Sociology

Frame of reference can be defined basically as the perception or point of view of an individual that functions as a lens through which he or she may analyze and interpret media/information/message. Life experiences have shown to contribute greatly to frame of inference. These life experiences according to Samovar and Porter, (2005) are: “gender, family background, socioeconomic status, education level, political leanings, career, regional/geographic affiliation, and religious affiliation”.

In frame of reference, messages are distinguished in three steps: data selection, organizing information in important ways and decoding of information. Any problem or factors that interfere with these three steps automatically leads to distortion of the message hence unintended meaning. In order for effective communication to take place, framing for comprehending and comprehending other’s frame is absolutely necessary.

In addition, effective communication requires passing of information or messages effectively, efficiently and unambiguously using closely aligned frames of reference. This helps one to avoid the need to offer extensive preliminary explanations. In this context, nonverbal communication can also be interpreted well or misinterpreted and this varies according to cultural, ethnic and gender orientation. One can improve his/her communication skills using the concept of frame of reference in three ways. First, through proper and correct selection of data/messages sent/sources of information.

Secondly is through organizing information in a meaningful and proper way to ensure that no mixing or misinterpretation occurs. Organizing of information creates a systematic way in which the recipient is able to internalize information appropriately and accurately. The third and last one is through proper and accurate interpretation of all information received. This enables one to have an accurate and the true meaning and intention of the sent information.

Non-Verbal Communication

Non verbal communication is the passing of information from one source to another through use of facial expression, eye movements, body movements, posture, gestures, and proxemics (the use of space). This form of communication is also known as body language. Whereas words direct the content of a message, emotions accentuate and clarify the meaning of the words. Often the emotional component of a message is communicated indirectly through the body language, particularly facial expression.

The vast majority of person to person communication is picked up by monitoring subtle non verbal communication (Cooper, 2001). Generally, non verbal manifestations of communication are considered useful for expressive and social communication (Harrison, 1989) and may be more reliable than their verbal counterparts. Development of non verbal communication is very important as it can be used to pass messages that cannot be communicated using words.

Non verbal behaviors may be seen as a one time or occasional occurrence or as part of a generalized pattern of behavior in communication. For example, in a clinical set up, knowing a client’s usual nonverbal pattern of communication is important in assessing the nature and meaning of changes in behavior. Ambiguous nonverbal cues can lead to total misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the intended message. The message may also be meaningless in that one may fail to know or understand the meaning of the message. This can be demonstrated in a situation where by an accounts clerk smiles as he/she tells his manager that his/her assignment is more than he can handle, this negates the seriousness of the message.

Inter-cultural communication

Samovar and Porter (2005) defined intercultural communication (IC) as a communication in which the sender of an intended message is a member of one culture and the receiver of the message is from a different culture. Different languages create and express different personal realities. Many communication experts note that language has four ;primary functions which include to direct actions, to interpret the meaning of events and situations, to connect past experiences with the present through imagination, and to establish and maintain relationships with people. These functions are woven into the fabric of every culture.

IC is very important as it creates bonding and understanding between two different cultures hence peaceful coexistence. It also promotes cross cultural diversity and helps in reinforcing socially acceptable and adaptive behaviors. IC has also been shown to promote intercultural relationship where by people from different cultures are able to communicate freely and interact as they are able to learn and understand the intentions of others and are better able to make their intentions known to others of the different cultures. Intercultural communication is associated with certain problems such as language barrier in that one may not understand the language of the other culture.

There are also situations in which nonverbal signs as used in one culture have different meaning in another culture hence causing misinterpretation of the intention of communication. Customary ways of thinking and categorizing situations affect how a person experiences and responds to situations. Cultural differences in language affect every aspect of the behavior and relationships that occur between people and can function as a major barrier to mutual understanding (Geissler, 1991).

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Pluralism

Ethnocentrism is making false assumptions about other people’s ways based on our narrow knowledge. Generally, it is the act of believing that my own culture, race or ethnic group is the most important and that every aspect of it such as beliefs, practices, norms and customs are superior to those of other groups. This means that an individual will use his/her own ethnicity, culture and or race as the marking scheme against which other groups are marked.

On the other hand, cultural pluralism is the direct opposite of ethnocentrism. It originates when two or more culture groups live in a particular geographical area, take part in common activity/activities, borrow and exchange elements of their cultures but at the end of the day, they maintain their cultural autonomy. It can also be said to be a system where different cultural groups’ co-exist. No one views the others culture as being less important than his or his being superior than that of others; this is the major difference between ethnocentrism and cultural pluralism.

Facts and Inference

A fact is defined as knowledge based on scientific evidence. For example, features of an object such as shape, color, and size can not be disputed. Inference is a conclusion drawn from the facts. An inference does not need to be “correct”. Facts are basically information that can be verified, can either be true or false, and normally involve numbers, natural phenomena, dates and are made after observation/experience and can be agreed on by every person. E.g. Barrack Obama is the first black American president. Inference consists of a fact that needs to prove another unknown proposition.

Nonverbal Communication

This can be defined as passing of information/message from one source to another using one’s body. This includes stance, gestures, eye movement, hand/or arm placement, facial expression, hand shakes, waving, and any other body language that can be interpreted as a message. Non verbal cues can be ambiguous more so when misinterpreted or misunderstood. Nonverbal communications needs to have the same meaning to both the sender and the recipient of the message sent. In cases where the sender and the recipient have two different meanings for the same body language then the nonverbal communication becomes ambiguous. Another case of ambiguity is when the recipient can make a meaning or sense out of the sent message. Ambiguity in nonverbal communication is one of the major barriers in this form of communication.

Intensional orientation and Extensional orientation

Intensional orientation occurs when one views people, objects and or events in the way they are labeled. It can also be explained as a way of communication that is based on individual’s internal factors such as biases and experiences. This is based on subjective particulars in that one expresses what he or she feels and thinks about another person in the process of communication. For example, “she is very boring..”

On the contrary extensional orientation gives attention or credit to individual person but not to their labels. In semantics theory, it explained as the process of foreseeing the consequences of communication and becoming accustomed to it in advance before engaging in actual information. It is normally based on objective particulars of phenomenon and not subjective particulars.

References

Samovar, L., and Porter, R. (2005). Approaching intercultural communication. In Samovar, L, Porter, R. (eds), Intercultural communication: Reader, 10^th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Geissler, E. M. (1991). Nursing diagnoses of culturally diverse patients. International Nursing Review, 38(5): 150-152.

Cooper, M. G. (2001). I saw what you said: nonverbal communications and the EAP. Employee Assistance Quarterly, 5(4): 1-12.

Harrison, R. P. (1989). Nonverbal communication. In king, S. (ed), Human communication as a field of study. Albany, State University of New York Press.

Introduction

Cultural learning is considered to be an important step in the process of personality moral make-up formation; intercultural awareness can become a significant compass in the way to understanding the foreign atmosphere and cultural development and helping to find a common language with the representatives of other nationalities.

In an apparent case of intercultural miscommunication that is caused by differences in religion, the narrator of the case who is a Muslim was invited by his Australian friend and on arrival, his host, Nick Ston, had already prepared pork meal as dinner for the visitor unknown to Nick that his visitor does not take pork due to the fact that it is against the Islamic culture. The effects of such communication breakdown on general intercultural communication and social relationships are far-reaching. This report, therefore, discusses the issue of intercultural communication breakdown, its effect on general communication effectiveness and reviews ways to avoid intercultural communication breakdown.

Background information

Literal or formal communication is the process that involves sharing and passing information and ideas between individuals in well-established systems. It involves organized systems via which intended messages are passed from the sender or the source of the message (encoder) to the intended recipient (decoder) and then obtaining of the feedback from the recipient by the communicator (Beal, 1992:27). As such, effective communication will only exist if the intended message is successfully delivered to the intended recipient and appropriate feedbacks is obtained from the latter (Kramcsh 1993:231).

In social life, plenty of informal communication takes place every day. It is important to note that communication is not always explicit, individuals communicate in their behaviors, organization, mannerisms, dressing styles, gestures, and many other forms of non-verbal communication. Ideally, individuals can say so much without uttering a word, hence it is possible for an individual to decode so much information about a person or a place without explicit talk (Liddicoat, 1997:77).

In line with the same and according to Liddicoat, (1997:27), culture is behavioral hence it is communicative. By studying other people’s culture and cultural practices we get to learn so much about them and their way of life and hence we efficiently relate with them without cases of miscommunication occurring. As such the appropriateness of action between two or more individuals or groups of people is adversely halted either by failure of one or both parties to correctly decode information from the message sent by either.

The success of social communication shapes the quality of social relationship. However, the communication process is not always successful due to the numerous barriers that may exist in between the communication processes.

These barriers include the physical barriers, environmental barriers and the cultural barriers (Beal, 1992:23). Any barriers that occur within the communication process amount to miscommunication, where the intent message is not passed across to the recipient whether formal or informal. When an individual decodes the wrong information than what was intended by the recipient, the objective of the communication process is not met hence the whole process is a failure (Beal, 1992:31).

Intercultural communication on the other hand is the communication (either formal of informal) that occurs between individuals of different cultural backgrounds (Kramcsh, 1993). For instance, individuals that subscribes to two different religions such as Muslim and Christianity, individuals from different races such as the Indians and Americans among others. Due to the cultural variations among the different groups of people cultural barriers are prevalent in the intercultural communication and a major cause of intercultural miscommunication/ communication breakdown.

Various intercultural situation cause personal cultural superiority feeling for own culture between the participants; as a result it can lead to negative perception and suspicion on the part of the outsider. It should be noted that anxiety and fear followed by some level of uncertainty as to the other culture can arise together with defensiveness toward the representative of the other culture. It is interesting to analyze the cases of intercultural communication breakdown based on values, world view, behaviors and other normative beliefs.

• In case of two participants of some intercultural communication have various beliefs patterns, they will compulsory have different assumptions responding them to stimuli;
• So, approaching a communication transaction on the basis of various assumptions leads to different perception of the elicited meaning and stimuli.

The aspects mentioned above are considered to be the principle reason for intercultural miscommunication reached through low similarities of the stimuli (messages) between the representatives of different cultures.

The statement of the problem

In this case, the narrator explains a situation where he was invited by his college colleague who is of a different religion to his home having not explained his culture to the host, the latter prepared pork for him unknown to the host that it was against the friend’s culture to eat pork. On the host point of view, he was preparing pork for his visitors because it was normal according to Traditions and culture to take pork. In the narrator’s religion (culture) or rather among the Muslim fraternity, it is against their culture to take pork.

As a result, there is a communication breakdown between the narrator and his host Nick Ston and which threatens to affect the quality of their socialization/ relationship. While Nick Ston may have offended his visitor (the narrator) by preparing a pork dinner, the latter ought to have explained explicitly to his host that his culture does not allow him to have pork for dinner since Islamic religion forbids it.

Following the case, the narrator apologized to the host for playing a part in the resulting intercultural communication breakdown for failing to inform his host about his culture and practices prior to the visit. Also, the host apologized because he also failed to inquest into the visitor’s culture on invitation. A lesson that both parties learn form this case therefore is that intercultural communication can therefore be prevented if both parties involved in the cross cultural communication play their role effectively and inquire into each others culture so as to acquire intercultural competence (fully know each others culture and practices typical to them).

In an effort to avoid such communication breakdown, when he was invited with his wife by an Australian friend, the narrator having learnt a lesson from the previous intercultural communication breakdown episode took the initiative to inform his host about his religion via an email prior to the visit. This paper therefore reports into the issue of and causes of cross cultural communication breakdown and identifies measures that can be taken to avoid such a situation in future.

Causes of cross cultural communication breakdown

The investigation of intercultural communication breakdown should be focused on the principles of the obligatory scale; it means that the wider the rate of allowed behaviors is, the wider communicative field will be between the representatives of various cultures. It should be noted that taboos, being the principle form of obligatory injunction, influence the intercultural communication perception.

The analysis of the communicative failure between the representative of Muslim culture and Australian one mentioned above is considered to be a vivid example of taboos significance. The prohibition of pork eating by Muslim culture appeared to be the central ground for cultural; miscommunication for its representatives. It is important to underline the fact that the violation of obligatory behaviors level in various intercultural situations results in the offensiveness of the person suffering his cultural norms violation which interfere with definite transactions. As it was shown, the risk of intercultural communication failure is very high in case of lack of knowledge as to the behaviors of “must do-must not do”. (Sarbaugh, 1988:74).

It is necessary to highlight the fact that the awareness and respect for the traditions, peculiarities and beliefs of other cultures are the background of effective intercultural communication. Intercultural communication breakdown is the result obligatory behaviors ignorance leading to offense and negative perception of the communication process. Cultures usually have different rules aimed at re-establishing the broken relationship resulted from violation of “must do” behaviors; the knowledge and appropriate observation of these regulations can lead to transactions breakage. The analysis of various cultures gives an opportunity to stress strong cultural miscommunication between the representatives of Turkish nation and Germans. It can be explained by the following reasons:

• Differences in political and legal status;
• The level of inequality of Turkish and German adolescents considering their career prospects and professional development;
• Sharp differences in cultural values and norms.

It is important to note that German population is considered to be more susceptible to hostile and prejudiced relationships to foreigners. Intercultural interactions between the representatives of Turkish and German culture can be based on religious beliefs as some innocent remarks from Turks aimed at Christianity can be perceived as a serious threat to German national religion (miscommunication in this case is the result of historical events and formed prejudices).

In most cases intercultural communication breakdown is identified as the problem connected with interdiscourse differences. It should be noted that in most case intercultural communication is the result of non-conscious actions and practices.

The intercultural variations among different group of people are the main source of intercultural miscommunication or rather communication breakdown. Different groups of people have distinct cultures that are greatly entrenched in the variations of the cultural elements and which results in differences of behavior, way of life and socialization (Liddicoat, 1997: 75). These ranges from the language of communication, the religions that individuals in the society subscribes to, the way of dressing, the architectural designs that they use in building their houses and other structures, traditions, customs, believes and cultural heritage all of which forms a means of societal distinct identification.

The consequences of intercultural communication barriers

From the above case, where the narrator who is a Muslim was invited by a Christian friend to his house and there emerged a case of communication breakdown due to the differences in culture of the two people, the adverse effects of such a situation are clearly displayed. For instance, the host who is a Christian ended up preparing pork for the Islamic visitor unknown to the host that in Islam culture individuals don’t take pork.

The danger that is likely to emerge out of this is that the relationship between the two is likely to be adversely affected since the visitor will be offended by the host for preparing pork and which is against his own culture to take. On the other hand, the host is likely to feel offended for the visitor having declined to take the dinner he prepared for him or rather feel embarrassed for preparing the visitor a dinner that he can take. Intercultural communication breakdown comes with absolutely adverse effects on the cross-cultural relationship.

In this world, individuals from across the globe and different cultures find themselves socializing or relating in one way or the other either formally or informally (social relationship). For instance, international trade greatly relies on the effectiveness of the social ties that exists among the trading parties perhaps who subscribes to different cultures.

For such trading relations to be successful therefore, intercultural communications barriers must be minimized to ensure that there is limited intercultural communication breakdown between the involved parties. In addition, human beings are social beings hence in ones life, an individual find himself or herself in a one form of social relationship or the other, perhaps with a person of different culture. As such, the presence of cultural barriers in the relationship will obviously lead to communication breakdown between the interacting parties thus halting the relationship.

Intercultural communication barriers and the resulting communication breakdown also have very adverse effects on marketing effectiveness especially in circumstances where marketing is cross-cultural in nature. For a marketer to succeed in different culture markets, the latter must be fully aware of the markets since it is this culture which shapes the consumption, patterns, habits the nature of the products that the market is to be targeted with, promotion strategies, and pricing of commodities (Liddicoat, 1997:87).

Communication breakdown that would result from the cross cultural barriers between the marketers and the target markets will obviously lead to the failure of the marketing strategy that a marketer employs.

Events such as tourism require an environment where minimal intercultural communication barriers exist to thrive. This is because tourism involves individuals traveling to parts where the natives’ culture varies from their own. As a result, it becomes imperative that both the tourists and the host (mainly tourism marketers as well as the locals who are involved in their reception) learn each others culture to avoid intercultural communication breakdown, since the latter may adversely affect intercultural tourism. Furthermore, the world that we live in is characterized by massive immigration of individuals to the various part of the world for one reason or the other.

As a result, it is important to learn the diverse cultural variations so as to fit communication-wise wherever an individual goes. For instance, the international students who go to school in the American institutions of learning have no option but to comprehensively learn the American culture. Similarly, since the American students will have to socialize with the international students it necessitates that they also learn other students culture to avoid intercultural communication breakdown in the schooling environment and college relationship between them and the internationals. The same case applies to the rest of the world especially in this era of globalization where intercultural communication has been greatly necessitated.

Measures to curb intercultural communication breakdown

Just like personality varies from one person to the other, culture varies from one society to another. Consequently, the cultural variations among the groups across the world populations are inherently characteristic to the group (Liddicoat, 1997:73). According to the latter, the Culture of a society or group of people is so entrenched to it that even the modern globalization has not succeeded in completely alleviating the cultural differentials. Just like personality, culture can be said to be innate and the differences are thus inevitable.

The unavoidable differences in cultural backgrounds therefore dictate cross-cultural communication barriers and resulting breakdown. The latter can only be prevented or lessened through artificial cross-cultural learning or natural enculturation of individuals in the early stages of human development. Otherwise, it is very challenging to completely change an individual’s own culture. In the same line, cross cultural communication breakdown can be avoided by actively involving all the participants’ in the communication process in intercultural learning (Crozet, C. & Liddicoat, 1999:227).

Intercultural learning or teaching is a process where individuals from different cultural backgrounds are taught or initiates efforts to actually learn variety of culture and cultural practices with an objective of enhancing intercultural socialization (Liddicoat, 1997:76). In order to succeed in intercultural learning, it is fundamental for the process to be preceded by intercultural language learning, a process that involves individual learning an extra language or the language of another culture.

However, intercultural language learning must not be mistaken for intercultural learning since language is only a small but important component of cultural learning. When an individual is either bilingual or multilingual it becomes easier for him or her to learn the other parties cultural aspects since language forms the basis of communication and learning efficiency and effectiveness (Kramcsh, 1993:22). While intercultural language learning is a fundamental measure of curbing intercultural communication breakdown, It is a necessary but not sufficient to attain intercultural communication effectiveness (Crozet, & Liddicoat, 1999:27).

According to the latter While embarking on intercultural language learning therefore, the learning parties must be passionate and committed to combine the language learning with all the cultural aspects related to the language so as to be comprehensive in avoiding future intercultural communication breakdown. To the intercultural language learners their strategy must shift from the communicative language learning to intercultural learning if communication breakdown between varying cultures is to be successfully done away with.

According to Fantini (1997), intercultural language teaching fundamental aim is to enable individuals to effectively learn about other people culture, enable individuals to effectively perform a comprehensive comparison between their own culture and the rest cultures in the world and also explore other culture with an aim to fully understand what the varying culture are all about.

The latter asserts that intercultural language should not be conducted only for intercultural literal communication purposes, but should involve active and passionate comprehensive learning of culture associated with the language in question. According to Crozet and Liddicoat (1999), intercultural learning is not autonomously acquired but active learning must be involved for the learners to become fully conversant with the culture they are interested in.

According to Donna (2002) intercultural communication breakdown can only be effectively avoided through effective acquisition and mediation of intercultural communication skills by all the parties involved in the communication process. However, the later maintains that achieving this objective is not an autonomous process but requires individuals to fully understand and appreciate culture and engage in passionately learning of all aspects that it encompass.

To learn culture, the intercultural learners must first understand and appreciate culture as a dynamic and an aspect of life that is continuously changing, as a multifaceted entity and whose complexity must be depicted throughout the learning process and the intercultural learning approaches should encompass systems are effective at equipping learners with a wide range of cultural practice and meaning irrespective of the status that the learner is in (Donna, 2002:110).

Cultural learning has to be comprehensive to include the learning of prehistoric patterns with symbolic value to the society irrespective of whether they are still relevant or not. These include proverbs, expressions and colloquialisms utilized in every day speech all of which forms the archaic culture. Also, it should incorporate learning about the society current practices and ways of behavior or current culture that is still effective in the society, for instance, the French talking styles around the meal table or table manners refers to the residual culture and the society’s new ways of life or emerging behaviors so as to be up to date with the culture, for instance, the society’s new forms of expressions or modes of speech (emergent culture) (Crozet, & Liddicoat, 1999:117).

In the modern society, characterized with apparent globalization and advancement in technology (development of internet) the world has been reduced into a relatively small village, where individuals can access information from all over the world with a click of a button. Consequently, intercultural relations, intercultural language learning and intercultural learning have been made absolutely easier. For instance, an individual in south America can easily obtain information concerning the Asian culture and vice versa. Similarly, an individual in Africa will obtain culture information about the Europeans at ease from the internet. As a result intercultural communication breakdown is now easy to do away with, through intercultural learning and communication which is fairly easy in the modern world.

Conclusion

With the world continously becoming globalized every other day, social and formal interactions between individuals from across the multicultural globe are increasingly becoming inevitable and important. Furthermore, international trade ties and tourism greatly relies on intercultural relationships which are themselves reliant on smooth intercultural communicative relationships and efficiency. The existence of barriers and the resultant breakdown in these communication links therefore will have adverse effects of such relationship, noting that they form a very important part of both social and economic aspects of life in the modern world.

There is a saying of Korzybski, “The map is not the territory” (1948); this phrase can be explained through the fact that intercultural communication does not mean the communication process itself; it is the way people from different cultures understand each others’ values, standards, norms, regulations and beliefs expressing respects to them for the purpose of communication breakage avoid. (Scollon, 2001:268)

Bibliography

Beal, C. 1992, ‘Did you have a good week-end? Or why there is no such thing as a simple question in cross-cultural encounters’, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 23-52.

Crozet, C. & Liddicoat, A.J. 1999, ‘The Challenge of Intercultural Language Teaching: Engaging with Culture in the Classroom’, in Striving for the Third Place: Intercultural Competence through Language Education, Ed Bianco, A.J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet, Language Australia, Melbourne, pp. 113-125.

Donna H, 2002 Intercultural Communication: A Teaching And Learning Framework: Nottingham Trent University.

Fantini, A.J (Ed) New Ways in Teaching Culture, TESOI, USA.

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Kramcsh C (1993) Context and Culture in Language Teaching, OUP.

Liddicoat, A. J 1997, Everyday Speech As Culture, Implication For Language Teaching Inc Anthony, A.J Liddicoat And C. Crozet(eds) ARAL series S NO 14 (55-75).

Sarbaugh, L. E. 1988, Intercultural Communication. Transaction Publishers, 150pp.

Scollon, R. 2001, Intercultural Communication: a discourse approach. Wiley-Blackwell. 316pp.

Wardhaugh, R. 1998, ‘Ethnography and ethno-methodology’, in An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 237-254.

Introduction

Violence plays a major role in popular video games and movies. It encourages adolescents to mimic the violence displayed and portrayed on the screen, and it may have played a major part in influencing violence and aggression in teenagers. Research has shown that playing violent video games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom, or 3D can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts and behavior in both a laboratory venue and in real-world situations. In addition, playing violent video games may be more detrimental than viewing violent television shows or movies because they are especially enthralling, interactive, and necessitate the player to associate on a personal level with the violent character of the game. As video games are progressively becoming more ferocious and explicit as well as more prevalent, additional research is needed regarding the effects on the impressionable minds of those that play them and illuminate to parents the risks associated with these games. This discussion examines the myriad of effects violent video games have on all youths including the direct effects on boys and the unintended consequences for girls.

Violence Produces Violence

Media Can Shape Behavior

Infamous events have generated extensive debate regarding the effects of video game violence. For example, a nationwide conversation ensued regarding what connection video games had to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre where two students murdered 13 and wounded 23 before killing themselves. While many motivations were likely involved, it is not possible to identify precisely what provoked these teenagers to shoot their classmates and teachers but violent video games have been mentioned as one possible contributing factor. The two students had often played Doom, a brutal and bloody firearms game that is used by the military to teach the U.S. armed forces how to kill more efficiently. To what degree this game influenced the actions of these two youths has been argued since this incident. The Entertainment media, it is widely accepted, is an extremely influential factor in everyone’s lives. “What behaviors children and adults consider appropriate comes, in part, from the lessons we learn from television and the movies” (Huesmann & Miller, 1994).

It is reasonable to expect video games, especially those that portray violence, will have a similar and possibly a more expansive effect on violent behavior.

The Connection

Currently, few papers exist which have thoroughly studied the connection between violent video games and subsequent violent actions.

“Although the belief that the media are causing a harmful effect is widespread in the public, knowledge about the nature of the negative effects and how they work seems to be lacking. A good illustration of the misinformed nature of the topic among well-meaning people occurred just after the shooting at Columbine High School” (Potter, 2002 P. 3). The studies are few and the public lacks knowledge concerning the effects of video games on young minds. However, this deficiency of credible information doesn’t stop amateur psychologists, parents mainly, from accusing anything but their precious children or themselves of the violent acts their kids commit. A comparison can be drawn from a parent that attributes their child’s drug use, violent tendencies, or suicide to a passage contained in a certain song. If a child tragically takes their own life, listening to the song may have lit the fuse but the underlying powder-keg of emotions causing their feelings of depression and hopelessness was much more responsible for the act.

Not the Good ‘Ole Days

Parents of today did not play with sophisticated, violent video games as children but witnessed enormous amounts of violence on television.

The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour alone displayed more instances of graphic violence than kids today witness during an afternoon session of Doom. Watching violent acts alone, especially those in the world of make-believe does not necessarily translate to violent actions. “When certain motives or cues occur in a child’s real-life environment, the child will not be able to make the association between those cues and the image he or she saw in the media. Thus children seem to be protected from an imitation effect because they do not understand the significance of violence as a tool for solving problems and do not see the utility in imitating it”

(Potter, P. 75). Children understand the difference between what is real and what they are viewing on a television screen or game unit. No one argues that video reality affects children’s development in varying degrees, however, “a child’s cognitive limitations do not translate consistently into higher vulnerability. There are times when children’s cognitive limitations actually protect them from negative effects” (Potter, P. 75). Children, as an example, have far less capability to comprehend connections between aggressive acts and motivations that would initiate those actions therefore are less likely to emulate unacceptable behaviors such as violence.

When video games first appeared about 30 years ago, they were simplistic and seemingly innocuous. Atari pioneered the video game with Pong in the mid-1970s which was a video version of table tennis. The 1980s saw arcade games such as Asteroids and Pac-Man become popular.

“In Pac-Man, a yellow orb with a mouth raced around the screen chomping up ghosts and goblins. At this point, some eyebrows were raised questioning whether young people should play such violent games” (Elmer-Dewitt, 1993). The nature of video games took a dramatic turn from cartoon-like ghost chomping to unabashed violence in the 1990s. Mortal Kombat, the most popular video game of 1993, featured realistic representations of human characters fighting bloody battles.

The goal of the player in Mortal Kombat, as the name implies, is to slay the enemy combatant. Violent games such as this dominate today’s market. A study that tested 33 of the most popular Nintendo and Sega video games found that almost 80 percent were violent in nature (Dietz, 1998). The study also revealed that a disturbing 21 percent of those games portrayed violence towards women.

Gender Differences

What They like

Typical characteristics of the video game crowd include boys and single men, often into their 30s or greater, who find the world of the video game intriguing. Johnny wants the war game. Sally isn’t as interested, but why? The answer, it has been suggested, is both biological and sociological in nature.

While acknowledging that behavior differences between boys and girls are inherited to an extent, this discussion explores the societal reasons that Johnny is expected to be the aggressor and Sally the submissive one. This circumstance leads to unfavorable consequences for women. Not surprisingly, boys usually prefer games that involve fighting, sports, gun-play, strategy, fantasy, simulations, and adventure to a greater extent than do girls. Females prefer more conventional computer games, board, card, arcade, puzzle, and trivia games for example. “Girls perform better on verbal tasks and pattern-matching, which may explain why quiz-trivia or puzzle games such as Tetris are favored by females. Older girls tend to prefer educational games while younger girls seek more entertainment-oriented content” (Chunhui Chu, et al. 2004).

Interestingly, both genders embrace racing video games to about the same extent. This is the one area that does not fit the gender ‘mold’ created by society as described by feminist theory. Studies credit the gender neutrality of racing video games to both yearning to drive during the high school years. Boys are more prone to violence and therefore more likely to choose a video game containing violence. About half of the boys questioned in a study identified their favorite game as one that involved high amounts of violence. Less than one-fifth of girls’ first choice for a video game was one that involved high levels of violence. Many studies have demonstrated that violent video games begat violent behaviors. The propensity of boys to violence as compared to girls is exacerbated by their seemingly inherent need to play violent games. “Boys are generally at greater risk for aggressive behaviors, and they compound that risk by playing more violent games for greater amounts of time than girls play” (Gentile, et al. 2004).

Stereotypical Gender Roles

The messages of video games mirror the message that society imparts to girls, men are the protectors while women are compassionate and submissive.

Of the more than a thousand video games reviewed in a study, the number of male characters appearing in games outnumbered females by more than four to one. Of the characters that can be controlled by the player, almost 90 percent were male. Female characters are often bystanders or simply used as props in games. Nearly three-quarters of male characters fit the role of a competitor while about a third of female characters were used in this role. Male characters are more likely to use physical aggression while females are likely to be verbally aggressive. Female characters are more likely to share or be helpful in some way and more than six times more likely to scream when in trouble. They are hyper-sexualized while male characters are portrayed as overly masculine. Stereotyping in video games not only reflects but accentuates society’s view of women’s roles.

This reinforces what girls have been taught and observed during their formative years and confirms the feminist theory. “Although sexy female characters are created to appeal to males, they can send harmful messages to both males and female players. Just as young girls may interpret highly sexualized characters as symbols of the ‘ideal woman,’ so too may many young boys” (Glaubke, et al, 2001).

The stereotypical gender roles that video games impart or reinforce to girls could negatively influence their self-esteem and shape their perceptions of value and standing in society. These games could also have an effect on boys’ expectations of girls both in physical and social terms.

The Evidence

Playing a violent video game also has been shown to encourage the susceptibility to aggressive thought patterns by the ‘semantic priming process.’ “We know from related research that merely seeing a picture of a gun or other weapon can increase the accessibility of aggressive thoughts” (Anderson et al, 1996). This process, in all probability, accounts for the ‘weapons effect’ first reported by Berkowitz and LePage (1967). However, there is presently no scientific evidence to conclusively report whether or not playing a violent video game increases susceptibility to aggressive thoughts. Current research demonstrates that aggressive behaviors arise both in everyday life situations and during orchestrated studies using objective, scientific procedures; the playing of video games that were violent in nature unquestionably correlated to an increase of aggressive conduct. In a college study, students who played a violent video game, not surprisingly, acted with increased aggression towards a playing partner than did those students who had played a nonviolent game. Another study was conducted which examined the video game habits of students during their four-year college career which reported that when playing in a normal, dorm-room type environment, playing violent video games over a period of these years encouraged more aggressive behavior.

This increase occurred, not only during the game but in other facets of the student’s lives as well. Both studies found that violent video games negatively influence a person’s current emotional condition escalating feelings of hostility or anger. The similar findings of these different study methods give further credibility to the premise that exposure to violent video games increases aggressive behavior (Calvert & Tan, 1994). Though the propensity for increased levels of violent behavior based upon playing violent video games cannot be definitely and scientifically established on the basis of one pair of studies, this evidence supports the findings of similar research.

Concerns

Considering what is known regarding the effects of media violence, especially television, the prevalence of violent video games, especially given the current trend in the realism of video game violence verify that parents, teachers, and society as a whole are justified in their concerns.

“The present data indicate that concern about the potentially deleterious consequences of playing violent video games is not misplaced. Further consideration of some key characteristics of violent video games suggests that their dangers may well be greater than the dangers of violent television or violent movies” (Eron et al, 1987). At least three rationales have been established to explain why irrational behavior results from playing violent video games. The first concerns are associated with the aggressor. “When viewers are told to identify with a media aggressor, post-viewing aggression is increased compared with measured aggression of those who were not instructed to identify with the aggressor” (Leyens & Picus, 1973).

Players Become Characters

When playing a video game that allows for ‘first-person interaction, the player very often prefers to choose a character whose persona the player wants to identify with. The player, by controlling the action of their character usually attempts to view the game from their character’s perception. In other words, the player ‘becomes’ the video character, which enhances the game’s enjoyment. Anyone who has seen two teenage boys playing video games has witnessed them pretending to be the person they are controlling. The second rationale concerns the enthusiastic involvement while playing video games. Studies regarding the catharsis hypothesis suggest that willingly behaving in an aggressive manner typically intensifies future aggressive behavior. “The active role of the video game player includes choosing to act in an aggressive manner. This choice and active component of video games may well lead to the construction of a more complete aggressive script than would occur in the more passive role assumed in watching violent movies or TV shows” (Geen, Stonner & Shope, 1975).

A third rationale involves video games’ addictive nature and the negative stimulus that results from repetitiveness. The reinforcement characteristics of violent video games may enhance the learning and performance of aggressive scripts.

Video games are “the perfect paradigm for the induction of addictive behavior” (Braun & Girioux, 1989, p. 101).

Braun and Giroux’s research concluded that as many as 20 percent of teenagers are pathologically dependent on video games. “Video game addiction may stem, in part, from the rewards and punishments the game gives the player much like the reward structure of slot machines” (Griffiths & Hunt, 1998). In a very real sense, violent video games supply a comprehensive learning atmosphere for “aggression, with simultaneous exposure to modeling, reinforcement, and rehearsal of behaviors” (Loftus & Loftus, 1983). This combination of learning approaches has been revealed to be very influential. “When the choice and action components of video games are coupled with the games’ reinforcing properties, strong learning experiences result” (Loftus & Loftus, 1983).

Conclusion

From the playing of video games, boys learn to become more violent, that it is an accepted emotional response and that women, being the subservient gender, can be the recipients of this outward response. In addition, both girls and boys realize that video games are made for boys as a rule. This sends a strong message that boys are expected to be more technologically savvy than girls which supports the pre-1970’s perceptions of women.

Video games trivialize the role of women in society in the minds of both girls and boys. These games underscore and strengthen stereotypical, traditional gender biases which are ultimately harmful to women. Violent video games provide a compelling and additive medium that conditions young minds to employ aggressive measures in the resolution of conflicts. Evidence suggests that the effects of violent video games seem to be cognitive in composition.

Playing violent video games, in the short term, appears to affect hostility by prompting aggressive thoughts. Long-term effects are liable to be long lasting as well because the player is trained then practices aggressive acts that become progressively easier to access on a sub-conscious level for use when confronted by future aggravating circumstances. Repeated exposure to violent video games has been shown to, in effect, alter the player’s basic personality structure. The resulting changes in everyday social relations may lead to a steady escalation in aggressive actions. The interactive learning environment the video game presents suggests its influence is more powerful than the more broadly studied movie and television media.

With enhanced realism and the growing trend to include increasing amounts of graphic violence in video games, those that play (and those that buy) violent video games should be alerted to the possible consequences.

References

1. Anderson, C. A.; Anderson, K. B.; & Deuser, W. E. (1996). “Examining an Affective Aggression Framework: Weapon and Temperature Effects on Aggressive Thoughts, Affect, and Attitudes.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Vol. 22, pp. 366-76.
2. Berkowitz, L. & LePage, A. (1967). “Weapons as Aggression-Eliciting Stimuli.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 7, pp. 202-7.
3. Braun, C. & Giroux, J. (1989). “Arcade Video Games: Proxemic, Cognitive and Content Analyses.” Journal of Leisure Research. Vol. 22, pp. 92-105.
4. Calvert, S. L. & Tan, S. (1994). “Impact of Virtual Reality on Young Adults’ Physiological Arousal and Aggressive Thoughts: Interaction Versus Observation.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. Vol. 15, pp. 125-39.
5. Chunhui Chu, Kaitlan; Heeter, Carrie; Egidio, Rhonda; Mishra, Punya. (2004). “Girls and Games Literature Review.” Michigan State University Mind Games Collaboratory.
6. Dietz, T. L. (1998). “An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior.” Sex Roles. Vol. 38, pp. 425-42.
7. Elmer-Dewitt, P. “The Amazing Video Game Boom.” Time Magazine. (1993); pp. 66-73.
8. Eron, L. D.; Huesmann, L. R.; Dubow, E.; Romanoff, R.; & Yarmel, P. (1987). “Aggression and its Correlates Over 22 Years.” Childhood Aggression and Violence. D. Crowell; I. Evans; & D. O’Donnell (Eds.). New York: Plenum, pp. 249-62.
9. Geen, R. G.; Stonner, D.; & Shope, G. L. (1975). “The Facilitation of Aggression by Aggression: Evidence Against the Catharsis Hypothesis.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 31, pp. 721-26.
10. Gentile, Douglas A.; Lynch, Paul J.; Linder, Jennifer Ruh; Walsh, David A. (2004). “The Effects of Violent Video Game Habits on Adolescent Hostility, Aggressive Behaviors, and School Performance.” National Institute on Media and the Family.
11. Glaubke, Christina R.; Miller, Patti; Parker, MacCrae A.; Espejo, Eileen. (2001). “Fair Play? Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games.” Oakland, CA: Children Now.
12. Griffiths, M. D. & Hunt, N. (1998). “Dependence on Computer Games by Adolescents.” Psychological Reports. Vol. 82, pp. 475-80.
13. Huesmann, L.R. & Miller, L.S. (1994). “Long-Term Effects of Repeated Exposure to Media Violence in Childhood.” Aggressive Behavior: Current Perspectives. L.R. Huesmann (Ed.). New York: Plenum Press.
14. Leyens, J. P. & Picus, S. (1973). “Identification with the Winner of a Fight and Name Mediation: Their Differential Effects Upon Subsequent Aggressive Behavior.” British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Vol. 12, pp. 374-77.
15. Loftus, G. A. & Loftus, E. F. (1983). Mind at Play: The Psychology of Video Games. New York: Basic Books.
16. Potter, W. James. (2002) “The 11 Myths of Media Violence” Sage Publications, Inc

Introduction

Some people believe that keeping animals in laboratories may be justified when, for example, experiments on them to stop suffering or disease in humans. However, I believe that animal testing is a cruel way of discovering new medicines. I believe that there are quicker, more efficient ways of finding cures for humans, and that animal experimentation should be banned.

Today, there are laws in many countries to reduce the suffering of animals in all types of experimentation in laboratories. I believe this is not enough! I think that animals should not be used in any type of experimentation, especially those used for beauty products. There are now several corporations that produce their products without the use of animal testing, for example, the body shop; although there is still a larger proportion of tested products than there are non-tested products.

For those who believe that animal that is kept in cages is justifiable, when for example they help protect humans from disease, should be aware that experiments, in the past, involving animals has given dangerously misleading results. “In June 1989 a patient suffering from Cholera was given a new course of anti-biotic, which had been tested on animals but not on humans, was nearly killed because the drug reacted with an acid in the stomach producing deadly bacteria. The acid, which caused this, was not present in the species in which the drug was tested upon. However this was reported to be one of few drugs that have gone wrong in the past and all of these experiments were carried out before the ninety’s.” (Peter, 127)

Another reason I believe animal testing should be banned is that many of the experiments carried out these days are only slight variations of experiments that have already been tested before, in the past. And many of these experiments are the same as other experiments that have already been carried out before, in the past. For example, sleep deprivation, where an animal, usually a cat, is not allowed to sleep for up to seven days.

This experiment has been carried out many times over the past twenty years. “Alternative forms of consultation are used whenever they can provide the required information”. (Gary, 44-50) This is what many scientists seem to be saying every time they are accused of animal cruelty when certain experiments that have been tested before are being tested again. Nevertheless, there is more and more evidence being found every day that this cannot be further from the truth. Animal experimentation is pointless, this seems to be the most popular belief in the opinion polls and it is also my belief. Why it is that man considers animals as the inferior species? And when it comes to their rights there is a definite fine line between our needs and our taking advantage of them.

It is inhuman to condone and continue with these experiments. To this day animal experimentation is the worst type of torture one can imagine. It is beyond us to imagine humans being used in the place of animals. Animal rights activists believe that animals suffer as humans do and that all creatures are entitled to be free from torture and pain. (Peter, 130)

There have been close to no cures found despite millions of animals being sacrificed to experimentation every day. In America scientists use between 3 and 4 million animals per year, American scientists use around 17 to 22 million animals a year, and this is only for medical research. The cosmetic industry also uses around another million or so animals. Worldwide wide the number of animals used in experimentation is probably in the region of 250 million. (Karen, 85-91) As there is no point in these animal experiments why are they continued?

There are alternatives, and what are these alternatives? Why is animal testing still used when there are so many alternatives available? The main reason non-animal methods are not being used in industries is the failure to validate them. Validation is through examination, testing of methods leading to official acceptance by the scientific community and government agencies. If only non-animal testing methods were validated manufactures would use them more widely as an alternative to animal testing. (Hester, 92)

What are the alternatives? Instead of painful tests on animals manufacturers could firstly expose their product to a complex mixture of chemicals, based on chemical reaction scientists can predict whether or not the product will be irritating or dangerous to human beings. Eyetex, skin tex and corrosive are some of the better know tests of this type. (Hester, 95) Secondly, human cells are grown in culture and products tested on them. This type of testing has shown great promise. Computer technology has expanded the ability to predict the toxicity of chemicals using structural analysis. TOPKAT is one of the computer programs with vast data on chemical activity and can predict reactions based upon their structure. (Hester, 96)

Millions of pounds are spent each year by scientists who perform outdated and inaccurate tests. These tests are proven to be of no benefit to man or animals. This money would be better spent on our health service i.e. hospitals or education or even on the world crisis such as tsunami relief or world famine.

It is a proven fact that humans and animals react differently, for example, chimpanzees despite having 99% of the same genetic makeup as we do are not susceptible to many human diseases an example being aids, nor do they have the same reaction to drugs and procedures as humans. Again I ask, why do these pointless experiments and the endless torture continue? What is the purpose?

Research involving animals is controlled by the most comprehensive legalization in the world and a scientist needs confirmation from a judge before being allowed to carry out an experiment involving an animal. (Karen, 85-91) However, in the past, there have been scientists caught giving false test preparations to a judge and carrying out a different procedure to the one they said to their judge. This makes me believe that if some people have done it and got caught, how can people have done it and got away with it.

Animal liberationists break the law to prove that scientists are lying to judges and that they are carrying out illegal procedures. Although they are finding criminal’s animal liberationists can still get sent to jail because they are breaking the law. (Gary, 44-50) Due to this, there are fewer liberationists, which means that once again scientists are getting away with breaking the law.

Conclusion

To conclude, I feel that I have outlined some of the main issues with animal testing and have weighed out both for and against it equally. I think that animal testing should only be used in extreme cases and that there is someone in the legal trade watching all aspects of the procedure. Anyone caught breaking the law should be severely dealt with and fined.

References

Gary Kowalski, Tom Regan, John Robbins. (2007) The Souls of Animals. New World Library.

Hester, R. E. and Harrison, R. M. (2006) Alternatives to Animal Testing (Issues in Environmental Science and Technology) Royal Society of Chemistry.

Karen, Judson. (2006) Animal Testing (Open for Debate). Benchmark Books.

Peter, Singer. (2005) In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave. Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell.

What Is/ Are Ethics?

Ethics relates to a term that encompasses all the values and norms that demonstrate the appropriate attitude. It also focuses on the attitude that should be adopted towards people that shows respect for them. Ethics need to be adopted so as to eliminate the bad aspects of society. This includes being honest, being good to the society, telling the truth, etc. (Julia Driver, Page 186)

Difference Between Ethics and Morals, Beliefs, or Values

The major difference between morals and ethics is that morals are restricted to the personal character whereas ethics stress on the societal level where the morals are applied. Basically, ethics focus on the code of conduct or standards that are expected by the group or society. Ethics can be social, national, company professional, or even family ethics.

Comparison of Ethics With the Ethics Awareness Inventory

Ethics Awareness Inventory is a program that has the ability to evaluate an individual’s ethical style. This program asks a number of questions and as a result, evaluates the answers. At the end of the entire process, it reveals the degree of ethics a person is. Our ethics are honesty, maintaining a good attitude towards people, etc. The Ethics Awareness Inventory reveals that honesty should be adopted in every field of life whereas our normal routine is unfortunately designed in such a way that we are unable to practice it very often. (Mark E Ware, Charles L. Brewer, Page 287)

Influencing Factors Involved in the Development of Ethics

The environment has a very important effect on the development of the honesty trait. If an individual is surrounded by dishonest people in a work environment, it would be very difficult for him to practice it. Therefore it is very necessary to have a politics-free environment so as to develop honesty in an individual. Personal values also have a significant value when it comes to the development of honesty.

A person is more comfortable and directed towards practicing the honesty trait if he is provided the appropriate environment. An environment where people are more focused on achieving their goals keeping ethics in mind proves to be very helpful. It assists one to bring out the best of his ethical values.

Manifestation of Ethics in Professional Life

Ethical values such as honesty, integrity, trust, etc need to be kept in mind while catering to professional life.

Trust is that trait that needs to be present in a professional. They are expected to act as trustees of their clienteles and customers and it is important that they keep all the private information to themselves, revealing it only to the concerned party.

Honesty prevents an individual from lying, stealing, or deceiving in any possible manner. Honesty requires an individual to deal with all the clients with justice. A professional needs to be non-biased so that all the matters can be dealt with honesty and integrity. (Mike W Martin, Page 152)

Implications of Ethics to Professional Decision Making

Maintenance and implication of ethics to professional decision-making is equally important as practicing it in personal life. It should be kept in mind that all the decisions that are taken are in accordance with ethical values. The decisions should be taken that reflect society’s best interest, the safety of the public, and the environment. The undertaken responsibilities should be fulfilled. While taking a decision, it should be kept in mind that all the rules and regulations are being followed and that they are not supported by any deceit or unjust policies.

Role of Critical Thinking in Ethics

Ethics involves the critical analysis of human attitudes and acts so as to determine the right and wrong aspects. This is done while considering the truth and justice criteria. It is not necessary that whatever a person thinks may be right or wrong. Critical analysis is a method that carefully analyzes the different aspects of ethics, determining them as right or wrong. Critical thinking enables one to think before performing any task rather than being impulsive.

Critical thinking enables one to carefully evaluate the necessary norms and values and implement them in his life. It provides a platform through which one can sort out the wrong and right aspects of life and then adopt the ones that complement the standard of ethics. This assists one in becoming a considerate person who is acceptable to society. (David Braybrooke, Page 488)

Impact of Critical Thinking

The most important ethical traits that need to be adopted are honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, etc. It is proven from studies that the organizations that make sure that all of the primary ethics are followed, prove to be successful. Analysis of the ethical traits is also very important as one gets to know their significance and role in society. This motivates one to adopt them and perform routine tasks in accordance with them.

Through the analysis, an individual not only adopts the ethical values in personal life but also makes sure that they are adopted and implemented in professional life. This way all the professional tasks are performed without there being any hint of injustice or biasness. The level of favoritism is reduced to the lowest.

Let’s take an example of a manager who makes sure that honesty is one of the virtues that are followed while performing any professional tasks. This person will make sure that all the employees are hired on the basis of their qualifications and not on the basis of personal interests and relationships. All the employees will be treated fairly and the rules and regulations will be equal for employees of all levels. The important records of the employees will be kept confidential. The manager would make sure that all the records are maintained without cheating. Hence, all the decisions will be based on total integrity and justice.

Bibliography

David Braybrooke (1999) ‘Ethics in the World of Business’ Page 488, Rowman and Allenheld.

Julia Driver (2006) ‘Ethics: The Fundamentals’ Page 186, Blackwell Publishing.

Mark E Ware, Charles l Brewer (1999) ‘Handbook for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods’ Page 287, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Mike W Martin (2000) ‘Meaningful Work’ Page 152, Oxford University Press.

Abstract

Gay relationship involves an expression of ultimate love between individuals of the same sex that leads to homosexuality and lesbianism. Such relationships are on the increase but unfortunately there is a lot of resistance from churches and politicians resisting such relationships to proceed to marriage where they can enjoy the full status and benefits of straight marriage. A straight marriage is considered to be one between individuals of opposite sex. Studies have shown that if gay marriage was to be legalized it would offer a package of benefits to the gay couples. Since a family is the basic unit of the society, gay marriage would improve both economic and social developments of the society at large because of reasons that will be discussed in this paper.

Introduction

Gay marriage is a terminology used to refer to same sex marriage between two people that is either legally or socially accepted. Currently there is a lot of debate on gay marriage because it is an issue that directly touches on basic human rights. The traditional definition of marriage has been a religious or legal union between a male and a female committed to live the rest of their life together as a husband and wife. However, studies indicate that homosexuality has been on the increase and many people accept it but the government has not permitted marriage between gay couples. So far there is no study proving that the type of union or marriage is harmful and therefore it is important to respect the dignity as well as equality of gay couples. There are good reasons why gay marriage is beneficial and should therefore be legalized. (Nancy, 2008 pp 119-121).

Benefits of gay union and marriage

Research has shown that couples who are gay are more stable financially and they are also emotionally better off. Psychological studies as well as medical examinations on the couples also indicate that they are advantaged. A great misconception that has universally been adopted is that marriage always leads to an improvement on people’s life but studies have shown that it can actually be worse. This especially for women because of the many complication that comes with birth such as increase in the aging signs due to use of birth control methods as well as domestic violence where women are considered a weaker sex by their husbands. When all these progress in terms of finance and general improvement of life are combined, they benefit the couple and their families as well as the whole community at large. (Nancy, 2008 pp 122-123).

Gay marriage if legalized would establish a social relationship for the couple to be available for each other psychologically, economically as well as emotionally. If gay marriage is awarded its rights that any marriage should have, the couple would be more helpful to each other. Gay couples that are married would therefore be much better compared to unmarried couple and their relationship becomes stronger and even deeper. (George, 2005 pp 45-50).

Even though the right of Christian refuses gays to adopt and bring up children, the number of gays giving raise to children and adopting as well as rising up these children is increasing day-by-day. Denying them such a chance for gays to marry is only destabilizing the families to the disadvantage of their children. When the gays marry decision making for the wellbeing of their children becomes easy leading to better parenting. In the same way divorce affect children born in a straight marriage, an equal harm is observed when gays do not marry or proceed to divorce. (George, 2005 pp 51-56).

Married gay couples are able to help each other in times of difficulty like sickness because there would be written laws to help them. If gay couples do not marry, they cannot have access to these legal benefits like insurance relief and they cannot offer a direct help to each other. This would mean an extra burden to the society at large thus consequently draining their resources. If their relationship can be solidified the whole community would be stable. Gay marriage would have meaning more than just a legal approval because it affects a number of things in the community like tax filing, insurance benefits and medical decision. Their marriage would allow one member to visit the other in hospital in times of sickness without him/her being barred for not being recognized a spouse. Other privilege that a gay couple would enjoy if the marriage is legalized is an opportunity to make critical decision regarding medical operation of the other member of the couple on whether it should proceed or not. Currently it is unfair because gay couples do not enjoy the privileges. (Kathleen, 2006 pp 67-70).

Gay marriage can be a role model if the couple is in a committed relationship because already most heterosexual marriages are in troubles due to lack of seriousness. If the gay couples are denied to marry it would be a violation of religious freedom which is among the bills of right and denying such marriages would be discriminating the minority. All major religions regards gay marriage a sin but the first amendment in the constitution calls for individual’s position on either religion or lack of religion to be protected. Marriage by state on gay couples is secular and therefore the government should not start enacting new laws simply out of the pressure from the religion. (Kathleen, 2006 pp 71-79).

Even though many people are against the gay marriage, the truth is it does not hurt any particular person. Gay marriage is a private commitment which should not be dictated by other members of society as long as it does not harm anyone in the process. The church may have its role to disapprove gay marriage but it should not proceed to stop the marriage from taking place as long as there is love which is the only factor that matters in a relationship. The greatest reason for all the marriages whether it is a straight or gay marriage is for one to express his/her love for the other. The expression implies that, the love is so much that the two people want to spend the rest of their life time together. If this love happens to be between same sexes, such an ultimate expression cannot be made between any other two people regardless of how long it takes. If such a couple cannot be allowed to marry, then that would be a direct violation of human right for the freedom to marry. (William, 2006 pp 34-39).

Many children who have been born in straight marriages are orphans and require to be brought up by the society through adoption and in children’s home. Since gay couples do not procreate, the only option left for them to acquire children is through adoption and therefore gay couples help in solving this problem. Gay marriage like straight marriage offers an encouragement to the couples to develop strong values for their families. The desire for an individual to own a family with children does not necessarily have to lead to procreation and since them; gay couple cannot naturally bear kids the couple’s desire to adopt increases. They give up unprotected sex with several partners which is a high risk lifestyle regarding sex especially for incurable AIDS infection. Gay marriage would encourage the couple in settling down and abandoning the promiscuous lifestyle; a behavior everyone would like to encourage. (Robert, 2001 pp 51-56).

Conclusion

The great number of homosexuality is a good indicator of how gay relationship has received acceptance in the society. Although in some states civil union has been permitted, it is the high time all the gay union are given full status of marriage. If this is done they would access all the benefits that a married couple should have. Again there is no one being forced to be or not to be a gay. It is a matter of a simple choice followed by an agreememnt between two people on whom an individual want to express his/her intimacy for the rest of life. Those who resist gay union and marriage should just give it an approval so that it can attain all the legal status of a marriage.

References

Nancy D. (2008): Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law: Beacon press pp 119-123.

George C. (2005): The History Shaping Today’s Debate over Gay Equality: Precious book pp 45-56.

Kathleen H. (2006): Same-Sex Marriage: The Cultural Politics of Love and Law: Cambridge University press pp 67-79.

William N. (2006): Gay Marriage: what we’ve learned from the Evidence: Oxford University press pp 34-39.

Robert W. (2001): Legal Recognition of Same-sex Partnerships: Hart publishing pp 51-56.

Kinds of rights

There are different kinds of rights that may be enjoyed or not by the residents and aliens of any country. These rights could be seen in terms of basic, private, social, economic, political, public, and procedural rights.

It is necessary to go into the details of each of these rights before coming to the question of whether such rights need to be curtailed, deleted, or new rights introduced for the purpose of betterment.

Basic or Fundamental rights: This could be seen in terms of the right for life and living, right for personal independence and autonomy, right not to be discriminated against or incriminated, etc., right to speech and expression, etc.

Private rights

This could be seen in terms of the right to own and enjoy the property, to be seen as a person, right to marry and rear family, etc.

Social rights envisage right to education, work, social assistance from the state, which are rights provided by the state.

Economic rights could be seen in terms of the right to take part in economic activities like business, trading, etc., and enjoy profits and economic benefits.

Political rights could be seen in terms of the right to vote and take part in public and welfare schemes. To contest elections and work in public or state bodies, like police, military, customs, etc.

Next, public rights which are seen in the context of the right of freedom of expression, speech, movement, religion; also rights of assembly, organize labor strike and form and promote associations.

Finally, procedural rights could be seen in terms of a right to due legal process, access to courts, lawyers, appeals and seek judicial review. This could be used not only in the context of immigration but in other cases also.

Rights that need to be promoted or curtailed

It is now proposed to consider whether any of these kinds of rights need to be curtailed or promoted or if fresh rights need to be introducing in order to seek betterment at the individualized or state levels. It is often felt that certain rights may evoke controversy and doubt whether they need to be enforceable or not.

It is necessary that the private rights to personal freedom, immunity against arrest and detention without cause, right of restricting people to marry in other countries, and rear families there, and movement of aliens need to be included. Again, the rights regarding citizenship, owning property in another country, giving the same fundamental rights as the citizens of the country, etc, need to be considered.

Again it is also necessary to introduce amendments in the Rights relating to prisoners of war and the treatment meted to them. It is seen that there are gross violations of fundamental human rights in treatment provided to political prisoners and alleged terrorists/ agents or accomplices.

Article 13 of Geneva Conventions III provides that “Prisoners of war be treated humanely at all times. Any unlawful act or omission by the detaining power causing death or seriously endangering the health of POW in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention.” (Duhaime).

However, it is seen that this is not always carried out especially in the case of terrorists’ suspects. It is common knowledge that people cannot be detained without show cause or confessions extracted from them under duress or mental, physical torture. Therefore, it is necessary that laws enforcing the rights of international prisoners need to be enforced.

The next area where human rights need to be enforced more stringently would be with regard to the treatment of aliens at par with natural citizens in areas of employment, professions, and economic areas. It is often seen that this right is often transgressed in order to protect the home economy and also to reduce cheaper foreign labor, which may not always be the consonance and harmony with the human rights of expatriates. Although they may be better qualified and suited for local employment, it is seen that locals are preferred, in line with laws of naturalization, etc. The fundamental social laws governing the right to employment need to be enforced more firmly.

It is to be affirmed that the ambit of human rights need not be restricted to just political rights in terms of the right to seek election and become an MP, or participate in socially relevant forums, or be given the right and choice of voting.

According to Shue, there are both positive and negative rights, the negative could be seen in terms of state abstaining from using Third Degree methods on offenders, and the positive could be seen in enforcing “the right to protection against torture.” (Donnelly, 30).

It is also necessary that the right to property is enforceable as advocated by Cranston. There are contentious issues when property rights are compared with employment rights in that employment produces incomes, whereas property alone “simply cannot provide economic security and autonomy for all.” (Donnelly, 32).

In the context of positive and negative rights, the idea is the enforcement of action or the negation or non-action respectively. These are important since non-action could be treated as culpable as the action itself. If A assaults B it is a positive right violation, in that A has infringed the fundamental rights of B in terms of protection of his life. If A were to go to a deserted place where he finds B in a pitiable condition, on the verge of death, if A were to leave him in the desert and go away, it is as culpable an offense as anything else. Here apparently, A has not done anything violent, he has not assaulted or harmed anybody, but his inaction on humanitarian and human rights grounds could be seen in terms of being a culpable offense. Both actins and non-actions, exertion of negative or positive rights could be construed to be offenses, although they may involve different settings and scenarios.

Human rights violation in Iraq

Coming to the second part of the paper, it is seen that there were gross instances of human rights violations in Iraq under its dictator, Saddam Hussein. He crushed his opponents mercilessly and in 1988, he was instrumental in the commission of the mass murder of nearly 100,000 Kurdish rebels through the use of chemical weapons. (Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses). During the reign of Saddam Hussein, the human rights record was dismal and as a matter of fact, it was non-existent. He ensured that anybody who opposed his policies was suitable punished or killed. Even women and children were not spared and his regime has been responsible for the killing and wounding of several hundred children. His animosity to the land endowed Kurds was heavy and he was instrumental in deporting several thousand Kurdish from their homes and lands. Their properties were confiscated and distributed among Iraq Arabs.

His misdeeds were not only restricted to the Kurd tribal. He was against the Shias who constituted a large chunk of the population. They were not allowed to occupy high and responsible positions and were persecuted in many ways.

“The Shia community, who make up 60% of Iraq’s population, is Iraq’s biggest religious group. Saddam has ensured that none of the Shia religious or tribal leaders can threaten his position. He kills any that become too prominent.” (Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses, 16).

The Shia community in Iraq was a target for Saddam’s government. It is reported that thousand of Shais were forced to leave Iraq and move into Iran. All the elderly people, womenfolk, and children were forced to leave their homes and health and the young able-bodied were arrested and taken to unknown destinations never to be heard about.

“More than half a million Shi’a Muslims, at the very least, were systematically expelled over the course of the 1980s. They included large numbers of women, children, and the elderly. The male heads of these families, together with other younger male relatives, were arrested and imprisoned indefinitely without charge: most remain unaccounted for today.” (The Iraqi Government Assault on the Marsh Arabs).

Thus it is seen that this country had low basic rights records in dealing with military personnel and army deserters but also with the civilian population. He ruled with a great deal of autocracy and scant respect for world opinion. It is widely alleged that under his rule, Iraq had gathered a large number of weapons of mass destruction but this allegation could not be substantiated or proved since international inspectors could not locate any weapons of mass destruction (WMD)

The trial of Saddam Hussein began in 21005 after he was apprehended by US forces in Iraq. Although he was later convicted of causing the death of 148 people in the village of Al Dujail who was allegedly plotted to assassinate him, his trial is seen as a farce and the pre-conceived fact that needed to be administered at the behest of the US.

“Saddam Hussain was also denied access to legal counsel for the first year after his arrest, and complaints by his lawyers throughout the trial relating to the proceedings do not appear to have been adequately answered by the tribunal.” (Iraq: Amnesty International Deplores Execution of Saddam Hussain).

The regime of Saddam Hussein had been harsh to those who opposed his governance and arrested and killed them in thousands. It was not unusual during his time to round up people and kill them through firing squads, or firing indiscriminately at residential locations killing or maiming innocent unarmed residents, especially in the areas of “Basra, Al Nasariyya and al Amara.” (The Iraqi Government Assault on the Marsh Arabs).

The poor record of the regime in human rights is evident from the killing of major religious leaders, prominent among whom killed were Ayatollah al Sadr, during February 1998.

Although it was officially announced by the Iraqi government that the assassins were arrested and executed, it was believed to be the handiwork of the government.

This culminated in a series of anti-government demonstrations which the security forces quell with the use of force. Fierce fighting between the government security forces and the opposition forces was seen and the government took advantage of the turmoil to politicize the issue and call for arrests and detention of many persons, many of whom were charges as suspects and remanded in jails without trials.

The high-handed government and its violent suppression of public sentiments earned it a bad name and even people in the government began to feel apathetic towards it. The ordinary man in the street wanted to see the end of the Hussain regime but was fearful that he would be tortured or persecuted, throw into jail without parole if he uttered a word against the government. Thus the Iraqi people bore the ignominy and endured the sufferings, hoping for the day when this Government would be out of power and have to pay for their evils.

The main cause of conflict between the Saddam Hussain administration and the US and other Western powers was regarding the weapons of mass destruction (WBT) which Iraq was believed to have stockpiled. This was also a prime reason not lifting the economic and other sanctions against Iraq placed by the Western powers. But it has been proved, quite to the contrary that no WMD was found in Iraq.

“Even before formally declaring war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the President had dispatched American military special forces into Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction, which he knew would provide the primary justification for Operation Freedom. … Even during Operation Freedom’s penetration of Iraq and drive toward Baghdad, the search for WMDs continued. … As the coalition forces gained control of Iraqi cities and countryside, special search teams were dispatched to look for WMDs. None were found. “(Dean W. John: 2003: Missing weapons of mass destruction: Is lying about the reason for war an impeachable offense? A Desperate Search For WMDs Has So Far Yielded Little, If Any, Fruit.

Reasons for the human rights violations

The next part of the paper deals with the rationale behind Saddam Hussein’s actions. In precise terms the reason why he :

1. Launched an attack against the Kurdish rebels and people in the north.
2. Forced Southern Shiites to move into Iran.
3. Launched a prolonged tirade against the Western powers, particularly, the US and UK.

The Kurdish rebels are believed to have launched a coup for ousting the government of Saddam Hussain, and in retaliation, he had launched a massive attack on the Kurds rebels in order to crush them. Thus the conflict between the Kurdish and the government forces formed war of attrition and the main sufferers were the innocent people of Iraq who were tortured and imprisoned in the name of aiding and abetting the rebel forces.

In Iran, it is seen that the Shites were rebelling against the government and thus were not liked by Saddam Hussain. He feared that a similar uprising could also take place in Iraq by the Shiite population there. He was determined to stop this at any cost. Moreover, he and his followers believed in the Arabization of Iraq and the Shiite stand was much against this. Therefore, he wanted the Shiites whom he believed were from Iran to go back to their homeland. This was the main reason for him to force the Shiites to go back to Iran so that the government could usurp their lands and divide them among the government loyalists.

The cause for the US Iraq standoff was the oil issues. President Hussain wanted to control the oil fields and oil deposits and thus be in a position to dictate terms to the US. The rich and powerful oil companies in the US thought otherwise and wanted larger shares of the profits and deposits for themselves. The oil economy factor was the principle for Iraq to adopt a defiant stand towards the US. Moreover, the US’s friendship with Iran was also viewed by Iran with consternation and dismay, not to speak of anger. The powerful economy of the USA along with strong and faithful allies in the Middle East which could neutralize the strength and potency of Iraq was viewed with contempt and dismay by the Iraqi government.

Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was condemned by all law abiding nation, and the Allied forces launch an offensive to remove Iraq from Kuwaiti soil and free the oil rich sovereign. It was a war that Iraq lost and this forced them to cede a lot of their interests in this border country. This was one of the reasons why the Iraqi army, on its return after defeat at the hands of the Allied forces, burned down a large number of oilfields, thus worsening the environmental problems in the country.

Thus it is seen that while the major factor for the drift between the Hussain dictatorship and US was polito-economic and socio- economic, the poor and innocent Iraqi civilians were made to bear the brunt of the dictator’s wrath and they were also pressurized by American intelligence to give away details of hideouts of Iraqi offenders and criminals.

Although the intervention of the allied forces ensured that the stressful time for the Iraqis are over, with the General and his men no longer available to terrorize them, the genesis of democratic way of life and normality in the country needs a long time more. This could be seen from the fact that it is the Allied and peacekeeping forces that are maintaining peace and stability in Iraq, and a lot of public money is being spent on the upkeep of militia in Iraq. There are constant fears that, with the pressures of return of the troops now stationed in Iraq, especially with the question of American presidency over, the question still looms large in the minds of the average Iraqi on the streets is that when and if the troops are returned, whether peace and security of the average Iraqi family could be maintained and how?

It speaks volumes of the courage and fortitude and resilience of the people of Iraq that they have been able to bear the brunt of a remorseless and dictatorial regime for many years. But the question of peace returning into the streets of Iraq is still a far cry. Although President Hussein’s days are over, he still commands a cult figure and still has many supporters, within and outside Iraq who would be more than willing to take up his cause.

Whether they would be able to form a strong force to upstage a democratic process and, more significantly would democracy be sustainable in the Iraqi context only time and history can tell us.

For the moment, the factor is stands out is that Iraq, frail yet courageous, is a symbol for the world over that dictatorship does not, and cannot survive in a democratic world.

Finally it is the word and action of the democratic process and the will of the people that would survive any catastrophe, even one as strong and powerful as the Saddam Hussain episode.

It is a lesson for all civilized countries that living on borrowed time does not do a world of good for any country, big or small. In a fast changing world based on tumultuous economic and social development and growth, no ruler can afford to stifle the voice of the people and rule for long. Sooner or later, whether in Yugoslavia, Bosnia and even in certain Latin American countries, brutalized and vandalized by successive dictatorships, the forces of goodness and democracy rule has emerged after the spell of darkness.

Works Cited

Duhaime, Lloyd. The Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. 2008. Web.

Donnelly, Jack. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Cornel University. 2002. Web.

Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses. Foreign and Commonwealth office London. Nov. 2002. Web.

The Iraqi Government Assault on the Marsh Arabs. Human Rights Watch. Jan. 2003. Web.

Iraq: Amnesty International Deplores Execution of Saddam Hussain. Amnesty International. 2008. Web.