which is energising and relaxing in a simultaneous trend. This means that an individual thinking is more clear and efficient. Also, Marijuana is associated to poses spiritual benefits. Normally, whatever that enlivens is perceived to be a spirit. Marijuana has been found to facilitate the search for universal core values. Together with its ability to enhance the processes of our mind plus balancing of the body, the drug also assists in the understanding of the abiding reality by enhancing an individual consciousness.

However, the drug has its disadvantages. First, the drug facilitates hindrance of shorter memory such that any complex or simple tasks may be quite demanding for the addict to undertake. Similarly, drug abuses result into decayed moral behaviour among users. For example, Marijuana users can be highly involved in risky sexual behaviour such that the HIV spread will be inevitable. For students, marijuana will make learning and study hard and athletes’ performance maybe brought down since movements, timing or coordination will be affected is affected as well. Safe driving will also be affected since concentration, alertness, reaction time or coordination will interfere (Shohov 98). Thirdly, Combination of marijuana use and tobacco smoking will increase the risks of contracting lung diseases. Among first users, the drug can cause panic, anxiety, paranoia or feelings of Impending doom. Finally, short-term effects can also involve distortion in perception, thinking or problem solving lapses plus increased heart rate. Heart attacks are also evident among the marijuana users due to impact on the blood pressure or heart rate in addition to reduction in oxygen carrying capacity in the blood. Effects on the immune system may also reduce the ability in fighting infectious diseases or cancer. A marijuana addict may also experience anxiety, depression or personality disturbances. On pregnant women, marijuana can cause the babies born to show altered responses in visual stimuli, high pitched cries or increased tremulousness. Lastly, long term use of marijuana can cause an addictive potential to the users.

Problems Associated with marijuana

Due to its illegal nature, the drug is associated with jails, courts or prison cases. Scientifically, the drug has been rated to be harmful due to its addictive value. Physiological effects are also problems linked to marijuana use which in addition entails effects on smell, taste or even sound. Distortions on depth perception can result into serious accidents when driving. The drug use has resulted to uncontrolled system in its production to guarantee consumers of a pure product through the use of doctors or pharmacist. Being an illegal product, the prices are very high causing the users to involve in criminal activities in search of good money to acquire the herb. Un-attainability caused by the high prices places the drug in the hands of the mobs, gangs or even drug lords increasing the crime rate. Legalization would mean a widespread access by the general public hence unhealthy babies will be borne due to the perceived increased consumption among mothers (Shohov 118).

Health Concerns/problems

Marijuana causes increased and rapid heart rate, initiating harmful irritation feelings to the respiratory airways or lungs. Cancer causing chemicals are said to be contained within the drug. Within the endocrine system, the drug triggers short term drop within the hormones responsible for development and growth (Smith 25). Similarly, sperm production is lowered among males and hormone balance is also affected, which is fully responsible in control of menstrual cycles among girls. In addition, marijuana affects the brain behavior and function since it affects the chemical balance in the brain responsible for energy, appetite, attention or normal mood. Similarly, effects are evident on the learning, memory processes concentration or forgetfulness. Lastly, marijuana has been found to cause miscarriage or still births among the pregnant women and also developmental problems to the fetus.

Solutions to the problems

Solutions to the problems that come by marijuana use can be achieved through legalizing the herb. Also, public school education should be improved, investment on programs on drug treatment. Some other solutions may involve conducting and investing more time on anti-drug education within schools, encouraging more partnerships between the police and the community. In addition, increased drug interdiction efforts within the borders would also assist plus legalizing all types of drugs. Other solutions would involve revising of our common laws on the marijuana trading in order to regulate the cultivation as well as commercial aspect of the drug (Connoly 33).

References

Connoly, Sean. Marijuana. South Broad St, Mankato: Black Rabbit Books publishers, 2006.

Smith, Sandra. Marijuana: the drug abuse prevention. Princeton, U.S.A: Rosen Pub. Group publishers, 1999.

Shohov, Tatiana. Medical use of marijuana: policy, regulatory, and legal issues. London, UK: Nova Publishers, 2003.

The Legalization of Recreational Drugs

Karl Marx was interested in the plight of the working class; he questioned a government structure in which a small few profit at a cost to the masses (Miller, Schreck &Tewksbury, 2006. p., 190). Marx was critical of the capitalist system because he saw the rich (bourgeoisie) dictating the lives of the working class. This idea has had large implications for many fields of study including philosophy, sociology and criminology. Marx’s criticism on the failings of a capitalist system can be exemplified by today’s drug laws which directly and negatively affect the lower classes while benefiting the upper classes. An argument can be made for the legalization of recreational drugs like heroin using a Marxist perspective; including drug laws that favor the upper classes and stigmatize the lower classes and policy that aids in the creation of a criminal enterprise.

Current drug laws are founded upon a history of both racism and classism beginning with the Opiate Act of 1908 (Solomon &Usprich, 1991), Canada’s first law prohibiting the use of a recreational drugs. At the time, the general public was more concerned with negative health and moral affects that alcohol and tobacco were having on society than with the effects of opium (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). However alcohol and tobacco use was common among white upper and middle classes, while the use of opiates was typically a pastime of the Chinese-lower class; “…the moral crusade against opium succeeded because it was directed against Chinese opium smokers and Chinese opium industries; it posed no threats to white middle class vices or business interests” (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). This decision was made without the consideration of any harm the drugs themselves may cause but was based mostly on the benefit to the upper and middle class whites (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). During this period the white lower and middle class and Chinese lower class were in competition within the job market; due to the completion of the railway. This left many previously employed Chinese railway workers without employment and forced them to seek other job opportunities (some of which had been exclusively dominated by white workers). The Opiate Act benefited the white upper classes by imprisoning or deporting Chinese opiate users-thus removing them from the competitive job market. More recent drug laws have continued the trend of selective implementation of drug laws.

“…[T]rends in drug use since World War II indicate that large epidemics among white drug users may or may not bring about more drug policing, tough new penalties or rise in imprisonment. Yet frequently, small-scale outbreaks in drug use among Blacks and Hispanics do elicit a harsher criminal backlash” (Covington, 2004).

Case in point, in 1937 marihuana was criminalized in the United States with the passing of the Marihuana Tax Act (Covington, 2004), at the time the majority of marihuana users were among lower class Mexican Americans. In the 1950’s Marihuana was considered a dangerous substance and was considered akin to drugs such as heroin and cocaine; during this time in the 1950’s the majority of marihuana users were low-income earners and minorities. Flash forward to the 1960’s and 70’s when marihuana use was in its heyday. During this period, marihuana use had transcended its low-class status and was frequently used by members of the young white upper classes (Covington, 2004). If law makers were concerned about the negative effects the drugs could cause, the spread and popularity of the drug should have prompted the policy makers to implement harsher penalties and policies to prevent the use of marihuana; this was not the case. Such policies, after all, would affect the young adults and teenagers of the policy makers and other affluent voters (Covington, 2004) so it was decided in all of eleven states to decriminalize marihuana. It’s ironic then “that the largest drug epidemic since 1914 led to the liberalization of drug laws” (Covington, 2004). Further evidence of the classist implementation of drug laws can be seen during the explosion of cocaine use in the 1970’s and 80’s. During this period cocaine was being used in two forms; crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. Both were different preparations of the same drug, however powdered cocaine was exceptionally more expensive to purchase then was crack and therefore, was predominantly used by more affluent drug users, while crack was used by the lower class drug users. It would be logical that laws surrounding the use of both types of cocaine would be the same, but again this was not the case (Covington, 2004). The cocaine epidemic did not result in harsher laws or even a rise in the number of powder cocaine users or dealers in prison; however “The small-scale 1980’s outbreak in crack led to the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 which mandated harsher federal sentences for crack cocaine than for powdered cocaine use” (Covington, 2004).

The Ostracism of lower class minority groups through the implementation of classist drug policies have the same benefits to the bourgeoisie today as they did at their conception. By marginalizing groups through imprisonment and criminal records the upper class ensures the degradation of the proletariat. Imprisonment and criminal records make it difficult for the lower classes to find legitimate means of supporting themselves financially. Many lower class individuals find their only means of income is related to drugs. As a consequence of this, many gangs and organized crime affiliates flourish within the ghettos and other areas populated by low income individuals. A main source of revenue for gangs and organized crime syndicates include growing, producing, importing, exporting and selling illegal substances. Gangs become dangerous when rivals compete over turf. In the 1980’s turf wars between rival gangs such as “the Crips, the Bloods, the Mexican Mafia, the Gangster Disciples and others” raised homicide rates in several American cities because of arguments over turf (Johnson, 2004). In Canada in 1995, a turf war between the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and the Rock Mountain motorcycle gang resulted in a death toll of 25 (“A Bloody Turf War”, 1995) and was the result of a struggle between the two over Montreal’s illicit drug trade (“A Bloody Turf War”, 1995). Again, these issues are primarily the problem of the lower class as most gang members are a part of the lower class themselves and tend to gather together in areas of low income (such as ghettos and public housing). So it’s in these areas that violence typically occurs, putting the lives of the innocent people who live near these areas in jeopardy. Legalizing all illicit drugs would reduce this problem dramatically because drug users would be able to obtain their drugs from reputable establishments. Proof of this can be seen through history; during prohibition for example bootlegging or rum-running became commonplace. “Organized crime took control of the distribution of alcohol” (Prohibition, 2009). As a result of the influx of organized crime, murder rates and reports of theft also increased (Prohibition, 2009). Countries like Canada and the United States must legalize all illicit drugs in order to reduce all incidences of illegal substance selling. It has been shown that legalizing “soft drugs” like Marihuana just leads to dealers-dealing harder drugs like cocaine (Korf, Brochu, Benschop, Harrison & Erickson 2008). Furthermore decriminalization of certain drugs will do nothing to solve the gang problem.

If Canada legalized all illicit drugs they would be better able to monitor the use of specific drugs within certain communities, “it would make it easier to check the strength and purity of the drugs and the way they were administered and to whom they are sold” (Hauge& Ragnar, 2003). Furthermore, the government would be obtaining the revenue for selling the drugs (not the drug dealers) and would be able to use those funds for prevention and education about the harms of drug use (Hauge& Ragnar, 2003). Legalization would reduce the stigmatism surrounding drug users; they wouldn’t have criminal records or spend time in jail for their substance use. This would make it easier for them to gain employment. Legalization would also result in jobs like marihuana and opium production to become legitimate means of employment and could reduce drug related crime.

Legalization of illicit drugs would not solve all the problems our country faces with illicit substances. It would however, reduce some of the negative effects we currently face as a result of drug problems, such as breaking the cycle of biased policy which favor the upper classes. Legalization would also reduce some of the disparities between lower and upper classes and provide legitimacy for some types of jobs. In addition having the drugs available through legal means would eliminate the need for gangs which supply the drugs to the users. Finally it would make monitoring the drug using population easier, and could potentially provide funding for anti-drug education and prevention policies; which if successful could eliminate drugs from our society altogether and that should be the goal.

References

A Bloody Turf War. (1995). Maclean’s, Vol 108,(40)

Covington. (2004). Drugs and the Racial Divide Selective Punishment of Black Offenders. Souls Winter,Vol 6(1), p 4-15.

Hauge &Ragnar. (2003). Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Two Sides to the Coin. Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs, Vol. 98 Issue 6, p717-178, 2p.

Johnson. (2004). Mean Streets Once Agiain: Gang Activity Surging. USA Today.

Korf, Brochu, Benschop, Harrison & Erickson. (2008). Teen Drug Sellers-An International Study of Segregated Drug Markets and Related Violence. Contemporary Drug Problems, Spring2008, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p153-176, 24p

Miller, Schreck &Tewksbury. (2006). Criminological Theory A Brief Introduction. Boston MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Prohibition. (n.d). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 02, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition

Solomon & Usprich. (1991). Canada’s Drug Laws. Journal of Drug Issues, Vol. 21 issue 1.