Emerging areas in psychology, Study notes of Psychology

Download Emerging areas in psychology and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity!

DIWAKAR EDUCATION HUB

What is Issues of Gender, Poverty, Disability, and

Migration: Cultural bias and discrimination.

Stigma, Marginalization, and Social Suffering;

Child Abuse and Domestic violence?

Issues of Gender, Poverty, Disability, and Migration: Cultural bias and discrimination. Stigma, Marginalization, and Social Suffering; Child Abuse and Domestic violence Issues of Gender An NCREASE GENDER REPRESENTATION/ GENDER BALANCE One of the main objectives set by UNI Global Union, through its Equal Opportunities Department has been to attain productive development based on gender equality. We regard this principle as essential to achieving sustainable development and true social justice for everyone. The Equal Opportunites Department carries out programmes, campaigns and other activities in order to fulfil this goal, both within the organization and among our affiliates. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN The socially and culturally built hierarchy between the genders holds certain power relationships. Any power relationship is asymmetrical by definition, i.e. one of the subjects of the relationship has power and the other one does not.

reason, UNI has pledged to work to make ILO Convention 100 requiring equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value effective in every work site. WOMEN’S HEALTH Health is a universal human right. That’s why, irrespective of religion, age or where we live, we have a right to the information and the healthcare services that allow us to care for our bodies and our quality of life. It is not just being free of illnesses, but also having access to reasonable standards of living, housing, food, decent work, as well as appropriate level of medical assistance so that we can develop our full potential as individuals. To be able to truly achieve gender equality, we need to look at the health and well-being of women. This is a precondition for the promotion of the sustainable growth of our communities. WORK - LIFE BALANCE Globalization of the economy has brought about changes in the labour market structure and labour organization, which had remained stable throughout the 20th century. The traditional model of sexual division of labour had placed productive tasks (supporting and providing for the family) in the hands of men and reproductive ones in the hands of women (caring for children and the elderly, housekeeping chores.) Today, women increasingly share the provider role with men. However, there has not been a similar change in the distribution of domestic work. For that reason, women with both roles (productive and reproductive) work more hours than men, get less rest, and are

burdened with a heavy workload that puts their health at risk and limits their chances of developing a professional career. We must then reflect upon these issues and devise policies intended to balance work and family life to overcome gender inequalities, so that both men and women may have access to a full family life and a professional career. In many parts of the world, technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and machine learning are impacting society. These new technologies allow us to communicate faster, share information and feel closer to each other. They are, today, an essential part of our lives and provide us with unprecedented opportunities to advance in areas ranging from education to political participation. Its use and dissemination is so common that we do not see the impact they have on women. Technology is a reflection of reality, and if we do not work to eradicate the inequalities and prejudices that they transmit, we will continue to widen those gaps we want to close today. The UNI Equal Opportunities department has begun to address the issue of the impact of digitalization on women by writing conceptual documents that will help continue discussions on this issue. Our first document: "Digitization from a gender perspective", was intended to explain what digitalization means, and how it will affect the world of work, in particular, working women. A second document: "The road to digitalization without gender" was written as part of a collaboration with the European group of experts "Friends of Europe" for its report "Policy options for a digital era". This second document explores further the impact of technology

inequality in politics. While the female voter turnout has been steadily increasing, the number of female candidates fielded by parties has not increased. More women contest as independents, which does not provide the cover for extraneous costs otherwise available when they are part of a political party. However, women also act as agents of political change for other women. In the Bihar elections in 2005, when re-elections were held, the percentage of female voters had increased from 42.5 to 44.5 per cent while those of male voters declined from 50 to 47 per cent in the interim period of eight months. As a direct result, 37 per cent of the constituencies saw anti-incumbency voting. The average growth rate of women voters was nearly three times in those constituencies where there was a difference in the winning party. District-wise disaggregation of voter registration also supports this hypothesis in the case of Bihar indicating the percolation of the winds of change. This illustration proves that women are no longer under the complete control of the men in their family in terms of electoral participation. The situation is only bound to improve from here. With the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), vulnerable sections like women now have more freedom of choice in their vote. Further, poll related incidents of violence against women have significantly decreased since the phased introduction of EVMs across multi-level elections in India. Extending the conversation to political representation is the next phase in the conversation. Women make up merely 22 per cent of lower houses in parliaments around the world and in India, this number is less than half at 10.8 per cent in the outgoing Lok Sabha. A steady increase in female voter participation has been observed across India, wherein the sex ratio of voters (number of female voters vis-à-vis male) has increased from 715 in the 1960s to 883 in

the 2000s. Our studies have shown that women are more likely to contest elections in states with a skewed gender ratio. In the case of more developed states, they seek representation through voting leading to an increase in voter participation. The situation can be rectified by providing focused reservation for those constituencies with a skewed sex ratio. Reducing the entry costs (largely non-pecuniary in nature – cultural barriers, lack of exposure) for women in order to create a pipeline of female leaders is another solution. These missing women, either as voters or leaders point to the gross negligence of women at all ages. Financial Inclusion In the developing world, women have traditionally been the focus of efforts of financial inclusion. They have proved to be better borrowers (40 per cent of Grameen Bank’s clients were women in

1983. By 2000, the number had risen to 90 per cent) – largely attributed to the fact that they are less mobile as compared to men and more susceptible to peer pressure. However, institutions in microfinance are exposed to the trade-off between market growth and social development since having more female clients lead to the inevitable drip-down of social incentives. As an attempt to overcome this hurdle, a larger role can be played by donors with a gender driven agenda, for the financial inclusion sector will drive the idea further. Gendered contextualisation of products is highly necessary for microfinance institutions (MFIs) – men and women do not ascribe to choices in a similar fashion. Trends emerging from prior research indicates that when health insurance coverage was held under the MFI sector, by both men and women, women benefited from the coverage only so far as they were the holders and not using spousal

driven by rural women who saw an increase of 24.6 per cent in utilisation of public hospitals over the 10 years (2004-2014). Our results show that the JSY had a significant, positive impact on overall hospitalisation of women in India. It increased the probability of a woman being hospitalised by approximately 1.3 per cent. The healthcare sector in India has largely focused on maternal healthcare for women. The importance of research on mental health has been ignored in policy discourse. The significant relationship that mental health bears on violence has also been explored in further research. Every fifth suicide in India is that of a housewife (18 per cent overall) – the reportage of suicide deaths has been most consistent among housewives as a category, than other categories. India is the country with the largest rate of female deaths due to ‘intentional violence’. Our work on childhood violence shows that girls are twice more likely to face sexual violence than boys before the age of 18. Larger the population of educated females in the country, lesser is the incidence of childhood violence at home – including lesser violent discipline, physical punishment as well as psychological aggression. Additionally, the lifetime experience of sexual violence by girls is strongly correlated with the adolescent fertility rate in a country. Further, a strong relationship is observed between female experience of sexual violence and female labour force participation within a country. The results show that the higher the labour force participation by women in a country, the higher is the incidence of sexual violence against them. This could be indicative of adverse working conditions within labour markets, and the difficulty of access to labour markets by young women in a country.

Poverty in India Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over 30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they are considered extremely poor. This makes the Indian subcontinent one of the poorest countries in the world; women and children, the weakest members of Indian society, suffer most. India is the second most populous country after China with about 1.2 billion people and isthe seventh largest country in the world with an area of 3,287,000 km². The highly contrasted country has enjoyed growth rates of up to 10% over many years and is one of the largest economies in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,644 billion US dollars. But only a small percentage of the Indian population has benefited from this impressive economic boom so far, as the majority of people in India are still living in abject poverty. Poverty in India: from the village to the slum More than 800 million people in India are considered poor. Most of them live in the countryside and keep afloat with odd jobs. The lack of employment which provides a livable wage in rural areas is driving many Indians into rapidly growing metropolitan areas such as Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore or

India is one of the world’s top countries when it comes to malnutrition: More than 200 million people don’t have sufficient access to food, including 61 million children. 7.8 million infants were found to have a birth weight of less than 2.5 kilograms - alarming figures for a country commonly referred to as the emerging market. Child labour - no time to play and learn Although child labour for children under the age of 14 in India is prohibited by law, according to official figures, 12.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working. Aid agencies assume that in reality, there are many more estimating that 65 million children between 6 and 14 years do not go to school. Instead, in order to secure survival, it is believed that Indian children contribute to the livelihood of their families; they work in the field, in factories, in quarries, in private households and in prostitution.

Lack of education - no opportunities without education According to UNICEF, about 25% of children in India have no access to education. The number of children excluded from school is higher among girls than boys. Although women and men are treated equally under Indian law, girls and women, especially in the lower social caste, are considered inferior and are oppressed by their fathers, brothers and husbands. Without education, the chance of finding a living wage from employment in India is virtually hopeless. Child marriage - the early end of childhood

quality and outcomes of policies for persons with disabilities. In particular, these data help to identify policy outcomes that maximize the participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of social life from transportation and communication, to participation in community life. Finally, with complete and reliable disability statistics, state agencies will have the tools for assessing the cost- effectiveness of policies for persons with disabilities, which in turn can provide the evidence to persuade governments of their ultimate benefit for all citizens. The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (2006) recognizes that Persons with Disabilities are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to create an environment that provides equal opportunities, protection of their rights and fullparticipation in society. To facilitate the national objective, there is a need for collection, compilation and analysis of data on disability. A number of International commitments and guidelines came into effect in the recent past targeting the welfare of the disabled persons. India is a signatory to the ‘Declaration on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asia Pacific Region’ (2000). India has ratified the ‘UN Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities’ (2008). India is also a signatory to the ‘Biwako Millennium Framework ‘(2002) for action towards an inclusive, barrier free and rights based society. The ‘Biwako Plus Five (2007): further efforts towards an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific’ added the emphasis. The Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (2012) provides the Asian and Pacific region and the world with the first set of regionally agreed disability

inclusive development Goals. The Incheon strategy will enable to track progress towards improving the quality of life, and the fulfilment of the rights, of the region’s persons with disability. The Sustainable Development Goals (2015) pledges for ‘leaving no one behind’. Recognizing that the dignity of the human being is fundamental, the SDGs wish to see the Goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society and to endeavour to reach the furthest behind first. The implementation and monitoring of these international commitments demand sound database of disabled persons. Issues in measuring disability Some of the important issues being faced while developing a strong disability statistics are as follows: Defining disability: The definition of the population with disabilities is a key element in the design of a data collection activity, for it sets the scope and coverage of the whole data collection process. From the conceptual point of view, there is no universal definition of what constitutes a disability or of who should be considered as having a disability. Moreover, there is no one static condition of disability. A disability is a result of the interaction between a person with a health condition and a particular environmental context. Individuals with similar health conditions may not be similarly disabled or share the same perception of their disability, depending on their environmental adaptations. For example, having access to technical aids, services or medication, or physical adaptation to the environment may allow individuals to overcome their disabling conditions.

persons with disabilities. Goal 8 of the Incheon strategy specifically aims to ‘Improve the reliability and comparability of disability data’. MEASURING DISABILITY IN INDIA The UN convention on the Persons with disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December, 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Convention came into effect on 3 May, 2008. The Convention is intended as a human rights instrument with an explicit, social development dimension. It adopts a broad categorisation of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of rights must be reinforced. The purpose of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) is to promote, defend and reinforce the human rights of all persons with disabilities. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, known more commonly as ICF, provide a standard language and framework for the description of health and health-related states. Like the first version published by the World Health Organization for trial purposes in 1980, ICF is a multipurpose classification intended for a wide range of uses in

different sectors. It is a classification of health and health-related domains -- domains that help us to describe changes in body function and structure, what a person with a health condition can do in a standard environment (their level of capacity), as well as what they actually do in their usual environment (their level of performance). Sample Surveys on disability by NSSO National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), made its first attempt to collect  information on the number of physically handicapped in its 15th round (July 1959- June 1960) which was confined to rural areas only. In NSSO 16th round (July 1960 – June 1961) the coverage was extended to  urban areas. The subject was again taken up for nationwide survey in its 24th round (July  1969 - June 1970) and 28th round (October 1973- June 1974). The physical handicaps covered in the above mentioned surveys were not  always same and information was collected through survey schedules meant for other subjects. First comprehensive survey in NSS 36th round (July- Dec 1981) followed by a  survey in 47th round (July- December 1991) to cover all persons with one or more of the three physical disabilities – visual, communication (ie. Hearing and or speech) and locomotor. The last survey was carried out by NSS in its 58th round (July- December  2002), which extended the coverage by mental disability in addition to the three physical disabilities (visual, communication and