Category: Free Essays

Since the British Welfare state materialized in 1945, the debate on how to reform it has never ceased. In the first 25 years after it was introduced, the debate concerned how to increase its scope and abolish means-tested benefits. Then, after the economic crisis in the 1970s, the aim was on how to trim it back. Now, the future of the welfare state itself it the subject of fierce debate.

In this essay I will begin with a history of the UK Welfare State and how it came about, before analysing a few of the key elements of the welfare state which will help me decide whether the welfare state is in crisis. I will then finish with a conclusion with my thoughts and views, verbalised.

The narrow definition of the welfare state comprises two types of government spending; (1) cash benefits to households such as transfers and income insurance and (2) subsidies or direct government provision of human services such as pre-schooling, education, child care, health care and old age care. The broader definition of welfare state includes housing policies, price regulation, job security legislation and environmental policies1. The purpose of the welfare state is to create economic equality or to assure equitable standards of living for all2, to protect British people from unemployment3, and to encourage the provision of the social services on the same basis as the public services such as roads and libraries4. However, there are differing opinions as to whether the objective of the welfare state is a simple one, as John G. Francis states the purpose is to ‘allocate public funds In order to secure certain minimum life support services for those most in need’ and to ”construct a comprehensive set of social and economic policies designed to realize a certain vision of society”.5 Morris Janowitz, on the other hand, paints a more minimal portrait of the welfare state: “the welfare state rests on the political assumption that the well-being of its citizens is enhanced not only by allocations derived from their occupations and the marketplace but also grants regulated by the central government.” He explains that in addition to the government provisions of benefits for its citizens, there are two further elements in his conception of a welfare state: (1) “parliamentary regime determination of resource allocation” and (2) “the recognition of the state’s right to intervene in order to create the conditions under which citizens can pursue their goals.”

The welfare state was developed primarily by William Beveridge. In 1941, the British government commissioned a report into the ways Britain should be rebuilt after the Second World War, mainly how improvements could be made to the system of providing sickness and unemployment insurance. Beveridge was the obvious candidate to compile the blueprints for the welfare state due to his book on ‘Unemployment: A Problem of Industry’ in 1909, in which he argued that full employment could be obtained if industry was not constrained by over regulation.7 In 1942 as the war reached its height, he produced his report ‘The Report on Social Insurance’ and proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution where benefits would be paid to the sick, unemployed and retired and thus provide a minimum standard of living for all citizens.8 He also identified five ‘giant evils’ that plagued society and could be tackled:

Want (today we call it poverty) by establishing a comprehensive social security system

Disease by establishing a new health service

Idleness by the state aiming for full employment

Ignorance by reforming the education system

Squalor by a new house building and slum clearance programme9

The first of Beveridge’s proposals came into effect before WW2 ended. In 1944 the Ministry of National Insurance was set up before the Family Allowances Act was passed a year later.11 Reactions to the report were positive:

‘It gave me a feeling there was something to work for and fight for after all and that our efforts might be rewarded by some real social improvement, giving means to the phrase “winning the peace”. (Royal Artillery, male, 29)

‘It’s the goods! All the yearnings, hopes, dreams and theories of socialists for the past half century have been crystallized into a practical economic formula. Equity for the “lowest common denominator” I was staggered by its comprehension’. (Insurance clerk, male, 39, Newport)

‘I am aware of a new feeling of confidence in myself as a member of a democratic society when I see those social reforms which I have considered necessary for such long time actually taking shape’. (Accountant, male, 40, Prestwick) 12

Such positive reaction, though not all positive, led to a landslide victory for Clement Attlee and his Labour Party and he decided to seize upon Beveridge’s proposals as a basis for radical action, and proceeded to implement many social policies, which became known as the Welfare State. Attlee’s hope was to have Beveridge’s plan in force by 1948, but in a time when Britain was suffering from the severe conditions of post-war Britain, it did not have the money to pay flat rate benefits that would keep people out of poverty.13 The National Assistance act which was passed in 1948 played a bigger role in improving poverty than Beveridge had planned and because the idea of basing entitlement on contributions through national insurance was flawed, it meant many people, in particular women, were excluded from the system. Another act which passed was the National Health Service Act 1946, which came into effect on 5th of July 1948 and created the National Health Service in England and Wales.14 After the landslide victory for Labour in 1945, Aneurin Bevan was appointed minister of health, responsible for establishing the National Health Service. Since there was already a free, compulsory state education service, the people of Britain now probably had the most comprehensive Welfare State system in the world.15

The question of whether the UK welfare is in crisis is one that has been asked before. The welfare state in the 1970s was claimed to be in crisis with oil price shocks and increasing food prices adding pressure on the economy and leading to a rise in unemployment. Though the causes – sharp reductions in output by OPEC and exchange rate fluctuations – were said to be ‘external to the welfare state’ 16, there still continues to be a debate over not just whether the welfare state is in crisis but also if it is sustainable. The first area I will tackle is state benefits. As of September 2009, there were 2.7million people claiming incapacity benefits in the UK17 and with reports stating that ‘less than a third of’ these ‘claimants are legitimate’18, it begs the question that are the standards of the UK health service so inadequate that more people than ever are ‘incapacitated’? The simple answer is the majority of these people are simply work-shy19. Michael Portillo of the Sunday Times pointed out the intentions of the Welfare Stare was to prevent this abuse of the system by the work shy20:

The state “should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility”, wrote Sir William Beveridge in the 1942 report that inspired the post-war welfare state. “In establishing a national minimum it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family.

These work shy people are forcing the tax burden on the hard working families and “as a result, taxpayers have spent ?346bn on payments to those out work since Tony Blair entered Downing Street”. He goes onto say “It might have been possible for the state to fine tune benefits when every claimant was known to the local poor law guardians. It is much more difficult today in systems that are nationalised and standardised”, before concluding, “we ought to assume that fit young people are not entitled to anything. If a few young men from sink estates are now heroes in Afghanistan, why should we presume that all the others are capable of nothing useful at all?” Some believe such a centrally planned benefits system is bound to fail because it is not feasible for a planning body to know all the circumstances and facts to able to assess who is in an incapacitated state21.

Another area of benefits that has come under scrutiny is child benefits. This has long been considered untouchable as it has high take-up rates and passionate support across the political sector. However, new goals such as reducing child poverty whilst at the same time cutting spending, it is time the state challenged its status as the sacred cow of the welfare state22. Between 1999 and 2004, 600,000 children managed to escape poverty as result of their guardians/parents finding work. However, this trend reversed when the recession hit when between 2008 and 2009, 160,000 more children were in workless households and, inevitably, in poverty. Kate Stanley of the Institute for Public Policy Research makes the point that the welfare state “must become much more efficient in reaching poor children and child benefit is one of government’s primary tools in ending poverty.”23 She goes onto explain that ”we need to bite the bullet and make it progressively universal so that everyone gets something but poorer families get most”, adding further, ” one option would be to tax child benefit and use the tax to increase the rate of benefit paid to second and subsequent children”. As with any policy change, putting forward such change is unquestionably controversial. However, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that yes, while there is a need for a benefit reform in the UK, does it necessarily mean the welfare state as a whole is in crisis? On this evidence, I can conclude with a wholehearted, no.

British schools have somewhat of a mixed reputation. Quality of state education is known to vary whilst universities and other higher education institutions garner an excellent reputation internationally and take in thousands of foreign students. The state education system in the UK has been changing at a hectic pace in recent decades which has led to a generation of curriculum chaos and crisis caused by a lack of funding, crumbling infrastructure and shortages of books and other equipment24. Many schools have been forced to cut their teaching budgets at a time when they should have been increasing them, and some have had insufficient funds to buy books for the revised national curriculum and other essentials. This is only going to get worse with the recent spending review by The Coalition hinting there may be ‘savage cutsaˆ¦in the education budget’25. The budget for the Department of Education last year was ?66.7bn, rising to an estimated ?68.7bn this year. While Chancellor George Osborne has pledged to protect Sure Start, the government scheme where children’s centres have been built by Labour to provide nursery care, it means other areas such as school buildings and support services are likely to be even harder hit. And it only gets worse: the Audit Commission claims that ‘millions of pounds are still being misspent’. A report last year found ‘schools were sitting on excessive cash reserves of almost ?2bn and ?400m a year could be saved if schools bought desks, equipment and services more sensibly’26. However, it is easy to criticise and easy to forget the positives. The last government claimed the increase in funding produced key successes, including rises in primary and secondary school exam results, a drop in the number of failing schools, an increase in the number of children staying on in education beyond the leaving age and improvements to early years care with the establishment of a network of Sure Start children’s centres. However, this all happened during the last government. With ever more bleak and worrying headlines such as ‘Students to face unlimited fees’, ‘Nearly one in five children aged 16-19 is ‘functionally illiterate” and ‘Schools prepare to cut frontline services’, it is not surprising why many are saying the education system in the UK is in trouble.

A recent programme on BBC illustrated how Toby Young struggled to set up a new school within the state system. The pressing concern was the campaign to stop these schools was endorsed by the National Union of Teachers. The reason why Mr Young was trying to set up these schools was because they were wanted by parents not happy with the existing state schools. There is mass evidence to support their views with reports year on year showing dwindling numbers on the number of pupils that achieve 5 A-C GCSEs. It is about time students are able to realise their full potential instead of facing silly obstacles. It is no wonder private schools attain far higher grades and pass rates than public schools as they receive much more attention in their small class setting. I see no reason at this stage to go against what many people are saying: the UK welfare state is very much in crisis.

The last area I cover is pensions. In the UK there are three major pension routes; (1) occupational final salary pension plans from your employer: (2) the state pension where you may have entitlement to a top-up plan as well as the basic state pension. Those who are not well off may have their retirement earnings boosted by a pension credit: and (3) the money purchase pension scheme either from your employer or from other earnings such as self-employment (these are called personal pensions)27. There are three problems in pension reforms in the UK. The first being whether to continue with the PAYG system or switch to a saving system, though this fight seems to be over as many academics and politicians accept the need to move to a saving or funded system. The second problem is whether, if you opt for the saving system, to make savings voluntary or compulsory, and if compulsory whether or not to give savers a choice of pension providers. The move to a saving or funded system has a great economic advantage in that it builds compound interest into the entitlement. In other words, you invest in the economy and you get the benefit when you retire. Many would like to return to the ideal situation of not wanting to be a burden on your family and the next generation, but as that family obligation ‘myth’ still continues, it is too high a price to pay for the economic costs of the current system29. The question that leads from this is whether to make saving voluntary or compulsory. I would suggest setting a minimum for compulsory savings and let people saving voluntarily for larger pensions. Indeed the government introduced voluntary pension saving in the new world of pensions, but being auto-enrolled into a pension scheme will be compulsory.

The high level of state pension from the age of 65 has been found to cost too much and has steadily declined in relation to average incomes and been replaced by what many call the disastrous means-tested pension credit. With the pension age to rise to 68, this will be a long overdue acceptance of vastly increased longevity30. This demonstrates the slow pace to which the UK responds to changes in reality. The Beveridge report laid the foundations of the post-war welfare state, declaring every citizen who paid his or her contributions should be able to claim “an adequate pension worth more than any means tested benefit”31. As Philip Johnston of the Telegraph puts it, ‘after 100 years in which living standards have quadrupled, a pension designed to prevent the poorest in society enduring a penurious old age has failed in its purpose’. James Bartholomew, in his book ‘The Welfare State We’re In’, posed the question if we would have been better off without the state pension. He answered,

“It seems likely that if the state pension had not been introduced, British people would have saved a great deal more and, overall, would probably now be wealthier in their old age. The late 19th century trend for people to become less benefit dependent would have continued, and it would be normal to have very substantial savings. Old people would have more independence and dignity in retirement”.

In conclusion, I agree with the claim that the UK welfare state is in crisis. During the research for this essay, I found almost no evidence to say otherwise, which was a surprise. I have discovered the welfare state has been a failure and I believe the state should stop funding anything beyond a minimum safety net. As stated before, money is being wasted due to recklessness in its spending and rather than divert (even more) resources from social security to health and education, as the government plans, it should slash taxes and let people pay for their own welfare services. The demand for these two categories rises faster than national income and public spending is unlikely to be able to keep up, thus bringing us back to the perpetual perception that they are “underfunded”. I read an interesting post made by a member of the public on an online forum that made the following comment:

Whenever all of part of the NHS runs out of money, wards are closed or operations are delayed or a cost saving measure is taken, but never are salaries cut back. 154

This illustrates how the government have a strong inclination to protect their staff first, instead of their customers who receive the service. But of course the nurses and doctors and administrators feel like they are under paid and endure difficult conditions, and this is often too. It bottles down to the point that their pay and their pensions are not damaged which otherwise would be if they were not working for the government.

The future on the welfare state itself is uncertain at this point in time. The right are in agreement that unwarranted spending on the welfare state has weakened economic growth and reduced incentives, while the left feel the traditional welfare state has not paid enough attention to significant groups like women and ethnic minorities. Policy reforms have strengthened not just in the UK but also in the continental Europe and the US. The government often deliberates and avoids making tough decisions, such as introducing a compulsory savings scheme or increasing state pensions, which have been needed to deal with the crisis. As Steve Schifferes of the BBC puts it, “though the government wants to seek a political consensus before proceeding with radical reform, time may be running out!”

Introduction & history of the family

“Most people’s idea of a normal household is a married couple with children. Does this longer correspond with the reality of people’s lives? In 2005 only 22 per cent of British households consisted of a couple with dependant children, compared with 35 per cent in 1971.” (Fulcher J, Scott J, 2004 pg 446).

Over several decades, Britain and other Western societies have seen a shift in family patterns and diverse roles, also divorce rate have risen significantly and there has been an increase in ‘Reconstituted families’ formed from second marriages

The family is often regarded as the basis of society; in pre-modern and modern societies alike is seen as the basis in which social organization takes place, for example socialising children, in the 1960’s there was not discussion about the importance of family, at that family life was merely evolving with the modern times, the ‘nuclear family’ which consist of a two generation household of parent and their children, was seen as well adapted to the demands of modern society. A classic definition of the family by George Peter Murdock (1949) “The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. This includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially-approved sexual relationships, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults”.

Another type of family is the extended family, which includes the family members which extends ‘vertically’ that would include three generations for example; grandparent and grandchildren, it also extends ‘horizontally’ to include at least ‘in laws’ cousins, aunts and uncles, and dependant on the perceptions and the boundaries of the family; determines how far this extends.

From a functional perspective the family purpose is to work as a social institute, and according to (Haralambos & Holborn 2008) the family performs four basic functions in all societies which are termed the ‘sexual’, ‘reproductive’ ‘economic’ and ‘educational’ these are deemed essential for social life because without reproduction there would be no members of society, also without economics there would no provisions for providing food and therefore life would cease to exist, and without education as suggested by George Murdock there would be no culture and he suggests therefore that human society could not function.

However according to Parson (in Parsons & Bales 1956) the family social institution developed to meet two such needs that the family, and only the family, met: the needs for primary socialization and personality stabilization Primary socialisation was the process through which children obtain the basic values of society from the family from an early age.

And adult personality is stabilized through the family to give emotional support through marriage, and to create an opportunity for adults to satisfy childish impulses that they could not do in public, for example playing games with their children.

Parsons suggested that the nuclear family was particularly suited the ‘nuclear family’ because the nuclear family roles were specialized due to one adult earning money through paid work, and the other adult bringing up the children, therefore with there being one ‘breadwinner’ this was quite important factor in the industrial society due to high rates of change, this meant that this type of family were more ‘geographically mobile’ and they would also keep the world of work and family separate, as industrial societies were concerned with ‘achievement ‘and ‘universalism’; this meant that people were rewarded according to achievements and judged according to universal standards of qualifications, and competence, the family however operated on a opposite basis; where the values of ‘ascription’ and ‘particularism; thus, status was ascribed on who one was, for example, husband of, wife of, parents would do their best to advance their children, therefore if this overlapped into the workforce this cause conflict.

Marxist perspective states the capitalist system exploits the free domestic labour of the ‘housewife’ through domestic labour, and that child rearing should be considered as family activities ‘outside’ the operation of the capitalist economy but instead an essential part of it.

This view is taken because the ‘male breadwinner’ can then do longer hours, because the wife is at home tending to children and the domestic work; children were seen as the process of reproduction of ‘labour’ by creating submissive workers.

Due to the male bread winner being put under pressure from the work place to work much harder and faster, and quite often carrying out tedious and repetitive work in very poor conditions, which they would have very little control therefore the family was seen as an outlet for the tension and frustration, and the bullied worker may restore their self-esteem by bullying their family. Although the wife play’s a significant role in the capitalist economy, she would get no pay. Some housewives worked in paid employment at a low wage, and acted as a ‘reserve army’ which could be drawn into work when there was a shortage of labour, and returned back home when demand was low, therefore the nuclear family created an additional supply of ‘cheap labour’.

Some sociologist argue that the family has lost certain functions in modern industrial society, and they suggest that institutions such as political parties and school, and welfare organisations are performing functions of the family, Talcott Parson’s argues that the family has become functionless on the ‘macroscopic’ levels. However not all sociologist agree with this idea, and they actually think the opposite, according to Ronald Fletcher, a British sociologist stated in ‘The Family and Marriage in Britain’ (1966)that the family has retained its functions but also those functions have ‘increased in detail and importance’ and specialised institutions such as schools and hospitals have added to and improved the family functions, rather than suspended them, some example of these changes are the expectations of the parenting role; they are expected to do their best to guide, encourage and support their children through education and their.

Young and Wilmott (1973) claim that the ‘symmetrical family is developing where spouses are sharing domestic, work and leisure activities; these types of relationships are called ‘joint conjugal’ roles as opposed to ‘segregated roles’ which previously meant the marital roles of husband and wife were largely segregated. In the symmetrical family, conjugal roles have become more joined, the wife still has primary responsibility for housework and child rearing, however husbands have become more involved with domestic chores like doing the washing and ironing, and share the decisions that affect the family

The structure of the British family has shifted significantly over the last 50 years, a major influence of this is through the decline of marriage and the rise in cohabitation according to the ‘Office of National statistics 2008’

Due to the changes in marriages, divorce and cohabitation to the growing number of new types of families Two in five of all marriages are now remarriages, which makes step families one of the fastest growing family forms in Britain, currently making up one, in the decade to 2006, the number of single parent families also increased to 2.3 million, making up 14% of all families in ten of all families.18.

Ethnic diversity is on the increase due to the increase of international migration is another source of diversity, for example the structure of Afro-Caribbean and Asian families; looking at the diversity in relation to origin and considerations of how these have changed in the context of British society.

According to (Elliot 1966; Berthound 2000) the lower-class Afro-Caribbean family is centred on the role of the women, and marriages are weakly institutive and low due to the men ‘wandering’; therefore the women commonly head the households, and relationships between mothers and children are much stronger than those between fathers and children, and family life tends to be supported by other women other than the biological mother. African-Caribbean women have been more economically active than women from other ethnic groups, and see paid work as a basis fro financial independence and are more likely to control the use of their earnings than Asian or White women, however this is only made possible by the sharing of the mothering role with other women.

There are considerable cultural difference between south Asian nationalities that have come to Britain, however there are similarities, for instance families from rural areas in South Asia typically have extended forms of family, that include three generations in one household and are organized through a network of males, are bound together through religious beliefs in ‘brotherhood’ and family loyalty. Marriages are arranged and seen as a contrast of two families.

According to young and Willmott the home centred symmetrical family is more typical of the working class than the middle class, they suggest that ‘the working class’ are more fully home-centred because they are less fully work-centred’; and this is due to compensating for uninvolved and boring work, and because little interest is expected at work, and manual workers tend to focus more attention on family life, therefore according to Young and Wilmott see work as a major influence on family

Migration to Britain severely disrupted extended families of this kind and for many women this has left them socially isolated at home and unsupported by the kin. Sikh household have become more focused on couples and women have renegotiated traditional patterns, through greater independence through paid work, however in contrast Pakistani and Bangladeshi cultures have been limited to homework or family business by Islamic prohibition of contact with unrelated men, this has lead to women being exploited as cheap labour and confined to the home.

Many sociologists are concerned about what they see as the decline in marriage and family life, and they see this as a threat to the family, for example Brenda Almond (2006) believes that the family is fragmenting, there is also an increase in the legal and social acceptance of marital breakdown, cohabitation, gay and lesbian relationships and so on.

Colin Gibson (1994) claims through the development of modernity this has increased the likelihood of conflict between spouses due to much emphasis upon the desirability of individual achievement, Gibson believes that people now live in an ‘enterprise and free-market culture of individualism in which the licence of choice dominates

The last 100 years have seen changes in legislation, technology, attitudes and expectations that’ have led to a massive feminisation of the workforce since the second world war, also widespread contraception leading to deferred decisions about the start of families; and divorce, remarriage and cohabitation becoming much more acceptable. A relaxation of societal attitudes towards marriage means it is no longer seen as unusual to be involved in a ‘complicated’ family structure. Families are no longer just made up of married parents living with their children. Although seven in ten households are still headed up by married couples, this proportion has been declining for some time. Families are now a mix of cohabiting parents, stepfamilies, single parent families, those living apart together and civil partnerships, as well as the traditional nuclear family.

The high rise allows one to house huge numbers of people in single edifices, allowing one to treat town-planning on a large-scale. (Aregger & Glaus, 1967, 27). The highrise is “a means of organizing the shambles of a huge city without increasing its spread, of improving living conditions and traffic flow, and creating open spaces for recreation at the same time. (Aregger & Glaus, 1967, 33). Moreover, as suggested by writers such as Dewi Cooke, urban sociability can be promoted by high-rise housing since it encourages meetings with neighbours through the sharing of mutual facilities. (Cooke, 2012).

The residential high-rise building, offers acceptable and suitable accommodation for a certain part of the population: single people, couples and the smaller families. A highrise building is also capable of transforming an older, but well-preserved district into a visual slum. As a result of its height and mass, it tends to overpower its surrounding not only by its size, but all the other aspects of its appearance. (Aregger & Glaus, 1967, p.57). As Earnest F. Burckhardt states due to the height of a high rise, people are relegated to an ant-like existence. The highrise apparently seem less worth fulfilling, and somewhat satanic. Other negative features of this massing include architectural monotony, aggressive exhibitionism vs. traditional horizontal housing that would merge into the landscape. Small towns, in particular, lose a certain ambience of intimacy and modesty. Highrise blocks have something loud and aggressive about them. (Aregger & Glaus, 1967, 58). The high rise is capable of causing tenant isolation and even depression. (Qureshi, 2004).

1.2.1. History and motive

The motive of designing a high rise lies in the tendency to “rise above the self,” it is a fundamental human urge. Building into the sky satisfies a primeval instinct. Acted-out collectively, it signifies the desire to dominate. (Earnest F. Burckhardt, Observations on the question of highrise building). The three most common reasons for building these ostentatious high buildings are known to be: architectural emphasis of a certain place in the city, social distinction of individual, group of nation and demonstration of an abstract or concrete power, which can be summed up to be artistic aesthetic motive, sociological motive and religious motive respectively. (Aregger&Glaus, 1967, 14). In the west architects were interested in neither giving distinction to individuals or groups, nor in demonstrating any power, but simply wanted to create a vertical spatial element which would effectively “articulate and punctuate the historical mass of banal housing” that was rapidly spreading around large cities (Aregger&Glaus, 1967, 15). Furthermore, the originators of European high-rise building, particularly the residential type, had social motives in mind. Starting with the theory that architectural environment influences man’s way of life, they hoped, by means of “differentiated, accentuated building, to promote the re-emergence or strengthening of human values and individuality instated of the growing tendency towards collective behaviour.” They were successful. (Aregger&Glaus, 1967, 15). And in the contemporary period, the constant and increasing growth of today’s major cities results in an ever-growing demand of the high rise building, as is the case in New Delhi, India.

1.3 Massing – horizontal cities and vertical cities
1.3.1. issues related to cities (Jaipur) based on horizontal massing

The traditional cities of India can be studied to understand planned horizontal massed cities. Common problems can be delineated to understand the negative features related to this type of massing in the contemporary world, as described by the Housing and Development Corportation, with particular reference to Rajasthan.

Poor infrastructure is found in most of the towns: katcha houses and non-availability of water, sanitation and basic services to bulk of the rural population (23.1) These areas have no planned drainage systems, management of increasing solid waste is thus becoming an issue in such cities.The restricted areas for defecation, open sewers, lack of clean drinking water, infestation by flies, rats and mosquitoes, cramped living, cooking and sleeping quarters and the exposure to industrial and chemical wastes, all make the basti a risky place to live in. The basti was also a major rubbish sorting depot (outsiders called it the kachraor rubbish basti) which makes it all the more hazardous, especially for young children. (Kumar, McNay. &Castaldo, 2008, p.11)

Many traffic accidents are caused due to unsystematic and mushroom growth of such centres. There are no regular parking areas for trucks which remain parked within the right of the way of the highways. This invariably creates traffic bottlenecks hampering smooth flow of fast highway traffic. (23.7) Maintenance of built heritage is another problem being faced by such cities.

Furthermore, due to migration of people from rural areas there is tremendous pressure on limited urban land and on already strained services. Land cost is escalating every year. Living in cities is thus becoming costlier by the day. At the same time quality of life is deteriorating. Due to the increase in population, ground water resources are depleting. On the other hand, due to migration of village youth to the cities, the village economy is getting adversely affected. Most affected villages are those located near the large cities and valuable agricultural lands are being converted in the name of city development. (23.6)

Slums are an inevitable by product of urbanization. The growth of slums is a sign of people’s inability to afford land and shelter through the normal market mechanism and the failure of the public sector to ensure equitable access of the same to the poor. Slum housing lacks in term of tenure, structure & access to services are which is deprived of civic amenities. These unauthorized colonies are further problematic since they are set up on agricultural land.

1.3.2. issues related to cities based on vertical massing

In the city of Melbourne, with the presence of the heritage buildings and the high rise, from the 71st floor of Melbourne’s tallest building, the Eureka Tower, Melbourne’s centre looks small and uneven. The low-rise heritage buildings contrast markedly with the glass and concrete towers that have sprung up in between. Still, there’s that view – stretching far out to the north and west of the city and curving around the beaches past St Kilda. The vista from the Eureka Tower is vast and beautiful. (Cooke, 2010).

Another example is that of Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis; built as part of the post-war regeneration, it was completed in 1956 but was demolished just fourteen years later after being beset by disrepair, vandalism and crime. For families with children, the high-rise complex did not offer them respite from poverty or crime, but merely gathered the ingredients for it together in one place.

In many cases, the high-rise ideal is progressively changed from “a citadel of modernism to that of a problem estate, a place of poverty, of aliens and illegal immigrants, petty crime, unemployment, with a high incidence of truancy and drug abuse” (Helleman and Wassenberg, 2004, p.6). Against such negativism, it is no surprise that the resultant response was to halt high-rise public housing construction, and even demolition.

1.4 Housing and factors which affect it

India is a country where thousands of people migrate to the city for reasons such as social mobility, job opportunities etc. When the architect designs housing factors such as regional identity, culture and traditions are not a priority of the designer. The architect designs to meet the demands of the city. In doing so, the architect controls the society’s mode of living in accordance to what he thinks is right.

Patterns of housing have constantly changed to accommodate the pressures of land, materials, bye-laws, architectural styles and social cultural values. Human relationships and the associated cultural images are expressed by the built form of various levels, at neighbourhood level by the settlement, at community level by cluster of houses, and at the family level by the house unit. Housing forms a large part of our environment, where physical and infrastructural facilities are shared amongst people. The way housing is built reflects the understanding and attitudes of society with respect to the climate, culture, architecture and the economy. (Ritu. 1992. p. 10).

The prevailing socio-economic order has the final say in the layout and building of housing. “The effect of recognizing this meant a real breakthrough in the theory and practice of town-planning. Until then, town-planning had been in conflict with a society that apparently refused to understand its purpose and thereby made the realization of it impossible.” (Aregger & Glaus, 1967, p.23). The town planners and architects gradually began to see the necessity of coming to terms with society if they were to build cities.

1.5 Housing and present situation in Delhi and NCR

The overall shortage in EWS and LIG housing in India has been estimated at close to 25 million dwelling units by Micro Housing Finance Corporation. With rapid urbanization and increasing labour mobility arising due to the shift from the agrarian economy to the industrialised and service economy emerging in India, this shortfall of residential accommodation is increasing rapidly. With five people to a dwelling unit, the minimum living space required per dwelling unit is about 300 sq ft, which means that approximately 7,500 million sq ft needs to be built. At a conservative cost of Rs 1,000 per sq ft in urban India where most of the demand exists, the overall investment requirement is a staggering Rs 750,000 cr. (Menon, 2009, p.1).

1.6 Social scenario in urban India with respect to housing

With the growth and development of science, technology, trade and commerce there has also been an enormous explosion of human population in modern Indian society. Such a high growth in population in relation to the changes in the life styles of human beings have turned people to be city oriented and agriculture which was previously the main engagement of people has gradually given way to occupations in the fields of industry, trade and commerce. All these factors have made a large section of the populace rushing to the cities creating thereby tremendous and unmanageable space problems. Dwelling space getting scarcer, there is little possibility for horizontal expansion in the cities to facilitate accommodation of such perennial flow of people. As remedial measures, a two-fold planning has been contemplated and is being acted upon. The first way out has been the expansion of city limits and inclusion of the contiguous suburbs within the ambits of the cities. The other remedial measure has been the vertical expansion of the available spaces providing maximum possible accommodation to as many numbers of people as possible through the construction of high rise buildings. In the developed countries of the world like the United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, France, Germany, China , Japan and others construction of high rise buildings started from the early twentieth century while in a developing country like India it began in the later half of that century. (Chatterjee, 2009. p.85).

Through further research and study it shall be explored whether India is a suitable place for the growth of highrise buildings, also known as “skyscrapers.” The highrise shall be studied in the context of housing. It is known that the demand of housing has been escalating in the nation with the increase in urbanization, increase in population and many other factors. It shall be explored if a transition or transformation from horizontal based traditional housing to vertical high rise residential buildings is actually required in the present time. Furthermore, the dissertation would be a critique and analysis, considering the negative and positive perspectives of this transition in residential massing and its effects on the society. The social suitability of the highrise residential building in Delhi and the NCR shall thus be analyzed.

Need of the study

The study is required to create awareness of the consequences of designing vertically. This awareness would be of pertinence, especially today, because constructing high rise residential buildings is the current trend of the city of Delhi. The knowledge of the issues would help a designer to design. The study would also help individuals residing in a high rise by providing options to deal with problems, if any, which may occur due to a high rise. In other words, firstly the difficulties one faces while residing in a vertical massing will have to be recognized. Then these features can be addressed architecturally. Similarly, the positive aspects of living in a high rise will be delineated.

Scope of study

1. The traditional ‘horizontal’ massing and the approach of ‘vertical’ massing

its general positive and negative features with respect to any existing cities

The specific type of massing in study will be housing

The height of a building can be analysed with respect to social aspects. Relationships between the two can be figured out, if any exist.

The particular context chosen for analysis is the area of my current residence, the capital city of India, Delhi. Since this is a place which can be physically experienced and observed firsthand.

Identification of case studies

The housing societies where a survey shall be conducted are:

Low rise housing – four storey building – Sector B-10, Vasant Kunj

Med rise housing – ten storey building – Eligibal CGHS – plot no 38, Sector 10, Dwarka

High rise housing – twenty storey building – Gurgaon

Limitations of study

The analysis, to some extent, is based on the analysis of other writers, architects, sociologist’s etc, since a significant amount of firsthand experience is not available.

In order to analyze human response to a high rise residential building and to understand its effect on the society one should talk to people. But due to the time available this cannot be done extensively, but at a small scale.

Consequently, interviews, questionnaires and surveys would be followed by shortcomings such as:

Sample size: analysis will have to be based on a sample population, which may or may not reflect the social effects of the high rise of the entire region of Delhi accurately

People: a number of subdivisions exist within the sample size, which have to be studies separately, such as male, female, children, the elderly, age groups, generations, classes within the society e.g socio-economic strata etc.

Area, location: particular areas are chosen according to accessibility

Biases, cultural preferences and many other issues may arise

General trends: The subject of study, human response to a high rise is subjective in manner. Conclusions or analysis can be drawn by general trends observed only.

Results: These results may or may not be representative of the entire population in study.

The highrise residential buildings have been a part of other parts of the world for a longer period of time than Delhi. Consequently, the majority of the literature available or critique of the highrise is from a context different from the context in study.

When considering the situations abroad, some arguments may or may not apply to Delhi for reasons such as cultural preferences, lifestyles and differences in social-economic strata.

Research Methodology – Find attached flowchart and Questionnaire

The prepared questionnaire will be carried out in the three housing societies. A minimum number of fifteen people will be interviewed, five people within each age group i.e. < 12, 12-30, 30-60 and > 60.

2. Highrise living
2.1 Human response to tall buildings

High rises have been accused of causing many unpleasant outcomes, including fear, dissatisfaction, stress, behavior problems, suicide, poor social relations, reduced helpfulness, and hindered child development. Early studies and reviews concluded that high-rises are, on balance, not bene¬?cial for residents. At the societal level, they are accused of burdening existing services and infrastructure, worsening tra¬?c problems, and damaging the character of neighbourhoods (Gifford, 2007. p.2).

2.2 Social implications of built form – analysis of different types of spaces

The design of urban development’s, including high-rise buildings, can influence the social capital and sense of social connectedness amongst residents. For instance, Leyden in 2003 completed a study on the relationship between urban design and social capital and found that residents who lived in mixed-use developments with opportunities for walking rather than driving as a mode of transport, had a higher level of social capital and social cohesion than those who lived in developments lacking these features. (Wilson, 2008, p. 6).

Social relations may be divided into two main domains, relationships within a dwelling and relationships among neighbours in the building. One review concluded that high-rise residents have poor social relationships, both among themselves and toward outsiders (Korte & Huismans, 1983). In one within-dwelling study in a building in which residences were equal in floor area and supplied furniture, roommates on higher floors got along with one another better than roommates on lower floors (Schiffenbauer, 1979). However, as reported earlier, Edwards, Booth, and Edwards (1982) concluded that high rises are associated with greater marital discord than low rises. (quoted in Gifford, 2007, p. 9).

An examination of friendship patterns within a high rise showed that proximity is a major determinant of social interaction (Bochner, Duncan, Kennedy & Orr, 1976). Experience suggests that most social interaction occurs among residents of the same floor; if this is so, then buildings with many floors will include a few friends and acquaintances for the typical resident, and many strangers from other floors. Ginsberg & Churchman, in an Israeli study of women who lived in 8- and 20-storey buildings found that 97 % knew at least someone on their own floor, and 67 % knew everyone on their floor; in contrast, 36 % knew over 30 % of all people living in their building (1985). Most women did interact with neighbours, yet reported no problems with privacy. In a large-scale study in Toronto, Michelson found that high-rise apartment dwellers tended to choose friends outside the building, from school or work (1977). These residents viewed their neighbours negatively and as dissimilar to themselves, except that they were approximate financial equals. In Hong Kong, a high-rise, high-density city, interview results suggest that the overall sense of residential community is low and that where respondents had a very strong sense of neighbourhood, their interactions were often work- or school-based, with colleagues or schoolmates living in the same area (Forrest, La Grange & Ngai-Ming, 2002). (quoted in Gifford, 2007, p. 9).

Studies that compare housing forms suggest that high-rise dwellers may have more respondents reported knowing about twice as many families as those in low rises (Williamson, 1978). However, knowing more neighbours did not translate to close relations; the German high-rise residents reported less visiting and borrowing among their neighbours, and that their closest friends were more likely to be colleagues at work than neighbours. Both the German and Italian respondents said that they would like to have more friends among their neighbours, and that they believed they would have more friends if they lived in a smaller building. Outdoor socializing was examined in a study of three housing types in a low-income neighborhood: an old ghetto neighbourhood of low-rise tenement houses, a traditional high-rise housing project and an innovative high-rise housing project, where a creative outdoor design had been added to encourage outdoor use (Holahan, 1976). The old neighborhood and the innovative project showed higher levels of outdoor socializing than did the traditional project, which suggests that high-rises will discourage social interaction in their vicinity but that this can be overcome by setting aside an area designed to encourage social interaction. Nature also seems to facilitate social interaction. Researchers observed the presence and location of trees and the presence and location of youth and adults near a high-rise and a low-rise public housing development (Coley, Kuo & Sullivan, 1997). Spaces with trees attracted larger and more mixed groups of people than did spaces without natural elements.

High-rise residents may have more acquaintances but fewer friends because residents of high rises simply encounter a larger number of people in their building than residents of low rises (Churchman & Ginsberg, 1984). More of these people are strangers, too, but one gets to know some of the strangers, over time, at least superficially.

Consistent with the notion that lower levels are associated with more friendships, garden apartment residents reported having three times as many friends in the building as did high-rise residents (Boyd, Morris & Peel, 1965). Similar results were reported in another study: three-quarters of low-rise residents reported they had made good friendships within their project, but only half of the residents of a high rise could make the same claim (Stevenson, Martin & O’Neil, 1967).

Friendship formation depends on multiple factors, however, differences between the low- and high-rises in the friendship-related attitudes can be found. High-rises were experienced as lower in involvement, support, order and organization, but higher on independence. (Gifford, 2007, p. 10).

Research is unanimous in the finding that rates of helping others are lower in high-rise buildings. The nature of most high rises supports anonymity and depersonalization of one’s neighbours, so that living in a high rise tends to have both the advantages, such as greater privacy and freedom from unwanted social interaction and disadvantages, less intimate social interaction and less caring about anonymous others as large cities. (Gifford, 2007, p. 12).

The gist of the evidence about social relations is that residents of high rises encounter many more other residents, know of or about more others, but have fewer friendships in the building, per capita, than residents of low rises. Social interaction is more difficult for residents to regulate. This can lead to withdrawal, which can lead to loss of community and social support.

The structure of high rises usually is such that one is not likely to meet residents of other floors except in elevators and lobbies, which are barely more personal than the street. Thus, one lives physically close to many others, but in practice is limited to those on one’s floor for the sort of encounters that might lead to friendship, such as borrowing food or talking while children play. Male-female differences may moderate friendship formation in high versus low rises. (quoted in Gifford, 2007, p. 12)

2.3 The impact of high rise housing on neighbourhood livability

Residents of public high-rise housing estates are likely to perceive different aspects of their housing and neighbourhood in different ways, dependent on their sense of belonging. Some residents may explain stigma in reference to the irresponsible behaviour of fellow residents (Hastings, 2004).

Others may not feel connected to their neighbourhood and may not use community facilities (Hastings, 2004). Forrest and Kearns (2001) suggested that communication between residents shapes the image of their neighbourhood and stated: “neighbourhoods seem to acquire their identity through an on-going commentary between themselves and this continuous dialogue between different groups and agencies shapes the cognitive map of the city and establishes good and bad reputations” (p.2135) (quoted in Wilson, 2008, p. 5).

However, the social connectedness of urban high-rise developments may influence residential satisfaction. Halpern (1995) suggested that if people are in frequent contact with their neighbours, then the objective quality of their house makes little difference to their level of residential satisfaction. On the other hand, Halpern (1995) asserted that if people are not in frequent contact with their neighbours then consequently, the objective quality of their house has a large impact on their satisfaction. In other words, “residents who are involved in their local community tend to be happy with where they live regardless of the physical quality of their homes” (Halpern, 1995, p.113). (quoted in Wilson, 2008, p. 6).

Baum and Palmer (2002) found, from their study of residents’ perceptions of the influence of place on levels of social capital, that there exists a direct link between urban infrastructure and social capital. These authors concluded that higher levels of social capital are likely to occur in neighbourhoods where residents have a positive image of their environment and where their environments are green with open spaces Additionally, natural features and open spaces were found to facilitate a sense of community in new urbanist communities. (quoted in Wilson, 2008, p. 6).

As well as green spaces contributing to urban neighbourhood’s social connectedness, pets have been found to facilitate social capital too. A study completed by Wood, Giles-Corti and Bulsara (2005) investigated the role that pets can play in promoting social capital, by surveying a random sample of 339 Australian residents. These authors found that pets promote opportunities for their owners to have social contact with other pet owners, neighbours and members of their community. Furthermore, pets were found to motivate owners to participate in community events and to make use of community facilities (Wood, 2005). (quoted in Wilson, 2008, p. 7).

2.4 The family in highrise housing
2.5 Children in highrise housing

Innumerable studies suggest that children have problems in high-rises. It is known “for…families with small children, the evidence demonstrates that high-rise living is an unsuitable form of accommodation” (Conway & Adams, 1977, p. 595.) Another study concludes that “high-rise housing does not provide an appropriate living environment for preschool or school-age children because too few of the attributes of a single-family house have been accounted for…” (Cooper Marcus & Hogue, 1976, p. 34. This has not seemed to change with time. Children under 8 are usually not allowed to go downstairs by themselves, and if they were allowed to go down, parents found it difficult to supervise their play.

The problems range from fundamental child development issues to everyday activities such as play. For example, a Japanese investigation (Oda, Taniguchi, Wen & Higurashi, 1989) concluded that the development of infants raised above the fifth floor in

high-rise buildings is delayed, compared to those raised below the fifth floor. The development of numerous skills, such as dressing, helping and appropriate urination was slower. Children who live on higher floors also go outside to play less often (Nitta, 1980, in Oda et al., 1989). A study in India recognized that children’s difficulties are not solely a function of living in high rises (Oke, Khattar, Pant & Saraswathi, 1999).

Learning to read may be affected by the floor level on which children live (Cohen, Glass & Singer, 1973). The researchers measured sound levels, ability to discriminate auditory stimuli, and reading skills in children who lived in high rises built above a major highway in New York. Children in lower-level apartments, Gifford 10 discriminate sounds and had poorer reading skills, than children who lived in higher floors. Apparently, where traffic noise is a considerable factor, high rises may be good for children who live higher up in high rises.

Children’s play clearly is affected, as parents in high rises either keep their children indoors more often, which means close protection or over-protection in an indoor environment, or allow them outside, many floors away, which can result in under supervision. One outcome is that children in high rises, on balance, spend more time playing alone and in restricted play (Gittus, 1976). Perhaps this is why there is evidence that high-rise raised children have lower levels of motor ability than children reared in single-family dwellings (Crawford & Virgin, 1971; cited in Michelson, 1977). (quoted in Gifford, 2007, p. 11).

2.6 The elderly in highrise housing

A study by Kweon, Sullivan and Wiley (1998) found that elderly public highrise housing residents’ sense of community was stronger when they spent time in outdoor green common spaces, areas with trees and grass. (quoted in Wilson, 2008, p. 6).

Welfare and the types of living arrangement for the elderly are also gaining wider attention. The aged should be supported by their families, the government and the community, to live and be integrated into the mainstream community for as long as possible (National Council of Social Services, 1996). Hence, planning and designing of housing with essential supporting services should be carried out for this group of people who are more at risk and deserving of care and consideration.

2.7 Secondary studies done on residential responses on high rise living
3. Primary study – Case studies done in Delhi and NCR
3.1 Methodology

A questionnaire based survey is conducted in housing societies of varying heights (sample questionnaire attached). The questionnaire aims to find social implications with respect to heights of residential buildings.

The same number of people are surveyed in all the case studies i.e 15 people, further divided equally in the age groups: teenager, adult and elderly.

Data is further analysed to understand the topic in study.

3.2 Selection criteria of case studies

Distinct variation in height (4 storey, 10 storey, 20 storey)

Within Delhi or NCR

3.3 Data collection through Questionnaire

3.3.1. Low rise housing, Vasant Kunj – Not done yet

3.3.2. Med rise housing, Dwarka

Elligible Co-operative Group Housing society (10 storey building)

Address: Plot no 38, Sector 10, Dwarka

3.3.3. High rise housing, Gurgaon – Not done yet

4. Analysis of Data
5. Findings

According to the case study done in Dwarka, a pattern can be observed between the liking of a particular type of housing i.e low, medium, high and the generation. It is found that teenagers, today’s generation prefer the highrise. Adults prefer medium rise housing – walk ups. While the elderly prefer the bungalow system, the idea where one can say this particular piece of land is ‘the property of my family and me.’ A highrise, however, stresses on community land or space, then the unit or apartment becomes the property of the individual owner. The finding exemplifies how one becomes accustomed to particular conditions during their years of development and seems to become their preferred style of living.

It is also found that there are a number of spaces where people interact such as the community hall, gym, badminton court, children play area, the road which runs along the periphery of the society – which acts a

Migration influences the social, political, economic life of the people of a country which has higher immigrants. In India, migration either domestic or international, has a major effect on country’s economy. International migration has become an important feature in globalized markets influencing the economic growth. The impact of the migration is complex for both the immigrants and the countries involved.

This paper includes the “push and pull” factors that can lead to migration of people. It also includes the social and economic impacts of migration on different communities in a country. Also, it includes various reasons that leads to domestic and international migration of people. There has been concern about international migration in different services for some years now, but recently the situation has become more acute for a number of reasons, mostly reflected in severe staff and skill shortages in the different systems of many countries. While industrialized countries, in addressing the problem of staff shortages, become “recipient” countries and actively recruit migrants abroad, the emigration of qualified workers in a number of “donor” countries may undermine the functioning of their activities.

INTRODUCTION:-

Migration basically means the movement of people from one place to another. Migration is generally categorized as internal known as “immigration” or it can be external “emigration”. Voluntary migration is when people choose to move for a new job or a better education and forced migration is when they feel they have no choice but to move because their life is threatened or in danger or it may be due to famine, war or persecution. There have been various issues that are linked to migration that have come to limelight through series of workshops, conferences, panels, film screenings, cultural and artistic activities like human right aspects, living conditions, migrant workers’ rights, human trafficking, etc. All these issues have a great impact on migrant people as well as the locals. Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Ian MacAuslan- the two socialists, argue that it is in the interests of migrants and both host and source country governments to investigate and fully understand the implications of legal, physical and political access structures to social protection.

ISSUES RELATED TO MIGRATION:-

Policy debates about immigration generally focus on two broad themes: the impact of immigration upon the economy, and its soaial and cultural impact. The immigrants are seen taking the various resources, making it more difficult to unite the societies and undermining a sense of national identity. So, there is a need for these policy makers or the governing bodies to balance the economic need for migrants against the social problems they create.

1) Human Rights vs Migrants Rights:-

It is imperative to focus on the respect of human rights and right of access to justice. Migrants rights are also as important as human rights. There should be a legislation that should refer to the economic, social and cultural contribution of migrants and Diaspora.

2) Trafficking of Persons mainly Children:-

There have been many problems like difficult living conditions of “minor” migrant children between 9 and 18 years of age. In search of jobs in order to support their families, they often fall into the trap of adults who bring them in other countries and exploiting them mentally and sexually. There is an African Organization that is working with various organizations in ECOWAS region that aims at helping these children.

3) Forced Migration due to Physical Factors:-

Climatic changes, temperature, lack of water supply, droughts, floods, etc. are also a major reason for emigration. So, there is a need for respective countries to revisit this phenomenon. The emigration of these people often exposes them to the risks of being trafficked, slavery or prostitution of women.

4) Migration to Access Descent Living Conditions:-

Migration from rural areas to urban cities that can provide better living opportunities. There are many problems that are encountered like unemployment, hunger, disease and economic conditions that prevails in the rural areas. For this government has to take up some steps to help the people facing these hardships.

5) Diaspora to Local Development:-

It can play a number of important roles in helping development of the home company. The primary route is no doubt by remitting to the home country. In addition, however, technology transfer and encouragement to trade and capital flows can be important in some settings, with highly skilled migrants playing a more visible role.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF MIGRATION:-

The effects of migration on sending countries depend critically on the magnitudes, composition and nature of the migration streams, as well as upon the specific context from which migrants are drawn. The departure of migrants involves a decline in the supply of labour and usually implies a fall in output unless there is a large pool of unemployed or underutilized labour.

In the case of skilled emigration, productivity declines as well. Because of the departure of labour, changes in the composition of output are likely to occur depending on the sectoral employment of emigrants. Moreover, intra-household inequality may increase and family roles may also change as a result.

As emigration continues and more people leave the country, output continues to fall. On the other hand, however, continuing migration improves the information flow and thus reduces the information and transaction costs related to migration. This reduced cost of migration encourages family members to accompany initial migrants; households start

using migration as a livelihood strategy.

Furthermore, the possibility of migration might also encourage those left behind to start investing in skills required to leave the country and seek improved prospects abroad. At this stage, the home country’s economy starts adjusting to migration. This may take the form of increased labour force participation by certain groups of the

There are certain key aspects in relation to this:-

Unskilled Labour Supply Flows:-

Situations in which labour markets in the country of origin are tight, so that unemployment spells are brief and infrequent and underemployment rare. In such context, emigration of workers requires employers to raise wage offers to fill the resultant vacancies. The other one is in which the migrant workers are replaced at little or no wages to the employers where ‘surplus labour’ exists. Costs imposed on employers are minimal and overall output is hardly be affected. Much of the emigration of low skilled labour occurs from poorly performing economies. Surplus labour conditions can be expected to prevail in among high emigration countries.

Brain Drain:-

The process of brain drain is considered as one of the negative impacts of international migration. The trained officials like engineers, doctors, scientists and others who are the future of their country, contribute to innovation, technological advancement and development of a country, migrate to other countries for jobs and other facilities. They cause a negative impact from the perspective of home country’s development.

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF MIGRATION:-

Although the economic effects of migration have been extensively studied, the social

effects have received less attention. However, they are very important and often closely linked with the much more studied economic effects of migration. Migration may impact on social life in several ways and the impact will be different for different types of migration.

The social effects of migration consist of changes in family composition, in gender roles,

child outcomes in terms of labour, health and education, cultural effects and issues related to crime. Moreover migration may cause a shift in adolescents’ orientation, in the sense that children may consider migration as their ultimate goal and decide to pursue further education in order to increase their migration prospects. Apart from education, migration may impact on children’s health.

Migration may have an important impact on migrants’ household lives in terms of family

roles and gender roles within the family. In particular the selection of migrants within the

household (whether it is the father, the mother or older children who migrate) will have an impact on the family members who stay behind and their roles within the household after migration has started. Most importantly the role of women in the household and subsequently in the society may change. The women whose husbands migrate, the outcome of migration depend on existing cultural practices and the flexibility of gender roles and family organization. Further the people who leave their birth place and flee to other countries are deprived of their cultures, languages, traditions, and other social activities that are also considered as a part of one’s identity.

“As of now-a-days we are seeing in India, there have been many threats to the migrants from Assam who have settled in Bangalore are facing threats due to impending attack related to the communal violence in home state due to which students and workers flee back. The violence has spilled over to other states where Bodos and other ethnic tribal members from the impoverished north-east have migrated in search of jobs. Violence has also been reported in Hyderabad, western cities of Pune and Nashik affecting the migrants.”
MIGRATION IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:-

India as a nation has seen high migration rate in recent years. In 90’s around 98 million people migrated from one place to another. Apart from women, migrating due to marriage, employment is the biggest factor for migration. The number of job seekers have increased by 45% over the previous decade. Nearly 14 million people migrated in search for jobs out of which 12 million was men. Migrants have created pressure on others who are in same job market.

Most people migrate because of a combination of push and pull factors. Lack of rural employment, fragmentation of land holdings and declining public investment in agriculture create a crisis for rural Indians. Urban areas and some rural areas with industrial development or high agricultural production offer better prospects for jobs or self-employment.

No of Migrants (in million)

1951-61

66

1961-71

68.2

1971-81

81

1981-91

80.9

1991-2001

98.3

The onset of mass immigration from India, Pakistan and the Caribbean in the late 1940s and the 1950s coincided with the dismantling of the British Empire, and the decline of Britain’s global status. Immigration became the focus for the debate about these broader shifts. The perception that immigrants were alien to the British way of life ensured that the relationship between immigrants and the British state was defined largely by hostility, racism and confrontation. Not only was immigration policy driven by the desire specifically to keep out non-whites, but the state also viewed non-white immigrants settled in Britain as undesirables. Immigrants were the problem, and that problem had to be policed. This led both to discrimination against blacks and Asians in every sphere of social life, including housing, education and employment, and to confrontations with the police, confrontations that came to an explosive climax in a series of major riots in Britain’s inner cities in the late 1970s and the early 1980s.

Nearly eight million immigrants entered the United States from 2000 to 2005, more than in any other five-year period in the nation’s history, 3.7 million of them entered illegally. Since 1986 Congress has passed seven amnesties for illegal immigrants. In 1986 president Ronald Reagan signed immigration reform that gave amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in the country. Hispanic immigrants were among the first victims of the late-2000s recession, but since the recession’s end in June 2009, immigrants posted a net gain of 656,000 jobs. Over 1 million immigrants were granted legal residence in 2011.

Interest in social balance and mixed communities has arisen as a response to both increased management issues in social housing and to concepts of the underclass and social exclusion. The identification of significant and persistent inequalities between areas at the ward and neighbourhood level in recent research (e.g. Meen et al., 2005) has triggered a shift in housing strategy and policy. Social balance is now entrenched within English housing and planning policy where it provides a correction to the housing markets natural tendency to segregate (Goodchild and Cole, 2001). Although this state interventionist approach has come under-fire from academics such as Cheshire (2007), who argue that spatial policy cannot correct deep-rooted social and economic forces and that the focus of policy should be to reduce income inequality in society not just treat the consequences of it, social mixing has gained popular support in urban policy.

This literature review outlines the mixed community approach to urban gentrification in urban policy by discussing its latest iteration, the MCI. The MCI’s place in UK policy discourse is then analysed as a way of exploring its conceptual and theoretical ideologies for area regeneration. Finally, an in depth review of the literature is conducted which reengages with

‘Mixed Communities’ as an approach to area regeneration

Since 2005, the mixed communities approach to gentrification and the renewal of disadvantaged neighbourhoods has become firmly embedded in the UKs housing and planning policy. The approach was first announced in January 2005 in the ‘Mixed Communities Initiative’ (MCI) which formed part of New Labour’s five year plan for the delivery of ‘sustainable communities’. The MCI has four core components (Lupton et al., 2009);

A commitment to the transformation of areas with concentrated poverty, to provide a better housing environment, higher employment, better education, less crime and higher educational achievements.

To achieve these through changes in the housing stock and attraction of new populations, whilst improving opportunities for existing populations.

Finance development by recognising the value of publicly owned land and other public assets.

Integrate government policies to produce a holistic approach which is sustainable through mainstream funding.

Initially the MCI was delivered through twelve demonstration projects situated in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. However, more recently the concepts behind the mixed community approach have grown beyond these projects and are now advocated by planning authorities in a diverse range of areas. Consequently, mixed community developments are emerging without demonstration project status and as such ‘mixed communities’ have become an approach to area regeneration in addition to being a government policy initiative (Silverman et al., 2006).

In response to this policy development the purpose of this literature review is two-fold. Firstly, through analysis of the theories of poverty, place and gentrification in policy discourse it is possible to gain an understanding of the rationale behind the mixed communities conception of the causes place poverty. Review Secondly…

Theories of Poverty and Place in Urban Policy

Any form of urban regeneration reflects a specific theoretical understanding of the causes of place poverty. Throughout the 20th Century UK urban policy has undergone a transformation in its understanding of the causes of place poverty and consequently the approach to urban regeneration has altered.

A broad distinction can be made in the UKs approaches to regeneration; between early regeneration by the Keynesian welfare state and that advocated by conservative governments. The former looked to correct the crisis of the neighbourhood through ‘neighbourhood improvement’. This approach understands the problems of declining areas as a product of the economic structures which cause spatial and social inequality (Katz, 2004). In response they looked to improve living conditions and try to equalise life chances through redistributive social welfare programmes.

In contrast to ‘neighbourhood improvement’ is the ‘neighbourhood transformation’ approach, a discernibly neoliberal approach advocated by conservative governments. Here the problems of disadvantaged neighbourhoods are understood as the product of market failures rather than underlying economic structures. The creation of mass social housing estates and overly generous benefit regimes are some of the market failures which reportedly ‘trap’ the disadvantaged in social cultures of dependency (Goetz, 2003). In the neighbourhood improvement approach these areas are seen as a barrier to market forces; occupying inner city areas with good commercial and residential property investment potential. According to Lupton and Fuller (2009:1016) the ‘neighbourhood improvement’ approach understands the solution to be:

“not simply the amelioration of conditions in these neighbourhoods for the benefit of their current residents, but the restoration of market functionality through the physical change and transformation of the position of the neighbourhood in the urban hierarchy”

Perhaps the best example of this is the role of Urban Development Corporations which brought about the transformation of the London Docklands in the 1980s. Their presence instigated a fundamental change in the role of the state in urban development, from a regulator of the market to an agent within the market. The state was now responsible for fostering the economic conditions under which the economic productivity of areas and communities could be improved.

In 1997 New Labour’s urban regeneration policy was hailed as a divorce from this transformational approach and a return to the improvement approach. The government pioneered an array of new, enhanced public services under the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal. Included was the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and the New Deal for Communities (NDC) which facilitated interaction between local agents on neighbourhood improvement. Whilst this strategy had the appearance of a strong local focus which prioritised residents, other elements of New Labour’s policies were characteristically neoliberal. As Fuller and Geddes (2008) remark, Labour’s urban interventions focus on an ‘equality of opportunity’ agenda which aspires to greater social cohesion and inclusion by devolving responsibility to local citizens. However, by not matching these responsibilities with appropriate state powers within the NRU and NDC there has been little support for local citizens except to merely compensate the individuals and places put at risk by market forces. As such New Labour’s initiatives have failed to deliver major redistributional interventions which relinquish local state agents from neoliberal targets, cultures and forms of control (Jessop, 1990).

Neoliberal theories of poverty and place within the MCI

Within this policy discourse the MCI exists as a more characteristically neoliberal initiative. It is clear in its understanding of the problem, concentrated poverty, and the solution, de-concentration through gentrification and neighbourhood transformation. By doing this the MCI subscribes to a policy discourse which understands concentrated poverty as a ‘spatial metaphor’ (Crump, 2002). This metaphor inherently undermines complex economic, social and political processes and uses the individual failings of the poor within concentrated spaces to justify their dilution or removal.

The concentrated poverty thesis originated from the US (e.g. The Hope VI Urban Revitalisation Programme) where it provides legitimacy to policies which alter cities spatial structures through market forces. Such influences have encouraged British policy makers to adopt a more ‘radical’ approach to urban regeneration and advocate extensive demolition and gentrification to restore functioning housing markets, imposing a neoliberal agenda on struggling housing environments (Imbroscio, 2008).

The MCIs focus on market restoration is clearly articulated:

“the aim is that success measures should be choice. Reputation, choice of staying and that people want to move in – it’s about market choice” (Senior CLG official in Lupton et al., 2009:36)

The government realises that while public service improvements will help create this market, it is not enough alone – physical change is required to enhance people’s attraction to the neighbourhood and its market. The state’s role is therefore not just to invest directly but improve and diversify the housing stock whilst decreasing public housing ratios with the explicit goal of stimulating market processes. However, a further consequence of this is the re-population of

The mixed communities approach requires the state to fund the improvement of services, in many cases to attract better-off residents, and sell or gift land to the private sector. The removal of social housing through its gift to the private sector inherently creates a ‘spatial fix for poverty’ and incentivises the development of mixed-income housing developments. In such a situation there is potential for the private sector to change social housing in co-ordinance with market dynamics and consequently complex and marginal developments will be neglected (Adair et al., 2003).

CONCLUDE and develop a little mention gentrifiction

Impact of Mixed Communities

As long as 30 years ago, Holcomb and Beauregard (1981) were critical of the way it was assumed that benefits of urban revitalisation through social mixing would ‘trickle down’ to the poor. Despite the consequential academic debate, which disputed whether gentrification leads to social exclusion, segregation and displacement, it has become increasingly popular in urban policy where it is assumed that its application leads to a more socially mixed, integrated, and sustainable urban environment. The following review will explore the literature which questions whether moving middle-income populations into low-income neighbourhoods or vice versa has a positive impact on resident’s urban experience. – link to mixed communities

Schoon (2001) identifies three rationales behind social mixing in policy debates. Firstly, there is an assumption that the middle-class are more likely to attract public resources and as such the lower-income household will fare better in socially mixed communities. Secondly, mixed income developments are in a better position to support a local economy than areas of concentrated poverty. Finally and most controversially, the networks and contacts argument advocated by Putnam (1995) poses that socially mixed neighbourhoods create an environment which improves the bridging and bonding of social capital between social classes. Consequently, lower-income residents have more opportunities to network and break out of poverty than they would in areas of concentrated deprivation. The Social Exclusion Unit (1998:53) expands on this:

“[socially mixed neighbourhoods] often brings people into contact with those outside their normal circle, broadening horizons and raising expectations, and can link people into informal networks through which work is more easily found.”

These three arguments are the cornerstone of a global policy discourse which has received very little critique in the UK. One of the reasons for this is the way it is framed. The social mixing agenda which has been prominent in western efforts to decentralise poverty is a discourse which actively avoids the word ‘gentrification’. Instead it uses terms like ‘urban revitalisation’, ‘urban regeneration’, and ‘urban sustainability’ to redefine itself as a moral discourse which helps the poor (Slater, 2005; 2006). By doing this the discourse deflects from the class restructuring processes which define its implementation.

Previous Studies

As of yet there is little consensus around the ability of gentrification to achieve the goals asked of it, neither is it clear what type of social mix is most desirable or the outcomes of different mixes (Walks and Maaranen, 2008). For instance, Tunstall and Fenton (2006) who claim to amass the best UK research on social mix conclude that although knowledge gaps exist the founding arguments for mixed communities remains valid. Yet, in contrast, Doherty et al. (2006) undertook quantitative analysis of the UK census and Scottish Longitudinal Study and concluded that there is little evidence to support the mixing of housing tenures in developments with the premise of improving social well-being. Purpose sentence

Randolph and Wood (2003) note that much of the research conducted so far has concentrated on social mixing in public housing estates (Atkinson and Kintrea, 2000; Cole and Shayer, 1998) and there has been little exploration of the social mixing occurring in new build developments.

Does Gentrification bring about social mixing?

Contrary to the assumptions which link gentrification to improved social mixing, most research suggests that gentrification is likely to reduce social mixing at the neighbourhood level. Interviews conducted by Butler (1997), and Butler and Robson (2001; 2003) suggest that local middle-income gentrifiers engaged in little social interaction with lower-income residents. Their research found that gentrifiers generally sought out people with similar cultural and political interests which often lead to little interaction between middle and low-income residents. Accordingly, they found that interaction was greatest in areas where gentrification had homogenised an area and pushed out other groups. In areas where this had not occurred, Butler and Robson (2001) reported that, the difference between tenants resulted in ‘tectonic juxtapositions’ which polarised social groups rather than integrating them. In their later research, Butler and Robson (2003) not only reinforced their earlier findings but found that children formed a key facilitator in resident integration:

“there was no evidence that the children played outside these middle class networks, our fieldwork strongly suggests that the middle class preschool clubs were highly exclusionary of non-middle class children” (Butler and Robson, 2003:128)

Although Butler and Robson’s research rightly questions the role of gentrification in a policy discourse which looks to foster a sustainable urban environment it does so primarily through the experiences of the gentrifier. Davidson’s (under review) research of new build, middle income development on the River Thames, London engaged with both gentrifier and non-gentrifier to reinforce scepticism over the ability of housing type to influence class relations. Davidson found no evidence to suggest that any of the development’s desired outcomes had been achieved through the introduction of a middle class population. Both the temporary nature of new build residents and the spatially segregated nature of the development itself meant the development fostered little integration between low and middle income residents who do not work in the same place, use the same transport or frequent same restaurants or pubs.

In a similar study Freeman (2006) researched two black gentrifying neighbourhoods in New York City. Like Davidson, Freeman found that social networks rarely crossed and that gentrifiers and longer term residents generally moved in different spaces. Additionally, Freeman experienced that residents were hesitant to pass comment on social mixing, they rarely expressed their opinions in overly positive or negative tones.

In accordance with this literature it seems unrealistic to assume that different social groups will integrate when living together. As some of the authors have highlighted, increased neighbourhood diversity does not correlate with increased social interaction and can in some cases promote social conflict as much as it does social harmony.

Mention how it’s all based on a class representation of society

The mixed communities policy agenda has been used to help improve inequality in social housing (estates managed by local authorities, housing associations, and other non-profit housing agencies) and more controversially to regenerate social housing. This concentration on social housing comes out of a

Since its conception social housing in the UK has experienced slow ‘residualisation’ – a tendency to house only certain types of household; the poor, unemployed, those in debt, with a history of mental illness and experiencing a relationship breakdown (Cole and Furbey, 1994). For much of social housing’s history this process has been ignored and consequently has been accompanied by a sorting process forcing the most vulnerable households into the most unattractive housing (Willmott and Murie, 1988). MIXED COMMUNITIES

DEFINE EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE – what is encapsulated within this?
Social interactionaˆ¦
Previous Studies

There are three studies which are relevant to this research. They examine the impact of mixed community housing on social interaction:

Atkinson and Kintrea (2000) conducted an exploratory study which analysed diaries made by 38 households. The research suggested that patterns of social life vary by tenure and as such little interaction occurred between residents of owner occupied housing and social housing tenants. The neighbourhood was seen as a focus of interaction for social housing residents only.

Cole and Shaver’s (1998b) survey of 52 residents in a new build, mixed-tenure redevelopment in Sheffield again found ‘only weakly developed social networks’.

Jupp’s (1999:10-11) analysis of interviews with over 1,000 residents living in ten-mixed-tenure estates in England, concluded that ‘the street’ is a more significant social unit than the estate. The case studies analysed often had social and private housing located on different streets and consequently there was little mixing reported between the two groups. Jupp reported that fostering social interaction would extremely difficult because of the overwhelming belief between residents: they ‘do not think that they share many common interests with their neighbours’.

Individually these studies offer little scope, but taken together they provide a consistent view that mixed tenure developments foster little social interaction between residents of different social backgrounds. However, it must be realised that these studies only examine the ‘grass-roots’ neighbourhood, that is to say that they often ignore the way external perceptions have defining role in the development’s success. Atkinson and Kintrea (2000) identify it as a key area for future research when they report that residents welcomed the influx of higher income residents because they improve the ‘reputation and appearance’ of the area.

There is one fundamental understanding that underpins urban policy in the UK; as stated in the foreword of the Urban White Paper: “How we live our lives is shaped by where we live our lives

Body image dissatisfaction refers to a person’s negative perception of his or her own physical appearance. Historically, people have associated body image dissatisfaction with women; women who have body image dissatisfaction take extreme diets to reduce the dissatisfaction which as a result, suffer from eating disorders. Also, some women even undergo surgical operations to rebuild their body shapes and appearances. Plastic surgery puts their lives at risks since the operation is not 100 percent safe, as well as having several undesired side effects. However, body image dissatisfaction is no longer just a phenomenon that affects women; men now suffer from it as well. Some men are obsessed with the ideal body image and go through extreme measures to attain it. Body image dissatisfaction is increasingly common among men because of the media. The media reinforces the concept of masculinity among men, and as a result men start to be concerned about their body image which eventually leads them to use life-threatening methods to attain the “perfect body”.

The media strongly influences the way society perceive certain ideas, including how men perceive their own bodies by promoting the “ideal male body image”. The exposure of these “perfect body” images in the media affects some men’s perceptions of the perfect body shape, and creates a new form of social standard. Male bodies are commonly used in the media now. For example, images of the male body have been increasingly used as a way to sell products in advertisement, and as a result, “The proportion of undressed men has skyrocketed- from as little as 3% of ads in the 1950s to as high as 35 % in the 1990s” (Olivardia 211). Due to the increase of images of male bodies shown in the media, men feel more insecure about their body images by comparing themselves and, “judging themselves by the ideal projected in the media” (Neimark 70). This eventually increases their obsession with attaining the ideal body image; men are now more concerned about their body image because of the media’s exposure.

Muscularity becomes a main concern for men and their views of body image dissatisfaction have become rather negative. Unlike women, men want all body parts bigger rather than only losing weight only. Men focus more on their weight and muscle mass, height, size of penis, and amount of hair because they want to be muscular and manly. According a survey about men’s bodies by Pertschuk and Trisdorfer, about 63% of male participants would like to lose some weight and about 19% wanted additional muscle mass (Neimark 36). Muscularity is important for men because they believe that it symbolizes health and power, and it can increase their physical attractiveness. The male penis is another focus of concern for some men; it is the most significant body part that symbolizes manliness and sexual power within a man’s gender role (Neimark 70). Men generally believe that their penis is too small; therefore, they try to increase the size of their penis through surgical operations (Honigman and Castle 35). Moreover, body hair is important for men too. Interestingly, the survey of men’s bodies also indicated that men are most worried about hair loss, and that “38 percent indicated they would be ‘very upset’ if they discovered they were rapidly losing hair” (Neimark 39). Hair generally represents youth and energy (Neimark 39); therefore, hair loss means that men are getting older and losing power, and thus, becomes a major concern for men. There is also another minor concern for men – height. Most men believe that taller men are attractive to women (Neimark 39); thus, shorter men feel inferior and are ashamed of their body height. Furthermore, men have psychological difficulties to talk about their body image dissatisfaction. Most men think that body image dissatisfaction is a stereotype reserved only for women. It is difficult for men to admit they have this “feminine” problem and fail seek help, because “males face additional shame and/or stigma for acknowledging that they suffer from a disorder that is perceived to be a women’s problem” (Greenberg and Schoen 465). For example, a man who suffers from an eating disorder says that he would never talk about his disorder with anyone because “It’s a girl’s disease” (Hill 5). Unlike women, male body dissatisfaction is related to men’s perceptions of masculinity, and they are less likely to admit it.

Besides the influence of the media, historical evidences show that the male body image is not a new phenomenon, but rather a reoccurring problem that has gotten worse. Although historical factors do not affect male body image dissatisfaction directly, it shows that men have been concerned about their appearance throughout history. For example, men started to focus on their appearances since ancient Greece, where men wore fine clothes; during the Renaissance, men were portrayed beautifully and in the Elizabethan period, noblemen were always dressed up with tights, silks, stains, and jeweled codpieces (Neimark 37). Another historical example is when men used makeup and wore beautiful clothes and jewelry, depicted in ancient Egyptian paintings, because they symbolize wealth and power (Honigman and Castle 33). Male body image is nothing close to new, as history shows the pioneer of its development.

Additionally, the changing of social standards and gender roles contribute to the development of male body image dissatisfaction. Evidently, socials standard toward muscularity have changed. Corson and Andersen, the authors of “Body Image Issues among Boys and Men”, found that the toy body figures are increasingly more muscular from 1990 compared with 1960s, “If the former were 5 feet 10 inches tall, his ‘chest’ would measure 44 inches and his biceps would measure 12 inces; the latter, however, would have a 55-inch chest and 15-inch bicepsaˆ¦ thereby setting the stage for muscle dysmorphia in males” (193). Therefore, boys come to misunderstand that those toy figures represent the social standard, and try to attain those bodies in an attempt to achieve manhood. Furthermore, gender roles play an important role for men to seek for a more muscular body. Nowadays, men feel less secure toward their gender role because as “women are achieving more power and financial independence, they can be more selective in the mates they choose” (Olivardia 210). Men believe that being muscular can help retain their traditional male role; therefore, men start to aim for bigger and more body muscle mass. The change in social standards set the early stage for body dissatisfaction in men, and the concern of gene role urges men to attain a more muscular body.

Peer pressure and partnership are interpersonal factors that contribute to male body image dissatisfaction. In social situations, men tend to compete with others. Men believe that by having a good physical appearance, they can attain higher authority than others and become more successful. “Participants at boys’ camps select the ‘best looking, most athletic boy who shows the most mature physique’ as pack leader” (Corson and Andersen 194). As a result, men try to look good in order to achieve superiority in society. However, some men are afraid of competing with others; they always see themselves as less handsome, less attractive and look smaller. They feel pressure in competitions because they cannot achieve social standards due to looking different from others. An interview by Grogan and Richards, authors of “Body Image – Focus Groups with Boys and Men”, indicated that some interviewees agree that peer pressure negatively affects their perceptions of body images: “Tobias: Yeah, I need to be a bit bigger because my brothers are like six foot and I’m a couple of inches shorter than all my friends as well and I feel pressure” (229). As long as men feel inferior, their body image dissatisfaction increases, which directly influences men’s confidence in a negative manner. Moreover, men believe that physical appearance becomes one of the categories that women seek for a man. Men think that a muscular body can catch women’s attention easier because “[Men] are socialized to believe muscular men are more masculine and attractive than less muscular men” (Greenberg and Schoen 465). Therefore, in order to gain women’s preference, men want to be more muscular. Interpersonal competition and women’s preference become factors that affect male body image dissatisfaction.

Men use inappropriate methods to reduce their body image dissatisfaction that are life- threatening and damaging to them. In order to reduce body image dissatisfaction, some men hide themselves to avoid exposing their body in public, and most men use extreme diets, exercise, and medicine, or even plastic surgery to retain and improve their body shape. Interestingly, the minority of men try to resolve their body image dissatisfaction by hiding their bodies from public. “Such individuals may wear baggy sweatpants and sweatshirts, or layers of clothes, even in summer” (Pope 550). By avoiding exposure in public, men can feel more confident because no one can see their bodies and condemn judgment on it. Avoiding public exposure is the least harmful method in solving body image dissatisfaction; however, most men instead try to gain muscle by eating special body-building suppliments and weight-lifting (Honigman and Castle 38), because they think they are not muscular enough, or are too thin. In contrast, some men think that they are too fat so they stop eating outside, and eat less for each meal. Some even vomit after eating to purge themselves (Pope 551). Eventually, those men suffer from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) such as muscle dysmorphia, where person becomes obsessed with the idea that he is not muscular enough (Olivardia 213), and eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia nervosa. They can also be compulsive and debilitated with doing overloaded weight-lifting (Corson and Andersen 196). These strict diets and extreme exercises are detrimental to men’s health. For example, a man spends 6 days a week and at least 4 hours a day lifting weights, and he also forces himself to eat because he fears that not eating will result in a decrease in muscularity. The result is that he has panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (Pope 554). Furthermore, according to Olivardia, author of “Body Image and Muscularity”, some men even use anabolic steroids to stimulate and speed up the development of muscle. In his study, he concluded that “males in these studies disclosed that they used steroids purely for body appearance ideals rather than for athletic ideals or goals” (214). Olivardia also says that anabolic steroids is a physically damaging drug, or it can cause side effects such a acne, breast enlargement, liver cancer, arteriosclerosis (a chronic disease), mood disturbance, psychotic symptoms, and severe aggressiveness (214). Also, the numbers of men who have undergone plastic surgery to reduce body image dissatisfaction has increased rapidly. Davis, author of “‘A Dubious Equality’: Men, Women and Cosmetic Surgery”, found that “as of 1998, about 10 percent of the 2.8 million cosmetic surgery procedures in the U.S. were performed on men – that’s 5 percent more than in 1992” (50). However, it is not a good way for men to resolve their body image dissatisfaction because it is life-threatening due to surgical failures, and men “are notoriously less satisfied with the results of the operations” (Davis 57). Men use a variety of compulsive methods to reduce their body image dissatisfaction which are harmful and put themselves at risk.

However, mental therapy by mental health professionals and medical management can help men who have body image dissatisfaction reduce their problems. Greenberg, a doctoral candidate in counseling psychology at the University of Iowa, and Schoen, a senior staff psychologist at the University of Iowa Counseling Services, suggest that men who suffer from body image dissatisfaction should refer themselves to a mental health professional, who “can help males with eating disorders feel more understood and less isolated in a society” (465) Also, mental health professionals can inform the client about realistic body images, proper nutrition, and educate them on the dangers of steroids (Olivardia 216). For muscle dysmorphia patients, since it is a form of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), the treatments for other forms of BDD can be effective. An example of mental therapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps to re-educate people to build up a positive value of their self-perception. A man called Steve has benefited from cognitive-behavioral therapy. After 4 months of treatment, he reconfigured his life and set new goals for himself that were unrelated to physical and dietary changes. He decided to spend more time with his family and friends rather than spending time in the gymnasium. Moreover, medical management is recommended for men who have eating disorders (Corson and Andersen 197). It helps clients to have a balanced diet and retain their mental health. There are many ways to help men reduce their body image dissatisfaction; thus, men should not hesitate to seek for help.

In conclusion, body image dissatisfaction is not a phenomenon for women only; it is a disease that also affects men, and is being promoted by the media. Men with body image dissatisfaction are mainly concerned about their body shape, height, weight, amount of hair, and penis size whilst having a negative attitude towards body image dissatisfaction. Throughout history, men have been concerned about their appearance, and social standards have changed. Men are under peer pressure now, and while men try to resolve their body image dissatisfaction by engaging in excessive exercises and extreme diets, these methods increase their mental health risks. However, there are some useful therapies that help resolve body image dissatisfaction, like seeking help from mental health professionals and medicinal control. Body image dissatisfaction is becoming a serious condition among men; men should stop being obsessed with muscularity and should review their life as well as set new goals for themselves.

Number of Words: 2275

Number of Pages: 10

Work Cited

Corson, Patrica and Arnold, Andersen. “Body Image Issues among Boys and Men.”. Body Image: A handbook of Theory, Research & Clinical Practice. Ed. Thomas F. Cash and Thomas Pruzinsky. Guilford: New York, 2002. 192-199.

Davis, Kathy. “‘A Dubious Equality’: Men, Women and Cosmetic Surgery.” Body & Society 8 (2002): 49-65. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Oct. 2009.

Greenberg, Stefaine and Eva, Schoen. “Males and Eating Disorders: Gender-Based Therapy for Eating Disorder Recovery.” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 39.4 (2008): 464-471. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Oct. 2009.

Grogan, Sarah and Helen, Richards. “Body Image – Focus Groups with Boys and Men” Men and Masculinities 4.3 (2002): 219-232. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Oct. 2009.

Hill, Michael. “Male eating disorders rise amid more focus on body image” Tulsa World 13 May 2004: 1-6. Print.

Neimark, Jill. “Eating Disorders: Men Have Body Image Problems Too.” Healthy Place America’s Mental Health Channel. 13 Jan. 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2009.

NeiMark, Jill. “The beefcaking of America.” Psychology Today 27:6 (1994): 32-29, 70, 78. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Oct. 2009.

Olivardia, Roberto. “Body Image and Muscularity.” Body Image: A handbook of Theory, Research & Clinical Practice. Ed. Thomas F. Cash and Thomas Pruzinsky. Guilford: New York, 2002. 210-218

Pope, Harrison., et al. “Muscle Dysmorphia – An Underrecognized Form of Body Dysmorphic Disorder.” Psychosomatics 38 (1997): 548-557. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Oct. 2009.

Honigman , Roberta and David, J. Castle. “Living With Your Looks” University of Western Australia Press. Crawley, Western Australia. 2007. 1-10, 32-41. Print.

Introduction

The following discussion will look around on the subject of equality in Jamaica using the experiences of an interviewee who is a female 63 year old British citizen that was born in Hanover in Jamaica on the 14^th of March 1951 to draw out conclusions. She lived with family guardians as her mum died when she was 5 and her dad lived in the UK, but she had many brothers and sisters. She was loosely home schooled in Jamaica until she was 12 when she finally went to a Jamaican senior school called Mount Hannah. She had very a restricted education as her guardians wanted her to carry out manual work at home rather than pursuing an education. This resulted in here not having a structured education regime as even when she started to go to school she was forced into taking days off to look after her younger siblings or carry out manual tasks at home. Her childhood was in the middle of the creation of the Ministry of Education in 1953 (Ennew Et Al , 1982) and Jamaica’s transition to independence that was pushed by Caribbean nationalists from after the Second World War (Mawby, 2012) to come to pass finally in 1962 (Welsh, 2012) . During this period there was educational reform especially in the early 60s with a big push to increase the number of schools since in the 1950s secondary school education in Jamaica was very limited (Miller 1990).

There were 25 children in her school year and their average school day was from 9-3. Her class had only one teacher that taught them all English and mathematics. She finished school when she was 15 years old without any major qualifications and then continued to carry out more rigorous labour work full time. Work ranged from doing house work and babysitting to working on their house farm where she done tasks like carrying the water and the food to their home across long distances.

The interviewee was 16 in 1967 she came to live in Coventry in England with her step mum, dad and younger sisters and brothers. During this time she dreamed of becoming a nurse as she enjoyed looking after her younger siblings. She eventually got the opportunity to take a test to become a nurse but she unfortunately failed the test due to a lack of knowledge in the key areas that was essential to know.

After this she decided to go straight to work to help her family as a machinist as it was one of the few options that she had with her education. After a year she decided to move out and change job, but again the easier job for her to find with her experiences was as a machinist. In 1970 she had a daughter so took time off work for one and a half years to look after her. Afterwards she then went back to work for the same company but as a cable former but she also started to work as a barmaid at a pub during the weekends.

As she enjoyed bar work and with it being more flexible for her to look after her daughter she continued her career as a barmaid by moving to work full time at a bar in 1974. She however had an area of unemployment from 1976-1979 but she then began to work as a barmaid again for 4 years and then later worked in a wide range of bars and bingos and casino’s behind the bar. During the late 80s she done various training courses as they became much more available in computing and shorthand writing with the hopes of becoming a receptionist, but in 1991 she became pregnant again had a baby Boy. For the rest of her life she brought up her son as a single parent and done voluntary work at various charity shops and carried out a few cleaning part time jobs. Since 2013 she has become a pensioner and is no longer pursuing work.

Gender

Gender was an identify factor that effected the interviewee’s education. The interviewee said that apart from the “major subjects” they had two extracurricular activities that they could do. It was compulsory for girls to do sewing and for boys to do gardening for the school garden. The interviewee said that when telling the teacher that she “wanted to go and do the gardening with the boys” he said “no” and when she refused she “went into the school and hide” because she “didn’t want to do sewing”. Because of this a teacher found her and said that if she didn’t do the sewing she would be “expelled” so she went back in and do the sewing. However as a punishment she was hit by the headmaster as she says “he gave me the cane on my hand and told me to go and do sewing, he hit me twice, and then said sit down and do the sewing” goes on to say that she “hated him after that”.

This would affect girls and boy’s life chances because it would lower the possibility for boys to get the chance to be interested in sewing and the chance for women to be interested in gardening and thus meaning that their future career aspirations would be influenced away from either career paths.

This is also a sexist approach as it implies that women should do the sewing which is more of a house wife job, whereas men should do more hands on jobs such as gardening. This could potentially precondition how children think about themselves and then lead them into believing sexist stereotypes. However if the children had the choice of what activity they wanted to do it would have been fairer and would have gave everyone the same equal opportunities. However when asked if she felt like there was less opportunity for girls than boys in the core subjects she replied “no we all had the same classes and same subjects” meaning that at least for code subjects there wasn’t the same level of gender discrimination.

Social class

Social class has been a major factor to the participant’s educational background as she found that coming from a very poor background highly influenced her education into making an impact on some of her life chances.

If the interviewee had a different social upbringing then her family could have afforded the money for her to go to school from a young age instead of giving her house jobs to do. This was not a unique case in Jamaica during this period though as high adult unemployment contributed into generating households without male breadwinners thus meaning that children were expected to fend for themselves and to contribute in the household from a young age (Ennew Et Al, 1982). This resulted in many children dropping out of school around the age of 10 or 12 years, to earn money by working (Ennew Et Al, 1982). Because of this it directly affected her life chances as with little education it gave her the minimal opportunities to fully fulfil her potential in school. Education was compulsory in Jamaica back in the 50s but it wasn’t enforced, if parents were punished for children not going to school then this would have meant that the interviewee would have been in education from beginning to end. This is partially due to the policies like the Education Act to define the functions, roles, rights, and powers of the Boards, the Minister, principals, teachers, and students to not being fully developed until 1965 (Ennew Et Al, 1982).

One positive however was when the interviewee said “everyone wore uniform” which showed an effort was made to make everyone feel equal. However as The interviewee’s family was poor she didn’t have shoes to wear to school unlike other children. She did however say that people didn’t look down on others for not having much money and that “I go to school without any shoes, I didn’t have shoes, and they didn’t bully me. They didn’t laugh at me or anything”. This was a positive aspect of her schooling; as they didn’t judge her for it even though it would have identified that she was from a low class background.

When asked if children that were richer at school, had better job opportunities when they left school, The interviewee replied “yes “ as it directly affected her opportunity to get O levels. She said that when she was fourteen the headmaster asked her to “write to your dad” and “make him give you five pounds for books” so she could take her O levels but as “he didn’t send the money” for the books she couldn’t take her O levels. She goes on to say that “all the others took their O levels because they had the money to buy books”. Her life chances were affected by this as it could have helped her get a wider range of job and educational opportunities, but children with money would have had a better chance in life. Costs for books, uniforms, lunch, and transport deterred some families from sending their children to school altogether (1987, Meditz S) so for allot of parents any extras costs to school would be looked down upon.

She goes on to say that she “needed” O levels to be able to go into college which could have been a place where she could have strongly expanded on her education and increased her chances in getting a job she desired. After the interviewee left school at fifteen she had a year of carrying out manual jobs for her family ,she said ‘if id stayed in Jamaica maybe I would have ended up been a cleaner or something like that, because I didn’t have the qualifications to get a decent job’. This shows that by her not being able to carry out her O Levels that social class and wealth affected what the interviewee was able to do as a job after she left school.

Disability

The interviewee said that in school “everybody was the same” when asked if there were any students with disabilities meaning that for our participant didn’t get much visibility of any inequality that people with disabilities faced. This shows that everyone was treated equally but this doesn’t mean that there weren’t any issues out there for people with special needs.

Before the 1970s Jamaica’s had very limited capabilities in being able to identify and manage learning disabilities in children. Because of this Jamaica’s educational system was unable to deal with the special education needs of physically and mentally exceptional children. It took until 1974 for the government to provide special education services, until then it was provided by voluntary organisations.

This would have resulted in students with disability’s not getting the appropriate help and support that they would have needed to get the most out of the educational system.

Even though this didn’t necessarily directly affect our participant it was clear that extra support wasn’t available to her if it was needed as In Jamaica the late 1960s only about 50 per cent of Grade 6 students reached the functional literacy standard.(Miller, E, 2011). With more additional help and support for those who needed it this could have been vastly improved and could have helped the likes of our interviewee to get more out of education. This would have had an impact on children’s life chances as by not having an education that is adapted to children’s needs

Conclusion

These topics all affected the interviewee in their own individual way during her life. Gender effected the interviewee because the extra-curricular activities that she could partake in was solely based on her gender and not her personal preference, this meant that for these circumstances her education was different dependant on her gender and not on her personal choices meaning that she was not getting everything out of education that she would have wanted .Social equality effected our participant as it meant that she didn’t have a good quality of education because of it due to not being able to be in school as much as others and not being able to get a qualification due to her dad not being able to afford books for her to take her exams. This resulted in her not being able to have an adequate degree of knowledge to pass her nursing exam that she could have gained through taking her O levels and going to college. Disability inequality affected her to a lesser extent but special support wasn’t there for her even though she didn’t go to school until she was 12 year old, and this would have strongly impacted on the potential achievements she could have obtained.

These issues relate to each-other because they have all limited the scope of what was possible for the interviewee to achieve. Due to a substandard education with different elements of inequality she was not able to live up to her full potential. She instead for most of her life she carried out minimum wage jobs as she didn’t have many options with potential jobs that she could do with her skillset or even opportunities for her to go into education part time while earning a living. Sadly by being limited to only doing these kinds of jobs it made her not able to gain a diverse enough experience at work to be able to expand skills that could help her in other roles. This created cycles that lead her into carrying out minimum wage jobs for the rest of her life.

Bibliography

Ennew.J. (1982). Family structures, unemployment, and child labour in Jamaica.

Ennew.J. (1989) Milne, Brian, The next generation: lives of their world children.

Mawby S (2012) Ordering Independence: The End of Empire in the Anglophone Caribbean, 1947-69.PP 33

Miller, E (1990) Jamaican society and high schooling. Kingston, Jamaica: Institute of Social and economic research

Miller, E. (July 7, 2011). The State of Jamaican Education and its Greatest Challenge. Available: http://www.jta.org.jm/article/state-jamaican-education-and-its-greatest-challenge. Last accessed 6th Dec 2014.

Sandra W. Meditz and Dennis M. Hanratty, editors.Caribbean Islands: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987.

State University. (2006). Jamaica – Preprimary & Primary Education. Available: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/728/Jamaica-PREPRIMARY-PRIMARY-EDUCATION.html. Last accessed 5th Dec 2014.

Welsh. R (2012). Overcoming Smallness through Education Development: A Comparative Analysis of Jamaica and Singapore Current Issues in Comparative Education 15(1):114-131.

Appendix
Transcription

Did you enjoy senior school?

Yeah I did

What kind of classes did you do?

Classes? When I was at school I went till I was 14, and then I was in a mixed class with boys and girls. And I just do maths and English.

Did you do science?

Dint do science, just two subjects.

Where about did you grow up

in Jamaica, Mantana.

Did you go to school here afterwards.

No just in Jamaica.

Did you feel like your schooling was limited because you only did maths and English?

Yeah very.

Would you say there was rich and poor people at your schoolaˆ‹?

was rich and poor, I was one of the poor ones

Did people wear different uniform, if they were rich would they wear better clothes?

No we all wear uniform.

Did you feel like anyone was horrible to the poorer people?

No no everybody got on, just there to learn, everybody was interested in learning, no time for any bullying or anything like that. I go to school without any shoes, I didn’t have shoes, and they didn’t bully me. They didn’t laugh at me or anything.

Did you feel like race mattered at school?

No no no race nobody knew about race until she came to England. Because everybody is black, some was white and some were black, but nobody knew about it, didn’t have things like that.

Did anyone at your school have disabilities, extra help?

No everybody was the same; all seem to be on same wave length.

Did you have more than one teacher?

For me was just one, the headmaster, in our class, before we went to the sixth form we had another interviewee teacher. So when I went to school was in normal, then sixth form, and in sixth form he was the teacher, the headmaster

So you didn’t feel like anyone looked down on each other where you lived, looked down on people for being poor?

No no,

Did you feel like children that were richer, they got better jobs when they left school?

Yeah because when I was 14 headmaster said to me, write to your dad and let him give you 5 pound for books, so you can take your o levels, and I waited and he didn’t send it you see, so I couldn’t take my O levels, because I didn’t have any books, but all the others took their O levels because they had the money to buy books.

What did you do when you left school?

I left at 15 for a year helping round house, then came to England at 16.

Did you feel like school effected what u did after school?

If id stayed there in Jamaica maybe I would have ended up been like a cleaner or something like that, because I didn’t have the qualifications to get a decent job.

The people who did the O levels what did they do?

They went to a higher school, like a college, you call it college here they went to the higher school, learned short hand typing. If I was there I wouldn’t have been able to go because I wouldn’t have me o levels, needed them to go there. Was lucky to come to England.

Did you feel like more men went and got jobs than women did?

Well I didn’t know what boys did, but girls went to the higher school. But with boys and girls even though we were in the same class, we didn’t speak for some reason, everybody just quiet only one who spoke to us was headmaster. everyone seemed to ignore each other. was weird really.

Did you feel like you had less opportunities than boys did at school did they have extra classes?

No all had same class, and same subject. I don’t know if they had extra, if they did I didn’t know about it. When I was in school they had two things to do, girls do sewing and boys do gardening. Cos they had a school garden, so I said to them once a week they used to do that. So the teacher said I should go sewing, but I told him I wanted to go and do the gardening with the boys, and he said no. so I went into the school and hide because I didn’t want to do sewing. And sent someone to come and get me, and they said if I didn’t come and do the sewing I would be expelled. So I had to go back in and do the sewing.

So did any one bully people?

Well no after school only twice I had name calling because I was flat chested, used to call me pigeon chest. And when I had mumps jaw was really bigmouth called me barrel jaw. But that wasn’t in school that was out of school. When they saw me on the street. Was the same as was in my class at school; it was another school the next town away, another school next town away.

So were all the schools quite spaced out really?

Yeah.

Did you ever get hit by any of the teachers?

The head master, that was that day when I didn’t do sewing he give me the cane, and tell me to go and do sewing on my hand, hit me twice with cane in my hand, and said now sit down and do sewing. Horrible man. I hated him after that.

This research explores the way gender is perceived and constructed within the examined roles of touch football referees, with the aim of investigating gender equity relative to the participation and experience of female referees in touch football. The key questions of this thesis emanate from concerns around the equitable distribution of officiating sports roles. This concern also extends to individuals who may want to shift from participating in sporting activities just as participants to officiating in sports.

Officiating and volunteering roles in sport have typically been highly gendered, with females over-represented in lower status roles. Females have tended to dominate the non-paid volunteer positions in sporting operations, while males are typically over-represented in leadership roles. This inequity has been strongly rallied against by researchers who have adopted a gender focus in their research.

This thesis contends that the sporting practice of ‘touch football’, whilst considered by many to be a sporting practice that is reflective of current societal norms and values, could benefit from a gendered analysis. In order to operationalise the research, a case study approach was adopted which examined the role of female referees officiating in a locally-based senior mixed touch football competition. The role of referees in the local touch football competition presents a number of unique factors which are highly beneficial to this study. Refereeing in the competition is open to both males and females in the mixed competition. The selection of referees is through an administrative process that involves a number of relevant processes that draw on broader gender equity issues such as credentialism and professionalism, as well as simple gender bias.

Theoretically the research approach has drawn on elements of the work of Norbert Elias, in particular the concept of figurationalism, and also the post-structuralist approach from Actor Network Theory [ANT]. The methodologies and analysis explore the site of touch football in a small rural setting through engaging with the touch football participant’s experiences of playing and officiating in the role of referee in the competition.

The research is significant for several reasons and at different levels. First, Australian Government policies such as the Active Women: National Policy for Women and Girls in Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity, 1999-2002 (1999a), and How to include Women and Girls in Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity: Strategies and Good Practice (1999b) require Australian sport institutions to foster sporting cultures that allow and value the full involvement of females in every aspect of sport.

Second, societal practices that support inequities are persistent and will re-emerge as dominant forms if they are not subjected to critical examination and leadership given for just change.

Third, at a game administration level, gender equity is identified as a key strategy to ensure the long-term growth of the sporting practice by ensuring equal opportunities in all aspects of the game.

Fourth, at a game and individual level, the inclusion of an appropriate gender mix will help to neutralise unwanted masculine traits of overt aggression and sexist behaviour from the sport. Female participation in the referee role that is reflective of the female player cohort will arguably help to shape the sporting practice to reflect the shared values of a mixed competition, focusing on the positive social and physical benefits of the game.

Last, the research area is of keen interest to the researcher and is an area of inquiry where there is prior knowledge of the location of roles within the sporting practice, and a capacity and ease for the researcher to engage with those involved at the local level.

1.2 Research hypothesis

This thesis seeks to explore whether a gendered approach to examining a local touch football competition will assist in improving the outcomes of both males and females in relation to officiating within the sport. Therefore, this thesis is concerned with the equitable representation of female referees in the local mixed touch football competition. Individuals’ understandings of gender differences within the role of referee and applicable strategies to address gender equity will frame the thesis.

This thesis is best read as a preliminary analysis of gender equity in refereeing within the sporting practice of touch football. The research is approved by the CQUniversity Human Research Ethics Committee [H12/02-019], Queensland Touch Association and Central Queensland Touch Association.

1.3 Research background
1.3.1 Key concerns in sport

Sport has historically attracted considerable attention from social theorists and commentators, with approaches ranging from macro and meta-analysis of sporting behaviours and outcomes to micro approaches that examine the everyday and mundane elements of sport. This thesis adopts a gendered, post-structuralist approach to exploring the key issue of gender equity in the roles of officiating in sport. In the next section, a background will be given of the key concerns that helped shape the research process and an introduction to touch football will assist the uninitiated to the sporting practice. An elementary understanding of the sporting practice, together with a familiarity with the general history and values embedded in the sporting practice will assist in a reading of the research.

1.3.1.1 Gender in sport

The research adopts a gendered approach as gender is seen as an important social construct. The construct of gender can be used to uncover and understand better sporting practices, offering an opportunity to improve the individual and collective outcomes that are associated with particular sports. The sociology of gender has developed in line with successive waves of the feminist’s movement and creates an intellectual endeavour in its own right (Weedon 1997). This thesis uses a working definition of gender as a ‘system of social practices’ as a means to interrogate the social arrangements of touch football (Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin 1999, p. 192). The gendered social practices establish and maintain gender distinctions, differences and inequalities. Relationships between actors are organised to some extent on those distinctions, differences and inequalities. Gender represents those social, cultural and psychological traits linked to males and females through particular social contexts and translations.

Debate remains on all elements that comprise feminist theory, but basically, the consensus is that a theory is feminist if it can be used to contest a ‘status quo’ that is damaging to females (Chafetz 1988; Hall 1996). Feminists work through various avenues to increase female’s empowerment. Feminists accept the goal of ending sexism by empowering females (Weedon 1997), though there is a great deal of disparity about how that goal can be achieved.

One interpretation is that there are numerous femininities and masculinities which are more multiple than singular or bi-polar expressions of gender. Miller (2009, p. 127) contends ‘masculinity [and femininity] is best viewed not as a property or an essence, but as a series of contingent signs and practices that exercise power over both males and females, and to know it is to shift it, not just to love it’. The processes and relationships through which males and females conduct their gendered lives should be the focus of researchers (Connell 2005). Males and females cannot be defined as being a certain gender, as their gender is a fluid aspect of their identity that is not constrained to one of a finite number of gender categories. However, outcomes for males and females differ, which subsequently introduces a challenging tension with conceptualisations of gender as subjectively fluid and yet objectively presenting as correlated to differing outcomes.

The demand to formulate opportunities for females to successfully compete in sport then becomes both complex and highly disputed (Hall 1996; Hargreaves 1994). This is illustrated in debates over separatist sporting activities as opposed to mixed competitions, or with regards to the imbalance in media representations of female’s sport compared to male’s sport. As a clear reminder of the relevancy of gender equity in sport, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index shows that Australia is ranked twenty-third out of one hundred and thirty-five nations on a series of gender-based disparities, with a considerable decline in the relative progress (Hausmann, Tyson, Bekhouche and Zahidi 2011).

1.4 Research approach – why studying touch football is important

The research involves a case study of a locally-based senior mixed touch football competition. The next section provides a contextualisation for the research by describing key elements of touch football. A brief history of the game of touch football in Australia is also presented.

1.4.1 Key elements of touch football
1.4.1.1 Getting to the field of play [1]

1.4.1.1.1 The playing field and the ball

Touch football, also known as touch rugby or touch, is typically played on a rectangular field, and measures seventy metres in length from score line to score line [2] and fifty metres in width (Touch Football Australia 2007). The playing surface is normally grass however, other surfaces may be used. The game is played with an oval, inflated ball slightly smaller than rugby league and rugby union balls. The official ball size is thirty-six centimetres long and fifty-five centimetres in circumference (Touch Football Australia 2007).

1.4.1.1.2 Mode of play

The aim of the game of touch football is for each team to score touchdowns [3] and to prevent the opposition from scoring (Touch Football Australia 2007). The ball may be passed, flicked, knocked, handed or thrown [but not kicked] sideways or backwards between teammates who can run or else move with the ball in an attempt to gain territorial advantage and score (Touch Football Australia 2007). Defending players prevent the attacking team [4] from gaining a territorial advantage by touching [5] the ball carrier or attacking players may initiate touches at which point, play stops and is restarted with a roll ball [6] (Touch Football Australia 2007).

1.4.1.1.3 Possession

Unless other rules apply, the team with the ball is entitled to six touches prior to changing possession with the opposing team (Touch Football Australia 2007). Following the sixth touch or the loss of possession due to any other means, players of the team losing possession are to hand or pass the ball to the nearest opposition player, or place the ball on the ground at the mark [7] without delay (Touch Football Australia 2007). Attacking players who ask for the ball are to be handed the ball. Players are not to delay the changeover procedure.

1.4.1.1.4 Defending

From the tap [8] for the start of the game or from a penalty, the defending team must be at least ten metres from the point of the tap (Touch Football Australia 2007). After making a touch, the defending team must retreat the distance the referee marks, at least five metres from the mark where the touch occurred, and remain there until the half [9] touches the ball (Touch Football Australia 2007). If a player does not retreat the entire distance the referee marked, they are considered offside. If a player makes an attempt to defend whilst inside this distance, they will be penalised.

1.4.1.1.5 Scoring

A touchdown is awarded when a player [without being touched and other than the half] places the ball on the ground on or over the team’s attacking score line and within the boundaries of the touchdown zone [10] (Touch Football Australia 2007). A touchdown is worth 1 point. The team who at the end of play has scored the most touchdowns is declared the winner. In the event of neither team scoring, or in the event of both teams scoring the same number of touchdowns, a draw is declared.

1.4.1.1.6 The half

The half [or acting half] is subject to a number of restrictions that do not apply to other players. If the half is touched with the ball, the attacking team loses possession. The half cannot score a touchdown since trying to do so results in a change of possession. If the half takes too long to retrieve the ball, the referee can call play on and defenders are allowed to move forward before the half has touched the ball.

1.4.1.1.7 Commencement/recommencement of play

Play is started by a tap at the beginning of each half, following a touchdown and when a penalty is awarded. The tap is performed by an attacking player placing the ball on the ground at or behind the mark [11] , releasing both hands from the ball, touching the ball with either foot a distance of not more than one metre and retrieving the ball cleanly (Touch Football Australia 2007). The defensive team must stay at a minimum distance of ten metres from the mark during the tap, unless they are positioned on their own score line. The defensive players can move after the ball carrier has touched the ball with their foot. The player who has performed the tap may be touched without losing possession. The attacking side must be positioned behind the ball when it is tapped. The attacking side may move the ball up to ten metres directly behind the given mark when taking a penalty tap. In this case, the defending side must still remain ten metres from the original mark, not the new mark.

1.4.1.1.8 Player attire

All participating players are to be correctly attired in team uniforms. Uniforms typically consist of upper apparel [t-shirts or polo shirts], shorts [or briefs for female players] and socks with footwear (Touch Football Australia 2007). Shoes with screw-in studs are not to be worn by any player. Light leather or synthetic boots with soft-moulded soles are permitted, as long as individual studs are no longer than thirteen millimetres (Touch Football Australia 2007). All players are to wear an identifying number clearly displayed on the front or rear of the upper garment (Touch Football Australia 2007). Players are not to participate in any match while wearing any item of jewellery. Long or sharp fingernails are to be trimmed or taped.

1.4.1.2 Administration of touch football

1.4.1.2.1 The referee, line judges and touchdown zone officials, and the importance of the whistle

Touch football must have at least one referee to officiate the game but most major games encompass one central referee and two sideline referees, who interchange roles constantly throughout the game (Touch Football Australia 2007). The central referee is the sole judge on matters of fact and is required to arbitrate on the rules of the game during play (Touch Football Australia 2007). The central referee may impose any sanction necessary to control the match and in particular, award penalties for infringements against the rules (Touch Football Australia 2007). Line judges and touchdown zone officials assist the central referee with tasks associated with sidelines, score lines and touchdown zone lines, and other matters at the discretion of the central referee. Their normal duties include indicating the ten metres distance for taps from a penalty, controlling substitutions, matters of backplay and other advice when sought by the central referee (Touch Football Australia 2007).

The central referee must have a whistle to control the game. The start of play and a touchdown are signalled by long whistle blasts. A sixth touch, short whistle blast and the end of play, a long, fluctuating whistle blast (Touch Football Australia 2007). The standard whistle in Australia is the Acme Thunderer fifty-eight point five.

1.4.1.3 Rules of the game

1.4.1.3.1 Team composition and substitution

A team consists of fourteen players, no more than six of who are allowed on the field at any time (Touch Football Australia 2007). In mixed competitions, the maximum number of males allowed on the field of play is three (Touch Football Australia 2007). The minimum male requirement on the field of play is one (Touch Football Australia 2007).

Players may substitute at any time during the game in keeping with the ‘interchange procedure’ (Touch Football Australia 2007, p. 10). There is no limit to the number of times a player may interchange, but substitutions can only be made from players who are registered at the commencement of the game (Touch Football Australia 2007).

1.4.1.3.2 Duration

The match is forty-five minutes duration, entailing two twenty minute halves. There is a five minute half time break. When time expires play is to continue until the ball next becomes dead [12] (Touch Football Australia 2007). Should a penalty be awarded during this period, the penalty is to be taken.

1.4.1.3.3 Competition points

Points are awarded in competition matches throughout the season. Teams are awarded three points for a win or a bye, two points for a draw and one point for a loss or a forfeit (Touch Football Australia 2007).

1.4.1.3.4 Penalty

A penalty is to be awarded for an infringement by any player in line with the rules of the game (Touch Football Australia 2007). For example, a penalty is awarded to the non-offending team if the ball is passed forward, a ‘touch and pass’ is committed, a player does not perform the roll ball at the mark, an obstruction is committed, a defending player does not retreat in a straight line to an onside position, a player is offside [on-field player or substitute], and a player acts in contradiction of the rules or spirit of the game (Touch Football Australia 2007).

1.4.1.3.5 Positions

Teams are split into three positions, two ‘middles’ [the central players], two ‘wings’ [the players on either edge of the field] and two ‘links’ [the players between the wings and middles].

1.4.1.3.6 Grades

Touch football is normally played in four different ability categories ranging from A grade [the most competitive] through B, C and D grade [the most inexperienced and usually the least competitive].

1.4.2 The history of touch football in Australia [13]

Touch football has evolved over time and is now considered to be a relatively fast-paced game. Changes in the structure of the sport have enabled the development of touch football to proceed.

1.4.2.1 From humble beginnings

The game of touch football has humble beginnings. Historically applied as a training model for rugby league and rugby union teams over the summer months of the 1950s and 1960s, it was originally not seen as a sport in its own right (Touch Football South Australia n.d.). Progressively more people, explicitly males over twenty-five years of age [14] , were recruited to touch football teams and formal competitions were established (Touch Football Western Australia 2007; Townsville Castle Hill Touch Association n.d.). The popularity of touch football was credited to the game being considered relatively safe compared to rugby league and rugby union (Touch Football Victoria 2009). Touch football was also considered to be a social activity affording the prospect for participants and supporters to gather in a relaxed sport setting.

The first ‘formal’ game of touch football in Australia was reportedly held in South Sydney, a strong traditional rugby league area (Touch Football Western Australia 2007). The South Sydney Touch Association was formed in 1968 and convened a competition at Pioneer Park, Malabar in that year (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). Not long after, the sport gained popularity in a number of inner-city areas of Sydney. Consequently, the New South Wales Touch Association was formed in 1972, incorporating the six regions of Southern Suns, Sydney Scorpions, Sydney Rebels, Sydney Mets, Hunter Western Hornets and Northern Eagles, and about 1,500 registered players (Shilbury and Kellett 2006; Touch Football South Australia n.d.). The first country association was in Wagga Wagga, which was formed in 1973, and women’s touch football was first played at a representative level in 1979 (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009).

Touch football appealed to ex-rugby players retired from the game through age or injury, and to players not willing or capable of playing rugby, but interested in playing a form of ‘rugby’ (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). An increased awareness in fitness in the adult population and the availability of former rugby players to take part, all served to develop the game (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009).

1.4.2.2 The development of a touch football identity

Subsequently, touch football later appeared in numerous other New South Wales country regions before it became an official sport in Brisbane (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). From there the game developed in every other State and Territory in Australia, and the Australian Touch Association, now trading as Touch Football Australia, was founded in November 1978 (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009).

With the establishment of these associations, game rules came to be standardised. However, a formal ‘rule book’ was not developed until late in 1980 (Touch Football Victoria 2009). In September 1981, the sport agreed to change its name from ‘touch football’ to ‘touch’ [15] , though to many the sport has also been known as ‘touch rugby’ (Touch Football Australian Capital Territory 2007). A number of other changes resulted, such as the introduction of an official touch ball, which is notably smaller than both league and union balls, and the playing field size lessened, seventy metres by fifty metres (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). Major rule changes occurred during this period, moving from seven players per side, which was implemented in 1980, to six-a-side (Touch Football Australian Capital Territory 2007; Touch Football Victoria 2009). Shortly after, the marker [16] was removed from the roll ball and the half was prevented from being able to score a touchdown (Touch Football Australian Capital Territory 2007).

Recently, the Australian Touch Association has rebranded the sport as ‘touch football’ in an attempt to clarify that it is a ‘sport with a ball’ (Touch Football South Australia n.d.). While tackles and scrums are not elements of touch football, Touch Football Victoria (2009) suggested employing the term ‘touch rugby’ lends itself to an impression that the sport may be of a rough, physical nature, which is anything but reality.

Touch football was originally played under rugby league laws without activities that comprised hard physical contact (Coffey 2010). The simplicity, skills-based motion and avoidance of full-contact, together with team [social and communication] benefits and minimum equipment requirements, have become distinctive elements of the modern game.

1.4.2.3 Elite competition emerges

While the majority of touch football games are played at a local competition level, State level competitions have featured prominently in touch football. The earliest interstate clashes in touch football occurred when the Brisbane Touch Association representative team played the South Sydney team in 1973, 1974 and 1975 (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). In the development of a standard set of rules for the sport, there has been a history of negotiated arrangements. For example, South Sydney wanted to have interstate matches played ten-a-side but Brisbane would not allow this, and the matches were played eight-a-side on a standard-sized rugby league field, measuring one hundred and twelve to one hundred and twenty-two metres by sixty-eight metres (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). One of the games in the series was played as a curtain raiser to an interstate rugby league clash (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009). Touch football was played as a curtain raiser to the Sydney rugby league grand final in 1976 (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Victoria 2009).

In December 1980, the inaugural National Championships were organised on the Gold Coast. This was essentially a contest between New South Wales and Queensland (Touch Football South Australia n.d.). Only three divisions were contested in that year, the open men’s and women’s, and over thirty-five men’s, and included about 700-1,000 officials and players (Touch Football South Australia n.d.; Touch Football Western Australia 2007). By 1995, the National Championships provided for eleven divisions, together with 1,500 officials and players (Touch Football Victoria 2009). Development of the game meant that by 2005 the National Touch League [formerly the National Championships] catered for open, under twenties and senior divisions (Touch Football Western Australia 2007).

1.4.2.4 The rise of Internationalism [17]

The success of the interstate clashes sparked interest in International competitions. In 1985, the Federation of International Touch was formed in Melbourne with Papua New Guinea, Canada, the USA, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia constituting the first members (Touch Football Victoria 2009). The first recognised International game was a test series played between Australia and New Zealand at the South Melbourne Cricket Ground on 23 March 1985 (Touch Football Victoria 2009). The game has continued to expand overseas with the last World Cup in Edinburgh, Scotland attracting teams from twenty-six countries, including Spain, South Africa, Japan, USA, Scotland, Singapore and the Cook Islands among others (Federation of International Touch 2011a; 2011b).

Touch football was a National phenomenon based on participant skill and teamwork, with a degree of fitness thrown in at the elite level (Coffey 2010). The non-contact format that allows participation by all ages and both genders, even in mixed form has helped the sport to gain popularity.

1.5 Referee demand in touch football

As mentioned earlier, the development of touch football and an associated playing code for the game has clearly established the role of officials as arbiters of the game. While there is clarity over the need for officials in the touch football competition and a playing code is well established, there is a level of ambiguity in the sporting practice which allows for negotiated changes to the playing environment and to particular interpretations of the rules of play. As is common in most sports, the performance of referees is a discussion point that can cause some levels of concern. Officiating in sports can be a difficult task, particularly in a ‘fast-moving’ sport in which there is a level of interpretation and limited technological assistance at the local level to aid referees. At a sports administration level, the demand for referees at local sporting fixtures has frequently been mentioned over the past ten years (Touch Football Australian Capital Territory 2009; Touch Football Australia 2010b; Touch Football Victoria 2011). The unmet demand has led to the establishment of numerous broad recruitment and retention strategies. The success of these strategies varies within different levels of the sport.

This thesis contends that touch football represents more than simply a new game and is in fact, an opportunity to better understand the gendered nature of sporting activities. The thesis sets about this issue through a case study of a locally-based senior mixed touch football competition. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the gendered nature of refereeing roles through personal interviews with participants, together with female referees in the competition. This ‘gendered’ understanding will arguably facilitate better recruitment and retention strategies for female referees in touch football.

1.6 Structure of the thesis

This thesis will explore perceptions and constructions of gender within the roles of touch football referees and suggest ideas for recruitment and retention. Chapter Two examines relevant theoretical concerns proceeding from the work of Norbert Elias and the post-structuralist works of Bruno Latour. It then reviews the literature regarding gender in sport.

Chapter Three discusses the research approach that was utilised. It then describes the methods that have been chosen to explore the gendered nature of refereeing roles in touch football and the data analysis methods. It concludes by discussing ethical considerations in the research process and the limitations of the research.

Chapter Four describes the findings from the research. The desktop research results are presented first. These results are presented in a quantitative format that empirically describes the gender breakdown of the sport. Second, the qualitative data that was obtained from the in-depth interviews with the eleven members of the touch organisation is presented. This data was compiled after the initial quantitative research was completed in the research process. Participant observation results are presented third.

Chapter Five discusses the findings that resulted from the research. The significance of the findings is then discussed.

Chapter Six, the conclusion, suggests directions for future research.

CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One the preliminary argument is proposed that touch football is a unique sporting practice entailing a continuum of social practices and values that are in many ways gendered. This chapter will broaden this discussion through an exploration of the sociological literature

Today it is very clear that social class is still relevant in our society, this is obvious because a number of social institutes are affected by the differences in class, whether its education, health or even occupation. We are constantly faced with the arguments about the social classes.

Social class is in fact an “open” system meaning that it is possible to move up or down the social hierarchy, this is known as social mobility and can be achieved either by receiving a promotion- meaning you will go up a social class- or due to job loss- decreasing into a lower social class. Although this seems very simple, in the UK it is very hard to actually move from the middle class up to the upper class as there seems to be a high level of respect and loyalty that must be attained before entering such a high class.

In this society is it notoriously difficult to define social class because of our ever changing employment system plus but there are a couple of different ways in which it can be measured these include: the register general scheme, the Goldthorpe scheme and the NS SEC 2000 scale. The register general scale measures social class by dividing people into six different major classes, ranging from ‘professional’ in the first class to ‘unskilled’ in the last class. This way of measuring class has its drawbacks, these include the fact that it only takes into account the occupation of an individual therefore it is not a clear distinction of what class someone must be in. Whichever scale is it used it is still extremely difficult to measure social class because of the changes in employment.

In our society there have been a number of key changes that have occurred within the structure of social class. one being the reorganization of employment, since the 1970’s there has been a large decline in heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining etc and also a decline in manufacturing industries which usually employed skilled male’s from the working class. However there has been a significant increase of 3 million service industries such as: finance, travel and leisure, therefore there has been an increase in non-manual middle class jobs and a decline in the amount of working class jobs.

This follows onto the next change in the structure of social class because with the increase in service industries jobs, a vast amount of women have started to enter into employment therefore allowing women to achieve their own separate social class status instead of it being based on what there husband or fathers occupation is. Also this has forced sociologist’s studies on social class to examine the way in which female employment is part of the class structure and so women have been included in social mobility studies.

Social class is a system of social stratification, a hierarchy that creates specific types of social inequalities. Social inequality refers to the existence of socially created inequalities such as: ownership of property, types of occupation that creates differences in wealth, income and power, whereas social stratification refers to the existence of distinct social groups. There are many argument about how class stratification should be explained, two of the theories that help explain class stratification are: the functionalist theory and the weberian theory.

Functionalists see our society as a structured whole and believes that in order to obtain social order and stability, each social institute must perform a functional pre-requisite in order to work together; this is known as the biological analogy because it is referred to as each organ working together in the body to keep that person alive, this is the same for our society. If one social institute is not working properly for example, education or health then this could affect the way in which our society survives.

According to Davis and Moore (1945) all of the inequalities that are evident in today’s society are necessary and arise because of different roles and rewards that are given out, particularly in employment, therefore each society needs to have the most functionally important jobs filled such as: doctors, vets and accountants etc. These jobs require years and years of study and training to achieve, this guarantees that these jobs will be filled with only the smartest individuals whether they are part of the upper class or the lower class. The way in which these jobs are filled appropriately is that high rewards and large sums of money are offered for the years of practice that is done.

The strengths of using this theory to explain social class are that it highlights the strong links between social class and the social structure, it also show how social class contributes to the maintenance of society as a whole

The weaknesses of using this theory is that this theory is far too simplistic as it only uses the importance of jobs to explain social class which is not a true way to measure an individual’s class. Also a weakness is that some people feel that functionalists do not have to right to decide which job is more important than the next for example Davis and Moore stated that the most important jobs where doctors etc, but some people may feel that a bin man or a school cleaners jobs is far more important to our society.

However Weber agrees with Marx that a person’s class situation cannot be determined by the ownership of the means of production but by the shared life chances that someone has or has been denied as a result of qualifications and possessions they have.

Weber has divided social classes in “multiple classes” this means that there are different classes with different people in each class. Because of the important differences in our society, each group is defined by various skills and services that are offered from each occupation. Weber believed that while the society expands so will the number of different classes, especially the middle class, as it is easier to move up or down to this class that to move up to the upper class.

The strengths of using this theory to explain social class are that it best describes social mobility and how each class is defined; it also accurately outlines the class situation as it is today, that more people will be entering the middle class whether they move up or down the social hierarchy.

However the weaknesses are that Weber understates the importance of the economy when defining class, because he only uses the individual’s skills and life chances which are not an accurate way to measure somebody’s class.

Social mobility refers to the ability that people have to move up or down the class structure; this can either be intergenerational or intragenerational. A family/individual can move up or down a social class simple by a change in there occupational status, whether they have been promoted or receive redundancy. Another way to move up the class system could be if you gained or one a large sum of money in the lottery.

There are two studies that have been done that best explain social mobility. The first was the oxford mobility study by Goldthorpe et all in 1972. This study was based on the Weberian theory of stratification. This study was carried out by using only men between the ages of 20 – 64 years, the main findings of this study was that 2 out of 3 sons of unskilled or semi-skilled were in the manual occupation meaning that they followed after their fathers. They also found that only 4% of blue collar workers (service industry jobs) came from professional background and approximately 30% of professionals were from working class backgrounds, this could prove that people from a professional background will be more likely to receive a better education therefore aiming for higher paid jobs ( white collar jobs). It is evident from this study that downward mobility appeared to be declining, but more men from working class backgrounds were unemployed.

In conclusion this study showed that long range and absolute mobility rates in the UK have increased however due to little change in the relative mobility there has been no significant increase in the openness of the UK’s stratification system.

The strengths of this study are that it backs up Weber’s ideas of social classes seen to be multiplying and becoming more open.

The weaknesses are that the study only focuses on men and women therefore ignoring the work that is done by women in our ever increasing society.

The second study was the Peter Saunders “Unequal but fair?” in 1996. This study was based on the functionalist theory of stratification.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is very clear that social class is in fact relevant in today’s society; this is shown by the results from the Westergaard and Restler (1976) Marxist theory study. This study argues that Britain will remain a capitalist society and with the persistence of class inequalities they will harden and it will make it exceptionally difficult to move between social classes, meaning that social class defiantly remains very important when explaining the social inequalities that we have today.

In this modernised world sex and relationship plays an important role as sexuality is part of who we are as humans. Sexuality defines how we see ourselves and how we physically relate to others beyond having the ability to reproduce. Sexuality is made up of three components which include biological sex, gender identity, and social gender role. In a less brief context, biological sex is the anatomical, physiological, and genetic characteristics associated with being a male or female, gender identity means the physiological sense of being a male or female and social gender role is the cultural norms that define feminine and masculine behaviour (1).

Sexual orientation is known as an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and sexual attractions to men, women or both sexes besides also referring to a person’s sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviours and memberships in a community of others who share those attractions which may or may not be evident in a person’s appearance or behaviour. People may choose not to act on such feelings as having attractions to people of the same sex or opposite sex. For example, a bisexual who can be attracted to members of either sex may choose to have a one partner relationship with one gender, therefore, choosing not to act on the attraction of another gender (1).

Three commonly recognized aspect of sexual orientation are heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality and one uncommon aspect is asexuality which is when a person has no sexual attraction or interest in sexual activity. Therefore, sexual orientation differs from sexual behaviour in that it involves an individual’s feelings and perception of their own sexuality. According to current scientific and professional understanding, the core attractions that form the basis for adult sexual orientation typically emerge between middle childhood and early adolescence. These patterns of emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction may arise without any prior sexual experience.

Heterosexuality is the attraction to individuals of the other gender which is

the cultural normality for the behaviour of males and females. For example, males and females being attracted to individuals of the opposite sex.

Bisexuality is the attraction to members of either gender, as an example a male having a sexual relationship with another male partner as well with a female partner.

On the other hand, homosexuality can be defined as the attraction to members of the same gender, are not completely understood by scientists.

Scientists have pondered the theory for many years that sexual preference is a learned behaviour that is developed during early childhood. There are many theories regarding how a particular sexual orientation develops. Some scientists share the view that sexual orientation is shaped at an early age through interactions of biological, psychological and social factors. Other psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals agree that

homosexuality may be genetically predetermined.

Research over the past thirty-five years has determined that homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder or emotional problem. Other objective research shows that homosexual

orientation is not associated with emotional or social problems. Because sexual orientation develops in early adolescence, without any prior sexual experience, it is believed that it is not chosen. It has been reported that some people try diligently to change their sexual preference from homosexual to heterosexual with no success. For this reason, psychologists do not consider sexual orientation to be a conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed.

An untrue stereotype about homosexuals is the belief that gay men have more of a tendency

than heterosexual men to sexually molest children. There is no evidence of this. Instead, recent studies have shown that homosexual parents are quite capable of rearing developmentally secure children who are intelligent, as well as being psychologically well adjusted. There is no evidence that homosexual parents are less capable of parenting than heterosexual parents. Because therapy cannot change sexual orientation, it is important for society to become better educated about homosexuality, thus diminishing anti-gay prejudice.

Accurate information for young people struggling with their own sexual identity is especially

important. The belief that such information when given to young people will affect one’s sexual orientation is not valid. The people who have the most positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbians are those who say they know one or more gay persons well. For this reason, psychiatrists believe that discrimination against homosexuality is based on his or her lack of knowledge concerning gay people. Therefore, educating all people about sexual orientation

and homosexuality is likely to diminish anti-gay prejudice.

Homosexuality was once believed to be a mental illness, due to the unfortunate

fact that mental health professionals furnished society with incorrect information. Most studies about homosexuals only involved gay men and lesbians who were in therapy. They were seeking help for their problems, just as straight men and women do. These studies, and the misunderstanding of homosexuality, seriously damaged the acceptance of gay men and lesbians. The theories of homosexuals by psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health

professionals, painted an untrue portrait of gay men and lesbians. This unfair portrayal directly attributed to the un-acceptance of homosexuals.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association confirmed that homosexuals were not mentally ill, and it was not until two years later in 1975, that the American Psychological Association passed a resolution supporting this confirmation. Both associations urged all mental health professionals to help dispel the stigma of mental illness that had been associated with homosexual orientation. Since this original declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, this decision has been reaffirmed by additional research findings and by both associations.

However, when one is reared to believe a certain way, it is not easy to change his or her opinion. Psychiatrists, psychologists and the Lord above could urge one to rethink a learned fact; however, to dispute a theory learned early in life is sometimes impossible. This unfair discrimination against homosexuals is an obstacle to their leading a normal, happy and productive life, which is the desire of gay men and lesbians, just as it is the desire of straight men and women. Research has shown a high rate of violence, as well as discrimination, against homosexuals. Just as it is with straight men, the more positive the gay male identity, the better one’s mental health will become and the higher one’s self-esteem will be. To accomplish this, the acceptance of gay men and lesbians as productive citizens, without prejudice, is necessary. Protection against violence and discrimination would not be necessary if one understood that gay men and lesbians are just like you and me; the only difference is their sexual preference.

Most scientists today agree that sexual orientation is the result of a combination of environmental, hormonal, and genetic factors. In other words, there are many factors that contribute to a person’s sexual orientation, and the factors may be different for different people.

In other words, we intend to research in depth on each factor stated and how does it affect a person’s sexual orientation then come to a conclusion if sexual orientation is genetic relating back to our topic. This is the prime objective of this project. To arrive at our objectives, we have to research about the other factors affecting sexual orientation.

Therefore, we have divided each factor into 3 subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 will be a detailed explanation on how genetic factors contribute to sexual orientation. Chapter 3 consequently will be discussing on environmental and emotional factors in relation to sexual orientation. Besides that, Chapter 4 is on the role played by hormones in determining a person’s sexual orientation. All these 3 chapters will be discussing sexual orientation on homosexuality and bisexuality.

The final chapter will relate back to our main topic which is ‘Is Sexual Orientation Genetic?’ A conclusion will be brought about based on the research, studies and evidences done on the previous 3 chapters.

Chapter 2 : Genetic Factors

Chromosomes in humans can be divided into two types which is autosomes and sex chromosomes. The sex chromosomes contain certain genetic traits link to a person’s sex. It can be XX with phenotype female and XY with phenotype male. On the other hand, the autosomes contain the rest of the genetic hereditary information. Both autosomes and sex chromosomes act in the same way during cell division. There are 23 pairs of chromosomes of which 22 pairs of autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosome giving a total of 46 per cell for one human. A person’s sex is determined by the sex chromosome (wiki chromosome).

Based on a research conducted by scientists on November 8th 2007, new evidences have been uncovered showing genetics has a role to play in determining whether an individual is homosexual or heterosexual. Dr. Sandra Witelson, a neuroscientist in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University, and colleges at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto conducted the research on studies of the brains of healthy, right handed, 18 to 35- year old homosexual and heterosexual men using magnetic resonance imagining (MRI). About 10 years ago, which is now accepted as fact, studies have demonstrated that there is a higher proportion of left-handers in the homosexual population than the general population. Consequently, in other research it was found that left-handers have a larger region of the posterior corpus callosum which is the thick band of nerve fibres connecting the two hemispheres of the brain compared to the right- handers. Furthermore, the posterior part of the corpus callosum is larger in homosexual than heterosexual men. The size of corpus callosum is largely inherited suggesting a genetic factor in sexual orientation. A correlational analysis by researchers which included size of the corpus callosum, and test scores on language, visual spatial and finger dexterity tests. Prediction on sexual orientation in 95 per cent of the cases was done by using all these variables.

A report by the National Cancer Institute researchers states that the appearance that many homosexual men inherit a gene from their mothers that influences sexual orientation. It was suggested that inherited genetic factors at least play a role in determining sexual orientation. The study’s lead author Dean Hamer, chief of the cancer institute’s section on Gene Structure and regulation concluded that it is basically not a choice or a decision to be a gay. However, people have no control over the genes inherited and there is no way to change it. The family histories of 114 gay men were studied and it was found that more homosexual brothers, uncles and male cousins than would be expected in the general population whereby some families had three generations of homosexual relatives. It was suggested that something inherited was going on since the uncles and cousins were not raised in the same household but do share genetic information.

Following up another studies was made on the DNA from 40 pairs of homosexual brothers and it was found that 33 of them shared same genetic markers on the X chromosome in a region known as Xq28. The X chromosomes are always inherited from mothers. Genes consist of tiny coils of DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, which carries the instructions to manufacture a particular body substance. No such similar sharing was present in the same region among heterosexual men. It is expected that this region will be important for both heterosexual and homosexual development providing very small and subtle difference between the genes of each group. However, the finding does not explain all homosexuality. Seven out of 40 pairs of homosexual brothers studied did not have the common genetic factor.

Part of the studies state that the cancer Kaposi’s sarcoma unusually afflicts large numbers of homosexuals. Further study is being conducted to determine whether a similar genetic link occurs in families of homosexual women hoping to identify the specific gene involved in sexual orientation.

Gregory King, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a gay and lesbian activist group, said he hoped from the studies it would help Americans understand that most lesbian and gay people do not choose their sexual orientation. Despite, concerns are there among people who are lesbians and gay that this discovery will be misused to suggest that homosexuality is something that needs to be corrected.

According to the variation in sexual orientation, heritability studies have differed on the precise contribution of genetics, though a few linkage studies have indicated a possible role for certain genes on the X chromosome. However, the strength of that evidence is limited due to the conflicting nature of the reports and small sample sizes. Some of the questions in relation to the possible genetic underpinnings of sexual orientation have been clarified by a more recent study conducted by the first ever genome-wide association study (GWAS) on sexual orientation. It is also in relation to the release of a web-based survey to the large 23andMe database of over 180,000 individuals.

Furthermore, the other non-genetic phenotypes associated with sexual orientation are also explored. The objective is to understand the relationship between sexual orientation and non-genetic phenotypes as the data collected was extracted from dozens of 23andMe surveys taking into consideration thousands of conditions and trait. Research has shown that lesbians are more likely than heterosexual women to have alcoholism and alcohol-related problems (3). A number of studies have also found that women with same sex partners are more likely to have psychiatric disorders, including major depression (4) and men with same sex partners are more likely to have anxiety and mood disorders (5).

Phenotype analyses were conducted using linear or logistic regression. In statistics, linear regression is the relationship between a scalar dependent variable Y and one or more explanatory variables denoted X as the data modelled using linear predictor functions, and unknown model parameters are estimated from the data. Logistic regression is a type of analysis used to predict the outcome of a categorical dependent variable based on one or more predictor variables that is used in estimating empirical values of the parameters in a qualitative response model(wiki). The reported betas are the change on the sexual identity scale per unit of the other phenotype. Both the phenotype analyses and GWAS analyses controlled for age, the first five principal components, and attitudes towards homosexuality as collected in the Sexual Orientation Survey. GWAS analyses were conducted in individuals of European descent.

The questions asked for this study to over 23,000 individuals 23andMe database is as follows:

The survey counts based on the questions asked were as below:

They have examined the correlation between sexual identity and ~1000 phenotypes already characterized in the 23andMe database through other surveys. These analyses were preliminary as outliers or confounders beyond what is listed in the methods were not checked. Previous ¬?ndings were replicated showing a positive association between lesbians and alcoholism, and between lesbians and gay men and several psychiatric conditions.

Chapter 3 : Environmental and Emotional Factors

On the development of human sexual orientation, another possible factor is the environmental and emotional influences. Many influences or factors lead to sexual orientation but no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Therefore, a great deal of people thinks nature and nurture both play complex roles (wiki environment sexual orientation).

Environmental factors are associated with family influences. Evidence have been provided by researches that gay men report having had less loving and more rejecting fathers, and closer relationships with their mothers, than non-gay men. Some researchers think this may indicate that childhood family experiences are important determinants to homosexuality, or that parents behave this way in response to gender-variant traits in a child. Both possibilities might be true in different cases (wiki).

Childhood factors do affect marital choices as children who experience parental divorce are less likely to marry heterosexually than those growing up in intact families. In a broad point of view, heterosexual marriage was significantly linked to having young parents, small age differences between parents, stable parental relationships, large sibships (a group of offspring having the same two parents) , and late birth order. For men, homosexual marriage was associated with having older mothers, divorced parents, absent fathers, and being the youngest child. On the other hand, for women, maternal death during adolescence and being the only or youngest child or the only girl in the family increased the likelihood of homosexual marriage. Childhood family experiences are important determinants of heterosexual and homosexual marriage decisions in adulthood (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-006-9062-2).

Consequently, parental sexual orientation may affect child development. Studies were focused on an early research on children with lesbian and gay parents in which the children had been born in the context of a heterosexual marriage. The developments among children of divorced lesbian mothers were compared with children of divorced heterosexual mothers and few significant differences were found. Children in the research who had been born into homes with married mothers and fathers have no obvious reasons to understand on their healthy development as the children faced early exposure to apparently heterosexual male and female role models which mainly contributes to the healthy development.

In comparison, a study conducted by Charlotte J. Patterson from University of Virginia on lesbian or gay parents who rear infants and children from offspring and it is important that the children had never lived with heterosexual parents. The study was on a group of 4 to 9 year old children who had been born to or adopted early in life by lesbian mothers. Results from in-home interviews and also from questionnaires showed that children had regular contact with a wide range of adults of both genders, both within and outside of their families. The children’s self-concepts and preferences for same-gender playmates and activities were much like those of other children their ages. Moreover, standardized measures of social competence and of behaviour problems, such as those from the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), showed that they scored within the range of normal variation for a representative sample of same-aged American children. Therefore, it was clear from this study and others like it that it was quite possible for lesbian mothers to rear healthy children.

Consistent with earlier findings, results from the study revealed few differences in adjustment between adolescents living with same-sex parents and those living with opposite-sex parents . There were no significant differences between teenagers living with same-sex parents and those living with other-sex parents on self-reported assessments of psychological well-being, such as self-esteem and anxiety, measures of school outcomes, such as grade point averages and trouble in school, or measures of family relationships, such as parental warmth and care from adults and peers. Adolescents in the two groups were equally likely to say that they had been involved in a romantic relationship in the last 18 months, and they were equally likely to report having engaged in sexual intercourse. The only statistically reliable difference between the two groups is that those with same-sex parents felt a greater sense of connection to people at school compared to the youngsters living with same-sex couples. There were no significant differences in self-reported substance use, delinquency, or peer victimization between those reared by same or other-sex couples.

Although the gender of parents’ partners was not an important predictor of adolescent well-being, other aspects of family relationships were significantly associated with teenagers’ adjustment. Consistent with other findings about adolescent development, the qualities of family relationships rather than the gender of parents’ partners were consistently related to adolescent outcomes. Parents who reported having close relationships with their offspring had adolescents who reported more favourable adjustment.

The fact that children of lesbian mothers generally develop in healthy ways should not be taken to suggest that no challenges were encountered. Many investigators have remarked upon the fact that children of lesbian and gay parents may encounter anti-gay sentiments in their daily lives. For example, in a study of 10- year-old children born to lesbian mothers, Gartrell, Deck, Rodas, Peyser, and Banks (2005) reported that a substantial minority had encountered anti-gay sentiments among their peers. Those who had such encounters were likely to report having felt angry, upset, or sad about these experiences. Children of lesbian and gay parents may be exposed to prejudice against their parents in some settings, and this may be painful for them, but evidence for the idea that such encounters affect children’s overall adjustment is lacking.

Another study, published in the October 2006 issue of Archives of Sexual Behaviour, authored by Danish epidemiologist Morten Frisch and statistician Anders Hviid, reports the analysis of data from over two million men and women. It is the first study to examine an entire group of homosexuals for environmental factors in their decisions to marry homosexually. The research suggests a link between environmental factors such as geographic birthplace and family relationships and the probability of marrying a same-sex or opposite-sex partner. The massive study also finds that the number of brothers and sisters increases the probability of marrying heterosexually. This finding questions a recent, widely touted Canadian study of birth order that found the number of older brothers increased the probably of homosexuality in men.

The researchers found for each additional year one’s parents stay married, the probability of heterosexual marriage in the children increased by 1.6% among sons and 1.0% among daughters. In contrast, the rate of homosexual unions decreased by 1.8% among sons and 1.4% among daughters for every year of intact parental marriage. Summing these effects over years of childhood and adolescence contributes to a noteworthy impact.

Regarding homosexual marriages, researchers have also found that birth place relates to the sexual orientation of marriage partner. Being born in urban settings increased the probability of homosexual marriage and decreased the probability of heterosexual marriage. This study was said to be the first to show that birth place or some correlate thereof influences marital choices in adulthood.

The researchers also confirmed previous research suggesting that children who experience parental divorce are less likely to marry heterosexually than children reared in intact families. For men, unknown paternal identity, parental divorce, short duration of cohabitation with both parents, and long duration of father-absent cohabitation with mother were all associated with increased rates of homosexual marriage. For women, homosexual marriage rates were elevated among women whose parents were married briefly, and those who experienced long periods of mother absence due either to abandonment or death during the teen years.

Taken together, the study’s findings suggest that intact parents bearing multiple children and living in rural areas increase the probability of heterosexual pairings in their children. The study was not designed to examine all possible contributions to sexual orientation nor does it account for individual situations. We know, for instance, that gays and straights come from all kinds of families and locations. However, the study raises the possibility that family and social factors function to help shape adult sexual orientation.

Chapter 4: Hormonal Factors

Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers. It is released by one or more cells which travel through the bloodstream that affects cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In relation to sexuality following up the hormonal theory, exposure to certain hormones plays an act in fetal sex differentiation. Besides that, this exposure also influences the sexual orientation that emerges later in the adult.

Hormones which interact with the developing brain cells coming from the differences in brain structure are accredit to be the basis of sex differences in countless behaviour, including sexual orientation. The interaction of these hormones on the developing brain is affected by prenatal factors that can influence later the sex-typed behaviour in children.

Factors hypothesized in contributing to sex-typed behaviour concerns the same as those hypothesized to contribute to sexual orientation. Higher rates of sex-atypical behaviour in childhood and adulthood are seen in homosexual men and women compared to the same sex heterosexuals. Early hormones have been suggested to influence both sexual orientation and related childhood sex-typed behaviours. Recent studies, however, have provided evidence in support of prenatal androgen exposure influencing childhood sex-typed behaviour.

An example of the study is Early Hormonal Influences on Childhood Sex-Typed Activity and Playmate Preferences: Implications for the Development of Sexual Orientation. The hormonal influences on activity and playmate preferences in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are examined. The children were in the range of ages between 2.5 to 12 years. It is observed that CAH girls preferred boys’ toys and activities and had greater preference for boy playmates than controls. On the other hand, CAH boys did not differ significantly from controls and activity and playmate preferences were not related. From this it was concluded that early androgen has a major effect on childhood activity preferences but only a weak influence on playmate preferences. Besides that, sex segregation does not arise from sex-typed activity preferences, activity and playmate preferences may be differently predictive of sexual orientation and hormonal influences on sexual orientation are likely to be complex.

Consequently, prospective and retrospective studies of childhood gender role behaviour reveal homosexual males to be more likely than heterosexual males in the sense of participating in girls’ games, to experiment with cosmetics and jewellery and to be less likely than heterosexual males to participate in sports. In the same way, lesbians analytical report shows that they were more likely than heterosexual females in the manner of participating in sports, to be called a tomboy and to be less likely than heterosexual females as in experimenting with or using cosmetics and jewellery or even to wear dresses. From reports by Bailey & Zucker, it was also known that homosexual men and women played with opposite sex playmates in childhood more that did heterosexual men and women.

However, the differences between homosexual and heterosexual individuals may not be confined to childhood activities. For example, in another report by McCormick & Witelson, it is stated that heterosexual men have higher spatial ability and lower verbal ability compared to both homosexual men and heterosexual women. Besides that, a higher rate of left-handedness has been noticed in both homosexual men and women than heterosexual comparisons.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that there are a few other sex-typed behaviours not related to sexual orientation. This is identified as most homosexual men and women have typical gender identity and are similar to same sex heterosexual individuals on aspects of mating psychology related to sexual selection that show sex differences, for example, interest in uncommitted sex. These comparisons are useful because sexual orientation differences that parallel sex differences suggest that some of the factors that cause sex differences also cause differences between homosexual and heterosexual individuals of the same sex. This is because some homosexual individuals are as sex-typical as most heterosexuals, there may be more than one cause of sexual orientation. On the other hand, when sexual orientation differences do not parallel sex differences, different etiologies are likely.

Gonadal hormones have been hypothesized to play a main role in the development of sex-typed behaviour and sexual orientation. Thus, high levels of androgen during sensitive periods of development have been suggested to produce masculine-typical behaviour, including childhood activities, cognitive abilities, and sexual orientation directed to women, that is, male heterosexuality and female homosexuality, whereas very low levels of androgen during those periods are hypothesized to result in female typical childhood activities, cognitive abilities, and sexual orientation directed to men, that is, male homosexuality and female heterosexuality.

Human sex-typed behaviour is also affected by early exposure to hormones. Thus, female participants with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who have high levels of androgen during the prenatal and early postnatal periods, have greater preference for traditionally masculine toys and activities, higher spatial ability, and greater rates of homosexual or bisexual fantasies than controls. Similarly, female participants exposed to high levels of masculinizing or defeminizing hormones as a result of maternal ingestion during pregnancy have been reported to be more aggressive and to have higher rates of homosexual or bisexual fantasies than controls. These increases in male typical behaviour which occur in the presence of female gender identity in both CAH girls and women and those with exogenous hormone exposure.

Unusual hormone exposure in boys and men has complex relationships to behaviour. In relation, low androgen seems to result in reduced male typical behaviour. Male adolescents and adults with deficient androgen beginning early in life have shown reduced spatial ability compared with controls. High levels of masculinizing hormones have been associated with increased, decreased, and unchanged masculine typical behaviour. Male participants exposed to androgenizing progestin have been reported to be more aggressive than their brothers, but male participants with CAH and thus high levels of androgen generally show male typical behaviour. There are few systematic studies of sexual behaviour in men with unusual early hormone exposure, but homosexuality may be more common in men who are assumed to have low prenatal testosterone, for example, XXY men.

There is evidence especially in female individuals that early hormone exposure affects both sexual orientation and some of the behaviors that are related to it, providing indirect support for the hypothesis that sexual orientation typically is influenced b