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The purpose of this essay is to critically discuss the threats to public health and analyse the contribution of social sciences in this respect. I will illustrate the answer by underlying the causation of new public health and comment on how to promote new public health. The essay will aim at the importance of understanding public health professionally, supported by research and evidence. The essay will also outline the affects of globalisation.

Baum (2001) believes that “definition for public health have changed and developed since the nineteenth century”. On the other hand, Costello and Haggort (2003) defines that public health has multiple concept which consist on a wide range of social, political and economic perspective. Public health has been described as both “new and old” (Costello and Haggort, 2003). Armstrong (1988 cited in Baum, 2001) noted that public health in the nineteenth century was more viewed with physical interaction between body and environment (Baum, 2001). However, he believes that new public health is more concerned to achieve healthy individuals, societies and environment.

These activities will organised by societies and government to protect public from disease and to promote healthy lifestyle. It is believed that the new public health will work to ensure practices of government and private sector to promote equity and health between different groups of people within our society. (Baum, 2001) As a new public health professional, my role will be to identify the impact of new public health threats and causation to treat and promote health in our society,

The author further argues that it is important to change global economic system. He emphasised on promoting public health and environment in order to achieve the vision of new public health (Baum, 2001). Although Benson, et al, (2008) food policy report highlights that food crisis is one of the major global health issue, which needs to be analysed. They believe that high rising of food prices are one of the causes of famine in some developing countries. However, Baum (2001) argues that growth of multinational companies can also be seen as the major threat to environment and public’s health in poor countries. He also underline that ill health has increased massively among the poor countries even when their national economy system has grown. For instance it has been mentioned by UNCTAD (2008) that food price index has increased 84 percent in China and India, although their economy rates were growing at record rates.

Furthermore, in many developing countries the crisis has caused a long-term effect in the sector of agriculture productivity. All these factors are contributing towards food crisis. UNCTAD (2008) describes that there are three types of solution in response to sustain economical growth in developing, short-term, medium tern and long-term policy. These policies aim to reduce food prices for consumers. The short-term policy can be effective if government assist to boost production for poor smallholder farmers. The medium-term policy solution is to support farmers by giving a decent return on food production. This could motivate farmers in developing countries to boost production. Although the long term-policy solution is for developing countries to promote agricultural production by providing better knowledge and training to farmers and investing in the international market to tackle global food crisis(UNCTD, 2008)

Costello and Haggort (2003) however pointed out that in past health inequalities amongst social class have had great influence on individual’s health. They argued that people who experiences ill health in their childhood continues to develop problems related to their health in later life. This can mean that people from poor background will experience poor health and the affluent societies will always benefits good health throughout their life. However, Baum (2001) argued that health inequality is very common in developing country. This has been caused by expense in healthcare sector for public and poor distribution of wealth in their country.

Baum (2001) stated that globalization has potential implication both negative and positive on public health. Moreover, Lee (2000) defines globalization as a natural changing process of human interaction in terms of economic, political, social, cultural and environmental. However, BMJ (2002) article highlights factors which can influence socioeconomic status, education, gender and age which could happen both positively and negatively for an individual. The article however, argues that faeachem’s statement about “globalization is mostly good for you health” is not based on reality ground. The article continues to debate the challenges of globalization. On the other hand, Lee (2000) highlighted that large numbers of death has been resulted in adults due to non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory diseases.

This is believed to have an immense effect of globalization in the United Kingdom. Other non-communicable disease has been affected by the global change in our environment and lifestyle. It is believed that television viewing is also linked with sedentary lifestyle, particularly children who have been mostly affected to an increase in globalised lifestyle. On the contrary, Lohr et al (cited in Lee, 2000) describes the positive changes of globalization such as evidence based medicine and clinical practice guidelines has spread from United Kingdom and America to Europe and other parts of the world. He believes that the knowledge of medicine practice has been shared worldwide to benefit public health.

Labonte and Torgerson (2005) stated that the impact of globalization is not un-known in western countries. They stated that international organisations needs to critically recongnise the consequence of globalization in poor countries. Although, BMJ (2002) believes it is significant to provide evidence based approach to globalization and health to analayse the impact of some policies. For instance, World Trade organization needs to open propasals for all sectors of the economy such as NHS which was introduce in Britian through private finance initiative. The article further highlights priority issues which need to be debated such as health services in the United Kingdom.

On the contrary, Lee (2000) stated in his article that World Health Organisation has been playing a major role to address global health challenges such as control on tobacco use and minimizing factors that cause malaria. On the other hand Labonte and Torgerson (2005) argued that the World Health Organisation has identified several serious health-related issues such as negative effects of cost recovery for healthcare service, free health programs for poor people, limited recourses for health and education.

On the contrary Daar et al ( 2002 cited in Labonte and Torgerson, 2005) stated that government has paid very little attention to public health system in poor countries. Labonte and Togerson, (2005) identified that the impacts on health is a consequences of globalization, which interacts with domestic political and economic. They further argued that their concern is equity in health between nations. However, the health impact of globalization has caused immense mortality, morbidity and disability rates.

According to Labonte and Togerson (2005) researchers believes that critical steps need to be taken to tackle health disease faced in poor countries. Lee (2000) suggested that policy makers and health professional needs to be involve in global public health issues. On the contrary, Baum (2001) believes that it will be hard to tackle the socio and economic aspects of health as it could bring argument with views of those, who believes in benefiting poor people in the society. He also described that public health will need to be “global to be effect”. The global health inequalities and inequities within countries are increasing and new diseases and environmental issues will emerge as a result of neglecting global health issues (Baum, 2001).

Although Lee (2000) suggested that another possible solution to tackle global health issues is to draw attention of the public to inform them about the importance of globalization to public health, for instance through media and press. He believes that it is vital that the government provides financial support for research project on global health issues. On the other hand BMJ (2002) stated that global trade can minimize economical inequality for developing countries. Furthermore, the article suggests that world leaders such as G8 submits needs to review the issue of globalization and provide financial aid to developing countries, who have been massively suffered from globalization. The article also suggested that health professionals need to carry basic research to improve health in poor enviroments.

Baum (2001) stated that new public health threats in the twenty-first century will have a great impact on economic, health and environment. Consequently, public health professionals needs to address these new threats to public, plan strategies and make policies to tackle public health issues. He further argued that new threats to environment and health will rapidly increase in numbers Armstrong (1988 cited in Baum, 2001) suggested that the new public health will also need to include participation of communities to promote health and equity.

In conclusive, as a public health professional, I will need to tackle and find ways to treat new public health threats. In my viewpoint, socioeconomic factor can have a great influence on public health. Consequently, I will need to take sociological approach to treat health and illness. I will also need to promote health to inform the public of the new threats to improve health status. To reduce health inequality between socioeconomic will be priority for public health professional.

REFERENCE
Baum. F. (2002) The New Public Health 2nd ed. Oxford University Press
Benson, T.et al (2008) Global food crises: IFPRI food policy report. [Internet] Available from: http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ib55_0.pdf. [Accessed on 7th of December 2009]
Brithish Medical Journal (2002) Globalisation and Health. Vol 324, Pp: 44-52
Costello, J, and Haggort, M. (2003) Public health and society Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Labonete. R. and Torgerson, R. (2005) Interrogating globalisation, health and development: Towards a comphrensive framework for research, p;icy and political action. Cricitical public health;15(2):157-179
Lee, K. (2000) The impact of globalisation on public health: implication for the UK faculty of public health medicine; 22(3): 253-262
UNCTAD (2008) Policy briefs no;2 [Internet] Available from: http://unctad.org/en/docs/presspb20081_en.pdf [Accessed on 7th of December 2009]

In recent years, the popularity of cosmetic surgery has escalated significantly. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2008, some 12 million cosmetic procedures, most of which were minimally invasive, were performed in the United States alone. As Dutta (2008) cited in Swami et al (2012, p. 55) claims, this situation is not only found in North America, but also for instance in Europe which has currently become the second-largest market for cosmetic surgery. Concerned with the maintenance or enhancement of physical appearance (Swami et al, 2012, p. 55), cosmetic surgery is an invasive physical practice, offering people an opportunity to modify their body (Lirola and Chovanec, 2002). Through discourse of cosmetic surgery, mainly influenced by the media, which as Lirola and Chovanec, (2002, p. 488) claim “both constructs the need for such a practice as well as legitimizes it”, more people are becoming increasingly willing to undergo such practice. Among these people and according to ASPS statistics (2009a, as cited in Swami et al, 2012, p.55) the vast majority of cosmetic surgery patients are young women. Boseley (2012) reports that 6 in 10 (63%) 16 to 24 year olds were ready to undergo cosmetic surgery to ensure feeling better about their appearance. It has become a habit that cosmetic surgery interventions are also being given from parents to their teenage daughters as birthday or graduation presents with breast implants being the most favourite (Gilman, 1999). This is because media and vicarious experiences are promoting unrealistic beauty ideals which are in turn influencing young people’s attitudes towards their own looks. Because of this, “cosmetic surgery needs to be seen as an important social practice because it merges the attention given to the body by an individual person with the values and priorities of the consumer society” (Lirola and Chovanec, 2002).

1.2 Personal Perspective

This issue of cosmetic surgery has always fascinated me. Seeing middle aged and even older people paying good money to rejuvenate their looks, has become a common scenario. However, cosmetic surgery done by young people who are still in their prime, always fascinated me to a much larger extent. I was always curious to find out why these young people decide to opt for surgery. While growing up as a teenager and even to this day that I am now a teacher, youth worker and a mother, even I were and still am aware of things which I do not like in my appearance. However, it never occurred to me that I should go for cosmetic surgery or when it did, it was just a thought which quickly passed. This curiosity is what led me to conduct this study. When does one cross the line and decide to opt for the surgical fix? Both as a student of Youth and Community Studies and in my line of work, I meet a lot of young people who in my eyes are all beautiful in their own way. This is not however always in unison with their perception about their own self. Through this study I would like to find out what it is that really that makes young females to undergo cosmetic surgery. This study however will be more interested in the sociological motivations since it has a sociological approach. That is why this study is interested in the interaction between social actors. Is society influencing their way of thinking or are their perceptions and the decisions they take unaffected by the cultural hegemony?

1.3 Organization of the Study

Apart from the introduction, this study comprises of four other chapters.

The literature review (Chapter 2) presents a review of the literature related to the study of the body and cosmetic surgery. Starting from Descartes’ mind-body dualism and the difficulties it posited to sociology in studying issues related to the body, the literature then shifts to a more embodied sociology giving more importance to a ‘lived body’. Other issues tackled are how the body has come to be seen as our identity and also gender. Since this study focuses on young people, it then takes a look at what forms the body image of adolescents and how consumer culture influences the body. Finally it gives a very brief history of cosmetic surgery and how are young females being affected by it.

Chapter 3 gives a detailed explanation of the methodology of the study. It explains how the participants were chosen and how the interviews were done. It also deals with how the data was analysed, ethical considerations taken and the limitations of the study.

Chapter 4 presents the findings of the study and their interpretation in the light of the literature found in Chapter 2.

Chapter 5 concludes the study by answering the research questions which the study was set to answer and also presents recommendations for future research.

This chapter has given some brief background information of what will be presented in this study, while the chapter that follows will explore the literature that will help the interpretation of the data analysis.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introducing ‘the body’.

It was only recently that ‘the body’ has become one of the main concerns within sociological theory. Before this time, the discipline of sociology looked at human beings as the ‘social actors’ or the ‘social agents’ whose character and behaviour depended on their social location, beliefs and values (Turner, 1984). The founding fathers of sociology viewed the body from different perspectives. Marx and Engels shared the belief that in order for society to exist, the continual reproduction of bodies was salient. They looked at bodies as both the means and the object of human labour. Durkheim believed in the dual nature of human beings which he referred to as homo duplex. He believed that the basic divisions of body and mind led to a ‘true antagonism’ between our individuality and our spirituality, which according to him made it almost impossible to ever be at peace with ourselves as one cannot follow both natures, since one is rooted in morality and the other in the desires of the body. Weber wrote about the rationalization of bodies through time and space and the controlling of emotions. He believed that the more capitalism enters in the bureaucratic structures, the more ‘dehumanising’ and ‘disenchanted’ the modern individual feels, confined in its ‘iron cage’. Simmel wrote about the senses and human emotionality. He believed that the eye, out of all the senses, had a distinctively sociological function since the interaction of individuals is based upon eye contact between them (Williams and Bendelow, 1998).

As Turner (1984) claims, it is evident that human beings both have bodies and are bodies, which fact makes human beings ’embodied, just as they are enselved’ (Turner, 1984, p.1). Recently a lot of studies have tried to address the corporeal existence of human beings. However, in spite of intriguing findings and better understanding of the subject, according to Crossley (2001) some persistent dilemmas remain. Drawing from previous philosophical theories about the body, it was not easy along the years for sociology to arrive to a decent solution to the philosophical ambiguity of the mind-body dualism.

It was Rene Descartes (1596-1650) who living in the Enlightenment era was greatly influenced by scientists like Galileo and their contemporary scientific discoveries. It was a time when the physical sciences, as we know them today, were emerging and there was a strong belief that everything could be explained by the laws of mechanical causation. With this belief in mind, and always in search for the knowledgeable truth, Descartes started to doubt everything that he could not be sure of. He even doubted his very own senses, reminding himself that he had sometimes had ‘vivid dreams’ (Crossley, 2001, p.9). However he came to the conclusion that the only thing that he could be sure of was that he was thinking and therefore that was proof enough of his existence. ‘Cogito ergo sum’ meaning ‘I think therefore I am’ is Descartes most famous statement which was the very beginning of the Cartesian dichotomy, i.e. the mind-body dualism.

For Descartes, the person is the mind. He believed that the mind is clearly elevated over the body and that the body is ‘a non-essential aspect of his true nature’ (Crossley, 2001).It is a common belief that in a time when everything was reduced to scientific explanations, Descartes, being the religious man he was, aimed to keep an element of the spiritual, giving importance to creativity and the soul through the prominence he put on the mind.

Many were the scholars (Ryle, 1949; Merleau-Ponty, 1965) who critiqued the Cartesian dualism and exposed the dilemmas it posited to sociology. As Crossley (2001) clearly explains in his book The Social Body: Habit, identity and desire, the mind-brain identity theorists believed that there is no interaction between the body and the mind and the fact that both of them act together at the same time in a plethora of human beings’ everyday activities, led to the conviction that the mind and body are in fact one. Crossley (2001) argued that sociology could critique this theory for being too reductionist and for sticking to the Cartesian framework it sets out to critique.

In ‘The Concept of Mind’, Gilbert Ryle (1949) depicts the Cartesian dichotomy as ‘the myth of the ghost in the machine’, the ghost referring to the ghostly nature of the mind which is not physical in nature, while the machine refers to the body that does not contain any human characteristics, also described as ‘corpse’ or ‘meat’ by Leder (1998). Ryle (1949) believed that Descartes committed a ‘category error’ when he took the mind as distinct from the body. For Ryle, who was a firm believer that dualism was wrong, both body and mind must be reconceptualised if we really are to overcome dualism He sets the way to a non-dualistic sociology when he manages to ‘exorcise’ Descartes’ ghost strongly and convincingly. He wanted to challenge the notion that the mind is superior to the body. For Ryle, the mind is not a separate thing. He believed that mental life is embodied. Crossley (2001) gives a detailed explanation of how language, emotions, consciousness and understanding are not as many think simply introspective. Ryle’s (1949, as cited in Crossley 2001, p.41) main concern was to show that such ‘mental concepts are used by embodied agents in specific contexts of action’.

Merleau-Ponty (1992, as cited in Crossley, 2001), who like Ryle challenged the mind-body dualism, managed to take his work a step further. He believed that looking at behaviour was salient in dissolving this dichotomy. For him all behaviour always had a purpose and meaning in the social world. Through this he also brought up the issue of social agency. He delved into the nature of perception and posited that ‘desire, emotion, cognition and perception are not, strictly speaking, separate parts of our behavioural life but rather integrated and mutually affecting aspects of a single and coherent structure (Crossley, 2001, p.89). Merleau-Ponty sees the body as more than an object yet less than a subject since it both looks for and reacts to meanings in diverse everyday situations. This is Merleau-Ponty’s ‘sentient and sensible’ body, presented to us as a body which can touch yet can be touched, can see yet can be seen, can perceive yet can be perceived. As Crossley (1995) explains the key is to understand that the perceiver and the perceived are “relational beings” (ibid, p.46) like two sides of a coin, not separate from each other but changeable facets of one and the same being. Therefore to the question ‘What am I? Am I a body or am I a mind?’ one can quote McGuire (1990, as cited in Williams & Bendelow, 1998) when he posits that human beings are “embodied agents who experience the material and social world in and through their mindful bodies” (p.4). ”My body’ is not something additional to me, it is not something which I, as a disembodied spirit, reflect upon. It is who I am’. (Crossley as cited in Martin, 2012).

2.2 Shifting from ‘sociology of the body’ to ’embodied sociology’.

Williams & Bendelow (2002) claim that sociology has shifted from seeing the body as disembodied to giving more importance to a ‘lived body’ referring to one’s own experiences of his/her own body, as him/herself. This gave rise to what is today called embodied sociology, a kind of approach which lets us reflect upon the interconnectedness of bodily, mental and social interaction.

Crossley (2001) posits that the human body does not simply exist in itself, but also for itself. This is the main reason why social agents continuously inspect themselves in the mirror and worry about how they are portraying themselves to others. Through a reflexive process, individuals, being embodied beings, turn back onto themselves and work to effect the change they want to see. They turn to excessive exercise, dieting and sometimes go as far as having their bodies surgically transformed. This duality of being and having also applies to habit making us “habitually self-reflexive”. As embodied beings, it is not just us who have our bodies and habits. Our bodies and habits are also perceptible to others which mean that we are never “in complete possession of ourselves” (p. 141) because our ‘selves’ depend on something beyond our control – the collectively valued forms of representation. Crossley claims we only manage to have ‘ourselves’ by learning to see ourselves from the outside through social interaction as ‘other’. Our ’embodied self’ depends on the way the body that ‘I am’ and ‘I have’ is positioned in the intersubjective order that results from the social significance of our corporeal appearance.

This echoes Cooley (1902, as cited in Crossley, 2001) when he argues that individuals develop their sense of self “from the image of our self which others reflect back to us in interaction” (p. 143). Mead’s (1967, as cited in Crossley, 2001) concept of ‘I’ and ‘me’ where the “I’ takes the role of the other as a means of turning back upon myself, to reflect upon myself as ‘me” (p. 147) is at the root of this concept. It is in this way that individuals develop their concept of self by acting out the role of the other. The ‘I’ and the ‘me’ are not in competition with each other for predominance but rather enjoy ‘a temporal and reflexive self-relationship of an agent who chases her own shadow’ (p. 147). The split between ‘I’ and ‘me’ is between a sensuous and socialised bodily agent and the image which that agent is able to form of itself” (p. 147).

Mead’s main emphasis is about reflexivity and how the self (as I) becomes conscious of itself (as me). By adopting the role of the other, social agents are able to scrutinize themselves and this helps them to free themselves from self-blindness, which is caused when embodied agents look out upon the world from their very own place. In this way the views, values and perspectives of the ‘generalised other’ directly influences what Bourdieu (1996) calls the individual’s habitus, and the ‘sedimented dispositions’ that result have a direct impact of her sense of ‘self’ which unsurprisingly influences her behaviour.

This reflexivity highlights why the human body, although specific, gendered and once regarded as fixed, cannot nowadays be as easily defined (Evans, 2002). As Foucault claims there is no “natural” body (McNay, 1992). Evans (2002) believes that the notion of the body is always accompanied with an already deeply socialized set of expectations. Bordo (2003) confirms this by stating that “culture’s grip on the body is a constant, intimate fact of everyday life” (p.17) showing that our bodies, like anything else that is human, are heavily influenced by culture. Feminism, especially in the work of Judith Butler (1990, 1993) and Susan Bordo (1993) has also questioned the belief that bodies are biologically given and fixed, and argued that the human body is both culturally and historically specific.

2.3 The body as a form of identity

Giddens (1991) argues that gone are the days when traditional stable identities were derived from one’s position in the social structure. In this era of late modernity attempts to base identity on the body has become popular, and hence society is witnessing a reflexive concern with identity and the body. Shilling (1993) argued that with the individualisation of the body, the body has become an agent of symbolic value, in Bourdieu’s (1996) term a source of symbolic capital. Despite this, the work of Bourdieu makes us realise the importance class has for understanding embodiment. Bodies, for Bourdieu, mark class in three main ways – “through the individual’s social location, the formation of their habitus and the development of their tastes” (Gill et. al, 2005 p.5). This shows that the management of the body is pivotal to status acquirement and hence salient to identity. Skeggs’s (1997) work on young, British working class women clearly shows this by emphasizing the ways in which they used the shape, styling and design of their bodies to challenge or even break away from class assumptions that declared them as inferior (ibid.). Featherstone (1991) argues that the body has become to be seen as a vehicle of self-expression, a view supported by consumerism. Efforts to create and retain a ‘coherent and viable’ sense of self-identity are often called body projects. These are manifested through attention to the body, particularly the body’s surface (Featherstone 1991). This is because in contemporary times the surface of the body has become the main location where object relations are handled, not only in the individual’s identity formation years but also throughout our whole life (Blum, 2003).

2.4 Gender

Literature shows that females are more obsessed by these body projects, possibly because as Evans (2002) argues the female body, unlike the male, has always been regarded as unstable and malleable. Feminists claim that female bodies have significantly been more vulnerable to cultural manipulation of the body (Bordo, 2003).Women are generally seen as passive while men as active. In his analogy of men and women with animals and plants respectively, Hegel (1967, as cited in Bordo, 2003) ably represented the duality of male activity and female passivity. So powerful and deterministic was this that as Bordo (2003) writes, when Guttmacher analysed sperm under the microscope for the first time he refused to describe sperm as ‘waiting’ for the ova and instead portrays them as ‘cruising’, as if they were looking to pick up girls. Despite this however, classical images in the Holy Bible depict the woman as a temptress (Eve, Salome, Delilah) as do the more contemporary secular versions in movies such as Fatal Attraction. In an era where sex sells, literature shows that the women’s body has become sexualised, sometimes objectified and at others depicted as a manipulator. A homogenous, indefinable ideal of femininity constantly requires women to attend to the very finest detail in fashion. As Bordo (2003) continues to claim, female bodies have become ‘docile bodies’, “bodies whose forces and energies are habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation, improvement” (p.166). Although male concern over appearance increased significantly during the late 1970s and 1980s, studies confirm that a huge gender gap still exists. Women seem to be much less appreciative of their bodies and show extreme negative assessments on their distorted bodily perception (Goleman, 1985). They also seem to judge themselves more severely when they realise that they are not conforming to the cultural ideals of beauty. This is becoming worse as time goes, since many females continue to be dissatisfied with their body image perception. It is interesting to note that in a study held in 1985, teenage girls were the group most dissatisfied with their appearance (Bordo, 2003).

2.5 Body Image in Adolescent Girls

At the macro level, the sociocultural perspective highlights the importance of an appearance culture that honours and shapes cultural ideals of beauty (Vilhjalmsson et al., 2012). It is during adolescence that this culture, represented by the media, family and peers, manages to make adolescents internalise these normative beauty ideals (Jones, Vigfusdottir, & Lee, 2004; Thelen & Cormier 1995). As Blum (2003) explains, adolescents obtain their body image totally from the outside. The adolescent girl enters the world uncertain whether her face and body would be consented by those around her.

There are many definitions of body image, a term coined by Paul Schilder in 1935 (Blum 2003). However it “is generally understood as a mental image of one’s body as it appears to others” (Featherstone, 2010, p.194). He claims that body image also changes with time and space. Ferguson (1997a, 1997b) argues that there has been a shift from a closed body image in the nineteenth century to a more open and ambiguous sense of body image today (Featherstone, 2010). This ambiguity relates to another concept- the body schema, which is more related to the ‘felt body’. While body image is in simpler words the ‘look’ one has for others, in which the visual appearance is essential, body schema goes deeper than this and involves the non-visual sense of the body. This draws attention to how our senses work together not just to help us perceive the world around us but also how we sense and interact with other bodies in everyday life situations. It goes beyond the ‘mirror image’, focusing mainly on body rhetoric which is central of charisma, a characteristic which most attracts people’s attention (ibid.).

Despite this however, young females are increasingly becoming more concerned about their bodies and about how to achieve the ideal standards of beauty and bodily perfection. Armet (2008) states that this is leading to a body-image crisis in American adolescents, with increased numbers of young girls suffering from low self-esteem, obsessive exercising and disordered eating. Through the cultural emphasis put on judging women solely on how they look and how much they conform to standards of beauty and fashion, girls are becoming more self-critical of their own body. They try to dedicate all their energy to perfect their outside appearance. This is because for the young female her body is “the primary expression of her individual identity” (Armet, 2008, p.2) which she aims to improve by buying clothes and other things to further enhance her exterior surfaces. These issues form a discourse that stresses the importance of the body. The young female has learned to give priority to her body’s physical appearance since she has come to regard her body as her identity. This leads to implications in her adolescent behaviour where “a quest for identity becomes a struggle with her body-image” (ibid.).

2.6 Consumer Culture and Body Image

As Featherstone (2010) posits, it is naturally understood that consumer culture is obsessed with the body. We are constantly being bombarded by media images of models, celebrities and other stars showing off their beautiful, perfect bodies. They are generally portrayed as happy and youthful, and enjoying luxurious surroundings. Critics have argued against this kind of narcissistic life, pointing out its superficiality and an abandonment of human values. This is because according to them the concern with body image is often dangerous as it creates a diversion from the importance of social justice and equality. Most of the images used in advertising, are technologically abused, to the extent that their level of beauty is often unattainable. These images do not simply represent what there is behind them but what one should aspire to be. These are the images that are making us compare “who we are not and who we would like to be” (Featherstone, (2010, p.197). These comparisons lead us to transformation -presenting the before and after picture- which is today pivotal not just in consumer culture but is also one of the key tenets of Western modernity. Celebrities, media industries and sportspeople are replacing scientists, explorers and intellectuals proving the shift from the virtues of consistency and steadfastness to a charming and engaging appearance (Featherstone, 1982, 2007). The constant fascination with celebrity lifestyles made available through cable, satellite and the internet keep showing us how they maintain their good looks and bodily fitness while coping with their challenging lives. Even when they fall and have to deal with drugs, alcoholism or weight problems, they are seen as triumphant since fitness regimes, diets or gurus put them back on the road to self- improvement (Featherstone, 2010). This puts pressure on individuals especially females who thanks to the media imagery fall victims to feeling unhappy with their bodies, to start routines sometimes drastic, of self-improvement (Bordo, 2003). A new body image gives one a new improved self-image and a more exciting quality of life. Since even status and social acceptability has come to depend on looks it is indeed of no wonder that today taking extreme care for one’s appearance becomes an obligation to self and portrays those who ignore this obligation as being flawed.

As Featherstone (2010) remarks, clothing, cosmetics and adornment used to enhance one’s look become not just “a constructed appearance of what one wants others to see, but also reflexively they provide an outward image which seeks information in the returned glances of others, for the inner narrative of what one feels one should be” (p. 198). This is mainly found in contemporary Western societies, where being a woman has often been referred to as ‘a form of theatre’ (Sontag, 1978, as cited in Featherstone 2010)) where women are constantly ‘watching themselves being looked at’ (Berger, 1973, as cited in Featherstone 2010). Nevertheless beauty has also become associated with moral goodness. The body, especially the face is seen as a reflection of the self, through which a person’s inner character is manifested (Rivers, 1994; Twine, 2002, as cited in Featherstone, 2010). Kuhn (1990, as cited in Featherstone, 2010) explains however how cosmetics do not only make up the woman but also the image, “capturing both the elegant appearance, but also ‘the look’ which summons up the inner narrative” (p. 198). This puts together a narrative, evidence of an embodied person. Charisma and stardom draws attention to ‘presence’, which is an additional aspect to body image. It is something which needs to be felt and works in a different way to beauty. It is an experience communicated between bodies which create affective resonances, and hence is trusted more than just an image. This is the affective body, which contrary to the body image, is a body without a specified image. Here we think about the ‘feel good’ impression sensed via affect. The moving body presented on television, cinemas and video captures a body in process. Affect is communicated by non-verbals such as gestures, and facial and body movements. Here, the image has become a process where in contrast to the conventional sense of body image, is presented as an affective body which provides additional embodied information.

Consumer culture is still, however, constantly asking consumers to scrutinize themselves for imperfections, and to measure up to ideal bodies presented in the media (Featherstone, 1982). This points towards the work of Giddens (1991) who wrote about a high degree of reflexivity in late modernity, since these actors are investing in body projects as a means to enhance their self-identity. This view was criticized for keeping with the mind-body dualism and for its overemphasis upon the rational choice of those who seek to control their bodies (Budgeon, 2003; Shilling and Mellor, 1996, as cited in Featherstone, 2010). But really and truly, is the choice rational, when we are constantly being bombarded by all these pressures to look good, almost convinced that this will lead us to a better life? The body has become to be seen as salient for a good life, the ‘look good: feel good’ transformation which, thanks to consumer culture, is portrayed as available for purchase to one and all. It is common belief that body works will not just upgrade the body to reach societal constructs of beauty but are also pictured to open a full range of lifestyle opportunities. Body modifications have nowadays become the means to create a beautiful appearance and hence a beautiful self (Featherstone, 2010).

2.7 Cosmetic Surgery -a brief history

According to Albin (2006) body modifications are defined as “changes made to the body, either self-induced or by the hand of another, that result in permanent alterations visible to the unaided eye”. These modifications, which include tattooing, piercing, and cosmetic surgery to name a few, all share a common motive that in the end the individuals find pleasure in bodily expression, decoration, and attractiveness that can ultimately be admired by others.

Cosmetic surgery is certainly one of the most impressive techniques for body reconstruction. It is the kind of surgery where the surgeon ‘cures’ the cosmetic defects and emotional pain resulting from lack of liking and acceptance of one’s appearance (Blum, 2003). Cosmetic surgery falls under the umbrella of plastic surgery, however cosmetic surgery only deals with surgery that has to do with the aesthetic, referring to surgery done on a healthy body simply for the improvement of looks. Haiken (1997) reports two separate developments that account for the emergence of cosmetic surgery. The first development was when early cosmetic surgeons were considered ‘charlatans’ or ‘beauty doctors’ and were not taken seriously albeit certain techniques they developed are still in use today. The second development came with the First World War, when surgeons gained expertise while trying to treat disfiguring scars of soldiers for cosmetic purpose.

From the late nineteenth century, cosmetic surgery was associated with actresses since their careers always depended on the longevity of their good looks and by 1923 it was set in the public imagination as a celebrity practice (Blum, 2003). Gradually, a technology that was primarily aimed at replacing malfunctioning parts has caused an ideology promoted by desires of transforming and correcting, challenging the very materiality of the body (Bordo, 2003). Sarwer et al.(2004, as cited in Swami et al, 2007) believe that a rise in media fascination, higher incomes and loss of stigma are but a few reasons why even the common people in postmodern times are opting for the surgical fix especially in countries like the Netherlands, where cosmetic surgery is offered free through publicly funded healthcare (Gimlin, 2007, as cited in Swami et al, 2007)). Studies show that rates of cosmetic surgery have risen significantly both in Western and non-Western countries during the past twenty years (ASAPS Statistics, 2008; BAAPS Statistics, 2008; Jones, 2008, as cited in Gimlin, 2010). Recent studies show that young people between the ages of 16 and 35 are turning to cosmetic surgery more than ever.

2.8 Young females and cosmetic surgery

Body-image scholars claim that it is much easier to succeed in the world if one is good-looking (Blum, 2003). Appearance culture imposes the thin hourglass shape as a female body ideal (Vilhjalmsson et al.,2012). Although many were the researchers who have indicated that this contemporary feminine ideal of thin attractiveness is unattainable for most women (Irving, 1990; Levine & Smolak, 1998; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986; Wilcox & Laird, 2000), it still triumphs despite its opposition.

As Ferron (1997) claims body image lies at the heart of adolescence and hence young females enter the world longing for their looks to be approved by those a

In this essay I’d like to analyze the phenomenon of xenophobia in Ukraine. This topic corresponds to the issue of limits of tolerance. To start this paper it’s crucial to define what the tolerance is. Basically tolerance is will or capability to endure, allow and accept the existing opinion or behaviour, which the person dislikes or disagrees with. This definition makes it clear that the ties between two notions of “tolerance” and “xenophobia” are undoubted.

The context, in which the xenophobia is investigated here, is quiet interesting. Ukraine has got its independence in 1991, but before that for almost 400 centuries (with the exception of few years during the interwar period) it was a part of different Russian empires, Polish states and Habsburg Empire. Therefore, the conditions of Ukrainian nation formation were really interesting. To my mind this process is still in progress, that’s why nowadays we have such an interesting case of xenophobia phenomenon there.

The question my essay is going to answer is: What are the reasons of xenophobia in Ukraine?

To answer it I need to fulfill following steps:

1. To review the contemporary approaches to the studying of xenophobia.

2. To analyze the results of two sociological researches on xenophobia in the state in 1995 and 2006.

3. To propose and analyze the reasons of xenophobia in Ukraine.

The structure of my essay is closely related to the steps, which I mentioned above. Therefore, the first part will give the theoretical basis for the data analysis, which will be done in the second part. The third part will be more theoretical as I’m going to find out which reasons play the key role for xenophobia level in Ukraine.

The central place in the logic of my essay is occupied by the results of researches made by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, one of the leading sociology research agencies in Ukraine. As I mentioned above two researches were made in 1995 and 2006 correspondently. During each of these researches a little bit more than 2000 people were interviewed. The results of these researches are representative for the adult population of Ukraine (18+).

Part 1. Theory overview
1.1. Xenophobia through the social theory

Before turning to statistical data it is crucial to see which theoretical basis this topic has, that’s why I decided to look at xenophobia through the prism of social science theories. The generally accepted content of the notion of “xenophobia” can be expressed by the following theses:

1. This is the condition of fear towards strangers or simply something unknown, unusual and strange;

2. Hatred, intolerance and hostility towards representatives of other races, religion, culture, foreigners or representatives of other regions as well as towards something unknown, unusual and strange. [1]

This definition proves that the phenomenon of xenophobia has not only individual character, but also has the social nature as it is “made” of social reasons, factors of influence and consequences. Basically, the investigation of xenophobia is grounded on the following sociological concepts and theoretical explications: Other, Strange, identification, ethnocentrism, cultural compatibility, nation and nationalism, collective ideas, tolerance and racism.

The notion of “xenophobia” is ontologically connected to the categories of “Other” and “Strange”. G. W. F. Gegel, E. Gusserl, M. Haidegger and others made a great contribution to the development and investigation of these categories. It is crucial to mention that the Other is not obligatory the Strange. According to G. Simmel, B. Vandelfels and E. Goffman the Strangers are not simply unknown people, but they are uninvited guests in one’s world, who are not going to leave it. They come today to stay here tomorrow, but even if they stay they continue being the strangers. In other words, getting closer physically doesn’t mean becoming closer spiritually. The realization of “Their” existance allows us to constitute ourselves and to isolate our “We” from them. [2] From this point of view xenophobia fits the theory “We (not strange) – They (the Strange)” very well.

The next dimension, which xenophobia can be investigated through, is the concepts of identities. In different times the problem of identity and identification was developed by E. Fromm, G. H. Mead, A. Giddens, E. Erickson, J. Habermas, K. Horney, E. Smith, etc. People have numerous identities, force and volume of which varies depending on different factors. The structure of identity develops during the whole life according to the change of social context. Identification has opposite nature and foreknows the statement that they are different from us. The beginning of xenophobia can be seen when the stating of peculiarity is replaced with hard valuating contrasting (they are worse than we are, we are their victims, etc.). [3] Usually it is connected with the phenomenon of negative identification, when self-affirmation occurs through the humiliation of others. To my mind this approach to xenophobia is very logical and well-grounded.

In time of globalization in contemporary societies the ethnic (national) community predominates in people’s identification. Respectively, the issue of ethnic identity gains a great value and a special status. From this point of view in such a situation ethnic identity causes intolerance towards representatives of other ethnic groups. [4] Here we can see how xenophobia is born as a result of the Other’s deviation from the accepted by majority unitary cultural norm and the xenophobic person considers him/herself to be the standard of this cultural norm.

To my opinion it’s time to turn to the theories of ethnocentrism and cultural compatibility. The notion of “ethnocentrism” was introduced by L. Gumplowicz and was defined as the reasons, which make every people believe that it occupies the highest place not only among the contemporary peoples and nations, but also comparing to all peoples of the past. [5] For ethnocentrism it is typically:

1. To accept own group as a standard for the evaluation of other groups (“own” is always right, natural and the best). It causes group’s inner consolidation;

2. To recognize the other groups as worse ones. It’s accompanied by hostility, distrust and disrespect to the members of other groups.

These tendencies can exist separately from each other, but for xenophobia the last feature is obligatory condition. So, this is how xenophobia can be studied from the ethnocentrism point of view.

Considering xenophobia it’s important to stress that xenophobic world-view includes negative collective ideas, social stereotypes and prejudices. The stereotypes can have neutral or even positive character, but xenophobia is a consequence of negative stereotypes only. These negative stereotypes influence much the formation of social consciousness, defines the disfigured way of social and cross-cultural communication. This phenomenon is common for individuals and social groups. Therefore, to understand xenophobia it is crucial to investigate the stereotypes of social environment, but not the individual’s prejudice. From the point of xenophobia it’s more logical to speak about collective ideas (the notion proposed by E. Durkheim). [6]

During the end of 19th – beginning of 20th centuries the racial myths became a part of nationalistic arguments. Therefore, the overview of approaches to investigate xenophobia won’t be full without turning to theory of nations and nationalism.

Diverse understanding of nation is expressed in different approaches of understanding of nationalism. In contemporary tradition of national studies nationalism is characterized as either neutral, or good, and only sometimes as negative phenomenon. The discussion around the question of nation and nationalism still takes place. But there is no doubt that the radical aggressive manifestation of nationalism (chauvinism) is one of xenophobia types.

For sure, xenophobia should be considered in terms of bipolarity, when its other pole is the phenomenon of tolerance. One of the ways to analyze xenophobia is to observe its opposite side. The notion of “tolerance” was discussed in works of M. Weber, G. W. F. Gegel, T. Hobbes, J. Locke and others. The real revolution of tolerance theory was made by the theory of personal autonomy of J. St. Mill. He claimed the authority of individual freedom. An individual is absolutely sovereign in his actions. His/her freedom can be limited if his actions harm or trouble other members of society. Starting from the times when this theory was elaborated the principle of personal freedom became the basis of toleration and human rights in liberal theory. [7]

Thereby, this overview provides an understanding of existing approaches to investigate xenophobia as social phenomenon. I named and discussed briefly basic theories to approach intolerance expressed in xenophobia. The concepts of Other, Strange, identification, ethnocentrism, cultural compatibility, nation and nationalism, collective ideas, tolerance and racism constructed the basis for further investigation of the issue I’m interested in. For me the central place in this overview is taken by “identity” and issues related to it. In this essay we are going to see how human (social) identity influences xenophobia in Ukrainian case. Nevertheless, I would assume that all named above theories are applicable for the case, which is discussed in this paper, but I’m going to stress on the most important just for that very case of Ukraine.

Part 2. Analysis of empirical data
2.1. Bogardus scale

It’s important to describe Bogardus scale briefly as this method was used for the researches, results of which are going to be discussed in this paper. The testing scale of xenophobia was named after its creator Emory S. Bogardus. It was elaborated to estimate willingness of people to take part in social contacts on different levels with representatives of varying social groups (for instance, different ethnic, racial and socio-lingual groups, sexual minorities, etc). [8]

The Bogardus scale asks how close people would accept the representative of each group, which research interested in (the answer 1.00 represents no social distance at all as it’s the closest possible social contact):

– to accept as family member (no social distance);

– as the close friends;

– as neighbors;

– as colleague;

– as the citizens of the same country;

– as the visitors of the country, where responder is coming from;

– the responder wants to exclude this person from his/her country. [9]

The Scale of Xenophobia proposed by Bogardus is based on the method of cumulating as the respondent’s answer, the social distance, which the respondent chooses, means that he/she also accepts bigger social distances (according to the scale) with a member of social group, which he-she asked about. This method was criticized much, because it simplified the meaning of different social contacts, because family relations as well as close friendship can’t be compared to interactions of far-away type. Nevertheless, this scale started being used in 1925 and is still used. This is not the only way to measure social distance, but it was applied for the researches, which are discussed in this paper.

2.2. Xenophobia in Ukraine. General overview

To make the general overview of xenophobia in the country the best way is to see the dynamics of xenophobia rates change in time. Let’s see the Figure 1, which represents the table comparing the xenophobia index in Ukraine in 1995 and 2006.

It’s obvious that in Ukraine the xenophobia index towards all ethnic, ethnic-lingual and racial groups presented in the table increased. Hierarchy of “dislikes” almost didn’t change except of Americans, intolerance towards who increased of 0.9 points.

Ethnic/Racial/Ethnic-lingual Group
1995
2006

Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians

1,72

2,06

Russian-speaking Ukrainians

1,84

2,23

Russians

2,05

2,39

Jews

3,71

4,13

Polishes

3,82

4,37

Germans

3,92

4,56

Americans

3,72

4,63

Black people

5,01

5,42

Figure 1. The xenophobia index in Ukraine towards several ethnic/racial/ethnic-lingual groups. 1995 and 2006. [10]

The table also shows that the highest rate of intolerance was towards black people, the members of different racial group, both in 1995 and in 2006. Intolerance rates towards the representatives of different ethnic groups, which are culturally distant (Americans and Europeans), are a bit lower comparing to the black people. The smallest social distances are towards ethnically and culturally close ethnic groups. To observe the real picture of xenophobia it is crucial to consider the following percentage of those, who according the researches’ results wanted the member of other nations to become the member of their families. So, 59% of Ukrainian population want to accept Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainian as a family member, 13% of responders said “yes” to accepting Americans as their families and only 5% considered as possible to include a black person to their family. Moreover, the percentage of those, who wouldn’t let the representatives of the named above groups in Ukraine, makes the picture even more impressive: 0,5% of responders don’t want to see Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians in Ukraine (!), 9% are against Americans presence in the state and 21% of population said “no” to black people’s arrival to Ukraine. [11]

There are some basic theories of xenophobic dislikes. So I’m going to see in which ways the xenophobia is usually explained by the theorists of this phenomenon in Europe and the USA.

According to Theodor W. Adorno intolerance is an element of authoritarian system, which depresses personality and makes people seek for some objects to wreak their anger on. But this theory has nothing in common with image of “scapegoat”, because this object should be historically grounded and perform as incontestable element of tradition and it has to be defined quite well by the existing well-known stereotypes [12] . He created this theory regarding anti-Semitism and ethnical prejudice in authoritarian societies. Investigating post-war intolerance in the USA and Germany he didn’t probably realize the topicality of his invention for the “democratic” Eastern Europe in 1990s and even 2000s.

Another theory, which can be relevant for the Ukrainian case and is worse to be considered, is economic theory. Its explanation is quiet different, but fits Ukrainian reality for my mind. Gordon W. Allport argued that prejudice increases when the members of different unequal ethnic and racial groups contact each other, when one group dominates the other one. It means that not every experience of contact with representatives of other ethnical groups leads to decreasing of stereotypes. In other words the experience of interaction between members of different ethnic/racial groups is positive and successful if only they are equal by social status and they do not compete against each other. [13]

The theory of cognitive-linguistic orientation stresses on the fact that stereotypes are to simplify the communication inside the social group and to strengthen sense of belonging to this social group between its members. This rule especially works during the radical social change periods, when group interests and mechanism of group protection form. [14]

Three theories were proposed, which to my mind explain xenophobia in Europe and the USA well. Moreover, it fits Ukrainian case as Ukraine belongs to post-authoritarian states of Eastern Europe, which face a lot of difficulties on the way of following the democracy and improving democratic values in societies, that’s why we can assume that “authoritarian personality”, who is intolerant to “others”, is still widespread. Following the second theory we can also suppose transformation of economy to lead to phobia increase on the ground of economical competition. The opening of Ukrainian market after the years of closed plan economy faced and is facing resistance from ordinary Ukrainian. I’m sure that low living standard caused by economical instability and weak economy of Ukraine led to the fear of new economic reality, which is followed by intolerance increase.

Unfortunately any comparisons of Ukraine to other states are senseless as Ukrainian xenophobia situation is quite different because of intolerant attitude of Ukrainians towards each other and even themselves. This peculiarity makes me look deeper for other possible reasons of xenophobia in Ukraine; otherwise the reasons named above would be enough.

2.3. Xenophobia in Ukraine: internal dimension

The results of the researches, which are discussed in this paper, were also analyzed on the basis of the geographical division. Usually Ukraine is divided into two ethnic-lingual parts – East and West, but KIIS divided it into 5 sub-regions (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Map of Ukraine: this dimension is used for data analysis in 2006. 2 orange parts are Ukrainian-speaking and 3 blue sub-regions are mostly Russian-speaking. [15]

The detailed analysis of ethnic evaluations and attitudes, which were made on the basis of this research’s results (see the Figure 3), declared that Eastern and Western parts of Ukraine differ from each other by the level and character of xenophobia attitudes. From the table presented below it is possible to see that the level of xenophobia is higher among the Western Ukrainians than among the population of Eastern Ukrain. The table, which shows the xenophobia rate by large Ukrainian ethnic-lingual groups, is also presented below (see Figure 4). This table as well as the previous one shows the percentage of respondents who agree to accept the representative of these large ethnic-lingual groups as a family member. The lower the percentage is, the higher rate of xenophobia is.

to accept as a family member
West, %
W.-C., %
E.- C., %
South, %
East, %

Ukrain.-speaking Ukrainian

58,5

65

57,5

58

52

Rus.-speaking Ukrainians

27

62

57

65,5

62

Russians

19

52

55

58

62

Jews

7

15

10

23

11

Figure 3. Willingness to accept representative of large ethnic-social groups as a family member by regions (2006). [16]

to accept as family member
All respondents of 2006, %
U-s Ukrainians, %
R-s Ukrainians, %
Russians, %

Ukrain.-speaking Ukrainian

59

60

61

53

Rus.-speaking Ukrainian

55

42

64

67

Russian

49

33

56

74

Jew

14

9

17

20

Figure 4. Willingness of large Ukrainian ethnic-lingual groups to accept the representative of these groups as a family member (2006). [17]

So, according to these tables the highest level of intolerance towards related cultural and ethnic groups is in the Western Ukraine and among Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians. The data of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine claims that the situation was the same in 1992 [18] . The highest xenophobia rate in this region and among this group of Ukrainians is towards Jews and Russians comparing to the other ethnic-lingual groups. The tables’ data also show that both groups of Ukrainians, Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking, has a low-level tolerance towards the members of their own groups. Only 60-64% of respondents agree to accept a member of their ethnic-lingual group as a family member.

Thereby, in this part the results of researches made by KIIS in 1995 and 2006 were analyzed. The general overview of xenophobia level in Ukraine indicated the most tolerated and not tolerated groups. From this point of view Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians were the most tolerated group in Ukrainian society, but black people were tolerated much less. In general during 1995-2006 the level of xenophobia increased much. I turned to three theories to ground the xenophobia: Adornos’ “depressed personality” theory, economic and cognitive-linguistic theories. Post-socialist depression, the fear of new economic realities and low economic development of country (causing the low standard of living), dominance of stereotypes in interaction/communication with representatives of other ethnic and racial groups represent main social reasons for high level of xenophobia in a country. The increase of it can be explained by long-term no change in socio-economic situation in the state. Of course, these theories explains partly the xenophobia in Ukraine, but to my mind Ukrainian case needs detailed individual approach as it has peculiarities. The Ukrainian xenophobia peculiarity is xenophobia inside dominant national community. According to KIIS data of 2006 there is xenophobic tension between Ukrainian-speaking and Russian speaking groups of Ukrainians. Moreover, there is xenophobia inside each of these groups towards the members of each of them. This part of the paper declared the low level of tolerance in Ukrainian society towards all possible ethic-lingual/ethnic/racial groups.

To my mind there are three different ways to explain this phenomenon of intolerance in the Western Ukraine.

Part 3. Theoretical argumentation of research results
3.1. Structural theory

The first explanation is based on the structure of people’s settlements as from this point of view the Western Ukrainian region is quite different from the Eastern part. Statistics are quite interesting, they show that half of the Western population lives in countryside, but only 10% of Eastern Ukrainians live in villages. [19] It’s crucial to emphasize that difference between the urban and rural areas is still very big in the meaning of education and wealth. In some villages it is even hard to get access to the basic school education. The villagers are less educated than townsmen are, that’s why it’s possible to assume that the level of education is higher on the East than on the West of Ukraine. This can partly explain the xenophobia level differences in both regions of Ukraine. This approach was called structural (the structure of settlements) by sociologists [20] .

The lower toleration level in rural areas can be also grounded on economic factors. During the independence period the economic situation became much worse in countryside comparing to cities. Here we can go back to T. W. Adorno’s theory about “depressed personality”. In contemporary Ukrainian village we have classical case, when people being unsatisfied with their life blame other people in their misfortune. In Western Ukrainian case Jews, Russians and Russian-speaking Ukrainians are blamed. On the East of Ukraine traditionally (from the USSR times) they blame Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians and foreigners from the West.

Nevertheless, it is obvious that economic factor-based explanation is not enough. The Western Ukrainian case turns to the deeper historical and cultural roots of this phenomenon. Western Ukrainians have already got the image of enemy, they hand this image down from parents to children. In the situation of radical social change they use it more actively. Of course, the image I’m speaking about is embodied in a Russian. This image is very well supported by the stereotypes. Russian is a symbol of “enslavement” of Soviets’ times (the attitudes to this on the East is much differs).

I propose to take a look at the table, which is to present the xenophobia rates in Western and Eastern cities and villages. This will make it clearer if this difference between both regions’ xenophobia depends more on structural or historical/cultural reasons

Ethnic or Ethnic-lingual group
Western region
Eastern region

City

Village

City

Village

Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians

2,33

2,02

1,97

1,82

Russian-speaking Ukrainians

3,38

3,48

1,61

1,61

Russians

3,67

3,86

1,61

1,44

Figure 5. Xenophobia rate in Ukrainian city and village by regions

(researches for 2005 and 2006). [21]

The data from the table testify against the structural theory but not at all as we can mention the small difference between the city’s and the village’s xenophobia rates. It is also easy to notice that city and village from one region have more in common in their attitudes than villagers and townsmen from different parts of Ukraine.

3.2. Insecure majority

To explain the phenomenon of xenophobia in both large Ukrainian ethnic-lingual groups I’d like to turn to the theory presented by K. Liebkind in 1996 [22] . According to Liebkind’s point of view minorities and majorities can be observed through the dimension into secure and insecure in order to investigate the way how minorities get along together with majority. I think that Ukrainian case fits in with this theory much.

This theory sees two types of majorities and minorities in this perspective. The group of insecure majority is defined by the defensive internal identity, which is constructed on strong ethnic or national basis. Interacting with minority usually insecure majority declines their demands.

Secure majority’s identification is vice-versa constructed on weak ethnic or national basis; moreover, it doesn’t accent its own identity much. Obviously, this kind of majority respects the rights of minorities more and tries to fulfill their demands while including them into the society where they rule.

The other side of this “coin” is minorities. Insecure minorities are opposite to insecure minorities, which were presented above. This group has a very weak ethnic or national basis, that’s why their identifications construction goes beyond the scope of their group. In the case of insecure minority the assimilation is widespread while including them into the society ruled by majority. For the representatives of insecure minority the community of majority is the standard, which they strive for. In case, if assimilation as the only possible method of insecure minority inclusion fails, this group is supposed to be marginalized.

The secure minority position is simpler as they admit their own particularity and wants to be recognized by the social majority. Its inner identification is built on the strong ethnic or national ground. [23]

By-turn she noted that this scheme allows to invent different combinations of its components. He also mentioned that “this distinction of majorities and minorities has another consequence while forming new states. If, for example, a secure minority happens to create its own state, it’s more likely that this minority will become an insecure intolerant majority.” [24]

Turning to Ukrainian case after the analysis of this scheme I realized that from the point of view of these categories in Ukraine we deal with two groups, one of which is insecure majority on the Western part of Ukraine, and another group is secure majority of the South-East of the country. Of course, this distinction is far from perfect as I assume there are no pure categories in real life, but anyway for the purposes of this essay I’m able to make some generalizations on the basis of contemporary Ukrainian socio-political life.

In XIX century the leaders and inspirers of Ukrainian national building considered the Western Ukraine to be Ukrainian Piedmont as Ukrainian national building was mostly promoted by Lviv. The national idea was the thing, which the West carried all the time in the interest of whole contemporary Ukraine. Even now this region is highly nationalistic (I will turn to this issue in the next part). As it was said above the identification of Western Ukrainians is based on high national profile. The radical right parties are highly popular there (this fact also has some correlation with xenophobia rate). It can be explained by historical path of this region.

The situation is much different on the East. I consider Eastern Ukraine to be secure majority. It means that population of this region has no strong nationality-based identity, because its identity is citizenship-based (I will turn to this later in the next part). Eastern Ukrainians never cared much about the Ukrainian nationalism, b

Introduction

In recent years, the world’s urban poverty growing than before, social problems also lead to further highlight. With the deepening of urban poverty, it has become unsafe hidden in social and economic life. The urban poor people have many problems not to be effectively solved; they are unemployment, social security, distribution system, social equity and social development and so on. Since the middle 20th century, along with the accelerated process of urbanization and urban population density increased, the world’s urban population increased from 30% to now about 50%, this figure will be close to 60% to 2030. The population increased has brought a significant increase in the urban poor and slum issues become increasingly prominent. Currently, nearly 10 million people in worldwide are living in urban slums. And according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2006) more than 13 million deaths annually are due to preventable environmental causes. Among them, the most populous slum in Asia, this figure represents the world’s urban slum population of more than half of the total. In the globalization process led to poverty and social inequality, in 2030 urban slum population will grow to about 2 billion.

Slums represent the worst city in the current poverty and inequality, its emergence and existence of many factors. Among them, the war and the regional situation of unrest led to a significant increase in refugees, migrants quickly to urban migration, urban poverty and inequality were increased, living without protect, these are all the causes of slums. So this report will discuss different solutions to poverty in urban areas. Firstly the author describes the causes and effect, and then the report will talk about problems and how to solute these problems. The author will use reading much information from books, journals and internet to collect data,

What means of urban poverty? Urban poverty generally refers to individuals or families to rely on labor income and other legitimate income could not sustain their basic needs for survival in urban areas.

1. Cause and effect
1.1 causes

Uneven distribution of urban poverty groups lead to the existence and rapid expansion of the important factors. With urban poor groups, unemployment, social security, distribution system, social equity are all problems in social development and these problems did not been effectively resolved and sufficient attention. With the passage of time and social gap between rich and poor growing, global cities in the number of poor people from poverty being gradually towards the long-term poverty, social poverty in the formation of a large group.

1.2 effects

In modern society, the fastest growing community is slums, slums are growing center of crime and violence, in terms of climate change, urban poverty is one of the largest sources of pollution, in this global village, someone else’s poverty very soon become their own problems: lack of market products, illegal immigration, pollution, AIDS, other diseases, insecurity, crime, religious fanaticism, terrorism. People can no longer ignore the plight of slum dwellers. If people ignore these problems, it may be a serious social exclusion, with the attendant threat to peace and security, this is the adverse effects.

2. Problems

2.1 Refugees and migrant populations have high rates of poverty.

2.2 Poor living conditions. Slums are usually the worst health conditions in urban areas, and even waste materials pile up land (including industrial toxic waste), groups living in slums, often suffering from various diseases caused by pollution, slum women and their children the biggest victims of these problems. The streets are dirty, some times many people have to share one toilet. The dirty condition may cause diseases and especially for children, they are easier to get ill (Practical Action, 2008).

2.3 Basic life, health and employment are not protected. One of the main urban underemployment in recent years, some countries and regions due to growing poverty and political instability and war continued, leading to a large number of refugees fleeing their homes to escape war and poverty and to change part of a influx of relatively well-developed and there is no war in the city.

2.4 Urban poverty increased and serious underemployments lead to all kinds of crime. Modern society, the work requires not only the employed have a higher level of scientific and cultural knowledge, while the extensive application of science and technology result in decreased employment. Thus, many cities people who are low education and older age were significantly reduced employment opportunities, making the city are suffering from the rapid expansion of vulnerable groups, vulnerable groups in cities grow crimes, including violent crime is more prominent.

2.5 Urban poor and disadvantaged groups live in the bottom of society, social status is “low” and even some of the extreme poor people have not basic social security benefits.

3. Solutions

3.1 Through legislation to clear the main responsibility of the parties to the social security. Through the legislature to develop the appropriate social security laws and regulations, they clearly defined responsibilities of the principal parties to the social security.

3.2 Establish effective social security system.

Related departments need to further improve the urban minimum living security system. Workers not only should have a minimum wage, but also establish an effective system of Family Planning survey, the conditions to help the inhabitants of current income and family status of assets and other income combined, clear procedures for poor residents to apply for assistance, protect the rights of poor residents.

3.3 The establishment of urban public housing policy as soon as possible. Poor living conditions for the poor, the Government should build public housing, to help poor people improve their living conditions. Currently low-rent housing policy introduced in some cities and their integration into the social assistance system. The system should be firmly follow the fair, the principle of open, unified per capita housing area, and ensure that housing conditions were extremely difficult for low-income residents have access to limited housing support.

3.4 The establishment of poor medical assistance policy. The health care of poor people is an increasingly prominent social problems, disease caused poor people worsened the living conditions and even fall into despair. Therefore, people need to establish a poverty-oriented medical assistance system, the system helps relieve the pressure on poor people’s lives, it is also social development and progress and an important part of social equity. Of course, this system reduces the medical burden of the poor people, but not free.

3.5 Improve people’s education level, because of financial or personal problems, lots of young people have no chance to gain better education. Consequently, with the purpose of guarantee citizens’ security, related organizations can help some poor students to entry universities and give them more opportunities. For instance, the organizations can provide funding to students, or build a committee to collect funds from society; they can also consulate with universities to reduce the tuition fee or provide jobs to students. From these solutions, it is not only benefit for students, but also for whole education system.

3.6 Try to change the appalling living conditions; people should not dispose sewage in anywhere. People should reduce garbage and collect all rubbish to a special place, please do not thrown away or burning rubbish. People can create a good living space.

3.7 Urban poverty lead to all kinds of crime, the best ways to solute this problem, maybe community help poor people to study different kinds of vocational education and improve the quality of the poor people; they also can improve basic education policy and try to make more people to go to school; society can strengthen ethics and law education so that people understand not to do illegal things; community can establish a social security system, it maybe eliminate the poor people’s worried, and they also need to strengthen external management of the domicile population.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this report talk about urban poverty and it impacts our world in different aspects, there are many problems, and people need to give the suggestions to solute these problems. Overall, poverty is a serious instability factors, because this is a very difficult question, we need more concerned about this problem so that more people and community groups aware of the seriousness, to get more help, the agency can try to solve the problem within the maximum range.

Reference
E. Moreno (2003) Slums of the World: The face of urban poverty in the new millennium?
Giusti de Perez, R. & Perez, R. (2008) Analyzing Urban Poverty: GIS for the Developing World. http://gis.esri.com/esripress/shared/images/139/URBAN_ch01.pdf
Masika, R., de Haan, A. & Baden, S. (1997) Urbanization and urban poverty: a gender analysis. BRIDGE, Report No 54. http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re54.pdf
Perlman, J., Hopkins, E. & Jonsson, A. (1998) Urban solutions at the poverty/environment intersection. http://www.megacitiesproject.org/publications_pdf_mcp01solutions.pdf
Practical Action (2008) Urban Poverty. http://practicalaction.org/shelter/urbanpoverty_background
S. Li (2007) Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty in Urban China Taylor & Francis; 1 edition

In the last three decades, the recruitment of women into the modern sector has been at the centre of the development debate in developing countries. Despite many years of practical feminist activity and numerous studies of everyday life, progress towards gender equality still reflects a growing concern. The term ‘women in development’ is primarily used to refer to operational objectives that incorporate women into the development process. Consequently, this paper will argue that the women in development perspective (WID) provides a useful approach because it clearly explores many dimensions of women’s subordination issue in capitalist countries and analyses gender division of labour which explain the durability of gender inequality, followed by concrete solutions such as incorporating women into development and providing women with training and education.

With Perspective explained that the reason of gender inequality in development countries is rooted in the principles of women’s subordination. First of all, it is noteworthy that women’s invisibility and the unequal treatments are not limited to the house area, but exist in all area of society. Keeping in mind that “the patriarchal system that placed women under the authority of fathers or husband.” Is certainly, taken to mean the dominance of all men over all women. Patriarchy seems to impose itself in gender relation as well as within capitalist society (Martinez, 2009). I believe that patriarchy is what produces gender divisions because the use of this word characterizes a domestic mode of production in which men as a class exploit women as a class. It is true that the system in which we live tends to make people perceive women as domestic labourers which reduces them “to the subordinate positions of minors” therefore women are expected to produce labour power by looking after her husband and children (Martinez, 2009). It is worthy to point out that the title “housewife” is an evidence of deterioration in the position of women because people see industrialisation as a separation of home and work therefore creates gender inequality. In fact, men have organized capitalism in a way that they maintain patriarchal power, both within the market work and within the home. Basically, men extract surplus labour from women; this is shown with the example of south Asia when the micro-credit program was introduced. Searchers have indicated that most of the credit contracted by women end up in activities controlled by the man of the house (Pearson, p. 397). However, based on my understanding of capitalism, I support that women domestic labour which is used to explain gender division which subordinate women should be considered important because even if it is often forgotten, women’s domestic labour “make a direct economic contribution” in capitalist society in term of reproduction.

Pursuing this thought further, the male domination is frequently seen as a strategy for development process because its aim is to shift the burden of women form the development and create a complete “hegemonic masculinities” which means that the capitalist societies with a high masculinity expectation is specifically looking for “certain ways of being and behaving that are associated with dominance and power.” This is usual encouraged in male and discouraged in female (Pearson, p. 401). The truth is that as long as this ideology stays the driven force in developing countries, there will always be a durability of gender inequalities. It is relevant that male violence towards women has s long history which led to the establishment of patriarchy and represents therefore a real creation of male dominance. Keeping in mind that power emanates from force, it weighs the point that men have used numerous “practices of subordination such as violence against women” to maintain male domination in the house (Martinez, 2009). Unfortunately, male domination exists in all societies therefore; it becomes the universal explanation of the gender inequalities.

The perspective argues that the major complexity of gender inequality is based on the gender division in labour. When looking at the work market, it is relevant that there is a big difference in types of jobs women and men do, the pay they receive, the hours they work and the skills they acquire. Therefore, the society has depicted as we call ‘men’s work’ and ‘women’s work’ proving that workforce in capitalist society is divided and attributed according to gender with ‘women’s work’ being the lower. As stated above, this difference is the reason why people consistently value men’s work and regard it as demanding a certain level of skill which most women’s work lacks. As a matter of fact, Pearson explains that the Ecofeminism has been established from the idea of ‘women as environmental managers’ because people link both “spiritual” and “conceptual sense” between women and nature therefore, think that environmental conservation is more appropriate to women (Pearson, p. 391). This hard gender segregation of the workforce is what makes it difficult for women to achieve equal pay with men. Men most of time occupy the skilled sectors of the workplace for example, in Canada; one is more likely to encounter a male manager and female secretary and never the opposite. Looking at this situation, I can only think that despite the so called equality legislation, the adjustment of earnings between men and women is painfully slow.

The perspective provides various solutions to close the gap between men and women. Will be considered only two of them in this paper: the integration of women in development and provide required education and training to women. The first general solution of the strategy is to implemented women in development process both as agents and as beneficiaries. This proposition is very interesting because it implies that women should be assigned with a particular roles and responsibilities which put them in position to contribute fully in the economic growth. However, the problem with this solution is that it does not solve the issue of women’s subordination. Also, speaking of role, how long will it last? Of course, women in development policy recognizes that development must involve both women and men in order to be more effective. In the same thought, capitalist societies are willing to integrate women in development process by creating more and more jobs whether full time or part time, mostly part time jobs in the idea of ‘accommodating’ women who have family therefore making women’s participation in workplace extremely low. I think that women in development perspective misses the point here because, the problem is not that women are ‘left out’ but that they are integrated into a shaped gender division labour which always put them in a position of subordinates therefore no matter what “particular role” women play, it does not change the fact that women are still disadvantaged relative to men. Basically, the solution does not resolve the contradiction because it restricts the choice of jobs open to women and I do not think that encouraging part time employment suggest any possibility of future changes in women’s social status and economic relationships.

The second solution is to provide women with the required training and education. Indeed, in developing countries, the prestige of receiving an education and training may be the key factor in setting women’s participation in development. The point if I understand well is to eliminate illiteracy and basic education by introducing whatever new programs. For sure this will reduce any obstacles to the participation of women in the economic growth. Moreover, I think this solution is reasonable because the reality is that in developing countries, the lack of knowledge and essential training has led to the development in which women are excluded as participants. However, there is a little concern about this project. When looking around the world, one can notice that women face barriers in education because of religious, economic and cultural consideration. For instance, in term of economic, not all women possess the resources needed to pay the education fees. In addition, the program itself must meet the women availability such as the time of the day, the duration of the program and its location. Another thing that is wrong with this proposition is that the education and the training do not reflect or they are not linked to employment opportunities that will permit them to put in application what they have learnt. Furthermore, in this context, it is particularly illuminating to examine the field of the program because if the training is for example focusing on liberal art, then I think it would be a waste of time because it might not be necessary linked to a job opportunity.

Finally, as it appears, several of the constitutive explanations of gender inequalities in developing countries is that in thinking about women’s subordination and the gender division labour, one must accord full weight to their affects on the development process. Indeed, the women in development perspective provides a useful approach and offers concrete solutions, even if they still show some concern. One must actually pause and recognizes that the task is to learn how to participate in a constructive development and to put committed efforts in order to apply those solutions in the social relations and redress the worldwide gender inequality.

Introduction

Gender inequality, or in other words, gender discrimination refers to unfair rights between male and female based on different gender roles which leads to unequal treatment in life. The concept: gender inequality has been widely known in human history but not until the beginning the 20th century has the transformation of gender relations become “one of the most rapid, profound social changes” (Wright & Rogers 2009).

And at the same time, the position of men and women were generally set. The growth of this situation has been obviously seen. According to a survey in America female’s salary at work is 75% as low as male’s. Coming back to last century, at work, when men were paid 1 dollar, the amount that women received was just 58 cents, in accordance with the law in 1963(Tran 2012) . And in Vietnam, gender inequality is shown in the difference between two genders in the number of babies. Statistics of Ministry of Planning & Investment in 2010 reported that there were 110.6 new-born boys out of 100 new-born girls which was much higher than the standard rate.

However, as a matter of fact, gender discrimination has made a big argument in society about whether the equality among genders should be encouraged or not. Regarding to this problem, American people seem to appreciate the position of women, meanwhile, the Chinese tend to think of higher power of men in life (Chang n.d.)

Thus, this paper, with the purpose of reporting the current states of gender inequality, its impacts as well as the solutions to improve this trend, will give you another look at this controversial problem.

2. Discussion of findings

2.1. What is gender inequality?

Gender inequality is a threatening problem which causes unfair treatment in society between different genders. These dissimilarities are distinguished from biological and anatomic factors, especially from differing reproductive roles in life. This misperception comes originally from the wrong understanding about the position of each gender in life.. And from every angle of life we all see the paradox that makes women suffer adversities and put women into unpleasant situation. However, the method of gender discrimination in one place differs from that in others. For example, in workplace gender equality accelerate when you enter the job racing, not only the dissimilar salary, inequality at work is demonstrated through the differences between genders and the amount of money paid (Hsu 2012). In the past, men are prone to have more chances to do things like schooling. Young women seemed to have fewer opportunities for higher education than young men.

Regarding to the reasons and the origin of gender inequality, it can be seen that Asia would be the place where gender discrimination has seemed to be a “tradition”. According to the General office for population family planning, the idea of distinguishing men from women came from the impacts of Confucianism and the awareness of people about life. Men were thought to have a duty of continuing the ancestral line. In that society, not having a son meant to be disrespectful towards the ancestor. Going on with this wrong conception, women are more likely to lose the role in community (Nguyen n.d.)

2.2. How gender inequality affects our lives?

Initially, gender inequality has effects on the scale of population. According to statistics of the General office for population family planning, because of the discrimination of genders, the number of new-born boys and girls is unequal. To some people, the hope to have a son loses the balance between two genders. Unfortunately, this situation has occurred for such a long time, so the impacts of it in the population are rather big. As report of Ministry of public health, it is estimated that, despite the attempt to reduce the fluctuation between the birth of boys and girls, in 2020 there will be 4.3 million men more than women. Minister of ministry of public health statement (cited in Phuong 2012), said that if this trend still keeps on going, it will lead to quite a few consequences in security and the order of society before marriage age of children. Now we can see an obvious consequence among the Chinese. According to a Blue Paper on Society released by the China Academy of Social Science, there will run short of brides in ten years because of severe gender imbalance among young people, particularly among under 19-aged people (Tang 2010).

Secondly, the discrimination of genders leads to some consequences in education. Education is a important tool, is the key to the growth of human. And no matter what gender a person is, he has right to expose to education like others. Chaudhry & Rahman (2009 p.175), in reporting World Bank 2001, Schultz 2002, Strauss and Thomas 1995, King and Hill, 1993, World Bank 2007, stated that “there are many empirical evidences that, increase in female education improves human development outcomes such as child survival, health and schooling”. However, “lower female education had a negative impact on economic growth as it lowered the average level of human capital” (Klasen 2002, cited in Chaudhry & Rahman 2009, p.175). World Bank in 2001 reported that in almost all poor countries, there is a high trend of educational impacts of gender inequality. In poverty, girls are more likely to be influenced to approach education.

Finally, economy is the field that is consequently affected, because there is a link between education and economy. The impact of gender inequality on economy is found through the number of male and female students in primary and secondary school which is negative (Barro and Lee (1994) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995), cited Stephan Klasen, p.4). And they claimed that “a large gap in male and female schooling may signify backwardness and may therefore be associated with lower economic growth”( Barro and Lee (1994) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995)). And let’s take China- a country which is famous for strong gender imbalance all over the world- as an example of modeling the impact of gender imbalances on economic performance (Golley &Tyers 2012). As mentioned earlier, China is facing a lack of brides 10 years to go and this trend leads to the problems of women purchasing crime. Especially men in poor provinces now are exposing to “marriage market” and this situation makes “the black market of “selling wife”” on the rise, said the deputy director of the China Population Association- Tian Xueyuan (cited Tang 2010). Another economic impact of gender discrimination is unequal wages among male and female. According to Yang Juhua, a professor with Renmin University, the wages of women is much lower than men’s despite the same level of position (cited Tang 2010). Tang also mentioned the chances to get a job of women are smaller and there is more likelihood of being refused on applying for jobs.

2.3. How do people think of this situation?

Ninety-three years ago, people in some places in the world first officially celebrated the International women’s day. In ninety three years, there have been a lot of changes made in terms of changing attitudes of people about the inequality of genders. Nowadays we are living in a developed world which is contributed by both men and female so why female have to suffer such that inequality which they don’t deserve to?

Generally speaking, this kind of inequality has existed for a long time and in every area of the world, no matter where it is ( Chang n.d.). Now it’s time for the world together make this out-of-date conception fade away. To some extent, the Nobel Committee stated that we cannot reach democracy and peace unless we wouldn’t give equal rights and chances for women have. For the sake of making economic recovery, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that promoting women to participate in economy and increasing their productivity is the key to economic growth (cited Sharma & Keefe 2011).

In the relationship between economy and education, people cannot underestimate the importance of education. To flourish the economy system, people have to make an effort on schooling. Regarding to the solutions to this, setting up gender-sensitive schools is a crucial step in making a nice environment for learning and teaching. Helping female feel more confident in studying, improving a gender-sensitive curriculum which reflects national policy on gender equality to instruct is also necessary (Clarke 2005, p.11)

Fortunately, recently there are many positive responses toward gender equality which make people optimistic about a fair world in the future. Making it more detailed,

. Conclusion

From all the discussing above, gender inequality is obviously an urgent problem in the world. Despite the fact that its volume much decreases, it still exists and make a lot of people suffer its consequences every day. And there are many reasons leading to gender discrimination which cannot be solved easily. However, with education and progressive thoughts of people, there are also reasons to trust in the future of gender inequality being stopped. Then, hopefully, people can live in fairness no matter what gender they are.

Education is very important and highly valued in today’s society; it is also necessary for success in life. Education is supposed to provide students with the necessary skills that prepare them for the world of work later in life. The education system also serves to teach individuals the values and morals of society. Government should pay serious attention to education and support it economically although this is sometimes not the case. Students must be equipped with knowledge and skills which are needed to participate effectively as member of society and contribute towards the development of shared values and common identity; the education system serves this purpose. The recent decades in the U.S seems to have contributed to substantial racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity in public schools, especially in large urban areas. Despite the impression of the public school system that racial segregation were matters of fifty years ago; the progress of school integration has fallen far short of expectations, black and white students continue to be segregated across public schools today. A thorough examination of the patterns in the New York City public schools is relevant here. The theories of Marx, Durkheim and Weber offer different insights on the role of public education in society. While Marx views the education system as reproducing inequality, Durkheim feels that the education system is beneficial to everyone and it also functions to socialize young people into a common culture. Weber on the other hand, believes that a person’s class situation will undoubtedly determine their social status and since social status is tied to lifestyle, which shapes most people’s ideals and convictions the transition from status to an affiliation to a certain political party is the nature progression. This ability to control one’s environment comes back to Weber’s belief that class is also determined by a person’s opportunities to change their life situation.

Although these sociologists have debated the purpose and function of the educational systems, most agree that access to educational opportunities has a profound effect on individual life chances and attainment. Specific education policies and practices such as school choice, curriculum differentiation, school finance, and school assignment shape the range of educational opportunities available to students. Differences by social class, race/ethnicity, and gender exist within the NYC public education system. The central question is whether or not schools function to promote social mobility, achievement, and economic well-being or whether or not schools function to reproduce social inequalities. Although educational attainment is related to an individual’s family background (socioeconomic status), the public education system is supposed to function as an equalizer for those who cannot afford private education. In this case, I see the NYC public educational institutions in our society not as promoting social equality but as promoting social inequalities.

For two years, Jonathan Kozol author of, Savage Inequalities visited America’s public schools. He interviewed teachers, students, principals and superintendents, as well as with city officials, and newspaper reporters. The book exposes of the extremes of wealth and poverty in America’s public school system and its effect it has on poor children. He documents the inequalities within America’s public education system between affluent and poor districts. One of his main points is that the government does not spend enough on the schooling of poor children, while spending far more on the schooling of more wealthy, white children. According to Kozol, the issues the schools are facing are not the fault of the children themselves, but rather of a system which has let them down. Kozol offers thorough research and statistics, his appendix clearly shows how much more is spent on children living in wealthy districts than on children living in poor districts. In addition to his statistics, the strongest part of Kozol’s book is his decision to let the children speak for themselves.

Accordingly, “New York City’s public schools are subdivided into 32 school districts. District 10 encompasses a large part of the Bronx, but is effectively, two separate districts. One of these districts, Riverdale, is the northwest section of the Bronx. Home to many of the city’s sophisticated and well-educated families, its elementary schools have relatively low-income students. The other section to the south and east is poor and heavily non-white” (392) Public School 261 in District 10, capacity is supposed to be 900 students, but a stunning 1300 attend. The class sizes make up 32 children in all, with only 1 teacher. Even more, text books are scarce and students have to share with one another. The school itself is 90% black and Hispanic; the other 10% is Asian, White, or Middle Eastern. The school library is small and windowless; there are only about 700 books. The school only has 26 computers for its 1300 children. One teacher comments, “they know what suburban schools are like. Then they look around them at their school. This was a roller rink, you knowaˆ¦they don’t comment on it but you see it in their eyes. They understand.” (394) According to a report by the Community Service Society, some of the allocations derive from state legislators where they have political allies. The poorest districts in the city receive approximately 90 cents per pupil from these legislative grants, while the richest districts get $14 per pupil. Even more an official of the Board of Education believes that there is no point in putting further money into some poor districts because new teachers would not stay there. Here we can see that the perception of poor districts being beyond help; or in other words, they are ultimately saying that children who live in these neighborhoods are poor investments. A second school, Morris High School in the south Bronx, is not far from P.S 261. The blackboards are badly cracked, there are gaping holes in the floors, plaster and ceramic tiles have peeled off or are in the process of; “a landscape of hopelessness-burnt out apartments, boarded windows, vacant lot upon garbage-strewn vacant lot” (395) surrounds the school. Of the students in this school, 38% are black, 62% Hispanic. There are no white students in the building. According to a small child, Alexander who is 16, “You can understand things better when you go among the wealthy. You look around at your school, although it’s impolite to do that, you take a deep breath at the sight of all those beautiful surroundings. Then you come back home and see that there are things you do not have. You think of the difference. Not at first. It takes while to settle in.” (397)

On the other hand, there are those schools that are intended to be enclaves of superior education, private schools, essentially within the public system, says Kozol. At one school, the crenellated ceiling, which is white and spotless, and the polished dark-wood paneling contrast with the collapsing structure of the audience at Morris high. All of the students are white. The teacher relates that the students are reading Robert Coles, Studs Terkel, and Alice Walker. One student, Jennifer relates that the burden of helping poor kids should not be their problem, and that taxing the rich to help the poor wouldn’t make a better educational experience for her.

Kozol points out that in New York the unfairness is even more extreme since each kid in the suburbs receives an education worth $11,000 a year, whereas an inner city child receives only $5,500. It is important to notes that the Board of Education complains about unequal spending between cities across the county but lets the spending be so unequal in communities side by side. This spending pattern is a central part of a public policy at all levels of government and it cheats minorities and the poor out of their rightful education and out of the life of success and self-development which stems from a good education.

According to, For Whom Does Education Enlighten? Race, Gender, Education, and Beliefs about Social Inequality by Emily W. Kane and Else K. Kyyro,

The meaning of positive associations between education and egalitarian beliefs has been a source of controversy, especially in the literatures on beliefs about racial and class inequality. Explanations for the association between education and dominant group attitudes like tolerance, prejudice, and democratic values can be classified into two broad groups: those emphasizing education as enlightenment and those viewing education as reproducing rather than fundamentally challenging social inequality. (710-711)

The reproduction approach says that dominant groups in society benefit from social inequality; such inequality is not viewed as irrational but rather as a source of privilege to dominant groups. Therefore, the dominant groups have a stake in maintaining inequality in society; the education system is merely a pawn. The education system has potentially different meanings for members of dominant and subordinate groups. Education here may indeed have the power to enlighten but the question is for whom.

McLeod’s, Ain’t No Makin’ It can also serve as another example of the education system. His argument is that teachers treat lower-class kids like less competent students, placing them in lower “tracks” because they have had fewer opportunities to develop language, critical thinking, and social skills prior to entering school than middle and upper class kids; this relates to Weber argument of how social status, class, and party can affect life chances and attainments. According to McLeod’s argument, when placed in lower tracks, lower-class kids are trained for blue-collar jobs by an emphasis on obedience and following rules rather than having independence, higher-order thinking, and self-expression. They point out that while private schools are expensive and generally reserved for the upper classes, public schools, especially those that serve the poor, are underfunded, understaffed, and growing worse.

Going back to the central question of whether or not schools function to promote social mobility and economic well-being or whether or not schools function to reproduce social inequalities. Durkheim’s formation of education serves many functions: 1) To reinforce social solidarity, students can feel part of a group and therefore less likely to break rules (and commit suicide), 2) To maintain social roles, rules and expectations and trains people, 3) To maintain division of labor, schools sort students into skill groups, encouraging students to take up employment in fields best suited to their abilities. All in all, for Durkheim the education system is serves social control. For Weber, consequences of class position are relevant here. In modern societies, consequences of class position, is manifested through income inequality. Although class status is not always a causal factor for income, there is consistent data that shows that those in higher classes have higher incomes than those in lower classes. This inequality still persists when controlling for education and most important future occupation. Those in the upper-middle class and middle class enjoy greater freedoms in their occupations. They generally are more respected, more diverse, and are able to have some authority. Those in lower classes tend to feel more alienated and have lower work satisfaction. The physical conditions of the workplace differ greatly between classes. While middle-class workers may “suffer alienating conditions” or “lack of job satisfaction”, blue-collar workers suffer alienating, often routine, work with obvious physical health hazards, injury, and even death. Class also has direct consequences on lifestyle. Lifestyle includes tastes, preferences, and a general style of living. These lifestyles could quite possibly affect educational attainment, and therefore status attainment. The Marxist approach argues that education is a system that legitimizes and reproduces society’s inequalities and divisions. I believe like Marx, that schools can do little to reduce inequality without broader changes in society.

The school system, is an institution that is distributing separate and unequal education: “Behind the good statistics of the richest districts lies the triumph of a few. Behind the saddening statistics of the poorest cities lies the misery of many” (Kozol 158). It seems as if urban schools have been reformed but this is not the case; maybe one or two truly is, but the reforms usually don’t reach beyond that school. I believe Kozol’s research was incredibly helpful and insightful; inside sources are equally credible, since he has visited schools in both poor and affluent areas and has interviewed not only principals and teachers, but students as well. In my opinion, I do not think the answer is to take away from the more fortunate schools, but to bring the poor schools up to a higher and, therefore, equal level and to transform their unproductive learning environments into productive ones. Funds from taxes should be divided equally among the schools; after all, these are public schools, not private schools. The urban schools are so far behind and their facilities are so poor that maybe a policy with a time limit on it could be arranged. For example, for a certain amount years the urban schools would receive additional funds in order to restore and build new schools to accommodate all the children of the inner city. After the urban schools have time to catch up, the policy is gone and back to being equal. It sounds like a clique but it is important to remember that children are the future and that some will grow up to be productive members of society. I think it is an essential investment to give quality education to all children. In this case it is appropriate for the government to be involved; Investment in human capital, life long learning and quality education help in the development of society. Many children in our society are not provided with a safe and secure environment in which they can develop. The improvement of educational facilities is supposed to be implemented by the government and to a very sad extent they are often ignored and stereotyped.

How useful is the concept of medicalisation for understanding shifting ideas about health and illness?

“As science and technology advances, age related processes often become medicalised and enter the domain of powerful social establishments like the health industry. When such human experiences come under medical dominion, the experience is said to become medicalized; this entails the definition and treatment of a problem under a medical framework “.

Peter Conrad

The quote above comes from Conrad, a leading sociologist in the field of health and medicine and he stated that “medicalization describes a process by which nonmedical problems become defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of illnesses and disorders” (Kawachi and Conrad: 1996). The essay question asks one to assess the usefulness of the concept of medicalization. In order to fully answer and understand the question I will have to look into the term medicalization and explore its origins and meaning. The term is such an ambiguous, complex but contested process and was first used and coined during the 1960’s and grew in popularity during the 1970s. this was due to the fact that it was linked with the concept of social control and was prominent in the works of key figures including Conrad, Thomas Szasz and Irving Zola. Furthermore I would have to understand how useful the concept is for understanding the shifting ideas about health and illness.

The concept of medicalization has educated the sociology of health and illness for many years now. Typically, it has been deliberated and examined with critical nuance, though some key thinkers within the discipline have suggested that it is not unequivocally negative. Conrad criticised and disputed that the development and growth of medical authority into domains of everyday existence was promoted by doctors and was a force of social control that was to be rejected in the name of liberation (Conrad 1973). Medicalization “describes a process by which non-medical problems become defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of illness or disorders” (Gabe et al. 2004:59) and likewise be simply classified as a procedure of increased medical intervention into areas which would more often than not be outside of the medical province.

Medicalization is deemed imperative because it means to make something a medical matter. What’s more, it explains a situation or predicament which had been previously explained in a moral, religious or social terms now become defined as the subject of medical and scientific knowledge.

Many years ago for example some children were deemed and regarded as problematic, misbehaving and unruly. Some adults were shy and men who were balding just wore hats to hide it. And that was that. Nevertheless, nowadays all these descriptions could and possibly would be attributed to a type of illness or disease and be given a diagnosis or medicine to treat it in some cases. Medicalization explains this. Likewise, “medicalization has been applied to a whole variety of problems that have come to be defined as medial, ranging from childbirth and the menopause through to alcoholism and homosexuality (Gabe et al. 2006: 59). Furthermore, the term explains the process in where particular characteristics of every day life become medically explained, thus come under the authority of doctors and other health professionals to study, diagnose, prevent and or treat the problem.

The idea of medicalization is perhaps “related only indirectly to social constructionanism, in that it does not question the basis of medical knowledge as such, but challenges its application”. Nettleton continues and states that is “draws attention to the fact that medicine operates as a powerful institution of social control” (Nettleton 2006: 25). It does this by claiming expertise in areas in life which previously were not regarded as medical problems or matters. This includes such life stages such as ageing, childbirth, alcohol consumption and childhood behaviour moreover, the “availability of new pharmacological treatments and genetic testing intensifies these processesaˆ¦ thus it constructs, or redefines, aspects of normal life as medical problems”. (Conrad and Schneider 1990 as cited in Nettleton 2006: 25).

Medicalization can occur on three different and particular levels according to Conrad and Schneider (1980). The first was explained as “conceptually when a medical vocabulary is used to define a problem”. In some instances, doctors do not have to be involved and an example if this is AA.

The second was the institutional level, “institutionally, when organizations adopt a medical approach to treating a problem in which they specialise” and the third was “at the level of doctor – patient interaction when a problem is defined as a medical and medical treatment occurs” (as cited in Gabe et al 2004:59). These examples all involve doctors and their treatments directly, not including alcoholism which has other figures to help people such as the AA.

The third level was the “interactional level” and this was where the problem, social problem, becomes defined as medical and medicalization occurs as part of a doctor-patient interaction.

Medicalization shows the shifting ideas about health and illness. Health and illness does not only include such things as influenza or the cold, but deviant behaviours. Deviant behaviours which were once merely described as criminal, immoral or naughty before have now been labelled with medical meanings. Conrad and Schneider (1992, as cited in Gabe 2004: 59) a “five-staged sequential process” of medicalizing deviant behaviour.

Stage one involves the behaviour itself as being deviant. ‘Chronic drunkenness’ was regarded merely as “highly undesirable”, before it was medically labelled as ‘chronic drunkenness’. The second stage “occurs when the medical conception of a deviant behaviour is announced in a professional medical journey” according to Conrad and Schneider.

Self-fulfilling prophecy is a sociological term coined and associated with the 20th century sociologist, Robert K. Merton. He explained the definition in his book “Social Theory and Social Structure” which was published in 1949. He explained it as statement that changes ones action and therefore comes true, that:

-“The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come ‘true’. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning”

(Merton 1968: 477)

In other words, the prophecy is false however it is made true by a person’s actions. The prediction, even if it is true or not, will affect the outcome of a situation or the way a group or one would behave. We can link this into the labelling theory, and labelling someone as a criminal. Us treating that person as a criminal may entice them to harbour and act out criminal ways as that is what they have been labelled and expected to be.

Medicalization can too be linked with the self fulfilling prophecy as it has been regarded as being helpful in dealing with long-term mental illness such as anxiety disorders. Many have suggested that the self-fulfilling prophecy has led to greater success in treating difficult illnesses and has been beneficial to medicalization.

Broom and Woodward (2008) suggested that “when medical explanations were mobilised to enhance the coherence of the patient’s experience of symptoms, patients found medicalization to be helpful”.

A prominent thinker in the idea of medicalization was Ivan Illich, who studied it profusely and was very influential, in fact being one of the earliest philosophers to use the term “medicalization”. Illich’s appraisal of professional medicine and particularly his use of the term medicalization lead him to become very influential within the discipline and is quoted to have said that “Modern medicine is a negation of health. It isn’t organized to serve human health, but only itself, as an institution. It makes more people sick than it heals.”

Illich attributed medicalization “to the increasing professionalization and bureaucratization of medical institutions associated with industrialization” (Gabe et al 2004: 61). He supposed that due to the development of modern medicine, it created a reliance on medicine and doctors thus taking away peoples ability to look after themselves and “engage in self care”.

In his book “Limits to medicine: Medical nemesis” (1975) Illich disputed that the medical profession in point of fact harms people in a process known as ‘iatrogenesis’. This can be elucidated as when there is an increase in illness and social problems as a direct result of medical intervention. Illich saw this occurring on three levels.

The first was the clinical iatrogenesis. These involved serious side-effects which were are often worse than the original condition. The negative effects of the clinical intervention outweighed the positive and it also conveyed the dangers of modern medicine. There were negative side effects of medicine and drugs, which included poisoning people. In addition, infections which could be caught in the hospital such as MRSA and errors caused my medical negligence.

The second level was the social iatrogenesis whereby the general public is made submissive and reliant on the medical profession to help them cope with their life in society. Furthermore all suffering is hospitalised and medicine undermines health indirectly because of its impact on social organisation of society. In the process people cease to give birth, for example, be sick or die at home

And the third level is cultural iatrogenesis, which can also be referred to as the structural. This is where life processes such as aging and dying become “medicalized” which in the process creates a society which is not able to deal with natural life process thus becoming a culture of dependence. Moreover, people are dispossessed of their ability to cope with pain or bereavement for example as people rely on medicine and professionals. (Illick 1975)

It was said that women’s bodies were being medicalized. Sociologists such as Ehrenreich and English (1978) had argued that women’s bodies were being medicalized. Menstruation and pregnancy had come to be seen as medical problems requiring interventions such as hysterectomies. Nettleton furthered this notion and discussed this in relation to childbirth. The Medicalisation of childbirth is as a result of professional dominance. She stated that “the control of pregnancy and childbirth has been taken over by a predominantly male medical profession”.

Medicine can thus be regarded as patriarchal and exercising an undue social control over women’s lives. From conception to the birth of the baby, the women are closely monitored thus medical monitoring and intervention in pregnancy & childbirth are now routine processes. Childbirth is classified as a ‘medical problem’ therefore “it becomes conceptualized in terms of clinical safety, and women are encouraged to have their babies in hospitals” (Nettleton 2006: 26). This consequently results in women being dependent on medical care.

Nevertheless recent studies and evidence have shown that it may actually be safer to have babies at home because “there would have been less susceptible to infection and technocological interference” (Oakley 1884, as cited in Nettleton 2006: 26)

“Medicalization combines phenomenological and Marxist approaches of health and illnessaˆ¦ in that it considers definitions of illness to be products of social interactions or negotiations which are inherently unequal” (Nettleton 2006: 26). Marxism discussed medicalization and linked it with oppression, arguing that medicine can disguise the underlying causes of disease which include poverty and social inequality. In the process they see health as an individual problem, rather than a society’s problem.

Medicalization has often been claimed to be beneficiary, but also expensive, which may not always be apparent and obvious. It is studied in terms of the role and power of professions, patients and corporations, and also for its implications for ordinary people whose self-identity and life-decisions may depend on the prevailing concepts of health and illness. Once a condition is classed as medical, a medical model of disability tends to be used rather than a social model. “It constructs, or redefines, aspects of normal life as medical problems” (Nettleton 2006: 26).

Concluding this essay, the concept of medicalization started with the medical dominance which involved the increase of medicine’s influence and labelling over things regarded as ‘normal’ life events and experiences. However in recent time, this view of a submissive lay populace, in thrall to expansionist medicine, has been challenged. As a consequence, as we enter a post-modern era, with increased concerns over risk and a decline in the trust of expert authority, many sociologists argue “that the modern day ‘consumer’ of healthcare plays an active role in bringing about or resisting medicalization”. Furthermore “Such participationaˆ¦can be problematic as healthcare consumers become increasingly aware of the risks and uncertainty surrounding many medical choices”. Moreover “the emergence of the modern day consumer not only raises questions about the notion of medicalisation as a uni-dimensional concept, but also requires consideration of the specific social contexts in which medicalisation occurs” (Ballard and Elston 2005). In addition they suggest that as we enter a post-modern era, conceptualizing medicalisation as a uni-dimensional or as the result of medical dominance primarily is insufficient.

Medicalization has been referred to as “the processes by which social phenomena come to be perceived and treated as illnesses” (Ballard and Elston 2005). It is the process in by issues and experiences that have previously been accounted for in religious, moral, or social contexts then become defined as the subject of scientific medical knowledge.

The idea itself questions the belief that physical conditions themselves constitute an illness. It argues that the classification and identification of diseases is socially constructed and. It has been suggested that medicine is seen as being instilled with subjective assumptions of the society in which it developed. Moreover, it argues that the classification and identification of diseases is socially constructed and, along with the rest of science, is far from achieving the ideals of objectivity and neutrality. The medical thesis “has much to recommendaˆ¦including the creation of new understanding of the social processes involved in the development and response to medical diagnosis and treatment” (Gabe et al. 2004: 62).

The concept is useful for understanding shifting ideas about health and illness in a sense that the “developments also contribute to the construction of new medical categories” labelling every day life experiences which one may go through as a medical issue.

It can be criticised because it enables a dependence on science, medicine and doctors and promoted consumerism. For instance it would have a proposed increase in pharmaceuticalisation without medicalization because medical profession would have by-passed. For example it would promote consumerism, and people would purchase drugs and medicines over the internet, or in pharmacies. This could be unsafe. Gabe at. Al noted that while there are criticisms to be made, “medicalization remains a useful concept for sociologists of health and illness” (Gabe et al 2004: 62).

Many companies agree that maximising profit is a key aspect of their business objectives. To what extent, then, is it justifiable for them to utilise child labour in carrying out this goal? (3153 words). In this paper, the main focus will be on child labour and the issues surrounding the topic. I will consider how businesses behave in regards to child labour, both from a business and an ethical point of view. There are two key arguments; should businesses utilise cheap labour to lower production costs? Or do they have a duty of care in order to prevent children being exploited within their business?

For the purpose of this essay I will examine various theories in conjunction with how businesses apply them. For example, I will analyse the Milton Friedman theory of business, in regards to multinational companies, and how it affects their behaviour towards child labour. Other theories to be considered include Marxism, Egoism and Ethics of Right.

In conclusion I will assess how companies behave towards the issue of child labour; as an ethical and financial advantage, or as an unethical view. I will also give contemporary examples of child employment.

Often child labour is confused with child work but Whittaker claims that there is a clear distinction. For example, a child performing a newspaper delivery before going to school is a child worker:

“This is because there is no economic compulsion forcing the child into employment. Rather the child ‘keeps his wages and spends them on such peer group “necessities” as the latest style jeans, records or, increasingly, videos and home computers. By and large nobody forces him to go to work. (1986, p20)” Lavalette (1994, p.8)

However, child labour is defined as:

“Work which does not take place under such relatively idyllic conditions. It is defined as having an element of economic compulsion associated with it and, according to Fyfe, involves time and energy commitment which affects children’s ability to participate in leisure, play and educational activities. Finally, child labour is “work which impairs the health and development of children” (Fyfe 1989, p4)” Lavalette (1994, p.8)

Michael Lavalette (1994) explains that child labour exists because of two reasons:

“Children are an example of a “reserve army of labour”, drawn into the labour market when it is “tight” to provide extra labour power.” Lavalette (1994, p.2)

This suggests that when labour is in high demand and there are insufficient adult workers, businesses tend to use children as a back up.

Secondly,

“Children work in backward regions of the economy where unemployment is highest and poverty most severe. In these circumstances children work to alleviate their family’s hardship.” Lavalette (1994, p.2)

This means that child employment occurs mainly in poverty and where the children have to support their family financially.

Many people frown upon this exploitation of children. But one must consider to what extent is child employment justified?

Many children in poverty try to avoid stressors such as violence, sexual or emotional abuse. One of the easiest ways for children to avoid these stressors is by engaging in active labour. Thus, from a child’s point of view, it can be justified for children should work to in order to avoid being emotionally, sexually or violently abused.

Consideration must be given to the employer’s view. Due to globalisation, outsourcing has become a trend in businesses. By outsourcing, it is possible for firms to exploit wage differentials around the world. This then allows for production at a much lower cost, and therefore maximises business profit. However, this approach is argued to be very unethical and shows how profit driven business objectives relate to the the Milton Friedman concept:

“Friedman argued that the social responsibility of business is to seek profits for the stockholders” Bowie (2002, p.2)

This indirectly suggests that in order to lower costs and to promote profit maximising prospects that arise with globalisation, businesses need to take advantage of these global opportunities, otherwise they may be forced out of the market by other competitive firms,

“Globalization and liberalization of markets and intensifying competition in commodity markets have increased demand for labour in developing countries. There has been a significant outsourcing of economic production from the developed countries to the developing countries due to globalization.” Anon (1982, p.5)

This further supports that

“The successful quest for cheaper labour implies child labour.” Rahikainen (2004, p.210)

This gives further weight to the argument that

“Children are the most subordinate and cheapest form of labour, thus highly attractive to some types of employer” Fyfe (1989, p. 17)

All of the quotes above interlink with each other to explain why companies use children as a cheap form of labour.

“The levels of child exploitation and oppression are significantly higher where there is no, or limited, regulation for children’s labour market activities, where legal requirements are easily and consistently ignored” Lavalette (1994, p.13)

The majority of companies believe survival is essential in a globalised economy and therefore they exploit these conditions to fulfil outsourcing opportunities, because they. The majority of child labour is said to occur in Asia.

“Save The Children estimates that 61% of working children live in Asia” Youth Information (accessed 25 April 2009)
“Labour-intensive consumer-goods industries increased productivity by pressing the advantages of the division of labour, and cut wage costs by the extensive employment of women and children.” Rahikainen (2004, p. 32)

Some children are exploited to do certain adult jobs because they can perform the task more effectively and efficiently

“In certain industries like copper making and electronic assembly, children are more skilful because of the dexterity of their small fingers. But children, because of their dependent position, are the most easily exploited of all workers” Fyfe (1989, p.32)
“The world of work (employers and other unscrupulous people) seems to pull children because they are very cheap and obedient, can be easily exploited, do certain things more efficiently and effectively which adults fail to do (e.g. Nimble Fingers).” Herath and Sharma (2007, p.56)

This is a way of decreasing wage costs because children are doing adult work, but are not being paid the adult wage. The managers are able to exert more control and authority over children, because they are less likely to retaliate in comparison to adult workers who are aware of their employment rights.

This is very money driven based business and can be related to the ethical theory of consequnetialist, a consequence based approach, the egoism theory.

“Egoism refers, in terms of philosophy, to theories in which self-interest is regarded as the principal motivating factor” Encarta (2009)

Which in this case the self interest would be profit. This can relate to child labour as all they care about is lowering costs and increasing sales to increase profit not human rights of children. This deduces that they ARE self motivated by money (self interest) hence following the egoism theory.

However Lavalette stated that Fyfe and Whittaker suggested

“Child labour can be either good or bad depending on the context in which it takes place” Lavalette (1994, p. 8)

Businesses can see child labour to be an advantage not only because of lower costs, but as it is taking children off the streets. They support children by providing a job and maybe even benefits (depending on the company). This gives the company an ‘ethically moral image’ because they are seen to be providing child employees with basic needs. This helps the children lead a healthy life, which they may not receive by living on the streets.

“Where children are individually employed, they may be paid in kind, receiving board and lodging in the household of their employer” Anon (1982, p. 480)

Moreover, by companies not employing children, there is a danger that they could be out on the streets and involved in prostitution, drugs or crime.

“Those underage who would be ‘saved from child labour’ – for example, from working on carpets or footballs – could be driven into prostitution or destitution.” Munck (2002, p.130)

And as a result of employing children it is shown that

“Child labours are better off than a great number of children elsewhere who do not work, but who do not eat” Lavalette (1994, p.44)

However not all child employees live on the street, some also hold the responsibility of their family’s well being instead.

“Poverty forces families to send their children out to scratch whatever meagre living they can to help the family survive” Lavalette (1994, p.13)

Moreover, this supports that

“Children’s income is frequently far from ‘supplementary’: they may be de facto ‘breadwinners’, supporting other members of their family” Anon (1982, p. 487)

Furthermore, it gives the employer the image that they are helping children who have the burden of caring for their families. Furthermore, this extends the good corporate image, which, as a result could increase sales. This is because there is a greater awareness of this exploitation, but some see the advantages for the children and therefore promote the cause by purchasing the products to keep the children in a job and not in poverty or on the streets. However people’s perspective tends to differ.

“Proscribing child labour in the south without compensation would lower the living standards of those who are already desperately poor.” Munck (2002, p.130)

This give weight to the idea that all the advantages that both businesses and children gain from child labour, whether it keeps children off the streets or to support their family, or businesses gaining cheap labour would be removed by legislation to abolish child labour. This is not necessarily the right thing to do depending on what people’s perceptions are; whether children need to survive through active employment, or the fact that they are just children and that they should live like a child and not be required to undertake the stresses and physical damage working does to a child.

This leads onto the next argument, that companies should help abolish child exploitation and should hold ethical and social responsibilities.

Some companies avoid child labour because they want to be known as socially responsible. An example; GAP, in October 2007 a ten year old was found in the back streets in New Delhi the conditions were quoted by the Observer to be ‘close to slavery’, he was sold by his parents to the sweatshop making gap toddler clothing. But as Gap wants to be known as socially responsible their policy they enforced was:

“that if it discovers children being used by contractors to make its clothes that contractor must remove the child from the workplace, provide it with access to schooling and a wage, and guarantee the opportunity of work on reaching a legal working age.” McDougall (2007)

The only reason that this unethical employment of children wasn’t revealed any sooner to Gap was that they were subcontracting companies who hired child labour however they did say that they still hold fully responsible;

“After learning of this situation, we immediately took steps to stop this work order and to prevent the product from ever being sold in our stores.” McDougall (2007)
“In recent years Gap has made efforts to rebrand itself as a leader in ethical and socially responsible manufacturing, after previously being criticised for practices including the use of child labour.” McDougall (2007)

This is an example of taking corporate social responsibility which gives the company a better image.

Other revelations of companies associated with child labour include Primark – which took actions and decided not to trade with the suppliers anymore and took their clothing off the shelf. Nike also established rules to increase the minimum age workers to 18 in Asian footwear factories and to offer free educational classes and to improve the air quality of the plants.

However,

“There is ample evidence that child-wage labourers continue to work even when minimum age legislation exists.” Fyfe (1989, p.17)

This shows that some businesses are not socially responsible and breaching the Acts provided to protect the children from exploitation, and therefore should follow the steps to correct their actions. This could be what Karl Marx proposed in The Communist Manifesto:

“Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.” Marx (1884)

His view was simple in that all companies should abolish child labour and children should be entitled to have free education and by following and providing this, it would help offset the business’s image as child employers to an image of socially and ethically responsible.

Additionally the company should take care when sub-contracting to make sure that no child labour is associated with them and not just within its own business.

“It is small scale enterprises or ‘sweatshops’, often operating as subcontractors to larger enterprises, that are most adept at avoiding the usually inadequate factory inspectorate” Fyfe (1989, p. 17)

Even though large companies are against breaching human rights they still need to look carefully at who they are contracting.

An ethical policy that should be pursued by companies is ethics of rights, which states that every human being has basic rights and freedoms that they are entitled to from birth and should be respected by others in every way.

“If an individual has a moral right, then it is morally wrong to interfere with that right even if large numbers of people would benefit from such interference.” Velasquez et all (1990)

By exploiting human rights, the corporate image perceived by potential customers would be lacking of corporate social responsibilities. This can have an adverse effect in the number of sales. Moreover, in the short term by exploiting human rights and employing children could lower costs, but the longer term consequence of this approach could lowers sales figures. This could be that customers disregard any product that hasn’t been fairly made or is unethical. Therefore, by employing children, it does not give a large margin of advantages.

This matter of exploitation could also attract protestors or agencies that are all about protecting children, for example UNICEF. They can create a bad image for the business. This can attract the media and possibly authorities leading to fines and prosecution of breaching Acts. For example, the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

On another point, employing children is cheap but the efficiency and quality of the work is sometimes not up to the minimum standard depending on the work so technically the company loses out by quality hence sales figures are affected.

“Children who undertake adult work tasks: “do not possess the physical and mental capacity that these jobs call for, and their work is usually done less efficiently than if it were performed by an adult” Lavalette (1994, p.44)

This depends on the jobs but in this case I refer to the job being hard manual work.

There are many disadvantages for a child starting work at an early age

“Child labourers are usually dismissed once they become adults, forcing them to join ranks of the unemployed. The low-level skills they have gained are often insufficient to allow them to obtain further paid employment” Herath and Sharma (2007, p. 39)

Even though the children are being fed it does not mean that they are living a healthy life.

“In 28 countries, the average per capita intake of calories is 73 to 89 per cent of what is required but it is lower for the poorer segment of the population, from which most working children come, even though their work raises their nutritional requirements. Working children also become more susceptible to infectious diseases including tuberculosis, if they suffer from malnutrition, anaemia, fatigue and inadequate sleep.” Fyfe (1989, p. 21)
“Child labour causes not only loss of formal education and human capital but also the lack of social and cognitive skills and increased health hazards” Herath and Sharma (2007, p. 18)

It is argued that every child should have a childhood where they play and to be educated to better their future.

“Children are not little adults – their fundamental right is to childhood itself” Fyfe (1993, p. 5)

Businesses should help their child employees found within the business to clear their name and their image that are perceived to be by the public. This should include free education and any other actions to correct this exploitation this will in the long run help with the corporate image and sales and potential employees in the future.

In conclusion

“children are among the most vulnerable and powerless and continue to be exploited as part of a downward push on costs and a rapid withering of decent, formal employment.” Solidarity Center (2008)

There seems to be ample evidence to support the school of thought that child employment is acceptable, because companies are keeping children off the streets, prostitution etc. Some businesses try to be labelled as socially responsible instead of child labourers as they strive to give good benefits such as the right health and safety measures, schooling, food and shelter and many others. However 2 questions that I find myself to ask:

Does giving benefits make them socially respectable for still employing young children? Just because they are giving them benefits does that mean that it counteracts that children at a young age are being worked? Is this still ethically right that they have to work for education? (a basic right for any child). Does this remove the idea that they are child labours just because they give the children benefits?

Another argument is that the businesses may claim they are giving all these benefits, but how do we know as part of the public that the businesses are carrying out these promises as we do not have an insight within the business?

Overall, if companies argue that they are helping the children but are infringing on human rights in order to stay in the market with other competitors, it shows clearly that their aim is to compete with other companies and to gain maximum profit which shows how egoism theory of self interest (in this case profit) and Milton Friedman’s theory of businesses work for profit only. This relates to the money driven mind and a lack of respect for human rights whatever the age. Such companies and should follow Karl Marx’ proposal and respect human rights. The loss in profits from abandoning child labour will be offset by an image of social responsibility which has a positive impact on sales.

By giving benefits I don’t believe that this makes the business socially acceptable, because children shouldn’t have to work for basic entitlements. This is where the government should be involved and help to provide with these entitlements.

In conclusion of the essay I have found that child labour effects business’ image mainly and which way it is perceived by the public in their own views of what is justifiable and what is not, is what affects sales which hence affects profits.

Majority of the public think that child labour was abolished in 1989 but it is still continued to be found in the 21st century today in large multinational companies mainly and needs to be intervened by more enforcements by the government.

This paper will describe and analyze the universal social problem of prostitution among minors who had not attained 18 years of age , while focusing specifically on the way this phenomenon occurs in Israel.

Prostitution takes on many definitions; operationally defined, prostitution is a behavior that involves the exchange of sexual services for economic compensation in the form of drugs, money, or needed resources, for example, housing or food (Murphy, 2007;Williamson & Baker, 2009 Understanding the Social and Economic Contexts). In regards to minors, Dr. Anat Gur, a psychotherapist who is an expert in dealing with sexual assault victims, claims that the above definition of prostitution is less suited to minors due to the fact that it disregards the exploitive nature of the sexual relations between the minors and the adults and lacks the equality between the parties. Using the term “prostitution” only obscures the fact that minors are exploited( BOOK anat).

According to XXX, prostitution can be classified as human trafficking finalized towards sexual exploitation. This understanding frames the prostitution phenomenon as exploitation of persons which comprises physical and psychological violence (prostitution phenomenon). The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (VTVPA) define human trafficking is 1. “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, (p. 8 ) or 2. “sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act( any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by ant person ) is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” (p 7,8). According toXXX, the VTVPA definition of human trafficking highlights that every minor, under the age of 18 who is used in commercial sex act is a trafficking victim ( domestic trafficking).

On August 1996, the first world congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was hosted by the Government of Sweden in collaboration with ECPAT, UNICEF and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Israel was one of the 122 states that participated in the event. The congress acknowledged that commercial sexual exploitation of children ( under the age of 18) is a fundamental violation of the UN convention in regards to the rights of children a form of coercion and violence against them.Moreover they declared that commercial sexual exploitation is a new form of slavery given that children worldwide are not only affected by sexual abuse but are also systematically entrapped and sexually exploited for commercial purposes ( theme paper cece).

According to the protocol that was established in the congress there are three different aspects of children’s sexual exploitation : 1. Sale of children which is an act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration. 2. Child pornography which includes any representation by any means of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes 3. Child prostitution which is defined as the use of children in sexual activities for remuneration or other consideration (theme paper CSEC).

The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was signed by the State of Israel on 3 July 1990. According to the CRC Israel is required to “take appropriate action to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, including sexual abuse by parent(s), guardian(s) or caretaker(s), from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and therefore should “take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity, the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices and the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials” (convention on the Rights of the Child, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights- .?????? ???™? ????? ??(

The scope of the problem

Although Israel is a party to the convention, according to the statistics collected in 2011 by counter-trafficking non-governmental organization, the Task Force on Human Trafficking (TFHT), more than 10% of the estimated prostitutes in Israel are minors. However, due to the hidden nature of the problem, lack of sufficient attention to the issue and the fact that this group is a difficult population to reach , there is no reliable estimates of the extent of the problem. Today, most of the prostitution activity is almost not on the streets but in locations that are closed such as, dating sites, chats, online forums, private apartments, saunas, clubs and more. The ministry of welfare believes that the scope of the problem is much wider, involving thousands of young people, under the age of 18, whom the social welfare agencies don’t even know about. Moreover, the ministry of welfare and the Ngo’s who are dealing with sexually exploited youth in Israel recorded a five-fold increase in 2011 in the number of young people working as prostitutes, though it says that some of the rise can be attributed to the group’s stepped-up efforts to find victims of prostitution. Another reason that is attributed to the rise is the fact that much of the activities have moved to the Internet and on-line chat rooms. According to xxx, traffickers advertise children online for sexual purposes through hundreds of Web sites, and in addition they search for victims through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Population

According to xxx, women and girls are the predominate victims of the sex industry ( yale). Within Israel, estimates reporting the gender breakdown of commercially sexually exploited youth vary; however, the most recent data indicates that 75% of minors who are involved in prostitution are women who come from all strata of society, another 20 percent are boys and the remaining 5 percent are transgender (NGO says teenage prostitution worsening in Israel- internet). Statistics released in 2011 by the Prime Minister’s Office indicate that most of those working in prostitution start their careers at the age of 13 or 14 however, there are many cases in which prostitution begins at 12 or even 11. Studies have found that at least 70% of adult women who are involved in prostitution entered the commercial sex industry during their adolescent years ( how do female adolescents cope).

Teenage prostitution within a socio-political-economic context

Prostitution is a complex behavior which is influenced by multiple life circumstances. Researches have found that there are several categories of risk factors which influence and contribute to a teenage decision to engage in prostitution. Moreover, in order to understand the social phenomenon, it is important to understand the integration and the connection of the factors and not place much importance on any one particular factor ( anat gur, A Descriptive Study on Sexually Exploited Children).

According to xxx, youth often begin practicing prostitution after experiencing severe distress, a physically, sexually and emotionally abusive environment, a bad experience of rejection and severe neglect. ( street prostitution). One of the risk factors is family influence. Dysfunctional families – parental neglect, family substance abuse, family violence, low parental supervision and high levels of parental absence- contribute to motivating an adolescent to enter into prostitution.( factors that are related to prostitution).Researchers have shown that most of the teenagers who engage in prostitution ran away from home, often to escape from their abusive environments and from family situations that were intolerable( gur 32, pg 34). According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, up to 77% of teens involved with prostitution report running away from home at least once before turning to prostitution (Flowers, 2001-prostitution teen, more than a )Others are thrown away from home, those youth who are forced to leave home or who are not actively sought after when they do leave home. Thus, many of these youth become homeless, who have no stable place of residence, where they can feel secure and safe. They live on the streets in states of extreme detachment, risk and distress are more prone to engage in delinquent behaviors and increase their chance of being exploited and recruited into prostitution ( yale) . Early childhood sexual abuse is another risk factor . It includes being raped, being touched sexually, being forced to touch another sexually, being exposed to or forced to participate in pornography,and being forced to have sex with another person. The most common perpetrator of early childhood sexual abuse is a father or another male family member, although abuse by teachers, child care workers, family friends, religious leaders, and neighbors has been reported (Watts & Zimmerman, 2002 in street prostitution). Researches have found that more than 90% of women who are engaged in prostitution were sexually abused earlier in childhood.(street prostitution) Dr. Anat gur, a psychotherapist who is an expert in dealing with sexual assault victims, claims that from her clinical experience all women who are prostitutes have been sexually abused. The sexual abuse damages self perception, leaving the adolescent vulnerable to negative outcomes due to the psychological and emotional problems caused by the abuse and therefore unable to defend against exploitation ( street prostitution). Another factor is economic hardship- Many of these youth are likely to come from low socio-economic backgrounds, thus having experienced poverty and have been involved with the child welfare system (yale). A child whose family is living in extreme poverty and who is needed by his or her family to make money is also at an increased risk . (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2002). Moreover, the ‘consumer society’ and the shift in values and on the other hand the worsening in the economic situation, pushes children to an ‘easy solution’ like selling their bodies in order to consume goods (ecpatwc) It is important to indicate that the assumption is that poverty alone does not cause teenagers to engage in prostitution. It is the combination between poverty, and other factors that manifests the phenomenon ( gur 40- 59). Delinquency and school problems is another risk factor of teenage prostitution. Prostituted youth were reported of having been engaged in a variety of acts of delinquency including drug use ,gang involvement and violent behavior. One of the central questions in the literature is what came first: the use of drugs or prostitution. Several studies have found that the use of drugs preceded the prostitution. For many women, prostitution is the main mean to fund their drugs. According to xxx, as the age of the woman who begins to use drugs is younger, the greater the danger of engaging in prostitution.( book 35). In addition children who have been expelled from school or are no longer interested in pursuing an education are at a high risk for becoming involved in prostitution (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2002). This might be due to the fact that they feel less bonded to the social system and may develop feelings of alienation, frustration, and lowered self-esteem after experiencing failure and rejection( factors that are related to prostitution). The last factor is the relationship with the pimp. The girls who run away from home are usually very vulnerable, hurt, seek for attention and company. The pimps take advantage of the situation and by grooming, giving gifts and compliments and offering her the “love” and attention” that she never received at home, gains the girl’s initial loyalty and trust( yale, gur, domestic).

In order to understand how the different risk factors are interrelated and contribute to the phenomenon of teen prostitution in the context of Israel, it is important to place the problem within a socio-political-economic framework. In order for a phenomenon to exist and flourish, there must be a demand for it. According to xxx, the reason that commercial sexual exploitation of children worldwide exist is due to the fact that countries, where this social phenomenon exist, maintain a “culture of tolerance” that supports sex trafficking markets ( domestic minor sex).

Prostitution is perceived by society as despicable, immoral and dirty. Teenagers, girls and boys, who engage in prostitution, are seen as offenders or delinquents, due to their illegal activities, and not as victims who are dealing with abuse and despair and are being sexually exploited and socially compartmentalized(yale). With no attempt to reduce demand, there is a constant incentive for criminal bodies to provide the supply(Gili Varon, Task Force onHuman Trafficking). According to the report of the Knesset’s research and information center (2011), to date, the responsible ministries of Israel have not presented any unique plan to deal with minors who are prone to commercial sexual exploitation. Specifically, the ministry of welfare has no special department or unit which is in charge of dealing with youth who are engaged in prostitution. Moreover the report indicates that in the past ten years there was not enough public interest in this phenomenon which affected on the law enforcement efforts to address the problem. Many cases were closed by the police and the “clients” were not punished, due to lack of evidence or lack of public interest ( Knesset’s research and information center report). On the one hand, society pushes the teen prostitution phenomenon to the social margins and on the other hand the society uses and exploits this vulnerable population.. Israel, that signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), fails to allocate resources to deal with a social problem, that is becoming bigger every year but on the other hand does not have the tolerance and indifference to explicitly acknowledge the coercive nature of prostitution and the fact that the minors who engage in prostitution are victims to an exploitive industry. The absence of policy implementation regarding the treatment of youth involved in prostitution by law enforcement and child protective services in addition to the fact that there are inadequacy of services available for youth involved in prostitution contributes to the preservation and maintenance of the problem.

Values and teenage prostitution

Reasons that try to explain why sexual violence occurs and is tolerated, encouraged and commercialized are complex however, they are always built on” the mirage of distorted values, inequality and self interest (Ecpat iii). When addressing the social problem of teen prostitution, there is a universal agreement that commercial sexual exploitation of children ( under the age of 18) is a fundamental violation of the UN convention in regards to the rights of children) Israeli report). Prostitution has been viewed as a “moral” or “ethical” problem which is unacceptable per societal values however; society seldom pays attention to the age of those involved ( domestic minor sex). There has been a debate whether to view youth who are involved in prostitution as criminals or as victims of abuse (Ayre & Barrett, 2000-???-?”). The way society defines the problem stems from the competing perceptions , which are rooted in societies values, of the youth as victims under the control of adults or other circumstances or as criminals who make a willing choice to commit a crime (U.S. Department of Justice, 2004???-?”). Throughout my research , I found that there are many different terminologies to describe the same problem : teenage prostitution, commercial exploited teenagers, youth involved in prostitution .Each definition reflects values and beliefs. In Israel, in most of the newspaper articles I have read, the problem is defined as ” youth who are involved in prostitution”. I believe that this definition reflects societies belief that they are “criminals” rather than “victims”. Moreover it implies that they are involved in illegal activities and therefore should bare the consequences.

Another reason why society does not recognize exploited girls as victims and therefore does not progress to a better solution to the problem is related to societies social norms and values regarding girl’s and boy’s sexuality ( yale). Many western societies regard “good girls” as girls who need to avoid sexual intercourse ( in contrast to boys) and that if they are worthy for protection they would not accept any payment for their own exploitation ( yale 19). Moreover, society believes that if “girls were truly victimized, they would quickly acquiesce to and cooperate with authorities once encountered” (yale 19). This, nevertheless, ignores the coercive forces that cause girls not to trust the law enforcement and social services.

Another example that demonstrates how society’s values are reflected in the way teen prostitution is defined is related to societal values which accept the devaluation and objectification of girls as valid cultural expressions (Ekberg, 2004, ???™? ????). Values are an integral and fundamental stone in every social structure. In a society that accepts values which view women and children, mostly girls, as economic commodities, that can be bought, sold, and sexually exploited by men, girls who are involved in prostitution are seen as criminals who are breaking the law, and men who engage with those girls are not always punished and in most cases the legal files are closed.

In the International Convention for the suppression of human trafficking and exploitation of Others( 1949), it is stated that “prostitution and the accompanying evil, human trafficking for prostitution are incompatible with human dignity and values of people and endanger the welfare of the individual, family and communities.”( ?z???z?? 4). Israel’s failure to recognize commercially exploited youth as victims who entered into prostitution, not always as a matter of choice but as an unwitting endpoint in a cycle of abuse and despair, reflect the way women and girls are viewed and devalued. Moreover, according to the Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (1999), one of the core values that need to be embraced by social workers and are the foundation of social work’s unique purpose is dignity and worth of the person. Personally, I believe that Israel’s society , which is reflected in the social -political agenda, has a long way to go until it will be able to embrace and implement the core value of dignity and worth of the person in it’s policy and law enforcement. By not addressing properly this significant social phenomenon, it is a violation to the human dignity that was guaranteed in the UN Declaration on Human Rights 1949. The human dignity and self worth of the vulnerable population who are involved in prostitution needs to be restored and enhanced by ensuring that they receive the services they desperately need.

Solutions to the problem in Israel ( All the information in this section is taken from the report of the Knesset’s research and information center (2011)),

Israel lacks a central government agency responsible for identifying and treating commercial exploited youth. In 1997, one of the recommendations of the inter- ministerial committee which was established to examine the commercial exploitation of minors, was to develop and operate a unique program that would focus on commercial sexual exploitation of youth in Israel. Since then, nothing has been done. Today, Israel’s social services do not do active reaching out operations of youth who are involved in prostitution. The Ministry of welfare supports the funding of Ngo’s that are involved in reaching out activities that locate minors in the prostitution arenas, however, they operate only in two cities in Israel. The Ministry of welfare does support some services such as out of the house placements, shelters and residential homes, all of whom have waiting lists of a few months. The services that are provided are only for girls working as prostitutes but not boys or transgender youth.

The Education system has an important role in preventing the phenomenon and identifying commercial sexually exploited minors. This office deals with formulating policy, developing prevention programs and treatment plans and is in charge to implement them among students, professional staff and education teams so they could identify and locate suspected abused or maltreated students as early as possible. According to the report (2011), 70% of the schools in Israel organize school activities that focus on the prevention of sexual abuse.

The main organizations that treats youth ( girls and boys) who are involved in prostitution are the Ngo’s. There are a few Ngo’s that are specific for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender (GLBT) adolescents who have been rejected and alienated because of their sexual orientation. Dror for example is designed to meet the needs of out-of-home GLBT youth in Israel, which is operated by governmental organizations.

The only organization that works with all youth population( girls, boys and GLBT) and focuses, besides other activities, on youth involved in prostitution is Elem. Elem (Youth in distress in Israel) is a nonprofit child welfare organization that was founded in 1981. Their aim is to address the problems of youth at various stages of risk, assisting them in paving their way towards reintegration into the community. The staff are professional psychologists, social workers, administrative staff, and volunteers Erim Balayla” ( translation- being awake at night) is a project that attempts to reach out to these youth, identify the boys and girls that are involved in prostitution and reduce the harm caused to them by their occupation (exposure to violence, addictions, mental problems). The activities take palce at various night clubs, on the street and on the internet. In addition, there is a personal rehabilitative program that its mission is to pave the way to reintegration into the community. Emphasis is placed on providing them with a feeling of belonging, being accepted unconditionally and educating them for more personal responsibility.

Personally I think that Erim Balayla is an effective program that not only helps to reintegrate the youth but also teaches and educates about this phenomenon. However, this vibrant project operates only in two cities in Israel, Tel-Aviv and Haifa. In the other 75 cities, the project does not exist but the phenomenon does.

Solutions

What solutions would you propose and why

The feminist approach sees the social phenomenon of prostitution as an integral and fundamental layer of the patriarchal social structure in Israel, which includes violence and exploitation of women who are part of it. Moreover, this phenomenon serves and maintains the existing social structure, in part, due to the economic interests which are derived from the fortune that is produced from the local and global commercial sexual exploitation of women and minors.

In regards to minors, experts have begun to refer to the commercial sexual abuse of children through buying, selling or trading their sexual services as “domestic minor sex trafficking” or DMST ( domestic minor) .According to the FBI, in the US, DMST is one of the most unobserved and under investigated form of child sexual abuse facing the American society and therefore the statistics in regards to the prevalence of this social problem are far from being accurate ( yale law).