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The aim of writing this paper is to share the prevalence of the child labour and to highlight the importance of this issue. Moreover, this paper will also discuss and analyse the factors leading to child labour. The intent of this paper is also to recommend some strategies in order to reduce the burden of this issue in the society.

Prevalence of child labour

Globally, 215 million of childrens are involved in child labour worldwide (International Labour Organization, 2010). Out of which, 90% of childrens are victim of child labour in developing countries from Asia and Africa (Rena, 2009). Specifically, 3.8 million of childrens are performing labour work in Pakistan (Sahir, 2010). The labour work varies from simpler task like begging to the more complex task like drug smuggling. According to International Labour Organization, it was reported that 69% of childrens are involved in agricultural work, 22% in household work and 9 % in industrial work (Vandenberg, 2007). This result reveals that a large number of childrens are contributing in different entities of labour market regardless of their age and the type of work they do, which is against the notion of basic human rights.

Importance of the issue and Reason for its selection

Though, child labour is not a new issue but still it has always been remained as a controversial and highlighted issue in every country. Childrens are considered as a future for the country growth, a twinkle light for the parents and a hope for the whole family, but what when these lights and hopes are shattered off. Child labour is one of those crimes which takes away bright future from the childrens at their early stages of life and ruins their life completely. It also adversely impacts the society as a whole. Therefore, it is important to discuss and point out this issue.

The reason for selecting this particular topic for my assignment is to understand and discuss the determinants responsible for child labour. Secondly, this issue has always been remained core to my heart since the time I have looked the innocent childrens, doing slavery for the benefits of the others. Moreover, the consequences of child labour are extremely devastating and therefore, I think that there is a need to address this issue by writing this paper. Through this paper, I got the opportunity to share my views along with the support of literature on child labour.

Analysis on determinants of child labour

Child labour is not the result of a single cause; however, there are several factors that give rise to child labour. These factors include poverty (economical factor), lack of awareness and poor educational opportunities (social factor), cultural taboos (cultural factor), natural and man-made disasters (environmental factor) and gap between laws and its implementation (Lego-political factor). Now, the upcoming part of this paper will shed light upon each factor leading to child labour.

Poverty and child labour

Poverty is one of the major determinants for child labour. Globally, 878 million of people lives in poverty (Chandy & Gertz, 2011), whereas, 22% of poverty is commonly found in developing world (The World Bank Group, 2008). There is a direct positive relationship between child labour and poverty. It is considered that continents like Asia where ratio of poverty is high, child labour exist more commonly. Families who are deprived of money make children as a source of their income. This phenomenon lead childrens to start working at their early stages of life and ultimately they get away from their basic education. In this way, it causes further increment in poverty rate as the next generation also remains poor due to lack of education and ultimately child labour reaches to its peak (Udry, 2003).

Global recession and inflated poverty particularly in the developing countries makes life miserable and raise a question that how to survive and how to fulfill the basic needs. Therefore, due to deprived conditions and lack of resources, families do not have many choices left with them. At that time, the only choice family have with them is the availability of human resources and that is their children. Thus, they direct their children to work with the aim of reducing the burden of poverty and to meet the essential needs of the family. Once, when childrens start earning reasonable amount of money, few of the greedy family members enforce childrens to continue with the same labour work for the rest of their life.

In addition, poverty also makes someone to act unethically and to do injustice for the survival. For instance, it is commonly observed that people who are poor, sold their childrens for the sake of money or in the exchange of fulfilment of their remaining loan agreements. Then, the culprit buyers of these childrens misuse them, like, for drug selling and they also enforce innocent childrens to do hazardous work. Thus, poverty seems to be one of the powerful factors for emerging public issue of child labour.

Poor educational system, Lack of awareness and child labour

Child labour also exists when there is poor educational system and weak infrastructure of schools. This makes people to think that instead of wasting money on educating their children from the low profile schooling system, it is better to utilized the time of their children for labour work and earning money (Grootaert & Patrinos, 2002; Sahir, 2010). Inefficient educational system also fails to raise awareness among family about the importance of education and how it can bring happiness & success in their lives. If educational system will promote the awareness about the importance of education, then this can lead to drastic decline in the rate of child labour as education is the only way which can change the mind set of people. In this way, more educated children will have better working opportunities instead of doing hazardous labour work.

In some of the countries, there is a big hindrance to the access of educational opportunities due to lack of funds and unavailability of school in the local areas. Therefore, childrens get deprived of basic education and ultimately they involve themselves in labour work.

Moreover, it is commonly observed that due to lack of awareness, few family members prefer to educate only their male child with whatever resources they have, as they think that the male child will help them in their older age. On the contrary, female child are degraded and considered as burden on the family, which makes her away from the educational system and enforces her to keep doing labour work all the time. Hence, lack of awareness and limited educational opportunities with poor schooling system gives birth to child labour.

Cultural taboos and child labour

Some cultures have belief that childrens are the gift from GOD. This socio-cultural norm leads to increase in number of childrens within family and hence increases overall population. However, this is the fact that increase number of childrens in family also brings extra expenditure and this situation leads to survival problems, particularly when there is just one bread earner in the family. Therefore, in order to balance the family income & expenditure proportion, the family expects their children to work and become equally hand holder for raising their family income (Sahir, 2010).

In some of the cultures, it is also expected that children should always be obedient to their elders and follow their orders in every circumstances, without any question or any argument. Therefore, this norm takes away freedom from the children and enforces them to do work guided by their elders.

Furthermore, it is also noticed that society creates huge discrimination between children on the basis of race, colour, gender and mental functioning. In particular, some societies do not give respect to mentally retarded and disabled children and misuse them for labour work. Thus, societal beliefs and socio-cultural norms are also significantly contributing for increasing child labour.

Natural Disasters, Man-made disasters and child labour

Globally, natural disaster on earth like floods and earthquake are the cause of massive destruction and ruins everything where it happens. The impact of this destruction is so intensive that it causes severe economic deflation and left families with nothing, but only with the hope. Therefore, families then see their child as a hope for restoring their life and for financial stability. Due to these devastating circumstances, families intend to involve their child in labour work. At times, this enormous disaster also results in loss of earning members or makes them disable, therefore, then children themselves feel responsible and starts working to fulfil their family needs.

Besides this, man-made disasters like terrorism or war is also equally responsible for giving rise to child labour. In the situation of war, need for human resources arise drastically and therefore, childrens are then used as weapon and are enforced to participate in criminal activities. In this way, childrens are not able to live a normal happy life and thus they become the victims of child labour (Sahir, 2010).

Inefficient legal system and child labour

In many countries, laws on prohibition of child labour do exist which discourages children to work in their early stages of life, but what when these laws are not strictly implemented. In reality, there is a huge gap between the laws and its implementation. Therefore, immoral employers take advantage of this gap and prefer to hire children for their work as childrens easily get ready to work for the sake of little amount of salary.

Moreover, inefficient implementation of laws also gives opportunity to misuse childrens in dangerous work. In most extreme cases of child labour, male childrens are commonly used in drug dealing, whereas female childrens are enforced to sell their bodies for the sake of money. Thus, incompetent Lego-political system is also one of major determinant of child labour (Sahir, 2010).

Lack of technology and child labour

Innovation in technology is always considered as worthful for business growth

because it helps in increasing productivity, but what happens when there is no access to technological advancement. In such deprived situations, it is commonly observed that childrens are being considered as a valuable asset for the company because childrens are more active, energetic and play a vital role for business growth. This phenomenon then diverts the mind set of children and therefore, they tend to focus more on labour work and adopt this act for their whole life.

On the contrary, sometimes there is an access to technology but still people prefer to hire children for the labour work. On the basis of cost-benefit analysis, employers consider children as a cheap source for their work as compared to investing heavy amount of money on buying technology and its maintenance. Hence, expensive technological resources and its unavailability in certain areas escalate the ratio of child labour (Galli, 2001).

Effects of child labour

The effect of child labour is distressful and tearful. Alike general crime, child labour is one of the worst evil that affects not only one individual, but ruins the whole population. There are several adverse physical and psychological consequences of child labour.

Physical outcomes of child labour include deprivation from education and minor to severe forms of health problems. In one of the study, it was identified that child labour causes eye problem, backaches, skin problems, injuries and respiratory problems. In the similar study, it was also reported that rate of school dropouts inclined significantly with the increase of child labour (Bunnak, 2007).

Besides adverse physical outcomes, child labour is also responsible for psychological detoriation in children. It is noteworthy that children who are loaded with too much work regardless of their age, are often becomes the victim of depression as they are not much capable of handling pressurised work in their early stages of life. This could also leads to low self-esteem among those children because they feel themselves incompetent. Thus, child labour is a very dangerous and immoral act on the innocent childrens due to the adverse effects associated with it.

Recommendations to reduce the burden of child labour

Child labour is a crucial issue; therefore, it is very essential to combat this issue from its root. In this regard, following strategies might contribute to mitigate the causes which are the reason for rising child labour.

One of the Millennium Development Goal is to eradicate poverty and provide basic education. Therefore, access to proper education and provision of funds can reduce poverty and raise awareness, ultimately decreasing the burden of child labour (Rena, 2009). Moreover, to breach the gap between laws and its implementation, it is very essential to keep check and balance from micro to meso level. In addition, strict penalty should be given to the individuals who enforce and misuse childrens for labour work. As a public health nurse, I can address this issue at different forums through presentations and publications, so that effective strategies can be planned and implemented.

Summary

Child labour is one of the major public concerns resulting from poverty, lack of awareness and poor educational system, cultural norms, disasters and incompetent legal system. Therefore, it is very significant to realize the adverse consequences associated with it and take prompt action in order to reduce the suffering of innocent childrens.

In order to discuss ways in which critical social psychology views the discipline differently to the mainstream approach, it is first necessary to define the terms “critical social psychology” and “mainstream approach”, and what they look for, followed by discussing how the critical approach views lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) research. The essay concludes by summarising what the critical approach is and what it questions in relation to the mainstream approach.

According to Allport (1985) social psychology is interested in how the social environment and group interactions affect people’s attitudes and behaviours. The discipline uses scientific methods to understand and explain social phenomena. Two approaches associated with social psychology are the mainstream and critical approaches. Rogers (2011) claims that mainstream uses quantitative methods and is preoccupied with looking for explanations in what makes people, cultures and social groups different, while attempting to discover ‘laws’ establishing why people behave the way they do, which can be generalised to the whole population. This approach is comparable to natural sciences, which use similar experimental methodologies. They use a hypothetico-deductive method which makes decisions by changing one variable and testing a hypothesis, stating there is one true knowledge, both are objective, neutral and value free. Whereas the critical approach uses qualitative methods, seeking better understanding, are not objective and concentrate on inter relationships between the individual and social context. It looks to produce idiographic explications, recognising broader social structures and unfolds the meanings of particular situations.

Gough & McFadden (2001) state critical psychology evolved from mainstream challenges, it confronts social institutions and practices who contribute to inequality and oppression. Lesbian and Gay psychology is one area which has emerged from these challenges.

Kitzinger & Coyle (2002:2) and Clarke, Ellis, Peel & Riggs (2010) define lesbian and gay psychology as an area which is explicit about its relevance to lesbians and gay men. It examines various aspects of their lives, and counteracts issues such as prejudice and discrimination to create a better world. One aspect of many lesbian and gays is family life; there is a lot of prejudice against homosexual parenting. Homophobic bullying is regularly used to demoralize gay and lesbian parents. Clarke, Kitzinger & Potter (2004) analysed 11 documentaries and 11 semi-structured interviews with gay and lesbian parents using discourse analysis. It could be argued parents refuse to acknowledge the reality of their oppression by not being aware or minimising the effects of bullying their children face. Additionally gay and lesbian parents face a dilemma of stake and accountability. By taking wider discourse and analysing the talk of homosexual parents it is possible to see their dilemma. Parents acknowledging bullying and reporting it, could be used to undermine them, however if they refuse to acknowledge bullying this can be used against them by portraying them as an unfit parent, this is problematic as society criticises homosexual parenting more than heterosexual parenting.

Sapsford & Dallos (1996) state the mainstream “scientific” approach has been widely used throughout history, suggesting how we should deal with major social problems at that time. For example Milgram’s (1961) electric shock study was motivated by World War two, studying conditions where people obeyed and tortured others. A great deal of social influence research, such as conformity and obedience were based on perceptions of individuals within society, however critical psychologists suggest social influence should be viewed as social practices in which people engage in as well as the interactions between people. Asch’s (1951) line study is taught in institutions as part of social influence, however Mercer and Clayton’s (2012) claim certain points to consider are how was the ‘social’ represented, there were small samples in each trial, and participants within the group were strangers therefore no relationships were established, this is not a true representation of society. Findings showed the participant conformed to the others, however this could have just been the effect of that situation and they probably would have interacted more and not conformed if they knew one another. Looking deeper into the results only 5% were conforming on each trial, therefore 95% were not, however the way the researcher interpreted and presented the data was biased showing a higher conformity rate than what was actually true.

Rogers (2011) argues the experimental method used by Asch is not the only way to gain knowledge, in contrast to mainstream she claims there are no such things as ‘universal laws of human nature’ that human nature varies and is dependent on time, place and socio-cultural positioning. Critical psychology argues there are multiple views on reality, an example of this is Feri et al’s (2003) British longitudinal study using participants born in 1946, 1958 and 1970, when followed up in 2000 all had different attitudes and behaviour towards relationships. Time and cultural differences had a big impact, those born in 1946 were mostly married by age 31 whereas it was more common for those born in 1970 to be cohabiting and often on their second relationship by age 31. However all participants were British and results of those single or cohabiting may have been influenced by the cultural change in attitudes towards marriage. The fact that this study only looked at British participants solidifies the mainstreams elitist ideological position. Focusing mainly on western white middle class participants and claiming findings are universal. However these participants are the minority population; therefore exploiting and oppressing less powerful social and cultural groups.

Feri et al’s study is an example of social constructionist research, which critical psychologists have adopted the framework. Willig (2001) defines social constructionist research as identifying the variety of ways of how people experience and perceive the world they live in and how it affects their behaviour. Mercer and Clayton (2012) claim research starts at the heart which is society not the individual. Meanings and practices which are socially and culturally organised impact human nature and behaviour, these meanings are constructed and re-constructed through the use of language, which is of central importance in this perspective as researchers listen to how people explain their world.

Kitzinger (1998) states the majority of psychological research before critical psychology emerged regarded homosexuality as a pathological condition; however in 1970 a shift due to protests and violent demonstrations by the gay community against heterosexist views during the stonewall riots marks a significant point in lesbian and gay history (stein 2004). The formation of lesbian and gay psychology investigates reasons behind prejudice and discrimination, while attempting to generate world changes.

Examples of research before the shift was stated by Morin (1977) he reviewed studies on homosexuals, finding 70% of studies focused on whether homosexuals were mentally ill, the causes and identifying characteristics. 82% compared homosexuals against heterosexuals, which have been objected strongly to as it assumes homosexuals have certain characteristics which differentiates them from heterosexuals. Overall homosexuality was seen as an illness that needed curing. Boehmer (2002) argues public health research has ignored LGBTQ populations as they are underrepresented as research subjects. After looking at articles on the MEDLINE database only 0.1% focused on LGBTQ individuals. The majority of these were based on LGBTQ participants with sexually transmitted diseases, focusing on HIV or AIDS, showing not only are homosexuals underrepresented in psychological research but when they are involved it is either comparing them against heterosexuals or whether they are mentally unstable. However a reason for the lack of lesbian and gay participants can be explained by Dunne (1997) he claims there are difficulties in finding these participants and many are recruited through personal contacts. However this sampling method is restricting only providing access to small discrete networks. Another reason Kitzinger (1987) found is lesbians and gays only agree to be participants because the interviewer was also a homosexual. Although having a homosexual interviewer can be good due to making them feel more comfortable and answer more honestly, however it could be bad as the interviewer could be bias in interpreting answers differently than an impartial interviewer might.

One of the first studies to look at homosexual research from a different view point and not just compare the two groups was Hooker’s (1957) paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual” in which self-identified homosexuals and heterosexuals groups participated in several psychological tests, experts had to identify the homosexuals. Results found no detectable difference in terms of mental adjustment. It was of great critical importance that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, as it shows is not developmentally inferior to heterosexualism. Hooker’s work influenced further quantitative measures to assess human personality such as Eysenk Personality Inventory.

Burr (1995) quotes “We are born into a world where the conceptual frameworks and categories used by people in our culture already exist.” Various psychologists including Herek (1987) and Kite (2001) agree views about male gender roles and sexual prejudices are culturally constructed from birth. From previous societal norms men learn what they are expected and not expected to be, for example they should be strong and heterosexual and not seen as weak or homosexual.

Gergen (1973) argues human behaviour changes over time. He concluded social psychological theories are a product of historical and cultural circumstances. Additionally the ‘truth’ and ability to generalise becomes misguided if the information produced only makes sense within specific contexts, for example findings in western culture. Gay marriage has been controversial within society, but has changed overtime. Baunach (2011) examined attitude trends towards gay marriage, she concludes attitudes have significantly liberalised; in 1988 71% were opposed to gay marriage compared to only 52% opposing in 2006. Even though more are supporting gay marriage, findings from a Gallop poll found 64% of Americans did not support equal marriage rights for homosexuals. (Gallup Poll News Service, 2007). Baunach (2011) suggests change could be due to individuals’ altering their attitudes, also later cohorts replacing earlier ones. Findings were replicated across various subgroups of the U.S. Critical psychology is committed to a social justice ideology that attempts to gain knowledge from all social groups and questions objective claims of the mainstream. Therefore they would agree with this research as it looks at all ages and subgroups across a period of time. However data was collected using a poll service, this survey method does not delve deeper into participant’s answers. Firebaugh (1989) suggests social attitudes change gradually as birth cohorts replace older cohorts. Ideological changes are due to long term social and cultural developments. Individuals are exposed to various socialising experiences and different people that may impact on their opinions, those who have greater contact with homosexuals’ increases identification and therefore weakens the prejudice against them.

According to Herek (2000) & Olson, Cadge, and Harrison (2006) younger individuals, females, those who live in cities and the educated are more accommodating of homosexuality and gay marriage. This is supported by Ellison and Musick (1993) who found education and interactions with homosexuals leads to greater acceptance. On the other hand it was found those less supportive are Southerners, Republicans and African Americans. Evidence of this was found by Lewis (2003) he states blacks are 11% more likely to express disapproval of homosexual relations and gods punishment results in Aids. Therefore African Americans are under more pressure to hide their sexuality. However research came from the general social survey (Davis, Smith, and Marsden, 2008) a national probability sample of non-institutionalized English speaking adults, where sample sizes varied over the years. Therefore this method cannot be used to generalise to the whole population as it excludes non English speaking participants and only targets adults leaving out adolescent opinions. Although contrary to the small sample size, the data provided is from the earliest national level sample on the issue.

To conclude Hepburn (2003) defines critical social psychology as being critical of society, the institutions and practices within it. It questions the assumptions made and its broader influences. Critical social psychology disproves of the mainstream “scientific” approach and believes focus should be on society as a whole not just on the individual. It takes an ideological position in believing there are multiple views on reality, claiming these views and opinions vary from time, place and socio-cultural positing. Mercer & Clayton (2012) state the critical approach is ideologically positioned in there is no one truth; therefore it questions objective claims made by mainstream which uses quantitative methodology. Critical Psychologists argue against this methodology which produces facts and statistics irrespective of politics and values and uses nomothetic approach where findings can be applied universally. They argue qualitative methods are better from recognising broader social structures and seek better understanding of particular situations. However by disregarding statistics and universal facts in favour of using smaller samples and more in-depth answers then studies lose the evidence needed for greater political and social changes to occur. Gough and McFadden (2001) suggest the best way to study social psychology is for researchers to situate themselves within society and develop a critical attitude. The majority of LGBTQ research has relied on western white middle class lesbian and gays therefore there is still a way to go in giving less powerful and oppressed groups a voice within social psychology.

Prostitution may be one of the oldest professions and could possibly be the example of government regulation and discrimination. Countries all over the world have legalized prostitution and are now considering the title of “sex worker” to be just as common as McDonalds Manager. The countries that have legalized prostitution range from Germany to Argentina. However, the United States that claims to exude freedom and dignity has only legalized eleven counties in Nevada. The most convincing argument against prostitution seems to be that legalizing prostitution completely, will contribute to the widespread AIDS epidemic. Researchers have contradicted this theory by proving that roughly half of street walkers in NYC, Washington D.C., and New Jersey are HIV positive, while those who are legal in Nevada are HIV negative. Some might say that this data is perhaps ironic. Another supporting factor for legalizing prostitution is protection. Illegal prostitutes are beaten and abused daily and risk their lives on many occasions. In Nevada legal “sex workers” have the same rights to police protection as the towns preacher. Prostitution cannot be stopped because there is no effective way to close down a market between consensual buyers and sellers.

Evil: Prostitution is immoral and countries that continue to legalize prostitution promote sex trafficking and abuse of women and children. Sex trafficking has been not only seen as derogatory, but also as a contemporary slavery. Women and children that are recruited into prostitution and human trafficking aren’t aware of the life they are destined to lead. These women and children who are trying to lead better lives and escape poverty find themselves in brothels, walking the streets, and pimped out by abusive individuals. The trauma that these women and children face cannot be reversed and often survivors claim that it didn’t feel consensual. Often the adults who survive prostitution/trafficking find themselves compensating pain with alcohol and drugs. These are problems that could have been prevented if prostitution was simply left illegal. If the United States completely legalizes prostitution the nation as a whole will witness the subversion of democracy. This is true because be legalizing prostitution women are left feeling like commodities because of the extreme gender discrimination. Prostitution is consuming and anyone involved can be wounded emotionally and physically.

The above two paragraphs compare and contrast the morality, discrimination, and decency of prostitution as a legitimate profession. This topic relates to sociology because the outcomes of prostitution are all according to societies views and interactions between persons. The strongest theory on prostitution seems to be provided by structural functionalists and the feminists.

Functionalists believe that they’re two reasons why an individual would want to become a prostitute; both reasons involve morality/immorality. The first reason is that society claims prostitution to be immoral, but condemning prostitution actually strengthens many people’s desires and encourages the deed. Society likes to believe sex is meaningful, so if men and women want meaningless sex then who else would they look to other then a prostitute. Another thought is that society believes that oral sex and anal sex is immoral, so if a man wants to engage in these acts, he goes to a prostitute. The prostitute not only fulfills the man, but also secures the moral integrities and purity of his spouse.

Feminists believe that the above theory is the prime example of sexism in society. Feminists also believe that the men who have sexual relations with prostitutes are equally immoral. Extreme feminists tend to believe that is prostitution is legalized it will teach young boys that dominating women is the norm and that it’s a woman’s “job” to please a man. The fear is that the young boys will carry this on into adulthood and spread to upcoming generations. Feminists strive to prove that if society legalizes prostitution individuals will assume that all women can be bought at a price and that men are more valuable than men.

The first source cited (Esselstyne) is valuable because this article examines the pattern of early sexual experience among prostitutes and how it differs from that common to “normal” women. This article will be useful in further research because it compares and contrasts common day prostitutes in the United States. The article also explains why some women actually become prostitutes. This source is credible because it was located through a scholarly search and found on JSTOR. JSTOR is a database where people can search through scholarly journals written by researchers.

The next Source listed is entitled “Prostitution” and is written by William Darity. The source was found in the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, therefore it relates to sociology making it reliable for further research. The source relates prostitution and gender relations, discusses the variety of prostitution societies experience internationally, and states the trends of sex trade. The source was found through Gale reference library.

Kingsley Davis wrote the next source “The Sociology of Prostitution” which obviously relates prostitution to sociology. The journal questions why prostitution is such a problem in Western communities. Davis compares and contrasts the views of people who approve and disapprove of prostitution. This journal would be most helpful if continuing a longer research paper. The journal is credible because it was found through JSTOR, which is filled with scholarly materials.

The next source discusses child prostitution among boys and girls. This article is written by K.L. Lerner. The article informs readers about the abuse and prostitution forced upon many children in Asian countries. This is relevant to Sociology as well as the United States because it discusses how children grow up believing prostitution is okay and end up infected and traumatized at a young age. The article was found through the Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Richard Symanski researched and wrote the next source entitled “Prostitution in Nevada”. The journal discusses the fact Nevada is one of the very few states that legalizes prostitution or even openly tolerates it. The journal informs the reader about the history of prostitution and brothels and also why prostitution has been legalized in Nevada. This source could really help if doing a longer research paper because the writer could compare and contrast Nevada’s outlook vs. other states around the U.S. The journal was found through JSTOR.

The last source included in the works cited is reviewed by E. van der Meulen, entitled, “Temporarily Yours”. The articles original writer is Elizabeth Bernstein who discusses male desire to consumption. The reviewer van der Meulen describes Bernstein’s take on prostitution as contemporary and highly recommendable. If a longer more in depth research paper were to be conducted a researcher might want to read this book to understand a contemporary view on an age old profession. This review was found through ProQuest, which is a database that allow a reader to search through peer reviewed scholarly journals.

The works cited provided includes sources that can help an individual understand societies view point on prostitution and hopefully help them determine their standing point on legalizing prostitution.

Introduction

Marijuana is also referred to as cannabis, marihuana, or ganja. Herbal form of marijuana is the most common drug, consisting of flowers and leaves which subtend and mature pistillate stalks. Cannabis history dates back to 3rd millennium B.C. In the modern world, the drug has been applied for religious, recreational, medical or spiritual purposes. UN’s estimation in fiscal 2004 revealed that 4% of the adults in the world population, which entails 162million people, use marijuana yearly, while 0.6% or 22.5million use it daily (Smith 50).

Marijuana illegality

Marijuana use is termed to be illegal due to its addictive aspect since it’s rated to be a highly abusive drug. When individuals start to abuse marijuana, they eventually become hooked up and the drug ends up dominating their lives. Marijuana has also been declared not to have an approved medical use. Although the drug has been associated with healings from glaucoma to cancer especially among the Americans, the deal has not been accepted widely enough on international grounds (Connoly 55). Such an argument has therefore rendered the medical value of marijuana an actual controversy. Similarly, use of marijuana has been associated with narcotics like heroin believed to have serious health repercussions once abused. Narcotics had been on regulation under the early antidrug laws. Marijuana has been termed to be an abnormal recreational drug, due to its links to narcotics. In addition, marijuana has been associated with hippies or losers hence rendering it unfashionable lifestyles. Imposition of criminal sanctions to the drug possession acts as type ‘tough love’ for the community. The drug has been associated with the oppressed ethnic groups. For example, within the Americans, it was associated with Mexican Americans. A ban on marijuana was therefore seen as a way of discouraging the community subcultures from developing. Similarly, court cases presented for marijuana legalisation has never been rendered appealing by the advocates. Advocates normally argue on the basis of its medical benefits, creativity promotion and moral progression among others. Particularly, that does not seem convincing since the public image of a marijuana user is that of a loser at risks of either imprisonment or arrest (Smith 194).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Marijuana

Marijuana has physical benefits that are widespread, long-term or far reaching. The drug is known to impact on the automatic nervous system. Such an impact expands the breadth and gives the body a relaxation. Similarly, the drug has enormous healing and health potential which have actually not been realised by the Western medicine. Opposing action of the drug is essential in balancing an individual entire system, which can be understood to be a charged equilibrium. Such a state is defined as a physiological expansion or psychological satisfaction which is responsible for our health. For example, a study by Costa Rican revealed that cancer developments are less within the smokers of chronic marijuana, considered to be cigarettes smokers as well (Smith 46). Psychologically, marijuana’s balancing of the nervous system has an effect on the mind which is energising and relaxing in a simultaneous trend. This means that an individual thinking is more clear and efficient. Also, Marijuana is associated to poses spiritual benefits. Normally, whatever that enlivens is perceived to be a spirit. Marijuana has been found to facilitate the search for universal core values. Together with its ability to enhance the processes of our mind plus balancing of the body, the drug also assists in the understanding of the abiding reality by enhancing an individual consciousness.

However, the drug has its disadvantages. First, the drug facilitates hindrance of shorter memory such that any complex or simple tasks may be quite demanding for the addict to undertake. Similarly, drug abuses result into decayed moral behaviour among users. For example, Marijuana users can be highly involved in risky sexual behaviour such that the HIV spread will be inevitable. For students, marijuana will make learning and study hard and athletes’ performance maybe brought down since movements, timing or coordination will be affected is affected as well. Safe driving will also be affected since concentration, alertness, reaction time or coordination will interfere (Shohov 98). Thirdly, Combination of marijuana use and tobacco smoking will increase the risks of contracting lung diseases. Among first users, the drug can cause panic, anxiety, paranoia or feelings of Impending doom. Finally, short-term effects can also involve distortion in perception, thinking or problem solving lapses plus increased heart rate. Heart attacks are also evident among the marijuana users due to impact on the blood pressure or heart rate in addition to reduction in oxygen carrying capacity in the blood. Effects on the immune system may also reduce the ability in fighting infectious diseases or cancer. A marijuana addict may also experience anxiety, depression or personality disturbances. On pregnant women, marijuana can cause the babies born to show altered responses in visual stimuli, high pitched cries or increased tremulousness. Lastly, long term use of marijuana can cause an addictive potential to the users.

Problems Associated with marijuana

Due to its illegal nature, the drug is associated with jails, courts or prison cases. Scientifically, the drug has been rated to be harmful due to its addictive value. Physiological effects are also problems linked to marijuana use which in addition entails effects on smell, taste or even sound. Distortions on depth perception can result into serious accidents when driving. The drug use has resulted to uncontrolled system in its production to guarantee consumers of a pure product through the use of doctors or pharmacist. Being an illegal product, the prices are very high causing the users to involve in criminal activities in search of good money to acquire the herb. Un-attainability caused by the high prices places the drug in the hands of the mobs, gangs or even drug lords increasing the crime rate. Legalization would mean a widespread access by the general public hence unhealthy babies will be borne due to the perceived increased consumption among mothers (Shohov 118).

Health Concerns/problems

Marijuana causes increased and rapid heart rate, initiating harmful irritation feelings to the respiratory airways or lungs. Cancer causing chemicals are said to be contained within the drug. Within the endocrine system, the drug triggers short term drop within the hormones responsible for development and growth (Smith 25). Similarly, sperm production is lowered among males and hormone balance is also affected, which is fully responsible in control of menstrual cycles among girls. In addition, marijuana affects the brain behavior and function since it affects the chemical balance in the brain responsible for energy, appetite, attention or normal mood. Similarly, effects are evident on the learning, memory processes concentration or forgetfulness. Lastly, marijuana has been found to cause miscarriage or still births among the pregnant women and also developmental problems to the fetus.

Solutions to the problems

Solutions to the problems that come by marijuana use can be achieved through legalizing the herb. Also, public school education should be improved, investment on programs on drug treatment. Some other solutions may involve conducting and investing more time on anti-drug education within schools, encouraging more partnerships between the police and the community. In addition, increased drug interdiction efforts within the borders would also assist plus legalizing all types of drugs. Other solutions would involve revising of our common laws on the marijuana trading in order to regulate the cultivation as well as commercial aspect of the drug (Connoly 33).

References

Connoly, Sean. Marijuana. South Broad St, Mankato: Black Rabbit Books publishers, 2006.

Smith, Sandra. Marijuana: the drug abuse prevention. Princeton, U.S.A: Rosen Pub. Group publishers, 1999.

Shohov, Tatiana. Medical use of marijuana: policy, regulatory, and legal issues. London, UK: Nova Publishers, 2003.

The Legalization of Recreational Drugs

Karl Marx was interested in the plight of the working class; he questioned a government structure in which a small few profit at a cost to the masses (Miller, Schreck &Tewksbury, 2006. p., 190). Marx was critical of the capitalist system because he saw the rich (bourgeoisie) dictating the lives of the working class. This idea has had large implications for many fields of study including philosophy, sociology and criminology. Marx’s criticism on the failings of a capitalist system can be exemplified by today’s drug laws which directly and negatively affect the lower classes while benefiting the upper classes. An argument can be made for the legalization of recreational drugs like heroin using a Marxist perspective; including drug laws that favor the upper classes and stigmatize the lower classes and policy that aids in the creation of a criminal enterprise.

Current drug laws are founded upon a history of both racism and classism beginning with the Opiate Act of 1908 (Solomon &Usprich, 1991), Canada’s first law prohibiting the use of a recreational drugs. At the time, the general public was more concerned with negative health and moral affects that alcohol and tobacco were having on society than with the effects of opium (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). However alcohol and tobacco use was common among white upper and middle classes, while the use of opiates was typically a pastime of the Chinese-lower class; “…the moral crusade against opium succeeded because it was directed against Chinese opium smokers and Chinese opium industries; it posed no threats to white middle class vices or business interests” (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). This decision was made without the consideration of any harm the drugs themselves may cause but was based mostly on the benefit to the upper and middle class whites (Solomon &Usprich, 1991). During this period the white lower and middle class and Chinese lower class were in competition within the job market; due to the completion of the railway. This left many previously employed Chinese railway workers without employment and forced them to seek other job opportunities (some of which had been exclusively dominated by white workers). The Opiate Act benefited the white upper classes by imprisoning or deporting Chinese opiate users-thus removing them from the competitive job market. More recent drug laws have continued the trend of selective implementation of drug laws.

“…[T]rends in drug use since World War II indicate that large epidemics among white drug users may or may not bring about more drug policing, tough new penalties or rise in imprisonment. Yet frequently, small-scale outbreaks in drug use among Blacks and Hispanics do elicit a harsher criminal backlash” (Covington, 2004).

Case in point, in 1937 marihuana was criminalized in the United States with the passing of the Marihuana Tax Act (Covington, 2004), at the time the majority of marihuana users were among lower class Mexican Americans. In the 1950’s Marihuana was considered a dangerous substance and was considered akin to drugs such as heroin and cocaine; during this time in the 1950’s the majority of marihuana users were low-income earners and minorities. Flash forward to the 1960’s and 70’s when marihuana use was in its heyday. During this period, marihuana use had transcended its low-class status and was frequently used by members of the young white upper classes (Covington, 2004). If law makers were concerned about the negative effects the drugs could cause, the spread and popularity of the drug should have prompted the policy makers to implement harsher penalties and policies to prevent the use of marihuana; this was not the case. Such policies, after all, would affect the young adults and teenagers of the policy makers and other affluent voters (Covington, 2004) so it was decided in all of eleven states to decriminalize marihuana. It’s ironic then “that the largest drug epidemic since 1914 led to the liberalization of drug laws” (Covington, 2004). Further evidence of the classist implementation of drug laws can be seen during the explosion of cocaine use in the 1970’s and 80’s. During this period cocaine was being used in two forms; crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. Both were different preparations of the same drug, however powdered cocaine was exceptionally more expensive to purchase then was crack and therefore, was predominantly used by more affluent drug users, while crack was used by the lower class drug users. It would be logical that laws surrounding the use of both types of cocaine would be the same, but again this was not the case (Covington, 2004). The cocaine epidemic did not result in harsher laws or even a rise in the number of powder cocaine users or dealers in prison; however “The small-scale 1980’s outbreak in crack led to the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and 1988 which mandated harsher federal sentences for crack cocaine than for powdered cocaine use” (Covington, 2004).

The Ostracism of lower class minority groups through the implementation of classist drug policies have the same benefits to the bourgeoisie today as they did at their conception. By marginalizing groups through imprisonment and criminal records the upper class ensures the degradation of the proletariat. Imprisonment and criminal records make it difficult for the lower classes to find legitimate means of supporting themselves financially. Many lower class individuals find their only means of income is related to drugs. As a consequence of this, many gangs and organized crime affiliates flourish within the ghettos and other areas populated by low income individuals. A main source of revenue for gangs and organized crime syndicates include growing, producing, importing, exporting and selling illegal substances. Gangs become dangerous when rivals compete over turf. In the 1980’s turf wars between rival gangs such as “the Crips, the Bloods, the Mexican Mafia, the Gangster Disciples and others” raised homicide rates in several American cities because of arguments over turf (Johnson, 2004). In Canada in 1995, a turf war between the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and the Rock Mountain motorcycle gang resulted in a death toll of 25 (“A Bloody Turf War”, 1995) and was the result of a struggle between the two over Montreal’s illicit drug trade (“A Bloody Turf War”, 1995). Again, these issues are primarily the problem of the lower class as most gang members are a part of the lower class themselves and tend to gather together in areas of low income (such as ghettos and public housing). So it’s in these areas that violence typically occurs, putting the lives of the innocent people who live near these areas in jeopardy. Legalizing all illicit drugs would reduce this problem dramatically because drug users would be able to obtain their drugs from reputable establishments. Proof of this can be seen through history; during prohibition for example bootlegging or rum-running became commonplace. “Organized crime took control of the distribution of alcohol” (Prohibition, 2009). As a result of the influx of organized crime, murder rates and reports of theft also increased (Prohibition, 2009). Countries like Canada and the United States must legalize all illicit drugs in order to reduce all incidences of illegal substance selling. It has been shown that legalizing “soft drugs” like Marihuana just leads to dealers-dealing harder drugs like cocaine (Korf, Brochu, Benschop, Harrison & Erickson 2008). Furthermore decriminalization of certain drugs will do nothing to solve the gang problem.

If Canada legalized all illicit drugs they would be better able to monitor the use of specific drugs within certain communities, “it would make it easier to check the strength and purity of the drugs and the way they were administered and to whom they are sold” (Hauge& Ragnar, 2003). Furthermore, the government would be obtaining the revenue for selling the drugs (not the drug dealers) and would be able to use those funds for prevention and education about the harms of drug use (Hauge& Ragnar, 2003). Legalization would reduce the stigmatism surrounding drug users; they wouldn’t have criminal records or spend time in jail for their substance use. This would make it easier for them to gain employment. Legalization would also result in jobs like marihuana and opium production to become legitimate means of employment and could reduce drug related crime.

Legalization of illicit drugs would not solve all the problems our country faces with illicit substances. It would however, reduce some of the negative effects we currently face as a result of drug problems, such as breaking the cycle of biased policy which favor the upper classes. Legalization would also reduce some of the disparities between lower and upper classes and provide legitimacy for some types of jobs. In addition having the drugs available through legal means would eliminate the need for gangs which supply the drugs to the users. Finally it would make monitoring the drug using population easier, and could potentially provide funding for anti-drug education and prevention policies; which if successful could eliminate drugs from our society altogether and that should be the goal.

References

A Bloody Turf War. (1995). Maclean’s, Vol 108,(40)

Covington. (2004). Drugs and the Racial Divide Selective Punishment of Black Offenders. Souls Winter,Vol 6(1), p 4-15.

Hauge &Ragnar. (2003). Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Two Sides to the Coin. Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs, Vol. 98 Issue 6, p717-178, 2p.

Johnson. (2004). Mean Streets Once Agiain: Gang Activity Surging. USA Today.

Korf, Brochu, Benschop, Harrison & Erickson. (2008). Teen Drug Sellers-An International Study of Segregated Drug Markets and Related Violence. Contemporary Drug Problems, Spring2008, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p153-176, 24p

Miller, Schreck &Tewksbury. (2006). Criminological Theory A Brief Introduction. Boston MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Prohibition. (n.d). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 02, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition

Solomon & Usprich. (1991). Canada’s Drug Laws. Journal of Drug Issues, Vol. 21 issue 1.

With the development of the technology over the past decade the Robotics has become one of conversational subject areas. As a result of mankinds ultimate innovations and accomplishments regarding to the Robotics, the social, ethical and professional norms have been affected in both positive and negative manner. Therefore, identify and analyze issues which might occur when implementing robot technologies an important and contemporary need.

According to the VEX Robotics, Inc. (2012) the robotics is the science and technology which is used for inventing, accumulating, manufacturing and information processing of robots. With the robots, the tasks which are performed by humans can be automated in order to gain higher effectiveness and efficiency. “A robot is an electronic device controlled by a program and able to carry out tasks of various kinds-it is a machine made to perform that humans might otherwise do” (Wilson, C. 2007). In the current society robots are used in many different areas like education, entertainment, surgery, surveillance, military, farming, factories etc. The robots are capable of performing tasks accurately, high quality, speedily, safely than human beings and also they can perform dangerous tasks without much effort. Thus the robots and related robot technology provide various advantages for human lives and society with its technology.

Currently robots are used to handle sensitive, critical and complex surgeries in accurate and effective manner. The robots are capable of performing surgeries with less pain, miniaturization, decrease blood loss, smaller incisions and quicker healing time. Unlike human surgeons these machines can perform tasks more smoothly with fewer side effects. It is true when there are fewer side effects patients’ lives will not get negatively impacted in the future after having a surgery. With the use of robots the surgeries can be done remotely, anywhere in the world without requiring the presence of a surgeon. This is very useful when handling surgeries where the surgeon and patient are not in the same geographical location. The technology made specialized surgeons to be accessed globally at anywhere in the world. Thus the robot science enhances the flexibility and availability of the medical field.

Although Robots provide numerous benefits for human beings, on the other hand it might lead to create several ethical issues which may affect the patient’s condition negatively. Will people like to get treated from a soulless, emotionless machine? Most of the people will not like to get treated from robots because those machines don’t have any idea or impression about the patient’s situation. Valuable human qualities like sensitiveness and carefulness is unforeseeable from robots. Another main issue is robots will not get trusted like a human surgeon. But in these cases patients are forced to trust on a machine. Thus, trust and freedom ethical principles are getting invaded. Robots are created by assembling heavy metal arms and other metal gadgets. Occasionally patient will get scared after seeing the robot because its appearance is not pleasant and familiar like a human surgeon. The situations like this might impact negatively for the patient’s condition. During a surgery, if machine gets malfunctioned or misused who will take the responsibility? The soulless, emotionless machine cannot take the responsibility like a specialized, well experienced surgeon. Thus moral responsibility and liability ethical principles are invaded. The researchers at the Harvard University has developed tiny organic DNA robot device to destroy cancer cells by sending important molecular instructions to infected cells (Mowatt 2012). This is significant invention in robot technology which can provide greatest benefit for human being by saving thousands of lives. Although these types of robot devices provide remarkable advantages, the technology can be misused. For an example if robot collected data (DNA) is used for further researchers or tests without having permission from the owner might leads to raise several privacy and security issues.

DNA is strictly sensitive and confidential information of an individual where characteristics of a person can be fully exposed by analysing information. According to the Data Protection Act UK 1998 the information must be kept secure and must not be routed in any mode incompatible with the original use. When the data about a patient’s health is used for further researches without their knowledge, the Data Protection Act will get violated.

Under the Public Interest section, British Computer Society (BCS) code of conduct defines to IT professionals that “have due regard for public health, privacy, security and wellbeing of others and the environment”. When robots are used as surgeons, the professionals who design those robots should concern about public health and wellbeing because it will be used to treat humans. Robots actions are very important during a sensitive and complex surgery as human life will depend on the tasks done by robot. Therefore professionals who design robots should accept the professional responsibility of their creation or design.

In present robots are used for military purposes in many countries because it reduces the number of human involvement by saving lives in war. According to the article written by Marchant, G.E. et al. (2011) there are number of robots used for several wars. For an example U.S. military used unmanned aerial vehicles for unmanned air attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries. Further the article mentions that self-directed robots may be able to act more effectively than human beings because they can be designed without emotions, able to act independently, conservatively and also can process more information. When looking at the theoretical perspective according to the Deontological theory killing is wrong as destroying human life, freedom and property is not a right action. But the consequences of the action will be positively impacted on the massive number of people. Because of that from the perspective of Consequentialist theory the war can be a right action.

Although robots provide various advantages for military purposes, on the other hand several ethical principles will raise. War is something about killing people and destroying their property. Human lives and property will get severely impacted though use human soldiers or robots. As a result of that right to life, liberty and security ethical principles are getting invaded. Sometimes war can be very unethical when one party uses military unmanned vehicles and other party use humans as soldiers. The situations like that become a war between humans and machines. The value of the human life will be compared with the value of soulless, emotionless machine. Human life is precious because once it lost we can’t have it back. But once a machine damaged or malfunctioned, it can be repaired or replaced by another machine. Human life cannot be regenerate or replaced like robots and it is valuable gift. When using military unmanned vehicle robots against human soldiers, the value of human life will be degraded in front of those metal machines. Thus human recognition and dignity ethical principles are getting invaded.

The Public Interests section in BCS Code of Conduct mentions that IT professionals should have care for public health, privacy, security and wellbeing of others and the environment. When robots are used in wars human lives, privacy and security will be invaded and as a result of that public interest section of the code of conduct is getting violated. Avoiding injuring others, their property by false or malicious action or inaction is mentioned under Professional Competence and Integrity section of BCS Code of conduct. When robots are used to destroy human life and property in wars, the associated code of conduct is invaded.

In wars, human life and property will be severely damaged and destroyed. According to the Human Rights Act 1998, everyone has the right to life and protection of property. Thus destroying human life and their properties in war will violate the act. The article 5 in Human Rights Act mentioned that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. When war destroys human lives by depriving people’s liberty and protection that will also violates the Human Rights Act.

Tracking someone via a robot equipped with surveillance camera can create both positive and negative issues in society. For an example tracking a criminal or terrorism suspicious person by authorized party to expose drug trafficking information and many more illegal activities can be identified as positive effects while secretly spying a person with intent to cause or harm is a negative effect.

On the other hand, the privacy and freedom can get invaded when use robots to track whereabouts of an individual as these robots are capable of secretly spying without user’s knowledge by hiding itself. According to the article written by Hambling (2011), the Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories has developed a robot which is capable of spying at night, hide itself when hear footsteps of an unseen guard and move again when the road is clear. Using a robot like this for tracking can be very harmful because it cannot be easily detected. When an individual is tracked or monitored by using surveillance robot wherever that person moves will be notified to a third party and that may leads to affect privacy, security and freedom of that individual. When a third party is more knowledgeable about an individual, that person can be easily controlled or blackmailed. Thus individual’s freedom, autonomy and privacy rights are getting affected. Spying or tracking might not only be a risk for the person who is subject to spying but also the people that person interacts or having relationships with. If the tracker has the intention of harm to person’s life, the family, relations and the society around that person might get negatively impacted.

Under the Public Interest section, BCS code of conduct defines that IT professionals should have due regard for public privacy and security. When the unethical tracking is performed through a surveillance robot, the tracker breaks the public interest section of the code of conduct. Avoiding injuring others, their property by false or malicious action or inaction is characterized under Professional Competence and Integrity section of BCS Code of conduct. If the tracker does tracking with the intention of harm to an individual’s life or their property, according to the professional rules the action is guilty. Tracking a person secretly can provide inappropriate ethical, religiously and politically offensive results which may be viewed as the violations of Human Rights Act UK 1998.

Currently robots are used by most industries in their manufacturing processes because it is capable of generating accurate, reliable and high quality products when compared to human workers. Robot’s actions are controlled by programmed computer application or electronic circuit. As a result of that there is a low probability of generating inaccurate outputs unless machine gets malfunctioned. “Due to its mechanical nature and computerized control, a robotic arm can carry out a repetitive task with great precision and accuracy, thus providing improved, consistent product quality” (Bengtson, H. 2010). Unlike robots, human workforce gets tired and bored when carrying out repetitive tasks under long time periods and as a result that the efficiency of generating output will get degraded. When the efficiency of production gets low, the number profits made by company will become low automatically. The mechanical approach and automated control made manufacturing robots more efficient and speedy which redirects business into higher production rate where company can attain competitive advantage than with human workforce. There are some manufacturing industries where humans are required to work at uncomfortable and dangerous environments like defusing bombs, mixing chemical ingredients, attaching equipments under higher temperature etc. But robots will not get impacted by these environmental conditions as humans. Companies can purchase most suitable robots for their working environment and manufacturing process. Thus manufacture will get benefited greatly by reducing costs involve in production process through replacing human workforce by automated robot workforce. When looking at the shareholders perspective, replacing current workforce by robots will leads to make more profits for them as overall efficiency in production gets increased. Thus shareholders are greatly benefited by using robots in manufacturing processes. Consumers will able to experience accurate, reliable and high quality products because of robot workforce.

Although robots will maximise productivity by reducing costs, this might leads to create serious social issues like unemployment, employee relationships and attitudes towards to the work. When current workforce is replaced by robots the employees will become jobless. According to the studies carried out by American Psychological Association (2009), 78% of Americans reporting money as a significant source of stress. The stress created as a result of unemployment will not only affect negatively for an individual but also individual’s family and well-being. The trouble of unemployment can also affect unexpected conclusions for children like sicknesses, distress and depressive symptoms. The unemployment will also create social divide within society by increasing the gap between families with children that both parents are get paid and families with children both parents are not get paid. This is terrible social issue which has indirect relationship on poverty and inequality. When poverty within a society gets increased, there is a high probability of increasing illegal activities like burglary, theft, fraud etc. According to the researches carried out by Carmichael and Ward (2000), there were high accretion in burglary, theft and robbery in 1992, 1993 and 1994 years because overall rates of youth and adult men unemployment get increased during those years. The article illustrate in 1989, 1990 and 1991 the youth unemployment rate varied between 12-18 per 100,000 population and total number of crimes were about 6562.7, 7845.8 and 9213.7. Between 1992 and 1994 the youth unemployment rate has increased and varied between 21.94 -19.5 per 100,000 population and total number of crimes were about 9816.8, 9727.5 and 9234.0. According to the statistics there was a visible increment of crime activities along with the growth of unemployment. It is true there is a fine impact on illegal activities with unemployment and poverty of a society. When human workforce is replaced by robots, there is a high possibility of amplifying illegal and crime activities in the society because of the increased unemployment population.

Robots in a workplace will also create negative impact on human relationships, employee attitudes towards to the work and employer. When human workforce replaced by robots, the faith that the employees have kept on the organization will be dented as employees will began to think the employer only concerned about the efficiency and productivity of the work not the relationships or friendly working environment. Thus employee attitudes towards to the work and employer will get negatively affected. Robots can’t be friendly or emotional like human workers and as a result of that there will not have a pleasant working environment filled with employee relationships. As robots are not able to communicate like humans the relationships and bonds among robots and rest of the employees will remain in a lowest level.

Actually it is hard to justify whether the work or individual life is more important but the employer is always responsible for protecting relationships and job security of employees. What will be the impact when employees are fired from job without prior notice and compensations? The situations like this will create pathetic condition around individuals and their families. However in the social perspective, organisations can validate the importance of the robot workforce relating it to rising productivity, efficiency and minimise the wastages.

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, UK dismissing an employee without giving prior dismissal notice is illegal. The law also give right for employees to complaint the tribunal about unfair dismissal. Therefore employers are legally bound to take the responsibility of dismissing an employee.

Currently robots are mostly used as human companions for elderly and childish people. Assist elderly or disable people, clean household equipment are some of core functionalities of robot helpers. United Stated National Institute of Standards and Technology (US NIST) has developed a robot to help disabled people move around their home. This robot acts as a wheelchair but also gives a helping hand to get out of bed and get on and off other seats. The robots like this are really useful to overcome physical difficulties that are faced by disable people when performing day to day tasks. The Nuresebot, Pearl is another multi-disciplinary, multi-university effort aimed to provide assistance for elderly people at homes. This robot is capable of reminding elders about regular activities such as eating, drinking, taking medicine, using the bathroom, guiding them through their environments, calling for help if they fall and display messages on the screens for people with hearing loss (Carnegie Mellon University n.d.). Elders need more care and attention because they are more vulnerable to abuse and also physical changes in old age reduce the ability to conduct activities of daily living by maintaining independence. Robot helpers or robot companions mentioned above will be a fair solution for taking care of elders and protecting them by being abused. Using robots for taking care of elders and children is very helpful in current busy life styles. Unlike Asian countries, Europeans are not having strong relationships with their parents after get married or being matured. In a situation like that robot helpers would be a best solution where protection of elders is assured.

Although using robot helpers for elders is an effective, opportune solution this will leads to create several ethical issues. Elders will not able to get same experience and exposure like having companion with human being because these robots can’t gossip, share ideas, emotions and communicate like humans. Therefore robots will not able to fulfil the emptiness in old heart like a human companion and as a result of that human relationships will get negatively affected. When using robot companions for children, their personality, behaviour and attitudes will get impacted. The robot will do everything that child command without questioning. Then the child began to think everyone will do everything that command without questioning and he/she can get everything without any interference. Thus robot companions will lead to create drastic negative attitude and behavioural change in child. During the infant and child years, children grow quickly and tend to learn about the environment they are interacting with. Without having a proper guiding adult to teach and guide in to the right path, child personality will also get degraded. Soulless, emotionless and inexperienced robot will not able to teach values and norms associated with human lives. Parents are the most important character in child’s life and they are capable of understanding child’s needs than anyone does. Love, affection and caring are critical requirements for better growth and development in a child. A metal robot is not able to fulfil these emotional feelings which are unique to living beings. Thus effects on human relationships, human personality and changes in attitudes social issues are raised when using robots as human companions or home helper. “Experiences with touch, movement, voice sounds, and chances to see faces and their changing expressions– these seem to be essential contributors to emotional and mental development” (Mercer 2009). Without having these factors, the language development, ability to understanding in the child will be weakened and as a result of that child will become socially isolated.

Robots are expensive and everyone can’t get the technology experience because of its high price. That will create a digital divide in the society, where only rich people can have robot’s experience. According to the Public Interest section in BCS code of conduct, the professionals should support equal opportunities and benefits of IT by including all sectors in the society. When robots are unaffordable and cannot experience for every human being as equal, this will breaks the following BCS code of conduct.

Every technology has associated limits and vulnerabilities which may create severe negative impacts on individuals. Robots are reacting according to the limited set of tasks they are programmed into and any action that is out of the program might not be fulfilled. For an example a human companion that is programmed to take care of elderly or childish person might not be able to respond emergency situations like fire, explosion, theft etc. The situations like above can harm for people who are vulnerable to abuse. Elders are more vulnerable to abuse because physical changes appear with the age, made them to slow respond or inability of responding properly for actions. Children are also vulnerable like elders because they don’t have knowledge or experience to respond emergency situations like matured people. These vulnerable groups may tend to trust on robot machine because it will be the only companion they have to interact in most of their time. If machine gets malfunctioned, the life of these vulnerable groups will be in a danger. Thus the negative implications and possible risks which may arise when adopting technologies like robotics should be much concerned.

The individuals have to face both positive and negative Ethical, Social, Legal and Professional issues related to robot technology. The negative implications of robot should be clearly identified by IT professionals in order to make human lives more comfortable via secure information technologies while protecting ethical, social and legal rights of human being. By analysing and understanding both negative and positive impacts prior adopting technology may assist to reduce several issues which may arise related into robotics. In the conclusion, I recommend organisations and individuals to implement suitable policies when using new robotic inventions in their business and household that is transparent to ensure negative effects of the technology has been controlled and prevented.

In order to examine sociological theories of the body we need to know what sociology is and what its interests are. Sociology therefore can be defined as “the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies”. Sociology’s main focus is of the social rules and processes that place humans in associations, groups, and institutions. (wordIQ.com, 2010) As can be seen with the definition through sociology’s development it has took a disembodied approach within its research. Traditional sociology has been seen to overlook the body and regarding it as merely as a way of gaining social control. Bodies were seen to lack social interest and when they were included in sociological research it was only the way that we externalise, objectify and internalise the institutes of society that was examined. However the body is arguably central in all sociology studies and over the past thirty years there has been a growing interest in the study of the body. (Shilling, C, 1993) One of the most important sociological debates that have been investigated is that of the relationship between the body and self-identity. Due to a rise in consumer culture there has been a growing increase on the amount of attention that individuals dedicate to their bodies. Consumer culture in the post-modern society that we now live in as placed emphasis on the “healthy” body through the help of the media. Today people are faced with images of the ideal, healthy body that they are expected to have. The rise in the cosmetic industry, the plastic surgery industry and the fashion industry are all products of consumer culture. (Featherstone, M, et al, 1991)

Leder therefore proposes his theory of the dys-appearing body. “Dys” is Greek prefix that suggests illness or a failure to function (dysfunctional). However Leder uses his term dys-appearance when talking about the reappearance of the body. For Leder the body will remain in the “corporeal background” for as long as it functioning properly. When our bodies act in a way that is not normal to us then we will be removed from the social world and will enter the limited world that is our bodies. There are different reasons that this can happen and the most obvious is pain. If we suddenly experience extreme pain we will shift out focus from the task that we were engaged in and all our focus will be on where the pain is coming from and finding a way to stop it. Strong emotions such as sadness or excitement can also make our bodies dys-appear as can unexpected sensations. Examples that Leder provides are when adolescents enter puberty and have their first period, or when a boy’s voice breaks. Both of these situations will cause the body to dys-appear as a feeling of anxiety and a fear of the unknown as common in this sort of situation. (Shilling, C, 1993)

Dys-appearances can range from being acute or chronic, they can be threatening or motivating and they can also be social. Social dys-appearance is where the body re-appears as a result of self-consciousness that comes from social situations. A prime example of this is when a person experiences embarrassment. This could lead to the individual being insure of themselves and will pull the body into the main focus of that individual. Social dys-appearance can be very problematic and can lead to illnesses such as eating disorders. If the person involved feels that their body is not what is socially classed as they “norm” they will try and fix this in order to return the body to the corporeal background. However this can be detrimental to their health if they go to extreme measures to achieve this. This can be seen in the rise of eating disorders in young girls, particularly those that are bullied as they are constantly trying to remove focus from their bodies. (Shilling, C, 1993) (mirror-mirror.org, 2010)

Chris Shilling has an alternative view from Leder with regards to the body and self. Shilling argues that we see the body as a project which can be worked upon and that the body is central to our self-identity. This is the opposing to Leder who sees self-identity as being latent. Shilling agrees with Anthony Giddens and argued that as a result of “high modernity” the body has become an object that can be gained through the increase of technologies and choices available to us. The body is open to the sensation that is fashion and that alone brings the body into great focus and allows for an extensive amount of choices to made with regards to the body. Again this is a differing view point from Leder as according to him the main interest of the body is to return it to the background, whereas choices such as fashion put lots of focus on the body. (Featherstone, M, 2000) (Gimlin, D, 2006)

There are two main characteristics of high modernity that Gidden’s (1991) argues has impacted on the growing idea of the body as a project. Firstly is that there has been a decline in grand narratives such as religion and politics which has led to a rise in individualism. Secondly is that the body is another means in which social control can be exerted. Bodies were generally just accepted in the past, but now the body is examined in terms of shape, size, colour and many more factors. Late modernity has been responsible for the rise in means of which people work on and gain their ideal bodies. Example of these means include, fashion, plastic surgery, diets and body care products. However these means may have negative effects and can lead to problems with the body which in turn makes people focus even more attention on them. If Leder’s theory is one-hundred per cent correct then people’s unhappiness with their bodies would mean that the body would very rarely be in the background. Rather it could be argued that with the amount of attention and time and money that is spent on our bodies it is clear that they are very much at the forefront of our attention. (Giddens, 1991).

However other sociologists argue that despite the opportunities and choices that are now available, aspects such as class and culture can be a main factor in the decisions we make regarding our bodies. Bourdieu (1978) studied Shilling’s theory of the body project in terms of class. He argued that those in the working class use their bodies as a tool and see them as a “means to an end”, whereas those in the middle and upper classes see their bodies as an “end in itself” (Gimlin, D, 2006 p.701). This is due to them having more opportunities to look after their bodies in comparison to those in the working class who use their bodies as a way of gaining capital. This again suggests that a lot of time is spent on (Gimlin, D, 2006).

Means of body management are largely available in today’s modern world. We are inundated with new types of diets, fashions to follow, ways to wear our hair and many more. However the cosmetic surgery industry is one of the most extreme options in achieving body management. With regards to body management Leder would argue that it is purely a means of eliminating bodily disappearance. Whereas Shilling would argue that it is a way of presenting our self-identities and that they are no real reasons for it other than wanting to work on the body. (Gimlin, D, 2006)

According to feminist sociologists, plastic surgery is often seen as oppressive for women and those who engage in it are seen as being victims to the patriarchal ideology. Kathy Davis however conducted research in Holland looking at women who have had breast augmentations and argued that rather than being victims, women see plastic surgery as a means of gaining control over their bodies. Davis argued that surgery “serves as an intervention of identity”. (Jefferys, S, 2005 p.16) That is, it is a means of women creating an alternative sense of self. Davis found that even when surgery wasn’t successful patients were still satisfied with the results. These points all relate to Shillings idea of the body as a project. These women feel that by constructing and changing their bodies they are gaining a moral imperative. In terms of Leder’s theory Davis’ research is also relevant. She argued that it allows for women to become embodied rather than feeling like they are constantly being objectified. By getting breast augmentations women were able to put their bodies back in to the background and avoid any unwanted attention that they were facing. For Leder plastic surgery is a means of reducing suffering that stems from appearances that are deemed unacceptable. (Jefferys, S, 2005) (Negrin, L, 2002)

Leder’s theory of the absent body has faced many criticisms for other sociologists. Shilling offers three main criticisms to Leder’s theory of the absent body. Firstly stating that while his theory of the body project emphasises the relevance of the body has to self-identity, Leder sees the body of being irrelevant to a person’s sense of self-identity. Secondly Shilling argues that Leder underestimates the growing phenomena of the body as a project and the work that people put into their bodies. The third criticism that Shilling proposes is that Leder ignores how social inequalities can influence people’s experiences of embodiment. Leder has also faced criticism from Nettleton and Watson (1998) for the idea that is the body is absent most of the time. This would therefore mean that there are limited amounts of time in which the body can be studied. However Leder recognises this and adds that there are many other time in the day which the body can dys-appear. For example when the body experiences hunger, thirst or tiredness. Leder also acknowledges that there are differing durations that disappearing can occur for. Leder recognises gender differences within his theory, arguing that women may experience more bodily dys-appearance than men. This can be the result of the social situations that women are exposed to and the pressure that is put on them to look a certain way. (Gimlin, D, 2006)

Therefore in conclusion it can be argued that Leder’s theory is accurate in certain aspects, such as the body being able to work successfully without us having any knowledge of it, or that in certain situations whether social situations or in moments of extreme pain or emotions the body does come to the very forefront of our attention and prohibits us from functioning in the tasks that we were previously engaged in. However it is arguably the centre of attention more frequently than what Leder would believe and Shillings theory therefore could be seen to be more fitting in modern day society. It is clear that everyday there is a certain amount of attention and time spent on the body. Whether is it only limited to the basics of having a shower, cleaning our teeth and brushing our hair everybody does it in order to be socially accepted. However there are many people who will take their bodily appearance more seriously and in turn spend lots of time and money achieving the looks that they deem as being socially acceptable. They are therefore using their body as a project and this could also relate to Leder’s theory as many people do this in order to fit in and feel comfortable, therefore keeping their body in the corporeal background. Therefore it can be seen that Leder’s theory of the absent body and Shilling’s theory are not mutually exclusive to each other.

Introduction

Marijuana, also known as “weed”, “grass”, “bud”, or “pot”, is the second most commonly used “recreational” drug in America, behind only alcohol, a legal substance. The drug comes from the leaves of the hemp plant, “cannabis sativa”. It has a high concentration of the drug’s active ingredient, Tetrahydrocannabinols, also known as THC. While many users smoke the leaves of the plant to get “high” (psychologically impaired), studies show that marijuana has many legitimate medical uses. These uses include alleviating nausea due to chemotherapy, improving the severe weight loss of AIDS patients, and treating pain which may not respond to mainstream opoids such as Morphine.

Marijuana has been used throughout history for both medical and spiritual purposes. It has been used to relieve stress, reduce pain, and cure fatigue, however United States Federal Law classifies marijuana as a schedule I substance in the Controlled Substances Act. This act defines schedule I drugs as having three traits:

“The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.” (Controlled Substances Act 2002)

This act does also define Tetrahydrocannabinols as a schedule I drug, thus making the possession of marijuana illegal under federal law.

However, some state governments have gone against the federal precedent and legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. In 1996, California was the first such state, under Proposition 215. However, even within these states, some counties may choose to not support the legalization. This had led to the arrest of many patients who may have unknowingly travelled into the wrong county.

Outside the United States, the legislation regarding marijuana possession and use is much less restrictive. Parts of Canada and several countries in Europe have legalized the use and possession of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes. The figure below shows several legalization levels for nations around the world. As one can see on the map, a majority of European nations as well as most of South America have decriminalized marijuana use whereas most of the United States are red, meaning marijuana is confirmed illegal.

There are three possible options for legalization, each with its own benefits, drawbacks, and ethical issues for our leaders. The three options are complete prohibition (US Federal Law), legalization of medicinal marijuana (California Law), and the complete legalization.

This paper seeks to not only analyze the three options for legalization (or prohibition), but more so to evaluate the issue’s implications for the ethical decisions of leaders. The issue of marijuana becomes an ethical issue when you consider the fact that prohibition of the drug also prevents patients from getting the aid they need. Leaders of the United States and any other government dealing with this issue need to consider the ethical implications of their decisions.

As discussed in Defining Moments, these decisions can be considered “right vs. right” decisions or decisions where both options seem to be “right”. In the case of marijuana legalization, leaders and lawmakers are considering the ethical weight of allowing patients the medicine they need or completely preventing the abuse of an “illicit” drug. Both decisions seem “right” in their own ways but the options exclusive of each other. This forces leaders to evaluate their own morality and utilize their ethical decision making capabilities to make a decision that, based on all ethical factors, they can consider “right”.

Through the examination of ethical, legal, and economic factors, this paper will reveal that the legalization of marijuana is the most “forward thinking” and ethical option for dealing with marijuana. However, in order to enact this change, transformational leaders who recognize the benefits and drawbacks of all options must be a part of the decision making process. The paper strives to reveal significant insight to the following question. Why do leaders choose to support or oppose the legalization of marijuana? Considering pertinent evidence, what option for the legalization of marijuana is most ethical? And, what type of leadership is necessary to do the right thing?

Leadership in Theory

Leadership ethics and the moral decisions they are forced to make have long been a topic of philosophers’ discussions. The way that leaders reveal themselves through their ethical decisions affects how their followers view them. Additionally, the morals which a leader portrays will be mimicked among much of the population. In this way, leaders have the power to mold the morals and views of those they lead. This power can be either beneficial or destructive to the leader’s power depending on how it’s utilized. Adolf Hitler used this power, for horrific purposes, to create a sense of extreme pride and nationalism which caused them to follow him somewhat blindly.

Plato, a Greek philosopher, argues that leaders must make ethical decisions based on the greater good of the people affected by the decision. That is, rule not with self interest, but the interest of your followers. This frames the analysis of the legalization decisions because, if leaders believe that the use of marijuana can benefit their citizens then, according to Plato, legalization is the morally “right” option. In The Ethics of Leadershipip, Joanne Ciulla provides a passage from Plato which states, “because our bodies are deficient rather than self sufficient, the craft of medicine has now been discovered. The craft of medicine was developed to provide what s advantageous for a body.” (Ciulla, 19) Therefore, if marijuana were proven to be a medicine it would then be considered by Plato advantageous to the citizens. Therefore, providing the ability for the suffering to get this medicine would be “good” leadership.

Ayn Rand would disagree with Plato, however. Rand argues that leaders must rule with their own self interest as their primary motivator. She says, “Accept the fact that the achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness…is the proof of your moral integrity.” (Ciulla, 51) She believes that the pursuit of one’s self interests is indicative of their dedication to their morals and values and that, Rand argues, is the proof of your morality. This frames the analysis of the ethical implications of marijuana legalization, because, as Rand would argue, unless the leaders and lawmakers were somehow benefitting from legalization they should not choose to enact such laws, regardless of what others want and/or need.

However, there is one theory that seems to be key to enacting any sort of change in marijuana laws. The necessity for transformational leadership is vital to the cause of bringing about change. Transformational leadership is a type of leadership where leaders use their power to enact “valuable and positive” change in the people they lead. (Bass) This consideration is important for two reasons. First, in order to reform marijuana laws, transformational leaders will be needed to enact the changes. Secondly, these transformational leaders will be compelled to enact this change if they can see it as “valuable and positive”. So, if you consider this theory with Plato’s thoughts, the medicinal purpose of marijuana would be advantageous and, thus, the legalization of it would be a “valuable and positive” change because it would allow people to get the things their bodies need. So, for the sake of this evaluation, I will examine the presence (or absence) of transformational leaders.

Therefore, the framework for this paper will be the three theories of leadership that I have outlined in this section. For each “option” of legalization, I will discuss the ethical issues that leaders face when dealing with the question of legalizing the use of marijuana. I will also add discussion on each option with respect to each theory; Plato, Rand, and the idea of transformational leadership.

What this paper serves to prove is that, under the theoretical framework outlined in this section, the legalization of marijuana appeals to all three of the theories discussed above. So, under this framework, legalizing and taxing marijuana is the most feasible and potentially successful option. However, during this discussion, I will answer the questions of how each option of legalization discussed in this pertains to the three theories of Plato, Rand, and transformational leadership.

Option 1: Complete Prohibition

The first option I will discuss is the complete prohibition of the possession and use of marijuana for any purpose. This is how a large portion of the United States operates. Marijuana is considered “taboo” to mainstream culture, so its use outlawed. However, cannabis is still the second most used recreational drug in America. (Joy 1999)

Pros

Now, this does accomplish some important goals. First of all, it serves as a mode to limit the abuse of the drug. By criminalizing the possession and use of marijuana, law makers will deter some citizens from using the drug.

Many people do view this deterrence as a good improvement and they cite the harmful effects of smoke inhalation as their justification. One of the most popular argument is the effects that smoking marijuana has on the lungs.

As with inhaling any type of smoke, carcinogens in marijuana smoke can cause damage to the lungs and respiratory system. Tan argues, “Participants who had smoked at least 50 marijuana cigarettes but had no history of tobacco smoking were not at significantly greater risk for either outcome.” (The “outcomes” were respiratory symptoms and COPD) This statement suggests that smoking marijuana has similar effects on the respiratory system as smoking tobacco. Further, he says, “Those who had smoked both tobacco and marijuana had a significantly greater risk of COPD and respiratory symptoms.” (Tan, 2009) Tan is proving is that, while solely smoking marijuana is no more dangerous that smoking cigarettes, combining the two significantly increases the risk of respiratory issues. Therefore, the prohibitionists justify criminalization by claiming that the use and abuse of marijuana has degenerative effects on the lungs.

Another claim cannabis prohibitionists make to justify their stance is that marijuana use has addictive properties, similar to nicotine. They claim that marijuana addiction is a critical issue in the legalization discussion. Their main focus is the addictive effects on youth. In a study by Iain McGregor on the effects of THC injections on the brains and behaviors of adolescent and adult male rats, McGregor found that “adolescent brains are still maturing, and say they seem to be more vulnerable to THC” (“Youngsters”, 2007). The article cites that after the injections of THC, the adult rats avoided the injection area, however, the adolescent rats “showed no such aversion” (“Youngsters”, 2007). This observation, McGregor says, shows that the adult rats, contrary from the adolescent subjects, found the THC “unpleasant”. Since the test was set up to mimic human conditions under heavy cannabis usage, this would suggests that youths are more susceptible to becoming addicted to cannabis since they show no disdain for the effects of the drug. This conclusion is underscored by the fact that, according to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, adolescent cannabis use is rising. This means that more youth are trying marijuana and, based on McGregor’s results, becoming addicted to the effects of THC.

Cons

However, the complete prohibition of marijuana, along with the arguments that prohibition supporters use to justify it, has flaws. One of the largest such drawbacks of prohibition is the matter of getting medicinal marijuana to patients. Additionally, marijuana has been shown to have preventative medicinal purposes. An experiment by Prof. Raphael Mechoulam showed that the use of marijuana can significantly slow the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease. In this experiment, Mechoulam’s team found that cannabinoids not only prevented cognitive decline, but also reduced the inflammation associated with the disease. Inflammation is normal says Gary Wenk of Ohio State University, however, “in some cases, this inflammation gets out of hand and causes serious damage” (“Pot May Help”, 2006). “There is a solid link between chronic inflammation in the brain and the progression of Alzheimer’s” Wenk says, but mentions that the anti-inflammatory properties of marijuana can help to prevent this. However, all of this is null if the drug is criminalized. Those with family histories of Alzheimer’s are forced to accept the onset of the disease because lawmakers deemed the drug “illicit”.

The justification, discussed above, of the prohibition of marijuana is also flawed. For example, the argument regarding the respiratory damage from marijuana is hypocritical. The study discussed above demonstrated that marijuana smoke is equally as destructive as tobacco smoke. Tobacco, however, is legal. So, how can the prevention of respiratory damage be a viable justification if you are not going to prevent the damage from an equally as dangerous substance?

Ethical Issues

These benefits and drawbacks of prohibition are part of the ethical struggle that leaders have to face. On one hand, prohibition does what iss morally right by protecting citizens from a harmful drug. However, the proof of the harmfulness of marijuana is light and many studies show it to be no more dangerous than other, legalized, substances. In 1988, then DEA Judge Francis L. Young said, “Marijuana is the safest therapeutically active substance known to man… safer than many foods we commonly consume” (Armento, 2009). So, if it is in fact safer than most foods and, at the very least, it has therapeutic benefits, why is there a need for it to be prohibited?

Additionally, the attempt to stop the use is failing. Youth usage levels are rising and the use of marijuana is not isolated to those states that have since legalized medical marijuana. In fact, marijuana usage is no regionally exclusive in this country. The map below shows the states with highest reported marijuana usage in the United States. The graph shows a rather even distribution across the countries, with high usage rates in the Northeast, West, and Midwest. This is a demonstration that the prohibition of marijuana is not successful.

In regards to leadership, the leaders supporting the prohibition of marijuana are “playing it safe” and staying with the “status quo.” No signs of transformational leadership are being demonstrated by lawmakers who aren’t striving for change, but instead leading to remain in power. This is despite the fact that data such as the figure above show that the citizens see marijuana as a positive and are yearning for change to the current laws. Transformational leaders would recognize this and work to enact this positive change in government. This means going against the status quo and transforming the legislation into something the people support.

The other side of the ethical debate over prohibition is that it limits the ability for patients to receive the medicine they need. I explained earlier how marijuana can be used as a preventative medicine to prevent Alzheimer’s and in later sections I will discuss, in further detail, the beneficial effects of medicinal marijuana. However, prohibition offers no permissions to patients to obtain the drug. Nor does it allow any judicial allowances to those arrested for the possession or use of marijuana, even if they are using it for medical reasons. Ethically, this is the weakest part of the argument in favor of prohibition.

Let’s analyze this piece using sleep test ethics. In his book, Defining Moments, Joseph L Badaracco discusses sleep test ethics as a means of evaluating ethical decisions. Badaracco explains sleep-test ethics as “a person who has made the right choice can sleep soundly afterward; someone who has made the wrong choice cannot.” (Badaracco, 1997) If we apply this to the idea of prohibition, we can see the ethical issue involved in prohibition. If you had to deny a dying patient the medicine to ease their suffering in order to continue a feeble attempt to control the recreational use of the medicine, would you be able to sleep soundly at night?

These are the issues that prohibitionist lawmakers face when dealing with marijuana in their districts. It seems to be a policy vs. people debate, but at the heart is the a moral and ethical battle between right and right. Badaracco explains these “right vs. right” situations as “defining moments” which are used to not only reveal but shape a leader’s character. How our lawmakers handle the issues of marijuana prohibition will affect how others view their morality.

Option 2: Legalization of Medicinal Marijuana

The second option for marijuana legalization is to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana only. Currently, there are 13 states that have disregarded the federal prohibition laws and have legalized the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes. These states, with the year in which they legalized medicinal marijuana are shown in the table below.

Pros

Marijuana has been used as medicine since ancient times. It has pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties when smoked. This is because the heat of burning the cannabis activates the THC in the plant which then enters one’s body with the smoke. Through most of the 80’s and 90’s, the United States federal government prohibited the testing of marijuana smoke for medicinal purposes. However, in 2002, the Drug Enforcement Administration granted approvals to scientists for the “limited use [of marijuana] in scientific experiments.” (Hilts, 2002) In his article, Hilts said, that scientists at the University of California will begin testing the effects of smoking marijuana on the limb pain experiences due to Multiple Sclerosis and AIDS.

Scientists have found evidence that links marijuana, specifically THC, with medical benefits, both curative and preventative. As I have explained above, THC has shown to have preventative effects against Alzheimer’s disease in older people. Additionally, it is a drug of interest because it is one of the few prescribed for neurological decay that doesn’t just focus on the symptoms, but instead, the root cause, the inflammation due to age.

However, marijuana also has very significant curative benefits as well for patients. In his review of the “Dying to Get High”, Ellis cites a story from 1992 where a woman was using marijuana “with success…instead of pharmaceutical drugs to control her seizures.” (Ellis, n.d.) The seizures, Ellis said were caused by a car accident 20 years ago and the woman, Valerie Corral, had successfully controlled them for those 20 years with marijuana. Ellis elaborates on some of the other proven medical uses of marijuana. He says, “In practice, this includes nausea and appetite loss in Cancer and AIDS treatments, chronic pain, glaucoma, and seizures related to multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and epilepsy.” (Ellis, n.d.) Studies have shown that intra-ocular pressure can be reduced by 45% through the use of marijuana (Hanrahan, 2006) This reduction is particularly important to the treatment of Glaucoma. The studies also show that cannabis also has “antimicrobial action and antibacterial effects” such as being able to “destroy and inhibit the growth of streptococci and staphylococci bacteria.” (Hanrahan, 2006) These bacteria are responsible for staph infections more common and in severe cases MRSA. The results suggest that cannabis, or specifically THC, can be used to eliminate and prevent staph infections.

Additionally, by legalizing the use of medicinal marijuana, it is allowing more studies to be done, which may lead to more discoveries and cures. But most importantly, your helping the lives of patients with AIDS, Cancer, MS, and other to be made a little less strenuous and easing the suffering from their disease.

Cons

Legalization of medicinal marijuana is a somewhat “meet in the middle” option, meaning that it tries to appease as many people as possible. This option allows for the government to still attempt preventing the recreational use of the drug without denying patients the treatments they need. Therefore, the cons of this option are limited and weakly supported.

Ethical Issues

By legalizing cannabis for medicinal use, you are recognizing that the drug has beneficial uses for the prevention of many serious diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, yet you are still deeming it “unsafe” for recreational use. However, if the drug is being used for preventative measures, then recreational use would actually be beneficial to the population. Granted, abuse may become an issue over time, but so is the case for alcohol, yet that is not currently prohibited. Also, it may be harmful to the lungs and respiratory system, but no more so than tobacco smoke, which is also legal.

Ethically however, it appears to be the moral thing to do. While there are some initial signs of transformational leadership, the changes are not significantly affecting all citizens. Leaders, while changing the laws in their state, are not pushing for the change in the federal law, which legally overrules the state laws. Therefore, in reality, the leaders are acting in their own self-interest, as Rand would suggest they do. They are maximizing their “votes” without taking a firm stand on either side of the argument. This is a way to keep them in office and ensure their own interests. However, they are showing no dedication to their own morals and values, which Badaracco says is how one reveals their ethics, by remaining dedicated to their set of values.

Option 3: Complete Legalization

Complete legalization is the more sparsely used option of the three. Only certain areas of Canada, such as Montreal, and few nations in Europe, such as Netherlands, have completely legalized the use of marijuana for any purpose, medicinal or recreational. This option shows the highest potential for economic benefit by allowing for the taxation while freeing up funding from the War on Drugs.

Pros

Throughout this analysis I have made several comparisons of marijuana to alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana is no more addictive or harmful physically than these two legal substances. So, marijuana could yield similar financial benefits through taxation as cigarettes and tobacco. Currently, tobacco is taxed by federal, state, and local governments which generate revenue for all organizations. Some places, where medical marijuana is legal, have begun taxing medical marijuana to benefit from its legalization. Oakland, CA was the first such city to do so, with support of 80% of the population. Once President Obama promised that the federal government would not interfere with a state’s regulation of the drug, transformational leaders, such as Tom Ammiano of California, introduced a bill to “legalize the cultivation of marijuana and its distribution and sale to people over 21.” (“Puff, Puff, Pay”, 2009)

It seems that in our current economic crisis, any additional revenue would be viewed as a valuable and significant opportunity and some leaders are realizing that marijuana can be one of those opportunities. The California Board of Equalization estimates that, if Assemblyman Ammiano’s bill succeeds, the state of California could generate $1.4 billion in revenue. (“Puff, Puff, Pay”, 2009) The legalization of marijuana would also help to spur a boost in cannabis related tourism. For a state such as California, struggling through the economic turmoil our country has been in, these financial benefits are very appealing. And, if the policy were enacted nationwide, the revenue generated would simply multiply.

Cons

There are some noticeable drawbacks of the legalization of marijuana, but none nearly as significant as the financial gain from the legalization, sale, and taxation of cannabis. One such concern is that of addiction of people to cannabis. A Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study has shown that the number of cannabis addicts has risen from 12% to 16% since 1997 (“Puff, Puff, Pay”, 2009). While this is not a particularly significant increase, this is a valid consideration when discussing the concept of legalizing marijuana use. This number would most likely increase more if marijuana were legal, however, the significance of this increase cannot be estimated.

Ethical Issues

This option for legalization requires the highest level of transformational leadership. The lawmakers need to realize that the legalization can be a valuable and positive change if executed properly. This positive change could not only allow the medical use of marijuana to cure and ease the suffering of significant diseases but also help their economy.

Alcohol and tobacco are currently some of the most profitable industries for the United States government. Marijuana could generate revenue equal to, if not greater than tobacco and alcohol. This concept plays directly into Rand’s advice for leaders. Creating revenue for their state would secure their place in office as well as possibly affording our leaders some financial gains, such as pay raises and tax breaks due to increased revenue. Therefore, the legalization of marijuana to secure financial gain would be ruling in one’s own self-interest, a concept that Rand is very adamant about.

Additionally, Plato’s theories regarding ruling for the greater good come into play in this option as well. By legalizing marijuana completely, you are giving people the right to choose if they want to use marijuana and what they would like to use it for. Giving people more rights can be considered to be for the greater good. Also, it boosts the economy and creates jobs as retail, manufacturing, and shipping organizations will need to be developed to support the legalization.

Conclusions

This paper analyzed the three options of legalizing (or prohibiting) the use of marijuana for both medical and recreational reasons. It has presented the benefits and drawbacks of both marijuana and it’s legalization/prohibition. It has framed the analysis within the writings of Plato and Ayn Rand as well as against the ideas of transformational leadership.

But what option is “best” or “more right”? In order to answer this question we must think of our criteria, or the framework of the analysis. We must judge each option based on this framework. A table below shows each option and how it pertains to the pieces of our framework.

From this table we see that, each theory helps to support the case for complete legalization. Both philosophers’ views are present in the effects and consequences of this option. Allowing people the right to choose and the right to select their medicine is Plato’s view of ruling for the greater good. The tax benefits that leaders will undoubtedly see (though may never be “officially” attributed to the legalization of marijuana) is Rand’s view of ruling with self-interest. And the fact that they are transforming the values, morals, and ideas of what is “acceptable” of a society for “valuable and positive change” demonstrates their understanding of and dedication to the theories of transformational leadership.

Under these criteria, the prohibition of marijuana completely does not support any of the theories by which we are evaluating.

Therefore, in conclusion, the legalization of marijuana seems to be the best option for dealing with this issue. The legalization would allow the people who need treatment to get it and it could help with the economic crisis which is currently ravaging the world. Additionally, since marijuana has proven to actually have benefits, unlike tobacco and alcohol, it is a positive change in the culture of society. While laws pertaining to marijuana will need to be developed (similar to tobacco and alcohol), the regulation of marijuana use by the government will, in the end, prove to be a very profitable decision.

I think it is the best decision ethically as well. The people, who want to use it, are. The people, who don’t want to use it, aren’t. I don’t feel as though this will change significantly by legalizing the drug. Therefore, the consequences of such a decision are minimal, as its almost a case of realizing the current situation and making legislation to benefit from it.

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The Law and Power Relations in Society: A Brief Review of Modern and Postmodern Traditions

To achieve an understanding of how, at the beginning of the 21st century, law has come to be understood as a manifestation of social power, it is necessary to place the question within the framework of the dominant intellectual paradigms of the past one hundred years. Such a consideration is relevant because the two major paradigms – namely, modernism and postmodernism – have operated according to contrary assumptions about reality in general and social reality in particular. Modernism, which dominated Western society throughout the 20th century until the 1960s, assumed that all human enterprises should be conducted according to the principles of universal rationality, with a strongly centralizing tendency emphasized in all social institutions. Postmodernism, on the other hand, assumes that human beings are mainly motivated, not by rationality, but by a virtually endless diversity of individual and cultural values. Thus, any overarching theory about how people do, or should, live in society is bound to be inadequate, and social institutions must allow for the full range of human diversity.

In the discipline of sociology Functionalist Theory dominated the modern period, but during the past few decades Critical Theory has come to dominate the postmodern period. To put it simply, Functionalism assumes that society works, because of its inherent harmony, while Critical Theory assumes that society does not work, because of its inherent conflicts. As far as law is concerned, during the modern period a rationally independent and fair distribution of justice was supposed to characterize the legal system. But during the postmodern period the legal system has come to be regarded by many of its critics as the source of often inequitable i.e. distributions of power, specifically motivated by, and ultimately working for, the interests of the state in general and the cultural elite in particular.

The writings of Max Weber (1864-1920), one of the founding spirits of sociology, illustrate the modern conception of law perfectly. According to Mathieu Deflem (2009: 45-46), Weber argues that the law, like all modern social institutions, including politics and the economy, is dominated by purposive rationalization, posited as the standard for both jurisprudence (legal theorizing or lawmaking) and adjudication (law-finding) in the courts. Rationalization leads to the establishment of the principle of “the rule of law.” This means that all social conflicts are to be settled in the courts according to established laws that are written down and codified. The rule of law is intended to be impersonal and objective, giving rise to a adage “Justice is blind,” a central value of Western democracies, sometimes phrased as the sayings “All are equal before the law” and “No one is above the law.”

According to Joyce Sterling and Wilbert Moore (1987: 68-69), Weber accepts law as “creating its own sphere of autonomous social reality,” but its influence is relative, not absolute. “The more a legal system looks to itself rather than to external social, political, and ethical systems in making and applying law, the greater the degree of relative autonomy.” In the United States legal system The Exclusionary Rule and The Miranda Rule are examples of the law defining itself and acting independently of other social concerns. A second characteristic of legal autonomy is the principle of “equal competencies” whereby counsel is provided for those who cannot afford it.

Weber distinguishes between subjective rationality, in which values influence individual decisions, and objective rationality, in which principles determine social decisions. He also distinguishes between formal or purely legal law, and substantive or extra-legal law. Similarly, Weber distinguishes between rational law, determined by general principles, and irrational law, determined by individual and contextual considerations. Formal rational law is called positive law, while formal irrational law is called charismatic or revealed law. Substantive rational law is called natural law, while substantive irrational law is called traditional law. In the words of Sterling and Moore (1987: 75), “Although Weber denied that he was posing a unilineal process of rationalization, he did tend to view legal systems as moving from irrational to rational, and from substantive to formal rationality.” Moreover, Weber links his typology of law to his typology of politics. He identified three types of political legitimization: traditional, charismatic, and legal. Once again, according to Sterling and Moore (1987: 76), “As law becomes rationalized, it becomes its own legitimizing principle” – in other words, the rule of law, what Weber calls “formal legal rationality.” This is aided by bureaucracy and professionalization, ensuring “calculability” or predictability in legal matters and making the system self-contained and seamless, almost totally isolated from moral, economic, political, and cultural interests. Weber’s modern rationalistic conception of law has suffered a severe critical attack on various fronts since the 1960s. Austin Turk (1976: 276) sums up the critical legal position perfectly: Contrary to the rational model, law is actually “a set of resources whose control and mobilization can in many ways . . . generate and exacerbate conflicts rather than resolving or softening them.” In short, power is the “control of resources” and “law is power” (280). The mere mention of power in relation to law is bound to evoke the spirit of Karl Marx (1818-1883).

According to Alan Hunt (1985: 12, 20-22), the content, principles, and forms of law are all matters of “ideology” – that is the reflective distortion of reality in any human claim to knowledge, making Weber’s political legitimation by rule of law nothing more than one opinion among many (sometimes irrational) competing opinions about the proper relation of law and power. Moreover, as Elizabeth Armstrong and Mary Bernstein (2008: 75-76) point out, the modified Marxist argument whereby governments are the only rule makers and social reformers define themselves solely in relation to the state has now become obsolete. According to these authors, culture itself is constitutive of power. If this is true, then law has already lost much of its supposed power merely by definition.

Kim Lane Scheppele (1994: 390-400) provides an excellent overview of critical jurisprudence theory, all of it based on the foundational belief that rational jurisprudence theory masks the fact that political interests or power relationships are what really drives the legal systems of Western democracies. An attack on liberal legalism argues that rights, neutrality, and procedural justice are all fictions designed to maintain social inequalities. The indeterminacy thesis argues that contradictions and inconsistencies within the law make purely rational adjudication impossible. There are many particular manifestations of critical jurisprudence theory. Feminist jurisprudence, for example, contends that the way gender is defined socially often makes the law patriarchal and oppressive to women, especially in regard to such issues as abortion, rape, domestic violence, pregnancy, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, child custody, and pornography. Feminists are divided on how to right the wrongs of rational jurisprudence. Some advocate treating women exactly the same as men, while others argue that women should be treated differently. In either case, the objective is to achieve equality with men through the law. Similarly, critical race theory argues that people of color have been oppressed by the law by being silenced or having others speak for them, and they have pleaded vigorously for the opportunity to “tell their stories,” so their culture and their lives can be treated fairly by the law. In fact, the theme of the relationship of power to the law has been most compelling addressed in terms of the indeterminacy of language itself – an argument expressed by Jacques Derrida in his theory of deconstruction. If the rational rule of law is enshrined as a written code, but language itself is open to a diversity of interpretation, how can the rule of law be trusted not to be abused by the judges and lawyers representing a powerful political elite? Critics would argue that such an abuse is inevitable.

References

Armstrong, E. A., & Bernstein, M. (2008). Culture, power, nad institution: A approach to social movements. Sociological Theory, 26 (1), 74-99.

Deflem, M. (2008). Sociology of Law: Visions of a Scholarly Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hunt, A. (1985). The ideology of law: Advances and problems in recent applications of the concept of ideology to the analysis of law. Law & Society Review, 19 (1), 11-38.

Scheppele, K. L. (1994). Legal theory and social theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 20, 383-406.

Sterling, J. S., & Moore, W. E. (1987). Weber’s analysis of legal rationalization: A critique and constructive modification. Sociological Forum, 2 (1), 67-89.

Turk, A. T. (1976). Law as a weapon in social conflict. Social Problems, 23 (3), 276-291.

The society is regarded to be the key element of research of such science as history, sociology, philosophy, economics, etc., but there is no one theoretical understanding of this concept yet so far. Since the times of Plato and Aristotle the society was identified with the state and this concept was true up to the New Time (Hobbes Th., Locke J.). Only in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Kant I., Hegel G. there starts the separation of these concepts, when the society is regarded independently and perceived as the idea of mankind and moral-political unity. Gradually within the frames of sociology the definition of the society, that becomes the classical and universal one, is fixed. The key criterion of the concept of society is the presence of people and certain communication between them. In other words, the society is considered as a community or union of people that possesses such features as territory, developed culture, political independence, etc. But this definition is controversial as primitive societies do not have developed culture, and nomadic societies do not have single territory. So the question arises – how is it possible to define the society? There are many attempts and directions in studying and systematizing sociological opinions and outlooks of the concept of society. Modern western sociology is presented by abundance of different schools and trends, and each of them has its own approaches and theoretical views on the concept of society. The school of structural functionalism turned out to be one of the most fruitful in this trend, with the American sociologist Talcott Parsons as its representative. He uses a system approach while analyzing the society and considers the society as a social system which, in its turn, is a subsystem of the system of social act. In the theory of social action, the society is analyzed as a complex system along with other subsystems such as culture, personality and organism. All these subsystems interact with each other and with subsystem of the society. At the same time the society is regarded as the system that rises over individuals and does not depend on their thoughts and acts; individuals come and go, they are born and die, but nevertheless the society exists, keeps on functioning, developing and evolving. The main function of the society is using of the balanced combination of mechanisms of the control in the course of the relation with five environments surrounding it, and also a degree of internal integration. This can explain the self-sufficiency and isolation of the society as a complex system. This work concludes that the key elements of Parsons’ concept of society is the Theory of Action, that is the bench mark for further development of the whole concept of society; structural functionalism as the key tool that reveals the essence and interaction of the elements of the society from the point of view of their functioning; and the concept of social order, which is a kernel of society as a system.

Parsons uses a system approach to analyze the society as a type of social system. He regards the society as a system consisting of different interrelated elements that make integrity. At the same time the society as a system possesses a certain structure and function. Comparatively firm tie of the elements in the system and relations between the system as a whole and its parts make the structure of the system. The function of the system is in the role that the element performs; the contribution that a certain activity makes into common activity. In its turn, each element of the system can form a new system and as a result within one system there can be several subsystems. The system is the integral unit and it can interact with environment and in the process of interaction it can be an active side. Parsons (1966) noticed that “aˆ¦the society is a special kind of social systemaˆ¦ treat the social system as one of the primary subsystems of the human action system, the others being the behavioral organism, the personality of the individual, and the cultural system” (p. 5). The system is understood as something integral that confronts its environment, that is segregated from its environment and that exists independently from other things. The society of Parsons (1966) is a «self-sufficient» social system isolated from other subsystems (p. 9). As a self-sufficient system it must possess certain features. Parsons (1966) explains self-sufficiency as the function from balanced combination of control mechanisms over the relations of the society with the environment and the degree of its inner integration. The society is able to institutionalize some elements of culture that are specified from outside – by the system of culture; to grant a wide spectrum of the roles of the individual and also to control economic complex and territory.

The period from the Second World War until 1960s, as notes Alexander (1987): “was marked by the emergence of structural-functional theory” (p.35). Structural functionalism while considering the society underlines that any system aims at balance as it is characterized with concordance of the elements; it always affects the deviations the way to adjust them and return to equilibrium position. Any dysfunctions are overcome by the system, and each element contributes something into supporting its stability. While analyzing the society Parsons constantly feels instability that was intrinsic to a social system and while writing his works he concentrated on problems of supporting the balance, self-regulation and self-organization of the society. As Edward C. Devereux notes (1961): “One cannot ever take for granted, Parsons argues, that the motives, goals, capacities and values of individual actors will automatically move them toward the sorts of adequate role performances necessary for the functioning of this or that particular social system” (Black, p. 35). He is not interested in what processes exactly influence the society and overbalance it, or break the relations of separate elements and subsystems in the whole system. He pays attention to the way the system eliminates the negative interference in the processes of its functioning, how the system manages to survive and function in the complicated and changing conditions. How and to what extent the system manages to preserve its ability to self-healing. According to Edvard C. Devereux, “Parsons does indeed postulate an equilibrium-seeking tendency as a property of systems of any sort, partly as a generalization from experience, but more particularly for heuristic purposes” (Black, 1961, p. 33). In his works Parsons pays special attention to the problem of order that is closely connected with preserving the society in the stable condition and achieving the balance. According to Parsons (1966), the core of any society as a system is a special organized normative order with the help of which a collective life of people is organized. Obeying the norms and laws that exist in this society by each member of the society, is understood under the social order, i.e. the individual should perform the roles that are expected of him. Within the social system Parsons (ibid.) distinguishes one of four subsystems – societal community which represents the single collective that obeys certain established normative order, some set of statuses, rights, and obligations. By means of police functions and various sanctions are implemented the control over observance a normative system of order by collective. The collective forming the societal community represents an association of the people rallied on a basis of the accepted order. According to Parsons (ibid.), integration of people is the basic function of the given subsystem, that is, the process of association of different elements into a single whole. To achieve and preserve the balance and order in the social system it is necessary to solve some functional problems that arise in the process of existence and functioning of any system. Parsons calls these problems “motivational problem of order”, their solution is in satisfaction of biological and psychological needs of the individuals, in effective activity of organs of social control and in coincidence of personal motivations of the individual with the norms of the society with the aim to perform the roles and objectives prescribed by the society (Black, 1961, p. 35). The concept of the social order characterizes the society as an internally interrelated and self-sustained social system that works and functions in external environment.

Proceeding from the structural-functionalism Parsons (1966) defines five types of the system that surround the society as a social system: “ultimate reality” includes religious and moral norms, cultural system – value-normative structures, personality system – needs and interests, system of organism – instincts, temperament, etc., and physical-organic environment – geographical conditions for the society to exist and national environment. In his work The Social System while analyzing interaction of the society and the systems that surround it Parsons faces the problems in building and defining surrounding systems, depending on the level they enter the social system from. This scheme gets even more complicated when these interrelated systems function differently, i.e. each of the systems performs different function in the total system of action. Parsons uses structural-functional approach while analyzing the society. This approach bases on the ideas of Durkheim E. and Marx K. and analyzes the structures and systems of the society at macro-level. Structural functionalism presents the society as a system consisting of large subsystems – economics, politics, law, religion, family, etc. These subsystems are interrelated and mutually dependent. Representatives of structural- functional approach analyze social subsystems and basing on this analysis reveal how these subsystems are mutually dependent, what good or harm they do to the society. Proceeding from Parsons’ structural-functional analysis each social system has a number of functional requirements or prerequisites that are met within the frameworks of social subsystems:

Considering a whole society (e.g., the United States) as a type of social system, Parsons imagined four subsystems emerging to satisfy the four functional needs. Thus, the economy specializes in securing the material conditions of society (adaption); political institutions prioritize the goals of society and ensure that they are attained by mobilizing social resources (goal attainment); the legal system plays a key role in maintaining social regulation and solidarity (integration); and the family, religion, and education aim to produce individuals who have the appropriate needs, values, motives, and skills (pattern maintenance) (Seidman, 1998, p, 109).

Thus, the system must adjust to the environment, achieve the aims, have inner unity and be able to preserve this state, to reproduce the structure and relieve a stress in the system. Thanks to the defining these four functions it became possible to analyze the systems of any level in terms of functional subsystems.

Talcott Parsons has developed very difficult and extensive concept of society. It is based on a paradigm of social action which Parsons worked all long life in a science. He used a system approach for understanding the society as entire system. At the very high level there is a system of social act – a self-organizing system, the specific character of which, unlike the system of physical or biological action, is expressed in the presence of symbolism in the first place (language, values, etc.), secondly, of norms, and finally of irrationality and independence from environment conditions. In this system of social act Parsons defines four subsystems: organism – subsystem that ensures the adaptation function and gives the system physical and energy resources to interact with the environment; personality – subsystem ensuring achieving the aims; social system that is responsible for integration of the actions of lots of individuals; cultural system that contains values, beliefs, knowledge, etc. Proceeding from structural functionalism, within the frameworks of the social system Parsons, in his turn, also defines four subsystems and each of them performs one of four main functions: economic one called on to ensure the system adaptation to the environment, political one, the meaning of which is to achieve the aim, societal community, that ensures inner unity and performs the function of integration, and cultural subsystem the function of which is to preserve institutional cultural models, that is responsible for legitimization of normative order and preserving the state of unity. Thus, each subsystem specializes in performing certain function and the results can be used by another, wider system. Besides, each subsystem depends on other subsystems; they exchange the results of their activity. Talkott Parsons’s theoretical works do not differ by a surface, the heritage of the classical period of sociology is characteristic for them, which topical in our days too.