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Politics is the way a group of people make decisions together. Politics involves the use of power which is applied to the ruled people .In politics some people have powers than others and these are the leaders. Leaders apply the power that they have to their subordinates. Society is a group of people who live in the same environment or it can also mean people who work together. In a society people have rules and regulations which guide them. These regulations should be followed for the smooth running of the society. A society without rules is a disordered society. Politics and society therefore intertwined and one can not do without the other. Rules are applied to a group of people and this is the society.

In my paper I undertake to discuss three theories and their impacts in the society, how the theories can be applicable in the society and their similarities and their differences. These theories include: functionalist theory, conflict theory and interactionism theory.

The theory of functionalism argues that all the aspects in a society depend on each other and they contribute to the society functioning as a whole. According to the theory members have to agree upon some aspects and work together so as to achieve the best in the society. The theory was propagated by a Scholar called Emile Durkeim .He suggested that social consensus is of two types: mechanical solidarity where people have similar values, beliefs and they do the same kind of economic activity. This mostly occurs in simple societies like societies where everybody keeps animals. There is also organic solidarity where people depend on each other even though they have different beliefs and values and their economic activities are different. These mostly occur in complex societies (industrialized societies).

Functionalists used the human body to illustrate this aspect. The human body is composed of many different parts like the liver, the heart, the kidneys and all the other parts. The functioning of each part of the body contributes to the well being of the body. If one part of the body fails even if the others are functioning well the whole body is affected and this can lead to illness or death. The society is therefore like the human body, it is made up of many aspects like religion, funeral rites, marriage rites, learning institutions and many others. All the aspects in the society depend on each other and they all function in support of a society at large. The government provides education to children who after the education get some good jobs. We for instance have governments which provide their citizens with loans for higher education. Later when these students complete their education and get jobs they pay the loan back to the government with some interest and this is one of the ways through which the government gets its income. Students will also pay taxes to the government. This shows interdependence.

Functionalists argue that aspects which are seen to contribute anything good to the society are also important in maintaining the stability of the society. Such aspects may include; drug abuse, poverty, and crimes .Most of these raise a lot of problems in the society but they are important in the maintenance of a society. In hospitals when researchers want to know how appropriate a new drug is and how many diseases they can cure, they usually pay small amounts to those who volunteer to have the tastes done on them. In this case we do not expect to get people who are economically stable to volunteer themselves. The poor volunteer themselves hoping to earn something because what is little for a wealthy man can be a lot to a poor man. In this case Poverty contributes to the stability of the society. According to this theory, when societies undergo changes institutions in the society like the family becomes disorganized and this is one way of weakening the societyaˆ™s stability. This can lead to breakdown of the family. (Taylor and Andeson, 2006, P.321).

Functionalists argue that some of the functions which were performed by the family alone has been taken by other institutions. For example socializations was a role that was played by the family as an institution. Children used to be taught by their elders in the society about the expected behavior in the society but today children spent most of their time in schools which they start attending at a very early age. They argue that social disorganization has also been brought by failure of the family to do its duties. Many marriages that have been broken, cultures which have been alienated and the high rate of single parenthood are seen as a result of the family seizing to do its duty and this is social disorganization.

Conflict theory maintains that the family those who have powers in the society make rules and they are in control of the law. The people in power are immoral they do not care about what is maintained in a law as long as it meets their interests. According to this theory the society is always in a state of conflict because the people in power try to impose power on the others. The wealth and people with power makes laws which meets their interests and needs. People who go against the rules that are set are seen as criminals and are subject to punishment. The powerful ensures they make profits in the expense of the poor. (Siegel and Wilsh,2008, P.164)

The theory views a society where the elite use power to maintain their status. The main aim of the ruling class is self gain. Conflict theory highlights the idea of inequality in societies. Conflict theorists wanted to show how societies are affected by class, race and gender inequality. The family is seen to be responsible for acquisition of advantages and disadvantages of race, class and gender. They view the family the basis of inequality because it is through the family that properties and social status are attained.

The theory emphasizes that families in United States are capitalistic The family provides workers needed in capitalism. The families train their children to be obedient, and also to be subordinate to the authority. People who adhere to these characters are the kind of workers needed in such a capitalistic company. The theory can best be used in societies where caste is applied. The subordinated groups are misused by the powerful individuals in the state. They are also discriminated against such that they do not share the same freedom in the country.

Conflict theory discusses how socialization is a cause of unequal power in the family set up. They show us how the process of socialization leads to the understanding that girls are a weaker sex compared to boys. This is mainly through the kind of duties performed by boys and girls. In most cases girls are left in the house cleaning up the house while boys go out to play. This shows how boys are superior to girls. Conflict theorists also look at how religious leaders make people understand that the wealthy people and ethnic groups being dominant was granted by God. There must be groups more dominant than others.

In this theory power and justice is used to control the less fortunate in the society. Institutions of law help the people in power and rich to impose their behavior on the other people. The law protects the properties of the rich from being taken by those who are lacking and also protects those who may understand their rights from demanding for their rights so that the poor remains to be poor and the rich maintains their position. The middle class people are also influenced by the elite in order to display the same standards. This ensures that the chain is maintained.

Incase of crimes, a poor person can commit a minor crime and at the same time a rich person commit a major crime but when it comes to the judgment when all of them are taken before the court of law the poor is likely to get a harsh judgment .The rich people are favored by the law. According to these theorists the police are brutal to the minority groups. The same brutal behavior can not be accepted in the neighborhoods of the rich. Therefore this theory maintains that the poor will retain their position while the poor are suffering .Those in power misuse the resources made to be used by the poor while the poor do not have access to the same resources.

Interactionism theory assumes that the meaning that human beings give to their behavior is a way of maintaining unity to the people. The family is emphasized very much in this perspective. Interactionism theorists study how the family goes about the house hold duties for example who cleans the house, how takes the children to school and who is the bread winner in the family. The theory sees marriage as something which is constructed in the family because it depends on how other people in the society view it and also it depends on the meaning the partners give to it. In most societies gay marriage is not accepted like African countries. This is contrally to the traditions of most societies. Many of these societies believe marriage of people of the same sex is a taboo. However in western societies gay marriage is allowed and they do not see anything wrong with that.

According to this theory the roles in the family are not permanent but they keep on changing. It is upon the members of the family to arrange who is to perform which duty at that particular time. The family members can keep on rotating on the duties so that no duty is reserved for a particular member of the family. This is helpful in helping us understand why change is needed in a family. The old idea of women being responsible for household duties is a by-gone. Men have changed from that and they now help in kitchen duties. (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 2009, P512).

George Herbert Mead was one of contributors of this theory. He argued that in order to know rules one must be practicing that law. This makes one imagine being in the same position of others and therefore one will judge fairly. This begins right from childhood when one learns what is expected of her. Children also learn from parents to know what is expected of them. What people value should be respected by other people. Societies which do not have such practices should not look down upon those who practices them. For instance we have societies practicing female circumcision and they place a lot of meaning to that practice .They should not be looked down upon.

Simple societies have a lot of value in maintaining societies. Societies who keep animals are seen traditional and not modernized even though they place a lot of value on the animal. Most of their diet comprises of animal products. They can even sacrifice to die because of them and this is called cattle complex. These groups are very important maintaining the society at large. They produce products like milk, butter, meat which is used by the entire society thus they contribute to the well being of the society.

Functionalist theory looks poverty resulting from failure of the economy to function. One of the things which cause failure to the Economy is the high rate of industrialization. This results to unemployment leading people to manual jobs which have a low pay. Functionalists note that the correct measures needed to do away with poverty are not taken. Because of the system of beauracracy the resources needed by the people at the grass level never gets to them thus they continue to sink in poverty instead of getting out of that situation.

Conflict theorists believe that modern societies have amerced a lot of wealth and should have their needs met. They believe that if there was no power structure there would be no poverty. The poor are being exploited by rich. They are given low wages while their employers make a lot of profits. In interactionism theory, poverty depends on two things .It depends on what is compared to what. For example poor people in the western countries lead a much better life than the people referred to as poor in African societies.

‘Taste, a class culture turned into nature, that is, embodied, helps to shape the class body. It follows that the body is the most indisputable materialization of class taste’ (Bourdieu, 1984: 190). Do you agree with Bourdieu’s statement about the importance of social class to embodiment?

(2064/2000)

Introduction

Not only do I disagree with Bourdieu’s statement as presented above, it is my contention that this does not accurately represent the intention and focus of Bourdieu. For not only do I disagree that class is central to embodiment, rather believing that all forms of social differentiation – class, ethnicity, age and gender – are embodied, but that Bourdieu himself believed that it is gender that provides the models for the other, therefore secondary, forms of social differentiation. To support my argument, I first provide a brief outline of Bourdieu’s theory of social practice, discussing the relationship between class and embodiment within it. Next I examine Chris Schillings’ interpretation of Bourdieu, demonstrating that, in common with other theorists, Schilling interpreted Bourdieu as being ultimately concerned with class as an axis of social differentiation, thereby ignoring the role of gender in his theory: that even as Schilling seeks to extend Bourdieu’s theory to include gender, ethnicity and age his interpretation is fundamentally flawed.

In the final section I contest this class-focussed interpretation of Bourdieu by arguing that, following Beate Krais, by examining both his later work and his early ethnography it is evident that gender is a primary concern in his work: that Bourdieu believes that gender provides the model for all other forms of social differentiation. However, whereas Bourdieu seems pessimistic regarding the individual’s ability to resist their class or gender differentiation, the women interviewed by Beverley Skeggs (1997) actively resisted their class position, even as they were shaped by it. In the conclusion I summarise my argument that not only are other social differentiations of central importance to embodiment – namely gender, age, and ethnicity – gender was of central importance to Bourdieu, providing the model for other forms of differentiation, before concluding that work still needs to be done before age and ethnicity can be adequately incorporated into Bourdieu’s schema.

Embodiment and Social Class in the Work of Bourdieu

In this section I first briefly outline Bourdieu’s theory of social practice, and then discuss the relationship between class and embodiment within it, before then examining Chris Schillings’ (1994) account of Bourdieu. I argue that Schilling focuses on Bourdieu’s class analysis, in common with many other theorists, and therefore misses the way in which Bourdieu is ultimately concerned with gender as a form of social differentiation. Pierre Bourdieu developed his theory of cultural capital and social practice with Jean-Claude Passeron^[1] in France in the 1970s, as part of an effort to explain class-based differences in educational achievement. In his theory the forms of capital – cultural, social and economic – interact to mask the way in which social hierarchies are reproduced. Cultural capital is, for Bourdieu, divided into three subcategories; ‘embodied’, ‘objectified’ and ‘institutionalised’. Embodied capital is imbued during the period of socialisation, is linked to the body, and represents ‘external wealth converted into an integral part of the person’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 244-5): whether an individuals’ accent, their taste for opera, or their preference for rugby over football this form of capital ‘cannot be accumulated beyond the appropriating capacity of an individual agent [and] remains marked by its earliest conditions of acquisition’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 245). Objectified capital refers to goods such as paintings, antiques and fine wines; objectified capital thus entails both the material wealth needed to own such items and the embodied capital needed to ‘consume’ them. Institutionalised capital is those academic qualifications which enable an individual to exchange between cultural and economic capital, while social capital are those friendships and networks which enable an individual to ‘produce and reproduce lasting, useful relationships that can secure material or symbolic profits’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 249. The three forms of capital combine to produce a persons habitus, or set of preferences and predispositions.

Class is thus central to Bourdieu’s theory of embodiment; within his schema the financial, educational, social and cultural resources of an individual shape not only their ‘taste’ but also their life chances:

Taste, a class culture turned into nature, that is, embodied, helps to shape the body. It is an incorporated principle of classification which governs all forms of incorporation, choosing and modifying everything that the body ingests and digests and assimilates, physiologically and psychologically’ (Bourdieu, 1999: 190, my emphasis added).

Finally, embodiment is central to his theory; for it is via the process of socialization that the dynamics of power are written onto the very bodies of the individual (Bourdieu, 1999: 190). Schilling argues that Bourdieu does not engage with the body as simultaneously social and biological, but rather concentrates on its ‘unfinishedness’ at birth (Schilling, 1994: 128): that ‘acts of labour are required to turn bodies into social entities and that these acts influence how people develop and hold the physical shape of their bodies’ (Schilling, 1994: 128). Schilling stresses the way in which Bourdieu argues that social class imprints on the body of an individual by focussing on the way people’s taste for food both marks their class position and affects their bodies:

Bodies develop through the interrelation between an individual’s social location [their class-based material circumstances], habitus and taste. These factors serve to naturalize and perpetuate the different relationships that social groups have towards their bodies (Schilling, 1994: 130).

Similar readings have resulted in Bourdieu’s theory being criticized for being essentialist; John Frow argues that Bourdieu simply ‘reads off’ an individuals culture from their class position (Frow, 1995: 63). Or that his theory is therefore deterministic; in that it minimizes the ability of the individual to shape their own destiny. Finally, such a reading of Bourdieu leads one to conclude that he prioritized the role of class in society, thus minimizing the effects of other forms of differentiation, such as gender, ethnicity and age:

the conflict between classes is of greatest importance to Bourdieu’s work, and attempts by the dominant classes to define lower class body implicating activities as ‘crude’, or attempts on the part of the working classes to define upper class practices as ‘pretentious’, occupy a prominent place in his book on French life, Distinction (1984) (Schilling, 1994: 141).

Yet I would contend that Schilling has misinterpreted Bourdieu’s theory; that whilst it is true that in his middle years – of which Distinction forms a part – he did focus on the dynamics of class in society and as it is written on the body of the individual, however in Bourdieu’s early ethnography his focus was instead on the primary differentiation of gender, and it was to this concern that he returned in his later years.

Gender as the Primary Form of Social Differentiation for Bourdieu

In this section I argue, in agreement with Beate Krais (2006), that gender is a primary concern in the work of Bourdieu: that he believes it is gender that provides the model for all other forms of social differentiation. However, whereas Bourdieu seems unduly pessimistic regarding the individual’s ability to resist their class social differentiation, the women interview by Skeggs (1997) actively resisted their class positioning even as they were shaped by it. However, she provides little evidence of these women’s attempts to resist their gender.

Beate Krais argues that gender is ‘one of the most powerful classifications’ for Bourdieu (Krais, 2006: 120) and that he chooses his early ethnography in Algeria for inclusion in his 2001 Masculine Domination, as among the Kabylia at this time there existed ‘practically no other form of social differentiation’ (Krais, 2006: 120). She demonstrates that, for Bourdieu, it is the social construction of femininity and masculinity that first ‘shapes the body, defines how [it] is perceived […] and thus determines an individuals identity’ (Krais, 2006: 121). This interpretation is borne out by my reading of Bourdieu when he discusses the Kabylia: ‘the opposition between male and female is realized in posture, in the gestures and movements of the body’ (Bourdieu, 1999a: 70). He continues: ‘classificatory schemes through which the body is practically apprehended are always grounded twofold, both in the social division of labour and in the sexual division of labour’ (Bourdieu: 1999a: 72). Thus Bourdieu argues that social differentiation according to gender is both universal and historically constant: ‘the same system of classificatory schemes is found, in its essential features, through the centuries and across economic and social differences’ (Bourdieu, 2001: 82).

However, Krais goes on to criticise him for presenting gender as ‘hermetic and indestructible’; that by using the example of such a traditional society, rather than that of a modern society such as that of France or Britain, he misses the role of gender as a site of ‘open and political struggle’ (Krais, 2006: 123). Yet Bourdieu’s pessimism seems borne out by the work of Beverley Skeggs (1997), in that the women she interviewed, whilst resisting their class position do not appear to resist their gender: ‘in the women’s claims for a caring/ respectable/ responsible personality class was rarely directly figured but was constantly present. It was the structuring absence’ (Skeggs, 1997: 74, my emphasis added); although she argues that ‘gender and class are inseparable. The women never see themselves as just women; it is always read through class’ (Skeggs, 1997: 91), she provides little evidence of the way in which these women resist their gender: each seems keen to position themselves as gendered individuals, as women, even as they deny their class.

Conclusion

In conclusion, not only do I disagree that class is central to embodiment, rather believing that all forms of social differentiation – class, ethnicity, age and gender – are embodied, but that Bourdieu himself believed that gender provides the models for the other, therefore secondary, forms of social differentiation. Many have accused Bourdieu of economic determinism, taking his theory of the three forms of capital to prioritise the role of class in creating social inequality. However, for Bourdieu ‘capital’ is both metaphoric and materialistic and should be viewed as similar to power (Ashall, 2004: 24): although Bourdieu believes that all of the forms of capital can be converted into economic capital, for him none are reducible to it (Bourdieu, 1986: 243).

Embodiment is central within his theory, for it is in this way that social differentiation becomes incorporated into – shapes and delineates – the body, as made evident through his focus on food and sport in Distinction. Although much of his writing is concerned with the operation of class throughout society, by examining his early ethnography in Algeria, and his later use of this material in Masculine Domination, we can see that he believed gender to be the model for all other forms of social differentiation, and therefore central to his work. One next must ask how other forms of social differentiation, namely age and ethnicity, can be incorporated into his theory, for though Schilling argues that this can be done by taking his definition of class in its broadest sense (Schilling, 1994: 147) this would appear to damage the sociological understanding and definition of both class and gender. What is needed is a way to conceptualise how the differing forms of social differentiation interact.

Bibliography

Ashall, Wendy (2004) ‘Masculine Domination: Investing in Gender?’ Studies in Social and Political Thought, Vol. 9, pp. 21-39, available URL at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/SPT/journal/archive/pdf/issue9-2.pdf, date accessed 25/11/06.

Bourdieu, Pierre (2001) Masculine Domination, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Bourdieu, Pierre (1999) ‘The Habitus and the Space of Life-Styles’, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, London: Routledge, pp. 169-225.

Bourdieu, Pierre (1999a) ‘Belief and the Body’, The Logic of Practice, Cambridge: Polity, pp. 66-79.

Bourdieu, Pierre and Passeron, Jean-Claude (1998[1977]) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (2^nd Edition), London: Sage.

Bourdieu, Pierre (1986) ‘The forms of Capital’ in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, London: Greenwood Press, pp. 241-258.

Frow, John (1995) ‘Accounting for Tastes: Some Problems in Bourdieu’s Sociology of Culture’, Cultural Studies, Vol. 1(No. 1), pp. 59-73.

Krais, Beate (2006) ‘Gender, Sociological Theory and Bourdieu’s Sociology of Practice’, Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 23, (No. 6), pp. 119-134.

Schilling, Chris (1994) ‘The Body and Physical Capital’, The Body and Social Theory, London: Sage, pp. 127-149.

Skeggs, Beverley (1997) ‘(Dis)identifications of Class: On Not Being Working Class’, Formations of Gender: Becoming Respectable, London: Sage, pp. 74-97.

1

Philosophical Underpinnings

Phenomenology is one of many types of qualitative research that examines the lived experience of humans (Byrne, 2001). It is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view (Woodruff Smith, 2008). In its most basic form, phenomenology attempts to create conditions for the objective study of the content, or product, of conscious experiences.

Phenomenology has been practiced in various guises for centuries, but it came into its own in the early 20th century in the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and others. According to the Center for Advanced Phenomenological Research (1997), there are many branches of phenomenology. However, there are seven widely accepted features of the phenomenological Approach. Of these seven features, I have listed the six that I consider to be most instructive as an introduction to Phenomenology:

1) The rejection of unobservable matters and ‘grand systems’ erected in speculative thinking

2) The rejection of positivism or objectivism

3) The justification of cognition – or ‘the process of thought’, which leads to “awareness of a matter itself as disclosed in the most clear, distinct and adequate way for something of its kind” Center for Advanced Phenomenological Research (1997).

4) The belief that, not only objects in the natural and cultural worlds, but also ‘ideal objects’ (e.g. numbers) and conscious life, can be made evident and thus, known.

5) The belief that inquiry ought to focus upon what might be called encountering as it is directed at objects and, correlatively, upon objects as they are encountered

6) The recognition of the role of ‘description’ in universal, a priori terms, as superior to ‘explanation’, by means of causes, purposes, or grounds

Principally, phenomenologists believe that knowledge and understanding are embedded in our everyday world. For me, Shaw (2002) crystalises the proposition of phenomenology when she (2002, p. 130) asks, “what happens when spontaneity, unpredictability and our capacity to be surprised by ourselves are not explained away but kept at the very heart of an account of the evolution of sense-of-self-in-the-world?” In other words, phenomenology is the art of extracting meaning from the complex mesh of ideas, feelings, interpretations, etc; that make up our lived experience. Phenomenologists do not believe that knowledge can be qualified or reduced to numbers of statistics (Byrne (2001). This rejection of the empirical – as the ‘one true source’ of knowledge, is a direct rebuttal of objectivism – the worldview growing from modern natural science and technology that has been spreading from Northern Europe since the Renaissance (Center for Advanced Phenomenological Research,1997); which maintains that the data of ‘sense experience’ are the only object and the supreme criterion of human knowledge (Sauvage, 1911).

“For objectivists, the inclination is towards ‘scientific’ methods…these methods ignore the fact that the social world is meaningful to those who live in it, and they (the methods) impose their own, seemingly arbitrary meanings onto it” Crossley (1996, p.74-75)

Nagel (1974) challenges the over-simplification or ‘reduction’ of the lived experience into convenient or recognisable bites, by arguing that ‘consciousness’ itself – that is to say, the subjective view of what it is like to have a certain type of experience, for instance, to feel love, or pain; or to know what it’s like to feel trusted – is beyond the reach of scientific theory,

“Every reductionist has his favourite analogy from modern science. It is most unlikely that any of these unrelated examples of successful reduction will shed light on the relation of mind to brain. But philosophers share the general human weakness for explanations of what is incomprehensible in terms suited for what is familiar and well understood, though entirely different,” Nagel (1974, p. 435)

Phenomenology then is aimed at comprehending the structure of various types of human experience, ranging from thought, memory, imagination, emotion, and desire (Woodruff Smith, 2008).

Inter-subjectivity

According to phenomenologists (Woodruff Smith, 2008), the central structure of an experience is its intentionality; that is to say, “the characteristic of consciousness whereby it is conscious of something – i.e., its directedness toward an object” (Encyclop?dia Britannica, 2009). An experience is directed toward an object by virtue of its content or meaning (which represents the object) together with appropriate enabling conditions. Where first-person meaning is the object of the enquiry, the classical phenomenological methodology may result in an enriched subjective understanding or awareness of the lived experience. These are:

(1) The individual describes a type of experience, just as he/she finds it in his/her own (past) experience.

(2) The individual interprets a type of experience by relating it to relevant features in context

(3) The individual analyses the form of a type of experience

(Woodruff Smith, 2008)

However, as Crossley (1996) points out, when the object of the enquiry is shared knowledge and/or understanding, this type of reflective process is insufficient, precisely because of the subjectivity involved,

“The meaning of certain actions is identified with the plan of the actor, which may well be unavailable to the other. Or rather, the act may have different meanings for the actor and their other, respectively.” Crossley (1996, p.78)

For a group to attempt to make sense of experience in this way is akin to the classical children’s fable of the blind men and the elephant. In various versions of the tale, a group of blind men touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each one reaches out and finds a different part of the elephant’s body, such as the trunk or one of the tusks. They then each attempt to describe the elephant to their peers, based only on what they felt. They quickly learn that they are in complete disagreement with one another. The story illustrates that reality, viewed from different angles or perspectives; may show up in very different – even contradictory – forms. As Argyris, et al. (1985) point out, when multiple individuals commence a share inquiry, from a subjective, rather than an inter-subjective starting-point; the resulting discussion tends to degenerate into a contest of wills,

“The validity of inquiring in action is threatened by a variety of defensive routines, including self-censorship and face-saving. Our research indicates that human beings, when dealing with threatening issues, typically act in ways that inhibit the generation of valid information and that create self-sealing patterns of escalating error” Argyris, et al. (1985, p.61)

This phenomena is partly related to the way the human brain is hardwired to treat incoming data,

“…whenever we look at the world we are only too ready to see the world in terms of our existing patterns… This is what makes perception so powerful and so useful. We are rarely at a loss. We can recognise most situations. This is also why the analysis of information will not yield new ideas. The brain can only see what it is prepared to see (existing patterns)” De Bono (1995, p.11)

Senge, et al. (1994) state that these self-generated beliefs about our world, or rather our experiences, go largely untested. Argyris’ (1990) ‘Ladder of Inference’ (see fig ?) depicts the fact that, not only do we self-generate beliefs about our environment based on only partial evidence; but that we continuously strive to uphold these beliefs by deselecting contrary information (see ‘the reflexive loop’).

The ‘ladder of inference’ is helpful to a point, in that it illustrates the fact that, even our most stubborn beliefs, may be based upon a partial representation of the ‘reality. It may therefore be helpful to use this model, or the underlying principle, with an individual or a group, in order to encourage a spirit of humble inquiry. However, the ladder omits the fact that we may also adopt beliefs based on second-hand information – perhaps owing to a particularly persuasive portrayal by somebody of a particular incident; or because a group has developed a high level of cohesion . Janis (1972) referred to this dynamic as Groupthink,

“…a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action”. Janis, I.L. (1972, p.9)

Janis observed that, in such cases, group members can be influenced to operate contrary to their better judgment – even when the group’s decision or behaviour is in opposition to personally held beliefs and values. I would argue against any notion that Groupthink is akin to ‘trust’ within teams. In fact, in some cases, Groupthink may be the result of a lack of trust – a fear of punishment or rejection. However, the superficial impression may have more than a passing resemblance to ‘trust’. In such instances, group cohesion and connectivity, can be damaging to the overall ability of a team to achieve its aims,

“… the ability of the group to stay connected and informed about each other’s work would be expected to have a positive impact on the group’s level of cohesion, efficacy, and potency. Yet, staying connected may also have a negative impact to the extent that information is rapidly transmitted about all of the problem areas in a group” Aviolo, B. Et al (2000, p.660)

Critically, where a team or group is exhibiting Groupthink, or else, transmitting negative beliefs between colleagues; there is an apparent lack of personal accountability for achievement of the shared-goal. Trust however, results in inter-personal openness,

“In all cases, trust was very closely tied to perceptions of organizational openness” Thomas, et al (2009, p.306)

In my own experience, a spirit of inter-team trust and openness, yields constructive challenge, divergent thinking and co-creation. This is vital if teams are to rid themselves of out-dated or erroneous assumptions and beliefs,

“All too often we are inclined to recapitulate prevalent thinking rather than to search for new directions or redefine our commonly held views and knowledge” Tillema, H. (2006, p.173)

The following extract from Senge et al’s (1994,) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, provides a helpful illustration of how subjective interpretations, coupled with a lack of openess, can result in cross-purposes and misunderstandings,

“I am standing before the executive team, making a presentation. They all seem engaged and alert, except for Larry, at the end of the table, who seems bored out of his mind. He turns his dark, morose eyes away from me and puts his hand to his mouth. He doesn’t ask any questions until I’m almost done, when he breaks in: “I think we should ask for a full report.” In this culture, that typically means, “Let’s move on.” Everyone starts to shuffle their papers and put their notes away. Larry obviously thinks that I’m incompetent — which is a shame, because these ideas are exactly what his department needs. Now that I think of it, he’s never liked my ideas. Clearly, Larry is a power-hungry jerk. By the time I’ve returned to my seat, I’ve made a decision: I’m not going to include anything in my report that Larry can use. He wouldn’t read it, or, worse still, he’d just use it against me. It’s too bad I have an enemy who’s so prominent in the company.” Senge (1994, p p.243)

It is relatively easy for a dispassionate reader to spot the hasty assumptions being formulated in this extract. This however, does not alter the fact that, given the right (or wrong) set of circumstances, where our fight or flight mechanism has been engaged, we may all be prone to this process of thinking and judging.

In order to generate shared knowledge, understanding or meaning; we need inter-subjectivity – the sharing of subjective states by multiple individuals (Scheff, et al., 2006).

“Knowledge productivity requires that implicit beliefs and conceptions be challenged and open to external debate in order to become relevant for professional action. This occurs only when they can be communicated and shared with others.”

However, this is not merely a case of multiple contributors providing a description of an event as they experienced it, whilst other’s listen – although this is certainly part of it. Rather, as Bohm (1996) suggests, this is a process of collaborative creation,

“…in a dialogue, each person does not attempt to make common certain ideas or items of information that are already known to him. Rather, it may be said that the two people are making something in common, i.e. creating something new together” Bohm (1996, p.3)

This of course is no easy thing – certainly where time is scarce, or where a group is unfamiliar with one another and trust has not yet formed. According to Senge, et al. (1994, p.242), our basic paradigm can be characterised thus:

* Our beliefs are the truth

* The truth is obvious

* Our beliefs are based on real data

* The data we select are the real data

In order to open minds – and principally our own mind – sufficient to affect a shift or transformation in position or belief requires a particular mindset. The methodology used to generate, or create, shared knowledge and meaning therefore, must give attention to establishing conditions wherein participants are able to enter and contribute as sincere learners,

“To a visitor who described

himself as a seeker after

Truth the Master said, “If

what you seek is Truth,

there is one thing you must

have above all else.”

“I know. An overwhelming

passion for it.”

“No. An unremitting readiness

to admit you may be wrong.”

De Mello (1989, p.78)

Collaborative Enquiry

Collaborative inquiry involves sharing ideas and individual strengths by enhancing interactive questioning, investigation, and learning. In collaborative learning communities professionals discuss, study, and construct conceptual principles and ideas. They generate and enact new strategies for their work environment, and above all share insights about what they learn (Tillema, 2005),

“Collaborative inquiry, or co-inquiry, is the ability to dialogue within and across community boundaries. It involves cycles of action and reflection, and thus promotes learning. Co-inquiry invites loyal skepticism, challenging questions, and a plurality of perspectives.” Palus and Horth (2005, p.5)

These ideas conform with Lave and Wenger’s (date) Communities of practice.

“… groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis.” Wenger, McDermott & Snyder (2002, p.4)

These communities too require a focus on shared interests, joint activities, and a shared repertoire of resources (i.e. experiences, stories, tools, solutions, etc), to frame knowledge in a form of collaborative inquiry. Knowledge about a system is developed through ‘collegial interaction’, not just from reading about documented processes or policies. Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, expert insight and grounded intuition (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). The exciting thing about this type of learning is that it is situated in the ‘practice’, therefore the benefits of new knowledge and meaning are immediately realised,

“Knowledge is created, shared, organized, revised, and passed on within and among these communities. In a deep sense, it is by these communities that knowledge is ‘owned’ in practice”. Wenger, E (1998, p?)

Furthermore, because these communities function as an informal network of people, drawn together by dint of shared interests and concerns – rather than having been assembled by top-down directive; any inquiry that takes place is focused upon where there is a shared interest, or energy. In this sense, the inquiry is generated from within the community. This, I think, has important ramifications for the authenticity of the learning that results.

Storberg-Walker (2008) has rejected notions that Communities of Practice can be universally applied and, further, claims that, although Communities of Practice theory offers valuable insights into learning, meaning, identity, and practice; the theory itself does not withstand serious scrutiny. Additionally, Cox (2005) questions the applicability of the concept of informal learning communities, to the heavily individualised and tightly managed work of the twenty-first century. In a more recent work, Wenger, with McDermott and Snyder (2002), recommends that managers foster informal horizontal groups across organisational boundaries. However, whilst this suggestion perhaps represents a potentially useful knowledge management tactic; there is a delicate line that exists between ‘fostering’ these communities and a conspicuous attempt to ‘manage’ or ‘controls’ them. When we introduce ‘management’ to Communities of Practice, we introduce formal measures, structures, roles and inducements. In this sense, we lose or diminish ‘citizenship’; the very essence and power of Communities of Practice, as originally defined by Wenger (1998).

When organisational conditions permit it, Communities of Practice contribute to the development of social capital. This is an organisation’s wealth that exists because of individual relationships and connections (Lesser, 2000); a stock of trust, personal networks and a sense of community (Cohen & Prusak, 2001). Wenger (1998) believed that Communities of Practice evolve (see fig. ?) – that the nature of the interactions would change over time and through experience; as would the strength and value of the connections.

Active

Members engage in developing a practice

Coalescing

Members come together and recognise their potential

Dispersed

Members no longer engage very intensely, but the community is still alive as a force and a centre of knowledge

Potential

People face similar situations without the benefit of a shared practice

Memorable

The community is no longer central, but people still remember it as a significant part of their identities

Typical Activities

Engaging in joint activities, creating artifacts, adapting to changing circumstances, renewing interest, commitment, and relationships

Exploring connectedness, defining joint enterprise, negotiating community

Staying in touch, communicating, holding reunions, calling for advice

Finding each other, discovering commonalities

Telling stories, preserving artefacts, collecting memorabilia

This is a useful framework with which to consider the commencement of a collaborative inquiry. When viewed in this context, the inquiry is less about an isolated research question, and more about the commencement of an ongoing cross-functional dialogue. As I consider this in relation to the terms of my research methodology, my aim becomes clearer. Again, I am no longer seeking to answer a particular question – at least not in isolation; I am seeking to facilitate the first three stages of development of Community of Practice – namely: (i) Potential, (ii) Coalescing, and (iii) Active.

Open Space Technology (incomplete)

“Fostering co-inquiry within your organization means setting up an environment that feeds creative exchange and collaborative learning.” Palus & Horth (2005, p.5)

“Hailed for its utter simplicity — and it’s power, Open Space starts with open-minded leadership, an issue that really matters, and an invitation to co-create something new and amazing. What happens in the meetings is high learning, high play and high productivity, but is never pre-determined. And what emerges, over time, is a truly inviting organisation, that will thrive in times of swirling change”, Herman (1998)

My Methodology (incomplete)

This section contains an account of the method that I followed in order to conduct my research.

“In the final analysis, the right way to do Open Space will be what works for you. Experience has shown that any individual with a good head and a good heart can achieve satisfactory results. Owen (1997, p. 20)

Stage 1: Invitation

Owen (1997) states that only the people who ‘care’ about the issues that you’re hoping to explore should attend an Open Space event,

“If we only did what we cared to do, not much would get done. Or would it? Isn’t it true that jobs done by people who don’t care are not worth a whole lot? Is it not also true that that people who care greatly accomplish incredible things” Owen (1997, p.20)

Whilst I think there is a risk to accepting this statement indiscriminately – People who ‘care greatly’ sometimes accomplish very little too; I was anxious to also demonstrate my own openness and trust (both in the process and the people) by appealing to concerned volunteers. In doing so, I thought about a number of individuals who, I believed, should be involved, but that probably would not volunteer themselves. But I was struck by the following injunction,

“… Open Space can only fail for two reasons: if people show up with no passion and/ or if somebody tries to control the process in order to achieve some sort of pre-determined outcome(s).” Herman (1998)

In addition, Shaw (2002) states that acting without a clear outcome in mind is not the same as acting randomly without intention. This point helps to define the ‘open’ in Open Space. Open Space is about discovering, or opening to our awareness, possibilities. This idea runs contrary to conventional wisdom about working effectively. Covey (1998), for instance, made himself and his publishers extremely wealthy by counseling us all to “begin with the end in mind” Covey (1998, p.95). However, the more that we focus on the end result, and the more detail that we add to our sense of a desired outcome; the fewer options that remain available to us. For this reason, Open Space Technology ‘begins with a question in mind’.

My invitation therefore included a basic description of the issue that I wanted to invite people to explore and a few high-level questions to give the event further definition. My method of advertising this event utilised two channels:

(1) Posters inside and outside the conference rooms at the two head office sites.

(2) A ‘bulletin’ on the organisation’s intranet homepage with a link to the invitation on the organisation’s Learning Management System.

The invitation was open to all staff, irrespective of hierarchy and was worded as an opportunity to contribute to the creation of practical solutions (see below):

Dear Colleagues,

You’re invited to take part in an inquiry into Trust and Openness in our teams here at YBS.

We all use a variety of technologies to ‘stay in touch’ with one another, e.g. Email, mobile phone, voice mail, text messaging, instant messaging, Sharepoint – also, social networking sites like Facebook and Linkedin, etc.

These tools make it possible for us to communicate with people who may be working on multiple projects and tasks, across a number of different offices and buildings – even the humble post-it note is a form of technology that helps us to manage our communication with people who are not physically proximate.

However, I’m interested in the impact that these technologies – or rather, the working practices that have evolved alongside them – have on the amount of trust and openness we have within our teams? Are we overly reliant upon these technologies? Do we actually communicate less because of them? Are we always selective in our methods of communication – or do we follow habit?

The event will take the form of a number of small discussion groups, the specific agenda for which will be set by participants at the start of the day – each discussion group will be focused upon achieving fresh understanding and practical outcomes, both for the organisation and the individual. If you’d like to be a part of this, please show up promptly at:

09:30 to 16:30

on Monday the 16th November

in Conference Rooms 3&4 (Yorkshire Drive)

If you are unable to commit to the entire day, but would still like to play some part in this inquiry, you’re welcome to come along for the opening of the event and contribute for as long as you’re able.

Alternatively, if you are unable to attend, but would like a member of your team to be part of it, feel free to pass on this invitation. The only condition here is that people attend because they want to. The effectiveness of this sort of event hinges upon there being a group of people who have chosen to be there.

If you have any further questions about this event, please get in contact with me.

Stage 2: Climate

“…reaching knowledge productivity in professional learning is to a large extent dependent on the arrangement of learning environments that stimulate professionals to develop, exchange and communicate their knowledge”. Tillema, H. (2006, p.174)

“Knowledge productivity requires that implicit beliefs and conceptions be challenged and open to external debate in order to become relevant for professional action. This occurs only when they can be communicated and shared with others.” Tillema (2005)

Stage 3: Set-up
Stage 4: Facilitation and Data Gathering/ Capturing
Stage 5: Closing
Stage 6: Data Analaysis

“Mauthner and Doucet (1998 cited in Elliot 2007) point to the fact that there is not nearly as much written on how to analyse qualitative data as there is on how to collect it. They argue that:

“…it is important for researchers to become more methodologically explicit

about the ‘nitty-gritty’ of the analytic process” (ibid. p.158)

They suggest multiple readings of the transcripts be done to cover plot, the storyteller, relationships and the broader social context. What is also of great importance is that the reader reads, with their own response in mind, in this case meaning I read and note and broaden my awareness of my response to the texts. Four questions that must be answered are:

1. What do we notice?

2. Why do we notice what we notice?

3. How can we interpret what we notice?

4. How can we know that our interpretation is the right one?”

Critique of the Research Methodology

As I reflect upon the methodology that I employed in order to answer my research question, I have identified a number of issues that, I think, may have affected the quality and trustworthiness of the overall research findings. Some of these were inside of my control and some were as a result of issues that, at the time, I could have had little foresight of.

* I had intended to issue an open invite to the Open Space event so as to ensure that only concerned volunteers were in attendance. However, upon reflection, I see that – either consciously or unconsciously – I found myself talking to people whom I know to be supportive of me and my work, about this event. If I’m honest, I think that I did this out of concern for myself, rather than for the good of the research. As it turned out, a high percentage of these people did ‘volunteer’ their time to contribute to this event. And whilst I’m comforted that not everybody that I spoke to came to the event, it is impossible to know, of those that did show up, which were genuinely interested in the issue at hand?

* The topic of trust and openness coincided, albeit inadvertently, with a major organisational project. At that point, only certain employees were privy to the details of the project and they had each signed a confidentiality agreement. Despite the best efforts to keep the project secret however, speculation was rife throughout the organisation – largely due to the number of senior staff who had been rendered unavailable for business-as-usual activity. Present at the Open Space event were both staff who had signed the agreement and staff who had not. Throughout the event there was a palpable sense of there being two camps – albeit the ‘those in the know’ camp was significantly the smaller of the two. When people were describing trust and openness, I believe that, in some instances, this issue took precedent over the issue that I had planned to research. In the interests of integrity with respect to Open Space however, I chose not to intervene or attempt to engineer discussion to the topic at hand. If anything, I believe that this revealed a new dimension of ‘remoteness’ to rank alongside time, space and organisation. This point will be further reviewed in the ‘discussion of research findings’ section (to follow).

* As I review the invitation that I created for the Open Space event, I can see an obvious bias that I ought to have surfaced and declared from the outset. My hypothesis from the beginning of this inquiry has been that; for all of the benefits and convenience that we derive from remote communication technologies, we pay a price in terms of a reduction in trust and openness within our teams. I think that I could have made this more explicit in the invitation. Although, I was conscientious in explaining this during the introduction of the actual event.

* Although the invitation to participate in the Open Space event was open to all staff, very few non-management staff attended. This raises questions about (a) the comprehensiveness of the research findings, (b) the extent to which non-management staff feel empowered to contribute in such an event, and (c) the extent to which non-management staff trust the organisation enough to feel safe enough to self-disclose on such a platform.

* The Open Space event took place at one of the head office buildings. This automatically excluded the majority of the organisation’s branch staff. Again, this raises questions about the comprehensiveness of the research findings. This is a particular irony because branch staff are wholly reliant upon remote communication technologies for developing and maintaining relationships with colleagues in Head Office and throughout the branch network. This also presents an opportunity however for a future research – ‘an inquiry into the effect of remote communication technologies on remote workers’, conducted through the medium of remote communication technologies – e.g. webinar.

Research Findings (incomplete)

Session 1/ Group 1

Discussion Topic/ Question

“I think we all secretly like working in silo from each other – do you agree or disagree – and if so, Why?”

Summary of Content

* Yes – working in silo gives you a sense of freedom

* Yes – working in silo means that you can make decisions more quickly (sometimes it’s better to do something and then inform people that you’ve done it)

* Yes – to defend against other teams who are in open competition with us

* Yes – My objectives are all individual, I don’t have time to be ‘teamy’ and achieve my objectives.

* Yes – It’s simpler

* Yes – You not exposed that way

* Yes – otherwise you end up with decisions by committee

* Yes – Best way

Give an account of the specific characteristics of ‘modern time’ as outlined by Peter Osborne.

The term modernity has become deeply contested in the last quarter of a century. The emergence of deconstruction as a hermeneutic tool of analysis inclined sociologists, historians and philosophers to prefer the concept of post-modernity as a designation of the present. Peter Osborne believes that there is little evidence that could plausibly justify this shift in terminology. He sets out to inquire into the philosophical dimensions of the term modernity and maintains that, once modernity is understood in its theoretical and conceptual complexity, the post-modern fails to display the necessary differentiating criteria that would make it a notion in its own right. At the heart of his investigation thus lies to reveal the inconsistencies in other thinker’s philosophical interpretation of modernity.

The first chapter focuses on two interpretations in particular: Marshall Berman’s account of modernity and Perry Anderson’s critique of it.^[1] Three aspect takes centre stage in Osborne’s analysis of modernity: modernity as a category of historical periodisation (1), modernity as a quality of social experience (2), and modernity as a project (3).^[2] His thesis is that neither Marxism, as it animates Berman’s account of modernity, nor Anderson’s critique captures the peculiar characteristics of modernity as a concept of temporality. The essay will briefly recapitulate Osborne’s rendering of Anderson and Berman’s interpretation and then outline the semantic shifts that led to the conceptual ambiguity of the idea of modernity.

Osborne notes first of all the more mundane characteristics of modernity. Philosophers and ordinary people alike would identify the notion of modernity with a ‘distinct span of time’ that is ‘identifiable’ and suggests a particular form of periodisation.^[3] This specific type of periodisation however already gives rise to some unsettling conceptual questions, amongst others what modernity in essence actually represents: a concept for understanding the present, or a form of social experience. He notes that modernity is suffused with different forms of time-consciousness and that the temporality of periodisation lies at the heart of the sociological discipline insofar it allows sociologists to engage in cross-temporal comparisons. In fact it is sociology that benefited most from the transformations in the notion of temporality which are somehow reflected in the notion of modernity. Osborne captures the basic dilemma of how to comprehend change in society through the lens of temporal structures:

‘…The problematic character of these assumptions (on the nature of the present) comes into view as soon as the issue of change within the present is raised otherwise than as an extrapolation of developmental tendencies built into the relationship between pre-given structural social types…’^[4]

This problem marks the potential and limitations of sociological inquiry. Modernity is constant change within the present, but we can only understand it through the emergence and transformation of social structures. This may permit us to compare societies across the times but it feeds upon an obscure notion of modernity as an unproblematic form of temporality. What we loose through this sociological kaleidoscope of analysis is the certainty that the historical process is radically open. Osborne contends that Marxism as well as Postmodernism attempt to rectify this problem and that both fail to succeed. Let us now turn to his critique of Marxism first.

Osborne credits Marxism with a novel view of historical time. In a way, Marxism reconciles plausibly the concepts of change and temporality while preserving a notion of modernity as something distinctively different to all previous ages. At the core of Marxian analysis lies the modes of production, a starting point that is reminiscent of the sociological view. Osborne points however to the crucial difference between the two by noting that Marxism achieves the visionary fusion of constant change and modern times only at the expense of a historical determinism that undermines any sensible concept of history as an open and uncertain path. In this sense, Marxism fails even more than the sociological view of modernity to attune to the philosophical consequences of the dual characteristics of temporality in modernity: that is denotes a form of time-consciousness and at the same time functions as a periodising category that has inscribed in itself various types of temporality.

Berman’s answer to this problem that pervades Marxism as a historical analysis of societal change is, according to Osborne, to replace the historical project of communism with the notion of a radically open future. Osborne remarks caustically that such an act of simple replacement lacks any justification.^[5]

Anderson’s critique of Berman then provides Osborne with a valuable counter-perspective. The crux of Anderson’s argument is that Berman’s account of modernity fails to acknowledge the differentiated forms of temporal experience that are implicit in modernism as a series of movements.^[6] Osborne immediately points to the problem that such a critique would necessarily involve two different usages of modernity. On one hand, Anderson would argue from the perspective of modernity as a designation of a historical phenomenon, whereas on the other hand, he would need to use modernity as a category for the analysis of historical processes. This conceptual discrepancy however invalidates, so Osborne thinks, the potency of his critical remarks.^[7]

What neither Berman nor Anderson consider is the dual nature of modernity as historical reality and as a concept capable of creating a ‘coherent whole’ through its periodising thrust.^[8] He concludes that philosophers must recognise the nature of the ‘reflexivity of the historical experience’. He writes:

‘For there is something decidedly new about modernity as a category of historical periodisation: namely, that unlike other forms of epochal periodisation …, it is defined solely in terms of temporal determinants…’.^[9]

The key to reconciling these different aspects of modernity is what Kosselleck would term a Begriffsgeschichte, a history of the concept. Mapping the semantic change that the concept of modernity undergoes can provide us with clues as to its complex philosophical conditions. So while neither Anderson nor Berman consider the ‘logic of modernity as a category of historical periodisation’ they fail to comprehend that modernity is not a chronological category (Adorno).^[10]

Kosselleck’s interpretation of the emergence of the term Neue Zeit (new time) hints, so Osborne believes, at the structure of temporality that characterises modernity in contradistinction to other forms of temporality in pre-modern times. The critical intervention occurred with the claim of the Enlightenment that the new times were marked by recognition of autonomous reason. Modernity thus acquired a sense of something qualitatively new. It provided for the first time in history a ‘conceptual space for abstract temporality of qualitative newness’.^[11]

While modernity could now be understood as a form of social experience, it also was seen as something that happened and continues to happen. While the latter was hinted at already in the process of the accumulation of capital as conceptualised in Marx’s critique of capitalism, the former aspect of modernity now unfolded into two dimensions: firstly, the experience of contemporaneity, and secondly, the experience of ‘register[ing] this contemporaneity in terms of a qualitatively new, self-transcending temporality.’^[12] Osborne notes that this

‘…is achieved through the abstraction of the logical structure of the process of change from its concrete historical determinants – an abstraction which parallels that at work in the development of money as a store of value.’^[13]

This would now complete Osborne’s alternative interpretation of the relationship between temporality and modernity. As he summarily remarks: ‘Modernity is permanent transition. Modernity has no fixed, objective referent.’^[14] In a critical addendum he analyses Habermas and Foucault’s notion of modernity and concludes that both fail to distance themselves from the project of constructing improbable ‘universal histories with cosmopolitan intent’.^[15]

Modernity as Osborne outlines it in his critical review of various thinkers is inexorably tied in with the notion of progress that falsely allows the ‘projection of people’s present as other people’s future.’^[16] He thus closes the circle in returning to the fallacy of the sociological account of modernity, one that has exaggerates universalising discourses of progress. Consequently, the idea of decline has no purchasing power in these philosophically erroneous notions of modernity.

Bibliography

Peter Osborne. The Politics of Time. Modernity and Avant-Garde. London and New York: Verso 1995

Perry Anderson. Modernity and Revolution, in A Zone of Engagement, London and New York: Verso 1992

____. The Notion of Bourgeois Revolution, in English Questions, London and New York: Verso 1992

Marshall Berman. All that is Solid melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity. London and New York, 1983

1

Introduction

This essay employs excerpts from the narrative of a 38 year old woman named Francesca, a lady who has been given a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to illustrate key concepts form the sociological, and psychological literature. This approach will illustrate the writer’s ability to critically appraise the literature, its relevance to the narrative in question, and using narrative, places these concepts within a real life clinical situation. This in turn provides insight into the value of narrative as a methodological approach in the 21st Century and how it intertwines with the rich tapestry of sociological theories and concepts that are available to the researcher studying the current sociological evidence base. For the purpose of this assignment, peer reviewed articles and textbooks were searched within the past 10 years.

The work introduces RA as a clinical entity (pivotal to understanding the comments of Francesca) and goes on to outline the use of narrative, particularly its utility in the study of chronic disease. The essay then goes on to cover some key important issues, namely:

The biomedical versus the sociological approach of illness management
The Study of Personal Illness Narratives
Sociological perspectives on depression
Chronic Illness and Disability
Social construction of medical knowledge and the Politics of Disability
Labelling
Stigma.

For each of the above, concepts are presented and mapped against selected statements from the narrative of Francesca (written in italics for clarity). These statements illustrate real world data gleaned from Francesca; valuable comments that are grounded in the experiences of a person living with a chronic disease. The work also contains an appendix comprising a reflective postscript which outlines the way that the work evolved from earliest outline, to the finished product.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects not only the synovial joints but multiple body systems (Goodacre 2008). The exact cause of RA remains unknown; it is a disease that affects more women than men, often of a young or middle age demographic unlike osteoarthritis which affects predominately older people. RA follows a somewhat unpredictable course of exacerbations and remissions. RA carries huge psychological problems in view of its unknown aetiology, uncertain prognosis, and loss of function. Additional symptoms include early morning stiffness, pain, limitation of activities of daily living, and socio- economic problems inasmuch as it may have a severe impact upon a person’s ability to work and function in society (Kojima et al 2009). The discussion now begins with a section on models of illness.

Biomedical and biopsychosocial models of disease

The biomedical model of health takes the reductionist view that people are “biological entities” (Lewis 2009 p745). In the clinical management of RA there is some merit in this biomedical approach, for example the monitoring of inflammatory mediators in the blood as a marker of disease activity or responses to drug intervention is well established in the literature (Lee & Kim 2009). This biomedical approach is reinforced by the GP comments from the narrative, i.e. That there was “no cure” and that “the tablets” were the key to preserving normal function. This approach may contribute to Francesca’s frustration, as it ignores the wider psychological and sociological ramifications of living with a chronic debilitating disease such as RA. It is unclear form the narrative whether the GP tempered his comments by adding that there are means by which the signs and symptoms of RA can be successfully managed.

Critical appraisal of the literature reveals that biopsychosocial models advocate a more holistic view of illness, for example according to Smith (2002) the biopsychosocial model seeks to address not only the client and his or her illness but also their capacity to deal with being ill. The value of adopting the narrative approach as part of the biomedical model is effectively illustrated at the point where Francesca states

“I just burst into tears”

At the perceived effect that this illness will have upon her loss of function in the future.

So whereas the biomedical model will operationalise function using objective outcome measures, here the use of narrative permits a biopsychosocial approach that provides rich client centred data on how it feels to be diagnosed with chronic and currently incurable disease. This in turn can help to inform our understanding of Rheumatoid arthritis as a disease thereby influencing the social construction of medical knowledge by giving voice to service users (Balen et al 2009).

The Study of Personal Illness Narratives.

Illness narratives concern a person’s views and beliefs about their illnesses and the effect on their lives (HydA©n 2007). There is increasing acceptance and recognition of the valuable role that such grounded narratives play in understanding the journeys that people with chronic diseases such as RA have to embark upon if they are to manage their illness on a day to day basis. For example Haidet et al (2006) found in a narrative study of people with diabetes that people narrated four illness-management strategies whose story elements were in dynamic interplay, each with unique variations for each individual revealing a level of complexity that had not been previously described.

As a method, narrative provides rich data (Furman & Cavers 2005; Poindexter 2002) and in this case gives a voice to Francesca that would otherwise remain unheard (Grills 1998).Much can be gleaned from studying Francesca’s narrative, for example Francesca begins to paint a picture of her hopes and fears upon being given a diagnosis of RA combined with an insight into her past and thoughts about the future.

Francesca’s narrative provides us valuable insight into her views of the self- a key component of narrative (Voilmer 2005), her relationships to others, and how these relationships have changed or may change in the future. In her narrative Francesca gives us some insight into the pain of living with rheumatoid arthritis, in her comments we can detect also a stark dichotomy in that she notes how healthy she had been in the past then uses the term “Excruciating” to describe her current pain, thus Francesca’s narrative hints at the loss of self in that she will no longer be a dancer or even a valid spouse as exemplified by the narrative quote.

“I won’t be the woman he fell in love with”

Here she literally describes herself as becoming another person. Here Francesca is able to provide the reader or researcher with valuable information on the loss of the self, which resonates with other narrative research (Roe & Davidson 2005; Doba et al 2007). Francesca goes further and also hints at the change in her illness self concept (ISC) that is to say the extent to which a person is defined or consumed by their disease or disability (Morea et al 2008). Francesca also hints at the concept of disease as a biographical disruption, described by Bury, this is said to occur when a person’s planned future cannot unfold as planned. (Bury 1982);

will he even want to marry me? I’m too young to have this.

What makes Francesca’s narrative particularly interesting is the fact that she is a twin; this may emphasise any change in self since she has in essence an unchanging control (her twin sibling) to against which to compare herself as her disease, her self identity (and possibly disability) progresses. The next section outlines sociological perspectives on depression.

Sociological perspectives on depression.

Francesca’s depression is likely to be multifactorial; for example there is evidence that the disease RA itself causes depression (Kojima et al 2009) as will living with pain. From a sociological perspective Francesca’s strained personal relationships may contribute to depression, for example her fear of being rejected as a potential spouse (Waite & Gallagher 2001), see below.

will he even want to marry me?

This feeds in to the earlier section on biomedical versus biopsychosocial models of health and illness and the different paradigms or world views in which they are situated. A biomedical explanation of depression is likely to focus on the biochemical aspects of the person whilst a more sociological approach would acknowledge the impact of socio economics, personal relationships and so on (Covic et al 2003). Caution is needed however here since the short excerpt of narrative that we have provides no direct evidence that Francesca is in fact depressed, indeed a review of the literature suggests that there is a tendency to over diagnose depression (Parker 2007).

Chronic Illness and Disability.

A chronic incurable disease such as RA would require Francesca to make significant adjustments to her life over time. The sociological literature now provides increasingly refined conceptualisations of these adjustments, acknowledging that the experience of chronic disease necessitates adaptations in multiple domains of the person’s life. This adjustment is often referred to as a trajectory (Stanton et al. 2007). This concept, introduced by the sociologist Strauss in an attempt to capture experiences and behaviours occurring in response to chronic illness (Strauss & Corbin 1998), goes beyond depicting the physiologic unfolding of disease and encompasses the total organisation of work done over the course of the illness (Strauss et al 1984). Francesca’s narrative hints at this changing trajectory tracing the commencement of her life changes to a time six months ago when she was much more active and defined herself as a dancer. Furthermore Francesca looks to her future and wonders about her ability to fulfil the stereotype of a perfect spouse.

It is important to engage with how Francesca and her fiancA© will make sense of the illness. The term “illness cognition” has been defined as “a patient’s own implicit common sense beliefs about their illness” (Leventhal and Nerernz 1985, p. 517). When people experience symptoms, they embark upon a cognitive search which enables them to interpret and make sense of the symptoms they are experiencing. Typically a critical review of the literature distils out into five categories:

Identity, including the description of symptoms experienced and their meaning (e.g. pain, fatigue).In the narrative Francesca describes her pain as “Excruciating” for example.
Belief about causes (e.g. accident, genetics or stress). People like to have a label for their symptoms for legitimisation although, once given, people are likely to interpret diverse symptoms as evidence of the label. Francesca has problems with causality and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future since there is no established medical cause for RA.
Timeline (beliefs about duration and time for recovery), namely is it acute or chronic? These beliefs will be re-evaluated as time progresses.
Consequences (e.g. loss of lifestyle, goals in life). These representations may only develop into more realistic beliefs over time. Francesca uses the narrative to discuss the change in her life from active dancer to unappealing spouse within the space of six months.
Beliefs about controllability. (Furnham, 1989; Landrine and Klonoff 1992, 1994)

These categories are pivotal to understanding how people make sense of, and decisions about managing a changeable chronic disease such as RA. Evidence of Francesca attempting to make sense of her symptoms by embarking upon a cognitive search may be seen in the example below:

I couldn’t understand it – I’m the healthiest person I know. I’ve never had problems with my health – never had a day off sick in my life. I never go to the doctor, no matter what, I’ve always been fit as a flea.

From the narrative provided we also have limited information concerning Francesca’s partner’s views, for example (although not from Dave himself)

Dave wore me down, telling me I’ve got to see a doctor

This may be interpreted in various ways, not least that Dave was keen for Francesca to obtain a diagnosis and thereby a label to legitimise the illness, whether such labelling is disabling or enabling is not fully resolved in literature (Huibers & Wessley 2006). Francesca’s comment does however open up the interesting issue of how partners cope with chronic disease, in RA in particular there is evidence that a strong marital relationship correlates with the couple’s psychological adjustment to the illness (Mann & Zautra 1990). These authors go on to claim that in RA, partners are most affected by their perceived vulnerability to disease and coping ability, whereas the wives who have RA were more affected by pain itself and how they will cope with the effects of the disease- reflected in Francesca’s comments below;

I started having excruciating pains in my feet when I woke in the morning

To further corroborate the findings of Manne & Zautra (1990) concerning male worries about coping at a more abstract level see the example below:

Dave has been great but he has his own worries – he’s just been laid off from his job and he’s worrying about paying for the wedding

Mann & Dieppe (2006) have also more recently acknowledged coping differences between males and females in RA, (n = eight women with RA ages 31-60 years and their partners, and 4 men with RA ages 43-75 years) although methodologically their sampling may be flawed in that those couples currently experiencing severe martial problems are unlikely to submit to the type of phenomenological interviews that they undertook.

The social construction of medical knowledge and politics of disability

It is not possible in an essay of this length to provide a full account of the politics of disability, primarily since the topic is multi-factorial, fluid and indeed is covered to an extent in the other sub sections of this work, furthermore we have insufficient data from the narrative to comment in depth. Kitchen and Wilton (2003) comment that our views of disability as a medical entity viewed in paternalistic terms have changed in favour or equality and empowerment. However Francesca can expect to experience a host of politically related issues, for example social exclusion and poverty (Foley & Chowdhury 2007).

Francesca has already stated in her narrative;

I’ve got to work- we need the money.

In terms of medicine’s social construction, as far back as 1982, Wright & Treacher (1982) claimed that medical knowledge inevitably contains a social component incorporating moral values and prejudices, and that diagnosis ascribes a certain meaning. We still see this thirty years later where the GP abruptly (allegedly) advocates of drugs to preserve normal function. This reinforces the paternalistic medical approach. RA in its early stages does not present with any obvious physical deformity and affects the young demographic, it is conceivable that she may experience disbelief from her peers; this may in turn make her life difficult in an era of financial unease, Government budgetary cuts and political uncertainty.

Labelling.

Labelling theory (social reaction theory) has its roots in the work of sociologist Howard Becker (Becker 1997). It centres on peoples tendency to negatively label those who are different from ourselves. As a person with chronic arthritis Francesca will not be immune to this labelling, for example being labelled as “disabled” or “arthritic” are all real possibilities. Arthritis organisations and acts such as the Disability Discrimination Act ( DDA) are at great pains to encourage activity and maintenance of full function and contribution to society, however all this may be negated by her GPs comments that there is;

no cure and I had to take tablets everyday to be able to function normally.

Labels can however be positive, Francesca describing herself as “glamorous” for example on two occasions in the narrative, and her previous label of salsa dance teacher is something that defines her in a positive way.

Yes, I’m a salsa dance teacher

Stigma

Stigma has recently been defined by Scambler (2009) as “a social process, experienced or anticipated by exclusion, rejection, blame or devaluation that results from experience, perception or reasonable anticipation of an adverse social judgement about a person or group”(p441)

Francesca may feel stigmatised by all of the factors previously discussed, attitude of her GP, loss of self, worry about the future, inability to act out the role of spouse. Factors such as depression, the lack of a cause for her RA and her inability to teach salsa dancing may amplify her feelings of being stigmatised, it is also important form the wider perspective to acknowledge that stigma may affect Francesca’s partner. Struening et al (2001) for example reported that 43-92% of caregivers (to people with mental health problems) reported feeling stigmatised, again this suggests that living with this disease does not only affect Francesca but also her partner.

Conclusion

This essay has employed extracts from the narrative of a 38 year old lady with Rheumatoid arthritis, to illustrate some key sociological concepts. The essay has provided a valuable opportunity to map some key concepts from the literature onto a narrative excerpt. Whilst the essay has not been able to enter the field in great depth; It is a testament to the thick description provided by patient narratives that such a wealth of information can be generated form a relatively short piece of description.

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Appendix Reflective postscript

This is written in the first person since it is a reflective piece of writing

This was a challenging yet fascinating project to complete. I was unsure how to approach the topic and how much weight to attach to the various theories available and the comments of Francesca , once it became clear that I was actually trying to explain what was going on with Francesca by using academic theory to illustrate her comments the task became rather enjoyable. Tight word count restrictions as always meant that I had to do some brutal editing, but the positive side to this is that it makes one more selective in ones writing. For example my earliest version was heavy on sociological theory and light on mapping this theory to the comments of Francesca, whereas the final version makes more explicit links between what Francesca says and the theory behind why she says it.

The fact that I had some real comments to sink my academic teeth into made the process of literature searching interesting and relevant since I was able to think about Francesca’s comments and her personal situation for each search that I undertook.

The areas that gave me most difficulty were the political aspects of disability since they seemed so wide ranging and actually intertwined with everything that I was writing about. All in all I have learned a great deal about the usefulness of narrative form this project.

What is identity? Our identity is what differentiates us from each other. How we look, talk; think all contribute to our various identities. It is what sets us apart from each other. Similarly leisure and recreation has its own identity that sets it apart from all other modalities. I shall speak on how leisure form and change identities.

Roots of identities

Numerous philosophers have dealt with concepts of a person’s “self”. But not until the late 19th century did people try to dismantle identity and see what identity really is. Researchers and theorists like Freud and Jung are the greatest influences on recent interpretations of identity. There are also developmental theorists who believe that there is a process in forming an identity.

BIRTH a INFANCY a CHILDHOOD a ADOLESCENCE a ADULTHOOD a DEATH

This has become the norm. People think that our identities are derived from social status and our roles in society. Due to this, emphasis is placed on the exterior and aesthetic gimmicks to improve our identities. This is known as a social construct. Everything is constructed by society and people. Not by pure hard facts.

Personal and social identities

These are the two parts that are brought together and eventually makes up our identity. Personal refers to how the person perceives themselves. Whether they think they are funny, happy or confident. The social part refers to the roles we take on. We become recognizable by these roles. E.g. daughter, student, teacher sister etc….

Identity is greatly formed during adolescence (ages 13-23). Although we keep growing, our core characteristics are created and carved into us during these years. Erikson (1968) says that the more successful kids are at resolving problems during younger ages the better psychologically equipped they will be to adjust and consequently, happier.

Developmental theorists focus on how people accept and embrace their roles. They have come up with a checklist that describes what a psychologically healthy person should be. In America, a healthy person contributes to the community by means of employment, civic involvement and general community participation.

As I said earlier, the bulk of our identity is formed in adolescence. From ages 23-60, people’s identities are completed with their jobs and the work they do. However this can cause devaluation of people who are unable to work due to disability or other circumstances. Leisure can change this and these people formulate identities.

Leisure and identity formation

There are numerous factors that contribute to development such as biological, social, family, school etc. But during adolescence we experiment and we stick to what we think is best for us. In America adolescents are allowed to step out of line with regards to appearance and behaviour. This is known as social non conformity. During adolescence people can take part in numerous leisure time activities, be it structured or unstructured. People believe that these activities can help identity formation or conversely believe that their identity has already been formed and that is why they commit themselves to the activity. Both show that leisure has direct impact on people’s lives and identities. Leisure can be instrumental or expressive.

Instrumental leisure is when a person uses a leisure activity to help in other areas of life. Art is a good example as a person may paint for their pleasure but may have high levels of talent and hope to get into an art school. Because instrumental leisure is usually based on an outcome of leisure, it is said to be externally motivated.

Expressive leisure is done just for the pure enjoyment of the activity. Continuing from the above example if you take graffiti art, although it is often called vandalism, those artists do it for the pure enjoyment and they also produce some amazing pieces of art.

Leisure contexts are transitional

Adolescence is the transition phase of development. Leisure and other factors contribute to this transition. The stimulus (activity) can have benefits for development. But when partnered with the participant’s enthusiasm and commitment it has the power to increase benefits for development. Some skills that can be learned through leisure are communication, negotiation, flexibility and teamwork etc. All these skills develop during adolescence which as I mentioned earlier is the transition phase.

Leisure contexts provide opportunities to explore and try different leisure identities

In America, they are exposed to a whole host of recreation and leisure programs (structured and unstructured) and this contributes to their and the peoples identity. They have their summer camps, boy and girl scouts for kids, which are done in holidays and after school. Haggard and Williams (1991 & 1992) believe that there is a correlation between these activities and the person’s future identity. E.g. people that play musical instruments when kids are more likely to become musicians.

But what happens to non-participation? Does it mean that if we don’t participate we are identity-less? I believe that we are not identity-less but rather direction-less because recreational activities are activities that we do in our free time. We aren’t going to engage in activities that don’t give us pleasure. So from our recreational activities we get direction to who we are going to become.

Flow producing activities contribute to intrinsic motivation

If a person pursues an activity and they achieve some form of enjoyment from it, more often than not, they will continue to pursue it. And do avoid stagnation they will keep on challenging themselves in that activity. When we take it to a high level, we have to take charge of our behaviours and we can feel responsible and confident about our lives.

Leisure activities across the life span assist with continuity

Leisure can give a person stability if practiced over long periods of time i.e. childhood to adulthood. People can learn how to react and cope in different situations. For example a person that initially takes up running to lose weight soon finds themselves enjoying the running. Their primary aim which was weight loss now shifts to enjoyment and the weight loss is a positive by product of the running. Other positive outcomes of the running are more active lifestyle, stress reduction etc. The running has been infused into the person’s identity.

Conclusion

Whether we believe it or not, our leisure and recreational activities contribute largely to our identities and who we are. It has been highlighted that leisure gives us direction and more often than not leads us to our destination of discovering ourselves. Best part is that we have fun on the way there…. it is recreation after all.

Social values of recreation and leisure
What is important to you?

Everyone is different and have different ideas and opinions as to what the perfect or good life is. What we perceive are the products of values instilled into us, as well as past experiences. An individual’s recreation behaviour is controlled by personal, social and cultural beliefs e.g. drinking.

Social values

These are important in shaping behaviours associated with leisure and subsequently delivering the right programs. Social values relate to action, vitality, individualism, materialism and group identity. Western society lean towards goal orientated action. They value time and keeping busy. Their values are demonstrated in their work i.e. the job they do and how they do it. And this is further reflected in their activities. In America, the more active you are the more of an asset you are because it implies that you can produce and consume more goods and services. This is known as vitality. It is, however, important to keep intact the principle if individualism. Recreation shouldn’t force people to suppress their individualism but rather allow them to explore and express it fully.

Materialism is being judged on your possessions. What you have, where you got it from and how much you paid for it is all that matters. Peoples ring up the credit cards in order to attain immediate pleasures as they simply have to have that item at that exact time. There has been a huge boom in the equipment and apparel market due to materialism and people’s extra large consumptive behaviour.

Group identity is very important. Nobody wants to be left out and therefore everybody wants to fit in. People then create these groups, private clubs and associations so that people with similar thoughts and interests can join these groups and have their own identities. There are very many groups and because of this there are many service providers in leisure program delivery i.e. public, non-profit and private sectors.

There has been a huge shift of recent and values that were important before have lost their importance and other patterns have now emerged. There has and always will be different values and thoughts between urban and rural people. This is so because their priorities are very often different. Social and moral values are an eternal concept. How they are expressed is a different issue.

Values or recreation and leisure experiences

Some theorists analyze the value of recreation ion terms of its meanings and motives. Why a person did a specific activity and what they would have got out from that activity. Other theorists aren’t so intense and believe it to be a pleasurable activity. Leisure and recreational activities can be either planned or spur of the moment. It can be done in groups, alone physical or non physical in nature. Because recreation is so diverse, everybody can extract individual meanings from their recreational activities.

Clawson and Knetsch’s (1966) explanations fit outdoor recreation almost perfectly. They proposed that there are five steps involved in recreational activity. These five are planning, travelling, doing, returning and reminiscing. All of these stages add to the enjoyment of the activity as a whole and add to the excitement of the activity.

Another concept is serious leisure which is the pursuit of a role, hobby, or activity that the participants find so fulfilling that they centre their lives on that activity e.g. musicians who use their talents for charity or causes only. Angelina Jolie and Madonna charity work in Africa.

The opposite also applies and it’s aptly called casual leisure. This is when people do stuff just for the fun of it like relaxing, watching television etc. Both types have value for the individual. Kleiber (2000) said that people don’t appreciate the simple things like casual leisure.

Benefits and motivations for recreation and leisure

People do leisure because of the benefits that accompany it. People take part to achieve benefits and these benefits are closely linked to the motivation that initially encourages the participation. Some benefits affect the individual, the community, the environment and the economy.

There are 6 benefits associated with leisure. They are:

Physiological- benefits that affect health and fitness of the individual

Psycho-physiological- benefits that span physiological and psychological health (stress management)

Psychological- benefits that can lead to enhanced self competence and self worth.

Economic- tourism is in face leisure and it spurs on the economy.

Environmental- protection of the environment has been an avenue ventured to save and promote outdoor recreation.

Socio-cultural- benefits that arise when you feel proud of you community

A new program has emerged- the benefits based movement. This movement can be split down into three components namely benefits based awareness, programming and management. The programs main aim is to increase awareness of leisure and recreation through effective programming and campaigning to create a large support base for parks and recreation.

Constraints to recreation and leisure

There are many benefits to be gained from leisure and recreation, but we must also look at the limiting and inhibiting factors. Leisure constraints include things that affect participation, frequency, intensity, duration and quality of the experience. Constraints affect the person and how they feel. Various models were made to try to conceptualize and understand leisure. A successful model categorized it in four categories.

Intrapersonal constraints- this deals with the person and may lead to lack of interest.

Interpersonal constraints- associated with relationships and how people work togethera cooperation.

Intervening structural constraints- outside elements that affect participation. Lack of money, transport or facilities.

Antecedent structural constraints- external factors that stop a person from participating or enjoying the activity to the fullest. These constraints need to be overcome by the community. E.g. people want to walk, but there are no sidewalks.

Economic values of recreation and leisure

Basic economics say that the success of a product is measured by its demand and subsequently its supply. With recreation the demand is always there as people want to have fun and want to have safe places to do it in. The three sectors have reacted to this demand and have supplied the facilities and programs. Citizens can benefit hugely as jobs, personal growth and revenues increase.

Usually we look at the income statement of companies and sectors to ascertain its success. But with leisure and recreation it is better to look at the expenditure statement rather than income. Over the years recreation expenses have increased from 2% of a family’s expenses to 10%. This is a positive sign and step in the right direction as people are starting to recreate more. Recreation is also described as inflation and recession resistant. Recreation is big money but expenditures aren’t only what the public spends on recreation, but also what government spends on recreation. So with government have three levels, there should be large amounts of money being spent on recreation. But that is not the trend.

Participation rates

By checking and keeping proper records of how many people engage in leisure and recreation we can also measure the effect leisure and recreation has on the economy. If more people participate, then more money needs to be allocated for facility upgrading, or new facilities and new programs.

Intangible benefits

Leisure and recreation also include economic benefits such as increase in area and property values.

Location and property values

Most places in America are dependent on tourism to sustain the community e.g. Orlando Florida Disneyland or the Atlantic Coast. Majority of the community would be without jobs and the hospitality and tourism industry would be without clients. If this had to happen property values would decrease and employment issues would crop up. When recreation facilities are correctly constructed and maintained they appreciate the land that they are on. Lake properties generally have higher values.

Economic impact

All communities have common places for recreation e.g. Bowling alleys, gaming arcades, pool halls, restaurants etc. These places generate money from tourists and the community. But more often citizens recreate at home and tourists use these tourist attractions where they spend foreign money and boost the economy.

Goods and services

People want to work in a happy environment and a place where they are comfortable. They want family time and satisfaction. Recreation can give this. Recreation keeps people happy which makes them more productive and therefore increases the economic value of that area.

Employment

Job opportunities are numerous in recreation such as managers, supervisors, programmers, admin clerks etc. These are positions often seen in the public sector. The non profit sector is just as huge. If you take a camp for example, these are the possible jobs that are available: camp counsellors, admin staff, coaches, instructors etc.

Conclusion

Leisure has a clear cut place in the economy. A lot of people earn their keep by producing items of recreation. All these leisure programs and parks would not be needed if there was no interest in leisure. As time goes by leisure is getting bigger and bigger and these are great steps in the right direction.

My culture is Yoruba, one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. My relatives comprises of my mother, father, two step mothers, five brothers, two sisters, two nephews and my extended family. As a part of my culture, the extended family is considered the backbone of every family. People like my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles help in shaping my life one way or the other. My parents always tell me that family is the most important thing, and we all help each other in order to survive. Members of my family practice different types of religion. My daddy is a Muslim, both of my grandparents are Muslim, two of my brothers are Muslim and the rest of the family are Christian.

In the community we live in, the neighbors help in taking care of the children, and we all have an understanding to help and support each other. At home my family tends to speak both Yoruba and English, and part of the reason why is because when we started elementary school the teachers spoke both languages to us. One of our family traditions that was started by my parents after they had two of my older brothers and one of my sister they started making all their children’s middle names to begin with A and the first name to begin with S

Family

As part of our family arrangement, the grandfather is respected to be the head of the family. Members of the family tend to go to him for advice, and he is usually called to settle an argument between family members. From time to time the grandfather takes care of the grand children when the parents are out. The grandmother also takes care of the family; sometimes the grandmother tells stories to the grandchildren about things that happened while she was growing up. The father is responsible for bringing food, building houses, repairing fences; he is also considered the head of the house. The mother is responsible making sure that all chores are done. The mother is also accountable for the well-being of her children and also their education. The mother also advices are daughters about who to marry. The daughters learn how to be good wives from their mother. As a family custom, we have to kneel down to greet an elder person. We are not allowed to call someone older than us by their first name; we have to use aunt or uncle.

Nontraditional

My family experience was a nontraditional because I was born and raised by a single mother in Lagos, located in the southern part of Nigeria in West Africa. My dad was not around for most of my life and as a result, my father’s side of my family is a mystery to me. According to my oldest brother my father’s families were faithful Muslims. My grandfather was in a polygamous relationship, living with four wives and lots of children. My grandmother on my father side was the most senior wife, and she was responsible for keeping the house and other wives in check. My father was one of the second oldest children of my grandfather, he practice the Muslim faith. My father was a man of contradiction, because he tried to be a faithful Muslim but he had a serious alcohol problem that prevented him from fully achieving success both in his private and business life. My mother met my dad while she was working for him at this business. At this point my dad was already married and had been divorced twice and had five children. My father and mother are from the Yoruba tribe of western Africa. This is a male dominated culture, but it is changing with modern times.

Traditional clothing

For special occasions we wear our traditional cloth, which consists of bright colors. Women’s traditional clothing consists of buba, kaba, iro, gele . Buba is a loose top that does not go past the waist and Iro is known as the bottom part of the cloth that is wrapped around the waist. And the gele, which is known as the head wrap, is tied around the head. Some of the men’s clothing is similar to the female’s, Men’s traditional clothing consists of a buba, fila sokota. Buba is a loose top that goes down almost to the thigh. Fila is known as the cap, which adds more style to the clothes, and the sokota is known as the pant.

Celebration

We celebrate birthdays in my family by wearing new clothes and having a little party with members of our families and then on Sunday we go to church for the pastor to pray for us. The most important holidays we celebrate are the New Year and Christmas. For Christmas we celebrate by decorating our homes and by making different types of food and inviting family, friends, and neighbors to visit. Sometimes we also celebrate Christmas by traveling to the village to spend time with our grandparents, and one of the things that happens when we go to the village is my grandfather buys a cow, and every member of the family gets a pieces. The cow is distributed from the grandparent to the children then to the grandchildren. The youngest out of the grandchildren gets the smallest piece of the cow. Some people celebrate New Year holiday by staying at home and praying, and some people make it a very joyful festivity by inviting some friends over for a party. We celebrate marriage by cooking different types of traditional food and playing different types of traditional music. Food is considered a very important aspect in my culture. Traditionally we eat food by using our right hand, but with the influence of western culture, people are starting to use things like forks, knives, and spoons. Different types of food are cooked to celebrate a child naming ceremony and marriage. When a child is born, family and friends come together for a naming ceremony, and the oldest family member prays for the baby. In comparing the Yoruba culture to Mexican traditional culture, Mexicans consider their relatives to be the building block of Mexican society. In Mexico when it comes to family, family is very important and have a lot to meaning to the Mexican people and family are considered to be the fundamental of Mexican life. According to the website on Mexican family and tradition, “families are considered to be the building blocks of the Mexican society and even with all the modernization we find the families in Mexico to be quite closely knit with their family and their extended side of the family, together with further extensions of the family being normal.” The world family has an important mean. Many kids and teenagers dance and celebrate with their grandparent’s different type of holiday celebration. This is similar to the Yoruba culture because

Family Traditions

As a part of Mexican culture gender role is assigned to members of the family. Most Mexican children tend to live with their parents till they get married. This is similar to the Yoruba culture , because in most Yoruba families gender roles are assigned to everyone in the family and most children live with their parent until they get married. It is important in the Mexican culture for family to have a close relationship with their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. For most Mexican families it common for them to live in the same area or house. Men have a great responsibility in taking care of their families. In the house hold the men’s role is considered to be the work place area. Women also have a great responsibility in taking care of their family. Women in Mexican culture are responsible for cleaning the house and making sure the children are taken care of. Men and women join together in making sure their family needs are being met.

For most young females they are always under the watch of the family until they are married. One of the most common family traditions is celebrating the fifteenth birthday of a young woman.

Celebration

The most commonly celebrated holidays in Mexico are Christmas and New Year holidays. Celebration for both holidays begins in the middle of December and last until the beginning of January. Dia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is known as one of the most religious and important holidays in Mexico. This festivity is celebrated to pay respect to Guadalupe, who is known as the patron saint of Mexico. The festivity starts on December third; however Guadalupe Day is not praised on till December 12. Mexicans also have other major holiday that their celebrate like the Las posada, Noche Buena, Dia de Los Muerto and this are just few of the holidays they celebrate. As a part of Mexican culture, when celebrating birthdays, families get together and different types of music are played and different types of food are cooked. In Mexico, when a girl turn15 years of age, a party is giving to celebrate becoming a women. This is recognized as Quinceanera. The birthday is celebrated by inviting all family members, and also going to the church. As a part of Mexican custom their food includes different types of spices. Rice, beans, tortilla are one of the most common Mexican dishes

In comparing Mexican cultural to Yoruba cultural it shows that we both culture have a lot of similarity and few differences. One of the differences between the Mexican culture and Yoruba culture, in Yoruba culture we do not have a big birthday celebration for females that turn 15 years of age. How they celebrate their Christmas and New Year holiday is also different from the Yoruba culture. Some of the things that we have in common are our family values and how we both respect the older. Another thing that we have in common is also the food. We both like species food and we both love to get together with family and friends to celebrate special event and holidays.

Through the course of this essay Irina Anderson??s research into rape perception will be critically analysed. This essay will firstly summarise the research and then go through each hypothesis, the methodology employed and the ideas put forward within the discussion will be assessed due to their respective strengths and weaknesses. In addition to this there will be a section commenting on the place of this research within rape research at large. Some of the problems associated with results of this research and the conclusions drawn from it will be looked at also. Finally suggestions on ways to overcome these problems will also be investigated. As this analysis takes place within the context of Social Psychology Andersons research will thus be viewed through the lens of theories relating to attitudes. This was first put forward by Allport who defined attitudes as ??A mental and neural state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual??s response to all objects and situations with which it is related?? (Allport,1935 p.810). due to the gendered nature of rape perception this research is much needed in building a frame work for how rape is seen by the public. The abstract is very clear and to the point and succinctly condenses the research. The three hypothesises under investigation are what is the current perception of female rape, whether this perception is applicable to male rape or are there elements of cultural lag in male rape. Despite previous research it was found that these hypothesises were proved wrong during the study

During the introduction these foundation of the hypothesises under investigation are laid. It was found that past research had shown that female rape was most commonly seen ??stranger rape??. The Stranger rape stereotype (SRS) is a script which constructs rape as occurring between two people who do not know each other, the act usually happens at night with the ??struggling victim subdued??, etc. However studies have shown that contrary to this scenario the vast majority of female rapes 78-84% (Gavey 2005, Koss 1988) are committed by males known to the victim this disparity between official statistics and public perceptions is part of the basis of this study. It is argues that changes in rape perception, brought on by demystifying of rape myths by the media , the breakdown of gender roles and reports which suggest that a broader definition of rape is being used have combined to contribute to the complete rejection of the traditional SRS paradigm into that of acquaintance rape. Though Gavey p 17-49 has examined the move away from traditional stranger rape paradigm, especially from the 1970??s onward, a complete reversal of public thinking does not seem to be completely supported. However as participants within this study were asked to ??generate their own lists of information?? it was expected that an answer to this question would be found through the course of Andersons research.

One of the most important points that can be drawn from the introduction is what seem to be a lack of research following on from Kahn??s work regarding a concrete separation of and definition of public attitudes to the differences between acquaintance rape and seduction (Kahn 2004). The overlap between these terms as outlined by Kahn may lead to general confusion and it may be argued that without a clear differentiation between these terms present research into the conceptualisation of female rape may be hampered. In order to address these questions, this current research is vital is analysing what a female rape will be conceptualised as.

The results pertaining to the first hypothesis are analysed within the discussion section, which is the well structured and logical it begins by addressing the first findings regarding the first hypothesis was directly contradicted by the results of the experiment. It is well argued that a possible reason for this opposition was due in part to the problems ??blame attribution?? where by participants described scenarios in which the victim would be less likely to ??invite societal blame??. From this analysis the issue of societal blame appears to be highly salient in rape perception. Moreover in descriptions of a typical rape Anderson asserts that respondents appear to convey scenarios in which no level of blame may be attached to the victim and suggests that further research should concentrate on whether participants are describing what they see as the reality of typical rapes or if other factors, namely blame attribution play a part in the results. Research clearing up this ambiguity would do much to further the study of public rape perception.

The second intention of Anderson??s research is to ascertain whether or not male rape is seen along the same parameters as date/acquaintance rape in females. It is stated that due to a lack of data concerning male rape cause by low report rates and the propagation of rape myths and misconceptions that the research into the public perception of male rape has in not been given the attention which it deserves . From the information gathered in previous in previous studies (Donnelly and Kenyon 1996) it has been hypothesised that if the current opinion of female rape is characterised within the parameters of acquaintance/date rape and that male rape is more commonly seen within the older SRS model. The second part of the discussion directly deals with the results relating to this hypothesis. From the analysis undertaken female rape may still be generally seen along the lines of a ??stranger- acquaintance rape continuum??. However the results show that male rape is viewed along completely dissimilar lines to female rape. From these findings Anderson argues that ??male rape perception may be characterised by (a) erroneous and mythical perception??. These other factors include descriptions of the act of rape, the relative strength of the perpetrator and victim, sexual orientation and the motivation of the rape being sexual urges [rather than power related]. The fact that some of the factors attributed to male rape include homosexuality and that homophobic belief

The hypothesis of the ??cultural lag?? of male rape was however not supported during the course of the research. Finding show that male rape does not lag behind female rape, rather ??other?? factors not found the SRS/AR models were drawn upon when conceptualising male rape. These ??other?? factors make up a fourth hypothesis in the method section were not previously mentioned within the introduction or hypothesis summary. The failure to include this fourth hypothesis previously, which directly addresses the ??other?? factors associated with male rape appears to be an oversight. However though it is very useful in helping to make sense of the data as a whole, the late formulation, or at least labelling of this as a hypothesis, subverts the initial aims of the experiment and calls into question the validity of the data coded within this section. The inclusion of this section also further widens the scope of this limited study. Considering the limited data which may be collected from such a small (119 people) and highly privileged sample of the population. In light of the three main interconnected hypothesises the extension to a fourth hypothesis principally concerned with factors initially outside the experiments design leads to a true weakening of this study. Though this data is well coded and analysed, there can be no doubt that this section places strain upon the method section of this study as a whole.

The third intention of this current research is to analyse the differences of response between male and female respondents. All previous studies which consider male and female attitudes to rape have shown a strong divergence between attitudes along the gender divide. This it is argued is unsurprising due firstly the fact that men generally have less knowledge about or contact with rape, and secondly due to the fact that ??historically been the victims of violence while men have been the perpetrators??. In agreement with this it is demonstrated that men more often agree than disagree with rape myths, empathise less and ??hold less tolerant attitudes towards victims (Jiminez & Abreu,2003) In addition to this Andersons previous research has found that men possess more homophobic attitudes that women in regards to male rape. This is backed up solidly by previous research, which in summery states that as men experience rape less and that as the issue of rape is less prominent within the male consciousness. Men will extrapolate their knowledge of female rape, to a male scenario along the SRS paradigm.

In drawing out the reasons for the predominance of factors such as homosexuality and homophobia associated with male but not female rape Anderson puts forward several reasons as to why this may be the case, the first is that participants may simply be ??expressing their disgust at this act?? (Davies, 2002). Secondly use homophobic language as a means of distancing the participants from the victim so at to keep their ??masculinity intact?? and to also remove the possibility that they (the male participants ) could themselves be raped. This is a very interesting point which is well argued and is a convincing analysis of the data presented. The recommendation given for further research investigating the connection between sexuality and homophobia in relation to conceptualizations of male rape and the blame attributed to victims is well founded and may go some way in explaining why these factors have gained such prominence in this research.

Through course of critically analysing the current research many issues of importance have become apparent. Firstly any research which furthers the field of rape perception is of huge importance. It is also of paramount importance to educating the public at large about the predominant trends of rape within society. With regard the article under review some very important questions have been raised by this study. The fact that all but one of hypothesis has been proved false may be seen in part as a cause for alarm. This is particularly evident in the case that female rape perception has seemed to have lost its cultural lead over supposed paradigms of male rape. This calls for a reassessment of assumptions that female rape is typically seen within the AR framework. Secondly the fact that male rape is not seen either as SRS or AR and is viewed in often homophobic terms may be interpreted differently than to Andersons theory that homophobia is a form of distancing on the part of male participants, it may be interpreted as evidence that homophobia is much more prominent in society than previously assumed. The difference between male and female respondents has not been clearly addressed either, it seems from previous research that more than ever there is now a pressing need to educate males within society about the various aspects of rape. From analysing this research it seems that very little was confirmed or disproved about rape attitudes and perceptions, this research has in turn raised more questions than it answers. In conducting future research it would be advisable to approach one hypothesis at a time, using a much larger sample of the population. In addition to this a more careful use of wording of research questions may also benefit future studies, for example the question what are the predominant circumstances of a male/female rape may address the hypothesis more clearly than the use of the phrase ??typical??. This leads us to ask further questions about the problematic nature of this type of research.

Anderson??s current research acknowledges some of the shortcomings of the present study including the fact that the research participants used for the study were from a student population, despite this acknowledgement it would be naive to generalise these findings due to the particularities associated with a student sample to the population at large. Some of the main problems associated with using a student population for this type of are that as supported by the research that rape may be an issue generally held in the student consciousness. Secondly the predominantly young age participants, mean age 21.2, could perhaps play a large part in how rape is conceptualised. This is especially important considering that the age group of these students suggest that they have been brought up within the AR framework. A larger study would show how the population at large conceptualise rape. It can be argued that perhaps even previously un-theorised concepts of rape may be found as a result of such a study. It would also be of great interest to investigate what the current perceptions of marital/partner rape is.

Another important factor which ??may have affected findings?? is that up to 34% of the participant were from ethnic minorities. Anderson argues that this factor may have altered the outcome of the study. It may however be argued that the inclusion of ethnic minorities may in fact give the present study a higher degree of validity and allow this research to be generalised. Regardless of the supposed ??less tolerant perceptions of rape?? within minority communities (Nagel, 2005), the hypothesised informed attitudes of the student population appear to be unfounded. This finding adds to the overall confusion of the results presented. At present it is impossible to say whether the inclusion of these minorities have lead to a substantial change in the findings of the survey. Further studies along the lines of Nagel??s research are to be suggested. This work should concentrate on the questions of race, ethnicity and class should be dealt with as a means of aiding the understanding of rape perceptions in the public at large.

In conclusion the current body of research into rape perception is clearly lacking. The findings of some previous research which are not supported by this study are a serious problem which must in due course be addressed. Furthermore Andersons unsupported hypothesises clearly show the need for further and more directed research into the area of public rape perceptions. Some interesting points were brought up which also require further research, most importantly the fact that female rape perception is still categorised along the lines of SRS rather than AR. In addition to this the evidence produced regarding the ??other?? factors associated with male rape also warrant investigation. Anderson??s suggestion that further studies concentrating on blame attribution is a logical and well reasoned course of action and is highly advisable. In summery past and present research has shown gaps in the understanding of how the public view rape scripts. This research has done much to highlight this problem. It can only be hoped that further research and public education can lead to an increased awareness and understanding on the topic of rape.

We had know that the homosexual simply mean “a person who is sexually attracted to people of the same sex”. Nowadays, homosexuality had influenced in society but it is still in discussing, the society either accepts this behavior or not. Some of the society said that homosexuality is unhealthy and immoral behaviour which will give negative impact towards individuals, families and societies. Therefore, some argument had been made to the homosexuality.

Arguments against homosexuality

Most of the society had argued that “homosexuality is harmful towards societies”. This argument seems to be common, but has no clear meaning. Most of the society just knows that homosexuality is referring to the sexual orientation but it may also not. If homosexuality is referring to sexual orientation, then its harmfulness is depends on the act performance in homosexuality. Homosexuality itself does not have any harmful in any sense, but if the performance of act which is harmful is included in homosexuality, then it is. But there is still a contradiction, the statement above had claimed that “harmful towards society” but the act in homosexuality is just harmful for individuals or small group of people. Therefore, this statement shows that society had argued about homosexuality without fully understanding.

A unique argument against homosexuality, “Homosexuals do not reproduce and this lead to a threat to the survival of society”, also said among the societies. This statement has clearly showed that homosexuality is not good in society, but it may be a good way. First, keep in mind that the serious overpopulation problem of the earth nowadays in some of the countries and homosexuality can overcome this problem. Second, someone had asked that why all the people must have children even if there is no problem of overpopulation. Homosexual is just existed in a small population on all the culture, thus this has minor or no effect towards the population of people. For addition, homosexuality can fulfill the desire of sexual relationship of the following people: people who do not want children and people who inability to have children. This show that the argument above seems to be used, and sounds like homosexuality can be good. Third, on the other hands, if we read through the history of homosexuality, there are many information about homosexuals do have children. Due to the social disapprobation, many homosexuals had married with person of the opposite sex and had children. This show that the persons who claimed about homosexuality pose a threat toward the society is because of they do not fully understand about homosexuality. And lastly, will human species become extinct if all of the people were homosexuals? This is not true because homosexual can reproduce children via insemination.

Society also claimed that homosexuality will posed a threat to children. This is not true because most of the people had misunderstanding that if a homosexual do molestation on children, then that children will also become homosexual. A research about this fact had been carried out and the result is molestation cannot determine children become homosexual or heterosexual. For addition, the molestation of children mostly done by heterosexual compared with homosexual. Besides that, by teaching children about homosexual can help children to feel attracted towards the children with same sex, and also to make children feel better about whom they are because of the loneliness and fear about society reaction among the homosexual. If there is a good teaching, this can help the children to grow up in healthy and self-confident. Furthermore, homosexuals are also human beings, who have the feeling of love and care of the children, which same with heterosexuals.

An argument, “Homosexuality is a sad lifestyle and very depressing”, also been said in the society. First, we must know that the actual reason of a homosexual become sad or depress because a homosexual life will not cause any negative emotion towards any people. So, the society cannot argue that the depression of homosexuality without any basis knowledge. Most of the people sad and depress for another reason, and also there is no evidence shows that the homosexual is sadder.

“Homosexuals are desire to have sex with different partners”, this thought seems to be common in some of the society. This is true, but somewhat bias. To tell the truth, heterosexuals are more desire for sex with different partners than homosexuals. The society cannot just point all the negative argument towards homosexuals. First, the degree of desire is differences between male and female (not between homosexuals and heterosexual). Males have higher degree of desire than female. However, even if someone argued that homosexuals are more “promiscuous” than heterosexual, this will be fine if both partners agreed with. Therefore, the statement above is just a wrong concept in the society since everyone has different degree of desire and not only for homosexuals.

Someone had argued that “homosexuality has higher rate to cause AIDS, and other diseases”. According to the UNAIDS, there is only five to ten percent of HIV infections caused by male homosexuals, but there is seventy to seventy-five percent of HIV infections caused by heterosexuals. We also cannot conclude that heterosexuals has higher rate to cause disease since the sex-related disease is caused by unsafe sex and this hold for all of the people. Same with other diseases, they are just caused by the negative behavior of the patients. On the same way, the low rate of causing disease among the homosexuals has low or no threat towards the society. To conclude, there is no clear evidence shows that homosexuals has higher rate to cause diseases but in opposite way.

Lastly, is homosexuality undermining religious and stability in society? Most of the society agreed with this but it is also a wrong statement. First, it is incorrect to say that religious can bring stability to society. The stability of society is created through a well-functioning society with caring individuals without any religion at all. Second, homosexuals themselves also have their own religions. For example, the conservative people thought that homosexuals are negative towards Christianity (mostly in Western countries), but actually homosexuals are also Christians who having a good behavior. In conclusion, the argument of homosexual is less religious than others is totally wrong in the society.

In conclusion, the modern society had not fully understanding about homosexuality and give out only the negative impact of homosexuality.

Psychologists and psychoanalysts’ view against homosexuality

Homosexuality is not universally viewed as pathology. In the modern time, the society had set the homosexuality as unnatural act among the people. Therefore, several psychologists and psychoanalysts had pointed out their own view against homosexual.

Richard von Krafft-Ebing had defined homosexuality as a degenerative sickness in his Psychopathia Sexualis. He had argued that homosexual behavior is not useful to the society but rather creates a harmless “Criminal Class”. He noticed that male homosexuals are not more likely to be child molestation.

Later, both Sigmund Freud and Havelock Ellis had adopted better and more acceptable views. Havelock Ellis argued that homosexuality was natural and not immoral, thus it is not a disease. He also states that homosexuals made a outstanding contributions to the society.

On the other hand, Sigmund Freud, a well known psychologist, had stated the basic theory of human sexuality which was different with Ellis’s theory. He believed that all human beings were bisexual when born, and when grows up, they will became either heterosexual or homosexual depends on their own experiences in their life with anyone they contact or communicate. On the same way, Freud agreed with Ellis that homosexuality should not be looked as a form of pathology. His view against homosexual also clearly stated in a well known letter to an American mother in 1935. In the letter, he stated that although homosexuality has no advantages, but it is also nothing to be ashamed of, no guilty, no degradation, cannot classified as unnatural disease. He also said that people should considered homosexuality as a sexual development in a human beings. For addition, many highly respectable people are homosexuals include Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

Although Sigmund Freud’s theories were accepted by most of the society, but later on, some of the psychoanalysts did not follow his view. Sandor Rado (1940 and 1949) had rejected Freud’s concepts of inherent bisexuality. He argued that heterosexuality is natural while homosexuality is just a behavior to fulfill the sexual pleasure. Bieber (1962) argued that homosexuality is a result of the relationship within pathological family during the oedipal periods. Charles Socarides (1968), on the same way, though about the causes of the homosexuality and the result was pre-oedipal, even more pathological than earlier analysis.

The arguments above seem to be theoretical but it is just based on their own views and may bias. First, the researchers should not pre-expect the result of several experiments to avoid the bias but such procedures have not been used in the studies of homosexuality. Second, psychoanalysts had only examined homosexuals who already under psychiatric care. Therefore the patients’ views cannot be assumed to represent all of the general population. On the same token, psychoanalysts just draw conclusion about all heterosexuals based on only a few data collected from heterosexual psychiatric patients.

Alfred Kinsey, a more tolerant researcher towards homosexuality had conducted a research on the sexual behavior among American adults. His research had revealed that the participants who having the homosexual behavior is because of the point of orgasm after 16 years old. Furthermore, Kinsey and his colleagues reported that only a minority of male and female had homosexuality for at least three years between 16 to 55 years old. This gives a more acceptable concept about the homosexuality in the society

An innovative study had been carried out by Hooker (1957). She had given out the question of the difference in psychological adjustment between homosexuals and heterosexuals rather than simply accepting the concepts of homosexuality as pathology. She also recruited a sample of normal behavior, homosexual men in society for research rather than studying psychiatric patients. On the same way, she employed some experts to rate the adaptation of men without any earlier knowledge of their sexual orientation. After that, she conducted three projects tests which are the Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), and Make-A-Picture-Story (MAPS) to groups of homosexual males and heterosexual males, which consists of 30 participants each. All of the participants were not in therapy and matched for age, IQ and education. In her projects, she concluded that homosexuality is not inherently connected with psychopathology. Freedman (1971) used Hooker’s projects to study homosexuality and heterosexuality within women and the result was same with Hooker.

Gonsiorek (1982) had conducted various psychological tests of comparing homosexual and heterosexual on he found that both groups regularly graded within a normal range although there is some difference between two groups. He concluded that homosexuality is unrelated to psychological interference.

In conclusion, some of the psychologists and psychoanalysts still have negative personal thinking towards the homosexuality. However, most of projects and tests had supported the idea of homosexuality is a form of mental illness nowadays.

Singapore is rapidly facing ageing population where the proportion of residents aged 65 and above increased from 14% of the resident population in 1998 and this is set to rise to 27% in 2015. An increase in life expectancy has led to the increase in proportion of elderly people. Other reasons were due to the ageing of the baby boomers, decrease in infant and early childhood mortality rate and low birth rates.

In today’s society, our perception of elderly people is often that of dependency, slow and disregarded. Misconceptions arise about ageing, leading to stereotyping and social discrimination. A common stereotype states that most elderly people are either unhealthy or ill. When elderly people are unsure of themselves, they are considered to be senile. They are also accused of being old when they forgot a sentence.

It was the older generation who worked hard and they deserve to be respected by society. With more and more people becoming old, it is important to pay attention to the legal issues surrounding elders. We need to confront such concerns now so that people are able to look forward to enjoying their old age in peace in the future. Addressing the problem of discrimination in Singapore is therefore a key step in further developing and building up our nation. Through undertaking these suggestions, we can hope towards a better future for Singapore, one free from discrimination and abuse of human rights. Therefore, it is vital that companies and individuals change their mindset and be more supportive towards older generation.

Hence, this report will highlight the issue on discrimination against elderly people especially in the workplace. Measures taken at the company and national level to combat this social discrimination against the elderly people are also discussed.

Many people discriminate elderly people and this is prevalent in the workplace. Age discrimination occurs when older worker is discriminated against by an employer because of their age. A recent survey by Kelly Services discovered that majority of the 1,500 respondents polled in Singapore, experienced some type of prejudice when applying for a job in the last five years and the main reason for discrimination, which contributed to 29 percent, was age.

Majority of the older workers did not complete their secondary education due to limited educational opportunities. Hence, they have a lower skilled job. As firms seek higher productivity, current jobs are being automated and improvised, resulting in multiple and higher skills requirements. This eventually leads to older workers, with low education and holding unskilled jobs, being retrenched.

Even if low skilled jobs are available, older workers still face competition from younger and cheaper foreign workers. Many companies are biased against older workers and still prefer to hire younger employees. Such discrimination fails to tap fully the older workers’ contributions.

In addition, due to the high cost of hiring older workers and perception among employers that they are less productive and open to new ideas, many firms are less likely to hire them. As such, employers may encourage early retirement or layoff disproportionately older workers. This is usually seen in computer and entertainment industries. As a result, we often see older workers picking up empty cans or selling tissue papers. Other stereotypical old-age occupations that come into mind will be cleaners and servers at fast food restaurants.

Age discrimination has a negative effect on the economy and society. Discriminating age is harmful to a company because older people are full of experiences. By not hiring them, it deprived them of securing a job. The effect on the economy is evident in older workers depleting life savings which were meant for retirement. Borrowing money from financial institutions and maxing out credit cards may be the only solutions for some unemployed people to survive.

Medical needs either go unmet or the unemployed person must seek help via subsidies to pay for medication. Depression also rises when people become discouraged from the loss of a job, a home and a livelihood.

However, we have Central Provision Fund (CPF) and Medisave which our Singapore government have implemented to provide Singaporeans with a retirement income to meet their basic needs in old age.

Another example of discrimination against the elderly people was due to their “deteriorating intelligence”, they are incapable of making independent decisions such as owning financial property, or living independently. People see this as a negative attitude which is often translated into their ageist actions.

There seems to be a trend for the elderly to live on their own, away from their children. It is because some people feel that elderly people is a burden as they are often sick and dependant. Therefore, they will put them in the care of caregivers in the elderly homes, thinking that they have provided them the best in terms of basic needs. However, they are wrong as they have unnoticeably discriminated against them by having a perception that they are a burden, slow, and dependent.

United Kingdom (UK) also faces discrimination against the elderly in the workplace. However, older people want to work beyond state pension age and employers are positive about retaining them. Various surveys show that there is a keen attitude amongst older employees for flexible working and flexible pensions. The government encourages older workers to continue working and employers recognize them as a valuable resource.

Instead, we should appreciate old age and understand that there is nothing wrong about growing old. We should not identify old age with imagery of despondency. There is a need to rethink on how we can care for the elderly and combat this social discrimination.

Under Singapore’s laws (with some exceptions), the government cannot fine or take any legal action against employers who choose to discriminate. Individuals also cannot sue employers.

Recognising the need for older workers to remain employed, the government has come up with various measures which include the extension of the retirement age to 62, reduction in the costs of employing older workers, Back-to-Work programs to encourage the economically inactive to enter the labour force and re-training and skills upgrading of older workers.

To reduce the cost of employing older workers, the employer’s CPF contribution rate for older workers aged 55 and above has decreased and employers can cut wages of workers aged above 60 by up to 10%.

Employers have moved away from the seniority wage system and turned to a performance-based wage system. An SHRI (2007) survey revealed that only 14% of Singapore employers use a seniority wage system, while 61% are offering a performance-based wage system. Thus, this enables older workers to be hired because the wages increase with age using a seniority wage system.

In the workplace, employers are encouraged to employ older workers and to job redesign. An example will be NTUC FairPrice where they hired older workers and assisted them in job upgrading and career transitions. Older workers can also enrol themselves in training programs to upgrade their skills and this ensures their employability.

This is especially so in an increasingly knowledge based Economy. For older workers, learning should not only be seen as an advantage for employment but also for self enrichment and fulfilment. The raising of the retirement age to 62 also enables older workers to secure jobs.

Employers have to rethink their attitudes towards employing older workers and make the necessary adjustments e.g. modification of work processes to accommodate older workers. For example, in McDonalds, icons of hamburgers and fries are printed on the cash registers to help older workers key in the right orders. However, their success still depends heavily on employers because it is important that they change their attitudes so that they do not employ employees on the grounds on age.

Recently, a “tripartite” committee (consisting of Singapore National Employers’ Federation, National Trades Union Congress and the Ministry of Manpower) was set up. They have come up with a set of guidelines on Non- Discriminatory Job Advertisements to discourage employers from adopting discriminatory criteria (such as race, religion, or age) in their recruitment practices. They should avoid stipulating age as a requirement for employment. Public and private sector employers also have to pledge to comply with the non-discriminatory practices. The implementation of the guidelines was successful as there was a significant drop in the percentage of newspaper advertisements stipulating discriminatory criteria from 30% in February to less than 1% in April this year.

In Singapore the approach used is more promotional and educational than through legislation as it would be too rigid. This is in contrast with countries such as United Kingdom (UK).

UK employment equality law combats prejudice in the workplace as it prohibits discrimination against people based on gender, race, religion, sexuality, disability and age. In UK, It will be unlawful to discriminate against an employee under the age of 65 based on age. Employers are unable to specify that a new recruit should be above or below a particular age. In addition, employers who sack workers or deny them the same training opportunities as their colleagues on age grounds will break the law.

The governments also promotes the employment of older workers through re-training programmes, job referrals, career advice, promotion of community service employment and subsidies to employers.

Australia: The Aussies have very strong anti-discriminatory hiring practices. When a jobseeker sends in his resume, he can choose not to provide details like address, race, gender, age, religion and photograph. The employers will only decide to interview the candidate based on his working experience and qualifications.

In fact, older workers are valuable. Some have argued that they are slow in acquiring new skills. However, older workers perform well in a learning environment involving more hands-on practices, usually those which require customer-sales relationships. The growing importance of services industry in Singapore will expand its employment of older workers as the nature of work will be more dependent on soft skills e.g. in service delivery.

In conclusion, government policies can have an impact on the hiring of older workers. Most importantly, it is still the older persons themselves who want to work and employers who provide them with opportunities. As quoted by Ralph B. Perry,

‘Age should not have its face lifted, but it should rather teach the world to admire

wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character.’

Why affects society and important?

How it creates inequality?

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http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/CPF/About-Us/Intro/Intro.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7718436.stm

http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/dvsequl/agedisc/ageandemp.htm?IsSrchRes=1