toptermpaper.com

This essay will reflect the importance of diversity in the society. The definition of diversity will be given. Positive and negative aspects of diversity will be discussed. The issues of diversity like; gender, race, class, homogeneity and heterogeneity will also be discussed in this essay. Human beings have a basic difference which differentiates people into various classes in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, class and so on. These differences cause a lot of misunderstanding, discrimination and prejudice among people of different divisions. Diversity, on the other hand helps people to identify these differences, understand, respect and embrace this differences.Therefore, diversity can be defined as the ability to recognise individual differences and the ability to respect and accept these differences without discriminating it.

Diversity consists of two dimensions. These are the primary and secondary dimensions. This is mostly represented with a wheel that contains the inner and outer wheel. The primary dimensions are six areas which are considered to be dimensions of diversity.These areas are; age, race, gender, ethnicity physical abilities and qualities, and sexual orientation. All these are represented by the inner wheel. These are perceived to be the most common and prevailing ways of different perception of individuals in looking at differences between people. The outer wheel contains areas that are placed under the secondary dimensions of diversity. These are things or elements that can be changed or acquired. As far as diversity is concerened,it is not only important to study diversity but it also has a major problem when dealing with the topic. According to Fry et al, one of the problem people encounter when dealing with the topic diversity, is stereotyping.(2004:156).Stereotyping is an element of prejudice, which can be said to be placing people on the basis of one particular area of difference. We must look “beyond the obvious elements of difference” says stoner et al (2004:157) in other to understand each person’s individuality. As they say, “although the topic of diversity may be studied in discrete sections, people do not fit into easy, simplistic categories. They are quite complex” (2004:157-8).Studying diversity is very important because it helps to understand various issues that causes discrimination. These issues are; race, gender, class, homogeneity and heterogeneity. These issues will be discussed individually.

Firstly, the issue of homogeneity and heterogeneity. Homogeneity is when a group of people have and share similar values, similar ideas, and similar ways of living and so on. This is called a homogeneous society. All human beings are homogeneous in one way or the other. It does not matter where you come from or your skin colour. Individuals share some common behaviour no matter how culturally different people are. There are different types of homogeneous society some of which are ethnically that is the Japanese society, religiously the Arab, culturally the Indians. So many researchers concluded that the most prominent one is ethnically, where people have similar culture and complexion and facial features,(Andromida ,n.d).Homogeneity has its advantages such as, homogeneous societies do not have the problem of language barrier, which sometimes causes threats to the unity of the society. Diversity of religious and ethnic groups can take up a wrong path, thereby causing misunderstanding in the society which may result to conflict. For example, after the incident of the 911, so many Indians, Pakistanis and Arabs were maltreated in the US, reasons due to the fact that there is lack of religious homogeneity. In the case of politics, the homogeneous society has more advantage. This is because the government decision making can be more powerful because the majority people have the same point of view. (Andromida , n.d.). But then, it also has disadvantages.The main problem with homogeneous society is as history stated that the homogeneity of a country has been endangered and broken many times and it is not possible to maintain the homogeneousness of a society.For instance,during the period of 5300 and 1940 B.C,the Sumerian used to live in present day Iraq, although they were politically,socially and agriculturally more advanced,they suffered in the hands of the Akkadians because they lacked and did not even think of developing their military power. possibly, homogeneity encourages people to be unaware of the development of the rest of the world. The leaders in a homogeneous society do not like accepting changes which leads to the down fall of the whole society. Example is Japan, during the time of shogun who believed in the homogeneity of their society, (Andromida , n.d.) .Yet studying homogeneity in diversity is very important. This is because it reminds people about the basic qualities individuals share no mater your race or gender or religion.Perherps,if people are being reminded about homogeineity,the rate of discrimination may reduce and people would start embracing and accepting other’s differences.

While heterogeneity is the exact opposite of Homogeneity. Heterogeneity is when people are dissimilar, that is, they have different backgrounds, different values, different needs and interest. When people with these features live in the same society, it is called a heterogeneous society. Today’s world is becoming more of heterogeneous society. This is because people try to adopt other people’s culture and the movement of people from one place to another has increased. The advantages of a heterogeneous society is the society have the ability to move together with the rest of the world. Heterogeneous societies understand the differences in individuals more and faster. A heterogeneous society has the tendency to live longer because more countries and societies all over the world are becoming more and more heterogeneous. There are certain disadvantages that hinders heterogeneity, such as; language barrier which causes so many problems that can lead to the crashing of that society. People who have different languages and are of different religious background tend to see their own ethnic or religion or language as superior than the others, this may lead to conflict between the different groups. The most dominant group in a heterogeneous society may try to oppress other groups. Decision making will also be slow or even be a great problem because the leaders themselves are from different backgrounds so they may have different point of views which will make them disagree with each other there by resulting into a great misunderstanding. The issue of heterogeneity is important in diversity because people have to be aware of the differences between individuals in other to enable them accept others. So that people will know and understand that in spite of all the differences, there are also similarities that human beings share.

The next issue is the issue of class. Carl Max defined class as “an antagonistic relationship that is always relative to another group based on exploitation and control”. Social class is a group of people that have comparable social and economic status. Classification of people based on what you have, that is economic capital the quantity of your wealth, who you know which is the social capital and what you know the cultural capital. Class does not only affect people economically but it also affects people emotionally. Class may be said to be culture.(Class Action , 2004).Class can be changed during a person’s life time, that is some people are born and grew into a class but they live as adults in another, while some immigrants change their class from their original country to their new country. This shows that class operates along a range or hierarchy. The stratification of class is based on the upper class, these are the very wealthy and powerful people, The middle class who are the professionals and other high earning workers then the lower class who are classified to be people who only have low income and other resources. Classism is a way of oppressing people according to their class, wages or income. There are different levels of oppression which are; macro which happens due to economic, social, political and cultural institutions.However, as bad as classifying people according to their economic status looks, it has its benefits. These benefits are; it gave rise for more fluid structures in the western society, classification of people in a society makes way for others in that society. Exploitation of people is also present. The negative effects of classifying people is that it has been misunderstood which brought about classism. This makes individuals to be oppressed in a society either directly or indirectly. This results to emotional and physical damage. It is considered important to address the issue of class in diversity. This is because when the issues are being addressed, people will be able to understand that social class does not mean classism. And individuals will be able to understand the reasons behind classifying people under social class are not to discriminate or practice classism.

Furthermore, the issue of Race. Race is considered the group of people who share the same physical and biological factors. It can be skin colour facial features, religion, culture and ethnic group.Nturally; all human beings are genetically homogeneous. So many people do not view race to be a source of belonging rather, a cause to discriminate. This introduces racism which is the thought of one ethnic group or race to be superior to others, thereby making them to discriminate and oppress people who are not from their own race. It is also an institution that discriminate people against their physical and cultural groups. Race is important because it makes an individual to feel a sense of belonging to a particular group. It makes people know that they are not the only ones who look different or sound different to the rest of the world. It also has disadvantages which are; it creates a way for people to discriminate and oppress individuals who are from certain or different race from their own. It makes some people feel superior to others there by making those individuals fell inferior and less important in the society. The issue of racism should be addressed in diversity in other to make people understand that race does not mean any group is superior or inferior to others. It creates awareness to people that no matter the difference in individuals, humanbeings still share basic needs as nature requires them to. It will also make them understand that it is wrong to discriminate and feel threatened by other race. It may make individuals to accept people for who they are.

Lastly, the issue of gender. These are the socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that society considers male and female to attain. These roles are being fixed by the society while some by nature. This determines what role individuals should play. Gender in some society is determined physically. It is important for people to know their gender roles in other for them to know what the society requires of them to do. It is also important for people to know their gender in other to play the right role so as not confuse their children. This is because in so many cases of single mothers or and fathers, their children grow up to play the wrong role in the society. Gender also consists of disadvantages. This is because people misuse certain gender to oppress. They have the believe that a certain gender is inferior to the other. For instance, the male gender consider the female gender to be inferior to them there by oppressing them. India is a very good example to cite gender discrimination. In India, the male gender make the female gender to the hard work that they are suppose to do. This is because they fell they are inferior to them. This issue gender is of great importance to be discussed in diversity, to let individuals know that people can choose their own gender roles. And gender does not mean one group is superior to the other. Diversity can be used to correct the how people view gender. Some societies that discriminates the female gander can be corrected through diversity.

All the five issues that were discussed above in this essay revolve around diversity. They are issues that the society misunderstand their importance what they stand for thereby making them to discriminate, operess and prejudice people. These issues are important to be discussed in diversity in other to correct the ills in the society.Therefore, diversity is of great importance because it determines the future state of the society if it is ignored and not cared for. So many people suffer due to these issues but diversity can stop these sufferings. With diversity, people will learn to accept and understand individuals there by reducing the rate of misunderstanding, conflict.prejudice and discrimination.

Conclusively, the definition of diversity was given in the essay; the issues of diversity were listed and explained. The positive and negative aspects or effects of these issues was given and explained. And how they are of importance to be addressed in the society. The importance of diversity in the society has also been pointed put and explained in this essay.

Explain Stuart Hall’s argument in his lecture: Race – The floating signifier. Discuss the critical implications of Hall’s work for the rethinking of a psychology of human differences.

Stuart Hall first performed his lecture ‘Race, Ethnicity and Nation’ in 1994 at Harvard University; it was then presented again in 1996 where it was filmed as a video called ‘Race, the floating signifier’, (Hiles, 2006). The term ‘floating signifier’ is often related to concepts like race and gender; it shows the actual word is fairly concrete but the concept it describes is less stable and is not fixed, (http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Floating_signifier). This essay will first outline Hall’s argument of explaining human differences and then consider the critical implications his work has on the rethinking of a psychology of human differences. Finally the example of disability will be used as a demonstration to support Hall’s ideas.

Psychological research and theory into human differences has primarily focused on the measurement of these differences. For example measuring human differences in terms of personality or intelligence, (Hiles, 2006). Criticisms have been put forward suggesting that psychology when looking at human differences is a pseudoscience that merely attempts to group people into categories, (Hiles, 2006). There are problems when only considering the measurement of individual human differences and that is that it ignores the meaning of these differences. Hall (1997, as cited in Hiles, 2006) suggested that it is not how human differences are measured that is important its how these differences give meaning and shape the social world. He believed human differences should be approached from a discursive perspective, to see how the meanings of human differences have been constructed.

Hall (1997, as cited in Hiles, 2006) proposed that there are many physical differences; this reality is not being ignored but these differences have to be organized within language to attain meaning that can be used with society. He used the term ‘discursive’ to demonstrate a move from more scientific ways of looking at human differences in terms of measurement to instead a consideration of how knowledge of human differences that already exists within society organizes and regulates human behaviour which in turn reinforces these human differences, (Hiles, 2006). Therefore, Hall demonstrates that the meanings of human differences are socially constructed and this is the important factor rather than the obvious reality of biological differences that can be measured.

Hall (1997) in his lecture focused on race; however his model can be applied to all human differences. Race is just one example of the many concepts that categorizes differences in the human world; other classificatory systems include age, gender and ability. Hall, (1997, as cited in Hiles, 2006) claims that race and all other classificatory systems are discursive; this means that it is impossible to define these concepts scientifically and it is unfeasible to permanently measure these differences as meanings and beliefs relating to these classifications constantly change due to changes inflicted by society. He suggested that what these differences mean, how they are used in culture is what is important, not how these differences can be measured. Hall also proposed that meanings can be manipulated, they are not fixed; they ‘float, slip and slide’, (Hiles, 2006). He placed less emphasis on the biological theory of racial differences (the physical, observable differences) advocating instead that the meaning of racial differences which is socially constructed within culture is the important factor. Hall, (1997, as cited in Hiles, 2006) suggested race is a discursive construct that works like a language. Differences between people are not based on the biological differences between people but rather the social constructions and the meanings people relate to these. Obviously, the physical differences that are between people are still acknowledged but the focus on the meanings of these physical differences is of main importance. Hall (1997) demonstrated how first religion and now science is used as an interpretation of racial differences. His argument is a criticism against the use of science in its certification of how racial differences should be interpreted and what they mean. Meanings cannot be fixed permanently which means racial differences cannot be interpreted as fact based purely on science and genetics. The psychology of looking at human differences needs to consider the constructions of the meaning of these differences imposed by people within society which is the centre of everything. For example how certain people are treated depending on particular human difference classifications.

Hiles (2006) suggested from Halls’ work that psychology, when measuring human differences, ignores the meanings given too these measurements and then assumes the meanings that are found from the results of these measurements to be fixed. In terms of the implications for psychology, Hall’s theory takes a radical constructionist perspective rather than the alternative realist ideas. The radical constructionist approach focuses on the belief that it is not the differences themselves that is important, it is the meanings given to human differences. Hiles (2006) put forward the idea that to fully understand human differences a new perspective is needed that implements more of a discursive way of theorizing. This method instead of measuring considers the ways in which human differences become socially constructed in language and how these constructions then influence human action within the social world. Halls argument centres around the theory that human differences cannot be measured to give a valid representation of these differences. Measurement attempts to fix the meaning of differences, but human differences is not something that can be fixed; they are changeable and able to manipulated. Hall (1997, as cited in Hiles, 2006) suggests research needs to focus on the discourses of difference to give a better understanding.

Race is a signifier of human difference; however the meaning of a signifier changes depending on culture, history, events, situational context and stories, (Hiles, 2006). A signifier cannot be fixed the meaning changes depending on these factors. For example the meaning of skin colour has changed throughout history; this is why Hall called race a ‘floating signifier’. Hall (1997) proposes a signifier is more similar to how language works, it is socially constructed, rather than how people are biologically constituted; to say look at the human difference of race in terms of genetics means that it must be fixed, it is an unchanging fact. However, the human difference of race is not fixed the meaning of it constantly changes.

Hall (1997) discusses three positions available when looking at the human difference of race. The first is the realist; this proposed there are genetic differences that are the source for racial classification. The second is the linguistic position; this suggests there are no real differences between races; all differences are created by humans in culture and language. The final position adopted by Hall is the discursive position; this proposed that there are many differences, when these differences are organized within language they then gain meaning and become a feature in human culture. This position focuses on the idea that differences exist in the world, but what matters are the ways in which people make sense of these differences and how this gives them meaning within society, (www.msu.edu/course/atl/125/fernandez/hall.html).

Hall (1997, as cited in Hiles (2006) showed that human differences and classifications where historically first linked to religion (a religious discourse), then anthropology and most recently science (a scientific discourse). Hall (1997) suggests that these ‘knowledge’s’ of human difference do not act as fact or truth but they are a way to make people feel better, to know where they fit into the social system in culture. Classification ensures order within society; religion, anthropology and science all attempt to fix and secure human differences and guarantee a truth. It can be suggested that race needs to be considered more as a discursive (a social construction of difference) as efforts to fix the classification of race and other human differences have been unsuccessful in terms of scientific methods, (Hiles, 2006). Hall’s approach to looking at difference accepts that all human difference classifications cannot be explained by measurement they cannot be fixed; meanings are changeable; therefore classifications are floating signifiers, (www.msu.edu/course/atl/125/fernandez/hall.html).

Hall (1997, retrieved from www.msu.edu/course/atl/125/fernandez/hall.html) gave the example that the physical attributes of race for example hair colour and bone structure indicate race in the world as a visible difference; the genetic code attempts to then fix this difference. He suggested that the things people can see are signifiers for things that can’t be such as intelligence, personality and morality. This therefore shows that the physical surface attributes of human differences are taken to be the primary factor; however, people then read these differences to signify differences in other ways that cant be seen which are socially constructed through language, (Hiles, 2006). These differences can change as they signify different meanings depending on other factors. Hall (1997, as cited in Hiles, 2006) proposed culture is used to give meaning so people can make sense of and organize the world and human difference. Meaning can be changed because it can never be fixed as it is socially constructed it is not fact. Because meaning is open it allows change to be possible and demonstrates why meanings of culture and human differences change; it makes a discursive language possible.

Hall used the example of race as a signifier to demonstrate how human differences are socially constructed. This essay will now look at the signifier of disability as a further demonstration of how the meanings of human differences are constructed through language. The social model of disability has been very effective when initiating changes in attitudes towards disability which has in turn created changes in culture through new legislations and practices, (Hiles, 2007). The social model is in direct contrast to the medical model of disability which is the more traditionally held approach. The medical model theorises that disabled individuals are defined by their disability; facilities and treatments are therefore created to aid them within society which causes them to be segregated and seen as different to others in the community who are more able bodied, (Eisley, 2001). The social model (the approach accepted by Hall) on the other hand theorises that disabled individuals are disabled by society. Hiles (2007) demonstrates that it is not the impairment that causes the difference it is the underlying lack of understanding and failure of society to successfully fulfil the needs of disabled people that causes them to be separated. This model therefore proposes that society is to blame for the barriers, stereotypes and prejudices disabled people receive as meanings are socially constructed to see disabled people in a certain way whereas the needs of that disabled individual is seen as a secondary importance. Traditional approaches (i.e. the medical model) focuses on the extent of the disability, it measures it which is why there are problems in society in terms of stereotypes and creating barriers. A more discursive approach (i.e. the social model) instead considers the meanings of these human differences which can be argued to be a more positive way when helping disabled individuals within society, (Hiles, 2007). This therefore shows that Halls ideas have positive implications for the rethinking of a psychology of human differences.

Hedlund (2000) looked at the conceptualization of disability through the discourses of the medical and social models. He considers disability to be a ‘societal phenomenon’ rather than signifying the individual experience of being disabled. Disability is a discourse created by society which provides a type of reality for the way in which culture to perceive it. The social model doesn’t ignore the reality of the individual experience of being disabled or of the disability itself but instead focuses on the communication within society that reinforces this disability and results in barriers and discrimination. Communication within society on the topic of disability creates a way for others to understand, perceive and respond to disability; the wrong type or negative communication can be the cause of disabling that individual within society. Hedlund (2009) concluded and proposed that the medical and social perspectives of the perception of disability are competitive in their theories one is not a more modern approach of the other.

The medical model of disability sees the disabled individual as being the problem. For example if an individual in a wheelchair has difficulty getting on a bus due to there being steps; the medical model proposes this is the fault of the wheelchair not the facilities of the bus. The social model of disability on the other hand considers the steps to be the barrier as this approach centres on the idea that it is society that disables individuals by not meeting peoples different needs to function in that culture. The social model is a much more positive approach to looking at human difference as it considers what society can do to changing the meaning of being ‘disabled’ to meet the needs of others and include them in society as equals to those more able bodied, (http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/accessability/staff/supporting-students-with-disabilities/social-model-of-disability). The social model of disability believes the problem of disability can be solved by the ‘restructuring of society’, (Eisley, 2001). The medical model aims to develop cures which focus on individuals and their disability; whereas the social model centres attention on changing the views of others and the meanings they put on disabled individuals to create a more equal society.

Scullion (2010) conducted research looking at the social and medical approaches of disability in the role of nurses. Findings suggested that the social model of disability is effective in avoiding discrimination and to promote equal opportunities. The social model focuses on the barriers disabled individuals face which is imposed by society, nurses taking into consideration this approach rather than just the medical model in a hospital environment may have positive implications for changes in meeting the needs of handicapped individuals and reducing discrimination.

McDonald (2009) conducted research analysing adults with dyslexia and how this disability affected their education and employment opportunities. The medical model looks at dyslexia as a learning dysfunction that is directly related to the individual; this research considers the social model of disability in causing barriers that are outside of that individual. It was found social class and discrimination was primary factors in affecting individuals’ job and educational opportunities; this demonstrates that dyslexia is a societal issue based around inequality not something that is a specific individual’s problem. Oliver and Barnes (1991, as cited in McDonald, 2009) developed the social model of disability as an explanation of how disability is not based around a biological impairment it is something ( a discrimination) that is socially constructed that creates barriers and restricts equality in life opportunities. The research also showed that disabling barriers are often related to social class; those disabled individuals in a middle class environment have more equal life opportunities for education and employment compared to those from a working class background. This again is an example of how it is society that disables people not the actual disability that is the problem.

Meanings are not fixed in a particular way they are ‘floating signifiers’. Hall does however show that meanings can become provisionally fixed when that meaning becomes dominant in society, (Hiles, 2007). Whereas ideology attempts to permanently fix meanings of human differences this discursive fixation is temporary for that moment in time, the meaning can be changed as soon as the circumstance or situation changes for example. The social model of disability is not an attempt to understand disability; it aims to identify the meanings of impairment in the social world. Hiles (2007) suggests the model focuses on unfixing the meanings of disability which are assigned by society; it is more often seen as a critical model of disability and human difference rather than an actual theory. The social model focuses on the meaning of disability and how this meaning is constructed through language. If the concept of social construction and meaning is considered within all signifiers of human difference this would have significant implications in terms of actually looking at the changes of meaning across different contexts rather than trying to fix and measure human differences. This can be argued to be a more valid representation of looking at human differences as it not only take into account the social construction of the meaning of human differences through language it focuses on this as the main contributing factor whereas traditional measurements of human differences attempt to ignore the social constructive nature they themselves have when measuring.

The social model of disability aims to unfix meanings and encourage people to think differently. This is demonstrated in Hiles (2007) example of a poster used of an image with a disabled man with the words ‘I see you, I see you as a friend, I see you as a co-worker… but do you see me? how do you see me? Do you see me as different?’ This example is effective at first showing the social constructions given to disabled individuals and then demonstrating that the actual differences are not important it is the meaning given to these differences that is the underlying feature and these are socially constructed; the human difference of disability is therefore not centred on the medical model of being impaired.

Landsman (2005) looked at the opinions of the mothers of disabled children in relation to the medical and social models of disability. Results showed that generally mothers used a combination of both approaches. The medical model was used when looking for help and opportunities but the social model to describe meanings and the experience of being disabled within society. It was found when mothers where asked about that biggest fears for their children they time after time responded they were worried how the child would be treated by others in society not concerns about the disability itself. This shows that the social model of disability has bigger implications in terms of showing that society is the problem that disables the individual not the disability itself.

In conclusion, the ideas of Stuart Hall suggest the meanings of human differences are what are important not how these differences can be measured. Meanings of human differences are constructed through discourse and can be temporarily fixed when they are the dominant feature in society at that point; however they cannot be permanently fixed they are floating signifiers that can be manipulated and change depending on history, context, events etc. The social model of disability is an example of a how disability is a signifier of human differences and that meanings can be fixing and unfixing as all human differences are the result of social constructions imposed by society. This view of looking at human differences has implications for the rethinking of psychology as it moves away from traditional ideas of measuring the actual reality of human differences and instead focuses on the meanings culture and society applies to these differences to make the world what it is.

Discuss the implications of domain and cultural specificity for the Identity Status Paradigm, with reference to empirical work.

James Marcia is a clinical and developmental psychologist best known for his research and writings on psychological development, especially on the psychosocial development and identity development of adolescents. His main theory is based on the work of the neo-Freudian developmental psychologist Erik Erikson, who suggested that the central conflict in the “fidelity” stage of psychosocial development, occurring during adolescence, is the one between identity and role confusion. Marcia expanded on Erikson’s theory, noting that this stage actually consists neither of identity confusion nor of identity resolution. Rather, it represents the extent to which the adolescent explores his/her identity in a number of different life domains, the most important of which are ideology and occupation. The main notion of Marcia’s theory is that the person’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made regarding certain personal and social traits (Marcia, 1966; 1973).

For Marcia (1973), an adolescent’s sense of identity consists of two separate parts: crisis and commitment. A crisis is a time of upheaval, when the adolescent’s values and choices and reassessed. He/she then comes out of the crisis by making a commitment to a specific role or value. Through the use of a semi-structured interview for exploring identity development, Marcia identified four possible outcomes, or identity statuses. Although these statuses represent different stages through which the adolescent may pass, they are not stages and they should not be viewed in a sequential order.

The identity foreclosure status is when the individual makes a commitment without properly exploring the alternative choices. Usually this occurs when adolescents adopt their parents’ views and ideas without questioning them. The identity diffusion status is when the individual becomes so overwhelmed by the process of identity development that he/she “freezes” and neither explores identity roles nor makes any commitments. This is the simplest and more immature course of action and adolescents who follow it may become socially isolated. The identity moratorium status is when the individual is in the middle of a crisis, exploring the situation and the choices available, but he/she does not make any commitments, remaining for a time within this moratorium. Finally, the identity achievement status is the case where the individual has gone through an identity crisis and made a commitment to an identity role. Adolescents with this identity status are capable of independent thought, warm interpersonal relations and are more resistant to peer pressure (Pervin & John, 1997).

In essence, the identity status paradigm states that an ego identity can be one of the four statuses mentioned above. Overall, one’s sense of identity, whether in adolescence or later life, is shaped by the choices and commitments made with regard to several personal and social traits (Marcia, 1966). As noted, the formation of an individual’s identity takes place in a large variety of domains, which include politics, occupation, religion, intimate relationships, friendships, gender roles etc. (Marcia, 1973). The person’s domain and cultural specificity also play an important part, a fact highlighted by Marcia himself as well as the extensive volume of studies conducted on his theory after it was initially proposed. A review by Cote and Levine (2002) states that by 1988 more than a hundred empirical studies had been generated on the identity status paradigm, and new studies exploring Marcia’s theory are still being conducted. Yet more studies have explored social concepts based on the identity status theory. The aspect of Marcia’s theory of interest to the present paper are the implications of the identity status paradigm for domain and cultural specificity.

Hardy and Kisling (2006), among others, note that identity status theory seems to be flexibly adapted to different cultures. The identity statuses proposed by Marcia appear to enjoy a good deal of cross-cultural validation and, furthermore, cultural differences seem to affect the identity statuses. Cote (1996) investigates the culture-identity link in his study on social perspectives on identity formation. For Cote, the way identity is approach depends on the characteristics of a culture. In pre-modern cultures, identity is ascribed, in effect inherited as a social status from one’s parents or social background. In early-modern societies it is achieved, in other words accomplished through one’s own effort. Finally, in late-modern societies it is managed, as the person actively and/or reactively attempts to adjust into a society of strangers and gain their approval by creating the right impressions and producing the right behaviours.

While Erikson finalised his theory of psychosocial development in the early 1950ies and Marcia produced his own in the 1960ies, the Western societies examined now by European and North American researchers are becoming late-modern, prefigurative and other-oriented. The changes in society have in turn changed the way in which the whole issue of identity is approached. In line with social changes, identity diffusion is increasingly being preferred as the status that is used to resolve conflicts and achieve identity formation. At the same time, identity achievement as proposed by Marcia seems to be declining. Identity achievement was based on the solution of conflicts through commitment, and the late-modern society is characterised by a difficulty in maintaining commitments. The behaviours it promotes are other-directedness, increase emphasis on impressions, and aa‚¬”especially- image consumption as people are driven to discover their identity via the mass consumption of commercial goods and participation in youth cultures or peer cultures. This can lead some to rejecting their culture of primary socialisation and instead take part in this mass image consumption where traditional forms of identity achievement are greatly altered (Cote, 1996).

There is ample evidence that culture plays an important part in the process of identity formation. Carter, Yeh and Mazzula (2008) conducted a study on the cultural values and racial identity statuses of Latino students. The research showed that cultural identity values indeed predicted various personal traits and beliefs, such as the person’s view on human nature, social relationships and harmony with nature. The participants’ views on social relations reflected a mixture of Latino and Eurocentric cultural values. Another study (Megreya & Ahmed, 2011) investigated identity statuses in Middle Eastern countries, including the examination of cross-cultural differences between Egyptian and Kuwaiti students. The researchers were concerned by the fact that Marcia’s original theory did not pay much attention to cultural context and attempted to expand it. With regard to the four different statuses they found that males showed more foreclosure than females, while Egyptians showed more achievement and less foreclosure and diffusion than Kuwaitis. These differences, even among roughly similar Middle Eastern cultures seem to suggest that identity formation is greatly influenced by the macro- as well as the micro- cultural contexts.

This influence can be highlighted if the identity formation process of a western culture is compared with that of a non-western one. Cheng (2004) compared identity development in Taiwan with identity development in the United States. The two cultures have striking social differences, since Taiwan is a collectivist culture whereas the United States is the epitome of an individualistic culture. Findings confirmed these differences and explored their significant effect on identity formation in the two cultures. Gender also played a major part and acted as an explanatory variable that better accounts for cultural complexity.

Perhaps predictably, Taiwanese culture placed greater emphasis in interpersonal than in ideological issues in identity formation. On the other hand, Americans scored higher in identity achievement than Taiwanese in the ideological domain, but this is accounted for than the lower scores of Taiwanese females. In fact, males and females experienced both ideological and interpersonal issues differently due to differing cultural expectations. American females were more advanced in identity development while Taiwanese females were markedly less advanced and also felt less authentic in their identities due to major compromises in their autonomy. American males were particularly vulnerable to passive self-images featured in identity diffusion. These self-images only affected Taiwanese males in the ideological domain. Overall, in contrast to the values of western cultures, the Taiwanese students were influenced by filial piety, which is evidently considered a core cultural value for them. The researcher notes these differences as proof that cultural factors are central in identity formation and even recommends that future research can result in beneficial social policies (Cheng, 2004).

Cultural differences in identity formation are not restricted to ethnically foreign cultures. An extremely interesting study by Leigh et al. (1998) investigates the cultural identity paradigms of the hearing impaired. The researchers note that it is culture that usually gives people their sense of identity, and deaf people have had a sense of community for a long time, affecting their identity formation among other things. The study concludes that people who are deaf or hard of hearing with parents without hearing impairments develop differently from people who are deaf or hard of hearing with deaf parents. Factors such as the pressures a deaf child encounters in a hearing environment or the ways in which a child can take part in the deaf culture of his/her parents can apparently shape the process of identity development, resulting into the endorsement of different types of identity statuses. Although the researchers can only speculate on the reasons for this, there is little doubt that this study provides yet another indication about the influence of culture on identity formation.

Despite the limitations of the original model, recent research, such as the studies presented above, has branched out to include other aspects than those originally studies by Marcia’s theory. To make the measure sensitive to minority groups, ethnicity has been studied, while life-style concerns have been taken into account to note the differences between European and North American populations. A study on the ego identity and ethnic identity of ethnic minority and majority college students revealed that students with an achieved ego identity status had a more positive sense of ethnic identity than students with a diffused identity status. Furthermore, for the ethnic minority students, a stronger sense of ethnic identity was associated with more positive psychosocial outcomes (St. Louis & Liem, 2005).

Such modifications have definitely increased and expanded the usefulness and validity of the identity status theory. However, the theory’s focus on the strict four-category model seems to have created some obstacles in establishing a model of identity formation that fully applies to all cultures. The main validity problem with the identity status paradigm lies in Erikson’s original idea (which remains more or less intact in Marcia’s theory) that identity has to be “achieved” in order for the aims of the adolescence stage to be achieved and the individual to creatively resolve the conflicts associated with that particular stage of life (Cote & Levine, 2002).

In cultural contexts outside “Western” culture, individuals often resolve the conflicts of adolescence and move on in very different ways than the process proposed by Erikson and Marcia. The relations and adaptive strategies used in many societies to approach identity-related issues would be described as identity foreclosure according to the identity status paradigm and deemed inadequate for personal growth, yet, for the majority of people in these cultures, they represent the “normal” way to transcend this stage and achieve personal growth (Marcia, 1993). Perhaps the most shocking finding is that even in Western cultures only between 20% and 30% of the population resolve the adolescence stage in the way Erikson puts forward as “correct”, via identity achievement (Van Hoof, 1999). It has already been mentioned above that, as Western societies undergo major changes, people follow very different paths to identity formation and very different values (Cote, 1996).

These findings suggest that the framework of the four-category model is somewhat flawed or, at the very least, rigid. There are other ways apart from “identity achievement” as described by Marcia to achieve a sense of identity and, most importantly, to resolve the conflicts of adolescence and transcend this stage of psychosocial development. Nonetheless, this does not mean that the identity status paradigm has become obsolete. The theory is still useful and valuable after the intervening decades, and can prove adaptable to other contexts, especially if emphasis is placed on the social and cognitive processes underpinning identity statuses (Berzonsky & Adams, 1999). Perhaps, as proposed by Cote and Levine (2002) there is a degree of identity achievement within the other three statuses as well. In order for this to be identified and investigated, however, further research is needed. The identity status theory needs to be expanded even further, especially in the culturally appropriate domains.

Intro

This essay will discuss disability as a socially constructed concept, as viewed from a historical viewpoint the first as a physical fact and the second as socially constructed condition. The manner by which this will done is to investigate disability from an historical viewpoint and the socially constructed viewpoint, this will concluded in an evaluation.

Oliver (1996) defines impairment as “lacking part of or all of a limb, or having a defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body.” And disability “as the disadvantage of activity” (Oliver 1996:22).

Barnes (1991) suggests that disability is a recently modern term used to describe a system in which society discriminates by enforcing ‘social restrictions’ on people with impairments. It would be almost impossible to go back in time and identify when exactly society began to discriminate against people with impairments. Although it has been suggested that society’s view of impairment and disability came about as a result of people’s psychological fear of the unknown. As the perception of what is normal is transmitted by accepted values and beliefs through learning and culture from other people in society. (Douglas, 1966)

Historians have found evidence from ancient times that suggests different societies generated their own ideological thoughts through out history, about people who suffered impairment. In Israel a 46,000 year old skeleton of a man was found, which showed he was born with an impairment that would have required the support from his society through out his life. This individual had severe impairment and yet his survival was the result of respect from his society (Rudgley, 2000) however not all societies had the same ideological responses to impairment. An excavated burial site (c.100, 000BC) in Turkey demonstrated how an individual with a hunched back was dumped on a rubbish tip, instead of being buried the traditional way as society viewed him as an outcast. (Rudgley, 2000) giving an early example of someone with a physical impairment being isolated from society. It was during the industrialization of 19th century that an extreme policy of exclusion was envisioned by segregating people with impairments from society by placing them in institutions.

The term ‘institution’ is used to describe a number of social organisations that range from hospitals, asylums, workhouses and prisons that use organized long term provision in a residential setting with the emphasis being on ‘care’ ‘treatment’ or ‘custody’ (Jones and Fowles, 1984) Institutions were first established to deal with the problem of ‘mental defectives’ these were people with learning disabilities and mental illness. As previously Individuals who had severe impairments were taken into small medieval hospitals where the sick or bedridden were kept. The philosophy of these hospitals was religious based, seeking to ‘care’ than to ‘cure’. (Skull, 1984) However this philosophy changed as the institutions were built with the belief that people with learning disabilities could be educated and trained and then let back in to society once rehabilitated. (Race,1995)

As prior to industrialisation people with learning disabilities had managed to cope in society by doing simple manual work, as literacy and numeracy were only prerequisites of the higher classes. Until industrialization brought a faster work pace and created a new bourgeoisie based on a person’s position in society and their individual attributes, (Hobsbawm 1962) resulting in the social exclusion of people with learning disabilities. (Skull 1979)

Therefore capitalism was a way of controlling and giving discipline to individuals who could not obey the rules of new working practices. Therefore to enforce greater control there was a increase in ‘institutions and asylums (Skull, 1979) there was an increasing fear that people with learning disabilities were contributing to the degeneration of society, therefore the regimes within the institutions were in place to contain people than reform them.

The reason for people with learning disabilities being segregated from people in society was through the negative image given by labelling that resulted in stigmatisation. As in the first half of the century people classed as learning disabled were labelled ‘idiot’ (very severe) ‘imbecile’ (severe) feebleminded (less severe) other derogatory labels used were ‘moron’ and ‘moral defective’. Even at the present time people with learning disabilities are still being stigmatised through labelling, that resulted from the past. As the term ‘mental handicap’ to classify people with learning disabilities gives the illusion of mental illness, and the term ‘handicap’ gives an image of a person with a cap in their hand begging and depending on the charity of others. The terms ‘idiot’ and ‘imbecile’ are labels still used to describe people in language used today. Indeed it was not the view that people with learning disabilities were a financial burden to society that was seen as a threat, but the way that they bred and spread the ills of society that caused concern for people. As it was believed that people who referred to as ‘feebleminded’ were the cause of many problems in society such as prostitution, alcoholism and crime. It was this negative image of labelling learning disabilities that would lead the way for the science of eugenics. (Borsay, 2005)

It is Francis Galton (1883) who is recognized as being the founding father of ‘eugenics’, which was defined as a “science of improving inborn human qualities through selective breeding.” (Galton, 1883) this meant only the most desirable people in society were allowed to procreate.

This idea was to prove popular with social thinkers and politicians of the time and attracted approval from many people in society. Policies were made as a result and one such policy was that sterilizing or segregating people with learning difficulties was much lower than, the higher cost that society would accrue in supporting generations of “defectives” in the future. (Larson,1995) showing how easy it was for social policy makers to be persuaded into making policies based on welfare costs with little regard on how it would effect people with learning disabilities . (Porter 2000)

Even the nazi doctors under Hitler’s command committed genocide by measuring disabled peoples lives in term of economic importance. (Burleigh 1994) Medical professionals took part in the operation of the Nazi eugenic programmes (Lifton, 1986) that lead to people with impairments being sterilized against their wishes and resulted in the death of 2000,000 to 275,000 the majority of which had learning disabilities. (burleig 1994)

Pfeifler (2000) argues that even at present, the classifications of the medical model in disability still occupy the “eugenic agenda” (Priestly) As ground breaking advances in science and medicine gave medical professions the power to dictate in the lives of people with impairments. With Genetic screening being seen as favorable in choice and cost effective, as the cost of genetic screening and abortion is cheaper to perform than the long term cost of supporting people with defective impairments. (Vintzileos et al, 1998)

The medical model has been highly influential on setting the parameters for how people with impairments were treated by society. As Chernovsky (1997) states that research carried out into intelligence was one way in which psychologists helped maintain the status quo in society, by creating social inequality. This can be seen in the intelligence tests that were used to decide whether an individual was incapable of living in society. These tests made little attempt at assessing an individuals capabilities, by getting the individual to distinguish the difference between a fly and butterfly or how many feathers were on a chicken or how many miles it was to America (National Council for Civil Liberties, 1951; Potts and Fido, 1991) this test made sure that the doctor could certify the individual as being incapable and institutionalise them for not being able to answer.

In the second half of the century a transformation came about that changed how society viewed a person with learning disabilities. During the 1950s the effects of war and polio epidemics highlighted the inequalities faced by people with disabilities, this led to the development and campaigning of human and rights movements as well as policies to combat these inequalities, including the European Convention of Human Rights 1950. Sociological studies were carried out and gave evidence to show that people with learning disabilities who had been lock away in institutions away from society, did have intellectual and social capabilities necessary to live in the community and that institution life was blocking this ability. (Race,1995)

Tizard and O’Connor (1952) discovered from their research that people with learning disabilities living in institutions who had been previously labelled as being ‘unemployable’ did have the essential skills required to complete a job in a work environment. Clarke and Clarke (1959) found evidence that the environment had an effect on a person’s performance, and the poor conditions inside institutions had a bad effect on the people living within them.

Goffman coined the term ‘total institutions’ to describe where people are cut off from the offside world and from family and friends. Procedures involve calling people inmates and humiliating them by removing their personal identity and by using a system of punishments and rewards. As well showing that people behave in accordance to label assigned to them, if people are labelled deviant, they will become deviant, and this in turn reinforces the beliefs up held by society about people with learning disabilities.

The studies showed the damaging effects that institutions had on the development of the individual and in the 1960’s a number of academic reports were published that detailed findings of research carried out into the conditions of institutions. The most renowned of these was the ‘Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Ely Hospital’ (Howe Report, 1969). The report described the impoverished and neglected living conditions, as well as lack of privacy that people with learning disabilities suffered from under the custodial regime carried out by staff. Due to public opinion the above reports resulted in a change in the law, the new Mental Health Act (1959) changed the certified term ‘mental deficiency’ to ‘mental subnormality’ this meant that most people with learning disabilities who were not being detained for a legitimate reason were free to leave and could return to the community. (Clarke 1983)

The introduction of White Paper Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped in 1971 led to a 50% reduction in hospital places by 1991 and led to the provision of local authority-based residential and day care. It also called for an end to custodial methods of care in hospitals and recommended the re-training of hospital staff. In 1979, The Jay Report re-emphasised the need for local authority-led care and, importantly, a service philosophy based on the principles of normalisation.

In the 1980s, this was redefined as ‘social role valorisation’ to include reference to strategies used in the creation, support and defence of valued social roles for people at risk of devaluation (Wolfensberger, 1998). In the UK, the principles of normalisation adopted were those interpreted by O’Brien and Tyne (1981) as the five service accomplishments. These have become the developmental goals which organisations then and now strive towards

A new philosophy was constructed that emphasised ‘care in the community’ this change resulted in the closure of all the old ‘asylums’. Community care was designed to bring about positive changes, these were governmental values aimed at allowing people with learning disabilities to live on their own, in their neighbourhood with services to support them. The government hoped to develop community based services made up of day centres, supported accommodation, support workers, training and employment, these services were to help people with learning disabilities be included into society.

The development of care in the community was result of reforms introduced by the Conservative government

Media Violence as a Causal Agent for Violence Against Women Through Desensitization, Reinforcement of Gender Roles for Women, and Social Learning Theory. Media Violence as a Causal Agent for Violence Against Women Through Desensitization, Gender Roles of Women, and Social Learning Theory

In the span of about one century the western world has made significant strides to amend the discrepancy in equality between women and men (Crow & Gotell, 2004). Beginning with the first wave of feminism in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the official rights of women were sought and established, resulting in important and favourable amendments to the existing legislation, such as women’s right to vote (Johnson-Odim, 1991). Nonetheless, inequalities between women and men were not confined to court documents and legislation, rather they extended further into the community (Johnson-Odim, 1991). As a response to this the second wave of feminism took precedence to address unofficial, social issues including those related to sexuality, the workplace, and reproductive rights (Johnson-Odim, 1991). Yet, and despite the contributions made by both movements, several issues remain on the changing and diverse identity of women (Crow & Gotell, 2004).In response to this, the third wave of feminism was dedicated to refuting the notion of a universal female identity and instead prioritizing diversity among women (Crow & Gotell, 2004). Ultimately, however, the forms of violence and aggression toward women have evolved, become more subtle and implicit, but equally unjust (Rice, 2005). That is, although women’s rights and freedom are made present on the surface, there continues to be questionable events that threaten the dignity of women (Rice, 2005).

Specifically, popular media has played a significant role in facilitating, as well as perpetuating, violence against women (Bocock, 2006). With liberalism becoming more adamant in western culture, the visual depictions of women to capitalize on products and services has become normalized (Bocock, 2006). As a result, women are often directly associated with sex and sexuality, completely negating the rest of their being (Bocock, 2006). Currently, there is a large body of research dedicated to exploring the relationship between violent media and aggression, but few studies have been done to specifically address the transition between exposure to violent media and committing acts of violence towards women (Ferguson, San Miguel, & Hartley, 2009). Because this issue is still a relative novelty, it is important to be cognoscente of extra variables that influence violence towards women in real life, all of which should be considered and weighed. However, the intent of this review is to deconstruct the ways in which violence in the media, specifically in television, can facilitate and perpetuate violence towards women in real life. The type of real life violence under consideration focuses on physical and sexual violence, as well as negative stereotypes and attitudes about women. Although several perspectives and paradigms can be used to explain the contributions to violence towards women, this review will detail the mechanisms of psychological desensitization, reinforcement of women’s gender roles, and social learning theory to analyze the role of violent media as a contributing factor in violence towards women.

To begin, and as aforementioned, the exploration of the relationship between media violence and real life violence is not a new subject, rather an ongoing quest to further break down the phenomenon. A common reoccurrence is the issue of media violence and the desensitization of traits that allow us to associate inappropriate acts with human suffering (Fanti, Vanman, Henrich, & Avraamides 2009). Fanti et al (2009) define desensitization as diminished emotional responses to a negative or adverse stimulus after repeated exposure to it. Essentially, repeated exposure to media violence can habituate adverse reactions, voiding a person’s innate and natural negative response when viewing violence (Fanti et al, 2009). One plausible explanation for the way desensitization works is that exposure to violent media eliminates inhibitions to violence, which in turn may foster pro-violence attitudes and lower empathic responses (Fanti et al, 2009). This proposal further confirmed by Fanti et al (2009) in their empirical study, in which they exposed young adults to violent or comedic television clips. They hypothesized that repeated exposure to violent media would not only lower the empathic responses of participants, but also increase their levels of enjoyment when watching violent media (Fanti et al, 2009). Ultimately, their study showed that desensitization to media violence can occur after repeated exposure to media violence, and that these results can be seen in a short-term period (i.e. desensitization does not need extensive time to develop) (Fanti et al, 2009). In addition the researchers found that with repeated exposure to violent media not only was the psychological impact and sympathy of the participants reduced, but they reported an increased enjoyment of viewing violent media (Fanti et al, 2009). To further strengthen their results, the researchers were also able to discount existing personality traits (i.e. aggressive individuals) as being correlated with desensitization (Fanti et al, 2009). However, there is an extensive body of research that counters the argument that media is accountable for violence, and instead analyzes other factors that have a heavier contribution to anti-social acts like violence. To illustrate this, a study by Ferguson et al (2009) looked at 603 youths in Texas, half of which were male and half female. Their aim was to evaluate the multiple variables that are associated with violent behaviour in youth (Ferguson et al, 2009). They found that in comparison to exposure to violent television, the most influential factors on the existence of aggressive behaviour were: delinquent peer influences, anti-social personality traits, depression or depressed mood, and parents or guardians who use psychological abuse in their personal relationships (Ferguson et al, 2009). These results undermine the argument, as proposed by Fanti et al (2009), that violence in the media is the most influential agent in desensitization, leading to violent real-life behaviour by the viewer. Although it is certainly important to consider the multivariate relationship linked with acts of violence or aggression it is important to acknowledge how detrimental violent media can be. The argument that violent media can desensitize individuals and disinhibit their violent impulses or behaviour can be supported within a biological framework (Strenziok, 2010). In a study by Strenziok et al (2010) 37 healthy male participants were tested to analyze the relationship between their exposure to media violence and left orbitofrontal cortex density (LOFC) as mediated by synaptic pruning. Because the orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for important regulatory functions, such as decision-making, social adjustment, and inhibition, any changes that occur in the cortex as a result of pruning can have significant effects (Strenziok et al, 2010). When synaptic pruning occurs the process happens within context (Strenziok et al, 2010). That is, the environment plays a major role in selecting which neuronal connections will be pruned and which will be maintained (Strenziok et al, 2010). Strenziuok et al (2010) found that there was a negative correlation between exposure to violent media and left orbitofrontal cortex density. Their findings suggest that media violence can facilitate synaptic pruning in the LOFC, which then short-circuits/decreases neuronal connections–ultimately disrupting normal orbitofrontal cortex functions and allowing for anti-social violent behaviour (Strenziok et al, 2010). Furthermore, the desensitization process and the serving biological functions can be applicable to violence towards women. In a society that upholds equality, freedom, and rights as priorities, there continues to be sensationalized displays violence in the media. One study aimed to examine the effects of repeated exposure to sexually violent films on emotional desensitization toward victims of domestic violence and abuse within sample of 138 males. (Mullin & Linz, 1995). The results showed a decrease in emotional response, physiological arousal, and ratings of how sexually violent the films were with repeated film exposure (Mullin & Linz, 1995). These statistically significant results were relative to the results of the control group, and lasted for three days. That is, when re-evaluated three days after the initial experiment, the results remained static (Mullin & Linz, 1995). However, it is important to also acknowledge that these results did not extend further than three days (Mullin & Linz, 1995). When tested again five days after the initial experiment, participants’ baseline responses were restored, essentially suggesting that the effects of sexually violent films were only maintained for a limited and short-term period (Mulling & Linz, 1995). The authors suggest that the results may reflect a lack of ecological validity in the study, since exposure to violent media is longer and more continuous over time compared to exposure in a clinical setting (Mullin & Linz, 1995). What this implies then, is that in a real life setting these results may be inapplicable and possibly irrelevant to violence towards women. Above differential perspective, what this study ultimately supports is the existence of a strong relationship between exposure to gender-based, sexually violent films and overall desensitization (Mullin & Linz, 1995). Lastly, a study by Linz and Adams (1989) measured physiological desensitization (i.e. heart rate) and its relation to cognitive, affective, and attitudinal components of desensitization. Participants were exposed to either a videotape depicting violence against women or a videotape of non-violent, but exciting content (Linz & Adams, 1989). Then all participants watched video clips of violence towards a woman, with a male as the aggressor (Linz & Adams, 1989). Linz and Adams (1989) found that heart rates of participants in the violent videotape condition were lower during the final 90 seconds of each violent video clip compared to the control group. In addition, participants in the violent videotape condition attributed less injury to the female victims portrayed in the media in comparison to the control group (Linz & Adams, 1989). To further delineate the contrast between the experimental and control conditions, the control condition experience significant increases in hostility, anxiety, and depression during the violent video clips- a testament of their adverse responses to and disapproval of violent media (Linz & Adams, 1989). Ultimately, based on the growing body of literature on violence and media, there is significant evidence to support the role of exposure to violent media and its facilitation of real life violence, as it pertains to women. Such evidence not only addresses sociological perspectives of desensitization, but also provides psychophysiological support to explain the biological processes that enable such a relationship.

Because humans tend to be swayed from and influenced by several variables, it is important to further analyze sociopsychological and cultural variables in the relationship between media violence and women. Specifically, gender norms and roles as they relate to women will be discussed in the context of media and real life violence. Although these roles and norms are an integral part of our identity beginning from birth, one must consider the unanticipated consequences. Often times with such social and cultural standards there runs a risk of placing individuals into very concise and finite societal niches, which may be difficult to break free from. For example, in western societies, the moment a baby is born he or she is often assigned a colour, according to gender appropriateness, be it pink or blue. The process of socialization begins from the moment an infant is introduced into society. From that moment onward, the child is brought up to meet societal and cultural standard of correct ways of being, according to their sex. Unfortunately, this strenuous and confining process is difficult to stray away from, and individuals who attempt to establish themselves as persons first, rather than male or female, often experience disapproval, backlash, and even social isolation. In addition, the role of the media has been another influential means by which to enforce norms and roles in western worlds. Specifically, recent literature has proposed arguments that violent media reinforces the self-image of women in accordance with gender roles, and can even foster intra-female real life violence. What this implies then is that not only is violence towards women a reality, but that women themselves are now engaging in their own demise and contributing to the same hegemony that oppresses them. Although it was traditionally understood within the scientific realm that aggression is primarily related to males, and that aggression is singular in nature (i.e. direct, physical), recent literature is debunking this claim. Specifically, indirect aggression, which is not physical or explicit, in female-female relationships has take centre stage (Bjorkqvist, 1994). In theory, there is no reason to suggest that women are as violent as men, considering their physical ability. In reality, however, women have adapted to this difference by using indirect hostility and aggression by way of verbal and social manipulative (e.g. spreading rumours, excluding peers, etc) acts as a means of being violent ( Bjorkqvist, 1994, Cote, 2007). Bjorkqvist (1994) suggests that this indirect aggression can even be considered more sophisticated and powerful than conventional aggression (i.e. physical) because the aggressor is able to harm another person without being identified. However, the nature of aggression displayed by women and men cannot be solely attributed to biological or physiological differences. Social and cultural variables, and their influence on learning help perpetuate these modes of aggression (Bjorkqvist, 1994). With violent media being so pervasive and omnipresent, particularly as it relates to women, it is important to explore its effects on real life actions. Ringrose (2006) examines the way in which media sensationalizes indirect violence, now being referred to as the ‘mean girl phenomenon’ and the implications it brings forth. This novelty depiction of women poses a bilateral problem, in that aggression is often synonymous with power but remains as a type of behaviour frowned upon in women. For example, Gonick(2004) proposes that the stereotypical vulnerable girl has now been replaced by the ‘mean’ girl in the public eye. What would be ideal is to avoid polarizing women’s behaviour, or homogenizing them into black or white categories, figuratively speaking. Nonetheless, what is ideal is rarely reality. Although the recent creation of the mean girl in the media appears to provide equality between women and men, as it provides an over reactive response and antidote to the idea that women are nurturing and not aggressive, there a are serious side effects to this new sensation (Gonick, 2004). The pervasive presence of this construction of the mean girl in the media is now redefining normal behaviour for women and girls, allowing femininity and aggressive behaviour to be re-pathologized (Ringrose, 2006). Now that popular media, specifically televised and print media, is disguising indirect female-female aggression behind the facade of female empowerment, a new template of appropriate girl and women behaviour is being inherited by newer generations. The media often portrays indirect violent behaviour as exciting, dramatic, sexy, and especially as a marker of status and power. For example, feature films such as Mean Girls and Thirteen glorify indirect and relational aggression, depicting relating such behaviour to physical attractiveness, popularity, and success. Not only are such media positing that such behaviour is appealing and even glamorous, but is also negates all other equally important aspects of existence, such as stable family relationships, and a breadth of education. In addition to assigning indirect aggression as a vehicle of power, violent media also sets up such aggression to take place in female to female social relationships. It is often said that a civilization destroys itself from within rather than being conquered by outsiders and the western female population exemplifies this heuristic. That is, because violent media sensationalizes indirect aggression in female-female relationships, the integrity with which women relate and identify with one another is compromised. As such, this population is left vulnerable and more susceptible to patriarchal standards of life, and is once again turned into a commodity that can be regulated according to trends and demands. A study by Lavin and Cash (2000) demonstrates the complex relationship between violent media portrayals of women and real life indirect aggression in female-female interactions. They conducted an experimental study to break down and examine the effects of mass media and women’s body-image experiences (Lavin & Cash, 2000). In this study 66 college women were made to listen to one of two audio tapes: one containing information on the subject of appearance stereotyping and discrimination and the other containing information on television violence aggression (control condition) (Lavin & Cash, 2000). At the conclusion of their study they found that although neither condition differed in the altered mood of the participants, exposure to t he appearance-related condition versus the control condition yielded significantly less favourable body-image evaluations (Lavin & Cash, 2000). The results, produced by Ten Visual Analogues Scales and the 14-Item Appearance Schemas Inventory, demonstrate the ways in which western media showcases beauty and physical attractiveness in conjunction with covert and overt social benefits (Lavin & cash, 2000). In addition, the violent media often depict strong associations between beauty and desirable traits. That is, women are learning that beauty is good, and that is it the most important factor in leading a fulfilling life is the virtue of beauty. Because of this trend in the media of using women’s physicality as commodities and means to capitalize and turn a profit, women become more invested in their aesthetic selves. In turn, women who have deep psychological investments with their self aesthetics become more susceptible to adverse social events, such as negative feedback about their weight or comparison cues (Lavin & Cash, 2000). Such events become critical experiences, and pose the possibility of increased body dissatisfaction. For example, the images of dismembered women in print ads are rampant. What is meant by dismemberment is that only parts of women’s bodies are used to sell a product of service. A good illustration of this is the prototypical beer print ad, in which the only thing visible is a woman’s torso with specific attention paid to the bust, followed by a posing hand holding a beer bottle. Such media pays no attention to the woman in question, rather reduces her to specific anatomical parts, in total disconnection to her individual self. In fact, a face is not only unnecessarily in such violent media, but is also obstructive because violence is more acceptable when identity is unknown (CITATION). Ultimately, violent media not only encourages and portrays indirect aggression as a means of power and representation of status, but also regulates its usage in women’s relationships with one another, such that women become active participants in their own oppression and violence. To add to this, women also internalize their roles in western society as portrayed by the media. That is, women begin to see themselves and their bodies in terms of their sexual and aesthetic worth, disregarding other important aspects of their lives. Clearly, the role of violent media cannot be ignored in light of the consequences it brings. This is not to imply that violent media the sole cause of such effects, as there are other variables to consider. There is a significant amount of research that supports the argument that exposure to violence and aggression enacted in parental relationships in the home have the most significant impact on violence inRather, the aforementioned information should be used to support the significant contributions and influences between violent media and violence towards women.

Another mechanism by which violence in the media influences violence in real life violence is through the social learning theory. Bandura (1978) defines the social learning theory as a process in which people learn new behaviours by observing the behaviours of others, and assessing the benefits of exhibiting that behaviour to determine whether the behaviour will be sustained over time. That is, if the behaviour in question results in positive outcomes, then the observer is more likely to display this behaviour (Bandura, 1978)

The paper examines the social structured context and implications of widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria. It argues that in spite of the efforts by formal and informal agencies to alleviate the burdens of widowhood, the gender informed discriminatory practice of mourning which exacts a heavy toll on women persists. In this case, widows are exposed to harsh and often cruel mourning practices which are especially tasking for elderly women who have to contend with frail physical health, loss of partners and the mental, psychological and physical stress of widowhood. Therefore, while these practices are norm oriented they expose the elderly widows to psychological and social coping challenges. However, these elderly widows are also often led into activities and social strategies perceived as capable of alleviating the burdens of widowhood. Equally interesting is the finding that widows who are actively engaged and enjoy social support cope better with the challenges of widowhood than others. In view of the above, the paper argues for a more active role by social workers in informing care provisioning and policies for lessening the burdens of widowhood on elderly women.

INTRODUCTION

The plight of widows has been a recurrent theme in the efforts to address perceived or real gender imbalance in African societies even in contemporary times. In spite of this the traditional conception of mourning which places a higher burden on women has obviously defied reform efforts. Hence the focus on widows actually derives from the traditional and patriarchal nature of African societies in which women are often regarded as the silent role players. In such a situation a woman who loses her partner may confront culturally structured scenarios different from the case of a man in the same situation. Therefore, the imaginings of widowhood in African societies are socio-culturally structured and reinforced and generate significant gender imbalance.

Widowhood, meaning loss of one’s spouse whether early or later in life entails a lot of things, mostly problems for the bereaved. Its effects may even be worse when the bereaved is an elderly person. Her self identity also changes in the sense that it brings on an era of identity crisis. This is because the widows feel that the real essence of their being married has been lost by the death of spouses. Coping with this identity crisis depends to a large extent on the individual’s capacity and will. For traditionally oriented women, the role of wife is central to their lives, structuring their lives not only in their house holds but also on the job and in answering the question ‘who am I’ and these women often put ‘wife of’ at the top of their lists (Atchley, 1996).

Social recognition and acceptance also pose a problem to widows because often times, widowhood in African societies goes with the erosion of social recognition. Widows often face problems of declining social recognition and acceptance after the death of their spouses and this can be linked to their losing their central roles of ‘wife’. In dealing with the societal attitude, these women get involved in other activities that they think will help them get recognition from the public and this can be seen in their active involvement in politics.

The elderly people in the society are often stereotyped as lazy, wicked, hard to please disgusting, sickly and sometimes even diabolical (Korieh, 2005). This can be explained by the fact that they are viewed as burdens and distractions from one’s immediate family and responsibilities. This stereotype is wrong because in the society, old people who are kind, peaceful and God fearing can still be found and this shows that one being evil or nice has nothing to do with age but the person’s character and dispositions in life. According to Hazelrigg (1977), age by itself is not the cause of anything and it gets meaning only from how we use it to sort people. Thus, although age is used systematically to distinguish and categorize people, age in itself explains very little or nothing at all.

The loss of a spouse can be a very traumatic experience particularly for many older women who devoted most of their lives to their marriages, husbands and children. Widowhood has thus been called the exemplar of a stressful life event and perhaps requiring more adjustment than any other life transition. (Hatch, 2000; Gallagtor et al, 1983).

In addition to this, isolation and exclusion from the social environment sets in all in the name of widowhood practices and rituals and the woman is not expected traditionally to look after herself or freshen-up. This is often defined crudely as not bathing or combing her hair (See Basden, 1966). He aptly captured this practice in traditional Igbo society. According to him the woman mourning:

Moves from her deceased husband’s house to a small but in another part of the compound. While dwelling in this hut, she wears no clothes unless perhaps a rag; she must sit on a block or wood and nowhere else. Instead of a sleeping mat, a banana leaf must suffice (Basden, 1966; 278).

A prominent theoretical orientation in gerontology, the activity theory of aging argues that normal aging involves maintaining as long as possible the activities and attitudes of middle age (See, Havighurst, 1963; Brehm, 1968). The basic assertion of this theory is that individuals should be just as active and involved in a variety of different roles and responsibilities in their later years as they were in their middle years. Judging by the loneliness and feeling of ‘aloneness’ these widows experience after living for decades with their spouses and losing them when their companionship is most needed- at retirement one would agree that the activity theory to a large extent captures the situation of these widow (See Atchley1996).

Thus, according to Brehm (1968), except for the biological and health changes older people have essentially the same psychological and social needs as middle aged people. From our study, it was discovered that this activity theory is of very great significance as a reasonable number of elderly widows used in the study agreed that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with widowhood and its related stress. For them, it helped them overcome loneliness, provide them with resources and kept time moving. This is in live with the contention of Kunkel (1979), that working class widows adjust better during bereavement than those sick, jobless or incapacitated.

Based on both the likely erosion of social recognition and insurmountable loss which widowhood occasions, widows have often had to face socio-psychological challenges. These challenges result from both the societal attitude to widows and more crucially the psychological and even physical health of widows. As the above discussion shows, the case of elderly women may be worse given the unexamined stereotype about their attitudes and behaviour (See Korieh, 2005).

Therefore this study sought to ascertain the socio-psychological impact of widowhood on elderly women in a typical traditional setting in Nigeria. Such an exercise has undoubted policy and research implications since discrimination against widows form part of the much decried harmful traditional practices against women. Hence the outcome of this study may be instrumental in informing social policies for protection of women as well as pinpointing empirical and theoretical social work response to the problems of widowhood.

The study was conducted in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Three quarters in the local government area viz Nkpunano, Nru and Ihe-owere were purposively chosen for the study. A total of 500 respondents were chosen through purposive sampling in the above three quarters. All the respondents were identified elderly widows above fifty years of age in these communities. The multi-stage sampling technique was used in actually selecting the above respondents while the questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of data collection. The findings of the study reported below was based on a total number of 448 elderly women who fully responded to the study instruments.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS AND
WIDOWHOOD IN ELDERLY WOMEN IN NIGERIA.

One glaring socio-psychological impact of widowhood identified in the study sample is mental/emotional stress. In the case, quite a good number of the respondents reported experiencing this type of psychological imbalance. As the table below indicates, the enormity of responsibilities widowhood lays on them triggers off mental/emotional stress in addition to physical stress.

Table i: Distribution of Respondents by Nature of Health Stress.
Stress
Respondents
Percentage

Mental Stress

7

1.6

Physical Stress

280

62.5

None

161

35.9

Total
448
100

From the table above, apart from the 161 widows (35.9%) who declared they had no stress at all, 280 (62.5%) suffered from physical stress while 7 (1.6%) suffered from mental stress. This was as a result of the weight of responsibilities handed down to them after the death of their spouses. As has been indicated in the literature (See Basden, 1966), the isolation of the widow and the shabby treatment meted out to her in the name of culture in Igboland can generate and heighten emotional and mental stress. In fact as one of our respondents stated, “most of the times I fall sick, it is because I think of how to care for my family and I don’t seem to come up with any solution”. Therefore in the Igbo area of Nigeria generally, as our study reveals, widows are confronted by social practices and observances such as disinheritance, and isolation which have adverse effects on their mental and psychological balance.

Mental/emotional stress is a situation in one’s mental well being or emotional state occasioned by tragedy (See Atchley, 1996). According to Atchley this stress can be manifested in the form of extreme anxiety, worries, frequent head-ache, high blood pressure, insomnia, heartache and regular hospital visits precipitated by mainly by worry.

In patriarchal societies, especially where the widows are suspected of killing their husbands widows are left entirely without social support (see Korieh, 1995). This is usually worse for the women who do not have adequate educational background or who were prevented from obtaining further education. According to one of our respondents, a close relative of her deceased husband tried justifying the treatment meted out to her by asking her “how come it was our brother who died?”

Therefore, the death of a woman’s spouse in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the widow and her children. The woman who is bereaved is usually expected to be the chief mourner, assisted by relatives and friends, the wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days before the man’s burial and even afterwards (Afigbo,1989). As has been reported in the literature such wailings and bitter lamentations are culturally expected (Basden, 1966; Meek 1937 cf Afigbo, 1989). This practice of prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman (See Afigbo, 1989). In addition to this, widowhood may also occasion psychological and mental imbalance in some women especially older women whose mental faculties and emotions have been weakened by the challenges of living.

Another key practice of widowhood in Africa which affects a woman’s psychological balance is the compulsory period of seclusion and isolation (Nwoga, 1989). In this case, the woman is isolated from the community for a specified period. According to this scholar, the isolation is combined with a regime of total neglect of the hygiene and body needs of the woman and incidentally, the practice of widowhood known as Igba-nkpe’ has also been noticed among Islamic communities. According to Trimmingham (1959), this period is known as ‘iddat’ or ‘idda’ among the Moslems and covers an average period of four months and ten days but in Igboland, the period lasts full 12 calendar months though radical Christianity has reduced it in some cases nowadays to six months.

Due to their ages also, there are more reports of depression, poor health or new or heightened illnesses among these widows than there is among non-bereaved elderly widows and some of them do not live longer than one year after the deaths of their spouses (Gallagher and Thompson, 2001). This is because depression sets in at the loss of a spouse and most of them tell themselves that there is nothing to live for anymore. At some other times, married women friends see these widows as threats to their own still existing marriages and as a result terminate their relationships with these widows at the death of their spouses.

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN OCCUPATION AND COPING WITH WIDOWHOOD AMONG ELDERLY WOMEN

Women across the globe have shown enviable courage, resourcefulness and residence in carrying on despite the trauma caused by widowhood, the isolation imposed on them by widowhood and the difficult tasks of earning a living and protecting themselves and their dependent family members. These women work outside the home as the breadwinners, make decisions, head their households and sometimes organize other women in areas of public life (ICRC, 1999). The above is no less the case with elderly widows in Southeastern Nigeria whose burden may have been doubled by the reality of aging. However, the women as our findings indicate see maintaining a sense of balance through engagement in occupation or meaningful economic activity as critical to surviving the coping challenges of widowhood in old age. Therefore, as can be noted from the table below, most of the widows were actively involved in one form of occupation or the other in order to earn a living for their families, and maintain some level of socio-economic functioning considered necessary to coping with widowhood:

Table ii: Distribution of Respondents by Perceived influence of Active Involvement in
Occupation on Coping:

Active Involvement

Respondents

Percentage

Yes

399

89.1

No

49

10.9

Total
448
100%

It can be noted that 399 respondents (89.1%) stated that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with the stress of widowhood. This is in agreement with the literature which asserts that active involvement in occupation assists widows to deal with widowhood (See Kunkel, 1979). These widows when further questioned expressed different reasons for their involvement in active occupation but given that finance usually is a big problem to widows, 126 (31.6%) and 154 (38.6%) respondents respectively believe in active involvement because it provides money for the upkeep of the family and prevents too much thinking for the widows:

Table iii: Distribution of Respondents by Importance of Active Involvement in
Occupation.

Importance of Active Involvement

Respondents

Percentage

Prevents loneliness

56

14

Prevents thinking

154

38.6

Provides money resources

126

31.6

Keeps time moving

63

15.8

Total
399
100

Apart from involvement in occupation, these widows engaged themselves in some sort of social activities. These they did most times to get their minds off their problems especially at those periods the pains of loss of a love one and maltreatment by in-laws were very intense. The table below goes to show that a reasonable number of widows get themselves occupied socially in one thing or the other as a way of avoiding being engrossed in the throes of pain or endless contemplation of life without one’s partner:

Table iv: Distribution of Respondents by Social Strategies Adopted by Elderly Widows:

Social Strategy

Respondents

%

Active involvement in meetings

77

17.2

Stepped up interaction with family

42

9.4

Move involvement in religion

259

57.8

Introversion

14

3.1

Just keeping busy

56

12.5

Total
448
100

Given that most of the respondents were Christians, it was not out of place to discover that majority of them adopted or resorted to prayers as a social strategy to cope with widowhood. In the interviews as well, it was observed that a good number of them adopted church activities as a solace from the loneliness and difficulties associated with widowhood. Apparently, the widows as the interviews revealed held strongly to the popular notion that when all things fail, God never fails. One of them said in vernacular, “Ekpere bu ikem”. ‘Chukwu bu onye nkwado m’. This simply means in English, “Prayer is my strength”, God is my provider”.

From the foregoing therefore, the study revealed that most of the elderly widows at one point or another adopted economic strategies to help them cope the hardship associated with widowhood. Such strategies ranged from petty trading down to taking up additional jobs. On the other hand, they also adopted social strategies to assist them in their daily affairs as widows. These women’s involvement in occupations and church activities as means of coping or overcoming widowhood are largely in agreement with the views of some scholars who have written on widowhood (see, Kunkel, 1979; Atchley, 1997).

SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND THE ALLEVIATION OF PROBLEMS OF WIDOWS IN NIGERIA.

As the study revealed, widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria poses a variety of problems to women ranging from low social prestige, disinheritance, and forceful remarriage amongst others. Widows in Southeastern Nigeria often encounter the most severe forms of these discriminations in spite of the increasing modernity of all spheres of the society.

One dimension of this gender discrimination is that once the man dies, the widow faces the incidence of disinheritance by in-laws. In western societies, a woman is entitled to all she ever had or shared with her deceased husband but as this study found out in Southeastern Nigeria widows, though preferring to continue to work on the lands owned by their late husbands cannot do so because land inheritance is impossible for them as a result of cultural norms which forbid this (Korieh, 2005). According to Oluwa (2005), though in paper the statutory and customary laws indicate that widows should inherit or be sole beneficiaries of their dead husband’s properties (especially where children exist), this does not apply in practice. Rather in some cases where the woman is desperate for these lands and property, she is forced to conform to the tradition of widow inheritance. In this case, the woman is treated as part of the properties of the dead men and is also available for inheritance. She becomes the legal wife of her inheritor and the children inherited and those born by the inheritor are considered to belong to the new husband (Evans – Pritchard, 1951).

The study also discovered that for fear of ostracism and related punishments, widows suffer in silence, especially when they are denied traditional sources of support. This usually causes economic hardships and deprivation. They lose their honour and respect as soon as they lose their husbands. Their husbands being traditionally their main sources of honour and respect, once dead gives room for them to be treated with disregard as humans especially by in-laws (ICRC, 1999). This can be explained by the popular Igbo adage which says that “Di bu ugwu nwanyi”, (a husband is a woman’s honour).

It was further discovered that widowhood in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the elderly widow. The wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days, before the man’s burial and even after wards; as is obvious in the literature, such wailings and bitter lamentations are cultural expected (Basden, 1966, Meek, 1937 of Afigbo, 1989) and this prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman.

The list of problems is almost in exhaustible and these call for the intervention of social work services to help alleviate if not eradicate them entirely. From the study it was noticed that those widows who involved themselves in occupation cope better than those who did not. Social workers should therefore take cognizance of the need to sensitize the idle widows to get busy in order to overcome both the financial and emotional hazards of widowhood rather than wallowing in self pity. In this case social workers can go the extra mile of linking widows with systems or organizations where these jobs no matter how small can be found.

They can also act as advocates for these widows on the issue of in-laws maltreatment. This role of advocacy should be extended to the policy makers bringing to their notice the ills suffered by the widows especially the elderly ones so that ways of enforcing already existing policies will be found and new ones established. These policies should cover areas such as Medicare for widows, living arrangements (this can be achieved by building low cost houses), changing or eradication of harmful widowhood practices etc.

Perhaps beyond the above public policy responses is the critical need for a widow oriented social work practice which while cognizant of the socio-cultural and psychological burdens of widowhood in Southeast Nigeria sees the elderly widows as a special group. Basically, aging and its resultant physical infirmities and socio-psychological withdrawal makes the elderly widow particularly vulnerable to widow induced stress. Hence, social workers acting in their capacities to function as enhancers of coping capacity, linking agents and promoters of effective humane operation of social systems (see, Ekpe & Mamah, 1997 on the functions of social work) can do a lot to improve the situation of elderly widows in a male dominated society like the Igbo Southeastern Nigeria.

The re-examination of the main findings of this study indicates that the situation of elderly widows can be explained along the lines of the popular continuity theory in social work. According to this theory the individual in the course of growing older is predisposed towards maintaining stability in the habits, associations, preferences and lifestyle that he/she developed over the years (Peterson, 1976; McCrae and Costa, 1984). According to these Scholars, people’s habits, preferences, associations, states of health and experiences will in large part determine their ability to maintain their lifestyle while retiring from full time employment and perhaps adjust to the death of a loved one.

Therefore in accordance with our findings in the study, it can be inferred that activity at old age helps the elderly overcome loss of their loved ones especially their spouses and this activity if possible should be in the areas preferred and chosen by the individual with which he/she had been accustomed to over time.

The purpose of this project is to provide an overview of the sex tourism industry in Thailand. Moreover, discuss what it is as well as consider the motivations behind it. This paper will also focus on the benefits and disadvantages, particularly the domestic social consequences of sex tourism within Thailand.

The accessibility problem of the tourism industry has caused prostitution to grow steadily throughout many parts of the world and includes men (Garrick, 2005), women and children. Furthermore, the sex tourism is a major source of abuse that goes beyond professional ethics and legality. Although prostitution is legal in some countries, it thrives regardless with children, women and men involved in this ubiquitous profession – legally or illegally. Nowadays, sex tourism is one of leading commercial industries that lurk in almost every business.

Good or Bad? This research will show how the negative effects of sex tourism far outweigh the benefits. Many organizations, both public and private collaborations, are against sex tourism, even though Thailand’s revenue comes from sex tourism more than other business (Rao, 1999; Sharpley & Stone, 2009). However, there are many supporters such as restaurants, hotels, resorts and tour agencies that could lose a lot of money from this veiled industry if the resisters decide to eliminate prostitution, but such actions can possibly decrease the rate of abuse and diseases, especially AIDS(Prideaux, et al., 2004).

Keywords: tourism, sex tourism, child sex tourism, sex tourist, push and pull factor, Thailand, prostitution, AIDS

INTRODUCTION

The international tourism industry is blooming. Tourism is the world’s most important industry which is growing rapidly and increasing every year. In the year 1972 to 1976, Thailand is one of the countries that have experienced tourism growth since the first Thai tourism plan was set up in 1976 at the end of third National Economic and Social Development Plan (NESDP) (Chaisawat, 2005). Thailand has become one of the best known, and most sought after, international tourist destinations.

Thailand is a country with long history and it is also a beautiful city, the attraction of the scenery in Thailand where not less than the other country (Nations Online, 2010).A Moreover, Thailand is probably one of the most well-known spots for the perfect beach paradise. Its natural beauty makes it perfect for people seeking a little hideaway (Beachden, 2010). Thailand has become the most popular tourist destination in South East Asia.

Tourism has become Thailand’s leading source of foreign exchange, and thus plays an unquestionably important role in the Thai economy. At the same time, Th ailand is suffering from many of the negative aspects of tourism, including prostitution, drug addiction, AIDS, erosion of traditional values, increases in the cost of living, unequal income distribution, rapid increases in land prices in some locations, pollution, and environmental degradation (Prideaux, et al., 2004).

According to Crompton (1979, pp.408-424) states that ‘the push factors for a vacation are socio-psychological motives, for instant people go to aboard that because political crisis in Thailand, it also include terrorism in three province of Sothern’s border. The pull factors are motives aroused by the destination rather than emerging exclusively from within the traveller himself, such as visitor come to Thailand for sex trade ‘. People travel for many reasons. In addition, sex is not the main reason, but it is a relative factor for motivating people of all ages and nationalities to turn more towards traveling (Sangpikul, 2008). Anyway, no one can deny that sex is not a motivating factor (Hall, 1996).The number of international tourist arrivals to Thailand are more male than female tourist. According to UNWTO reported that in the year 2008, the number of international tourist arrivals in the year 2006 to 2008 was increased (UNWTO, 2009). Several tourists have the same objectives that are encouraged for have a sexual intercourse.

However, Thailand has been involved with a kind of tourism called the international sex tourism (Pettman, 1997).The relationship between tourism and sex can be described as “the seeking of romance as perhaps a precursor to sexual activities play as motivators for travel; the nature of the encounter and the role played by tourism as facilitators of romantic and sexual encounter.

The purpose of this report is concern of the sex tourism in Thailand. Beside, this essay would like to describe and to discuss in the advantages and disadvantages of sex tourism to tourism industry in Thailand.

WHAT IS SEX TOURISM?

Sex tourism is a very lucrative industry that spans the globe. Of course, the burgeoning sex industry has its dark sides (Rao, 1999). But as sex is a human need and prostitution is here to stay, we should think about a pro-active and realistic approach to deal with the situation.

Although, sex tourism is the part of dark side but the earning is come from sex tourism more than other tourism (Sharpley & Stone, 2009). The statistics cannot be shown how much of the percentage constitutes tourists who come for sexual services. Nevertheless, it the high male sex ratio is associated with sex tourism, and then the trend is increasing rather than decreasing. Sex tourism, present throughout the world, is particular prevalent in Southeast Asia, where the connected problems of human trafficking, AIDS, and poverty, continue to flourish and claim lives at unprecedented rates( Croughs et al, 2005).

According to Jeffrey (2003, pp.224) is defined ‘sex tourism has generally been applied to behavior of tourists whose purpose is to engage in commercial sex with local women in tourist destinations, it can have a wider application’. Moreover, sex tourism asA travel undertaken primarily or exclusively by men from developed countries, usually to third world countries, for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity, often of an extreme, forbidden, or illegal nature (Travel Industry Dictionary, 2010).In other word, sex tourism as consisting of people from economically developed nations travelling to underdeveloped countries’ specifically to purchase the sexual services of local women [and men], it embraces a far broader range of people, activities and location (Enloe,1990). For others, however, it means purchasing sexual services from a woman, man, or even a child, and imagining themselves as Love Gods. It cannot be denied that the sex tourism industry has diversified beyond the traditional conceptualizations that label it as a predominantly patriarchal form of exploitation and leisure (Garrick, 2005).

Sex tourism includes domestic sex tourism, which is travel within the same country, or international sex tourism which involves travel across national borders. It is a multibillion dollar industry that supports an international workforce estimated to number in the millions (Revista, 2002). It has been argued by some people that sex tourism benefits not only the sex industry but also the airline, taxi, restaurant and hotel industries (Jones, 1946-2006). Human Rights organizations warn that sex tourism contributes to human trafficking and child prostitution (Guzder, 2009).

Seriously, child sex tourism is involved to the sex tourism. Even though,A ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) as the international organizations that care about child prostitution.A And children illegally brought into the profession to see that, in third world countries are tourism promotion mainly to do with the sun, sea and sex that intended for tourists to have sex (ECPAT International, 2010). Mostly from developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand, English, French.A As well as some of the developing countries like China, Malaysia, Singapore, tourists are concentrated in large areas such as Pattaya, Manila, Phnom Penh as a tourist destination with heavy clubs and bars, as well as other entertainment venues.

Who is a sex tourist? According to Rao (1999, pp.96) ‘it is a man who is going through a mid-life crisis, who has been disenchanted with his enjoyment of life due to feminism and woman’s liberation rhetoric; a man who is tired of taking a politically correct position on his sexual preferences because of social pressure sex tourist can be a worker, professional, or manager, but all of them want to feel like real men’. Moreover, a good definition, those who travel to a country for the sole purpose of having sex, see it as an opportunity, or even an entitlement, to have sex available for less money than they would pay at home.

Sex tourists trend not to differentiate between buying groceries, and going to the brothel to buy sex-both provide someone with economic sustenance. They perceive that those involved in the industry are making a choice to sell their service.

Sex tourism in Thailand in the past found thatA tourism is related to the sex, activities or services by prostitutes. In the past, sex tourism in Thailand that often seen in cities or large cities such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai.

Presently, the sex tour was hidden to the general tourism such as festival; Full Moon party at Kho Phangan is located on southern of Thailand. Thailand and the Philippines, sex shows are presented with the primary purpose of gaining pleasure simply from watching (Latza quoted in Opperman, 1999). From this Opperman subvert the original definition by asking what the criteria are for definition sex tourism. Would oral sex, hand jobs, or watching a sex show be enough to qualify a tourist as a sex tourist?

BENEFITS ARISING FROM SEX TOURISM

Ryan and Kinder (1996, pp.516) argued that ‘to regards sex tourism as some form of deviance, as something that foreign to the intrinsic nature of tourism, is mistake’. However, it is important to note that prostitutes are the key ingredient in the sex tourism industry (Bird&Donaldson, 2009).

The prostitution is one occupation that has the longest and ancient history in the world. It was recovered that after shuffle goods system or origins money goes up by give a woman engages in sexual intercourse with the other(except her spouse) for religion reason, for show arrive at having mind generousness to welcome visitor, show arrive at the worth of bring governor of a province

(Taylor, 2006).

Prostitution in Third World and emerging Nations, disregarding the subsistence economy (economical method which – except for exchange of goods – embarks the purpose to cover the personal requirements) and the development of the rural areas by falling row material prices on the world market and the subsidization individual exporting business sectors leads to a growing depletion of the rural population. As in many of these countries tourism makes big part of the cross national product more importance is attached to the development of mass tourism rather than on other essential measures to counteract the depletion of big parts of the population (Taylor, 2006).

Thus the number of women and men prostituting themselves in emerging countries grows in parallel in the same measure as tourism increases. In most of these countries, same as in Thailand, prostitution is forbidden. However the “service providing” women and men are the ones suffering from these restrictions (Taylor, 2006). As the device bringing foreigners must not be scared off long term suitors only have to reckon with penalties rarely.

Due to this poorness in these countries a growing migration into cities can be observed. Many countrymen flee into the cities as there the chances for economical “success” and covering the family is bigger than in the infrastructural neglected rural areas where they derive from. Poorness, missing education, lack of jobs, no alternatives in career, low wages and missing social coverage are the main reasons for the growing number of prostitutes.

Prostitution for foreign visitors developed into a major industry, although official Thailand shrouds its economic and social significance in misinformation and variety of interesting hypocrisies. Prostitutes come mainly from poor northern Thailand; however, there are now some educated prostitutes coming from the cities, as well as prostitutes from all neighboring countries and even Eastern Europe. No one can deny a lot of earning is come from sex tourism more than other industry. Although, the prostitute is rapid growth same as sex tourism but it a quite good signal that it also mean many tourist come to Thailand and high exchange rate within Thailand.

Concisely, Sex tourism has become a major source of income in some countries, particularly those with poor and underprivileged sectors, to the point that some countries have even tried to promote the business (Nuttavuthisit, 2007). In addition to the sex tourism related with hospitality industry, they are get the revenue and more people are employed from sex tourism, such as restaurant, bar, hotel, massage etc.A

The one reason is sex worker and sex tourist will negotiation in those place then they can get money from all service which they sold their product. For instant, the prostitute and sex tourist are communicate by website or web board on internet, after that they have appointment in some restaurant. While they made negotiation in their business that they have to order something to eat or drink. That is why everybody can get income when the sex tourists come to Thailand for sex trade.

DISADVANTAGE OF SEX TOURISM IN THAILAND

Internet has provided a convenient marketing way that is accounting for the recent rise in sex tourism. Websites provide potential sex seekers with pornographic accounts written by other sex tourists. Here can be found details of sexual exploits with information on sex establishments and prices in various destinations and how to specifically procure prostitutes. Sex tour travel agents even publish brochures and guides on the Internet (Chow-White, 2006). Governments in need of income from the sex tourism turn a blind eye to the sexual exploitation.

Moreover, sex tourism on the internet is at the confluence of issues of race, gender, sexuality, technology and globalization (Chow-White, 2006). Increasingly, information and communication technologies(ICTs), such as the internet, are playing a particularly significant role not only in the promotion and packaging of sex tourism but a new type of global surveillance of bodies, race and desire(Gabriel,1998;Ware & Back, 2002).

In contrast, prostitution tourism has been promoted by the Government in the Philippines because of its profitability. Income generated from visitor arrivals in 1992 was US$1.67 billion and in 1993 was US$2.12 billion (Jeffreys, 1999), but sex tourism in Thailand is illegal in some business so the Thailand tourism authority (TAT) cannot promote same as Philippines. Moreover, Thailand is the root of Buddhism. The sex trade is wrong ethic.

In other word, to the common opinion prostitution in Thailand is due to the informal handling of sexuality or has its roots in Buddhism, prostitution was imported by Chinese guest-workers. At the beginning with Chinese women which were in the course of time more and more replaced by locals. The degree of prostitution as it can be observed in Thailand today is a direct consequence of the Vietnam War.

Many of them are forced to become what is known as, “A Bangkok Tour GirlsA “.This form of exploitation is not only limited to local prostitution but has paved way for sex tourism, earning Thailand the notorious distinction of ‘Brothel of the World’.

The sex tourism statistics of Thailand invite worldwide criticisms. Among these, one third fraction is minors. There are absolutely no records indicating the number of Thai women and children being trafficked to various other countries in Asia, US, Australia and Europe.

The sex industry in Thailand generates fantasies. There are the fantasies of pliant girls which draw the western sex tourists, and then there are the fantasies of lurid exploitation which draw the western sex tourists, and then there are the fantasies of lurid exploitation which draw the western moralizers and NGOs. But what is the actual scale of prostitution in Thailand? And how serious is the trafficking problem?

Many organizations, both public and private collaborations, are against sex tourism, even though the revenue comes from sex tourism ore than other tourism. However, there are many supporters such as restaurants, hotels, resorts and tour agencies that could lose a lot of money from this veiled industry if the resisters decide to eliminate prostitution, but such actions can possibly decrease the rate of abuse and diseases, especially AIDS.

Thailand undeniably has serious problems regarding the sex trade, as do many other countries. There is, however, a perception that the problem is much worse in Thailand because many people think that the country provides easy access to these types of services. Thailand’s sex industry has become a tourist attraction in itself, with red light districts being recommended in several reputable guidebooks (Kusy, 1991). Estimates of the number of prostitutes in Thailand vary widely and are subject to controversial debate.

Although, sex tourism in Thailand is make the money more that other business but TAT still against this business that because a lot of victim of trafficking from child (TATnews, 2010).

The rapid spread of AIDS in Thailand has had a decided impact on the tourism industry in that the country’s reputation for having a high incidence of AIDs discourages desirable tourists from visiting it. Likewise the tourism industry has had considerable impact on the spread of AIDS in Thailand ( McCamish, et al.,2002).

Thailand has long been promoted as the “sex capital” of the world; encouraging tourists to come to Thailand specifically for this reason obviously brings a higher transmission of the disease from sources both inside and outside the country. It should be noted that there are other important factors contributing to the high incidence of AIDS and HIV-positive cases in Thailand which have nothing to do with the tourism industry, one major one being Thai males’ penchant for frequenting prostitutes both before and after marriage. Initially, the Thai government did not take prompt and appropriate action to deal with the AIDS crisis. It did not try to curtail the sex industry, believing that it would naturally fade as the economy prospered and job opportunities increased. Later, as the government began to realize the severity of the situation, it tackled the problem only by promoting the use of condoms, rather than by using a multi-pronged approach, which would have included the attenuation of the sex industry.

CONCLUSION

Thailand is a country with long history. There are also many interesting attractions. Contrast,A travelers visit to Thailand for sexual intercourse. Although, quite revenues are come from sex tourism, but it also has many disadvantages thatA because of the rapidly growing in sex tourism same as the prostitution is the one of immoral.

Otherwise, Thailand is a Buddhist country, it made the prostitution is wrong ethic. On the other word, the prostitution is increasing due to revenues beautiful.A Moreover, It is easy to do and easy to get more money.A The people who play in the prostitution are alwaysA forgotten Safety, such as forgot the condom that they can get easily AIDS and world widely expand.A

Sex tourism is a significant part of Thailand’s economy. If governments and related agencies are collaborate in the development of sex tourism and prostitute to be legal, maybe the image of Thailand’s tourism will be change in the good way (Taylor, 2006). Moreover, people who work in sex trade does not have to go to abroad for done their job.

The Basseri community is one of the traditional ethnic groups in Iran who inhabits the Fars province. This tribe is illustrated as Persian and Arab and nomadic within a delineated territory. The Basseri community is one of the pastoral nomads who usually wander along the plains and hills near the Shiraz town. In the area where they migrate it is said to be best for agricultural activities as well as it is also the habitat of a wide variety of birds and animals to hunt. Actually, the place is referred to as the “land of nomadic tribes”. As stated above, the Basseri communities are pastoralist, (Ronald, 2006). Therefore, in this essay I will be analyzing how the pastoralist mode of life has impacted the social, political, and economic organization. To be more precise, I will be analyzing the economic, social and political organization of the Basseri community.

It is argued that the Basseri is a delineated group who can be defined not by ethnic or geographical but rather political criteria. The exact number of the population in this community is the recent time is not known as research has not been carried out to establish this. But in 1950s, they were estimated the entire community was estimated to be about 16,000. The vernacular language of the Basseri is Farsi, although a remarkable number of them do speak Arabic or Turkish

Economic organization.

It is important to note that just like in any other pastoralist community, pastures are seen as being the most crucial part of the Basseri community. However, the pastures are not enough to support the large flocks of animals of the community. This explains why this community wanders along the plains efficiently and according to a set schedule. In most cases, there is no official division of labor when setting, ready to make a move, (Thomas, 2009). Although this community is on the move from one place to another throughout the year, it is argued that agriculture is the most crucial part of the community. The tribe has developed a way of life that enables them to maximize the use of seasonal pastures.

Arguably, the nature of the climate that is found in the area they inhabit dictates that they perform artificial irrigation so as to support their agricultural activities during the dry season. It has been observed that the most common economic activities that are carried by the community are domestic work, animal raring, and daily cycles of migration. In this community, the principle of division of labor is well appreciated as it makes work easier. Division of labor is usually applies as work is distributed according to sex as well as age although circumstances may sometimes dictates that work be allocated to one sex or age, (Ronald, 2006). The animals that are kept by this community includes; horses which are used for riding more especially by men, donkeys which are used for simple transportation especially by kids and women, camels which are used for heavy transportation during migration, and dogs for guarding their herds during the night.

Despite the fact that the community keeps a number of domestic animals, those of the greatest importance are the goats and sheep. Besides, the community also keeps poultry not for their eggs but specifically as source of meat. As mentioned above, the goats and sheep are highly valued by the Basseri more than any other animal specifically because of the milk, wool, meat and hides that they supply. It should be noted that in most cases, the animal products are consumed as soon as they are produced; although some may be preserved for future use, or as trade commodities. It is estimated that each and every household in the community owns about 120 goats and sheep and more than 8 donkeys.

To some extent, trading can be considered as being one of the economic activities of the Basseri community. It is true that the community cannot produce all they need for themselves as they wander from place to place. Therefore, exchanging what they have for what they do not have is inevitable. Mostly, they trade with villagers and other communities who they encounter with on their way as they move from one place to another. Some of the goods which they trade in include; cash crops such as the dates and cotton, and other animal products, (Ronald, 2006). Moreover, they sometimes undertake animal hiring business in that they hire out their animals for transport. In exchange, they get from the villagers such goods as cereals for instance, barley which is one of their stable food. Other which they trade in includes craftsmanship products such as tent fixtures and some other household items. It should also be noted that when drought persisted for a long period, the Basseri are forced to rent land from the villagers for grazing and water rights during migration period.

Social Organization.

Socially, this community is organized into small groups. The basic unit of social organization among the Basseri is known as the “tent”. Notably, a tent is a unit that is occupied mainly by a nuclear family. The tents in turn form the camp groups. Moreover, each and every tent represents a production as well as a consumption unit headed by a male individual. The occupants of tents act as political units which have rights over property within the community units, (Ronald, 2006). The combination of units to form a small herding groups whose combination depends on usefulness rather than kinship principles, is a common feature among the Basseri community. In the winter periods, a group of 3-6 tents of herding units form up small camps that are about 3-4 kilometers apart. Most of the historians assert that in the real sense, these camps form up the principal communities of the Basseri nomadic society.

Kinship

Among the Basseri, marriage is considered as being a very important social event that constitutes the entire household. It is a common thing that the authority to make marriage contracts lies on the hands of the head of the household or tent, (Khanam, 2008). Many a times, marriage takes between the ages of about seventeen and twenty for the female case but in males, it might happen at an older age. It is an obligation of the father to furnish his daughter with various items usually household items during the ceremony. To some extent, the father may also offer some animals such as goats and sheep to his son-in-law as an economic support to start his family.

The obligation of the mothers of the couple is mainly to prepare a new home for the couple by entwining a new tent where the couple will be living after the marriage. Although the authority to make marriage contracts is within the powers of the head of a tent, the contract is in most cases presided over by a nontribal ritual specialist, or holy man, (Ronald, 2006). This contract is concluded by the bride-payments for the girl on top of the domestic tools she is expected to bring to her in-laws. According to this community, the newly married couples have equal rights as far as decision making is concerned. The two individuals sit down together and discuss on family issues and how they should raise their family in order to fit in the community.

Beliefs and Values

The Basseri are one of the Shia Muslims who adheres to the teachings of the Islam religion. However, some of them are not very much aware of the beliefs of Muslims, ceremonies and customs. This is so because they tend to differ from other Muslim over the events and divisions of the Muslim year, although sometimes they are influenced by other villagers who they encounter while in movement from one region to another, (Khanam, 2008). It has also been noted that they are not strict in observing some Islamic customs even though they are aware of them. For instance, this community rarely celebrates Islamic feasts. In fact, even the most common feasts of Ramadan and Moharram are observed by not many Basseri. When it comes to rituals, they are usually associated with the life cycle of the people more than the Islamic teachings, that is, from birth to death

Gender relations

As stated earlier, although the distribution of authority is fairly equal, men are considered as the head of their families once they start their families. A female can only be considered to be the head of her family if only she is a window, (Khanam, 2008). Work is also distributed in terms of sex. Female and children undertake domestic chore while men take care of the animals and provide security for their families. It is as well, the work of men to provide water and wood for the family.

Sickness and Healing

It is very rare for a Basseri to fall sick majorly because of the kind food they eat. Because of the kind of life they live, these people mostly take natural plants and animal products which help to boost their immunity system. However, the community has medicine-men who are specialists in treating the sick. In most cases these specialists uses natural medicine which they obtain from natural herbs.

Social Change

There are some remarkable changes that have been occurred among the Basseri community over time. This may be majorly due to the different people with different modes of cultures who they encounter in their migrations. Therefore, there are some things that they have copied from these communities and they have also influenced these communities in one way or another. For example, from the very beginning the community was known to be purely pastoralists who their needs were met from their animals, (Thomas, 2009). However, with time they have learnt to also plant some crops to supplement their diet and also as a source of food for their animals during the dry season. It is also argued that trading was never one of the economic activities among the Basseri people. They have only learnt this activity from other communities more especially the villagers who sometimes offer their pastures for the Basseri animals in exchange for animal products such as hides and milk.

Unlike most of the nomadic communities more especially in the East Africa who were independent and autonomous, the Basseri formed the Khamseh Tribal Confederation which was also a part of the elite urban merchants. With time, this community have come to be independent in one way or another because of the decisions which they make which are generally based on the circumstances and also the needs that they have as per that time and not according to the requirements of the confederation.

Arguably, there have been a lot of changes in the social structure of this community over time. It is important to note that inter-marriages in the community were never prohibited. As a result, a number of the Basseri community members have been assimilated by other communities majorly due to intermarriage, (Khanam, 2008). This has also led to the changing roles between the males and females. In the current times, it is normal for a woman to undertake what is considered as a man’s job and vice versa.

Political organization

In this community, a centralized type of government is used in administration. A chief is the single leader of the Basseri who has supreme authority over the entire community, (Khanam, 2008). The functions of the chief includes; collection and storage of goods in the community, planning and directing how the community should take its production activities, and ensuring that the behavior of the people is as per the norms and beliefs of the community. The Basseri are grouped into smaller units called tribes or chiefdoms. The smaller groups are usually headed by a leader who is usually recognized by the chief. These tribes or chiefdoms forms the formal institutions that are used to unify the dispersed groups. According to this community, leadership depends on the lineage clans. This means that one becomes a leader if only his parents or clan comes from the leadership background.

The chief draws his powers from the headmen (Katkhoda) who he sometimes, gives precious goods as gifts. The headmen are very influential people than any ordinary man because they are privileged to deal directly with the chief, (Thomas, 2009). These headmen come from the various political units (Tents). As mentioned early, leadership among the Basseri is hereditary. This explains why the son of the Basseri is always considered to be a Basseri even if his mother may be from a different tribe. As such, there is some kind of stratification of the society according to the different levels of power and prestige.

In many nomadic communities, raiding is a very common phenomenon because they belief that all the animals belongs to them. However, among the Basseri community this is not the case. They prefer co-existing peacefully with their neighbors who they encounter as they wander from place to place. This explains why they prefer an arbitration mode of conflict resolution whenever there is a misunderstanding between either the community members or the community and another community. There are different modes of dealing with those who are found to have broken the code of behavior that is accepted in the community, (Khanam, 2008). This will include imposition of fines whereby the offender is supposed to pay a certain amount of agricultural products, and to the extreme one may be disowned by the community members, a decision which is made by the Chief who is the supreme authority in this community.

Conclusion

The Basseri community can be described from various viewpoints that are common in almost all the nomadic communities. For instance, almost all these communities have a similar form of political and social organization. However, due to the surrounding communities and the environment the community has come to change their life-styles in one way or another. This explains the various changes that have been observed in the Basseri community in the recent times.

This paper presents the impact of government policies on women empowerment. This paper firstly defines women empowerment and then list out the government policies on women empowerment in the various Five year plans. Then on the basis of the data collected, I compared the degree of empowerment in the rural and urban women. The degree of empowerment was measured on four indices which were:- women’s mobility and social interaction; women’s labour patterns; women’s access to and control over resources; and women’s control over decision-making.

Introduction

The past three decades have witnessed a steadily increasing awareness of the need to empower women through measures to increase social, economic and political equity, and broader access to fundamental human rights, improvements in nutrition, basic health and education. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women.

Defining Women’s Empowerment

Empowerment is a continuous process for realizing the ideals of equality, human liberation and freedom for all. Women’s Empowerment, thus, implies equality of opportunity and equity between the genders, ethnic groups, social classes and age groups, strengthening of life chances, collective participation in different spheres of life–cultural, social, political, economic, development process, decision making etc.

Naila Kabeer defines women’s empowerment as the process by which those who have been denied the ability to make strategic life choices acquire such ability. This ability to exercise choices incorporates three inter-related dimensions: resources which include access to and future claims to both material and social resources; agency which includes the process of decision-making, negotiation, deception and manipulation; and achievements that are the well-being outcomes.

Smt Renuka Chowdhury(Minister of State for Women and Child Development ) says that, “Empowerment to me means self esteem – self reliance – self confidence. Sometimes one thinks if this was there, if that was there, this could have been done. But you don’t need any of that – if a woman is aware of her rights, of herself, if her self esteem is high, then she is empowered”

Governments’ Policies on women’s empowerment

The need for Women’s empowerment was felt in India long back. Mahatma Gandhi had announced at the Second Round Table Conference(1932) that his aim was to establish a political society in India in which there would be no distinction between people of high and low classes and in which women would enjoy the same rights as men and the teeming millions of India would be ensured dignity and justice- social, economic and political. The country’s concern in safeguarding the rights and privileges of women found its best expression in the Constitution of India, covering fundamental rights and the directive principles of state policy. Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39, 42, 51 (A) (e) contain various types of provisions for equal rights and opportunities for women and eliminate discrimination against women in different spheres of life.

From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards there has been a marked shift

in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining

the status of women.

The Eighth Plan (1992-97), with human development as its major focus, renewed

the emphasis on development of women. It sought to ensure that benefits of

development from different sectors do not by-pass women. It aimed at implementing

special programmes to complement the general development programmes and ensure

the flow of benefits to women from other development sectors to enable women to function as equal partners and participants in the development process.

The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) made two significant changes in the conceptual strategy of planning for women. First, ‘Empowerment of Women’ became one of nine primary objectives of the Ninth Plan. Second, the Plan attempted ‘convergence of existing services’ available in both women-specific and women-related sectors.

The Tenth plan continued with the major strategies of ‘Empowering Women’ as agent of social change and development. It adopted a sector specific 3-fold strategy for empowering women viz. Social empowerment, Economic empowerment and Gender justice. ‘Inclusive and integrated economic, social and political empowerment with gender justice’ is how the Eleventh Plan envisions empowerment of women.

New laws such as the Employment Equity Act, the Labour Relations Act and the policy of affirmative action, mean that employers (in the public and private sector) must introduce programmes, which ensure the representation of women in all professions and job grades, at equal pay and guarantees maternity rights. Government is also working to ensure that gender issues are mainstreamed in all its programmes and structures, and has created a gender machinery to monitor and advise government. This consists of the Offices on the Status of Women in the Presidency, Premiers and Mayoral offices, the Commission for Gender Equality, gender desks in departments and gender committees in Parliament and Legislatures.

Measuring the Impact of Government Policies on Women’s Empowerment
Given the complexity of defining women’s empowerment, I identified the following four indices that could lead to women’s empowerment
Women’s mobility and social interaction;
Women’s labour patterns;
Women’s access to and control over resources; and
Women’s control over decision-making.

Thereafter, I conducted a survey among the Rural and Urban houses of Allahabad and Varanasi to find out the impact of government policies on women’s empowerment.

Results and Findings

I compared the data of the two areas and the results are as follows-:

Women’s mobility and interaction. The survey found that urban women are more mobile and begun to have new interactions with a range of officials. In all, the survey found that:

50% of urban women surveyed had visited new places and traveled longer distances; In comparison to this only 5% of rural women surveyed had visited new places and traveled longer distances.

94% of urban women surveyed had experienced new interactions with staff of institutions such as banks, district and block development organizations and NGOs . In comparison to this only 2% of rural women surveyed had experienced new interactions with staff of institutions such as banks, district and block development organizations and NGOs.

Women’s labour patterns. The survey finds major difference in gender division of labour.

71% of the urban houses surveyed men helped the women and only in 3% of the rural houses surveyed men helped the women. The extent to which men helped was related to

The health of the woman (men helped more if women were sick)

The type of household (men helped more in a nuclear household)

The gender and age of the children (men helped less if girl children were present to help).

There was a comparatively greater difference reported in non-domestic productive tasks.

40% of urban women who had taken bank loans reported a marked change in gender roles, and only 6% of rural women reported a small change. However, the income-generating activities of the majority of women (both Urban and Rural) in male-headed households (for which loans had been taken) continued to be managed by men (presumably, the women’s husbands).

Therefore, the changes in women’s labour patterns were mixed, and not as positive as along other dimensions. There was little indication that women’s control over their labour had undergone a marked change, and the survey noted that many women(both Urban and Rural) may simply have gone from undertaking paid work outside the home to becoming unpaid family labourers (in male-managed enterprises).

Women’s access to and control over resources. The survey also looked into women’s access to non-loan-related resources and benefits, and particularly to common resources. In all the survey found that

70% of urban women had accessed to non-loan-related resources and benefits. Only 10% of rural women had accessed to non-loan-related resources and benefits.

It seems that a number of the women undertook activities that would give their communities better infrastructure or services, for instance in water supply, child-care facilities, health care services and improved roads. In this sense, they played a key role in promoting changes in collective access to resources.

Women’s control in intra-household decision-making. The survey found that

83% of urban women play a significant role in intra-household decision making. Whereas only 5% of rural women play a significant role in intra-household decision making.

There seemed to be a slight improvement in women’s involvement in household decision-making in male-headed households, on such issues as credit, the disposal of household assets, children’s education, and family health care. However, the traditional gender-based divisions persist in intra-household decision-making. Women basically decide on food preparation, and men make the financial decisions.

CONCLUSION

It was found that the government policies on women empowerment are far more affective in urban areas than in rural areas. This is the reason why urban women are more empowered than the rural women .However, the empowerment of Rural Women is crucial for the development of the Rural Bharat. The remedy for empowerment lies in a strong will power and a gender just reform in the whole system covering the major interrelated issues of Economic welfare, Social justice and Education. It requires every segment of society, women as well as men; government, laws, judiciary, political parties and media.

What is social mobility? Drawing on different perspectives, assess the impact of the education system on opportunities and life chances on the basis of social class. What implications does this have for the work of helping agencies?

Social mobility simply describes how people move along the social ladder. For this to happen there must necessarily be some form of social class in place. Social class occurs everywhere, even in the poorest communities. Take a typical village in Ghana for example, you will find that probably the village palm wine tapper or renowned farmer may be at the top of the social ladder; by village standards, they are the rich guys; these in addition could also serve as money lenders or movers and shakers. In the middle of the social ladder in the said village you might find the middle class who constitutes probably the majority of villagers with average incomes making just about enough from their farming or other vocations to make ends meet. Of course, at the bottom of this ladder will be the lower classes that have no jobs or qualifications and are at the mercy of the rich palm wine tapper.

Social mobility describes how the classes move from their level of class upwards or downwards. This movement could involve the acquisition of new skills or education in the bid to get better jobs and hence get more income. Sometimes movement is caused by for example winning the lottery, an inheritance from parents or relatives or any procedure either deliberate or accidental which moves a person from one class to another.

“Social mobility – or ‘intergenerational mobility’as economists prefer to call it – measures the degree to which people’s social status changes between generations. It is seen by many as a measure of the equality of life opportunities, reflecting the extent to which parents influence the success of their children in later life or, on the flipside, the extent to which individuals can make it by virtue of their own talents, motivation and luck.” (Blanden J et al 2005)

The Sociology guide has described Social mobility as a “vital part of social stratification and an inseparable part of social stratification system because the nature, form, range and degree of social mobility depending on the very nature of the stratification system. Stratification system means the process of placing individuals in different layers or strata.”

(http://www.sociologyguide.com)

In a social mobility paper Stephen Aldridge describes social mobility as a

“movement or opportunities for movement between different social groups and the advantages that go with this in terms of income, security of employment, opportunities for advancement etc.” (Aldridge, 2001)

There are types of social mobility. Intra-generation is when there has been a change in a person’s social position. A typical example will be clerical assistant who works his/her way up in an organisation. However, if a person’s social position changes over a generation it is called inter-generation mobility. An example is Margaret Thatcher and many others. She became prime minister as a grocer’s daughter.

“There appears to be significant intergenerational mobility in the United States, although perhaps less than is sometimes believed. Origins significantly affect destinations. Specifically, adult sons and daughters are more likely to look like their parents – in terms of occupation or income – than one would predict on the basis of chance. Still, there is considerable mobility. Indeed, even when occupations or income categories are broadly defined, a majority of adult offspring occupy a different occupational or income category than their parents.”(Daniel P et al 1997)

Horizontal mobility is another type of social mobility where a person changes their job-related position but does not change social class. An example is where a clerical assistant moves from Wellingborough to London and becomes an administrative officer. Vertical mobility on the hand takes the stage where people change their job-related position and change their social class as well. An example of vertical mobility will be for example a street cleaner becoming a solicitor or an army officer becoming a cleaner. They have fundamentally changed their socio-economic position.

There are types of vertical social mobility. If someone moves down the social ladder it becomes downward mobility. When they move up on the social ladder it becomes upward mobility. For example if an Army officer is promoted in rank it becomes an upward mobility. The magazine Business Week in 2007 wrote an article about how mobile phones in Africa are creating high standards of living and boosting upward mobility.

“Only a few years ago, places like Muruguru didn’t even register in the plans of handset makers and service providers. What would a Kenyan farmer want with a mobile phone? Plenty, as it turns out. To the astonishment of the industry, people living on a few dollars a day have proven avid phone users, and in many parts of the world cellular airtime has become a de facto currency. The reason is simple: A mobile phone can dramatically improve living standards by saving wasted trips, providing information about crop prices, summoning medical help, and even serving as a conduit to banking services.” (Business Week, 2007)

Another recent example of downward mobility is in this article in the telegraph.

“Though she is married to a builder, the 27-year-old housewife has rickety wooden planks for walls and covers her roof with plastic sheeting to keep out the rain in Harare’s Hatcliffe suburb – far from the neighbourhood where she used to live. “Right now I don’t have a housing lot, but we are paying money to local co-operatives (to save for a down payment) so we may get lots to build houses,” Chama said. And she is far from alone. According to official estimates, around two million Zimbabweans in this country of 12.2 million need accommodation.” (Reagan Mashavave, 2009)

Another type of social mobility is structural mobility which involves vertical mobility but its movement is brought about by a major disorder. It can also be brought on by changes in society that brings improvement to a large number of people. Typical examples will be industrialisation, expansion of education and computerisation. These changes have all brought improvement to people in the UK and around the world. People have through it acquired higher social status and found higher paid jobs than their parents. There is also individual mobility which involves people being hindered from taking opportunities because of where they were live, their colour, gender, religion, their educational background, job, wellbeing and many others.

The impact of the education system on opportunities and life chances on the basis of social class is enormous and hasn’t changed much since education began. It is still difficult for working class children to access grammar and good comprehensive schools as the middle class and upper class have populated areas where these schools are placed.

“Children’s social class is still the most significant factor in determining their exam success in state schools, the Government’s head of teacher training acknowledges today. In an interview with The Independent, Graham Holley, the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency, said: “The performance of a school and a child in it is highly linked to social class. “If you turn the clock back on pupils in school today 15 years and predict their outcomes from where they were born, you can do it.” (Garner, 2008)

Working class families are tied to the low paid jobs and often live in areas where schools are failing. Jobs are hard to find in these areas and its inhabitants are usually heavily dependant on benefits. Their lives are occupied with how to manage everyday living and not on reading to their children and giving them music and language lessons.

“The poorest children still have little chance of becoming lawyers, doctors, senior civil servants and financiers, a report published by the Liberal Democrats today shows. The Social Mobility Commission, set up by the party, said billions of pounds spent on improving social mobility over the past decade has helped middle-class rather than working-class children. Last year only 35% of pupils eligible for free school meals obtained five or more A* to C GCSE grades, compared with 63% of pupils from wealthier backgrounds.”(Shepherd J, 2009)

Disadvantaged children have little chance of watching educational programmes on television nor do they have the chance of reading the broad sheets. They are simply not patronised in their households. Libraries are rarely used and mobile libraries are not highly participated in working class areas. Areas in London for instance have seen various housing developments but they are not in the reach of the low paid. Overcrowding has many implications for the already struggling families as there is often no where to do homework. After school clubs charge for their services leaving low paid families out in the cold. Therefore chances of disadvantaged children reaching high levels of achievement in school are slightly dim.

“Young people in manual social classes remain under-represented in higher education in Great Britain. Despite increasing from a participation rate of 11 per cent in 1991/92 to 19 per cent in 2001/02, participation remains well below that of the non-manual social classes. Participation rates for the non-manual social classes increased from 35 per cent to 50 per cent over the same period.” (http://www.statistics.gov.uk)

The consequences of the manual or low class remaining under-represented in higher education is unthinkable as children from these background will experience either downwardly mobile or not move on the social ladder at all as a result of them not entering higher education. Today’s job market is very competitive and even those with good qualifications are finding it difficult to hold onto their jobs. It means that most all white collar jobs will be held by the middle class and upper class families.

“All the independent evidence shows overall standards to be rising. But the bad news is that when it comes to the link between educational achievement and social class, Britain is at the bottom of the league for industrialised countries. Today, three-quarters of young people born into the top social class get five or more good GCSEs, but the figure for those born at the bottom is less than one-third. We have one of the highest university entry rates in the developed world, but also one of the highest drop-out rates at 16.”(Independent, 8 September 2003)

Anthony Giddens writes in Sociology and Social Mobility that education is not necessarily a means to an end. Education would have to work with other factors to foster social mobility.

” Education shouldn’t be seen as a panacea for all society’s problems. It has a significant role to play, but we can’t hold schools and Universities solely responsible for promoting social mobility. It’s important not to think of the education system as if it works in a vacuum – factors like changes in employment and the economy, and the social determinants of children’s educational attainment, are critical in determining patterns of mobility.”(Giddens, 2007)

However, education definitely has opportunities for people to progress along the social ladder by providing relevant new skills, information, courses and therefore creating opportunities in life for them. A few years back a hair dresser did not need know too much about what she/he did as a hair dresser but in today environment he/she would have to know all the science there is to cutting, dressing and managing the business. Technology and other factors have raised the standard of work so high that without continuous professional development opportunities are not stretch far.

“In this new labour market, the value of college degrees overall is greater than ever before. Between 1984 and 2000, employment in jobs requiring a college degree grew by 20 million in the US, accounting for two-thirds of total job growth. Over the same period, wages for college graduates increased. In contrast, high school graduates in America who did not continue with education saw their wages fall below middle class levels for the first time. As a consequence, the opportunities for Americans with terminal high school diplomas are less than a generation ago.”(Social Mobility Foundation, 2008)

Although a small percentage of poor families are accessing higher education there is evidence that the UK government for instance is working frantically to improve the chances of the less privileged through innovations like Every Child Matters. This innovation is to give every child the chance of accessing education and other services in the community to give them better outcomes in life. Hence the establishment of Surestart Centres which is a one stop service for early education, childcare, health and family support.

“This Government has invested heavily in policies designed to give all children the chance to succeed. There have already been significant improvements in educational achievement, and reductions in teenage pregnancy, re-offending and children living in low income households. Today’s children and young people experience wider opportunities and benefit from rising prosperity, better health and education than those in previous generations.”

(http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/about/background/backgroun)10)

The implications on the work of helping agencies are many. Helping agencies like Children’s Centres pick up the brunt of any inequalities that lay in society. We bid or vie for large sums of money to run various courses and projects that underpin social mobility. In the bid of helping families read we have set up ‘borrow a chattersack’ in our children’s centre. This is to encourage parents who might otherwise not access libraries or buy books for their children. The books and toys are expensive but we charge a very minimal fee for them.

Often people bring to us various problems like divorce, debt and housing issues which we do our best to refer to other agencies for further assistance. We hold classes with Citizen Advice Bureau to advise people on budgets and other financial incapability. Many of our clients are lone parents or young families struggling on low incomes. They are often in debt and or have little financial knowledge. They often live on large council estates where aspirations are not that great. The recent recession has hit these areas hard and some people are experiencing downwardly mobility. This comes with various demands like counselling, retraining and financial loss.

“Equality of opportunity is a sine qua non for any modern society and, in Britain, is a principle supported by all mainstream political opinion. Despite this, household income remains the biggest single predictor of a child’s future success, and a recent report by the Sutton Trust found that, all too frequently, young people from financially disadvantaged backgrounds end up in a “cul de sac of opportunity”.” (Social Mobility Foundation, 2008)

Below is an example of some the types of work some helping agencies do. They use government funds to bridge the gap between rich and poor by organising trips to parks, educational establishment to boost confidence and increase knowledge.

“Nearly 175,000 bright children on free school meals will be given a chance at the age of 11 to visit a university as part of a drive to lift the aspirations of working-class people and increase stalled social mobility in Britain. Young people in the top 20% of ability based on test results, and who are eligible for free school meals, are about half as likely to go to university as those who are not eligible for free meals. They will now be offered two chances to visit universities.” (Wintour, 2007)

We organise sporting activities that will encourage the less privileged to put their feet in door of expensive sporting activities. We work with other agencies to bring information and understanding to parents who in effect calve their children’s place on the social ladder.

“A new report by the British think-tank Demos has hit the headlines, with its claim that ‘Parents are the principal architects of a fairer society’. Based on research from the Millennium Cohort Study, the report argues that how children are parented has a more significant impact upon their future life chances than just about anything else, including poverty and the social class into which they are born”. (Bristow J, 2009)

Helping agencies are faced with many demands for services they can and cannot provide. At our centre for instance there is the demand for certain services like computer classes, some sort of back to work training, cooking classes but we haven’t got the facilities and the man power to run such courses. We are therefore forced to send clients to other children’s centre’s in that losing their business. If we do manage to run any of the courses that put pressure on our facilities then we have to limit the numbers which in turn causes us to run the courses several times to fit everyone in. There is also a steady demand for information on sensitive family matters like finance.

Education seems to be one the important factors manipulating social mobility. In today’s society, education is becoming increasingly important as it used to ascertain the jobs people will end up in. Education is also used to determine people’s social class position. The recent government for instance has introduced many initiatives. Free child care for two year olds was trialed for sometime and is going to be offered to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Back to work incentive of ?500 and the investment into early years, FE schools and workplace training are all initiatives which research has suggested that has not boosted social mobility.

“In 1999 Tony Blair told the Labour Conference: “If we are in politics for one thing, it is to make sure that all children are given the best chance in life.” A decade on, the Government has had to admit that billions of pounds of investment in nurseries and schools and on training has failed to bridge the class divide, and that social mobility in Britain has stalled.” (Bennett and Bahra 2007)

As mentioned before there are many factors contributing to this fact. One such fact is the advantage that middle class families have over poorer families when it comes to education.