Phil the Writer's Block

May 27, 2014 · 6:43 pm

Why has risk minimization come to dominate the criminological agenda and how does it implicate with crime control policies?

Risk minimization was considered to be a stepping stone to dominate the criminological agenda as the criminal justice system now is drifting from post – crime to the pre – crime era. There had been changes in the areas of criminal justice particularly, rehabilitation. as it provided an inspiration for development in self-control strategies against offending and ameliorated the levels for public security and safety. Rehabilitation now concentrates more on strategies to protect the public by hampering spaces that encourages crime and criminal activities, imposing restrictions on offenders’ whereabouts than concentrating on their welfare and needs, such as the provision of guidance and psychological support (Straw 1998 cited in Garland 2001: 176).

Garland (2001: 186) argued that prior to the 1970s, there were no programmes of policing, no substantive interests in crime events and no theory of social and economic routines that generated criminal opportunities and criminogenic situations. Jock Young who could agree with Durkheim, highlights that crime is seen as a social fact and is part of everyday life and highlighted that Garland outlined the rises of discipline during late modernity such as penal – segregation and preventative partnership which appears to be obvious when the states makes a gesture of law and order persuading the public into believing the state has control over crime (Jock Young 2003: 230). Tim Owen who reviewed David Garland’s book, The Culture of Crime Control, illustrated there are powerful arguments about the rise of the “schizophrenic” crime control complex and emphasised the decades of crime policies following the Second World War, which was known as the ‘Golden Age’ of penal – welfarism. This period consisted of two important ideas of crime control. The first concentrates on social cohesion that could reduce the rates of crime and the second feels that the state should take accountability for the offenders’ welfare (Owen 2007: 3).

Information Technology played a vital part on crime control and risk management, particularly the uses of CCTV and offender databases. Michel Focault, a French Philosopher who is renowned to criminologists for his book Discipline and Punish published in 1975. The Foucauldian body included works on asylum, the hospital and the regulations of sexuality and punishment (Valier 2003: 149). She (Valier) also highlighted that his (Foucault) work rejected the narratives of the humanitarian development, as it was seen as the negative side of the Enlightenment. Foucault highlighed the notion of genealogy, a study of families and its history. For him, genealogy is about the criminology of us, where history is used to help us understand ourselves and others and what issue was taken for granted and investigates whether there is a historical cause of re- offending (Poster 1984 cited in Valier 2003: 151). It agrees with Garland who suggests that staff in the criminal justice system uses their personal strategies of self-control, which can be applied onto dealing with offenders, such as counselling and alternative interventions such as anger management and therapies involve creative arts (Garland 2001:189).

Valier moves onto discuss that Foucault’s work highlights the link of knowledge and power and cannot be separated as he states:

“There is no knowledge without the exercise of power and there is no power without knowledge” (2003: 152).

His book Disicipline and Punish, experiments with the two concepts and used the example on the changes in the mode of punishment. The era of the French Revolution had one basic form of punishment which circled around a public display of corporal and capital punishment, which illustrates the exploitation of knowledge and power (Valier 2003: 153). The panoptical society is argued to play an influence on risk minimization. This notion was inspired by Jeremy Bentham who is renowned for his philosophy of pain – pleasure. The panopticon was applied in prisons where inmates were monitored for their behaviour and actions during incarceration. Although Foucault was not apprehended with Bentham’s supposed intentions, he was more alarmed with the political technology considered by the Panopticon (Valier 2003: 158). He also believes the panoptical option is considered to be strict by providing a severe form social regulation and control. Foucault’s analysis of the panopticon may contribute to CCTV and computerised databases. George Orwell’s Novel Nineteen Eighty – Four strongly seized the imagination of the post-war vital awareness with its vision of a total surveillance society and this was also predicted in James’s Rule book Private Lives and Public Surveillance which he provided the benefits of total surveillance:

“The system would work to enforce observance with a uniform set of norms governing every aspect of everyone’s behaviour. Every action of every client would be analysed, recorded, evaluated both at the moment of occurrence and forever afterwards. The system would bring the whole fund of its information to bear on every decision it made about everyone. Any sign of disobedience – present or anticipated – would result in corrective action” (Rule 1973: 37 cited in Valier 2003: 161).

Foucault’s notion of disciplinary power was considered to be the outcome of numerous arguments about an inspecting glaze in the panoptical society across a range of texts that argues that we are now shifting into a post – disciplinary period of control where power does not reside in a foreign gaze (Valier 2003: 163). Valier stated that Foucault was criticised for concentrating on how work is applied on self experiences rather than using technology to degrade criminals such as, the name and shaming” technique (Valier 2003: 163). She (Valier) also mentioned that the governments’ view of power is only applied on an active subject, such as the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians and reactions and public attitudes towards monitoring (Valier 2003: 163). Tim Owen had highlighted problems regarding Garland’s Foucauldian analysis in particular his (Garland) dependency on Foucault’s knowledge and power link. Best and Kellner (1991 cited in Owen 2007: 8) argues that Garland’s book needs to consider some social agents which seize and hold more power than others.

Power (1994 cited in Garland 2001: 190) argues that criminal justice agencies have been drawn into an audit society and information to the public management are shared among each body. He (Power) illustrates that the neo-liberal programmes often achieve control by relying on audits (1996, 1997; 2003a cited in Levi 2008: 585). He (Power) also argued that as soon as they are limited to financial institutions, audits have been expanded to a wide number of fields, including universities, hospitals and government agencies (Power 1996 cited in Levi 2008: 585). The study of audit was argued to attract widespread attention in scholarships on institutions and are mostly research at present, but has not linked this attention to communities in criminal justice (Levi 2008: 585). However, criminological research conducted by Adam Crawford who demonstrates that the turn to new managerial into auditability has promoted this very turn to community in which short-term programmes can be readily more evaluated (Crawford 1999a cited in Levi 2008: 585). Kevin Stenson (2005; Stenson and Edwards 2003 cited in Levi 2008: 585) argued that this audibility could reproduce class – based inequalities in local contexts.

The Florida Department of Corrections display an example of an audit society by distributing personal details that are released into society which in contrast, the thoughts of policies that deal with rehabilitation of offenders made it illegal to disclose any information about ex offenders’ whereabouts (LHO 1997 cited in Garland 2001: 180). Megan’s Law is another example, named after Megan Kanka, a seven-year old girl who was raped and murdered by her neighbour Jesse Timmendequas, a convicted sex offender in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The murder and criminal history of Mr Timmendequas sparked outrage and consequently, Megan’s Law was launched, where parents and members of the community to obtain access for information of any child molester living in their neighbourhoods. Megan’s Law had categorised sex offenders determined by their chances of re-offending if they integrate into society. Stage One contains those who are at low risk and prosecutors alert this stage to law enforcement agencies. Stage Two are those who presumed to be at moderate risk and prosecutors will notify eligible community organizations, such as youth clubs, day care centres and schools etc. Stage Three are those who are at high risk and be subjected to full – blown community notification (Levi 2008: 588). Levi also noted that over 11,000 registrants were added monthly with the New Jersey State Police, with approximately 60 per cent have been placed in Stages Two and Three.

However, Megan’s Law also have been applied on law – abiding citizens, particularly the rules of conduct where in order for members of community to receive information of sex offenders living in their neighbourhood, they are obliged to sign a contract pledging not to violate the codes of conduct by disclosing any information to any members outside the community and information should be shared appropriately (Shapiro 1987 cited in Levi 2008: 593). In the case of notifications to local schools when school principals are notified, a state liaison provides them a ‘School Personnel Rules of Conduct’ and ‘Information Reference Sheet for School Principals’ and reassessed on how notice should be stored and limits on its communication among staff members. Once principals sign the School Principal Receipt Form, they are obliged to follow the rules within the code of conduct and forms are kept by the prosecutor’s office. Levi highlighted that Megan’s Law was criticised for lacking in penalties against those who selfishly disclose any information of sex offenders to members who are outside the community or class organisations (Paul P. V Farmer 2000; 227 F. 3d 98 cited in Levi 2008: 597).

The sex offender’s register acts as a deterrent by stigmatizing convicted sex offenders and serves as a warning tool to those who contemplate of offending and symbolizes retribution. This seems to concur with Dave Garland who applies the criminology of the self on offenders where they are seen as monstrous psychopaths who shed no remorse or empathy (Garland 2001: 184). John Major argues that the criminology of self encourages the public to be alert and prepare to defend themselves against these “monsters”(1993 cited in Garland 2001: 184). Even though the sex offender’s register acts as a powerful deterrent, it can damage the offender’s self –esteem and in consequence, encourages re-offending in away to reinstate in incarceration. Megan’s Law considers to symbolize state power and the division of labour between the state and the community,which predicts that communities are at risk of being plagued with fear and doubts about safety (Ericson 2007a; Simon 2000 cited in Levi 2008: 599).

Risk minimization is considered to revolve around community and therapeutic interventions, such as anger management and drug counselling. Pat O’ Malley drew attention to drug harm minimization which were developed as a form of resistance, created by the governments in New Zealand and Australia in defence against the War on Drugs campaign in the USA (O’Malley 2008: 457). These policies assume that drug addiction considered to be a possible threat to themselves and public safety by the possibility of contracting HIV through shared needles and exposure to vulnerable people in vulnerable “hot spots”. It does not only apply to illegal drugs but on tobacco, alcohol and prescribed drugs (O’Malley 2008: 458). He (O’Malley) also recommends that drug users should take responsibility for minimising their risk of drug harm by attending drug rehabilitation centres, receive advice practicing safe drug administration and usage and take advantage accessing methadone to help them reduce their drug cravings (2008: 458). Dave Garland (1996 cited in O’Malley 2008: 459) can agree with classicist thinkers by arguing that drug users are chose to be drug addicts or drug than their social, psychological and environmental influences.

Risk minimization appears to be optimistic and realistic in dealing with crime, especially changes in rehabilitation as it concentrates on public safety and hampering spaces in areas which breeds criminality than attempt to make offenders into law-abiding citizens. However, the uses of CCTV and distribution of databases particularly and sex offenders register seem to deliver plagues of moral panic and paranoia in the public sphere, which could result in vigilantism. Foucault should be praised for his analysis on the panopticon and contribution on risk minimization by applying the link of knowledge and power. The implications of crime control policies aim to protect the public, enhance public security and ensure communities are involved and take responsibility for their personal safety and safety of public spaces.

Best, S and Kellner, D (1981) Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. London: Macmillan

Crawford, A (1999a) The Local Governance of Crime: Appeals to Community and Partnerships, New York: Oxford University Press.

Ericson,R (2007a) Crime in an Insecure World. Cambridge, Polity

Garland, D (1996) ‘The Limits of the Sovereign State’, British Journal of Criminology 36: 445 – 71

(2008) The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Levi, R (2008) Auditable Community: The Moral Order of Megan’s Law, British Journal of Criminology vol 48 pp 583 – 603

Major, J (Prime Minister) The Sunday Times, 21 February 1993

Home Office, The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 : A Consultation Paper (London Home Office 1999)

O’Malley, P (2008) Experiments in risk and criminal justice, Theoretical Criminology, 12/4 : pp451 – 469

[1]Orwell,G (1949/1990) Nineteen Eighty – Four. London Penguin

Owen, T (2007) Culture of Control: Through a Post – Foucauldian Lens, Internet Journal of Criminology

[1]Poster, M (1984) Foucault, Marxism and History: Mode of Production Versus Mode of Information. Cambridge Polity.

Power, M, (1994) The Audit Explosion, London, Demos

-(1996) , Making Things Auditable’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 21: 289 – 315

-(1997), The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification. New York: Oxford University Press

-(2003a) ‘Evaluating the Audit Explosion’, Law and Policy, 25: 185 – 202

Simon, J (2000), ‘Megan’s Law: Crime and Democracy in Late Modern America’, Law and Social Inquiry, 25: 1111 – 50

Shapiro, S (1987), ‘The Social Control of Impersonal Trust’, American Journal of Sociology, 93: 623 – 58

Straw, J (1998) ‘Crime and Old Labour’s Punishment’, The Times 8 April 1998

Stenson, K and Edwards, A (2003), ‘ Crime Control and Local Governance: The Struggle for Sovereignty in Advanced Liberal Polities’, Contemporary Politics, 9: 203 – 18

Stenson, K (2005) ‘Sovereign, Biopolitics and Community Safety in Britain’, Theoretical Criminology, 9: 265 – 87.

Rules, J.B (1973) Private Lives and Public Surveillance: Social Control in Computer Age. New York: Schochen Books.

Valier, C (2003) Theories of Crime and Punishment, Harlow, Longman Press, Ch8

Young, J (2003) Searching for a New Criminology of Everday Life: A Review of ‘The Culture of Control’, by David Garland (New York: Oxford University Press 2001), British Journal of Criminology, 43,1 pp228 – 243.

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Tagged as Capital punishment, CCTV, Corporal Punishment, Dave Garland, Foucauldian, George Orwell, Government, Information Technology, Megan's Law, Michel Foucault, Modernity, New Jersey, Panopticon, Political, Risk minimization, Second World War, Technology, Therapeutic Intervention, Therapy, War on Drugs

February 15, 2014 · 12:01 am

How does poverty and unemployment impact family life in the 1930s?

The aftermath of the war saw the huge impact on working class families as some soldiers return from war, psychically disabled and psychologically scarred, which alters their working ability and found themselves living on government benefits which aids them to integrate into civilian life. Nonetheless, the welfare state was not enough to provide for them and their families. At the time, Britain was affected by the Great Depression which affected all other countries including America and Australia. This led industries to create new fields replacing coal with oil and cotton with rayon with intention to create more job opportunities as it is assumed that oil was considered to be cheap and needed for transport to other towns and cities for better employment opportunities.

Child Poverty became a major social matter because children were deeply malnourished and lived in poor conditions making them susceptible to illnesses. This was recognized by various organisations and in particular, The Children’s minimum campaign and the Family Endowment Society advocating for the adoption of state funded child allowances that will help children who were below the poverty line, so they can be with healthy meals leading them to improve their educational performance and the qualifications they achieve will enhance their chances to seek employment or continue into further education when they are older. Through the imagination of academic thinkers, the Great Depression created opportunities for domestic violence and child abuse.

Unemployment benefits were aimed to help the “deserving poor” by providing them an allowance to help them cover basic needs for survival. However, they were forced to budget as the benefits were not enough, meaning that housewives had to act as bankers, deciding on how much they’re going to spend each day, and food had to be rationed to ensure it would last for a week. In consequence, they become marginalized by the stigma of ill – health and social exclusion as they are cannot travel to seek help and support for their mental health, which exacerbates the feelings of frustration, and seek solace in alcoholism to escape the negative emotions, that poverty creates, thus results into alcohol dependency.

Women were assumed to suffer the worst than their husbands and children as they deprived themselves off food to feed their, ensuring that children and husbands are fed well and nourished for school and work (Burnett, J, Idle hands: Experiences of the Unemployment between 1790 – 1990. A study in Liverpool illustrated that a third of wives and mothers suffer from nervous breakdowns and anaemia. Through feminist imagination, poverty brought on by the Great Depression created a space for patriarchal control, where men have control of the private sphere, subject their wives and children to violence to suppress the feelings of frustration with not conforming to the traditional masculine stereotypes as the breadwinner and protector.

A cautious study had been carried out on the diets of working class families, which displayed huge differences in the consumption of nutrients. The intake of calories per – man value ranged from 1,846 to 5,261 a day compared to the recommended intake of between 3,000 and 3,400. George Orwell (Burnett 1994 :248) believed that 2.5 million people were malnourished which can agree with Sir John Boyd Orr, a reputed nutritionist who quoted: “The less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food”. In other words, Sir John Boyd explains that families can only buy things they can afford rather than unnecessary items.

Poverty and unemployment created a big impact on British working class families, which continues at present. Functionalist writers like Durkheim and Parsons could argue the interwar periods created a form of social cohesion among those who affected. From the Marxist lens, poverty symbolizes class oppression and argue that the benefit state acts as a weapon to suppress the poor and working class members from progressing to skilled work and education opportunities. Child abuse and domestic violence was considered to be an outcome of poverty and unemployment, and is a controversial topic at present. However, not all child abuse and domestic violence cases were not a result of poverty and unemployment although it created opportunities for violence. Women found themselves putting their own health in jeopardy to fend for the health of their husbands and children, and some of them could resort to theft to ensure their families are fed and nourished.

Burnett, J (1994) Idle Hands: The Experience of Unemployment. 1790 – 1990, Ch 6 “Unemployment Between The Wars 1ed, Routledge, London, p243 – 54

George Orwell The Road to Wigan Pier, Victor Gollancz, London, 1937, 94.

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Tagged as Benefits, Child poverty, Cohesion, Deserving poor, Durkheim, Family, Feminist, Great Depression, Patriarchy, Poverty, Talcott Parsons, Unemployment, War, Welfare State, Women, Working Class

January 5, 2014 · 11:38 pm

What were the most important changes the notion of punishment in the 18th century?

The aim of punishment was to create a concoction of fear, terror and shame towards the wrongdoers as an act of deterrence to prevent them from re-offending and future acts of criminality. The range of punishments available at the time were imprisonment and corporal punishment to the judges and magistrates for minor offences, such as theft and vagrancy to the most severe offences against another human being such as murder and rape which was sentenced by the Old Bailey (Emsley 2005:254). Hanging was the main method of capital punishment until it was abolished in the UK in 1967 and the lethal injection and the electric chair was introduced in the United States some centuries , which continues to be methods in some US states at present.

Marxist writers like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels could argue that punishments serves the interests of the ruling class and out of free will, decide on what person or group should be punished and what sentence they should have. However, they could explain that the ruling class abuse the means of punishment for their own selfish interest. In contrast to Marxism, Weberian thinkers like Max Weber views punishment as a symbolism of ‘karma’ or “an eye for an eye”. Functionalist thinkers like Durkheim who argues that punishment creates a form of mechanical solidarity where one punishment suits all types of crimes whereas, under the umbrella of organic solidarity, punishment varies. He could also explain that punishment was to aim controversy by arousing the emotions and opinions of the public gallery.

Michel Foucault (1977 cited in McGowen 1987:652) sees that capital punishment involves the use of the physical body as a ritual that would symbolizes pain, fear and to stigmatize and deter individuals from engaging in criminal activities. Clifford Geertz (1980 cited in McGowen 1987:653) believes that punishment and treatment to the human body represents an implanted image of pain and guilt which converts into a message sent to society as a tool of deterrence that makes people aware of the consequences if they decide to carry out any crime, teaching them to think before they act. It can be argued that pain associates with the physical body represents vengeance among the audiences who believe in retribution.

Metaphors towards the physical body as the use of execution had been expressed by various writers. This include, J.M Beattie (1986 cited in McGowen 1987: 656) compared society to the physical body and argued that society was seen as a social human being ravaged by crime and the only way to treat society and restore its health was to remove the diseased region from the body. To clarify, society has been infected by crime and punishment was seen as a cure which could result in a death sentence. George Osbourne (1733 cited in McGowen 1987: 661 -2), another philosophical writer sees that society was an unstable body where it body part can be easily infected by disease and it has the potential to spread to other parts of the body hence, it would be too difficult to be treat.

Samuel Rossell (1742 cited in McGowen 1987: 661) who displays another metaphor to the physical body which involves amputating the infected region in order to prevent the disease from spreading by explaining criminals are poisonous and gangrenous and must be amputated from society even if it involves execution. It has been argued (Emsley 2005) that the public gallery displayed a remorseless attitude towards the offender being executed. To them, public execution was seen as theatrical scene where they had the opportunity to watch justice being done and the physical body resembles an image of a sentence being carried out rather than a body of concern (MacRae 1975 cited in McGowen 1987: 654).

Enlightenment theorists like Cesare Beccaria and the Quaker reformers loathed the idea of punishment which involves the execution of a human being and abuse of the physical body because as it was barbaric and brutal although he seems to agree with Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarianism on maximizing pain and minimizing pleasure. It was suggested (Emsley 2005: 267) that punishment should provide the aims which of course, to punish offenders and deter others from offending and punishment should fit the crime. He suggested another a less harsh and barbaric alternative was to deprive offenders off their freedom although he showed ambivalence towards imprisonment (Rothman 1971 and Foucault 1978 cited in Garman 1983: 188). In 1770, Sir William Meredith, the Rockingamite M.P. for Liverpool (Gentleman’s Magazine 1771 cited in Emsley 2005: 267) recommended the House of Commons to arrange an inquiry into the criminal law. He quoted a speech which covered Beccaria’s ideas on punishment and said that a man who embezzled a handkerchief worth 13 pence should be punished the same way if he murdered a whole family of benefactors. However he argued that it would amplify the situation by making the thief worse and dangerous.

Transportation was another form of punishment which was considered to be an important new type of penalty which was handed out to offenders by judges and favours the idea that criminals are diseases to the societal body and needs to be removed to prevent future spreading. It involved people being sent to other colonies to carry out hard labour and other manual tasks. It was considered as cheap and the sentence ranges from seven to fourteen years or to life. The Transportation Act 1784 provided extraction of offenders from the kingdom according to age and the extent of the offence. However offenders who are convicted first time may not be eligible for the death penalty and deserve an alternative to corporal punishment and a discharge (Emsley 2005: 255).

Transportation across the Atlantic start to lose approval because of the wave of the American War of Independence. Despite of the outbreak of the war, the sentence of transportation persisted to be delivered by the courts. In 1751, the House of Commons campaigned for hard labour in the Royal Docks as an alternative to transportation but nevertheless, it was not implemented. Botany Bay was the location that took 778 convicted felons within the Kingdom and those who were transported found themselves incarcerated in appalling institutions such as rotting ships and the hulks and assigned to carry out tasks including labour work in the naval dockyards (Emsley 2005: 255). However, the House of Commons (Emsley 2005: 269) explained that those who were discharged from the hulks had difficulties of finding jobs or receiving parish relief.

The aim of imprisonment was to cut off offenders from society by depriving them of their freedom and provide them work and uniforms with the intention to strip off their identities and societal memberships. Simultaneously, to cause them emotional pain about their confiscated identities and the deprivation of heterosexual contact (Ignatieff 1978 Conclusion; De Lacy Conclusion 1980 cited in Garman 1983: 189). The Penitentiary Act was passed in 1779 by parliament which was outlined by Howard, Eden and Blackstone which included the construction of two segregated penitentiaries. Unfortunately, they were not built (Emsley 2005: 268 – 9). After appalling conditions of the hulks, many reformers crusaded for well-regulated prisons which stress the aims of amending prisoners and refurbish old hulks. Many reformers and philanthropists like John Howard who owns an estate at Cardington in Bedfordshire were dismayed with the state of the squalor in the county gaol. Simultaneously, he was disturbed by the dilemma of prisoners who were obligated to be enslaved because they were unable to pay the discharge fee to the gaoler (Emsley 2005: 256).

It has been believed (Gentlemen’s magazine 1786 cited in Emsley 2005: 270) that local reformers start to view the penitentiary as an alternative punishment which is considered to be suitable for offenders. It is suggested that strict regimes could reform offenders effectively. Those who were liberated from incarceration, which was fixated with a strict regime would structure them a routine and be used to hard work with the intention to prevent indolence when they are scheduled for release. Imprisonment was suggested to give them the opportunity to engage in religious teaching , help them reflect on their wrongdoings, education and other work-related opportunities which will equip them with the skills and qualification when they are released.

Jeremy Bentham was not only an Enlightenment theorist, but also suggested to have an entrepreneurial spirit within the gaoling field and the mechanics of imprisonment like his panopticon, which he produced in 1791. The intention of the panoptican was to violate the theme of space and time through strict and endless monitoring of prisoners and it was seen as profitable by selling products that would aid the convicts in the divisions of labour (Emsley 2005: 270). Nonetheless, William Eden (Ignatieff 1978 cited in Emsley 2005: 268) distrusted the notion of imprisonment as it could exacerbate offenders by making them more criminalised and dependent rather than making them law –abiding citizens. Prisoners are suggested to be more likely to suffer from mental distress which could increase their risk of loneliness due to long periods of segregation and the levels of prejudice among other inmates.

In conclusion, writers had expressed different views towards the use of punishment. The death penalty in particular, was seen as barbaric and glorifies violence and murder. They feel that the death penalty symbolizes sinking into the levels and minds of murderers rather than illustrating justice. However, it glorifies and symbolizes the eye for an eye and the notion of karma from Weberian thinkers. What was considered to be important in the changes in ideas and forms of punishment highlighted was to meet the needs of discipline among prisoners and the prevention of psychological and emotional distress attached to the strict regime of hard labour, religious and education interventions with the purpose to prepare them for the outside world when they are released.

Beattie, J.M (1986) Crime and the Courts in England, Princeton New Jersey cited in McGowen, R (1987) Journal of Modern History “The Body and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England Vol 5 University of Chicago.

De – Lacy, M.E (1980) “County Prison Administration in Lancashire, 1690 – 1850” Ph.D Dissertation Princeton University cited in Garman, D (1983) Legality, Feleology & the State ch8.

Emsley, C (2005) Crime and Society in England 1750 – 1900 3ed Pearson Education Ltd Harlow ch10.

Garman, D (1983) Legality, Feleology & the State ch8.

Gentleman’s Magazine xli (1771 p147 cited in Emsley, C (2005) Crime and Society in England 1750 – 1900 3ed Pearson Education Ltd Harlow ch10).

Ignatieff, M (1978) Just measures of pain p.57 (cited in Emsley, C (2005) Crime and Society in England 1750 – 1900 3ed Pearson Education Ltd Harlow ch10).

Ignatieff , M(1978) A Just Measure of Pain: The Penitentiary in Industrial Revolution, 1750 – 1850. Pantheon, New York.

McGowen, R (1987) Journal of Modern History “The Body and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England Vol 5 University of Chicago

McRae (1975) “The Body and Social Metaphor,” in the Body as a Medium of Expression, ed J. Benthall and T. Polhemus, New York.

Osbourne, G (1733) The Civil Magistrates Right of Inflicting Punishment London pp 5, 9 (cited in McGowen, R (1987) Journal of Modern History “The Body and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England Vol 5 University of Chicago.

Rossell, S (1742) The Prisoner’s Director London (cited in McGowen, R (1987) Journal of Modern History “The Body and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England Vol 5 University of Chicago).

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Tagged as Beccaria, Bentham, Bloody Code, Capital punishment, Corporal Punishment, Disease, Enlightenment, Execution, Foucault, House of Commons, Imprisonment, Incarceration, Marxist, Penitentiary, Quakers, Transportation

September 30, 2013 · 5:43 pm

Has the UK turned into a panoptic society that benefits urban safety and security?

Many thinkers and writers believe the CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) system was inspired by the panopticon model produced by Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher and one of the key theorists of classicism, who believes the aim of punishment is to maximise pain and minimise pleasure. The panopticon was originally built and designed in the 19^th century where prison officers have the authority to scrutinize prisoners’ actions and behaviour but, the prisoners cannot watch each other or the prison officer by restricting opportunities for criminality as a response to his pain – pleasure philosophy. Lyon (2006 cited in Matthews (2009: 250) suggests that the increase use of CCTV and other monitoring techniques such as electronic tagging represents a broad system of endless surveillance, which operates round the clock.

However, Zygurt Bauman (1998 cited in Matthews 2009: 250) criticised his (Jeremy Bentham) panopticon as it does not apply to all societies particularly in the private sphere. Many controversial debates asks whether the UK is becoming a “Big Brother” surveillance model, where we are monitored on what we do in the public sphere and we are now actors in our own movies produced by CCTV. Some could argue that surveillance could affect our mental well – being as the audience would be given the impression that CCTV will create a “schizophrenic” society due to exacerbated feelings of paranoia. Norris and Armstrong (1998 cited in Ditton 2000: 692) notes that open – street CCTV in the UK was an investment made by the central and local governments between 1994 and 1997. Prior to this investment, it had been believed by various research conducted, revealed that CCTV had a big impact on closed locations, such as buses, London Underground Services, car parks, buses and shops ( Van Straelen 1978; Burrows 1991, Gill and Turbin 1997, Poyner 1988;1991 Tiley 1993, Mayhew et al 1979 and Hearnden 1996 cited in Ditton 2000: 692).

The intention of CCTV is to monitor our behaviour and actions in public places, creating a safer society. The images can be recorded and stored as sources for evidence for crime and anti – social behaviour. Videos from CCTV are then watched by the police, other members of the law enforcement, members of the criminal justice system and people within policing, such as staff and security guards at airports, cinemas, theatres and shops. It is suggested that CCTV aids law regulation and acts as an anti – criminal aid. Peter Fry, director of the CCTV user group quoted that: “Officers will be looking at every single camera in the area and trying to get hold of as many tapes as they can”. He also added that CCTV produced more than 10,000 tapes in the 7/7 bombings (The Independent 29^th June 2007).

From the Hawkeye case study, commissioned by the Home Office which researched on numbers of motor – vehicle theft in London Underground station car parks. The Hawkeye system consisted of having 646 fixed static cameras across 60 car parks with the provision of almost 100 per cent coverage of marked parking spaces with many objectives including the reduction on the rates of vehicle related crimes in car parks by 55 per cent by March 2003. The system intended to deter potential offenders, increase detection of offences by providing evidence, which could lead to successful prosecutions and increase detection of offences through the uses of surveillance and instant deployment police to the scene of the offence (Gill, Little, Spriggs, Allen, Argomaniz and Waples 2005:1). The 3 control rooms had operators paid by the British Transport Police to record incidents within the car parks

The Hawkeye case study concluded that crime rates among vehicle – related theft has been decreased by 73 per cent and this was achieved by March 2003. However, the Hawkeye system was ineffective because of poor management skills among the operators and loss of evidence due to short maintenance time of tapes. The operators were unable to spot incidences because they could only see through 6 per cent of their cameras and could only monitor 16 hours a day. There was also a barrier in communication between the detection of incidence and the main British Transport Police control room. Another piece of research about CCTV was conducted in Glasgow, which contained public attitudes and opinions towards CCTV.

It has been revealed that the respondents who took part in the research showed strong support towards the facility of CCTV compared to the respondents who were interviewed by a local newspaper in King’s Lynn by 96 per cent and residents of Harlow by 90 per cent who were interviewed by P French in 1996. (Geake 1993 cited in Ditton 2000: 693). French also interviewed people with criminal convictions and learnt that 65 per cent of juveniles also approve of CCTV as well as 75 per cent of adults with criminal convictions. Researchers in Glasgow asked the respondents about their safety when visiting the city centre, asked if they try to avoid certain areas and about their fears of being victims of crime. The results revealed that 2 per cent of the respondents were anxious of walking home alone, as it is suggested that the respondents who were interviewed on that particular subject were female. Hence, females outnumbered males by a ratio of 2:1.

Males are believed to have no fear of being victimised when walking home alone, as they are considered to be subconsciously influenced by stereotypical masculine characteristics. Radical feminists may argue that women fear of being victims of physical or sexual assaults by male strangers as they feel it illustrates patriarchal dominance, despite the majority of perpetrators are close acquaintances. Later results revealed that 50 per cent of the respondents which can include both men and women were fearful of being victimized. Other results revealed that anxieties about crime increased significantly with those who were interviewed especially after dark (Ditton 2000: 698). As a result, respondents change their walking routes and avoid certain areas which may put them at risk of victimisation. It can be considered that attitudes and stereotypes among gender can play an influence on how respondents react towards questions about their personal safety and fear of crime. On regards of whether the residents in Glasgow feel safe around CCTV, 42 per cent of public felt CCTV did not make any differences and 56 per cent say they feel safer and 81 per cent overall feel safe already when walking home alone (Ditton 2000: 702).

His journal (Jason Ditton) on public attitudes towards CCTV in areas of Glasgow was researched by using surveys and close – ended questionnaires in three different areas of Glasgow, where CCTV cameras installed in the city centre and two busy areas of Glasgow which do not have CCTV, but have other methods of control such as street lighting. Those venues were based for research in every late January for 3 years. Surveys were conducted on different fixed hours between 8am and at midnight. The selected locations had similar characteristics, such as containing crossroads, sides bordered with shops and each town has a nearby nightclub (Ditton 2000: 695), which can suggested to contribute on a number of people, particularly youngsters being asked about safety when it comes to walking home alone.

The uses of technology have been taken advantage of for numerous years to tackle crime. There are various positive sides of the uses of CCTV, include the improvement of crime reduction and prevention which was seen as a way for public protection. It was also used as a vital piece evidence on violent crimes among people and other minor and victimless crimes in the streets and even on public transport which are usually illustrated within the prosecution services. The principle of deterrence of potential offenders can be highlighted as the main objective for the purpose on the development of CCTV. It can be argued that CCTV is in favour of preventing the miscarriages of justice among the innocent. However, CCTV may be criticised as not being effective as DNA profiling.

Although CCTV can be beneficial for crime prevention, deterrence and improvements on the relationships with the police and protection of the general public, there are negative sides of it. The House of Lords Report on Surveillance Society where Alan Travis, a home affairs editor argues that CCTV can violate peoples’ personal space. Former Tory chief Lord Goddard argued that the high rises of surveillance and data collection by the state and other organisations challenges long –standing traditions of privacy and individual freedom which are vital for democracy. CCTVs could send plagues of moral panic among the general population binded bt media exaggeration. Nic Goombridge wrote an article explaining that the government wastes a lot of tax payers’ money towards funding CCTVs. His article mentioned that the Hawkeye system was the most expensive investment made by the home office (Goombridge 2008: 76). This concurs with argument that taxpayers’ expenses should be invested towards crime awareness education particularly, young people who should be educated on the dangers of knife crime and other criminal activities.

UK is now turning into a pan-optic surveillance society which continues to increase because of our dependency on technology. This would be beneficial for safety and security in urban living as residents will feel confident about feeling safe and protected in public spheres and ameliorate the use of space and time. It also increased high prosecution levels, convicting the guilty and strictly monitor highly dangerous and violent offenders through electronic tagging. It also acts as a deterrent towards potential offenders and those who are likely to re – offend. However, it was criticised that the pan-optic surveillance society may cause bias among social classes as members of the lower classes may feel more targeted than their upper classes counterparts and will be more anxious that CCTVs will hamper their private space subjecting them to future humiliation by close members of the public which are known to them as aquintances like friends and family members.

Bauman, Z (1998) Globalization: The Human Consequence, Cambridge Polity Press

Burrows, J (1991), Making Crime Prevention Pay: Initiatives from Business, Crime Prevention Unit Paper 27. London Home Office.

Ditton, J (2000) Crime and the City: Public Attitudes towards Open Street CCTV in Glasgow British Journal of Criminology vol40 pp692 – 709

French, P (1996) ‘Inside the Offenders Mind’, CCTV Today 3/3:16 – 19

Geake, E (1993), ‘The Electronic Arm of the Law, New Scientist, 8 May

Gill, M, Little, R, Spriggs, A, Allen, J, Argomaniz, J and Waples, S (2005) Assessing the impact of CCTV: The Hawkeye Case Study, Home Office Online Report 12/05, London: Home Office.

Gill, M and Turbin, V (1997), ‘CCTV and Shop Theft: Towards a Realistic Evaluation’, paper presented to the British Journal of Criminology, Conference, Belfast, July.

Goombridge, N (2008) Stars of CCTV? How the Home Office wasted millions – a radical ‘Treasury/Audit Commission view, Surveillance & Society 5 (1): 73 – 80.

Hearnden, K (1996) ‘Small Business’ Approach to Managing CCTV to Combat Crime’, International Journal of Risk, Security and Crime Prevention 1/1: 19 – 31.

Kirby, J (2007) CCTV footage scoured in hunt for clues, The Independent, June 29 www.independent.co.uk/news/crime/cctv-footage-scoured-in-hunt-for-clues(Accessed 7^th April 2010)

Lyon, J (2006) ‘The Foreigners Still Locked in Our Jails and Other Scandals’, Guardian, 27 April

Matthews, R (2009) Doing Time: An Introduction to the Sociology of Imprisonment, Hampshire, Palgrave

Mayhew, P, Clarke, R, Burrows, J, Hough, J and Winchester, S (1979), Crime in Public View, Home Office Research Study 49. London: Home Office.

Poyner, B (1988) ‘Video Cameras and Bus Vandalism’, in R.V. Clarke, ed Situational Crime Prevention Successful Case Studies, 174 – 84, New York: Harrow and Heston.

Tilley, N (1993) Understanding Car Parks, Crime and CCTV: Evaluation Lessons from Safer Cities, Crime Prevention Unit Paper 42. London: Home Office.

Travis, A (2009) Lords: Rise of CCTV is threat to freedom, The Guardian, February 6: House of Lords Report on Surveillance Society: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/Id200809/Idselect/Idconst/18/1802.htm.

Van Straelen, F (1978) ‘Prevention and Technology’, J. Brown ed., Cranfield Papers. London: Peel Press.

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September 27, 2013 · 5:07 pm

How far the Holocaust Exhibition reinforces or challenges this interpretation of the ‘final solution?’

The holocaust was one of the historical events that would inherently embed the minds of many generations and the spillage of consequences and stereotypes at present. Zygmunt Bauman’s thesis was considered to be a tool to aid our understanding on the relationship between modernity and the holocaust. However, it was rumored to spark controversy among renowned historians, especially those with feminist views may stress that the holocaust symbolize the oppression of women and hamper spaces for female empowerment. In contrast, those with Marxist views may argue it illustrates class exploitation of proletarians by members of the ruling class. This essay compares Bauman’s work to my narrative journey at the holocaust exhibition and asks whether modernity is an incomplete project and how does it connect to the holocaust.

When I attended the exhibition, I discovered there was a persistent level of resentment against the Jews. It began with the accusation made that they (Jews) were responsible for killing Christ, which was seen as a motive for vengeance by Adolf Hitler. These acts of Antisemitism had stripped the Jews of their rights and freedom to be civilized and were left with two choices: be killed or be coerced into Christianity. An arson attack on the German Parliament gave Hitler a reason to capture thousands of Jews, political opponents, gypsies, blacks, homosexuals, mothers of young children, expectant mothers, unwed mothers and those with physical and mental disabilities. In 1543, Martin Luther, the originator of the German Protestantism published a book About the Jews and their lives turned strongly against the Jews and loathed them with passion after numerous failed attempts to convert them with Christianity. In 1761, Jews began to campaign for equal rights in which they succeeded in 1871 throughout the New State. In the 1500s, Poland became the largest Jewish community and is speculated to be the largest at present. From the years 1648 to 1689, the massacre of the Jews was seen as an outcome of the war and unrest in Poland which could be shaped by the pre-modern perception of Jews as the killers of Jesus, which stems from the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, one of his twelve disciples and that modernity was argued to play a partial influence on the development of machinery, science and technology in the uses of weapons, and railways which was considered to be cheapest form of transport to transfer Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camps where they were eventually killed.

The holocaust exhibition revealed hidden problems which cannot be explained and clarified in Zygmunt Bauman’s work such as the role of bureaucracy in Germany in great detail. From my experience, the German bureaucracy is rare and was granted the task to exterminate the Jews since Hitler was appointed as Chancellor of the German government (Bauman 1991: 104). The Nazis viewed the Jews as the ‘germs’ to the German society that needs to be washed off with bleach. Many historians argued that bureaucracy did not mark the anxiety of racial contamination, but created the holocaust. The Museum provided visual sources of information about bureaucracy, such as the role of the members in the Nazi party. Zygmunt Bauman reported that bureaucracy started with a method of an exact definition of the object, which was violence and social engineering on the basis of race, age, disability and sexual orientation and then register those who do not into the Nazi criteria (1991: 105). Callinicos (2008: 175) noted that Weber explained the failure of the German Reich foreign policy before and during the Great War which motivated political decision-making by the German bureaucrats who lacked the means to work on their own initiatives and were not risk takers and preferred to be in their political comfort zone. The exhibition revealed that the spread of propaganda through the modern means of communication was the key to Nazi success and the launch of its dictatorship.

It was believed there were motives for the disease of Anti Antisemitism in Russia as Jews were known as loan sharks. The main reason is that Max Weber could explain that Jews who give money are kind and considerate who acknowledged the teaching of reciprocity. However, those with Anti – Semetic views already see Jews were sinful for killing Christ and therefore, assumed to be sinful for being financially deceptive and greedy. In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism signifies the first study on the process of rationalisation, Weber identifies that the spirit of capitalism is all about making money to enjoy the freedom money delivers and some writers could argue that the Jewish society revolved around money. This led to the stereotypical perceptions of Jews as money -orientated and careers in the finance industry help shape that stereotypical image and are likely to obtain a millionaire status. However, they exploit money for their own means through deception of those who are poor to save their own skin (Callinicos 2008: 161). Those with the Weberian lens may argue that Anti – Semitism in Russia illustrates the notion of karma against the Jews for killing Christ and the holocaust evidently proves to be that example. Georg Simmel argues that money symbolises as an economic key to unlock the Jews from their slave status and simultaneously, serves as a vaccine against Anti – Semitic oppression (Wolff 1950 cited in Callinicos 2008: 184). From the holocaust exhibition, Jews were described as “blood sucking capitalists” who use their greed and betrayal as their way of achieving status.

Bauman’s work was believed to be subjected to criticism, particularly ignoring the impact of the Great War and its destructive effects, socially, economically and politically, such as the loss of innocence among young soldiers, the promotion of violence which remains to be at present and the abuse of technology and machinery. This can lead many academics and writers to debate whether violence shapes the attitudes of masculinity. However, Beilharz (2001: 271) argued that thanks to scientific inventions and technology, men along with women have the capability to kill another human being and carry out other heinous sinful acts without remorse. He also argued that modernity was not to blame for making people evil but, it created opportunities for people to become evil by exploiting their free will and are seen as rational human beings who are capable of making decisions and therefore, be accountable for the consequences they created.

Some writers may criticise that Bauman used Weber’s notion of rationality and concentrates on the psychological and sociological impact of the holocaust rather than political and economic terms. He can also be criticized for using the theme of Marxism by concentrating on one particular area instead of adopting a helicopter view of the whole topic. Dr Arthur Gutt, Head of the National Hygiene Department in the Ministry of Interior illustrates that Nazi Policy’s main task was to preserve a white supremacist society , even though it involves killing the non – Nazis.

Genocide is defined as the mass execution of a particular group. Chalk and Jonassohn (1990 cited in Beilharz 2001: 277) defines genocide as a form of mass killing in which a state or other authorities plan to obliterate a group. Holocaust is seen as genocide that involves the killing of not only the Jews, but the homosexuals, blacks, gypsies and other groups who do not fit into the Nazi category. Feminist thinkers could argue that the Nazi subculture illustrates patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity and suggests that women were the most oppressed victims, as they felt the holocaust created opportunities for sexual violence to dominate, humiliate and degrade women and prevent them from progressing, and concurrently, to gain acceptance of Non-Nazis in the Nazi Society. Beilharz (2001: 277) noted that victims were not killed for what they have done, but were killed for being different. Back and Solomos (2008: 281) argued that racism was seen as a form of social engineering within the Nazi Policy and prejudice was argued to be a motive to force the non -Nazis are “different” into people – pleasers with intention to be accepted even if they have abandon their ethnic identities.

Bauman (1989: 92) used the metaphor “The Garden” to explain the process of the obliterating the Jews as Nazis see them as “weeds” and needs to be killed off as soon as possible to prevent spreading to other regions. The development of gas chambers was based on the Nazis’ aspirations to create a perfect clean garden and was seen as a ” garden vacuum cleaner” with the aim of vacuuming up the selected group to die by being suffocated by the contents in the vacuum bag. Some historians argue the Nazi policy was sadistic and gruesome and it revolves around the glorification of violence and suffering of the Jews for their own pleasure rather than out of resentment and revenge. They could also argue that Nazi’s ideal garden is about torture and killing those who are defenceless and vulnerable.

The final solution started soon after Hitler was appointed as chancellor of the German government in 1933. The exhibition revealed deep information about the final solution, such as the arson of public libraries where books written by Jewish writers and renowned figures, such as Jack London, brothers Thomas and Henrich Mann and Sigmund Freud were destroyed. Jews were excluded from community activities and barred from local shops and were segregated from those who are Non – Jewish (Gutt 1938 cited in Back and Solomos 2009: 281). The Jews were deprived of their rights and freedom of movement. The holocaust exhibition revealed that Germany gained superiority over Poland due to a military needs and on 17^th September 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Poland under a secret agreement with Germany. As a result, Poland was vanished from the map of Europe. In 1936, Jewish teachers were barred from teaching Aryan children and Jewish children were barred from public schools few months later. Kristallnacht , night of the broken glass, an event that took place in Germany on 9^th November 1938 where synagogues, businesses and homes owned by members of Jewish community were destroyed by mobs with anti – Semitic views and it was the only the large – scale pogrom that happened on the streets of German towns throughout the holocaust (Bauman 1989: 91). Bauman sees that modern genocide as the purpose and symbolizes social engineering which is about social order and conforming to the designs of a perfect society (1989: 91). The exhibition revealed that children were poisoned with hatred towards the Jews through lessons and the use of text books and literature.

Marxist writers could suggest that the massacre of the Jews was an expression of capitalism and exploitation of the proletariats by the bourgeoisies. Callinicos (2001: 391) noted that Nazis have fascist views which include ruthless dictatorship of the lower working class. Tim Mason, a Marxist Historian of the Third Reich confessed in his quote that he was emotionally and intellectually moved by the barbaric and horrific torment the victims were subjected to (1993 cited in Callinicos 2001: 388). Bauman’s work on Marxism can be criticised for being very limited and the holocaust is seen as the most severe case of modern capitalism. Ernest Mendel argues that the germ of the holocaust is to found in colonialism and imperialism’s extreme racism (1986 cited in Callinicos 2001: 386).

In December 1941, the first extermination camp was opened in Chelmo near the large ghetto of Lodz which was built on request of local Reich governor Arthur Greiser. Nazis used railways to abduct and transport people to their deaths as it was considered cheap. Beilharz (2001: 268) noted that the camps were not old human escaping dungeons but they were modern and could stay till the end of time. He also argues the concentration camps were symbols of modern invention thanks to the emergence of modernity, which could agree with Marxism as concentration camp was seen as an Anti-Semitic “vacuum” invented to satisfy the interest of the ruling class.

Inside the concentration camps, the Jews and other groups, such as blacks, homosexuals and gypsies were divided and assessed on their physical strength. Carbon monoxide was a commonly used to exterminate these groups. Other groups included pregnant women and mothers with young children were also selected for the gruesome process. The people who passed the physical tests were coercive into labour making machines that were evetually designed to kill them in appalling conditions. Bauman (1989: 92) argued that the extermination machines were designed to favour the Nazis’ barbaric interest. The exhibition revealed that people who were behind the killings of the Jews had careers in medicine, dentistry, accounting, law and teaching. Scientists carried out experiments with attempt to cure homosexual men off their homosexuality as it was sinful and deviant and prevent homosexuality from spreading.

He (Bauman) noted that there was a strict hierarchy and functional division of labour which can be applied on slave labour among the workers. It can be suggested that this type of labour was mechanical that the workers were required to share the same task and obey the same rules. Bauman felt that the Nazis exploited the divisions of labour for their own interests and also argued that the holocaust cannot be seen as a form of academic interest for two reasons. The first reason is that it changed a little about history and there is little evidence that impacted on people’s meanings and historical movement of modern civilization. The second reason is that there is more of a narrative about the holocaust than it is written by scholars (Bauman 1989: 85 – 6), who soley rely on academics and personal accounts of those being involved in the holocaust is more favorable including the diary of Anne Frank.

Jews were deported to the ghettos in Poland, because of the hostility and ignorance of Anti – Semetism where the Jewish language Yiddish was developed . The ghettos were seen as the opportunity for freedom and resilience through Jewish religion. Functionalist writers such as Talcott Parsons and Emile Durkheim could apply social cohesion in the ghettos by arguing that the ghettos were designed to create a bond between the remaining survivors who escaped Auschwitz together to celebrate peace and happiness brought by their own escape to freedom.

This essay concludes that Bauman’s work is based on Max Weber’s notion of rationality which is applied on bureaucracy rather than concentrating on political democracy. The exhibition revealed the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Jude was the core root of Antisemitism. Christianity was seen as an aid of terror used by the Anti – Semetic society with the attempt to brainwash the Jews to forget about their identities with the threat of murder if they refused. Callinicos highlighted that modernity did not create evil people as they were rational beings prior to the enlightenment. However, modernity increased their opportunities to become evil without any remorse regardless of Sigmund Freud who could argue that humans are capable of feeling guilty. Modernity reveals the possibility of racism and scientific technology was exploited and manipulated by hands of people who chose to be evil. Marxist perspective made a good point by arguing the division of labour was exploited by the Nazis who were considered to be the ruling class.

Bauman, Z (1989) Modernity and the Holocaust, Cambridge, Polity Press

(1991) Modernity and the Holocaust, Cambridge, Polity Press (paperback)

(2009) Modernity, Racism and Extermination in Back, L and Solomos, J Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader, 2^nd edition, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge.

Beilharz, P (2001) The Bauman Reader, Wiley, Blackwell

Callinicos, A (2001) ‘Plumbing the Depths: Marxism and the Holocaust’ Yale Journal of Criticism

(2008) Social Theory: A Historical Introduction, Cambridge, Polity Press

Gutt, A (1938) ‘Population Policy’, in Germany Speaks (London: Thornton Butterworth)pp35 – 52

Chalk, F and Jonassohn, K (1990) The History of Sociology and Genocide: Analysis and Case Studies, New Haven, Yale University Press.

Wolff, K. H (1950) The Sociology of Georg Simmel, New York, New York Press.

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September 12, 2013 · 6:07 pm

What were the main features of the Beveridge Report?

The Beveridge Report was published in December 1942 formerly known as the Social Insurance and Allied Services Report. It was named after Sir William Beveridge, a former lawyer prior his position as director of the London School of Economics (LSE). It was seen as the blueprint of the welfare state which supported by an argument involving the state finding a way to deal with the major social matters within the British society. The aim of this report was to combat the five giants, want, idle, disease, ignorance and squalor which were seen as the consequences of the war. It was rumoured (Lister 2004 cited in Alcock 2006: 209) that his plan was backed up by assumptions that oppressed married women were expected to live on a partial amount of their spouses’ earnings. The Beveridge Report also aims to stamp out poverty by providing all citizens a certain amount of support through allowances depending on their income levels (cited in Smith: 118). Beveridge referred his report circulating a code known as the social insurance, which consists a certain sum coming from the wages of workers contributed into a scheme that would help them through hardships which was eventually renamed as the National Insurance (Cited in Alcock 2006: 208 -9).

The Beveridge Report recommended the provision of free health care to meet the needs of people from all backgrounds by building health practices, building public hospitals and more doctors to treat the ill – stricken patients. He recommended funeral allowances that would help with costs for the funeral processes. He also recommended benefits to neutralize the high patterns of poverty among the long – term unemployed, people with disabilities, the elderly, and grants for married women, especially those with children, expectant mothers and those who are from low – income backgrounds. It was believed (Cited in Alcock 2006: 212) that he (Beveridge) recommended the preservation of social assistance along with the national insurance as he acknowledged that some people are less likely to be entitled to claim insurance benefits.

The welfare state commenced to battle the five evils. The Education Act 1944 was introduced to fight against ignorance by providing free education up to the age of 15. The Family Allowance 1945 was introduced to combat want by providing benefits to parents of children as an addition to their incomes along with the National Insurance Act 1946 to provision flat rate pensions and benefits for those who are unemployed and chronically ill through taxation of incomes. The National Health Service Act 1946 to provide free healthcare and the National Assistance Act 1948 to aid people with disabilities and mental health problems. The public housing provision tackled squalor by providing council accommodation and idleness was challenged by industries setting new businesses, creating job opportunities.

As a result of the launch of the Beveridge report, women and members from lower and working class are now entering employment thanks to the distribution of services within health, education and social care at present. Child benefit was seen as a reaction from the compound of the family allowance and tax relief which was obtained by working families with children at present. However, the amount of allowance for single people diverse from those who are married and many people rely on national assistance and amount they receive are low and therefore, are below the poverty trap.

[1] Alcock, P. (2006) Understanding Poverty, 3ed, Palgrave Macmillan Press, Hampshire, Ch14, p208 – 13

Lister, R (1994). ‘She has other duties” – Women, Citizenship and Social Security’, in S. Baldwin and J. Falkingham (eds) , Social Security and Social Change: New Challenges to Beveridge Model, Harvester/Wheatsheaf.

Smith, H. (1996) Britain in the Second World War cited in Unit Materials/Section B Weeks 5 – 12 Poverty to Social Exclusion.

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June 30, 2013 · 6:45 pm

Why aging is so different among various cultures?

In western societies, we were taught from a young age to respect our elders. We are usually conditioned to give up our seats on buses, trains and benches in shopping centres to the elderly. Discounts on bus fees, haircuts, cinemas and gym membership are made affordable them as their pension cannot cover the average fees, as those from higher class backgrounds and active members of society can. We were discouraged from using inappropriate language, such as profanity, languages of sexual nature or languages which reflects on ageism at their personal space as we do around children. We would see old people as lovely and wonderful people who say “hello” to people as they walk past.

However, as time moves on and things start to change, some people begin to show a lack of respect towards old people. Nowadays, the elderly are targeted for fraud, mugging, burglary and harassment. Newspaper articles are plastered with photos of old people covered in black eyes and bruises, having been mugged and attacked by young people. Even stories and news reports features them becoming victims of white-collar crimes to serious and disturbing crimes, such as rape, sexual assault and even murder. The elderly are now being perceived as “feeble and vulnerable” burdens to society (BBC News). Stories reveal that old people are now on the receiving end of medical treatment, treated disrespectfully and neglected in hospitals and care homes. There are subconscious common belief that young people do not show any respect towards old people and now rarely, people do not even make an attempt to give up their seats for the elderly and even pregnant women in buses and trains.

Old age is seen as historical and cultural and construction of a natural phenomenon. There are few positive views on ageing, as it’s inevitable and it’s a life process, they are seen as the “masters” of knowledge, they live in a centuries where well-known historical events happen such as World War, The Holocaust and the Racial Segregation in the 1940s. In the negative perspective, they are perceived to be a problem to society and an economic burden in the healthcare and social security sectors. They are dependent on other people, such as their caregivers, adult children and members from health and social services. They are already be deprived of their independence because of their physical health, particularly limited mobility. They often live alone, either widowed, separated or suffering from empty nest syndrome, a feeling of emptiness when their children grown up and flew the nest.

In African societies, old people are often treated with respect and dignity and seen as superior to the young generation. Unfortunately, old people make up the growing population of people living in poverty in areas that economically deprived and underdeveloped according to BBC News. They are much more vulnerable than children to contact any illness such as, malaria, fever and HIV and AIDS. They start to play roles as caregivers to their ill stricken adult children and orphaned grandchildren. In India and China, old people live in extended and reconstituted families with their married children and grandchildren. There are some explanations why old people are knowledgeable because they have vast load of life experiences, than the young and middle age people. Some of them spend their retirement going on cruises, take up a new hobby or even go travelling or attempt to write a great novel.

Society stereotypically views the elderly as grumpy with have no sense of humour, whilst some of them are happy to tell stories and make jokes in a way to cope with negative burdens in which old age may bring. They are well-mannered and seen as senior citizens and do not tolerate offensive language. Their upbringings and education and experiences have made them matured and carry a huge bag of wisdom, eager to donate to the younger generation as they witnessed various historical events. Thus old age should be seen as a burden nor as a root of envy. Most of all, should be seen as an inevitable process, which may bring a series of emotions which are seen in other life changes.

In America, older people are spoiled by luxuries since social security facilities were started in 1935. The life expectancy in america has increased to 77 years. They are taking advantage of good quality healthcare and prescription drugs. Some of them are wealthy with an income worth $100,000. In Argentina, the elderly are mistreated economically and socially and often neglected. They make up just under 12% of the population. Some of them receive old age pension whilst more than 1.5 million have no insurance and live in the line of poverty. In Abkhazistan, a suburb in southern Russia, 1 in 4000 live beyond 100 years old and make up the population of old people living longer. They do not have worries about ageing as us, Britons and secondly, they work beyond the retirement age, working in fields, where they take care of the flocks of sheep and look after their great-grandchildren.

In Britain and western societies, old age is seen as a problem economically and physically. However in other societies, the elderly are seen as powerful and superior by knowledge and wisdom, such as Japan, where they continue to work enabling them to gain prestige, wealth, power and status. Old people have more life experiences than the younger generation because they grew up in poverty, severe hardships where facilities were not available, witnessed historical unforgettable events, that provided them with valuable lessons and provision of a rich dose of wisdom and resiliency. During their time they never had economic rewards like we have now, such as technology, sanitation, better education and improved healthcare and medical facilities ,which we take for granted.

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June 7, 2013 · 12:50 am

How can the impact of poverty be understood in contemporary society?

When the word poverty is mentioned, we are captivated by an image of a child no younger than seven wandering the dusty wide streets of a third world country. The feelings of desperation, hunger, sadness, loneliness and vulnerability through his swollen tearful eyes after an hours’ search for a taste of satisfaction soften our hearts melting with sorrow, helplessness and compassion. A picture of his skeletal body pressing onto his flesh mounted on every charity leaflet displayed by street fundraisers we are approached by in our local high streets or a homeless man at the street corner only be heard by the cardboard held by his hands reading: Homeless and Hungry Please help with an exclamation mark as he bows his head down with his eyes peering down at the ground.

Tower block of flats with stairwells overpowered by heavy stench of urine littered with dirty needles, debris of dust, empty food packets, dried on newspapers and magazine strips. A row of houses with windows patched with wood and walls patterned by graffiti, showing threats, offensive slurs and hatred presumably written by domineering and bullying feral minded youths with the routine of getting drunk on cheap alcohol purchased from shops on what their ignorant dictionary refer as “The Paki Shop” a typical derogatory banter shared between among feral subcultures, an obvious reaction after being intoxicated by the cheap booze, brought with their “free money” from the government and the result of wave of immigration for South Asia in the 1960s. Their vocabularies are largely spat out with a tirade of profanity and their only reputation is to be thugs and anti – social menaces. This obviously captures our mind with resentment and awareness about the consequences of what poverty can bring, hostility and resentment towards those are from middle and upper class backgrounds.

Poverty is a major social issue along with racism, ageism, social exclusion and sexism. Although poverty is acknowledged and there are certain policies with the aim to neutralise its high numbers, it continues to be a major issue worldwide. Poverty is not difficult to define as comes in two forms. Absolute poverty, according to Rowntree (1890’s) is to have insufficient funds for their human rights. In clarity, the amount of income a person needs to pay rent, for food and clothing. Being poor also defines not having the materialistic needs to be accepted within the social norms of society in which Townsend (1970’s) defines as relative poverty. Relative poverty is obviously used to explain poverty in western societies where computers and mobile phones are used to be seen as luxuries in the past. Today, it’s becoming a norm for people to own them. If they do not have any of those items, they may be classified as poor and could make them feel excluded from society.

Functionalists like Davis and Moore (1967) and Parsons (1951) see inequality as unavoidable and is essential for society to create social cohesion. In comparison to other social groups, those who from below the poverty-stricken backgrounds remain stuck especially those as their environment lack opportunities that help them to escape poverty, such as apprenticeships, education and work training programmes. Thus, can be a breeding ground for anti-social behaviour caused by the feelings of frustration among subcultures that live there. Poverty can be seen as an incentive to motivate people, especially those who live poverty-stricken towns and neighbourhoods to find ways to better their chances to leave the depressing position behind by taking advantage of education and government related employment programmes. However, they are motivated by financial rewards rather than enrolling on programmes that aims to help them build their self esteem and self confidence.

Marxists thinkers like Westgaard and Resler (1976) and Kincaid (1979) argue that the bourgeoisie use poverty as an aid to help them meet their own selfish interest by exploiting the feelings of powerlessness and frustration held in the proletarians . Consequently, inequalities are created and eventually, lead to conflict and resentment among the proletarians towards the bourgeoisie . The strength of this explanation is that it highlights the concentration of wealth in the capitalist market and explains the ruling class uses the welfare state as a weapon to prevent the poor from rebelling against the capitalist system. Another criticism of the Marxist lens is it ignores the positives inequalities may bring. For example, it will give the poor and those from working class backgrounds the motivation and persistence to succeed and additionally, ameliorate their levels in resilience and coping skills.

Weberian thinkers like Townsend (1970) believe that inequalities are a result of the demands from the labour market and it is strongly influenced by characteristics, such as race, gender, age and level of education. This explanation highlights some points that people can be blamed for causing poverty especially concern revolve around race and gender. They (Weberians) also believe that people are enslaved in the poverty trap because they lack the power to force other social groups to increase their level of reward. However, Weberian thinkers can be criticised for ignoring the causes of poverty in individuals, such as discrimination in race, age, disability and socio-economic backgrounds. This (Weberian) approach is seen as more sensitive to these issues of stratification and inequalities and do not see inequality as the cause of poverty. They see that inequalities focus on power and demands from the labour market. Weberians concurs with the Marxists that inequality is unavoidable in the capitalist system. However, they do not mean that poverty itself is unavoidable. Inequalities can be reduced through progressive taxation, which means that the more money people earn, the more taxes they pay and suggest that relative poverty should be eliminated. This they believe could neutralise the financial burdens endured by those who are from lower and working class backgrounds.

The New Right believe capitalist economies play a key role in poverty because businesses need to gain more profits by making sure that public spending are kept short. They (New Right) also believe the welfare state is to blame for causing poverty indirectly by forcing entrepreneurs to make higher tax payments. Consequently, job opportunities are not created. They feel the welfare state is responsible for encouraging people to be more interested in claiming benefits, which creates fatalistic attitudes, believing they are better off living on handouts rather than working for a minimum wage as they are put off by the possiblity of rejection from potential employers and a vicious no win situation. However, a criticism of the New Right is that poverty would increase if the welfare state was eradicated, thus exacerbating the levels of mixed emotions among those who are already trapped. They will unable to afford a healthy diet, leaving them susceptible to common illnesses, which could leave them absent from the labour market. This means, they won’t be receive a regular income to cover the basic needs for survival.

Women are more likely to suffer from poverty than men because of discrimination and demands of their stereotypical roles within the patriarchal society. Since the feminist’s movement in the 1960s, which severed ties with patriarchy, women are now striving for education and careers. However, women are more likely to gain part – time and menial jobs and this could have an impact on their pensions in later life. Women tend to dominate single parent families than men, making their chances of obtaining employment more challenging because of childcare duties. As a result, become more dependent on the state, leaving them sinking into a vicious circle. Feminists, especially those with radical views can argue the welfare state discourages women from seeking employment and as welfare state symbolises patriarchal control and feel threatened to be sanctioned if they work. Glendinning and Millar (1994) stressed that women may be restricted of access to other types of benefits and only 60% of women are entitled for maternity leave.

Women who are in the poverty trap are likely to exploit the welfare state by producing more babies and could lose their benefits if they obtain employment which agrees with Pollak (1961) who argue that women take advantage of their stereotypical roles. This can be seen as a criticism ignored by feminist thinkers additionally, the subject of prostitution, where women will engage in this risky activity to achieve the basic needs for survival especially those with children. This would result them to abuse particularly rape by their pimps and clients if they refuse to give them their services, in fear of having unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. This would eventually leave them permanently incarcerated in the poverty trap.

Neera Sharma, a Policy Officer from Barnados (BBC News) says that poverty can impact a child’s personal, social and educational development. Lack of a healthy diet, hygiene and unconditional love play a part in child poverty. The cycle of deprivation by Rutter and Madge (1976) illustrates on how poverty can have an effect on people. For example, a child be born into poverty, grows up in a council estate and gains the lower class status. They may suffer from health problems because of their poor diet and this would affect their education performance and consequently, drop outwith no qualifications and difficulties of holding down a job and the cycle persists into adulthood. This could provoke them to engage in criminal activities to achieve the basic, materialistic or both needs . Therefore, it would make it difficult for them obtain employment, mirroring the cycle of deprivation. Eventually this cycle can be passed on from generation to generation. This can influence them and adopt this as a way of life manifest the fatalistic attitudes and refuse opportunities in employment and education.

People with disabilities are at risk of poverty their able – bodied counterparts as their physical health restricts them from seeking employment and if they do obtain employment, it would be low skilled and low paid. Oppenheim and Harker (1996) estimated that 47% of disabled were living in poverty in the 1980s. They also argue that higher rates of poverty among disabled people were partly due to social exclusion and discrimination because of the hostile attitudes held in the minds of the able-bodied and the stigma held in mainstream society, where they are labelled as “abnormal”. Alcock (1997) points out that disabled people are more likely to suffer from social exclusion and material poverty than able-bodied, thus increasing levels of depression and low self-esteem.

Disabled people have higher spending costs on items such as heating, adaptable aids, transport and heating than most people. 46% of disabled people lived in the poorest conditions in 1985 and reduced down to 38% in 1996 and 1997. The disability living allowance is designed to prevent financial hardships in disabled people and provided incentives, such as skills training and work preparation enabling them to seek employment. However, it can be criticised for ignoring that people can overcome their overcome with the right support and help from charities and governmental programmes specialising in disabilities. Another criticism of disability as it tends to concentrate on physical immobility and not those who are suffer specific learning disabilities, such as Dyslexia, ADHD, Dyspraxia and Asperger’s Syndrome. Thirdly, mental health is ignored as those who live with conditions particularly, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are prone to prejudice and discrimination as the hostility held in society unconsciously views them “crazy” or “mentally abnormal”. Thus excerabates their chances of entering the labour market and integrate to mainstream society.

Members from Black and Ethnic minority backgrounds are twice at risk of experiencing poverty than their white counterparts. Racial discrimination is obviously seen as the core root of poverty and unemployment. Institutional racism in education is a major problem in contemporary society as teachers hold subconscious negative racial stereotypes and lack understanding in cultural diversity and direction in schools, which result in low education attainment and poor academic performance within black and ethnic minoritity groups, provoking them to drop out. This eventually leads to a restriction of job opportunities and therefore, subject them to be permanently trapped in the cycle of deprivation. Thus, engage in criminal activities, such as drug dealing, theft, fraud and robberies against their white counterparts to express deep-rooted feelings of resentment.

Scott and Fulcher (1999) note that two – thirds of Pakistani and Bangladeshi families are in the bottom fifth of the income distribution in Britain. He also argues that ethnic minorities can experience problems with the benefits system as they receive a fewer amount benefits than their white counterparts and they feel the welfare state does not respond to cultural or family issues e.g. Afro – Caribbeans are more likely to face poverty because they have higher numbers of single parenthood and treatment by staff at their local job centre. Ethnic groups are more like to be socially excluded due to of racism and language barriers if English is not their first language. Alcock (1997) notes that poor housing; ill-health and lack of education could be linked to financial inequality in the Black and Ethnic minorities, making it obvious that strong levels of racist attitudes held in hegemonic institutions, which can back up argument causes of poverty within the black and ethnic communities. Alcock can be criticised for ignoring the link between racial hostility and poverty in black and ethnic minorities especially held in institutions and towns that are predominately white.

Poverty continues to make a negative impact in contemporary society, through the theoretical lenses. Marxist thinkers resent the ruling class for the cause of poverty among the poor. However, the chances to rise above the poverty line lies in the self-belief and personal responsibility regardless of their characteristics. Unfortunately, enraged by the negative feelings experienced by poverty, some turn to crime, not knowing it would create a cycle of deprivation for their offsprings. Weberians made good points that people are to blame for their own poverty by refusing to take offers from the labor market and opportunities in education because of their fatalistic attitude. They also argue that poverty indicates the issue of power and status within the labour market along with inequalities. Functionalist thinkers argue poverty cannot be eradicated as it is needed to a certain degree to create social cohesion. Feminist thinkers feel that poverty reveal issues of sexism feeling the welfare state and benefit handouts favours the interest of patriarchy and women are seen as victims of so-called “patriarchal welfare slavery”.

Alcock, P. (1997) Understanding Poverty, 2^nd edn, Macmillan Basingstoke.

Class handouts: Sociology AS for AQA, Wealth poverty and welfare p274 – 81.

Class handouts: Poverty and Inequalities.

Class handouts: Theoretical explanations for poverty and the Welfare State.

Class handouts: Individual and groups most at risk of poverty.

Class handouts: Chapter 4 Poverty and social exclusion p 258 – 61.

Davis, K and Moore, W.E (1967 first published, 1945) ‘Some principles of stratifications’ in Bendix and Lipset (eds) (1967).

Haralambos, M, Holborn, M, Heald, R Sociology Themes and Perspectives: Chapter 5: Poverty and social exclusion, (2000), 5ed, HarperCollins, London, p313 – 14, 334 – 41.

Kincaid, J. (1979) ‘Poverty and the Welfare State’ in Irvine et al (ed.) (1979).

Parsons, T (1951) The Social System, The Free Press, New York.

Glendinning, C. and Millar, J. (1994) Women and Poverty in Britain: The 1990s, Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead.

Pollak, O (1961) The Criminality of women A.S Barnes. University of Michigan

Oppenheim, C. and Harker, L. (1996) Poverty: Facts, 3^rd edn, CPAG, London.

Rowntree, S. (1901) Poverty: A study of Town Life, Macmillan, London.

Townsend, P. (1970) ‘Measures and explanations of poverty in high and low-income countries in Townsend (ed.) (1970). (ed.) (1970) The Concept of Poverty, Heinemann, London.

Westergaard, J. and Resler, H. (1976) Class in a Capitalist Society, Penguin, Harmondsworth.

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June 3, 2013 · 10:11 pm

Has scientific invention made society better or worse?

Imagine someone being rushed to floors of their local Accident and Emergency with a severed hand after an accident and was told by surgeons that the only option was to amputate it as they believe the hand is damaged beyond repair. Instead, they experimented with a special substance on the amputated region and eventually, the hand grew back identically to one which was lost. Cell regeneration is a fascinating topic which could bring hope in the future and revolutionize modern medicine. It’s the process of an organism replacing body parts. It is often seen as a healing process and noted for its ability to regrow amputated limbs, severed nerves, lost organs, eyes and wounds without any scaring. Amphibians such as frogs, newts and salamanders have this ability. I am asking a question on whether scientific invention in future medicine on cell regeneration will make society better or worse? Scientific invention can be created by using technology and science in medicine, physics and chemistry in a way to make us happier, independent, healthier and wealthier and wiser.

Limb regeneration will be a possible treatment in medicine thanks to a process called differentiation which involves the cells wrapping around the wound lose their identity. The cells then transform themselves into a cluster of cells called Blastema. Blastema cells are made up of stem cells which will then revise and transform into the type of cells required for limb growth. Scientists David Gardiner, a research biologist and his Dr Susan Bryant, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California at Irvine have discovered the reason why human beings cannot regenerate body parts like the mentioned species. They believed that the signals in our genes which control the behaviour of limb growth were switched off.

Theories explained that we can regenerate everything including the limbs whilst we were in embryo. If a fetus had an operation which involves going under the knife and is expected to have an incision scar and surprisingly, after the baby is born, the scar which was sited on the region where the incision was made is literally invisible as if it was never had surgery. Unfortunately, soon as we are born, the genetic signals which play the role of limb growth are switched off and instead, the body responds to scarring and once the limb or any other body part is extracted, It will never grow back.

Assumptions explained that we can regenerate 25% of our livers. This is due to unipotency of hepatocytes, the mass of cells, which plays a role in storing protein and transformation of starch into energy and conversion of protein, cholesterol and bile salts by using DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (Ribonucleic acid). Nadia Rosenthal from the Howard Hughes Institute believes we can regenerate our ribs if the membrane, which surrounds the lining of the rib, is still intact. The rib is often used as a bone graft for reconstructive surgery. We can also regenerate blood, bone marrow and the membranes in our stomach and small intestines. Cell regeneration will revolutionise the world of medicine and make life easier for doctors and patients. This will save time of doctors amputating body parts and also save money for patient as prosthesis are quite expensive depending on the brand such as Ossur and Dorset Ortho.

Violence, work related accidents, which involves using machines which are dangerous and malfunctioned, not properly fixed or poor neglegience and car accidents. Diseases such as, cancer and bacterial diseases such as necrotising fascitis and particularly bacterial meningitis, especially its dangerous form meningococal septicaemia with meningitis or alone are responsible for limb loss and other body parts. Although prosthesis and grafting techniques such as nerve grafting, transplanting nerves onto a muscle area such as the chest to help amputees like Jesse Sullivan, a former electrician who lost both arms after he accidentally touched an active cable which contain a voltage of between 7,000 – 7,500 to control the limbs by using his brain. The reality is that the prosthesis will not be good as the ones we are born with and often took for granted.

Prosthetic limbs are required to be worn for a limited amount of time and had to be changed and upgraded annually depending on the growing process of the person. Prosthesis can sometimes have inadequate fitting and unsuitable for some people. Losing a body part or a limb can have a devastating impact on the individual as it will alter their lifestyle and shape their identity and position in a society that is obsessed with perfect body image. The loss of a limb can also have an impact on their families as they have to give up their lifestyles and jobs to take care of them as they cannot do things themselves. Society’s subconscious negative towards disabled people and the obsession of being normal could have an influence on the, emotional and psychological well-being of the individual as it could give them a sense of anger, resentment, guilt, self – pity, numbness, sadness and they could even suffer from depression, self body image and suffer from suicidal thoughts. Although cell regeneration is a fascinating, curious topic, it can have a few downfalls such as the economical estimation of how much funding do scientists need in order to conduct more research and experiments on the possibility of regeneration and the actual cost of actually performing the procedure to the people who need it, especially in societies where healthcare is expensive. In the social aspects, this topic can cause a controversial debate and readers will show ambivalent views

Cell Regeneration is still a new discovery which could bring hope in the future and revolutionise our cultural and scientific eyes on medicine. This medical invention could benefit as it will help people lead normal lives and reinstate back to the normal routine than the routine they had when they were disabled and thus, enable to integrate in society and perceived as normal. On the other hand, it can make society worse because this topic illustrates society’s obsession with aesthetic perfectionism and ignores the message that inner appearance shapes our unique identities rather than our outer appearance. If cell regeneration does come into the light of medicine, it could cause conflict within the social hierarchy meaning, those who are above middle class can afford this extraordinary treatment than those who can’t afford it, thus it could lead to social conflict.

Philipkoski, K, (2006),www.wired.com/medtech/genetics/news/2006/09/071817(15^th November 2007) 2

Bryner, J, (2006) How Salamanders sprout new limbs, http://www.livescience.com/animals/071101-newt-limbs.html,1st , 15^th November 2007 2

Gardiner, DM, Bryant, SV (DRS), (2006), http://regeneration.bio.uci.edul , 15^th November 2007 3

Highfield, R (2005) Doctors seek key to regrowing limbs, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main/jhtml-/news/2005/10/12/nregeneration,12.xml ( 2007), 22^nd November 2007

www.wikipedia.com 2, 4,5+ 8

theenglishman101, (2005) A report on Limb regeneration and the history of research,www.bbc/dna/h2g2/A4084030, 3^rd December 2007. 2 + 10

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June 3, 2013 · 8:01 pm

What is meant by race, ethnicity and racialisation and how does it impact migration?

Race is defined as a social construct rooted from the judgement of how we see ourselves, such as skin colour, hair type, facial features and other physical characteristics. Ethnicity is defined in sharing the same cultural values and norms, historical experiences, religious interests and geographical origins. It is underlined (Hall 1989 cited in Fulcher and Scott 2007: 200) that ethnicity derives from ancient experiences and events that highlights the problem of prejudice and discrimination, inevitably will embed in our minds and the minds of the next generation. Racialization is an approach where we are defined by race, country of origin and ethnic culture. Racism is suggested to be an example of racialization where one person from one racial background is treated differently than one person from another racial and ethnic background determined by knowledge, social hierarchical status and historical feuds, resembling the prejudice and discrimination experienced by those of ethnic minorities by members from the hegemonic superior society.

Three theories are used to help us concentrate on our understanding of race. The first theory is the theory of race and citizenship that concentrates on how race can increase our chances to obtain citizenship and to our human rights as being denied the freedom and opportunity to vote, voice our opinions and access to health and education. This theory flashbacks to the African Americans’ endurance of slavery and the James Crow era seeing racial segregation between black and white communities, the colonization of British India aka the British Raj. The melting pot stems from the notion of assimilation where a migrant is expected to adopt the norms and values of their adopted homeland.

Lloyd Warner (1936 cited in Fulcher & Scott 2007: 203) argued the ethnic melting pot affected Eastern European Jews, Germans and Irish migrants who settle in US cities including New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. However, the ethnic melting pot failed to apply on black migrants as they were socially bruised and scarred by historical constraints of racial oppression and slavery. As a result, black migrants unconsciously find themselves to be at the bottom of racial hierarchy. The second theory is the relationship between race and colonialism and it concentrates on methods of making one racial group inferior by a group which is superior (Cox 1948 cited in Fulcher & Scott 2007: 205). One method that illustrate this theory is the application of science to hamper their spaces for economic and social progress through racial profiling. The third theory is racial discourse, where a set of ideas, beliefs and representation where we can be manipulated into identifying ourselves as British regardless of our racial and cultural differences.

Migrants from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds come to first world countries like USA and Britain in search for a better life and take advantage of the opportunities available which are often took for granted by inhabitants. Unfortunately, they found themselves hibernating in lower class neighbourhoods and obtaining low paid menial jobs. For example, a study on Chicago conducted by Lloyd Warner who concentrated on the race and citizenship theory in America’s Deep South (Drake and Cayton 1945) saw the rates of black migration was very high during the Great Migration period between 1916 to 1919, as motivated by the heavy demands of jobs in labour. African-Americans were encouraged to move to northern US cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York with the intention to escape from the trauma of slavery and the James Crow era in the Deep South, only to find themselves living in “ghetto” communities such as the New York’s Harlem district and the Chicago’s Black Metropolis, to find a sense of belonging, simultaneously felt they were bullied into living in these communities by white estate agencies who hold unconscious racist ideologies and hostilities towards them.

African-American migration was unique rooting from the era of slavery, that illustrates in the transatlantic triangle where they were abducted from Africa only to be treated as property to be brought and exchanged between slaves owners to work in the Caribbean and North America through the use force and intimidation. Although slavery was legally abolished, the exclusion experienced by black people persisted and were maintained in the lower end of the social hierarchy although they were able to progress to middle class and gain academically orientated jobs (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 209 – 11).

Shelia Patterson (1963 cited in Fulcher & Scott 2007: 217) carried out a migration study in Brixton, a district in central Lambeth and learnt that migrants especially, African Caribbeans are likely to settle there and inform their fellow relatives and acquaintances to migrate there at any opportunity. Brixton also attracted many migrants because of the large quantity in accommodation. Populations in West Indian migrants increased from 5,000 to 10,000 by the early 1960s as it had been suggested they were motivated by mass of job opportunities available to them (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 219). Nevertheless, there was a deprivation in employment opportunities between 1956 and 1959 and thus, unemployment rates in Brixton increased dramatically. There were competitions between white and black people and the main issue was housing. West Indian and African Caribbean buyers and tenants are argued to have more potential to be charged more than their white counterparts and more likely to have disputes with their landlords because of racial hostility and homelessness may occur (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 219).

African Carribeans are rumoured to suffer the worst in housing by living in crowded lodgings and other poor accommodations than their poor white counterparts. Some found themselves buying property, only run down houses to rent out to other West Indian migrants to prevent them from enduring same level of racial hostility and intimidation from their white landlords. It was the same for Sparkbrook, a district in Birmingham, where Pakistani migrants were rented accommodation by Pakistani landlords (Rex and Moore 1967 cited in Fulcher & Scott 2007: 219). It is believed (Zorbaugh 1929 cited in Fulcher & Scott 2007: 219) that both Sparkbrook and Brixton were seen as the zones of transition where the values in housing have been collapsed to a point where it was certain for poor migrants with families to settle in. In Brixton, West Indians were more likely to buy properties in poor neighbourhoods and simultaneously on a subconscious level, create false perceptions from their white neighbours by making stereotypical assumptions that they are deviant and looking for trouble.

Members from Black, Asian and ethnic minorities move into the inner cities to associate with those who are from the same ethnic backgrounds to achieve a sense of belonging and create an external “family bond” in territories known as enclaves. However, others prefer to mix with those from diverse backgrounds to feel a sense of vibrancy and be part of the multicultural salad bowl. South Asians settle in the London Boroughs of Ealing, particularly Southall, Newham, Redbrigde, Hounslow and Tower Hamlets where Bangladeshi Sylhets habituate in Brick Lane whereas Black Africans, Afro Carribeans and West Indians settle in Brixton, Peckham and other parts of London within the Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth and for those from Irish backgrounds settle in Kilburn. Some however, relocate to settle in other ethnic diverse places outside London such as West Yorkshire particularly Bradford, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool and Greater Manchester. Religion is suggested to play a part in preserving their sense of identity as West Indians are devoted churchgoers and majority of those are Christian shaped in divisions of Pentecostals, Presbyterian Baptists and Roman Catholics as opposed to South Asians who are majority made up of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs even though there were two central places of worship in Birmingham (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 221).

It is argued (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 221) that the black race symbolises evil, filth and demonic threat to the white hegemonic society, which can be suggested that the media, mostly influences from America injects a massive dose of negative stereotypes into the veins of the white society blinding our views on the black and brown people rather than our personal views and experiences. There was limited contact made between the black and white communities in Brixton, influenced by an unconscious level of segregation. As for example, black men would attend dance clubs held at the Lacarno Ball in Streatham Hill, but the white women there reject their offers to dance. National policies were set up to prevent black men attending rock and roll festivals unsupervised and it was a similar situation in the USA in the 19^th century where states implemented acts that would prevent black people from having the same access to public services as their white counterparts. This was seen as one of the reactions to the new-found freedom experienced by black members since the eradication of slavery and hence, opportunities in jobs and education increased.

Immigrants and racial groups were prone to be victims of racial hostility by the white society especially, those who live in predominated white areas as a result of participating in the “white flight” leaving them experiencing feelings of vulnerability, alienation and intimidation and those who are infected by the ethnic melting point could lose their ethnic identity. A study conducted in 2005 (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 223) stated that the majority who fully or partially identify themselves as British, although they acknowledge their ethnic origin. However, 22 per cent of black people feel they do not feel British at all. Racial prejudice was also reported in study. 60 per cent of black people and 54 per cent of Asians tolerated verbal abuse. 24 per cent of black people and 18 per cent of Asians experience physical assaults and racial harassment and thus, some of them even contemplating of returning to their home countries also known as the motherland as a result.

Racial minorities and immigrants are often on the receiving end of the resentment for the causes of poverty and unemployment suffered by the members of the white society rather than being admired for their strong work ethic . As a result, found themselves a potential risk of racially motivated victimisation. White people retaliated against black people in events like the Notting Hill riot in 1958. Racial violence against Asians with Islamic beliefs have exacerbated by the 9/11 and the 7th July London Underground bombings created a plague of moral panic where Muslims are branded as “terrorists” and would be stopped and searched in the London streets and train stations (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 226). It was argued new a form of racism emerged in the 1970s that covered the biological racism of dominance known as xenophobia, prejudice against those who are culturally different (Barker 1981 cited in Fulcher & Scott 2007: 224). Attitudes among members of the British society associate with the British way of life, consisting of team spirit and harmony. Migrants feel they will be spared of cultural hostility if they are willing by a subconscious force to assimilate into the British way of life, resulting them to turn back on any customs, beliefs and values their way of life that associates with their ‘Motherland’.

The murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 was one of the prolific racially motivated murders in the UK and was recorded in the MacPherson report as evidence of institutional racism. Institutional racism is defined as mistreatment and denial in providing services to people because of their racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is obvious that institution racism is to blame for academic under achievement in ethnic minorities particularly, those who come from African and Afro – Caribbean origin as they are classified as educationally “inadequate” and “troublemakers” (Fulcher & Scott 2007: 226). It illustrates that racism is not only seen the public sphere, but is more seen in the private sphere by members of authority who are subconciously fixated with the negative racial stereotypes particularly in schools and in policing.

On the whole, this essay highlights more on the negative issues concerning race, ethnicity racialisation and migration rather than the positives, on the basis of globalisation, which was ignored. It appears to be obvious the unforgettable events of slavery and racial segregation continues to be the main catalyst for persistent feud among the black and white communities although it continues to neutralise overtime. The media exaggerate the negative stereotypes influences on our ways of looking at race and ethnicity rather than influences from personal narratives and experiences shared by members of our adopted external families, friends and members of charitable organisations and think tank policies that aim to tackle and neutralise racial prejudice and discrimination. Race and racialisation has affected migration in various angles particularly, being denied of our human rights, the opportunities to progress from one social hierarchy to another regardless of employment and education. The loss of identity among migrants who felt had no choice to make distressing sacrifices to aid their survival in a foreign environment that is turning against them.

[1]Barker, M. (1981) The New Racism (London: Junction Books).

Cox, O.C (1948) Caste, Class and Race: A Study in Social Dynamics (New York: Doubleday & Cox.)

Drake, S.C and Cayton, H.B (1945) Black Metropolis (New York: Harcourt Brace).

Fulcher, J and Scott, J (2007) Sociology 3ed Oxford University Press, Oxford, Ch12

Hall, S. (1989) ‘New Ethnicities’ Black Film, Black Cinema, ICA Document 7 (London: Institute of Contemporary Arts).

Patterson, S (1963) Dark Strangers (London: Tavistock).

Rex, J. A and Moore, R (1967) Race, Conflict and Community: A Study of Sparkbrook (London: Oxford University Press).

Warner, W.L (1936), ‘American Class and Caste’, American Journal of Sociology, 42.

Zorbaugh, H. (1929), ‘The Gold Coast and the Slum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

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Tagged as 19th Century, 9/11, Academic, Accommodation, African, Afro - Carribean, Baptist, Black Africans, Black Metropolis, Boston, Brixton, Chicago, Colonialisation, Colonialism, Deep South, Ethnic Minorities, Family Bond, Ghetto, Harlem, Human Rights, Immigrants, Institutional Racism, Labour Market, Larcano Ball, London Bombings, MacPherson, Media, Melting Pot, Migration, New York, Notting Hill Riots, Peckham, Pentecostal, Philadelphia, Race, Racial Discourse, Racial Segregation, Racialisation, Racism, Religion, Roman Catholic, Slave Trade, Stephen Lawrence, Stereotypes, Theory of Race, Transatlantic Triangle, Underachivement, USA, West Indies, Xenephobia

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