Author: Andre Coleman

Eunuchs are addressed by many names: hijra, kinnar, transsexuals, the third sex, or the other sex. The very first image that comes to our mind when we think of eunuchs is that of a man-body clad shabbily in a sari. The face caked in whitish powder and cheeks circled with cheap rouge, bright red lips, and dark kohl-eyed people – and the ludicrously odd travesty of womanhood clapping clamorously in a busy market hustling for five or ten rupees.

Eunuchs in India are deprived of normal rights as our law codes recognize only two sexes: male and female. Eunuchs are generally dressed as females, adopt feminine names and referred to as “she” and “her”. They are still fighting for their rights to education, jobs, voting and above all, social acceptance.

Eunuchs live in their own communities – a separate world of their own. They have their own Gods, they follow their own laws and everyone who belongs to this world has to abide by these laws. Among these ostracized eunuchs, many of them are castrated, few are genetically born hermaphrodite, that is, they have genitals of both sexes, and few are transvestites, that is, a female mind trapped in male body or vice versa.

History of eunuchs is eons old. In earlier times, they were appointed as guards of kings’ harems to avoid the sexual relationships with royal queens. This sexual perversion still exists in society and they are forced to live their lives in isolation. Now the survival instincts drive them to unsafe and insecure corners of sex trade, extortion and crime.

The American Heritage Directory defines Eunuch as ” a castrated man employed as harem attendant or a man or a boy whose testis are non-functioning or have been removed.

There are three categories of Eunuchs:

People who are born with deformed genitalia,

Hermaphrodites, that is, people who have both male and female sex-organs,

Homosexual cross-dressers

Some males who undergo castration to be accepted in Eunuch community.

EUNUCH IS NOT A MALE

A Eunuch is not a male because of the following:-

They have imperfect or absent male sex-organ

They do not have sexual desire for women as men usually have,

They have female names, walk like female, dress like female and behave like female.

EUNUCHS ARE NOT FEMALE

Eunuchs are not female because :-

They do not have female reproductive organs, and

They cannot bear children.

Eunuchs belong to a separate category of sex, that is third sex. But the problem is that the third sex is not recognized by law or the Indian society. So the Eunuchs or the ‘Hizras” have no legal identity.

Since the law recognized only two sex- categories, that is male and female, let us find out how sex is determined. Sex is typically determined at birth by focusing on external genitalia. This is problematic in two particular cases

Where the sexual organ is ambiguous, and

Where the external genitals do not correspond to chromosomal sex.

For example, individuals with Androgen Insensitivity syndrome (AIS) have male XY chromosome but female external genitalia. The point to be noted is that determining sex by only looking at external sex-organs is an erroneous inquiry because it ignores other significant biological sex characteristics, including reproductive sex glands, internal sexual organs, hormones and secondary sexual features.

In North America, it is estimated that at least 80,000 men are castrated each year as a result of prostrate cancer. Similar is the position in India. The question arises as to which category they belong now. External genitals always determine sex in India. So loss of testis would mean loss of maleness or male identity. Going by the strict definition of male, one who has lost his testis will lose his legal status as male. But he is also not a female. So in which category we should put him now?

So the problem is:-

The classification or the mode of determination of sex is dominated by majority view, and

the majority view of determining sex is not a perfect one,

the third sex is not at all recognized by the legal system, and

This lack of recognition serves to isolate the transgender community specially the eunuchs in matter of civil rights.

Are Hijras born or made?

The term hijra is often translated as “eunuch” and the archetypal hijra is raised as a man and undergoes ritual removal of the genitals to become a hijra. However, anthropologist Serena Nanda explains that many hijras come from other sexually ambiguous backgrounds. They may be born intersexed, be born male or female and fail to develop fully at puberty, or be males who choose to live as hijras without ever undergoing the castration procedure.

The cultural category “hijra” appears to be a magnet for a variety of sexual and gender conditions: ambiguous sexual anatomy, impotence, infertility, homosexuality, and others, which may not have an analogue in Western cultures. Nanda writes that the crude surgery is done by ‘dais’ (country nurses) whose ‘training’ is based solely on experience. The eunuchs call this ‘operation’ nirbaan meaning ‘mukti’ because the act suggests a ‘transition’ of the person from one ‘life’ to another. Indian legal statutes do not permit such forced castration of males and therefore, there is absolute secrecy around the act of ‘nirbaan.’ The operation is always conducted between three and four before the crack of dawn, while it is still dark, and no one else but the dai-maa and her assistant is present for this ‘ceremonial’ ritual. The whole act is given the colour of a religious ritual like the acceptance of deeksha for a better life in the next birth purely in order to veil the essential barbarity and brutality of the custom and make it seem both acceptable and ‘natural.’

In 1990, Dr. B.V. Subramaniam of the Surat Medical College wrote a paper based on his research on the making of a eunuch. The study reported that most eunuchs in India were the result of forced castration. The method adopted for the surgery is crude, unscientific, threatening to the health of the patient and done in the most unhygienic conditions. The genitals of a normally born male baby are slashed off with a knife dipped in boiling oil. After dressing the wound, a nail with a string attached is tied to the waist and drilled into the stump, which would, with medication and time, begin to look somewhat like a female crotch.

In cases of castration, Subramaniam’s paper says that breasts develop because the seat of the male hormones – testicles – has been removed. When the female hormones take over, the growth of secondary sexual characteristics, such as growth of facial hair, is restricted. So, also the regular change in voice. Castrated or not, eunuchs are sexually active. As they cannot form intimate relations within the parameters of either acceptable or aberrant behaviour due to lack of takers, they take to prostitution. Because of their indiscriminate sexual lives, Subramaniam warns that they are possible carriers of the HIV virus.

POSITION OF EUNUCH IN THE JURISPRUDENTIAL CONTEXT OF ‘PERSON’

In Jurisprudence, “person” means right and duty bearing units. Persons are of two types-Natural person and Artificial person. All human beings are Natural persons. So, all human beings have a legal personality. But in reality we find that eunuchs even though they are human beings and natural person, they are not assigned any legal personality.

In ancient system not all human beings were granted legal personality. For example slaves in ancient times were considered as a movable property of their masters and had no legal personality or rights. Persons who would renounce the world and become monks were considered civilly dead and were considered to be without legal personality.

In modern times however, legal personality is granted to al human beings but it is strange that eunuchs are not assigned any legal personality.

In Oxford dictionary “person” is defined as individual human beings. So as per the definition of person enumerated in the Oxford Dictionary, eunuch must be considered as person.

The Indian Penal Code and the General Clauses Act define “person” as following-

“Person shall include any company, or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not”. It means that person includes an individual. So even by this definition eunuchs are persons

To award punishment, the law or the courts sometimes consider the eunuchs as males and sometimes as females. At that time they are considered as person but not for conferring civil rights. If section 8 of the IPC is interpreted, it would mean that offence can be committed only by a male or a female. It can be logically argued that a eunuch is neither a male nor a female so how the eunuch can be charged of any offence under the sections of IPC. So in the interest of justice, it is important to interpret the word ‘he’ in IPC, section 8 to included third sex too. If this is done there will be no need for the courts to treat eunuchs sometimes as male and sometimes as females.

POSITION OF EUNUCHS IN INDIA:

India is the only country where the tradition of eunuchs is prevalent today. There are about 1 million eunuchs in India. Most of the eunuchs in India live by begging. They normally come out in groups of about five to ten and spread out in streets approaching small shops and restaurants for alms. Normally people give them small alms out of fear of being cursed. It is widely believed in India that the curse of a “hijra” is very effective; same with their blessings.

Groups of eunuchs learn some music and dancing based on Hindi movie songs and offer to dance at small family functions like naming ceremonies of newborn children, weddings and other village functions. Though eunuchs are not very respected people enjoy them perform and give them alms.

Eunuchs normally live in large groups in particular localities. Other people normally do not dare to go and live along with them due to their abnormal behavior and social stigma. These localities generally consist of shanties, about fifty to hundred of them all grouped in closely.

Eunuchs in India trace their origin to myths in Ramayana and Mahabharata. The story goes that, at the time of banishment of Lord Rama from the kingdom, Lord Rama was impressed with the devotion of Eunuchs and granted them power to confer blessings on people on auspicious occasions like childbirth and marriage and also at inaugural functions. But the reality is completely different from mythology.

REAL AND PRESENT POSITION OF EUNUCH IN INDIA:

Hijras (Eunuchs) in India have virtually no safe spaces, not even in their families, where they are protected from prejudice and abuse. The PUCL(K) Report on Human Rights Violations against the Transgender Community has documented the kind of prejudice that hijras face in Bangalore. The report shows that this prejudice is translated into violence, often of a brutal nature, in public spaces, police stations, prisons and even in their homes. The main factor behind the violence is that society is not able to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not conform to the accepted gender divisions. In addition to this, most hijras have a lower middle-class background, which makes them susceptible to harassment by the police. The discrimination based on their class and gender makes the hijra community one of the most disempowered groups in Indian society. The systematic violence that hijras face is reinforced by the institutions such as the family, media and the medical establishments and is given legitimacy by the legal system. The hijras face many sorts of state and societal harassments such as:

Harassment by the police in public places

Harassment at home

Police entrapment

Abuse/harassment at police stations

Rape in jails

The media, instead of helping their cause, has hampered it almost irreversibly by projecting them either as a dark and sinister group of people with criminal instincts, to be avoided at all costs, or as the laughing stock in films, and rarely with empathy and humanity. The hijra community is a close-knit one, their ways and habitat kept secret from even the closest of neighbours who nurse more hatred than fear for them but prefer not to show it. Only the odd beggar who sleeps on the pavement across the road from a hijra colony seems to envy their deviant existence. They appear to care little for social acceptance but have enough sensitivity (though their manner does not reveal this) to hate being ridiculed by ‘straight’ people. Many of them have turned to crime and prostitution.

The roots of contemporary violence against the hijra community can in fact be traced back to the historical form that modern law in colonial India has taken. It took the form of the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 which was an extraordinary legislation that even departed from the principles on which the Indian Penal Code was based. To establish an offence under the India Penal Code, the accusations against the accused has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt in court of law. But certain tribes and communities were perceived to be criminals by birth, with criminality being passed on from generation to generation. It fitted in well with the hierarchical Indian social order, in which some communities were perceived as unclean and polluted from birth.

The link between criminality and sexual non-conformity was made more explicit in the 1897 amendment to the Criminal Tribes Act on 1871, which was sub-titled, ‘An act for the Registration of Criminal Tribes and Eunuchs’. Under this law, the local government was required to keep a register of the names and residences of all eunuchs who were “reasonably suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code”. Any eunuch so registered could be arrested without warrant and punished with imprisonment of up to two years or with a fine or both. The law also decreed eunuchs as incapable of acting as a guardian, making a gift, drawing up a will or adopting a son.

Regarding Civil law they are also not spared here. The hijra community is deprived of several rights under civil law because Indian law recognizes only two sexes. This means that hijras do not have the rights to vote, marry and own a ration card, a passport or a driving license or claim employment and health benefits. In north and central India, hijras, who have contested and won elections to local and State bodies, are now facing legal challenges. In February 2003, the Madhya Pradesh High Court struck down the election of Kamala Jaan as the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Katni. The court’s logic was that since Kamala Jaan was not a woman, she could not contest the seat, which was reserved for women. Lawyer Pratul Shandilya, who is arguing Kamala Jaan’s case, said: “I have already filed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, and the court has also granted leave in the petition.”

The High Court verdict came despite a direction from the Election Commission (E.C.) in September 1994 that hijras can be registered in the electoral roles either as male or female depending on their statement at the time of enrolment. This direction was given by the E.C. after Shabnam, a hijra candidate from the Sihagpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner enquiring about which category hijras were classified under.

The law that is used most to threaten the hijra and kothi communities, as well as the homosexual community in India, is Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” even if it is voluntary. In effect, it criminalizes certain kinds of sexual acts that are perceived to be `unnatural’. The law, which has its origin in colonial ideas of morality, in effect presumes that a hijra or a homosexual person is engaging in `carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, thus making this entire lot of marginalized communities vulnerable to police harassment and arrest. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) of 1956 (amended in 1986), whose stated objective is to criminalize brothel-keeping, trafficking, pimping and soliciting, in reality targets the visible figure of the sex worker and enables the police to arrest and intimidate the transgender sex-worker population. So we can summarize the real position of eunuchs in India as follows:-

Constitution of India does not consider them as third gender; they are deprived of social, civil and political rights.

They do not have right to vote, do not have rations cards.

They are not at all recognized as citizens of India and thus they are deprived of protection and rights available to a citizen.

They face prejudice and sometimes this prejudice is translated into violence, often of brutal nature, in public places, prisons, police stations etc.

The entertainment industry in India portrays them as butt of ridicule. Children learn about the eunuchs through the movies and the only thing they learn is that Eunuchs are something to be joked upon.

Eunuchs in India are treated with contempt by the society. The family of Eunuchs disowns them when they come to know about their sexuality.

Eunuchs in India find hard to get good education.

Most public and private companies use several excuses to deny employment to the Eunuchs. The end result is that they are forced into prostitution.

Sometimes people who scoff at the eunuchs during the daylight approach them at night for perverted sex. They end up having various sexually transmitted disease including AIDS.

SILVER LINING

With every single thing going against the Eunuchs; a notable amount of awareness has also been seen all over the world. Around the world, countries are beginning to recognize the rights of transgender people. In a landmark judgment (Christine Goodwin vs. the United Kingdom, 2002) the European Court of Human Rights declared that the U.K. government’s failure to alter the birth certificates of transsexual people or to allow them to marry in their new gender role was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. It said that a test of biological factors could no longer be used to deny recognition legally to the change of gender that a transsexual had undergone. In New Zealand, in New Zealand Attorney General vs. the Family Court at Otahuhu (1994), the court upheld the principle that for purposes of marriage, transsexual people should be legally recognized in their re-assigned sex.

Of late the Indian hijra community has begun to mobilize themselves through the formation of a collective. Sangama, an organization working with hijras, kothis and sex workers in Bangalore, has played an important role by helping them organize and fight for their rights. Its services include organizing a drop-in centre for hijras and kothis, conducting a series of public rallies and marches, using legal assistance in case of police harassment, and establishing links with other social movements.

The organizations of the hijra community can be seen as constituting a larger movement of sexual minority groups in India. They are challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 and are organizing a campaign questioning the government’s stand that the law should remain. The discrimination and violence that hijras face show that it is high time that both the government and the human rights movement in the country begin to take this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

SUGGESTIONS

India has to travel a long way towards granting full constitutional rights to Eunuchs, Gays, Transvestites and Homosexual individuals.

The traditions of India are full of deep rooted prejudices against Eunuchs in general. In India Gays, Transvestites and Homosexuals are seen living along with Eunuchs and find themselves safe there. This is because of the deep rooted social stigma against them.

Of late the election commission of India has allowed the Eunuchs to fill the election form by stating “Other” in the slot where one has to fill either “male” or “female”. This is of course a very small step in the right direction and lot more need to be done.

Eunuchs are natural persons and they have a legal entity. It is high time that law and judiciary should recognize them as third sex.

Comprehensive Civil Rights legislation should be enacted to provided eunuchs the same protection and rights guaranteed to others.

Law should be made to punish the person, who discriminate people on the basis of their gender identity.

In Voter’s Identity card, one category of Eunuch can be added other than male and female.

Right to marry is the fundamental right of the people so laws must be made regarding the marriages of eunuchs.

The Press Council of India and other watch dog institution of various popular media should issue guidelines to ensure sensitive and respectful treatment of issues relating to Eunuchs.

We people can make a difference. Eunuchs are victims of biasness not only from the side of Government but also from the side of people. So we must accept them and our attitude towards them must be positive. We must realize that law alone cannot reverse the centuries old history and tradition of ruthless discrimination against the Eunuchs. We must accept them as ‘one of us’

Without economic empowerment the emancipation of an exploited community is a distant dream. Suitable vocational training may be provided to them with a view to integrating them into the mainstream of society in appropriate jobs.

Millions of such souls in our country lead lifeless lives. The government has taken few steps to bridge this gap. In passports, ration cards, and other utility forms O (for other sex) or E (for Eunuch) has been added under the ‘sex’ category. But still, a lot needs to be done. This can only be achieved once we change our mindset and by spreading awareness to every stratum of the society. It’s high time to think seriously about the oppressed lives eunuchs live in India. It’s not about what we can give to them. It’s about the respect, love and status they actually deserve as human beings.

Easier said than done but it will surely be a very noble thing to adopt a eunuch as a child.

Right from conception to the day of death, a human’s life is constantly developing and changing. However, most of these changes and developments are solely caused by the diverse stages we go through as human beings. The development stages are purely determined by biological and sociological heritage encountered by human beings. There are various developmental stages in the life of a human being which need to be addressed with great care so as to mitigate the negative effects associated with aging. As we age, there are various advancements that occur in us. For instance, we are able to properly use our bodies, develop relationships, communicate and work as well as experience love. The importance of possessing adequate knowledge on ageism and stereotypes associated with it cannot be overemphasized. This is due to the fact that the unfolding of human development lifespan is the base of our problems in life. There have been widespread views on death of human beings during various points of development. As such, religious and cultural perspectives have had different views about human development and death. Nevertheless, human life can be likened to journey where one moves from one point to another, facing various challenges and moments of joy distinct from others’.

Promoting health and wellness in old age

Promoting health and wellness during late adulthood can be very helpful in the mitigation against negative impacts of aging. It is considered that late adulthood starts at the age of 65 years. According to experts, this stage of life can be made a lively one if individuals obtain satisfaction and meaning in life rather than disillusionment and bitterness (Miller, 2008). Similarly, people within this age bracket are advised to develop a resolution between integrity versus despair which is always in conflicts throughout ones life. Statistics has shown that about 20% of the American population is composed of people aged 65 years and above. Moreover, further studies have demonstrated that with the improved modern medical technology, there is likelihood that longer lives can be attained artificially. Furthermore, it has been proved that longevity of life is not always associated with physical and mental deterioration.

Psychologists have developed various ways through which individuals can eliminate the negative consequences of aging. For example, there are two theories that have been associated with successful aging: activity theory and disengagement theory. The former relates to the fact that as people age, their involvement in the normal societal activities is advisable due to the relief from difficult responsibilities. Consequently, opportunities are opened up for the younger people leading to better benefits to the society (Miller, 2008). The latter theory contradicts the former. It emphasizes that for better adjustment to aging, earlier activities of life should be maintained. Moreover, the proponents of the theory argue that being active ensures maintenance of the normal quality of life. In addition, maintenance of activity of a complete whole: physical, mental and social, prevents negative impacts of aging.

Ageism and old age stereotypes

Ageism is discrimination based on age. This form of discrimination is apparent in all ages but mostly applies towards the older people. Due to this kind of prejudice, older people are compelled to retire even though they still feel fit to continue working. Ageism is associated with various stereotypes about older people. There is no particular truth associated with stereotypes and ageism. For instance, when a person makes a remark such as, “He drives like a little old lady”, they are making a stereotype that may not have reasonable truth. While it may be true for an elderly lady to do most of her things slowly, there are others that do not have issues with speed. In fact, they may be faster than most of people several years younger (Nelson, 2004).

Scientists have proved that the peak of ones physical strength as well as endurance is attained during the twenties. Thereafter, a decline ensues though at different rates depending on individuals. When one attains the late adulthood age, diverse physiological alterations may occur. Additionally, some level of brain atrophy may occur coupled with decreased neural process rates. Other numerous body changes such as decreased efficiency of the circulatory and respiratory rates and change of the gastrointestinal system occur during old age and they have profound impacts. Similarly, diminish of the bone mass particularly on women may lead to complications like osteoporosis. Other myths and stereotypes on aging include the believe that older people are senile, that the five senses are repressed during old age, that older people have no capacity and interest in sex, that most older people have a feeling of misery most often, that about 10% of aged live in long-stay institutions, that there is tendency towards being religious during old age, that old people are poor learners and during old age illnesses are bound to increase. The number of myths and stereotypes is somewhat inexhaustible. However, the fact is that these myths do not apply on all old people (Nelson, 2004).

The concept of death dying

Death and dying during different levels of human development have diverse views. Immense interest has always been associated with death and dying (Corr & Nabe, 2005). Innumerable views have been given by different people on the concept of death and dying. However, the society has played a central role in shaping the perceptions of the people towards death and dying during different stages of human development. From time to time, there have been changing attitudes about death. Besides the usual attitude of fear concerning death, other attitudes have emerged in the recent times. During the process of human development, changes occur on the view of death and dying. For instance, during birth, one does not have an idea of what death is. However, this changes as one advance in age. Similarly, views concerning death are varied during different stages of human development. For instance, death of a child may be regarded very inappropriate due to the loss of an unexploited human being (Corr & Nabe, 2005). Similarly, if one dies during the Middle Ages, it may be regarded as an intense loss due to the resources used on the person who does not benefit the society. Finally, when a person dies during old age, it may not be regarded as intense as the society has derived some benefits from them.

Different cultures have varied views about death and dying. According to philosophers, understanding the reality of death and the impacts on mans’ life; comprehension of the fears associated with death, enables people to live their lives fully. However, the American society does not believe in the reality of death; leading to confusion among people on issues of death. During the medieval days, people are said to have had a natural approach on death. This is contrary to the today’s technology age where the western people have been separated from the reality of their biology. Consequently, there has been an obscurity of death realities. Different cultural perspectives about death and dying relate to care accorded to the dead, the life after and body disposal (Corr & Nabe, 2005). There are rituals performed during these times depending on culture such as cremation as in Hindu, sky burial as in Tibet and mummification in other cultures.

Conclusion

Humans go through various stages during their lifetime. Various developments are attained before old age. Old age can be made more interesting though maintenance of proper focus on health and wellness. Myths and stereotypes about old age lead to prejudice on the old. Cultural variability has led to diversity on concepts of death and dying.

Sociologists have long argued about whether or not we are controlled by the structure of the society in which we live, in other words, are we or are we not ‘puppets of society’. Social structure theorists such as Functionalists and conflict theorists like Marxists, believe that we are ‘puppets’ and that our behavior is controlled by the structure of the society in which we live. Both theories suggest that people are controlled by society but this argument is opposed by social action theorists such as Symbolic Interactionists who believe that society is created by the individuals themselves. To show far it can be argued that human beings are ‘puppets of society’ this paper will look at functionalism and social control through the family, Marxism and social control within the education system and then look at the opposing theory of Symbolic Interactionism. It is also intended to discuss the recent structuration theory of Giddens who argues that these theories are no longer valid in determining if we are ‘puppets’ because both structure and action are necessary for society to exist and thus in some instances in our lives we are ‘puppets’ and others we are not.

According to Jones, Functionalists like Durkheim consider ‘human behavior as learned behavior'(Jones, 2004, p.6), in other words everything we know and do has to be taught to us given that when we are born we have no knowledge of anything. Functionalist perspectives, which emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability (Schaefer, 2009, p 14). They argue that all our behavior is learned through the socialization process. Functionalists consider that primary socialization is the basis to learning the norms, values and roles of society and we undertake this process within the family unit. It is, according to Functionalist theory, where we are taught the traditions and cultures of the society we are born into. It is through learning these norms and values of our own culture that we learn our own role within society and are able to contribute to that society and help maintain social stability. It could be argued that through these ‘unwritten rules of society’, which we learn within the family, we are forced to behave in a way that is beneficial for the whole of society, thus we are ‘puppets of society’. Functionalists see society as a consensus state where almost everyone, because of the norms and values passed onto them through their primary socialization, agrees to abide by them. Most people generally appear to respect and follow by these rules and it could be, according to Functionalists that it is due to the fact that from birth we are: confronted by a social world already in existence. Joining this world involves learning “how things are done” in it (Jones, 2004, p. 6). Jones appears to suggest that we can only belong to society if we learn what is already known. It does not allow for the fact that people may confront and challenge the learning process of socialization, it assumes that we will just accept what we are told, without question. So it could be said that we are ‘puppets of society’ because we comply with the rules of the society that have been created before we were born and therefore we are abiding by societies rules as well as those of our own family learned through socialization.

Functionalists also view the family as crucial to maintaining social stability and assisting with social control via the adult as: The family provided …… the adult with the physical and emotional support needed for their roles in society (Wilson, 1985, p. 21). If a member of the family goes against the ‘rules’ then, generally, punishment is kept within family and it could be argued that the family is ‘acting as an agent of social control’ (Moore, 2001, p164) so, by ensuring that the family members all know what is acceptable behavior in public society and the private sphere and that bad behavior is disciplined as necessary we can see how the idea of ‘puppets of society’ within the family fits in with a Functionalist point of view. However, a criticism of a Functionalist view on how we behave within society is that it looks at the family from a macro approach, which focuses on the large scale structures of society. It fails to take into consideration the individual family unit. Functionalists base their argument on the nuclear family; yet in today’s society there are a number of different types of family, who may all have different values due to their individual circumstances. We therefore cannot assume that every family in today’s modern society agrees with and teaches their children the same norms and values as that of their neighbors and thus because there is less consensus regarding the rules of society the idea that we are ‘puppets of society’ no longer appears quite so clear.

In his article, What is the role of education? Czereniawski states that according to Marxist theorist Althusser, education: socially controls people in two waysaˆ¦..convince pupils that the capitalist system is a fair and just one…it prepares people for their later ‘exploitation’ in the workplace (Czereniawski, 2004). It could be argued then that schools manipulate their pupils to have the right attitudes and obedience that is needed to maintain a capitalist society. Via the streaming system children soon learn that they are not equal to their peers; they realize that some are better than others and it is exactly this kind of influence at school that, Marxists believe, will ensure that people accept, without question, superior authority in the workplace. Although this view does not necessarily suggest that the education system is a way for the ruling class to threaten and intimidate the pupils to be subservient to its rules, it is, perhaps, evident that Marxists consider that human beings are controlled through the class system and especially through socialization within the education system.

However, from a completely different perspective Symbolic Interactionists believe that the each individual is responsible for helping to create society. They consider how society works from a micro, or individual, approach and they look at the many daily actions by its members and believe that it is the individual input into these actions that creates society and therefore they do not believe that we are ‘puppets of society’. The Symbolic Interactionists argue that: the most important influence on an individual’s behavior is the behavior of other individuals toward him (Jones, 2004, p. 17). They believe that human beings are more than capable of realizing what

the actions around them mean and they are quite capable of responding to them in a way that is beneficial to themselves as individuals. Symbolic Interactionists look at society from the individual perspective and analyses the effect each individual action has on another. Jones states that ‘nearly all human action is voluntary’ (Jones, 2004, p. 18). This gives the view that everything we do is not learnt through socialization but that all actions are the choice each individual makes in response to another action towards them. When a child is born into a family it is, usually, loved and cherished and the more the child gets used to the smiles and cuddles from it’s parents it will, even at such a young age, understand the meaning of those loving symbols and the understanding of the world around it will increase as the child encounters more and more symbols of society, equally if a child is abused the interpretation of the abusive symbols

may be duplicated by them because they do not understand anything else. Within schools teachers interpret children in the way they behave in class but the children’s behavior in turn is an interpretation of the way the teacher is towards them and the subject they are being taught and their interest and ability in it. Symbolic Interactionists, therefore, do not believe that we are acting the way we do because of social control or ‘puppets of society’ but that all human action is individual and therefore it is that which creates society.

The sociologist Anthony Giddens rejects the whole idea that society is formed merely through either individual agency or the structure of society. He developed a new theory concerning human action and social control which he calls structuration theory. Giddens argues that: that social life is more than random individual acts, but is not merely determined by social forces. aˆ¦.. it’s not merely a mass of ‘micro’-level activity – but on the other hand, you can’t study it by only looking for ‘macro’-level explanations (Giddens, 2004). Giddens is suggesting that both human agency and social structure work together to form society. This implies that even though there may be a controlled or consensual way of behaving within the structures of

society, these things can change because human beings will challenge and replace or interpret things differently over time.

It is clear that the main argument between structural and action perspectives is that structural perspective believes that society controls people’s behavior because of either a general consensus to the rules of society or of the masses being controlled by the ruling classes through the class system but a social action perspective sees that people’s interpretations of the world and human action around them influences behavior and in turn creates society. Thus structural theory argues that human beings are ‘puppets’, however social action theorists believe they are not ‘puppets’. It is easy to see why Functionalists and Marxists suggest that we are ‘puppets of society’ but equally so it is easy to understand the Symbolic Interactionist viewpoint. Giddens structuration theory may give us the balance needed to understand why we behave as we do. It is clear that at different times in a person’s live their actions may not necessarily be down to their individual free will but they do have a choice to continue with the action and therefore both action and structure are needed, so it could be argued, therefore, that even though at times we are free agents and have an individual choice in our actions we are also ‘puppets of society’ because of the many of the structures of society.

In recent years, focus has been on discovering if poverty is ‘gendered’, that is to say to what extent women may be more at threat of poverty than men. In this essay I shall be discussing how women are affected by poverty and what factors lead to women being poorer than men. Peter Townsend et al (1987) have argued that there has been a ‘feminisation of poverty’, this term may be understood in various ways, it may refer to the increased risk of poverty or the increased visibility of women’s poverty it may also refer to the reconstruction of poverty from a woman’s viewpoint.

It is difficult to compare the poverty of men and women because statistics are usually based on households and this suggests that household incomes are shared evenly between adult members. Glendinning and Millar (1987 maintain that men get a larger share in most cases and this may echo their higher earning ability and the fact that in many households men still make the decisions of how money is spent.

It has been shown that women are more likely to be poorer than men, although their poverty has often been masked behind studies that focused on ‘ male-headed households’ Ruspini (2000).

Townsend acknowledges four groups which make up the majority of the female poor, these consist of women who take care of children and other dependents they are unpaid and are unable to take up employment. There are also lone women with children who dip in and out of employment. Then there are elderly women like pensioners who live alone. There are also women with low earnings where the incomes of others in the household do not contribute towards the total household income to enable the women’s income to go over the poverty line. Women unquestionably tend to experience more poverty than men because their labour both unpaid and paid is undervalued, in addition women have always experienced work in a different way from men.

A private and public split has always existed where women were seen as belonging in the private sphere of hearth and home and the ideologically constructed family, whereas men were seen as belonging in the public sphere of the market and the state.

In terms of work, three main reasons for why women’s poverty continues have been identified, the first is because a third of all women of working age still remain outside the labour market almost twice the proportion for men, they do not have equal access to the core of the labour market and they are disproportionately represented within part-time and lower paid jobs and on average women are paid less than men. The New Labour government has aimed to maximize labour force involvement by supporting (the idea of work-life balance) and trying to make it easier for people to merge paid work and family life. In-work benefits and tax credits were introduced as incentives however the working families tax credit has been more beneficial to women earners than those whose main income comes through male partners since it is more likely to be paid through the pay packet. The development of a National Childcare Strategy was also introduced but it does not measure up to the levels of childcare provision to be found in most other European countries.

The second reason involves the responsibility women have for most of the tasks associated with social reproduction in the way of unpaid care work and domestic labour.

The third reason is the sharing of income and resources within families, in the majority of cases this does not benefit women. Individuals can be poor in households with adequate incomes. This finding has important implications for policy initiatives aimed at the relief of poverty (Pahl 1989; Kempson 1996).

Other forms of inequality have persisted within the public sphere, Gillian Pascall (1997) and others have argued that while women now make up a high proportion of the public sector workforce in healthcare, social work and education, they remain under represented in senior and management positions. This is characteristic of the ‘sticky floor’ where women are concentrated in specific occupations with low pay and status and what they do at work is often similar to what they do at home, although the introduction of the minimum wage in April 1999 has been beneficial to women who are dependent on low paid work but not to other wage groups. Though most health service workers are women, most of the surgeons are men and it is largely men who control health and social services including services that concern women, for instance reproductive healthcare, as well as support for informal carers and the education system. This is typical of the ‘glass ceiling’ where women are less likely to hold senior positions and when they do hold senior positions they have to work harder and for longer hours in jobs that are classed as men’s work. In the 1970’s 70 percent of managers were men and today 90 percent of judges are men.

Anti discrimination legislation has sought to outlaw all forms of sex discrimination but this has mostly brought about advances for individual women but has not benefited all women although it has improved the practices of most employers as well as raising public awareness.

While the education system no longer just prepares girls for domesticity, it is tending to equip them for sub- servient occupations especially in the public sector on the other hand it has also expanded women’s options in the labour market.

Despite the fact that women have been allowed to vote and participate in the democratic process on the same terms as men since 1928, in 2000 only 20 percent of Westminster Members of Parliament were women and in 2001 only 28 percent of local government councillors were women (EOC 2001).

Although there has been a feminisation of the labour market, the increase in women’s workforce participation can have disastrous effects on their health because of the double burden they have to shoulder, at home they take care of children and perform domestic tasks which are unpaid as well as doing their paid job.

The General Household Survey of 1998 showed that the majority of carers were women who provided more than a hundred hours of care per week which was far more than any paid worker would do. It has been shown that caring is costly in various ways, for one there is loss of earnings and the rate of adults providing care who are in paid employment is low, the effect is even greater for women than men and greatest of all in the case of a mother providing care for a disabled child Arber and Ginn(1995): Baldwin (1985).

In addition costs that are associated with disability like house adaptations to accommodate special equipment and higher transport costs.

There is also the cost to the carer in terms of the stress and strain (Glendinning and Millar1992; Pahl 2006).

Social policy is beginning to acknowledge the contribution of carers, one way was the introduction of the Carer’s Act 1985 which imposed an obligation on local authorities, however the support that carers receive is still limited.

Financial support is also provided by the social security system with benefits like carer’s allowance and disabled person’s tax credit for low paid disabled workers.

There are also many ways in which care can be paid for Ungerson (2000); see also Ungerson (2006).

The way social security is arranged and its effects on women can be attributed to the architects of the welfare system who were so used to patriarchal assumptions about respective roles of male breadwinners and female homemakers that the National Insurance system for example was founded on the idea that married women would mainly be financially dependent on their husbands and although obvious biased elements have since been removed, the inheritance of the assumptions on which the system was founded remains.

Lewis and Piachaud (1992) demonstrated that women have always been poorer than men by showing the proportion of women amongst adults in receipt of poor relief or social assistance was at around 60 percent and was the same at the end of the 20th century.

Women are the main recipients of most benefits and rely more on means tested benefits even though it means greater personal scrutiny, rather than contribution based benefits like jobseekers allowance, incapacity benefit and industrial injury benefit because these types of benefit rely on the recipient having been employed, and for women their work patterns are sometimes interrupted when they take time out to raise children and therefore their national insurance contributions are affected. Women are also in some cases hidden claimants because they receive benefits as dependents of male breadwinners, and for this reason, the welfare state may also function directly to make women dependent on men, although housing and social security provision has provided at least some measure of independence to women like those escaping from violent or dysfunctional relationships.

Donzelot (1979) has observed that families seem to have extended functions and are subject by the welfare state to greater levels of surveillance and control for example women’s performance as mothers and informal carers may be subject to supervision by healthcare and social service professionals. ‘The family has not lost its functions, but it has lost control. It is still the major arena for the care of dependents, but traditional female tasks are now defined and managed outside the family and by men’. Pascall (1997: 23). This is seen in the cases of lone parents 90 percent of whom are women who will have social assistance benefits withdrawn if they should cohabit and they can be compelled to cooperate with the making of child support assessments against the father(s) of their child(ren).

In terms of work the, mother -as-work policy ignores that child care is also work and lone mothers stand little chance of becoming equal stakeholders because they must be both breadwinners and carers, and the position at present is that lone mothers are likely to be praised for the paid work they do and condemned as ‘welfare dependent’ for the unpaid work they do and the eradication of the Lone Parent Premium to income support which directly disadvantaged many lone parents most of whom are women.

In recent years studies have shown that pensioners are far more likely than the working population to experience ongoing poverty, between 1998 and 2001, 18 percent of pensioners experienced persistent poverty as compared to 7 percent of the working population. Studies have also found that in recent decades older women and those from ethnic minorities are more likely to experience poverty than other pensioners.

Findings from these studies led Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown to state in 2002: ‘ Our aim is to end pensioner poverty in our country’. the introduction of a pension credit in October 2003 which guaranteed a minimum income of half of those people in this age group in the UK attempted to meet this goal but the success of this policy depends on all those entitled to claiming the benefit actually doing so Flaherty et al (2004).

The majority of people over state pension age do retire from the labour market, but as longevity has increased the labour markets have tightened and retirement has become in Townsend’s words ‘ a kind of mass redundancy’ (1991:6).

As a group, old peoples vulnerability to poverty is not as great as it was in the post second world war period, but this should not mask the fact that there is now greater inequality between older people than before.

Since the number of old people both as a proportion of the total population and in absolute terms has grown this means that pensioner poverty is still a major issue.

The employment of older people can be sensitive to changes in the labour market conditions and they may be shut out of jobs when the demand for labour falls.

Age concern (see McEwan 1990), argue that older people are frequently subject to discrimination if they choose to re-enter the labour market often on mistaken assumptions about their reliability and adaptability.

Additionally when older people do eventually become frail they suffer the same problems associated with disability.

The lack of provision of universal pension in this country is out of sync with most industrialised countries, although the introduction of stakeholder pensions for people with no access to private pensions and the introduction of free eye tests has gone some way in helping pensioners at a disadvantage.

Feminists tend to view welfare state provision as being important for improving women’s lives but it also reinforces female dependency on men and the sexual division of labour.

Some strands of feminism stress that women are closer to nature and are naturally more caring and less aggressive and they address the world ‘in a different voice’ Gilligan (1982).

Other strands of feminism discard this view and assert that the gendered nature of society is the exact product of power relations and patriarchy. It is a result of the dominance of men over women and can be rejected.

So in conclusion, having assessed and considered all the evidence and studies on gender and poverty, it is clear that although successive governments have through legislation and policies attempted to lessen the poverty of women, the gap between the sexes still exists and women are still very disadvantaged and are poorer than men and a major reason is the structure of the welfare state which contributes to and reinforces the differences.

Abstract

When thinking of a police officer, what is the first image that comes to mind? If you are like most people, the image is that of a crime fighter, dodging bullets and saving citizens from the grasps of crime and corruption. What if I was to tell you that the realism of law enforcement, conversely, is that of something far less theatrical?

How the Role of Police Changed over time:

How the Role Change Affected the Public’s View of Police

The role of a police officer plays a significant part in normal everyday life. Most recently, however, the role of a police officer started to shift, and that changes many things, including the public’s view on policing. Whether the view change is for better or worse, rest assured these brave men and women will be doing everything in their power to keep us safe. This analysis explores how the role of police has changed over time by answering the subsequent questions,

What was the past role of the police officer?
What is the role of the police officer currently?
What has caused this change in the role?

Understanding these inquiries will better our understanding of how effectively our police force is changing over time to protect its citizens. This will also give the communities a better understanding of just how difficult the role of a police officer is, and maybe with the understanding, more communication and cohesion between the department and its neighborhood are in order.

What was the past role of the police officer?

Before we can look at the current role of a police officer, we have to travel back in time and quickly view the role of the police officer then. Since the beginning of what is known as the professional (or reform) era, law enforcement arose as the key task of police officers (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, 2011, p. 139). Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec define law enforcement as, “The police agency’s application of the criminal code to specific situations” (2011, p. 139). Situated at the nucleus of law enforcement is, arresting the accused (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, 2011, p. 172).

With the demands so high for law enforcement officers to remove criminals from the streets, a policy known as localized policing came into effect. Localized policing is the formation of smaller departments throughout a larger area (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, 2011, p. 146). This meant that police officers could now focus on the parts of town where crime was significantly higher. With the practice of localized policing came the problem of fragmentation. According to Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, fragmentation is, “The lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies in the same geographical region due to the existence of many small departments” (2011, p. 146). The disadvantages of fragmentation is that, with departments not talking, one district could be enforcing certain laws stricter than its neighboring jurisdiction (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, 2011, p. 146-147). A contrast of these neighboring departments could lead to the one community’s thought of the police department changing to that of excessive force. What is even worse than this is, any criminals that run their business in the jurisdiction of the strict police department, might take their illegitimate deeds to the neighboring town creating a massive problem for the less forceful police department and its citizens (Meese III, 1993, p. 2). With these problems on police administrator’s hands, they knew something had to be done to help these officers.

What is the role of the police officer currently?

Fast-forwarding back to current times, the administrators have come up with certain changes in the role of police that might help with past complications. One big change that came through was the new roles of a police officer. As said before, the key role was enforcing the law. In this current time, the police officer actually has three major roles now. They are, maintaining order, law enforcement, and providing service. Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec define maintaining order as, “Peacekeeping activities including enforcement of quality of life laws such as no loitering” (2011, p. 171). According to Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, this now includes, “traffic control, and crowd management during sporting events, concerts, and parades” (2011, p. 171). Service activities is defined as, “Non-law enforcement activities performed by officers on an as-needed basis, such as, giving someone directions” (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, 2011, p. 172). Besides the general change in services, the rudimentary outlook of the police officer changed too. In the past, the police officer would chiefly react to occurrences. Now, the officer investigates, strategizes, and takes the initiative (Meese III, 1993, p. 2).

The most significant change in policing came with the invention of community-oriented policing. Prono defines community policing as, “A cooperative relationship between the police and the community where they operate in tandem to diagnose and address crime issues” (2013, p. 1). Community policing is known for making neighborhoods more conscious of crime, and how to avert it (Prono, 2013, p. 1). One of the biggest components of community policing is civilianization. This is defined as, “assigning to civilians tasks previously performed by police officers” (Masters, Muscat, Dussich, Pincu, & Skrapec, 2011, p. 175). The goal of civilianization is to enlarge the amount of community inhabitants actively partaking in policing. Besides the cutback in crime, another influence that community policing has is, the expansion of a progressive relationship amongst the police and the community.

What has caused this change in the role?

Since there seems to be a new way of policing, administrators decided that they should bring in some new faces around the department. They thought these new faces could help bring some new and exotic ideas to the table. In the 1950s-1960s virtually every department consisted of all white male officers (Sklansky, 2006, p. 1210). As Sklansky states, “In 2005, for the first time in the history of the NYPD, a majority of the new officers graduating from its academy were members of racial minorities” (Sklansky, 2006, p. 1213-1214). This is a huge step toward equality in the workforce.

Something even greater than that comes with the upcoming vast diversity of the police departments. Studies have shown that communities have a better rapport with police officers when some of those police officers are from that descent (Howell, Perry, & Vile, 2004 p. 62). It is not just about race anymore, all genders and sexual orientations are now able, and widely accepted to join the police departments. There is a saying that is implemented in the NYPD, the saying is, “Blue is blue” (Willis, 2002, p. 29). That saying sums it up completely, three little words that have a huge meaning behind them.

Another reason for the change in the role of policing is the public’s opinion of police officers. In the past, the affiliation between African Americans and police officers was difficult [to say the least] (Howell, Perry, & Vile, 2004, p. 45). With the help of diversifying the police force, and largely to community policing, the views of African American citizens on their community police department have improved considerably (Howell, Perry, & Vile, 2004, p. 48). Over the years, with just these few examples, many have seen countless transformations to how the roles of policing have changed for the better.

Our communities are never going to stop diversifying anytime soon. Many positive alterations have already begun to take place. With the help of community-oriented policing, and different points of view throughout the departments, thanks to the expansion of race, gender, and sexual orientation, many communities are seeing police in a whole new light. It will take hard work and determination to stay with the times, and not fall back onto beliefs and practices used in the past. With the help of different community based organizations, and a vast amount of backgrounds, our police departments relationship with the communities should flourish. The role of the police officer should become even more community based, because there still is a feeling in many urban communities of race discrimination, and use of excessive force. With time, this should all be taken care of, just like the many problems faced in the past.

References

Howell,S.E., Perry,H.L., & Vile,M. (2004). Black cities/white cities: Evaluating the police.Political Behavior,26(1), 45-68.

Masters,R., Muscat,B.T., Dussich,J.P., Pincu,L., & Skrapec,C.A. (2011).CJ: Realities and challenges(2nded.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Meese III,E. (1993). Community policing and the police officer.National Institute of Justice, (15), 1-11. Retrieved from www.ncjrs.gov

Prono,L. (2013). Community policing. InSalem Press Encyclopedia. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing.

Sklansky,D.A. (2006). Not your father’s police department: Making sense of the new demographics of law enforcement.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology,96(3), 1209-1233.

Willis,C. (2002).NYPD: Stories of survival from the world’s toughest beat. New York, NY: Thunder Mouth Press.

This study examined how pro-social courteous acts affect further acts of politeness. It questioned whether pro-social courteous acts promote the initiative to be more polite. Prior research has shown that gender can influences the act of door holding in a naturalistic setting. This study observed males and females to see if the door was held for them and, in response, if they continued this behavior. Observations of 305 college aged participants found that males are more likely to carry out the continued behavior of door holding while females have a higher rate of holding the door when it was not held for them previously. Generally it was found that, regardless of gender, if the door was held for an individual, that individual is more likely to reciprocate the act.

Introduction

According to Baskerville, Kim, Johnson, et al. (2000), today’s society focuses on taking care of ourselves with lack of regard for others. People seem to have lessened the performance of “random acts of kindness.” Due to the rarity of these acts, people generally are hesitant to accept them. According to the article Reactions to Random Acts of Kindness, “promoters of human kindness believe that kindness begets kindness.” This study is trying to determine if gender plays a role in how often kindness is reciprocated. Baskerville, Kim, Johnson, et al. defined random acts of kindness as “something one does for an unknown other that they hope will benefit that individual.” Other studies have been done researching this question and have found various results.

In one study performed by Yoder, Houge, Newman, Metz and LaVigne (2002) found a strong correlation between male door holding and dating, but not in everyday situations. While on a date, males are more likely to hold the door for their partner than in an everyday situation such as on a college campus. People hold doors based on gender-neutral, helpful, or benevolently sexist classification levels.

Door holding is thought to be a form of courting in heterosexual relationships; gender stereotypes contribute to this. It was concluded that 55.2% of women and only 44.8% of men held the door in an everyday context. Yoder’s findings support the thesis of this study, which ishow pro-social courteous acts affect door holding; courtesy defined as well-mannered behavior It has also been seen that there has been a change in door holding patterns in the past twenty years due to societal transformations. This study predicts that men have a tendency to act more courteous than women in a situation regarding door holding in a public setting.

Expectancy violation is defined as one’s preconceived view on what is socially acceptable in regards to polite behavior in public. According to Johnson and Lewis (2010) expectancy violation relates to swearing in the workplace. When a behavior is performed that does not agree with this preconceived view, it is deemed an expectancy violation.

Swearing in a public setting is known as an expectancy violation, as is not holding the door for someone when it was previously held for them. However, swearing is frowned upon to a much higher degree. Not holding the door only affects the person the door was not held for, while swearing affects everyone in earshot. Expectancy violation depends upon cultural acceptance and social norms. What one would expect for behavior is culturally based according to the standards of the society.

Researcher Gibbons (2008) relays that there are several important factors that play a role in politeness such as age, sex, and socio economic status. Politeness is refined behavior towards others. This study done in Japan suggests that women and children are most polite. The reason for this politeness is possibly due the expectancy for it because they have a lower socioeconomic status. It focuses on variations in politeness. How pro-social courteous acts affect politeness varies across cultures. The given study differs greatly than studies done in western societies. It is included to demonstrate how social norms differ among cultures around the world.

Moser and Corroyer (2001) compared door holding across gender and then across cities showing that, while there seemed to be no difference between sex in Paris (for who was holding the door or who was having the door held for them), people in a smaller French city were considerably less civil and high-density situations decreased the civility in both situations. Also, when they were exposed again to the politeness (the door was held for them) they were again returned to being polite.

Goldman, Florez and Fuller (1981) relay that a person may influenced by the actions of others around them regarding pro-social courteous acts. The study goes on to discuss that “the norm of reciprocity states that people should help those who have helped them.” In contrast with this hypothesis, the study states that women are less polite than men.

There are many benefits to performing pro-social courteous acts. According to researchers Buchanan and Bardi (2010) altruistic behaviors promote a more positive outlook on life. Life fulfillment can be dramatically altered based upon the likelihood that one will perform an act of kindness. A study was performed where happiness was measured before and after these acts of kindness were performed. The experiments group, assigned these tasks of kindness, resulted in a significantly increased measure of happiness.

The hypothesis of this study expected to find that females, regardless of whether the door was held for them, are more likely to hold the door for the following person. The act of holding the door is characteristic of a pro-social courteous act. Door holding can be seen as a pro-social courteous act and can easily be observed in a naturalistic setting. Many variables can influence the probability that one will perform such an act. Gender and previously receiving this form of altruism are both factors that influence the reaction of the individual.

Method

The researchers performed a pilot study to find the best possible location to conduct research. Three different locations were observed over the course of three twenty-minute increments. These locations were the main entrance of the psychology building, Mahar Hall, the front entrance to the Campus Center and the side entrance to the Campus Center of SUNY Oswego. At the front entrance to the Campus Center, we observed seven males and eight females. Then, at the side entrance to the Campus Center we observed 21 males and 33 females. Finally, at Mahar Hall, we observed a total of five males and three females.

Each person had his or her own role in the study. One held the outside door for pedestrians walking in. The second researcher will be standing in between the double doors, waiting to see if the person in turn holds the door for them. The third researcher will be recording each observation. After we choose the optimal location for our study, we will perform our experiment using the same techniques used in the pilot.

After conducting the pilot study, it was realized that it would be potentially problematic for the researchers to hold the door for the participants without their informed consent. It was then decided to make this study purely observational and just observe groups of participants walking in and out of sets of doors, still watching to see if the first person holds or does not hold the door for the second and if the second holds or does not hold the door for the third.

For the actual study, the side entrance to the Campus Center was chosen because it had the highest population density. The participants observed consisted of 139 male and 125 female college students. The participants were randomly observed by all three researchers involved in the study. Time was chosen based upon the large number of students entering and exiting the building between classes. All three researchers recorded the data on a premade table to better organize the information. The table consisted of two parts, [door held and not held]. There were two more columns for gender [male and female], each subcategorized into yes or no depending on whether they held the door.

Two studies were conducted. For the first study, observations were made for people holding the door open for a person entering the building. A third person followed, and it was observed if the door was held for them. All researchers were observing and collecting data. For the second study, the researchers observed the door deliberately not being held for the second person entering the building. It was observed if the third person entering the building had the door held for them or not. Again, all researchers were observing and recording the data. The data was then analyzed to determine a conclusion.

The statistical analysis that was used for this study was a two-way chi square analysis. A Between-Subjects design was used for this study. There were four categories including identification number, gender, hold/not hold and behavior.

Results

To test whether gender and pro-social acts each have an effect on door holding, a two-way chi-square test was performed and was significant on both accounts. In this study, the variables gender and door holding showed the results: 2(1, N=305) = 4.94, p<.05. The variables door holding and behavior were also statistically significant: 2(1, N=305) = 11.064, p<.05. The alpha level for this study is .05. Figures 1 and 2, shown below give a visual demonstration of the findings of this observational study.

Discussion

After the data was analyzed, it was determined that gender was statistically significant in regards to door holding as well as pro-social courteous acts. Contrary to our prediction that women would be more likely to proceed with a pro-social courteous act, our results found that males are more likely to continue the act (males = 57.52%, females = 42.48%).

Whether the door is held or not appears to influence the reactive responses of participants. Interestingly, females are actually more likely to hold the door when the door was not held for them. However, when the door is held, males are significantly more likely to reciprocate the gesture.

The exact reasons for this are unknown, but there are assumptions that can be drawn from this behavior. For instance, the environment that the individual was raised in could have an effect. Males are often taught to hold the door for others, whereas in past times, it was a general practice that females would have the door held for them. In a dating situation, Males are strongly encouraged to hold the door for their partner. In a study done by Yoder, men were found to hold the door two out of three times. According to that study, the act of door holding differs upon societal views on “male dominance and female passivity” (2002). These stereotypes exist because of platforms such as the media, social norms and environment.

In future observations, status can become a focus of the study. Status, defined by the setting, may play a significant role. For instance, in an educational setting, professors compared to college students would be conditions of the study. Age could also be taken into account by comparing across age groups and looking for a significant difference. Also, disability could be looked at to see if people are more likely to hold the door for such individuals. Finally, other cultures may show a significant resulting difference in the data.

Further research would benefit this topic because there has not been a considerable amount of previous research. A suggestion for these researchers could be to have a control group and thereby conduct an experiment rather than an observation. One group could be directly manipulated by the researchers and given guidance on socially courteous acts. The other group could consist of people who have not been given the same guidance. All of these people would be randomly selected among the population.

Prejudice has been around for many years and this behavior still exists, and continues to surround us all in each population. In many countries today prejudice is still a big issue among different cultures people always tend to stereotype others just because of race, sex, color or whatever the case may, be. I feel this is unfair because people’s lives are at jeopardy in so many ways because of the negative thinking. Prejudices are opinions formed beforehand without any reason knowledge or thought. I have learned about the seriousness of prejudice, so many people, and great leaders lost their lives because of stereotyping.

The nature and power of prejudice

There are so many prejudices in the world today from racial, gender, and culture. I have experienced all three in some way or other gender being one. I have a family member that prefers the same sex and I have watched my own family tear him apart. It upsets me because he is family. I have heard these same people sit around and talk about how other people are prejudice and they are doing the same thing to a loved one. I have witnessed people telling him that he needs to stop acting and straighten up or he will be disowned from the family. Now that they have made him feel out cast, he has not come to a family gathering in three years. I know that in the bible it says you must not commit this sin but people are only human and they are going to choose to live how they want. I feel that people can live their lives how they choose. They will suffer their own consequences when the time comes (Myers 2010).

However, racial and culture prejudice is the most despicable and ignorant people should not be judged for the color of their skin these days all colors have some kind of racial slur about all cultures. On the other hand, many people have moved away from being prejudice. For example, people of different races now share many of the same attitudes and aspirations (Etzioni1999). For instance, where I work there are blacks, white, Hispanics and when Obama was being elected in to office only a few where upset and out of that few they were black majority of the white were agreeing that we need a black president in office. I feel that racial prejudice may be disappearing many people attitudes are changing with time from how it has been in the past. I am a very neutral person even when I am hearing my friends or family say negative things about Caucasians’, I pretty much get along with everybody it really just depends on that persons attitude you should do unto others as you wish them to do unto you the world would be a much better place.

Social sources of prejudice

Social sources of prejudice starts from family influences there are so many children raised to be prejudice. Prejudice springs from unequal status and from other social sources, including our acquired values and attitudes (Castelli&others2007). Sinclair stated that children implicit racial attitudes reflect their parents explicit prejudice (Sinclair&others). When raised in these types of homes puts society at risk, many children hold a lot of anger depending on what kind of environment they lived in.

One example being, I watched this movie called bowling for columbine and he talked about a lot of prejudice issues and people who have the authoritarian attitude. He talked about how the KKK still lives and showed clips of how they live and train their children. Many of the clips were disturbing they showed how they taught children to shoot guns and a lot of negativity towards African Americans. He also discussed how those boys killed many students at columbine high school. I remember one clip showing the boys talking about whom they were going to shoot and one of them had stated we are going to get the black boy just because he is black. “The insecurity of authoritarian children seemed to predispose them toward an excessive concern with power and status and a flexible right-wrong way of thinking that made ambiguity difficult to tolerate. Such people therefore tended to be submissive to those with power over them and aggressive or punitive toward those whom they consider beneath them.” (Myers 2010) I fear for society if people are out here teaching their children to hate, I am almost afraid to send my children out in the world when we have people out here with these negative thoughts.

Religion and prejudice

However, religion and prejudice stated by William James those who benefit from social inequalities while avowing, “All are created equal “need to justify keeping things they way they are (Myers2010). I agree with this statement there are so many hypocritical people that attend church they are the most judgmental and stereotypical people I have ever seen. So many churches lead people to support their prejudices. I have an uncle and aunt whom are very deep off into church.

They are always quick to judge, I remember when I was a little girl they would call my father the devil. Because he drank, instead of trying to help him, they would talk about him and he would constantly talk about how he hated lesbians and gays. Sometimes you have to be careful of what you say now their children have grown up and they are now doing those devilish things like drinking, and relationships with the opposite sex. The church that I attend is not bad when it comes to judging people. This church is a come as you are there are different races, cultures and people with the opposite sex whom attend church. My pastor teaches us to love one another and not to be so judgmental towards people. He always says each of us will have our judgment day when that time comes. I feel that people should live their lives how they want they are the only ones whom have to answerer to god.

Social institutions support racial prejudice these people use their superiority to justify their beliefs. This was most common in the 1960s. For example segregation in schools and banks whom would not offer opportunities to unmarried women and African Americans. I do remember a couple of years back reading an article about how a school down south wanted to segregate the prom and how parents were protesting not to segregate the prom. I feel racism still exists in many communities in America. When growing up I have never attended school with any Caucasian. Where I am from you can count on your hand how many Caucasian people that actually reside in our community. It is not because we are prejudice I just think they are afraid because of the crime but crime happens in every neighborhood white and black.

Sources that motivate prejudice

Frustration and anger has a lot to do with issues of being prejudice when people are competing for things that may be a scare to society. Now that we are in recession, many people feel that Caucasians’ have a better chance at job opportunities than African Americans. I feel that in some ways it is true because how society is so judgmental these days and this is why many people have so much hate towards each other. For example, my Caucasian friend and I conducted an experiment to see who would really get the job I had all the qualifications for the position and she did not have any skills for that position. At the end of our interviews, she had been the one chosen to fill the position. This is what keeps society frustrated and angry, this is what showed us how I had been stereotyped just that quick.

Social identity and feeling superior to others was one way that our ancestors lived to protect themselves by living in groups. People will do whatever they have to do to protect their groups in most countries. For example, over in Iraq when the war first started how these people are so willing to kill themselves to protect their country. When lacking self-esteem this is what causes people with social identities to become confused. Many disadvantage people find security in groups and this is what makes them so willing to do anything in their power for their group. Many feel that by being in groups this is a need for status and feeling superior over others.

I have noticed that we do tend to still group when you look at different communities you can see how we segregate ourselves there are many communities where there are all African Americans. Hispanics and Caucasians’ where as some communities have a mixture of all races that live and get along in the same communities with no problems. I feel that in some way or another we all have some kind of issue with prejudice. Even if you do not feel like you are, it is somewhere deep down inside, and that is why we segregate our selves. I have heard some people say that neighbor hoods were blacks live are terrible I could never live there. I have heard people talk about communities saying that the police are prejudice where there are majority whites. That is why they choose to live elsewhere. Nevertheless, these are the same people that are quick to call someone else prejudice and not willing to admit to their own.

However, we must learn to avoid prejudices by suppressing unwanted thoughts this can be very hard for people that have phobias about homosexuals and elderly people. This would be because this is all that that have known all of their lives. I can remember when I use to work in a retirement home in dietary their were a lot of elderly people and they use to always make racial comments when I waited on their tables I would just look at them and ignore the ignorant slurs. I had to deal with this for six years I use to feel so much anger towards Caucasian people. I then started to realize that I could not hate all Caucasians’ because of what a couple of elderly people were saying.

This is the way that they had been raised all of their lives because they were from the segregation days, and times are changing now. Not all Caucasians’ have this same racial attitude. I am proud of myself by going through that experience it had brought me to break the prejudice habits that I may have had. When growing up in my neighborhood as a child there was only one Caucasian family. An elderly couple that lived in the area, they got along with everybody, and my mother told me that they said they were never going to move. They had been living there twenty years and it did not bother them to live around African Americans.

Cognitive sources of prejudice

Cognitive sources of prejudice are in categories by classifying and grouping people from what we perceive. We as people are always quick to put people in two categories by their appearance. “Jim Blascovich stated it is necessary for prejudice social identity theory implies that those who feel their social identity keenly will concern themselves with correctly categorizing people as us or them”(Jim Blascovich1997). For example, when I first moved in to my home my neighbors are Caucasian I had lived here for a couple of months she and I had never spoken so I instantly categorized her thinking she was prejudiced as she had already assumed the same for me.

Until one particular night, someone was trying to break into my home while I was there asleep and she sent her son out to scare the perpetrator away. The next morning she came over knocked on the door and told me what had happened. I then realized she was not what I had thought about her all along she is a very nice person and every since that day we speak on a daily basis and we always keep each other informed on what is going on in the neighborhood. Sometimes we have to be careful on how we judge people because you may actually miss having a good friendship with someone.

I feel that black men in society today or categorized, as dangerous gang members, and drug dealers. This is why when a crime has been committed black men are the first to be accused. I have always heard statements like was he black or white. The main thing that gets me is that they ask if he was black first as if they have already assumed that he is black. I remember a couple of years back when a Caucasian woman drowned her own children. She blamed a black man of kidnapping her children and stealing her car. The police and media were on this big manhunt for this black man just because she had accused a black man. They are always the prime suspects every time something happens.

However, because of all of our negative perceptions of people we all tend to categorize on another. For instance, how men use to categorize women as only being able to stay home and bear children and not being intelligent enough to work. These perceptions also feel that all blacks are uneducated hoodlums, and the same is for how homosexuals are a disgrace to the world. These errors occur because most of us focus on the situations and not on the person. The more we continue to have these types of stereotypical attitudes it is a lesser chance that the world will be willing to accept one another as equal human beings.

Consequences of being prejudice

There have been many problems in society because of the ignorance of prejudice. When society tends to label, it can sometimes lead to dangerous activity. I can remember learning in school about all of our civil rights leaders and how many of them had lost their lives, how people acted out with violence in the sixties. There were billions of dollars lost, because of riots due to the violence in society. They were only trying to bring people together in harmony, so that we can all treat each other’s as equals to put an end to stereotyping.

There were so many people at this time that were angry that they felt there should not be equal rights between each human being and this is what lead them to take the lives of these very heroic men. There are so many innocent people affected by prejudice actions, and this affect’s the behavior of the person holding the prejudice issues as well. For example, most homosexuals find it hard to tell their families that they are living this life style, because they feel unaccepted. So in order to avoid the rejection they end up committing suicide. The person who holds all the anger with prejudice issues will eventually one day act out in society with some kind of violent act and this is how innocent people always end up killed. For instance, the 9/11 attack there were thousands of people who had died for nothing just because the ignorance of prejudice.

In conclusion, Prejudice has been around for many years and this behavior still exists and continues to surround us all in each population. In many countries today, prejudice is still a big issue among different cultures. People always tend to stereotype others because of sex, color, or whatever. I feel this is unfair because people lives are at jeopardy in so many ways because of the negative thinking. The world would be a better place if everyone would just stop being so judgmental towards each other.

Essay topic- How can group work be used to bring about social change? Identify an example of a social change that you want to work towards, and describe and critically analyse what role group work might play in bringing about this change.

The development of thinking and practice that is known as groupwork has its basis from the establishment of human civilisation. Group work is the foundation in the existence of human beings, no individual can survive alone, therefore all human beings need to work together in order to live there potential life and achieve their goals. It has been discovered throughout history that people would live in groups, hunt in groups and travel in groups in order to protect each other from the unexpected. This goes to show how vital it is to work together in groups. Papell (1997, p.11) notes that [groupwork] history reflects “the essentials of the human condition” through social concern, collective action, empowerment and survival. This essay will examine how social change can be achieved by groups through groupwork as well as emphasising the range of changes which women’s groups are capable of bringing about (papell 1997, as cited by Mcdermott 2002).

Defining the term ‘group’, as with a lot of the theories regarding group work, has been undeniably problematic and controvertible. Konopka (1963) identifies groupwork as a practice of social work that is developed sequentially to `help individuals to enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences and to cope more effectively with their personal, group or community problems’. This demonstrates a more long-established approach within groupwork of helping individuals with their tribulations. Brown (1992) conveys that `groupwork provides a context in which individuals help each other ,it is a method of helping groups as well as helping individuals, and it can enable individuals and groups to influence and change personal, group, organisational and community problems’.

One of the five perspectives outlined in McDermott (2002), group as a power base, focuses on the group taking political action ,which in turn ‘brings about social changes instead of attempting to change individual behaviour’ (Vinik and Levin 1991; weeks 1994, ch.3; Butler and Wintram 1995; DeChant 1996; Benjamin et al 1997, cited by McDermott 2002). Examining the power structure that manages our capitalist society reveals that parts of the population are discriminated against and oppressed. Women and those who belong to minority ethnic or race groups are often stereotyped and excluded from attaining influence and success in the broader community. Whilst developing a group it turns out to be the place where viewpoint, measures, and outcomes transpire which results in the opportunity to liberate and empower group members (McDermott 2002).

It’s been evident since the last couple of decades that groupwork has become a generally recognised strategy for improving the quality of life of people in a very broad range of situations. Groupwork is now known as a specialist means available to social workers and many other workers in social welfare agencies. Heap (1985) implies that the use of groups often improves the merit and the importance of help. Heap asserts that these are basic human situation and as such the social/group workers need to recognise the key group practices as the major source in groupwork (Heap 1985, as cited by Philips 2001).

The effectiveness of groupwork is its ability to bring about change (Coulshed and orme 1998, as cited by Philips 2001) .Group involvement is seen to encourage and support members to divulge aspects of their own lives in order to give advice to others on how their behaviour and reactions affect the group and the wider community. The progress of this insight into personal motivation and others reactions are seen as providing good potential for change (Philips 2001). The fundamental nature of the effectiveness of group work for Coulshed and Orme (1998) and heap (1985) is that it make the most of personal resources or experiences of members to improve concerns and provides a position ‘to help as well as be helped’ (Coulshed and Orme 1998). Nevertheless Coulshed ,Orme and heap do not downplay the intricate nature of group dynamics.

Group dynamics is interested with the way in which groups function. The ways in which groups attempt to achieve such goals by the relations or communication of their members is viewed as a key area of study, as are the factors that effect member interactions.

The women’s Group could be distinguished as encompassing the psychodynamic theoretical base. This perspective emphasises on feelings and revelations and is centered around the idea that people’s current motivations and actions are a reaction to problematic past experiences, Several of which are likely to be in childhood.

The aim of many Women’s Group is to provide a supportive environment. Whereby each member attempts to discusses issues of concern to them. The group members therefore look for solutions to these issues and reinforce one another’s to attempts to combat with helpful planning.

Women’s groupwork encourages significant outcomes for organisational and individual. The group turns into self-supporting which leads to structure of successful group work practice and other women’s groups and individuals benefit from their work. Therefore has benefits for people who undertake group work but for those desires to understand and treat with contempt institutional attitudes of racism, and sexism and class attitudes.

The conception of ‘power from within’ is an important part of women’s empowerment, and forward to an awareness of external reality as well as their sense of group. The method of empowerment is intended to enable women to be part of decision-making spaces on different levels of society. Then they can act as representative for social change and carry feminine values of peace, justice and equality as it has been shown through out the feminist movement. (Jeong, 2000, Sen, 1999)

Being empowered throughout a process of discussion and cohesion can lead to develop a sense of self involving and progression to a political identity. (Rees, 1998, Carr,2003). Which highlights that there should be no hierarchical structures and no ‘power over’ dynamics as part of an approach for building self-confidence in the women in the course of women groups.

It is very vital to analysis and considerate the establishment for both personal and social change (Carr, 2003) .Moreover, individuality creation and self- focus are essential key of the empowerment process. Freire stated that the oppressed are often at odds in order to gain power need to gain self- knowledge. (Freire, 1970, Carr, 2003). The Burma women who were part of this empowerment process they went back to their community after gaining self confident about them self and understanding of their weakness and strength to share their knowledge and experiences with other Burmese women. They become as an active agents for social changes by empowering other women in their community by holding workshops using the some methodologies. According to Norsworthy and Khuankaew (2004) one group of women established a legal system to deal with partner abuse. Some of the women created organisations for women endorse power- sharing and open of other to have their input; they also work in document gender-based human rights violations by the authority such as the military and the police in Burma. They took risk to show others through unity social changes can be achieved.

Group work has continued to survive during tough times. Its’ strength is a tribute to the determination of the heart of people as well as the power of the process (Ramey interview, 1988).

Group work philosophy has continued for a long period of time because it is well-established in a clear knowledge and understanding of human lives and the human circumstance facts. The theories of people, contribution, collaboration, and democracy are still influential. Middleman and Goldberg (1988) prompt that “it is group work that has kept and continues to secure social work in its practice of social reform.

There lies within every person the dread of be alone in this world, forgotten by God, overlooked by tremendous of households of millions and millions. The fear is swept away by looking upon all those around us as friends or family, but nevertheless it is there and one hardly imagines thinking of what would happen to one of us if all the rest were taken away; (Kirkegaarde,1938)

Human beings; dependent upon each other, Koestler explains this independence as

” one of the central features of human predicament’ and describes it as an ‘overwhelming capacity and need for identification with social group and/ or a system of beliefs which is indifferent to reason, to self-interest and even to claims of self preservation'(1969)

Each person can been seen as the product of a continuing process of interaction with others, but the basis of his or her individual personality has been established by many factors in the early years of life, particularly those close to him physically and affectionately.

Group experience therefore is a general term, but obviously in deferent qualities, intensities and duration; it is also a combination experience of most of people been part of different groups in one time. Our experience in each group has the same effect upon our behaviour in any or all of the others. The idea of dependence comes through different discipline and forms a counter of excessive connection upon the individual as an existing entity. Some strong arguments of interdependence stated in theory like Mead, Cooley and Berger “a process, continually created and recreated in each social situation that one enters held together by slender thread of memory (Cooley 1963).

Without the consideration of one’s own standpoint concerning ideological issues, a good number of theorists would agree that experience has educated us that group work, with its tiny numbers, attempted to preserve identity in the midst.

An ultimate matter of social scientists has been why women continue to lag behind in men salary, promotion and authority. Gender inequalities in the labour market have received considerable attention by researchers over the past twenty years. Since the colonial period, Mauritius has been regarded as a patriarchy society with a high rate of marriage. Overwhelming evidence suggests that gender segregation exists in more occupational categories and the number of women segregation is greater than the number of male segregation.

Gender socialization is one of the factors responsible for the reinforcement of gender inequality since childhood. The society continues to transmit the traditional gender roles to the individual through the various agencies of socialization. The different institutions of socialisation play an integral part in shaping the adulthood of an individual. Since childhood, women learn to be submissive and men authoritarian.

Furthermore, wage gap, organizational power and employment opportunities have narrowed somewhat but disparities remain in the country. According to the gender statistics in 2011, it has been found that a lesser proportion of men in employment and for female activity rate it was 43.7% against 75.5% for men. Even though women are higher than men in terms of population, they are still at the disadvantage of the corporate ladder.

Despite many law Acts against discriminations; many workers are faced with sex discrimination which affects them in the labour market. Studies in Mauritius on the labour market have laid more emphasis on gender equality rather than gender inequality. Therefore, this study will aid to shed light on the other side of the coin where occupational gender segregation is discussed.

Aim of the study: The study aim to analyse gender inequality within the workplace of Mauritius.

Objectives of the study:
To find out how gender socialization process reinforces gender inequality.
To analyse how sex discrimination affect workers.
To discuss the different components of gender segregation.
To identify which gender is more prone towards inequality at the workplace.
Gender inequality and occupational segregation

Gender can be identified as set roles, and behaviour patterns that differentiate women from men in socially, culturally and relations of power (Women Information Centre, 2005). However, radical feminism sees patriarchal roots as creating inequality between men and women. Radical feminism views patriarchy as separating rights, privileges and power principally by gender, and as a consequence oppressing women and privileging men.

In general, radical feminist disagree against political and social institutions for the reason that they are closely linked to oppression. As a result, radical feminism is likely to be convinced that political activities support cultural change that promotes patriarchy. Radical feminism is against patriarchy, not men. To compare radical feminism to man-hating is to presume that patriarchy and men are inseparable.

Anker (1997) distinguished two main explanations for why occupational gender segregation should is a continuing concern: first, it is a major foundation of labor market inflexibility and economic incompetency. Second, it is detrimental to women in the sense that segregation brings about harmful views of both men and women as a result, affecting women’s status, income, education, skills (Anker 1997).

The important outcome related with occupational gender segregation is the segregation of the payment methods and the continual sex discrepancy in earnings with women on the inferior edge. The proportion of the gender wage gap is to 5 to 40 percent attached to workplace segregation is seemingly advanced than the amount by career break 15 percent and equivalent worth wage upgrading 5 percent.

Theories of gender inequality

There are two types of segregation: horizontal segregation, which occurs when there is a concentration of women and men in a determined fields and occupations, and produces disparity in terms of career, pension and vertical segregation, which take place when there is a focus of women and men in determined degrees and levels of responsibility or positions, and produces disparity on salaries.

Theories explaining the existence of occupational segregation by gender can be categorized into three broad groups: the neoclassical and human capital theories, institutional and labour market segmentation theories, and non-economic and gender theories.

The neoclassical human capital model

Neoclassical economics believes that workers and employers are normal and that labour markets function efficiently. The neoclassical economic view explains occupational segregation between individuals or groups by different human capital investment, or by different choices in the tradeoff between pecuniary and non pecuniary job rewards. According to the human capital theory, men are paid more than women because men usually have more human capital. The term human capital refers to qualities of individuals that employers consider useful, like level of education and years of experience. Females are considered to have a lesser experience than males due to careers break up in effect of motherhood.

Some economists who support this theory put forward that women’s are not dedicated towards their jobs and hence, they have to undergo through a series of difficulties. For example, they have less chance to have a permanent job, be promoted to superior and better paid occupation. In this model, wage gender inequality is maintained because men collect more human capital in the competitive free market. But opponent of this theory like Witz (1993) contends that even when female work constantly with no professional rupture, they still terminate in inferior and poor-grade employments.

Institutional and labour market segmentation theories

The initial point of Institutional and labour market segmentation theories is the notion that institutions, such as unions and large enterprises, join in determining who is employed, fired and promoted, and how much employees are paid. Institutional theories are also based on the belief that labour markets are divisional in certain ways. The famous institutional theory is the dual labour market approach.

Dual labour market theory consists of two labour markets. The primary labour market consists of high wage, job security and better chance for promotion. The secondary labour market includes lower paid occupation with little job security and poor working condition. According to this theory, women earn less than men because they are disproportionately employed in secondary labour market. Dual labour market is the outcome of the strategies used by company boss to get hold to the varieties of workforce they necessitate. Companies are ready to propose superior rewards to retain primary sector workers.

It is somewhat a short step to become accustomed to the model of dual labour markets to occupational segregation by gender, with one labour market segment consisting in “female” professions and the other in “male” occupations. This segmentation entails moderately low wage rates in “female” occupations because many women workers are “overcrowded” into a small number of “female” occupations. On the other side of the coin, “male” occupations, benefit from reduced competition within a broad set of occupations and, consequently, tend to enjoy relatively high wage rates. If females, but not males, are crowded into low earnings jobs only due to discrimination, then the gender composition of a job becomes an index of labour quality for males and, to a small degree, for females (Hansen and Wahlberg 2000).

On the other hand, Veronica Beechey in 1986, identified some limitations of this theory, firstly, certain women in blue-collar employment are given low salary even if their occupation is alike to primary area males employment. In addition, this model cannot clarify the reasons why women are less promoted than men, even when employment in same occupation.

Gender theories

The central image of the gender theories is that women’s disadvantaged status in the labour market is mainly due and is an evidence of patriarchy as well as females subordinate position in the society and in the family. In many societies, men are regarded as the sole breadwinner and women are accountable for household chores and child care. Anker (1997) explains, this division of responsibilities and male domination are vital for influencing females to accumulate less fewer human capital in contrast with men prior the labour workforce. That is, why girls receive less education than boys, and is less likely to pursue fields of study such as sciences, but is more talented for literature or languages study. The same influences are also instrumental in explaining why women acquire less labour market experience, on average, because many of them withdraw from the labour force earlier, and many others have discontinuous labour experiences.

This theory further show how female occupations mirror common stereotypical roles. For example, women’s caring nature, skill and experience in household work, greater manual dexterity, greater honesty and attractiveness can qualify her for occupations such as nurses, doctors, social worker, teacher, maid, housekeeper, cleaner, etc. while women’s lesser physical strength, lesser ability in math and science, and lesser willingness to face danger can disqualify her for occupations such as engineer, mathematician, driller, miner and construction worker.

Gender socialisation as a medium for encouraging gender inequality

Crespi (2003) see socialisation as a logical route with its objective to construct gender personality. The gender socialization process is a further composition of socialization. It is all about the way children of different sexual categories are socialized into their gender roles and learn what male or female character is. According to many sociologists, there exists difference between sex and gender. Sex is the biological classification and gender is the outcome of social construction of separate roles of males and females.

According to Lorber (2005), masculinity and femininity is not inborn that is children are taught these traits. As soon as a child is identified as being a male or female, everybody start treating him or her as such. Children learn to move in gendered ways through the support of his environment. As the child grows up, he develops his identity, know how to interact with others and learn the role to play in the society. There are many drivers involved in the socialization process which transmits the traditional gender role to the children and henceforth leading to occupational segregation later on.

One set of gender socialization occur between parents and the offspring. Parents are considered to be the primary agency in the process of socialization. They are inclined to interact with boys and girls in discrete styles. For example, a one year old baby is considered to have no sex difference however; parents are likely to act with boys and girls in dissimilar ways. They react to boys, when they seek interest by being aggressive and girls when they use gestures. As such interaction have long term effect on girls and boys communication styles, leading boys to more assertive styles and girls with more emotive styles in adulthood.

This communication styles can aid to inequalities between male and female in the workplace. Male tend to be dominant in terms of authority and women submissive in whatever status they hold in the organisation.

Ann Oakley (1972), studies mention four central avenues in which socialization into femininity and masculinity roles occur. Firstly, apply diverse physical and verbal manipulations to the child. For example, dress up children according to their sex, girls in pink and boys in blue color clothes. Secondly, draw the child concentration towards gender-identified toys. This is known as canalization whereby, boys and girls are given certain toys, clothing and other objects often culturally identified more with one gender than the other.

The games of the boys tend to advance physical interest whereas for the girls it leads to physical closeness and mother-child talk.

Thirdly, employ different verbal explanations to similar behavior. In professional careers, women might find that they might are identified with different standards for the same behavior, being called “assertive,” for example, for behavior at work that in men is admired for being “aggressive.” In childhood it is the same case, a boy is cheered for being “active,” where as a girl is reprimanded for being “too rough.” Or a girl is complimented for being “gentle,” but a boy is criticized for not being “competitive enough.”

Finally, encourage or discourages certain stereotypical gender-identified activities. For example, girls are asked to help mother with sewing, cooking, ironing, and the like. Boys are to help dad to do yard work, shovel snow, takeout the trash, and so on. The classification of girls with indoor domestic chores and boys with outdoor chores becomes training for stereotypical gender roles. According to Oakley (1972), the socialization route aid to the preservation of male domination and female subservience. The roles learn through the above process shape adult behaviour and hence, contribute to the reproduction of differences in behavior of males and females.

School is the agency where conscious socialization happens. The education system is the main part of gender socialisation process. Looking through books from the very beginning gender stereotypes is present and reinforced. The small kids see women being represented in pictures in their books as with babies in their hands or women in domestic chores or at the high end – women nurses, women teachers. At the same moment, men are usually soldiers, playing some prestigious physical games and leaders. These images often direct to further divisions between man and woman.

The hidden curriculum is known for reinforcing the traditional model of how girls and boys look and act through the use of course material. For example, teachers strengthen gender roles by encouraging boys and girls to develop different skills. According to Thorne (1993), children also split themselves along gender lines in the lunch room, declaring different space of the playground and often sanction individuals who go against gender roles.

The school location can be strong context for gender behaviors. For example, the cafeteria is a strong context where boys and girls separate tables if given choice. Likewise, on the playground, boy and girl groups take over spaces. The children of Different World project found that in societies where all the boys and girls go to school together, identical gender interaction was very high during free play, thereby follow-on in more gender segregation than was generally found in homes and neighborhoods.

Generally the mass media are one of the most influential instruments of gender socialization because television, magazines, radio, newspapers, video games, movies, and the Internet are present in almost everywhere around the globe. As a social institution, the mass media reinforce traditional gender roles. Magazines pointing towards females bring light to the importance of physical appearance as well as finding, pleasing, and keeping a man. While boys’ and men’s magazines focus on significance of physical appearance, financial success, competitive hobbies, and attracting women for sexual encounter.

These supposed ”masculine” and ”feminine” characteristics and behaviors are reinforced across the media system, from video games and movies that show athletic heroes rescuing thin and busty damsels in distress, to television programs that depict women as housewives, nurses, and secretaries and men as lawyers, doctors, and corporate tycoons.

Print media also play an important role in socialization. In children’s literature, for example, boys typically are the protagonists, who use strength and intelligence to overcome an obstacle. Girls are included in stories as being naturally passive followers of the male leader or helper’s eager to support the male protagonist in his plan. This state of affairs is undergoing change, however. An increasing number of television shows, movies and books have crafted new visions of masculinity and femininity. It remains to be seen if these images take hold and affect gender socialization processes.

Gender inequality in the local context

Mauritius is a remote small open island economy. In geological time, it is a very young island, which emerged from waves of volcanic eruptions in the Indian Ocean over the last eight million years. A high degree of concentration and interpenetration of finance, agro industrial and merchant characterizes the economic structure of the country. The structure of formal employment consists of deep gender imbalance against women.

The Economic and Social Indicators (ESI) on gender statistics represents women and men in the Republic of Mauritius. In 2011, Mauritius ranked 63rd out of 146 countries compared to 2008 it was ranked 46th out of 138 countries according to the Gender Inequality Index of the UN. Before 1950’s it has been found that women were in fewer number than men in Mauritius. However, the female population has been growing rapidly such that in the 50’s there were almost equal numbers of men and women. As from 1990, women have been increasingly outnumbering men over the years. The sex ratio in the population, declined from 100.2 in 1972 to 97.3 in 2010 and it is expected to decrease further to reach 95.8 in 2050.

In 2011, it has been found that a lesser proportion of women than men of working age (16 years and above) were active, that is, in employment or looking for work. The economic activity rate for women was 43.7% against 75.5% for men. The active population stood at 582,800 with 363,600 men and 219,200 women compared to 2010, women was 43% compared to 76% for men, the active population stood at 581,300 with 362,400 men and 218,900 women.Men and women have a similar pattern of economic activity during their life that is less active at the younger and older age groups. The activity rates for both are highest in the age group 30 to 45 years.

Some 191,800 women held a job in 2011 and accounted for 35.7% of the Mauritian employed population. It has been found that female employees were more qualified than male, with 22% holding a tertiary qualification against 17% for men. There were an almost equal proportion of working men and women having a School Certificate but 7.4% women had a Higher School Certificate compared to 5% for men.

Both men and women had a high proportion of their working population in the tertiary sector (covering trade, hotels & restaurants, transport and other service industries), 68% for men and 57% for women. The secondary sector (covering manufacturing, electricity & water and construction) accounted for one third of the working men and one quarter of the working women. While women represented some 40% of the employment in the manufacturing sector, they comprised less than 1% of the construction industry.

Women were more likely than men to be employees, with 85% of the employed female in that employment status compared to 78% among the men. They were also much less likely than men to head their own business; while 21% of working men were employers or own accounts workers, only some 11% of women held that status.

On average an employed woman works 38 hours, 6 hours less than a man. However, women heading their own business and those contributing in the family business worked respectively 7.5 hours and 8.2 hours less than their male counterparts.

Both female and male were found spending less hours in the agricultural field than in other areas of the labour market. However, women worked 10 hours less than men in that sector. Women worked 8 hours less in public administration, 5 hours less in hotels & restaurants and 3 hours less in manufacturing, trade & education sectors.

Women as well as men tend to work fewer hours at the older age. The difference in hours worked by women and men varies across ages; it increases with age to reach a peak of 8.3 hours at the age group 45 to 49 years, and decreases thereafter.

In spite of being fewer in the labour force, women are over represented among the unemployed. Unemployed women numbered 27,300 in 2011 compared to 18,800 men. Female unemployment rate stood at 12.5%, much higher than the rate of 5.2% for male.

Unemployment rate is higher among women than men at all ages, except for the elderly. The difference in unemployment rate is more pronounced at the very young age.Among unemployed women with previous work experience, 22% left their last job due to marriage, childbirth and household responsibilities. Another 13% women were unemployed following closure of establishment. The main sectors where the unemployed women worked previously are manufacturing (29%), trade (25%) and hotels and restaurants (10%).

On balance, there has been a dramatic change in the occupational and sectoral distribution of the labour market since, with the rising share in the manufacturing, and a declining share in agricultural and domestic service. Employer’s preference for women because of their natural and culturally defined attributes, as well as their adaptability, productivity and acceptance of lower wages in the past are some of the reasons accounting for the predominance of female labour mostly in the EPZ sector in Mauritius.

Despite increase in employment over the last couple decades, we can still see that there still exists gender disparity in the labour market. In addition, with increased occupational opportunities enjoyed by women, they are still faced with the burden of household responsibilities for example, as mentioned above, woman works 38 hours, 6 hours less than a man. This show woman career is still constrained with household occupations.

The factors which have promoted labour force are: fertility reduction, increased life expectancy, economic hardships and wider aspirations beyond the confines of family and home. However, the main factors constraining higher participation of female Mauritian in the labour market are resistance by own family members, inability to make arrangement for childcare, housework exigencies, nurturing within the household, reproductive responsibilities and difficulties in managing the interface between home and work.

Therefore, women hit a class ceiling as far as the management in concerned. Such is generally the case despite higher academic achievement than men. This secondary role is also reflected in their working conditions and their position in society and family. While the concept of equity and equality should be established in the world of work, women have to be provided with wide opportunities and can be further encouraged to develop their aptitude and potential optimally.

Globalization in Mauritius can also be considered as a threat for widening difference between men and women in the labour market and further creating gender inequalities. Trade expansion has increased women’s access to labour market, however, it worth pointing out that the vast majority of these jobs are low salary and low-skilled. In the light of existing gender inequalities, a widening gap between men and women in terms of access to economic resources and benefits to be derived from globalization can be foreseen.

Mauritian Law protecting against discrimination in workplace

The Constitution of Mauritius is regarded as being the supreme Law which clearly protects this philosophy of equality at Chapter 2 Section (3) and (16) which imparts for non discrimination as follows:

Section 3

”It is hereby recognized and declared that Mauritius there have existed and shall continue to exist without discrimination by reason of race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedom of others and for the public interest each and all of the following human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

Section 16
Protection from discrimination

Subject to subsections (4), (5) and (7)-no law shall make any provision that discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.

Subject to subsections (6), (7) and (8)- no person shall be treated in a discriminatory manner by any person acting in the performance of any public function conferred by any law or otherwise in the performance of the functions of any public office or any public authority.

The Government of Mauritius has also passed law to eliminate all forms of Gender Discrimination and sexual harassment in certain areas of public activity under Sex Discrimination Act No. 43 of 2002. This act protects a worker from all forms of inequality in employment related to recruitment, selection, training, on grounds of gender, marital status and family responsibilities.

Gap in literature

It has thus been seen that gender inequalities is apparent in all societies and many research has been done with the aim of improving the condition of people at work. In Mauritius, however, gender inequality is relatively a concept which is ignored despite many laws exist to eliminate any sort of discrimination. The measures undertaken by the government still remain at initial stage. There exists little research concentrating in the field of gender inequalities in the workplace of Mauritius. The gap in the literature is little because it has focused on only one dimension of gender inequalities. In Mauritius, however, the concept of gender inequalities in the labour market is buried. As a matter of fact, research is urgently required to determine the all the factors leading to occupational gender segregation and also find ways to improve the conditions of employees at work.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology is influenced by the purpose of the study and it is based on the best strategy to respond to the research questions. The objective is to provide insight into the methodologies used as well as into the reasons and pertinence of their use.

Research design is a plan as to what data to gather, from whom, how and when, and how to analyze the data obtained. It is a systematic plan to coordinate research steps to ensure the efficient use of resources and to guide the research according to scientific methods; again, it is a plan to be followed to meet the research objectives, and is the framework within which to solve a specific problem. A research design describes a logical manner in which individuals or other units are compared and analyzed; it is the basis for making interpretations of the data. The purpose of a design is to ensure that the relation between independent and dependent variable s is not subject to alternative interpretations. It is the clue that holds all of the elements

The project will employ questionnaire to identify the different causes of gender inequality within the workplace. The present research is mainly based on a survey method and the major means of gathering data from a questionnaire. Questionnaire is a medium for collecting and recording information about a topic of interest. It is consists of a list of questions and include clear instructions and space for answers or administrative details.

This study will employ a quantitative research method. In this study the data will be collected by the use of self-administered questionnaires. Self- administered questions will be used in order to accurately gather the required survey data from selected respondents to meet the researcher’s informational objectives, to present as positive an image of market research as possible to the respondents such that they will not feel negative toward the survey but welcome it and future surveys.

The questions in the questionnaire describe the situation in which the respondents experienced discrimination and the way in which he believes discrimination took place. Self-administered structured questionnaires are more cost effective to administer than personal interviews. They are relatively easy to administer and analyse. Most people are familiar with the concept of a questionnaire and it reduces the possibility of interviewer bias. They are convenient since respondents can complete it at a time and place that is convenient for them.

How has gender inequality been explained? (Answer with reference to a range of theories and approaches) Critically assess the attempt of one of the feminist group to overcome gender inequality. Social stratification “A system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy’ (Macionis and Plummer: 2005: 190). Social stratification is common in different aspects throughout society and throughout history some of the most substantial categories affected are class, race, disabilities, sexuality and globally. However this essay shall be investigating the stratification by gender, referred to as gender inequality.

There are many reasons for the disparity of gender “…circumscribed by its underlying social, legal, political, economic, and cultural characteristics” (Rives and Yousefi 1997:1). Gender stratification categories people in regard to their ‘sex’, this can be defined as anatomical differences and physiological differences between male and female for example the difference in chromosomes, sex organs and hormones. The word ‘gender’ has been socially constructed through the means of a stereotype and ideology of the social role, identity, position and behaviour of male and feminine through different institutions and aspects like the media, religion, culturally and historically.

Up until the era of Suffragettes in the late 19th Century women were always deemed lower than men and inequality was highly significant society it was fundamentally a patriarchal society. The traditional preconceptions were that men were strong, intellectual beings that were the hunter gatherers and providers for their household. Whereas, women were passive objects that would cook, clean, cater for their husbands wants and desires, and doing nothing more than bear and raise children. “To the woman he (God) said, I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for you husband, and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16). This interlinks with religion and reiterates traditional and religious view from The Bible. There are a substantial amount of reasons why there is clear gender inequality in society, this essay will assess and show the many theories into the existence of this.

Biological determinism is a theory that asserts that males and females appearance, mental and general behaviour and position on the social hierarchy is all in relation to their genetic make-up and genes, the differences between male and females socially is dependant on the fact of them being different sexes alone. The Evolution of Sexes written by Geddes and Thompson shows a generalisation of a biological determinist analysis of gender. They claim that social, psychological and behavioural traits were caused by metabolic state. Women supposedly conserve energy (being ‘anabolic’) and this makes them passive, conservative, sluggish, stable and uninterested in politics. Men expend their surplus energy (being ‘katabolic’) and this makes them eager, energetic, passionate, variable and, thereby, interested in political and social matters. These biological ‘facts’ about metabolic states were used not only to explain behavioural differences between women and men but also to justify what our social and political arrangements ought to be. Due to all these factors it is apparent biological determinism theorists that gender stratification is fate, females are meant to be inferior to males and this cannot be fought or changed in society and therefore is highly beneficial.

Functionalists would argue that gender stratification is universal and positive for society. A key functionalist thinker Talcott Parsons explained how the differences in the sexes (gender) have provided complementary roles for both male and female (Instrumental and expressive), and how the difference in roles which are biologically based helped traditionally integrate society. He believes that gender differentiation and the understanding of division of labor means social stability. Women labeled “expressive” by Parson should typically be in control of the family units be the emotional support, take care of the household chores and the security and well being of the children. Opposed to men, labeled “instrumental” whose role is to “connect the family to the larger world primarily by participating in the labour force”(Macionis and Plummer 2008:381), work and focus on issues outside of the internal family unit. Parson theorises that gender identity is social, formed through numerous means of social control and is needed for both male and female to gain appropriate skills to succeed in life. The knowledge of these specific skills and understanding of the difference of gender identities to the opposite sex (expressive and instrumental)are in a sense indoctrinated so that, for example if a male is not deemed instrumental he is therefore unattractive and is rejected by the expressive women. This clear distinction of the division in the family unit ensures harmony in the family and thus benefits society on a whole Functionalists view the potential for social disorder “only when all of the aspects of traditional gender stratification are disturbed.” (Schaefer and Lamm 1998).

During the 20th Century there were huge upheavals in the traditional view of women and their roles and the view of a predominately patriarchal society they were living in. Women now wanted to be able to work and have an education, not deemed less able due to biological determinism and be treated equally, which gave birth to a collection of huge movements in sexism and inequality and also different views with in feminism (Liberal, Socialist/Marxist and radical). One point that is evident throughout all the different interpretations of feminism is that women have not been seen as equal throughout the social structure.

Liberal feminists do not see women’s oppression as part of large system structure but however believes that biological determinism as a source for inequality within the political and justice realm as completely barbaric. There may be some slight procreative differentiation but that should not be any differences in relation to the law, politics, employment or educational institutes, they believed the only way of reformation was through the reform of these institutes. Liberal feminists believe in the rights for every individual woman in society.

Socialist/Marxist feminism is adopted through two major writings, Firstly in Engels writing in 1884 The origin of the family, private property and the State and through Marx’s conflict theory evident in the Communist Manifesto, which is a struggle between the oppressors (capitalists/ bourgeoisie) and the oppressed (working class) to maintain an equal social structure one needs to overthrow capitalism. Beasley wrote that “the base-superstructure model of society, that is, social relations- including those related to sexual inequality- are conceived as crucially shaped by the economic base of society, rather than ideas and attitudes” (Beasley 1999:61) Marxist Feminists believed the only way to end this patriarchy was through social revolutions against capitalism for equality. As males dominated the means of production and owned all the property women Engels contended were alienated due to the economic reliance on their husbands. “Engels links the modern oppression of women to the institution of private property. Correlatively , he argues that the economic system of capitalism draws women into the public workforce and thus sets the conditions for their equality” (Carver and Steger 1999:254) The only way women would be able to throw the unfair justice of capitalism would be to be free of marriage, laundry, cooking, childcare and childbirth and reforming the structure of the family. So that women can get full-time jobs through revolting equaling out the inequality in gender.

This essay has briefly summarised the main theories and some brief approaches of gender inequality, Radical feminism is similar to that of Marxist feminism but more extreme, it is similar in the aspect of it fundamentally believing that the oppression and control of women is to do with how Capitalism promotes gender exploitation. Women are segregated into a “sex class” and therefore should stick together. Radical feminists believe that the only way for gender equality is the complete eradication of patriarchal society and any aspect of society that males dominate, this is the only way for female liberation. Radical feminists believe women are oppressed through their ability to reproduce and the sexualisation by men, they should be seen as the enemy. The only way women can free themselves is through any aspect of association with males, this includes not having heterosexual relationships and not producing off spring in order to liberate. Alice Echols and Ellen Willis wrote about radical feminism in their book Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America that “Radical feminism was a political movement dedicated to eliminating the sex-class system”(Echols and Willis 1989:4) The sex class system also included the sex-role system which sees marriage, family, prostitution, and heterosexuality as repressive. They believed gender inequalities root cause was sexual oppression, women need “to gain control over their bodies/biology and relatedly to value and celebrate women’s bodies”(Beasley, C 1999:55) . This interlinks with a psychoanalytic feminist such as Sigmund Freud where he shows that gender is embedded in language and through sexualisation and thought from the earliest state of childhood. This is through the penis envy theory, this is when girls realise they don’t have a penis and from being attached to her mother, finds a stronger attachment to the father. She accepts her inadequacy and subordination in society by accepting her mother’s values and containing her craving for her father. According to many theorists Radical feminism is also about “generating widespread support for campaigns around issues such as rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment” (Dean 2011) as well as the promotion of contraception, sterilization and abortion.

The word “radical” in itself holds factors for criticism; this is an extreme view that has many factors that can be deemed incorrect. You cannot categorise all women into a sex class as there is no substantial evidence that supports the idea of this. How is it possible that all women just because of their biological similarities are the same, and can be generalised so flippantly? It doesn’t entail any other aspects such as culture, psychological, class or economic factor in a way of determining gender construction.”Radical feminism not only ignores important differences among women but also reproduces exactly the stereotypical vision of women and men” (Beckham and D’Amico 1994:80) Isn’t this exactly what radical feminism is fighting against, the generalisation? Radical feminism ignores legislations like the Equal Pay Act 1970 and The Sexual Discrimination Act 1975 and how politics are constantly changing in regard to sexism and the maltreatment as women as a class. Radical feminism suggests that society should be matriarchal, this would continue the process of gender inequality but just the other way round. Another limitation of radical feminism is that instead of promoting marriage it does the opposite, that women should be rid of all these stereotypical roles, this in a way promotes promiscuity and even unhealthy relationships. Radicalism is damaging to society as a whole because society cannot reach its maximum potential if one group is more domineering than another.