Hegemonic Masculinity

Assess the value of the “chivalry thesis” in understanding gender differences in crime (21) The chivalry thesis is where women are treated more leniently than men by the criminal justice system. This is because of paternalism and sexism when it comes to male dominated police and courts. As a result of this, criminal statistics underestimate the true extent of female offending. This is because police officers are less likely to convict a woman of a less serious crime because it is a woman therefore are seen as more likely to just get a warning.

Graham and bowling (1995) did a self-report study on 14-25 year olds and found that 55% of males and 35% of females admitted to offences in the last twelve months. This suggests that males commit more crime than women in general although this self-report study is based on the younger generations of males and females. Women are also more likely to admit to their offences, which concludes this figure is an accurate one and may suggest that the male figure could also be even higher. Another study would be the youth lifestyles survey (2000) where it was found that 11% females and 26% males committed serious crimes in the last twelve months.

In general, women are seen to commit less serious crimes like shoplifting and are very rare for them to commit a violent crime. These statistics show that males are a lot more violent and are more capable of committing more serious crimes compared to women. Flood page et all (2000) found that one in eleven self-reported offences by women resulted in prosecution whereas one in seven did for males. This backs up what Allen (1987) says where women are less likely to be given custodial sentences for indictable motoring offences because they are able to talk their way out of it and apologise sweetly.

This could also be the case when it comes to prosecution. As well as this, women are seen to be treated more leniently by law for example, first offenders are half as likely to be given a sentence of immediate imprisonment, where as if it was a man there is no doubt about it. Women are also seen by the police as a less serious threat compared to men and they seem to benefit from informal approaches to their offences such as just a caution or warning.

Pollak (1961) states that men(including police officers) are protective towards women and are less likely to prosecute them because of this, especially if it is a typical crime that a women is seen to commit. Female defendants are treated more sympathetically unless it is a crime against children or a serious crime that is seen as a crime only men commit. Because of this protectiveness towards women and courts giving them sympathy this creates an invalid picture on crime rates.

Another study would be the ministry of justice (2009) where 49% of females recorded of committing a crime received no more than a caution but in 2007 this figure was 30% which implies that this problem is getting worse year by year. On the other hand, studies by Graham and Bowling and Youth lifestyle study, both found that males tended to be involved in more serious offences, which would explain the higher proportions of men among the convicted and cautioned, also possible males are more likely than females to admit offences in self-report studies.

Box (1981) did a self-report study in Britain and USA and found that statistics on gender and crime are fairly accurate. He found that women who commit serious offences are not treated more favourably than men; as well as this the lower rate of prosecutions of females compared to the self-report studies may be because the crimes they admit to are less serious and aren’t likely to go on trial. Women offenders also seem a lot more likely to show regret, which may help to explain why they are more likely to receive a caution instead of going to court instead of police and courts just being seen as protective.

Buckle and Farrington (1984) found that men were twice as likely as women to shop lift even though official figures suggest men and women are equal. There could be many reasons for this, such as women could be a lot less subtle about it as they are seen as more innocent, whereas males hanging about browsing at things in a department store looks a lot more abnormal. Although women commit less serious crime, those who do are likely to face a serious punishment compared to the males that get convicted for the same crime.

This is because it isn’t seen as an acceptable way for a women to act as it defies their feminine role of being caring and loving. Violent crimes are seen to be male crimes because it is scientifically proven that males are a lot more aggressive compared to females because of their levels of testosterone. So when women commit a violent crime, the courts come down on them like a tonne of bricks because of how unnatural it is. Carlen (1997) says that’s sentences given to women are based on the female role and the way that a certain female fulfils this role and her character.

For example if she is an aggressive women, she will probably get a longer sentence as it strictly defies the female role, whereas if a women was very regretful about what she had done, the courts are more likely to give her sympathy and a softer sentence. If women commit a violent crime they are seen as doubly deviant because they aren’t just committing a crime they are defying their role as a women. Farrington and Morris (1983) did a study, which was the sentencing of 408 offences of theft in a magistrate’s court.

They found that women were not treated any differently when it came to crimes men and women both committed as they were seen to end up with similar sentences no matter what their circumstances were. This suggests that the chivalry thesis doesn’t always apply and it may not apply at all. There is seen to be a clear divide in what is and isn’t a female crime. Crimes like shoplifting aren’t as serious, which means that it may not always end up in court because bigger crimes come first which suggest looking at statistics from convictions and court sentences isn’t an accurate way of measuring the number of female criminals.

This may be why the male statistics are always higher because they are usually the ones to commit the worse crimes. Overall I don’t think the chivalry thesis is very valid as it forgets to look at the crimes women commit that don’t get recorded as they get off with a caution. Just because it isn’t a prison sentence, doesn’t mean that the police are being lenient with women it just means that women don’t often commit as serious crimes, but they still do commit crime.

In the topic, WHY GENDER MATTERS, METHOLOGY, the proper approaches to Peace Support Operations is captured clearly. Any personnel engaged in Peace Support Operations should be at home with them in order to achieve an effective result.

There is a strong need for the personnel to understand the interconnecting strands that underlines the military, political, economic and social life of the community of the operations in order to improve relation with members.  Understanding that communities consist of different people with different needs and priorities will help the personnel to improve on the planning of responses thus facilitating overall achievement of mission target. In all,  an increased level of sustainable peace should be the target.

Furthermore, the FOUR CASE STUDIES open up vistas on the need for enlightenment. The Iraq case study shows that in order to save life, there is the need to recognise women’s roles and responsibilities in a crisis situation. Men alone could not have been assigned to distribute food items.

Also the rights of the community of operations should be protected as seen in the Cambodian case study. Peacekeeping missions should avoid creating negative atmosphere in the host communities by laying down clear policies and practices based on respect for human rights. Similarly, for effective conditions for peace and stability to be created, no organisation should be overlooked. For instance, after 28 yrs of violence and ethnic conflict, Sudanese women came together to stop the violence through a peace conference which is a non-violent approach to inter-tribal conflict.

This shows the fact that women’s organisations are also key to establishing peace and should not be overlooked. The fourth case study throws more light on enhancing the people’s ability to deal with crisis and rebuilding society. It goes further to state that women and men feel and participate in conflict differently.

Their experiences have a role to play in post war era. For instance in Colombia, many rural communities had a lot of examples wherein women were restricted to the houses, men did all the running around. The implication  is that in the case of eventual displacement to urban areas, the women survived more with their skills than men. The women turned their domestic skills into jobs.

Note that during crises or wars, gender perspective must be applied to the Peace Support Operations. There is the need to understand what gender perspective does and does not involve in such Peace Support Operations. While women should not be focused on exclusively, there is need to look at the inequalities and differences between women and men. That will enable resources, which focus on women’s peculiar needs, to be mapped out. Also the operation does not concern itself with treating women only as a vulnerable group.

There is the need to note that any of the genders can be harmed. However, women need not be reduced to victims. Peacekeeping must consider the inequalities and differences between women and men thereby structuring resources to that effect. This will enable an easy check on overall impact of the intervention strategies.

Again, the PSO should note that men and women differ in their thinking  and should not focus only on employment equity issues within organisations rather should recognises that equal opportunities for women within organisations is only one aspect of a concern for gender equality. A criticism to this is that there is no clear way of measuring the amount of attention given to women. It may be over done.

In FILLING THE GAPS: A VIRTUAL DISCUSSION ON GENDER, PEACE AND SECURITY RESEARCH, ten key recommendations were made by  90 academics and research professional drawn from across various fields in Oct 2008, The dialogued for three weeks.

Their recommendations bothered basically on identifying gaps in gender, peace and security research and efforts to fill up such lacunae through effective research methods and tools. However, the group should clearly understand that there is often a wide gap between theories or research and practical life situations. While life is larger than logic, all efforts are always geared towards bridging that.

There is a link between feminism, militarism and human right. It could be extrapolated from the laid out facts in the four treated topics. While every human being deserves his/her fundamental human rights and privileges, that of the women folk should not be viewed from any less spectrum at all. Military officials, who are often peacekeepers in conflict zones, should learn to uphold the human rights of member of their host communities with an eye not to look down on women in any bit.

Cases have shown where women are receiving inhuman or less treatment from them.  Designed peace and reconstruction programmes must show that women are not just mere entities but participants in such communities.

Aggression in sports can be looked at from different perspectives like hostile aggression or violence which is intended to harm someone or psychologically, or instrumental aggression with a goal twin and not to harm and assertive aggression which is a legitimate force with no intent to harm.

In some cases sports and exercises are seen as means of controlling aggression in the society. Some argue that sport allows someone to pen up their aggression in an assertive manner. This notion however creates an argument on whether violence in the society is controlled by sports or it’s the sports that facilitate more violence (Weinberg, & Gould 2007).

Various theories can be used to explain the nature of aggression in sports and exercises: the instinct/ biological theory which is bent on people are born aggressive which is not believed anymore, the frustration drive theory where one commits an act of aggression as a release, the revised frustration concept which determines if one will repeat that behaviour for example, the reaction of a coach toward your aggressive behaviour and social learning theory which involves reinforcement and influence and repeating actions that one sees in sports (Weinberg, & Gould 2007).

There are various factors that promote aggression in sports and exercise like heat when temperature exceeds the optimal, loud noise and crowding like when riots occur. Psychological factors like low scoring sports and alcohol which can impair the judgement and induce violence.

Other key factors include sociological factors like hooliganism and the media. Sport related factors like point spread, playing at home or away, a win or a loss and the standings of the game or sport (Weinberg, & Gould 2007).

Aggressive acts are highly motivated, have tremendous release of physical energy and people not afraid of failure or getting hurt. Acts of aggression take place when official appear biased in low scoring games, fans unrealistic expectations of the team, early fouling game, player frustration, strong fan attachment to teams, where standings or records are highly different, losing, pain, embarrassment and playing poorly or unusual excitement when one cannot calm (Weinberg, & Gould 2007).

There are various recommendations to reduce aggression in sports. The management should deal with alcohol at sporting events, choose calmer colors and make sports events family oriented. The media can help people approach sports in a more humanistic way.

Coaches should promote sportsmanship while the officials need to be objective and change the rules of punishments. Players and fans should have individual responsibility (Weinberg, & Gould 2007).

On the gender aspect the tendency for men to manifest a higher level of aggressiveness than men is quite evident. In connection to that men perceive aggression in sports to be more legitimate than men. In most cases in sports that are considered male oriented men display more aggression.

Generally women tend to be less involved in violent or aggressive sports and exercises. Sports whose officials are female also tend to record less cases of aggression than those officiated by men. Again in most games gender has displayed impacts on instrumental aggression because men display more instrumental aggressive acts than females especially in those games are masculine characteristic (Weinberg, & Gould 2007).

In other studies men have displayed more stereotypes in officiating than women, for example they tend to penalize women more than men especially in the male dominated sports.

In conclusion aggression and gender greatly influence sports and exercise psychology. Gender also influences aggression in some sports.

Introduction

For many countries, the extractive industry plays a major role as an economic driver, creating jobs, revenue and opportunities for development and growth. There are also social, economic and environmental risks associated with these industries which affect men and women differently. Research by the World Bank (2009) has indicated that men have the most access to the benefits of these industries, whilst women are more likely to suffer the consequences of the social and environmental harms associated therewith. The different experiences of men and women in these industries significantly affect the ability of women to contribute to active growth and development in their respective economies. The gender gap in the oil and gas industry exists in two separate forms, the first being the top-end employment discrimination where there is a lack of females at the higher end of the employment spectrum seeing very low numbers of female engineers, and science and technology employees (European Commission, 2009). On the one hand this problem is a reflection of the imbalance of opportunities for adequate education, and on the other is what is referred to as the ‘leaky pipeline’ conundrum which describes the phenomenon of disproportionate numbers of women leaving these professions in each consecutive career stage in this industry. The second form of the gender gap is the very low numbers of female employees at the bottom end of the employment spectrum, that which requires lower education standards, but which may be more physically intensive. The World Bank reports (2009) that in most companies there is a female workforce of less than 10%, as these types of jobs are generally considered to be a ‘man’s job’. This is so because of the inherent physicality required in these work environments and the exposure to chemicals which presents a problem for female employees that are pregnant, meaning more time away from work and the inability to work if pregnant. This research will consider the existence of the gender gap, the justifications therefore, the effects of the gap and recommendations for closing this gap in the industry in terms of ensuring that the opportunities for growth and development, both economic and social are equally accessible in modern oil and gas industry.

Research Objectives

To determine the causes of the gender gap in the oil and gas industry.
To determine the effect of the gender gap in the industry.
To determine a succinct set of recommendations for companies in the industry, as well as regulatory authorities in order to close this gap moving towards equal employment opportunities in this industry.

Methodology

The research is primarily a conceptual research dissertation that focuses on an extensive conceptualization, contextualization, evaluation, and analysis of the key issues relating to Corporate Social Responsibility in the oil and gas industry. A conceptual research employs an analytical framework that is based on “a set of broad theories and ideas that help the researcher to identify accurately the problem(s) they seek to address, frame their research questions appropriately, and locate appropriate literature on the research subject” (Smyth, 2004: 168). In using the conceptual research method, this research combines theoretical and analytical aspects in order to achieve its aims and objectives and provide pertinent answers to the research objectives.
In light of the fact that conceptual research requires access to an extensive pool of resources, there is a great reliance on diverse sources of secondary materials for analysis. In this regard, some of the sources of secondary data for the research and analysis include electronic databases such as Questia, Jstor, Emerald Insight, and Google Scholar. Of specific interest are journals that focus on gender issues in extractive industries in general as these are analogous with the oil and gas sector, but particularly those that are based on the study and evolution of the gender gap in oil and gas companies, focusing on developing nations and the Gulf countries, as these represent compounded historical gender issues.

The relevance of education in enforcing this gender gap

If one considers the vast differences in education priority placed in Gulf countries by comparison to African oil-economies such as Nigeria, one can see a very different picture of the relevance of education. On the one hand, Gulf countries are more likely to actively discriminate against female executive employees as there is a larger pool of adequately qualified female candidates, where in developing countries there are fewer qualified candidates, because of the lack of priority given to education and particularly education of females.

Cultural Sensitivities and Pragmatism

In certain regions of oil and gas exploration, companies base their hiring discrimination on ‘cultural sensitivities’ where there is a concern for hiring women in higher-paying jobs would cause a backlash against women by their male colleagues (Musvoto, 2001). This has resulted in communities with soaring unemployment rates of up to 87% of women, despite the female demographic representing over half the local population. Particularly in developing countries, there is a trend towards rural-urban migration of the working population which often sees the breadwinner of a family leaving to work in an urban environment which perpetuates this gender gap by enforcing the role of the female as a caregiver rather than a breadwinner.
In addition to these cultural sensitivities is a pragmatic approach taken by oil and gas companies which represents the bottom line in the sector in terms of cost implications. There is an argument to be made either way, with diversity goals becoming a secondary concern in favour of productivity and outcome. Male workers often have had greater educational opportunities and therefore less training and education is required, as well as less concern for factors of work-life balance. In the current economic climate, cost effective labour solutions are being of primary importance, particularly considering the growing importance of labour standards and quality of work environments which also present greater cost implications. On the other hand, studies have shown that in employment that is non-physical in nature women perform more productively and effectively, coupled with the barrier to private sector growth and development that employment discrimination breeds, increased female representation in the oil and gas sector may prove to be a more economical labour practice. Unfortunately however, despite evidence of long-term benefits of gender equality in the sector, companies choose short-term benefits which perpetuate and enforce this gender gap.

The broader socio-economic effect of the culturally enforced gender gap

A theoretical expose on the broader socio-economic effects of the gender gap, e.g. continued lower education levels of women, perpetuated poverty for single parent households, lack of diversity in the workplace.

There are a number of potential explanations for this anomalous situation of women in high end oil and gas jobs, one of which is the role of women in many societies as the primary caregiver of their families (United Nations, 2008). Therefore, as women progress through their careers there is a likelihood of their care responsibilities, as well as job responsibilities increasing proportionately and simultaneously, and as a result they are less able to meet the demands of higher level employment. Whilst certain industry competitors have been recorded as saying that they attempt to incorporate individual career plans that take account of these increasingly personal responsibilities of employees (Al Tukmachy, 2012), the reality is a labyrinth of professional obstacles described as the ‘glass ceiling’ metaphor where female progression in the industry is limited due to concerns of increased need for consideration of factors of the work-life balance that are less present in their male counterparts (European Commission, 2009). As a result, women are often worked out of these executive and management positions, because companies offer incomprehensive policies that do not consider individual career and family outcomes (European Commission, 2009).

Conclusion

The gender gap in the oil and gas sector is very current and topical debate as gender equality in the workplace is becoming a diversity goal around the world. Careful understanding of the causes and effects thereof are imperative for the management of these companies and the greater macro-economic goals of development and growth. This research therefore aims to contribute to the current understanding of these goals in order to further the studies and make concrete recommendations in order to close this gap and further growth and development in the sector.

References

1. Al Munajjed, M. (2008) Women’s Employment in Saudi Arabia: A Major Challenge, Ideation Center Insight: Booz & Co
2. Al Tukmachy, S. (2012) ‘Interview with Saba Al Tukmachy, Career Development Manager at ENOC’ Leaders of the
3. Future Summit: Bridging the gap in oil and gas, 1 – 12 April 2012, Abu Dhabi: UAE
4. Eftimie, A., Heller, K. & Strongman, J. (2009) Gender Dimensions of the Extractive Industries. The World Bank: Extractive Industries and Development Series
5. European Commission (2009) Women in science and technology: Creating sustainable careers. EUR 23740 EN
6. Musvoto, A. (2001) Gender and Mining: Community. Birnam Park: African Institute of Corporate Citizenship
7. Smyth, R. (2004) “Exploring the usefulness of a conceptual framework as a research tool: A researcher’s reflection”, Issues in Educational Research, 14(2), 167-180.
8. United Nations (2008) Equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men. United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. Expert Group Meeting, Geneva, 6-9 October, 2008

The fundamental issues of caste not only affect the privileged and the working peoples, ethnic and racial minorities, and religious piety, but also the roles of men and women within the framework of gender relations. Through male domination of the public sphere, specific female roles were constructed. The primary concept of caste supported depictions of oppressed and subordinate women, which can be examined through the early literature of India. Women were no longer independent and free; they became a male commodity necessary for perpetuating hereditary elitism.In the early centuries of ancient India, women were powerful beings, credited with bringing down entire kingdoms and fierce rulers. However, the desire for privilege and status created a shift in the social dynamics of the nation.

The concept of equality dissolved and patriarchal political laws emerged in its place. Romila Thapar suggests, “the possible genesis [for this social shift] was said to be from regulation of kinship and marriage, or occupation, religious functions or political hierarchies”. Caste created a political system where power and wealth were unequally distributed and social inequalities appeared through publically sanctioned discrimination against those deemed lower in structural hierarchy; this divide promoted by hereditary and authoritarianism implied there was a social contract between privileges and social obligations. Centuries before the development of the hierarchical caste system, India’s social structures were less rigidly defined. Men and women obtained equality in their social status’ and respect.While men were given broad opportunities in occupations and employment, women were provided with the freedoms of political, religious and public involvement. However, as times changed and new social structures developed, India experienced a shift away from equality towards a system that was fundamentally based upon patriarchy, privilege, and duty.

This transition from parity solidified the changing roles of women within India’s caste system. Women’s waning symbol of power and equality was replaced by the caste system, which supported a restrictively male dominated approach to life.The respectable images of women deteriorated over time as they began to be represented in subordinate roles, which were conditions of Indian social and political environments. For women, respect was now attainable through virtuous and submissive behavior; marriage and domestic life, as well as unwavering devotion to their husbands, became their compulsory duties. The perceptions that surrounded women perpetuated the idea that women were no better than property, a possession of their husband or father to be traded and treated like slaves.The idea that gendered hierarchy is intertwined in the constructs of caste hierarchy can be examined in the compilation of short stories, Tales of Ancient India, by J. A. B. Van Buitenen. Many of the stories illustrate the roles of women and how they fit into the framework of caste. With the deterioration of independence, women’s roles became based primarily on their duty to their husbands. The short story The Transposed Heads illustrates how women are depicted as worthless and lost without a man. In the story a young woman, Madanasundari, experiences the loss of both her husband and her brother.Responding to her grief she says, “What use is it now if I live? ”.

Because the young woman has lost her sense of identity and purpose in life she believes that there is the only option she has is to take her own life. When her father hears of this he says to her, “Do no violence to yourself, my daughter, for I am pleased to find such great virtue in one so young as you”. The response of the father illustrates the ideals of respectability and integrity of Madanasundari’s actions; even though she has lost her purpose for living, she is righteous in her devotion to her husband and brother, which fulfills her dutiful roles as a woman.Again women as seen as mindless and obedient. Their primary purpose in life is to serve and honor the men in their families. Women are expected to follow a certain path in life, one that is usually set before them by their father. This journey includes marriages and honoring a man.

Many marriages are arranged, giving limited power to a young woman. Before the inequalities supported by caste, women were given the freedom to marry when they wanted and whom they loved. However, under the rigid social structures women no longer were allowed impute and their marriages became more like a business transaction than a celebration of love and life.Women were often forced to marry at young ages to men they didn’t know or didn’t love; often they were used as tools of bargaining or trade. The City of Gold illustrates the idea that a women’s role is to be married and to serve her husband. When the daughter of a king does not wish to me married he discussed the consequences of being a virgin too long, and repercussions of being an unmarried woman. He says to her, A daughter is in effect born for a husband, and her parents safeguard her only for a time.

Except in her childhood, how can her father’s house ever be a home to a woman without a husband?If a daughter remains a virgin when she is able to bear children, her kinsmen are ruined. The girl loses caste, and the man who marries her in the end is the husband of an outcaste. The response of the king reinforces that the primary purpose in a women’s role is to become a wife and bear children. If this does not happen, there must be something wrong with the woman because no woman would willingly chose a life other than that of duty and devotion. A women’s role was to be a wife to a man. This can be seen in The Insoluble Riddle. A father and son follow the path of a Queen and her daughter who were escaping from robbers.

The young man, Simhaparakrama, suggested to his father, “A house where no pretty woman (with firm breasts and buttocks) stands waiting and looking down the road is a jail without chains, only fools will enter”. Here, the young man is suggesting that the acquisition of an attractive woman as a wife completes his home and needs. Women provide simply as a physical being, lacking completely intellectual or emotional purpose. The role of women often included perpetuating the continuance of male heretical social status by having children, particularly sons.Women’s bodies were often seen as an instrument for reproductive and domestic purposes. Their purpose was not intellectual companionship or public involvement; instead the role of a woman is to flawlessly perform the simple tasks of homemaking and childrearing. While women were expected to maintain some level of physical attractiveness and domestic abilities, this did not always mean that she would receive love or respect.

The Perfect Bride personifies how a woman can have every desirable quality but still not be acknowledged for her contributions.In this story, a wealthy merchant prince seeks a wife by asking women to prepare a full meal using only two pounds of rice. When many of the young women are unable to succeed, one young woman is. She is described in the story not for her piety, morals and values, but for her physical attributes. The merchant prince describes her as follows: Here is a girl with a perfectly proportioned figure- not too heavy, not too thin, neither too short, nor too tall- with regular features and a fair complexion… The loin dimples are precisely parallel and square and shed luster upon buttocks round as chariot wheels. Her abdomen is adorned by three folds and is slender around the deep navel, even a little carved. The broad-based breasts with proud nipples fill the full region of her chest… However, I shall not marry her before I have tried her.

In the end, the young woman is able to cook a full meal with the two pounds of rice and the merchant prince takes her to be his wife. However, the prince finds comfort in another woman and uses his new wife essentially as a servant. Gender roles shifted with the development of caste and social hierarchy. Women became subordinate and oppressed while men became privileged and dominant.The roles of women shifted to focus primarily on the man and husband, working to be a good domestic housekeeper and mother. Devotion, virtue and permissiveness became the admirable qualities and intellect and involvement became unappealing qualities. Men controlled the social system by making female sexuality a subject of social concern.

Gender became a leverage tool of oppression, comparable to that of wealth and economic status. The privileged men dictated the roles of society that continued long after, working to keep women under their right grip of power.

Women and Violence Professor Guelakis November 1, 2010 Violence, Gender, and Elder Abuse Elderly abuse has not been researched enough. There has been recent expansion on the research of abuse of the elderly.

However, it is still lacking adequate theory because there has not been enough research done, data collected on why it happens, or the characteristics of the abuser and victim. Women are predominantly the victims of elder abuse and men the abusers. However, there has not been a firm definition of what elderly abuse is. Some experts suggest that elder abuse should be included in the definition of domestic abuse.Experts have found in their studies that women are the majority of the physically abused where men were the larger average of elderly individuals who were neglected. However, many experts also state that focusing on the definition of elder abuse is counterproductive in focusing on the issue that women are the majority of abused victims. Feminist theorists have failed to produce enough data here, although they have the expertise to contribute to this research.

One of the main problems with elder abuse is the failure to acknowledge it as a form of real abuse.The ‘caregiver’ is already excused by be given this label as the ‘carer’. There is also the focus on the elder individual as the catalyst to the abuse, by pushing the carer to his or her limits. The elder individual is seen as overly dependent and adding stressors to the caregiver. ‘Granny-battering’, as elderly abuse was once called, has turned into a closer look at the perpetrator and his characteristics instead of the victims. Experts say that more attention should be placed on the predisposing factors, such as drugs, alcohol, and dependency.Spouse and child abuse research has been found to have similar pathological characteristics to elder abuse.

Social norms support elder abuse against women in that women are dependent on caregivers financially, practically, and emotionally. There is little information, however, on the strategies, tactics, or coping skills because the victims have not been heard. Unfortunately, the lack of research, along with the “denial and inability” to recognize elder abuse has made it difficult to gain knowledge and accomplishment with this very valid form of abuse.

The labour market is made up of many different segments, such as gender and age. In a fair world it could be perceived that each group should be evenly represented in terms of numbers and each group to be free from discrimination. This is the ideal scenario that is supported by the neoclassical approach to supply side labour, which originates from economics. This approach assumes that for the labour force to maximise its productivity, it must function with rational and efficient thinking behind every decision. This way it can become a rational functioning market.

Therefore if a certain segment were to be discriminated against it would counter this economic theory as this would not follow the guidelines of being a ‘rational market’. Furthermore discrimination is seen as uncompetitive and should be eradicated. Therefore it is imperative that the labour market becomes a market free from discrimination. In recent years much effort has occurred in the United Kingdom to solve this problem, but has it actually got rid of the problem of the inequalities in the labour market and if so why not?

Gender is one particular segment of the labour market which continues to throw up differences between the two sexes in terms of how they operate within the market. The main example of this is the gender pay gap i. e. the difference between how much men are paid compared to women. This gap continues to be in favour of males “The mean pay gaps for full-time, part-time and all employees in 2008 were 17. 4 per cent, 15. 2 per cent and 21. 3 per cent respectively1 (ONS)”. So why does this occur? One reason for this difference can be the human capital difference that an average male comes to the labour market with, rather than a woman.

This originates to a deep-rooted view in society about gender segregation; in particular what society perceives is a suitable type of employment for the different genders. For example in society, when imagining a fireperson it is generally assumed that it will be a male, whereas it could just as easily be a female. Due to this society puts pressure on individuals to follow the norm. This pressure begins in the education system. At High school there are great amounts of pressure put on teenagers to make decisions, on what to study and ultimately what they will look to do in terms of employment in the future.

When making these decisions females are more likely to be directed towards subjects such as home technology, and males towards Physical Education. This may appear to be an outdated view on society in today’s world, due to the increase in the equal opportunities between men and women, mainly thanks to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and in particular the Equal Pay Act, which together stopped employers either discriminating against women in various ways, such as an employer cannot pay a woman less than a man when the two are performing the same job.

However it may not be a deliberate conscious decision by the person advising the teenagers but instead an unconscious decision based on presumptions of what males and females are generally perceived socially to be good at, instead of focussing on the individuals’ particular attributes. This society pressure may be explained through patriarchy. Walby defines patriarchy as “A system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women2”.

By this Walby is suggesting that the social view on the world is male dominated and there to suit them. It may be suggested that this is a suppression of women not in the workplace, but more in society it’s self. Super’s Life Career theory states “vocational choice is and implementation of the self concept3”. This suggests that women will choose future on how they view themselves. Therefore if society has moulded women to see themselves in a stereotypical feminist way, this may lead women to choose careers which are stereotypically female.

Following on from the choices made in the education system women are more inclined to move towards a certain type of employment, such as healthcare or teaching. This trend is shown in the health and social work sector, as it is made up of eighty one percent of women, and in the education sector which is made up of 69 percent women (4Kirton and Greene). As stated before, society directs women towards certain sectors of industry. However, it may not always be society that does this, but rather women choosing that particular sector through personal choices.

One reason for this could be that generally woman often choose job satisfaction and job environment over monetary gains, whereas men generally prefer monetary gains. This choice by women often leads them into the public sector, as within this sector job security is higher than in the private sector. Also a lot of public sector work provides the opportunity to gain great levels of satisfaction from providing a service, such as healthcare or teaching. On the other hand the private sector often offers little job security due to market forces; and many jobs provide little intrinsic reward and are repetitive.

However the private sector allows a person to make greater monetary gains due to the increased risks of working in the private sector. In 2006 eighty seven percent of men worked in the private sector, whereas only seventy one percent of women worked in the private sector (5ONS). Additional to this, if you take into account the fact that women make up only forty six percent of the labour force (6Kirton and Greene) you will see a reason for why there is a gender pay gap as women are predominantly working in lower paid sectors and underrepresented in the labour market.