Sociology

Introduction

Immigration is a common phenomenon that is continuing to be witnessed in the world. Immigration is defined as the act that entails the introduction of new or foreign people into another population which is mostly in a different region or country. The main drivers of immigration are the push factors which are generally economic, political and social driven. In the past few decades, asylum seekers have formed a sizeable proportion of immigrants in Switzerland (Marcacci, para. 17). According to the United Nations in its 2006 report, the number of immigrants in the world is currently slightly above 300 million with most of them being of Asian origin. The report noted that about a quarter of the immigrants were found in Europe while about 50 million were hosted in Canada and the United States of America. The immigrants in developing countries were found to be constant over the previous ten years due to the fall in the number of refugees brought about by civil strife. The research paper will compare and contrast the immigration policies of the United States, Switzerland and china while reflecting on the political history and values of the community in the respective countries.

The three countries were selected due to their geographical locations and different political histories particularly during the period between 19^th and 21^st century. The United States was one of the biggest markets for slave trade and migration destination for Europeans in the 18^th century and thus witnessed a large proportion of its population being immigrants. The fact that the North America is the second largest destination for immigrants and the extent of border points in the United States made it vital for its selection with the aim of understanding more on policies. On the other hand, Switzerland was selected due its central location in Europe and the influences from its large and more populous neighbors (Marcacci). China being the most populous country in the world is among the countries that have to worry about emigration and immigration

Methods

The research on immigration involved the utilization of literature review with a view of coming up with relevant comparative data which will give a clear picture of the similarities and differences at policy level. The data will include documented statistical figures and narrative on the development of the various policies in the three countries. Comparative analysis of the statistics will be done (Dawson). The political theory was the approach used in writing this paper since emphasis is given to the understanding and development of the policies and legislations over time (Scott & Stephen).

Findings

The history of American immigration started in the 17^th century and transverse through the colonial, mid 19^th century, 20th century and the era after 1965. These periods are crucial in understanding the policy measures put in place by the government to stem immigration. According to US Immigration and Citizenship Services, several legislations have been enacted to control the influx of people into the country. The first legislation was passed by the congress in 1921. The Emergency Quota Act was reinforced by the Immigration Act of 1924 which was meant to lock out the Jews, Italians and salvo. In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act amendments of 1965 were enacted marking the end of national origins restrictions thereby ushering an era when many Europeans started flocking to the United States.

The United States has an open door policy for foreigners and views this as a form of achieving economic prosperity and cultural diversity (US Immigration and Citizenship Services). The government has set up the green card lottery as one of the ways to encourage skilled labour into taking permanent residence in the country. The government is also instrumental in helping the immigrant to successfully adapt to the civic culture of the American people. The United Nations in their international migration report, noted that the immigrants in America accounted for 20.1 %( 38.4 million) of the world total in 2005 which was an increase of more than 5% of the 1990 figures (3). The 1990 immigration act was aimed at maintaining the influx of immigrants below 700000 annually (US Immigration and citizenship services).

The Chinese government has put stringent measures to control the proliferation of aliens in their country. This is contained in the Immigration Act of 1985, which spells out the procedures of acquiring a visa and all matters pertaining to the aliens. The Chinese Immigration act of 1985 also set conditions that would disqualify a person from getting a visa or gaining entry into the Chinese territory. Article 1 of the act denotes that the law will be applied to resident and nonresident aliens’ entering, passing through or leaving the Chinese territorial boundaries. The mandate of securing the border and port entry was given to the National Immigration Agency (, 1). The 1980’s also saw the Chinese government embrace reforms thus forcing thousands of Chinese to immigrate to other countries to seek better living standards and education. The coastal areas of chine have become major source for immigrants for Australia, Canada and other countries. The immigrants use illegal and legal means to enter their preferred destinations. The Chinese recorded an increase of 800,000 in 2005 compared to the 1990 figures. This was an increase of 0.2 % of immigrants inside the Chinese territory (United Nations, 3).the Chinese form majority of the world population of immigrants. The immigration is fuelled by the lack of opportunities in their territory and the lack of political freedom. Chinese illegal migrants were around 40000 in France in 2009 and formed 2% of the11.55 million illegal migrants in the United States in 2006.

Switzerland is the home to the largest number of immigrants in Europe

1.7 million immigrants were living in Switzerland in 2005 compared to 1.4 million in 1990 (United Nations, 3). This accounted for more than 20% of the population in Switzerland making her the country with the highest number of immigrants. The Yugoslav and the Italians form the majority of immigrants in the country with the first movement of foreigners to Switzerland occurring in late 19^th century. This was triggered by the consensual agreement to allow the movement of the countries nationals. This led to the amendments of the 1931law that put stricter regulations on the foreign residents and immigration. However, the failure of the government to speed the naturalization process has led to the high numbers of foreigners in Switzerland (Marcacci).

Discussion

The three countries share some similarities in the way they approach the issue of immigration. The enactment of stricter legislations to safeguard the rights of the citizens is evident in the countries with the Chinese having the most strict legislation governing entry to their territory. The three countries have set measures and procedures of dealing will illegal immigrants which may range from fines to deportation to the country of origin. This mainly happens when the aliens are involved in criminal offenses or their permits expire. Another similarity amongst the three countries is the tendency for them to attract technocrats in their industrial and technological dependent processes. Switzerland and china have benefited mainly from technological expertise of immigrants while America has gained from the Jewish and African immigrants. Acquiring visas or specific identification documents are prerequisites of entering, passing through and working in their territories.

Nevertheless, stark differences exist in the approaches embraced by the three countries. The American immigration policies are directed at attracting direct expatriate labour. The green card lottery is part of the initiative to bring qualified and competent labour for its large economy. Unlike in United States, little or no measures to attract labour have been put in place in China and Switzerland. In the United States and Switzerland the residents are given preferential treatment to some extent unlike in China. The immigration policies in china neither encourage the resident citizens to remain in China nor protect them from competition from the immigrants. This is the reason the Chinese form the majority of immigrants, whether legal or illegal, in the western countries and Australia.

The Chinese and the Americans have embarked and invested heavily in securing their borders. The United States has to safeguard its expansive border with Mexico due to the potential risk of terrorist attack and the proliferation of drugs from Mexico. United States and Switzerland have very accommodating immigration policies due to the integration of social services in these countries. Immigrants account for 10-15% of the population in USA and Switzerland thus causing increased pressure on the social amenities which are mainly funded through tax.

Influence on political culture

The immigration policies have impacted on the politics of America owing to the high number of naturalized citizens. It’s not uncommon for presidential candidates to promise incentives to groups of different origins in order to win their votes. Immigration in Switzerland has resulted in fears of cultural erosion and introduction of authoritarian rule especially in early 1990 (Marcacci, 2001). In china, immigration from Taiwan and Hong Kong always result in acrimonious and soured relations with its neighbors due to mistreatment of immigrants.

The class sessions met the expectations since a foundation for further reading and research was set while at the same time concepts instilled.

Conclusion

Immigration is a phenomenon that has become popular with people living in developing countries and those seeking political asylum. It is a big problem in the United States and Swaziland where 10-15% of the population are immigrants. China, United States and Swaziland share some similarities in their policies; visas for immigrants. The impact of immigration is felt in the social, economic and political fields in the three countries due to the soaring numbers of immigrants. There is need to address the issue of immigration with urgency before it becomes a burden to the host country.

Assessment and general comments

The research experience provided me with an oversight of the implications of the immigration crisis in the present and future. The research also enlightened me on research methodologies and their wide application in the routine activities of a researcher. The assignment not only provided a chance to utilize the methodologies learnt but also provided learning experience of an issue that affect millions of people.

Works cited

Dawson, Catherine. Practical Research Methods, New Delhi: UBS Publishers’ Distributors, 2002.

Hoppe, Herman. The Libertarian Case for Free Trade and Restricted Immigration. Journal of Libertarian Studies, 13, 2001. Web.

Immigration Act: Law of the People’s Republic of China on Entry and Exit of Aliens. Web.

Marcacci, Marco. Switzerland prepares to review immigration policy. Geneva: Swiss info, 2004. Web.

Scott, Gregory M. and Stephen M. Garrison. The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.

United Nations. International Migration Report 2006: A global assessment. New York: United Nations. 2010. Web.

US Immigration and Citizenship. Web.

As the world is expanding and advancing towards globalization and the interactions of all parts of the globe with each other, working with an open mind is very important. Globalization, which was once considered a far-sighted notion, is now a reality as businesses are expanding internationally and all professions are now spreading over national boundaries. Social work is a vital part of every community. Social work aims at better understanding the issues concerning the people with respect to their environment and works on improving the living standards and the general human conditions. It is the science of exploring the dilemmas present in societies and communities and make positive changes to social justice and economic status. This paper would address social work practice with groups and what are the values and ethics specific to social work with groups. Moreover, the dynamics and interventions to the beginnings, middles and endings of groups would be discussed.

Discussion

A group can be described as the collaboration of two or more individuals who interact with each other in order to meet certain needs or achieve certain objectives. Working in groups is essential in social work due to the nature of the work. Social work is related to the well-being of societies and this is not a task that can be accomplished individually. Social work mainly involved groups and teams that concentrate on specific areas and issues. Groups, if properly executed, have a number of advantages. However, there are factors that need to be considered with scrutiny in order to avoid the wastage of resources and the proper execution of group work. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

Synergy is the main advantage that can be gained from group work. This means that people working in groups are more productive and efficient than they would be had they been working individually and their efforts were combined. This has a greater implication in social work where there is a evidently greater output through working in groups. Social work groups often follow the team organization to be cross-cultural, involving people from different backgrounds, cultures or countries. This factor often creates conflicts and differences in opinion and care needs to be taken in order to defend the ethnic values of each member. However, if there is cohesion and respect of cultures within members then multi-ethnic workgroups tend to be the most productive especially in the field of social work where all kinds of people are addressed to. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

The effectiveness and efficiency of groups depend mainly on their dynamics or characteristics. The size of the workgroup is important. The motivation, commitment and group performance hinge on the size of the group. Very large groups often cause alienation and less participation from certain group members. Smaller groups gain the benefit of more interaction and coordination, more personal contribution from members and hence more motivation, satisfaction and commitment. The size of the group however, ultimately depends upon the nature of the task and the type of social work practice being carried out. Larger workgroups serve the advantage of more resources in form of knowledge, skills, experience and expertise. This helps them better achieve the goals than smaller groups that have limited skills and knowledge. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

One of the key elements that are necessary for all aspects of group formation and practices is the presence of leadership. All groups and teams need leadership. One of the most dominating elements that an effective group possesses is good leadership. Leadership is considered as the guide that leads the group towards the attainment of its goals. Leaders define a clear purpose for the group which in turn creates unity and harmony amongst the group members. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

The individual characteristics of group members contribute greatly to the success of the team. Each team members abilities, values, role perceptions, experience and personality differ them from one another and these factors answer some major questions such as, would they cooperate with the group, how much they are willing to contribute, how well motivated they would prove to be and to what extent would they comply to the norms of the group. Thus, individual characteristics tend to be an important factor. (Munro, 2007)

Effective and accurate communication is a very important aspect of teamwork in social practices. Communication is defined as being able to share a message that is heard, received and understood. Communication helps the flow of discussion and makes the members comfortable in expressing their feelings and ideas. It leads to the fulfillment of many other characteristics that add to the effectiveness of a team. Communication tends to increase the flow of messages and thus decreases the chance of misunderstandings within team members as well as with other teams. Also, through effective communication team members are in touch with each other as well as with other groups within the institute and proper negotiations can be initiated when needed. Communication being the foundation of good teamwork tends to hold a number of barriers that when absent cause misunderstandings and conflicts amongst group members and groups themselves. No matter how good the communication system of an organization is, unfortunately, barriers can and do transpire. (Munro, 2007)

There is a series of steps that follow in the development of groups. These are commonly known as, forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Although the development of every group is unique, many groups pass through these five phases. These steps define the formation of teams, where members get to know each other and form an understanding. The second stage, storming, includes the conflicts and disagreements that take place among members. In the norming stage group members arrive at consensus and form close ties and cooperate with each other in taking decisions. The fourth stage, performing, is when the group members work together in achieving the objective and the goal is accomplished. After the tasks have been achieved the final stage is reached. This may not always apply as some groups work together for multiple tasks. However, the adjourning stage is when the group is eventually disbanded. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

The beginning stage of group forming comprises the selection and preparation of members to be able to adjust and regulate the group and become better aware of how they need to perform with other involved members. This beginning stage involves getting to know the group and giving out a positive impression. The group members look up to the leader to get directions and guidance. For social work practitioners workers are selected on the basis of their abilities to adjust in various environments and confront challenging situations. Hence, they follow through various assessments, pre-group interviews and adherence to predetermined work agreements that they must comply to. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

The middle stages are considered the most crucial as they take up most of the time span and involve a number of different aspects that the group members experience. Due to the variance in the personalities, values, and cultures of the group members conflicts may arise. Although, the dissimilar personalities help in a pool of ideas it may also becoming conflicting if not appropriately managed. The ego functions of individuals play a large role in the middle stages as all members may have a different outlook towards things and may suggest diverse courses of actions towards a situation that leads to conflicts. Conflicts are often considered good for the group provided they are handled appropriately. By discussing on the basis of their differences group member can produce quality decisions that would benefit the society from many aspects. Cohesion is however, an important aspect that needs to be considered by social work practitioners. Cohesion is basically the desire for the members of a group to achieve common goals and a group identity. In a social group that is high on interactivity, cohesion is an important factor. Some of the basic group dynamics have effects on cohesion. Social work practitioners need to work on group cohesion and develop a group with a sense of shared purpose and collective identity. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

The ending stage takes place once the task of the social group has been achieved. The group may be working together for one task or may be formed for a number of activities. This stage involves the disengagements from relationships. In social work, a conclusion usually involves the recognition of the participants and their achievements. Working in social groups helps the workers develop sociologically and psychologically. (Northen and Kurland, 2001)

Conclusion

In the end it is important to understand that group work is highly essential and productive in social practices and there are a number of factors that need to be adhered to in order to achieve the most out of the groups. Working in groups provides the individuals with the sense of empathy, cooperation and helps in creating an open mind towards the ideas and concepts of others. Groups provide an experience that upholds the values and morals of the group members and helps them become more helpful and accommodating. Moreover, group work allows a new area of learning experiences and the sharing of knowledge and skills provide the expansion of skills of the group members.

References

Levy, C.S (1993). Social work ethics on the line. Haworth press.

Munro, J.H (2007). Organizational leadership. Mcgraw-hill.

Northen, H, & Kurland, R (2001). Social work with groups.Columbia University press.

Introduction

In America, skin complexion is considered in many areas such as career opportunities, selection of partners and job opportunities. This difference in skin complexion affects the manner in which people relate to each other. A study of the difference in skin complexion is of great importance as it helps in the understanding of why there is discrimination in different races. However, the most vulnerable race in this relationship is that of African Americans since their skin color is not appealing. Furthermore, the complexion of African Americans is associated with slavery and they are expected to submit to their masters who are the whites. Despite the fact that slavery came to an end long time ago, the issue of discrimination due to colorism still remains a problem for African Americans. However, there also exist some variations in the skin complexion of African Americans where some are lighter and others darker. (Hersch, 2008)

Origin and Impact of African Americans’ Skin Complexion during Slavery

According to (Birzer, 2006), discrimination against African Americans originated from slavery where Africans were being enslaved by the whites. It is during the slavery period that Africans intermingled with the whites where some whites raped African women or just had relationships that culminated in children with characteristics of the two races. The resultant race was that of African Americans with variations in skin complexion as some have light skin while others have a dark skin color like that of dark Africans. The differences in African Americans’ skin complexion were determined by the genes of white and black parents and therefore, their offspring’s had to take characteristics of both sides. Those who are light tend to dislike dark skin Black Americans, as they consider them less attractive. During slavery dark skin Black Americans were allocated tougher jobs than the light skin Black Americans since they were considered more African than American. Light skin Black Americans were more readily accepted in the white’s society than dark skin Black Americans. Therefore, it is clear that, a dark complexion is highly disregarded by not only the whites but also African Americans who have a lighter complexion.

Impact on Education

(Ellis, 2006) argues that, African Americans suffer discrimination on the basis of their complexion to a point that they get low-quality education than the whites. This is because; there tend to be differences between schools attended by blacks and those attended by whites. Mostly, these divisions are not put in the open but the level of discrimination discourages African Americans from attending those schools where most of the students were Americans. It is therefore believed that, light-skinned black Americans are provided with better education than fellow black students. Studies show that, there is a great difference in the expected level of education acquired by light skin Black Americans compared to that acquired by dark skin black Americans. It is therefore concluded that, more and better education is attained with an increase in the level of skin complexion towards lightness. It has also been found that, in learning institutions, dark blacks get more penalties in their courses than light blacks. Then it goes without saying that, some of those penalties are not genuine and are given so as to lower their grades. Dark skin black American tutors as well as instructors are not left behind in this, as they tend not to earn the respect they deserve from their students. Light-skinned black American students are found to disrespect African American tutors, regarding them as less competent in their areas of specialization. These claims are based on the stereotypical beliefs where light complexion is associated with high levels of intelligence while dark complexions are associated with lack of intelligence. Therefore, those tutors end up failing to deliver as much as they could due to the poor relationship between them and their students.

Career Opportunities

The situation of African Americans is very difficult in the workplace due to their skin tone. According to the study, African Americans who are dark-skinned are disadvantaged when it comes to applying for jobs even if their academic qualifications are higher than those of black applicants with lighter skin. The study of colorism by Harrison in the workplace of America is not surprising because; black men who are light-skinned need to have only bachelors’ degree together with few years of work experience to qualify for employment. Even if a black man who is dark-skinned is MBA holder and experienced in managerial positions, he is left out just because employers have high expectations of light-skinned men even if their qualifications are lower.

In America, race is taken to mean white and black because, differences in skin tone increase differences in how people perceive each other basing on their skin complexion. When doing job selection in America, skin tone is always a determining factor of whether the applicants will succeed or not. This is because; blacks who are fair-skinned are believed to be similar to the whites to dark-skinned blacks. The white feel comfortable interacting with light-skinned blacks and can work in the same environment. In every racial group all over the world, light skin is valued and preferred to take managerial positions. In America, races have been mixed due to intermarriages which require advanced research to be done to be aware of biases of color. The best way to solve the problem of inequality due to ideologies related to colorism is to create awareness of beliefs about skin tone as a result of the exposure we have. In America, a person with lighter skin is taken to be wise, competent and attractive while the darker-skinned are dismissed and taken to be ugly. (Hersch, 2008)

Impact on Mate selection

According to (Hersch, 2008) In America, there were black women with different skin shades who said that, the life of black women with light skin is easier. One woman said that, she would not like her son to date dark-skinned ladies because; she does not like the grandbabies to be dark-skinned. During the slavery period, blacks who had light skin occupied the same house as their master while dark-skinned worked in cotton fields. This makes dark-skinned black Americans feel that they are ugly even if they appear beautiful.

Americans know that, children resemble their parents in one way or another. Therefore, light skin black American men know that, their children can be light skin if and only if they marry light-skinned black women. This brings about discrimination when it comes to marriage because, no one would be willing to get dark-skinned black American children due to the way they are taken to be inferior and less attractive. Hence, dark-skinned black American women end up failing to get someone to marry them because; even their fellow dark-skinned men prefer to marry light-skinned black American women. Black ladies who go to study in America are shocked because, for every ten black men who are in college, seven of them date white ladies. Even if these men run organizations for black students, they do not forget to remind them that they are blacks. It is not wrong to date across the culture but, most black men say that they can only date white women since black sisters lack something that is in the whites. (Hersch, 2008)

(Birzer, 2006) has found that, European Americans are more likely to intermarry with light skin Black Americans than with dark skin Black Americans. This is because; they fear the possible outcome, where their children might be of a darker skin. Attractiveness matters in relationships as well as marriages, which disadvantages dark skin black American women as they are considered to be less attractive. Therefore, most light men prefer relating with light women who according to them are more beautiful. This affects black women because; dark men are attracted to light women, making it difficult for black American women to get partners. Therefore, dark women are known to look for all ways possible to help them lighten their skin so that they can be accepted by both dark and light men. For example, dark African Americans and especially women grease their hair to make it as straight as that of European Americans. They also apply creams on their faces so as to change their skin to a lighter one. Black men also prefer light women so as to earn them a high status in the society. Therefore, most of the rich black men are known to attract light women with their wealth so that through marrying them, they can be accepted by European Americans as well as light skin Black Americans.

It is also found that, there exists discrimination in the admission to social organizations especially in colleges. European American college students find it easy to intermingle with light skin Black Americans than dark skin Black Americans. Therefore, they discourage mixing of the two groups in their social organizations, where dark skin black Americans are hardly allowed in social organizations for light African Americans as well as European Americans. Most relationships are likely to be initiated at college level but, since mixing is discouraged, European Americans and light skin Black Americans end up together. Consequently, chances of marriages between dark and light African Americans as well as European Americans continue to decrease as socialization among them decreases. This culture is then passed on to their offspring that carry on the stratification trend. Teachers have tried to change children’s attitudes towards dark complexion but all in vain. They have resorted to following their parents as well as the society which discriminates dark skin Black Americans.

America has been treating people differently based on skin color. This has been used in music industry where many talented black women continue to support the benefit of balancing beautiful and talented dark-skinned black Americans. Lauren Hill said that, dark-skinned black women who were conscious left the music video industry due to displeasure of the way their images were commercialized. This is ironic because, many black Africa American women want to see a person who is like them on the television representing them. This does not aim at attacking light-skinned black Americans but all that dark-skinned black American want is balanced representation of dark African Americans’ talents. (Ellis, 2006)

Media has played a very major role in colorism as media presenters who are mostly European Americans make fun of the skin complexion of African Americans. They regard them as an unacceptable group in the society. Moreover, African Americans are not given equal chances if any, of working in the European American media houses. Funny advertisements and comments on the skin complexion of African Americans are allowed in the media, which fills the audience with negative images of African Americans. As a result, those European Americans who were previously relating well with African Americans start to weigh options of terminating the good relationship while African Americans suffer more discrimination. (Birzer, 2006)

The Group Mostly Affected by Colorism

Dark women and young ladies of the African American race are mostly affected by colorism since they are considered less beautiful. Lighter women are somehow preferred as their skin color is almost the same as that of European Americans and are therefore not discriminated against. Beauty products that brighten the skin have been of great help to dark women and young ladies, since they use them to at least brighten up their skin color so that they may be accepted in the society of whites. However, some of these products have not worked well since some women have bleached their skin to a point of harming it. This is particularly because of the poverty levels encountered by some African Americans making dark women go for low-quality bleaching products that end up harming them. (Bodenhorn, 2007)

Conclusion

It therefore occurs that, the dark complexion of African Americans has great negative impacts on their lives. African Americans’ skin complexion really affects their education, career opportunities as well as the ways in which mates and life partners are selected. Dark African Americans acquire considerably less education than European Americans as well as light skin Black Americans. This leads to better career opportunities being secured by the whites and light African Americans, though in most cases educational qualifications come as an after determinant for good career opportunities as discrimination based on skin complexion precedes it. However, African Americans’ skin complexion has positive impact which is associated with their skin’s resistance to effects of climate change. Dark African Americans are less likely to suffer from sunburns during summer as their skin is more resistant. On the other hand, European Americans as well as the light skin Black Americans are forced to use creams so as to reduce possible dark effects on their skin. However, this is just a minor positive impact and does not count much in the lives of dark skin African Americans, as they are still discriminated against due to their dark complexion. Organizations that fight for human rights have been engaged in events aimed at reducing colorism effects, where dark skin Black Americans are denied some of their human rights due to their color. Several laws have also been enacted, so as to ensure that all citizens receive equal privileges. However, those laws are not kept to the book as it’s almost impossible to go against stereotypical beliefs, where European Americans as well as light skin Black Americans are considered to be better than dark skin Black Americans. (Hersch, 2008)

References

Birzer M. (2006): The phenomenology of discrimination experienced among African Americans; Journal of African American Studies: Springer, 10(3), 25-33

Bodenhorn H. (2007): Colorism and African American wealth; Journal of Population Economics: Springer 20(2), 55-59

Ellis R. (2006): Whiteness and Race; Journal of American Studies: Cambridge University Press, 40(5), 17-24

Hersch J. (2008): The effects of skin color and height; Journal of Labor Economics: University Chicago Press, 26(3), 12-17

Introduction

Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner for the kingdom of Thailand. It is estimated that the industry contributed 11 billion euros to the economy of Thailand in 2007. According to the world tourism ranking of the year 2006, Thailand is ranked as the 18^th most visited tourism destination in the world.

The issue of sex tourism in this country is controversial; although the practice is illegal, the government has in the past taken no concrete measures to control the vice. Now the pressure is coming from another quarter, the feminist movements.

This paper seeks to explore the magnitude of sex tourism in Thailand and the effect that Feminist International Relations is having on it.

Feminist International Relations

Feminist international relations refer to the effort of trying to understand the role of women in international politics. While women are usually caught up in many of the situations that define world politics for example wars, trade and industry, the theory seeks to find out if they influence the course of events of the world. In her book Bananas, Beaches and Bases, Cynthia Enloe seeks to identify the role of women in international politics as prostitutes, diplomatic wives and farm laborers in banana plantations.

According to the book, it is not common to look at the politics of an issue from a feminine point of view; for example, in case a developed country like the united states establishes a military base in a third world country, combination of a number of factors including the acceptance by the military command of prostitution as an acceptable form of R and R for the soldiers, and the economic needs of the surrounding community, the women of the area may be involved in prostitution. However, the issues that will be mostly highlighted on the international political stage are mainly those of the sovereignty of the host nation and the mandate of the guest military; the issues regarding the welfare of the women of the area rarely see the light of day.

In the case of Thailand, the issue of sex tourism in the past has only been discussed and approached from a masculine point of view. However the politics of the issue affects women to a large extent both in the country and outside the country. This is probably the reason why many efforts of intervention have not worked in the past.

The Sex Tourism Industry in Thailand

The sex tourism industry in Thailand was stated when American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War allowed to go for R n R (rest and recuperation) in Thailand. Thailand’s popularity as a sex destination has grown in leaps and bound over the years. It is estimated that the trade generates USD 4.3 billion every year; this industry is completely unregulated and untaxed. This is estimated to comprise about 3% of the country’s economy [AAP, 2003]. In fact, prostitution is illegal in Thailand.

Traditionally, prostitution is not allowed by Thai culture; however, there is a custom of polygamy [AAP, 2003]. Additionally it is not uncommon for a man to visit a paid mistress or a prostitute [Knodel, 1996].

A study carried out in Thailand aimed at estimating the number of sex workers in the country in 2004 places the total figure as 2.8 million [AAP, 2003]. This was an increase of 50,000 from the previous year. Out of this, 2 million of them were adult females. Twenty thousand adult males and 800,000 workers under the age of 18 comprised the rest of the group.

Prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand; however, there are legal loop holes that the operators can escape through. In 1960, under pressure from the United Nations, Thailand enacted the legislations illegalizing prostitution; the provision of the law is rarely however implemented; and it is difficult to find a police officer arresting someone for prostitution; this is mainly because of corruption and government protection.

Some of the loopholes that have allowed prostitution to thrive for example is the provision allowing for the operation of massage parlous; the Entertainment Places Act of 1966 allows the Thai citizenry right to operate ventures that offer ‘special service’ to client such as bathing and massaging. When a client chooses the masseuse that he wants, and goes into a room to get the ‘massage’, there is no regulation on how far the ‘special services’ can extend. Consequently, many brothels have opened under the guise of massage parlous in Thailand. The political will to crack down on this has been lacking in the Thai administration.

Reasons for entering into prostitution

The 2004 study also sought to find out why many young people in Thailand preferred to go into prostitution. While the vice started years before the American soldiers passed through Thailand, there are other reasons why the country is so prone to this practice. For example, Khimer emperors kept concubines, some as many as one thousand. As opposed to other societies, the Thai culture does not view the practice with as much stigma; these coupled with the large number of unemployed youth continues to fan the fire of prostitution.

Effects of the industry

The industry has been blamed for the widespread corruption in the government. Officials usually actively participate in the protection of the massage parlors from police crackdown. In a story published by the Guardian newspaper, Chuwit Kamolvisit, fashioned as the Godfather of prostitution in Thailand went to the media with the claims that over the decades, he has paid up to 1.5 million pounds to corrupt government officials as bribes for protection of his million-pound business. Additionally, he claimed that the senior officials were among some of his best customers. To prove this the pimp produced a diary where he kept records of all the payments he made to the officials and all the sexual transactions that went on under his watch. Investigations further revealed that some senior police officers had financial stakes among some of the hotels in a Red-light district known as ‘Soap land’. The pimp claimed that he dished out so much money to the police, that he had a delivery boy ridding around the city in a motorbike delivering wads of money [Scott-Clark, 2004].

Prostitution and AIDS in Thailand

As expected, the practice of prostitution is usually accompanied by the increase of the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases; this is fueled by multiple sex partners and risky sexual behavior. Thailand was not spared. From the end of 1988, it is noted that a severe outbreak of HIV had hit Thailand’s sex workers and their partners [Anenberg, 1998].

The prevalence that was considered negligible in 1988 jumped 3.7% in men drafted in the army in 1993 and 2.3% in women in antenatal care in 1995.

The government launched a campaign to encourage the use of condoms between the prostitutes and their clients; it was estimated at the time that only 14% of the workers used condoms with their partners in 1989; following the highly successful campaign, a study in 1994 showed the new figure to be at 90% [Anenberg, 1998]. In addition to this, the prevalence of other sexually transmitted diseases also fell. The prevalence of HIV in women seeking antenatal care in hospitals fell from the previous figure to 1.8% in 1996. The success of the program can be attributed in part to the fact that there are very few freelance commercial sex workers in Thailand; most are usually affiliated with a brothel or a massage parlor [van Kerkwijk, 1992].

The clients

According to the book Sex traffic [Monzini, 2004]; the massive increase of prostitution in Thailand was heralded by the demand of American troops for commercial sex in the 1970s following the Vietnam War, however when the troops began to withdraw the brothel owners (who were relatively wealthy and influential) sought to create a new market. Sex trips were advertised to local men, to Japanese and German business men and to tourists. Today, businessmen form other nationalities such as Korean, Chinese and Malaysian are persistent clients of Thai brothels as a way of combining business with pleasure during trips. The advent of the internet further improved the capacity of the industry to advertise to a large number of people in the world.

The book [pg 32 -33] classifies the British sex tourist into three categories. ‘Macho-lads’ travel from their country in groups, and view the country as one large fun-factory where they indulge as much as possible in the hosts amenities. The next category is ‘Mr. Average’; are older divorced or married, travel alone on a package trip looking for sexual adventures to spice a more or less bland existence. The final group is the ‘Cosmopolitan men’; these are leisure or business travelers who deny that they are in Thailand looking for sexual pleasure, but do not hesitate to indulge in sexual tourism.

Sex tourism and pedophilia

When a sex tourist travels far away from home, he is removed from the social circles that usually limit the range of activities that he can engage in. this, combined with the desire to experience the exotic pleasures of the destination allows him to engage in otherwise unacceptable practices. One such of these is pedophilia.

In his mind, the pedophile make many justifications of engaging in the practice; one such is that in the exotic country, the definition of sexual abuse is not the same as his country of origin; and that the legal limit of consensual sex is determined by the peoples cultural practices rather than universal human rights. The international clients also use the guise of not being able to tell the true age of the prostitutes.

Sex tourism and the government

There have been talks of legalizing prostitution in Thailand; the main perception of this line of thought is that the government wants to tap into the untaxed multi million dollar industry of prostitution in the country.

The government generally has no political initiative to fight prostitution in Thailand as a whole; however, efforts have been made to reduce the risk of sex workers from contracting disease through mass safety campaigns and constant monitoring of sex workers groups. Additionally, the enactment of the Prostitution prevention suppression act of 1996 seeks to stem the increase of child prostitution by placing the guilt of the crime on the parents, the clients and the operators of brothels [Baker, 2000].

The proponents of legalization say that government regulation will improve the working conditions of the sex worker in the country; one of this ways is in giving legal recourse for violent customers or those who are unwilling to pay. Additionally, the workers will be able to get some of the amenities associated with legal businesses such as medical cover and unionization [AAP, 2000]. The legalization is also touted to be the cure of corruption among the government officials in regards to prostitution since the brothels will no longer need to pay protection money. Chantawipa Apisuk, a Thai who runs an organization for promoting the rights of commercial sex workers in Thailand known as Empower says that as long as prostitution is run illegally in the country then the “employer will be the mafia….and the employee will be sex slaves” [AAP, 2003]. Since the amount of prostitution in the country does not seem to be reducing the proponents of legalization are calling for an open debate on the issue. On the other hand, the feminist opponents of legalization say that legal or not, the practice has a negative physical and psychological impact on the sex workers that is not covered by the monetary payments [Spector, 2006].

Sex Tourism and Womens Rights

Particularly in Japan, feminist organizations are increasingly fighting the industry among the male counterparts visiting Thailand. The improvement of women’s rights in Japan has started to shift the destinations of Japanese tourists from sex-tagged destinations such as Thailand [Leheny, 1995]. The Thai tourism officials are now being faced with the task of marketing the country as a none-sex destination to Japanese tourist whose major motivation of visits to Thailand was for indulgence in commercial sexual pleasures. The social changes in Japan are therefore influencing international trade that is gender dependent.

Additionally, the Thai commercial sex workers have organized themselves into support groups that aid each other in fighting for their rights.

Sex Tourism and the Thai Economy

Tourism in Thailand contributes a major chunk of the national income; in 2007, it is estimated that the industry contributed to 6.7% of the countries GDP [Thailand tourism review 2007]. Sex tourism is touted to contribute as much as 3 percent of the countries economy. Additionally, the huge flow of tourists from other countries can also be attributed to the way the tourism industry in Thailand has been able to adjust itself to cater for the various needs of the different types of tourists.

The impact of sex trade on the Thai economy cannot be underestimated; the country has the unique ability to attract visitor who visit more or less specifically to indulge in the sexual services offered; a good example of this is the foreign soldiers during their R and R periods. For example, in the April of 1989, when the US seventh fleet docked on the coast of Pattaya for four days of R and R , the American military personnel is estimated to have spent a USD 8 million on sex alone and a further USD 12 million on accommodation, hospitality and gifts.

Thailand sex-label has also given the country an edge over other Asian destinations competing for the same market segment. Additionally, the industry is also able to attract clients from the neighboring Asian countries such as Japan; for example the Pacific Asia Travel Association predicted that the Asia Pacific countries will continue being the major source of tourist for Thailand with an annual growth of 7.3% and was expected to account for 11 million arrivals for 2009. In 2007 Malaysia was predicated to produce 1.402 million visitors to Thailand and Japan 1.401 million. These two countries are the largest contributors of tourists for Thailand.

The World travel and tourism council predicted that in the next ten years, the amount of revenue generated from (the general tourism) sector would double for Thailand as more and more people visit the country.

The role of sex tourism and its contribution to the national economy in Thailand can however only be left for to speculation and estimation respectively; this is because due to the illegal nature of the industry, there are no official records that the relevant information can be gathered from. Additionally, the shadowy running of the sector and the protection by corrupt government official make it a very difficult area to investigate.

Disscussion

Center to this sex industry is the woman; all the figures touted on how foreign exchange sex tourism is bringing to Thailand forgets the fact that thousands of women have to work everyday as either willing or forced commercial sex worker to generate this foreign exchange. The politics and the economics of the whole issue are usually discussed from a masculine point of view with emphasis being placed on issues such as right or wrong, economic impacts and corruption in the government. However, the emotional and social issues surrounding the industry rarely get airtime.

With talk of legalizing prostitution in Thailand being heard from several quarters, there is no concrete discourse being heard regarding the long term effects of selling ones body for money whether legal or not, safe or not.

The shadowy nature of the business and the fact that anyone engaging in it is a criminal by law has not helped the plight of the sex workers; this has in fact opened a leeway fro the exploitation of the women who have chosen to enter into the trade; they have no legal recourse for any injustices, may they be physical, mental or economic, that they may undergo during the trade since reporting such cases is tantamount to incriminating oneself. Additionally, since some of the people running the brothel establishment have the protection of corrupt government officials, making reports to the authorities will precipitate economic harm through loss of livelihood, or even physical harm meted out by the employer as punishment; and with no consequence to the employer. Additionally, this is a system that allows for the trafficking of women and their exploitation as sex slave in Thailand and other countries; additionally it has led to the increase of the vilest practice of child prostitution.

On the other hand, we must explore the idea that this women are key to the continuation of a system that is providing albeit questionable employment to thousands of women who would be otherwise unemployed. These women are key in attracting millions of visitors from across the world who are willing to be sex tourist; the infamous Thai red light districts are renowned world wide with their prospects attracting visitor looking exclusively for sex, but also curious on lookers who count as tourist as everyone else.

We must also explore the role of Thailand’s sex tourism phenomenon on influencing the sexual orientation of the world. The fact that thousands of sex tourist flock Thailand every year is a clear indication that the country may be offering more than the conventional sexual need. Removed from the more stringent mores of their countries of origin, sex tourists are more likely to engage in unconventional (if not warped) sexual practices in Thailand; has the availability of this opportunity had any effect on the male sexuality of other countries? Unfortunately, this leeway has also led to the increase in pedophilia as the Thai environment is more willing to look away as out rightly evil and illegal practices such as pedophilia and sex enslavement are happening. Sex criminal whose practices would land them in jai for a very long time can find a safe haven in Thailand; has the sex tourist industry in Thailand fuelled the increase of sexual offences impunity in the world?

Anyway you look at it, the sex tourism industry has left its mark on the world; and by extension the women who are either caught up or preferred to join the industry have left their mark o the world.

Conclusion

The Thai’s are even willing to export their commercial sex industry to the world, in the book Sex traffic and prostitution it is reported that Denmark had at the time over one hundred Thai massage parlors; many Thai women are migrating or are trafficked to this countries to man these parlous that are popping up everywhere. The biggest question about the attempts to stem the tide of the sex tourism in Thailand is how to fight a vice whose major allay in not the lack of laws or machinery to tackle it, but the lack of political will, corruption and a generally accepting attitude.

References

Anenberg, R. H. & W. R Ojanapithayakorn: Changes in prostitution and the AIDS epidemic in Thailand: AIDS CARE (1998), VOL. 10, NO. 1, pp. 69± 79

Australian Associated Press Pty Limited (AAP). (2003) Thailand mulls legal prostitution: Web.

Baker, Simon 2000): The changing situation of child prostitution in Northern Thailand: A study of Changwat Chiang Rai. Web.

Enloe Cynthia: (2000): Bananas, Beaches and Bases – Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. Edition: 2, illustrated Published by University of California Press.

Knodel, John, Mark VanLandingham, Chanpen Saengtienchai and Anthony Pramualratana: Thai views of sexuality and sexual behavior Health Transition Review 6, 1996, 179-201

Leheny, David A political economy of Asian sex tourism Annals of Tourism Research Volume 22, Issue 2, 1995, Pages 367-384

Monzini Paola, Patrick Camiller: (2005): Gender in Tourism: Sex Traffic: Prostitution, Crime, and Exploitation: Translated by Patrick Camiller Zed Books.

Scott-Clark, Cathy and Adrian Levy: (2004): The brothel king’s revenge: He’s the godfather of the Thai sex industry – and what he knows about corruption could bring down the government. The Guardian. Web.

Spector, Jessica. (2006): Prostitution and pornography: philosophical debate about the sex industry. Stanford University Press.

The Sixth Edition of The Annual Diethelm Travel’s Thailand Tourism Review. Web.

van Kerkwijk C (1992): Sex tourism in Thailand: Aids and Society.

The “golden age” theory originating in the book by Elizabeth Anthony Dexter, Colonial Women of Affairs asserted that the condition of women in the colonial era was better than it was in the capitalist age (Dexter). According to this line of argument, women were scarce in the pre-industrial era, and all hands, irrespective of gender, were needed to uphold the growing settlements. Further high sex ratio gave women the bargaining power, which increased their value in the marriage market due to the natural need to procreate, consequently raising women’s social status. This account by Dexter and others of the equality women enjoyed in the pre-industrial era with their male counterparts brought about a suitable background for the study of nineteenth century domesticity of women. The stark contrast between the independent, self-sufficient colonial women with the docile, domesticated, oppressed, middle-class victim of industrialization has sparked debates in the American women’s history.

The favourable assessment of the women’s position in the pre-industrial era has been questioned by many scholars like Gerda Lerner (Lerner, p. 595) who believe that the golden age as described Dexter was not acceptable. Mary Beth Norton has argued that the argument that a “less complex social system automatically brings higher standing for women” is not true. It was more due to the needs of the immigrant settlers that the women’s position had changed. Norton clearly demarcates three stages in the development of the role of women in American society. First stage was the period of settlement of the migrant generation where American pattern of family were first laid down (1620s to 1660). Second, these patterns were challenged, transformed, and reinforced (roughly 1660 to 1750). Moreover, the third era was the American Revolution, which brought about the changes in the lives of women and altered the definition of their role in society (approximately 1750 to 1815).

In the early to mid seventeenth century, women were no longer required to devote their time to mere subsistence, so concentrating their attention on domestic work. Her role was considered more important as a mother, nursing their children and providing rudimentary education to them (Norton). By late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, women were no longer confined to such restriction and mid-eighteenth century women gained their autonomy. Thus, there are evidences of tension between genders due to the breakdown of the familial structure. The data of the 1890 census shows that women were entering the gainful economy rapidly thus changing the economic function of women from a homemaker to bread earner (Anderson). However, women had traditionally participated in household work and home run enterprises, which the statisticians found difficulty to conceptually associate or include in the newfound role of women in the labour market. Thus, there was a conceptual error in associating the labour market and the home economy (Anderson).

Industrialization brought about drastic changes to the American familial structure and brought about the first line of public role of American women (Norton). In the industrialized era, participation of women in the workforce increased but essentially in the services sector (Kwolek-Folland, p. 430). The women who worked were mainly employed in domestic work and personal services like “nursing, millinery, dressmaking, and hairdressing”. A statistical account of the women’s work in the nineteenth century show that women have been workers at home, or at household enterprises (Anderson). Before 1880s, women were mostly employed in the so-called household economy. It was only after 1890s that the women’s participation in the workforce was for their ‘gains’. Historians have suggested that the role of women in the service sector was very important (Kwolek-Folland), thus demonstrating the important role of women in the American industrialization.

References

1. Anderson, Margo. “The History of Women and the History of Statistics.” Journal of Women’s History Vol. 4 No. 1 (1992): 14-36.
2. Dexter, Elizabeth. Colonial Women of Affairs (2nd Edn.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1931.
3. Kwolek-Folland, Angel. “Gender, the Service Sector, and U.S. Business History.” Business History Review Vol. 81 (2007): 429–450.
4. Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Feminist Consciousness. New York: Oxford University Press , 1993.
5. Norton, MaryBeth. “The Evolution of White Women’s Experience in Early America.” American Historical Review Vol. 89 No. 3 (1984): 593-619.

Introduction to the Problem

Global economic inequalities and the growing demand for highly skilled workers and the demographic decline in the industrial democracies have led to wide range of economic opportunities for migrants in the industrially advanced nations. This has opened up the movement of foreign nationals into the United States like any other country where there are more opportunities for earning a decent living.

Definition of the Issue

During greater part of this century, there has been considerable inflow of immigrants into the United States creating tensions among the Americans already living in the country. The native-born Americans believed that they lose their employment opportunities and the availability of other welfare measures to the immigrants thereby affecting the standards of living. The migration of people needs to be controlled by the US government like any other transnational economic activity such as trade or investment through proper legislator measures (Ueda, 2006). The need for formulating prudent immigration policies has been felt by even those who support the benefits and values the immigrants bring with them into the country. However, significant differences among different groups as to what could be an acceptable immigration policy.

This is because of the fact that there are several humanitarian, economic, political and ethical considerations go into the framing of the immigration policies by the government. This essay discusses the issues involved in the immigration into the United States and the ways in which such issues can be resolved.

Factors Contributing to Uncertainties or Ambiguities

The scope of the problem of illegal immigration in the United States has remained undefined due to the vagueness of the immigration policies. Since the issue is one of highly political nature there has never been well-defined legislative approach to the immigration issues in the US.

Economic considerations play a major role in deciding the extent of restrictions on immigration. The contribution of the immigrants to the growth of the economy is a key consideration and in the past the immigration policies of the US government had inconsistencies and contradictions. While many of the Americans could recognize the benefits of immigration, a large proportion of the people cannot understand them. As a result the immigrants have been blamed for a number of issues including the reduction in the employment opportunities and increase social service burden for the Americans.

Illegal immigration is one of the major issues in the United States. According to the estimates by academic and government agencies, there are more than 10 million illegal immigrants living in the country. However the Bear-Stearns investment firm has estimated the number of illegal immigrants living in the country close to 20 million. The illegal immigrants enter mostly from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Columbia and other South and Central American regions. However, more than 50% of the illegal immigrants hail from Mexico (White, 2009).

There is no way the number and size of the illegal immigrants in the US can be estimated precisely. This also adds to the ambiguity of the problem.

Discussion and Critical Evaluation of the Evidence

Supporting Evidence

Immigration has varying impacts for different interest groups. Supporters to the immigration include corporations which enhance their profitability from the cheap foreign labor and ethnic minority groups which strive to increase their political base. There are religious activists, humanitarian organizations and civil rights groups which attempt to achieve their human rights and ethical goals also support immigration policies enabling increase in the inflow of foreign workers into the country. At the same time there are other interest groups who oppose the entry of immigrants who view such entry as a threat to the American culture and to the environmental conditions due to the growth in the population. One of the pieces of evidence is the empirical data on the flow of immigrants both legal and illegal into the United States.

The number of immigrants has been estimated at 1,000,000 legally and 300,000 to 500,000 illegally every year. According to Settles (2001) this figure has increased from 14,000 about 60 years ago to the magnitude indicated.

The second piece of evidence is the employment status among African Americans and Hispanics. Cohen (200) points out in 1983, African Americans held 280,000 more manufacturing jobs than Hispanics. While Hispanic employment grew to 139,000 jobs between 1983 and 1995, African American employment only grew by about 5,000 jobs. Therefore the labor advocates consider immigration responsible for significant losses of job opportunities to the native-born Americans and reduction in wage levels.

According to studies there is a high impact of immigration on the socio-economic groups. The study by National Academy of Science reports that while the investors in general have been benefited from the immigration wage earners have an adverse impact.

This situation is based on the economic theory that with the increase in the supply of labor there will be a decline in the real wage rates. It has been observed that immigration has significantly affected the wage levels in respect of certain professions like college teachers, scientists and physicians. Because of the fact that more than 80 percent of the immigrant workers tend to be characterized with lower levels of skills and poor education they tend to accept lower levels of wages. This has led to the decline of the annual earnings especially of farmworkers from 20 to30 percent in the past two decades.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Evidence

Strengths

The first evidence provides a basis for assuming the magnitude of the issue of illegal immigrants

The strength of the second evidence is that it provides the basis for studying the ethnicity of the issue of immigration.

Weaknesses

The first evidence suffers from the weakness of being unreliable as the empirical data has the character of being a mere estimation. There is no authority or official figures to back up the number of illegal immigrants stated to be between 300,000 and 500,000. Any statistical information cannot have a variation of 200,000 between the upper and lower boundary levels.

The second evidence suffers from the weakness of being biased and lacking any authority behind the stated figures. This evidence also is outdated to the current issue and hence cannot be accepted as valid evidence.

Bias/Assumption underlying the Perspectives

The first assumption is that the immigration policy should be hard-headed and there should be a guest worker program developed to deal with illegal immigrants’ issues.

The second assumption underlying the immigration issue is that entrusting the responsibility of protecting the borders, if left with the military, it might lead to undesirable consequences, as the military has not been trained to meet the challenges of civil issues. The other assumption is that it is possible for the military to deal with the civil problems only by use of lethal force, because the training, which makes the soldiers outstanding warriors, also makes them dangerous as cops.

Evaluation of the Evidence

The problem with the first evidence is that it is not possible to precisely estimate the number of illegal immigrants in the country and whatever figures reported can at best be an estimate. Therefore this evidence lacks validity.

The second evidence provides outdated statistical information. There might have been changes in the periods after the figures indicated as evidence. Moreover any statistics relied on as evidence without the backing of the official source or authority has to be considered as weak and it will not substantiate the findings of the study.

Conclusion including Solutions and Limitations

Solutions to the Problem

1. The immigration policies can be amended to include humanitarian considerations and the issue of national worker identification cards. There should be a restriction on the chain immigration restricting the entry to spouse and children, in addition to drastic reduction in the job-skills based immigration (Honey & Barry, 1997).
2. The number of immigration officers can be increased so that there can be better protection of the borders from the immigrants entering the country illegally.

Limitations to the Problems

1. The immigration issue always had a political bias. Therefore there is non guarantee that the government would introduce sweeping changes with respect to its immigration policies. Secondly the assessment of eligibility of people for issue of visas based on their respective skills is a complex phenomenon which is highly impractical. Hence this solution lacks practicality.
2. The mere increase in the number of immigration officers cannot solve the problem as there will be still the problems relating to the existing illegal immigrants and their families. The second limitation of this solution is that any number of immigration officers cannot prevent those immigrants who enter the country with valid travel documents and overstay in the country. It is not possible to crack down on the illegal immigrants and send them out of the country en-mass on a particular date.

Conclusion

Thus, formulating policies with respect to immigration has several ramifications in the form of economic, social and ethical considerations. The humanitarian considerations also weigh with the government in framing the policies covering the immigration. Protecting the standards of living and rights of native-born American citizens by strictly restricting the entry of illegal immigrants is another important concern of the government in the area of immigration policy. Strengthening border security alone cannot be considered as the solution to tackle the issues relating to immigration.

There must be several supporting actions that need to be taken by the government including strict enforcement of the Immigration Reform and Control Act 1986 acting against businesses engaging illegal immigrants. However it must be remembered that the US economy would simply collapse without the immigrant labor and therefore any immigration policy should be balanced taking both positive and negative sides of immigration issues.

Therefore I believe that controlling the illegal immigration issue should be left to the employers by introducing stricter legislation requiring the employers to control the immigration status of the people being employed by them. Since the other solutions discussed are far from practicality, the solution of insisting on the employers to advise the immigration status of all their employees can be considered suitable. Prescribing penal provisions for those employers who employ illegal immigrants would deter the proliferation of illegal immigrants.

References

Cohen, S. (2006) Deportation Is Freedom! The Orwellian World of Immigration Controls. London: Jessica Kingsley.

Honey, M., & Barry, T. (1997). In Focus: The Immigration Debate. Web.

Settles, B. H. (2001) Being at Home in a Global Society: A Model for Families’ Mobility and Immigration Decisions Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 32(4), 627.

Ueda, R. (2006). A Companion to American Immigration. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

White, D. (2009). Illegal Immigration Explained – Profits & Poverty, Social Security & Starvation. Web.

Sexual relations have become very important in the modern world. People pay too much attention to them as the pubescence of youth begins earlier than it was before. Youth can get information about sex everywhere. The problem is not in the issue of youth speaking about sex and the desire to have the first attempts to receive satisfaction from it, but in the sexual abuse, which is often directed on children. The problem of sexual children abuse is a universal problem that has brought a lot of pain to families all over the world. It is impossible to explain and justify the reasons and actions of children sexual abusers. The cases should be considered in order to prevent further abuses and to consider the universality of the disaster in order to provide stricter measures to prevent these cases.

Before focusing on the cases of childhood sexual abuse, it is important to give the definition of what child sexual abuse means. Bissada and Briere, considering the cases of child sexual abuse, tried to create the definition of this notion. According to her words, sexual abuse has two categories. The first one, sexual assault, comprises “acts imposed on a child by an adult or significantly older child, which may include fondling, masturbation in a child’s presence, oral copulation, incest, rape, sodomy, or penetration of a genital or anal opening with a foreign object or a penis” (Bissada and Briere 2001-225). The second category is sexual exploitation, which “includes conduct or activities related to pornography depicting children, promoting prostitution of children, or exposing a child to sexual acts or sexual material” (Bissada and Briere, 2001-225).

Different states of the USA have different laws and punitive measures for sexual childhood abuse. The law articles of the states comprise the definitions of the childhood sexual abuse notions as it is very important to identify this very action of the criminal as sexual abuse. It is crucial for the courts and when the decision is made, which kind of punishment and for what period to impart on this very person in this very case (Kinnear, 2007).

The cases of child sexual abuse appear very frequently, and it frightens. The cruelty and the anger with which the abuse is committed, and the frequency, with which it appears horrified. It is impossible to imagine how a person should think in order to provide such actions, especially on children who are defenseless. The most terrible cases are when the sexual abuse is committed by the relative. Where the humanism? Where are the moral notions? Who brings up these people if they can commit such actions? Where do the society and government look? Where do such cruel people come from as we live in the same society? There are a lot of questions which impossible to answer for a normal person. Watching the news or reading newspapers about the cases of sexual childhood abuse, it is impossible to watch all the disasters which occur without being terrified.

Children’s sexual abuse is not so simple to identify as children are either shame or afraid to tell about the fact of abuse. Psychologists and doctors identify a lot of signs according to which parents may guess about the cases of sexual abuse of their children. Kinnear names such symptoms as urinary and bowel problems, flat affect, fear of being abandoned, fretful behavior, bleeding, discharge or odors from sex organs, sleep disturbances, failure to thrive, lacerations of sex organs, inappropriate fear of adults, excessive clinging behavior or the opposite, excessive crying, extreme behavior change. Kinnear insists that these symptoms may have a different nature, but still, if they occur in the child’s behavior, the trusty conversation and the visit to the doctor should not be shifted for later (Kinnear, 2007-194).

The listed above symptoms are not enough to punish the abuser. A lot of others procedures should be maintained to prove the case of sexual abuse. The specific features, which show that sexual abuse took place, are acute trauma, forensic laboratory evidence, or certain sexually transmitted infection (Hay et al, 2006-211). Only the existence of these pieces of evidence may be taken in the court procedure for granted.

One of the main roles in the situation plays the sexual behavior. Children should be taught to protect themselves if they feel some inconveniences. They should understand that sexual abuse is law punished and do not be afraid to call for help in cases when they are abused. The trust of the parents or other relatives is one of the causes for quick reaction and, if not the prevention of the abuse but at least the catching of the criminal on a hot trail.

The cases and the problem of child sexual abuse remain the main sphere of the work of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Convention works hard in order to guarantee children to be able to use their right to free and careless childhood. Nevertheless, the field of sexual children abuse remains new, and there are a lot of treatments and methods in this sphere that is not investigated. The problem is that it is impossible to provide the universal rules and methods in the fighting with sexual children abusers as different countries have different “level of education, rate of urbanization and cultural approaches to human rights in general” (Arnaldo and Unesco, 2001-7).

Different types of mass media announced about the horrifying cases of sexual children abuse by priests of the Catholic Church; how disgusting it may sound, but it is true. A damning report about the Catholic Church in Ireland’s awareness about the long-term cases of sexual childhood abuse was released on May 20, 2009 (Catholic Church in Ireland turned a blind eye to child sex abuse says report, 2009). The newspaper released the information about disgusting chronic cases of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse of children from disadvantaged families, simply abandoned and neglected. They believed in people they lived with, and when the cases of sexual abuse appeared, there was no person to who they could turn for help (Catholic Church in Ireland turned a blind eye to child sex abuse says report, 2009).

The investigations which occurred showed that children were badly looked for; their everyday live contained hard work on the farm. They were not protected from anything, and there was no help. The safety and conveniences of children were not followed. The reports about the cases of sexual abuse appeared in the hands of state authorities, but they quickly colluded, and no punishment for abusers was provided (Catholic Church in Ireland turned a blind eye to child sex abuse says report, 2009).

Dawkin’s investigation was more specified. He managed to interview the forty years old woman who was brought up in the Roman Catholic Church. She was sexually abused by her priest in his car when she was seven. Her further life was like hell. She was afraid to stay alone with priests, she was afraid to sleep, and a lot of other fears supported her childhood (Dawkins, 2002).

The problem of sexual children abuse in the Churches will always be a problem as children believe in their educators, and they have nobody else who can help them to cope with the problems. The priests’ dwelling upon the hell and the possibility to get there is very high if the child is going to refuse to obey. Children’s mind is very quick on the uptake, and it is very easy to influence their minds and to insert the information which is suitable for adult.

Under the circumstances described above, it is very important to talk to children and to explain to them that life can happen to be very dangerous. Sexual education is very important, as it is better that parents impart their ideas about the sexual abuse crime than somebody else will impart his/her ideas about this case. Children’s mind is very perceptive, and it is easy to frighten them in such a way that they can agree on the case of sexual abuse themselves. Hay et al write that the prevention of sexual abuse is the most difficult task in the modern world and that the whole responsibility should be placed on those who are responsible for children’s supervision and on the medical providers (Hay et al, 2006-224).

Considering closer the cases of sexual child abuse, it appears in the mind that people who commit these cases live with normal people. The problem is that psychological health and moral one are two different notions. Absolute defenselessness, physical weakness, and the feeling of impunity are the factors that push people for crimes. The impunity of the sexual children abuse promotes people’s careless attitude to what happens on the other side of the street. People are usually immersed in their own business and do not want to care about other problems.

The sexual abuse in the family is the most dangerous as relatives often cover up the abusers in order to avoid the scandal and the feeling of impunity encourages the abuser to continue his/her disgusting actions. The consequences of childhood sexual abuse may be different, but the most horrible is the impunity of the crime.

Focusing on the consequences of childhood sexual abuse, a lot of problems may appear in the future. Children’s psychological system suffers, and it is very difficult to provide a normal perception of life for those who suffered the sexual abuse in childhood. A lot of psychological disturbances may occur in the future, and the most dangerous consequence is that sexually abused in their childhood, people may become abusers of themselves, as their disgust and the feeling of revenge may never calm down.

So, the problem of sexual children abuse is the greatest problem of the modern world. There are no specific methods to cope with it, and as the children are involved, the work which is provided should be very careful. Children are very impressive, and sometimes irremediable consequences may occur while the wrong treatment of the problem. Relatives and religious members are a great danger for children as these people are trusted, and if they betray, children do not have anybody to turn to with their problem. The fear of being punished and shame are the main reasons why children are silent if sexual abuse is committed against them. The problem is universal, so the work should be provided on the global level to find the solution of how to stop sexual children abusers.

Works Cited

1. Arnaldo, Carlos A., and Unesco. Child abuse on the internet: ending the silence. Berghahn Books, 2001: pp. 5-7
2. Bissada, Angela, and Briere, John. Child abuse: Physical and Sexual in Encyclopedia of women and gender by Judith Worell. Elsevier, 2001: pp. 219-231
3. Catholic Church in Ireland turned a blind eye to child sex abuse, says the report. Daily Record. 2009.
4. Dawkins, Richard. “Religion’s Real Child Abuse.” Free Inquiry. 2002: 9+
5. Hay, William W., Levin, Myron J., Sondheimer, Judith, and Deterding, Robin R. M.D. Current pediatric diagnosis & treatment. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006: pp.219-224
6. Kinnear, Karen L. Childhood sexual abuse: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO, 2007: pp. 194-218