There are over half a billion women in the Muslim World in Middle East. They are in Much of the world lack support of the fundamental functions of a human life. Their social Status is low and they receive lack respect by the men. Women in the Middle East also are less nourished than men, less healthy, less opportunity but more vulnerable to physical violence and sexual abuse. Women in Middle East are discriminated by men, religion or even law. They are much less likely than men to be literate or to have a professional or technical education. The only function of women in Middle East is producing children. But the situation has some improvement in nowadays. Some of the women in the Middle- East are standing up and try to fright for their rights. But actually, most of the women in the Middle-East, especially those who live in conservative countries, are still accept their status and the role that they play in the society. (Mahnaz Afkhami, 1996) Women need to play a ‘proper role’ in the society especially in the conservative society or countries. For example like in Saudi Arabia. The ‘proper role’ means to be a good children, good wife and good women. In the Middle East societies, most of the people are welcome to have a boy rather than girl. There are several reasons make people prefer to have a boy. First of all, most of the middle-East countries still are the agriculture base community. Therefore, have a boy is more prefer than have a girl. It is because sons are valued for the muscle power they can provide in the fields. Also, in Middle- east there is absence of the adequate social security system. (Ramsay.m.Darik& Elsa Marston, 1996) So that sons are supposed to take care their aging parents. But girls on the other hand Often seen as an expense that will not bring family benefits, but only will work for their Husbands’ family. (Ramsay.m.Darik& Elsa Marston, 1996) Furthermore, sons can carry On family name and honor but girls cannot. Therefore, in the eyes of middle-east people Boys are more valuable than girls. This makes the status of girls is lower than boy. Due to the above reasons, the status of girl in Middle East is lower than boy. For example, Most of the name in Middle East always has positive meaning. But some of the girls’ Names have negative meaning, like ‘Dalenda’ which means destroy. From this example, We can easy discover that the status of women in Middle East is low. (Ramsay.m.Darik& Elsa Marston, 1996). Furthermore, in Middle East most of the girls expect to do more works at home than boys. They need to wash the dishes, preparing food and taking charge of younger children. It is very common to see a child to take care a baby. Girls when they are reaching 11 years old. Then she will be require to be a prefect Islam woman. She will teach by her mother to be a ‘shy and quiet’ girl. To learn the traditional behavior and skills of Islam. They need to dress more conservative and need to obey their father, brother pr even male relatives order and advice. They are required to be a prefect girl. Base on the Koran says ‘the seeking of knowledge is a duty of every men and every women.’ Therefore, even is a girl also will have an opportunity to be educated. However, most of the conservative family in Middle East only willing to sent their girls to the Traditional school. To learn the traditional behavior and norms. The conservative families mainly oppose to sent their girls to the modern school because they believe if a girl learns about something besides the Korans then they might try to communicate secretly with someone outsides her house. Also, the modern education is expensive. The money put on a girl would be waste when she went to live with her husband’s family. Therefore, only 38 to 44% of girls in Middle East countries would get a chance to study. (Mahnaz Afkhami, 1996) Although, the girls also can have an opportunity to be educated, but there is a ‘two society’ in middle- east. For example in Saudi- Arabia require separate schools for boys and girls. (Mahnaz Afkhami, 1996) The girl in Saudi Arabia needs work harder at school but they would not have a summer vacations or there are less recreational activities for girls. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia girls need to wear uniform, which is long- sleeved blouse, ankle length skirts or even she needs to wear abba ( Full length black cloak) to school. Moreover, the teaching sllysmulls in Saudi also is quite conservative and old- Fashioned. The schools are teaching the girls how to be a good mother. Also only encourage they be a nurse or a teacher in future but no more. Isam is the majority religion in middle- east, according to the Mohammed speaking, ‘Men have a status above women.’ And ‘men have authority over women because God has made one superior to the other.’ Due to this tradition religion, therefore, the women status in the Middle East is low. In some extreme traditional Islamic lands such as Saudi Arabia women are expected to remain strictly obedient to men, women’s behavior is not Only the key to her family honor, but also is a key to remain the mortality in the middle East society. Therefore, the western thinking is a kind of dangerous to the traditional society. As this may lets a girl to against her family or father’s order. Moreover, the image of women in right behavior is a necessary safeguard to the culture preservation. Therefore, in many Middle East countries, like Saudi Arabia has a special enforcement Unit knows as ‘religious police’. These men aggressively watch the public for such ‘Offenses’ as women driving and unmarried couples appearing together in public. Also in Saudi Abria women are not allowed to works, study or dress as she pleased. Furthermore, she cannot drive or go out alone. Or even women have no freedom to go to other Countries alone. Women’s rights are strictly restricted. ( Martha C. Nussbaum, 2000) Protect the girls’ honor is the great and important responsibility of the father in middle East. This led out two conservative tradition customs in the middle- east world: Female Circumcision and Honor killing. Women and girls in middle- east countries are affected no matter in urban or rural, educated or non- educated. When a girl is about 5-6 years old then she needs to be circumcised. ( Waris Divie & Cathleen Miller, 1999) It is because in the mind of people in middle- east it can prevent a girl from becoming ‘wild’ and can ensure she will remain virgin until marriage and will then remain faithful to her husband. Or even it can ‘make a girl a woman’, ‘purifies’, ‘more beautiful’. The girls in middle East believes it is another tool for the men to control the women in middle-east. However, the circumcision is quite dangerous to the women. It can result in permanent physical and emotional damage also can cause infections or fatal. (Ramsay.m.Darik& Elsa Marston, 1996) so it really is a horrible tradition in the Middle East world. Moreover, if a girl has a Misbehavior then her father or brother will have a right to kill her without serious Punishment. It is because they need to protect the name and honor of their family. Traditionally, the honor of the family depends on the behavior of its female members. So that it is very important for the family to protect female sexual purity. Need to protect the women from sexual misbehavior. Base on the Koran ‘God created sexual desire in 10 parts. Then he gave 9 parts to women and 1 part to men.’ So women must be closely watched. Therefore, in her family’s eyes the longer a daughter waits before marrying, the greater chance that she will ‘disgrace herself’ with some men. So that most of the girls in Middle East is early married. But the traditional marriage watch in Middle East is lack of Romanic moves but just like a Kind of business. The parents choose the husband for their girl only base on one reason ‘Is this marriage is a right match?’ The marriage usually is like a kind of alliance Between two families. Furthermore, the marriage will bring the economic and social Advantages to both families. The girl in Middle East usually has to marry a man she has never met. Or even parents suppose their daughter to marry with an older man. Girls act Like an asset of the family. So the family would like to sell their girls at the highest price. So a girl may be expected to marry a man who can bring the economic benefit to her Family. If the girl wants to disobey her father’s choice then the only way for her can do is run away or attempt suicide. This really is a tragedy in the Middle East world. Wife must need to obey her husband as the male has a dominance status in the middle- East world. According to the Koran says ‘If a wife is rebellious, then her husband should Admonish her, punish her to her couch and strike her.’ Therefore, the religious gives the Men a right to hit their wife. So the domestic violence is quite common in the Middle East. Also, in the Middle East world polygamy is allowed. That mean man can have more than One wife. Islam allows a man to have up to 4 wives. This is very common in some Conservative countries like in Saudi Arabia. But in fact, women can gain more power When they become older. They will handle the right of household finances, discipline children and not hesitate to speak her mind. In Middle East, it is quite easy for a man to divorce his wife anytime. But if divorce the men need to pay all married cash to his wife’s family and the women can keep the gold, jewelly, clothing and need to move back into her father’s or brother’s household, under the eye of her male relative. In the tradition view, a wife’s primary job is to bear and raise children- especially boys. They are not encouraged to go out for working. It is because working and earning living is the man’s responsibility. In fact, if a woman need to go out for working. Then it is a sign to show that her husband cannot support her living. This really is a shameful to the male. But even, the woman can go out for working. However, there is still sex segregation in some countries. In Saudi Arabia, women can only be a teacher, nurse and mother. The government is restricting the woman to manage business, travel aboard to study, eat in restaurant. Also, women only can work in the restaurant, hospital, newspaper and magazine which for women only. Both in the west and middle east societies, veiling is the popular word for the practice by which a woman conceals her hair and body and sometimes her face. A more accurate term is bijah. The reason for the women to wear the bijah is to hide the sight of woman’s beauty. Furthermore, it turns their thoughts away from pious, proper behavior: an adolescent youth suffers from frustrated sexual desire and a middle aged man thinks of discarding his wife and finding a much younger and beautiful woman. All of these would led the society become instability. So it is a responsibility for women to prevent these things happen. So they need to put on the veil. Moreover, some of the women to go out to the society and can move more freely and not bothered by men. Otherwise, an unveiled woman would likely receive cold stares and insults. Therefore, a woman veiled may say that she feels greater freedom and more safety than she did before adopting the bijah. Furthermore, a veiled woman can prove that she is a good Islam woman and other people will respect her and regard her only as a coworker, fellow students and not as a ‘sex object’. Another advantage of the veil is allowed woman stop thinking about her looks and to move concentrate on the important things, such as her job, study and family. Lastly, a girl who covers her face can make her parent to believe her she will behave properly and not attract improper attention. This makes it easier for a girl to go out and spend times with her friends without bother. To conclude, in fact in some Middle East countries the women status has some Remarkable improvement. They can be more independence. There is increasing numbers of women have no men to support them. They can go out for working like in Libya woman even can be a soldier. More and more women love working and see their works as an expression of individual ability, self esteem and growth. Also, more women are choosing to remain independent, postponing or refusing marriage. They even want to work after marriage. Some of them even said they would not marry with a man who wanted them to give up their career. This is really is a sign of improvement in Middle East world. But there is still a long struggle for the women in Middle East to fight for their better life and rights.
The role of women in the engineering profession
Women have been categorised as inferior to men and as a result are assigned the position of minors in both public and private sectors of life (National Gender Policy Framework, 2003). Additionally, most women arguably accept secondary roles without hesitation (Mathur-Helm, 2005: 63).. Education at school level is only part of the battle to recruit more women into the construction industry. Male builders need to accept women in the building workplace (Thompson, 1996: online). There is a relationship between higher education and the employment choices of women (Phaahla, 2000). Women tend to congregate in areas considered traditional outlets for female employment. Female staff and students are typically drawn to faculties such as the humanities, education and the social sciences. Generally women do not make up large numbers in technology and applied science areas of study. Consequently, the jobs available to women are limited for social and economic reasons. The position of women is further exacerbated by the fact that gender in South Africa is also racially and culturally segmented, creating inequalities that are race-bound. White and Black women have extremely different levels of experiences regarding job and development opportunities (Mathur-Helm, 2005: 67). Women encounter pervasive gender issues in their chosen careers which require specific strategies to deal with them (Phaahla, 2000). In particular, they need to contend with gender role stereotyping which believes that a set of traits and abilities is more likely to be found among one sex than the other (Schein, 1978: 259
Typically young people start contemplating their career choices at approximately the age of 16 or in their last years of high school. Gender-based career stereotyping makes it particularly difficult for young girls to establish their own career choices or to diverge from the career choices dictated by their parents. A sense of isolation is another reason for high defections, with women having little chance of meeting other women working in constructionThis chapter, will be a review of the primary information or the literature which has been written about challenges facing women, it will start by reviewing some literature on the skills shortages in South Africa and more specifically in the engineering sector, then women and work in South Africa and in general on the aspect of the glass ceiling. This chapter will also review literature on male dominated or traditional career.
Skills shortages
South Africa is experiencing a major shortage in skills in the engineering field, and the entry of women in this field is helping in trying to reduce skills shortages. There have been many changes in the pattern of work of women, more and women are now working outside the home. Some of the reasons that a sense of isolation is another reason for high defections, with women having little chance of meeting other women working in engineering, education at school level is only part of the battle to recruit more women into the engineering industry have been given as to try and explain why women work are: social changes and the changes in public attitudes towards women that have encouraged women to enter the job market (White et al, 1998).
An overview of women and work
All around the world, there is an increasing concern for gender equity and equality in the family and society for the benefit of children, men and women. Women have in the past contributed to different areas of economic and social life, for example, they are farmers, entrepreneurs, traders, homemakers etc and yet they share unequally in the fruits of their labour. Women constitute a large percentage of the world’s poor and continue to suffer disadvantage in education, health and employment (UN Report on the Advancement of Women, 1995). Nowadays, many more women are found in the workplace, in politics and more are getting educated than ever before. While women have advanced more rapidly in some societies than others, almost everywhere women’s concerns are still accorded second priority and they continually face both subtle and flagrant discrimination (Hinson, R; Otieku, J; & Amidu, M 2006).
Women and work in South Africa
Women are still regarded as secondary to men in South African business culture (Mathur-Helm,2005: 63). There is a view that women do not show leadership potential and behave differently from traditional male leaders (Mathur-Helm, 2004; Guppy & Rick, 1994). According to Johnson (1999), they are emotional and cannot shoulder responsibilities. What women do is rarely defined as leadership, given that masculinity is an implicit construct of leadership (Kloot, 2004: 472). The South African definition of gender equality is guided by a vision of human rights which incorporates acceptance of the equal and inalienable rights of all men and women (Kornegay, 2000). Indeed, the rights of women need to be viewed as human rights. ‘Equality’ is specified and enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution (South Africa, 1996). Section 9(3) of the Constitution provides that no one may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on any grounds such as, for example, race, gender and culture. This prohibition on discrimination forms an integral part of processes to achieve social justice in South Africa. Gender equality, therefore, requires that the underlying causes of discrimination be systematically identified and removed in order to give women and men equal opportunities in every sphere of life: In short, the economic integration of women, which comes only when market barriers are lowered and women are given an equal chance to attain decent work, remains a necessity for economic development and a worthy goal in its own right (ILO, 2008: 4). In South African society women historically faced the burden of unpaid household labour in addition to income-generating work. A rigid and uncompromising organisation of working hours and environment prevented them from performing well, considering that they needed to take time off for childcare and other family responsibilities (Ellison, 2001; Wilson, 1998). Often these demands reduced their chances of full-time paid employment. In addition, in terms of the South African Employment Equity Act of 1998, labour market discrimination arises when employers make decisions about employees for reasons that are not related to genuine work requirements (South Africa, 1998). Discrimination is most obvious when an employer focuses on irrelevant personal characteristics instead of work performance or merit. As a result women in many organisations have to work extra well and hard to gain any prospect of promotion. Unfortunately women have not been benefiting Acta Structilia 2009: 16(2)
50 from government policies and legislation to advance their careers (Mathur-Helm, 2005: 58). There is, therefore, no correlation between policy and practice. In South Africa, they have since put in place constitutional and employment legislation to try and eliminate direct discrimination; it is now against the law to discriminate on grounds of gender. But there are insufficient checks, resources and sanctions in place to enforce these provisions
(www.mywage.co.za/main/women-and-work). The following are some of the characteristics of women working in South Africa face:
Lower levels of pay in sectors which mainly employ women, Women traditionally work in welfare, such as care (nurses, social workers, etc.). Such jobs are less well paid than work, say, in production of goods and financial services (www.mywage.co.za/main/women-and-work).
Jobs in sectors where both men and women do the same kind of work are valued differently. Here, too, there is no objective reason for the difference in pay, “If women do work of equal value to that of men and still receive lower pay, this means that the employer simply is putting value on the chair and not on the person sitting on it” (www.mywage.co.za/main/women-and-work).
At the same time the characteristics associated with traditionally male jobs (leadership, technical insight, and heavy physical work) are over-valued. These very often subconscious valuations have to be overcome by making people aware of them and then act differently. In general it may be said that too low a value is placed on characteristics associated with women, e.g. social skills, physical and emotional care, concentration. (www.mywage.co.za/main/women-and-work)
Barriers to Women’s Advancement (glass ceiling)
Morrison (1992) describes several organizational barriers which constitute the glass ceiling in organizations. These include;
1. Non-supportive working environments
2. Differences being treated as weakness
3. Exclusion from group activities
4. Lack of organizational insider knowledge
While many women insist that the glass ceiling is a real barrier to accessing male-dominated positions in business, many challengers say that it exists mostly because women choose to focus more of their time on family and, in the end, cannot dedicate as much time to their career. Others claim that women think they want to focus on their career, but in reality choose family over career. A 2005 report, reports that 43% of highly qualified, educated women with children left their jobs voluntarily at some stage of their careers. Although 93% wanted to return to their careers, only 74% did so and only 40% went back to a full time position. Of those women who wanted to return to work, only five percent desired to return to the position they had left. (http://www.wisegeek.com)
Non-Traditional jobs or male dominated careers
Non-Traditional jobs and careers are ones that have traditionally been held by men. The Department of Labour classifies jobs as non-traditional when women are less than 25% of the workforce in that field. Non-Traditional Fields include: Detective, Architect, Barber, Machinist, Computer and Office Machine Repairer, Fire Fighter, Chef, Railroad Conductor,
Construction and Building Inspectoraˆ¦” (http://www.womenwork.org).
Benefits offered in non-traditional careers.
Non-traditional careers offer women many benefits that traditionally female careers do not have, these include the following: Higher Pay – Women in non-traditional careers generally make 20-30% more money than women in traditional careers, Opportunity for Advancement – Non-traditional careers often have career paths that allow women to quickly move up the ranks, Better Benefits Packages – Women in non-traditional careers generally have better benefits packages, including health care, vacation and sick leave, pension/retirement plans and life insurance, Expanding Job Availability – Non-traditional careers are generally in fields that are growing, thus there are many new jobs and positions being created, (http://www.womenwork.org.)
Challenges facing women in non-traditional careers
Women are facing challenges in the non-traditional, though there are many resources and support programs to help women overcome these difficulties, some of the common problems encountered by women are as follows: Discrimination or Harassment – Many women face discrimination and/or harassment in a non-traditional workplace, Hazardous Environments – Non-traditional careers can be in hazardous conditions for example in the mines or engineering, Family and Friends May Not Be Supportive – Many women find that their family and friends are not as supportive as they could be about their new career choices, Isolation – With few other women in the non-traditional workplace, many women feel isolated and lonely in their careers. Again, women can find supportive networks and groups with other women experiencing the same situations and environments, Transportation and Child Care Difficulties – Some non-traditional jobs are at odd times and sites. This can make transportation and child care difficult to find and maintain.
Some of the strategies to deal with these challenges
Young females who are in male dominated careers can try to alleviate the changes which face them at work, by having personal board of directors which can be a group of four to five people. Members of ones board can be mentors, peers, friends, or colleagues. These individuals will support you and are willing and able to help you get where you want to go, you should cultivate many developmental relationships instead of searching for one “perfect mentor.” Your personal board of directors is a group of four to five people, hand picked by you to be your own fan club. Members of your board can be mentors, peers, friends, or colleagues. These individuals can support them and help them get where you want to go. There is great power in the support the younger females receive from women facing similar challenges, the benefits include:
Knowledge that you’re not alone
Concrete suggestions and helpful guidance
A forum in which to share your thoughts and feelings with others who can relate
One can build personal board of directors by following the following steps: the first step is to reach out to other women for support. Too many female professionals are afraid to ask women in their field for assistance and guidance. However, what most women do not know is that most accomplished women want to help others like them succeed. By developing these mutually relationships it can help one to create an alliances which is essential to a long and successful career. (http://www.eurekalert.org)
Stereotype of engineers
puts women off the job
http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/diversity/engineering.htm
March 10 2006 – Classic stereotypes of engineers as men who are brilliant at and passionate about technology, but not very good at dealing with people, do not reflect real engineers and their work, according to Dr Wendy Faulkner from the University of Edinburgh. Moreover, such stereotypes are hampering efforts to recruit women into the engineering profession.
According to Dr Faulkner, who interviewed and observed 66 male and female engineers from a range of industries,: “Women and men engineers alike get excited about technology – even though fewer of the women have a ‘tinkerer’ background. There are ‘gadget girls’ as well as ‘boys and their toys’ in engineering. At the same time, many different types of men and women enjoy engineering work – very few fit the classic stereotype.
Wendy Faulkner adds: “In practice, engineering encompasses a wide variety of jobs and roles. It is a ‘broad church’ with room for a diverse range of people. Yet the image of engineering – and often the culture – remains a narrowly technical, ‘nuts and bolts’ one.
“Retention is as important as recruitment – many of those women who do complete engineering degrees don’t go onto engineering jobs or leave the industry after only a few years,” says Dr Faulkner. “Part of the issue is that women who enter engineering have to become ‘one of the lads’ in order to fit in. Many subtle aspects of the culture, which may appear trivial individually, when taken as a whole have a ‘dripping tap’ effect – making it harder for women to belong, and get on in engineering.”
Her study shows details how the topics engineers talk about, as well as their style of humour and the social activities they engage in, reflect men’s interests and ways of bonding. Women are left on the margins of this male society, finding it difficult to break into the ‘inner circles’ that carry influence on how the job gets done and who gets promoted.
“By contrast, engineering workplace cultures accommodate a range of men – laddish blokes, family men, pranksters, macho men, nerdy men, urbane men, genteel men – and so they are likely to feel comfortable to the great majority of men,” says Wendy Faulkner.
“If more women are to stay and progress in engineering workplaces, there is a strong business case for employers to introduce sustained and sensitive diversity training, to raise awareness of these kind of issues and to nurture more ‘inclusive’ workplace cultures in which everyone is comfortable,” says Dr Faulkner.
Engineering – A Male Dominated Profession
Coming from the first year engineering program at UBC, I couldn’t help but notice how male “dominated” the program was. I recall sitting in my Physics 153 class and being able to pick out the number of women on one hand.
I began to question as to why engineering is associated with males more than females. Is it course difficulty? Interests? Or simply stereotypes?
I’ve transferred schools and am now in my first year(yes, again) in Mechatronics Engineering program at SFU Surrey and I’m still observing the same thing – a larger male population in engineering.
I decided to sit down with Rebecca, a first year Tech One student who plans to go into Mechatronics, and asked her a couple questions regarding my observation.
Me: “Hi, Rebecca. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to me.”
Rebecca: “No problem, I had an hour break anyways.”
Me: “So, what program are you in right now?”
Rebecca: “TechOne right now, but I plan to go to Mechatronics Engineering if I get the grades after.”
Me: “Good for you. What got you interested in engineering in general?”
Rebecca: “Well, I really enjoy math. I also like problem solving and working in teams. It’s always nice working with other people and getting everyone’s ideas together. After all, two heads are better than one!”
Me: “Very true! Is there anything else besides that?”
Rebecca: “Actually, my parents kinda pushed me to choose something right away. Mechatronics seemed to be the only interesting career path for me. It is a little weird though.”
Me: “What is?”
Rebecca: “I don’t know if you notice but there aren’t that many girls in engineering”
Me: “You took the words right out of my mouth! I noticed the same thing. How do you feel about that?”
Rebecca: “I don’t feel out of place or anything. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I’m not fit to be an engineer. It can be a little intimidating, though. Prior to choosing Mechatronics, I never would’ve expected this many guys in my class.”
Me: “Why do you think there are so many guys in engineering?”
Rebecca: “Well, I think it’s labeled as a male’s job. Typically, you see the majority of engineerings being guys. That’s basically it. It’s stereotypical.”
Me: “So does this change your willingness to stay in Mechatronics?”
Rebecca: “Not at all. It is easy however, to question whether you’re in the right program or not but for me, I don’t think I would question it because there are so many guys compared to girls, but because I don’t know if it’s something I can see myself doing in the future.”
Me: “Well, thanks for answering some of my questions, Rebecca. I’ll let you get back to your studies.”
Rebecca: “No problem. I’ve got a lot of math to catch up on.”
After speaking to Rebecca, I couldn’t help but get a little bit of a better understanding about women in engineering. I don’t think it matters to her, or to other women, that a “man’s job” should only be meant for a man. At the same time, I don’t find that women do it to prove to men and society the famous saying, “Anything you can do, I can do better.” When choosing a career path, it’s important to think about what you’re interested in and whether you see yourself succeeding in that field. You can compare this same idea to male nurses. It is stereotypical to see a nurse as a female job but today, I see more and more men becoming nurses. In fact, a buddy of mine is studying to become one as we speak.
Engineering is a challenging career path for anyone, male or female. Before making a career decision, it is important to block out any stereotypes that may come along with that profession. I strongly believe that people choose career paths to prove to themselves, and only themselves, that they can do anything they put their mind
I. Introduction
Attracting Women into Engineering – a Case Study
Malgorzata S. Zywno, Member, IEEE, Kimberley A. Gilbride, Peter D. Hiscocks, Judith K. Waalen, and Diane C. Kennedy, Member, IEEE
http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/Nov1999/10/BEGIN.HTM
The economic well-being of Canada and the development of its technological base depends to a great extent on the effective employment of engineers. With the predicted shortage of engineers by the year 2000, employers cannot be satisfied with anything less than the very best engineers available, regardless of their gender [1], [2]. Statistics Canada figures released in April 1998 show that women make up only 12 % of 407,130 university grads in the science and technology fields, and only seven per cent of the 588,400 community college grads. Although women represent 55% of all undergraduate students in Canadian Universities, only 21% are enrolled in engineering programs. Furthermore, the percentage of women among practicing engineers in Canada is still very low, less than 5% [2]. For example, in 1998 only 3030 out of 61,340 (i.e. 4.9%) Professional Engineers registered in the Province of Ontario were women. Under-representation of women persists despite the fact that there are no differences in academic ability between men and women and that men and women initially pursue engineering for similar reasons [3].
A. Enrollments in Engineering in Ontario
Over the past decade the number of women in engineering undergraduate programs in the province of Ontario has been steadily increasing, but women are still significantly under represented in the applied science and engineering programs. While the climate for women in engineering has improved in recent years, misconceptions about engineering, lack of encouragement, peer pressure and other factors still act as barriers preventing more women to pursue a career in this non-traditional field. Trends in enrollment in engineering schools are shown in Figures 1,2 and 3 [4].
Fig. 1. Number of Men Studying Engineering at Ontario Universities.
As shown in Figure 1, the number of male students in engineering has been declining since 1992. This is reflected in all the engineering disciplines.
Fig. 2. Number of Women Studying Engineering at Ontario Universities.
In contrast, the number of women students in engineering has been increasing, although their actual number remains much smaller than that of their male counterparts, as shown in Figure 2. The female enrollment in engineering programs in Ontario over a five year period has increased from 13% in 1992-93 to 18.5% in 1996-97 school year.
Fig. 3. Percentage of Women Studying Engineering at Ontario Universities by Discipline.
Figure 3 presents the percentage of women students in engineering by discipline. This graph shows a steady decrease in Aeronautical and Industrial Engineering enrollment since 1993. It has been suggested that women are moving from Industrial to Systems engineering, but the reason for the decrease in Aeronautical engineering is not known. It is interesting to observe that the total percentage of women students in engineering continues to increase, although the total number of women students has recently shown the same down turn as men.
It has been suggested that initiatives to encourage women to study engineering will soon become unnecessary because the numbers are increasing so rapidly. This would be welcome news if it were true, but in fact the gains of women in the profession are not large and are not well established yet. Although the participation of women in engineering has increased every year since 1974 (when the first statistics were recorded), when only 2.9% of full time engineering students were women, the engineering profession has not been successful in attracting women in large numbers [5]. At about 18%, the percentage of women undergraduate students in engineering in Ontario is still well below the participation rates of women studying for other professions such as law, medicine, pharmacology or veterinary science. Women practicing engineers account for only about 5% of the profession. While women have made progress in the profession, they still encounter unacceptable attitudes and behaviours, as well as the “glass ceiling” [2].
B. Why More Women Don’t Become Engineers
There are a number of factors that tend to divert women away from engineering as a career:
Streaming, or the “Leaky Pipe Syndrome”: Women are diverted from math and science courses early in their high school careers. It has been argued [6] that this is associated with issues of competition, isolation, lack of female role models and not of lack of academic ability. Systemic obstacles [1] include: cultural influences and gender stereotyping at home and in school, peer pressure and images in the media.
Perception of Difficulty: Engineering is thought to be extremely difficult. Combined with the prevailing myth that women are poor at mathematics, women tend to choose something perceived as more achievable.
Exposure: Women do not have as many engineer role models as for other careers such as business, medicine or law. There are few women science high school teachers, women in science textbooks and among university engineering faculty in 1995, only 5.5% were women [7].
Lack of Knowledge About Engineering: Engineering is perceived as a technical, often solitary pursuit, in which one works with machines rather than people. Career options in engineering are not well known by most adults, let alone teenagers, and are not well represented in high school curricula or through career guidance counseling. This affects girls disproportionately, as they typically have less access to information about engineering outside the school environment.
Hobbies: Encouraged by parents and peers, boys engage in mechanically oriented hobbies, which prepare them better for the practical aspects of engineering.
Social Status of the Profession: In North America, the profession of engineering derives from the skilled trades of Britain, and therefore may be associated with the working class. This is in contrast to the European tradition of engineering, where it has always been regarded as a profession allied to the sciences. Notice the difference between the derivation of the English word engineer (associated with engines) and the French word ingenieur(associated with ingenuity or invention). Thus engineering has a tradition of higher social status in the New World countries such as Venezuela, deriving their traditions from continental Europe, as opposed to British-influenced Canada. This is implicitly understood by parents who are considering professional careers for their daughters
4 Barriers to Women’s Advancement in the Accounting
Profession
Morrison (1992) describes several organizational barriers which
constitute the glass ceiling in organizations. These include;
1. Non-supportive working environments
2. Differences being treated as weakness
3. Exclusion from group activities
4. Lack of organizational insider knowledge
Non-supportive working environments
Many women in business are becoming increasing aware and indeed
disillusioned with what they perceive as a lack of support in their
work environments. The working environment is determined by the
culture within a particular organization, namely the systems of
shared values which create the behavioural norms. There are seven
types of gender-related organizational culture, each of which in its
own way contributes to a non-supportive work environment. The
‘gentleman club’ reinforces the notion that the woman’s role as
mother and homemaker and the man’s role as breadwinner are
natural and preordained; the “barrack yard” is an authoritarian
culture where power delivers respects and as women rarely have
senior status their interest are ignores; ‘locker room’ is an exclusion
culture, where men build relationships on the basis of common
agreements and common assumptions and may frequently talk
about sport and make sexual references to confirm their
heterosexuality; the ‘gender blind’ pretends that women live the
same lives as men; the “smart macho” is driven by extreme
competitiveness and is very much geared to the young and childless;
the “paying lip-service” type of culture espouses equal opportunities
policies but does little to assist practically in the development of
Gender & Behaviour
595
women employees: and the “women as gate-keepers” type of culture
means that often the main resistance to women managers comes
from other women who are less career-oriented or are wives of senior
staff.
5 Differences treated as weaknesses
The Institute of Management (1992) has identified the dominance of
male culture in its many manifestations as the crucial barrier for
women in business to overcome It is the prevalence and power of
this culture, perceived as the norm, that lead directly to differences
being regarded as weakness and hence to women being perceived
successful managers to possess characteristics, attitude and
temperaments more commonly ascribed to men and although female
managers and management students no longer sex-type the
managerial job, the concept of a scientific, rational and detached
male manager still persists, as being the ideal to which one should
aspire. This obviously presents problems for women in managerial
roles because they will frequently be considered by male colleagues
and subordinates as not fitting the mould, of being an outsider
because of the gender, and they will constantly be measured against
the male managerial stereotype as shown in the outline.
Masculine and feminine stereotype
Masculine Stereotype
aˆ? Competence
aˆ? Very aggressive
aˆ? Very independent
aˆ? Almost always hides emotions
aˆ? Very objective
aˆ? Note all easily influenced
aˆ? Very dominant
aˆ? Distance/inexpressiveness
aˆ? Uses harsh language
aˆ? Not at all talkative
aˆ? Very rough
aˆ? Not at all aware of feeling of
others
Feminine Stereotype
aˆ? Incompetence
aˆ? Not at all aggressive
aˆ? Not at all independent
aˆ? Does not hide emotions at all
aˆ? Very subjective
aˆ? Very easily influenced
aˆ? Very submissive
aˆ? Warmth/expressiveness
aˆ? Does not use harsh language
at all
aˆ? Very talkative
aˆ? Very gentle
aˆ? Very award of feeling of
others
Source: White (1995)
Hinson, R.; Otieku, J.; Amidu, M: Exploratory Study of Women in Ghana
596
6 Exclusion from group activities
One of the problems resulting from the assumptions made about
women’s role in the workplace is that women are frequently excluded
from group activities within those organizations where a strong male
culture predominates. These activities may be business-related, for
example, considering a female colleague too irrational to be involved
in the development of a strategic plan, or too emotional to make a
Body as a form of capital
Baudrillard writes that ‘Beauty is such an absolute imperative because it’s a form of capital’ (1998: 132). Analyze the role of the body as a form of capital (addressing the specific practices and implications) with reference to one particular form of body work (e.g. an occupation, a consumer practice e.t.c).
This essay would focus on the body form of a bodybuilder as a form of capital. Bodybuilding being a form of capital is said to add value to an individual’s body. This value could be economic, social, cultural and symbolic (Bourdieu 1986). “Physical capital is most usually converted into economic capital (money, goods, services), cultural [for example] education and social capital (social networks which enable reciprocal calls to be made on the goods and services of its members)” (Bourdieu 1978, 1984, 1986) in Shilling 2003, p. 111.
Our conception of beauty is shaped by the media. “Bourdieu’s analysis of the body involves an examination of the multiple ways in which the body has become commodified in modern societies” in Shilling 2003, p. 111. This is why Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction would be used intensively to explain why Baudrillard wrote that “beauty is such an absolute imperative because it’s a form of capital” (1998: 132). This would be done in relation to Bourdieu’s physical capital to the body. It was stated by Bourdieu that ‘This refers not only to the body’s implication in the buying and selling of labour power but to the methods by which the body has become a more comprehensive form of body capital; a possessor of power, status, distinctive symbolic forms. (In Shilling 2003, p. 111). So in relation to bodybuilder the practices of the bodybuilder would be taken into account, e.g drug taking to enhance the muscles and the implications of such behavior.
Beauty is an absolute essential in our society; it allows for individuals to feel really confident with themselves and hopefully in their endeavors to be able achieve success, as in our current environment greater emphasis is placed on peoples physical appearances. This could make a huge difference between failure and success. This aspect can be linked to Marchand’s parable of the first impression, which states ‘first impressions brought about immediate success or failureaˆ¦ the reason one man gained a promotion or one woman suffered a social snub had become less explicable grounds of long-standing favoritism or family feuds’ (1985, p. 217). This could be related to bodybuilding as if one is not muscular enough; they might not enter for a show or competition. This idea of presenting one’s self in an acceptable manner in a bodybuilding sector of society would have made individuals feel good and helped increase their self esteem amongst their peers thus ensuring happiness; this could hence be linked to the social capital as they would gain increased connections. The implication and practices of being a bodybuilder would most probably be the idea that they are trying to make themselves feel confident in the body they are in. The ideal of feeling confident could be said to be on a personal level, on an economic level for these bodybuilders, they would be able earn money, earn a living for what they do. And on a social capital level, they would be able to earn a status amongst their peers because according to Klein ‘image is everything’ (1993, p. 3) and that ‘the goals of competitive bodybuilders are not simply to be champions but to become Mr. Olympias and Mr. Universe (Ibid, p. 3). This could also link to the symbolic capital.
Contributors to the recently established sociology of the body (e.g. Nettleton and Watson 1998, Shilling 1993) reference Giddens (1991) when contextualizing a burgeoning social scientific interest in bodily matter. According to Giddens, contemporary society (what he terms ‘high’ or ‘late’ modernity) is a post traditional order where ‘the self, like the broader institutional context in which it exists, has to be reflexively made’ (1991: 3) in Monaghan 1993, p. 4. So in relation to the body builders it could be suggested to what Monaghan calls ‘striving to create ‘the perfect body’ (1999a in Monaghan 1999, p. 708). So in the case of the bodybuilders, they practice using body enhancement medication so that they could work and reach that potential. This can be illustrated again by Monaghan ‘bodybuilding, a project like activity’ (Bloor et al 1998) adopted by the denizens of the late modernity, represents one choice (among many) for sustaining a coherent narrative of self (Giddens 1991). It can be argued that in a post traditional world there is confusion, as science has taken over traditional authority, so it can be argued that bodybuilders take risks. It was stated by Monaghan that ‘ bodybuilders who are steroid users, are engaging in chemical, not just social constructions (Bloor et al 1998: 41); hence the beneficial possibilities of science and technology become double edged, creating new parameters for risk (1999, p. 726).
Advertising is said to have given rise to why so much importance is placed on the human body. It has always proposed the idea that it can fix any imperfection of the body and that such solutions are available to anyone who is ready. This can be related to Marchands Democracy of goods. Maguire & Stanway stated “images of ideal bodies seem to be very important in contemporary society” (2008: 1). This is why Liess et al 1997: 7 argued that advertising is ‘one of the great vehicles of social communication’ and Williams [1961] 1993:321 stated that advertising is ‘an institutionalized system of commercial information and persuasion’. This may be why it was suggested by Hitzler 1988 that the individual has to recognize and acknowledge the body and self as flawed, inadequate or at least incomplete, and identifying areas for transformation and the appropriate tools, practices and experts to perform that work. The self, in other words, becomes a do-it-yourself project (in Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 2002: 3). Consequently, the advertizing system dictates to society what the body should look like. The implication of a bodybuilder, it is the idea of the drug taking. They do not think of the negative consequences that these drugs would have overall on their wellbeing. That is why Giddens argues that the conditions of late modernity have important implication for psychic processes as well as the body. ‘The reflexivity of the self extends to the body, where the body is part of an action system rather than merely a passive object’ (Giddens 1991: 77) For him the body is ‘reflexively mobilised’, available to be ‘worked upon’ by the influences of high modernity (1991: 218) in Monaghan 1993, p. 5.The advertising system needs conforming/passive individuals so as to achieve their goals. They look for the weaknesses that individuals dread on and use that to their advantage, and those who conform not would most probably not achieve their potential goals. The advertising system makes it a norm that people’s body is meant to look a certain way, and if you don’t look that way that which the system proposes, then the individual would be picked on.
With advertising practices constantly being portrayed to the public and the increasing idea given to the public that they can fix whatever faults they have on their body. The more likely individuals are exposed to these ideas, the more they are to succumb to this culture of paying so much attention on their body. Consequently be looked on as being self obsessed. Lasch’s book called ‘The culture of narcissism’ describes the major changes that occurred in the 1970’s explained by Cashmore 2006: 101, It describes ‘the apotheosis of individualism,’ in which self centered feeling or conduct reached its highest state of development. After the turbulent 1960’s in which people all over the world challenged and subverted traditional ideals, values, and norms […] Their rebellious efforts changed hearts and minds, but not the material facts. So, they ‘retreated to purely personal pre-occupation,’ according to Lasch, ‘getting in touch with their feeling, eating health food, taking lessons in ballet or belly dancing [aˆ¦]overcoming the ‘fear of pleasure’. (1980:4) Thus advertising and ‘marketing would constantly be producing the tools for reshaping appearances’ (Maguire & Stanway 2008: PAGE). In the context of bodybuilding, these tools could be the use of drugs/steroids to make their muscles bigger. Bloor et al. 1998 ‘Bodybuilding, perhaps more so than others athletic pursuit, is a socio-cultural environment which normalises the instrumental use (as opposed to ‘abuse’) of steroids and accessory drugs’ (Monaghan 1999, p. 707). Moreover, the implication of bodybuilders would continually change their body so as to continually fit with what the bodybuilding system and advertising has in trend as a result fit in society and feel a sense of belonging. This can be further illustrated by Arnold and Price who stated that ‘the second mode of self-making is the authoritative performance in which feeling of community, acceptance and belonging arise from shared participation or shared rituals’ (2000: 155 cited in Maguire & Stanway 2008, p. 9). This could be related to the related to the symbolic and the economic capital. The symbolic capital in the sense that society accepts bodybuilders using drug so, when these individuals achieve that body, they would be more likely to get jobs so, it works in a two way advantage, they get the job they want (economic capital) and the bodybuilding industry get the labour that they pay for.
In contemporary society, greater emphasis has being placed on the body as well as beauty and being beautiful as it’s seen as part of forming one’s identity. This can be illustrated by Shilling (2003) who argued that “there is tendency for the body to become increasingly central to the modern person’s sense of self-identity”. People are starting to think more and be concerned of how others view and perceive them. This could be said that their body is for other to gaze at it, an example could be given from ‘Pumping Iron 2: The women’, the scene at 3 minutes 07 seconds where they all had to show off their body, to an admiring audience who were all applauding. This could be related to the narcissistic self as Cashmore stated ‘the narcissist depends on others to validate his self esteem,’ observed Lasch. He cannot live without an admiring audience aˆ¦ for the narcissist, the world is a mirror’ (1980: 10 in Cashmore 2006, p. 102). This could be said to a certain extent that these bodybuilders need society to approve of their body. They want their body to be adored. The act of thinking of one’s body on how people perceive them could be said to link to the other directed self. (WHICH LINKS TO PARABLE OF FIRST IMPRESSION (EWEN 1999, MARCHAND 1985) this could link to the body form of body builder in the sense that the first impression that one gets from them is that they are very strong. Woodward further stated that “one only has to think of the rewards received by professional sports people across the world, to see how bodily performances can be exchanged for financial rewards. Nightclubs and disco’s frequently employ body-builders as bouncers, while prostitutes use their bodies to earn a living” Woodward 1997: 88. It can be argued that different classes treat their bodies differently, as Shilling stated according to Bourdieu “that the working class tend to develop an instrumental relation to their body as they have little time free from necessity. The body is a means to an end aˆ¦” 2003, p. 114. It was also argued that “workers who use their bodies all day in heavy manual labor tend to have little time for what they see as ‘pretension’ of jogging and health and fitness centres [aˆ¦] ‘the working class are concerned to spend their efforts on weightlifting and activities directed towards strength, both field in which manual dominance can be asserted’ (ibid: 114). So in relation to the body form of a bodybuilder, according to Bourdieu’s theory, they would be classed as a working class, as they are only wanting to survive and strive through life with what their body can achieve for them financially. Whereas it can be said in relation to Bourdieu’s theory that the dominant class differ such gratification, the dominant class, used their body for cultural, social capital etc this can be illustrated by Shilling who stated that “dominant classes have the time and resources to treat the body as a project ‘with variants according to whether the emphasis is placed on the intrinsic functioning of the body as an organism, which leads to the macrobiotic cult of health, or on the appearance as a perceptible configuration, the “physique”, i.e. the body for other’ (Bourdieu, 1978: 838; 1984: 212- 13). The dominant class tend not to be overly concerned with producing a large, strong body, but with a slim body better ‘suited to the world in which economic practice is constituted more strongly by the presentation of self’ (Wilkes, 1990: 118) in Shilling, p. 114
The body is also said to have possessed power and freedom in our current society whereas in previous society (Traditional Society) there were restrictions and people did not have the choice to do what they wanted. “The personality rather than character has come to be much more important in contemporary society” which was stated by Warren 1979: 212-26 in Ewen 1999). Thus great power is placed on the individual, as a result, they are allowed to do what they want with that power, consequently, citizenship duty and work no longer seem to be important rather attractiveness, creativity and a fascinating personality is much more preferred in the society. As it was further argued by Shilling from Bourdieu’s angle that “in traditional societies, power is exercised more directly by one embodied individual over another, whereas in contemporary society “the modern body has a far more complex role in the exercise of power and the reproductions of social inequalities” (2003). That power in relation to the bodybuilder is the possession of medicine. Monaghan stated ‘Empirical data on perceptions of the medical profession, risk, and bodybuilders’ various sources of ethno-scientific knowledge, suggest that medicine is simply one ‘authority’ among many in the construction of the self and the body within late modernity'(1999: 707). This refers to the muscle enhancement drugs. Baudrillard’s point of view, he suggests that ‘the body has today become an object of salvation’ (Baudrillard 1998). This further illustrates how the body is viewed in contemporary society and portrays the amount of freedom that individuals possess thus bodybuilder take pride in themselves and worship their body as they believe it is the way they would be able to achieve their goals. This can be related to the culture of narcissism based on the individuals point of view as Cashmore stated that ‘there are two dimensions of the culture of narcissism: on one hand swatches of people abandoned their collective endeavours and contented themselves with individual quests for satisfaction and happiness: yet, on the other, they depend on each other for confirmation that they are looking and feeling good’ (2006: 102). This therefore means that, although they have this individual power, they still need other people to validate them. Baudrillard (1998), “the body is no longer flesh [aˆ¦] but is taken up again in its materiality as narcissistic cult object” so in relation to body building, it could be seen that individuals who take part in these activities are vain and think too much about themselves. Cashmore in relation to the narcissistic self that these individuals are getting in touch with their primordial sense of self (2006)
According to Shilling 1993 ‘the idea of physical capital is easily grasped by thinking of ways in which sports men and women convert physical ability into income or the ways that models, or even prostitutes use their bodies for material gain’ (www.aare.edu.au.01pap/lig01450.htm). Of course the ways in which the opposing classes of our society use their body would be totally different. And it could be said they view beauty differently because of the way the body is treated, to illustrate this idea Shilling argued that ‘bodies are also formed through the development of taste [aˆ¦] preferences, lifestyles which are rooted in material constraints’ (2003: 113). Bourdieu also argued that “the act of labour are required to turn bodies into social entities and that these act influences, people develop and hold the physical shape of their bodies and learn how to present their bodies through styles of walk, talk and dress” in Shilling 2003: 112. Thus it can be argued that both types of bodies are a source of physical capital. Consequently, ‘the body bears the indisputable imprint of an individual’s social class’ (Bourdieu, 1984) in Shilling 2003, p. 112. Thus, ‘people develop preferences for what is available to them’ Shilling 2003, p. 113
Lasch saw no harm in any of these pursuits in themselves, but he rued the break with history, the turning away from collective activity, and the switch from trying to change society to changing oneself. Personal well-being health, and psychic security became the motivating goal for the generation that had earlier wanted to change the world (Cashmore 2006: 102)
From a theoretical stance one could posit that it is only within a deregulated and essentially postmodern world, where people have the freedom to explore the self and the body in new ways (Kelleher et al. 1994: xxii) that such activity is possible. An empirical illustration of the thesis that the body is less and less an intrinsic ‘given’, that we perceive them to be more pliable and are actively seeking to alter, improve and refine them (Giddens 1991, Nettleton and Watson 1998) in Monaghan 1999, p. 708
This is because an individual’s body is never ‘fully finished’. While the body is implicated in society, it is constantly affected by social, cultural and economic processes (Bourdieu, 1985) in Shilling 2003, p. 116 aˆ¦. With the resources, to treat the body as a lifelong project. 2003, p. 112
Bourdieu states “bodies are involved in the creation and reproduction of social differences, more specially, they bear the imprint of social class because of three main factors: an individual’s social location; their formation of their habitus; and the development of their taste” in Woodward (1997). This can then be said as to why Bourdieu believe that the body “is a bearer of value in contemporary society” in Shilling 2003, p. 111. And that the body is in continuation of many changes this is why Bourdieu emphasized “The body is an unfinished entity which develops in conjunction with various social forces and is integral to the maintenance of social inequalities aˆ¦” in Shilling 2003, p. 113
WORD COUNT – 3,067
The Role Of Saudi Women In Leadership
Saudi Arabia is a desert country that runs over 8,000 square miles. There are big cities, like Riyadh, Makah, Medina, Dhahran and Jeddah; residents in these areas enjoy the amenities of well-planned modern metropolitan cities. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, headed by the Al Saud royal family, with a council of ministers. Saudi Arabia’s strong root in religious and tribal history has made it what it has become today. By the 1970’s Saudi Arabia had become dominant in the realm of international finance and a significant political power in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia occupies the larger part of the Arabian Peninsula and is the world’s leading oil producer and exporter. The kingdom is the center of the major places of importance for Muslims from all over the world.
Plight of Saudi women
There are very few (if any) well known women leaders in Saudi Arabia; this is as a result of the vast gender discrimination against the girl child. There are laws that are restrictive to women and hinder them from getting leadership roles. This study aims to explore the discriminative judicial and government systems in the country towards women. It will also describe the leadership roles of women in the Saudi society. The various aspects of leadership and gender discrimination against Saudi women will be discussed. Women are more than the men in the population of Saudi Arabia; it’s therefore very ironical that they had not been allowed to work. It is in the last ten years that women have been accepted as part of the working community. This demonstrates the lack of working sectors open to Saudi women. In fact transport sector discriminates women, in that a woman would not travel unaccompanied by a male companion. The society still looks down upon employed women.
Jobs available for Saudi women are very limited and are mostly in education, health, and administration. Women can work and attain jobs in any setting as long as there is no exposure to men. Because of this cultural and religious rule, women need to have their own independent social and educational organizations. Society allows women to fill top administrative positions in women’s colleges in order to manage the college effectively. Despite these achievements education for Saudi women is still regarded secondary to taking care of the household and family.
For a long time, women’s education was subject to negotiation with religious and social traditions. Women in Saudi Arabia were officially allowed to get formal education about forty years ago while the men started way before the women. Consequently, there are very few jobs available for well-qualified women in Saudi Arabia. The women in Saudi Arabia are now more than ever in pursuit in order to empower themselves through education in readiness of leadership positions that may come their way
.
Position of women in the society
There are many different aspects that one encounters while trying to understand and explore the Saudi Arabian culture. The role and status of the women is key in understanding the position of a woman in this culture. In Saudi Arabia, women do not have much to do outside their homes. Girls, from an early age, obtain a domestic role that befits them. For a young girl in Saudi Arabia, becoming a mother is the norm and is the biggest goal in life. She is raised to believe that she should aim to be a “good mother” and that it is her responsibility to devote her time to her husband and children. However, this is gradually changing; the government now supports education of the girl child.
Women’s rights groups in Saudi Arabia are not functional for instance, women are still not allowed to drive or ride on motor vehicles with strangers, and one should either be accompanied by a close relative, an employee or the employer (Helen, 2007). This law denies women a vital right; freedom of independent movement (Colin, 2005).
A Saudi woman cannot be admitted into any hospital without the consent of a male family member. Despite all these, women are finding other means of maneuvering through these restrictive rules in order to pursue business this is through the intensive use of the internet (Anders, 1998).
Legal, social and religious controls combine to limit a woman’s freedom of movement in the country. From the government perspective, this is aimed at protecting the women, but most women perceive the law as a way of accelerating and empowering the men and their dominance in the society, (Helen, 2007).
Women of the Middle East have long been viewed as an oppressed group. From the desert sands of Saudi Arabia to the mountainous lands of Afghanistan, Arab women have faced many hardships in their society. While the role of a woman is meant to be nurturing and domestic, many women have moved on to a more modern view, and have taken on the role as educators and laborers. Arab women threaten the traditional family structure by doing so; however, for many it is a sacrifice they are willing to make, as they have seen that the world has more to offer than just household chores and childbearing.
Rights of women in the past, today and the future
The Saudi system is set up in a form known as the Sunni-Islam state version, which is a conservative form of government; this version is characterized by incorporating the interpretation of the Muslim faith and using it to formulate law. The Islamic law is interpreted in such a way that it enhances gender inequality; the women are subjected to strict and tight legal regulations on their personal behavior while the men are exempted from the rules (Colin, 2005). There is no equality for women despite Article 8 of the Saudi law which states that, “Government in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on the premise of justice, consultation, and equality in accordance with the shari’ah law” (Sameena, 2005). However, the individual interpretations favor men rather than women resulting in a hierarchy system that also privileges notables and good connections over ordinary citizens and outsiders. This system in itself creates a biased and self-centered form of society associated with misinterpretation of religious scripture. Foreigners are treated differently depending on the country of origin and the race, too (Kathleen, 1991).
Women cannot act as lawyers, and for women to access justice she hires a male lawyer wand she is forced to offer up most of her confidential information regarding financial and family matters to the lawyer and the judges. A single man’s testimony in the court is the same as for two women (Sameena, 2005). In most cases, the women rely on their husbands and this denies the women personal justice and the ability to access power and leadership positions since one cannot experience power without justice.
There are vast cases of gender discrimination in the employment sector in Saudi Arabia, this is attributed to the fact that most of the people are religious and have interpreted Islamic teachings in a particular way (Anders, 1998). For women, access to employment activities is very limited, with minimal enjoyment of the full benefits of citizenship or adulthood.
Gender discrimination against women has exacerbated reformers to proactively advocate for democracy and empowerment of women in the country. The international community is also working in close collaboration with the reformers to help in the administration of justice and the equality of gender in Saudi Arabia (Sameena, 2005). Consequently, Saudi Arabia has made some progress in women’s education and employment.
Saudi women and the education sector
Education is a central aspect of family and community life. There is a close link between home and school and they further correlate with the way the structure and community is shaped. The education of Arab women started long ago, dating back almost 1500 years, when the wife of Prophet Muhammad, Khadija, owned her own caravan and was her own employer; a successful one at that. However, after the Prophet’s death, the status of women slowly began to decline, and by the early 1900’s, Arab women’s status had been dwindled down to that of oppression and non-education. Because of this, several feminist women movements arose in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the most famous one led by Huda Sha’rawi in Egypt (Ahmed, 1992). Even though these feminist movements helped encourage Arab women to get back on the rise in society, only a handful were able to achieve that, as many countries such as Saudi Arabia were still not into empowering women.
Women’s education in Saudi Arabia started informally with the Kuttab schools that taught the fundamentals of Islam and the basics of writing, reading, and arithmetic. By 1945, King Abdul Aziz, the country’s founder, had initiated an extensive program to establish schools in the Kingdom. Six years later, in 1951, the country had 226 schools with 29,887 students (Collins, 2005). In 1954, the Ministry of Education was established headed by then Prince Fahd as the first Minister of Education. The first ever university in Saudi Arabia was opened in Riyadh in early 1957.
In 1943, the first private girl’s school was established in Makkah by a group of people in the private sector who wanted to teach their daughters basic reading, writing and mathematics (Al Salloom, 1989). When public elementary education for girls began in 1960, there were only 15 school buildings, with a total of 127 classrooms and 518 female students. Public education at the intermediate and secondary levels for girls followed in 1963 with four school buildings for the intermediate level, and one for the secondary level (Al Salloom, 1989). As Saudi families started to realize that educating their daughters posed no threat to family life and in the traditional role of women in society, the attitude towards females’ education changed.
Female students enrolled at all educational levels and more schools were opened. From 1970 to 1990 the number of female students enrolled in higher education expanded from 400 students to 48,000 (Kathleen, 1991). With the rapid expansion of educational facilities and enrollment, a high number of teachers and school principals were female. Today, Saudi Arabia’s nationwide educational system comprises many universities and colleges, including thousands of primary and secondary schools. Open to every citizen, the system provides students with free education, books and health services.
To complement their studies in universities in the Kingdom, Saudi students have the opportunity to pursue graduate and post-graduate degrees in specialized fields abroad. Supported by the government scholarships, thousands of Saudi students are enrolled in universities outside the Kingdom, mainly in the United States.
The beginning of women’s higher education was similar in Saudi Arabia and the United States, in that both countries, at one point, denied women access to higher education and women were considered as comparative newcomers to equity of opportunity in education. This brings light to addressing another issue involving higher education and the Saudi woman: women don’t have the right to make decisions and set policies concerning their higher education. To some extent, they may manage and organize their day-to-day departments, operations and resources but all major decisions affecting them-such as hiring, planning and evaluating are still made by men. What makes this problem more complicated is the lack of communication, face to face between men who are high in administered hierarchy and women who occupy lower administrative levels.
For the graduate female students, there are minimal chances for them to advance in the job markets and this hinders the women from rising up into a leadership position in the education sector. There are a few women who have been lucky to get leadership positions in the education .These women play an important role, they champion for more women to be incorporated into leadership positions, however, their sentiments are always ignored (Helen, 2007).The nature of female leadership roles in Saudi Arabia cannot be compared to other countries, these women are segregated and marginalized and thus they are denied educational leadership roles (Anders, 1998).
Cultural factors influencing Saudi women
The shaping of societies in general is dependent on cultural and traditional factors, as well as economic and political systems. In Saudi Arabia, society culture and traditions play a major role. Culture predominantly influences women’s’ roles in Muslim society, because of the emphasis placed on women’s status and acceptable behavior as outlined in the Quran. Ahmed (1992) believes that no matter what form the political system takes, no matter what level of education women attain, no matter what traditional values govern employment, Saudi women would not play major leadership roles in modern day economics because cultural factors have impeded their development. There are a number of factors that have impacted the Saudi women’s status and their position in society. The economy, the importance of the family unit, the educational opportunities available, the degree of encouragement women encounter in their pursuit of education and work, and the degree of urbanization attained are all important factors that shape a society and mold many of its beliefs and values (Pinter, 1984).
Saudi Arabia’s culture and traditions are different from the United States and are used as a basis of comparison for two reasons: first, Saudi Arabia and the United States are young wealthy countries that continue to progress (Al-Dawood, 1995); and second, to see if Saudi Arabian secondary school teachers’ levels of job satisfaction are different from that of secondary school teachers in the United States.
Limited information on Saudi female teachers’ job satisfaction and principal leadership behavior in Saudi Arabia is available, thus it is necessary to also look at research conducted about male teachers. Beck & Keddie (1978) indicated that men have reported a higher degree of job satisfaction than women, but more recently differences have diminished, due in part to more equal opportunities for the employment and advancement of women.
A Study carried out in Qatar (a country that borders Saudi Arabia) reveals that there is no significant difference in the levels of job satisfaction between men and women (Moshaikeh, 1981). Al-Salom (1996) reports that a similar study was carried out in the United States and also found no significant difference in the level of job satisfaction between male and female teachers.
The Quran advocates for stable family life, at no point does it state that women are not equal to men and that they should not mix freely in their places of work (Al-Sallom, 1989).This is not usually the case and people still misinterpret religion and use the Quran as a basis for isolating women.
The differences between women in the Middle East and the ones in the western countries like United States may are due to cultural factors. Despite growing acceptance of women’s education in Saudi Arabia, education for women still faces conservative attitudes from many Saudi citizens. Such conservative thinking focuses on women building the traditional roles of wives and mothers and may cause fear that education may weaken these roles. These conservative attitudes towards women’s education are not related to the influences of Islam, but may be part of the traditions of the Saudi Society (Christopher, 1993). In addition, women receive fewer formal courses in school administration and in-service training than men (Abdel, 1997).
Women administrators receive inadequate training; as a result, female school principals are less qualified in leadership behaviors and supervision than their male counterparts are. Teachers should have a chance to use what they have learned in education courses. They also should be involved in the planning and decision-making process regarding curriculum, time use, classroom instructions, method of instructions, resource allocation, and procedures for students’ evaluation. Including them as active participants would be an excellent first step in enhancing their job satisfaction.
Power of women in the past, today and the future
Economic empowerment of women
One of the major factors that have shaped the Saudi Society is the economic situation. However, Kathleen, (1991) disagrees with the notion that a modern capitalist economy and its extension to almost all areas have resulted in many positive changes for women in Saudi Arabia. She argues that pre-capitalist urban occupations were already open to Saudi women of all classes, from midwifery and entertainment to holders of important real estate. Economic changes of the modern period did not improve or raise the levels of women’s participation in public life. In the Saudi culture, serious life begins with marriage, which can be for many, an escape from family pressures and economic difficulty. Because males are seen as the protectors and supporters of women and are, therefore, considered indispensable, families pull all their resources together (material and emotional) to ensure that their young daughters marry appropriately.
Women of Saudi nationality are not allowed to access benefits from the government. In the case where a Saudi woman marries a non-Saudi, she then cannot pass the nationality to her children. Consequently, in 2002, women had no right to obtain the national identity card without the order from the mahram, but they appeared as nationals from the state records that included her as a member of a particular family only (Kathleen, 1991). When this was the norm, widowed and single women had a hard time gaining leadership of their families and also in obtaining other benefits of their own and from the state subsidies (Cordesman, 2003).
Saudi women do not have the right to the sign contracts or to control financial assets and in this instance, women are made to “lick the boots” of the males. As a result, women are denied the economic leadership and mainly depend on their husbands for economical support. The women cannot be integrated in the development processes and this greatly impacts them due to their reduced influence in policy making and changes in legislation (Colin, 2005).
In a way, the Saudi law ensures gender equity to men and women related to each other. Consider for example, the case where the daughters retain half as much inheritance as the sons and when such women get married then they under the care of their husbands (Colin, 2005) .Women retain property after marriage and in this case, the husbands have the right to protect the woman and hence the women have no obligation to spend their acquired wealth on the men’s behalf. The married men have the full responsibility for their family needs. And in case a woman conducts herself in an immoral manner, the man of closest relation is punished on her behalf (Helen, 2007).
The role of women in Saudi Arabia is becoming more significant in both political and economic terms as more and more women hold positions of leadership and civic prominence. The educational levels of the women who have made significant contributions on leadership hold positions as founders of organizations and range in their education: from holding bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees. Some of these women hold voluntary positions and others hold paid positions that entail career commitments.
The Saudi Arabia government has given higher education, there are new educational policies put in place. The government established the Ministry of Higher Education in 1975 whose long term vision is to provide highly trained manpower necessary to run the country’s increasingly sophisticated economy. The primary objective of this ministry is to establish new institutions of higher learning throughout the country.
The Kingdom has given priority to quantity and quality expansion of education in the last five to seven-years among other development plans. Despite the low percentage of Saudi women working in the labor force in the Kingdom compared to advanced countries, it is the unavailability of working sectors open for Saudi women – usually limited to education and medicine – which has caused some saturation in these sectors. The Saudi government is planning to undertake a study of the role of women in the country’s economy (Al-Mohamed, (2007). There are policies set by the government in order to support women who want to work. The main aim of these policies is to lower t unemployment rate among women in Saudi Arabian women. In line with this objective, the government and private organizations provide counseling services to women in stressful environments of employment. The Saudi government plan is beyond employment and aims to empower women with entrepreneurial and investing. Saudi Arabia might have to revise some policies that a restrict women from participating in the economy of the country.
Women and political leadership
The participation of women in the public domain, including the political arena, is very limited in Saudi Arabia. Unlike other women in the western world, Saudi women have no social or political rights. They still have to obtain consent of male counterparts in order to fulfill basic things, like obtaining a passport and travel.
The hierarchical system of the Saudi government does not allow for democratic voting. Saudi Arabian political leaders are, therefore, hiding behind false religious pretexts by withholding many rights from women. It is a violation of their religious beliefs and practices. Other Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, allow women to vote and still maintain their traditional and religious practices.
The country does not contain any political parties, thus the absence of elections. Women are becoming more active in reform but their efforts are marginalized. The extent of reform is determined by the ruling family (Cordesman, 2003).
Al-Mohamed (2007) attributes the lack of a political role for Saudi women to educational decisions; he goes on and gives an example where women do not major in Political Science in their higher learning. For example, Princess Dr. al-Jawaharlal bint Fahd al-Saud was undersecretary of education for women’s colleges for 10 years before becoming president of Riyadh University for Women in April 2007, yet she had no power to make decisions even though she had the power (Al-Mohamed, 2007).
The country lacks the basic freedoms for even the civil society to take part in the leadership. It is very hard to start new organizations and even more so the women groups, due to their co-option by the government. I would recommend the existence of political parties in the country with free elections since this would foster democratic growth in the country (Anders, 1998). The media should be free to express their ideas and women rights agencies should be supported to help in the equality of gender, promote the growth of the economy and the active participation of women in the exercising of political power (Kathleen, 1991).
Role of religion in empowering women
To better understand a Saudi woman’s position, one must learn a great deal about the culture and religion. One should also understand Islam, its history and culture. In a Muslim community, the people are to follow God’s commands and live a moral life. Saudi women who are working and serve society should be careful to follow an Islamic way of life.
In the modern society, wearing a hijab, which may cover a woman’s head or her whole body, remains part of Muslim culture in Saudi Arabia and also worldwide. Most Muslim women dress modestly and in Muslim countries even the most successful business women will cover themselves with the hijab. Many of the women welcome this practice as they feel it prevents them from being bothered by co-workers or strangers. Some modern Muslims in non-Muslims cultures, however, choose not to cover to attract less attention rather than deal with discouragement about it. Whichever the case, the wearing of a hijab should be intended to please God and should not be done in a mandatory or pressurized manner (Cordesman, 2003).
Before Islam, women in the Arab world had no rights to own any property, inherit, divorce, or even choose their marriage partner; the father was usually the one to decide or a male relative. With the advent of Islam, women were given the aforementioned rights and their status changed to that of a dignified human being, deserving of respect and honor. The Islamic view about women is that men and women are equal in their origin and their rights. According to the history of Islam, women have political rights, can participate in public affairs, run a business, choose their husbands and even inherit properly. In regard of women’s education, a woman in Islam is not required to contribute financially to the family, which may explain why some Saudis consider education to be worthwhile and necessary for males and less for women. The Quran, which is the source of Islamic jurisprudence, contains no verse that deprives woman the right to be educated In fact, the word Quran is derived from the word ‘reading’ and the first verse of the Quran calls on the devoted to read and write. There are no barriers to women acquiring knowledge in the Islamic faith as long as there is no mixing between the two genders.
Most people that profess the Muslim faith do not believe that that men and women are equal in matters of religion (Kathleen, 1991). The role of women in the family and upbringing of children play a major part consequently, the women are allowed to worship at home as the men and the boys worship at the mosque. Despite the active role of women in religion, Saudi women are denied access to any management roles and leadership positions in the country’s religious institutions (Kathleen, 1991).
There are still some conservative people who do not want to embrace The New World Order, where women work and are independent, religion is still the excuse of this people. There is as an ideological conflict between culture and religion, Islam allows women the right to education and work. As a result Arab women continue to seek education and work, society’s expectations hover over them, giving them more strength to those who oppose empowering women.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to examine the family and societal factors that affect Saudi women in their pursuit of leadership positions in a Muslim society, such as that found in Saudi Arabia. Another area of interest was the impact of Islam on the Saudi women and their pursuit of leadership roles in public life. It is true that the law and the male dominated society and does not provide a good environment for leadership positions of women. The women now more than ever are willing to take the risk and empower themselves, sooner than later women from these part of the world will catch up with other countries that have overcome gender discrimination.
Studies show that Saudi women are getting more attention due to the current interest in multiculturalism and global awareness. There are many women in Saudi Arabia who have attained leadership roles on a smaller scale, such as in remote villages and rural areas. The number of Saudi women who have leadership positions may not be large in comparison to the number of women with leadership positions in Western nations or even in neighboring countries but it is a great step considering the position of Arab women and their role and treatment under Islamic culture. Women who have leadership roles in Arab societies are an important resource for information that can help bridge the gap between preconceived notions about the Arab world and the reality of the conditions encountered by women in that part of the world. For instance , in America there are great women who have revolutionized leadership like Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice while in Germany Angela Merkel is the Chancellor. In the Middle East the most common figure was Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan who was a potential political leader but was assassinated. These women in leadership ar role models to other women all over the world and soon the Arab world is going to embrace women leadership.
However, the level of leadership and the participation of women in various positions in Saudi are faced with mainly two interrelated issues. First, the effects of the constitutional rights on women and secondly, is the status of women and their position in reference to Islamic laws.
Reform is urgently needed in both educational and employment sectors to provide greater equality for women. Previous trends of females in educational development indicate an ever expanding access of education by women to where they may outnumber men. However, gender segregation and inferiorities in curriculum differentiation is still experienced. There should be more awareness campaigns for women to be informed on the importance of pursuing education to a higher level and diversification of courses to be studied. The diversification of the country’s economy and the expansion of the services in the various sectors may result in the liberalization of the scope of occupation and enroll women in leadership roles. This change would be due to the shortage of labor and the increased participation of women in the education facilities and curriculums. This would help move women up in public visibility and allow them to participate in the decision making of the country.
The role of prostitution in urbanization
“When it comes down to is this: the grocer, the butcher, the baker, the merchant, the landlord, the druggist, the liquor dealer, the policeman, the doctor, the city father and the politician – these are the people who make money out of prostitution, these are the real reapers of the wages of sin”.
This quote fairly explains that prostitution has been always an integral part of urbanization. More our society has advanced on the path of new technology and fresh cultural values more it has pushed itself to the increasing complexities of life. These complexities have lead to more complicated crimes and violence in the society and have given a new dimension to urbanization. The concept of urbanization and urbanism is quite controversial and has been an issue of debate between prominent Social scientists and Anthropologists. According to Beals, the term ‘urbanization’ basically refers to the kind of assimilation in which people develop their urban ways of life, while Kinglsey Davis argued this term can be used as an characteristic of a social system (Eames&Goode,1977).
Further it could be concluded that urbanization has also lead to the study of Urban Anthropology. Anthropologists who were basically interested in study of natives and civilizations in the remote parts of the world shifted their attention to the new dynamics of city lives and the problems related to it (Basham,1978). This shift made the anthropologist to focus more on the unit of urban culture i.e. city. From 20th century onwards cities and its different social systems have been in prime focus of the Anthropologists (Wirth,1938).Definition of City as a whole became a topic of discussion and extensive debates. Wirth cited “In the rich literature on the city we look in vain for a theory of urbanism presenting in a systematic fashion the available knowledge concerning the city as a social entity.”(Wirth,1938:70). In his theory of urbanism, Wirth also talks about problems and dangers of a city life and how the amalgamation of different social relations and stratus have given rise to the emergence of crime and violence.
Prostitution is also claimed as illegal in different cities of the world though there is a much debate about whether prostitution can be really called as a crime or not (Sithannan,2006). “Street prostitution and brothels are largely urban phenomena that are especially widespread in cities with large migrant male population.”(Basham,1978:153). Many few countries of the world including India have adopted prostitution as legal. In India there is a huge flow of rural migrants to cities which has lead to lot of urban problems in cities(Singh,1997). Due to this huge rural migration most of the jobs are taken by men, while women are left with no choice but to adopt prostitution as their means of profession (Basham,1978). Cities of India have a huge number of female populations who are following prostitution as their profession. Hectic jobs and glamorous corporate life styles one of the basic features of urbanization has lead to a kind of sex starvation among the urban population(Sithannan,2006). This has brought the role of prostitutes into limelight and has increased their demand in the society.
Prostitution in different cities of India from Early to Modern
Prostitution as a business is flourishing in different cities of India. Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Banaras, New Delhi and Nagpur are hubs of prostitution in India(Mandelbaum,1970). It is noticed that prostitution as a trend in more favorable in Indian cities rather than in villages (Sithannan,2006). The fact which is quite interesting about Indian prostitution is that from ancient times India has been following a system of prostitution in cities(Sanger,2006). These early cities possess unique characteristics of themselves and cannot be compared to the modern cities of the world (Smith,n.d). These early cities were particularly known as ‘Nagars’ and were the core units of the important kingdoms from where all the governmental and economic affairs were controlled and regulated. There was a concept of ‘Nagar vadhus’ or “city brides” in these early cities of India (Singh,1997). They were basically prostitutes serving the common man’s sexual need and desires while kings had their own personal harem. This explains that prostitution as a phenomenon has also been a regular feature in the ancient cities of India. According to “Arthashastra” a famous ancient Indian manuscript a code of law was laid down on the prostitutes for their proper conduct in public(Sithannan,2006).This proves that prostitution in early cities was controlled and regulated by a proper system of law.
Women in early cities of India had no rights on themselves and were basically considered the property of men (Sithannan,2006). Prostitutes acted as gifts of negotiations between kings and nobles in ancient days(Sanger,2006). Even during the British colonization in India, cities such as Kolkata and Mumbai were hubs of prostitution(Levine,2003). Many Indian women were captured and pushed into this profession for the entertainment of British officials and military men (Sanger,2006). The capital city of Goa, Panaji was under Portuguese domination during this time and had a small community of Japanese girls who were basically captured during war and were forced to prostitution by Portuguese officials (Aronowitz,2001).
Many historical documents mentions about the dancing girls and the practice of “Devdasi” i.e. divine prostitution which is still followed in different parts of the countries.(Singh,1997)
Prostitution has been a common trait in both the ancient and modern cities of India and is increasing in number with time (Aronowitz,2001).The main reason behind this is basically poverty, social dogmas and different mental and physical oppression on women(Sithannan,2006).
The growth of urbanization in modern cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Banaras had also increased different kinds of prostitution( Ringdal,1997,2004). According to a survey there are 2.4 million women in Mumbai alone who has adopted prostitution as their profession. Nowadays particular streets and places in the cities are best known for availability of prostitutes there(Sithannan,2006). Places such as Shivdaspur in Banaras, Kalighat in Kolkata, G.B road in New Delhi and Kamathipura in Mumbai are quite famous as red-light areas of India. Prostitution as a profession has become more popular in this cities due to various reason. Women who are not well educated and suffer from acute poverty, this profession provides lot of money to sustain. More over most of the children of these prostitutes are forced to become a prostitute(Mandelbaum,1970). A survey conducted by Human right students in the year 2001 came up with an interesting data which shows that 30% of women in India adopt prostitution before age of sixteen and are sold to brothels by their parents or guardians for huge ransom of money. Most number of sexworkers can be found in major cities rather than in rural areas(Basham,1978). Cities have more huge market for sex industry.
Prostitution in religious cities of India
In India there are many cities which are categorized as being religious cities of India. Such cities are basically judged by their functional roles and provide as pilgrimage destinations for Indians(Sengupta,2004). The examples of such cities are Haridwar, Banaras, Tirupathi and Madurai.
A different form of prostitution exists in these cities of India. Though these cities are quite conservative in nature but they still have prostitutes working undercover in the society. A very unique kind of prostitution that prevails in Banaras is the widow whose husband had died early and is pushed to state of acute poverty and starvation had no choice left but to adopt prostitution as the only way of surviving(Eck,1982). These activities were carried out in very secretive way. Another kind of prostitutes that existed were called “devdasis” or “jogans” who work in temples and generally known as “servant of gods”(Singh,1997). In an ancient Indian writing “Mricchakatika” we find a love story between a prostitute and a Brahmin who used to worship in temples. These divine prostitutes are subjected to lot of sexual exploitation by the priests and wealthy individuals of the community(Singh,1997).
Though prostitution also existed in the traditional and religious cities of India it was still considered as evil by the people(Sanger,2006). Social and religious constraints are one of the important factors behind the rise of prostitution in these cities of India(Tripathy & Pradhan 2003). Hinduism have always considered women as the property of her father or husband or her brother and this is the main reason when these women lose their father or husband o brother they become vulnerable to the society and fall prey to the dark world of prostitution. Prostitution is also the result of religious stigma attached to the Indian women.(Barry,1995)
“Culture of poverty” a reason behind prostitution in Indian cities.
Poverty is one of the important key factors behind prostitution which is sometimes also defined as urban crisis (Eames & Goode,1977). Anthropologists have done an extensive work on the study of poverty as a culture of urbanization. Oscar Lewis was the first one who focused on the concept of poverty in cities and did a huge work on the culture of poverty(Eames &Goode,1977).It is interesting to note that one of the basic trends of study of urban anthropology is to focus on the problems related to urban social life and find means to overcome it. This was argued by Gulick who believed that poverty is not only a important factor in cities but also play a major role in rural areas of the country(Eames & Goode,1977).Lewis suggested that poverty is a kind of culture rather than a phenomenon, where people who become poor follow certain way of life and trends which they pass on from one generation to another generation(Lewis,1966). This statement of Lewis was vehemently argued by Judith Goode who believed that there is no such “culture of poverty” and justifying poverty in a cultural basis is completely unacceptable (Goode,n.d). According to modern anthropologists the study on poverty have not been very full proof because most of the scholars have concentrated themselves in studying the downtrodden segment of the society only, without concentrating much on the sources of the culture of poverty(Basham,1978). This has provided opportunity for the new urban anthropologists to focus more on the sources and reasons behind poverty and also work on other aspects of the society which are caused due to poverty such as crime and prostitution. Poverty has been a very big problem for Indian society and has given birth to lot of health problems and crimes in different cities of India(Basham,1978). Ethnographers has noticed through Participant observations in their research in India that slums in cities are hubs of most of the problems giving rise to gang culture and crimes. These slums have very low income rates, low hygiene and lower rate of education(Eames & Goode,1977). It can be very well concluded that illiteracy and poverty together is giving rise to prostitution in different parts of the country.
The differences of social status between people in cities are huge and it is this competition for survival that forces women and children to follow the path of prostitution(Barry,1979). This has also lead to a rise in huge number of sex transmitted diseases such as HIV(aids) among people. Many Non Governmental Organizations are working for the betterment of the health of sex workers in the cities and educating them more about the consequences of uncontrolled sex and measures to prevent it(Tripathy & Pradhan 2003).
Types of prostitution in Indian cities
There are different kinds of prostitution that are prevalent in Indian cities. Some examples of this is the custom of “Tawaif” who are basically singers and dancers but are compelled to sexual activities for entertainment of their customers. There are also Call girls and Bar dancers and singers who fulfills sexual needs of their clients. Brothels in India are generally restricted to certain parts of the cities(Sithannan,2006). Interestingly enough brothels are considered illegal in India while there are not enough measures taken by the government officials to eradicate them(Mandelbaum,1970). This is due to abundance of political corruption which is basic traits of modern cities in India. City is considered as the birth place of political corruption (Basham,1978).
Another traditional form of prostitution that had existed in Indian cities from old times is the system of “Devdasi”(Singh,1997). Many scholars have talked about a period in India where “devdasi cult” existed for a long time and was quite prominent with the people of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. According to this system girls from some selected and chosen families were donated to the temples of the Hindu gods where they used to serve as maids to the priests and powerful men of the community(Tripathy & Pradhan 2003). They also provided them with sexual pleasure in the time of need. In return their families received social prestige and lots of money from these priests and powerful dignitaries. In modern India this system of “devdasi” has been abolished by the government though it still exists in the prominent cities of Karnataka(Tripathy & Pradhan 2003). Poor families still donate their girls to temple in return of good ransom of money. These girls who are proclaimed as “devdasis” or servants of god are not allowed to get married throughout their lives. This form of Prostitution is actually known as Divine prostitution by many cultures around the world(Singh,1997).
Human trafficking and Flesh trade is a major issue that India is facing today(Sithannan,2006). Due to huge form of Human trafficking in important cities of India there has been a growth of new kind of prostitution in India. India is surrounded by some of the countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan who are economically quite backward. Due to which there is a heavy flow of illegal migrants from these countries to the major cities of India. Huge number of women and children are allured and exported from these countries to India in exchange of lot of money. Later they are forced in prostitution by the dealers who have exported them from other countries. This whole system is operated by organized criminal group who benefit a lot out of this exchange and has turned this into an international business. International trafficking is a major issue throughout the world and India is trying its best to curb the problem by improving border securities and keeping check on the immigration system.(Barry,1995)
Another kind of trafficking that is also quite prominent in Indian cities is internal trafficking. In this form of trafficking women and children from the rural areas and poor parts of the country are allured with attractive job offers or kidnapped by men dealing in this kind of trafficking business and send to the cities for becoming prostitutes(Ringdal,1997,2004). In many cases it is also seen that the relatives or family of the girl sell her to these dealers in exchange of good amount of money. Most of the prostitutes in Indian cities who have been interviewed have confessed that they were forced and compelled to prostitution by their families and relatives due to extreme economic deprivation.
City is always considered as the point of attraction for the rural people(Basham,1978). Urban ways and rich life styles have always fascinated the dreams of poor peasant girls in the poor villages of India which has been glorified with the colorful Bollywood movies. Many young girls in villages see the dreams to become actresses and come to cities in search of fame and get trapped in the nasty world of prostitution.
In recent times a glamorous form of prostitution is taking the centre stage of attraction in rich cities of India like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi(Sithannan,2006). This kind of prostitution is chosen by girls of middle class families who take up this profession as an easy means to earn a lot of money. Generally these girls t are quite educated in nature and act as escorts to big corporate professionals. One of the basic reasons behind the rise of this kind of prostitution is the corporate life style of men in these cities where they are separated from their spouse and partners for a long span of time which results in the growth of sex starvation among these men(Barry,1995). This thirst for physical needs become more prominent with huge pressure in work and lonely lifestyle which is ultimately quenched by these high profile prostitutes.
Of late India is facing huge problem of child prostitution in the cities where it is estimated that more than four lakh children in major cities of india are following prostitution as their profession(Tripathy & Pradhan 2003). Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune are hubs of child prostitution in India. This kind of prostitution has become very popular among men in cities who are scared of sexual transmitted diseases and prefer virgins instead of older ones and also because they are cheaper. One of the basic push factors that make these children follow this profession is poverty. Many families in India sell their girl child to temples and brokers in exchange of good sum of money(Tripathy & Pradhan 2003). It is also noticed that 99% of girl children of prostitutes follows the profession of their mother. It is sad that how these children of prostitutes take prostitution as their hereditary profession. Mumbai city which has the most number of child prostitutes brought from Nepal. Child prostitution is a menace to Indian culture and society and is the worst form of child abuse and sexual exploitation(Barry,1995)
Male prostitution is also getting prominence in recent times in particular cities of India such as Delhi and Mumbai (Mandelbaum,1970). Though homosexuality is not a crime in India anymore but male prostitution is not so much accepted among common people in India. It is may be due to that stigma which is attached to the “concept of masculinity” and “manhood”. Due to which male prostitutes in India face more criticism and harassments from the masses rather than his female counterparts. This kind of prostitution is generally concentrated in big cities of India and is not very popular with the rural parts of the country(Mandelbaum,1970).
Urbanization has given birth to different kind of prostitution in India and it has grown more with time and space. It is observed that prostitutes generally have lot of resentments towards society as a whole and also towards their clients(Basham,1978)
Prostitution as an Urban culture in India
The term prostitution basically refers to an act of sexual intercourse which a woman or a man does in exchange of money(Sanger,2006). A person who does these acts is called prostitute or sex worker. Prostitution is generally known as a very old form of profession followed by women in every culture and civilization. Traces of prostitution have been found in the oldest civilizations of the world such Indus valley and Harappa(Sanger,2006). The oldest cities of India such Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have remains of statues of “dancing girl” that were basically claimed as prostitutes by archeologist and social scientist. This proves that prostitution as a way of life has been practiced by the people of India from ancient times. Archeologists have proved that ancient cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were typically urban in nature and followed a life style of cities. Referring prostitution as an urban culture is an issue of huge debate.
Anthropologists have tried to explain the meaning of culture in different ways throughout the century. The word culture that has originated from the Latin word “colere” which basically means to cultivate.(Erisksen,1995,2001).
As Eriksen(1995,2001:4) has cited:
“Culture refers to the acquired, cognitive and symbolic aspects of existence, whereas society refers to the social organization of human life, patterns of interaction and power relationships. The implication of this analytical distinction, which may seem bewildering, will eventually be evident.”
The concept of urban culture basically refers to the cultivated ways of urban life which literally means trends and customs which are passed on from one generation to another generation in cities and towns. Generally study of urban anthropology is basically referred as the study of city. There are many attempts to find a proper definition of city.
“Cities have been defined according to numerous criteria-among them relative size and population density, relation to surrounding territories, and occupational and role differentiation of their inhabitants -but no brief, single definition has been advanced that satisfies all scholars”.(Basham,1978:49)
Prostitution as an urban culture in India is accepted and challenged by many Indian scholars. All the data and documentaries have proven so far that prostitution has been a part of early cities and modern cities in India. Prostitution is one of the oldest forms of urban trends in cities that have been passed on from one generation to another (Levine,2003). It is very interesting to note that children of these prostitutes tend to become prostitutes too. It is a kind of urban culture that has been always present with the realms of city.(Sanger,2006). The view of prostitution as an urban culture is not extensively defined by anthropologists. It is very hard to say that prostitution is the consequence of urbanization or prostitution has always been a part of urbanization(Basham,1978). Almost 73% of the sexworkers in India stay in city.(Sithannan,2006)
The view of prostitution as an urban culture have been argued by many anthropologists who believe that prostitution is not a urban phenomenon alone and can be found in all the rural areas of India(Singh,1997). Considering prostitution as culture is not justifiable because this is not accepted and acknowledged by all the people of the city as a whole(Barry,1995). The view that has been presented against the view of prostitution as an urban culture basically advocated prostitution as a menace to society rather than a culture which everybody likes to follow. The most fascinating fact about prostitution is that though it is rejected and discarded by every section of society it has always existed as an integral part of the society. It is noticed that prostitutes bear lot of resentment against the society and people as a whole. They believe that it is the society who compels them to follow the profession and it is the society as a whole that humiliates them the most(Tripathy & Pradhan,2003).
Prostitution as a necessary evil in the cities:
In the western society prostitution is considered as a necessary evil which view is very much accepted in Indian cities as well. Ironically enough no religion and culture of India support prostitution but they try to give different names to it to justify their attitude towards prostitution such as “Noshto Meye” or the spoiled girl(Sithannan,2006).
There are lots of families in cities who take the help of the prostitutes to act as surrogate mother to their child. There had been lot of official documents proving that couples who are unable to have a child take the help of a prostitute to bear their child for them in exchange of some money. Prostitutes are not only instrument of sex sale in the cities but also used as an instrument of womb sale(Barry,1995).
According to Indian tradition men are considered polygamous by nature while women are considered monogamous(Singh,1997). From the cultural context Indian men think that they are more sexually driven than Indian women. This at an extent is used for justifying their attitude for having sex with more number of women rather than their wives, girlfriends or lovers. It is true that prostitutes can be also proclaimed as a savior to all those girls who are virgin and honest. Virginity before marriage is an important concept in India and if prostitution would not have existed then these honest and virgin girls would have fallen prey to these sex starved men.(Sithannan,2006). There would have been huge amount of rapes in every part of the country and women would not have been as safe as they are now in Indian cities. By fulfilling the sexual desires of these sex starved men prostitutes are actually saving the city from lot of hideous crimes that could have been committed if prostitution would not have existed.
Prostitution is that kind of institution which is also teaching people to be aware of their health and consequences of uncontrolled sexual desires could be quite harmful for one’s health(Levine,2003).
Moreover destitute girls and infants who are left over on streets of the city and have to face daily humiliations from the city dwellers as well as police recourse themselves to this profession of prostitution. It not only provides them with food but also provides those shelters and power to earn money(Tripathy & Pradhan,2003).
In such circumstances prostitution becomes a good means to have good life and earn a good amount of money.
Conclusion
In this essay I have tried to talk about prostitution and prostitutes in the context of cities in India. There are different kinds of prostitution in India which has been part of Indian culture from time immemorial now. Indian tradition has always supported prostitution indirectly through different forms of prostitution such as divine prostitutions like “devadasi” and “jogans”. Prostitution in different ways has entered the core of city life in India and is increasing with time. I had also focused elaborately about the prostitution that exists in different religious cities of India.
I really believe that prostitution in cities is not bad or harmful if it is controlled and checked properly by the government and proper measures are adopted against any economic exploitation of these prostitutes. It is noticed that most of these prostitutes staying in city brothels are economically indebt to the owner of the brothel for food clothing and shelter they get from the brothel owners which they sometimes are not able to pay back throughout their lives. Major reason behind this is prostitutes who work in brothels in these big cities are basically underpaid and are in constant economic crisis. It is also true that the most of the prostitutes in these brothels are suffering from sex transmitted diseases.
According to some official records it has also been proven that sexual harassments by police and some inconsiderate government officials on girls who live on streets of these cities have also given rise to prostitution in India. It is a shame that how policemen who are employed by the government for the security of men and women of the city becomes the sexual exploiters themselves.
As a woman the fact that haunts me is that human trafficking is becoming major issue throughout the world and Indian cities are targeted for these kinds of illegal migrations and dealings on the flesh trade. Major Indian cities are also witnessing huge amount of corruption which has reached in the inner roots of the society and is helping in the development of new form of crimes in the society and is also adding fuel to the organized crime in cities.
Rural migration in cities is increasing more number of prostitution in India. Poor villagers see city as the place where all their dreams of luxury and happy life will come true and this lead them to city in search of jobs and fame. Mumbai film industry is very reputed throughout the world and is known as the famous Bollywood, it is also due to this reason that Mumbai is known as the city of dreams by many people. Many girls from villages come to this city everyday in search of fame in Bollywood and get trapped in the dark rooms of brothels.
In ancient times women were treated as commodity in India. She was the treasured property of her father before marriage and belonged to her husband after marriage. This cultural concept still exists in many parts of India and plays a big role in determining women’s position in the modern society. It is this cultural and social doctrine that sometimes becomes the main reason behind prostitution.
The most interesting fact about prostitution is that though people like to call it as an evil it has still being accepted by every parts of the society and by every culture of the world.
The facts that prostitution is really a necessary evil for urban life is accepted my many scholars around the world and I too believe that prostitution really play a very important social role in our community.
In this essay I have tried to draw attention to the fact that many urban anthropologists have also tried to look, which is basically considering prostitution as part of urban culture. The amalgamation of urban culture and prostitution is quite interesting and can provide a good framework for detailed urban research in future. Though there are challenges which should not be neglected but considering prostitution as a culture in urban context can open a new dimension of study in urban anthropology.
Lastly I have tried to define and analyze prostitution in the context of Indian cities alone and have generally focused on prostitution in India. Prostitution in other cities of the world still remains much of a mystery and gives place where urban ethnographers can try to have their future research.
In this essay I had tried to introduce my academic audiences with the different prostitutions in Indian cities and their links to Indian culture and history with little bit glimpses of social problems that exist in the cities of India such as poverty and corruption.I have also tried to explain the inherent concept on prostitution by society as whole an and had also tried to justify reason behind such notions.
Altogether I have dealt prostitution as an urban phenomenon and how it had affected the city and its attributes in India throughout the century.
The future of Prostitution in India
The future of prostitution in Indian cities according to me can be quite good if they are kept under good check by the government and if some moral duties and rights are imposed on the prostitutes making them aware of the social and moral values so that they don’t act as an instrument responsible for broken marriages and families.
Moreover I believe that Indian government should start working more effectively in curbing political corruption and poverty around the country which have given birth too many other social problems in the society.
The role of culture in human society
Culture is the essential part of the human’s society. Every person is spending his or her life within a certain cultural community. It frequently defines what kinds of person a man or woman is and what values will they have. Does the cultural environment have a direct effect on the values within a community for anthropology, psychology and sociology? Let us discuss this topic step by step.
To understand it better, we can at first define what the cultural environment is and what influence it has on people within it. The very nature of the cultural environment is cultural and social aspects. It is could also be called “a social context” and sometimes “milieu”. It is a culture of a society or a group where a certain person is living or getting an education; it is institutions and people who interact with a certain human. By interaction we can mean not only different types of personal communication (like on a workplace, in class, with neighbors etc.); people could also communicate with each other by means of different communicational media (like phone, internet, newspapers, television etc). In spite of non – personal type of the communication, people whom a man or a woman meets in internet can have an influence on his or her values and point of view. Also television and other mass media form our perception of life and other people little by little. This type of interaction we can call one – way or anonymous. It does not always imply the equality of the social status. Thus, the concept of a social environment is wider that the concept of a social circle or a social class. Nevertheless, it is common that those people who have the same social environment start having a sense of solidarity. They easily help and trust each other; also they tend to create a social group. As a result, those people will always have a similar way of thinking and similar patterns even if they make different conclusions.
It shows us that people depend on society and culture around them very much whether they recognize this fact or not. Let us briefly define what culture itself is. It is going to help us understand what kind of effect it has on the values within a community for anthropology, psychology and sociology.
There is plenty of information about culture and different consequences of it. It is impossible to transmit a culture through genealogy. Culture is not something innate; culture is something that everybody should learn. Different facets of it are interrelated; a culture is spread by those people within a group. Nowadays different cultures could easily exist within a country side by side (like it commonly happens in African countries). According to Hoebel (1960), the definition of a culture is following: “The integrated sum total of learned behavioral traits that are manifest and shared by members of society”. According Lawton (1975), culture includes “age grading, religious rituals and athletic sport”. According to Frow (1995) there are “traditional differences in task and doing business were breaking down and this meant that standardization rather than adaptation is becoming increasingly prevalent”. Probably, a culture is one of the most significant environmental variables that should be considered within a global marketing. Often a culture could not be freely overlooked; it often hiding from a view. Culture consists of some elements; they are language, aesthetics, religion, values and attitudes, education, social organization and material culture. It is necessary to discuss briefly every element of it.
Material culture includes communications, power, transportations and others. Language is the next aspect of culture. It is a reflection of the values and nature of a certain society group. It could be sub-cultural languages, for example, dialects; in some countries it could be two or even more languages. Aesthetics includes art, dancing, arts-music. It concerns good taste, beauty, form and color of it. Education, as it is easy to see, includes the transmission of ideas, attitudes, skills and training in certain disciplines as well. Moreover, education serves as a transmitter of cultural and social values. Sometimes a child was introduced to the cultural value by school or later by university. Religion gives the humans’ behavior the best insight and as well it helps us to answer different questions, for example, why people behave n this way and not in another.
We can see that “culture” is a complicate conception; it includes different aspects. What can we say about “values” conception? What is commonly meant by “values”? Shortly, by values a person may mean something that is really matter to him or her. It is beliefs and ideas somebody holds as special. Social and cultural environment forms one’s values. Home, church school – there are just some places where people could study values that are common for everybody within their cultural environment. Teachers, friends, parents are forming our personal system of values from day to day. As a result we have personal values. Arts et al. (2003) summarized that they consist of something that we accepted from people around as and that part that came with our own life experience. It is too compulsory to accept everything a person is hearing around him or her; nevertheless, values of cultural environment around us has its strong influence on our own system of values.
Now, when we recognize what “values”, “culture” and cultural environment” commonly mean we can examine the direct effect that the cultural environment has on the values within a community for anthropology, psychology and sociology.
Before discussing the influence of a cultural environment on a person according to anthropology let us briefly mention the definition of the science. Saying shortly anthropology is the inquiry of humanity. Its origins throw back in the social sciences, natural science and humanities. The term itself is taken from the ancient Greek language and has two parts: “man” and “study” or “discourse”. The matters of anthropology are “how do people behave”, ‘what are their physical traits”, “why we can see differences and variations between groups of people”, and finally “who was the ancestor of the modern humans”. Anthropology is commonly divided in to four fields; they are cultural, or social, anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology and biological, or physical, anthropology. We can see that anthropology itself is the science that studies social and cultural values, differences, origins, roots etc. Thus, it is important to talk about the influence of culture environment according to this certain science.
According to anthropology, a culture could be seated deeply; unprepared person could take some type of a culture like something senseless, strange and even cruel. Let us give an example. According to the Muslim culture a woman must cover her face with yashmak and hide herself from any alien. Nilaweera & Wijetunga (2005) emphasized that this custom could appear strange and senseless to any person from Europe, United States or numeral other countries where people flaunt a woman’s form openly. Here is another example of the opposite culture. In some African countries (like Congo, Kenya etc) women do not wear top cloths. Oyeshile (2004) explained this fact that according to their culture, their traditions and according to their hot climate they do not consider the top of the female body something that they should cover or hide. There are many other different examples of things and customs that are unacceptable and even criminal in one part of the world; at the same time at another part of it people consider it the culture and commonly do it.
Summarizing this short extract we can see that cultural environment have a direct effect on the values within a community for anthropology. Continue the two examples above, a woman from the African country where there is not common or compulsory to cover her body with upper wear have values that are different from the values that are precious for a woman from a Muslim country. If those women could try to explain themselves their culture, values and reasons why they are keeping those culture values they would hardly understand each other. It is common that Muslim people condemn women from Europe and America. For them even the most modest and restrained American female seems to be a woman without culture values because she shows certain part of her body
What can we say about the influence of the social environment on personal values for psychology? What is psychology? It is the science of the human’s behavior and mind. This science is an attempt to understand humanity by exploring certain specific cases and by discovering some general principles as well. One of the main goals of psychology is to benefit the society. Scientists who involved in it we can divide in to some groups: cognitive scientists, social scientists and behavioral scientists. Among others, social behavior is among different subjects of psychology. The science of psychology explores following concepts: emotion, cognition, phenomenology, perception, attention, brain functioning, behavior, motivation, personality, unconscious mind and interpersonal relationships. As anthropology, the science of psychology is a social science and it has a strong connection with social environment. According to psychology, some type of behavior could be considered normal and other type could be considered abnormal. Commonly, humanity has the same nature. For example, murdering and cruelty is considered abnormal in every social group and community. Nevertheless, within some cultures the conception of cruelty may vary. Let us give an example. In American and European countries violation in any form is unacceptable even within a family. Thus people who keep doing it to others would consider psychologically abnormal. According to the culture of some eastern countries, especially countries with Muslim culture, a husband can beat his wife or punish her or in any other way if she does not satisfy him. What kind of misdeed could a wife do? She may cook a food that her husband does not like; she may say a word that her husband could consider unacceptable. People within the community with such culture are considered psychologically normal even if they commit violence every day. According to their culture cruelty is acceptable. A woman is expecting for it and she has no even right to complain. According to the example above we can see that psychological situation within a community could have a strong negative effect on personal values of a human. A person can look at low values of members of the community around him or her and subconsciously this person could understate those values that he or she had before. Psychologically people inclined to depend on society. That is why we can state that the cultural environment have a direct effect on the values within a community for psychology.
Sociology is the last science that we are going to discuss. It studies the society using different methods of critical analysis and empirical investigations. This science refines and develops knowledge about the activity of human society. One of the aims of sociology is to achieve the social welfare with the mean of the knowledge. Mancheno-Smoak et al. (2009) stated that the field of interests in sociology varies from the micro level of interaction and agency to the macro level of social structures and systems. It is a very broad conception that is focused traditionally on social class, religion, social stratification, social mobility, secularization, deviance and law. It includes all spheres of people’s activity. It is interesting that sociology studies different types of interactions between people. We are living in the age of the world wide globalization when the whole planet is becoming one big house. Different cultural and social communities are not staying separate from each other like it was some hundreds years ago. People are moving, migrating and spreading their culture and different values among other societies.
Why can we state that according to sociology, the cultural environment have a direct effect on the values within a community? First reason is that people like to communicate with each other. It means that they getting some new knowledge and values. Roniger (1995) declared that when representatives of different cultures are staying in contact for some time they will get used to new values. It will stop being new for them. New cultural values will become common and according to sociology people will start accepting it in their lives. In some time they would not remember that one or another culture or value was not imparted to them. And it is the second reason why the cultural environment has an effect on values of people for sociology. In other words, when people move from one place to another they create a new social group with mixed culture and values.
In conclusion of all factors and aspects that we discussed above we can see that anthropology, sociology and psychology are connected between each other. These three sciences are all about the human nature, culture and community. They are examining interactions and cooperation between different people; we can state that the cultural environment have a direct effect on the values within a community for anthropology, psychology and sociology because according to these sciences it is up to people’s nature to take something new from others. According to religion, human society was created as one big family. Let us agree that this statement is right; thus, we need to accept that people within a social community have a direct effect on each other in the same way in which members within an ordinary family have.
Every science that we discussed has one main aim – to make our society better. We need to remember that it is up to everybody to help in achievement of this aim.
The Role Of An Occupational Therapist
Health care like health itself is a dynamic process which can be subject to change over time. There are an increasing amount of tensions within medicine between various groups of health care practitioners, and between the evaluation of treatment and responding to patients views. This reflects the different strains and demands bearing down on medicine from numerous quarters.
I am interested in exploring from the counsellor’s perspective, in this case the occupational therapist, what exactly they do in an effort to socialize people back into society. For example looking at the role of occupational therapist and the patient’s environment: physical access to buildings; availability of family and monetary support for living at home.
To answer the above question I examined areas such as what is the doctor-patient relationship or in this case the occupational therapist-patient relationship, drawing on Goffman’s (1969) work, who states we all play roles throughout our lives, we present ourselves to society, and we are socialized to these roles throughout our lives, especially in childhood. Society has given us our roles- doctor, patient, sick role, etc. – and we as actors can perform the role. I also looked at Occupational therapies link to Functionalism, concentrating on Durkheim and Parsons and also drawing on the work of Marx and Weber and how Marx led to the acknowledgment in occupational therapy that labour is the collective creative activity of the people.
Description of the research strategy
For my research into how occupational therapy contributes to the promotion of health in society, I chose to use qualitative research and in this case qualitative Interviewing. Several researchers have argued that structured interviews are unnatural and restrictive. Informal interviews get deeper. Therefore I used semi-structures face to face interviews. I feel that using semi-structured in depth interviews allowed me use a more open framework, allowing a focus on the conversation and the topics that the interviewee brings up. I started with more general questions and topics to allow the conversation to build up a relationship so the participates felt comfortable and at ease so that they could talk about some sensitive issues if they arose. Semi structure interviews are less intrusive then other methods of research. They allow us to not only gather answers but also reason for the answers, therefore giving a more comprehensive analysis into this area. Therefore I found the major benefits of this type of interviewing where that:
It is less intrusive to those being interviewed. This is because the semi-structured interview encourages two-way communication.
Those being interviewed can also ask questions of the interviewer and feel as though they have their own input.
Using this type of interviewing confirms what is already known but also allows the opportunity for learning other information outside of what’s being asked.
Conducting semi-structured interviews often will provide not just answers, but the reasons for the answers.
When individuals are interviewed they tend to open up more and feel more at ease to talk about sensitive issues.
(Silverman: 2001)
Access
I found access to interviewees a little difficult. Getting contacts was the first step, which was done through another occupational therapist I know who passed on a number of email address of willing participants. Once contacted it was difficult to arrange meeting points, days, and times that suited all, but all these issues where overcome and two interviews were successfully scheduled.
Ethical considerations
Mason (1996) puts forward ways to deal with ethical issues in qualitative
which I tried to follow throughout this pilot. This included, deciding what is the
purpose(s) of my research, e.g. self-advancement, examining which individuals or groups
might be interested or affected by your research topic- in this case it would not be
ethically sound to interview the patients themselves as there seen as a vulnerable group,
and considering what are the implications for these parties of framing your research topic
in the way you have done (1996:26-30).
The main ethical considerations I took when interviewing the Occupational therapist, was that before the individual became a subject of research, he/she was notified of:
a-? My aims, my methods, my expected benefits and possible hazards of the research I was conducting.
a-? I made it clear to the interviewee of his/her right to abstain from participation in the research and his/her right to end at any time that they feel necessary to do so.
a-? The confidential nature of his/her answers.
I also made it clear during my researching, that no individual would become a subject of research unless they have been given notice and that they freely consent that they would like to participate. No pressure of any kind was used to persuade an individual to become a subject of my research. I will make sure that the confidentiality of individuals from whom I gather my information, shall be kept strictly private. I also stated that at the end of my research any information that would reveal any person involved in the interviewing, will be destroyed, unless already consented that this precise information will be used.
http://www.idrc.ca/eepsea/ev-65406-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Evaluation of Research Process
One important use that pilot studies have in qualitative research is to develop an understanding of the concepts and theories held by the people you are studying- what is often called “interpretation”. This is not simply a source of additional concepts for your own theory, ones that are drawn from language of participants; this is a type of concept that Strauss (1987, pp. 33-34) called “in-vivo codes.2
More important, it provides you with an understanding of the meaning that these phenomena and events have for the people who are involved in them, and the perspectives that inform their actions. These meanings and perspectives are not theoretical abstractions; they are real, as real as people’s behaviour, though not as directly visible. Peoples ideas, meanings and values are essential parts of the situations and activities you study, and if you don’t understand these, your theories about that’s going on will often be incomplete or mistaken (Maxwell, 2004a: Menzel, 1978).
Looking at my research questions, through my pilot study I found I had problems in developing the questions as I often got confused between intellectual issues- what I wanted to understand by doing the study- and practical issue- what I wanted to accomplish. According to LeCompte and Preissle, “distinguishing between the purpose and the research question is the first problem” in coming up with workable research questions (1993, p. 37)
I decided to focus on three kinds of questions that are suited to process theory, rather then variance theory. For example I tried to base my research questions around (a) questions about the meaning for events and activities to the people involved in these, (b) questions about the influence of the physical and social context on these events and activities and (c) questions about the process by which these events and activities and their outcomes occurred. For example “What does your typical working day involve?” Because all of these types of questions involve situation-specific phenomena, they do not lend themselves to the kinds of comparison and control that variance theory requires. Instead, they generally involve an open-ended, inductive approach in order to discover what these meaning and influences are and how they are involved in these events and activities.
Decisions about where to conduct my research and whom to include were an essential part of my research methods. I found “sampling” to be problematic for the qualitative research pilot, because it implies the purpose of “representing” the population sampled. It ignores the fact that, in qualitative research, the typical way of selecting settings and individuals is neither probability sampling nor convenience sampling. Instead it falls into a third category, known as purposeful sampling (Patton, 1990, p.169). This is a strategy in which particular settings, persons, or activities are selected deliberately in order to provide information that can’t be gotten as well from other choices. For example, Weiss argued that any qualitative interview studies do not use “samples” at all, put panels “people who are uniquely able to be informative because they are expert in an area or were privileged witnesses to an event” (1994, p.17); I used this form of purposeful selection by choosing full trained Occupational Therapists to interview. I think selecting those times, settings and individuals that can provide you with the information that you need in order to answer your research question is the most important consideration in qualitative selection decisions.
On the negative side, I feel as though one of my interviews suffered slightly due to it been chosen because of its convenience of where and when the interview could take place. Although convenience and cost are real considerations, they should be the last factors to be taken into account after strategically deliberating on how to get the most information of the greatest utility from the limited number of cases to be sampled. Convenience sampling is neither purposeful nor strategic and I feel as though a different individual could have brought more information to light had I chosen more wisely (Patton, 1990, p. 181)
If conducting this study again I think I would test out the use of participation observation. In this case it would be of that in an open setting, usually public and in this case a hospital. Gold (1958) states that, when using this technique the participant observer enters the setting without intending to limit the observation to particular process or people and adopts an unstructured approach. Occasionally certain foci crystallise early in the study, but usually observation progresses from the unstructured to the more focused until eventually specific actions and events become the main interest of the researcher. It is important to differentiate between significant and relatively unimportant data in the setting.
I also feel several other valuable things were brought to my attention on conducting this pilot study. I found that I need to revise my interview guide, adding questions about issues I hadn’t realised were important, such as asking respondent to go through a typical day. I also discovered additional useful questions, such as asking participants to describe specific medical terminology that would illustrate what they had been saying. For example, probing more around phrases such as sensory function, neuromusculoskeletal function, body structure, and client centred. I found that taking a step back and listening to participant’s experiences in new ways was very important to the collection of the data and feel as though in the future it will help me if I put everything know about Occupational Therapy to one side and do the interview as if I know nothing about this area.
Codes
Equipment
Environment
Medical language
Patient Life
Intervention
Medical OT/Patient
Academic
Skills OT/Patient
Social- Work
Physical- Work
Role of Occupational Therapy
In qualitative research, the goal of coding is not to count things, but to “fracture” (Strauss, 1987, p. 29) the data and rearrange them into categories that facilitate comparison between things in the same category and that aid in the development of theoretical concepts. Above is a diagram of the codes produced after my interviews once the data had been worked through in a systematic manner.
Through doing this, many connections were highlighted. For example, looking at the codes Medical Language and Medical OT/Patient. “Basically, all patient information, evaluations, and interventions must be documented.”(Interview 1, p.3) ” ..Help them overcome the effects of disability caused by physical or psychological illness, ageing, or accidents” (Interview 2, p.2)
Therefore this process of coding is the process of combing the data for themes, ideas and categories and then marking similar passages of text with a code label so that they can easily be retrieved at a later stage for further comparison and analysis. Coding the data makes it easier to search the data, to make comparisons and to identify any patterns that require further investigation.
http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk
Main Findings
After conducting this pilot study and fieldwork, I found that Occupational therapy and Sociology are two completely different sciences. While this is true they encompass a strong underlying relationship. According to Alice J. Punwar and Suzanne M. Peloguin, Occupational therapy is a diverse profession and is hard to define because it has undergone many changes since its beginnings. Early definitions emphasize the use of occupation as a remedial activity to help restore the individual to an improved state of physical and mental health. Now occupational therapy is defined as “the use of purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional outcomes which promote health, prevent injury or disability and which develop, improve, sustain, or restore the highest possible level of independence of any individual who has an injury, illness, cognitive impairment, psychosocial dysfunction, mental illness, developmental or learning disability, or other disorder or condition. It includes assessment by means of skilled observation or evaluation through the administration of interpretation of standardised or nonstandardised tests and measurements.” On the other hand Sociology is understood as “the study of human social life, groups and societies” (Giddens: 2001) coalescing both of these definitions.
Durkheim and Parsons are two of the main theorists whom contributed to the elements of functionalism. Each society has particular social needs or functional prerequisites that must be met in order for the society to strive and survive. Included in these prerequisites, is the need to reproduce new generations, meaning the need for food, clothing, control conflict and the maintenance of social order and of social solidarity.
Societies achieve these social needs by developing structures and institutions that have valuable functions. The purpose of any activity or structure is the roll it has in the maintenance of society itself.
Society can be viewed as one main structure wit many interrelated and inter-pendent parts. For example, the family, economy and education all work together in an effort to help society survive.
Institutions can be seen as being beneficial to societies as the institutions exist for survival of societies. Most literature suggests that they shouldn’t come under criticism and instead should be supported. Relating this back to occupational therapists, they should be seen as having a positive role in society.
Within a functionalist perspective, roles and social roles are important. The belief is that individuals are socialised through these social roles into society, parent, student, occupational therapist. These social roles largely determine an individual’s behaviour. Looking at Kavanagh & Faves (1995), two occupational therapists working with homeless people, they stated that ‘Roles are a source of identity and are the frame work of everyday life.’
Sociologists and Occupational therapists have put this view under criticism. They have argued against the determinism inherent in this view. Mocellin (1995) is an occupational therapist who believes the focus on roles to be stereotyping and that carrying out occupational roles, for example that of a housewife, may not always be therapeutic.
Looking at Talcott Parsons model of roles and his theory of the Doctor-Patient relationship, in Bury, M. (2005), he began with the idea that being sick/ill was a type of dysfunctional deviance and that this required reintegration with the social organism. Being ill allows individuals to be excused from their occupation and other responsibilities such as looking after the family, cooking and cleaning. This was seen as potentially detrimental to social order if it wasn’t controlled.
The development of Parsons sick role was seen as being essential to controlling this deviance to make “being ill” a transitional state back to the individuals usual role.
For Talcott Parsons, Physicians demonstrate Parsons the shift to “affect-neutral” relationships in contemporary society, with physician and patient being protected by emotional distance. Medical education and social role expectations teach normative socialization to Occupational therapist to act in the interests of the patient instead of their own material interests, and they are lead by an egalitarian universalism instead of a personalized particularism. Physicians have mastered a body of technical knowledge, it is seen as functional for social order to permit physicians professional autonomy and authority, controlled by their socialization and role expectations.
Weber and Marx, look at how people exist within the world and are concerned with how that existence is shaped. Marx believes that the problems in society come from different social organisations instead of being a natural phenomenon. This is what is meant by people being constrained by circumstances, but it is important to remember the other element that stresses people’s ability to act. Drawing on earlier work of the philosopher Hegel, Marx identified that we create ourselves ‘in a historical process, of which the motive force is human labour or the practical activity of men living in society’ (Bottomore & Rubel 1963, p.18). Marx noted how the division on labour traps us into particular lifestyles or activities and the influence of Marx led to the acknowledgment in occupational therapy that labour is the collective creative activity of the people (Wilcox 1993)
Conclusion
After conducting this pilot study it is clear that my research question is still unanswered but it has provided me with ideas, approaches and clues I may not have foreseen before conducting this study. I feel this may increase the chances of getting clearer findings in my main study and has permitted a thorough check of my planned statistical and analytical procedures, giving me a chance to evaluate their usefulness for the data. I also feel it has greatly reduced the number of unanticipated problems as I now have an opportunity to redesign parts of my study to overcome these difficulties again. Overall, carrying out this smaller scaled study will hopefully lead to a rich and in-dept qualitative research project, and the end result being my research question being answered in great detail.
The Rise Of Single Parent Families Sociology Essay
Industrial revolution and development in the areas of information and communication technology, in Europe especially and in the world as general, had formed a major turning point in all aspects of human life. These changes have affected the family structure and its patterns (Maani, 1990).
Due to the rapid social changes, in light of domestic information and communication revolution within the context of globalization that included all aspects of life, and given the predominance of the individual, scientific interest began to focus on studying the ability of the individuals and the families to face their challenges (Lesthaeghe and surkyn, 1998).
Here appears, at the end of the twentieth century, the question that has faced many researchers in the field of family: Is the family still able to meet the emerging challenges faced while doing its functions? Efforts of researchers had continued to show that the family has become unable to meet these challenges, particularly in the area of upbringing of children. At the beginning, studies started focusing on the ability of families to carry out their functions. In addition to developing theoretical concepts in the field of upbringing, as one of the most important functions of the family (Luthar et al., 2000), these studies started to focus on the ability of the individual to face the challenges and adversities. Poor children were the initial primary subjects of the studies, but then the attention spread to examine the capacity of adolescents and then expanded the issue to the elderly (Johnson and wiechelt, 2004).
Freud and a large number of followers have given a major importance to childhood behavior, considering it the critical determinant in defining an individual’s personality. A personality is identified or proved at the age of five and at the beginning of six, and experiences undergone by the child in those years play a key role in the formation of the personality of an adult human being (Turki, 1988).
There has been an increased attention to the subject of single-parent families due to the importance of the role parent plays in childcare. The living and parenting arrangement of single parents diverse. When parents separate, one party usually parents for the majority of the time but most continue to share parenting to some extent with each other.
As some studies suggest, the subject of separation or divorce comes at the top of the reasons behind the increasing numbers of families with one breadwinner in the modern civil societies. There are some other causes such are wars and natural disasters, in which children are the first victims, which lead to the loss of a breadwinner.
In the case of the State of Kuwait, during the exposure of the Iraqi invasion on the 2nd of August 1990, the war left about one thousand and two hundred single-parent families due to death or prison, in a society that does not exceed a population of 650,000 at the time of abuse (Information Systems Unit – Amiri Diwan -1997).
2.Definition:
What is a single parent?
A single parent (also lone parent and sole parent) is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of another parent in the home. Single parenthood may occur for a variety of reasons. It could be chosen by the parent (as in divorce, adoption, artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, or extramarital pregnancy), or be the result of an unforeseeable occurrence (such as death or abandonment by one parent). (Paul and Birks, 2006).
3.Rates of high single-parent families in some communities:
While social phenomenon of single-parent families is invincible in any society, the number of these families has been continuously rising. Kareka (1988) reported that the number of single-parent families is increased throughout the world, especially families with childbearing single mothers.
A study by Myrna and Judith (1994) indicated that the number of single-parent families was doubled within the last two decades in the United States, and that approximately 59% of people live within one these families. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of single mothers increased between 1970 and 2000, from 3 million to 10 million; over the same time frame, the number of single fathers increased also, from 393,000 to 2 million.
In the UK, the proportion of families headed by a single parent has topped 25% for the first time, reflecting a huge growth in the number of never-married mothers and a significant rise in the divorce rate over the past 30 years (Jehovah`s witnesses Official web site, 2009)
In Australia, nearly 1 in 4 children live with only one of their biological parents. This is usually the result of a breakdown in the parents’ marriage or relationship. It has been projected that one-parent families will increase between 30% and 66% over a 25-year period (ibid).
4.Research Question:
What are the implications of the rise of single parent families?
Single-parent families suffer from multiple problems including the decline in income and educational level, which consequently lead to economical, social and psychological complications (Essa, 1995). According to Al-Zufairi (2000), children of single-parent families suffer from a decline in the level of educational achievement in 44% of the 180 total samples. This later study has also shown that children who live in an intact family are less likely to abandon school at the high school level when compared to children who live in single-parent family. If fact, it was shown in other studies that children of single-parent families as twice as likely to abandon their school at some level compared to other children (Waite, 1995).
Children from single-parent families are more likely later to take jobs at the bottom of the occupational grade with the lower income, and they have high rate unemployment. Some studies show that children rose in single parent families are more likely to live and grow in insolvent economic conditions. Also that these children not only suffer from deprivation at the economic level, but also suffer from a lack of parental care and high rate of change of address, which could negatively affect their development (Smock et al., 1999). Social science shows that the primary cause of poverty and income disparity correlates to the marriage status. Broken families earn less income, and suffer from low educational attainment. To worsen the situation, such families pass these conditions to their children, which would exuberate these effects through generations (Fagan, 1999).
In 1981, a study by Clay regarding single-parent families, which took place in 47 states in the US and included a sample of 1200 cases, had shown that 62% of parents believe that their children are not perceived as being normal by their teachers in school. Moreover, most single-parent families suffer from the inability to provide proper experienced guidance to their children to face and solve any social or psychological complications (Al-Zufairi, 2000). Additionally, single-mother families can face some issues in the upbringing of male children, especially when some side-factors contribute to a decline in the educational success of children such as the emergence of tensions and conflicts within home, and the inability of the mother to manage the family. Such difficulties can be multiplied due to the presence of some external and internal factors such as the presence of young children, lack of good income, in addition to the negative community standing towards the family (Anthony, 1987).
A single care giver will usually develop a sense of loneliness and tension, especially when he/she needs to make important and decisive decisions to the family or one of its members. Certain conditions can increase the worry about raising the children, and the feeling of guilt due to the inability to meet all family demands. Examples of these conditions are the presence of children with special needs, such as disabilities, mental disorders, permanent physiological conditions, or children who are in critical stages of adolescence or at the age of marriage, or an increased number of children within the family (Al-Rashidi, 1994). Anthony, in 1987, has confirmed such facts in his study about stress and anxiety on 147 children, which estimated the existence of this tension and anxiety to about 65.5% compared to normal children. The Al-Zufairi (2000) also found that the widowed women live in a state guilt toward their children being deprived of the presence the father, and this feeling resulted into maternal care based on pampering treatment and provision, or sometimes the excess of cruel punishment as a reaction to the fear of lose of control.
The general system theory is based on that the system parts are related to each other organically in the sense that means if the change is considered in one part of the system, this change inevitably will affect the interaction between all other parts. This assumption can be applied to whether the system of family or the community as a whole. For the family as a social system, this means that the vulnerability of its personnel to any event will positively or negatively affect the rest of its members, since family members are closely linked to each other. Consequently, the problems faced by the family are also reflected on society, and with the increased number single-parent families, we would expect to find increased number of these problems in the community (Olson and DeFrain 2000).
Due to these facts, an important question arises: Since the family is part of the community, what are the implications upon the society are due to the problems experienced by single-parent families.
Because of these problems, crimes are produced, but what is a crime? The issue of determining what is the crime has received plenty of attention by scientists in various fields, particularly criminal sociology and criminology, which resulted in more than one definition. These definitions can vary in their forms, but not in their core idea. Such differences in interests and approaches by scientists in the definition and interpretation of crime may be related to several factors, most importantly is the multiple dimensions of phenomenon of a crime. Crimes are a discharge of multiple factors, which affect and are affected by different social, cultural and legal aspects ( Salem, 1991).
Different researchers and scientists addressed different concerns related to crime. Some gave care to the systems and institutions combating crimes, while others cared for the individual patterns of the crimes and the offenders. Different group of researchers focused on certain conducts such as the addiction of drugs, commitment of suicide or bribery. Some only looked at accused individuals, while others combined the accused and the convicted together. Recently, some took a direction into the understanding and interpretation of crimes. Some only looked at the criminality of males, others at the females, and some combined the two.
Such differences in interests resulted in variation of the results, differences of interpretations and views, and the branching of the subject. This article will deal with two types of definitions for the crime: the legal definition and the social definitions:
Legal definition:
Almost all bodies of law share the same ground in defining the crime as “any act or omission of the behavior that is criminalized by the legislator, and is stated as a public law that penalize the outlaws” (Faraj, 1993, p.48).
Social definition:
The socialists tend to criticize the legal definition of crime. This criticism is highlighted by: the neglectance of this definition to the social dimensions of crime, as they consider the crime as a social phenomenon, and that criminality is not limited to the legislator, but is also derived from the social reality with what it includes of values and standards (Jafar, 1993). And on this basis, schools of sociology had differences, as well as scholars, in the definition of the crime. These differences have led to the emergence of a number of definitions of crime with social trend. Most known of these is a definition by Sallin, where he says: Crime is a violation of social norms. The fame of this definition comes from being a collection of many of the social considerations since habits, traditions, customs and laws are all social norms (Mizwah, 2000).
5. Relationship between poverty and crime:
One of the Social phenomena that has a strong link with low economical status, and which in turn plays a major role in pushing the individual to exercise the crime is the phenomenon of poverty. Economists often classify poverty as a fundamental economic entry to the interpretation of crime. Poverty connection with crime is not a modern concept. For centuries ago, philosophers and social reformers stressed on that poverty plays an important role in pushing the individuals to the practice of crime. In the past, Socrates said that “Poverty is the father of the revolution and crime.” Recently, Clark stated that the crimes of poor and deprived people are often empowered by the resentment and hatred towards the rich, and the poor may be carried to exercise crime in order to become rich and gain wealth. This means that the inhuman conditions of poverty, as Clark says, are what drive the poor to practice crime (Mizwah, 2000).
Many recent studies try to show that poverty is the basic cause of crime. Of the most recent and highly recognized ones is William Bonger’s study. It adopted and tried to support the idea, through scientific research and study, that the mental state of offenders can be linked to the economic decline on one hand, and to the disintegration of class on the other ( Hasan, 1997).
Ray Jeffery shows the importance of economic factors in the motivation to commit a crime by stating “the main approach to control and prevent a crime has a strong connection to what is known today as the economic analysis of crime. There is also the belief that children of poor families face problems associated with health status, evasion of the school, possibility of drug abuse, theft and others (Hasan, 1981).
In the United States, 50% of children who are sponsored by a single-mother live under the line of poverty, compared to only 1% of children who live in an intact family that live under similar conditions (Craig, 1999). These single-parent families, suffering from a decline in the level of income, are forced to live in poor areas, and it is in those areas where high concentrations of criminals are expected to be found. Edwin Sutherland’s theory of differential mixing sees that: the individuals become offenders through mixing with other members who carry values of crime. In areas of sub-cultures, some environments encourage illegal behavior, while is not encouraged in other environments (Almeharib, 2009).
According Ackerman (1994), the family and through the process of upbringing, is orientating the children towards either a successful and fruitful future, or a vague and failed one. When the family fails to properly raise children, so their future will be marked with numbers of characteristic associated with crime, delinquency, and lack of values, and psychological and emotional deprivation.
Thornberry (1987) had introduced his interactive theory of delinquency. In his theory, he tried to unite multiple other theories to give a comprehensive explanation of delinquency. He designed a dynamic scheme to delinquency, which takes into consideration some factors that have different effects on adolescent behavior during different periods of life. Thornberry suggested three types of delinquency: one is for the early adolescence, a second one for middle adolescence, and a third type for late adolescence.
In Thornberry’s first form, the model highlights three important factors that influence the behavior of adolescents in this stage of life (age 11-13):
First is the parental influence. Parents who have a strong influence on their children, whom are in a constant relation with them, and whom are exercising appropriate parental skills with them are more likely to lead their children to adopt the good values, faith, trust and to practice socially accepted behaviors, as the children are kept away form the delinquent friends and acts. While in the case of single-parent families, and in the absence of the father or the mother, an imbalance of the family is likely to happen, which therefore may reduce the positive impact on children.
Secondly is the faith in values and traditions, which has an impact on behavior, and this impact is more apparent in school through creativity. This factor influences the establishment of relationship between the child and other groups of offenders or criminals. The lack of attachment to school does not directly lead to the formation of the bad values of delinquency, but this will occur indirectly, as the non-attendance at school will bring the individual into a direct contact and association with delinquent environment and behavior. So, the adolescents who are attached to their parents, at regular attendance to school, and believe in values and social norms are less likely to be involved in delinquency than those who do not enjoy the relationship with their parents, do not continue to go to school, and do not have faith in these principles. According to Thornberry, attachment to parents, attendance at school and having faith certain beliefs and values are not permanent and fixed forever. These aspects may continuously interact with each other, and thus may either get weaker or stronger during the process growth of the individual. Thornberry also found that the various constraints could be the cause, when interacted and blended with other causes, to lead to delinquent behaviors.
During middle adolescence, Thornberry’s second form of delinquency concentrates more on the relationship between the child and the parents, which might reach a relatively excessive and overstated degree of the strength. At this point of the life cycle, the middle period of adolescence, a person may take somewhat delinquent acts for the purpose of expansion beyond home. This is usually observed through the involvement in some certain youth activities in school or at the surrounding of the peers. At this stage, the ties between the child and the parents, which were once strong, begins to weaken as the child starts to discover new boundaries and additional attractions.
According to Thornberry, another basic change is in the growing seriousness of the delinquent values, and when the delinquency is at its peak, those values become more pronounced and have a stronger influence than any other variables. Such values promote additional delinquent acts. Furthermore, there are some indicators suggesting that young people, who hold those values, are less likely to be any more connected or attached to their parents, and are less likely to care to study for school.
During late adolescence, Thornberry points to new variables that begin to enter his model. Most important of these variables are: participating at ordinary activities including the jobs, attending collage, or military service. Parallel to the transition to one of these new atmospheres, there is also a similar shift from the original family to a new family that a person starts to establish of his own. Thornberry states that during this stage, circumstances of a person’s life will usually change, and the person will encounter some milestone events. It is also likely that the person will take responsibility of new social roles, and will start to establish new interests and new communication networks.
Finally, Thornberry noted the important role of social classes, as he believes that children who come from a lower social class are less attached to the healthy community, more exposed to the values of delinquent friends, and more prone to practice delinquent behaviors. This is in turn related to the fact that children of weak social background (as is the case of single-parent families) are more likely to have torn-apart families. They are inactive at school, and the environment where they come from influences their traditional beliefs, resulting in the prevalence of high crime rate among this group.
Conclusion:
As it was shown, the world is witnessing a rise in the number of single-parent families, and that there are complications experienced by these families. These complications are parts of other problems that greatly affect the society, which result into an imbalance of its structure and function. It was also demonstrated that crimes are one of the end results that we expect to get as an outcome form these families. With the increasing proportion of these families, would also predict an increasing rate of crimes in the society. This is unless attempts are made to correct these behaviors, and reduce the rate of formation of single-parent families, especially through limiting the rate of divorce.
Results of longitudinal studies on broken families due to divorce, abandonment, desertion, or separation for whatever reason indicate that such homes are more likely to produce delinquency when compared to uni-parent families due by death. Wadsworth suggests that this negative effect is at its peak when children are young. It is likely however that the age at the time of the destruction of the family is irrelevant, since the effect of divorce could probably be a direct cause any way in the creation of delinquencies and crimes.
To the complete contrary, a study by Eisenstadt et al (1989) suggests the exact opposite results; as the deprivation of maternal affection, warmth of family and the surrounding social environment can sometimes translate into bigger ambitions in some individuals, making them more distinct than their peers who were privileged to enjoy living within a normal family. The study also shows that a considerable number of pioneered scientists, engineers, writers and prominent politicians who placed a significant impact in changing the face humanity and the history of relations between cultures, were among those who suffered from family problems focused mostly on the loss of one or both parents. This fact does not advocate for family disintegration as a motive for achievement, but it clearly indicates the existence of hope for the reformers to convert the senses of fear, hesitation, loneliness, introversion, asceticism, hatred and revenge against the society, as a consequence of deprivation, into positive courage that awakens the motivation for becoming overwhelming forces, opening the doors widely for the systematic and methodological interventions to put the appropriate solutions.
In 1981, Atlas reviewed the results of his study on 768 parents and 483 children single parenthood, and he reported that 75% of these families managed to overcome the difficulties as a result of their efforts to cope with their conditions.
Despite the previous discussion, it is clear that the structure of a normal intact family has a positive impact on all components of the welfare of the child, which means greater educational opportunities, and better emotional and physical health.
In short, as stated by McLanahan & Sandefur (1994, p.190) “Children who live with both parents do better, on average, than children who live with only one parent.”
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The Rights Of Women In Afghanistan Sociology Essay
Majority of Afghanistan’s nationalities profess Islam as their religion. Originally Islam religion regards men more superior than women in every aspect of life. Due to civilization across the world, Islam reformed and some of its doctrines were changes in favor of women. Equality among human beings was included in Islam, regarding men and women equal in various ways. Since then Islam women acquired different rights that allow them to choose marriage partners, inherit, vote and work among other rights. In Afghanistan, women have experienced continued denial of such rights despite acceptance according to Islam doctrines (Mittra and Kunar 267). Fathers, husbands, brothers and government decrees are some of the factors that hinder women from enjoying their human rights in Afghanistan.
Most of these restrictions were rampant during rule of Taliban who forced Afghan women to abandon their decent jobs such as teaching and remain indoors or when outside they ought to be in a man’s escort. Since 2001, a new era began with end of Taliban reign; an improvement was recorded in regard to cultural and political position of women in Afghan. Human rights accepted under Islam law, so far are practiced in various parts of Afghan though in rural and remote areas many population regard women unequal (Zama and Sifton 25). For instance, cases of forced marriages, death threats due education matters and denial of chance to participate or enjoy public life are recordable according to research. Inequality and repressiveness of women in Afghanistan can be further be illustrated by statistics that show 75% of women are forced into marriages, 87% of women are illiterate, 33% of women experience sexual violence or physical assault, in every 30 minutes death occurs in relation to child birth and only 30% of girls access education in Afghanistan.
Literature review
Introduction
Afghanistan remains one of many Islamic regions where women are denied their rights and freedom. Despite acceptance by Islam Laws and governmental regulations and policies to uphold Afghan woman’s rights throughout in Afghanistan, many Islamic men have continued to oppress women. Most of women’s rights have been upheld following intense campaigns by human rights activities from Afghan and other parts of the world (Thomsen 227). Also government efforts have helped in promoting equality by criminalizing oppression of women despite their originality and religion. Most of these changes are focused on matters that concern education, marriage and public life. In literature review section of this research, rights of Afghan’s woman in regard to freedom of live, dressing, education, marriage and expression will be discussed. Recommendations and conclusion will follow this discussion as part of this research work.
Communication freedom
Currently, Afghanistan is undergoing reconstruction after many years of war and reign of Taliban. During 1995-2001, Afghan remained under dictatorial leadership by Taliban who encouraged oppression of women and girls through out Afghan. Taliban’s brutality was to extent of denying women a chance to communicate with other women apart from family members. In most cases, women remained locked in their houses with small dark windows hence disallowing public intermingling. According to research, an Afghan woman could only walk to public with a company of a male counterpart who was supposed to be of the family (OsmaA„czyk and Mango 2708). These men act as a barrier to communication and information flow among women and men in public. Information could only be acquired from husbands, brothers and fathers who also were women oppressors according to Taliban’s regulations. Harsh circumstances under which afghan women lived in were not conducive for effective communication. Women associations that encourage information sharing in regard to social affairs are not allowed in most parts of Afghanistan. Information flow from one Woman to another is difficult in such situations hence hindering effective communication. As much as right of expression is among rights upheld by Afghan government, many women are denied such rights by men close in their lives.
Woman’s opinion is regarded inferior and a chance to speak out is not availed to many women willing to do so. Rising of voices is made difficult due to widespread of discrimination against female gender in other major areas that contribute towards information flow. Lack of education for girl-child is a major hindrance to free flow of information. Many Afghan women can only converse in their vernacular languages due to illiteracy (Mittra and Kunar 143). Lack of access to education continues to pin many women down in decision making even those concerning their own plight. Lack of ideas coupled with fear is a key factor that makes Afghan women lag behind in raising their voices beyond their homestead.
Freedom of communication by women is also prevented their lack of voting freedom. Many women are hindered fro acquiring voting cards to prevent them from taking part in political decisions. Instances of murder of electoral commissioners who tried to register women for voting processes show how far brutalism and discrimination against women has extended in Afghanistan (Thomsen 270). Such situations block women’s effort to communicate their views in regard to type of governance they want. Similarly, women candidates can not be enrolled easily for similar positions to those held by men due to repression in association to voting rights. Women representatives in other parts of the world represent other women opinions therefore ensuring plight of female gender is communicated to authorities. In Afghan such chances are not provided hence continued lack of communication freedom.
Additionally, lack of media freedom is another obstacle that contributes to communication problems in Afghanistan. Widespread violence coupled with political wrangles in Afghanistan prevents media efforts in steering women in fighting for their rights by speaking out loud. For instance, many journalists have been killed including and others such as Kambakhsh imprisoned for exercising their expression rights (Afkhami 179). Such situations leave women threatened and in fear of going against their male counterparts hence remain silent and oppressed. A country without freedom of expression by non-Taliban has efforts by women to communicate their views to governing bodies. Such strictness by rulers and men in the society has hindered efforts for free communication among women and men.
This situation is changing as women with the support of their men, actively create awareness in regard to human equality across Afghanistan. Formation of RAWA in 1977 was an effort to eradicate violence against women and air their voices to the world. RAWA is an organization established by women and its goal is to promote Afghan women rights (Silkenat and Shulman 64). The organization major objective is to create awareness throughout Afghanistan concerning plight of girl-child and women. It also aims at reaching as many women as possible by communicating benefits of treating women with equality. Organization airs women’s voices through conferences, public campaigns, internet and demonstrations. RAWA efforts have been realized over the years though right of expression by Afghan women is yet to be gained fully.
Freedom of women and girls lives
Since the seizure of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan, over 9 million women and girls have been denied basic human rights. This government has imposed laws against women citing religious purity while in the real sense it is persecution against women. For instance, Afghan women are not allowed to either go to school or work away from home a move which has led to closure of several schools owing to shortage of teaching staff as prior to the invasion of the Taliban about 70% of the teaching fraternity comprised of women (Afkhami 201). Devastating effects have been advanced towards widowed women who were the only source of livelihood for their families. In case women and girls want to leave their homes, then they must be escorted by a male relative. A whole body covering known as burqa must be worn. Instances of killings and beatings of the women have been witnessed due to failure of the women to be fully covered or escorted. Specific aspects of life on which Afghan women are oppressed and to be discussed under this heading include education, marriage and dressing
Education
A large percentage of women in Afghanistan are illiterate due to banning of schooling for all women and successive wars in the nation had completely paralyzed the Education system. During the reign of the Taliban, community schools were opened and ran by women where girls were taught literacy skills, numeracy skills and such like subjects as Biology, English, cooking, and knitting (Zama and Sifton 27). Unfortunately instances of torture and killings of women teachers by the Taliban were witnessed. After the overthrow of the Taliban administration, substantial aid was advanced to the Karzai administration in order to restore the girl-child education. Lack of funding poses major setbacks to girl-child education with many girls opting to drop out as the facilities are not conducive. For instance, the learning facilities under unprotected structures like tents.
Lack of women teachers’ means that majority of the girls do not attend school as their parents fail to place the care of the girls under men teachers. Since most of the girls schools were destroyed during the Taliban administration, girls and boys learn in the same facilities: a move which has caused massive criticism especially from high ranking government officials (Thomsen 184). This largely translates to discrimination and lack of freedom. Several Afghanistan women have consistently risked their lives by running clandestine schools for the women population. From 2001, Education facilities have recorded increased numbers of female students though persistent attacks by the Taliban as well as other forces present in the area continue to demean the progress achieved in the female Education sector. Cases girls dropping from schools before completing primary level education have been witnessed due to early marriages and family obligations
Dressing
The Afghanistan women have continually suffered turmoil especially in the type of dressing they are supposed to constantly wear. A specialty made traditional garment known as “the Burqa” which covers the whole body with a small grind for seeing and breathing must be worn by the women. The Burqa is extremely uncomfortable especially during hot weather (Silkenat and Shulman 58). The excessive covering may instigate illnesses such as asthma due to the discomfort of the dress as dust sticks thus enhancing dampness during breathing. The visibility of the wearer is largely limited as the size of the mesh opening does not provide adequate perceptibility. Afghanistan women claim that when they are wearing the burqa, total invisibility is exuded. It is impossible to know the kind of emotion displayed by a woman during normal conversation.
Marriage
In this patriarchal society, decisions are largely made by men fraternity. Women do not have the freedom to choose their marriage partners. Arranged marriages are largely advanced in this country based on economic and political reasons. Instances of girls being engaged before they are born are widespread (Zama and Sifton 54). The authority of who should marry a girl lies with the father who can opt to wed his daughter to a person who may be very old but rich. In areas badly hit by poverty, girls are sold off or exchanged for meals. Women are treated as properties as once the marriage contract is signed the girl cannot marry another man. In case she dies a suitable replacement must be offered. Violent cases have resulted when multiple betrothing is done so as to collect dowry from several men. Dowry payment is regarded as compensation for the care and upbringing of the bride. A married Afghanistan woman is controlled by the mother-in-law who makes such critical decisions on her behalf as whether to attend hospital or not and the activities to undertake (Thomsen 130). Women do not receive custody of children in case of a divorce. Though obtaining a divorce is largely difficult for women who are in abusive marriages, the divorced Afghanistan women are regarded as outcasts especially due to the Islamic beliefs and traditions.
Recommendations
Afghan women should fight for a chance to speak out and join others international women who are fighting against women oppression. By communicating their views to their spouses, brothers and the public will be a major start step towards their social life improvement. Freedom of expression is known as an effective tool for resistance against practices that oppress women. Lack of such freedom, means Afghan women may continue to tolerate discrimination by men under religious grounds which are used for personal political benefit. Social oppression can be overcome through speaking out in any context cultural, political or religious. Granting of women rights in education, employment , leadership and other roles in public life come as a primarily result of women expression against discrimination. Opening of communication channels in Afghanistan is a basic step in eliminating injustices that surround lives of many women and girls.
Of importance is the right to vote, that has been used by many countries in defining future of women in those countries. I recommend Afghan women to retain and utilize their rights to vote intelligently as it is part of decision making. Through voting women elect leaders in support of their rights therefore acquiring access to equal opportunities similar to those awarded to men. Continued efforts by women by speaking out, eventually leads to liberation of girls and women from oppressive societal rules. Again, society starts to appreciate need to uphold plight of women and girls hence creating a balanced society that pays attention to both genders.
International community should offer greater support to women organizations working with minority women at the grass roots. Awareness creations through educational programs are essential effort towards liberation of Afghan women from social, cultural, religious and political injustices in Afghanistan. International support through funding and enlightenment of few educated afghan women should be upheld as away of developing strong women leaders in Afghanistan.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Afghanistan is a region known for oppression of women and girls in various aspects of life. Existence of connection between Islam and governance of Afghans facilitates dehumanization among Afghan women. Most life rights and expression freedom are denied to female gender despite acceptance by Islam doctrines. Afghan constitutional rights are not upheld due lack of commitment by authorities concerned and political instabilities hence impacting on women by denying them their legal and human rights. International intervention has calmed Afghanistan human situation but majority of Afghan women and girls remain discriminated and repressed.
Work-cited
Afkhami, Mahnaz. Faith and freedom: women’s human rights in the Muslim world. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995.
Mittra, Sangh and Kunar, Bachchan. Encyclopaedia of Women in South Asia: Afghanistan. New Delhi, India: Gyan Publishing House, 2004
OsmaA„czyk, Edmund and Mango, Anthony. Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: T to Z. London, UK: Taylor & Francis Press, 2003
Silkenat, James and Shulman, Mark. The imperial presidency and the consequences of 9/11: lawyers react to the global war on terrorism. Westport, U.S.A: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2007
Thomsen, Natasha. Women’s rights. New York. U.S.A: Facts On File publisher, 2007
Zama, Coursen-Neff and Sifton, John. We want to live as humans”: repression of women and girls in western Afghanistan. Washington, D.C: Human Rights Watch, 2002
The research approaches adopted and methodology
The aims of this paper are evaluate the research approaches adopted and methodology used in assigned research reports. Moreover, reflect and point out the strengths and weaknesses of reports.
Social research is a scientific study of society and it purposes are exploring, describing or explaining the social phenomena. Thus, there are major methodological approaches which are quantitative approach and qualitative approach.
Firstly, according to Alan Bryman (2008), the quantitative research can be construed as a research strategy which emphasis the quantification in collection and analysis data and involves a deductive approach to the relationship between theory and research which the accent is placed on the theories testing. Moreover, it has incorporated the practices and norms of the natural scientific model and of positivism in particular and there is an external, objective, social reality (or entity).Objective reality exists beyond the human mind (researcher).
Secondly, qualitative research can be construed as a research strategy which emphasis in the words in collection and analysis data and involves an inductive approach to the relationship between the theory and the research which emphasis is placed the generation of theories. Thus, it has rejected the practice and norms of the natural scientific model and emphasis on individuals interpret the social world. There is no absolute external, objective, social reality (or entity) which is constituted by how the human mind (researcher) perceives, thinks, interprets or experiences about it.
Furthermore, the most common methodologies within the social research include experiments, survey, in-depth Interview, participant observation
Part 1
Youth-this research aims to investigate the factors conductive to the success of young people growing up in low-income families and exam the factors that help them to their lives from failure, poverty and social exclusion. It also identifies a range of indicators and necessary conditions for the positive development of them. Thus, evaluate the way which the functions of service participation, friendship networks and various family factors support them in different areas.
Youth-the research focus on the effects of service participation, friendship networks, and family support on developmental outcomes in a study of young people from low-income families in Hong Kong. In this research, there are three research hypotheses as follow, firstly, a young person who has received vocational training, services provided by social workers or other helping professionals will have greater opportunity for positive development despite his/her deprived family background. Secondly, a young person who has better friendship networks will have a greater opportunity for positive development despite his/her deprived family. Lastly, a young person with better family support will have a greater opportunity for positive development despite his/her deprived family background.
Youth-In this research report, it used the survey research. According to Earl Babbie (2008), the survey research is the popular social research method which is the administration of questionnaires to a sample of respondents selected from some population and it is appropriate for making descriptive studies of larger population. Thus, the questionnaires can be administered through the self-administered questionnaires, face-to-face interviews or telephone surveys. For this report, the research used the quantitative survey of 405 young people recruited from the schools and integrated youth service centres in Hong Kong. Furthermore, as the researcher investigates the factors based on the youth development indicators which are according to the scholars, therefore, this research study used the deductive analysis which is a form of reasoning in conclusions are formulated about particulars from general or universal premises.
Youth-In this report, researcher used the survey as the tool in social research. According to Babbie (2008), the survey includes a question which is either open-ended or close-ended and employs an oral or written method for asking these questions. The goal of a survey is to gain information from the selected group and the result is used to investigate the social phenomena. Thus, in this report, a quantitative survey of 405 young people from the low-income families was conducted to explore the factors relevant to their development and success. Also, the respondents were between 17 to 21 years old -the critical age range from teenage transit to young adulthood. Therefore, the result can investigate the factors conductive to the success of young people growing up in low-income families and exam the factors that help them to their lives from failure, poverty and social exclusion
Youth-In the findings of research report, over a half of the respondents were female, their average age is 18.33 years and around 55% are completed senior secondary education and 36% has matriculation qualification. Also, most of the respondents are students at the time of the data collection. For the family background of respondents, most of their parents are low educated and employed, living in public housing and low-income. Thus, the result showed that receipt of social work service has positive effects on academic achievement, work performance and mental health. In Addition, the data demonstrated that the size of friendship networks had a significant positive impact on work performance and showed that having more friends with better educational achievement, high employee status and positive social experience contributed to pro-social behaviour. Finally, it evaluated the prediction of youth development resulting from various factor that parents’ material status had significant positive effect on respond
ents’ financial adequacy and their social behaviour.
Part 2
Youth-In this report, it is used the quantitative approach as the research methodology and used the survey as the tool in the research. As the researcher set the quantitative survey and hypothesis for given topic, the answer of respondents should be present in numerical. Therefore, in quantitative approach, the data collection is easier to summaries, analysis and measurable because the answer for respondent converting to numerical format. However, there is some weakness of quantitative approach. Firstly, since the respondents recruited from the school and integrated youth centers, some of the youth may not be counter as the respondents (e.g. Hikikomori).it implies that the survey research represents the least minimally appropriate to all respondent and it is often appear superficial in coverage of complex topic. Secondly, the validity of quantitative research is heavily rely on the sampling because most of the quantitative research used survey as the tool, in this report, researcher only recruited 405 youth people as the respondents for investigate the factors conductive to the success of young people growing up in low-income families and exam the factors that help them to their lives from failure, poverty and social exclusion, compare to the large population of the youth group, the result cannot be representing for the group. Moreover, the quantitative research is inflexibility caused the study design is standardized, it would be unaware the new variable’s importance. As the researcher focus the study on testing the hypothesis and indicate the several factor, the research should be neglect the other factors which related to the positive development of the youth.
Part 3
Youth-The study just mentioned the respondents are recruited from 13 secondary school and 18 integrated school located in different districts, however, It has blurred to explain the method for sampling the agency for data collection. Moreover, the definition of the factors of service participation and social capital are undefined. For example, there is no illustration of the positive social experiences in the friendship network, the term seems to be obscure .Also, since the research has targeted the respondents between 17-21 years old which is the critical age range in the transitioj to young adulthood,and the time that is chart
Reference
Babbie, Earl R. (2007), The practice of social research, 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth
Crotty Michael (1998), The foundations of social research: meaning and perspective in research process, London: Sage Publications
Bryman Alan (2008), Social research methods, New York: Oxford University Inc