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Evaluate the impact changes to the family have in a social and political context

In order to discuss the changes the family as an institution has gone through and the impact that these changes have had, it is necessary to define the ‘family’. The term ‘family’ is often used to mean a nuclear family, for example two parents, usually married with one plus children. This definition however, in no longer relevant to twenty first century Britain. Factors including ageing populations which result in households containing no children; the delay in having children due to the increase in popularity of career minded independent women; single parenthood caused by divorce/separation; single women conceiving; and finally household division, in other words separated parents remarrying or cohabiting with other partners and their children, known as the reconstituted family. Policies are viewed by some as trying to reinforce this ‘normal’ view of the family. Many policy makers made the assumption, as Dean points out “the ‘traditional’ family consisted of a breadwinning husband who could expect to enjoy life-long full-time employment, earning a wage sufficient…to support a dependant wife” (2001:268). They argue that this model never did ‘fit’ society’s reality and as a result, many families who do not fill this mould could have cause to feel estranged from society and its ideology. Kiernan points out that ‘few developments in family life have been quite as dramatic as the recent rises in unmarried cohabitation and having children outside of marriage’ (2002:3). She also states that we should celebrate the family in all its diverse forms and match legislation to support this.

Explain the relationship between family structure and –
Social Issues.

Teenage pregnancies, often portrayed as a socially ‘deviant’ act are currently on the decline. Lisa Aria puts forward reasons why Policy makers are explaining the occurrence of teenage pregnancies. With contraception and abortion readily available, they suggest that early childbearing must caused by low expectations of mothers. In other words due to poor educational opportunities “they see no reason not to get pregnant” (Aria, 2003:200). Aria however, puts a positive spin on this theory when she states that “many young mothers have a weak attachment to the education system or paid work before pregnancy, and mothering, for them, is a meaningful vocation” and that it “should not be read as a sign of immaturity, buts its reverse” (212-213).

State Intervention.

The introduction of the welfare state was originally designed to support a small group of single mothers who were either abandoned or widowed. As Primus and Beeson point out “welfare has evolved to serve mostly families headed by divorce, separated, or never married mothers” (2002:191). The rise of claimants in these categories, and the growth of cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, has caused “policymakers and researchers to question whether welfare and tax policies influence a range of decisions about family, including decisions to marry, have children, or cohabit” (Primus and Beeson, 2002:121). This concern over whether means-tested benefits are subconsciously persuading single parent families is reflected in new legislation. Perhaps in a attempt to distance means-tested benefits from single parent families, Dean remarks on how the government has only just “stopped short of directly compelling mothers to work” (2001:271) with the implementation of compulsory ‘work-focused interviews’ for single parents on income support.

Evaluate the impact of key family legislation on:
Mothers.

The main legislation to effect mothers is related to the National Childcare Strategy put forward in 1998. Jane Lewis points out the aims were “linked to the attack on poverty and social exclusion” and this included subsidised childcare (2003:219). As Dean points out, these policies can be “fuelling personal moral dilemmas” (2001:274) as policy makers are sending out mixed messages. For example, the government proposed that we “place greater responsibility on parents for the behaviour of their children” (Kroll and Barrett, quoted in Dean 2001), however the pressure on parents, especially mothers to become involved with paid employment is persistent. Dean’s qualitative study entitled “Working Parenthood and Parental Responsibility”, found that due to this pressure to find employment encouraged by means-tested benefits such as the Working Tax Credit and the notion of ‘family friendly companies’, cause women to take up employment that is temporary, most often part-time and poorly paid. As Bryson and Marsh point out “recipients of in-work benefits seldom move on to higher paid jobs” (1996:272) and often are unable to dedicate more time and effort into the paid position due to familial responsibilities. Dean does claim however, that some mothers stated that they viewed their “lack of responsibility as a positive advantage in so far that their employment…did not interfere with those commitments that are for them of greater ontological significance” (2001:276).

Fathers.

Dean summarizes his research on working parenthood by stating, “men (should) have the same incentives as women to combine employment and parental responsibilities” (2001:283). In 2005, the government announced the proposals of a plan to extend Paternity allowance as a manoeuvre in this direction. As Susan Smillie (2005) states in the Guardian, “fathers could receive up to three months’ statutory paternity pay if their partner returns to work after six months”, on top of the two weeks paid leave known as Statutory Paternity Leave. This is a move in the right direction from a father’s perspective. While this would suit many career-minded women who earn more than their partners do, many mothers would perhaps not be so willing to leave their four/five month old baby with their partner if this was a first child. It has been noted by Dean however, that further developments in maternity allowances could seek to disadvantage women in the workplace if they are not matched by paternity allowances for men, as “employers might otherwise become increasingly reluctant to engage women” (2001:282).

Children.

The Child Support Act (1991) is another major legislation that has affected families and their wellbeing. This legislation affects fathers and mothers, however it is the child(ren) at the centre. The aim of the Child Support Act is to recover ‘maintenance’ from the father, which is then paid to the mother. The Family Law Reform Act (1987) and The Children’s Act (1989) make a clear link between “a father’s obligation to make a financial contribution for his children’s care and his right to have contact with them” (Burghes, Clarke and Cronin, 1997). However, as Bagilhole points out, where the Child Support Agency retrieved money from “absentee fathers…it did not benefit many lone mothers and their children because if they were dependent on benefits the child support they received was deducted pound for pound from income support” (1997:124).

Analyse the effect of the media on family values and family structures.

William Douglas has outlined the representation of the family and the values it promotes in his study cited in Television Families. He states that Post-War television portrayed a family consisting of women who were sexual but predominantly domestic. May (quoted in Douglas) points out that “motherhood was the ultimate fulfilment of female sexuality” (1988:140). Douglas states that this could have influenced the rebellion against familial constraints in the 1960’s as after the war there were numerous women in work, which did not coincide with the family ideology portrayed in the media. He states that the domestic roles within the household portrayed in contemporary television with regard to chores and child rearing, are more equally weighted that in prior decades. Women are usually portrayed as being in paid employment and that spouses are more openly intimate. He does state however, that unlike modern society, divorce is rare as “spouses simply do not divorce, even when relational and/or economic stress appears acute” (2003:112). He states that the ideology present in contemporary media has altered dramatically from the past as it now emphasises “personal ambition and achievement rather than family life and family relations” (2003:134).

Works Cited:

Aria, L. (2003) ‘Low Expectations, Sexual Attitudes and Knowledge: Explaining Teenage Pregnancy and Fertility in English Communities’, The Sociological Review, vol. 51, May, pp.199-215.

Bagilhole, B. (1997) Equal Opportunities and Social Policy, Essex: Longman Ltd.

Dean, H. (2001) ‘Working Parenthood and Parental Obligation’, Critical Social Policy, vol. 21, pp 267-286.

Douglas, W. (2003) Television Families: Is There Something Wrong with Suburbia, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Kiernan, K. (2002) ‘Cohabitation in Western Europe: Trends, Issues, and Implications’, in Booth, A. and Crouter, A (ed.) Just Living Together: Implications of Cohabitation on Families Children, and Social Policy, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Lewis, J. (2003) ‘Developing Early Years Childcare in England, 1997-2002: The Choices for (Working) Mothers’, Social Policy and Administration, vol. 37, June, pp 219-238.

Primus, W. and Beeson, J (2002) ‘Safety Net Programs, Marriage and Cohabitation’ in Booth, A. and Crouter, A (ed.) Just Living Together: Implications of Cohabitation on Families Children, and Social Policy, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Smillie, S. (2005) ‘Paternity Leave’, The Guardian, 19 October.

Internet Resources:

Burghes, L., Clarke, L., Cronin, N. (1997) Fathers and Fatherhood in Britain.

www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/sp120.asp

Unknown Author, An Introduction on Social Policy: Welfare and Society.

http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/society.htm

How has British identity and attitude changed since the 1950s?
Introduction

Many people find it difficult to cope with changes in people’s attitudes and identity, particularly since the 1950s. They struggle with the direction in which society appears to be going. The expanding nature of contemporary society means that there are more opportunities for people, this coupled with an expansion in skills and a less authoritarian attitude in the workplace gives people greater individual freedom. However, the continuing changes that have taken place in society over the last fifty years requires that people develop a greater adaptability in regards to their personal identities their attitude towards self and society. They need to be ready to move along with the rate of change and this requires a corresponding change in how they understand themselves. Thus, for Giddens (1991), the self is an ongoing project whereby identity is made and remade to meet the conditions of modern life.

This paper will look at how British identity and attitude have changed since the 1950s. There will be a brief look at what life was like in nineteen fifties and how identity was understood. This will then be compared to attitudes and identity today to highlight the changes.

1950s Britain

Post-war Britain was quite different to today. In the early 1950s there was still a good deal of war damage which led the Government to introduce massive building programmes to ensure adequate housing for the population. Immediately after the war the welfare state was set up. The funding of this was based on the notion that the (predominantly male) workforce would continue to have full employment, which led the Government to claim that it would be able to look after its citizens from the cradle to the grave. They were overly idealistic in their views and in the last fifty years Britain has witnessed massive changes in both welfare and employment work and welfare. Attitudes have changed towards family structures and this, along with other cultural changes, has had corresponding implications for peoples’ identities.

In the years following the Second World War people felt that they were secure in their employment. In industry working class men were conditioned to the view that if they worked hard then they would have a job for life, even though they may not have earned a lot of money (Giddens, 2001). This is no longer the case however, and is one of the many reasons that there are now so many women in the workforce (Abbott and Wallace, 1997).

In 1950s Britain society was clearly class ridden and people did not often move from one class to another. The class into which a person was born therefore was very often the one in which they stayed and this had implications for their life chances in other areas. People did not have the choices that they have nowadays few women went out to work and it was the father’s responsibility to go out and earn money to support his family (Walby, 1986).

In the years since the nineteen fifties the face of Britain has altered. There have been massive changes in employment patterns and this has, in many cases, led to changing roles in society which has had further implications for people’s sense of identity. Post-War immigration along with rapid social and technological change has brought with it n increasing focus on contemporary racialised and ethnicised identities. This mixing of new identities along with older ones, and the introduction of new cultural forms contributes to the sense of uncertainty that many people feel is a feature of modern life (Hall, 1992).

British Identity

The concept of identity is extremely important in sociological thinking, furthermore, constructions of identity are also closely linked to culture and people’s identities are reflected in the cultures and sub-cultures to which they belong (Willis, 1967).Smith (1991) claims that in Britain in the 1950s there was a fairly homogenous cultural, aristocratic sense of Britishness, which dated back to the sixteenth century. The British nation state, therefore was, essentially, seen as English with elements taken from Wales and Scotland. Langlands (1999) maintains that:

As it is true of all national identities, the meanings and saliency attached to Englishness are fluid and have varied considerably; it has at some times drawn upon Celtic sources; and at other times it has been conflated with Britishness (the myth of our island race for instance) (Langlands, 1999:60).

The Arts Council was established in 1947. This was an attempt to bring art to as many people as possible. Ballet, Opera and the theatre were publicity and held up as models of British cultural life. During the 1950s collectivist policies were pursued which resulted in cultural stability. Cultural heritage is of great importance. (the National Heritage site tells us) it is also crucial to the construction of identities and to social behaviour (Turnpenny, 2004). These policies which promoted what were seen as ‘high’ culture were stable until the late nineteen sixties and seventies. The growing number of immigrants was changing the way Britain looked and the way it had to find new understandings of itself By the 1970s things had changed and opinions on the far left held all cultural values as a reflection of the interests of white middle class males (Abbott and Wallace, 1997)..

In the nineteen eighties the market principles of Margaret Thatcher’s Government meant that art had to justify its continued existence on the basis of its marketability. In 1986 the cultural policy advisors to the Greater London Council wrote:

In an age when we know longer expect to find a single all- encompassing truth, the best strategies for survival often involve creating alternative, exclusive realms, which reject dominant modes (Mulgan and Worpole, 1986:32)

When New Labour came to power in the 1990s it took over elements of the left and the right in an attempt to promote a more diverse and inclusive view of culture and cultural heritage (Pearce, 2000). Pearce contends that:

Cultural heritage is something that can be inherited, which enables the inheritors to enter into their rightful states and be their true selves (Pearce, 2000:59).

This cultural heritage consists of artefacts, practices, objects and cultural spaces which people recognise as part of their cultural heritage. Turnpenny (2004) maintains that this heritage relates to all aspects of a nation’s life. Current cultural policy concentrates on buildings or monument, making heritage very tightly defined and denying wider cultural interpretation (Turnpenny, ibid).

Social practices which are a source of group identity have been omitted from Government legislation on cultural heritage yet they traditional, and cultural significance and should therefore be considered as part of our cultural heritage (Jones, 1996). Turnpenny (2004) argues that this is oppressive as it does not take into account community values and the communities’ perceptions of their cultural heritage and it thus contributes to social exclusion. Current cultural policy, in its neglect of the intangible, separates fact from value. In doing so it imposes a form of national identity that does not truly reflect the identity of community groups in Britain.

Changes in society affect social structures which in turn affect people’s identities in myriad ways. Because identities are no longer fixed, but as Bradley (1996) has argued are fractured, they are a source of continuing uncertainty. This uncertainty leads to further changes in the social structure. Contemporary people’s identities are unsettled because the changes mentioned above tend to cross ethnic boundaries. For example the changing role of women and their greater inclusion in the labour market has affected not only women’s and men’s identities, it has also led to changes in family structures.

Changing Attitudes and the Family

Over the last fifty years, Britain has witnessed changes in marriage, household, and family forms that would not have been thought possible prior to the Second World War (Giddens, 2001). The rise in the divorce rate and the number of single parent families, has largely been blamed on the 1960s rise of the feminist movement. There has also been a growth in the rate of women who have children but have not married (Social Trends, 2000). Attitudes have changed considerably in this regard and it is rare to hear of the lonely old spinster. People do not think that women who don’t want to marry are in some way strange.

Parsons (1955) argued that (what has been called)the traditional family serves two major purposes that are common to societies, the primary socialisation of children into the norms and values of society, and the stabilisation of adult personalities. For Parsons the institution of the family provided the mutual love and support needed by individuals in order for them to be fit enough to take their places in society (Giddens, 2001).

In 1997 when Blair’s Government came to power the above ideology of the family that had existed in Britain for almost a century was breaking down and unemployment was continuing to rise. Death, divorce, and the rise in the number of single parent families meant that the traditional ideal of the male breadwinner and the female carer/homemaker were becoming less common (Giddens, 2001). Single mothers (although not a strong favorite) were no longer seen as shamed women, as they might have been in the nineteen fifties. The concerns of the Welfare State were with the traditional, nuclear family where the man was the breadwinner and the woman cared for the home and children. It was not therefore, set up to deal with single parent households. In this way changing family structures result in an increase in other social problems, particularly poverty (Giddens, 2001). Traditional family structures are no longer the norm in the UK and this has led to a change of attitudes towards those who do not live in the traditional nuclear family that Parsons described. However, this leads to other social problems because the state system is not equipped to deal with either the increased burden on the benefits system or in making the employment and childcare systems more equitable.

Conclusion

British identities and attitudes have changed considerably since the 1950s. This is largely as a result of changing employment patterns, cultural policy, mass immigration, and changes in family structures.

Human behaviour is based on guidelines that are shared by a group and in order for that group/society to function effectively the guidelines must apply to all its members. Thus culture is learned and shared and without it members of a society would be unable to communicate effectively and chaos would result (Giddens, 2001). This is why attitudes have had to change in Britain and this has had corresponding effects on how people understand both their Britishness and their identities.

Bibliography

Abbott, P. and Wallace, C. 1997. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives. London, Routledge.

Bradley, H. 1997. Fractured Identities: Changing Patterns of Inequality. Cambridge, Polity Press.

Cohen, R. 1996 “The poverty trap” Community Care; 1 Aug 96, p.26-7

Crowe, G. and Hardey,M.1992. “Diversity and ambiguity among lone-parent households in modern Britain”. In Marsh, C. and Arber, S. (Eds.) 1992. Families and Households: Divisions and Change. London: Macmillan. Giddens, A. 2001. (4^th ed). Sociology. Cambridge, Polity Press.

Giddens, A. 1991 Modernity and Self Identity Cambridge, Polity Press

Hall, S. and Gleben, B. eds. (1992) Formations of Modernity. Cambridge, Polity Press in association with the Open University Press.

Pearce, S. M. 2000 ‘The Making of Cultural Heritage’, In Values and Heritage Conservation, edited by E. Avrami, R. Mason and M. de la Torre. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute (2000) 59–64.

Parsons, T. and Bales, R. 1955. Family, Socialisation, and Interaction Process. Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press

Smith, A. 1991 National Identity Harmondsworth, Penguin

Social Trends 30 2000. General Household Survey in Giddens, A. 2001. (4^th ed). Sociology. Cambridge, Polity Press.p.181

Turnpenny, M 2004 “Cultural Heritage, an ill defined concept? A call for joined-up policy” International Journal of Heritage Studies 10 (3) July 2004 pp. 295-307

Walby, S. 1986. Patriarchy at Work. Cambridge: Polity.

Though out history there have always been groups of people who do not feel that they are being adequately represented in modern governments, and women are one of them. Many women have experienced issues regarding whether or not their voices and opinions being heard and truly acted upon by people in political offices. As modern society continues to develop, things are beginning to become more apparent regarding the influence and ideas women have to offer in society and especially politics. Many women feel that there are not enough legislative powers adequately representing them and their voices. Men, because of their gender majority in politics, have the primary decision making when it comes to passing laws, which possibly affects more lives than they realize. There becomes a question if their views and decisions are based on their thoughts and opinions or those of whom they are supposed to be representing. When discussing such “sensitive” issues as abortion, which clearly relates to decisions that should also be made by women because of their immediate relation to the subject have minimal say if any because of the unequal representation. Even though America chooses to encourage other countries to build themselves around American values, America herself seems to be falling behind the times. Yet in this male controlled political system that America has chosen to adopt, there seems to be very little change in the ability to sufficiently represent women. This problem can be resolved through more women becoming involved in the political process.

Do women have a chance to overcome being head in charge. It has been said during the time when men were the bread maker and women were to be the homemakers. Women have been trying to wear the pants for centuries, whether it is as successful, career or in politics. It has always been debate about whether or not women are capable of succeeding in doing jobs that men have been doing for quite some time. There are many women now in the work force doing jobs that at one time were considered “male” only types of careers, jobs such as: police officers, fireman, and construction workers, even in politics. Hilary Clinton, who ran for the President of the United States, is a perfect example of modern women in the political arena. Even though she did not win the presidential race she still made her way to the White House; she is now the United States Secretary of State. Many people throughout the United States feel that she will do well with this position. My question is: What makes it hard for women to get the qualifying job that men hold and why is there a difference in the pay. Can a woman do the job better and get the job done equally? These are questions that many people in today’s society feel need to be answered.

Equality in the work place has been an issue for as long as men and women have worked together. Men and women work equally hard and get just as much accomplished as the other. Since the work is equal, the pay should be equal as well. It is seen by many that companies in the United States should be required to pay all employees equally and fairly. Obviously, pay should depend on position. If a woman works as a receptionist, she should not expect the same pay as a man in charge of system security. However, if a man and woman are in the same position, they should be paid the same. There are some jobs that women do better than men and vice versa. Companies need to realize that men and women work equally hard for their money. Often times, women work harder just to prove their equality. Instead of looking at gender, companies should look only at qualifications and how well the employee does the job. Women now are beginning to become corporate executives in businesses, and popular in the field of medicine and law. Women have tried hard to push themselves forward in society to create a balanced and harmonious economy and so far it has been successful. Barriers of all kinds have been broken, well, all except a few, mainly in politics.

Politicsaˆ¦when one stops and thinks of the word “politics” what naturally comes to mind? Our founding fathers, Presidents George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; the popular political figures of today, President Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Al Gore; and now we can think of Hilary Clinton. Is society to blame for this misconception that women do not hold important roles in government and participate in making important decisions for our country? Not really, people just don’t hear or read about women in politics as often as they do about men. As most people learn throughout elementary and junior high or middle school, our nation first formed government in 1776 when Thomas Jefferson first drafted our constitution. During this time women did not have a role in government, nor would they for the next one hundred and eight years, until a woman would try to run for office. “In 1884, Belva Ann Lockwood – the first woman to try a case before the United States Supreme Court – ran for Presidency” (Arenofsky 14). Well, to no surprise she lost, but her groundbreaking campaign made it possible and easier for Jeannette Rankin, thirty-three years later, to run and become elected to Congress for the state of Montana. However, even with this groundbreaking experience, women were still looked down upon for their lack of experience. It wasn’t until 1920 when women’s suffrage ended and the nineteenth amendment to the constitution, granting women the right to vote, and those women were formally introduced into politics. However, even with voting privileges, women were still looked at as weak feeble creatures. The lack of confidence and the inability to be seen as strong-minded females who were not afraid to voice their opinion hurt the female gender immensely. It wasn’t until “Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, crisscrossed the country speaking about social problems and serving as the quintessential role model for the politically active female” that women began to witness how to present themselves with confidence (Arenofsky 14). Finally, with women’s confidence on the rise and their new understanding and attitudes toward government, women were starting to attain a higher status in the political arena. The big break for women came from the decision by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1933 appointed Frances Perkins to the cabinet as Secretary of labor (Gurirab, T., & Cayetano, P. (2010).

However, in some magical, mysterious way, women are managing themselves quite nicely. Let’s face it, there are far more white-collared, wealthy men in the United States, and in the world for that matter, than there are women. Even with women having highly paid corporate executive jobs, women still make far less than that of their male counterparts. For women, this is one of the major issues as to why government is lacking female participation. The most valid explanation for this problem is that the government controls the financial gains of women to limit their power. Looking at the facts, women make up fifty-two percent of our nation’s population, strange how such a big percentage of population has little representation. The thought of a government developed by males and dominated by females just does not sit well with the vast majority of higher male authority. Therefore, in order to make sure that women do not dominate, without being boldly direct about it, income levels are tampered with. It may sound bizarre, but in Lyn Kathlene’s Studying the New Voice of Women in Politics, she gives some very valid evidence that shows how women are paid in comparison to men in the same high white-collared jobs. The results are quite shocking. Kathlene shows that women are out-paid by men by nearly forty-percent for the same amount of work and jobs! The responsibilities of taking care of their home and loved ones and the lack of funds, the fight for women’s dominance in government will never prevail. Does this mean American’s should just sit back and forget about the women before them who fought hard for their right to vote, to be heard, and have equality in government?

Social class, status, and power are predetermined by one’s gender. Within today’s patriarchal society, men simply possess greater power than women, “and enjoy greater access to what is valued by the social group.” (Gurirab, T., & Cayetano, P. (2010). Patriarchal thought produces male dominance, and authority within multiple areas, including politics. Throughout history, governments have designed laws to maintain such divisions of power, resulting in the oppression of women. “Patriarchal power relations construct sexual differences as political differences by giving legal form to the belief that women, because of their sex, are fit only to serve as wives and mothers.” (Gurirab, T., & Cayetano, P. (2010). One must question how women can achieve greater influence within the male political arena if they are not viewed as equal? How are determined women attempting to change their position within society, regarding politics? Multiple changes have been made throughout history regarding the place of women in society, but are they leading towards equality? The main goal of the women’s movement was basic citizenship rights for women. For decades, many of the first women’s groups strived for their civil and political rights as women. Their central focus was the right to vote, and the right to run for office. The purpose was to claim a role in democratic politics. Many believed that in order to attain political goals, the right to vote was vital. Women assumed that once the right to vote was granted, equality in the eyes of males was soon to follow, along with their new influence within politics.

Decades full of protests for women’s rights created several political gains, as well as improvements in their status; however, inequality remained. Women’s beliefs that political rights would lead to equal opportunity, were overshadowed by the reality that their inequality resulted in their lack of influence within politics. Multiple policies and laws may have been created or changed in an attempt to improve women’s role in society, but economic dependence, and physical reliance on men continued as issues. Women remained underrepresented within politics, holding fewer than twenty percent of federal, and provincial elected offices in the United States. Eliminating women from political positions hindered their ability to become a valid influence within the political arena. Unequal pay, workplace harassment, and discrimination continued to plague women in the work force. Many believe that the variance between wages is due to the fact that forty-one percent of women are employed in part-time or temporary positions; however, those employed in full-time positions only earn seventy-three percent of what male employees make. Women occupy only twenty-two percent of the country’s highest paying jobs, but hold sixty-eight percent of the lowest paying jobs. With the lack of women in high profile positions, and the belief that women are not as valuable as men, they continue to provide no bearing on the political aspects of society.

Women continue to receive less in our patriarchal society. “Women have less political power, fewer economic resources, less security, and lower status that do men.” (Gurirab, T., & Cayetano, P. (2010). This continues regardless of decades dedicated to movements for women’s rights, and lobbying for policies designed to alter women’s status in society. For those women who are poor, immigrant, Native, or disabled, they find themselves even more inferior than other women. Therefore, the question remains, are women equal? Simply stated, they are not equal. Women continue to fight for liberal democratic political power. Their gender continues to play a role in how society will view them, as well as their position. For centuries, power has been allotted to men, which continues to this day. Few women possess great political power due to the difficulties of obtaining customary equality within society.

In a world where men rule, how is a woman able to gain great authority, and step into the political spot light? In a society where women are viewed as insignificant, how are they to influence political decision makers? The law has granted women a voice within politics; however, it remains weak and inaudible. In order for women to increase their influence in politics, they must first become equal with men. Until then, they will be viewed as inferior; therefore, not requiring influence in politics. Gradually women are gaining more power, and prestige in society. Soon, the number in high-paying jobs will increase, creating a less economically dependent gender. As women strive for these changes, men, especially politicians, will be forced to take notice. As power for women intensifies, so will their influence in politics. As the voice for women’s rights grows, so will their equality; therefore, leveling out the playing field in the political arena for both men, and women. Society needs to realize that this is ‘the dawn of a new century’ and the role of the female should indeed be reevaluated. Women are equal to men, and should have the same opportunities as men. Women follow rules and are fair too. Women can cooperate with the government. Women can make good choices, and effective speeches. Most people say, “Well what about their kids?” Think about it. Men are responsible for their kids just as much as women are. A woman won’t run president if she has 3 year olds and needs to stay with them. She’ll run when she gets older because her kids will be older. I hope people will change their minds and give them a chance, because they’re there to do their jobs. I hope that one day I can live to see a woman president.

Cell phones: How have they changed us socially?

Cell Phone is a device through which people can call anyone and they can receive anyone’s call through a geographical area. It can also perform various functions such as Internet browsing, playing music and many more.

Can anyone believe right now that there was a time when cell phones didn’t exist? Cell Phones have changed their identity from luxury good to a necessity. This study hence examined how usage of cell phones has impacted people’s life thereby changing their attitude and their behavior.

Technology over the past few years has boomed a lot. People nowadays are very much addicted to their mobile phones and that’s affecting their relationship with their friends, family and their closed ones.

Remembering that people used letters to get messages back and forth from one person to another. Thereby we added cell phones to our society knowingly or unknowingly.

In the beginning telephones were just a mean to contact people whether they were at home when we called or not. Then was the evolution of cell phones. With them we can make and receive calls or send and receive messages in almost any part of the world. Usage of cell phones has subsequently increased in the past decade as it’s lot convenient to message anyone through cellphones rather than sending that person a handwritten note which takes time as well. Year into year cellphones are getting a lot of innovation from one level to the other. Manufacturers keeps on making cell phones that are way better than the old ones. High level of competition even gave a boom and high amount of innovation to this industry.

Each And Everyone Is Connected: Around two decades ago if you didn’t answer anyone’s phone call then the most likely reason is that you were not at home but now if you don’t pick up anyone’s phone call then you must be ignoring that person or screening your phone calls or there may be number of other reasons. Cell phones have obviously changed us socially as it’s very easy to connect with anyone we want and that too instantly.

Innovations keep on happening in the world in which we live. But it’s upon us how we treat those innovations, positively or negatively. However most of them are double edged and bring with them positives as well as negatives. Cell phones are no different in this case as it brings both the cases alongside. There are many benefits, which emerged with the existence of cell phones, which made life easier and better for the humans. Some of these include increase in knowledge with the help of mobile Internet, better communication with the help of its mobility. There are various negative impacts of cell phones that include death due to talking on cell phones while driving and addiction towards it.

Positive Changes in the Society due to Cell Phones:

One of the most innovative items of the previous century was telephone and it revolutionized the meaning of the word communication. Earlier than that people used to trust on cumbersome processes to transmit data and information, which was very slow, and it was ineffective as well. If one wanted to send messages urgently it was not possible and other consequences, which gave a boost for inventing something, which was reliable, fast and effective. Therefore it gave a rise for the invention of Telephone. With the invention of telephone people can communicate with each other irrespective of the distance. Telephones exist as they are globally accepted as a mode of communication and because of its uniformity as well. Addition to this, telephones opened up the room for further innovations as well.

With Cellphones came the most important invention of modern era, which was Internet. The Internet is a great tool as it allows anyone to find information on any of the imaginable topic in seconds. The Internet allows us to purchase or sell any product anywhere across the globe. It has really changed us socially as nowadays we shop through Internet rather than going to any mall and purchasing the products because we find that to be convenient as well. E-Banking and money transfer could be done with the help of cell phones. As we know, it used to take time and money during the period of traditional mail, which is not the case now as it has been replaced by e-mail. Internet helps us to communicate orally and can make video calls as well, which are cheaper than telephone calls. People can transact business anywhere in the world with the help of cell phones. Students can study for their exams even when they don’t have books with the help of e-books available and by other means as well. People can conveniently send their money even when they cannot go to banks and cannot use computers; it is possible with the help of cell phones. It allowed many innovations and it even changed the way people interact in schooling, business and when they communicate personally. We need to deeply examine the advantages we receive from cell phones, which makes our life better.

Social Networking is even possible with the help of cell phones; with the help of it people can interact with one another and can create new bonds. There are different kind of people in the world including shy, anti social and various others. Cell phones have many features, which allow shy people to interact with someone on Internet without hesitation and increase their confidence. This way boosts their confidence up and then they can interact with the people outside and meet new people. Moreover no person should feel himself as he is out of the community, social networks with the help of cell phone clears it off. Everyone has the right to talk through any means and they can feel like they are a part of the community. This increases the amount of happiness amongst the people and depressing thoughts about suicides and various negative thoughts stay far away. Some people would suggest that increasing amount of technology might reduce the personal interactions but the case is quite different as people can meet new people with the help of cell phones and it makes social relations stronger. Portability of cell phones even added to the cause, as two people can talk anywhere through the device no matter what the location is.

Security could even be enhanced with the help of cell phones since it is not easy to cut down the communication, which is the case with landlines. Parents could communicate with their children under any situations whether there’s an emergency or the other, with the help of it they can get a swift response and escalation of the situation could be prevented. When the Burglars attack the houses can raise the alarm but since they couldn’t control the mobile networks cellphones could come handy during that time. Due to easy acquisition and no maintenance almost each and every house has a cell phone through which they can call ambulance under health crisis and lives can be saved. Adding to this, fire cases could be prevented with calling fire fighters thereby saving the lives and someone’s property.

Once computers were used for doing research and other work but now they are used for playing games, Facebook, twitter, online shopping and various other things. Virtually one can do whatever he wants to or buy anything that he wants to with the help of computer. Cell Phones have now became computers on the tips of your hands.

One can use many applications through their cell phones, which are very useful for each and every individual. Nowadays one can watch live cricket matches on their cell phones so people don’t tend to watch sitting in a group which really hampers the social relations. Instead of meeting one another nowadays people video chat amongst them through various applications termed Skype, Face Time and various other applications. Applications like Whatsapp, Snapchat, Viber and many more applications has been very helpful to the people who use these through their cell phones and it makes the social relations between people more strong.

Negative effects of Cell phone usage:

Here are some of the tweets:

@Mackin__Hangin: But im out tho somebody snitched at work so now we cant have cell phones on the sales floor smh.

@AnotherHollyDay: The awesome power if cell phones: when you need toilet paper so you text someone to bring you a roll. #whycellphoneswereinvented

@DangerrrNick: Cell phones let me be in people’s pockets at all times.

@sophianguyen_: Yesyes cell phones in class :’)

All the above tweets suggests that nowadays people rely too much and too heavily on their cell phones. As we see the first and the last tweet are the ones, which are really sad. First off the employees should not be on their cell phones while they are working, as it’s a sign of disrespect towards the customers. It is the case for the last tweet; Students should not be using their cell phones anyways or getting happy about it. Secondly, there is less verbal communication between friends. E.g.: The person cannot yell at his friend who is near him rather he’ll text him for the toilet paper, #whycellphoneswereinvented was not the reason why cell phones were invented but it was for useful reasons. Even the third tweet is pretty much sad, for the beginning there shouldn’t be a thought process and thereafter cell phones shouldn’t be in one’s pocket all the time.

Desperation at its heights:

How do these things work srsly. #smart #gloves #phone #finger #touch #fashion #knit #hand #simple friction I know but what from?!

The above photograph depicts those hand gloves that were specially designed to use cell phones during cold. These gloves were specifically designed to use the touchscreen through the tips with the help of some magical frictional technology. It more apparent that people are dependent on their phones to that point where they cannot choose between having frozen fingers or texting their friends about how cold it is today. It is quite evident that society feels to be connected at all the times and they can go to a far extent for it as well. Desperation is at its finest point. The above photograph proves that how cell phone gives us new ideas to create that kind of technology through which we are always connected.

The above-mentioned source helps to specify my topic as it shows the eagerness of the people to use cell phones by any means of technology even when it’s cold. This source is interesting because it proves that people do not even know about the technology they use it because it works. This research is obviously related to those people who live in cold regions.

Forbes:

The Forbes article gives us very shocking data that says worldwide 3 billion people have mobile service. Just in the U.S around 84% of people have a mobile service. In 2012 around 51% of people said it would be very difficult to give up their cell phones. But in 2002 only 38% of people said it would be difficult. This source takes me to a direction that says maybe cell phones are much of a good thing. However, some businessmen such as Mehtani says, “His Phone has not made him happier but has improved his business.” This source is connected to those people with mobile phones who spend much of their time, even businessmen that smart phones have really helped too.

Psychology Today:

This Psychology today article is a study at Baylor and Seton Hall Universities, researchers studied cell phone and text messaging among college aged women and men. College students are the maximum users and most addicted. On an average they send and receive about 109 text messages per day. Ironically there are heavy numbers of chances for social isolation when most of your social life is connected through a cell phone. This information from Psychology today is very sad. However, with this source it helps to take me into a direction where I can really focus on the negatives with cell phone use.

Other Bad Sides:

Cell phones are also used for kidnapping and blackmailing, capturing blue films or explicit content. There are times when children most importantly youngsters ignore food, parents, relations while texting or sending a message which drastically affects their personal life. On the other hand there are many health issues, which affects the children and they become the direct target. Cell Phones popularity, demand and less security has made them best target for the attackers.

Cell phones and Tablets gives users access to e-mail’s, the Internet, GPS Navigation and many more applications but cell phone security has not been up to the mark as it was in computers. High security measures such as Firewall, antivirus and encryption are not present in cell phones and OS of mobile are not as frequently updated as that of computers. Socially as well hackers hack the account thereby sending unwanted messages through our account and then reputation getting spoilt.

Most people nowadays cannot function without having their cell phone with them. If a person leaves or forgets his cell phone at home they usually feel “naked” without it. A cell phone does not only take over learning environments and social events but they are also accused of brain cancer. Cell Phones have gone from just being a means to talk, incase of emergencies or questions to causing fatal car accidents due to people sending a text message with the content ‘LOL’. In todays society with texting and cell phone games, people rarely every spend quality family time anymore, and many accidents and problems are caused because of Cell Phones.

If one is more engaged in his cell phone most of the time then sooner or later he will become less socially active and start losing on his relations. Recent advancements in communication technology have enabled billions of people to connect over great distances using mobile phones, yet little is known about how the frequent presence of these devices in social settings influences face-to-face interactions.

Studies show that homework is interrupted and children become distracted when they receive notifications of a new chat messages, texts, or emails.

Studies have shown that it makes it tough for students who rely so deeply on knowledge to truly converse to adults in person because they don’t quite develop all of the vital skills to grasp or even onset a face-to-face conversation. Though, these skills are a critical instrument in the workforce. If you desire a elevated paying, stable job, or perhaps even to be confessed to a university, you have to have good face-to-face contact skills. If you lack these specific skills you most probable won’t even make it across the interview.

Research from www.accuconference.com states that in 2012:

•53% of adults owns a smartphone.

•42% of people has utilized their phone for entertainment after they are bored.

•51% of users utilized their cell phone at least after to receive information.

•27% said they had concern acting something because they did not have their phone.

•29% turns off their phones to seize a break from their digital existence at night.

Conclusion:

We have come to a society that is completely reliant on our knowledge to converse alongside others. It’s nearly impossible for us to uphold our communal existence lacking employing a little sort of modern-day knowledge to communicate.

This article is not to say that mobile phones ought to be barred due to their countless negative aspects. It depends on us whether we use this knowledge for our progress and prosperity or for our destruction. No mistrust, mobile phone is the best change of this period but people ought to use it in a positive sense.

As long as people have gotten romantically involved with one another, there has been conflict within those relationships. Some people argue that conflict is bad for the relationship and will ultimately lead to the demise of that relationship. Others argue that the conflict is good for the relationship and will help it to flourish. Conflict can be both positive and negative for a relationship. It can both help and hinder the relationship. No matter what stage the relationship is in and whether or not the relationship is being helped or hurt, conflict is always happening in different contexts. Conflict is also caused by numerous reasons. These reasons include a lack of interpersonal communication skills, low levels of trust, physical abuse, an individual’s past history in relationships, and many others.

Not many people in the world can say that they have had a 100% successful romantic relationship. Looking at the high divorce rate in the United States can prove this. However, there are those couples that have remained together for numerous years. As I am sure that conflict played a big part in ending a large number of relationships, I am also sure that the successful relationships have had their fair share of conflict and have even been helped by that conflict. In this paper, I have constructed nine propositions relating conflict to certain behaviors within romantic relationships. Each one will be defined, summarized, and supported according to the available research.

P1- Women that have been abused in the past are more likely to remain in an abusive relationship.

Unfortunately, thousands of women are abused everyday in the United States. This abuse can be physical, verbal, or psychological. Women, by nature, seem to hold a higher sense of personal worth when involved in a relationship. From birth, women are taught by society to conform to certain expectations and definitions of what it means to be a female. Growing up, women always here phrases such as “That’s not lady like” or “You should be treated like a lady”. What does it mean to be a lady? According to most societies, it means that women are the weaker sex and are always in need of a man to take care of them. Men are taught, from birth, what it means to be a man. This definition is usually one of dominance and control. This is shown in phrases such as “I am the man of the house”.

When a woman is abused earlier in life she is trained in that frame of mind that women are the conformists and men are the dictators. “Violence by men is a major component of the larger social hierarchy of gender.” (Woods, 1999, p. 481). The abuse in these relationships usually instills feelings of inferiority, which goes along with their societal learning from childhood. Not only does this abuse give feelings of inferiority but also feelings of shame which lead to a sense of obligation to conserve the relationship to the best of her ability. According to a study done by K.M.Landenburger (1988), most women in these instances gave up on themselves before they gave up on their partners. If giving up on themselves, the logical conclusion is that they will eventually see the abuse as a social norm and will expect that in future relationships, thus repeating the cycle over and over again.

P2- Women who have had more sexual partners increase their likelihood of abuse in a romantic relationship.

Again, in this proposition, abuse is defined as physical, verbal, or psychological. As in any situation, the more exposure that a person has to a certain element, the more risk is involved pertaining to that element. In this case, women who have more sexual partners are exposing themselves to a greater risk factor of being intimate with that one that will engage in some sort of abusive behavior. With the increased exposure to a number of intimate partners, there comes a decreased sense of control for the women involved in these relationships. (Neufeld, McNamara, Ertl, 1999). When a person loses their sense of control, they become vulnerable and susceptible to incidence of abuse.

According to the Abusive Behavior Inventory, (Shephard and Campbell, 1992 shown in Neufield, McNamara, Ertl 1999) the instance of abuse with a high number of partners went up significannot

ly in all aspects of the definition. However it seemed that the highest level of abuse occurred psychologically. The ABI also indicated that 5% of undergraduate females had over seven sexual partners in a six-month period. This group showed the highest incidence of abuse within those relationships. It seems to me that any people who expose themselves to a high number such as this are going to put themselves in a situation where the abuse would be expected, to an outside observer.

P3- High levels of insecurity cause high levels of dependency on romantic relationships.

Dependency is defined as the reliance of an individual on another person for the satisfaction of his/her needs. (Attridge, Berscheid, & Sprecher, 1998). In this case, insecurity can be defined as relational meaning a person will have doubts and uncertainties about the relationship that he/she is in. Insecurity is a sign that a person is lacking a perceived need in their life. Insecurity would then be the counterpart of dependency as w person would be lacking something therefore depending on something else. This is explained as “Theory views the degree to which a person is dependent on a specific relationship as a function, not only of the number and importance of the needs the relationship currently satisfies for the individual, but also as a function of the extent to which those needs cannot be satisfied by alternative means.” (Attridge, Berscheid, & Sprecher, 1998, p. 33). When a person believes both that a relationship fills specific needs and that there are a lack of alternatives to fulfilling those needs a greater level of dependence is going to occur.

Different factors that may lead to insecurity include the appearance of another person that the partner appears to have an attraction to, or a perceived lack of interest from the partner. Whatever the cause for the insecurity, it seems to always lead to a further dependence on that relationship. The reason for this is a fear of losing the relationship, therefore resulting in a further need for the counterpart to preserve the relationship.

P4- Women are more likely than men to want a higher level of closeness in a romantic relationship.

Closeness in any relationship is important in order for the relationship to flourish. I believe that most people involved in romantic relationships feel this way and desire that closeness. However, it is my contention that women perceive that closeness as playing a much bigger role than men do. As previously stated in Proposition 1, men and women are taught different things about gender roles from the time they are born. Women are “supposed” to be the caretakers of the relationships and men are “supposed” to be the hunter and gatherers that are independent and don’t need to always have that closeness. (Feeney, 1999).

In regards to closeness in romantic relationships, the partner that is more likely to initiate conversation about issues affecting the relationship is more likely to be the one who puts more value on closeness. In contrast, the partner who puts less value on closeness is more likely to avoid these conversations. In a study done by Judith Feeney, 37 out of 72 couples that were interviewed revealed that there was a difference of opinion when it came to the issues of closeness and distance. This doesn’t necessarily show that these women felt that the closeness factor was more important than the men did. As one man interviewed stated:

“She didn’t seem to really want me to much of a part of her life. Because of that, because I hate being neglected, I tended to react by neglecting her. Like I was trying to find faults within her so I could make myself feel better. I was always trying to find faults with her.” (cf. Feeney, 1999).

This man clearly felt that closeness was more important to the relationship than his female counterpart. Despite this man’s view on closeness, 26 out of the 37 that reported different ideas about closeness and distance, said that the female in the relationship held a higher view of importance on closeness than the man did in their romantic relationship.

P5- People with a high level of distrust in their partner’s feelings towards them, are more likely to have unstable romantic relationships.

All relationships need to be based on trust if they are going to succeed. If you don’t trust the partner you are with or vice-versa, then that relationship will never have the strong foundation that relationships need in order to succeed. Distrust in a partner’s feelings will form an emotional barrier between the two participants that are involved with each other. This barrier will eventually become the main focus of the relationship thereby halting all opportunities to focus on other aspects of that relationship. (Simpson, Grich, & Ickes, 1999). For example, if a man distrusts his significannot

other, he may always ask if she is happy, or if anything is bothering her. She always says that she is happy and nothing is wrong, but she doesn’t understand why he keeps asking. This eventually becomes more than an annoyance to her and she finally starts telling him to stop asking. The man then thinks that she is mad and has further distrust in her feelings. This whole scenario demonstrates how the focus shifts from the relationship to his constant distrust in her feelings.

P6- People with low self-esteem are more likely to experience feelings of jealousy in romantic relationships.

Jealousy is one of the most powerful and dangerous feelings when dealing with conflict within romantic relationships. (Guerrero, 1998). Jealousy can cause depression, distrust, and /or anger, all of which are very harmful to relationships. When one person in a relationship has a low level of self-esteem, that person has feelings of inadequacy about him/herself in some aspect of his life. The inadequacies that the person feels causes him/her to feel like his partner can get something from someone or something else that he/she can’t give. (Guerrero, 1998). Therefore, when the partner shows interest in something else (e.g. another potential mate, a job, or a new found friend), the other half of that relationship is consumed with threatening feelings that his partner is getting something, that he/she perceives as something that he/she can’t give, from a source outside of their relationship. These feelings will cause conflict within him/her as well as within the relationship.

Because one person in the relationship has low self-esteem, he/she believes that he needs the relationship but his/her partner doesn’t necessarily need him/her. (Attridge, Berscheid, & Sprecher, 1998). This will also cause the person to feel threatened when he/she thinks that there is a potential threat to that “security blanket”. This threat will be shown in the form of jealousy.

P7- Men who are controlling to their partners are more likely to become physically abusive.

In many romantic relationships, one of the partners feels the need to be controlling. They usually do this by “restricting their partners social interactions, monitoring their activities, and reducing their decision-making power”. (Ehrensaft & Vivian, 1999, p. 251). Men, by nature, have the need to feel that they are always in control. This is especially evident in romantic relationships. Some men however take it to the extreme. They feel the need to watch and control their partners every move. Sometimes this controlling behavior can turn into violent behavior. If a man, who is controlling, feels like he is losing that control, he will many times move to more extreme measures to gain that control back. A survey done on battered women showed that most women reported their partner to be controlling and restrictive before the physical abuse began. Furthermore, most battering men reported that before they became physically abusive to their intimate partners, they made “excessive attempts to limit the independence, decision making power, and social networks of their partner, in some cases they even felt entitled to control them”. (Ehrensaft & Vivian, 1999, p. 253).

P8- Couples that express empathy in conflict are more likely to develop a stable romantic relationship.

When in conflict it is always important to express empathy in order for the conflict to be constructive. Empathy can be explained as having a basic understanding of what the other person is thinking and feeling. Empathy, in my opinion, is one of the key ingredients to having successful communication. It is seen as being so important in romantic relationships that people have developed empathy-training workshops for people involved in romantic relationships. Many scholars have reported that the two main components of empathy are listening and suspending one’s own thoughts and feelings. (Long, Angera, Carter, Nakamoto, & Kalso, 1999). Both of these components are essential to developing and maintaining a stable and healthy romantic relationship.

Listening can be explained as a conscious attempt to listen to all information that a partner is trying to communicate to their counterpart. If one partner never listens to the other, it is impossible to know and understand what the other person is thinking or feeling unless that person is a mind reader. Without that willingness to listen it is therefor impossible to be empathic.

Suspending one’s own thoughts and feelings is of equal importance. “A person cannot shown any signs of empathy if that person is overly focused upon his/her self.” (Long, Angera, Carter, Nakamoto, & Kalso, 1999, p. 236). For example if a woman is expressing her concerns to her male partner about his lack of interest in going to the ballet, it is impossible for the man to be empathic if he is only focused on how much he hates the ballet. This then leads to conflict. However, if the man understands her wants and puts his aside, it will show empathy and promote better levels of communication. This will in turn result in a more stable relationship. This can also work in the exact opposite context where the woman understands how much the man dislikes the ballet and puts her feelings aside. This to will develop better communication practice.

P9- Men are more likely to withdraw from a serious discussion in a romantic relationship than women are.

Men are always said to be the ones in the relationship who want to avoid conflict. This is why I believe that men are more likely to avoid serious discussions about the relationship with their partner. Most of the time when there is a conflict between a couple that is romantically involved with each other, it is the sign that there is a problem in some aspect of the relationship. Most men learn throughout life to be problem solvers. This comes to be a problem if the conflict or “serious discussion” involves a problem that the man is unable to solve. If this is the case, the man is more likely to withdraw from that “serious discussion” than the woman is. (Vogel, Wester, & Heesacker, 1999).

This male withdraw pattern can also be explained by the fact that women are many times seen as having less control in a relationship and are therefore looking to change it. This has to start by discussing the relationship. Males on the other hand are many times seen as having more control in the relationship and therefore less open to the idea of change. This starts by withdrawing from the discussion about the relationship. (Vogel, Wester, Heesacker, 1999).

As you can see, conflict happens in all aspects of romantic relationships. Like I stated earlier in this paper, sometimes it is helpful such as the use of empathy. It is also sometimes hurtful as in the case where a more controlling male is more likely to become physically abusive. However, whether it is good or bad, it is unavoidable. In these nine propositions I have shown a small fraction of a small percent of the different contexts that conflicts can occur in romantic relationships. Whether or not you agree with my propositions, the main goal of this was to study them. As there will always be romantic relationships in existence, there will also be conflict within those relationships. If other conflicts are studied, it is conceivable that methods can be developed to make all conflicts within romantic relationships positive that will result in positive outcomes.

Prostitution is listed among the crimes some refer to as victimless or consensual crimes, but research shows that may not be the true picture of prostitution. Before proceeding, we need to define prostitution. Despite of the fact that, prostitution being known as the oldest profession in the history of mankind. The workable definition has proven elusive. From a dictionary we learn that prostitution is the ‘act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money’. But a prostitute cannot simply be a woman who sells her body, since ‘that was the norm of the society that women will get marriage in order to accomplish home and better life style. Promiscuity has been proposed as another candidate. Medieval canon lawyer Johannes Teutonicus suggested that a woman who had sex with more than 23,000 men should be classified as a prostitute, although, furthermore he says that sexual intercourse with 40 to 60 opposite gender would also be called prostitute. However, promiscuity itself does not turn a woman into a prostitute. Although a vast majority of prostitutes are promiscuous, most people would agree that sleeping around does not amount to prostitution. Hence I define prostitution as systematic sexual violence and oppression against female.

Selected national and international research projects and various programs by women have been initiated to address the health burden of violence against women. Such projects have especially focused on the health consequences to women of battering or domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, child sexual abuse and incest, and female genital mutilation (See, for example, World Bank Discussion Papers 255, Violence Against Women: the Hidden Health Burden). In depicting the health effects of such forms of violence against women, these projects attempt to make the violence, harm and human rights violation to women visible. However, a consideration of the dire health consequences of prostitution demonstrates that prostitution not only gravely impairs women’s health but it is obviously violence against women. The health consequences to women from prostitution are the same injuries and infections suffered by women who are subjected to other forms of violence. The physical health consequences include: injury (bruises, broken bones, black eyes, concussions). A 1994 study conducted with 68 women in Minneapolis/St.Paul who had been prostituted for at least six months found that 50% of those women had been physically assaulted by their purchasers, and a third of those experienced purchaser assaults at least several times a year. 23% of those assaulted were beaten severely enough to have broken bones. Furthermore, 90% of the women in this study had experienced violence in their personal relationships resulting in miscarriage, stabbing, loss of consciousness, and head injuries (Parriott, Health Experiences of Twin Cities Women Used in Prostitution).

Prostitution is physically harmful to women. STDs (including HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, human papilloma virus, and syphilis) are alarmingly high among women in prostitution. Only 15 % of the women in the Minneapolis/St. Paul study had never contracted one of the STDs, not including AIDS, most injurious to health (chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrheal, herpes). General gynecological problems, but in particular chronic pelvic pain and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), plague women in prostitution. The Minneapolis/St. Paul study reported that 31% of the women interviewed had experienced at least one episode of PID which accounts for most of the serious illness associated with STD infection. Among these women, there was also a high incidence of positive pap smears, several times greater than the Minnesota Department of Health’s cervical cancer screening program for low and middle income women. More STD episodes can increase the risk of cervical cancer. Another physical effect of prostitution is unwanted pregnancy and miscarriage. Other health effects include irritable bowel syndrome, as well as partial and permanent disability. The emotional health consequences of prostitution include severe trauma, stress, depression, anxiety, self-medication through alcohol and drug abuse; and eating disorders. Almost all the women in the Minneapolis/St. Paul study categorized themselves as chemically-addicted. Crack cocaine and alcohol were used most frequently. Ultimately, women in prostitution are also at special risk for self-mutilation, suicide and homicide. 46% of the women in the Minneapolis/St. Paul study had attempted suicide, and 19% had tried to harm themselves physically in different ways, for example, in another survey of 55 victims/survivors of prostitution who used the services of the Council for Prostitution Alternative in Portland, Oregon, 78% were victims of rape by pimps and male buyers an average of 49 times a year; 84% were the victims of aggravated assault and were thus horribly beaten, often requiring emergency room attention and hospitalization; 53% were victims of sexual abuse and torture; and 27% were mutilated (Documentation available from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives).

In developing countries, it has also been estimated that “70 percent of female infertility is caused by sexually transmitted diseases that can be traced back to their husbands or partners (Jodi L. Jacobson, The Other Epidemic, p. 10). Among women in rural Africa, female infertility is widespread from husbands or partners who migrate to urban areas, buy commercial sex, and bring home infection and sexually transmitted diseases. Women in prostitution industries have been blamed for this epidemic of STDs when in reality, studies confirm that it is men who buy sex in the process of migration who carry the disease from one prostitute woman to another and ultimately back to their wives and girlfriends. The movement of abandoned or rejected ‘barren’ women to urban prostitution has been documented in Niger, Uganda, and the Central African Republic. Numerous studies in Africa and Asia by the World Bank and a number of international research organizations have found that divorced or separated women comprise the great majority of prostitutes or ‘semi’ prostitutes’ (Jacobson, p. 13). Thus, a major health effect of the mass male consumption of commercial sex and the expansion of sex industries in developing countries is not only a rampant increase in sexually transmitted diseases but an exponential increase in infertility. The further effects of this vicious cycle insure that a whole new segment of women who are abandoned by their husbands due to infertility, are propelled into prostitution for survival. In both developing and industrialized country contexts, current campaigns to control the spread of HIV/AIDS by advocating “safe sex” for women in prostitution fail to address the blatant inequities between women who are bought for sex and the men who pay for it. Any AIDS strategy based on negotiating condom use between the purchaser of sex and the woman who must supply it assumes symmetry of power that does not even exist between women and men in many personal consensual relationships. If AIDS programs are serious about eradicating AIDS, they must challenge the sex industry.

Women in prostitution are targeted as the problem instead of making the sex industry problematic and challenging the mass male consumption of women and children in commercial sex. This is institutionalized when governments and NGOs argue for the medicalization of prostitution when they propose laws on prostitution which subject women to periodic medical check-ups. It is stated that women in the sex industry would be better protected if they submitted, or were required to submit, to health and especially STD screening. The way in which sex industries are responsible for the widespread health problems of women and children is mystified with proposals to implement health checks of women in the industry. No proposals have been forthcoming, from those who would propose both mandatory and voluntary medical surveillance for women in the sex industry, to medically monitor the men who would purchase sex. The same is true with current attempts to medicalize prostitution. No action will stabilize the sex industry more than legitimating prostitution through the health care system. If medical personnel are called upon to monitor women in prostitution, as part of occupational health safety, we will have no hope of eradicating the industry. Furthermore, from a health perspective alone, it is inconceivable that medicalization of women in the industry will reduce infection and injury without concomitant medicalization of the male buyers. Thus medicalization, which is rightly viewed as a consumer protection act for men rather than as a real protection for women, ultimately protects neither women nor men.

As with other forms of violence against women eradicating the health burden of prostitution entails addressing but going beyond its health effects. To address the health consequences of prostitution, the international human rights community must understand that prostitution harms women and that in addition to needing health services; women must be provided with the economic, social and psychological means to leave prostitution. Until prostitution is accepted as violence against women and a violation of women’s human rights, the health consequences of prostitution cannot be addressed adequately. Conversely, until the health burden of prostitution is made visible, the violence of prostitution will remain hidden. Once Victor Hugo quotes stated in is novel;

“We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is prostitution.”

Domestic abuse also referred to as asspousal abuse happens where in a marriage or an intimate relationship one partner tries to take control and dominate over the other. Where physical violence is involved, such domestic abuse is called domestic violence. An abuser uses intimidation, shame, fear and guilt to wear the other down so that the abused can be kept under the thumb. Abusers may threaten, hurt you and even those around you. There is no discrimination in domestic violence and thus it may happen among same-sex partners and heterosexual couples. Moreover, domestic violence may happen irrespective of our ethnic backgrounds, age and economic backgrounds. Women appear to be the common victims but in modern day society, men are also falling victims especially emotionally and verbally.

Different approaches have been used by theorists to show that there are specific characteristics associated with individuals who abuse their partners. These approaches have shown that such abusive characters have inability to cope with stress, possess low self-esteem, they have desire to have control and power over others, once had social support isolation, are dependent on their victims, feelings of jealousy and they may also have some psychological and mental disorders. This indicates that there are different risk factors of domestic violence from economic to biological ones.

Thesis: irrespective of what causes a particular domestic violence incident be it economical or biological, domestic violence is a social problem that affects our quality of life. This is an abusive behavior which is never acceptable and it doesn’t matter whether it comes from a woman or a man, an adult or a teenager. Every one of us deserves to be safe, respected and above all valued.

Ideas (risk factors)

Idea #1:

There appears to be a statistical correlation between domestic violence and substance abuse. Several studies on domestic violence indicate that there are high rates of substance abuse by perpetrators. Regular use of alcohol is documented as one of the leading risk factors in intimate partner abuse. There is evidence that drug and alcohol addiction and domestic violence are things that usually occur together. This indicates that most families where there is a parent who abuses alcohol or any other drugs have high rates of domestic violence.

There are several statistical evidences that show substance abuse increases the risk of domestic violence in homes. For example, around 87% of program directors in the field of domestic violence assert that intimate partner violence increases in a family where both partners are drugs or alcohol addicts. The U.S. Departments of Justice in its records show that around 61% of domestic violence offenders are addicts of alcohol or any other types of drugs. Moreover, a study conducted by the same Department in 2002 on murders in U.S. families indicated that more than half of those accused of murder of their intimate partners had abused alcohol and other drugs at the time of the murder. This is enough statistical evidence linking alcohol abuse and other drugs to domestic violence (Schechter, 2000).

People who abuse alcohol and especially men argue that they normally engage in domestic violence because at that time they were under the influence of alcohol. In some other instances, those batterers living with women who abuse alcohol or drugs justify their domestic violence as one of the best ways in which they can control their spouses the moment they come home drunk. In such instances, risks associated are high because the woman who is being battered may not have control to seek help since she is not sober. Studies on domestic violence in U.S. population shows that in cases where the man is the batterer and frequently abuses drugs and alcohol, such men have the tendency to rid themselves of the violence responsibility by stating that they did so since they were under the influence of alcohol (Kenneth and Elizabeth, 2000).

Substance abuse not only affects the intimate partner in the household but also the children. Children brought up in such a family experience more sexual, emotional and physical abuse than those in non-substance abusing families. Surveys conducted by National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse shows that around 80% of cases of child abuse are associated with parents who abuse drugs and alcohol. This problem may be translated into the later life stages of such children and thus reports indicate that there is high probability that they also abuse alcohol and other drugs and also result in the same domestic violence (Jeffrey and Abigail, 2007).

Idea #2: a major piece to battering of wives is rooted in most cultures especially in the African traditional society. Most men who batter their wives have rigid rules and views on their gender roles. Most batterers have sexist attitudes towards their intimate partners and this has been a consistent cultural issue causing domestic violence. Majority of our societies have trained men in a way that they see women in objectified and disrespectful ways. This makes most men to see their intimate partners as their possession. It was not long ago when in most cultures, women were always considered as properties of men. This is an attitude that actually still lives in the culture of United States. Today, only several years have passed since most states in the U.S. changed their laws regarding rape that occurs among married couples. There before, the laws in most states stated that a man could not be convicted in jail because of raping his wife. This is an implication that this woman was the property of her husband. Thus men in such cultures could do anything with the wife and the only thing that was required of her was just to cooperate. Even if such laws have been changed today, there are still churches where ceremonies are performed for the wife to rake oath that she is going to honor, love and obey her husband.

In most cultures, when a woman gets married, she has to take the name of her husband. The main idea here is that it becomes simpler than to add middle names or even to hyphenate names. This follows from the fact that in marriage and in all societies, a woman has to leave her father’s house and join the husband in his house. There is no time women belonged to themselves but they only belonged to their husband or father. This is what represented the woman’s last name. We can liken this to African slaves who would always take the name of their master or the slave holder. Even in matters of political choices, women started voting the other day and they were taken as individuals who could not take any stand on political matters. The underlying theme is that the general attitudes men have towards women affect people’s willingness to hurt them physically.

Emerging African literature on different causal theories shows there is power of norms and tradition in African cultures that explain the widespread domestic violence incidence. There are so many African societies which see that as a direct connection and as a result they argue that wife battering is normal in African traditions. According to Randall (2003), this is a proposition that is supported by several authors who have conducted several interviews. One such good example is the interview from the Social Welfare Office of Ibadan, Nigeria. This is a region where even police officers remind women who come to report that they have been battered by their husband that Yoruba culture allows its men to beat their women. There are however other indirect cultural explanations of some concepts such as polygamy impact, male promiscuity acceptance, uneven power distribution in traditional African marriages, power of extended families on a married couple and the bride price institution as underlying causes for wives abuse. Payment of bride price to the wife’s parents after marriage makes it even more difficult to leave their battering husbands unless the amount paid is willingly returned by the families of origin.

According to Randall (2003), domestic violence studies conducted in Zimbabwe involving interviews on twenty-five male abusers and seventy-five female victims of domestic violence in Shona-speaking community showed that cultural factors are a major cause for domestic violence. In this study, it was reported that most domestic quarrels emerged out of jealousy and money. A good example is in the Shona community where quarrels between a husband and his wife emerge because the wife has asked for money. This is taken as a challenge on the traditional absolute male control of the household on family finances. There is also a similar dynamic in domestic violence which is initiated by jealousy. Even if male promiscuity in Africa is traditionally accepted, the sexuality of the females is zealously controlled by the family or the husband. Not only in African traditional societies but also in other earlier civilized ones in Americas, Asia and Europe where a wife may be seen as challenging the husband’s prerogatives and authority the moment she demands explanations on his extramarital involvements. In most cases violence erupts if the wife asks her husband where he has been and with whom or in other cases showing threat for addition of other wives. Addition of multiple wives is today seen as a big threat to economic survival for the first wife, the children and a source for HIV/AIDs scourge and thus wives may be tempted to question their husbands. But this questioning is seen as a challenge to the traditional man’s rights and a threat to the culturally prescribed position and this automatically provokes violence.

Idea #3: absolute poverty is considered one of the fundamental basis of domestic violence against women in most households (Inter-American Development Bank, Biehl and Morrison, 1999). Relative violence may also play a role though complementary in generating domestic violence since such families have difficulties in attaining “standards of consumption” apart from food and this may be a potential source of violence.

Studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between domestic violence and poverty. One of the common opinions is based on the fact that poverty comes with frustrations which normally may tend to unleash violent behavior. There are numerous aggravating problems for this and they include high consumption of alcohol, low schooling levels, poor living conditions, few entertainment opportunities, poor jobs and failure to improve conditions of living, large family burden and lack of adequate basic services in life (Rachel, 2000). These are potential circumstances that might predispose marginalized and poor family members to result to domestic violence. The major domestic violence in such cases occurs between the husband (provider) and his wife who takes over the management of the household. On the man’s side, source of conflict is the deficit to materially provide for the household while on the side of the woman; the source may be her inability to manage the little they have which is always “never enough.” In such a standpoint, domestic violence has come as a result of poverty in the household.

According to Schechter (2000), there were so many studies on domestic violence among low-income that were conducted in the 1990s when most families lost guarantee on income supports. The results were pervasive. After low-income people in Chicago were examined, the studies found that 25% of low-income non-recipients and 33% of welfare recipients experienced “severe aggression” in their adulthood via their partners. There were also results that 8% of non-recipients and 19% of recipients experienced serious aggression within the previous twelve months. The same studies found that in Worcester, Massachusetts low-income and homeless mothers reported 32% positive cases of physical violence within the previous two years. Moreover, a study by the National Family Violence Survey showed that domestic violence on women who have annual income less than $10,000 were 3.5 times likely if compared to those who had more than $40,000 annual salary.

Counterargument

There must be a misconception that domestic violence is caused by substance abuse, cultural factors or even poverty. The fact is that equal numbers of drunken and sober men are equally violent. Where studies have been conducted on this they have not been able to explain in detail why almost 80% of heavy and binge drinkers never abuse their partners be it the wife or the husband. Alcohol or any other stimulant substances are used by men so that they can use them as the excuses or the permissions for them to act violently. Many stop taking alcohol and they still continue being violent. Also not every child who grows up in a violent home will grow up to become a violent adult in his/her home. Domestic violence is a choice. Sometimes people react violently because they have been provoked by others and this may act just as the normal self-defense.

Refutation

By the time one gets provoked, its because he/she has in one way or the other tried to exert control over his/her partner. It is a fact that irrespective of whether the domestic violence resulted after one was provoked either due to poverty frustrations and pressures, cultural beliefs or substance abuse it has adverse effects on our victims. Children brought up in such backgrounds may develop low self-esteem and long term effects that may haunt them later in their lives. It is possible to find such children having dismal academic performances. Others have been sexually, emotionally and physically assaulted and all of us need respect, love and to be valued.

Conclusion

Domestic violence is live in our modern society. Women appear to be the most affected since gender inequality ahs always been there. Until the 70s women who were battered had no places to report or to seek support ands especially those who were sexually assaulted. There were few shelters for victims of domestic violence like hospitals, civil and criminal courts, law enforcement and other social service agencies. But today, there seems to be numerous community-based violence programs that provide array of quality services. These include safety planning, transportation, crisis counseling and intervention, legal advocacy, children’s services and housing and relocation services among others. In order to minimize domestic violence cases there are many programs engaging in continuous advocacy efforts and this may include collaboration with community service workers, development of public awareness campaigns and being active for political lobbying efforts that improve safety for children and victims. With such efforts, we may help to minimize adverse effects on victims.

This study will examine the causes, incidence, and solutions involved in preventing and analyzing domestic violence. By observing data from across America, one can realize the growing problem of domestic violence, which has involves great majority of males victimizing women. By realizing the causes of poverty and a lack of education, the issue of domestic violence can be dissected in this sociological phenomenon. By observing a great reliance on educating men and women in psychological and therapeutic strategies, as well as learning how to eradicate poverty, domestic violence can be diminished within the United States.

The problem of domestic violence is a serious issue within American society, which has staggering affects on the economy and the well being of spousal relationships. In this regard, many studies have been done to discover the reality of domestic violence, such as the one’s committed between a man and a woman. The American Institute of Domestic Violence states these facts in a study done in 2004:

1.85-95% of all domestic violence victims are female.

2.Over 500,00 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year.

3.5.3 million women are abused each year.

4.1,232 women are killed each year by an intimate partner.

5. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women.

6.Women are more likely to be attacked by someone they know rather than by a stranger

(The Human Factor, 2005, para.3).

The fact that nearly 90% of women are the victims of domestic violence tells us a great deal about the role of male aggression in these violent acts. The problem of female victimization is extensive through the statistics, as 5 million women suffer from male violence, and are targeted by a male that has been romantically involved with them. These incidental numbers rand percentages reveal a staggering population of women that are being attacked and sometimes killed by men. In this manner, one can realize the numbers and the problematic role of patriarchal aggression within American society in domestic violence.

The causal psychology of domestic violence between men and women involved in marital or non-marital relationships relies on the victim’s ignorance. As the aggressive male tends to feel that he has the right to abuse the woman, so does the women feel that she does not deserve any better treatment from her abuser. This form of pathology involves a conditioning element, which psychologists explain as possible causes for this form of domestic abuse. The most abundant issues involving this form of abusive relationship is explained through economics and education levels:

1.Both males and females with disabilities are at increased risk of abuse due to reliance on their caregiver.

2.Many victims are pregnant.

3.Women from families with annual incomes below $10,000 are at increased risk for intimate violence.

4.Conversely, wives whose educational or occupational level is high relative to their husbands are at greater risk for abuse than those in marriages without such differences.

5.The abuser is typically an underachiever who has obtained lower occupational status than expected given the abuser’s education

(Burnett, 2006, para.45).

In this regard, the causal factors indicate that the psychological pathology of domestic abuse relies on the income level and educational capacity of the abuser and the victim. This tells some of the facts that relate to many of the couples involved in these relationships, and why depression from poverty and the inability to get a decent education helps add to stress levels. Furthermore, the pressure of being pregnant and the difficulties of having low incomes may also be a factor in why these types of women are targeted. Also, the theory of adult attachment may be a viable explanation to help describes the causes that economic and psychological stress place on the abuser and victim:

Adult attachment theory describes the ways romantic partners respond during times of distress, separation, or interpersonal conflict (see Pietromonaco & Barrett, 2000). Attachment-related cognitive schema provide default reactions to difficult situations (Bowlby, 1982) and predict whether adults prefer to cope independently, seek support from romantic partners, or combine these approaches. In unhealthy attachment styles, coping responses may include misperceptions of relational cues and difficulties regulating affect (Gormley, 2005, para.6).

This provides some of the psychological factors that poverty and stress have within the background of the domestic abuse that may be occurring within male/female relationships. The result of the habitual tolerance and the ignorance that is partaken by both men and women should be understood within this format. A lack of education in relationships and the tendency of both parties in the relationship rely on dysfunctional approaches to stress and communication, resulting in the violence that relies on the aggression of the male.

Solutions to this problem would clearly indicate that education and poverty are serious factors in regards to how people handle stress. In many ways, it is the psychological education of both men and women that must be addressed when dealing with social issues of this gravity. The use of therapy for abused women has become a priority for many state and private counselors that have used the law and psychological training to help women defend against abuse:

Advocates that empower and assist victims to well-being are concerned above all for the safety of the victim and her children. Safety is a basic human need, and a fundamental right in any human relationship. Domestic and sexual violence are violations of that primary need for safety and security. Because a victim’s greatest risk for harm occurs at the point in which she takes steps to end the abuse, every interaction and intervention must consider her safety and her assessment of the situation (Koch, 2001, p.102).

This solution helps to promote the education needed by the victim, since she is most likely to the be the brunt of the violence. By taking an approach to the female component of the abuse, the woman can learn to see the signs of abuse and learn to empower herself through education. With psychological tools given by an occupational therapist, one can realize how prevention can help the woman the erroneous judgments that she may have been taught by her own parents or past abusive spouse. This can help the woman to make the right choice with an informed opinion as to how she may want to proceed with the relationship. In some cases, resolutions can be found by learning to educate both the abusive male and the woman in educating themselves in coping skills in their relationship. However, it is the woman that gets precedence under law in regards to the abuse, since she is usually the physically or mentality abused person in the conflict.

One solution for men may be the same education afforded to women. In the case of understanding familial backgrounds and behavioral patterns in psychology, the research indicates that abuse is taught though generational standards of aggression and even alcoholism that underlie many of the domestic violence issues in today’s society:

These findings provide new information regarding the relative impact and interrelationship between previously separately identified risk factors for the development of problems with alcohol and aggression. Moreover, the multigenerational span of time encompassed by this only partially retrospective study offers a life course perspective on the transmission of risk that has been only segmentally examined in prior work. The model indicates how early childhood experiences of the parents, involving grandparental aggression against the parents as children, as well as the grandparents’ own alcoholism and marital aggression, affected the development of the parents’ antisocial behavior, which in turn was linked to their adulthood outcomes of alcoholism and marital aggression, as well as their aggression toward their own offspring (Fuller, 2003, para.27).

These important factors in research make it extremely liable that men may also use psychology to help better educate (through coping skills) in breaking patterns of aggression. The instances of being taught violence toward women is a familial and generational problem that is instilled within boys at a young age. The use of a therapist can help to alleviate some of the issues of coping with anger and rage, which they have also been made a victim of in their understanding of spousal relationships. These psychological factors, in collusion with discovering effective modes of gaining employment, can help the abusive male recover and learn to change old habits that were vented upon the victimized partner in the relationship.

In conclusion, the incidental statistics, causal, and solution based research on domestic violence has been evaluated in this study. The increasing number of women being killed and victimized by men must be taken seriously in an effort to dissolve rising rates of abuse. By realizing the damaging cycles of multi-generational violence that occurs in both the female victim and the male abuser, the premise of psychology can help to bring about greater educational modes of healing in preventing future abuse. In this manner both men and women can learn to use newer and healthier coping skills that affect them due to economic disparity or a lack of education. In this manner, domestic violence is a problematic issue in American society, and it must be understood and researched to help prevent further abuse.

Gender-based violence both reflects and reinforces inequities between men and women and compromises the health, self-respect, safety and sovereignty of its victims. It encompasses an extensive assortment of human rights violations, including sexual exploitation of children, rape, home brutality, sexual battering and harassment, trafficking of women and girls and numerous detrimental customary practices. Any one of these abuses can leave profound mental scars, damage the wellbeing of women and girls in common, including their reproductive and sexual health, and in some instances, results in death. Violence against women has been called “the most insidious yet slightest renowned human rights oppression in the globe, and is a demonstration of historically uneven supremacy dealings between men and women, which have led to dominance over and inequity against women by men and to the hindrance of the complete progression of women, that cruelty against women is one of the critical social mechanisms by which women are compelled into a subsidiary position compared with men.

Around the world, as many as one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or maltreated in some other approach – most frequently by someone she knows, including by her spouse or another male relatives; one woman in four has been ill-treated during pregnancy. Violence against women mutually violates and impairs or nullifies the gratification by women of their human rights and elementary freedoms. In all societies, to a superior or minor extent, women and girls are subjected to corporal, sexual and mental violence that cuts across ranks of earnings, class and customs. This is a subject which endangers women’s lives, bodies, mental uprightness and autonomy. Violence may have reflective effects, both direct and indirect, on a woman’s reproductive health, including: unnecessary pregnancies and limited admittance to family planning information and contraceptives, treacherous abortion or injuries unremitting throughout a lawful abortion subsequent to an unwanted pregnancy, complications from recurrent, high-risk pregnancies and lack of follow-up care, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, continual gynecological problems as well as mental tribulations.

Gender-based violence also serves – by purpose or outcome – to perpetuate male authority and control. It is sustained by a custom of silence and denunciation of the significance of the health penalty of violence. In addition to the impairment they exact on the individual stage, these outcomes also exact a communal duty and position an intense and needless yoke on health services. According to Murphy and Ringheim, four factors have been constantly linked with violent behavior: norms of male privilege and possession of women; male supervision of possessions in the family; male execution of decision-making in the family; and concepts of masculinity attached to supremacy and nobility (2001). Moreover, UNFPA recognizes that violence against women is inextricably linked to gender-based inequalities. When women and girls are anticipated to be generally submissive, their conduct in relation to their health, together with reproductive health, is unenthusiastically affected at all stages of the life cycle. When investigating the extenuating conditions – lack of resources, education, healthcare and the sex trade, we find great and competent relations, and understand that these factors enable the perseverance of this phenomenon.

The pervasiveness of home violence in a given society, thus, is the outcome of implicit reception by that society. The way men analyze themselves as men, and the way they think of women, will verify whether they use aggression or intimidation against women. Studies of very young boys and girls show that even though boys may have an inferior acceptance for annoyance, and an inclination towards rough-and-tumble play, these tendencies are dwarfed by the magnitude of male socialization and peer demands into masculinity roles. UNFPA recognizes that ending gender-based violence will mean changing cultural concepts about masculinity, and that procedure should dynamically appoint men, whether they are strategy makers, parents, spouses or little boys.

Cross-cultural studies of wife abuse have found that nearly a fifth of peasant and small-scale societies are essentially free of family violence. The existence of such cultures proves that male violence against women is not the inevitable result of male biology or sexuality, but more a matter of how society views masculinity. Most domestic violence involves male anger directed against their women partners. This gender difference appears to be rooted in the way boys and men are socialized — biological factors do not seem to account for the dramatic differences in behavior in this regard between men and women. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence. Some husbands become more violent during the wife’s pregnancy, even kicking or hitting their wives in the belly. These women run twice the risk of miscarriage and four times the risk of having a low birth-weight baby.

Looking at the pprevalence of and reasons for domestic violence among women from low socioeconomic communities of Karachi, cross-sectional study were conducted to estimate the prevalence of domestic violence and identify the reasons for it among 400 married women aged 15-45 years in low socioeconomic areas in urban Karachi. Data were collected with a pretested questionnaire. The prevalence of verbal abuse was 97.5% by the husband and 97.0% by the in-laws; the prevalence of physical abuse was 80.0% and 57.5% by the husband and in-laws respectively. Financial issues were the commonest reason for domestic violence followed by infertility and not having a son. The prevalence of domestic violence in this sample of women is high. There is a need to address this problem with efforts from health workers, policy-makers, nongovernmental organizations and others (Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 2007).

The majority of sexual assault victims are young. Women in positions of abject dependence on male authorities are also particularly subject to unwanted sexual coercion. Rape in time of war is still common. It has been extensively documented in recent civil conflicts, and has been used systematically as an instrument of torture or ethnic domination. Now, with precedents set at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Tanzania, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, at The Hague, for mass rape, other acts such as sexual assault, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced sterilization, forced abortion, and forced pregnancy may qualify as crimes of torture, crimes against humanity, and even some as crimes of genocide. This vicious cycle of development, identity and gender-based violence in fact explains the empirical evidence of the association between gender based violence and poverty, the individual risk factors of alcohol and substance abuse, male unemployment, male educational status and childhood experience of violence. Poverty, lack of education and lack of healthcare increases both vulnerability and the likelihood of exposure to gender based violence. There has also been the prevalence of the sex trade among women as a means of earning income which ultimately has unbearable the consequences on its workers and on women in general. The objectification of women is also a pressing issue that cannot be ignored.

Violence, and women’s fear of it, limits women’s choices in virtually all spheres of life. It has long-term, as well as short-term consequences on women’s physical and emotional well-being. It detrimentally affects women’s ability to gain an education, earn a livelihood, develop human relationships and participate in public activities, including development programmes. There are different types of problems all over the world that women face, from the wealthiest countries to the poorest. In many countries, women are not entitled to own property or inherit land. Social exclusion, “honor” killings, female genital mutilation, trafficking, restricted mobility and early marriage among others, deny the right to health to women and girls and increase illness and death throughout the life-course. It will remain difficult for us to see sustainable progress unless we fix failures in health systems and society so that girls and women enjoy equal access to health information and services, education, employment and political positions.

Reports by UNICEF, State of the World’s Children, state that reasons for such disparity include the fact that women are generally underpaid and because they often perform low-status jobs, compared to men. UNICEF notes that the data isn’t always perfect, and that generalizations such as the above can hide wider fluctuations. “In Brazil, for example, women under the age of 25 earn a higher average hourly wage than their male counterparts.” (p.39)Women not only earn less than men but also tend to own fewer assets. Smaller salaries and less control over household income constrain their ability to accumulate capital. Gender biases in property and inheritance laws and in other channels of acquiring assets also leave women and children at greater risk of poverty. Paid employment for women does not automatically lead to better outcomes for children.

Factors such as the amount of time women spend working outside the household, the conditions under which they are employed and who controls the income they generate determine how the work undertaken by women in the labor market affects their own well-being and that of children (2007, p.36). Moreover, according to the United Nations, in no country in the world do men come anywhere close to women in the amount of time spent in housework. Furthermore, despite the efforts of feminist movements, women in the core [wealthiest, Western countries] still suffer disproportionately, leading to what sociologists refer to as the “feminization of poverty,” where two out of every three poor adults are women. The informal slogan of the Decade of Women became “Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production” (Robbins 1999, p.354).”

Historically, economic recessions have placed a disproportionate burden on women. Women are more likely than men to be in vulnerable jobs, to be under-employed or without a job, to lack social protection, and to have limited access to and control over economic and financial resources. Policy responses to the financial crisis must take gender equality perspectives into account to ensure, for example, that women as well as men can benefit from employment creation and investments in social infrastructure. According to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2009, The economic and financial crisis puts a disproportionate burden on women, who are often concentrated in vulnerable employment, are more likely to be unemployed than men, tend to have lower unemployment and social security benefits, and have unequal access to and control over economic and financial resources. International statistics of the International Labor Organization showed that The economic crisis is expected to increase the number of unemployed women by up to 22 million in 2009, the International Labor Office (ILO) says in its annual Global Employment Trends for Women report (GET), adding that the global jobs crisis is expected to worsen sharply with the deepening of the recession in 2009.

In most societies, rape and domestic violence have on occasion provoked public outrage, but it has been left to women’s organizations and movements to take more concerted action. The North does not have all the answers to this problem as gender-based violence is very much in existence in the developed world. Because gender-based violence is sustained by silence, women’s voices must be heard. UNFPA puts every effort into enabling women to speak out against gender-based violence, and to get help when they are victims of it. The Fund is also committed to keeping gender-based violence in the spotlight as a major health and human rights concern. Another fascinating fact is that gender based violence is rampant in developed counties as compared to the developing countries. For instance, in a place like the U.S, despite the fact that advocacy groups like National Organization for Women (NOW) have worked for two decades to halt the epidemic of gender-based violence and sexual assault, the numbers are still shocking. Murder, Intimate Partner Violence or Battering, sexual violence and assault are common phenomena.
To the astonishment of most women across the globe, there is such a low conviction rate in gender-based violence cases, women are not believed by men and apparently even by fellow women. The judiciary imposes light sentences on such cases and even to some they are released on very modest bail or a mere warning. UNFPA advocates for legislative reform and enforcement of laws for the promotion and the protection of women’s rights to reproductive health choices and informed consent, including promotion of women’s awareness of laws , regulations and policies that affect their rights and responsibilities in family life. The Fund promotes zero tolerance of all forms of violence against women and works for the eradication of traditional practices that are harmful to women’s reproductive and sexual health, such as rituals associated with puberty. Possible victims have been offered legal, medical and psychological support, and medical referrals when necessary. Attention has been paid to involving communities, and to creating support networks for gender-based violence victims that include both police and health-care providers, along with counseling services. UNFPA has also held workshops for health providers on recognizing the effects of gender-based violence on women’s health, and on how to detect and prevent abuse and assist victims. These have stressed the need for confidentiality and monitoring. This body has also strengthening advocacy on gender-based violence in all country programmes, in conjunction with other United Nations partners and NGOs as well as advocating for women with parliamentarians and women’s national networks.
There have been strategies to counter violence against women and support the survivors. Case studies come from times of peace and times of armed conflict. Sections suggest strategies for transforming attitudes and beliefs in different societies that condone such violence, for supporting individual survivors, and to ensure that governments and NGOs fulfill their duty to protect woman. Women’s rights around the world are an important indicator to understand global well-being. A major global women’s rights treaty was ratified by the majority of the world’s nations a few decades ago. Yet, despite many successes in empowering women, numerous issues still exist in all areas of life, ranging from the cultural, political to the economic. For example, women often work more than men, yet are paid less; gender discrimination affects girls and women throughout their lifetime; and women and girls are often are the ones that suffer the most poverty. Many may think that women’s rights are only an issue in countries where religion is law, such as many Muslim countries. Or even worse, some may think this is no longer an issue at all. But reading this report about the United Nation’s Women’s Treaty and how an increasing number of countries are lodging reservations, will show otherwise. Gender equality furthers the cause of child survival and development for all of society, so the importance of women’s rights and gender equality should not be underestimated. As part of its work to counter gender-based violence, UNFPA has supported training of medical professionals, to make them more sensitive towards women who may have experienced violence and to meet their health needs.

Governments are not living up to their promises under the Women’s Convention to protect women from discrimination and violence such as rape and female genital mutilation.” There are many governments who have also not ratified the Convention, including the U.S. Many countries that have ratified it do so with many reservations. Gender equality and the well-being of children go hand in hand since it furthers the cause of child survival and development. It produces a double dividend: It benefits both women and children. Women’s equal rights and influence in the key decisions that shape their lives and those of children must be enhanced in three distinct arenas: the household, the workplace and the political sphere. Gender equality is not only morally right, it is pivotal to human progress and sustainable development.

Furthermore, this will be taking us closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goal Number 3-promoting gender equality and empowering women-will also contribute to achieving all the other goals, from reducing poverty and hunger to saving children’s lives, improving maternal health, ensuring universal education, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability. Pressure must be maintained on national governments to prioritise the coordination of programmes and policies across sectors such as health, justice, social welfare and education to ensure that the composite needs of survivors of violence are addressed. Of equal importance is scaling up responses that work – media campaigns, hotlines, and one-stop crisis centers and so on.

Basically, gender based violence limits women as human beings, drains their energy and hope, and constricts the possibilities of creating a new vision of society. Since it includes threats of violence, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private, Violence against women is a violation of women’s human rights, a cause and consequence of gender inequality, and a major cause of women’s ill health. It is a detriment to their well-being, very often a crime, and a significant cost to the resources of the wider society. As a consequence, there are policy issues across the whole range of subjects that concern governments. These issues are particularly important in the area of crime, health, family, education and economic well-being.

Laurance (1999) stated that “Tropical forests do far more than sustain biodiversity; they are homes to indigenous peoples, pharmacopeias of natural products, and provide vital ecosystem services, such as flood amelioration and soil conservation” (p. 109). This shows that forest is very important to us but deforestation is causing all the forest to be cleared. What is deforestation? Deforestation is the act of cutting down all the trees in a particular area. Deforestation is carried out for some reasons. These reasons could be categorized into legal deforestation and illegal deforestation. Tropical forest takes up about six percent of the earth and a lot of problems could occur when all the trees are cut down. To this day, people are still debating on whether deforestation is appropriate or not. What are the causes and effects of deforestation?

What is happening to the tropical rainforest now? We have always read news about Indonesia and the occurrence of forest burning almost every year. Why are they doing it? It had been reported that they burn the forests so that they will have a better land to plant palm oil. It acts as a fertilizer to the land because their plants died and converted into fertilizer. Even thought they did it to fertilize the land but it brought harm to the people who live around the country. Air pollution often happens in Malaysia because hazes are formed due to forest burning in Indonesia. Haze is an atmospheric phenomenon that causes the air around it to be misty and blurry. It brings harm to the people that inhale it. Therefore, the rate of people receiving treatment for illnesses caused by inhalation of haze increases every year.

This shows that deforestation is causing a lot of effects on mankind and it is often shown on advertisement and newspaper; however, it seems that people are still not aware of the effects of deforestation. This research paper is discusses about the causes and effects of deforestation around the world. Many people are more aware of the effects than the causes of deforestation. This research paper is going to talk about the causes and effects of deforestation. Besides discussing the causes and effects of deforestation, this paper also argues about what can be done to save the forest too.

Causes of deforestation

One of the most common causes of deforestation is clearing out the forest to pay back the foreign debt of that particular country (Culas, 2006). Some country has a huge sum of foreign debt and they don’t the capability to clear their debt; thus they clear out the forests so that the land they acquire later could be used for crop production. By planting crops that could be exported to another country, they could earn a lot and repay back their debt. This is why most countries choose to clear forests and focus on agricultural purposes. Countries that do not owe other countries any debt are less likely to take up deforestation or will have a lower rate of deforestation. Therefore, countries that are in a heavy debt should look for alternative ways that could gain them a better income instead of clearing up the forests. As I have mentioned earlier, tropical forests only takes up about 6 percent of the whole earth. If these countries continue to clear up the forests without thinking of the consequences, the amount of forests left on the surface of the earth would seriously decline.

Another cause of deforestation is the increasing demand of land. Due to the increase of human population, certain countries are also experiencing an increase in the demand for houses. This leads to developers seeking more land to build houses on. Hence, developers clear up forests after forests so that the land they acquire could be used to build houses. Through the development of houses on forest land, they can sustain the population in that country. We don’t have to look at other country. We just need to take a look at our own country, Malaysia. Forests in Setapak area were cleared up to build condominiums. Malaysia has the population of over millions and the demand for houses is very high. They choose to clear up the forests so that there would be more land to build apartments, condominiums, terrace houses and other housing structures. This shows that deforestation is the first option when it comes to fulfilling the demand for land. Besides fulfilling the demand of houses, the demand of oil has also leads to deforestation. Oil is widely used everywhere in the world now. When the demand for oil increases, lands are also needed for oil plantation. The absence of land made oil plantation a difficult task; hence, deforestation becomes the option again to gain lands. Trees were chopped down and the land is then used to plant oil palm so the demand for palm oil could be met.

Besides meeting the demand of land, the weakness shown in the government’s policies is also one of the causes for deforestation (Laurance, 1999). Ever since we were kids, we were always taught that there are rules when it comes to cutting down trees. Despite that, many people continue to violate the rules and continue to do illegal logging. Why is it that people constantly neglect the boundaries set up by the government and commit illegal loggings? This is because of the government’s weak policies. Rules and boundaries were set by the government but there were no enforcement. Law enforcers are not strict and often neglect their duty when it comes to punishing individuals for violating the rules. For example, the law enforcers just releases those who have violated the laws despite catching them and witnessing them doing illegal logging. This does not help reduce deforestation but rather makes the matter worse. People will think that it is fine to do illegal logging since the law enforcers, such as police officers, do not arrest those who violated the rules in spite of their crime. Such acts by those who work for the government will only promote further deforestation instead of stopping them. Soon, the trees in the country will gradually disappear.

The effects of deforestation

What are the effects of deforestation? One of the effects of deforestation includes affecting the habitat of the indigenous people. When deforestation happens, it gravely affects the indigenous people because deforestation contributes to death, illness, poorness, and culturl shock (Mitten, 1997). The indigenous people who live in forests seek their food from the forests and deforestation terminates their only means to acquire food. In addition, logging activities have become an easy way to earn money. Therefore, all the companies build their factory near the rivers. The waste products that were made while processing forest products would be dumped into the river; thus, polluting it. Indigenous people drink water from the river. As a result, they will get sick because of the dirty water caused by the factories. It can even cause deaths if it gets too serious. Besides that, the culture of the indigenous people that has been passed down from generations to generations will soon vanish when the indigenous people slowly decreases due to death. Cultural shock will occur and the history of the indigenous people will soon be forgotten.

Besides harming the indigenous people, deforestation harms the wildlife too (Bonaudo, Pendu, Faure, & Quanz, 2005). This is because around 80 to 90 percent of animal species live in the tropical rainforest. Imagine if all the trees were cut down, what will happen to the animal? It is without a doubt that the animals will lose their natural habitat and they will become extinct. Animals, such as pandas, refuse to breed when they are not in their own natural habitat. Therefore, the population if panda keeps decreasing as time goes by because their natural habitat is being destroyed due to deforestation. When deforestation happens, the animals lose their natural habitats and also their protective shield. This causes the animals to have some difficulty adapting to their new environment and as a result, the animals would refuse to breed. The extinction of these animals is guaranteed if they refuse to breed due to the destruction of their natural habitat. Our future generation will have to look at pictures or visit the museums in order to the animal instead of just looking at the animals in real life. Deforestation will soon cause the future generation to lose touch with the animals that exist now and they will only know them through knowledge passed down by their parents or by visiting a museum.

Another effect of deforestation is climate change. Bala, Caldeira, Wickett, Phillips, Lobell, Delire, & Mirin, (2006) stated that “deforestation affects the global climate by releasing the carbon stored in the living plants and soils as well as by altering the physical properties of the planetary surface” (p. 6550). Trees take in carbon dioxide that is released by human through respiration. Trees stored carbon dioxide to produce their own food through photosynthesis process. When the trees are all cut down, there will not be any more trees to absorb the carbon dioxide that is released by humans. Carbon dioxide will then be trapped at the atmosphere and temperature will increase. As the carbon dioxide in the air increases severely, so does the temperature. This will results in the phenomena known as global warming. When global warming happens, ice in the North Pole and South Pole will melt. This will result in an increase of sea level. The increase in the sea level will flood countries that are geographically situated in a lower sea level and these countries will disappear from the surface of the earth. Soon, all the land will be flooded and the countries will disappear one by one.

What can be done?

Deforestation has caused a lot of harm to the mankind. There are a number of actions that could be taken to reduce deforestation. For example, instead of cutting down trees to acquire new land, we can perform land reclamation. Land reclamation involves the creation of new lands from oceans or riverbeds. Besides that, government should enforce the rules instead of handling the matters leniently. The people who violate the rules should be fined or prosecuted. This serves as a warning to others so that they will stop their illegal logging and this could help save and preserves the trees around us. Every country should preserve their forests and plant more trees so that the biodiversity could be maintained.

Discussion

All in all, deforestation has caused a lot of devastating effects not only to the people but also the animals. Before understanding the effects, we need to find the roots of why deforestation happens first. As I have stated earlier, the causes of deforestation are the large sum of foreign debt, the increasing demand for land, and the weakness in the government’s policies. Deforestation happens because the trees were cut down for crop production. With the production, they could repay back the debt. Besides that, the demand for land gradually increases as time goes by. This is because the increase in popularity has increased the demand of land to build houses. Moreover, the weaknesses in the policies promote deforestation instead of curbing them. This occurs because the government did not enforce the rules that were set and they did not take illegal deforestation seriously.

Deforestation has done a lot of harm to the people and also to the wildlife. The most common effect is causing harm to indigenous people. Indigenous people live in forests and everything they do inside the forest is part of their culture. Deforestation causes the indigenous people will lose their home as well as their source for food. Deforestation will cause their culture to extinct sooner or later. The most precious aspect in a country is its original culture. If the indigenous people are extinct, there will be no more culture for that particular country. Besides harming the indigenous people, deforestation harms wildlife too. Most of the animal species live in the tropical forest. Not only does it act as a natural habitat for the animals, forests also act as a protective shield for the animals. When deforestation occurs, they lose their natural habitat and protective shield. Soon, they will be on the edge of extinction. When this happen, it will cause a loss in biodiversity and our future generation will have to know the animals through pictures. Another effect of deforestation is climate change. Trees act as storages for carbon dioxide that are released by humans through respiration. Trees absorb carbon dioxide for their photosynthesis process. If the trees were cut down, all the carbon dioxide will be released to the atmosphere and this will cause the temperature to increase. An increase in the temperature will result in global warming and global warming; in turn, melts the ice in the North and South Pole. This results in an increase of sea level. Therefore, lands that are positioned in a lower sea level will soon be flooded and disappear from the surface of the earth.

After understanding the causes and effects, what can be done to curb deforestation? Every government should find another alternative way to boost their economy and repay back the foreign debt. Instead of cutting down the trees for crop production, they can try boosting the economy through the tourism section. This way, they can save the forest and gain profits at the same thing. Besides cutting down trees for more land, land reclamation can be taken to acquire more land. These methods are able to fulfill the demands for land as well as preserve the forest at the same time. Governments should also enforce the rules that were set for logging activities. People who violate the rules by carrying out the illegal logging act musr be fined or prosecuted. This acts as a warning to others so that they do not dare to do it again. Besides that, government could come out with other ways of punishing the people that violates the rules. As an overall, they must enforce the laws and regulations on environmental issues.

Conclusion

I chose to do this research on deforestation because I have read a lot of news on how deforestation do us harm and yet no one has done anything to stop it. I hope that this research paper could help people to do understand more on the causes and effects of deforestation. Besides that, I also hope this research will help curb deforestation and save the trees from being logged. By doing so, the biodiversity of the earth could be maintained and no harm would befall on humans. If deforestation continues to happen, there will be no more trees in the future. This will result in higher temperature, loss of biodiversity and more. Therefore I hope everybody will do his or her part in preserving and protecting the forest so that there is a better future for our next generation.