Module 2
Part One: Reading Content
Module 2 main point is to stress that law resolves structural relationships.
In Kidder's Chapter 3 Connecting Law and Society, law is explained as custom reinstitutionalized. This means that law arises out of custom. Law is a restatement of these feelings which gives them the precision needed by rule enforcers who must make enforcement an explicit, public act. Law is a particular means of expressing values and norms which develop naturally in a society that wrestles with the everyday problems of group life.
A clear example of law arising from custon is murder. It has been customary for years that murder is wrong and though we learned an eye for an eye, it is our moral human nature to not kill others. It has also been customary for a man and a woman to get married and be the procreators of life. In this instance, law has been set for a heterosexual couple to wed, not a homosexual couple. However, we have seen that as soceity changes so does custom and practice, and it not uncommon to see same sex marriages and families.
Another interesting point in Kidder 3 we must examine is law versus custom. What I took from the reading is that there must be a balance between the two for it to work. In the United States some laws and customs practiced in Iraq would not be accepted or tolerated. In Iraq, women are treated as property and do not have any rights. They may be beaten, stoned to death, killed, etc., and there is no law nor uprising against the harsh treatment against women. This has been custom and law for years in Iraq. Yet, in the United States, we find this untolerable and look down upon Iraq's custom and laws. Yet, we must realize that what we think is wrong, has been custom and law for them for years, and they know no other life.
Another example is the Iraqi government and the United States trying to take over and establish a democracy. What in the world is the U.S. thinking? How can you put in place something that the people have never known about and do not understand. What is customary and what works for the United States does not necessarily mean it is the best nor will it work for someone else. Just as the United States cannot oppress it's customes on someone else, neither will other customs fly with us.
Another classic example in is China where families are limited to how many children they can have. This is law, and those who break the law, loose their children- so they say. This has been custom for years, a restraint on society by the government in order to maintain a just and human society. Is it really just? To the Chinese, maybe yes and to some, maybe yes, looking at the economy and success level of the Chinese. Yet when compared to the United States, it seems inhumane to restrict people to procreate. I think the U.S. should take example from China, because of our boom of "kids having kids", the economy, our poverty levels, our socio-economic class disparities, etc. All too common we are seeing that taxpayers are supporting the next generation.
Women's vulnerability derives not only from the threat of direct violence. They have been the historic victims of political and economic exclusion and have suffered the ravages of patriarchy, sexism and discriminatory practices that have kept them outside of social, political and economic power structures. In addition, socio-cultural conditioning has resulted in the fact that women and girls are often prepared for marriage and child-rearing but not for the job market.
This economic vulnerability limits their chances to change their situation when confronted with violence. Poverty-stricken women, and particularly those in rural areas, are often financially dependent, have limited access to employment and are unsupported mothers who must fulfil the role of caregiver. As a result they have few alternatives and options if they wish to leave a violent situation or community. On top of this, in most impoverished areas in South Africa, women have limited access to health, education, social, psychological and legal services.
The result is that there is evidence to show that African women, who are undoubtedly the poorest sector of our society, are more than ten times likely to experience an incidence of violence compared to their white counterparts. Recent South African police statistics also show that levels of rape are often highest in provinces which are economically less developed.
The reasons for this relationship between violence against women and poverty are numerous. apartheid's economic exploitation and segregation systematically resulted in much higher levels of poverty for black South Africans and women in particular. A range of factors have contributed to high levels of violence against women in poor areas. These factors include transiency of the population, over-crowding, disrupted family life, a mentality of dependency and the socialised acceptance of violence as a way to solve problems. (http://www.csvr.org.za/articles/artgend.htm)
Part Two: Internet Content
http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/93795b72e0bdfbe580256667004986e4?Opendocument
The following link talks about ending women suffrage in other countries as examined in the readings. The following is an exert from the Resolution:
Emphasizes:
(a) The need for Governments to analyse, from a gender perspective, all policies and programmes, particularly those relating to poverty, health and violence against women, with a view to assessing their implications for women and men;
(b) The need for national legislation and/or measures prohibiting harmful traditional or customary practices as well as for their implementation, inter alia, through appropriate measures against those responsible;
(c) The need to improve women's position in society and to promote their economic independence;
(d) The importance of education and the dissemination of information in raising awareness, in all sectors of society, of the serious consequences of traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls and the responsibilities of Governments in this regard;
(e) The necessity of involving, among others, public opinion leaders, educators, religious leaders, medical practitioners, women's health and family planning organizations and the media in publicity campaigns, with a view to promoting a collective and individual awareness of the human rights of women and girls and of how harmful traditional or customary practices violate those rights;
(f) That information and education with regard to harmful traditional or customary practices should also be targeted at men and that they should be encouraged to be responsive to such information and education;
The following link provides information looking to end gender inequality:
http://www.unfpa.org/gender/icl_05.htm
The following is a link to the definition of structural functionalism and it's realtion to customs and laws:
structural functionalism: a form of functionalism that stresses the interconnections between social institutions, e.g. how the family structures of a society relate to the way economic activities are arranged (as in the use of child labor to boost household incomes), or how religious beliefs can reinforce political authority (as in the medieval idea that the king was divine).
Found at: http://www.webref.org/anthropology/s/structural_functionalism.htm
Part Three: So What?
When discussing laws, customs, and structural functionalism, it is important to realize that discrimination and oppression will continue to occur and shape laws because custom remains dominant. Though we have evolved from the stoneage, we are still historic in the way women and children are treated in some countries. In order for society to prevail we need some basic form of structure and I guess the point is that even if that structure is inhumane, whatever works for the majority is the best for the society, but not for the minority.
Module 2 main point is to stress that law resolves structural relationships.
In Kidder's Chapter 3 Connecting Law and Society, law is explained as custom reinstitutionalized. This means that law arises out of custom. Law is a restatement of these feelings which gives them the precision needed by rule enforcers who must make enforcement an explicit, public act. Law is a particular means of expressing values and norms which develop naturally in a society that wrestles with the everyday problems of group life.
A clear example of law arising from custon is murder. It has been customary for years that murder is wrong and though we learned an eye for an eye, it is our moral human nature to not kill others. It has also been customary for a man and a woman to get married and be the procreators of life. In this instance, law has been set for a heterosexual couple to wed, not a homosexual couple. However, we have seen that as soceity changes so does custom and practice, and it not uncommon to see same sex marriages and families.
Another interesting point in Kidder 3 we must examine is law versus custom. What I took from the reading is that there must be a balance between the two for it to work. In the United States some laws and customs practiced in Iraq would not be accepted or tolerated. In Iraq, women are treated as property and do not have any rights. They may be beaten, stoned to death, killed, etc., and there is no law nor uprising against the harsh treatment against women. This has been custom and law for years in Iraq. Yet, in the United States, we find this untolerable and look down upon Iraq's custom and laws. Yet, we must realize that what we think is wrong, has been custom and law for them for years, and they know no other life.
Another example is the Iraqi government and the United States trying to take over and establish a democracy. What in the world is the U.S. thinking? How can you put in place something that the people have never known about and do not understand. What is customary and what works for the United States does not necessarily mean it is the best nor will it work for someone else. Just as the United States cannot oppress it's customes on someone else, neither will other customs fly with us.
Another classic example in is China where families are limited to how many children they can have. This is law, and those who break the law, loose their children- so they say. This has been custom for years, a restraint on society by the government in order to maintain a just and human society. Is it really just? To the Chinese, maybe yes and to some, maybe yes, looking at the economy and success level of the Chinese. Yet when compared to the United States, it seems inhumane to restrict people to procreate. I think the U.S. should take example from China, because of our boom of "kids having kids", the economy, our poverty levels, our socio-economic class disparities, etc. All too common we are seeing that taxpayers are supporting the next generation.
Women's vulnerability derives not only from the threat of direct violence. They have been the historic victims of political and economic exclusion and have suffered the ravages of patriarchy, sexism and discriminatory practices that have kept them outside of social, political and economic power structures. In addition, socio-cultural conditioning has resulted in the fact that women and girls are often prepared for marriage and child-rearing but not for the job market.
This economic vulnerability limits their chances to change their situation when confronted with violence. Poverty-stricken women, and particularly those in rural areas, are often financially dependent, have limited access to employment and are unsupported mothers who must fulfil the role of caregiver. As a result they have few alternatives and options if they wish to leave a violent situation or community. On top of this, in most impoverished areas in South Africa, women have limited access to health, education, social, psychological and legal services.
The result is that there is evidence to show that African women, who are undoubtedly the poorest sector of our society, are more than ten times likely to experience an incidence of violence compared to their white counterparts. Recent South African police statistics also show that levels of rape are often highest in provinces which are economically less developed.
The reasons for this relationship between violence against women and poverty are numerous. apartheid's economic exploitation and segregation systematically resulted in much higher levels of poverty for black South Africans and women in particular. A range of factors have contributed to high levels of violence against women in poor areas. These factors include transiency of the population, over-crowding, disrupted family life, a mentality of dependency and the socialised acceptance of violence as a way to solve problems. (http://www.csvr.org.za/articles/artgend.htm)
Part Two: Internet Content
http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/93795b72e0bdfbe580256667004986e4?Opendocument
The following link talks about ending women suffrage in other countries as examined in the readings. The following is an exert from the Resolution:
Emphasizes:
(a) The need for Governments to analyse, from a gender perspective, all policies and programmes, particularly those relating to poverty, health and violence against women, with a view to assessing their implications for women and men;
(b) The need for national legislation and/or measures prohibiting harmful traditional or customary practices as well as for their implementation, inter alia, through appropriate measures against those responsible;
(c) The need to improve women's position in society and to promote their economic independence;
(d) The importance of education and the dissemination of information in raising awareness, in all sectors of society, of the serious consequences of traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls and the responsibilities of Governments in this regard;
(e) The necessity of involving, among others, public opinion leaders, educators, religious leaders, medical practitioners, women's health and family planning organizations and the media in publicity campaigns, with a view to promoting a collective and individual awareness of the human rights of women and girls and of how harmful traditional or customary practices violate those rights;
(f) That information and education with regard to harmful traditional or customary practices should also be targeted at men and that they should be encouraged to be responsive to such information and education;
The following link provides information looking to end gender inequality:
http://www.unfpa.org/gender/icl_05.htm
The following is a link to the definition of structural functionalism and it's realtion to customs and laws:
structural functionalism: a form of functionalism that stresses the interconnections between social institutions, e.g. how the family structures of a society relate to the way economic activities are arranged (as in the use of child labor to boost household incomes), or how religious beliefs can reinforce political authority (as in the medieval idea that the king was divine).
Found at: http://www.webref.org/anthropology/s/structural_functionalism.htm
Part Three: So What?
When discussing laws, customs, and structural functionalism, it is important to realize that discrimination and oppression will continue to occur and shape laws because custom remains dominant. Though we have evolved from the stoneage, we are still historic in the way women and children are treated in some countries. In order for society to prevail we need some basic form of structure and I guess the point is that even if that structure is inhumane, whatever works for the majority is the best for the society, but not for the minority.
