Author: Andre Coleman

ABSTRACT : There has been a spate of discussions at various levels especially at the the top hierarchy of the successive governments with reference to apprehension of women empowerment in our country India. Besides it has also been a meeting point of contradicting themes that has resulted in a status quo. The women who stand to gain from governmental measures are already empowered and the vast majority of them, who mostly hail out from rural regions , are still regarded inferior to men in most spheres. In view of this the present paper makes an attempt to highlight how it contradicts as in the state of Kerala which has created a congenial atmosphere for the emergence of women empowerment and development of women entrepreneurship through Kudumbashree. ‘Kudumbashree’, which mean prosperity (shree)‘ of the family ( Kudumbam) is the name of the women oriented, community based, State Poverty Eradication Mission of Government of Kerala. Kerala is a tiny state lying in the south-west part of Indian federation, where many development experiments are being tested, refined and implemented. The mission aims at the empowerment of women, through forming self-help groups and encouraging their entrepreneurial or other wide range of activities. The purpose of the mission is to ensure that the women should no longer remain as passive recipients of public assistance, but active leaders in women involved development initiatives.

Keywords : women empowerment, contradicts , active leaders, Kerala

OBJECTIVES : The present paper makes an attempt to highlight the success stories associated to women empowerment, initiatives taken, incentives provided by a unit named Kudumbashree operating widely in the state of Kerala.

INTRODUCTION: Women in business is a recent phenomenon in India. They have confined themselves to petty business and tiny cottage industries. They are found in vegetable selling, making pickles, papads etc The spread of education and increased awareness are aiding women to spread their wings into the areas which were the monopoly of men. On the whole, proper education of women in Kerala resulted in high motivation among them to enter into business. The financial, marketing and training assistance provided by the State Government also helped motivate women to assume entrepreneurial career. Women’s desire to work at the place of residence, difficulty of getting jobs in the public and private sectors and the desire for social recognition also motivated women in Kerala for self –development. Kudumbashree was launched by the Government of Kerala in 1998 for wiping out absolute poverty from the State through concentrated community action under the leadership of Local Self Governments, Kudumbashree is today one of the largest women-empowering projects in the country. The programme has 37 lakh members and covers more than 50% of the households in Kerala. Built around three critical components, microcredit,entrepreneurship and empowerment, the Kudumbashree initiative has today succeeded in addressing the basic needs of the less privileged women, thus providing them a more dignified life and a better future. Real empowerment occurs only when rights can be legitimately claimed and are universally acknowledged. It is the endeavor of Kudumbashree to bring the discussion on women’s rights and issues into the heart of the development debate. The organisational structure and capacity building programmes of kudumbashree attempt to develop the leadership capabilities and opportunities for intervention in development activities. The Gender Self Learning Programme is a unique experiment to consolidate women’s voices and discuss gender disparities.

OVERVIEW:

The network of Kudumbashree projects across Kerala is beginning to bear fruits not only in the form of fiscal independence for women but also with a new found self confidence. Kerala is witnessing a silent revolution, spawning womanpower, possibly restoring to the State its lost matriarchal legacy, where the women enjoyed pre-eminence, safety, security and respect, including self-respect. This female empowerment is taking place through the Kudumbashree movement, which has engulfed the State. In Ernakulam district alone there are 19,2424 women in rural and urban areas contributing Rs. 22 crores through deposits to the State economy. Each member contributes Rs 10 a week, which is achieved through a phenomenal feat by trusting women, awakening their inherent saving instinct and abilities to achieve. From the thrift amount loans are granted to them which they return in just three weeks. Loans upto Rs. 26 crores are given to them. Earlier, they had no money of their own to spend or invest. Now they have achieved monetary empowerment, self-reliance and freedom,” said Kabir B. Haroon, District Mission Co-ordinator of Kudumbashree in Ernakulam.

When one re-scripts their earlier life scenario it is easy to recapture the anguish and trauma they would have experienced in situations, as when school opened. “They had to buy bags, books, umbrellas etc. for their children and often they never had the money for it and had to borrow from blade companies, paying exorbitant interest. Now they say, quite proudly, that they are borrowing from their own investments. Similarly, they take loans from their own deposits to celebrate Onam, Christmas or Bakri id. Many of them say that they have lost their enslavement because they are not dependent on anyone anymore. Kudumbashree alone has collected Rs.230 crores as deposits and lent Rs 320 crores as loans.

Across Kerala, Kudumbashree covers 991 panchayats and 58 municipalities. Through this network women have the freedom to demand, and to receive money without red tape. In fact, banks volunteer to lend money to Ayalkoottams. Like the Dhanalakshmi Bank, which plans to lend Rs.300 crores to Kudumbashree Ayalkoottams alone, testifying the credibility and investor confidence the women have inspired under the Kudumbashree network.

Each Community Development Society (CDS) under the Kundumbasree project is an independent entity, registered under the Charitable Society Act, sans governmental interference. Everyone gets to share responsibility as office bearers, but not more than twice. There are health and education volunteers, infrastructure volunteers, income-generation volunteers, a secretary, and a president, who heads but does not rule. Since the role of Mayor or Panchayat president is limited, the women face no interference or influence from men, unlike in the Panchayat where political influences and husbands often rule by proxy. The women are free to present crucial issues like water, power or housing before the Grama Sabha under the Ayalkootam network.

The flagship of the Ernakulam Kudumbashree is the Kuttampuzha tribal belt where the women are so empowered that they have been able to control the price line in the Kothamangalam belt and even ban arrack, both its brewing and consumption. The women engage jeeps to buy provisions and vegetables in bulk and sell them to members at the cheapest possible price, thus controlling the prices in the area. This is the impact of women in Kuttampuzha, Earlier, rice had to be distributed to adivasis to prevent starvation deaths. Now it is the Kudumbasree, which ensures that adivasis get their quota of rice. In this adivasi belt the thrift deposit amount is Rs. 44 lakhs and the loans amount to Rs. 80 lakhs.

These poor women become conscious not only of fiscal saving but also about saying that they have effectively managed plastic ban by introducing cloth bags and have started using areca-nut frond (Paala) as plates at functions not only to boost plastic ban but also to protect the areca trees. Women have also taken over the sale of tender coconuts and have started manufacturing `Kerashree’ coconut oil.The snowball ice cream is another new and popular venture of these women. Made out of tender coconut, which is not slit open to extract the tender flesh, but is stirred inside and drunk, using a straw has gained popularity among foreign tourists. This project is under the aegis of Centre for Spices and Research, Government of India.

IT SECTOR

Women under the Kudumbasree have also entered the IT field through data entry and in assembling units. Kudumbashree computer centre has developed hardware for printing ration card, etc. Kudumbashree units also impart IT education in 158 schools in Kerala, with a Rs.10 crores grant from the Union Govt. Six girls in each unit acquire the skill to teach students of classes eight and nine, under this scheme. Kudumbashree women are acquiring computer literacy and also supply computer hardware to such schools.

TOURISIM AND ALLIED SECTORS

The Kudumbashree is having an impact across Kerala. In Fort Kochi, the beach is cleaned and maintained by the women, who collect Rs.1200 for it from the Tourism Department.They also maintain the heritage zone . Women have also stepped in to produce ethnic fast food with help from the Syndicate Bank. They manufacture bakery items and reach them directly to houses, as well as provisions, like rice, soaps tea etc; often earning up to Rs.16,000 a month. There are at least 450 women in this field, who have sold around Rs. 18 lakhs worth provisions during the 10 days of Onam collecting Rs.3,000 each in the bargain.

DIRECT MARKETING

Direct marketing has become the hallmark of Kudumbashree thus eliminating middlemen and ensuring that actual profits reach the producer. There are 45 direct marketing units in Ernakulam District. In all, Kudumbashree has effected a healthy change in the Kerala scenario. The women have become self-confident under it and they have regained their individuality and also gives an avenue to step out, to interact, to expand their horizons which is no more limited to the four walls of our homes.

EMPOWERMENT STORIES UNDER THE ROOF OF KUDUMBASHREE
NOW WOMEN CAN CLIMB COCONUT TREES (December 15,2009)

Climbing coconut trees is considered to be the monopoly of men, and increasingly it is felt that there are fewer people to climb. These views may be a thing of the past as Kudumbashree and Raidco initiated a tree climbing training programme. A package has been developed, where the equipment costing Rs 2350 and which can climb even the most twisted coconut trees, is given together with a Scooty, mobile phone at a total cost of Rs 40000 for which a bank loan can be availed. Kudumbashree provides a subsidy of Rs 7500. The Panchayat also provides support for equipment purchase. Women from 90 Gram Panchayats took part in the training cum demonstration organized at the Mallapuram Municipal Compound. It takes two weeks of training and practice to master climbing trees with these equipment. The equipment is currently in use in Nedirippur- Harijan Colony, Chungattam and Edakari, where each person makes an average income of Rs 650 per day. Traditional climbers also find this equipment useful and found out that they don’t suffer from chest pain while using it. The equipment also has a mechanism whereby it can be locked and the top of the tree cleaned effectively. Technically professional climbers can work upto 110 trees in five hours.

A WOMEN TURNS INTO A STORY MAKER

It’s not often that an inborn talent becomes a business and a way of life. Ordinarily Jesse Thomas’ talent would not have been noticed, but many people know her today because of her unique ‘product’- books, which she writes and publishes. Not only does she write but also publishes, popularizes and builds a reader base for her books. Jesse Thomas is based in Thrissur. Her husband Thomas drives an autorickshaw, and she has two children-Justin and Tesse. Jesse started writing at the age of eleven. Her friends were her first readers and critics. She wrote about everyday life and things that she saw around her. With the encouragement of her teachers, her story was published in a magazine from Enrakulam, Pushparani ; when she was 13 years old. Thereafter six other stories were published, but her first book was published only in December 2008. For Jesse, who had to discontinue educated after the 9^th standard to care for her siblings, this is remarkable perseverance. The lack of formal education was not detterent to her urge to tell stories, and she kept writing. Her mother supported the family by selling vegetables after father left his wife and five children in a state of penury. Jesse married Thomas when she was twenty yers. Thomas has been a source of strength and encouragement and has supported her efforts to write and publish. Jesse received support from the Thrissur Corporation under SJSRY with a loan of Rs 75000. With this she wrote and published the book “ Jeevanude Vilakku Enniki Kittum” ( I will get the lamp of life ). Though her popularity increased and the sales were reasonable she still has unsold books and a loan to repay. She however did not give up and continues to write and publish. Jesse is the President of the Namma Neighbourhood Group in the 25^th ward of Thrissur Corporation. It’s a common sight to see her books being displayed alongside pickles and dried products at the Kudumbashree monthly market. Jesse has learnt the challenges in publicity and sales through experience, but has the self –confidence to move forward. Her activity is unusual and is driven purely by her talent and enthusiasm, but with the right support, she could become a well known writer.

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AN OFFERING OF TURMERIC IN HARIPADA

Cultivation of turmeric is not widespread in Kerala. Seasonal rainfall and open land without shade is needed for turmeric cultivation. Middlemen take most of the profits and procedures with meager returns. Sixty women from several neighbourhood groups in Haripada Gram Panchayat in Allapuzha district, decided to take up turmeric cultivation. Turmeric is an offering at the Mannarashala temple of serpent gods which has several women devotees. The turmeric production is a joint initiative of Kudumbashree and the Panchayat under the Samagra initiative. Of the 60 women from five Gram Panchayats involved in this activity, 30 are engaged in cultivation and 30 in production of seeds. Each day 50kg of turmeric is harvested and supplied to the temple through an agency. The market is assured and they are not exploited by middlemen. It is hoped that as they gain confidence, the women will directly take up marketing activities as well.

NEW WAYS TO ADDRESS MILK SCARCITY

Nature Fresh is a new initiative of Kudumbashree for production of marketing of milk. It has been initiated in Edavetti Grama Panchayat in Idukki District and Kannadi Grama Panchayat in Palakkad District. 55 Kudumbashree enterprises across 14 wards of Kannadi village are involved in this enterprise. 50 women with dairy units of two cows each are engaged in milk production and 5 women are involved in sale of milk. These nterprises have been established at a cost of Rs 35.5 lakhs wherein Rs 16 lakhs has been provided by Palakkad Disatrict Panchayat and Rs 19 lakhs as bank loan. The integrated intervention addresses all stages of dairy management. Each dairy unit with two cows and calves has a shed of 430sq.ft. The floor is designed such that no dung or water stagnates, and is drained out effectively. The shed is well ventilated and easy to clean. There is also water storage facility in the shed. Each unit has an equipment box. All families are trained in scientific care of the animals. The milk is tested and must meet basic standards of 3.5% fat and lactometer reading of 28 for the milk to be accepted for marketing. The milk is bottled and sold to houses within an hour of milking. In Kerala which faces a scarcity of milk, the Nature Fresh experiment in Idukki district sets an example. Kudumbashree proposes to initiate the Nature Fresh initiative in two Gram Panchayats in all districts.

GENDER SELF LEARNING PROGRAMME

Kudumbashree have been working on a programme that aims at getting women to discuss the gender dimension of their issues. For this they had to break the mould of thrift and credit based discussions which alone were taking place, apart from the odd health or other dissemination .Locally contextualised modules on issues such as women and work, women and health, women and mobility, women and entertainment are developed and deliberated in Neighbourhood Group meetings. The different voices of women and their perceptions about the topics of discussion are captured on a web-based portal accessible at the level of the Local Self Government. The portal is being developed with the support of the Minister of Information Technology, Government of India Awareness building programmes seem not to leave any sustained impact. It was felt therefore that a learning process in which the women felt themselves to have a stake, and would be delivered not through trainings, but through discussions focusing on some aspect of their lives and livelihoods they could relate to, either through a story line, or through some other format- press cuttings, poems, skit etc. had to be the mode of delivery. State level consultations help identify the themes of the ‘learning modules’, The content for the learning modules are prepared by local women resource persons, who source the stories out of their own experiences for further contextualisation and development. Once the modules are developed, they are consolidated and disseminated by resource persons in the neighbourhood groups. Women are encouraged to ask questions about themes ranging from work and environment to health, power and power structure. Kudumbashree is actively involved in the myriad aspects of implementation of the programme, from job card registration through labour budgeting and work site facilitation to social audit. Moreover, it is the single rights based programme spearheaded by the state, which recognizes women’s work participation concerns as a matter of rights and equity.

CONCLUSION : Today there is a great awakening among women. Given an opportunity, they will deliever the results. Empowerment of women is absolutely necessary in straightening her personality. The need of an hour is to provide an opportunity in a conducive atmosphere free from gender difference. The need for awareness motivationto be an active member of the society and courage the faults of male counterparts are great challenges today. The above paradigm is about inclusive growth through self-employment opportunities that every strata in our society can access influencing a transformational change in delievering self-sustaining profitability.

REFERENCES : 1) Vasant Desai (2011)(Ed) , “The Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Development and Management”- Planning for Future Sustainable Growth, Himalaya Publishing House

2) S.S Khanka (2001)(Ed), ‘Entrepreneurial Development’- S. Chand Publications

3) The Hindu – Online edition of India National Newspaper http://www.kudumshree.org/ on Monday , Nov 03 ,2003

Family Systems Therapy is undergirded by a variety of theoretical approaches all of which focuses on human problems which result from relationships. As individuals we are encouraged to be autonomous, independent, make our choices and accept the consequences of these choices. This individualist stance seems to contradict the reality that we are born into families and spend our lives attached to a family either our own creation or one into which we are born. It is within these families that we learn, grow and develop. It is to these families we turn in times of hardships or triumphs.

Family Systems Theories postulate that individuals are best understood within the context of their family. Like a living organism, families have properties which none of the individuals have, these properties are destroyed when members of the family are considered as individuals. Family systems theories shift the focus from individuals to the patterns in their relationships. Nichols 2009aˆ¦p102. The behaviors manifested in one family member are linked to the behaviour of other members and may be a hallmark of how the family system functions not just symptoms of one member’s maladjustment.

The difficulties of the presenting family member may, according to Corey 2009aˆ¦ p.412

Serve a function and purpose in the family

Be unintentionally maintained by the family

Be a function of the family’s inability to operate productively

Be a symptom of the dysfunctional patterns handed down across generations.

This kind of approach is very different from the framework of individual psychology which conceptualizes human problem in an intrapsychic framework.

The body of knowledge known as Family Systems Theory arises from observations by counselors as they work with individuals and their family. According to family system theories families are systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals. They do not exist in isolation whatever affects the individual affects the entire system.

Perhaps the most fundamental concept of how families operate is that the family is a system which has a tendency to “maintain stability by using information about its performance as feedback” Nichols (2009)aˆ¦p98. In this theoretical framework a family is considered to be cybernetic. At the heart of cybernetics is the feedback loop which determines whether the current operation of the system is acceptable and if not attempts to make the necessary changes. The feedback can either be negative or positive. Negative feedback is not bad but indicates that the system needs to take corrective measures to return to stability. Positive feedback may have negative consequences as it may serve to reinforce an error in the system. In order to maintain this stability, there are family rules and family roles. Family Roles-this is a description of what is expected of each family member. At a basic level there are roles of father, mother, daughter, sister and so on, but there are less obvious roles for example one member may assume the role of the responsible one or the humorous one as the case may be.

Family Rules-these are often understood by member of the family although not written down and often unspoken; they set guidelines for how the family operates. For example a family would understand who makes the final decision in important matters. Although family members may see these “rules” as just the way things are they may or may not be aware that different families would do the same thing differently.

The pioneers of family therapy recognized that social and cultural forces shape our values, thoughts and our concept of normal, but it was Murray Bowen that first defined a family theory. According to him, the history of our family creates a mold that shapes our values thoughts and experiences. He further suggested that this mold is passed from one generation to the next.

Bowen’s theory focuses on two counterbalancing life forces. The first is togetherness and the second is individuality. When a family shares too much togetherness, fusion is created and where there is too much individuality the result is estranged family. He introduced eight interrelated concept to explain how families develop and function.

Differentiation of self is the ability to distinguish and maintain personal thoughts feeling goals and identity in the face of emotional and social pressures to do differently.Differentiation of self is the cornerstone of Bowen’s theory. This involves the psychological separation of intellect and emotions and the independence of self form others. It is ability to think and reflect and not respond automatically to emotional pressure. Differentiated people have the ability to balance their feeling and thoughts, they are capable of strong emotion, yet posses self restraint. They are able to take a stand on issues and have the ability to think decide and act on what they believe. Undifferentiated people act emotionally they tend to be impetuous displaying submissiveness or defiance. They find it difficult to be autonomous and are unable to take clear position on issues. They tend to reflect the dominant emotional pattern in the family.

Emotional triangles are formed when two people who are unable to resolve a problem draw a third person into the conflict. The third party’s involvement may be short lived so forcing the two people to resolve their differences. If the third parties involvement becomes long term then a triangle becomes a part of the relationship. Triangulation ease the tension but “freezes the conflict in place” Nicholas (2008) aˆ¦p128 and eventually undermines the relationship. According to Nicholas 2008 most family problems are triangular.

Nuclear Family Emotional processes are the emotional patterns in a family that continue over generations. A partner who lacks differentiation in his her family of origin may become emotionally cut off from hisher parents and this would lead to fusion in marriage. Fusion can produce different effects on the marriage including emotional distance between partners, marital conflicts, physical or emotional dysfunction in one partner or projection of the problem on one or more of the children Nicholas & Shwartz, 2008aˆ¦ p 128.

A parent lack of differentiation is transmitted to children in Family projection process. An undifferentiated mother may become attach to a child (or children) because she has decided that her spouse is inattentive to her. The mother would project her lack of differentiation to the child who is most attached. This child will achieve least differentiation and more vulnerable to problems. ” aˆ¦the more the mother forces her attention n the child the more the child’s functioning is impaired” Nichols and Shwartz ,2008—p129

Multigenerational Transmission Process describes the transmission of anxiety from one generation to another. This is the unconscious passing on of anxiety which overrides the adaptive thinking and behavior of succeeding generations.

Sibling Position – children develop personality characteristics based on their position in the family.

Emotional Cut Off describes the way people manage anxiety between generations. “the greater the emotional fusion between parents and children the greater likelihood of cut off” Nicholas and Shwartz 2008aˆ¦p130

Societal Emotional processes are social expectation and their effect on the family.

According to Bowen, all families lie along a continuum and there are no types of family. He believes that optimal family development occurs when members are differentiated and maintain a healthy contact with each other. For Bowen, family problems are the result of emotional fusion. Typically the family member with the symptom is the one who is least differentiated. This member is unable to separate hisher thoughts from the families and absorbs the anxieties of the entire family.

Structural family theory emphasizes the need for parents to maintain a clear hierarchical position of authority. The origins of the theory can be traced to early 1960’s to Salvador Minuchin who formulated the theory and set guidelines for therapeutic techniques. The theory is built on three component structure, subsystems and boundaries.

Structure refers to the organized pattern in which families interact. Nicholas & Shwartz 2008aˆ¦p185. It describes the patterns of authority, communicating and interacting. Patterns develop as family transactions are repeated. In time these patterns become embedded and define roles and functions of family members creating predictability of the family interactions. These repetitions create expectations that establish rules in the family. Although alternatives are available the family rarely considers them and even in situations where patterns are dysfunctional, they are maintained. Dysfunction patterns give rise to a dysfunctional family structure. According to Minuchin, it is this dysfunctional structure which is the source of family problems.

According to structural family theory each family system has subsystems. These are sub groups within the family structure which exist to accomplish various family tasks. Subsystem may be determined along the lines of generation, gender, role and interests. For example there are spousal subsystem and child subsystems. Within the subsystem each family member plays a different role. When one subsystem intrudes into another causes structural difficulties and indicates that boundaries between subsystems are diffuse. Diffuse boundaries can result in enmeshment. On the other hand boundaries which are rigid result in disengagement. Clear boundaries blend characteristics which are both rigid and diffuse. When there are clear boundaries parents occupies a position of leadership in the family.

There are some aspects of the theoretical constructs of both Bower Family Systems Theory and Minuchins Structural Family Theory that are constant with my own world view. Like Bowen, I believe that our family’s history creates a template which shapes our values thoughts and experiences and many of these values thoughts and experiences are passed down through generations. However this template in my opinion is only one of the possible template which shape values thoughts and experiences as there are many factories other than one’s family of origin which influence who we become. Many persons can see the family pattern and make a conscious decision to build a life with different patterns. In this way the pattern in the family of origin is a powerful determinant but rather than been a template of what should be these patterns is template of what to avoid.

The concept of differentiation is cornerstone of Bowenian theory and I share Bowen’s view that lack of differentiation can be transmitted from generation to generation. Parental lack of differentiation may manifest itself in children who are either emotionally fused or rebellious leading to emotional cutoff from family of origin. Bowen however seems to emphasize the mother’s role in the process of passing anxiety from one generation to another. In my opinion he has pathologized the maternal role. Our social norms have prepared mothers to assume a nurturing role and this is not pathological. Bowen’s belief that there is a “chronic anxiety in all life that is both emotional and physical” Gladding 2009 p.235 is very different from my over world view. Generally the prominence given to anxiety as a defining force in all life is very foreign to my personal belief and system. My worldview starts from the opposite end. I see all of life filled with hope and choices. A life governed by anxiety is a life that chooses anxiety.

It is my belief that the structure, subsystems and boundaries are three essential components of families. Family structure sets out the pattern of authority and the lines of communication. I strongly believe that parents should be in charged in every family and the children should know this. Parents should present a united front to children and any disagreement they have between themselves should not be played out with the children. Thus is one way of ensuring that the parent and child subsystems remain separate. To ensure separation clear boundaries must be establish between the subsystems.

I believe that most family dysfunctions are the result of structural problems. Where there is no structure children develop chronic uncertainty which affects their overall functioning. Some children are at one extreme of severely maladaptive behavior while others are at the other extreme of over compensating behavior to gain favor. Along this entire continuum is the common thread of low self esteem. Keeping the family subsystems separated by clear boundaries in necessary for a healthy functioning family. Parents and children share their lives but parents’ relationship is maintained separate without threat from the relationship with children. These clear boundaries establish a hierarchical structure in which parents occupy a position of leadership.

I believe that in Jamaica family structure problems and single parent households is a kind of chicken and egg situation. As the single parent tries to compensate for the absent parent, child and parent subsystems are confused as boundaries become rigid, defused, enmeshed and even destroyed. Often in these households it is hard to tell who is in charge and this leads to a wide range of problems including hostility between children and parents incest and other types of abuse. Many of these children assume adult roles before they are ready which result in early (single) parenting to begin the cycle once more.

It is difficult for me to relate my own family to Bowerian family theory. Bowen’s emphasis on anxiety in the family of origin has no currency with me personally. Anxiety was not a part of my childhood. My parents were highly differentiated individuals who were independent thinkers. I am unable to see any triangulation and multigenerational transmission of anxiety. Among my nine siblings I do not even see birth order as an important consideration instead I see us accept each other as individuals with different abilities, talent, strengths and weaknesses. My family of origin was definitely ordered along the lines on Minuchin’s Structural Family Theory. There was a firm structure in place with strong subsystems and clear boundaries. We were nurtured and cared as children and guided into adulthood. We were encouraged and taught to be ourselves and the sibling all get along. My oldest sibling is 72 and my youngest is 49. We all agree that if our parent had any favorites among their children we cannot tell.

The Bowenian Theory in counseling and psychotherapy is applied to trace patterns of family problems with a view to identify emotional reactivity and triangulation. The genogram has been found to be a useful assessment tool to identify these two issues. The aim of the therapist is to de-triangulate individuals and help them to develop differentiation. Along the way parents become better equipped to manage their own anxieties and less likely to transmit these anxiety to their children.

Structural Family Theory underlines a therapy that seeks to reorganize families. The underlying assumption is that the family’s difficulties are as a result of the organizational structure.

The structural therapist assesses the presenting problems in four steps Firstly involve the whole family in the problem, secondly help them see how the family exchanges continue and support and perpetuate the problem. The therapist then exposes the impact of the past on the problem and finally explores options which the family members can take to relate in more productive ways that “will create shift in the family structure and help resolve the presenting complaint” (Nicholas and Schuartz 2009 p.196).

Bowen and Minuchin had very different views of the source of dysfunction in individuals but both agreed that the dominant force in our lives is located in our families. Therapies based on this theoretical framework is directed at changing the organization of the family. When this is done then the functioning of the individual will be altered. This is not a change on the present individual only , but the whole family changes. In this way the individual change has a greater likelihood of remaining a permanent one.

EXPLAIN THE MAIN WAYS IN WHICH THE CONCEPT OF THE FAMILY HAS CHANGED OVER TIME AND ACROSS CULTURES

Family is regarded as a major social institution by many sociologists; it is a place where much of a person’s social activities occur. The concept of the family is considered as a social unit or a group of kin connected by blood, marriage or adoption, living in the same residence and can be described as nuclear (a family structure made of parents and their children) or extended (a family structure made up of three generations for example grandparents, parents and children). The extended family is associated with the pre- industrial society; parents were mainly responsible for the well-being and education of their children. This type of family unit was the main source of production and due to extended kinship; families used to own for example large agricultural land or farms and would trade for other resources like clothes with other families.

The nuclear family on the other hand is considered by sociologists to be the typical type of family structure in an industrial society. Because it consists of fewer members than the extended family it makes it easier for them to relocate to industrial areas where their labour and skills are in popular demand. Graham Allan and Graham Crow argued that there was no longer a clear family cycle thorough which most people pass. They said, ‘individuals and families are now more able to exercise choice and personal volition over domestic and familial arrangements than previously, their option no longer being constrained by social convention and /or economic need. {Haralambos and Holborn (2004) pg 496}

The main ways in which the concept of the family has changed over time and across cultures, is evident in both pre- industrialisation and industrialisation societies. In the past fifty years, family life has become increasingly diverse. High earnings and less responsibility to other family members have attracted extended families to split up. Families in the pre-industrial society had an important economic function in society but have lost its purpose as a production unit.

However in the industrial society economic progress is taking place but the concept of the family is going through significant changes in its structure. A majority of women are employed, so fewer women are staying home to look after the family needs. Societal changes are believed to highly have contributed to the reduction of mainly the nuclear family. Divorce rates are very high across all cultures and a replacement of lone-parent, childless, remarried, homosexual, foster and adoptive families have been established. Breaking down of marriages, and anti-social behaviour is increasingly destroying families. People are increasingly cohabiting, in various industrial nations. Family life is no longer a picture of harmony and happiness. Socialists say that greater individualism with modern society has also had its contribution to the changes of the family structure.

The transformation that is taking place in the traditional concept of family in diverse cultures is a big problem and some psychologists argue that it needs to be addressed, for any hope of retaining the family institution, especially the nuclear family. According to Murdock, “the nuclear family is the basic form of family. He sees all other family forms as extensions of the nuclear family”. {Harlambros M. & Langley P. (2003) page 74}. As people from different cultures increasingly search for greener pastures, immigrating has been inevitable. Adopted cultural backgrounds and loosing sense of identity has occurred across cultures.

Differences in the lifestyle of different ethnic origins and different religious beliefs, has helped some cultures to preserve the extended family unit. In Arab countries, family is still highly preserved due to strong religious beliefs. Many families still live under the same house hold and own large shop businesses, same as in India and Japan.

Bibliography

Harlambros M. & Langley P. (2003) Sociology in focus

Haralambos and Holborn (2004) pg 496 Sociology Themes and Perspectives HarperCollin Publishers

http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v22/family.htm

Family contribution to social stability

Social stability entails state of completeness, where life is balanced in terms of good wages, lifestyle, amenities, freedom and prosperity. The family as an institution can contribute highly into this state of life through several ways. Programs such as family-life ambassadors can help insert skills into families, in an attempt to cultivate social stability (Wardle, 2002). Other programs such as family-life champions or organized family talks, resource speakers and school family education may assist in instilling vital skills needed in establishing social stability in families. For instance, school family education, may assist parents to acquire reliable skills in family running.

Another way that families have contributed to social stability is by holding religious values with high esteem. As such people are equipped with Godly values which promote social stability by enhancing disciplinary virtues drawn from religious living. For example, an individual positive behavior is enhanced by the religious doctrines or even life virtues. Similarly, family strength and unity is highly upheld. Under British lifestyle, religious based individuals most probably have stable marriages, report low levels of divorce and singlehood (Melin & Blom, 2000). This will instigate marriage satisfaction, hence high marital stability and low poverty levels are witnessed. Morality and sound thinking is highly promoted by religious beliefs, reducing deviant behaviors such as suicide, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and sexual permissiveness, among others.

A family as an institution in the society provides a reliable home for growing children. It provides shelter, food, clothing and other social needs. When this is done, the possibility of children growing to be undisciplined is low, since they have a place to belong to and have almost everything that they require. For instance, in the case of street children, they will tend to engage in criminal activities such as smuggling and robbery among others, and this may lead to social instability .Such children need to be offered a place to belong to through proper care by possibly adoption procedures. For example, In Britain family stability has reported continuous decline such that children and adults are always faced with fractured or dysfunctional families thus instigating the possibility if having unstable society. About 15% of all babies born in conservative culture in Britain are brought-up with no resident father (Wardle, 2002). In this case, parenting education and relationship programs may assist in social stability .Other approaches may include raising UK’s care incentives in a bid to motivate the child caretakers to positively bring-up the children in socially acceptable ways.

If such positive upbringing fails, the parentless children are likely into various social evils thus destabilizing social stability. In addition, if the government is to support these children a lot of funds may be expended in rehabilitation centers in stead of instituting social development programs beneficial in stabilizing the wellbeing of the entire society. Economically, the wealth of a country is highly dependant on the family, in terms of the human capital (Melin & Blom, 2000). Strength of the economy highly depends on family stability because of the social ethical basis taught through social virtues and values. This way the entire family plays a vital role in stabilizing the society both economically as well as morally or socially.

In conclusion, family cohesiveness and moral strength is a high contributor to social stability. Positive parenting, various education programs at family level, role modeling and social awareness created at family level enhances social stability. A family also contributes to the labor mobility behaviors as a result of its effects on employment levels thus averting social instability associated with unemployment issues.

References

Melin, H & Blom, R. (2000). Streaming towards social stability. Vilnius, Lithuania: Lithuanian Institute of Philosophy and Sociology Press.

Wardle, L. (2002). Fundamental principles of family. London, UK: John-Wiley & Sons Publishers.

This paper will critically reflect on the ideologies of Margaret Thatcher’s New Right and the New Labour Third way in relation to familiy and its perceieved composition. During this period, the state developed a much broader focus of the welfare system by introducing polices in line with the functionalist thinking and attitudes of the day. The functionalists believed that social roles are culturally determined such as the difference in female and male roles – females more suited to caring, nuturing and providing emotional support and the male’s main role was one of being the breadwinner and providing financial support. Embracing these roles led to the smooth running of society (Dunn- Toroosian, 2009, p.76).

The welfare state can be defined as the process in which the Government takes the responsibility in paying for, and in some instances such as public healthcare, directly providing services for the people. Through measures such as unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, and other social-security processes, it further provides the social and economic security of its population (Jones et al, 2007, p.680). In addition, the responsibility of the state is to help families, who need support in bringing up their children, through providing a choice of services which promotes the welfare of children and family members (VSS, 2003, p.2).

The welfare state existed as far back as medieval times when the monasteries in particular looked after and supported the frail and elderly and educated the children. In the 16th century, parishes became legally responsible for looking after the poor and the people of the parish were expected to pay the cost (Bartholomew, 2004, p.29). The Poor Laws (traced back to 1536) were passed by the UK government to provide housing to the poor, homeless or disabled and in the 1800’s many workhouses’ were built to provide shelter, work, food and clothing to the destitute. In 1914 a new code was established which encouraged ‘more generous relief to be given to widows’ but ‘only to those of good habits who would bring up their families correctly’ and that workhouses should be used as a threat to ‘weaker’ women’ as it was already being argued that the welfare system was changing the morals of society (Walsh et al, 2000, p. 35;36).

The birth of the modern welfare state began in 1911 when Lloyd George and Churchill introduced the first compulsary national insurance scheme against unemployment (Bartholomew, 2004, p.51). In 1941 an enquiry was launched which put forward proposals on how to tidy up the state welfare and the Bevridge report was published in 1942. William Bevridge was disappointed in what the welfare state had become and his report focused on full employment continuing within a stable economy where both Conservative and Labour worked within similar ideologies at this time to keep this stability and growth (Harris, 2004, p. 289, Alcock et al, 2004, p. 246). He was a believer of the Keynes theory that suggested there was a need for Government intervention to manage the economy which would solve the problems of unemployment and this approach was adopted by the Labour party (Page, 1999, p.24). His report further outlined defeating the ‘five giants’: want, ignorance, disease, squalor and idleness and his main proposal was that a national security should be universal and be compulsary – ‘everyone would pay a flat-rate contributions to a national insurance scheme. Those who fell ill, became unemployable or reached retirement age would, in return, receive flat-rate payments’ (Bartholomew, 2004, p.57). His report made no special provision for lone parents at all, arguing that the reponsibility of supporting the unmarried mother would be her family’s although the typical family (which was that of a working man, his wife and children) lived almost in an income tax free state. At the time there was a married-couples allowance and tax allowances paid for each child which made the two parent family more likely to succeed (Bartholomew, 2004, p.255). Feminists saw his report as advocating that the womens place should be in the home serving her husband and children (VSS, 2003, p.19) as Beveridge stated that ‘married womens duties was the vital unpaid service which would ensure the adequate continuance of the British race and of the British ideals in the world’ (cited in Lewis et al, 2000, p.32).

The years following the Second World War radically influenced British society – the NHS was formed and various Acts such as the Education Act; Family Allowance Act and the National Assistance Act were introduced and National Insurance for the unemployed was developed (Walsh et al, 2000, p.46). The Labour government helped to create a more state orientated Britain which took place with the purchase of industries by the state however this focus changed when the Conservative government came into power in 1979 and the concentration shifted to privatisation (Burton, 1987, p.26). The Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, faced the burdening situation of the government’s finances, rise in unemployment and NHS budget, and an increase in welfare bills. She proposed major changes in the thinking about social welfare and how it should be administered. In order to considerably reduce the increasing demand on the welfare state, which she believed to be expensive and morally weakening, she shifted the responsibility of welfare from the state to personal, private and voluntary organisations which would be more efficient and effective (Walsh et al, 2000, p.52).

During her period in office, Thatcher was influenced by her belief that the traditional nuclear family was the central force of modern life that contributed to decency, manners, respect for property and law and self-reliance, and was the best atmosphere for raising children (Jones et al, 2007, p.156). The norms and values of society began to break down in the 60’s and 70’s when a more tolerant society began to emerge. Changes to social policies such as divorce legislation (Divorce Reform Act, 1969) and generous welfare benefits were blamed for society and values deteriorating and this had caused an increase in irregular families and household types (Douglas, 1990, p.412). Thatcher and the New Right believed that the only way social problems would end would be if the ‘golden age’ returned in which people lived in conventional family units, women stayed at home, divorce was not considered, benefits for lone parents were low and tax allowance for children were paid out (Douglas, 1999, p.414). They further argued that the traditional values’ of women’s roles and the tradition of marriage was important to hold society together (Jones, 2007, p.156). New Right thinking, although influential in the 80’s during the Thatcher Government is not new and has been around since the 17th and 18th century. The belief was that the government should not intercede in people’s lives and freedom, and that any intervention would cause social problems to become worse rather than improving them. The New Right also differentiated between people who were thought to be deserving of help and welfare services (poor through no fault of their own) and those who were unemployed, lazy and wasted money who should not receive welfare and support (Page et al, 1999, p.23; 78).

Although Thatcher was keen to encourage and maintain the roles and responsibilities of the traditional family unit for personal security, emotional satisfaction and care for family members, it became difficult due to changes in society and law, which allowed women more freedom. Abortions were legalised and the contraceptive pill became available for free. In addition several Acts were introduced which gave women the opportunity to be more equal to men such as the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Equal Opportunities Act (1995). Furthermore the marketization of the economy; deregulation and privatisation of labour markets and spreading owner occupation in an unstable housing market all played their part in the family breakdown and women’s access to, and need for, jobs (Chadwick et al, 2003, p.8). As women’s lives began to change, they moved away from their natural role of housewife and mother as divorce rates climbed and more lone-parent families became the norm. The idea of family responsibility and informal care by the existing family was formally made public but in reality, it became more difficult for family members to support each other. The belief was that the normal nuclear family should be a family of two heterosexual adults, who were married and in a sexual relationship, producing children and instilling traditional moral values in them. Therefore the breakdown of the family and specifically the increase in lone parent families and illegitimacy were recognized as the cause of the increase in crime, unemployment, delinquency, educational underachievement and child poverty (Douglas, 1999, p.412; 413). Charles Murray whose New Right ideas greatly influenced Thatcher and Conservative thinking believed that society in the 1960’s had done nothing to improve the life of the poor but instead had caused it to be worse by creating an ‘underclass’. Despite any evidence, he further argued that the welfare programmes had produced a rise in unemployment, crime and illegitimacy in the American ‘underclass’ and defiantly stated that ‘people were not owed a decent standard of living, it was something they had to work for’ (Page et al, 1999, p.79). Murray particularly blamed the children of lone parent families for social problems as he argued that the lack of both role models would increase their chance of living in poverty, becoming dependent on drugs, alcohol and benefits and therefore would increase the chance of them resorting to crime. He further stated that the welfare state encouraged dependency and a break from traditional values and argued that large benefits led to families not working, but remaining dependant on state benefits (Page et al, 1999, p.304; 78). Thatcher therefore believed that the only way to reduce poverty was by ending the benefit culture, removing this dependency and encouraging self-reliance. She would have preferred mothers not to work, as their responsibility was to be at home to care for and protect their children. More over it would have been desirable if there were no single mothers claiming income support. Dunn – Toroosian (2009, p.74) argues that the terms ‘legitimate and illegitimate referring to children born in or out of wedlock are old fashioned, value laden terms that reflect societies attitude to marriage and childbearing which reinforce the New Right view and the Conservative pro-family movement, derived from Christian morality’.

Thatcher addressed the increase in welfare costs by cutting social expenditure, withdrawing services and introducing a new form of means tested support, which she believed targeted those in real need. She reduced the level of benefits and replaced certain benefits with others, which meant some people lost all or some of their benefits. Furthermore child benefit was not increased in line with inflation. Discretionary payments for people in deprivation were completely removed and the Social Fund introduced to help struggling people was mostly given out in the form of loans and not grants. The effect of these changes left many people and families who were receiving benefits a lot poorer.

It is however argued (Pascall, 2002) that these changes to social policy left women in a stronger position by the end of the Conservative era due to improved access to work and enabled lone mothers to do paid work which made women less dependant within families. Although many of the changes happened more because of the women’s movement than to Thatcherism, Thatcherite policies played a part in the process. However regardless of the woman’s new position, the New Right’s ideology of the nuclear family is not all it is made out to be. Functionalist in particular ignored the potential harmful effects of family life and inequalities of domestic life. Nuclear families are very stereotypical and discriminatory (other family types are not families and therefore inadequate), patriarchal (there is an unequal distribution of power and status as it is male dominant and women are exploited) and not inclusive (gay relationships, reconstituted families, unmarried parents and especially lone parents are all ignored). There was no discussion or argument about whether the nuclear family was the only one that could carry out the vital functions of the family or whether the role of nurturing children could possibly be carried out by other family types such as lone parents or two women/ men. In addition nuclear families, as with all other types of families, can be equally unfavourable especially if there is domestic abuse and violence or child and drug abuse. Women may have gained more rights to be considered equal to men but in most circumstances the man has remained the breadwinner and women were still considered to undertake the emotional role of the domestics, housewife, mother and carer. Women often work part time or flexible hours in order to allow them to continue to fulfil their childcare and household responsibilities (Dunn-Toroosin, 2009, p.63). In addition, because of the changes in the economic, demographic, political and cultural trends in the industrialised world, people’s work and home lives had changed. Although great change had taken place, it seemed that other areas of society such as government, religion and business had not yet caught up with the new reality.

The Labour Party led by Tony Blair came into power after a landslide victory in 1997 and one of his main agendas was welfare reform. Although he continued with many of the Conservatives themes and stated ‘that the welfare state must offer a hand-up rather than a hand-out'(Page, 1999, p.306), he wanted people on benefits to pull their weight with his ‘rights and responsibilities’ approach. However, in his attempt to break away from Thatherism, the new government adopted the ‘Third Way’ which was about promoting opportunity instead of dependance, with a welfare state providing for the mass of the people, but in new ways to fit the modern world (DSS, 1998b, p.19). Although New Labour accepted that the government had a duty to provide appropriate training and education, Blair wanted certain people receiving benefits (including single parents) to be encouraged into work and training rather than continuing to receive benefits (Page, 1999, p.309). Blair stressed the importance of individuals being socially independent, however he also emphasised the importance and morals of families arguing that ‘the breakup of community in turn is consequent on the breakdown in family life’ (Lavalette et al, 1999, online). Blair promised that his policies would modernise and renew Britain however the ideas that they were based upon were hardly new. He frequently discussed his Christian beliefs and values and how they influenced his policies – New Labour very much wanted to return to ‘family values’ (Lavalette et al, 1999, online). Frank Field (Labour minister for welfare reform, 1998) adopted many of the views of Charles Murray and he again highlighted the role of divorce, family breakdown and illegitimacy as the main contributors of the ‘underclass’ and that welfare should ‘openly reward good behaviour and enhance those roles which the country values’ (cited in Lavalette, 1999, online). Labour used social welfare policy to assert a new moral agenda and similarly to the policies of the New Right focused on the problem of teenage pregnancy, single mothers and the one parent family which resulted in benefits being cut (Page, 1999, p.129). The New Deal (introduced in 1998) was concerned with moving people off benefits into work through better access to training and subsidies being offered to employers who employ young people who had been out of work for six months. Furthermore the New Deal for Lone Parents did not apply to lone parents with younger children and it did not consider how difficult it was for them in actually taking up paid work (Hills, 1998, p.26). The poor working class families were told that they would be held responsible for any crimes their children committed as New Labour focussed on strengthening families and communities and also shaping the ‘institution in which children are brought up, on the basis of enduring values – justice for all, responsibilty from all’ (Chadwick, 2003, p.32). Benefit recipients were told that work is their ‘salvation’, even if it meant working for benefits, and being unemployed was not an option. Another strategy on his agenda was to tackle ‘social exclusion’ – groups of the poor who lacked the income and the opportunities to access social establishments which again included young single mothers. New Labour saw paid work as the best way to improve the position of the socially excluded rather than creating dependancy on welfare payments and services (Page, 1999, p.307). Ironically his agenda led to increasing levels of unemployment and a greater divide between rich and poor. It is a continuation of a number of themes that have been central to British Government policy for the last 30 years and is based on a deeply conservative moral agenda where the poor working class is increasingly identified as a problem that must be forced to accept the values of modern capitalism.

Both New Right and New Labour attitudes and personal belief in how the family does work and should work has significantly impacted and influenced the Governments decision on social policy. However Page (1999, p.15) argues that social policy has always been shaped and influenced by social factors such as gender, class and age. This has in turn had consequences for women in family and public life. The effect of encouraging traditional family structures and the ‘labelling’ of single parents has had both psychological and physical effects on families and such stigma often shapes and overshadows life. There was no evidence that proved the nuclear family was better than other family units or that lone parents were unsuitable yet this influenced policies. Furthermore, it was seen as a life style choice for single parents to be on benefits but benefits offer little chance for lone parents (and/or their children) to get out of the poverty cycle and it needs to be recognised that poverty strips dignity and makes a person powerless.

Although the solution was to blame individuals and therefore change and introduce new policies and benefits, it would have been better to deal with the inequality and the lack of choices faced by some women. Providing more jobs and opportunities with better pay would have enabled women and their families to claw their way out of poverty and their reliance on welfare. Although the increase in capitalism meant progress for women as it enabled them to enter the workforce, they still remained unequal as they continued to bear the burden of the family role. Childcare facilities which could have allowed women to go back to work were scarce due to the lack of Thatcher’s commitment to spend public money on expanding childcare facilities (Douglas, 1999, p.413). Whilst much has been achieved, women are still at a definite disadvantage compared to men and therefore remain economically dependant. The aim of state welfare was to remove divisions in society, political and class inequality however because of the attitudes of the changing political powers which influenced the welfare state, the effect has been to make those divisions more visible: lone parents and the ‘underclass’ who have little choice than to live in impoverished environments where there is overcrowding and crime

WORD COUNT: 3051

‘It is not possible to separate facts from values in social science research’. Discuss this statement by using empiricist and interpretative approaches
Introduction

The most complicated study in the realm of knowledge is the behaviour of human beings. It is always relative and unpredictable, the thought pattern always moulds with respect to time, space and circumstances. The social structure and embedded traditional fabric guides the human behaviour accordingly (Harris, 2001). So if we are into research we ought to consider the valve system as a major variable. The social science research methods are thus incomplete if we ignore the role of values. It is not possible to separate facts from values in social sciences because of the huge impact factor of the social structure over a phenomenon, for instance doing research in Indian society and ignoring the caste structure; would not bear considerable results. To work in Saudi Arabia it is mandatory to study the Arab traditional way of life and the blend with Islamic fundamentals. The empiricist school follows purely scientific tools of research; which is not influenced by social orders or value systems (Barton, 1999). On the contrary the interpretative school take in to account the value structures; this school is also known as hermeneutic approach (Barton, 1999). The laws of pure science aren’t concerned with the traditional ways of life; they are same in all parts of the world. But on the other hand social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, international relations, psychology involves the study of human behaviour that is not value free (Harris, 2001). In these soft sciences the importance and impacts of social life can’t be ignored out rightly. This is not because the research work is not rigorous or lacks in objectivity or validity but the subject matter is human attitude and behaviour which includes norms and values. Both these norms and values have different forms and manifestations in every particular society. Historically the study was known as humanities because of the mode of inquiry and approach to the methods of discourse towards the realm of knowledge (Harris, 2001).

Explanation

With the development of the subjects of social sciences the need emerged that empiricism must be applied for more effective and problem solving generalizations. The growth patterns in research lead to the development of different variances while following these traditions, the nature of empiricist tradition has been mathematical and value less which is only based on empirical data that is regardless of the fact that there is deviation in human behaviour and circumstances. This deviation may cause disorders in the data which is only reflected through positivist traditions. Therefore, while dealing with human behaviours through this approach it is a far possibility to arrive at a value free theory. Critical theorists have come up the assumptions that there is always a circumstantial reason behind every school of thought, power structure govern the body of knowledge according to its interest needs that cater the policies of powerful in the world where chaos is the only political order (Harris, 2001). The realist school of thought is the greatest justification of status quo for the powerful nations of the world; the liberal school is thought to be coined for the interests of capitalists and their free trade paradigm. The idea of clash of civilization by Samuel P Huntington caters the foreign policy of US in the later decades of 90’s, so as the theory of the End of History by Francis Fukuyama which says that liberal world order is the only solution for the global governance (Ritzger, Smart, 2001).

Thus coming to the definitions of the phenomenon of facts and values, online dictionary implies that the fact can be defined as something that actually exists; reality; truth or something known to exist or to have happened. A fact can be known as the truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true. On the other hand values can be defined sociologically as the ideals, customs, institutions of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard. These values may be positive, as cleanliness, freedom, or education, or negative, as cruelty, crime, or blasphemy. From the above definitions it can be deduced that value is an ideal and fact is the happening or the practical manifestation of the value. Values are intertwined with facts and give meaning with the help of facts (Harris, 2001). With out values facts are meaningless and vice-versa. Answers regarding the simple facts regarding a river or pollution level in the air can be given through scientific research but when it comes to sociological facts values becomes the guiding principles or the driving force for the facts.

In social sciences behaviouralism brought a fundamental transformation in the thinking process which took turn after the age of reason and enlightenment in between 1600 (Ritzger, Smart, 2001, p371). It started with the study of the natural world and spread to the study of social sciences or soft sciences. People now believe that most of the natural and social phenomenon is under the jurisdiction of science. Social scientists gather data through specialized techniques. These techniques include participant observation, key informants, focus group discussion and sampling. The empirical data includes the evidence which people have felt through their sensory perception. This thing creates confusion among researchers as they cannot employ their senses directly to observe things like intelligence, opinions, attitudes, feelings, emotions, power and authority (Ritzger, Smart, 2001, p371). This thing also creates confusion in the research world and gives birth to debate that it is not possible to separate facts from the values. For instance, the difference between the cure, prevention and ones attitude towards disease is called cancer. In other example the approach would be different while a researcher would measure the attitude towards economic systems applied in different societies.

The German sociologist Weber is the creator for freedom from value decision in the social sciences, an ideal he referred as Werturteilsfreiheit (value-freedom). He says that there is a rational distance; it’s not a matter of quantity, separating the causal premise and empirical generalizations of science from value judgments. It is more of moral, political, and aesthetic first choice. Social scientists keep the two sides, fact and value. Thus it can be argued from the Weber, that this separation is not observed by anyone.

Weber seized that values affect the way in which research is done in the social sciences and that the values are also affected by the research results. Facts can be brought to bear on values, affecting one’s holding of them. On the research side of the human disciplines, evaluations enter into the subject matter. Using understanding explanation that is, the subject’s evaluations seen in relation to the conditions of his or her action, the researcher can hope to sort out the decisive motives of the actor studied. In research, the scrutiny of values permits a discussion between investigators that can clarify the points of view each brings to bear.

Values serve the science by an empirical treatment. Values ultimately come into view, in practical situations the implications of values are judged in particular terms. In addition new values can be revealed and their factual consequences can be judged (Weber, 1949). Value is not determined by any fact for instance and is necessarily free (Weber, 1949). It is free because it is a value (Weber, 1949). And it is because there are a lot of values and they are at odds, and according to Weber these are warring gods in the modern world.

Humans are cultural beings and are caught in the chains of the culture, values, norms and traditions. Both the researcher and the respondent cannot get rid of the cultural implications. Taking the culture as the object social scientists must recognize the prerequisite for a cultural science is as cultural beings, humans take up behaviour to the world and give it meaning and significance. Values permit this. Core cultural values in cultural science change with culture over time (Weber, 1949).

Weber’s idea of value-freedom is of extreme importance that research cannot be conducted in space. Hence the cultural values are enveloped in the cultural facts. Values and facts are interrelated and interdependent. No value in culture is out of context of facts (Weber, 1949). Infact cultural facts give meaning to values and norms. Thus it cannot be separated from the cultural context. Thus this idea gives that Weber is positivist and facts be studied for scientific purposes and only science cannot save the human beings only.

The empirical researcher asks for the objectivity in the research keeping in view the apolitical environment (May, 1993). However the interpretative research looks for the reflection of personal point of view. It infact does not ask for the value freeness, rather it sees the values and meanings fused together (May, 1993).

The empiricist approach tends to say that all the social research is based on the empirical data and evidence. All the knowledge is empirical in nature and intensity. Social research is based on rationale and empirical observations. Social research involves the contact between thoughts and evidence. Ideas help social researchers to give sense to the evidence and the researcher use this evidence to support ideas.

Research has attempts to influence the real world. No laws in social science are parallel to the laws in the natural science; whereas law is a universal generalization about a fact and fact is an observed phenomenon and it means it has been seen, heard or otherwise experienced by researcher (Barton, 1999, p232). Thus the researcher holds a relationship with the society directly. Empirical school is all about data collected through sensory perception and all that. This term was used for certain ancient Greek practitioners of medicine who rejected following to the basic principles, preferring to rely on personal experience and observation. Building further, empiricism became a theory which refers that knowledge arises from experience and evidence gathered using senses (Barton, 1999, p232). Scientifically, the term refers to the gathering of data using only evidence that is observable by the senses or in some cases using calibrated scientific instruments. The investigator tries to describe the interaction between the human senses and the unit being observed. The researcher is expected to adjust tools by applying it to known standard objects and documenting the results before applying it to unknown objects. Thus in short it can be analyzed in empirical school that the facts and values are part and parcel of any culture and society (Couvalis, 1997, p40). Facts give meanings with the help of values and values through facts. Both are pre requisites of each other. When the word scientific comes in vogue than it means that only scientific and systematic methods of inquiry are applied to understand and investigate the social phenomenon that includes interaction among more than two individuals. The values and norms are the guiding principles of this interaction. Values are a set of ethics or standards of behaviour and are held in high esteem and sough-after by a particular society in which a person lives (Couvalis, 1997, p45). Without values, life is confusion, signifying nothing. It is the pre-requisite to be human.

Everything in this world is relative, truth is not truth but it is being made truth, constructed as a truth, thus perceived to be truth, so it is the perception which makes our impression which we except as a truth and the only truth in this time frame is that only the creature is absolute. So facts are actually truths about social world driven under the umbrella of values. Relatively speaking neither Earnest Najel is wrong nor Longino or Karl Marx. But every phenomenon has some critique, which is valid to considerable extent. For this reason not totally disagreeing with any one I would just highlight some angles upon which light could be thrown.

It is not against the use of scientific method to apply to social research, no doubt science has developed a lot it has revolutionized our lives and mechanized as well, here the stress is at, mechanized our lives, when it comes to human thoughts the development means a lot but as man is social animal so his social world tends to be developed the world around him and the world in which he lives. For this reason objectivity of using scientific methods in social fields is sought.

But prior to check whether there is any similarities between natural science and social phenomenon, for using them simultaneously they must be identical in subject matter, in terms of application and generalisation. Are the patterns to the theories similar in these respects? Social science is based on rules while natural science is based on laws. Social theory need to be reduced to natural theory.

Replicating a social phenomenon for the sake of experimental study might be possible in some cases but not in all cases, thus behavioural, cultural, and the normative order could make difference. Anatol Francis said that the difference between animal and human being is like literature and lying. Scientific approach has been very rigid as far as the conclusion are concerned either right or wrong while on the other side it not the same case.

Social scientific thesis is not compatible and universal, that is not applicable every where and could not be tested or verified universally as values very society to society and same as the facts. Science approach cannot give you perceptions. It can tell a person what s/he can do, not what s/he should do. Put another way, treating the ideas as a coherent system of thought, science can point out to an actor what is possible within his or her value system, and what would be contradictory to that value system.

Social constructivists urge that understanding the production of scientific knowledge required looking at all the factors causally relevant to the acceptance of a scientific idea, not just at those the researcher thinks should be relevant. Science is thought to be the knowledge of elites. Authoritative explanation of knowledge makes difference, while tradition also plays its part in your knowledge system.

Problems of social policy are not based on purely technical considerations of specific ends, but involve disputes about the normative standards of value which lie in the domain of general cultural values. This conflict over general cultural values does not occur solely between ‘class interests’ but between general views on life and the universe as well. The non-scientific world information is accepted on trust, so in science, knowledge grows by depending on the testimony of others. What are the implications of accepting this fact for our conceptions of the reliability of scientific knowledge? Until recently, apart from a few anomalous figures like Caroline Herschel, Barbara Mcclintock, and Marie Curie, the sciences were a male preserve.

Feminists turned to Marxist models of social relations and developed versions of standpoint theory, which holds that the beliefs held by a group reflect the social interests of that group. As a consequence, the scientific theories accepted in a context marked by divisions of power such as gender will reflect the interests of those in power. Alternative theoretical perspectives can be expected from those systematically excluded from power. (Rose 1983; Haraway 1978). Objective science must distinguish between value judgments and empirical knowledge, and try to see factual truths. However, value-judgments of the practical interest of the scientist will always be significant in determining the focus of attention of analytical activity.

Interpretative social sciences go back to the German sociologist Max Weber and another German philosopher Wilhem Diltey. This is related to the word hermeneutics that originated in the nineteenth century. This employs that making the obscure plain. This thing refers that true meanings are rarely simple or obvious on the surface. One absorbs that scanning through the complete text. In this method the researcher uses participant observation and field research method. The interpretative researcher lives for year among the respondents to collect data. This is the organized analysis of the social actions through direct and detailed observation of the people in the natural world. The goal of the social research is to deep down understand the social life and discover how people construct meanings in the natural setting. The basic aim of the interpretative social science research is to discover social reality.

Conclusion

All the social sciences studies and researches are conducted to find out the meaning and truths behind the values. All the facts give explanations to the prevailing values in short. The purpose of the research is to give scientific explanation to the facts and to dig out the universal laws about human behaviour (Weber, 1949). It is not the motive to separate values from the facts. As I have previously mentioned that both are interlocked. In our society the correlation of values with daily life holds a cliche. The above debate can be concluded that values and facts are interlinked and phenomenon and concepts which give meaning while combined (Barton, 1999, p232). All research is empirical in nature and holds roots in the society that is composed of human beings. Research is an ongoing, evolving, moving process. The current knowledge and paradigms are not perfect. The only aim is construct scientific laws about human behaviour and when the word behaviour is used, the term values automatically jumps in. facts in any cultural, societal and communal reflection explains the values and norms of that particular society. Social scientists gather and explain data accordingly.

Thus it can be concluded that generally established objectivity and subjectivity or simply reality versus values that is applicable to individual cultures only. In their own conclusion, the authors state that it will be the theory of argumentation that will help develop what pure logic could not, the “justification of the possibility of a human community in the sphere of action when this justification cannot be based on a reality of objective truth.” (Bizzel and Herzberg, 2001, p. 1377)

Bibliography

Barton, E. (1999). Review of Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 13, 2, p. 232.
Bizzel, P. and Herzberg, B. (Eds.) (2001). The Rhetorical Tradition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.
Caws, Peter (1972). An Immense Density of Systematicities. The Archeology of Knowledge. By Michel Foucault. Translated by A. M. Sheridan Smith. http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/comm/steen/cogweb/Abstracts/Foucault.html (retrieved 11/23/08)
Chalmers, A (1999). What is this thing called Science? Open University Press. p19-26, 27-58.
Couvalis, G. (1997). The philosophy of Science. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. p36-61.
Harris, M. (2001). The Rise of Anthropological Theory. AltaMira Press.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ladyman, J. (2002).Understanding the Philosophy of Science. New York: Routledge. p93-123.
MacNealy, M.S. (1999). Overview of Empirical Methodology. In Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
May, T. (1993). Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process, Buckhingham: Open University Press. p27-41.
Neuman, W Lawrence, Social Research Methods, Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , University of Wisconsin at Whitewater.
Ritzger, G & Smart, B. (2001). Handbook of Social Theory. London: SAGE. p371-385.
Weber, Max. 1949. Max Weber on the Methodology of the Social Sciences. Trans. and eds. Edward A. Shils and Henry A. Finch. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

This argument has facts about the cruel abuse of animals. The research was informative and disappointing all at once. It includes opinions of others and cases that have happened in the past years. The research was gathered y reading articles, newspapers, and search engines such as Google and New York Times. One main difficulty while writing this essay was having to read about the horrible truth of different types of animal cruelty. The easiest thing about writing this essay was researching because animal cruelty is a common argument.

Animal Cruelty

Animals are being used for useless products that we can live without. Many animals die due to different types of crucial testing. They suffer by going through several procedures. The goal is not to patch up ailing people but to use the human tissues in place of mice, dogs or other lab animals for testing new drugs, cosmetics and other products (New York Times, nd). With the donation of human cells, animal testing will be reduced. This way is safer & can be both suited for animals and humans. “Different types of animal cruelty have been around for many years. Laws relating to animal cruelty vary from state to state. As of 2009, about forty-six states have some felony provisions in their anti-cruelty and/or animal fighting laws (Wisch, 2005). As time passes and new things are being invented, people seem to loose interest in their pets. Even though people use animals for their testing/experiments, there are other ways to get a solution to something.

Scientist and many others, find it easier and safer to test on animals than to test on other possible sources. They test products such as makeup, and cologne. They also use animal fur for designer clothing & other types of fashion. “Innocent animal rights movement had a bible; it is Singer’s 1975 book, Animal Liberation” (New York Times, Jan. 15, pg 30). Singer calls many of the attitudes human beings have toward other animal’s speciesism, a concept which can be found throughout history (Gargaro, 1991). Humans are just like animals as far as feeling pain.

Many animals are killed each year for food. More than a thousand animals are killed and shipped to groceries stores to be bought. Slaughtering of cows, pigs, and other animals, happen everyday because consumers keep purchasing meat. Animals on today’s factory farms are kept in crowded, filthy enclosures and denied everything natural and enjoyable to them. Most of them have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats. There are some fruits or vegetables that can give the same protein as meat. The Humane Slaughter Act requires that animals be rendered unconscious with one swift application of a stunning device before slaughter. Animals in slaughterhouses predict the worse when they smell the stench hear the sounds and often see the slaughter of those before them. As the animals struggle to cooperate with the human workers who are pressured to keep the lines moving quickly, often react abusively towards the animals. Numerous cases of deliberate cruelty have been reported of workers who take sadistic pleasure from shooting the eyes out of cattle, striking them in the head, and electrically shocking them in sensitive areas of their bodies. The animals’ central nervous and endocrine systems are no different between humans. To minimize costs, animals are crowded and must live in each other’s excrement. “They are exposed to extreme weather conditions in the open trucks. Shipping fever, which can be fatal, is common in cattle transported long distances to the feedlots, the stockyards and then the slaughterhouse” (Compassionate Action Institute, nd).

Animal cruelty can be either neglecting or simply failing at taking care of an animal. No matter the position of the animal, the victim can suffer terribly. People with emotional problems harm the animals in different ways. Neglect is not giving an animal the right care it should be given. Animals who die of neglect suffer twice as much as animals, who die of mistreatment. Scientist can do horrible things to animals that other people can’t do legally, but every state has some protection for pets like dogs and cats. There are different cases in animal cruelty, for example cockfighting and dog fighting. Animal cruelty has not gone away. In Brea, California, 85 children, from kindergarten through 12th grade, witnessed a cow being slaughtered at Carbon Canyon Christian School, according to PETA Action Alerts. They got to experience the cruel act instead of reading it in books. “Chances are if an animal is being abused and there is a child in that household, then the child is also being abused. Chances are that a child abusing an animal can grow up to be someone who commits other violent crimes. Studies also found that a history of animal abuse was found in 25% of male criminals, 30% of convicted child molesters, 36% of domestic violence cases and 46% of homicide cases” (The National Animal Abuse Registry, nd). Vegetarians examine the animals that are abused ad rig its perpetrators to court.

People engage in animal cruelty, everywhere throughout the world. There are many reasons why people mistreat animals, some individuals act on sadistic desires; others neglect them and eat them without caring. Animals are used as dummies because people think they aren’t harming anyone by doing so. In the past few years, organizations and caring human beings have been using the internet to spread facts of animal cruelty, a great plan considering animal abuse will only continue until enough people come face-to-face with the unbarring truth. To fight this many scientists, authors, lawyers, and politicians have valued their time and money to save suffering animals. Thanks to the individuals who gathered animal cruelty facts, people are now noticing the suffering ad mistreatment they undergo.

The incredible gift of medicine would not be possible without animal testing. Those who believe that using animals for testing think that it’s better to have them endure the product first for safe purposes. The things that make people believe that animal testing is wrong are that they believe that what the scientists do is with bad intensions. Scientists don’t do it with bad intensions they do it because it might save lives or cure an illness. For example, if scientists test a new drug that they think will cure a disease they can test it on an animal to see if their theory is right and if it is, they can use it on humans who have that disease. Animal testing is used in many different ways, but mainly to prevent harm from being brought upon humans. Animal testing is used in several areas of research drug testing, and the testing of cosmetics. Research investigates many topics including memory, social behavior, evolution, genetics, and how animals develop normally and abnormally. Drug testing is used to test pharmaceutical drugs on animals before the drugs are exposed to the public for use. Cosmetic testing includes the final testing of a product or their ingredients either individually or combined. This testing is the most controversial and is banned in Europe (n.a, 2007). In the history of animal testing, many good things have come from it. The US Foundation for Biomedical Research says that “animal research has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century – for both human and animal health.” Animal drug testing on penicillin, organ transplants, was used in the creation of a vaccine for polio. There are some misconceptions about animal testing. “Many people believe that dogs, cats, and monkeys are the main animals used in research, but in fact, about 90 percent of animals used are rats and mice. Only .1 percent of animals used are primates, and only .4 percent are cats and dogs. People also believe that stray animals are picked up off the street and thrown into labs for testing. Not only is that not done, but it is also illegal” (William Hamblin, 2007). In the past 20 years the number of animals tested on has been cut in half.

Few topics are more hair-raising than the controversy over fur. Celebrities use fur as a sense of fashion. An “undercover expert” at Intelligent Life points out, “it is eco-hogwash to boast that something is better because it is made from natural or renewable fibers.” (Caitlin Dickson, 2011). “The truth is that the meat and leather trades are economically intertwined, and all the environmental issues that come with raising cattle for meat-such as habitat loss, emissions of greenhouse gases and resource use, not to mention the overuse of antibiotics-also apply to leather. So an alternative option is to look for skins that have a positive impact on habitat and wild-animal numbers.” (Caitlin Dickson, 2011). A fur coat is a great way to keep warm. No matter what occasion, fur is always in style. Many top international designers are using fur in their collections. Fur is a fiber that lasts for many years. Fur is biodegradable and a renewable resource. Fur can be worn for all occasions. Furs can be used for any season. The fur trade is a proud North American heritage. Strict government controls ensure that trade is okay as longest on endangered are used. The fur trade is a responsible, and well-regulated. Animal cruelties can also be fighting of animals. The ASPCA is wiping out animal fighters and saving thousands of animals from the horrors of abuse. Animal fighting is a contest in which people force animals to fight for entertainment. In some instances, they will use weak animals as bait to train the other stronger animals. In organized dog fighting cases, two dogs are put into a ring or pit to fight until one can not continue or dies. Street dog fighting cases occur in many city locations. In cockfighting handlers attach a razor or gaff to each rooster’s leg and put them into a ring to fight to the death. Cockfighting is considered family entertainment. Organized animal fighting is usually secretive and very difficult for law enforcement to find. Accordingly, it is rare for investigators to find a fight in progress. Animal fighting activities relate to crimes such as gambling, drug dealing, weapons offenses and money laundering. Stealing of pets to fight them is also a crime. In organized animal fighting cases, there are usually a large number of animals who must be catalogued as evidence, provided with medical treatment, and sheltered during the pendency of the court case. Furthermore, security precautions may be necessary at the shelter because animals considered to be from “champion bloodlines” are in danger of being stolen. “Man’s best friend” may fight to the death in dogfights, often with a lot of money in stake. Dogfighters sometimes kill the losing dogs, and even winning dogs may die from their wounds. Drugs, guns, and even murders are discovered in dogfights. Street dog fighting, however, is on the rise in urban areas. Neighborhood pit bull owners seek status or bragging rights of fights in back alleys or basements. They are making inroads into street dog fighting, too. All fighting dogs suffer, whether in the pit or out. Although they are pack animals, they get immune to fighting more dogs and live lives on chains or locked in cages.

Whether any emotional problems, any animal should not be brutally beat. Neglect is a major impact o animals ad ca suffer terribly from it..

All states have animal cruelty laws, and most of them treat some forms of abuse as felonies. Farmers and researchers can do cruel things to animals that other people can’t do legally, but all states have some protection for pets like dogs and cats. Animal neglect is the failure to provide care required for an animal to be successful. At first glance, cases may not seem as bad, but severe neglect can mean long periods of suffering, resulting to injury or death. Large amounts of neglect can affect hundreds of animals

The Animal Legal Defense Fund maintains a database of criminal animal cruelty cases in the U.S. reported to our organization. In the last ten years, over 30% of cases that we have tracked involve animal neglect (n.a, 2010).

Although animals can be used for finding a cure, shelter, or even making money, it’s wrong to abuse of them for personal needs. They are a big part in our lives and do not need to be abused for no reason. They are the victims.

The literature examined throughout this paper assumes that there are many contributing factors that can lead to poverty in the United States of America. The factors include but are not limited to increased immigration rates, the lack of education, illicit drug use, and family composition (i.e. single parent homes). Additionally the literature presented demonstrates the relevance of the previously mentioned areas while highlighting specific examples. In conducting research on this particular issue many scholars shared contradicting views on what truly influences poverty in the U.S. This may be contributed to the many factors including the areas in which the research was conducted and varying backgrounds. Thus my research question is “What critical components contribute to the rising poverty levels in America?” In answering this scrupulous question I will focus on factors including immigration, level of education and family composition. Poverty is an issue that affects us all because research indicates that increased poverty levels are proportional to increased crime rates, number of students that drop out of school, and lack of job opportunities. Uncovering the critical components that contribute to the rising poverty levels in American will allow individuals to find solutions to this growing issue.

Abstract
Introduction

Many individuals believe that poverty is only found in third world countries, but contrary to popular belief it exists in “wealthy” countries as well. Poverty occurs when individuals are unable to satisfy their basic needs, which leads to a depravation of food, shelter, money, and clothing. Scholars suggest that factors including increased immigration rates, illicit drug use, varying levels of education and family composition play a major role in the rising levels of poverty in America. Poverty is an issue that affects us all, research indicates that increased poverty levels are proportional to increased crime rates, number of students that drop out of school, and lack of job opportunities. Likewise increased levels of poverty also tend to have a negative effect on our communities. For example rising poverty levels forces property rates decrease. Furthermore, the issues surrounding poverty are a great concern to many individuals living in the “land of prosperity”, because there are a large percentage of individuals that are living below the nation’s current poverty line. This is a very troubling fact, thus my research question is; what critical components contribute to the increase levels of poverty in America? In looking at potential causes of poverty, one can begin to formulate solutions that would ultimately help decrease the national poverty rate. Through examining various data, the previously mentioned research question would shed light on what factors truly contribute to poverty in the United States. To conduct my research I will visit certain cities that have high poverty rates. While in those cities I will stay in low income housing, also referred to as section eight, and intermingle with the residents. By staying in community with those that are affected by poverty I will be able to interact with many of them on a personal level through participant observation. Researching the many components of poverty is important, because we are products of our community, as a result we should know what negatively affects it so that we build on improvements.

Literature Review

People living in poverty tend to be in clustered neighborhoods rather than being evenly distributed across a geographic area. [1] Alemayehu Bishaw suggests that measuring this concentration of poverty is important, because researchers have found that living in areas with many other poor people places burdens on low-income families beyond what the families’ own individual circumstances would dictate. This article, using a combination of statistical data shows the distribution of individuals living in poverty based on level of education, race/ethnicity, living environment, and marital status. This report deeply analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of census tracts, to determine what truly influences poverty.

The persistence of poverty and economic inequality around the world has led many economists to question the model of an individual’s self-determination when it comes to living in poverty. [2] In Poverty Traps authors Samuel Bowels, Steven Durlauf, and Karla Hoff, propose that there are many conditions that may trap individuals, groups, and entire economies in poverty. In using history and theories Bowels, Durlauf, and Hoff suggest that those born into poverty have it in their power to get out of poverty. This book argues that there are many conditions that can influence poverty such; as an individual’s level of education, and ones living and socioeconomic environment. The authors propose that poverty informs much political debate while making a correlation between social and political institutions, beginning with corruption and not limited to social customs such as kin systems.

Throughout the 21st/ century, poverty advocates and activists continuously propose that political mobilization is an effective mechanism to combat poverty in many western democracies, specifically the United States. [3] The Politics of Poverty: Left Political Institutions, the Welfare State and Poverty, investigates the impact of left political institution on a nation’s amount of poverty. Brady argues that, given the longstanding contention that left political institutions reduce social inequality, it is plausible that left mobilization potentially could contribute to poverty reduction. Through various research methods, it is suggested that the strength of left political systems has a significant and powerfully negative impact on poverty. While welfare remains a crucial determinant of poverty, left political institutions are crucial to the explanations of poverty from a historical viewpoint

A question often asked is “Can the wealthiest nation in the world do nothing to combat the steadily rising numbers of Americans living in poverty, or the millions close to living in poverty?” [4] Poverty in America, using various methods examines and explains why poverty is growing, while illustrating steps that can be taken to prevent it. John Edwards, Marion Crain, and Arne Kalleberg Edwards, Crain, and Kalleberg recognize that in order to eliminate an issue, one must first, figure out what is causing the issue. In doing this, the authors give an adequate definition of poverty and many of the factors that contribute to the rising poverty levels. Additionally, Poverty in America discusses the repercussions that rising poverty levels are having on various ethnic groups. In conducting research, the authors uncovered that there is a disproportionate number of African-Americans and Hispanic families living below the poverty line. They propose that this is due to wealth inequalities and the growing income gap between the rich and the poor.

In the United States, with the exception of those on Social Security, the only way for most individuals to avoid poverty is to work. [5] Ron Haskins the author of Combating Poverty: Understanding New Challenges for Families, using empirical data and research methods provides various poverty trends over the course of history. By doing such, Haskins suggests that the conditions within the United States virtually ensure high poverty rates because of the factors that influence poverty. Those factors including the declining of work rates, stagnant wages, family composition, inferior education, and the increase number of immigrants. Haskins suggests that the conditions in the U.S. ensure high poverty rates because the factors that influence poverty remain very strong. Furthermore, Haskins deeply analyzes each individual cause and sheds light on them through data, charts and graphs.

Over the course of history the United States has experienced a rising standard of living, with the Gross Domestic Product per capita on a constant rise. [6] Hilary Hoynes, Marianne Page, and Ann Stevens, using exploratory research methods examines the trends in individual poverty rates. Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations examines’ the rise and fall of various social economic groups that are in poverty. Likewise, this source takes into account many of the components that are used when measuring the various levels and causes of poverty such as levels of education, overpopulation and job opportunities. Throughout this text the authors present charts and graphs to show the change in data over a certain period of time. Hoynes, Page, and Stevens provide a fundamental contribution to understanding poverty as a whole.

What does it mean to be poor? This is a questioned posed be John Iceland in Poverty in America: A Handbook. While most people would be hard-pressed to give a precise answer, many feel that poverty is easily recognized when one sees it. [7] For example, a news story accompanied with images of malnourished children in an areas surrounded by filth can vividly display poverty. Iceland suggests that as one moves away from the obvious examples, it becomes more difficult to distinguish what people mean when using the word poor. In using a concise, accessible format the author produces an inclusive picture of the state of poverty in America. Additionally, Poverty in America: A Handbook shows how poverty has changed significantly over time. Likewise, Iceland adequately shows how poverty is both measured and understood, and how public policies have wrestled with poverty as a political issue, and an economic reality. Furthermore, in looking at conventional theories, Iceland asks the tough questions like: Is poverty unavoidable, and Are people more likely to live in poverty based on their race, class, and/or gender?

There are many competing theories about the causes of poverty in the United States with a great deal of empirical evidence to justify support for each. [8] The Cause of Poverty Cultural vs. Structural, suggests that there are many different factors that contribute to poverty, while arguing that poverty is largely the result of social and behavioral deficiencies in individuals that make them less economically viable within a conservative society. Gregory Jordan proposes that the debate is divided among theorist and policymakers on whether the causes of poverty are cultural and behavioral or structural and economic. This article briefly examines the theoretical arguments behind both, while providing an analysis to determine the empirical relevancy of each. Additionally, this debate is popular across political party lines with republicans supporting the cultural and behavioral side and democrats leaning more toward the structural and economic causes.

To a majority of Americans, illicit drug use and poverty go hand in hand. [9] Robert Kaesnter suggests that poverty is concentrated in inner-city neighborhoods that are often times known for high rates of drug use. Similarly, the homeless population primarily found in cities consists of a proportion of drug users. Kaestner argues that the public has a significant amount of evidence that links drug use to poverty. Using empirical data researchers are able to propose that drug use, although not the only factor, can lead to poverty. Likewise based on society’s willingness to pay for and support antidrug programs, it appears that there is a widespread belief that drug use causes many negative social and economic outcomes including poverty. Additionally this article includes tables that support its main argument.

The proportion of U.S. residents born in another country has increased significantly in recent years. [10] Immigration and poverty in the United States, highlights that international immigration accounted for over a quarter of the net population growth from 2000-2007.Using various research techniques, Steven Raphael and Eugene Smolensky suggests that immigration can affect the United States poverty rate in two ways. The first way is that immigrants tend to live in highly concentrated areas, where the level of formal education is low. Secondly, it is proposed that immigrants tend to work for lower wages and do not earn an annual salary. By not working for a steady salary immigrants are more likely not to have a consistent paycheck, thus forcing many of them to live in poverty. The authors argue that the combination of increased poverty among immigrants and a higher ratio of immigrants to the total population add to the national poverty rate.

Buried in the Census report are startling figures revealing that the collapse of marriage is creating a poverty crisis. [11] The Poverty Solution: Marriage or Bust, proposes that a long-term root cause of poverty in the United States of America is unwed childbearing. Through various research methods Robert Rector illustrates that single-mother families are five times more likely to live in poverty than married couples with children. Consequently, nearly 70 percent of poor families in America are headed by single parents. Additionally Rector highlights that the unwed birthrate has increased by 22 percent since 2002. Overall, this article suggests that because the rate of single mothers has risen, so has the number of individuals living in poverty.

Over the past 25 years significant structural changes have occurred in the United States that have influenced poverty, making current-day poverty different in some ways from poverty just a few decades ago. [12] Causes of Poverty illustrates structural changes include transformations in our economic structure such as the shift from manufacturing employment to service sector employment. Amy Rynell suggests that structural changes include but are not limited to the changes in the economic structure, diseases, welfare reform, immigration, and the increase number of individuals being incarcerated. Rynell, through rigorous econometric and statistical methods presents data based on the various causes of poverty, while showing that certain components affect various populations in different ways.

America is always projected as a world superpower and a developed nation. While the term poverty may conjure images of destitute people living in dreadful conditions, this term assumes a new dimension when we speak of poverty in the U.S. [13] Causes of Poverty in America suggests that although America is the land of dreams, it does not differ from the rest of the world. Often time’s people associate poverty with third world countries, Ashwini K. Sule argues that this is far from the truth. Sule proposes that just as there are different definitions of poverty, the causes of poverty are also different. Furthermore, this article suggests that poverty is caused by a plethora of factors including unemployment, lack of education, the breakdown of family systems and the lack of willpower. Contrary to popular belief, the “effects” of poverty could very well be the causes of poverty.

The Census Bureau conducts a national census every ten years that includes the America Community Survey (ACS); this survey includes a section that deals strictly with poverty. How to Define Poverty? Let Us the Ways discloses that according to the U.S. Census Bureau there are millions of people are living in poverty. [14] Louis Uchitelle, using various research methods actively defines poverty. In defining poverty, it is suggested that there is no single definition that can accurately characterize all of the components that go into poverty. This is mainly because there are numerous types of poverty. Although there is no one definition that defines poverty, Uchitelle proposes, that poverty in its most general terms is the lack of freedom to have or to obtain the basic needs of life. This article suggests that instead of trying to form a single definition, it is important to examine poverty from a holistic viewpoint.

Poverty is increasing tremendously across many groups, from the suburban families to the very poor families. More workers are becoming discouraged and are giving up on the job market. [15] CBS News suggests that this issue can be attributed to the fact that the United States is considered to have a weak economy and fraying government. Because of the weak economy, the unemployment rate has significantly increased. Using various data tables and charts, this article shows that the official poverty rate will increase to 15.7 percent. This percentage is the highest the poverty rate has been since 1965. Poverty is spreading at record levels because of the lack of employment opportunities due to the fragile structure of the economy. It is also suggested that changes in the economy including outsourcing, immigration, and globalization have pushed the median household income lower.

Research Design

Poverty is a major issue within the U.S. today. Economical, political, social, and cultural factors all contribute to poverty. The United States Census Bureau defines poverty as an “economic condition in which people have an insufficient income and amount of resources to obtain basic needs such as housing, clothing, food, and health care.” [16] Poverty is generally separated into two sections, those being absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute or extreme poverty is a circumstance in which individuals are unable to pay the prices of basic necessities needed to survive. Secondly, relative poverty suggests that people may be able to obtain basic needs but are unable to maintain the living conditions that are deemed normal. Relative poverty usually focuses on comparing ones income to those in the rest of the society. The most frequent measure of poverty in America is the poverty threshold which is set by the U.S. government. This measure identifies poverty as a lack of those goods and services frequently taken for granted by individuals living in a conventional society. [17] The official threshold is typically adjusted for inflation to better fit society.

As suggested by the literature review presented in the previous section, there are many components to consider when discussing what influences poverty in America. The literature at hand proposes that immigration, varying education levels, and family composition play a major role in increasing poverty rates. This section will discuss how the previously mentioned components negatively affect poverty rates in the U.S. through key examples. To conduct my research I will begin by going to areas that I frequently visit, that are stricken by poverty in Atlanta, New York, and California. In these cities I will live in low income housing most commonly known as section eight and intermingle with the residents. By staying in community with those that are affected by poverty I will be able to interact with many of them on a personal level through a participant observation. A participant observation is when a researcher actively participates in the daily life of the people under study while observing things that happen, listening to what is said and questioning people, over some length of time. [18] My goal is that the individuals under study would hopefully feel that they could trust me and in turn be open to answering any questions that I might have in regards to their living situation. In doing this I will observe on a first hand bases some of the factors that influence poverty in these areas by taking various polls based on individuals varying education levels, and family composition. Additionally, the cities under observation have very high immigration rates as a result I will be able to examine the affects immigration has on the rising poverty levels in America.

Immigration

Most studies of poverty conducted within the United States have usually focused on how widespread economic trends and social welfare affects the number of individuals living in poverty. Very few scholars have conducted research on the influence immigration has on the growing poverty levels in America. In gathering my research I propose that immigration increases the poverty rates by suggesting that newly arrived immigrants are on average poorer than U.S. citizens. When conducting my research I will first explore the effect immigrants have on the nations’ tax base. Additionally, I plan to focus on the impact immigration has on the poor already in America. Due to rising unemployment rates, low incomes, and the change in taxes, those living in poverty pay very little in taxes. Similarly, although many immigrants work when they arrive to the states they tend to receive payment “under the table”, thus they escape paying taxes. Furthermore, when looking at the programs designed to assist the less fortunate, many of them depend mainly on government assistance. Many individuals that are eligible to receive the services offered live below the poverty line. Because immigration adds to the number of individuals needing assistance, the funding needed to support welfare programs increase. This phenomenon suggests that if the U.S. continues to aid immigrants, we will not have the resources that are needed to help American citizens.

Education

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had the opportunity to visit various communities in the greater Atlanta area where individuals are living below the U.S. poverty line. While visiting the communities I was able to talk to some of the residents about their educational background, and I quickly realized that many of the residents did not have a high school diploma or GED. The information gathered supports the idea that the impact of education on poverty can be assessed by examining how receiving a degree of higher learning can potentially enable individuals to obtain a better standard of living. Education plays a role in obtaining jobs, thus individuals that do not receive an adequate education are unable to provide for their families. With the job market in the U.S. being very competitive it is imperative to have an education. In today’s society there are individuals that have multiple college degrees, and they still find themselves struggling to make ends meet. A person that does not receive an education is more likely not to receive a desirable income that would ultimately allow them to obtain all of the basic necessities needed to survive. Consequently, those without an education bring their family into a never ending cycle of poverty. This is not to say that those without an education will automatically live poverty, but it does place individuals at a higher risk of living below the poverty level. Although lack of education influences poverty, poverty itself can have a negative effect on children trying to attain an education.

Family Composition

Over the course of history the family composition in America has changed drastically. No longer is the two parent household considered the norm. In fact in today’s society single parent households are rapidly increasing. Growing up in a single parent home, most of my life, I know that it can be extremely difficult for a single parent to provide the basic necessities for his/her family. Changes in family composition can be considered a major influence on the growing poverty rates in the U.S. Recognizing this, in visiting different communities over the Thanksgiving break I was able to observe on first hand bases the factors that contribute to the changes in family composition. For example divorce has the ability to cause great inconsistency in a household’s income. Consequently divorce takes away from the economic well being of custodial parents and their children. This is mainly due to the fact that men tend to have a higher earning power then women. Thus, after a divorce women and children experience a significant financial decline as a result forcing them to live below the poverty lines. Similarly, single parent households can be tied to poverty because they normally have only one potential earner. When there is only one adult earner in the household, fewer hours are worked and fewer hours are available to be worked due to childcare responsibilities. Although the family composition can contribute to poverty levels, many single parent households are forced to live in poverty despite their efforts.

I have been asked to reassess a case study on Isaac Barlow and Zac Barlow. In my assessment I shall include aspects that influenced the brothers self concept. Also, I shall include an outline how these factors can influence the growth of their self esteem. Finally, I shall include an explanation on how these factors can influence the development of their self concept.

(P3) State factors that influence an individual’s self-concept and give a clear and full account of the factors that might have influenced the brother’s self-concept.

I shall state the factors that influence an individual’s self-concept and I will give a clear and full account of the factors that might have influenced the brother’s self-concept. Factors that can influence an individuals self-concept are education, media, appearance, culture, abuse, relationships, gender, income and age.

Education: Education can influence an individual’s self-concept by having supportive teaching staff who continues to encourage a student to keep up the good work. Also, another factor that can influence an individual’s self-concept is the lack of employment due to having a poor education. Education can impact on a person’s self-esteem if they cannot get into employment and the person will get a negative self-image and low self-esteem.

Media: Media can influence an individual’s self-concept through provision of educational sources such as, promoting enrolment on academic courses and information on current situation happening in our society. A further reason that can influence an individual’s self-concept is displaying of images of models or celebrities being underweight. For example, pictures of Victoria Beckham and Nicole Richie.

Appearance: Appearance can affect an individual’s self-concept both constructively and harmfully. For example, appearance constructive influence will be pictures displayed by sports encouraging individual’s to keep up a healthy lifestyle. Further to point, appearance can have a negative influence on a person’s life through advertising photos of underweight models and this can influence young women to try to seem very thin.

Culture: Culture is a belief that you have or self values. This can influence our self concept if we do not endorse other individual’s culture. Example req. Also, this can be the way you were brought up by your parents or a guardian.

Abuse: There are different types of abuse; they are physical, emotional, neglect and sexual. These or any type of abuse can be detrimental to a person, however, abuse can influence a person if they have been neglected and they will develop a low self esteem. In addition, a person has been neglected may feel socially excluded and may suffer from mental health conditions.

Relationships: Relationship can influence an individual’s self concept if you do not have a supportive family, peers. This will may lead the individual to have a negative self concept with socialisation. Furthermore, having high expectations can also have a negative self concept of an individual, additionally if the person has been compared to other peer groups or siblings can have a negative influence.

Gender: Gender is characterised by being a man or woman. This categorisation can influence a person’s self-concept of stereotyping job roles for both genders. For example, men should play football and women should stay at home and cook the meals also take care of the children. Finally, I believe that these factors may influence an individual’s self-concept everyone should be treated equally regardless of their gender.

Income: Income can influence individual self concept if they do not have enough income they may be despair that they cannot afford to live a normal life. For example, with insufficient low income a person cannot maintain their lifestyle factors, such as paying their rent, afford heating facilities within their home plus have a balance diet.

Age: It can be said that self-concept can fluctuate throughout different life stages, for example…. Also, age can influence a person’s self concept during childhood and adolescent development. Through comprehending his ideal self receiving peer pressure.

Self concept is the way an individual visualise them self. For example, self concept can be very influential in the way we see our self; by receiving critical comments by peers or family member, which can cause low self esteem. Self concept is made up of factors such as self image, ideal self and self esteem.

Haworth et al (2010) suggests that there are numerous factors that can affect your self- concept. They are age, education, media, appearance, culture, abuse, relationships, gender, and income. These factors are also known as socioeconomic factors.

(M2) Outline how factors can influence the development of an individual’s self-concept, or Outline how the factors that influenced the brothers’ self-concept.

(D1) Describe how the factors influenced the brother’s self-concept.
Factors that influenced Zac Barlow self-concept

Age: During Zacs infancy years he was unable to distinguish what gender he was. During Zacs childhood years he was able to distinguish his family. During he was able to identify that he was a student and what year he was in school and able to identify his likes and dislikes. He was able to tell who is friends were and express his emotions. During adolescent life stage he was able to compare himself with others and express his relationship with peers. Also, he was able to describe his beliefs and acknowledge what is right from what is wrong. During his adulthood life stage he should become more confident within his personal relationship and establish himself within a particular career.

Appearance: Zacs appearance seems to have been influence negatively, because he was not interested in sports. This may have impacted on him because within the norms males are expected to do physical activities. Also, this will have an impact on his self esteem, although his self image might be different on what others think about him. He may not feel attracted to form any relationship with the opposite sex at school because of his appearance. Moreover, his self concept may decrease due to how others perceive him. He had a very thin physique which might be an influence from the media. He may be affected by his appearance. His appearance may affect by how he attires or carries himself and called gay; he may feel within his ideal self that he is gay. Also, hearing negative words all the time can make him believe whatever they mimic him and this will lead to negative social interaction with his peers.

Media: The media may have an impact on how he feels about himself. Media may impact on his appearance. May has impacted the way he feels about himself or may have an impact on his image which may encourage him to keep his body built. Contribute to self concept development; social, academic, emotional physical may impact on his appearance which is his ideal self. Media can also provide positive educational opportunities which can help to develop a person’s academic growth.

Culture: He believes he was the norm. In the western culture boys meant to be masculine and girls meant to be feminine. His culture can be influenced by his family also by his peers. He did not have a girlfriend at school plus how he was brought up might impact on his self esteem.

Gender: He was male. He meant to have masculine physiques. He faces gender stereotype because he was not taking part in sport activity at school. Because of his gender stereotype it decreases his academic performance at school. At a certain age people can identify or chose which group to follow so he hangs out with older boys.

Education: He was influenced by his parents to study because he did not have a choice. He was influenced by teachers, peers and parents to study. May start to compare himself with his peers including siblings. Receiving additional support from the school could help to develop his self concept. Being compared to other pupils or siblings can affect his views on himself. Been teased Zac may feel unwanted and be ashamed of who he is as a person and as a part of that he would have a low self esteem which he may possibly continue through to adulthood. This may also affect his relationships and employment prospects.

Constant teasing can affect Zac overall mood and that is why he was unsociable. Because of this he may lose interest in sports activities and was able to build a relationship with older boys. He will also develop mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. He may feel reluctant to try and build relationships with his peers. Being teased can also has a significant consequence on his academic performance, reason being, he has been teased and this will make him divert from paying attention on his studies. This will have a result on his academic study by not making it into six forms or college.

Also because he has been teased he did not want to take part in certain lessons. There is no indication of how long the teasing took place but there was speculations of Zac being bullied by his peers. Additionally, if he have been bullied this will show signs that his teasing was going on for a while then potentially lead to bullying.

Furthermore, this will allow Zac to be in fear and have a negative self-concept about himself or have a negative self-image, self-esteem, self-value and ideal self. These mental scars can affect Zac in both past and present conduct and decrease his chance of academic and psychological hardship throughout school and into adulthood.

Income: He was raised in a middle class family. So his parents had enough money to live an above normal lifestyle. Having brought up in a middle class family, would mean that some of his needs were financially. Also, been used to a lot of money during his development he may be used to materialistic things. He may influence to steal because he cannot afford his lifestyle needs which can have a negative self image.

Relationship: There are different types of relationships, which are family, mutual, ect. He did not have a good relationship with his peers because they taunted him. He did not have good relationship with school staff as he always gets into trouble at school He may introvert his social behaviour. He did not have a good relationship with his parents as he has been neglected and he would not speak to them. He did not have good social interaction with any of his peers family and staff at school. He develops relationship with older boys as they share similar value this will strengthen his self concept and extrovert his social conduct.

Abuse: He was verbally abused by peers which will have an emotional impact on his self esteem. He was neglected by his parents, for example, his emotional needs were neglected. He may be abuse by the older boys which influenced him to smoke because he was vulnerable. He may be stereotyped because of his role of his gender, for instance, males meant to be muscular and females were meant to be gorgeous.

I have been asked to reassess a case study on Isaac Barlow and Zac Barlow. In my assessment I shall include aspects that influenced the brothers self concept. Also, I shall include an outline how these factors can influence the growth of their self esteem. Finally, I shall include an explanation on how these factors can influence the development of their self concept.

(P3) State factors that influence an individual’s self-concept and give a clear and full account of the factors that might have influenced the brother’s self-concept.

I shall state the factors that influence an individual’s self-concept and I will give a clear and full account of the factors that might have influenced the brother’s self-concept. Factors that can influence an individuals self-concept are education, media, appearance, culture, abuse, relationships, gender, income and age.

Education: Education can influence an individual’s self-concept by having supportive teaching staff who continues to encourage a student to keep up the good work. Also, another factor that can influence an individual’s self-concept is the lack of employment due to having a poor education. Education can impact on a person’s self-esteem if they cannot get into employment and the person will get a negative self-image and low self-esteem.

Media: Media can influence an individual’s self-concept through provision of educational sources such as, promoting enrolment on academic courses and information on current situation happening in our society. A further reason that can influence an individual’s self-concept is displaying of images of models or celebrities being underweight. For example, pictures of Victoria Beckham and Nicole Richie.

Appearance: Appearance can affect an individual’s self-concept both constructively and harmfully. For example, appearance constructive influence will be pictures displayed by sports encouraging individual’s to keep up a healthy lifestyle. Further to point, appearance can have a negative influence on a person’s life through advertising photos of underweight models and this can influence young women to try to seem very thin.

Culture: Culture is a belief that you have or self values. This can influence our self concept if we do not endorse other individual’s culture. Cultural diversity can have a positive influence if we embrace the differences of others, but if differences are used to discriminate against others, its harmful. Example req. Also, this can be the way you were brought up by your parents or a guardian.

Abuse: There are different types of abuse; they are physical, emotional, neglect and sexual. These or any type of abuse can be detrimental to a person, however, abuse can influence a person if they have been neglected and they will develop a low self esteem. In addition, a person has been neglected may feel socially excluded and may suffer from mental health conditions.

Relationships: Relationship can influence an individual’s self concept if you do not have a supportive family, peers. This will may lead the individual to have a negative self concept with socialisation. Furthermore, having high expectations can also have a negative self concept of an individual, additionally if the person has been compared to other peer groups or siblings can have a negative influence.

Gender: Gender is characterised by being a man or woman. This categorisation can influence a person’s self-concept of stereotyping job roles for both genders. For example, men should play football and women should stay at home and cook the meals also take care of the children. Finally, I believe that these factors may influence an individual’s self-concept everyone should be treated equally regardless of their gender.

Income: Income can influence individual self concept if they do not have enough income they may be despair that they cannot afford to live a normal life. For example, with insufficient low income a person cannot maintain their lifestyle factors, such as paying their rent, afford heating facilities within their home plus have a balance diet.

Age: It can be said that self-concept can fluctuate throughout different life stages, for example…. Also, age can influence a person’s self concept during childhood and adolescent development. Through comprehending his ideal self receiving peer pressure.

Self concept is the way an individual visualise them self. For example, self concept can be very influential in the way we see our self; by receiving critical comments by peers or family member, which can cause low self esteem. Self concept is made up of factors such as self image, ideal self and self esteem.

Haworth et al (2010) suggests that there are numerous factors that can affect your self- concept. They are age, education, media, appearance, culture, abuse, relationships, gender, and income. These factors are also known as socioeconomic factors.

(M2) Outline how factors can influence the development of an individual’s self-concept, or Outline how the factors that influenced the brothers’ self-concept.

(D1) Describe how the factors influenced the brother’s self-concept.
Factors that influenced Zac Barlow self-concept

Age: During Zacs infancy years he was unable to distinguish what gender he was. During Zacs childhood years he was able to distinguish his family. During he was able to identify that he was a student and what year he was in school and able to identify his likes and dislikes. He was able to tell who is friends were and express his emotions. During adolescent life stage he was able to compare himself with others and express his relationship with peers. Also, he was able to describe his beliefs and acknowledge what is right from what is wrong. During his adulthood life stage he should become more confident within his personal relationship and establish himself within a particular career.

Appearance: Zacs appearance seems to have been influence negatively, because he was not interested in sports. This may have impacted on him because within the norms males are expected to do physical activities. Also, this will have an impact on his self esteem, although his self image might be different on what others think about him. He may not feel attracted to form any relationship with the opposite sex at school because of his appearance. Moreover, his self concept may decrease due to how others perceive him. He had a very thin physique which might be an influence from the media. He may be affected by his appearance. His appearance may affect by how he attires or carries himself and called gay; he may feel within his ideal self that he is gay. Also, hearing negative words all the time can make him believe whatever they mimic him and this will lead to negative social interaction with his peers.

Media: The media may have an impact on how he feels about himself. Media may impact on his appearance. May has impacted the way he feels about himself or may have an impact on his image which may encourage him to keep his body built. Contribute to self concept development; social, academic, emotional physical may impact on his appearance which is his ideal self. Media can also provide positive educational opportunities which can help to develop a person’s academic growth.

Culture: He believes he was the norm. In the western culture boys meant to be masculine and girls meant to be feminine. His culture can be influenced by his family also by his peers. He did not have a girlfriend at school plus how he was brought up might impact on his self esteem.

Gender: He was male. He meant to have masculine physiques. He faces gender stereotype because he was not taking part in sport activity at school. Because of his gender stereotype it decreases his academic performance at school. At a certain age people can identify or chose which group to follow so he hangs out with older boys.

Education: He was influenced by his parents to study because he did not have a choice. He was influenced by teachers, peers and parents to study. May start to compare himself with his peers including siblings. Receiving additional support from the school could help to develop his self concept. Being compared to other pupils or siblings can affect his views on himself. Been teased Zac may feel unwanted and be ashamed of who he is as a person and as a part of that he would have a low self esteem which he may possibly continue through to adulthood. This may also affect his relationships and employment prospects.

Constant teasing can affect Zac overall mood and that is why he was unsociable. Because of this he may lose interest in sports activities and was able to build a relationship with older boys. He will also develop mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. He may feel reluctant to try and build relationships with his peers. Being teased can also has a significant consequence on his academic performance, reason being, he has been teased and this will make him divert from paying attention on his studies. This will have a result on his academic study by not making it into six forms or college.

Also because he has been teased he did not want to take part in certain lessons. There is no indication of how long the teasing took place but there was speculations of Zac being bullied by his peers. Additionally, if he have been bullied this will show signs that his teasing was going on for a while then potentially lead to bullying.

Furthermore, this will allow Zac to be in fear and have a negative self-concept about himself or have a negative self-image, self-esteem, self-value and ideal self. These mental scars can affect Zac in both past and present conduct and decrease his chance of academic and psychological hardship throughout school and into adulthood.

Income: He was raised in a middle class family. So his parents had enough money to live an above normal lifestyle. Having brought up in a middle class family, would mean that some of his needs were financially. Also, been used to a lot of money during his development he may be used to materialistic things. He may influence to steal because he cannot afford his lifestyle needs which can have a negative self image.

Relationship: There are different types of relationships, which are family, mutual, ect. He did not have a good relationship with his peers because they taunted him. He did not have good relationship with school staff as he always gets into trouble at school He may introvert his social behaviour. He did not have a good relationship with his parents as he has been neglected and he would not speak to them. He did not have good social interaction with any of his peers family and staff at school. He develops relationship with older boys as they share similar value this will strengthen his self concept and extrovert his social conduct.

Abuse: He was verbally abused by peers which will have an emotional impact on his self esteem. He was neglected by his parents, for example, his emotional needs were neglected. He may be abuse by the older boys which influenced him to smoke because he was vulnerable. He may be stereotyped because of his role of his gender, for instance, males meant to be muscular and females were meant to be gorgeous.

Factors that influence Isaac Barlow self-concept

Age: Isaac self-concept changes throughout his life.

Age: He is the eldest of his siblings.

Appearance:
Media:
Culture:
Gender:
Education:
Income:
Relationship:
Abuse:

Self-image: this is how a person thinks about or see them self.

Ideal self: this is what you would like to be

Self-esteem: this is how you value yourself.

Conclusion