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Adler felt behaviour was motivated mainly by social influences and by a striving for superiority or success; power being the basic drive, rather than sexuality as Freud suggested. Adler (1922) said it was an inferiority complex rather than Oedipus complex that was the determining factor in neurosis. Freud felt that society rose out of aggression and sexual repression, formulating his Oedipus theory to illustrate it. He assumed experience shaped personality and that present behaviour is caused by past experiences.

Adler’s’ view was that we are responsible for who we are and behaviour is shaped by our experiences and view of the future, the opposite to Freud’s theory. Adler also believed that psychologically healthy people behave consciously, aware of what and why they do what they do, in contrast with Freud, who placed heavy emphasis on unconscious components of behaviour. (Anne Shyne 1942)

Adler (1917) studied organ inferiority as a doctor and the physical compensations made for a part that wasn’t working properly. He felt people are born with weak, inferior bodies that lead to feelings of inferiority and dependence on others. He said that if a person managed to compensate properly for inferior feelings then they will pass through this phase successfully and become a mentally healthy person. On the other hand if the person fails to compensate for their weakness they may develop an inferiority complex believing themselves less worthy than others. In his mind it was physical inferiorities, not sex, which formed the foundation of human motivation. Along with his inferiority theory he developed his ‘aggression instinct’ theory; aggression begins with feelings of inferiority or anxiety within the family-our earliest social contacts. Freud disagreed at the time, however proposed a similar idea some years later: the death instinct, where self defeating behaviours, e.g. violence and aggression, are a product of this instinct. (Boeree 2006)

Feist.J, Feist, G, (2008) wrote that both Freud and Adler were influenced by the horrors of World War I and both amended their theories; Freud promoted aggression as a basic human drive alongside the sex drive, whereas Adler, influenced by the war experience for himself and those around him, concluded that social interest and compassion drove human motivation and not aggression. He used the term masculine protest, which implied a power to dominate others. Boys wanted to be seen as masculine i.e. strong and in charge, not weak or dependent (feminine), but this was misinterpreted labelling men innately as more assertive, so Adler ‘downgraded’ the phrase (Boeree 2006), minimising its role in his theory of abnormal development. Masculine assertiveness was not due to some innate superiority but a reflection of the fact that boys were socially encouraged to be assertive, and girls discouraged; seen with ‘boys toys’ e.g. swords, guns and bow and arrows, and ‘girls toys’ such as dolls, prams and dolls houses. Adler revised his idea to both boys and girls begin life with the capacity for protest. Feist, J., Feist, G. (2008).

Adler (1964) identified certain factors of Individual Psychology to explain our behaviour:

1. Striving for success or superiority is the driving force.

2. Subjective perceptions shape behaviour and personality.

3. Personality is unified and self-consistent.

4. Social interest dictates activity.

5. The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person’s style of life.

6. Creative power moulds this style of life.

The one dynamic force behind people’s behaviour is the Striving for Superiority or Success:

Adler (1956) proposed our behaviour is driven by only one motivating force – ‘striving for success’ or superiority. In his early theory, he used the term striving for superiority to describe psychologically unhealthy people who strive for personal superiority over others, but he later proposed the term striving for success, i.e. psychologically healthy people who are motivated by social interest, not just for themselves but for others around them.

Individual psychology assumes that we have physical weaknesses that activate feelings of inferiority, and it is these feelings that drive us to superiority or success and enable us to fulfil our potential. This has similarities to Rogers’ theory of self-actualisation and the fully functioning person and reflects one of the philosophical roots of Friederich Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ i.e. human driving forces, such as ambition and achievement, to reach as high a position of in life as possible. (Boeree 2006).

Inferiority complex, where an adult feels inferior to others, is only developed if a child thinks that he is less worthy than others. For example, if tall men are seen as better in a particular culture, then short men might develop inferiority complex because he feels that he is less important than others. But, if that same short man lived in a culture that made no difference between both tall and short men then he would have never developed inferiority complex. A more general form of inferiority is the inferiority of children who are smaller and less competent, socially and intellectually than adults, and so naturally feel inferior.

An inferiority complex can be expressed as shy and timid, insecure, indecisive and submissive, reliance on others, even manipulating others to get support; the aim is to cover up ones inferiority by pretending to be superior, e.g. bullies who try to look hard or use their size or weapon to intimidate a smaller or unarmed person. More subtle examples include people who use attention-seeking behaviour, or power by committing crimes, or put others down for their gender, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, weight, height, etc. Even more subtle are those who hide their feelings of worthlessness in alcohol and drugs.

People respond to inferiority by compensation ie making up for their shortcomings; a weak organ can be made stronger or other organs can be overdeveloped to compensate, similarly people with psychological inferiorities behave similarly: Some compensate by becoming good at their particular weakness, whilst others master something else. Children, who we know feel inferior around adults, have one thing in common:

“The desire to grow up, to be big, to be an adult. Most of us manage quite well” (Boree 2006).

People who see themselves as having more than their fair share of physical weaknesses overcompensate for them and often have exaggerated feelings of inferiority, strive for personal gain, and set unrealistic goals – they are not team players, whereas those with normal feelings of inferiority compensate by co-operating with others and developing a good level of social interest.

People’s subjective perceptions shape their behaviour and personality:

Adler was influenced by the philosopher Hans Vaihinger (1925) who said people live by fictional ideals that aren’t realistic and can’t be tested or confirmed, eg “Honesty is the best policy,” “All men are created equal,” and “The end justifies the means.” Ideals such as these are usually fiction; fictionalisms can help us deal more effectively with reality, or they may block our attempts to accept it. For example, if we believe in heaven and hell, it will influence how we live.

According to Adler (1956) we strive toward a final goal to achieve superiority or success. Although the final goal is fictional it is still significant because it unifies personality and makes our behaviour logical. We create our fictional goal, constructed by heredity and environment, using our creative power, i.e. our ability to shape our behaviour and create our own personality.

By 4 or 5 years of age, children’s creative power has developed enough to create their final goal; they are small and powerless and to compensate they create their fictional goal to be big and strong e.g. children often play at being super heroes, or “want to be a fireman when I grow up”. A final goal reduces feelings of inferiority and points that person in the direction of either superiority or success.

Although our final goal is relatively fixed during early childhood, we remain free to change our minds at any time. Because the goal is fictional and unconscious,

we also create temporary goals i.e. sub-goals that are not rigidly bound to the final goal but are created as partial solutions. In other words, even though our final goal is set during childhood, we are capable of change at any point in life. However, Adler maintained that not all our choices are conscious and that style of life is created by conscious and unconscious choices; the unconscious being the unknown part of the goal.

Sub- goals and final goals fit together in a self-consistent pattern. Adler (1956) used the analogy of the playwright who builds the characters and the subplots of the play to fit with the final goal of the drama. When the last scene is disclosed everything makes sense. When our final goal is known, our behaviour makes sense and each sub-goal takes on new significance.

Adler (1956) said that lifestyle is “not merely a mechanical reaction”, but a result of our creative power, which differs from Freud who proposed that events from our past, such as childhood trauma, determine how we are now. Adler saw motivation, as not being driven by the past, but drawn towards our goals, our future, and our ideals, Teleology: “Life is not mechanical, it is hard and uncertain but always has room for change” (Boree 2006).

Personality is unified and self-consistent:

Adler didn’t separate the parts of the personality as Freud did with Id, Ego and Super Ego, or conscious/pre-conscious/unconscious. He described a unified personality which can’t be separated, not a series of drives and instincts, as proposed by Freud. He saw the unconscious and conscious as two cooperating parts of one unified system. A united personality being closely linked to the fictional final goal by which we organises our life to achieve a solution to a problem. I.e. a person has goal and a solution to get there, developed in childhood and handed to the adult as the major life task, all these parts work together self-consistently to achieve.

Adler recognised different ways of operating with unity and self-consistency. One way was what he called Organ Dialect, where the individual strives in a self-consistent fashion toward a single goal, and all actions and functions are part of this goal, i.e. physicality, thoughts, feelings all affect the entire person. Adler (1956) said that through organ dialect, the body’s organs:

“Speak a language which is usually more expressive and discloses the individual’s opinion more clearly than words are able to do” (p. 223).

He presented an example of organ dialect; a boy who wet the bed to convey a message that he doesn’t want to obey his parents’. His behaviour is:

“really a creative expression, for the child is speaking with his bladder instead of his mouth” (p. 223).

A person is not a different person when he is being a dad, a husband, working, or when he is with friends etc, he is the same person pursuing the same life goals and using the same tactics to achieve them; i.e. he is a single, unified, complete person. Unlike Freud, Adler did not view parts of the personality in conflict with each other; instead he saw actions, thoughts, and feelings working together.

Human activity in terms of social Interest:

Social interest is how we identify with society, i.e. care in families, community etc. Adler believed such social interest is not solely innate or solely learned, but a combination of the two: Its nature is innate but needs to be nurtured to survive (Boeree 2006). Adler (1927) felt it was the natural inferiority of individuals that directs their behaviour to form groups (society) for protection, support, love etc. That is, social interest is necessary for perpetuating the human race. Adler (1924) believed that we were social beings:

“The human being and all his capabilities and forms of expression are inseparably linked to the existence of others” concluding that a social person is “much closer to happiness than the isolated person striving for superiority”.

Adler (1933) cited the mutually beneficial relationship of mother and child as an example of the way social interest may originate. Adler’s concept of the mother-child relationship was opposite to that of Freud, who described this relationship as based partly on oral, cannibalistic drives.

The self-consistent personality structure develops into a Life Style:

Life-Style refers to an individual’s striving towards meaning and belonging. It is a pattern of behaviour that begins early in life and forms a theme there-on. It is the result of inferiorities, perceived or actual, and results in the implementation of schemes e.g. Adler’s final goal to overcome death propelled him to become a doctor. (NCHC 2012)

Life style is unique to each person and is the arrangement of our social, domestic and occupational activities. Although the final goal is fairly rigid, lifestyle need not be and flexibility and diversity is seen in psychologically healthy individuals, whereas, psychologically unhealthy people are more inflexible and are less able to choose new ways of responding to what’s going on around them. Healthy people express their social interest through action; actively striving to solve what Adler called the three life tasks – work, friendship and love, and whose behaviour represents the ideal characteristics for survival of society, and hence humankind.

How we behave to achieve life style and final goal is supported by private logic, i.e. the private reasoning we invent to solve problems that is not understood by others. An individual’s private logic consists of what he really believes and intends. It includes the long-range goals of the life style, the short range goals of the immediate situation, and the rationalisations he gives himself for what he is doing. The origin is in childhood; it explains ones own experiences to self, which is then used to justify ones actions, eg a child learns how to behave to get an adults attention – which may be to misbehave. Private logic differs from what is commonly thought, i.e. common sense

“aˆ¦the degree of the discrepancy between private logic and common sense, what Adler called the iron logic of social living, is an indicator or measure of mental health”. (Manaster, 2009, p. 5)

Therapy draws awareness of mistaken beliefs or faulty interpretations, and hence, the errors in our private logic.

Life Style is moulded by people’s creative power:

The concept of the creative self means that the individual is responsible for himself, not blaming others or uncontrollable forces for his situation. The creative self interprets inferiority, creates the final goal and aligns life style and private logic. It can be flexible to what’s going on around us, initiating and maintaining change. As Adler says, we are the masters of our own personalities and destinies-creators rather than passive reactors (NCHC 2012)

Adler believed that we create patterns of behaviour, safeguarding tendencies, to protect our exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public disgrace. They enable us to hide an inflated self-image and maintain our life style, e.g. excuses, aggression and withdrawal. Freud called them ego defence mechanisms (EDM’s). Both men agreed that they protect against anxiety, however, Freud’s theory is that they are unconscious, protecting the ego from anxiety, whereas Adler’s theory suggests they are largely conscious and protect our fragile self-esteem from public disgrace

Family Constellations: as well as attributing parents and other adults as early influences on a child, Adler also include siblings as early influences as well. (Boeree 2006). He believed pampering and neglect were principal factors predisposing an inferiority complex and that a person’s perceived role within a family was more important than the birth order itself.

The only child is more likely to be pampered, denying opportunity to develop courage and self reliance. If the parents are abusive or neglectful the only child has to endure it alone, suffering a childhood full of humiliation and insecurity.

The first child starts out as an only child, with lots of attention, but this all changes when a second child arrives. At first, he tries to regain his only child status by acting like the baby, but is quickly told to ‘grow up’, and so rebels, misbehaves and withdraws. According to Adler the first child is more likely to become a problem child who is solitary and more conservative than others in the family.

The second child has the first child as a pace-setter and tends to compete with him. They often succeed, but often feel as if the race is never over, never quite ‘getting there’. Middle children behave in a similar way.

The youngest child is often the most pampered, the ‘baby of the family’ and is often treated as such. They are the second most likely problem child. Inferiority to anyone older and bigger than them themselves is common; however, they also have the advantage of older siblings to learn from, and can be driven to do better than them.

Conditions such as illness or disability can be an over-riding factor, with the sickly child taking the ‘youngest child’ position regardless of actual position.

A major contribution of birth order research is that it has helped psychologists understand why brothers and sisters within the same family are no more similar in personality than are those from different families. According to Sulloway (1997), the family is not a single shared environment but a place of differing areas that provide siblings with different outlooks on life. The personalities of siblings differ because they adopt different strategies to achieve parental approval.

Freud’s Oedipal theory explains how he saw social development. He believed the child’s behaviour is driven by an innate sexual and aggressive drive, completely ignoring the paternal behaviour that Adler believed shaped behaviour and development. It occurs during the phallic stage (around five years) of Freud’s psycho-sexual theory of personality. The five year-old child feels hostile/incestuous towards the parent, feelings which can’t be realised so instead they are repressed. Males repress their feelings for their mother fearing castration by their fathers, hiding their feelings in the unconscious, to enable them gain their fathers favour by becoming like him. The five year-old girl believes she has been castrated and blames her mother. The Oedipus Complex for her (sometimes called Electra Complex) is a desire for the father and fear/hatred of the mother, leading to repression of such feelings.

Freud proposed that sex and aggression drives motivated behaviour whereas Adler believed that a sense of inferiority and a lifetime of compensation was the motivating factor. He believed in only one driving force behind our behaviour, the ‘striving for perfection’, that leads us closer to how we want to be. He believed that as adult’s we have the capacity to change and grow, allowing us to change what we don’t like, whereas Freud suggested these were fixed in childhood. Adler looked at individuals in their individual social situation, looking at influences such as parenting styles, families and birth order, and how they compensated to overcome inferiorities. He believed that we become stable and useful human beings by success in the three life tasks of love, work and social interaction, of which we are in control.

Neo-Freudians including Adler, Jung, and Erikson, known as Neo-Freudians because of their early associations with Freudian theory but later developing their own spin on things, also put emphasis on social relationships. Both individual psychology and humanistic psychology hold that the individual is the best influence of their needs, desires, interests, and growth within society.

Firstly, it is essential to understand a sample, and its purpose. A sample can be defined as a section of a population who are selected to be participants in a study. The specific selection of participants is chosen to give an overall representation of the whole population. Due to a variety of factors, particularly money and time constraints, it is not always possible to study the entire population, with the sample taking a considerable amount time, that when the sample if complete, the data acquired may no longer be representative of the population. As a result a sample is conducted, considered to be part of the population which is observed. (Cochran, 1977)

Without sufficient forms of sampling, generalising with a respectable degree of accuracy is unachievable. There are 2 types of sampling, non-random and random, and this sampling is reliant upon the notion of unsystematic selection. The basic principles denote that in order to provide generalisations related to unique population, the characteristics of the sample must reflect the characteristics of the unique population that has participated in the sample. Thus, a sample can be understood as a miniature population. The only accurate alternative would be to select the entire population to take part in the sample. Whilst there are scenarios where this could be achieved, it is highly unlikely that this could be achieved, but for the population being small enough.

When conducting a sample, many see a direct relationship between the overall accuracy of the sample and the population used to create the sample. Consequently, several people will consider a sample to be more accurate when the population used within the sample is greater. This is not necessarily true, as a sample of 100,000 people will not be 10 times as accurate as a sample with a population of 10,000. When conducting a sample, it is essential to consider a variety of factors when calculating the size of the sample that will be used. For example, the cost of the sample, the time duration of the sample, and the size of the population that will be used in order to obtain relevant information and the level of sampling error that will occur once the results of the sample are complete.

However, using a larger population when conducting a sample leads to less sampling error, also known as standard error. Therefore, this simply insinuates that the larger the sample, the smaller the error. As a result, those chosen for national samples and national surveys are assiduously selected, resulting in specific samples of only 2,000-3,000. With participants for samples and surveys being specifically selected, the level of sampling error diminishes considerably; nevertheless it is imperative to remember that sampling error can never be eliminated, irrespective of population size. (Barnett, 1991)

Random sampling, also referred to as probability sampling, involves a type of random selection which is responsible for choosing the element of the sample. Considerably more confidence can be found in random sampling compared to non-random sampling. The main methods when conducting random sampling include cluster, simple random, stratified random and systematic. The selection procedure ensures each element within the population has an equal, as well an independent chance of being selected to take part in the sample.

The elements within a non-random sample are selected through non-random method. This has a detrimental effect on producing representative samples compared to random sampling. However, many researchers still choose to use non-random samples when conducting their research. Their non-random samples are determined by the 3 main methods used within the sample; convenience, purposive and quota.

Random samplingensures that each and every member within the population has an equal and identical chance of being included within a sample. Thus, many believe random sampling to be the easiest, fastest and simplest method in order to draw a sample from a population. When choosing random sampling to conduct research, it is essential to have a complete and full list of the population in order to select a completely random sample. (Jessen, 1978) However, this can be seen as very difficult to accomplish. Developing a thorough population list is considerably simpler when using a distinct and smaller population. Several researchers and those involved in conducting samples consider random sampling to be most beneficial, believing random sampling should be used as often as possible. This is very much due to random sampling highlighting authentic, realistic and reliable generalisations. For example, researchers would prefer to conduct a random sample of 100 people, rather than a non-random a sample of 1,000 people, therefore highlighting random sampling as a general preference amongst those who are responsible for conducting samples. Accordingly the advantages of using random sampling are that the population sample is only influenced by chance, ensuring the sample is fair, non-biased and non-discriminative. However, obtaining a list of the entire population is complicated, and as a result this can prevent entirely random sampling. (Wiley, 1992)

The method of systematic sampling consists of two factors that will determine involvement in the sample, and they are chance and ‘the system’. This ‘system’ can be described as the process of facilitating random selection within systematic sampling. For instance, when selecting a sample of 50 names from the population of 100, instead of random selection taking place within the population to determine who takes part in the sample, a researcher may select every second name from within the population to take part in the sample. Systematic sampling can as similar to random sampling, unless a systematic bias is evident through the presentation of names on the population list. However, it is very simple to avoid a systematic bias from occurring, through examining the list prior to conducting the sample, as well as communicating with those in charge of putting together the list, asking how the list was assembled. (Foreman, 1991)

Quota sampling is a type of sampling that is frequently used in market research and in opinion polls. Those conducting the sample are given a quota of specified subjects to recruit. For example, when conducting a sample concerning favourite music, the interviewer might be asked to find and select 10 adult females, 10 adult males, 10 teenage boys and 10 teenage girls. (Wiley, 1992) However, many imperfections exist when conducting a quota sample, with the simplest fault being that the sample is not random; consequently this means that the sampling distributions of all and any statistics are unknown. The non-random sample is selected in a precise and specific manner in order to ensure that the known characteristics correspond with the overall population sample. When conducting a quota sample, it may be advantageous to set the quotas before the sample is selected; in spite of this it is also possible to use quota sampling strategies spontaneously. Some researchers may feel that it is not beneficial to carry out research prior to conducting the sample as they are working with an intact group. As a result, the researcher may include questions concerning the characteristics of his respondents; this is in addition to questions related to the outcome variables. The additional questions to those within the questionnaire should concentrate on the topics that are most expected to introduce biases. Once the data has been has been analysed, in order to validate that there are no obvious biases, the researcher could compare and contrast the characteristics between the population and the sample. For example, a small association with a minor budget may want to conduct a private investigation to find out the attitudes, opinion and viewpoints of British University students concerning alcohol and drug issues. Being realistic, the association will believe that the students will respond to the questions by giving socially desirable answers. Therefore, the organisation may hire a counsellor/researcher from a local University in order to meet the students, gradually build a strong rapport with the students, and this will result in the students feeling calm and comfortable around the counsellor/researcher, meaning they are considerably more likely to respond to questions with authentic, realistic and truthful answers. (Cochran, 1977) Planning prior to conducting a quota-sampling greatly minimises differences, ultimately leaving the researcher with more accurate and precise results. A significant advantage of using quota sampling is that it can be used when random sampling is impossible; quota sampling is also a very simple process that is quick to carry out, and therefore an ideal form of sampling when restricted by time constraints. However, within the quota sample, biases may still exist, with them being difficult to eliminate as they are not controlled by the quota sampling. (Kalton, 1983)

Stratified sampling involves putting the members of the population into categories/groups. The advantages of using stratified sampling are that is focuses on the priority subpopulations, ignoring the less relevant subpopulations. Stratified sampling also allows the use of different sampling techniques for different subpopulations, this considerably improves the overall accuracy of the hypotheses and result, in addition to being a practical and valuable solution to sampling when the population is too large to use in one long list. However, the selection of relevant stratification of variables is difficult to achieve, with the data not permanently useful when there are no identical or similar categories/groups. Stratification sampling is also an expensive form of sampling as it requires accurate information about the population that is being used, with the risk of biases being introduced due to there being errors within the measurements, or a clear bias when the selection takes place. Stratified sampling can also be combined with other sampling techniques in order to achieve the most accurate results possible. (Barnett, 1991)

Quota sampling and stratified have some very clear similarities. Both specify the number of subjects that are to be included within the sample based on selected characteristics. The function of quota sampling is to ensure the sample gives an accurate, genuine and realistic representation of the population regarding important characteristics that have been put into place prior to the sample being conducted. This is achieved through subjects with specific characteristics that have been placed into sub-categories containing similar populations. Stratified sampling can be seen to take place in order to ensure adequate and ample numbers for sub-analysis once the sample has been concluded. (Foreman, 1991)

Many respected organisations and researchers are forced to rely and use non-random sampling due to random sampling being difficult to accomplish. Non-random sampling can be clearly justified if it is highly unlikely, or impossible, to conduct a truly random sample. As a result of these difficulties, the organisations and researchers are most likely to resort to conducting a quota sample or stratified sample. (Kalton, 1983)

Cluster sampling involves the population being divided into groups, or clusters. The researchers involved randomly select the clusters to be included in the sample, with each element being assigned to one group solely. Providing the size of the sample is continuous across all the sampling methods, cluster sampling does not provide as much accuracy as other sampling methods, namely random sampling and stratified sampling. Thus, it is logical for people to ask, when conducting a sample, why use cluster sampling? With the answer being when using a limited budget to conduct the sample, the researcher(s) will be able to use a bigger sample using the cluster sampling method, with the increased size of the sample compensating for and counteracting the deficit of precision. Therefore, when on a limited budget for a sample, cluster sampling may be seen as the most appropriate and suitable method to use. (Jessen, 1978)

Convenience samples are conducted through the researcher, at their own convenience and discretion, choosing whether to make a valid attempt to ensure the sample is an accurate representation of the general population. An example of this is the researcher standing in a public area, for instance a shopping centre, and choosing who to stop and ask question and/or fill out a survey. Therefore convenience sampling is a form of non-random sampling, meaning the data obtained is inconsistent and does not give an accurate representation of the whole population. Whilst it is difficult to generalise the results of a convenience sample, they can still be informative, although not used by many to gain information and statistics. (Wiley, 1992)

When choosing a sampling method, it is essential to choose the method that most effectively links the particular goals involved. Budget can greatly affect the sampling method chosen, therefore it is important to ensure the sample is as accurate and precise as possible, identifying the types of sampling method that will bring the best results, achieving the goals set prior to sample being conducted. Therefore, it is not possible to choose an outstanding sampling method, as each method is dependant on a variety of factor, as mentioned before such as budget, population size and time constraints. It is the responsibility of the researcher to pick the best method, studied to the sample in order to illustrate a fair and realistic representation of the population.

Bibliography
Barnett, V. 1991. Sample Survey Principles and Methods. Edward Arnold, London, 173pp.
Cochran, W.G. 1977. Sampling Techniques, third edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 428pp.
Foreman, E.K. 1991. Survey Sampling Principles. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, NY.
Jessen, R.J. 1978. Statistical Survey Techniques. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
Kalton, G. 1983. Introduction to Survey Sampling. Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences 35, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA, 96pp.
Levy, P.S. and S. Lemeshow. 1991. Sampling of Populations: Methods and Applications. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 420pp.
Thompson, S.K. 1992. Sampling. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 343pp.

The story which you are going to read will have a very great impact on your life. I hope that you will get advantage by reading this story as I have learnt a lot from this story. The story which I want to share with you today is about a lady who was living in an extended family after her marriage. She was 16 years old at the time of her marriage. She was very happy in her in-laws because she got love, care, respect and all the facilities of daily living that she expected from her in-laws. After some time of her marriage she became pregnant. Everyone in the family was very happy and excited. But after some time, she had miscarriage. This happened twice in her life. After having two miscarriages repeatedly, she was not able to conceive any more. She went through all the diagnostic tests, including tests of ovulation and tubal patency etc which revealed that she couldn’t conceive ever in her life. This had put a great impact on her life. This was the time where she needed support from her family as she started to get depressed but instead of support, the violence from the in-laws began. Mother in-law started to torture her everyday and threaten her by saying that she would bring a new wife for her son in order to have heir. Every night, she was being beaten by her husband for her little mistakes and when society came to know about that lady, they stigmatized her as infertile and this stigma made her more depressed. Her life was going on with that stigma, fear and domestic violence. One day her father in-law and mother in-law both expired and then the lady had to look after the whole family because she was the only female person left in the family. She tried a lot to come out of that psychological distress that she experienced in the past years by going to her religious place for praying and keeping her self busy in household activities.

After three years, her husband also died and she suffered grieve of loosing her partner. She was also worried about her future life without husband and baby. She was quiet prepared for her loneliness but she wouldn’t know that her brother in law would rape her for his own sexual satisfaction. That incident changed the lady’s life. She left that home but the society didn’t leave her. They blamed her for each and every change in her life.

At last, she ended up with psychotic disorder (schizophrenia) due to depression, fear, loneliness, stigmatization and domestic and sexual violence. She was regarding human as her enemy and was beating the one, who was taking care of her. She was admitted in mental asylum for her treatment and is now residing with his elder brother in Karachi.

Analysis:

By analyzing this story many issues arises in my mind. First why that all happened to the lady? What was the main cause? Was that stigma of infertility or the lady herself, who allowed her family to violate her rights? How we can change the minds and thoughts of people living in our society to help the victims of these stigmas?

The above story points out three major aspects that are fear of instability of marriage, domestic violence and sexual abuse and loneliness that a lady suffered in her life due to stigma of infertility. In this paper I will discuss each aspect in detail by analyzing issues and challenges, by giving relevant literature support and by providing appropriate recommendations.

Stigma of infertility was the main cause that created all the mishaps in that individual’s life. But what is infertility itself? “Infertility is a disease, defined by the failure to achieve a successful pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse.” (American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 2008) (p.1).

Infertility is a major life-altering problem in both men and women. In our socio-cultural context, it becomes life-damaging problem because of the stigma. In Muslim culture, the stigma follows childless women even after death. Women without children aren’t always allowed to be buried in graveyards or sacred grounds. (Karen, 2008) (p.1).

In the above mentioned story it is clearly mentioned that how stigma can bring a drastic change in an individual’s life. Stigmatized victims end up with psychological distress. According to Nicole, Anouck, Mai, Giang, Nguyen, & Cornelis (2006), “In women, infertility can cause social isolation, threat to their marriage life, domestic violence and grief. (p. 5).

The first main issue that arises due to stigmatization of infertility was the fear of marital instability. This is quiet common in our society that men and in-laws either threat or leave the infertile women. One of the major causes of polygamy is women’s sterility. Barren women have no respect in the Muslim society. She has to either leave her husband or accept his co-wife. According to D Kumar (2007), Infertility leads to marital conflicts, polygamy or divorce. (p. 3). These are the issues that can impact on women’s psychological health. She suffers through stress, depression, violence, and abuse by intimate partner and in-laws and is at high risk of getting emotional distress.

Another issue that is highlighted in the story was domestic violence and sexual abuse that happened in result of infertility. Women are abused verbally, physically and emotionally by their in-laws when they came to know about their sterility. They blame and disregard her in many ways. Sonja, Akin, Sally, & Xiaoyun (2009) states, “Society puts high pressure on married women in terms of conceiving a child, if a women fails to do so, she is being ridiculed and abused as witch and unproductive by their in-laws.” (P. 92). Husband also bursts out their anger on wife. They abuse them physically and sexually that can result in unwanted pregnancy or unsafe abortions that can cause psychological and emotional distress. (Faridah, Syed, Badar, & Naveed, 2009) (p. 2). It is quiet common in our culture that father in-law or brother in-law also abuse women physically and sexually to show their power. In my story, the woman was raped by his brother in-law, who was the breed earner in the house. Childlessness itself is a distressing experience (Dyer, Abrahams, Mokoena, Lombard, & Spuy 2005) (p. 1942) but when it is associated with domestic violence, stigmatization and sexual abuse, the life becomes miserable and it results in social isolation, suicidal ideation, anger and self destructive behaviors that later lead to physical and psychological problems.

The third issue faced by my client was loneliness. Frances, Rebecca, Huss, Marsha, Genevra,

Hillary & Joseph in 2006 define loneliness as a natural part of aging that tied to loss of friends and family through death or abandonment (p.8). Loneliness usually felt by people in old age when family bonds are breakup due to any reasons. If it is progress, it can lead to depression. According to Frances, et.al (2006), “Loneliness may be acceptable and less stigmatizing way to express depressive symptoms.” (p.10). People experiencing loneliness tends to have decrease medical compliance and they are less sensitive towards their physical health. In 2009, Sheryl explains that loneliness links to a number of psychological and physical difficulties including reduced medical care and compliance. (P.1). Loneliness also decreases people’s satisfaction from life. They feel that they are less worthy and try to harm themselves. According to Emmanuel, Adamson, Seter, & Jeremiahs (2007), “Suicidal ideation is associated with loneliness.” (P. 5). Childless women experience loneliness in their later stage more often as compared to women having child.

In my view, infertility of women is the major cause of marital instability, violence, abuse and loneliness. Stigma associated to infertility can lead to psychosocial problem and psychological distress. As health care provider, we should focus on prevention of infertility, rather to cure. Individual and group counseling should be done to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and to promote safe sex. Youth should be given education on sex, individual human rights, gender equality and strategies to cope with stress, anxiety and anger. We can not change the society’s mind or the taboo attached with infertility overnight but it can be eradicated by working collaboratively with family, communities, and societies. This taboo is not outside, it is within us. If we feel that infertility is a medical illness and not stigma, we can teach others the same. The process of change starts from our selves. Besides this, infertile couples should be given appropriate referral to the counselors. Furthermore, they should be explored about coping strategies and alternative life aims. In addition, families of infertile couples should be counseled to avoid domestic violence. There should be support services that can help women in their later age to avoid loneness. In conclusion, despite of all the stressors of life, a woman can still live a healthy life if the above recommendations are appropriately and timely consider.

First of all I would like to consider what stigmatization is and what it means in the modern society. According to Anna Scheyett (2007), stigmatization means social stigma hanging labels. In this sense, stigmatization – is the association of any quality (usually negative) with a specific person or group of people, although this relationship is absent or is not proved. Stigma is an integral part of many stereotypes.

It should be noted that origin of the term stigmatization is associated with the word “stigma”, which in ancient Greece called stamp on the body of a criminal or slave. Since the second half of the XIX century the word was used in a figurative sense as a “marker”, and in medicine as “a sign of illness”. Stigma – is more than just labeling. Public attitudes to the different phenomena rarely occurs quite spontaneously, without justification, it does not arise from nothing. As a fact, subconscious fear – is the main cause of any stigma. However, this fear has always supported selective reporting in the media.

As a rule, to create a social stigma to one quality that is considered to be illustrative, and a set of qualities that are attributed on the basis of having the first, as evidenced by the following examples: “Women can not drive car properly” – it is a form of stigma associated with sexism. As a fact, on average women drive car not worse than men do, although, of course, they have their own characteristics in this activity. It is important that not necessarily every woman will be greeted poorly led and well-established stigma that implies. “Germans are Nazis” – in this case it is used the collective responsibility (unacceptable humanistic morality) to justify the actions of individuals in that period. “Homosexuals have feminine behavior” – it is the transfer of features typical for some, the entire demographic group.

It should be noted that stigma can lead to discrimination as the real action that limits the rights of some groups. Though, in civilized countries a clear stigma and related discrimination are prohibited by law or condemned the culture of almost every society that saturated stigmas. For example, people who came to New York from the provinces, being labeled “provincial”. It is believed that they are less cultured than the locals; consequently, it can be said that stigma leads to discrimination.

As a matter of fact, social stigma sometimes can be couched in positive form, for example, the military can “praise” for an unusually sensible idea for a man of his profession. Such “positive” labels can be no less offensive than the stigma explicit negative direction. At the same time it should not be attributed to the discharge stigmas each offensive or ironic definition. If a man was offended in transport, it does not mean that he was stigmatized.

According to Patrick Corrigan, Amy Watson (2005), scientists distinguish following types of social stigmatization:

Cultural stigma – is social labels, rooted in the culture of the state or world culture (“New Yorkers are arrogant”).

Institutional stigma – is a legislatively fixed stigma (“a man with a criminal record”).

Personal (or inner) stigma – is a prejudice against yourself, based on involvement in anything (“I am a fatty”).

As a rule, society establishes ways of categorizing people and defines a set of qualities that are considered as normal and natural for each of the categories. The routine practice of social interaction in the current environment allows you to others familiar to people, not particularly thinking about it. Even everyday language uses special terms to refer the stigma (e.g. “cripple”, “moron”, etc.) as a figurative expression. As a rule, we do not think about their original value, and tend to attribute to man a long series of imperfections on the basis of some of them. I think that in our view, the processes of stigmatization are formed from primary school, then developed and fixed in adolescence. Term “labeling” is associated with the position of a primary school teacher, as a teacher, which is attached to the child’s socialization. He introduces children into the world of culture, and on how it is done depends how does child feels himself as a normal part of society or not. It should be taking into account that the stereotypes that were “glued” in childhood, often inadvertently fixed in the ordinary course of social interactions. There is no doubt that stigma can be created and can be reduced, but its formation occurs easier and faster.

According to Catherine Campbell, Harriet Deacon (2006), many scientists consider that parents have great influence on the stigmatization process, very often adult family members do not think about the implications of what was said at parent meetings, visiting, telephone, etc. But in my opinion stigmatization is more depends on special role of school teacher. The current organization of the educational process in schools have increased focus on the psychological and pedagogical methods for determining mental and other abilities of the child, his emotional and volitional characteristics. Such an approach is often appears a cause in fact there is only a consequence of manifestations of deeper social, cultural and other factors in the educational process.

As a member of a social group, the child or young person has certain social roles and comes with other group members and representatives of other groups in social and communication relations. Any person is included in the system of social relations, so is the “product” of social relations with others. Stigmatized identity is no exception. According to Daphna Oyserman, Janet K. Swim (2007), phenomenon of stigma is widespread in the educational process, as were evidenced by the study of U.S. schools students, conducted by sociologist in 2006. There were surveyed 448 secondary school students of different states. The study showed that as a rule students are labeled as “bully”, “whore”, “junkie”, etc. by 33,2% of teachers and 32,4% of other adults. Among the parents such occasions meets twice less – 14,2%. It seems quite all right that 71,2% of respondents indicated that teachers formally conduct educational activities in schools.

The findings suggest that in the eyes of American students responding teacher today – one of the main stigma creator, put labels on their students, and therefore, has direct relevance to the deviant behavior of students and their psychological outcast class, and informal children’s groups. This analysis suggests that the stigma – is one of the socio-cultural phenomena of the educational process resulting from a specific role identification and regulation of personal qualities. In this case, the norm and deviation from it belongs to the decisive role. Thereby, stigma in school performs the reverse side of used pedagogical techniques. In my opinion, the stigmatization of education should be investigated and deserves further research. I am convinced that this is a serious problem and society should react on such problems immediately.

As a rule, the grounds for the social stigma may act as belongs to ethnic or religious group, physical or mental disabilities; very often people such categories like drug junkie, prisoners and unemployed suffer from stigmatism. There are many definitions of social stigma, Irving Hoffman, a sociologist at the University of California, is one of the most famous scientist of the XX century, engaged in the problems of stigmatization. In his book, he defines stigma as a quality significantly damaging social group. It should be mentioned that discredit – is the central idea of the Hoffmann’s concept. As a fact, a person belonging to a stigmatized group, considered inferior, and on this basis denied the rights and privileges. According to Being Targeted By Stereotypes And Prejudice Affects Self-Control And Academic Performance (2009), people are deprived of the right to be full – the consequences of this are numerous and horrific. The majority belongs to the minority as inferior beings, flawed or dangerous, and believes that they have rights to feel anger and hate them. The majority discriminates stigmatized groups, selecting its capabilities, which should be equal for all people. For example, a landlord may refuse to pay salary to good housekeeper – a representative of stigmatized group, and employer – refuse to give a job. Moreover, most of them can terrorize the minority. Social stigma can lead to such egregious crimes such as lynching of African Americans during XX century, prostitution of Chinese women during the Second World War and the inquisitorial torture.

It should be noted that Hoffman believes that the source of stigma lies in the man himself: the base is to discredit any quality of a person. Black skin of African Americans excites prejudice. The wheelchair gives rise to the stereotype of incapacity of its owner. Smokers are obliged to the stigma of cigarettes. In these two cases, the bases for stigma are the outward signs – wheelchair and cigarettes. The irony is that the interpretation of the stigma as the inherent quality enhances the blame: it is characteristic of man that causes the bias of others.

This arise an important question: does it follow that if African Americans have had a white skin, they would not be discriminated? Edward Jones and Albert Hastorf, and their colleagues from the Center for special studies Institute for behaviorism of Stanford University discovered this discrepancy and finalized the definition of stigma. They concluded that stigma plays major role in perceptions of labels. As a fact, stigma arises not when most people see a sign, and when the majority hangs on this feature label. Black skin itself is not a label; rather, in the view of Europeans black skin means membership to the “second class” people. It leads to prejudice. Injustice arises because of viewers’ perceptions. According to Anna Scheyett (2007), Bruce Link, a physician-epidemiologist at Columbia University, summed up these arguments and based on them brought four statements – the criteria by which we can determine whether the group exposed to stigma:

The differences between people are labeled.

Beliefs that one culture is dominant comparing with others.

Majority group discriminates minority group with labels.

The group “with labels” has a lower social status and is discriminated.

As a rule, advocates of social justice will tell you that any stigma, mentioned above is a terrible sin. Anything that deprives people of social respect and individual empowerment entails irreversible consequences for the cultures in which there are such injustices. Supporters of opposing viewpoints can recall the original problem of stigma in ancient Greece, where a special mark (mark on his cheek or shoulder, special clothing) have noted the people who represented a danger to society. Stamps warned that the man – is the criminal or insane. Although this practice seems outdated, the public stigma still exists in Western countries. In most U.S. states exists the practice of registering sex offenders, so that people can, for example, check to see whether living with them in the neighborhood pedophile. Arrested for drunk driving must stick to the bumper special sticker.

It should be mentioned that the results of scientific studies conducted over the past 30 years, suggests that the media is one of the most significant factors influencing the belief systems. Because individuals with diseases associated with stigma, usually stay in the shade. People form their attitude towards them on the basis of movies, television programs and news programs. For this reason, the media play an important role in the fight against stigma, against people with mental health problems, and media reports may be correct only if they are given correct and accurate information.

It can be said that advocates of the stigma were founded upon the main idea of conflict resolution, according to which individuals often can not get along with each other, since differ in their interests and outlook to life, with those who are in power, have opportunity to express their views and principles in the rules governing institutional life, and successfully hang the negative labels on violators of these norms. They are interested in the process by which certain individuals receive the stamp of the deviants, begin to consider their behavior as a deviant. According to Shana Levin, Colette van Laar (2004), adherents of the theory of stigma Edwin Lemert, Howard Becker and Kai Erikson argued that, firstly, action by itself has not criminal nature. “Negative” action is not due to internal content, but by how others appreciate such an act and react to it. Deviation is always a subject of social definition. Secondly, all people tend to deviant behavior associated with the violation of some rules. Proponents of this theory deny the popular idea that people can be divided into normal and that who have some pathology. For example, some exceeding the speed drive, commit shoplifting, cheating with homework, hiding income from the tax office, get drunk, have engaged in acts of vandalism in honor of the victory of his favorite football team, violate the rights of private property without permission or rolled into the car of his friend. Proponents of the theory of stigma are called such action a primary deviation, defining it as behavior that violates social norms, but usually escape the attention of law enforcement.

Third, whether the specific acts of people regarded as deviant depends on what these people are, and how the reaction of the others, i.e. this estimate depends on how the rules will prefer to strictly follow the company, in what situations and for some people. Not all those who exceeded the speed ride, shoplift, withheld revenues, violated the rights of private property, etc. For example, in U.S. African Americans are condemned for the actions, which is permissible for whites, and women – for the actions, which is permissible for men, some may be condemned for the same acts that commit them with impunity friends, individual behavior may be condemned as deviant, although it is not violate any rules, simply because they indiscriminately accused of such acts, which they may have never done (for example, a person looks “effeminate” and it labeled as a homosexual). Of particular importance is the social environment, and then denounces it as a specific individual violator of norms or not.

Fourth, the labeling on the people implies certain consequences for these people. It creates the conditions that lead to secondary deviation – deviant behavior, produced by the individual in response to sanctions imposed by others. According to Shana Levin, Colette van Laar (2004), adherents of the theory of stigma argue that such a new departure from the norm triggered hostile reactions from legislators and law-abiding citizens. The individual receives a public definition, which is built into a stereotype, and is declared by the offender like “crazy”, “forger”, “rapist”, “junkie” or “criminal”. The label helps to perpetuate the status of an individual in an outsider (“a person out of our circle”). Such a master status suppresses all other statuses of the individual in shaping his social experience and as a result of playing the role of self-fulfilling prophecy. Violators of the rules begin to perceive their status as a particular type of deviance and shape based on the status of their own lives.

Fifth, those who received the stamp by the offenders usually find that the law-abiding citizens condemn them and do not want to have business with them. They may turn away from friends and relatives, in some cases they may be jailed or put in the hospital for mental illness. Universal condemnation and isolation of stigmatized individuals is to push deviant groups, comprising people whose fate is similar to their own. Participation in the deviant subculture – is a way to cope with a critical situation, to find emotional support and an environment where you take the way you are. In turn, enter into such a deviant group strengthens the individual’s view of themselves as on the offender, promotes the development of deviant lifestyle and relax with a law-abiding environment.

Thus, according to the theory of stigma, the deviation is determined not by the behavior, and society’s response to such behavior. When the behavior of people is viewed as retreating from the accepted norms, it gives impetus to a range of social reactions. Others define and evaluate the behavior to a certain label. The offender begins to harmonize their standards further actions with such labels. In many cases, the individual produced by self-presentation, which coincides with that label, as a result he is able to embark on the path of deviation.

To sum it up, I would like to estimate theory of stigmatization. The theory of stigma, not focusing on the reasons for committing deviant acts, it helps explain why the same act may be regarded as deviant or not, depending on the situation and characteristics of the individual in question. Many proponents of the theory of stigma applied to the provisions of the theory of conflict, primarily to existing inequalities in society, to understand what are the basis of the structure and social institutions, which drawn up and enforced the laws. The theory of stigmatization has its critics. First, although the theory of stigma helps to understand how individuals become professional abjurers, it does not show what caused the original factors of deviant behavior.

Indeed, for many forms of deviation living conditions are responsible for the labeling on these people. So, it seems clear that the vast majority of people placed in the hospital for the mentally ill, experiencing severe violations associated with the inner psychological or neuralgic abnormalities. Their confusion and suffering can not be explained solely by the reactions of other people. Nevertheless, a large number of facts suggest that the professional psychiatrists provoke social manifestations of mental illness through the application of systems stigma, and not just “discover” the inner pathology or mental illness. Labels also play an important role in shaping the ideas of ex-patients clinics for the mentally ill from other members of society, and have themselves ex-patients.

Secondly, the deviation can not be understood in isolation from social norms. If the behavior is not deviant as long as it has not received such an assessment, then how to classify such secret and remained unsolved crimes as embezzlement of public money, tax evasion or secret sexual violence? Moreover, many criminals convinced that the crime is a payback to the society. One study found that a third of crimes against private property committed by the conviction of criminals in that way they can get much more than by an honest, legitimate work, and another third of crimes committed are unemployed. I think everybody must think about this situation that we created. In my opinion people should be more tolerant to each other. Of course, this will not solve stigmatism problem, but it will help mitigate contradictions in our society. Finally, like said one wise man, even the biggest trip begins with a small step.

India is a country with a history of multiplicity inequality, where customs and culture practise had and still have strong influence on the social and political life of the population. India is also a country with a social caste system, with variety religions believers. This social mixture makes difficult for Indian women to escape discrimination, reach better opportunities and empower themselves not only inside the household, but also in a village and in a community, or even on the country’s political stage. On another hand, India has modern approach to technology and development with fast growing economy reaching 7,7 percent GDP in 2009 and further forecast of growth to 9 percent this year. (Trading economics

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/GDP-Growth.aspx?Symbol=INR)

Indian family structure.

The most outstanding feature of India is a strong patriarchal and patrilocal character of this state. Majority of Indian states are patriarchal with only few examples of matrilocal and matrilineal structure like Kerala.

In patriarchal society both boys and girls take their identity from the father. But while the son is recognize as a permanent member of the family, the girls are more luckily be viewed as a transit element of this unit to another predominantly husband’s family. This also influences inheritance and resource distribution inside family. The land and properties are usually inherited by male successors and transmitted throw them to the next generation. According to the traditional legal practice a daughter has only rights of maintenance the land during her life in a family. As soon as she got married her right of land use are dismissed and taken back to family unit. Only a son has rights to property and land at birth. Women position in patriarchal India is reduced to good daughters, good wives and mothers. Wifehood and motherhood are commonly accepted as key roles for women in an Indian society and by those implications they should not pursue any different profession. Especially this once required by higher education or specialised trainings, which make them, lose focus on main household duties.

Patriarchal system in an Indian society also means that the family unit is based on the joint household structure, where only one male is a head of house. Usually this role does belong to a father. He does make choice in terms of marriage alliance, both daughters and sons, decision about buying and selling properties, and maintaining family property day-to-day life. In terms of domestic arrangement the elder woman in a family is in charge. The new bride has the lowest and submissive position in this family chain (p70-76 Women status in India and Empowering them throw Education Dr Bijayalasini Prahary 2010).

In addition a patrilocal character of the Indian family means that a married couple will be leaving in a husband’s father house or in close distance to a natal home. And because an inheritance in India is usually traced through man, not a woman, the whole family sets are related to males who live together and share a property or even in case of tribal groups a wife. As a consequence of a male dominated role in a family and kinship system women are treated as a less important tool in a kin, and often an easy disposable member, simply replaceable by new brides. For example, in cases where a woman is childless common practise for husband is to send her back to her maternal family and replace by a new wife. The daughter situation is much more difficult. As daughters’ position is concerned, their residence in the father’s household is temporary and they do not have rights to family assets. Especial as girls quite often are subjects of early age arranged marriages, so their lives in a unit are short. In case of a wife, the husband family treats her as an outsider who is descended from some other patriarchal extended kin. Interesting enough with age and giving a birth to son a woman can gain better setup inside the household, but she will always be perceive as an outsider.

Legally the minimum ages at marriage are 18 for women and 21 for man, but in practise, according R C Mishra, close to 60 percent of women of rural India are married before reaching legal age. Especially that the legal provisions are rarely enforced by local authorities, what allows prohibition against child marriage to be continued and it seems wildly accepted in pure areas of India. We have to remember that Indian population is strongly influenced by custom and religious believes. As a consequence of early married many of girls, who are not ready physically and mentally to give a birth at young age, are dying during pregnancy (p94-97 women in India towards gender equality R C Mishra Authorspress Delhi 2006).

The patrurialchal structure of the family clearly influences the relationship inside a household. Any women’s decision-making power is restricted by their low positions in a house. For example, if the mother-in-law lives in a house, a new woman in a unit has to ask her for permission and approval in domestic arrangements. If the brother-in-law is there, he is the person to ask for consent to leave the house. Also at presence the sister-in-law in a household, a new bride needs to submit herself to her decisions. Many of women in joint families are enable to take any independent decision in respect to their own daily activities. The wife has to live by her husband’s and often his family wishes. The daughter has to live by father and family arrangements. (Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Bilkis Vissandjee 2006).

According to studies made by R C Misha nearly 90 percent of women in Uttar Pradesh, and over 80 percent in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh need permission before they can leave the house. Even in matters of cooking, a third of interviewed women in Uttar said that they had been excluded from decision-making on cooking. ((p94-97 women in India towards gender equality R C Mishra Authorspress Delhi 2006)

Indian’s family structure means that it is a bride responsibility to make major adjustments in a marriage. Girls should be prepared to make sacrifice in terms own needs, be modest, hard worker and always contribute to new family wealth being. Many Indians strongly believe that not only young girls should get married early but as well be less educated than the males in the family. The reason behind this is to preserve the male-based hierarchy and perception of man roles in a household as a breadwinner and security provider. Another factor is that unmarried innocent girl symbolises family honour and purity, and is considering as a blessed gift for the whole house.

In India, especially in pure regions, rural areas, girls specialise in domestic work such as looking after siblings, preparing and cooking food, cleaning the house and fetching water and firewood. Boys on the other hand are manly involved in working on the family farms, looking after livestock and engaging in income-earning activities. (p1-11 statues of rural women in India Dr S C Shama 2009) But due to economic situation quite often girls are taking over also boy’s responsibilities in farming and earning money for family needs.

Also social discrimination has a huge impact on women rights to land. Norms of female dependence on males are justified through a range of social mechanisms. About one in third of households have been run by women alone as they husbands left in research for jobs outside agriculture industry. Still women get less paid then man for the same work done. Two third of women in India can’t read or write. They can’t sleep before the man in household (p1-11 statues of rural women in India Dr S C Shama 2009). (p 40-44 Gender Discrimination in Indian Society, L Packiam, Allied Publishing Privet Limited 2006 New Delhi)

In addition, even among Indian women exists huge inequality related to treatment at work place and on social stage. Women belonging to the privileged and dominating classes enjoy mach more freedom and opportunities than they are often denied even to man from subordinated and unprivileged casts and groups. Women for the privilege cast are more educated and can place themselves in better position on an employment market. Still it does not change the fact that women are on the bottom of the order in every social group and casts, landless people, displaced and migrants (p1-11 statues of rural women in India Dr S C Shama 2009) Dali women are the hardest touched by discrimination not only at home but as well at Indian society. As the lowest cast they suffer every day form injustice and wrongdoing. The case of a girl student from Gujarat is only one of many examples of hash treatment by upper class and Indian traditional authorities. The girl made a mistake of joining the dancing in the main square of her village, in which most of the participants were of the upper caste. The upper caste boys pulled her out and threatened to rape her. For interfering, her mother was slapped. In the hope for justice, she forced her parents to file a complaint to the police against her assailants. For complaining to the police constantly the upper caste families in a village intimidated her mother and members of her family until it had been withdraw. This only one from many examples showing how difficult is for women from lowest cast to deal with disadvantages to be born into Dalit cast. It is estimated that around 50 thousand Dalits girls were sold every year to Hindu organizations that are involved in the Devdasi system as a female servants of “god” and are sexually exploited. These women from the poorest cast have no control over life, wealth and they cannot expect help from Indian justices’ system and local authorities.

Human Right Watch Report in 1992,

http://aapf.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/mahey-the-status-of-dalit-women-in-indias-caste-based-system.pdf (The Status of Dalit Women in India’s Caste Based

System Sonia Mahey, University of Alberta)

Women in Indian population.

India is one of the countries where the female population is counting in less proportion to male population. According to UNICEF India’s Report on Child Sex Ratio birth of female’s children is declining steadily. Figures from 1991 showed the sex ratio was 947 girls for 1000 boys. Ten years later it had fallen to 927 girls for 1000 boys. Furthermore, since 1991 in 80 percent of all districts in India had recorded a declining sex ratio with the state of Punjab being the worst in leading the statistics. States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have recorded more than 50 point decline in the child sex ratio in the same period.

http://www.unicef.org/india/media_3285.htm

Delhi recorded sex ratios 821 while Haryanan 851 and Uttar Paradesh 898 (p6 http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/7602/1/MPRA_paper_7602.pdf). The Karela state is the only one in India where overall sex ratio is constantly in favourable to women. According to MPRA’s data sex ratio was in 2001 1058 as per 1001 census (MPRA 10 march 2008)

The fact is that more then 1 million pregnancies are aborted every year after the identification as females. Female children, who escape abortion or infanticide, get into social, economical and political discrimination. Through socialisation female children are throwing into women role expectations in Indian society. From the moment of birth girls are subjected by parents’ reinforcement to take on traditional role in a society and secondary position after male. From the birth girls are view as a weight responsibility and son as a valuable resource. This discriminations continue throw the girls whole lives and effecting ever aspect of they daily existence. At home patents give priority to needs and interest of their sons then daughters. The teenager girl is denied involvement in decision making in the family. She hardly takes any decision, which affects her life directly. Even in terms of relationships girls are restricted. A son can choose and love a girl of his choice, even refuses to marry parent’s choice of a bride, and whomever they selects the final world would be his. On contrarily, the daughter has to submit herself physically and mentally to family decisions. Every her movement is watched by relatives and in huge measure by the whole community, especially in a village environment. She is strictly instructed to behave herself. Expression of love towards a boy even of the same cast is not possible (L Packiam 2006, p16-18). Of course the restriction towards girls can be more loosen up in economically privileged and higher cast families. Although India is going throw an intensive economical and in same point political changes, which impose social transformation on girls right to education, the elimination of traditional and still strong dominated view on women lower position seems to be unattached by those changes.

Girl’s education

The conventional view on girls’ upbringing has huge impact on their formal education. India has the largest population of non-school-going working girls. The country literacy rate for women is 39 percent versus 64 percent for man. For example in Uttar Pradesh is even lower, around 25 percent for women. This low rate of girls in an education lies down to parent’s view that the educated girl brings no returns to her future roles, mainly as a homemaker and perhaps agriculture labour. The point is that girls increasingly are replacing brothers on farm duties while carrying domestic responsibilities at the same time. This is significant reason for not sending daughters to schools. A large proportion of nonworking girls is kept at home only because they household responsibility. Also next point for not sending girls to school is to protect their virginity. Especially when schools are communal for both: girls and boys. In addition long distance to education institutions with travel expenses makes impossible to change paten of basic education for girls (Dr Priyanka Tomar 2006, p 10-13).

The reality is that women literacy rate stands less than 50 percent for whole India. United Nation had estimated that 245 million Indian women cannot read or write and furthermore this number covers wide throw states, religion groups and casts. For instance, while 95 percent of women in Mizoram are literate, only 34 percent of women in Bihar can read and write. The average Indian female has only 1.2 years of schooling, while the Indian male spends 3.5 years in school. More than 50 percent girls drop out by the time they are in middle school. On the other hand life expectancy has increased for both: males and females to 64.9 years for women and 63 years for men. According to UN Statistic Division (2000) also the workingwomen population had risen from 13 percent in 1987 to 25 percent in 2001 and still grows.

Another confirmed point of strong male dominance in an Indian society is the fact that only women belied to be responsible for childless marriages or giving successive birth to female babies. In those cases it is common to expect a wife to find a second wife, for her husband, which is natural in rural areas that she is coming from her own family kit (L Packiam 2006, p35 -37). In such traditional country like India with strong male role perception as a head of large family it is important to have sons who continue family line and look after their assets.

Work and women

A further aspect unequal right for women and men are related to workplace and conditions they are work. Women work longer hours than man and their work is less paid or not paid at all. Women contribution in agriculture, whether it is farming or commercial agriculture, is far more demanding as they need to as well concentrate on domestic duties and ruining household, fulfilling they traditional roles as a mother and wife. It had been found (Andhra Pradesh 2006, p.12-17) that the working day of a woman labour in agriculture during the farming season last 15 hours from 4 am to 8 pm, while man work from 5am to 10 am or 11 am and from 3 pm to 5 pm. It means that women have to work in difficult weather conditions (Dr Priyanka Tomar 2006, p 12-17). Both transplanting and weeding required from women worker to spend the whole day working in mud. What is more they work under hit of sun, while men’s work such a ploughing and watering the fields is always carried out early in a morning (Neera Bharihoke 2008, p. 41). Still women labour contribution is barley recognizable as an economic productivity and input to a family household (Dr Priyanka Tomar 2006, p 12-17). In rural India women get paid 60 percent or even less than men for doing the same work. Table 1 shows the wage rate in agriculture between male and female workers between 2004 and 2006 register by Government of India. According to this table women get only 41.58 rupee for ploughing work while men are paid almost double. Also in another jobs women do seems to be paid less than men.

Table 1: Wage Rate in Agricultural occupation 2004-2006

Occupation

Wage of Men

Wage of Women

Ploughing

Sowing

Weeding

Picking

Crushing

72,28

66,09

57,97

54,60

60,62

41,58

46,17

46,73

41,49

42,73

Source:Ministerof Labouer, Gov of India

Women play significant role in agriculture, taking on any job required in land farming. Table 2:1 shows percentage of distribution of female labour in cultivation, agriculture and household in 2001. According the chat around 51 percent women are involve in household industries work while 43 is employed in agriculture, and only 6 percent in cultivation. Table 2.2 shows percentage of male worker participation in cultivation, agriculture and household. The diagram picture that 59 percent men are employed in cultivation in compared to 43 percent women labour. In addition male labour continues 38 percent employed in agriculture. This number is less than 51 percent women labour. Not surprisingly only 3 percent men worked in household as this sector is consider being a female duty.

Source : National Sample Survey Organization, 55th round (July 1999 – June 2000)

Source : National Sample Survey Organization, 55th round (July 1999 – June 2000)

http://ncw.nic.in/pdfreports/Impact%20of%20WTO%20Women%20in%20Agriculture.pdf

IMPACT OF WTO ON WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEW DELHI NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN NEW DELHI

According to the UNFPA State of World Population report on India, published in 2005, about 70 percent of graduate Indian women were unemployed taking under consideration that women represent 90 percent of the total minor workers of the country. What’s more, rural women engaged in agriculture farming constitute 78 percent of all female with regular paid work, making they a third of all labour involved in farming on the land. Furthermore, the report point it out that due to the traditional gender division of labour these women get on average 30 percent lower wages than men. Also the total employment of women in organised sector is only 4 percent even though that industrial production increased since the 1980s with more jobs in factories and outside household. Evidently data shows increased trend among companies to rely on using cheap labour in production stage, mostly women and children. It is well known that women and children work in huge numbers in bangle making weaving, brassware, leather, crafts and other industries, including clothed and technology factories. Yet, only 3 percent of these women are recorded as manual worker. They are forced to work for almost charitable wages and are excluded form all social security benefits like a health care or a pension. A study organised by SEWA in fourteen Indian trades found that 85 percent of this women earned only 50 percent of the official poverty level income.

Another feature of women unequal treatment in Indian society is limited access to health care. Giving complicity of underlying factors like sons preference in a family, early marriages, lack of access to hospitals, education and general women position in a household, is not surprising that life expectancy of females is lower than males. For majority of Indian states the average women life expectancy is 60 years. However life expectancy age for Indian women had been altered for different states, regions in India. In Kerala, for instance, women life expectancy is 75 years of age, while in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, the poorest states of India, women’s age expectancy is even lower – 57 years (R C Mishra 2006, p.85-87). This shows as well that other factors like women religion and a cast they belong to, political and economical environment do have huge impact on life expectancy this particular gender.

In addition women are quite often subjects of sexual and gender related violence within household, but also outside family walls. They low position make them easy target for raps, molestation, kidnapping and abduction, dowry deaths and domestic violence. Especially illegal practice of dowry existing in many cast groups, quite common in rural areas, causing concerns as legislation reinforcement seems to be powerless in execution women rights and protection.

Women in politics

Furthermore on political stage it seems women are seriously underrepresented, The fact that Indian government accepted the Representation of the People Act from 1951, which reserves one third seats in national and states parliaments for women, makes milestone in acknowledging women participation in a society and they needs for changes. This is a positive step that gives women political rights to be represented and ability to influence legal policies of this country. On the other hand the Act can be viewed as a need for enforcement democratic India to accept women basic human rights to be equalised with men in area like education, workplace, household and marriage, inheritance of properties, land. However in reality women are not even count for a quote of Indian representatives on a political stage. For instance in a list of the Communist Party of India only three out of sixty candidates are women. Even worse situation for female representation can be found in Karela’s parliament. On a list of the Congress Party’s for Karela only one woman has been listed in election among seventeen candidates taking part. The main opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party, has just twenty-six women among its one hundred sixty six candidates. Just six women among 71 candidate seats represent the Samajwadi Party.

http://news.oneindia.in/feature/2009/wanted-women-in-indian-parliament.html

Throw the years the number of women parliamentarians has never exceeded 15 percent of all seats. Participation of women in the Parliament – Lok Sabha (lower house) after election in 1999 was only 8,8 percent, while in Rajya Sabha (upper house) was 8,2 percent (Source: Election Commission of India’s Website) This shows that women’s participation in political processes is slow and almost invisible, can be even recounted as exclude form the state life. It is mainly due to various social, economic, historical, geographical, political and cultural factors. Illiteracy, lack of access and control over income and other resources including land, restrictions to public spaces and legal systems in favor of a man continue to harm women any effort to political contribution.

In the Indian culture women have always been in a lower status than men and in this terms Indian women display great reserve, respect and submissive mannerisms when they speak to men. The rule “Being a male-dominant society, men rule and women follow ” applies in every aspect to Indian society structure (A male participant Women’s Political Participation in Rural India p.437).

The Indian constitution grants women equal rights with men, but strong patriarchal traditions persist, with women’s lives shaped by customs. In most of Indian families a daughter is viewed as a responsibility, a problem, which needs food and protection. On the other hand sons are idolized and celebrated. “May you be the mother of a hundred sons is a common Hindu wedding blessing”. This has influenced women access to education, to gaining power in household and a community. It seems that without strong reinforcement of traditional custom and values any government legislation cannot be productive. Recognition of women imputes into Indian economy and politics is another step towards improvement their lives.

.

Chapter Two: The Status of Women in patriarchal Indian. His Rights and Her Duties
Introduction

India is countries with a history spanning hundreds years of a multiplicity inequality, where customs and culture practise had and still have strong influence on the social and political life of the population. India is also a country with tights to social caste system, with variety religions believers. This social mixture makes difficult for Indian women to escape discrimination, reach better opportunities and empower themselves not only inside the household, but also in a village and in a community, or even on the country’s political stage. On another hand, India has modern approach to technology and development with fast growing economy reaching 7,7 percent GDP in 2009 and further forecast of growth to 9 percent this year. (Trading economics

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/GDP-Growth.aspx?Symbol=INR)

Indian family structure.

The most outstanding feature of India is a strong patriarchal and patrilocal character of this state. Majority of Indian states are patriarchal with only few examples of matrilocal and matrilineal structure like Kerala.

In patriarchal society both boys and girls take their identity from the father. But while the son is recognize as a permanent member of the family, the girls are more luckily be viewed as a transit element of this unit to another predominantly husband’s family. This also influences inheritance and resource distribution inside family. The land and properties are usually inherited by male successors and transmitted throw them to the next generation. According to the traditional legal practice a daughter has only rights of maintenance the land during her life in a family. As soon as she got married her right of land use are dismissed and taken back to family unit. Only a son has rights to property and land at birth. Women position in patriarchal India is reduced to good daughters, good wives and mothers. Wifehood and motherhood are commonly accepted as key roles for women in an Indian society and by those implications they should not pursue any different profession. Especially this once required by higher education or specialised trainings, which make them, lose focus on main household duties.

Patriarchal system in an Indian society also means that the family unit is based on the joint household structure, where only one male is a head of house. Usually this role does belong to a father. He does make choice in terms of marriage alliance, both daughters and sons, decision about buying and selling properties, and maintaining family property day-to-day life. In terms of domestic arrangement the elder woman in a family is in charge. The new bride has the lowest and submissive position in this family chain (p70-76 Women status in India and Empowering them throw Education Dr Bijayalasini Prahary 2010).

In addition a patrilocal character of the Indian family means that a married couple will be leaving in a husband’s father house or in close distance to a natal home. And because an inheritance in India is usually traced through man, not a woman, the whole family sets are related to males who live together and share a property or even in case of tribal groups a wife. As a consequence of a male dominated role in a family and kinship system women are treated as a less important tool in a kin, and often an easy disposable member, simply replaceable by new brides. For example, in cases where a woman is childless common practise for husband is to send her back to her maternal family and replace by a new wife. The daughter situation is much more difficult. As daughters’ position is concerned, their residence in the father’s household is temporary and they do not have rights to family assets. Especial as girls quite often are subjects of early age arranged marriages, so their lives in a unit are short. In case of a wife, the husband family treats her as an outsider who is descended from some other patriarchal extended kin. Interesting enough with age and giving a birth to son a woman can gain better setup inside the household, but she will always be perceive as an outsider.

Legally the minimum ages at marriage are 18 for women and 21 for man, but in practise, according R C Mishra, close to 60 percent of women of rural India are married before reaching legal age. Especially that the legal provisions are rarely enforced by local authorities, what allows prohibition against child marriage to be continued and it seems wildly accepted in pure areas of India. We have to remember that Indian population is strongly influenced by custom and religious believes. As a consequence of early married many of girls, who are not ready physically and mentally to give a birth at young age, are dying during pregnancy (p94-97 women in India towards gender equality R C Mishra Authorspress Delhi 2006).

The patrurialchal structure of the family clearly influences the relationship inside a household. Any women’s decision-making power is restricted by their low positions in a house. For example, if the mother-in-law lives in a house, a new woman in a unit has to ask her for permission and approval in domestic arrangements. If the brother-in-law is there, he is the person to ask for consent to leave the house. Also at presence the sister-in-law in a household, a new bride needs to submit herself to her decisions. Many of women in joint families are enable to take any independent decision in respect to their own daily activities. The wife has to live by her husband’s and often his family wishes. The daughter has to live by father and family arrangements. (Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Bilkis Vissandjee 2006).

According to studies made by R C Misha nearly 90 percent of women in Uttar Pradesh, and over 80 percent in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh need permission before they can leave the house. Even in matters of cooking, a third of interviewed women in Uttar said that they had been excluded from decision-making on cooking. ((p94-97 women in India towards gender equality R C Mishra Authorspress Delhi 2006)

Indian’s family structure means that it is a bride responsibility to make major adjustments in a marriage. Girls should be prepared to make sacrifice in terms own needs, be modest, hard worker and always contribute to new family wealth being. Many Indians strongly believe that not only young girls should get married early but as well be less educated than the males in the family. The reason behind this is to preserve the male-based hierarchy and perception of man roles in a household as a breadwinner and security provider. Another factor is that unmarried innocent girl symbolises family honour and purity, and is considering as a blessed gift for the whole house.

In India, especially in pure regions, rural areas, girls specialise in domestic work such as looking after siblings, preparing and cooking food, cleaning the house and fetching water and firewood. Boys on the other hand are manly involved in working on the family farms, looking after livestock and engaging in income-earning activities. (p1-11 statues of rural women in India Dr S C Shama 2009) But due to economic situation quite often girls are taking over also boy’s responsibilities in farming and earning money for family needs.

Also social discrimination has a huge impact on women rights to land. Norms of female dependence on males are justified through a range of social mechanisms. About one in third of households have been run by women alone as they husbands left in research for jobs outside agriculture industry. Still women get less paid then man for the same work done. Two third of women in India can’t read or write. They can’t sleep before the man in household (p1-11 statues of rural women in India Dr S C Shama 2009). (p 40-44 Gender Discrimination in Indian Society, L Packiam, Allied Publishing Privet Limited 2006 New Delhi)

In addition, even among Indian women exists huge inequality related to treatment at work place and on social stage. Women belonging to the privileged and dominating classes enjoy mach more freedom and opportunities than they are often denied even to man from subordinated and unprivileged casts and groups. Women for the privilege cast are more educated and can place themselves in better position on an employment market. Still it does not change the fact that women are on the bottom of the order in every social group and casts, landless people, displaced and migrants (p1-11 statues of rural women in India Dr S C Shama 2009) Dali women are the hardest touched by discrimination not only at home but as well at Indian society. As the lowest cast they suffer every day form injustice and wrongdoing. The case of a girl student from Gujarat is only one of many examples of hash treatment by upper class and Indian traditional authorities. The girl made a mistake of joining the dancing in the main square of her village, in which most of the participants were of the upper caste. The upper caste boys pulled her out and threatened to rape her. For interfering, her mother was slapped. In the hope for justice, she forced her parents to file a complaint to the police against her assailants. For complaining to the police constantly the upper caste families in a village intimidated her mother and members of her family until it had been withdraw. This only one from many examples showing how difficult is for women from lowest cast to deal with disadvantages to be born into Dalit cast. It is estimated that around 50 thousand Dalits girls were sold every year to Hindu organizations that are involved in the Devdasi system as a female servants of “god” and are sexually exploited. These women from the poorest cast have no control over life, wealth and they cannot expect help from Indian justices’ system and local authorities.

Human Right Watch Report in 1992,

http://aapf.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/mahey-the-status-of-dalit-women-in-indias-caste-based-system.pdf (The Status of Dalit Women in India’s Caste Based

System Sonia Mahey, University of Alberta)

Women in Indian population.

India is one of the countries where the female population is counting in less proportion to male population. According to UNICEF India’s Report on Child Sex Ratio birth of female’s children is declining steadily. Figures from 1991 showed the sex ratio was 947 girls for 1000 boys. Ten years later it had fallen to 927 girls for 1000 boys. Furthermore, since 1991 in 80 percent of all districts in India had recorded a declining sex ratio with the state of Punjab being the worst in leading the statistics. States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have recorded more than 50 point decline in the child sex ratio in the same period.

http://www.unicef.org/india/media_3285.htm

Delhi recorded sex ratios 821 while Haryanan 851 and Uttar Paradesh 898 (p6 http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/7602/1/MPRA_paper_7602.pdf). The Karela state is the only one in India where overall sex ratio is constantly in favourable to women. According to MPRA’s data sex ratio was in 2001 1058 as per 1001 census (MPRA 10 march 2008)

The fact is that more then 1 million pregnancies are aborted every year after the identification as females. Female children, who escape abortion or infanticide, get into social, economical and political discrimination. Through socialisation female children are throwing into women role expectations in Indian society. From the moment of birth girls are subjected by parents’ reinforcement to take on traditional role in a society and secondary position after male. From the birth girls are view as a weight responsibility and son as a valuable resource. This discriminations continue throw the girls whole lives and effecting ever aspect of they daily existence. At home patents give priority to needs and interest of their sons then daughters. The teenager girl is denied involvement in decision making in the family. She hardly takes any decision, which affects her life directly. Even in terms of relationships girls are restricted. A son can choose and love a girl of his choice, even refuses to marry parent’s choice of a bride, and whomever they selects the final world would be his. On contrarily, the daughter has to submit herself physically and mentally to family decisions. Every her movement is watched by relatives and in huge measure by the whole community, especially in a village environment. She is strictly instructed to behave herself. Expression of love towards a boy even of the same cast is not possible (L Packiam 2006, p16-18). Of course the restriction towards girls can be more loosen up in economically privileged and higher cast families. Although India is going throw an intensive economical and in same point political changes, which impose social transformation on girls right to education, the elimination of traditional and still strong dominated view on women lower position seems to be unattached by those changes.

Girl’s education

The conventional view on girls’ upbringing has huge impact on their formal education. India has the largest population of non-school-going working girls. The country literacy rate for women is 39 percent versus 64 percent for man. For example in Uttar Pradesh is even lower, around 25 percent for women. This low rate of girls in an education lies down to parent’s view that the educated girl brings no returns to her future roles, mainly as a homemaker and perhaps agriculture labour. The point is that girls increasingly are replacing brothers on farm duties while carrying domestic responsibilities at the same time. This is significant reason for not sending daughters to schools. A large proportion of nonworking girls is kept at home only because they household responsibility. Also next point for not sending girls to school is to protect their virginity. Especially when schools are communal for both: girls and boys. In addition long distance to education institutions with travel expenses makes impossible to change paten of basic education for girls (Dr Priyanka Tomar 2006, p 10-13).

The reality is that women literacy rate stands less than 50 percent for whole India. United Nation had estimated that 245 million Indian women cannot read or write and furthermore this number covers wide throw states, religion groups and casts. For instance, while 95 percent of women in Mizoram are literate, only 34 percent of women in Bihar can read and write. The average Indian female has only 1.2 years of schooling, while the Indian male spends 3.5 years in school. More than 50 percent girls drop out by the time they are in middle school. On the other hand life expectancy has increased for both: males and females to 64.9 years for women and 63 years for men. According to UN Statistic Division (2000) also the workingwomen population had risen from 13 percent in 1987 to 25 percent in 2001 and still grows.

Another confirmed point of strong male dominance in an Indian society is the fact that only women belied to be responsible for childless marriages or giving successive birth to female babies. In those cases it is common to expect a wife to find a second wife, for her husband, which is natural in rural areas that she is coming from her own family kit (L Packiam 2006, p35 -37). In such traditional country like India with strong male role perception as a head of large family it is important to have sons who continue family line and look after their assets.

Work and women

A further aspect unequal right for women and men are related to workplace and conditions they are work. Women work longer hours than man and their work is less paid or not paid at all. Women contribution in agriculture, whether it is farming or commercial agriculture, is far more demanding as they need to as well concentrate on domestic duties and ruining household, fulfilling they traditional roles as a mother and wife. It had been found (Andhra Pradesh 2006, p.12-17) that the working day of a woman labour in agriculture during the farming season last 15 hours from 4 am to 8 pm, while man work from 5am to 10 am or 11 am and from 3 pm to 5 pm. It means that women have to work in difficult weather conditions (Dr Priyanka Tomar 2006, p 12-17). Both transplanting and weeding required from women worker to spend the whole day working in mud. What is more they work under hit of sun, while men’s work such a ploughing and watering the fields is always carried out early in a morning (Neera Bharihoke 2008, p. 41). Still women labour contribution is barley recognizable as an economic productivity and input to a family household (Dr Priyanka Tomar 2006, p 12-17). In rural India women get paid 60 percent or even less than men for doing the same work. Table 1 shows the wage rate in agriculture between male and female workers between 2004 and 2006 register by Government of India. According to this table women get only 41.58 rupee for ploughing work while men are paid almost double. Also in another jobs women do seems to be paid less than men.

Table 1: Wage Rate in Agricultural occupation 2004-2006

Occupation

Wage of Men

Wage of Women

Ploughing

Sowing

Weeding

Picking

Crushing

72,28

66,09

57,97

54,60

60,62

41,58

46,17

46,73

41,49

42,73

Source:Ministerof Labouer, Gov of India

Women play significant role in agriculture, taking on any job required in land farming. Table 2:1 shows percentage of distribution of female labour in cultivation, agriculture and household in 2001. According the chat around 51 percent women are involve in household industries work while 43 is employed in agriculture, and only 6 percent in cultivation. Table 2.2 shows percentage of male worker participation in cultivation, agriculture and household. The diagram picture that 59 percent men are employed in cultivation in compared to 43 percent women labour. In addition male labour continues 38 percent employed in agriculture. This number is less than 51 percent women labour. Not surprisingly only 3 percent men worked in household as this sector is consider being a female duty.

Source : National Sample Survey Organization, 55th round (July 1999 – June 2000)

Source : National Sample Survey Organization, 55th round (July 1999 – June 2000)

http://ncw.nic.in/pdfreports/Impact%20of%20WTO%20Women%20in%20Agriculture.pdf

IMPACT OF WTO ON WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY NEW DELHI NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN NEW DELHI

According to the UNFPA State of World Population report on India, published in 2005, about 70 percent of graduate Indian women were unemployed taking under consideration that women represent 90 percent of the total minor workers of the country. What’s more, rural women engaged in agriculture farming constitute 78 percent of all female with regular paid work, making they a third of all labour involved in farming on the land. Furthermore, the report point it out that due to the traditional gender division of labour these women get on average 30 percent lower wages than men. Also the total employment of women in organised sector is only 4 percent even though that industrial production increased since the 1980s with more jobs in factories and outside household. Evidently data shows increased trend among companies to rely on using cheap labour in production stage, mostly women and children. It is well known that women and children work in huge numbers in bangle making weaving, brassware, leather, crafts and other industries, including clothed and technology factories. Yet, only 3 percent of these women are recorded as manual worker. They are forced to work for almost charitable wages and are excluded form all social security benefits like a health care or a pension. A study organised by SEWA in fourteen Indian trades found that 85 percent of this women earned only 50 percent of the official poverty level income.

Another feature of women unequal treatment in Indian society is limited access to health care. Giving complicity of underlying factors like sons preference in a family, early marriages, lack of access to hospitals, education and general women position in a household, is not surprising that life expectancy of females is lower than males. For majority of Indian states the average women life expectancy is 60 years. However life expectancy age for Indian women had been altered for different states, regions in India. In Kerala, for instance, women life expectancy is 75 years of age, while in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, the poorest states of India, women’s age expectancy is even lower – 57 years (R C Mishra 2006, p.85-87). This shows as well that other factors like women religion and a cast they belong to, political and economical environment do have huge impact on life expectancy this particular gender.

In addition women are quite often subjects of sexual and gender related violence within household, but also outside family walls. They low position make them easy target for raps, molestation, kidnapping and abduction, dowry deaths and domestic violence. Especially illegal practice of dowry existing in many cast groups, quite common in rural areas, causing concerns as legislation reinforcement seems to be powerless in execution women rights and protection.

Women in politics

Furthermore on political stage it seems women are seriously underrepresented, The fact that Indian government accepted the Representation of the People Act from 1951, which reserves one third seats in national and states parliaments for women, makes milestone in acknowledging women participation in a society and they needs for changes. This is a positive step that gives women political rights to be represented and ability to influence legal policies of this country. On the other hand the Act can be viewed as a need for enforcement democratic India to accept women basic human rights to be equalised with men in area like education, workplace, household and marriage, inheritance of properties, land. However in reality women are not even count for a quote of Indian representatives on a political stage. For instance in a list of the Communist Party of India only three out of sixty candidates are women. Even worse situation for female representation can be found in Karela’s parliament. On a list of the Congress Party’s for Karela only one woman has been listed in election among seventeen candidates taking part. The main opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party, has just twenty-six women among its one hundred sixty six candidates. Just six women among 71 candidate seats represent the Samajwadi Party.

http://news.oneindia.in/feature/2009/wanted-women-in-indian-parliament.html

Throw the years the number of women parliamentarians has never exceeded 15 percent of all seats. Participation of women in the Parliament – Lok Sabha (lower house) after election in 1999 was only 8,8 percent, while in Rajya Sabha (upper house) was 8,2 percent (Source: Election Commission of India’s Website) This shows that women’s participation in political processes is slow and almost invisible, can be even recounted as exclude form the state life. It is mainly due to various social, economic, historical, geographical, political and cultural factors. Illiteracy, lack of access and control over income and other resources including land, restrictions to public spaces and legal systems in favor of a man continue to harm women any effort to political contribution.

In the Indian culture women have always been in a lower status than men and in this terms Indian women display great reserve, respect and submissive mannerisms when they speak to men. The rule “Being a male-dominant society, men rule and women follow ” applies in every aspect to Indian society structure (A male participant Women’s Political Participation in Rural India p.437).

The Indian constitution grants women equal rights with men, but strong patriarchal traditions persist, with women’s lives shaped by customs. In most of Indian families a daughter is viewed as a responsibility, a problem, which needs food and protection. On the other hand sons are idolized and celebrated. “May you be the mother of a hundred sons is a common Hindu wedding blessing”. This has influenced women access to education, to gaining power in household and a community. It seems that without strong reinforcement of traditional custom and values any government legislation cannot be productive. Recognition of women imputes into Indian economy and politics is another step towards improvement their lives.

.

1.1 Demographic Transition and Status of Women in Pakistan

Women’s empowerment has more than one component: their right to make a decision; their access to opportunities and resources; authority to be in charge of their own lives, both inside and outside the home. Female empowerment has many dimensions. It includes access to knowledge, possession of social and economic resources and more autonomy in political and economic decision-making processes. All these components and dimensions of female empowerment are interrelated and an alteration in one component will not bring a huge transformation unless all change.

If females have access to the productivity of men, then both genders can work simultaneously towards the betterment of the country, and this will lead to a sustainable way out of poverty. Therefore, women should get equal work opportunities. But women have greater challenges, as they do not get the same economic opportunities as men do. They do not get access to the decent working condition and lag behind men in decision making.

In Pakistan, women do not has proper identities, as she is owned by her male peers. Their integrity and health are often beyond their own control. They are taken as invisible, underserved and undernourished. The culture of Pakistan is greatly patriarchal, there are many old and conservative traditions of women having a subservient and subordinate role. Decisions for female individuals are made by men in her family, especially in under-developed and distant regions. In Pakistan, specific religious beliefs are deeply rooted in citizen’s beliefs, on which many traditions and social perspective surfaces.

Gender empowerment means that females ought to gain equality under the law and it must be implemented and enforced. Women’s empowerment essentially contains legal fairness, equal access to education and practical exercise, females’ management at the national level, positive action for jobs with one and the same pay, and a gender-sensitive justice system.

1.2 Factors Effecting Women Empowerment In Pakistan

Women consist of more than 50 percent of population in Pakistan and to deprive this half population of empowerment is to deprive our economy of growth. Women empowerment will not only result in the empowerment of women but also the economic well-being of the country. The development of the country also should result in equitable distribution of development benefits especially to the women sector. Economically empower women have more autonomy and resultantly this can transform their children and family lives. As she is a pivot about which entire family unit revolve, therefore an economically enriched woman has a constructive impact on the future generation.

Countries who don’t take benefit of its full population and ignores half of it, it is actually misallocating its resources, which will only lead to the reducing their development potential. All countries should focus on its weakness and learn from more successful countries. It should also set up such policies which take advantage of the whole population, as in both female and male. As successful countries are the one who recognize the potential in the women force as well for development.

Throughout the world, there is not a single country which can boast of gender equality and full women empowerment. Women still out there face discrimination and are lagging behind in one way or the other. Gender equality in two critical sections is very important like economic and political empowerment of women. There is improvement in health and education with the advent of technology and as globally economies are developing but yet there is a long way to go as women are still very behind men especially in decision making and income earning. With the past trend it is quiet visible women are actively participating in to take charge of their own lives and this is in fact effecting the communities and society as a whole. But there is a big problem as women are not consistent class, they vary by race culture, society, brought up and opportunity, thus these factors also plays an important part in the disparity of women as these factors affect the behavior of society members.

The objective of this research is to find out what political and economic determinants effect the women empowerment especially in Pakistan. The main goal is to find out what past variables have been selected and to learn from them and find new determinants.

1.3 Incidence and The Extent Women Empowerment In Pakistan

As Pakistan is a growing and developing country and for the past few years its condition is not much improving, this in act is further affecting the condition of women. As more and more people are effected and thus poverty is increasing. Thus women have to strive hard to contribute to the family income, so that their family is at least above poverty line

In Pakistan, apparently through the perspective of Islam this country says it gives equal right to both men and women but there is another side to the picture. Women constitute a small portion in decision making and they contribute very less o the development of the country as there labor force participation with respect to men is very less. The status of women in this country represents the traditions and the social customs, which led women to this condition.

Women are always underprivileged then man in Pakistan, they get less education, food, decision making and health. As it is consider men are the lords of women, and women are deprived from their basic rights. Women destiny is controlled by men. This is not the case in Pakistan only but also in many countries men are considered superior than women. To achieve development, we have to convert our weakness to strengths.

It is also known that increase women participation in the labor force will benefit the growth and resources can be distributed more easily to disadvantaged people. Thus women should get decent work, social protection and voice at work. As most of the time women are subjugated to lower wages than men and their wages have barely increased over time and they are offered low skilled, low paid atypical jobs, mainly performed from home. One of the greatest achievements in Pakistan, during the last decade has been the increasing proportion of women in the labor force, enabling women all over the country to use their potential in the labor market and to achieve economic independence. But yet we still have a long way to go.

From Global perspective higher percentage of female are working in the developed countries than ever before, yet at the identical time these women continuing raise children to bear new burdens. But these women face tradeoffs as it will be difficult to find good demanding jobs with children to look after too as well. That is why there is not equal opportunity for men and women. Not only the family but also the society, government and the whole nation will benefit from the empowerment of women.

Versatile aspects contribute to the passive functions played by women in the Pakistan Society. Great emphasis has been laid on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, resultantly many efforts have been initiated by the Government and NGOs in Pakistan on this issue

According to (Pakistan employment trends for women) , international Labor Organization (ILO), has the objective of the promotion of opportunities for women and men to obtain productive employment is also the overall objective of the four fundamental ILO Conventions stressing gender equality cover: (1) equal remuneration (2) non-discrimination in employment and occupation, (3) workers with family responsibilities and (4) maternity protection.

The Millennium Development Goals that emerged from the UN Millennium Declaration of September 2000 are specific measurable targets, including the one for reducing the extreme poverty that still grips more than 1 billion of the world’s people by 2015. Essential to this promise are the MDGs interrelated to educational results: (1) Guarantee that all youngsters complete primary education by 2015. (2) Remove gender inequalities in primary and secondary education. By 2006, most countries have already fallen well behind the necessary targets to meet these goals (Millennium Development Goal, 2006).

As stated in millennium development goal 3 the promotion of gender equality and empowerment is fundamental to achieving the remaining MDGs .Likewise, there is evidence that addressing gender issues benefits individuals and families, workers and employers, society and national economies. Improving women’s wages and earnings has been identified as a key element in tackling poverty and achieving the MDGs.

Yet there are Country specific activities to promote gender equality and decent work as in Pakistan’s constitution ensures all fundamental human rights and guarantees equal employment opportunities for men and women. Existing labor legislations do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, but women are not allowed to work in a few areas for health and safety reasons, but the society as a whole plays a big part. the traditions of Pakistan forces women to sit at home and look after the children only , whether there husband give them money or not ,. Society or community does not approve females going out and raising voices for their rights. They also disapprove females working outside their homes. It is consider the work of women juts to look after their families. So to change this whole perceptive media is playing a big part but the government also needs to be active.

As recently the Government initiated a number of activities to promote gender equality at the heart of decent work and to achieve MDG target calling for “full and productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people.” Those activities range from gender

Sensitive revisions of constitutional and legal provisions to the establishment of new policy frameworks that help to accomplish the target. Therefore, the elevation of privileges of women and men in the domain of work and to achieve gender equality are reflected in a number of national development frameworks and policy documents including the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) for 2005-10, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and documents exclusively relating to labor markets such as the 2002 Labor Policy and the 2006 Labor Protection Policy. Pakistan’s Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) spells out the main strategy and plan of action to promote the creation of decent work with gender equality as a cross cutting theme. Overview of existing national policies and development frameworks that stress gender equality and decent work in the country. (Haq)

1.4 Managerial and Academic concerns

My research will highlight the key determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan. As this issue is not only prevalent in Pakistan but is a global issue. as It is very important to conduct a research on determinants of women empowerment because it will stress on women troubles and bring them in to attention and it can facilitates and direct the policy makers to make such an intervention in their area, that could enrich these females not only economically but also politically and financially so that they can make a difference in their children lives and their individual living environment .Consequently providing her the individual safety and self-respect that is her essential right. this research is will also help independent institutions like NGO’s to reach out to economically and politically deprived women as The negligence of women in development process will be big loss for Pakistan as it will result in loss in human potential and ultimately effect national development.

Academically, this research is very significant for the undergraduates as it will help them pinpoint the economic and political determinants which effect the women empowerment in Pakistan. Student will find this research more realistic and precise. As now more individuals are getting conscious of this issue, so more instructors and undergraduates are doing research on women empowerment. They will find this investigation more helpful.

1.6 Keywords and Definitions
Empowerment

Refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities

(Ouellette)

Women’s empowerment

refers to the ability of women to transform economic and social development when empowered to fully participate in the decisions that affect their lives through leadership training, coaching, consulting, and the provision of enabling tools for women to lead within their communities, regions, and countries

(Wise earth)

Economic and political Determinants

An identifiable element in economic and political that affects that limits or defines a decision or condition.

1.7 Study Objectives

This study is an attempt to find the determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan as women being the core element of development and in Pakistan it consists of more than half of the population.

To study the impact of the Economic participation on women empowerment.
To study the impact of the health on women empowerment.
To study the impact of the Power over economic resources on women empowerment.
To study the impact of the Microfinance on women empowerment.
To study the impact of the Political empowerment on women empowerment.
To study the impact of the Education attainment on women empowerment.
To study the impact of the traditions on women empowerment.
End notes

With the advent of technology and progress in development, yet in this era women still lack behind men in power because even though a lot has been done for the empowerment of women but there is still a long way to go. Especially in Pakistan, the norms and tradition practiced are such that which suppresses the rights of female. Since independences of Pakistan, women have not gained freedom from these discriminating norms. Even though there has been a progress but this progress is very slow but to empower women not only our government but also society as a whole has to work very hard.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
Measuring women empowerment

Empowerment is a multi-dimensional procedure that aids women to achieve power and control over their individual lives. Empowerment gives due right to women.

Yet measurement of women empowerment is difficult and it is challenging to judge country level performance as there is difficulty in gathering diverse data. Based on the findings of, Women’s Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, five important dimensions have been selected for the examination of women empowerment. Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. Political empowerment means women have contribution in the decision making and can influence policy making. Educational attainment is very important as women can get the same opportunities as men do and it can be a big step for development purpose. Health and well-being is associated with how much females have access to sufficient nutrition, healthcare and reproductive facilities. It is very difficult to measure each dimension in each country and to implement policy as each country has many other factors effecting its women empowerment.

The GEM quantitatively measures the liberation of women on a country level. This indicator comprises of the share of inequality in control over earned economic resources, involvement in governmental decision-making and economic decision-making. This variable measure how much a power woman holds.

Drawing upon Women’s Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, a report on Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, takes a step forward and elaborates further more on that there are three main domains. These three domains are interconnected, and alteration in every one of three is significant in accomplishing Goal 3.

Women: Current Reality

In a report by Augusto Lopez-Claros, it is mentioned that the past three decades have witnessed a progressively aggregate awareness of the necessity to invest in women through measures to increase political justice, social, financial and wider access to important social rights but it is argued that changes in women state is a very slow process, up till now a lot of work has been done but yet still the picture is depressing. It is not only the issue in male dominated society but also in developed country as well.

A spotlight on deprived female is acceptable for numerous causes. Unfortunate female have the furthermost requirements. It is regularly stated that female outnumber male among the underprivileged.

One more important report, Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, further elaborated that poor women have greatest need; investment in them will produce greatest benefit. Further, investment in the adolescent girls is very crucial as they experience more disadvantage than boys.

Plus with progress in education and health, yet poverty among women has increased even in the richest countries where women’s labor force participation has grown, but the terms and conditions of their employment have not improved.

According to Linda Mayoux, Women also help in poverty reduction, if they are given liberty to save with no interference and or they are offered with loan, these women can cater to the need of their house hold eventually reducing poverty.

Microfinance has been fruitful in reaching poor women through inventive methods to address gender-specific restraints. According to a report Women’s Control over Economic resources and access to financial Resources, including microfinance, 2009, it is obvious that microfinance has a constructive effect on income, but this income expansion has definite limits. As females are subjugated to unfair customs and practices which limits their activities. Females face constraints in gain access to financial services.

From all these studies it can be assumed that in spite of numerous accomplishments in giving power to women still women empowerment are effected by many factors .women should be given equal opportunities not only in education, health, and political, economic but also socially as well. Society as a whole should be targeted where new changes, changes in lifestyle and thinking should be accepted. To empower women in Pakistan all these determinants should be taken into consideration.

Increasing socialism, religious fundamentalism, and traditionalism are main limiting reasons for women’s safety and liberty. other than that self-regulating groups like NGOs and other self-governing research and academic organization, have been very energetic in formulating policy documents, raising public responsiveness and encouraging for gender-sensitive strategies and activities at all stages in order to progress women’s empowerment in Pakistan.

Women’s Economic Activity

Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility.

With the passage of time and despite considerable work done on women economic enrichment yet this is still time-consuming as due to many norms and practices women continue to be missing from many important decision-making opportunities which result in the determining the distribution of economic and financial resources and opportunity, that makes women more underprovided.

Depriving women from economic resources makes a nation less productive resulting in negative economic consequences. Several social practices seem as ordinary from culture and religious perspective move women out of the main stream.

Paid employment for women continues to expand slowly and remains meager in many countries including Pakistan. As the global financial crisis does not create problems for men but also for women. With men finding difficulty in recruitment as fewer jobs available due to recession thus, less jobs available for females as well. As females previously were offered less employment the men now with recent event they are less proffered and they are at huge disadvantage then men. They are getting more menial jobs and are given less wage jobs. To a great extent of work of females remains imperceptible, as most of the work done by them goes unaccounted and invisible The segment of women in salaried employment separate to the agricultural segment has amplified only slightly over the years, this shows that women are not getting work in productive jobs which can lead to development.

According to (Oxaal, 1997) , with the shortage of jobs, a woman does not have any opportunity except for to accept these kinds of job. With that those women who are not allowed to leave their house for income are also at disadvantage , as their men after recession are losing jobs , even than they are not allowed by their females to also take the burden of earning income thus , females due to poverty get undernourished and malnutrition makes them unhealthy , which resultantly effect their families. Poverty, unemployment and lack of economic prosperity further strengthen this aggressiveness in rural areas the large amount of time women spend on housework and caring for family members means that they had little time to spend on employment and personal care.

Since beginning women face a lot of constraint and these restraints replicate women’s difficulty in education; lack of power and confidence and negotiating authority; as from their household they are misjudge which effects in low self-respect plus with comparatively high participation in part-time or transitory professions; leads to less employment for women and discrimination against them. Despite women’s increased participation in the labor market, there has been no significant increase in the sharing of unpaid work, which affects women’s employment choices.

Access to Education

The living conditions of women, their poverty and huge family household prevent them from gaining education. Since the beginning girls are required to work with their mothers to look after the whole family and do household chores this, therefore limits their time and energy to get involved in education. Issue of illiteracy is the main priority for women. As only educated women can access to economic and political sphere.

According to (Medel-Anonuevo, 1993) , providing education to women will develop self-esteem and self-confidence; they will have knowledge of their health and well-being plus they will have the aptitude to make their own choices and negotiate; further this will increase the ladies’ attentiveness towards their civil rights. In addition will be able to provide skills for income generation and will participate in community/society more effectively and this will prepare them to be good women leaders.

As according to the report Taking actions, educated females are more operative at refining their own well-being and family. They are better prepared to get the most advantage from prevailing facilities and chances and to generate alternative chances.

In underprivileged countries, girls from their childhood are given domestic work; this handicaps them in terms of education. Gender inequality in rural location is even more noticeable at the phase of tertiary education. Girls from poor and rural Families face higher obstructions to education.

Boys are always preferred over girls in education in each level from primary to tertiary. But directed public policy and governance actions can help overcome gender disparities. According to The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009 policies like removing school fees and providing incentives for girls to attend school can alleviate financial pressures on households. Building schools close to distant communities and recruiting local female teachers can also constricted the gender gap in rural areas.

A lot of work must be done to finish inequality and discrimination based on gender especially in schools .hard work must be done to enroll all children in to school, especially girls. And to make sure that they complete their studies up till tertiary level as this can lead to good productive jobs and high economic growth for the whole country.

Barriers in the Political Domain
Institutions:

Since the independence of Pakistan, Pakistani governments has passed many laws for the rights of women but the change in women condition is still very slow with the passage of time. There is a huge gap between the policy making and practical work. An analysis by (JAHAN, 1996) stated that after freedom, leading Muslim women in Pakistan continued to support women’s political liberation through lawful reforms.

According to (Haq, Khadija Haq on Women’s Political and Economic Empowerment in South Asia), government is starting to take steps to surge women’s political contribution through the founding of quota systems at countrywide and local levels. Introducing quota systems is nonetheless only single step on the road to female political empowerment. We are still facing inherent male-controlled traditions and approaches that limit chances for women’s participation in public life.

Environment for women’s political empowerment

Less number of women, who attain decision-making places in a political sector dominated by men, will be unproductive in manipulating decisions as large majority is needed. Women are less represented in civil service, government and other public establishments and still massive gaps continue in education and job opportunities. At the identical period, women face legal restrictions that halt them from gaining equal access to property and inheritance. We can achieve gender equality by promoting women in politics.

According to (Moser, 2007), throughout the world women are still disproportionately represented .They remain a very small minority at the center of political power. One significant approach to assisting women’s empowerment is the elevation of the participation of females in politics it comprises of encouraging women in administration and national as well as supporting women’s involvement in NGOs and women’s movements. In government, women concentration in decision-making positions should be in social, law and justice ministries

Women in Pakistan face a lot of stereotypes like women are considered as unsuitable for leadership positions; and all men contemplate that if women have political influence she must be all knowing. Ever since beginning women are disqualified from leadership roles, they are deprived of chances for leadership skills preparation. Domestic errands make it difficult for females to go for training or further studies as they solely do not have the essential hours for study. Thus they lack the talent and ability of political contribution. Most women are linked to a male political leader: as wife of an assassinated leader or daughter of an older, if not late, politician. While most women ultimately emanate into their own as leaders, it does not alter the fact that women, compared with men, have partial access to the support of political parties and males.

People have different expectations of male and female leaders. As females are responsible for their family needs with their political career simultaneously. But men have only their careers to concentrate on. When women are elected, they are expected to be all-rounder and all-knowing and in their initial stage of political career, they are expected to make a strong constructive influence in altering the situation of women or talking critical issues such as poverty, health care and education within a small time from their election. According to report ISSUES IN WOMEN’S POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION,Unjustified and inequitable beliefs results in insufficiency of females to consider entering into politics. This diminishes the group of prospect women leaders who can be confronted, motivated, prepared, and developed for politics. Women’s plea for representation is not to substitute men’s power but to create places for both women and men to grow their potentials and foster a collaboration that can take on the tasks of the new millennium.

Culture barriers

Taking the argument in a new direction by a report on Guidelines on Women’s Empowerment, states that social issue also plays major role in empowerment.

In Pakistan, the girl is still differentiated from the boys from the birth, through her childhood, and into her womanhood. In the tribal fragments of Pakistan, native men are grasping more power through religion and tradition. Girls are considered socially weaker in a Pakistani culture that discriminates against them. In rural areas they observes violence, male violence against their mothers and against them thus from start this becomes a part of their life. Brothers also then participate in this violence against the girls in the family to show their manhood to peers and family male members. Male children become more violent when they grow up. Extreme poverty is a major factor that will impede the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child .The state of extreme poverty is so severe that it leaves its victims inert to awareness, legal punishment or even religious obligations. The economic empowerment of girls and mothers is critical to the achievement of equality.

Females in Pakistan live in a domain, which is controlled by severe religious, family and tribal traditions. According to Zaheer Udin Babur, Pakistan, They are exposed to discrimination and viciousness on a daily basis .Islamic views are not properly interpreted , they are molded according to the views of men as Islamic views wrong interpretation results in females oppression physically, mentally and emotionally. Females in Pakistan are facing numerous methods of violence, discrimination and difference in nearly every part of life. Viciousness against womenfolk in many grounds is often not considered as a violation of civil rights but rather as a standard feature of lives of Pakistani people. They live in an atmosphere of fear, and their lives are guaranteed in exchange for obedience to social norms and traditions. Because of this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely especially in their homes. The most abusive forms of violence being faced by women take place in their homes.

A thesis by (Faridi, 2009) states that women are under the control of men as the decision about education, health, occupation, marriage and physical mobility are all made by her men folk from the selection of their dress to the selection of life partner is made by either her father or brother. Women especially in Pakistan are the property of their males and to give them empowerment they should be given their due right. Moreover, Segregation and veil as perceived by men folk ma

How important and relevant are Merton’s Strain theory and Becker’s labelling theory in our understanding of deviance?

In this essay I will analyse the importance and relevance of a structional functionalist view of deviance seen through the lens of strain theory and a symbolic interactionalist perspective through the use of labelling theory. Strain Theory attempts to explain why crime is resolute amongst the lower classes who are subjected to the least opportunities for economic achievement (O’ Connor 2007). It focuses on the positions that individuals occupy in a social system, not on the characteristics of the individual. Labeling theory explains why sustained delinquent behaviour stems from destructive social interactions and encounters (Siegel & Welsh 2008). These theories work in harmony as the former theory explains why deviance begins and the latter gives an explanation as to why deviance continues through the lifespan. I will be describing and evaluating these theories to further answer the question of: just how important are these two theories for the understanding deviance?

“The sociology of deviance is the systematic study of social norm violation that is subject to social sanction” according to (Henry 2009 p.1). Deviant behaviour is behaviour that does not follow common perceptions, when people are deviant they do not conform to expectations. It is difficult to give an exact definition of deviance as many major theorists have cast a vast variety of perspectives on what it really is. Some sociologists believe that deviance is the violation of any social rule, whereas other sociologists argue that deviance does not have to be a real behaviour for it to be labelled deviant (Thio, Calhoun & Conyers 2008).

Downes & Rock (2003) state that deviance is everywhere and not only that but it leaves traces everywhere. Theories of deviance are rarely catapulted into political settings to be accepted or rejected in their entirety; rather they ‘trickle’ in from many sources. The influence of ideas is always changing due to the instability of political circumstances (Downs & Rock 2003).

The increase in deviance may be due to the fact that people are confused about the correct values and morals to hold. As a result of this ever evolving world there are new variations of deviant behaviour occurring on a daily basis, ranging from minor violations of the law such as not paying a television licence to major deviance like abuse scandals in regard to the Catholic Church. These acts are considered to be deviant as they are acts which the rest of society deems as unacceptable (Tierney 2006). Traditional values such as religious views have been shattered to pieces because of ongoing scandals in the Catholic Church. Individual pursuits drive people; religion has no impact on the expected standards of people in today’s materialist driven society, which in turn leads to an increase in deviant behaviours.

The Functionalist perspective stems from the work of Durkheim who believed that people’s social roles or functions hold society together (Flynn 2009). In contrast to this is the Symbolic interaction approach where the emphasis is on the way people construct the meaning of others acts (Becker & McCall 1990). Durkheim believed that crime is not only functional but it is necessary, it only become dysfunctional if the rates are either too high or too low (Covington 1999). The functionalist analysis of deviance begins with society as a whole; it looks for the source of deviance in the nature of society rather than in the psychological nature of the individual. Durkheim believes society is held together by shared values, and if these values are not constantly reaffirmed through the generations it may signify the collapse of society.

One may put forward the argument that shared values are not a fundamental part of society today. It proves difficult to reaffirm values through generations when the family when parents are working long hours. Parental influence over children has declined; due to this children seek values from available sources such as the television or internet, resulting in the promotion of materialistic values which are in turn the ‘norms’ today.

If the community collapsed, and the collective conscience failed the result was a state of anomie (Covington 1999). In essence anomie represents the problems in society caused by social deregulation. Merton developed an anomie theory based on Durkheim’s earlier work which referred to a deinstitutionalization of norms that happens when there is a disjunction between the importance of cultural goals and institutional means (Featherstone & Deflem 2003).

Merton’s strain theory argues that structures in society may encourage deviance and crime, it is a structural functionalist explanation. Functionalist theories offers the basis for policies that are wide-ranging in their scope (Downes & Rock 2003), however Gouldner (1970) believes that Functionalism thinks of systems as mutually interacting variables rather than in terms of cause and effect, thus one may infer that it is impossible to implement policy to stop a particular effect if the cause is not highlighted.

Theories of deviance are extremely important as Downes & Rock (2003) believe that all theories of deviance have implications for policy making. That said however the ease of implementation of polices may prove difficult. For example doing something about anomie would be far “more difficult than tackling vandalism by technical means” (Downes & Rock p. 317 2003) However, Merton’s anomie theory is of great relevance to the realm of policy as it infers a definite cause and effect statement relating to the disjunction between goals and means (Downes & Rock 2003).

The main principle of Social Strain Theory is that “some social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in society to engage in non-conforming rather than conforming conduct” (Thio, Calhoun & Conyers 2008 p.33). This is not to say that certain social structures leave the individual with no other choice but to turn to crime, rather inadequate regulation leaves the individual with a different perspective on means to financial gain. I agree that this system is a great source of inequality and subsequent deviance in our society today that the less powerful groups are labelled so negatively and punished severely. Every crime should be treated in the same manner, regardless of whether they are from an underprivileged area or a high flying business person.

An impact of cycle of deficient regulation may also be seen in Becker’s Labelling theory. This theory was greatly influenced by the symbolic interaction approach as it is people who determine and give meaning to labels. The justice system operates on behalf of powerful groups in society; hence one has to ask the question what behaviours are criminal?

The two strands of this theory are a concern to address how a particular behaviour comes to be labelled as deviant and secondly what is the impact of this label. (Becker p.9 1963) states that “The deviant is one whom that label has been successfully applied: deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label”. In relation to deviance Labelling theory places the importance on the reaction to behaviour not the behaviour itself (Macionis & Plummer 2007). It was this belief that leads Becker to place labels on types of behaviour, but who are the people labelled as deviant in society. To put it simply, labelling theory is concerned with what happens to criminals after they have been labelled, also suggesting that actual crime rates may be heightened by criminal sanctions.

Unlike the Functionalist perspective, Symbolic Interaction is concerned with the process that underline social life and consequently the mechanisms by which meanings are given to those processes. It centres on the creativity capacity of humans and their ability to share interactions with others (Walklate 2007). In relation to deviance it is concerned with how certain behaviours come to be understood as deviant.

Becker argued that behaviours of less powerful groups for example the poor, or disadvantaged are more likely to be criminalized than those who are privileged such as the white and wealthy. This happens because there is an assumption that crime is a social label – along with the creation of law which are made by people in positions of power and enforced on people without power (Hopkins Burke 2002). The judicial system criminalizes less dominant and less powerful member of society, thus Becker argues that some rules “may be cynically designed to keep the less powerful in their place” (Hopkins Burke p.137 2002).

Becker (1963) disagreed with the notion that those who break the law will be labelled as a criminal. He brought our attention to the fact that in many cases the innocent are accused, along with this only some of those who break the law are punished and brought through the system (Hopkins Burke 2002). Becker used a concept developed by Merton called the ‘self fulfilling prophecy’ which is what labelling theory is most widely known for. When a situation is given a false definition it evokes a new behaviour in the person which as a result makes the false assumption comes through (Hopkins Burke p.142 2002). Becker felt that most criminals were in the first place falsely defined as a criminal, not only are their actions defined by society as deviant, the label is then extended to them as a person (Hopkins Burke 2002).

Merton’s concept of strain refers to pressure the lower economic classes feel when they try to achieve society’s goals of monetary success (Flynn 2009). Merton felt that in society, people were focused on achieving high financial success which although exceptionally productive on one hand, on the other was a direct source of stress and strain for the individual (Cohen 1966). In effect there is a distortion between culturally induced aspirations for economic success and structurally distributed possibilities of achievement. This is in accordance with labeling theory view where the people who commit deviant acts are probably under strain from society to achieve monetary success. An example of this would be in relation to higher education, people without the means or cultural knowledge to aspire to respected professions are more likely to engage in deviant behaviour than those with access to achieving their goals (Flynn 2009).

Within labelling theory there are two important concepts, those of primary deviance and secondary deviance. Merton thinks that the sense of strain that men feel is an accumulation of frustration, despair and injustice (Cohen 1966). Structural and Individual strain are the two main types of strain in society that promote deviance and crime. The former refers to the cycle of deficient regulation in society that has a negative impact on how an individual evaluates their needs, means and opportunities (Flynn 2009). The latter concept is defined by O’Connor (2007) as frictions and pains experienced by the individual as they look for ways to meet their needs.

Primary deviance in labeling theory involves acts committed by someone without a criminal identity such as an underage drinker. This act provokes little reaction from others around us, therefore it does not have any impact on the persons self concept (Macionis & Plummer 2007). Secondary deviance develops through peoples’ actions towards the person committing the deviant act they may be pushed away and stigmatized making the crime worse, it is caused by the criminal label (Hopkins Burke 2002). It evolves from primary deviance being labelled, which is more likely to happen if you are from a less powerful group (Macionis & Plummer 2007), thus mirrors Merton’s argument about distortion between economic success and possibility of achievement (Flynn 2009).

Merton noted that there were five possible responses or adaptations to strain that happen when people are not in a position to legally “attain internalised social goals” (Hopkins Burke p.107 2002). This is a perfect example of how labels are the cause of further deviant behaviour. Durkheim and Merton are one in believing that strain results in deviant behaviour, however Durkheim felt the main causes of strain were changes in society. Adapting through conformity is a self explanatory explanation whereby people both the cultural gaols of society and the means of achieving them (Burke 2002), this ensures the continuality and stability of society (Thio, Calhoun & Conyers 2008), people do not break laws when achieving their means. Retreatism is considered the most uncommon adaptation by Merton, they reject social goals and the means to attain them (Hopkins Burke 2002), their behaviour is not normal and are considered “true aliens” (Thio, Calhoun & Conyers p.37 2008).

Ritualism is similar to conforming behaviour; they adhere to rules for their own sake with an emphasis on means of achievement rather than outcome goals (Hopkins Burke 2002). Innovation is a response to the pressure placed on the individual for success. The innovator embarks on novel routes to achieve success due to barriers for them to achieve success by socially approved means. They have the potential to be seen as deviant (Hopkins Burke 2002), as they engage in illegal means to achieve success. The final response is rebellion, whereby people not only reject but also want to change the existing social system and its goals (Hopkins Burke 2002). The very word ‘rebellion’ connotes negative meaning thus showing the existence of labeling and stigma as used by Merton. People are stereotyped as being incapable of following normal behaviour and the general population treats them differently, resulting in discrimination in employment, and in many other areas of social life The internalization of labels by offenders may very well produce a career in criminality because of the negative reactions they receive (Hopkins Burke 2002). However, in contrast as Merton argued & Cohen agreed that the root cause of the original emergence of delinquent behaviour was the economic pursuit of ‘money success’ (Downes & Rock 2003).

A lot of labels come about through the stigmatization of a particular behaviour. ‘Stigma’ is powerful negative label that has the potential to radically change a persons’ self concept (Macionis & Plummer 2007), thus it is an influential force in the field of labelling. Slattery (2003) notes that a stigma can either be ascribed or achieved, you can be born with one or earn one. Similar to this is strain theories focus on negative relations between people, focusing on how the individual is not treated as they would like to be treated (Agnew 2002).

Labelling theory has several limitations; firstly because labelling is very relative it does not take into account some behaviour like murder which is condemned virtually everywhere. Consequently it is most useful to apply to less serious behaviours like youth vandalism. Secondly, labelling may be seen in two ways- it could encourage more criminal behaviour of it could curb it because of people do not like to have a stigma attached to them. (Macionis & Plummer 2007). Finally another limitation of labelling theory is that it does not tell us what are the root causes of primary deviance so how do these people become deviant in the first place? They cannot be labelled deviant if they have not engaged in that type of behaviour. Both labeling and strain theory emphasize the role society has to play in crime. Deviance is shaped in its transactions with events and people around it. Labelling theorists in particular have occupied themselves with the workings of the social reaction to deviance (Downes & Rock 2003). Dissimilar to this is Durkheim’s perspective of deviance as performing functions that are essential to society through, encouraging social change, promoting social unity by responding to deviance, clarifying moral boundaries and affirming cultural norms and values (Macionis & Plummer 2007).

Sumner (1994) argued that deviance is not applicable to sociology today. He believes that the sociology of deviance ‘died’ in 1975. Similarly Miller, Wright and Dannels (2001) claim to find empirical support for it and signify the “death of deviance” in respect to the world today. However, on the other hand Goode (2002) claims that at a certain stage in its history, the sociology of deviance developed a large number of ideas, concepts, and theories that influenced related fields. These ideas included: stigma which influenced disability and transgender studies, anomie in social theory, labelling in ethnic studies and the sociology of the underdog in queer theory. Regardless of the fact that sociology of deviance did not create these concepts, the field did help project them onto the intellectual map.

Goode concludes that “The social construction of deviance is once again controversial, relevant, central to our lives, and fundamental to our understanding of today’s world” (Goode 2002). I must agree with this statement as not a day goes by without some type of crime or deviant behaviour brought to our attention.

Cohen (1966) believes that rules in everyday life provide a blueprint for every human gesture; consequently every rule then creates potentiality for deviance. However, as mentioned previously- are we really all aware of societal norms and values? I believe that society today has failed to provide a ‘blueprint’ or clear rules for people to live by, hence leading to the unprecedented rates of crime and social deviance. Strain theory and labelling theory do not pay much attention to psychological factors involved in deviant behaviour, this is a limitation to both I feel. I would question the generalizability of strain theory as it emphasises the focus of materialism for society today. However, much crime is committed by people who simply want to get by in life, to survive. They feel they have no other option but to commit crime to put food on the table. Crime may not necessarily be about reaching the top in society, it may just be about getting by. Labeling theory is a lot more individual in its focus; it is more concerned with people’s reactions when placed in a designated role by society.

References
Miller, J, M., Wright, A., & Dannels, D. (2001) “Is Deviance ‘Dead’? The Decline of a Sociological Research Specialization”. The American Sociologist, Volume 32: 43-59.
Sumner, C. (1994). ‘The Sociology of Deviance: An Obituary’. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Downes, D. & Rock, P. (4th Ed.) (2003). ‘Understanding Deviance’. New York: Oxford University Press.
Henry, S. (2009). ‘Short Introductions: Social Deviance’. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Goode, E (2002). ‘Does the death of the sociology of deviance claim make sense?’ The American Sociologist. Volume 33: 107-118.
Thio, A., Calhoun, T., C., & Conyers, A. (5th Ed.) (2008) ‘Readings in Deviant Behaviour’. United States of America: Pearson International, Inc.
Cohen, A., K. (1966). ‘Deviance and Control’. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
O’Connor, T. (2007). Strain theories of crime. Megalinks in Criminal Justice. Retrieved March 19, 2010. Available at: http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/crim/crimtheory11.htm
Gouldner, A. (1970) ‘The Coming Crisis in Western Sociology’. New York: London.
Covington, P. (1999) ‘Deviance: Functionalist explanations’. The Functionalist Explanation of Crime. Retrieved 22nd March, 2010. Available at: http://www.sociology.org.uk/pcfcri95.pdf.
Hopkins Burke, R (2002) ‘An Introduction to Criminological Theory’. Canada: Willan Publishing.
Tierney, J. (2nd Ed) (2002). ‘Criminology: Theory and context’. England: Pearson Education Limited.
Macionis J, J. & Plummer, K. (4th Ed) (2007) ‘Sociology: Global Introduction’. England: Pearson Education limited
Walklate, S. (4th Ed) (2007). ‘Understanding Criminology’. England: Open University Press.
Becker, H. (1963). ‘The Outsiders’. New York: Free Press.
Slattery, M (2003). Key Ideas in Sociology .United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Limited
Agnew, R (1992). Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology. Volume 30, Issue 1, p.47-87
Siegel, L, J., & Welsh B., C. (2008) (10th Ed. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Social Constructionism essentially represents a sociological theory of knowledge that studies the development of various sociological phenomena in social contexts. A social construct, the anchor of this theory, refers to a concept that is the artefact of a specific group. Social constructs, to elaborate, dispense with take away from commonly accepted inherent qualities of items, concepts, or issues, and instead focus on their dependence upon, and the contingent and conditional rationale of, our social sense. They describe such issues and things are more easily described as the result of numerous human choices, rather than of natural laws or divine intention.

The origins of present day social constructionist theories go back to the writings of Immanuel Kant. Kant argued for the existence of a world that was independent of human minds, thus implying that humans should not assert that they created the world. This world, he said, is without structure and is not divided into things and facts. Structure is imposed on the world by perceiving it and thinking of it in specific ways, as also and by the adoption of particular sets of beliefs, (rather than instead of others) about it. Vivine Burr (2003, p 2) argues that social constructionism enables individuals to adopt critical attitudes towards their conventional and traditional methods of perceiving and understanding the world and their own selves. It provides humans us with fresh ways on perceiving ideas and things that are considered to be commonplace and are unquestioningly accepted. Numerous things like for example money, newspapers or citizenship are socially constructed and. All of these things would not obviously have existed in the absence of society. Each of them furthermore could have well been constructed differently.

Social constructionism encourages people to question the widely held perception that conventional and accepted knowledge has sprung has come about from objective and impartial examination of the world. It is as such opposed to the positivist epistemology of traditional science and spurs thinking individuals to constantly question their assumptions about the appearance of their environment and its various components. This short study deals with the implications of social constructionism for social workers and how its use can help them social workers to understand human behaviour. Specific emphasis has been given to the use of social constructionism in understanding commonly held perceptions and attitudes towards mental disorders.

The Use of Social Constructionism by Social Workers to Understand Human Behaviour

Social workers have two fundamental objectives, namely the strengthening of the ability of individuals and groups to cope with and overcome the many difficulties and challenges they confront in life, and the bringing about of improvements in various social and environmental circumstances areas, in order to improve the satisfaction of human needs; especially of people from underprivileged and oppressed social segments.

Social workers plan and attempt their various interventions through their understanding of environmental circumstances, the various reasons for such these conditions, and the client system. Such understanding and knowledge and the consequent adoption of theoretic approaches significantly influence the point, the tool, and the nature of social work intervention. It becomes evident that adoption of theoretic preferences, based upon an understanding of the reality of the client environment, is crucial, both to social work theory and its practice.

Theories of classical empiricism assert that the truth about the world is established and is independent of the individual. Social constructionism conversely puts forth argues that such truth is certainly not independent of individuals but is actually depends upon their thoughts, perceptions and beliefs. Social workers, by using social constructionism, will be able to understand the various dimensions of reality within such individual thoughts, perceptions and beliefs. Constructionists state that reality cannot be known separately from our elucidation of it. Social constructionism works on the principle that reality is constructed socially and places emphasis on language as a critical route for interpretation of experience.

Whilst objectivists state that individuals make discoveries and find out about the reality of the world through the construction and testing of hypotheses via the actions of neutral observers, constructionists debunk such assumptions arguing that the interests and values of observers can never be separated from their observations and are thus bound to influence the final construction of common perceptions about world realities. Gergen (1985, p 270), states that generation of ideas of reality is initiated by social, rather than individual, processes and that the touted objective reality of the positivist approach is actually the result of various social construction processes that are influenced by historical, political, cultural and economic conditions. With such knowledge being essentially constructed, it can change over time and diverge across cultural groups that embrace different perceptions and beliefs about human nature and development. Considering that the norms, beliefs, values, traditions, attitudes and practices of different cultural groups vary from each other, the social construction of their knowledge is also likely to differ significantly. An understanding of this fundamental principle can help social workers in their realisation of the different perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of different individuals towards similar social phenomena or stimuli.

Social constructionism helps social workers in adopting critical stances towards established assumptions on regarding the social world that reinforce the interests of powerful and dominant social groups and assists them in realising that the world has come about because of historical processes of communication and negotiation between groups and individuals. Gergen (1985, p 266), states that people see the world through the eyes of their particular communities and cultures and respond accordingly. Established assumptions, understandings and behaviours of people are sustained by social, political, economic and moral institutions.

Payne (1997), states that reality, according to social constructionism, can be stated to be the guidance of behaviour by individual perceptions of knowledge and reality. Individuals arrive at shared perceptions of reality through the sharing of their knowledge via different social processes that first organise such knowledge and thereafter establish it by making it objective. Social and individual activity thus becomes habitual with individuals sharing their assumptions about their perceptions of reality. People behave in line with social conventions that are based on such shared knowledge. These conventions are furthermore institutionalised because of the agreement of many people on such understandings on different aspects of society. Such realisations and accords become legitimised by processes that integrate these ideas about reality into ordered and believable systems.

Social workers need to realise that social understanding is finally the combined result of various human understandings through the operation of circular processes, wherein individuals contribute to the construction of social meaning within social structures of societies through processes of institutionalisation and legitimisation. Societies consequently create conventions through the participation of individuals in their structures, which, in turn influences the behaviours of people. Spirals of constantly moving influences build and rebuild the conventions that people adopt and by which they live.

Berger and Luckmann, (1966), state that individuals experience the world to be an objective reality, comprising of persons and events that exist separately of individuals perceptions. Language provides the means through which individuals make sense of their environment, classify persons and events, and interpret new experiences. The shared reality of everyday life by different individuals distinguishes it from individual realities, (like dreams). Language helps individuals in sharing their experiences and making it available to others. Such sharing of reality leads to institutionalisation and thereafter to habitual ways of working. Habitualism makes the behaviour of different individuals predictable, facilitates joint activity and perpetuates social control mechanisms. Knowledge is as such institutionalised within sub-groups, or at social levels, and significantly influences the behaviour of people.

Social constructionism allows social workers to question dominant structures of knowledge and understand the impact of culture and history. Social workers by and large understand the requirements of humans through the interplay of different ideological, ethical, political and economic factors. An understanding of social constructionism can help them in understanding the responses behind the actions of both dominant and vulnerable groups of society and decide upon the adoption of the best suited routes for bringing about social change.

Social Constructionism and Mental Illness

Much of modern day society’s perceptions about mental ailments are influenced by the medical and psychological models, which state that medical illnesses are real; they concern disturbances in thoughts, experiences, and emotions and can be serious enough to cause functional impairment in individuals. Such ailments make it difficult for individuals to sustain interpersonal relationships and conduct their jobs. They can also sometimes result in self destructive actions, including suicides. The more serious of such illnesses, like extreme depression and schizophrenia, can often be chronic and lead to serious disability.

The social constructionist approach states that such much of modern day perceptions about mental ailments are caused by the specifically constructed vocabularies of medical and psychological models, replete with their elaborate terminologies for mental disorders and focused their focus on deficits. Social constructionism can help social workers in understanding the socially constructive and destructive illusions that have been created put up by existing medical and psychological models and deficit based language. Walker (2006), states that vocabularies of medical and psychological models, including the concept of mental illness itself, are essentially social constructions. They are made up of vocabularies that describe deficits and diseases and perceive human beings as things that can be examined, diagnosed and treated, much in the manner of machines. Such perceptions (a) lead to obsessions with compliance, (b) distinguish between normal and pathological states, and (c) position practitioners as experts, even as clients are represented built up determined as passive and obedient recipients of treatment. Recommended treatments focus on elimination of symptoms, support established paternalistic roles, and are not focused on actual client needs.

Examined from the perspective of linguistics, reified categories like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia appear to be defined by clusters termed as symptoms; schizophrenia for example is concerned with the occurrence of audio hallucinations. Such terms, it is evident exists only because of the creation of consensus among the dominant groups of doctors and psychologists and persist because of convention. Mental illnesses are often described akin to physical ailments like diabetes, where individuals are required to manage their lives with specific medications. Such comparisons are used to explain the working of medications and to make the diagnosis and recommended treatment for mental ailments acceptable to clients.

Such analogies however breakdown completely considering if it is realised that discussions about thoughts and feelings of individuals concern their identities and not their bodies. Social workers need to understand that the vocabularies of medical and psychological models essentially position clinicians as the most suitable interpreters of client experiences. Even apparently harmless terms like “clinical” or “treatment plans” establish contexts where clients are perceived to be abnormal or having pathologies, even as clinicians are established as authorities with abilities to perform interventions for assisting clients in overcoming their pathologies. With the power of definition lying with clinicians, the labelling of people as mentally ill pushes them to the borders of society and takes away from them their intrinsic rights and privileges.

Social constructionism helps social workers in understanding that whilst political and human pressure has helped in eliminating the incarceration of the mentally ill in mental hospitals, the distinction created by vocabulary on mental illness leads to the movement of centres of power to clinicians and undermines efforts for self determination and community integration. Such medical and psychological vocabularies constitute obstacles to more inclusive mental health programmes and undermine social understanding of people with mental disorders.

The institution of religion can be evaluated by varies sociological theories because the institution of religion has been part of every society since the beginning of humanity. With society it possible to find some sort of religion. Among these theories functionalism, conflict and interactions will be use to assess the impact each theory has on the religion institution. “Sociologist tends to be interested in the social impact of religion on individuals and the institution.” (Schaefer, 2009, p.323) They are not attempting to authenticate to the truth of the religion institutions merely probing how institution such as religions influences on individuals in society. Religion has been part of society foundation since the beginning of human existence. It has been the central part of other institution as well and have had a profound impact on the choices taken by other institutions. It is clear that Religion influence has extended widely through society.

When looking at religion, one might attempt to discover how religion contribute to the stability of a societies Emile Durkheim, “recognized the importance of religion in human societies.” (Schaefer, 2009, p.323)

He believed that religion brought about stability in society. Durkheim believed religion to be an influential force in society. Durkheim sought to answer a puzzling question, “How can human societies be held together when they are usually composed of individuals and social groups with diverse interests and aspirations.” (Schaefer, 2009, p. 327) Durkheim believe this was possible through what is called the “societal glue,” that is religion is source to keep society together and meaning and purpose in people in life. (p.327)

In a functionalist point of view, the institution religion gives humanity a moral compass and a place to belong and reinforces social norms. Places of worship have become more than worship site it is also a place to socialize or fellowship. Furthermore, religion give different groups a certain sense of connection to others they might be of different faith they still find themselves bound to others who have a similar belief system. Institutions such as education and families are essential in relaying morals as the social norm, but religion may well be the institution that holds all of those to a higher standard.

Religion provides support during some of life struggle and changes by applying morals in the early in a child life. Changes can be overwhelming, however with a strong religious tradition one can find meaning and direction in all of life’s tough times.

Conflict Theory

In the process of talking about religion, the focus is mainly on the positive aspects however, one can also find negative aspects in religion institution as well. Religions from the beginning of society have been the reason behind many conflicts in the world. Even today, in society conflict occur due to religion. For example in the United States, religion is used as a weapon by social conservatives. They use religion to push their social agenda such as the issue of abortion, same sex marriage, and stem cell research. Likewise, liberals tend to blame religion for a lack of freedom in make the afore mention choices. Religion has also been the source of conflicts between different types of faith such as Christian and Muslims. While in other countries, the dysfunction of religion has made citizens turn on their fellow citizens. For example, in Iraqi the Sunnis and the Shiites have fought civil wars because of different type of the same religion. In Europe, the Protestants and catholic have battled for years over different ideology.

“The conflict theorist believes that religion is a potential obstacle to a structural social change but also can be a source for cultural change through liberation theology” (Schaefer, 2009, p.330) Dysfunction of religion is common ground for the functionalist and conflict theorists. The dysfunction of religion proves many theories within the conflict theory itself. Conflict theorist would say that religion provides tension between different groups, and societies. However, Functionalist and Conflict theorists see religion as possible source of social structure.

The conflict perspective can be defined “as a sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood on terms of tension between groups over power, or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation” (Schaefer, 2009, p. 14-15). Furthermore, “Conflict theorists examine the relationship of religion to social inequalities, especially how religion reinforces a society’s stratification system.” (Schaefer, 2009, p. 329)

Karl Marx stated, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world it is the opium of the people.” He believed religion is a source of controlling working class, to convince them to accept their place in life. He states that Religion institutions are not exactly a positive force. Marx said that “religion gives people the illusory hope that things will get better in the next life and prevents them from seeking a political answer in this”( Marx, K. & Engels, F. 1843)It is also believed, “Religion legitimizes, reinforces and perpetuates the rule of the ruling class and their interests.” (Marx, K. & Engels, F., 1843) Conflict theorists consider religion an instrument to hold the working class in a state disregard to their social standing.

The conflict theories hold that religion gives the society a false sense of hope, and cause them to be satisfied with their current state. Religion is often used as an instrument for the upper class, to subdue the lower class. Some religious organization such the catholic churches would have the layperson believe it better to be poor because it easier to enter heaven. The bible portrays the difficulty of a wealthy person giving up their wealth to follow Jesus Christ. This tends to make the lower class think it okay to be poor because they will have less to lose for the sake of the kingdom of God.

Religion therefore hindered change in society by promoting obedience to domination; by take people’s attention away the injustices in society. Furthermore, it is use to justify imbalance of power available to only a select group by stressing rewards to come. Although people commonly assume that Karl Marx did not think religion had a place in society, that assumption is not entirely accurate. He believed that religion acted as a place of refuge from the difficulties of life and oppression. However, Marx thought that traditional religion would eventually fade.

The final sociological perspective of religion institution to be analyzed is the Interactionist perspective; this theory “a generalize posture about every day forms of social interaction, in order to explain society as a whole.”(Schaefer, 2009, p.16) The Interactionist perspective studies are in contrast to conflict and functionalist perspective society because they evaluate social behavior on a micro sociological level. Interactionists’ theory focusing on the micro-sociology of a society in order to understand macro-sociology.

Therefore Interactionist tend to examine the simply aspects of society, for instance, they study the interaction of people within specific institutions such as religion. These interaction can be observed in ones belief systems, and how such systems help society understand the things we experience in our everyday lives. “Interactionism was first developed in the United States.

George Herbert Mead is widely regarded as the founder the interactionist perspective often credited with founding the Interactionist perspective.” Mead taught at the University of Chicago, and he pay attention to individualizes setting and small intimate groups. Mead’s teaching has led other moved away from macro social behavior to the micro level. He would concentrate on body language such as a facial expression, and how it effected other in the group mood. (Schaefer, 2009, p.17).

Interactionists say that “social change occurs when the positions and communication with one another change. The main idea of an Interactionist sociologist is to study nonverbal communication and small groups paying particular attentions to objects and symbols .”(Schaefer, 2009, p.16)

Within this theory, it has been stated “religion is seen as a reference group, for many people, religion serves as a reference group to help them define themselves.

This is where the functionalist and Interactionist theory find common ground; both perspectives see religion as a positive force, which provide a stabilizing factor within a society. Both also agree that religion can enrich an individual’s life and enhances an individuals’ ability to deal with some of the difficulties in life. Regardless it is clear through the research of both perspectives that religion brings people within society, together; therefore adding a harmonizing and supportive structure with the society and or culture.

An example of this is the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. “The U.S. civil rights movement is perhaps the best example of a social movement drawing on religious resources to accomplish its goals. Both religious leaders and laity were active in the civil rights movement.

Congregations provided material resources necessary for large-scale political action, acted as conduits for frame dissemination and provided an ideal setting for the micro mobilization process to occur.” (Loveland, M. T., Walls, E. N., Myers, D. J. and Sikkink, D., 2003).

Another example of religion’s affect on social movements can be found in the debate over abortion. The issue of abortion has strong ties to the institution of religion within the United States. Almost every religious faction found in the U.S. has strong beliefs on whether abortion is immoral or not.

“Another notable sociologist Max Weber saw religion as a primary source of social change. He analyzed how Protestantism gave rise to the Protestant ethic, which stimulated what he called the spirit of capitalism. The result was capitalism, which transformed society.” (Henslin J. ch. 13)

In closing, one can clearly see the differences in the three sociological perspectives in regards to religion. While the three sociological perspectives have differing views on the institution of religion, they also see religion as a force within society that can motivate and facilitate social change and movement within a society. The institution of religion has a profound affect on the society, in which it dwells, adding both positive and possibly negative attributes that add to the stability of that society. However, a society that uses religion as a cornerstone, will ultimately find that it provides a settling sense over that society. In addition, religion will assist in the establishment and maintenance of the social norms and expectation within that culture.