Definitional ceremonies in Igbo Religion: A test of Robin Horton’s Theory
April 2012
This study was initiated against the background of a challenge posed by Horton (1995), in which he concluded that despite the enormous output in terms of research and writings in the area of African Indigenous Religion, previous scholars have not been able to respond adequately to three chief questions focusing on the basic tenets of the religion whose answers are important for a proper understanding of the...
Attitudes to sexuality in individuals with mental retardation from perspectives of their parents and teachers
April 2012
Sexuality is an integral part of adults’ life. In the past, ignorance and fear by others have prevented persons with mental retardation (MR) from fully participation as members of society. Attitudes of parents, caregivers and teachers to the sexual expression of individuals with mental retardation are important factors in designing comprehensive programs. The aim of this investigation is to study the...
Pattern of growth in height and weight among Gadaba boys and girls of Bastar District, Chhattisgarh (India)
April 2012
The present study was conducted among the Gadaba boys and girls of Bastar District in order to evaluate the pattern of growth in height and weight among them. The data comprises 581 children (297 boys and 284 girls) ranging in age from 6 to 16 years, measured cross-sectionally. The present study reveals that the girls attain peak height velocity (PHV) and peak weight velocity (PWV) somewhat earlier than boys...
The relational analyses of Pakhtun social organization (Pakhtunwali) and women’s Islamic rights relegation in Malakand division, KPK Pakistan
March 2012
A hefty relation has been observed between Islam and Pakhtunwali (Pakhtun social organization) for as long as Pakhtuns are among those who wholeheartedly accept Islam as a religion. Both (Islam and Pakhtunwali) serve as the basic pillars and tend to bring social harmony and integrity through the socio-cultural, economic, religious and political aspects...
Immigration, generation or what? Some exploratory research on value diversity, social cohesion and political support in Canada
March 2012
Do shifting immigration patterns and increased ethnic diversity pose negative consequences for social solidarity and democratic governance in Canadian society? Studies on this subject often implicate the influx of different value systems as potentially upsetting the efficiencies of social and political integration. But very few studies have actually attempted to investigate the value differences between...
Professional homogeneity: Global versus local effects
March 2012
Theoretical approaches in studies on professionals are implicitly based on an assumption of homogeneity of attitudes among professionals. However, this assumption has never been validated. This paper examines whether professionals worldwide have relatively homogenous attitudes towards work as compared to non-professionals, and compares two competing theoretical arguments regarding the role of the...
The context of decentralised policing or local squads? The case of the Italian “Rondeâ€
February 2012
In summer 2009, the Italian government led by Silvio Berlusconi passed a bill which legalised the local squads or, ronde as auxiliary police forces, under the inspiration of the government partner Lega Nord. The Parliament was later to approve this bill, thus causing the indignation of that part of Italian society which saw in the ronde the proof of a populist turn of Italian...
Does public space create social capital?
February 2012
During recent years, the concept of social capital has become one of the most popular exports from sociological theory into everyday languages. Social capital has evolved into something of a cure-all for the maladies affecting society in all the countries around the world. The idea of social capital is particularly concerned with the cultivation of good well, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse among...
Factors affecting early marriage and early conception of women: A case of slum areas in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh
February 2012
Early marriage and early conception is a nascent matter across the world and remains widespread problem particularly in developing countries including Bangladesh. In this study, an attempt was made to analyze comprehensively early marriage and conception of women based on findings of interviews conducted with 609 ever-married women from five slum areas under Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. The present study has...
Traditional perspectives and control mechanisms of adolescent sexual behavior in Kenya
January 2012
The discourse of this paper is on theoretical perspectives on mechanisms applied by selected traditional Kenyan ethnic groups to induct, control and check sexual behavior of adolescents. The sexual behavior of the adolescents has been an area of concern for a long time to societies throughout the globe. In Kenya, traditional societies had premised this concern on the understanding that if not checked; sexual...
Intimate partners’ violence in Southern Ethiopia: Examining the prevalence and risk factors in the Sidama zone
January 2012
The high level of intimate partner violence against women in many population groups in Ethiopia and the risk factors associated with the practice is not well understood among scholars and decision makers. This study examined the prevalence and risk factors associated with intimate partner violence in Sidama, a populous zone in Southern Ethiopia. A combination of simple random and multistage sampling...
Resource utilization and internal efficiency in Nigerian secondary schools: Implications for socio problems of education
January 2012
This study investigated the relationship between resource utilization and internal efficiency indicators in Nigeria public secondary schools with a view to appraise whether the public secondary schools in the country make the best use of resources allotted in turning out graduates with minimal wastage. A correlational study; stratified random sampling technique (SRST), based on the six geo-political...
Understanding India’s sociological diversity, unity in diversity and caste system in contextualizing a global conservation model
December 2011
This essay relates to the issues of sociological and cultural diversity in India vis-à-vis the global emerging issues of sociological and cultural diversity conservation. The Caste system upon which India’s tradition of diversity or unity in diversity is essentially rooted requires a fresh attention in the emerging perspective of sociological and cultural diversity conservation. The argument...
Decision making styles East and West: Is it time to move beyond cross-cultural research?
December 2011
Cultural differences in decision making styles were explored using the conflict model of decision making (Janis and Mann, 1977). Six hundred and seventy three university students in Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore (Mean age of 20.2 years; SD=5.4) were tested on the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (Mann, Burnett, Radford, and Ford, 1997) to explore cultural, gender, and age differences between these...
Music multilingualism and hip hop consumption among youths in Nigeria
December 2011
Through the use of qualitative and quantitative methods which included In-depth Interview (34IDI), focus group discussions (4FGD), content analysis (of extracts from the songs of three award winning hip hop artists in Nigeria) and a 300 sample survey; the study examined the structure of multilingualism in the Nigerian hip hop as a catalyst for: the increasing consumption of the music among youths, the...
Kuhn and the actual practice of science: Examining the extent to which Kuhn’s analysis is scientific
November 2011
In the structure of scientific revolutions hereunder referred to as SSR (1962), Kuhn claimed to have captured correctly how science is practiced. However, his critics such as Shapere (1984) argued that Kuhn’s account is far from being a true account of how science is practiced. Consequently, this led to a philosophical dispute on whether or not Kuhn’s work was a correct interpretation of how...
A re-reading of the Egyptian Zaynab al-Ghazzali, the muslim brotherhood and the islamic feminist movement in contemporary society
November 2011
This paper focuses on the activism and feminism of the Egyptian Islamist, Zaynab al-GhazzÄlÄ« al-JubaylÄ« (1918 to 2009) in order to examine how she has thought about Muslim women’s roles in both the political and Islamist struggles of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The existing literature while attesting to Zaynab al-GhazzÄlÄ«’s eminent position in both contemporary Islamic circles and...
Human trafficking in Nigeria: Implication for human immune deficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic
November 2011
Human trafficking is largely a form of slavery. The international awareness of the crime has over the years increased. Nigeria is a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking. This paper attempts to articulate the potential vulnerability of the victims, appraise the link between trafficking and human immune deficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic, assess...
Social organization and cultural institutions of the Afar of Northern Ethiopia
November 2011
An anthropological study was conducted on the social organizations and traditional cultural institutions of the Afar pastoral society in northern Ethiopia. This paper describes the clan-based institutions that are central to Afar culture and cosmology. Gerontocracy (the rule of elders), well established economic and political support networks and a patriarchal authority at all levels...
Beyond disability and ethnicity challenges: Narrative of a Paralympian
November 2011
This study reports a narrative which highlights the cultural influences over sporting experiences and focuses on the challenges in overcoming the barriers. The narrative provides a synopsis of the dynamics of ethnicity, culture and athleticism of an Islamic woman from the Islamic state of Malaysia. With an unstructured interview, the narrative was acquired and analyzed using Foucauldian discourse analysis in...
Social attitude and socio economic status of physical education students of Jammu Kashmir and Punjab states
November 2011
The purpose of the present study was to determine the social attitude and socio economic status between physical education students of Punjab and Jammu Kashmir states. To obtain data for this study, the investigator had selected two hundred (N = 200) subjects, out of which one hundred (N = 100) from Punjab state and one hundred (n = 100) from Jammu Kashmir state who were studying in SKR college of Physical...
The struggling Tharu youths: A study of the Tharu tribe of India
October 2011
The Tharu tribe is a famous tribal community of India. Though playing very dominant roles in their community, its youths are not connected with the main stream of development. Hence, this study aims at enlightening the government and international community on the challenges facing this community. Exploratory and descriptive research design has been employed in this primary data based study. Primary data on...
Socio-cultural life of fisherwomen in India- continuity and change (with special reference to Orissa State)
October 2011
The purpose of this research is to study the various problems of the fisherwomen in detail such as sex ration age groups, professions, employment, marketing, income, indebtedness, education, residence, water supplies, health care etc. The analysis is based on a field visit, case study and at the same time to collect information through open-end questionnaire survey amongst 360 fisherwomen from three villages...
Contemporary aspects of a bureaucratic hold-up of city governance in Cameroon
October 2011
This paper is designed to establish a set of empirical arguments derived from the 22 July 2004 decentralization guidelines in Cameroon, especially as these affect city governance in the country. The paper draws mainly on interviews of major administrative and political officials of the city of Kumba in the Southwest Region to argue that the decentralization guidelines designed to devolve powers to city...
Lexicographic implementation in Ethiopia: The case of three dictionaries published since 1995
October 2011
This study analyses dictionary-making practice in Ethiopia through an examination of three dictionaries compiled in Ethiopia since 1995. The year 1995 was taken as a reference point because the Ethiopian Federal Democratic Republic Constitutional ratifications dated (1995) granted the nations, nationalities, and peoples in Ethiopia the right to use their mother tongues as a medium of instructions and for...
Reframing studies of female marriage migrants’ educational involvement: A study of Chinese and Southeast Asian female marriage migrants in Taiwan
October 2011
This study looks at female marriage migrants’ involvement in their children’s education in Taiwan. This phenomenon must however be seen within the context of international hypergamy which has become an increasingly notable trend in many countries especially those of East Asia. Female marriage migrants coming to Taiwan chiefly from Southeast Asian countries and from China, often are depicted by the...
Vocabularies of denial: A Brazilian case study in discursive psychology
October 2011
This article attempts to analyze contemporary forms of racism and xenophobia in the case of Bolivian immigrants in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study examines the prominent role of denial of racism and xenophobia in contemporary discourse. The article is based on a qualitative empirical study conducted in Sao Paulo with Bolivian immigrants and with Brazilian university students. The research is eager to...
Igbo cultural and religious worldview: An insider’s perspective
September 2011
Although it can easily be contended that there is no dearth of ethnographic reports and writings on the Igbo people of Nigeria, yet it can equally be argued that most of such reports, particularly those arising from the works of Christian missionaries and British colonial ethnographers had largely been concerned with giving a general picture of the mores, customs and traditions of the Igbo. The core of such...
Conservative Hindu reactions to non-heterosexual rights in India
September 2011
India, often celebrated as the largest democracy in the world and, despite observable ‘modernist’ trends and secularizing trajectories, remains a deeply religious culture displaying entrenched attitudes towards traditional family life and sexual conduct. In 2009, homosexuality was legalised by the High Court of the nation’s capital, Delhi. Although the repeal of the law prohibiting...
Social support as a panacea for mental illness: A study of Nigerian immigrants in Braamfontein, Johannesburg
September 2011
This paper synthesizes some literatures in the field of Public Health and Migration as well as fieldworks on Nigerian immigrants in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. Some of the existing literatures support the view that social contacts tend to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in refugees, and identified unemployment, lack of access to health care, lack of basic amenities and...
Globalisation and social transformation in India: Theorising the transition
August 2011
Globalisation came to India through the economic reforms and is gradually transforming our culture and self image. This paper proposes to theorise the transition of the Indian economy and situate the process of economic liberalisation in India in its wider context. The distinction between globalisation as a process and globalisation as a project is made. While the economic reforms of the 1990s stimulated...
Dynamics of religious conversion in Himachal Pradesh (HP) paradox of manufactured uncertainties
August 2011
The meaning of the term conversion cannot be derived in static framework rather is based mainly on the contextualisation of social realities determined in terms of religious beliefs or affiliations. The complexities in defining the process are in fact inflicted by the various ‘Methodist missionaries’ who kept on experimenting with the popular belief system in one way or the other. The fundamental...
Unmediated socialization: The experience of observing big brother aspiring participants
August 2011
The article presents some reflections on the practices and forms of spontaneous and unmediated interaction implemented by competitors of the Italian Big Brother 10th edition, while waiting for the auditions. While waiting, the participants put in place various forms of sharing, negotiation and conflict about attitudes, lifestyles and opinions. The method adopted is that of auto-ethnography. The aim of the...
Factors prompting pupils’ academic performance in privately owned Junior High Schools in Accra, Ghana
August 2011
The increasing poor performance of most public schools in Ghana has made the task of Government in meeting Basic Education needs a daunting one. This study, therefore, examined, from the perspectives of pupils and teachers/heads of schools in three selected privately owned Junior High Schools in Accra, the influencing factors on their higher academic performance as compared to public schools. Findings from this study...
Education for maintenance culture in Nigeria: Implications for community development
August 2011
Infrastructural development is the bedrock of any development in the modern world. However, without a strong maintenance culture, efforts at infrastructural development will amount to nothing. This study looked into the issue of maintenance as practiced by Nigerians. Two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The survey design used for the study are sample of 120 men and...
Africa in the age of globalisation
August 2011
The paper examine the ways in which globalization of Africa`s social and political economy is impacting on African development project. It explores the local-national-global nexus as an element of the changing face of the international political economy. The study first deals with the conceptual issues, and settles the question of how globalisation is affecting African development as well as Africa`s response...
From Babangida to Obasanjo: The State, rent-seeking behaviour and the realities of privatization in Nigeria
July 2011
In line with the orthodox thinking regarding economy development, privatisation of public enterprises hitherto have become critical component of Nigeria’s economic reform programmes since the last decade and a half. This paper argues that privatisation a much touted program from the regime of Ibrahim Babangida (1985 to 1993) to the second coming of Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 to 2007) did not act as...
Righteous Hutus: Can stories of courageous rescuers help in Rwanda’s reconciliation process
July 2011
Many believe that stories of heroic rescuers can make a modest contribution to reconciliation efforts years after genocide occurs. One extended effort to gather stories of Hutu rescuers in Rwanda led to a Kinyarwanda publication and the posting of a blogsite with several dozen narratives. The purpose of this paper is to share the essence of some of the rescue stories and observations about the reconciliation...
Socioeconomic determinants of age at marriage in Malawi
July 2011
Although age at first marriage has important demographic and health consequences for any population, no systematic analysis of changes in the timing of marriage has been conducted in Malawi. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting age at marriage among women in Malawi. This study used data obtained from 2000 and 2004 for Malawi Demographic and Health surveys. Univariate, bivariate and...
Gendering of work and its implications on youth sexuality in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria
July 2011
This paper examines the nature of gendering work among youth living in two oil-producing communities, Gelegele and Ogulagha of Nigeria, and its implications on youth sexuality, in terms of their perception and use of condom and HIV/AIDS. Data collection techniques used includes observation and in-depth interviews with ten youth from Gelegele and fifteen youth from Ogulagha, from January to April 2003. A...
Predictors of elderly persons’ quality of life and health practices in Nigeria
July 2011
The exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional study which was undertaken from March 2008 to June 2009 examined the elderly person’s life styles in terms of nutritional preferences, health care measures adopted and why they were adopted to achieve healthy ageing. It also assessed whether there would be association between quality of life predictors (social support, living with spouse, finances and...
CSR as corporate social responsibility or colonial structures return? A Nigerian case study
June 2011
In this paper the impact of oil and gas companies in Nigeria is explored under the umbrella concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). At one level there is acknowledgement of greater emphasis on socially responsible policies. Nevertheless these are limited in scope and ambition and the energy sector continues to create social, environmental, cultural and political problems in the region. Focussing on...
What makes sex workers strike: A comparative analysis of France (1975) and the UK (1982)
June 2011
This paper aims to identify the reasons why sex workers strike/occupy churches comparing the sex workers strikes/church occupations in France (1975) and the UK (1982). In order to understand why “sex workers” strike, the paper briefly introduces the available literature on why workers strike. Noting the differences between workers’ and sex workers’ strikes, the former usually being...
Social control and surveillance in the society of consumers
June 2011
The new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) introduced a highly automated and much cheaper systematic observation of personal data. ICTs advance the intensification and the extension of surveillance, such that an expanding quantity of data can now be collected, tabulated and cross-referenced more rapidly and more accurately than old paper files. This process contributes to the...
Socio-economic status of tribal women: A study of a transhumant Gaddi population of Bharmour, Himachal Pradesh, India
June 2011
The status of women with reference to tribal India is hardly reduced by any disabling stigma or inferiority attached to women although periods of impurity in the monthly cycles are widely recognized, observed and feared. Within the caste system however as we move up towards higher castes, the position of women becomes subordinate, servile and sometimes hopeless. Anthropologists have good reasons to believe...
New comers, confidence and social fragmentation in communities with strong cultural differentiation in Sicily
June 2011
This article is a community study carried out in a microcosm of Sicily using different strategies to defend collective identity and territory from the waves of new immigrants. It is a critical analysis of the changing of representations of immigrants, and the problems that multiculturalism poses with regard to issues of identity and confidence. Key words: Confidence, immigration, rights,...
Challenges and experiences of women in the forestry sector in Nepal
May 2011
This article asks why there are relatively few women at the Institute of Forestry (IOF) and in the field of forestry in Nepal. It explores the obstacles to entering and succeeding in this male-dominated field from women’s perspectives, and makes recommendations for increasing their participation. Based on “focus group discussions” and interviews with nearly 50 women, the authors considered...
Socio-cultural factors that perpetuate the spread of HIV among women and girls in Keiyo District, Kenya
May 2011
The human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) pandemic is still ravaging, after the first case was diagnosed more than twenty years ago. Women are disproportionally affected, in 2008/2009 HIV prevalence among women was twice as high as that for men at 8 and 4.3% respectively (NACC, 2009). The aim of the study was to investigate the socio-cultural factors and risk perceptions that pre-dispose women and girls to the...
Gender role and fertility behaviour among Calabar and Oban communities in Cross River State, Nigeria
May 2011
Discussions on fertility behaviour and population control policies have focused exclusively on the behaviour of females, and often target women for change while disregarding the role of the males. The inability of the national population policies to address this while at the same time encouraging patriarchal family system for the stability of the home seems to support this neglect. This study thus, examined...
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