toptermpaper.com

‘At stake are questions about the linkages of different identity domains, how the various aspects of the self interconnect, and how various identities become active or inactive as people locate themselves in various social contexts’ (Narvaez et al 2009)

Everyone needs to know who he or she is. This is a question about one’s identity. Identity is a complicated and debatable termaˆ‚ It is a set of characteristics that belongs uniquely to somebody. It includes both changeable and stable aspects and is influenced by both outside and inside factors. One’s identity consists of three basic elements: personal identity, family identity and social identity. Each of these elements is determined by ‘individual circumstances’ (Wetherell et al 2008).

First of all, personal identity is about one’s moral beliefs and self values. It is showed in the decisions one makes, the way they talk to themselves and the different goals they have achieved in their lives (Wetherell et al 2008).

Most people have a standard for right and wrong. People doing the ‘right’ things would grow honesty and integrity (St Louis 2009). On the other hand, if a person keeps on doing things that they believe to be wrong, they may start to believe they are not to be trusted. These choices will have huge effect on how people consider themselves; this is called ‘sense of worth’ (Nolan and Rudenstein 2009).

Communicating with themselves, people do ‘self-talk’ (Narvaez et al 2009) most of the time. This self-talk is an important way to build up the sense of how people consider themselves and their self-identity. Each person has their own standards and values. Each person judges how they are doing according to these criteria (Dyrenfurth 2009).

Moreover, one’s successes and failures will also affect personal identity (Dyrenfurth 2009). When people achieve their goals they feel accomplished and fulfilled (Narvaez et al 2009). In contrast, if one fails there occurs a ‘self-questioning’ (Nolan and Rudenstein 2009). Setting and fighting toward goals also makes people meet their limits, which helps find their abilities as well as limitations. This is important for one’s ‘self-identity’ (Narvaez et al 2009).

Second element is family identity. It is made up of the characteristics a person has been given along with the role in their family they have been born into (Wetherell et al 2008). Family identity builds up the cultural environment in which people will grow their knowledge of who they are. Scientifically, this is about DNA, which is unique to each and everyone. As well, the ‘inherited traits’ (Narvaez et al 2009) one receives through birth determines both their mental and physical attributes. Some children may be gifted with high intelligence while others may suffer with an emotional, mental, or physical handicap (Crenshaw 1996, cited in Narvaez et al 2009). Although these nature born characteristics may have less impact during life experience, they will always have fundamental effects.

The ‘bearing on’ (Wetherell et al 2008) identity or say the role people are born into in their families has been well explored by many psychiatrists. There are many researches exploring the personal characteristics different roles of the family will have. ‘Commonalities of people within each group’ (Wetherell et al 2008) can be explained by analyzing children’s behaviors in their families. The ‘Firstborns’ (Wetherell et al 2008) are known to feel they have the responsibility to be the one to set an example in their family (Zylinska 2005, cited in St Louis 2009). While the youngest child of the family are often considered spoiled and not have to fight for as many rights as their older siblings. (St Louis 2009). Though these generalizations may vary in different families, they still impact on one’s identity throughout life.

Culturally family leads to the way of life one will go. Women and men have always considered having different roles in life (St Louis 009). This is determined in both gender roles and ethnic groups. For example, men are often taught to be the ones to earn money and in contrast, women are to be the homemakers. Men are natural to be tough and unemotional while women are caring and sensitive (Wetherell et al 2008). On ethnic stage, education is one of the most significant aspects in some cultures, while athletic ability or beauty is more important for others (Duany 2003, cited in Nolan and Rubenstein 2009). These are all cultural influences one would receive to build up their sense of identity.

‘. . . the question, and the theorization, of identity is a matter of considerable political significance, and is only likely to be advanced when both the necessity and the ‘impossibility’ of identities, and the suturing of the psychic and the discursive in their constitution, are fully and unambiguously acknowledged'(Hall 1996, cited in St Louis 2009).

Finally, social identity is about one’s world around them. It includes what one believes others feel about them and how one believes they fit within their society (Wetherell et al 2008). It is largely influenced by factors such as one’s working class, monetary value, education level, and popularity (Dyrenfurth 2009).

Owning a company compared to working at the bottom floor of a company creates a different sense of power and security (Nolan and Rubenstein 2009). Positions in employment can impact on the community one lives in and the respect they receive. This is how it impacts on the power and respect one believes they have (Nolan and Rubenstein 2009). This also affected by monetary conditions, as people with wealth are often given the same power and respect in society. A well-dressed person will be more intently listened to in public than one who is poor and in broken clothes. This will transfer over to the sense of worth people feel they have (Dyrenfurth 2009).

Moreover, the level of education one experiences effects the belief of one’s ability. Society as a whole enforces the separation (Wetherell et al 2008). Many community and business positions require a formal education record without giving exploration to the experiential background of candidates. This may cause one to believe they are more or less equipped, brighter or slower depending on the level of education received (St Louis 2009).

Last but not least, one’s popularity in society is among the greatest influences upon social-identity. To be popular or not in determined by many aspects. One can hold or lose popularity by showing their charm, good will, humor, intelligence, power, social standing, wealth, beauty and so on. Being liked or not is based on these qualities, which may highly likely cause one to re-evaluate the qualities they believe they have and their elf value and self-identity (Narvaez et al 2009). People’s feel of their self-identity will change during their social experiences.

In conclusion, with such individuality and uniqueness, it is without a doubt to say identity is complex, but it is also simple to see aspects from where self-identity is gained. Self-identity shifts throughout life with influences of family, personal, and social factors. In the end, one’s identity is built up of a set of characteristics that one finds are uniquely belong to oneself.

Dr. Raj Kumar acquired his Law degree from Delhi University and PhD from Kurukshetra University. He served Haryana Education Service from 1970 to 1973. He published a 7 volume series on Women and Indian Freedom Struggle and 15 volume series on Women, Society and Culture. He has contributed a number of articles in historical journals and commemoration volumes. He, justifiably, edited the present work of various scholars which provides a panoramic survey of women studies, based on latest research. He scrutinizes the status of women in India during Vedic times-a period of golden era for women and Brahmanic times. He mentioned the factors affecting the female psyche along with women’s self-concept developed by Mohan (1988), which revolves around the confidence that woman is a weaker gender and her weakness can be converted into strength for her development by considering the woman’s basic needs and solicitudes about success and power in this regard. Women are involved in role conflict particularly in the field of work and after marriage. Regarding rural development in India, out of 79% female work in agriculture, 46% are agricultural laborers’, 33% are cultivators, and 5% are industrial workers. In Himaachal Pradash- a rural state, women know every task regarding the field of agriculture and livestock, despite of domestic work. According to 1981 census, 91.3%, out of total working women are agriculture workers against 63.3% of males in the state. Rural development is concerned with multi-sectorial programs like agriculture dependent upon industrial activities, transportation, commercialization, infrastructure, health and education services. According to world economic profile, women are 50% of the population, out of which official labor force is 30% and those women utilize 60% working hours and receive 10% world income. In Asia, there are a high proportion of women in agriculture. Regarding some determinants of women development, it was mentioned that on the second half of 20th century, first, UN Declaration on Women’ rights, adopted on 7th Nov, 1967, mentioned appropriate measures for women rights in Article 1-11. Second, World Conference on International Women’s Year in Mexico City on June 1975 issued a world plan of action and focused on human role of women. Some other factors like education, female health status and female economic participation as a determinant of social development as in India female literacy rate is 24.8% against the male literacy rate which is 46.89%. ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) provides additional nutrition, health check-up, medication of minor illness, immunization, nutrition and health education to women and supportive services like water supply and sanitation. Asia- Pacific region is also multiform in terms of women’s role in the economy because development and women’labour participation are based on the overall female economic activity rates. As well as the participation in modern sector naturally increases with economic development. In India, 90% of women belong to agriculture life so future development of Indian womanhood must be examined in terms of village women. There is need for new cadre of women ICS and their inclusion in local panchayts. The topic “women and development” has been discussed at several gatherings within UN at conferences of non-aligned countries, governmental and non-governmental meetings. At ministerial conference of non-aligned countries in Lima in August 1975, the ministries of these countries programmed on Mutual Assistance and Solidarity repeated that full development of developing nations require maximum participation of women and men in all spheres of national activity. NIEO (New International Economic Order)’s cornerstone is the participation of women along with men in the development of country is indispensable for successful development. UN decade for women has facilitated the identification and overcoming the impediments to integrate women in society, resulted in the wastage of human resources needed for development. The areas for specific action aimed at the advancement of women are employment, education, health, food, water, agriculture, industry, trade and commercial services, science and technology, communications, housing settlement, community development and transport, energy and environment. There are most commonly used sources of energy utilized by women but the sources like coal, oil, gas, hydropower and bio-gas are commonly used in industries so the users can not be easily distinguished by gender. Participation of women in energy conservation requires education, training and consumer information in the field of energy. Self-reliance as a development strategy, treat women as an integral part of overall development. Technical (TCDC) and economic (ECDC) cooperation in developing countries should aim at reaching the largest number of social groups like women and youth in rural and urban populations equally. By critically analyzing, in the past, women were treated as mere slaves. Though, India is changing politically, economically and socially, at a swift pace. The condition of women is also changing, as they have begun to take their due place in free India by educating themselves, inducing the right of voting and heartedly participating in country development. In 2010 March 9, one day after International Women’s day, Rajyasabha passed Women’s Reservation Bill, ensuring 33% reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies. In modern India, women have adorned high offices including that of the President, Prime minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of Opposition, etc. The current President of India is a woman. In the last five years, the Government of India made amendments in law and formed a ministry of social and women’s welfare in 1985, while, Article 14 of the constitution emphasis on the discrimination of gender. In Himachal Pradash, there are a number of welfare organizations besides Manila Mandals is working for the elevation of women in state while other departments are also working for the women development like health, social welfare and family welfare. Regarding ICDS influence, there is decline in malnutrition from 19.1% in 1976 to 7.8% in 1983 and mortality from 15% to 3%. All India Spinners’ Association’s cottage industry gave new life to millions of female workers. Collective self-reliance encourages the transformation of women’s position in the world, so that it can become an integral part of each country’s long term development strategy. There is a high rate of women’s participation and other stakeholders (e.g. Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services) during program formulation. The last few decades have seen a mushroom growth of organizations struggling for women to get their dues, but, how far has this helped in the improvement of the status of women in the home, in society, in office or in the country as a whole, is still a debatable issue. Gender training is still very weak, while, regarding the cultural values; women tend to be shy during group meetings. Women have no access to modern machines and other technology. In any program formulation, there is a lack of gender considerations, untrained staff in gender analysis skills, gender-blind budget, and weak business skills among women. All Indian Kisan Movement and All Indian Ryots’ Association are improving human conditions but few female join them. Muslim women’s legal position is better than Indian ones in terms of right to inheritance, divorce, marriage and religious education. For the establishment of NIEO, policy of economic independence and collective self-reliance is necessary because lack of progress in NIEO establishment requires that greater attention is paid to the collective efforts and cooperation of non aligned and developing countries. There is no strict implementation of certainty about the right abuses of women. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that the growth rate of crimes against women would be higher than the population growth rate by 2010. Earlier, many cases were not registered with the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation cases. Distracted from other areas such as women’s low socio-economic status, labor market inequalities and legal bias, literacy programs are a relatively inexpensive and politically expedient palliative in their present form. While, 80% rural and urban females in India receive little medical care, so there is a need to strengthen professional and health education to face challenge of promoting female health. In conclusion, in a developed nation, female education is imperative for their self-sufficiency. For the rural development, a national perspective plan for the rural women and fighting discrimination will improve the social and economic status of women. In accordance with the social policy in public and private sectors, society is not supposed to exploit the dual role of women but acknowledge it as a contributor to socio-economic perspective. South Asian countries showing a lower level of female participation in non agriculture sector as compared to other countries at the same level of per capita GDP. This pattern of increase does not imply gender equity in the work place or in earnings. The availability of disaggregated information on the training and employment of women in energy related fields just like in US would enable planners and decision makers to formulate better strategies’ for energy supply and development. According to most of the governments, prejudicial attitudes towards women are fundamental obstacles towards the integration of women in national and international life. The role of educational planning, raising the level of skills and directing aspirations of both men and women is necessary for a developing nation.

“Throughout history, sociological theory arose out of attempts to make sense of times of dramatic social change”. Discuss the development of Sociology as a discipline in the 19th century in light of this statement.

Sociology is the study of the lives of humans, groups and societies and how we interact. Dramatic social times occurred because of the massive changes in society that took place leading up to the modern world. The development of sociology as a discipline emerged in the 19th century in response to modernity. Problems that arose from modernity include industrialisation, urbanisation, rationalisation and bureaucratisation (Montagna, 2010). The difference between ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ led to the term ‘modernity’ and the modern world of the 19th century was shaped by the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution brought about massive changes in areas such as culture, industry, politics, technology, science and communication (Marshall, 1998). A ‘new world’ had formed and theorists needed to understand and explain how the effects of these changes impacted on society. The Industrial Revolution saw aristocratic and religious societies change to liberal and more science based societies (Marshall, 1998). The Industrial Revolution created dramatic changes in every part of social life. Machines were created which overtook manual labour. Factories and industrial towns were built and people left rural areas and their way of life to go to the cities for work. Canals and roads were built which made transportation easier and increased production of goods (The Industrial Economy, 2010). Capitalism grew with technological change as factory owners who controlled the means of production became wealthy. Changes in the political structure occurred due to the capitalists replacing agrarian land owners as leaders of the nation’s economy and power structure (The Industrial Economy, 2010). Technological advances were seen with the invention of electricity, which improved the production in factories and made life easier, and the railways and steam ships, which helped improve travel. All these changes would have been overwhelming as people went from their ‘old world’ of working the land and having satisfaction for the work they did to the ‘new world’ of mass populated, industrial areas where they sold their labour.

In the wake of industrialisation, some sociologists that argued for a system of understanding sociological change were; Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber. All had different theories but all contributed significantly to sociology as a discipline.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution refers to the rapid changes in areas such as culture, industry, politics, technology, science and communication which took place in the latter half of the eighteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century (Marshall, 1998). It defines the transformation from a predominantly rural and agrarian society to an increasingly urban one based on manufacturing and industries.

With the rise of factories and industrial areas, people were forced out of their rural surroundings and into factories to work for small wages just to survive. These people who came to the rapidly expanding urban areas provided much of the labour-force for the new manufacturing industries, and formed the basis of a new industrial working class. Women and children were also forced to work long hours, under harsh conditions and for small wages. There were little or no government regulations imposed upon factory policies which allowed the wealthy, middle-class owners to pursue whatever path was most profitable, regardless of the safety and wellbeing of their workers (The Industrial Economy, 2010). Birth rates went up during this period and it was quite common for women to have several children. This increased the burden of providing for the family and the mothers were often forced back to work after giving birth. Population increases, due to urbanisation, resulted in overcrowding which led to poor health, disease and a low standard of living. People had many things to adjust to not just a new way of living but also new technologies and innovations. These new innovations saw the decline of tradespeople as machines could produce goods at a much faster rate (The Industrial Economy, 2010).

Agriculture improved with better farming techniques, which increased production and growth for the farmers. This resulted in rising demand for goods, which stimulated urban industry and distribution. Large investments of capital, particularly in textiles, coal mining, and metal industries, enabled the growth of powerful manufacturing industries which in turn relied on, and were strengthened by, internal markets and overseas exports (Montagna, 2010).

There was also a boom in transportation. Roads were built, canals were constructed and there was the development of the railway system. These transport systems radically improved the ease and speed with which goods could be transported. Transportation became very important for the distribution of raw materials and industrial products. Technological inventions, including steam power, were crucial to the operation of trains, ships, and the larger factories (The Industrial Economy, 2010).

These radical changes were revolutionary because of the speed at which many of them occurred. The desire to understand and analyse such dramatic changes provided a catalyst for early sociologists to develop theories relating to the division of labour, capitalism, and bureaucracy and their effects on social change in society (Marshall, 1998).

Classical sociologists

Classical sociologists who helped develop sociology as a discipline were Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber. They all witnessed the transforming effects of the revolution and they offered lasting conceptual framework for analysing the ongoing upheavals.

Auguste Comte

Auguste Comte is known as the founder of sociology. His work consisted of studies and the analysis of social order and structure. Comte was interested in social order so he set out to understand what creates it and what causes it to change. He identified three stages of human society: theological (various phenomena explained in religious terms), metaphysical (explanations were philosophical) and positivism (phenomena explained in terms of the scientific approach to the social world) (Ritzer, 2011). Comte also termed the word positivism, which is the idea that the scientific method should be implemented to the social world when conducting sociological studies (Ritzer, 2011). Comte greatly emphasized the usage of the scientific method when studying society and he believed that sociological studies should lead to social reform.

Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer believed that no one should guide social reform. He believed that society should simply evolve from lower or barbarian forms to a higher and civilized form. As society evolves in this fashion, the most capable individuals rise to the top and the least capable die out. Spencer termed this idea ‘survival of the fittest’, and his theories on social order became known as social Darwinism (Gates, 2010).

Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim developed sociology as an independent discipline and science. Durkheim developed the concept of functionalism which maintains cultural and social unity through interactions (Ferrante, 2007). His most famous work is The Division of Labour in Society, which described how social order was to be maintained in a society by economic regulation. Durkheim held the belief that sociology was the study of social facts. He felt that people’s ideas, feelings and behaviours occurred outside the consciousness of the individual. This belief led Durkheim to create a social fact which refers to the ties that bind people together this is known as solidarity. He noticed the ties that bound people changed significantly with the increase of industrialisation. He believed the mechanism that shaped solidarity need to be analysed and explained. In his writings he is preoccupied with the ties that bind and it is shown in his popular writing Suicide.

In Suicide, Durkheim believed it was not feasible to study the immediate circumstances in to why people kill themselves because any personal circumstance can serve as a pretext for suicide (Ferrante, 2007). Durkheim believed it was the ties that bind, or fail to bind, people to others in society that lead people to kill themselves and by committing this act they are severing relationship. Durkheim introduced four types of social ties: egoistic, altruistic, anomic and fatalistic (Ferrante, 2007). Egoistic suicide occurs when the ties that bind the person to society are weak. Altruistic suicide occurs when the person’s ties are so strong that they have no life apart from the group. Anomic suicide occurs when the social ties are disrupted caused by a dramatic change in economic circumstances. Fatalistic suicide occurs when the ties to the group are so oppressive that there is no chance of escape (Ferrant, 2007).

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a German philosopher, political theorist, sociologist and a revolutionist. Marx thought that social change was driven by conflict and that it shaped the means of production (lands, tools, equipment, factories, transportation and labour) (Ritzer, 2011). He believed this system created a confrontation between an exploiting class and an exploited class. The Industrial Revolution created this divide of classes known as the bourgeoisie (they own the means of production) and the proletariat (who sell their labour to the bourgeoisie) (Ferrante, 2007). Marx devoted his life to understanding the causes and consequences of this inequality which he connected to a fatal flaw in in the organisation of production (Ferrante, 2007).

The technological changes that occurred as a result of the Industrial Revolution, Marx believed, increased goods and services and created a hunger for more profit. He believed capitalism ignored human needs and forced people to sell their labour to make products that they themselves could not afford to buy (Ritzer, 2011). Marx believed that if the economic system was governed by people who had society’s best interest at heart instead of the people who had were motivated by profit, that there would be more public wealth and it could be distributed amongst society according to need (Ferrante, 2007). Marx’s solution was to create a revolution where capitalism would be destroyed and replaced with communism.

Max Weber

Max Weber was a German sociologist and political economist, who influenced the discipline of sociology. He had influences in areas not only in sociology but also in history, philosophy, anthropology, economics and political science (Ferrant, 2007). In Webers work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism he writes that the Protestant (particularly Calvinist) ethic influenced people to work in the secular world (Ritzer, 2011).They developed their own businesses, engaged in trade and accumulated wealth for investment purposes. This was what Weber believed led to capitalism. His belief on idealism led him to develop an interest in power and authority especially in bureaucracy and rationalisation (Ferrant, 2007).

Weber became concerned with social actions and the subjective meaning that humans attach to their actions within certain social contexts. Weber thought there were four types of social action: traditional, affectional, value-rational and instrumental (Ferrant, 2007). Weber was most concerned with the value-rational type as he thought it could lead to ‘disenchantment’. Weber thought (Jacoby, 1976) disenchantment occurred when scientific understanding became more valued than belief and where processes are oriented toward rational goals.

Weber also thought (Jacoby, 1976) that bureaucracy was the problem of the industrial society as he seen it shift from a value-oriented organization and action to a goal-oriented organization and action. Weber believed under the control of rationalisation and bureaucratisation that society would be trapped in an “iron cage” under strict rules from which there would be no escape (Jacoby, 1976).

Conclusion

Sociology as a discipline was born out of the attempt to understand the transformations that seemed to threaten the stability of society. Social thinkers argued that there was an urgent need to establish a separate science of society. They believed that such a science would be of great help in understanding the nature of society. The amount of changes that occurred during the Industrial Revolution heavily impacted on society and it was necessary to gain an understanding of these changes and how they were influencing society. People were faced with a new world and it had created disorder, misery, poverty, disease, unemployment and conflicts (Marshall, 1998). People felt despair, lacked traditional beliefs, lacked confidence and felt inferior.

Theories were developed to try and gain an insight into society and improve social life. The classical theorists Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber were seeking to explain the radical changes that occurred due to modernity and create social ideas to improve society.

References

Marshall G, (1998). A Dictionary of Sociology

Montagna J A (2010). The Industrial Revolution

Gates G (2010). Overview of Sociology

Ferrante J, (2007) Sociology: A Global Perspective

The Industrial Economy (2010)

Available: http://www.ehs.org.uk/industrialrevolution/PH_indexb.htm (accessed 9/10/10)

Jacoby H (1976). The Bureaucratization of the World

Ritzer G (2011) Sociological Theory

In this essay I will be looking at the development of geography as an academic discipline, and then I will be discussing the role that theory has had in the development of geography. I will research past events and influences, to see how they have affected geography as an idiographic subject and changed the subject into a spatial science and effectively into a core academic discipline.

The discipline of geography is among the most ancient of sciences. Geography can be traced back to Eratosthenes, a Greek scholar who lived around 276-196 B.C and who is often called ‘the father of geography’. Alexander Von Humboldt was a German geographer from 1769-1859, commonly known as ‘the father of modern geography’. As well as Humboldt, Carl Ritter is also considered as one of the founders of modern geography. Both Humboldt and Ritter shared similar views. The naturalist Charles Darwin wrote a book called the ‘Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection’ in 1859. It “proved an inspiration to many geographers, who saw in Darwin’s idea of natural selection the possibility of a general theory of man-land relationshipsaˆ¦ so man needed to adopt modes of living which were consonant with the environment in which he livedaˆ¦” (Graves, 1975)

Geography branched out as a new light and the thought process was now in place. Yet Darwin never claimed to be a geographer, with his main concentration being botany. Humboldt and Carl Ritter then co-founded a Geographical Society in Germany in 1874, bringing together Humboldt’s principle of a systematic approach and Ritter’s regional approach which were key methods of geography at this time. Regional geography is the study of world regions. It looks at key characteristics and how one place is specific and unique compared to another.

Another German geography, Freidrich Ratzel was the first person to use the term Lebensraum, which was used by Adolf Hitler. One of Ratzel’s students Ellen Semple studied under Ratzel and was heavily influenced by his ideas, publishing ‘Influences of Geographic Environment in 1911. Another one of Ratzel’s students, Ellsworth Huntington also applied Ratzel’s theory of regional geography to the reasoning behind the rise and fall of civilisation. Despite being one of the oldest disciplines, in today’s society, geography struggles to define itself as an academic subject. Over the past few decades, geography has had to forge its way to stand as a fundamental scientific subject.

In the early 19th century, many geography scholars believed that environment had a key role on the living marvels. The theory of Environmental Determinism – the view that the physical environment sets limits on human environment – was being questioned due to claims of its lack in the intellectual relevance and faults in its descriptions of certain locations. This led on to the theory of environmental possibilism. Possibilism states that the environment does have an effect on society, however it is not deterministic and humans can heavily influence the environment around them. By the 1950’s environmental determinism was virtually history and environmental possibilism had now taken over as central theory.

The first few steps forward for geography were the opening of the first geographical institutions, such as the establishment of the first institution by Humboldt and Ritter in Germany in 1874, The National Geographic Society in 1888 and also the Royal Geographical Society, founded in 1830 in Britain. The Royal Geographical Society is an institution to encourage the progression of geographical science. “The Society also devoted much of its energy to education, and was responsible for both the incorporation of the study of geography in schools at the turn of the 20th century, and for the first university positions in the discipline.” (Royal Geographical Society website.) The Society is the largest Geographical Society in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It supports and promotes geographical research, field training, education and teaching. These associations were the grounding for geography to start to grow and develop as the funded key and essential research. They also promoted geography in schools and universities, leading to the first university lecturer appointed in 1888. In 1919, Geography was the established as a Bachelor of Arts degree, and Cambridge University appointed its first professor in 1933, which was a great step forward for geography being such an influential place of learning. This appointment acted as a catalyst, and after this, many other universities started to follow suit.

By the 1930’s Britain had 44 University geography departments. However, there was a slump in the early 1940’s when geography hit crisis point. Geography departments started to deteriorate as geography as an academic topic struggled to stand as a basic University subject. “aˆ¦geography as a subject is frequently misunderstood by the non-geographersaˆ¦” (Graves, 1975) This meant that other discipline professors and educators questioned the importance of geography. “During the eighteenth century, geography began to be taught in certain institutions of higher learning, though the substance of what was being taught varied immensely in quality.” (Graves, 1975) This was followed by Harvard University abolishing geography as a subject in 1948. Being such an important and significant place of learning, this eradication had an adverse impact on the way geography was viewed. It lost its place as a highly regarded subject, and was starting to be regarded as overly descriptive with no relevance to science, the Greeks named it as ‘a description of the earth’.

It was at this point that questions were raised about the importance of geography and whether it answers the ‘why’s?’ and ‘how’s?’. At this time, geography had no documented split between the human and physical side. Also, “aˆ¦geography in academic institutions straddled the arts and the sciences.” This made it hard for geography to have a true factual definition. Society started to wonder whether it sat as a science or a humanity subject. These questions and queries made it increasingly difficult for geography to have a good platform on which to grow. Essentially, the subject needed to be defined, and this would entail more detailed research.

With more advanced research, geography started to branch out with the division of both physical and human geography into contemporary geographies. Henderson (1968) “the ‘adjectival geography’: agriculture geography, urban geography, social geography, settlement geography and so on.” These numerous modern geographies started to make it easier to for geography to be defined. At last there were specialised areas that focused on one particular area of geography. “Parallel to this trend towards specialization, there developed a tendency to use quantitative techniques of analysis.” (Graves, 1975)

The importance for technology to develop in society had increased massively by the end of World War II, which meant there was a gap for geography to grow. This gap led to the quantitative revolution, which was one of the major turning points of modern geography. This revolution began in the 1950’s, and marked a swift change in the method behind geographical research – making geography into a spatial science and shifting from an idiographic subject to an empirical law making one. It made laws that applied to large groups of people and individuals, and established broad generalisations.

It was a turning point, and geography started to grasp attention once again. It brought to light new determinism models and mathematical equations to answer hypotheses that could be used in teaching, and helped to define geography, making it able to answer the more logical questions and respond in more depth. Geography could again stand as a strong scientific discipline in schools and universities. The subject started gaining popularity again and Universities began to recognise the value of geographic study and training – this provided more classes and degree opportunities.

The use of fieldwork started to be used in schools in the 1950’s, as a key method of teaching. Fieldwork is an effective teaching method in geography – is an interactive fun way for people to learn and experience what they are learning at first hand. It is an important method of learning as fieldwork teaches things that cannot be taught or learned in class. However, disappointingly the focus on fieldwork started to weaken as it “aˆ¦ is not promoted in educational institutions because of factors such as time to cover comprehensive curricula, financial constraints, legal issues and commitment by educators.” Factors such as these had the effect that the inclusion of fieldwork declined in some schools; however, with the help of funding fieldwork is still a very important and prominent part of teaching geography whenever possible.

Geography is unique in that it is not artificial. It is not something that textbook writers had composed for students to study. Geography is alive, and something that is relevant and we use in our daily lives. Fieldwork started to make a real impact in higher education in 1985. It gave people transferrable skills, including “Project design, organisational skills, leadership skills, group skills and student participation.”(Royal Geographical Society website) This is why fieldwork is vital, it helps pupils understand and picture the subject for them. Fieldwork also put research and findings into practise. In undertaking field work, students are effectively carrying out innovative research over and above what could be achieved in a classroom.

The president of the American Geographical Society, Jerome E. Dobson, president of the American Geographical Society argues that geographic tools allow for scientific advancement and therefore geography deserves a place among the fundamental sciences, but more importantly more of a role in education. “aˆ¦most academics in the United States considered geography a marginal disciplineaˆ¦” (Jill Freund Thomas) In May 1993, Roger Down worked towards making research in geography education to be an “integral part of work”. In his own words, “The need for research in geography education: it would be nice to have some data.” (Downs, 1994b:57). In the UK, The Geography Education Research Collective is “aˆ¦dedicated to the promotion of geography education through research and publication.” (http://www.geography.org.uk/gtip/gereco/) 13 teachers come together every four years with the resolution of creating research in geography education. It is a UK based association and was first set up in 1893. “The field of geography education is sadly lacking in empirical data that might inform and underpin decisions about standard setting, curriculum design, materials development, teaching strategies, and assessment procedures. Large quantities of high-quality data are necessary if geography is to be successfully implemented in the education systemaˆ¦ We need a new attitude towards researchaˆ¦”

In conclusion I believe that geography will continue to grow and develop with the discoveries of new modern geographies due to the enormous amount of scientific research that is now able to be undertaken. The development of new technologies has helped geography turn into an academic discipline as it supports research making research easier to carry out, and getting results which are far more precise.

In the future technology will continue to advance and thus continue to be included and promoted in school curriculums. “aˆ¦the most important change which has occurred is the realization that any progress in understanding phenomena studied by geographers involves the conscious use of scientific methods and the development of a body of theory to explain such phenomena.” (Graves, 1975) With advanced technologies, wider geographical research will also be capable and new discoveries will be made.

The role of theory in the development of geography in education is very significant as it is the basis of learning and has helped geography thrive over the last couple of centuries. “For, if a theory is to be developed, then some understanding of the nature of theory and of the process of theory building was required.” (Graves, 1975) Today geography continues to flourish and expand in education. Nowadays, increasing numbers of students chose to study this subject at university, so the trend is set for the popularity and importance of this discipline to continue to go from strength to strength in the future.

The development of social identity has been a source of great interest to psychologists, however much research has been directed at the development of the social self, that is, the self defined by one’s membership of social groups such as gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and sub-cultural groups. The aim of this paper is to consider development of criminal social identity looking from psycho-social perspective, the self defined by membership of anti-social or criminal groups such as gangs or small non-organized criminal groups. The article starts with an explanation of the meaning and role of identity as social psychological concept introduced by Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) and Self-Categorization Theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher and Wetherell, 1987), indicating its multidimensional nature. The remaining parts of the article are organized around the application of Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory to development of criminal social identity, indicating essential role of dysfunctional family, anti-social peers and stored representations of criminal significant others in memory. Finally, the last part describes multiple social identities emphasizing gang membership and the process of how criminal behaviour may shift as social context and social identity shift.

Social Identity and Self-Categorization Theory

One theoretical approach in which social comparisons occupy a essential place is Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), and its more updated explanation, Self-Categorization Theory (Turner et al., 1987). According to Social Identity Theory, individuals’ perceptions of, and attitudes toward, in-group and out-group members ultimately develop from their need to identity with and belong to groups that are relatively superior, as means of enhancing their level of self-esteem. The result of these processes is that individuals perceive other group members to be similar to themselves and show preference in their attitudes and behaviours toward them, whereas out-group members are perceived to be dissimilar from in-group members and to posses less favourable qualities, and therefore they can be discriminated against.

Turner’s (1982) distinction between personal and social identity illustrates the beginning of Self-Categorization Theory. Personal identity is defined as self-definition of unique individual in terms of interpersonal or intra-group differentiations (“I” or “me” versus “you”), whereas social identity means self-definition as a similar group member in terms of in-group – out-group differentiations (“we” or “us” versus “they” or “them”). The theory was then developed in greater detail by Turner et al. (1987) who pointed out that Social Categorization Theory specifies the antecedents and consequences of both personal and social identity. Therefore, it can offer explanations for both individual conduct as guided by personal identity and group behaviour guided by social identity.

According to Self-Categorization Theory, both personal and social identity develop from self-categorizations, which are:

“cognitive groupings of oneself and some class of stimuli as the same … in contrast to some other class of stimuli” (Turner et al., 1987, p. 44).

The theory suggests that identity salience is a combined function of individuals’ readiness to adopt a particular identity and the degree to which that identity is accommodated as a significant self-definition within a specified social framework. Readiness to adopt a specific identity depends on individuals’ universal principles, changing motives, currant objectives, former experiences and so forth. For example, a former experience of being ignored because of particular group membership likely decrease individual’s readiness to classify oneself in terms of the corresponding social identity, if individual wants to escape from further mistreatment. However, if one’s present aim was to draw public attention to particular mistreatment, readiness for such self-definition should increase. Moreover, readiness to adopt a specific identity can be influenced by the comparative strengths of one’s needs for assimilation or differentiation (Brewer, 1991). For example, adolescents in large anonymous neighbourhood may wish to join a local criminal group to achieve a noticeable identity, whereas in criminal group new member may wish to assimilate and blend in with the rest in order not to become an outsider.

The salience of personal identity is constructed in the same way as a combined function of readiness (e.g., a high need for distinctiveness) and fit. However, the significant distinction lies in the consequences of personal versus social identity salience. The salient personal identity should accentuate the perception of individual differences and intra-individual similarity or consistency. A salient social identity, however, is supposed to improve the perception of self as similar to, or even identical with, other in-group members and as diverse from out-group members, who are perceived as highly similar to each other.

It is the mechanism of depersonalization, related to a salient social identity, or personalization, associated with a salient personal identity, that is responsible for group behaviour or individualistic behaviour, correspondingly. This process of depersonalization specifies a shift from personal to social identity which should not be confused with a loss of identity – a state that has been referred to as deindividuation (Zimbardo, 1970). This process not only depersonalizes self-perception but also transforms self-conception and assimilates all aspects of one’s attitudes, feelings, and behaviours to the in-group model; it changes what individuals think, feel, and do (Hogg, 2001). Depersonalization is the fundamental process underlying group phenomena; it perceptually distinguishes groups and provides with perceptions, attitudes, feelings, and behaviours that are stereotypical and group normative.

Multidimensional Aspect of Social Identity

Literature review on social identification suggested that cognitive processes, emotional relations, and interdependence between group members are all significant characteristics of the social identification process (Deaux, 1996). A number of researchers investigating the nature of social identification concluded their research with empirical evidence for the multidimensional structure of social identification (Cameron and Lalonde, 2001; Ellemers, Kortekaas, and Ouwerkerk, 1999; Hinkle, Taylor, Fox-Cardamone, and Crook, 1989; Jackson, 2002; Jackson and Smith, 1999). Karasawa (1991) differentiated between identification with the group members and identification with group. Hinkle and colleagues (1989) found empirical support for three aspects of identification: an affect aspect, a cognitive aspect and a group dynamics aspect. Further investigation conducted by Ellemers and collegues (1999) reported findings indicating three dimensions of social identification; group self esteem, self categorization, and commitment to the group. Findings similar to those presented by Cameron (2004) were reported by Jackson (2002) who suggested three dimensionality of social identification in relation to self categorization (a cognitive factor), evaluation of the group (an affective factor) and perceptions of solidarity (in-group ties factor). Although the factor structure of social identification does vary across these research, the notion of multidimensionality consistent with Tajfel’s (1978) definition of the construct, which explains social identity as originating from familiarity of group membership, and the value and emotional significance attached to that membership.

Cameron (2004), in his recent investigations referred to Deaux’s (1996) three factorial nature of social identity and devised his own multidimensional scale which measures three aspects of social identity. First, Cognitive centrality which is referred to the cognitive importance of a given group membership, and is analogous to the self categorization factors which appeared in Ellmers et al’s (1999) and Jackson’s (2002) studies. Second, In-group affect, refers to the emotional evaluation of that group membership, summarizing the emotional dimension which has emerged in previous research (e.g. Ellmers et al., 1999; Jackson, 2002; Hinkle et al., 1989). Finally, In-group ties, is referred to the perception of resemblance and bonds with other members of given group, which again has been suggested in previous investigations (e.g. Ellmers et al, 1999; Jackson, 2002; Hinkle et al., 1989; Karasawa, 1991).

Research suggests that people belong to numerous social groups; nevertheless these memberships are not likely to be of corresponding psychological meaning or determining the behaviour at a given time (e.g., Deaux, Reid, Mizrahi, and Ethier, 1995). The rationale is based on contextual factors, such as the salience of a specific social categorization, which occupy a significant function in bringing the relevant identity to the cognitive foreground. This process is referred to in terms of shifting self-categorizations (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, and Wetherell, 1987), or brief changes in the self-concept that consequently direct social perception and behaviour. Another explanation for the relative psychological primacy of a given social category, however, is its continuing (i.e., cross-situational) cognitive importance within structure of the self concept; that is, some individuals are chronically readier to perceive and act in terms of given category than others (Oakes, 1987; Gurin and Markus, 1989). Therefore, the social identification for these individuals may be relatively central. Having said that centrality is manifested in the cognitive accessibility of a social identity, the operationalization of this phenomenon is the frequency with which membership in a particular group ”comes to mind.”. However, an additional associated method in which centrality has been conceptualized is related to personal significance for the self (Hutnik, 1991; Rosenberg, 1979; Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, and Smith, 1997; Stryker and Serpe, 1994).

Research proposes that the emotional quality of group membership occupies a significant role in social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel and Turner, 1979), which hypothesizes that a negative social identity, resulting from intergroup social comparisons, stimulates attempts to achieve a more positive identity by engaging in particular strategies such as engagement in more constructive social comparison, challenging the intergroup status hierarchy or leaving group structures. Most scales measuring social identification include at least a few items that reveal the evaluation of group membership (e.g., Brown et al., 1986; Ellemers et al., 1999; Hinkle et al., 1989; Luhtanen and Crocker, 1992; Crocker, 1992; Phinney, 1992; Sellers et al., 1997). In the Cameron’s (2004) model, this aspect of social identity is referred to as in-group affect, given that measured items reflect particular emotions (e.g., being glad or regretful) that occur from group membership.

A third feature of social identification reflects the psychological ties that connect the self to the group. Allport (1979) explained the nature of identification as an ”emotional merging of self with others” (p. 293), which corresponds to Freud’s (1967) concept in which the libidinal ties between members of particular group reflects those ties that are between parents and children. This nature of identification as emotional bond between group members is incorporated in a number of scales of social identity (Phinney, 1992; Hinkle et al., 1989; Brown et al., 1986; Cameron and Lalonde, 2001). Moreover, a great amount of the related theoretical and empirical studies concerning in-group ties is associated with the literature on group cohesion. Although cohesion has been conceptualized and evaluated in many ways (see Dion, 2000; Hogg, 1992), one significant difference is between scales that incorporate a group-level approach and those aimed at capturing individual-level perceptions of the degree to which one feels bound to the particular group. Consistent with the latter approach, in-group ties are defined here as the degree to which ”group members feel ‘stuck to,’ or part of, particular social groups” (Bollen and Hoyle, 1990, p. 482).

The Development of the Criminal Social Identity

According to Erikson’s (1963; 1968) and Marcia’s (1967) theory of ego identity formation, the development of one’s identity arises out of the identity crisis that occurs during adolescence when peer relationships play an important role (Waterman, 1985). In order to deal with psychosocial crisis, individual has to engage in the process of exploration of different identities and roles, eventually emerging in pro-social or antisocial identities. It is suggested that the need for social comparison increases during adolescence, where peer influence plays an important role in identity development. Goethals and Darley (1987) maintain that the school setting is one that supports strong social comparison, especially in terms of academic achievement. Such comparison processes involve social categorization, as the two are strongly linked, and have implications for the self-concept (Turner, 1985). Self-categorization’s meta-contrast principle clarifies how individuals who engage in these comparisons achieve their group identity. This depends on:

“the degree that two or more people come to perceive and define themselves in terms of some shared in-group – out-group categorization”. (Turner, et al. 1987; p. 51)

Therefore, it is the perceived relative resemblance and distinction that results in identification and psychological group development. Membership in particular group is “psychological” when the social identity of the group members, incorporated into their self-concept, can become salient without the physical presence of individuals of given group. As a consequence of social comparison and categorization processes, it can be suggested that two groups are distinguished within the higher level category of the person identity; the successful and the failures when the measurement of comparison is intellectual and social abilities, and the conforming and the non-conforming, when the comparison is measured by attitudes towards authority (see Lynam, et al. 1993; Tremblay, et al. 1992; Zingraff, et al. 1994).

The more successful individuals, under certain circumstances when their social identity is salient, tend to identify themselves as members of particular group. This process is influenced by higher status and increased impermeable boundaries of the group (Ellemers, 1993) and provides a socially protective purpose. In addition, the group identification of the failures and non-conforming individuals is expected to be facilitated by the low status, high stability and perceived impermeability of group boundaries (Ellemers, 1993). It is anticipated that for these people, there is only slight probability of transferring to a higher status group, as this is significantly influenced by individual intellectual and social abilities, which is comparatively constant. Over time, group boundaries are likely to become strong and constant, once categorization and labelling followed by rejection between groups takes place. The failures and non conforming group would exhibit significantly higher level of out-group discrimination. The identification of the failures and non conforming individuals as a group fulfils the emotional function of providing its members with an alternative social identity and an increased self-esteem, as hypothesized by social identity theory.

Individuals, who have failed in their social roles and exhibited non-conforming behaviour on a personal level, would see themselves as inconsistent in relation to higher level identity. Higgins (1987) suggested that they would experience a sense of discrepancy in terms of their actual and ideal selves which is associated with depression or sense of agitation. This statement corresponds with Agnew’s (1993) Strain Theory which suggests that inability to reach important goals results in frustration and anger.

These unconstructive feelings of self-derogation, anger, frustration, jealousy, antipathy and hostility (Salovey and Rodin, 1984) may be aggravated by external family factors, including the lack of tenderness, parental rejection or inappropriate parenting style (Shaw and Scott, 1991; Patterson, et al. 1989; Simon, et al. 1991). The lack of parental tenderness and affection can restrain the development of empathy and guilt (Baumeister, et al. 1994), by emotional, psychological and physical isolation individuals from their parents, which makes a negative impact on the bonds of social control (Hirschi, 1969) and reduce any motivation to make every effort for pro-social accomplishment or to conform to the authority. An empirical support conducted by Downs and Rose (1991) suggests that peer groups are deviant in terms of un-involvement with pro-social activities and non-conforming behaviours. Members of this group are rejected by the other pro-social groups and manifest more psychosocial problems than individuals from the other groups indicating, at the same time, lower level of self-esteem. Therefore, it can be suggested that these dimensions influence development of negative or criminal identity.

The role of peer relationships has a significant influence in development of criminal identity. Parker and Asher (1987) followed by Juvonen (1991) have suggested that the consequences of peer rejection are reported by individuals’ low self-esteem, violent tendencies, an increased risk of dropping out of school or social activities and development of criminal behaviours. Rejection by peers, whether real or perceived, is then an additional source for categorization into groups which mutually reject one another. Having said that, rejection can be perceived as the cause or the product of self-categorization. Therefore, the negative identity that results in being self-discrepant or inconsistent, pertains not only to individual group member who consistently fails in his/her social tasks and is non-conforming in pro-social attitudes and behaviour, but applies as a whole to group of members, which also face the dilemma of a lower social status in society compared to the group of successful and conforming individuals.

In the process of identification with others and forming a subgroup within the higher level social identity, non-conforming and less successful individuals adopt the scheme of “social creativity” and according to social identity theory, they achieve increased level of self-esteem (Oakes and Turner, 1980; Lemrye and Smith, 1985) through their positive distinctiveness, which is characterized by rejection and reversal of pro-social norms, in other words, what is considered constructive, positive and valued in society is redefined as unconstructive, negative and derogated(Cohen, 1955). Having said that, non-conforming behaviours associated with criminal identity, such as aggressiveness or any aspect of anti-social conduct, would be perceived as a desirable trait.

Criminal identification creates mutual agreement among members who have similarly as a group, rejected conventional model of social norms. McGarty et al. (1993) have suggested that this has the effect of uncertainty reduction and is likely to be a source of self- enhancement (Kaplan, 1978, 1980; Kaplan et al. 1986, 1987). Thus, this group of individuals tend to engage in criminal behaviours in spite of their sense of self-derogation (Fischer and Bersani, 1979), in contrast to those people who maintain strong psycho-social bonds with the family and the society, who tend to exhibit low self-esteem after engagement in criminal behaviour (McCarthy and Hoge, 1984).

Campbell’s (1987) research conducted on Puerto Rican female gang members has supported concept of identity formation through rejection and reputation. This study has discovered that the gang membership is a manifestation of a rejected identity. She concluded that gang members perceive themselves as dissimilar from their peers.

“Their association with the gang is a public proclamation of their rejection of the lifestyle which the community expects from them” (p. 463).

Their criminal identity or criminal self-image derives from the process of rejection and putting-down those peers who are not associated with their anti-social norms. Therefore, they often define themselves by characteristics of what they are not to others.

Once the criminal social identity with reversed (criminal) norms becomes established, members of criminal group then achieve a sense of self-consistency by a manifestation of their new identity in terms of criminal behaviours. This has been suggested by Breakwell (1986) who emphasized the significance of relationship between identity and behaviour:

“Action is the social expression of identity. The only route of access to the identity of another is through his or her action, whether verbal or not. Since identity comprises emotions, beliefs, and attitudes it is a prime motivator of action. Identity directs action.” (p. 43)

Development of criminal identity can be better understood from Interpersonal Social-Cognitive Theory of Self proposed by Andersen, Chen and Miranda (2002). It suggests that mental representations of significant others are stored in memory and that:

“transference reflects basic social-cognitive processes – namely, the activation of the perceiver’s mental representation of significant other in an encounter with a new person, leading the perceiver to interpret and remember the person in terms of the activated representation, and to respond emotionally, motivationally, and behaviourally to the person in representation-derived ways” (p. 160).

It further postulates that significant others’ (criminal others in this particular case) mental representations are significantly influential because they loaded with affect and because they describe the manner in which one’s expectancies, affects, motives and behaviours in relation to other individuals arise. Furthermore, it assumes that significant-other representations are connected to knowledge signifying the self one is in relation to significant others. The presence of such connection entails that the activation of significant-other representation should extend to features of the self and identity that are related to particular other. However, as suggested by Linville and Carlson (1994), the idea that one’s whole pool of self-knowledge is likely to be working at once is vague. It is positioned that only a subset is in working memory at given moment. Therefore, the contextual cues determine the particular elements of self-knowledge that are entered into working memory, suggesting that the self and identity is fundamentally created alternatively in each context. In Andersen et al.’s (2002) opinion:

“when contextual cues activate a significant-other representation, the working self-concept shifts toward the self one is with the significant other” (p. 161).

Once the criminal social identity become salient, members tend to display behaviours that are exemplary of the criminal group model and may participate with other in-group members to express their conformity (Turner, 1982; Thornberry et al. 1993). Demonstration of over-conformity to criminal standards and conduct would then be positively encouraged and reinforced by other in-group criminals, consequently leading to an increase of criminal behaviour, or an alteration of non-criminal acts to criminal one. Therefore, criminal group members do not have to apply persuasion in order to make an impact on others anti-social attitudes or commit a crime because it occurs through the process of identification and self-categorization.

The investigation conducted by of Klein and Crawford (1968) and that of Pabon et al. (1992) suggested that the criminal group members are characterized by a sense of belongingness, which is an inter-group rather than inter-personal feature. Klein and Crawford (1968) found that the cohesiveness of the criminal group is due to external rather than internal aspects, and Pabon et al. (1992) established in their empirical research that members of criminal groups tend to lack intimacy and affection in regards to their relationships.

Multiple Social Identities and Their Change

Societies, in general, produce various moral principles for different settings and situations, such as for behaviour in the home, in the community, or on the streets. Moral behaviour is not only context-specific, but also formed by the social identities that occupy an important role in a given circumstances. Particular social identities represent particular beliefs and values about what is morally appropriate or inappropriate, and when they become significant in a precise context, they are likely to model individual behaviour. Subsequently, aggressive practices which take place in the situation of the assertion of a particular social identity do not necessarily carry over into another situation within which a different identity, with diverse moral standards, prevails. Therefore, as suggested by Dawes (1992), moral behaviour may shift as social context and social identity shift.

It has been postulated in the Situational Theory of Delinquency (Sykes and Matza, 1957; Matza, 1964) that criminals tend to drift in and out of non-conforming or anti-social behaviour. Under certain circumstances, such as company of criminal group, individuals can be expected to think and behave along with non-conventional norms. Thus, anti-social behaviour is manifested only when the criminal identity is salient. Individuals are expected to be more delinquent in the presence of criminal in-group others, although the physical company is not essential for salience to take place. What matters most is the psychological identification with the criminal in-group members. In other words, it is suggested that those individuals in their personal identity as members of their family tend to have less anti-authority attitudes than when they are in the social identity as criminals among criminal in-group members. It has been also noticed by Cohen (1990) that in the commitment of criminal activities, criminals act as interchangeable units of a collectivity, thus, any insult caused to one member of criminal group is perceived insult to all members who share the same identity.

Strocka (2008), in her research in Latin America, reported a degree to which gang members’ behaviour changed across different social contextual situations which made her to realize of the multiple social identities that young people held apart from their gang membership . She observed that a number of gang members were permanently drunk and involved in criminal violent behaviour, however during the time they worked in their rural communities they completely abstained from alcohol and violence. Moreover, two ex-gang leaders, whose police records indicated that they had no scruples to eliminate their rivals, revealed lack of violent tendencies towards their children or wives. Both gang leaders had been physically abused by their parents when they were children and did not want to copy that behaviour in their families. Thus, Strocka (2008) suggested that the youth gang members were not generally and inherently violent because they only showed violent and criminal behaviour in context of their social identity as gang members, that is, at joint actions with their peer group and encounters with opponent gang group. In these situations, individual criminal conduct is more likely to be directed by the norms and values of the criminal group, according to which violence is a desirable when comes to defend the gang’s honour and territory. However, youth gang members appeal to different moral behaviour and reasoning when they identify with different social roles such as a father, husband or day worker.

Youth gang membership is limited to a certain period of the life cycle (Rodgers, 1999). The question, then, arises; what happens to gang members when they grow older? According to Strocka (2008) the prevalent assumption in public discussion is that most youth gang members either are being killed before they reach adulthood or will end up as “professional criminals” with persistent violent tendencies. In other words, it is believed that gang members when they grow up, they either adopt social identities with similarity or even more negative characteristics (professional criminals), or carry over the harmful behaviours related to gang membership to other social identities, for example, it is assumed that a ex-gang member will become an abusive husband and father.

The position of cultures of resistance and adjustment is imperative in theories of the appearance and verification of criminal identity and was incorporated in the Clemmer’s (1961) concept of “prisonization”, a form of secondary socialisation in which offenders learn how to adapt to prison life style. These adaptations have been documented along the range from withdrawal to continual rebellion. Cohen and Taylor (1972) argued that such investigations do not seek to identify what these adaptations imply to inmates themselves. They agree to the importance of the “inmate code” and offender subculture (Sykes and Messinger, 1960) in helping prisoners to get by, however they want to stress

“the conscious, creative nature of the subculture” and “the positive nature of the dogmas, mythologies, beliefs, modes of adaptation and feeling which are part of day to day experience of people who find themselves in extreme situations” (Cohen and Taylor, 1972; p. 58).

Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to present the application of social identity and self-categorization theories to development of criminal social identity. It is suggested that individuals become criminals because of a persistent criminal identity which has its origin in social comparison processes. Negative social comparison of individuals who have failed in their social roles and exhibited non-conforming behaviour on a personal level, aggravated by contextual factors such as dysfunctional family and the role of criminal peers, contribute to the development of negative identity suggested by strain and social control theories. This concept was supplemented by interpersonal social-cognitive theory of self which proposes that development of criminal identity might be influenced by representations of criminal others stored in memory, and is activated based on contextual cues. This is also consistent with the notion that individuals have multiple social identities which may shift as social context shifts. Therefore, it can be hypothetically suggested that the process of re-socialization of criminals should be based on pro-social context rather than penal one in order to change their criminal identity into pro-social identity and avoid adaptation of harmful behaviours associated with criminal group membership to other social identities such as adaptation of aggressive behaviour in family environment as father or husband.

I will look in particular at the works of Max Weber regarding his “Protestant Ethic Theory” and Karl Marx alternative theories to explain how capitalism came about in Europe.

I will first look at the historical background of both theorists and the actual historical events which influenced central Europe during the 19th century. These events such as the industrial revolution are important to understand how capitalistic modes of economic and societal arrangements developed and what were the contributing factors to this development.

It is important to also look at the present “Modern Capitalism” of contemporary society, and compare it to the past to see how capitalism actually developed and expanded, touching the important, often interlinked concept of “Globalisation”.

Modern capitalist society is described as: “The expansion of international commerce on a large scale, also the flowering of a large scale industry, the triumph of machinery, and the growing power of the great financial houses. In a word, it is the present day union of all these phenomena which really constitutes modern capitalism.”

Capitalism is the rational development of capital, commodities and means of production in a network of an interconnected markets.

Both Weber and Marx offer valid explanations for how capitalism came about, they base their works on historical references and suggest different theories to explain this phenomena.

To create a more clear picture I will also compare the works of other theorists such as Emile Durkheim and Simmel. These will be useful as they will offer alternative approaches and different points of view which can help to understand the main mechanisms which lead to capitalism development.

I will conclude by giving my own opinion based on the constructed evidence from various theorists on how Capitalism came about in Europe. I will try to asses what have been the most influential factors that brought to this development in this specific part of the world.

Weber

Max Weber was a sociologist, he offered a theory which basically seeks to describe Capitalism. This theory is based on the process of Rationalization which Weber believes to be at the roots of Capitalism development.

In order to understand Weber’s “Protestant Ethic Theory”, it is useful to have a quick look at his family background: Weber was born in a middle class family, his father was a business man and embraced liberal values, described as “a man who enjoyed earthly pleasures”.

On the other hand, Weber’s Mother appeared to have contrasting ideologies with the husband. She was a strong Calvinist who embraced puritan values and absolutist ideas.

While Weber’s father was the typical image of the capitalist entrepreneur which invested and indulged in the luxuries of life, Weber’s mother reflected the conservative, minimalist puritan Calvinist spirit.

It is no doubt that Weber was thorn between these to views and much of his work is influenced by the discrepancies between his parents.

Weber was also interested in how religion influenced identities and values in central Europe. This interest could be linked to his mother strong religious values and how Weber saw a connection between Protestantism and Capitalism.

Weber constructed his idea of the Protestant ethic to explain how capitalism came about. He bases his work on the question :”Why did Capitalism begin in Western Europe rather than Asia?”.

He argued that the Protestant religion, among with it’s branches such as Calvinism, created the perfect ideals and behaviours which helped spread and promote capitalism. And suggested that the existence and development of Protestantism in Western Europe, together with the development of Capitalism in Western Europe were two interlinked events.

Webers’s therefore describes religion as the core process which brought to capitalism development in Western Europe. Weber used his rationalization theory to compare religions around the world and found that the most rational religious system was “Calvinism”. He believed other world religions such as Hinduism, Confucianism and Taoism were more irrational and therefore inhibited capitalism development.

The nature of Protestantism and Calvinism does actually reflect possible rational behaviours; this is shown in the ideal of predestination which is embedded in Protestants, this means that one’s position in society has been decided by a higher authority (God) and therefore individuals should not complain for their position in society. This merged very well with the development of capitalism as the process of industrial revolution in capitalist development involved large amount of property-less labourers which worked for the few rich property owners.

While the concept of predestination helped to suggest an explaination for one’s position in society, rationalization was manifested in Protestantism by the puritan minimalist ideology. Most protestants were afraid of divine judgement, unable to be forgiven by the priest like catholic’s, protestants searched for an answer in their behaviour. Many protestants lived minimalist lives to escape from life’s luxuries and therefore behaved in a rational manner by accumulating, working hard and creating wealth to prove to themselves and others that they were predestined to have success and go to heaven.

A difficulty in using Weber’s works to understand capitalism is that his expalinations are very specific to the historical periods that he studied. Because of this it becomes more difficult to compare and place the protestant ethic theory into context with the capitalism of future periods. While the protestant ethic theory might serve an explanation for capitalism development at the time, it is harder to believe of Protestantism development as the driving factor for capitalism. Weber’s theory acknowledges that culture is therefore the driving factor for economic development and not vice versa.

In my opinion Weber’s explanations are highly specific to particular historical periods and cannot be used to compare and describe capitalism at a later period in time. This is because ethical values and ideas are under constant change and evolve to fit with the contemporary society.

More criticism on Weber’s theory is that capitalism began much earlier in history and that Calvinism alone did not serve in developing economic growth and capitalistic modes of production and consumption.

Joseph Schumpeter argues that capitalism began much before the industrial revolution. Italy in the 14th century was composed of many small independent city states like Florence, Milan and Venice and these were the first forms of capitalistic societies which appeared; Through trade and high accumulation of capital these Italian city states represent the first capitalistic modes of economic organisation.

Other empirical evidence shows how countries with a relative popular Calvinist religion did not always score high economically and in developing capitalism. For example Scotland and the Netherlands although predominantly Calvinist states, did not develop at the same speed of England or the mainly Catholic state of Belgium.

Recent works have shown how Protestantism influenced capitalism not because of the protestant ethics and values, but more so because of the promotion of education and literacy that Protestantism brought in Europe.

As capitalism was a process which had already begun before the religious “Reformation”, it is difficult to imagine that capitalism would not have developed under a Catholic religion. Contemporary empirical evidence shows how capitalism modes can be applied to almost any country disregarding religious differences.

The spread of capitalism throughout the world does not need the protestant values in order to be ethically tolerable for people, therefore it is hard to believe that Protestant culture influenced the economy. Rather more plausible is Karl Marx’s approach which describes how economical development and growth shapes cultures and values in society.

Marx

Karl Marx offers us a different approach than Weber’s which is useful in understanding capitalistic development in Western Europe.

Marx was born in a middle class family, he was strongly influenced by Hegel. Unlike Weber, Marx sought to influence the masses rather than the elites of power. His ideas offer a theory of a capitalist society based on the simplistic nature of human beings.

He believed that it is in the nature of human beings to be productive in order to survive, provide for themselves and live life.

Marx argues that it is only in capitalistic society where the breakdown of human actions becomes so acute and rational that it creates negative effects.

Marx’s describes the process of “Alienation” as the crux of the problems with capitalist society. By Alienation he means the process where the worker feels alienated/foreign to his labour. He contrasts how previously workers were in close contact with their costumers and to a fuller part of business experience which supplied more gratifying incentives and values for the worker.

Capitalism brought the alienation of the worked as with the industrial revolution masses of people became employed in jobs where producers do not have contact with consumers, therefore creating a dehumanising effect.

Marx in “the fetishism of commodities” describes how the worker is alienated from his product because he no longer owns that product. This shift in ownership from the individual producer to a single individual (boss) who controls the production creates the alienation of the worker.

Marx focus was directed more at the individual rather than to culture in understanding capitalism. He believed that economic development shaped culture and that religion was merely an epiphenomenon.

The general Marxist view is that of a capitalistic boss which is lazy, tyrannical and demanding. This had a negative influence on the workers which were abused and largely exploited by capitalistic owners which benefited from this mode of production.

This can be interpreted as a process of rationalization, this is shown in the way that it is more rational to have mass production instead of individual production. Worker’s required abilities were reduced and their tasks became more and more simple, repetitive and uniform, leaving most of the benefits of rationalization to the property owners, while negatively affecting the low class workers which were alienated from their labour and society.

Simmel

Simmel in his works touches what Marx had achieved with his works on alienation. Providing a micro point of view Simmel suggests that the Urbanization of society ( movement of masses from countryside to cities) which began with the industrial revolution, created capitalistic centres for finance, business and trade. This offers a theory which is based on the topic of migration.

In my opinion it offers a more plausible explanation than Weber as it analyses broader events such as the industrial revolution and population density shifts which more strongly than religion influenced economy’s need for rationalization and more efficient modes of production in order to provide for all.

The focus of Simmel on individual interactions rather than Weber and Marx preoccupation with large scale issues such as Capitalist Development and Rationalization of society, helped to actually create a broader point of view which stems from the individual to represent the reality of an entire society which is becoming more Blase. This means that individuals, overwhelmed by the large amounts of commodities and stimuli present in urban environments are becoming more unaffected by society and the world around us. Basically it describes a process of increased individualisation where everything has become commoditised and capital is used in almost every relation in our life, making society blase.

This blase theory finds similarities with Marx theory of alienation. Both describe a problem of individuals relations in a capitalist society where feelings and ethics are given up for greater rationality, calculability and uniformity.

These are the negatives of the process of capitalism which is growing more and more in contemporary society.

Emile Durkheim

Born from a high class background, Durkheim theories of

Durkheim developed a theory of individual behaviour. He divided social facts in material and non material facts.

Durkheim described non-material social facts such as institutions and culture and material social facts such as bureaucracy and law.

In his work “the division of labour in society

Conclusion

Looking at the four theorists which seek to understand capitalism development in Western Europe I have came up with critiques and praises for various theories.

I find it hard to support Weber’s protestant ethic theory as it assumes that cultural development shapes economic development. There is a lot of empirical evidence which suggest that economic development was already running in West Europe under a capitalistic mode of production prior to the religious reformation which brought the rise of Protestantism, Calvinism and other branches.

Weber fails to address the importance of migration, urbanization and the increase of rationalization as the main factors for capitalistic development, instead he seeks to find the origins of capitalism in a set of values and ethics belonging only to a section of society. Evidence shows that not always Protestant states dominated economically compared to Catholic states. The origins of capitalism date back to much earlier historical periods and can be explained by Weber’s theory of rationalization, but the empirical importance on religion in capitalism development is overstated and perhaps a broader view taking into account religion, economic development and rationalization is perhaps more useful.

Marx theory of alienation is also useful in understanding capitalism development, indeed the increased rationalization brought by capitalism had a strong influence in workers alienation and in a increase of productivity in exchange for a loss in creativity and lead to the development of a mass production mass consumption system which laid out the foundations for a labour-capital intensive economic system that we call capitalism. Marx focuses on universal ethical values that clash with capitalism, these are Justice, Liberty and Equality, and sees capitalism as the process that undermines these ethical values.

Marx solution involves the eventual rebellion of the masses against their capitalist employers, this phenomenon has not happened in most of the capitalist world and it seems that capitalism as we know today is the most Just system that is available today.

Marxism perhaps gives too much importance to economic development failing to broaden itself to include cultural development and transformation in society during capitalism development, this cultural development is linked to increased rationalism which is embedded in human nature and the increased individualization of the individual which is a process which greatly influenced the development of capitalism together with economic development and profit maximisation.

At the outset itself, this quotation describes the position of women in practically most society. Women are there to make children, are mothers and wives, act as the ‘house-maid’, take care of their husbands and families, bear male authority, being deprived of high status jobs and position of power. So, there is this element of discrimination which has prevailed through time.

2.1.1 Definition of Family

According to Sociologists, the family is an intimate domestic group of people related to one another by bonds of blood, sexual mating, or legal ties. It has been a very resilient social unit that has survived and adapted through time. So, the element of time referred to above, is again present here.

The family acts as a primary socialization of children whereby the child first learns the basic values and norms of the culture they will grow up in. a child needs to be carefully nurtured, cherished and molded into responsible individuals with good values and strong ethics. Therefore, it is important to provide them the best childcare so that they grow up to be physically, mentally and emotionally strong individuals.

Similarly, The United States Census Bureau (2007) defines the family as a relatively permanent group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage or adoption and who live under the same roof.

Stephen (1999) defines the family as a social arrangement based on marriage including recognition of rights and duties of parenthood, common residence for husband, wife and children are reciprocal economic obligations between husband and wife.

The family is seen as the main pillar block of a community; family structure and upbringing influence the social character and personality of any given society. Family is where everybody learns to love, to care, to be compassionate, to be ethical, to be honest, to be fair, to have common sense, to use reasoning etc., values which are essential for living in a community. Yet, there are ongoing debates that families’ values are in decline. Moreover the same family is viewed as an ‘oppressive and bankrupt institution’.

George Peter Murdock (1949) defines the family as a universal institution. According to him, the family is a ‘social group characterised by common residence, economic corporation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children owned or adopted of the sexually cohabiting adults’. However, K. Gough (1959) criticises Murdock definition and argues that the family is not universal. The critics were founded in the Nayar society.

2.1.2 Women and the Family

The main role of women according to John Bowlby (1953) is particularly to act as mothers and as such their places are at home to take care of their children in their tender age. He states that juvenile delinquencies among young children are the result of psychological separation from mothers. The mental stability of children rests solely on their mothers. Therefore there is a need for a close and intimate mother and child relationship.

However, Oakley (1974) uses the example of Alor, an island in Indonesia to refute Bowlby statement. In ‘small-scale horticultural societies, women are not tied to their offspring’, and there is no apparent side effect to it’. Moreover, she does not see the ‘intimate and close relationship’ necessary. Research has proved that mothers return to work after childbirth and that the children of working mothers are ‘less likely to be delinquent’ than non-working mothers.

Crouch (1999) describes the benefits gained by wives and mothers as the ‘mid century social compromise’. Duncan et al. (year) argue that women who define themselves as ‘primarily mothers’ are located at all points on the social spectrum.

Patricia Day Hookoomsing (2002) states that, plans and projects are designed and implemented by men. It is assumed that if men as heads of the family will reap the benefit from projects designed, automatically women and children will benefit.

2.1.3 The Darker Side of the Family / Erosion of Family Life

Earlier in this review of literature, it is shown that the family is warm and supportive. However, many writers have questioned the ‘darker side of the family’. The fact that women spend most of their time either at work or doing household chores can lead to emotional stress in the family. The twentieth century family is mostly nucleus and thus children at times feel isolated and lacking the support of their extended kins: grandparents, aunts, cousins etc. They become introvert and their stress level rise to such an extent that when ‘explosion’ occurs, it can have dramatic results. This may lead to violence, psychological damage, mental illness, drug intake, crime etc.

The breakdown of children may lead to quarrel between parents. In the long run, marriages may fail and consequently lead to divorce. Incidence that may appear trivial can blow out of proportions and cause drastic consequence within the family. The mass media is increasingly bringing to people attention the sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children through neglect. Similarly, The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (2000) parts that around 10% of children suffering from serious abuse or neglect at home by natural parents.

Domestic violence is very prevalent in any society. It is estimated that one in four women are victim of domestic violence.

2.1.4 Conception about Family and Work

Families and work have often been illustrated as separate entities, with women being linked to the home and men to the workplace. This separation unfortunately emanated by the sociology of the family being carried out as a separate domain from the sociology of work and occupations. However this assumption does not stand good in view of the increased participation of married women in the workplace.

Early work by Rhona Raraport and Robert N. Raraport (1969) on dual-career families has talked about the benefits and strains of families with dual-earners. There are, however, many questions still to be answered concerning the interaction of family and work.

Harkness and Waldfogel (1999) advocate that the formation of a family touches mostly female rather than male labour force behaviour. The withdrawal from labour after childbirth may lead to a ‘depreciation of human capital’. This may affect career commitment to employers and affect career progression.

There are changes in family arrangements which prompt changes in production arrangements (Zaretsky 1976). Consumption was favoured to production within the household. ‘Market relation became overruled by a capitalist market society and instead of economy being embedded in social relations, social relations are embedded in the economic system’ (Polanyi 1957). Dapne Johnson (1982) relates that the hours of work and schooling are organized at such time that it has become difficult to single-parent and dual-worker family. Moreover, school holidays add up to the problems of who will look after the child.

Full-time married or cohabiting women generally have less time for leisure, as they are often expected to do two jobs – their paid work and unpaid housework inside the family, Ken Brown (2008).

2.2.0 WOMEN AND WORK

For most of us, work occupies a larger part of our lives than other single type of activity. In our modern societies having a job is important for maintaining self-esteem and to live in better conditions. According to Ken Brown (2008), work is the production of goods and services that usually earns a wage or salary or provides other rewards. The work may be effected in the formal or informal economy. He argues that work is an ‘important element in occupying, directing and structuring the individual’s time – the demands of working life involve a high degree of self discipline if jobs are to be kept. It is, for most people, the single biggest commitment of time in any week, and it is perhaps one of the most important experiences affecting people’s entire lives.’ Work affects the amount of time and money available for family life.

Work and family life have always been interdependent, but the increased employment of mothers just like nowadays the number of women working has risen from 66.2 million in 2009 compared to 1950 where it was 18.4 million.

Pauline Wilson and Allan Kidd (1998) refer to work as a distinctive and clear cut activity. Work refers to the job or occupation undertaken. Work is both the place where one goes in order to do one’s job and the activity that one’s does.

Sociologies increasingly recognize however that it is not easy to define work. The definitions concentrate solely on paid employment and are too narrow. Keith Grint (1991) also states the same thing and even presents a number of definitions to prove what he says:-

Work can be seen as ‘that which ensures individual and societal survival by engaging in nature’. The problem is that many activities which cannot be seen are often regarded as work.

Work cannot be defined simply as employment. Activities in which people are employed are also performed by people who are not employed. Examples include washing, ironing, etc.,

Work cannot be defined as ‘something which can be done’ whether it is liked or not.

Work can finally not be seen as non-leisure activities. Activities may be leisure for some but work for others. Work and leisure would be hard to separate if it goes together.

2.2.1 Reasons for working in paid employment

Women work in paid employment for a number of reasons. These are as follows:

Job satisfaction

Money

Company and friendship

Status and identity

To get out of the home and feel free

To be independent

2.2.2 Functionalist Perspectives on Work and family

Functionalist has given their views on the link between work and family and they argues that family meets the need of the workplace. The family adapts itself in the requirement of the society. They are living in a post modern way of living which is very good for the society as they prefer not to have children because of their career and some prefer to stay single and they are going according to the needs of the society. Functionalist like Talcott Parsons (1981) argues that women are proving the love care and affection to the family and men are maintaining order and security within the family. He also argues that it strengthens the conjugal bond between husband and wife and they complement each other. Young & Willmott (1973) lay emphasis on how family evolved with the requirement of the society. Hence, both men and women are equal and they share the household work like for example man help in the kitchen when a woman is taking care of the child. P and B Berger argues that the bourgeois family already teach the child what the society want that is strict moral values and value economic success. Hence, how far does it apply in our modern society is highly debatable.

On the other hand the functionalists have been criticized by E.Leach (1966) where he argued that the nuclear family is stressed. They are exploited by the capitalist and alienated; they work because they have no choice. Laing on the other hand argued that they are privatized they do not want people to know what is happening in their yard or house and they do not want people to come at their place without informing. Parents inculcate fear and suspicious in children so that they fear to revolt.

2.2.3 Feminist Perspectives on the work and family

However, the Marxist feminists like Margaret Benston (1969) argue that capitalist pay women for their work at minimum wage scale. At present, the support of the family is a hidden tax on the wage earner that is his wage buys the labour power of two people. Thus, at work place women get jobs in the primary labour markets which are insecure, low wage income easily hired or fired. Even if women work they still have to act as a safety valve for the husband and men are still like a boss in the house. Hence, this lead to the work-family role conflict and tension are aroused by conflicting role pressures. Fran Ansley (1972) on the other hand wife still act as a “safety valve” and men are like boss at home.

2.3.0 WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT
2.3.1 Defining work-family conflict

Howard (2008) in summarizing the definitions put forth by prior scholars (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Boyar, Maertz, Pearson, & Keough, 2003) conceptualized work-family conflict as a type of inter-role conflict where both work and family issues exert pressures on an individual, creating a conflict where compliance with some set of pressures (family matters) increases the difficulty of complying with the other set of pressures (work matters). Work-family conflict has been shown to be related to negative work outcomes such as job dissatisfaction, job burnout, and turnover (Greenhaus, Parasuraman & Collins 2001, Howard, Donofrio & Boles 2004), as well as to outcomes related to psychological distress, and life and marital dissatisfaction (Kinnunen & Mauno 1998, Aryee et al., 1999).

Conflict occurs when the demands from one of these domains (home, work, personal, family etc…) interferes with the other and causes imbalance (Frone et al., 1992, 1997). In today’s hectic society, home and work are two colliding forces (Greenhaus and Powell, 2003) that has often lead to an imbalance, where women, lives to achieve fulfillment and satisfaction (Auster, 2001, Chalofsky, 2003). On the other hand, (Zedeck, 1992) suggests that a person’s work experience influence his or her behaviour at home, influencing basic behaviors towards self and family members.

Balancing the demands of work and the responsibilities of the family is an ongoing concern in organizational leadership. Today we are busier than ever. Gone are the days of the 40-hour work week, the two-hour lunch, leaving the office on time, and forgetting about office demands until the next business day. With today’s advanced technology, such as cell phones with paging and instant messaging, wireless Internet access, and the mobile office following us wherever we go, it is easier to take the office on the road when we travel, even when the road leads home. Once at home, office responsibilities easily impose on family time with a quick call here and an email reply there limiting the amount of quality time available for the family. This incompatibility between the pressures of work and family concerns generates role conflict and stress on the follower.

Researchers define the incompatibility between the domain of work and the domain of family as work-family conflict. Conflict between these domains occurs when participation in one role is more difficult due to participation in the other role. Today, work-family conflict (work interfering with family) is more prevalent than family-work conflict (family interfering with work) though both can occur. However, regardless of the direction of causation, when one domain is discordant with another domain, the result is conflict and increased stress on the individual. Current research focuses on the causes of work-family conflict, balance of time, involvement and satisfaction, quality of life, and the outcomes between the two domains.

2.3.2 Types of work-family conflict

Greenhaus and Beuthell (1985) identified three major types of work-family conflict:

(a) Time-based,

(b) Strain-based and

(c) Behaviour- based conflict.

Time-based conflict occurs when time devoted to one role makes it difficult to participate in another for example, when mothers have to do overtime at work with little notice might make it difficult for them to meet family obligations, like picking up children from school. Time-based conflict, is the most common types of work-family conflict when multiple roles reduce the time and energy available to meet all role demands, thus, creating strain (Goode, 1960) and work-family conflict (Marks, 1977).

Strain-based conflicts suggests that strain experienced in one role intrudes into and interferes with participation in another role; for example, mother who is anxious about their child’s illness might not be fully concentrate on her job and this can cause mistakes in her work.

Behaviour-based conflicts occur when specific behaviors required in one role are incompatible with behaviour expectation in another role. That is, when work roles cause problems at home or when home role causes problems at work.

All these three forms are formulated based on the role theory, which conceptualize conflicts as reflecting incompatible demands on the person, either within a single or between multiple roles occupied by the individual (Kahn et al., 1964).

(Carlson et al., 2000) also argue that another form of work/ family conflict is the Worry-based conflict in modern industrial society. On the other hand, increasing living cost, marital distress and parental stress may erode the stability of the family life (Lu, in press), causing worries which interfere with work. (Carlson et al., 2000) thus, defined worry-based conflict in terms of pervasive and generalized worries experienced in one role into and interfering with participation in another role.

In a study, Fu and Shaffer (2001) identified several family and work specific determinants of FWC and WFC conflict, respectively. Testing these across the three forms of conflict-time, strain, behaviour-based they found that the family- specific variables were only effective in predicting time-based FWC conflict. As a group, the work-specific variables had much stronger effects and role conflict, role overload and hours spent on paid work were especially influential in explaining both time-based and strain-based forms of WFC conflict. Family conflicts was to be strong risk factor for the onset of elevated need for necessary need for recovery from work and fatigue.

2.3.3 Theoretical explanation of work-family conflict

Two of the theoretical explanations of work-family conflict are:

Attribution theory,

Compensation theory.

Attribution theory states that there are internal and external explanations for work-family and family-work conflict. An internal explanation is the desire to be successful in multiple roles such as mother or father, brother or sister, leader or follower, and peer or subordinate. Internally, work-family conflict occurs when what needs to be accomplished at work interferes with personal values. Personal values may include spending daily quality time with family or simply rejuvenating after a hard day of work. Internally-generated conflict can also occur when family responsibilities such as attending a school function or taking care of a sick child spills over into the responsibilities of work and increases the time spent away from the job. External causes of work-family conflict may occur when your work assignment takes more time to complete than what you have to give or when your spouse is unwilling to support your endeavors both at home and at work. Conflict between these domains also occurs when the amount of control followers have over their job is limited and flexibility is minimal.

Compensation theory suggests that people add more to one domain than the other in order to balance what lacks in either. In other words, life balance is a direct result of the amount of time and psychological resources an individual decides to commit to both domains. If the individual commits more time or psychological resources to work, then work-family conflict may increase. If an individual decides to commit more resources to family than work, but work requirements increase, then family-work conflict also increases.

While the conflict between work and family may be inevitable, researchers such as Friedman and Greenhaus (2000) suggest alternative methods for reducing the stress. For example, more autonomy in the workplace and networking with peers can increase the quality of work life. Their studies show that individuals who work for organizations that allow individuals to spend more time at home, work in virtual employment, and make flexible time arrangements, tend to perform better as a parent than those who do not have these opportunities. Maintaining satisfaction on both fronts is important for reducing the feelings of conflict.

2.3.4 Concept of childcare

The concept of childcare does not refer to supervision and responsibility of feeding, clothing and other aspects of daily care for a child for a certain period of time. Infact, childcare includes the responsibility of maintain a healthy balance of love, affection and discipline, to help all-round development of the child.

Child care is one of the biggest challenges for working families. Due to their work responsibilities, parents are not always able to stay with their children and take care of them, as they would like to. Parents would like to leave their children in care of such individuals whom they can entrust their precious kids without any worries or misgivings.

“For a long time, childcare was the responsibility of the extended family. With industrialization and modernization of the family has created rather serious childcare problems. As the extended family weakens, help from relatives before more difficult for women who cannot afford childcare services, may have no choice than to opt out of the labour market”. (Situation analysis of women and children in The Republic of Mauritius October 2003).

When childcare arrangements break down, employed parents are more likely to be absent, late, report being unable to concentrate on the job, to have higher levels of stress and more stress-related health problems and to report lower parental and marital satisfaction (Galinsky & Hugues, 1987; NCJW, 1987; Shin et al; 1987).

Whenever a child is sick, very often it is the mother who has to take leave to take care of the child. “Women spend more hours per week on household and on childcare than men do. And motherhood is a career liability for women while for men, being married and having children are both associated with higher earnings and being in upper level positions.” (Friedman and Greenhaus, 2000).

For many women parents stress starts as school ends. Most mothers cope with their child-care needs by taking children with them to work; leaving children with relatives, neighbors or older siblings and for short period of time leaving them alone. Children who are too old for day-care must stay in an empty home for several hours after school before the parents return from work. Such children are sometimes called “latchkey children” because they are usually given a key of the house or apartment so that they can let themselves in when they get home.

Although the recent practice of women working brings financial independence, it also exalts difficulties and stresses to the working women’s lives. This stress damages not only the quality of life and health of those who are victims (Parasuraman and Greenhaus 1992; rice et al; 1992). It can drive to unsatisfactory behaviors at jobs: delays, absenteeism, lack of motivation, reduced output (Beuthell et al., 1991) and in more difficult relation within the family (Duxbury and Higgins 1991; Parasuraman et al., 1992; Frone et al., 1992)

This increased participation of women in the labour force has changed the traditional roles of men and women within the two-parent family resulting in the phenomenon of the dual-career couples (Kirrane and Monks, 2004). Balancing work, housework, and child-care responsibilities can become strenuous which can result in work-family conflict. This can be very costly to both organizations and employees within them (Posig and Kickul, 2004). As highlighted by Allen, Herst, Bruck, and Sutton (2000), the increase of dual-career couples with young children and changes in the traditional family structural configurations have resulted in changes in home and family responsibilities for both men and women.

Even for today’s dual-career couples, the transition to parenthood tends to mark a reversion to a more traditional division role, with women doing the lion’s share of the household maintenance and child care planning (Carler, 1996; Hoschchild, 1989)

Childcare is a conceptually distinct and especially burdensome aspect of household labour (Berk, 1985; Rexroat & Shehan, 1987). Floge (1986) points out that one major problem facing dual-earner couples are arranging for child care. As the number of dual earner couples with children increases, responsibility for child care arrangements becomes an increasingly important aspects of household labour.

In addition to bearing the responsibility of proving adequate child care to their children, women may also experience feelings of guilt if they do not at least devote some of their free time to this task. Some women may therefore reduce their amount of sleep of free time resulting in the accumulation of strain and stress (Sterwart D.Friedman, Jeffrey H.Greenhaus, 2000).

In addition to globalization the other key that has affected dual-income working families is the dramatic change in the characteristics of labour force. We all know that that due to globalization there has been a change in the nature of work and this has resulted from long hours of working. We cannot just blame families especially women for not being able to provide enough care for their children we must also know why the situation is like this. Hence, families has no other choice because may be they fear from being unemployed and nowadays being unemployed is not a pleasant thing due to the high standard of living. Families may no choice except from working because of being a single parent who has to take up all the responsibilities alone or because of being poor.

However, we do agree with the fact that parents are working for the benefit of the family but how far is it really benefitting the family? When both parent work especially for long hours of work it become impossible to take care of the house and children because of exhaustion, stress and sometimes office work is being continued at home. This usually creates conflicts at home like domestic violence, long disputes where it affects not only parents but children as well. Sometimes everything end up by a divorce, the child will not be able to say anything but it affect him mentally and are unable to cope at school.

Moreover, even if children are grown up they still need care and affection of parents which parents are unable to provide them due to their work overload. In a recent research “women’s work burden and human development in Mauritius (Feb 2006), Miriam Blin found that most women from EPZ felt they could not give their children care and attention they needed. Many could not provide care their children required. This, is why sometime children does not work well at school just like (see, for example, Behrman et al., 1999 Lack of parental support and involvement, as well as the absence of early stimulation, together with the breakdown of the family structure have been found to be important factors affecting children’s performances. Therefore, parents should find time to know what children are doing at school. Nowadays, children spend most of their time on “Facebook” and due to the fact that there is no parental control they have access to other site like “pornography”. Children are sometimes influence by peer group and may be this is why there is juvenile delinquency, like school truancy, smoking. There is lack of communication at home and children are unable to communicate with parents. Parents take children for granted where they think that their values and way of thinking do not differ. In a way parent should be involve with children so that they know what their children are doing and build a close relationship between both of them because it is not money that count, love, care and affection are more important and we should not forget that today’s children are future adults citizen whom lies the responsibility to ensure the social and cultural harmony. Seeing all this we can say that we cannot apply the functionalist view in our society but we should also know that all society and all family differ.

In the last chapter, the researcher introduced the research background, stated the research aims and described the research problem. This chapter starts with the definition of community development, general concepts of community development and explores the community development framework. It also discusses community development in Belfast, Northern Ireland and links it to the basis of the study, which is the perception of residents on community development in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Definition of community development, general concepts of community and community development

Community as a unit of action can play the lead in development of Belfast communities. The basic process of planning community development is to identify needs of communities in Belfast, establish mutually agreeable goals and objectives, and implement plans by mobilizing accessible resources and community coalitions for community betterment. Accordingly, a variety of community planning strategies and actions can be created and actively implemented with the involvement of Belfast residents.

The definition of “community” has been discussed in a variety of ways for many decades. Hillery (1955); Kaufman (1959); Bell and Newby (1972); Wilkinson (1972) agreed that the three general components of a community include a shared territory, a local society, and a process of locality-oriented collective actions. Belfast as a city or community is made up of inner communities or neighbourhoods.

A shared territory refers to a geographic location, such as a neighbourhood, town, city, county, region, country, and so forth. A local society is an integrated union in which the daily activities of people and a complement of social structures embody all aspects of a common life. A process of locality-oriented collective actions can be understood as the local residents exerting effort collectively on behalf of their common interests. In this research, I specifically focus on the town/city community levels in Belfast to better understand whether this level of community forms a strong sense of belonging, thereby binding its residents together and joining their inner effort in response to external social and economic changes, as well as the demands of community development in general.

Fawcett et al. (1984) emphasized on local residents’ self-motivation to establish their development agendas for the community. The last element mentioned here is the opportunity of community members to participate in public discussion. It is important for community development to involve many individuals, segments, classes, and groups within the community, and that each member has an equal chance to speak up and take part in the public forum. In addition, democracy, rationality, and the orientation toward accomplishment of community development agendas in which Belfast residents participate are key factors.

Communication and power structure within the community are also important aspects. Since a community is understood to be a living place manifesting the physical characteristics of a setting and a social and historical context, community development should be considered in terms of the meaning of locality through personal activities, experiences, shared values, and the common historical memory. As a result, the concepts of community and community development adopted in this study consist of a shared territory, a local society, and the process of community autonomy and empowerment for a general purpose of community betterment.

2.3 Community Development Frameworks

The main focus of community development has been the normal concept of solving problems and betterment of quality of life in rural communities. The way to improve rural life and life in Belfast is to identify problems and then solve them by enhancing community empowerment and advancement.

Sanders (1958) considers the importance of social organizations in Community development, which are in charge of certain missions within communities. Sanders identified the role of hierarchical structure in communities in terms of detecting problems, setting agendas, and implementing plans. His view of development emphasizes social channels through which community programs can be carried out. The social channels refer to a well-developed organization with a clear division of labour, resource accessibility, and members sharing common values and pursuing the same objectives. Social organizations are the primary agents participating in community process and mobilizing resources to implement plans for their common goal.

Community development, according to Sanders, is equivalent to development of organizations in Belfast that effectively implement “subject-matter specialties such as health, welfare, agriculture, industry, recreation, etc” across all levels from groups and associations to communities and regions (Sanders 1958:5).

*Rothman (1979) identified the social planning approach as one of the ways to understand community development. He argued that the social planning approach is a technical process with regard to a certain community problem and emphasized “rational, deliberately planned, and controlled change” within communities (Rothman 1979:27).

The rationality approach helps to manipulate the process of community development into standard phases of identifying problems, mobilizing resources, and setting agendas to implement programs for the goal of social betterment.

There must be a constant interaction between identifying a problem, making a decision, and taking action to share and express concerns or community problems for communities in Belfast to experience change.

Community development provides a good opportunity to explore issues of poverty in Belfast. The emphasis is on the opportunity for creating jobs, thereby raising the real incomes of residents. Hence, Belfast as a community is seen as a collection of micro units, and these units, their interactions, and their relationships with external units comprise the community economic system.

Since communities in Belfast have increasingly engaged in their economic development, there are at least two different strategies adopted: community-oriented self-development and exogenous industrial recruitment (Summers and Branch 1984). Exogenous industrial recruitment refers to a form of development that encourages outside investors and firms to locate their businesses in the rural communities where local residents might expect to have the power to set substantial management strategies to promote the community’s common benefit.

Self-development has come with the awakening of community empowerment because the strategy of industrial recruitment for facilitating development has been criticized. The main factors that spur self-development were the exodus of factories and the stagnating economy in communities. Still, the effect of the flourishing grassroots movement cannot be ignored.

For many communities in Belfast, self-development strategies offer potential benefits for maintaining or improving their economic activities. According to Flora et al., community-oriented self-development strategies “involve cooperation between the public and private sectors to create locally-controlled jobs and new sources of income” (1991:20). These authors also identified three characteristics of the self-development model: (1) involvement by a local government, (2) investment of substantial local resources, and (3) the control of enterprises or activities locally (Flora et al. 1991). As such, broad community involvement revitalizes local economic activities by financing and organizational effort. At the same time, local residents can choose businesses according to characteristics that fit their demand closely and that will not damage their natural resources permanently, alter their landscape irrevocably, or change their lifestyle dramatically. For example, Flora et al. (1991) categorized community-oriented self-development projects based on major activities and found that the most popular projects involve tourism, arts and crafts fairs, and recreational or cultural activity. Following that, existing business retention and expansion and downtown revitalization are also seen as important projects (Flora et al. 1991). In other words, by developing clean/hospitality industry and revitalizing/individualizing their hometown, communities in Belfast can re-launch local economic activities with the goal of sustainably utilizing their natural resources and community assets.

Since economic considerations that are dominant in modern societies have also been prevalent in community development studies, Belfast residents’ demand for a certain level of economic expansion to improve their economic conditions that reflects the core theme of this economic development approach. Since areas that depend on a single source of income are vulnerable to economic restructuring, the key is to provide them with diverse sources of economic sufficiency.

Studies of community economic development illustrate how the structural disadvantages of community economic development influence the ways community members respond to local development paths and what strategies they adopt to solve problems. For example, according to Blakely (1994), communities have faced difficult and overwhelming circumstances in local economic development, and must be aware of the problems affecting the local economy and its consequences; local economic development and employment generation should be initiated at the community level to deal more effectively with these local problems facing the community (Blakely 1994:27).

2.4 Community as a field for development

The community should be seen as a whole, rather than as the sum of its parts, wherein the interconnections among individuals, groups, associations, and organizations form concrete social forces to cope with external and internal changes facing the community (Fawcett et al. 1995).

Kaufman (1959) argued that development must go beyond planned economic programs and place more priority on improving and increasing community residents’ identification with the locality in order to get them involved in the process of local development. This process empowers the local community. To carry out such identification with the locality, collaborative action and mutual identity are emphasized prominently in this theoretical orientation.

Elaborating extensively on Kaufman’s interactional perspective on community, Wilkinson (1970) tied social structure in to the context of community development. He claimed that social structure is defined in an interactional context as observable relationships built up through an action process by members. The role and position of members in a given interactional network are identified and classified to evaluate the pattern of the structure, which determines the continuity of social processes and the direction of social change. It is a network structure-building orientation of community development that focuses on integrative and generalizing networks in the local society (Wilkinson 1970, 1972). This interactional orientation of community development argued that the instrumental orientation of development sees project achievement as the ultimate goal of community development, but, in fact, development should be seen as a dynamic, ongoing process. There are inherent problems behind material demands and physical construction, and there are no substantial, permanent solutions for them. Planned programs for community development are only one of many solutions to achieve social betterment and should focus on building the community field in which the collaborative capacity to pursue locality-oriented common interests is more crucial to the process of community development than solving the immediate physical problems.

Wilkinson (1986) argued that empowered collective-oriented community action is the fundamental basis for community development and that community attachment plays an important role in fostering such processes of empowerment. Therefore, exploring the determinants of local residents’ attachment to their communities becomes an essential step to building up local capacity to deal with community development issues.

It is not urbanization or industrialization that directly changes the relationships among local residents or their sense of community.

It is the different opportunities and contexts for social interaction leading to different social dynamics that alter the connections between individuals and the society. Beggs et al. (1996) used a name generator method to gather information on respondents’ social networks and analyzed how closely the respondents interacted in daily life, as well as the strength and duration of their social ties in order to define community attachment. Others, like Brehm, Eisenhauer, and Krannich (2004), adopted multi-dimensional methods to measure community attachment via collective action indicators (including land-based production and conservation involvement, social involvement, and economic/development involvement) and natural environment attachment indicators. By considering two dimensions of community attachment, they found the concept of community attachment cannot be seen as simple social interaction, but as well-developed community cohesion through the linkage between individuals, organizations and their locality.

Rothman (1979:26) contended that locality development should focus on “the broad participation of a wide spectrum of people at the local community level in goal determination and action.” According to Rothman’s (1979) argument, such broad citizen participation is not only instrumental in solving specific community problems, but also for more general activities, such as democratic procedures, voluntary cooperation, community empowerment, and development of indigenous leadership. This locality development approach emphasized the whole local system’s capacity for building and maintaining in which a fundamental network structure should be built up by establishing cooperative relationships among groups by creating a self-help community problem solving system and stimulating residents’ interest and participation in community affairs.

These goals of locality development emphasized community organizations and the harmonious interrelationships among them.

To integrate the arguments of community development as a process of interaction, community fields where the community capacity for collective action can be created for the common good and social betterment. Forms of interaction include formal and informal social contact within organized and unorganized social activities. Through such purposeful and non-purposeful interactions, social forces are raised to respond to local issues. Specifically, a community field is manifested in the interactional structure among local residents, groups, and organizations contributing together to the accomplishment of specific objectives of community projects. The central focus of community field theory is on structurally oriented interactions through which communication occurs and fosters positive and cohesive relationships among community members.

In addition, Sharp (2001) analyzed community by for examining the concept of community field perspectives in the relationships between network structure and development. He found that these network structures can help community members to cooperate with local organizations, to access resources, to get information flowing among them, and to identify attributes of the community that enhance general capacity for local action. Pavey et al. (2007) contends that the ultimate goal of community development is to build the community’s capacity to manage its own world based on members’ own meaning systems. They focused on exploring whether sound social relationships were a driving force to stimulate community capacity and strengthen self-governance on community issues. In their findings, interactional field theory was confirmed by the positive relationship between the community field and economic development through horizontal linkages among community members.

The changes of social distance and degrees of community attachment among local residents influence the potential community cohesion and collaborative action that can be taken to approach the community common good. Some empirical studies have examined this argument. Sharp (2001) focused on selected features of small-town social structure and its relationship to the community capacity for local action. Drawing on the interactional perspective, community network analysis, and community power research, he proposed an approach to measuring and evaluating the community field to understand more clearly the relationship between community structure and the capacity for local action. His findings complement the thinking on community social capital and social infrastructure and reveal that social relationships and local residents’ interaction structure are importantly associated with the community capacity for local action.

Development should be focused on the community itself, rather than relying solely on neo-classical economics’ individualism and political-economics’ macro structuralism. Community development is as a means to an end, a process of guiding for a particular purpose that is eventually helpful to the local community.

Furthermore, community development has been realized as a social movement, a process of empowering community that tends to build up its own organizational structure, accepted procedures, and active practitioners within its territory. It stresses and promotes the idea of community development as interpreted by its local residents. In response to such an argument, we might ask that, in the process of building horizontal network ties, hierarchical inequality of power within class, gender, or other social structures could be minimized in order to pursue empowerment of each individual. Traditional community researchers simplify community development as the process of community empowerment in which community capacity is crucial for a better life in the community.

2.5 Research focus from the framework

Community development obviously has a variety of meanings to local residents and their personal attitudes toward the vision of their community future are influenced by their attitudes and opinions on issues facing the local community.

This research primarily focuses on individuals’ attitudes toward their local community development through the five models. By examining the research hypotheses, this study analyzes rural residents’ experiences in local community life to determine preferences for community development alternatives as guided by the five elements of the model.

In order to examine the research hypotheses in terms of the relationship between local residents’ general attitudes toward the current conditions and local community attitudes toward development alternatives, as well as individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics logistic regression modelling is applied. In five logistic regressions, individuals’ major concerns with regard to community development issues are used as the dependent variable. Independent variables are used to examine the dependent models through five research hypotheses.

Resident attitudes towards community development preferences form the core theme in this research. Therefore, the significance of research is to examine observable changes that shape towards local community circumstances in response to developments their own expectations and attitudes toward future community development alternatives.

In this essay I shall begin by defining what social class is as illustrated in the collins social work dictionary. I will look at the way class can influence the life chances of a person in Britain today. I will look at how the power and powerlessness of each class can affect the ability of someone to control their lives and access the resources within our society. I will discus the different ideologies surrounding class and highlight the differences between the life chances enjoyed or not by members of the different social classes. I will argue that class has a significant affect on a persons life chances and try to support that argument with evidence and data.

“Social class is commonly defined either as a stratum within society based upon a classification of occupations or as a system based upon the distribution and ownership of property in society” (Collins Internet Linked Dictionary of Social Work 2006)

Social class can be defined as a hierarchical order of people (A tiered system with one class above another) within a society, based on their economic, cultural norms or employment status. Social class is often discussed in the terms of social stratification, this refers to the different levels that groups of people consider themselves to be part of or where society in its general term considers the individual to be. Stratification is a term borrowed from geology ( the study of rocks) that describes the process where layers of rocks are formed one above the other, these are referred to as strata. In todays society strata are the classes.

In the middle ages there was what was called the estate system ( also known as the feudalism) the kings being at the top of the system, then there were the noble lords and below the lords were the knights.The majority of the population were known as the peasants and the serfs. Each of these were known as a estate.

Estates were different from classes meaning that people were born into an estate that they would remain. There was no social mobility( no way of moving up or down) Their

Position was ascribed (born into) to them following their birth.

In other cultures different social systems developed for example in India a caste system. This is where people believed in reincarnation (born again) the ones at the bottom of the caste system accepted this. Their religion and belief made them think that they deserved to be there and it was ok for others to look them up and down. In hope they would be reborn into a higher caste when they were reincarnated, they would try to lead better lives.

A stronger form of stratification was slavery. Slavery totally subjugated one group to the will and whim of another even to the power of life or death. A slave owner killing a slave would not be thought to have committed murder. This divided the slaves and the slave owners into very different groups in terms of power. The owners of the slaves treated the slaves very badly.Slaves were bought and sold all the time. Sadly slavery still exists in some parts of the world.

All societies have some form of system that describes its social structure. In Britain today this structure is based on class. The way that system is defined has been under discussion for many years. Karl Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) a German philosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, Sociologist, communist, and revolutionary) described class as being divided into two main groups; The aristocracy or bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. The bourgeoisie controlled the means of production, factories natural resources or owned the land. Whilst the workers or proletariat only had their labour which they sold to earn money. Max Weber(1864-1920) A German classical sociologist, described a four tier social class system, though he agreed with Marx that the main division was between the Capitalist class who owned the means of production and the working class who sold their labour to the Capitalist class.

Britain’s social structure is most commonly described as a three layer system, which is; the upper, middle and lower class, although many would refine this model further by describing themselves as either upper or lower within each class. The middle class are made up of professionals and educated or highly skilled people, whilst the upper class would be the aristocracy and those with power and influence.

Sociologists also describe an underclass that sits below the working class and is made up of the longterm unemployed or those with little chance of accessing the labour market and who require benefits from the state to survive.

The Office for National Statistics who are a government body responsible for the central collection of all relevant national data use an eight layer system of socioeconomic classification ranging from NS-SEC1(National Statistics Socio Economic Classification) Higher managerial/professional occupations to NS-SEC8 Never worked/long term unemployed. Effectively NS-SEC8 are the underclass.

All the classes have a wide range of social customs and norms that further identify their members and to which people feel kinship with, such as the types of entertainment they enjoy, their views and beliefs or their mode of speech. Assumptions about a persons class can be made by the way they talk or dress.

“An Englishman’s way of speaking absolutely classifies him. The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him.” (Cited in Kingdom J Pg 184 2008)

Class background has many affects on almost all areas of peoples lives and influences their life chances. life chances can be described as the benefits available within a society, or the resources that can enhance our experiences, these can be a longer life expectancy, better health, lower child mortality, healthier diet, higher job status, better housing, more frequent and varied holidays, access to private or high quality education and from that a greater likelihood of educational achievement. As well as class, ethnicity and gender affect life chances too.

Sociologists have described a move In recent years from working class into the middle classes this has been due to a rising standard of living and an increase in home ownership.

“Due to rising living standards among the working class, it was argued, increasing numbers of this group were effectively joining the middle class.”
( Haralambos and Holborn 2004, p.51).

Power is a feature of the class divisions and as such has influence on the life chances of those within each class. Anthony Giddens (18th Jan 1938) a British sociologist wrote that power is used to oppress and exploit and gives access to scarce resources. This is the view of Marxists who feel that the ruling or upper classes use their power to oppress the working class and exploit their labour.

“Power is the ability to achieve your aims against opposition”

(Harris S, Study Guide Sociology Pg120)

Power is a necessary component in any society, otherwise pandemonium would break lose: leaders must be established.

Max Weber (1864-1920) A German classical sociologist distinguished three types of legitimate power that exist in society these are;

Rational-legal authority, this is based on rules and procedures which are usually written down. Obedience is therefore not to an individual but to the rules. The government holds this type of power and uses a bureaucracy to control the application of those rules for example, through taxation via the Inland Revenue.

Charismatic authority is derived from the personal qualities a person possesses that give them the ability to charm, lead, persuade, inspire and influence others. Adolf Hitler used his charisma and oratorical skills to influence others into following and believing in his ideology of National Socialism.

The third type described by Weber is Traditional authority; this is based on historical precedent. Monarchies are examples of the people that have traditional authority.

“Power” needs to be seen as the property of various forms of social organization and relationships, rather than as a “thing” in its own right. (Cited in Power and Politics Unit P2: Theories of The State www.sociology.org.uk)

The influences of class on the life chances of a person are dependent upon the power that person or class has, to access the limited resources available. The working class with their limited financial power and dependance on the labour market are restricted in the power they can muster to assist them in acquiring the resources of the society. Whilst the upper class have influence and wealth that they can use to gain themselves all that they might need.

In our society social workers have power that Webber would describe as rational legal authority granted to them by the rules of our society. Following government legislation they use their power to assist and protect the more vulnerable members of society. In their work they should always apply AOP/ADP Anti discrimination Practice and Anti Oppressive Practice both of which aim to improve the quality of life or well being of individual groups and communities. These practices have been developed to fight the inequalities inherent in a hierarchical society and ensure a more inclusive approach is used. When working with parents of looked after children (LAC) the social worker must always ensure they have given the parents all information and guidance they need to access their rights.

Ideology

Depending on your political viewpoint class differences are something that is a natural result of any human society falling into a hierarchical order or a system of oppression maintained to exploit the working class.

It has been suggested that social inequality is a feature of all human societies.

(Haralambos and Holborn 2004, p.1; Bilton et al 1994, p.34)

The right wing political viewpoint would agree with the quote seeing in it a vindication of the natural order of things. Whereas a Marxist would argue that such inequality should be seen as unacceptable and the product of exploitation by the ruling class.

Capitalism and right wing politics believe in a free market where those who can, succeed and have the opportunity for self improvement. They believe that if some one has the “right stuff” then they will be able to rise to the top regardless of the position from which they start.

“The particular features British conservatives see as their tradition tend to include social hierarchy, the monarchy, the House of Lords, the patriarchal family, property and a natural ruling class. Inequality is natural and socially necessary: it cannot be eradicated. Consequently poverty is nothing to be ashamed of.”

(Kingdom J Pg 39. 2008)

Marxists or Socialists would argue that the gulf between the ruling class and the oppressed working classes was so great that it was impossible for them to compete on an equal footing. Socialists view society as a whole and feel a moral responsibility to one another. This collectivism fosters values of fraternity and altruism towards all members of society and consequently they see inequality and something to overcome.

The political ideology around class is focussed around whether a hierarchical system with a social elite controlling the majority of power and resources and with an underprivileged working class providing a source of cheap labour is acceptable as a natural consequence of human societies or whether a more equal system which shares the resources of the society based on need is something which a developed society should strive for. Debate on this will continue.

Life Chances the differences

‘Based on Weber’s tradition, social groups are stratified according to their lifestyles, in the sense of consumption patterns, understanding that the lifestyle is as much a choice as a result of people’s chances. According to Cockerham and colleges, Weber’s overall thesis states that ‘chance is socially determined, and social structure is an arrangement of chances. Hence, lifestyles are not random behaviours unrelated to structure but are typically deliberate choices influenced by life chances’ (Cockerham et al., 1997: 32

A serious affect of social class on life chances is the rate of deaths in children. Mortality rates for death from injury in children have been dropping over the last century and though they have more than halved in the last twenty years it has been identified that there are wide variations in the mortality rate by socioeconomic class. The table below taken from the British Medical Journal is part of a study into death from injury in children under 15 by socio economic group.

The study found that whilst the overall mortality rate for children under 15 for death from injury fell from 11.1 deaths per 100,000 in 1981 to 4.0 deaths per 100,000, In 2001. There was a distinct difference between the socioeconomic class groups. The chances of death from injury for children from NS-SEC8 who’s parents had either never worked or were longterm unemployed was over 13 times higher than for children from the highest social group NS-SEC8

It can also been seen clearly from the table that the mortality rate per 100.000 rises steadily as the social class moves downward with the exception of the top two classes which are reversed, though the difference between then is only 0.3 per 100,000. It is clear from this that a child’s life chances in terms of survival are directly linked to the social class they are born into. The inequality between the social groupings is stark, especially when you look at undetermined deaths: those deaths were 32.6 times higher for children from the lowest social class. This study only looked at death from injury and does not include those deaths due to poor health or hygiene.

Table 1

Deaths from injury and poisoning and rates per year per 100 000 children aged 0-15 years by eight class NS-SEC, 2001-3

NS-SEC

Deaths 2001-3aˆ

Rate (95% CI) per year per 100 000 children

1: Higher managerial/professional occupations

85

1.9 (1.6 to 2.4)

2: Lower managerial/professional occupations

111

1.6 (1.3 to 1.9)

3: Intermediate occupations

59

2.9 (2.2 to 3.7)

4: Small employers/own account workers

105

2.9 (2.4 to 3.5)

5: Lower supervisory/technical occupations

91

2.7 (2.2 to 3.3)

6: Semi-routine occupations

148

4.0 (3.4 to 4.7)

7: Routine occupations

180

5.0 (4.3 to 5.8)

8: Never worked/long term unemployed

383

25.4 (22.9 to 28.1)

Total

1162

4.0 (3.8 to 4.2)

NS-SEC=National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification.

aˆ Excludes one child for whom NS-SEC was missing

BMJ. 2006 July 15; 333(7559): 119.

doi: 10.1136/bmj.38875.757488.4F.

Copyright © 2006, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

One of the greatest factors still causing a difference between the classes with regards to life chances is education, despite the best attempts of the state system and years of work to close the gap between the educational experience of the upper and lower classes, their is a gulf that is almost insurmountable.Children from working class families do less well against all educational bench marks, from GCSE results to university entrance. One group that suffer more than most are children in the care system. LAC (looked after children) are affected by: Poverty, housing, unhealthy diets and poor education success. Considering these effects on LAC they can play an enormous part of their individual, social and functioning throughout their life. It is understood and evidenced that children who are brought up in the care system previously had a lack of opportunity, therefore making these individuals less likely to be motivated to achieve any academic qualifications and lead to a large number of young people leaving the care system without any opportunities available to them to reach their full potential. This reinforced the class system, creating a group of individuals who would be more likely to remain dependent on the state system, therefore creating a cycle of individuals within their own class system. ” The cycle of deprivation is bad for everyone. But is particular unfair for children who miss out on opportunities because they inherit the disadvantage faced by their parents, so their life chances are determined by where they come from rather than who they are” ( cited in Cunningham. J and cunningham. S 2008 page 45)

Looked after children are more likely to be excluded from school, leave with less than five GCSE passes and tend not to go onto further education. Before even starting school they will often have suffered from attachment disorders making it difficult for them to connect with or trust others, they may have suffered from poor nutrition, they will possibly have missed medical appointments for health problems and immunisations, or suffer from low self esteem which will seriously affect their ability to learn and develop the confidence to believe they can succeed. They move school more frequently than average and have more time off school. In some cases they are the main carer for younger siblings due to the lack of care given by parents. “Every Child Matters” is an initiative brought in following the Laming inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbe that aimed to address these issues by making all agencies involved with children work more effectively together to eliminate the inequalities that children from poor or underprivileged backgrounds face.

Conclusion

Concluding this essay I believe that there is clear evidence that class has an influence on life chances. We have seen how children’s mortality rate are vastly higher in the lowest class compared with all other classes and in particular those in the highest two classes. Access to private education gives the upper classes a route into the most powerful positions in society and financial rewards which allows them to perpetuate the system. Children from the working class and underclass or those in care are at greater risk of harm and social isolation, where they enter a vicious circle locking them into a cycle of depravation. It is my belief that Victoria Climbe was an example of class distinction. Her Aunt and Uncle were able to use their power in relation to their knowledge of the bureaucracy of the care system within different countries to hide the abuse and harm they were causing the child prior to her death. The Laming enquiry found that Victoria had suffered deprivation, lack of nourishment, physical abuse and poverty. The Laming inquiry found it intolerable that so many agencies could be involved with a child and yet she was still able to be killed by her carers. The recommendations of the inquiry aimed to ensure that the services provided to children were seamless and ensured that “every child matters”. That they should be encouraged, supported and have the opportunity to reach their individual potential, thus giving them the best life chances possible.

This legislation was aimed to ensure that children from deprived backgrounds or looked after children had a chance to attain the goals children from others classes considered normal and that failings in bureaucracy and the integration of services were no longer a loophole that abusers could use to evade detection.

Debate on nature versus nurture focuses on individuals innate attributes also known as innatism as compared to personal experiences, also called empiricism, in influencing or determining personal differences in behavior and physical traits. Nature relies on the biological/genetical composition of individuals in determining behavioral as well as physical attributes on an individual. Genes originate from the parents and are unique between persons. The nurture orientation in shaping an individual focuses on the influence on a contextual environment of an individual in determining the attributes and character to be developed (Cummings, 2008).

Introduction

In context of homosexuality, the nature concept determines the possibility that a certain genetical combination during fusion of sex chromosomes naturally predisposes an individual to homosexuality. The implication is that a homosexual is born so and as such, any form of discrimination directed towards the homosexual is an issue of civil right since one did not choose to be so. On the other hand, the nurture concept displays homosexuality as a behavior instilled by the environment within which a person grows or interacts with. As such the parental, peer and other social environment, may contribute to homosexual attributes exhibited by an individual (Bozett, 1989). It can be easily understood that the physical characteristics are inherent from the parents, but it’s practically hard to comprehend that the behavior of an individual depends fully on the behavior of the parents such that it is genetically inherited. Studies indicate that a nature-given talent, ability or attribute can be enhanced or inhibited by the environment in which a person grows in. As such both aspects of nature and nurture are in play in shaping an individual.

Discussion

Nature’s influence on homosexuality

According to Shaffer (2008), siblings do inherit various physical characteristics directly from the biological parents. The traits may include eye color, height as well as predisposition ailments that are physical. Drawing from this later statement, human beings can as well inherit certain mental traits and attributes from biological parents. Mental characteristics may include susceptibility to attacks by certain mental disorders. Homosexuality, a personality attribute, is a mental state within a person that urges the person to have intimate relationship with individuals of the same sex/gender. As such, the mind of a homosexual houses an acquired composition or an orientation. The orientation to homosexuality may be coined in the autonomy or the divergent thinking characteristics all of which can be inherited from the parents. Indeed what society inculcates to people deprives people of their possible autonomy and divergence in thinking that would have developed them to completely different people. According to Nardi & Schneider (1998), there is a biological relationship between personality of resultant sibling and the parents. For example, extroversion, which is the social and outgoing character in a person and neuroticism, which is the moody and over sensitivity behavior in a person.

Furthermore, researches indicate that schizophrenia which is a psychological disorder characterized by confusion, delusions and scattered thoughts is genetically inherited. In fact, if a family member has the disorder, there is a possibility of there being others in the lineage. In addition, major depressions and alcoholism, which are psychological disorders has also been found to be hereditary whether the social environment is changed or not, (Soble, 2002). There is therefore a possibility of a gene that is independent of the larger society and defies the society to manifest itself in homosexuality. It is however important to note that from the Minnesota registry and Australian Registry twin studies, only thirty eight and thirty percent gay and lesbians respectively resulted from their twin brother/ sister being gay or lesbian (Brewer, 1999). From the studies, it can be deduced that the correlation is not perfect since it is not a hundred percent. As such, it may be suggested that genes influence indirectly, though on average do not account for homosexuality sexual orientation. The aforementioned discussion leads to a conclusion that though the genetical passing over of human attributes contribute to homosexual habits; still there is/are other aspects in play to homosexuality. As such, while dwarfs, supermen and superwomen can blame their physical characteristic wholly on genetical combination, homosexuals cannot. The indication is that homosexuality is partly contributed by a decision and choice for it. Choice and decision comes to play with environment exposure which depicts the larger perspective of nurture.

Nurture’s influence on homosexuality

The environment within which an individual grows and develops in has an influence on the resulting personality of such individuals (Mathew et al, 2003). Indeed, the development of language to be spoken is learnt from the interaction with the environment of an individual. The environment will include the physical as well as the social aspects of an individual. For example, a research conducted by Robinson in fiscal 1982 on the influence of nurture to homosexuality had the following details.

Methodology

The participants included two hundred and eighty five gay and forty seven lesbians from DIGNITY association, a homosexual association in USA. Each participant received a questionnaire via mail, responded to it and mailed it back to the researchers. The questionnaire assessed the couple status, past family life, demographic information as well as parental relationship with the individual respondents. The respondents were from diverse faith including Catholic, Protestant and atheism whose level of education was between high school and doctorate levels.

Findings and discussion

Seventy six percent of all respondents expressed their early life as full of care and love from their parents compared to twenty four percent who felt that their early life was unbearable. In addition, more than eighty percent expressed their parents’ approval of their behavior as they grew up as well as the current behavior as homosexuals. The findings reveal individuals whose family setups availed the care that children require while growing up. Socially, their parents supported them by offering approval of their conduct as they grew up. The implication is that homosexuality does not result from a neglected and unsociably individuals but from people who fit in the societal context. Furthermore, the participants expressed their parents’ satisfaction on the life and behavior of homosexuality that they had adopted. This further implies that homosexuality’s acceptability was evident. The homosexuals who participated in this research indicate that the urge to homosexuality was not as a result of a mental force beyond their control but as a choice that they had made. Their level of education indicates that they would have changed their sexual orientation if they wanted but their energy was directed to making their relationship with homosexual partners stronger (Jones & Yarhouse, 2000).).

The deduction is that since homosexuality is a mental state in an individual and not a physical attribute, learned individuals, if they wish, can change if they suspect the behavior is a vice. The role of the environment comes to play in the sense the homosexuals gain acceptance by the parents and numbers. Moreover the religious faiths that represent a stronghold in many societies upheld homosexuality. Indeed, the support from the parents and the church accounts for a society’s support. The aspects that the environment avails to human beings provide experiences for adoption in life (Schein & Bernstein, 2008). These experiences shape the behavior of individuals. If the contextual society do not support expression of some behavior, the only possibility that such behaviour would sprout is if the behavior is genetically inherited or if the individuals displaying it are strong enough to accept the ‘deviant’ labeling from the society.

Conclusion

In exploring the classification of factors that shape the behavior, many contemporary researches appreciate the role of both nature expressed in inherited genes as well as the nurture expressed as environmental experiences. Inherited mental characteristic need to be exercised and enhanced in the environment for it to be successfully propagated to the future generations. The culture which is the framework within which nurture takes effect definitely has a role to play in shaping up an individuals’ behavior. It is important for individuals to evaluate themselves and as independent entities compare their behavioral attributes to determine their compatibility with the environment. There may be instances when individuals display behaviour that is ideally unacceptable and hence such individuals would need to conform to the environment. In some other instances, individuals may need to explicitly explain their traits if they are ideally acceptable to fit them into the contextual environment. Either way, the influence of the environment display natural ways of eliminating expression of behaviour that is harmful in the environment. The genesis of homosexuality and indeed its acceptability remains both a nature and nurture contribution until other studies find it different (Boswell, 1981).