Category: Research

Social justice education focuses on social equality and the opportunity to practice one’s full mortality. Value origination and social equality have been consistently and hypothetically associated with the field of instructions, which is regularly perceived as the best human equalizer. In education, the thought methods of teaching social justice have become appropriate in instruction, particularly in an urban society that has a background marked by being mistreated through education. To exercise, social justice instructing and learning exercises are to genuinely recognize the truth about students and where they originate from. Social justice imagines educators who are worried about and empower students’ requests about biased social structures; pictures of race, culture, class, and sexual orientation in mainstream culture; and social activity to achieve more prominent cultural value, both locally and comprehensively.

My definition of social justice in education is an educator who supports students with social skills. The different classes and schools will serve various students, families, and communities more readily. It would also help educators build a certain familiarity with social information both individually and relatively. Later, these schools would have the knowledge and the skills, convictions, qualities, and interests exemplified by the diversity of students in the school. There would be an acknowledgment and awareness of social foundations, traditions, and qualities. There would likewise be more correspondence between the students, and their families that could form into a union.

In Chapter 7 of the textbook, it focused on family engagement in the marginal community. Dr. Michele Myers an African American principal of Riverdale Elementary School delivers her narrative some thought she had race issues because she was Black. Riverside Elementary School in a Title 1 school outside a rural town. There were about 250 students enrolled. It’s mainly a Black school with one percent White and one percent Latino. Most of the staff was African American and 32 percent White with differing levels of college degrees. Concerns about the accomplishments of students, educational programs and guidance, and the unending reality of racism were communicated. Several parents felt disappointed and misconstrued by the school. Relatives felt that suppositions and downgrading were being made about blacks that made a few educators have a low potential for their kids.

Dr. Myers recognizes the deficit nature of her school’s discourse, she believed it was important to develop effective approaches and support to enable the educator to work in partnership with parents as well as the community. Parents felt like they did not have a voice in their child’s education, and some parents believed that derogatory stereotypes against African American students made statements about the students by the teachers. The principal used a number of these ongoing methods so that the educator would learn about the students and their parents together with, from and about them. The principal used a number of these ongoing methods so that the teacher would learn about the students and their parents together with, from and about them The principal offered professional development at the school for the teachers, in which the educators set up a book club based on partnerships with the home school. The book club was replaced by the meetings of the teachers and organized by one of the educators every week. Instead of negative stereotypes, she had the teachers visit the home of the student, enabling the educator to say encouraging things about the student. The educators also attended events in that student community that was sponsored by the family to create a more welcoming school. Through phone calls and notes sent back, she helps educators to have positive contact. She set up classroom forums, feedback boxes, assessments due to multiple languages having translators and setting up a family support space on-site for the parents to feel appreciated.

I correlated chapter 7 with Black Communities ‘ social strains. Black household students and their families in the school are deprived. Socioeconomic status includes income as well as instructive performance, financial-related security, and emotional view of social status and class. As well as opportunities and benefits are given to individuals in society, financial status can include quality of life features. Instead of being described by numerous physical and psychosocial stressors, destitution is not a solitary factor. The school systems in low socioeconomic communities also lack resources and have a negative impact on the educational performance and outcomes of students (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008 Insufficient education and elevated dropout rates shift the academic achievement of children, prolonging the neighborhood’s low socioeconomic status. Advancing school systems and early involvement programs may help to decrease some of these risk factors, leading to increased investigation of the connection between socio-economic and essential elements of education. As an educator, knowing the students you are teaching is crucial. I have to know my students ‘ economic life. Socioeconomic factors compete with the quality of education of an individual. I need to focus on improving teaching and learning, creating an information-rich environment, building a community of learning, continuous professional development, involving parents, and finding ways to help increase funding and resources.

The key impacts of poverty or low income are difficult to eliminate because the financial burden is connected to a large group of specific barriers that hinder the development of children. Regularly, the goal of educational researchers considering poverty is to recognize facilitators that account for the impact on children of poverty. Family development or family stress models have examined family-based elements through which poverty affects children, focusing on child-rearing activities and interactions between parents and children on a regular basis. Will poverty impact the achievement and instructive fulfillment of children? Poverty is most likely a problem for the achievements of children and later educational achievement, although not as much as a portion of the earlier and less thorough investigations proposed. No investigation had the option of precluding all bases of inclination or dangers to internal rationality, yet together, the strong connections between early childhood poverty and later achievement and achievement, as well as earnings in adolescence and later educational fulfillment, suggest that parental financial assets play a modest causal role.

Despite child poverty rising in the twenty-first century, this is a problem for governments and society around the world. Poverty in children has worsened, and poverty continues to make children deeply depressed. Only when child poverty is eliminated can social justice be achieved. Therefore, social justice must be done so that we can eradicate child poverty. Children are entitled to adequate food, accommodation, clean water and cleanliness, comprehensive health care, basic education, and protection from violence and abuse. It can traumatize their growth, physically, emotionally, mentally, if deprivation prevents a child from these things. You must start with young children to break the advancement of poverty.

While teaching children with various economic conditions, an educator’s primary goal is to be able to support and help these children and their families by providing them with appropriate information and plans to boost their economic hardship. As educators, we must understand that two of the most important environments are children in school and at home. If there is a positive and respectful connection between home and school, children feel safe. The most effective way that 21st-century teachers can help children with socioeconomic difficulties is to get to know each child and develop a relationship that helps each child grow and learn. Through getting to know and respect each one, you start building a relationship with each family. In comparison, each family is different, irrespective of these differences, educators should convey that you support them to all families and that their classroom is a safe place to visit. When you change the ways, you interact with and include families in the classroom, you will have a better chance of reaching every child. Not only can solid relationships between family and school stimulate progressive child improvement throughout the school years, but the gains also continue well into the future.

Social justice is characteristic and the facility we have to create a positive amendment is told afterward. Educators try this from multiple reading points systematically. In addition, educators may incorporate classroom procedures to require that arrangement to attain a level that will build this vivacious, unequivocal. Presenting students open doors for perception is a good thought, but there is a positive change and how they are going to be the two entertainers and pioneers in creating change. It is also important to require a note of the vast range of approaches that show an attitude towards social justice or represent best practices in education as well. For classrooms, social justice is not an ‘add-on,’ this may be a recommendation. Educators will each maintain high-quality content, teach and create a classroom with a commitment toward social justice. Furthermore, an orientation towards social justice is appropriate for all classrooms. This is not something that necessarily completes in a varied classroom, or in a classroom that needs diversity, or in another rare classroom. Social justice is a teaching and learning strategy that encourages high-level thinking and learning in our lives.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, violent video games don’t cause violent behaviour that looks out of character from their kids. that’s because it doesn’t have any effect whether the play a violent one like Fortnite or just a round of Wii Golf with your family on the Saturday morning.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, today I am talking about violent video games and their impact on society by increasing the difficulty of a game it becomes harder leading to violence, The violence is out side of the game not inside of it and parents and other adults think that violent games are the centre of attention.

The relationship with violent behaviour and video games has been constantly misinterpreted by the media and others since the creation of this new entertainment. The cause of the violent behaviour is difficulty of video games. Picture this, you are versing your family members in a game of Mario Kart in you’ve been in the lead for a while and just a you get to the finish line the family member sends out a blue shell that stops you right in your tracks letting them to win the race making you lose. The decision that was made by your family member made the game difficult leading you to get angry and violent. That was because you knew that you couldn’t win the race thanks to something that increased the difficultly. The violent behaviour wasn’t caused by the violent video game it was something cartoonish that didn’t have any connection to the real world.

The actions that are made in every violent video game to be made has kept in mind that this isn’t real a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game made by the same people who made Grand Theft Auto 5 has violence with lever action revolvers, tomahawks and rudimentary explosives. The game is set in 1899 yet people are still claiming that this impacts people. In the game there is an option to converse with a woman who is advocating for rights. there is the option to greet her and antagonize her these option give the player a sense of choice depending on the way that they want their character to be the could be a mischievous outlaw or a hero among the town either way the go there is no impact on there real day to day interactions whether the were kind or evil to the woman. In the end she is just some pixels on a screen, A piece of someone’s imagination. Not a real human being with feelings and a dream.

The constant revival in the media about what video games do to children is a constant topic with any new release. Following the release of the PlayStation portable or PSP for short it was a target for news websites to grab hold of and not let go of. The handheld gaming device let people connect to the internet to access multiplayer features, but the news reported on its ability to connect to young children with paedophiles. The entire news story is a scare tactic to get viewers to watch their story’s because if little Timmy is watching the news rather than in his room than that’s another viewer watching. This also happens in Australia A Current Affair and the Today Show both reported on the new game Fortnite. They talked about it being addicting like cigarettes and alcohol. Which may be true in specific cases but most people you see playing Fortnite do not immediately bludgeon a tree or building when the see it.

The Violence in Videogames has no correlation to aggression and hate toward any race or belief the statement made that violent videogames make people violent is as reasonable statement as saying watching a sad movie gives you clinic depression.

Have you been watching stories about video games being blamed for school shootings in the news lately? If you have, you probably know that it’s only showing you one perspective, and it’s usually the biased one. Everyone has been blaming video games lately. They don’t know the statistics. A few video game blamed school shootings have also been blamed for mental health issues. Most politicians who blame video games don’t even research what they are talking about and as a result, they cause a lot of confusion about what video games should be blamed for and what they shouldn’t be blamed for.

When people say that video games are creating more violence, they usually haven’t read the statistics. According to Patrick Markley, director of The Interpersonal Research Laboratory and professor of psychology at Villanova University, while 70 percent of high schoolers play violent video games, only 20 percent of school shooters have reported to play these types of games. He also added that school shooters have less interest in violent video games and that it’s a red herring to blame video games (CNBC). Professional Criminologists who study mass shootings say that the connections between video games and violent behaviors are a myth.

When video games are blamed for shootings there is also another thing that’s blamed, mental illness. It’s either video games, mental illness or both. When some sort of accident happens the news usually says “this person has a mental health issue”. But usually, the only mental health disease that causes violence is intermittent disorder and psychiatric disorders. Even if you had these disorders violent video games probably wouldn’t be the only reason that you would be set of, something else might happen.

Usually, when you read or watch the news it has many important information. Maybe it has political issues or issues in your hometown. Sometimes the news gets desperate. Do you really care if an actor/actress is getting married or what item has all the rage today? Even when the news/politicians are talking about something important they find a way to make it biased; guns or abortion or immigration. There are many controversies in these fields but who can say who’s right or who’s wrong?

Video games are not linked to all the violent behavior. People are violent because of many things like mental health or just being bias. There are also statistics that show that video games don’t make people violent. The information provided above can help the world to better understand violence and its roots.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee and was published in 1960. The main aim of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is to focus on the extraordinary elements that come up in the 1930s in the Southern United States. Other authors and scholars, through their works, also focused on the aspects of racial discrimination and injustices in the society. The book is narrated by a young girl, Scout, who opens us into the world of racial discrimination and injustices during the Great Depression period. To Kill a Mockingbird has been probably one of the most read books that deals with race in the United States. Atticus Finch, the main character, is the most enduring image, whereby he portrays a lot of racial heroism. This paper seeks to analyze the significance of Harper Lee’s work and how it currently relates to people’s ideas and values.

The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written in the 20th century to focus on injustices and racial discrimination that prevailed in the society. Many other books were also written at the same time to shed light on the same issues. Many people dearly love To Kill a Mockingbird alongside other books like Deliver Us from Normal by Kate Klise. Another good read about social injustices is the Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis. This book is about an 11-year-old Charles Harrison, who lives in Normal, Illinois. Charles’s sister is harassed and bullied by a clique of other kids. Charles’s parents, who get horrified after this ordeal, pull their kids out of school, and together they move into Alabama gulf coast, where they launch a radical new life. A girl, Deeza Malone, who is twelve, has few things going in her life. She is brilliant, and she has been brought up in a healthy family. However, after some time, the father is jobless and cannot find work, the small brother is not growing, and Deeza’s teeth are hurting. The father disappears, and their mother has to move them to Hooverville shack. This story depicts what most black families went through in that era, even today. The story shows the hardships of an African American girl, together with her family (Cooper, 1). Some of these hardships are unemployment, sicknesses, and moving from one place to another in search of a better life. Other books written at the same time are Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine and Revolution by Deborah Wiles. All of these books have the same heartfelt message to their readers.

The book To Kill a Mockingbird highlights incidents to do with racism in America. The plot of the book is in Southern America, and issues like social class, heroism, gender roles, and compassion are quite evident. The main characters from the book are Scout Finch, who is the narrator and the protagonist of the story. Atticus Finch is another great character who is Scout’s and Jem’s father. Jem Finch is Scout’s brother and playmate. Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb and has a sense of humor. He has instilled a strong sense of morals and justice in his children. He is one of the most vocal residents in the area focused on stopping racial inequalities (Lee, 17). This can be seen when he agrees to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white lady.

The story takes place in a small town of Maycomb in Alabama. Scout’s mother died a long time ago when Scout was very young, so the father is her only guardian. Scout is very close to her brother Jem. Their neighbor, Dill, has come to Maycomb for the summer to visit her aunt. The story takes place during the three years between 1933- 1935, where the great depression of the fictional Maycomb took place. The three children, Scout, Jem, and Dill are often fascinated by their neighbor Boo who is assumed to be crazy. The three children spend their time play-acting with different stories that they are familiar with. Scout is enrolled for school, but she is soon disappointed by the constant criticizing by her teacher because she can already read. Apart from the children playing, a black man, Tom Robinson, has been accused of having raped a young white lady, Mayella Ewell.

The judge, in this case, appoints Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, although many residents of Maycomb disapprove of it. Atticus agrees to defend Tom in this case to the best of his ability. Some kids bully Scout and Jem for their father’s actions, calling him a ‘nigger-lover.’ Scout wants to stand up for her father by fighting the other kids who are calling him names. On one occasion, Atticus shows bravery and faces a group of men who want to lynch Tom. The incident is averted in another direction when Scout, Jem, and Dill show up. Scout breaks the mob mentality by recognizing and talking to a classmate’s father, who is present in the mob. This makes the would-be lynches stop. Atticus does not want the children, Jem, and Scout to be present at Tom’s trial. However, Jem, Scout, and Dill are present, and they follow the hearing from the colored balcony. The first person to give testimony is Heck Tate. Heck states that he was called to the house by Bob Ewell. Ewell claims that Tom Robinson had raped his daughter, Mayella. Mayella, in her testimony, explains that she invited Tom to her home to assist her in doing something, and at that point, he took advantage of her. Atticus had noted that Tom uses his left hand to write. In his examination, Atticus asks the lady how Tom could have raped and beaten her up, yet he has a useless left hand. The lady shuts up and refuses to say anything more.

Atticus later establishes that Mayella and her father are lying, and it is later discovered that it is Mayella who made sexual advances towards Tom. It was also found that Mayella was not beaten up by Tom but by her father because of the behavior she was portraying towards Tom. People from the town refer to the Ewell’s as ‘white trash’ who cannot be trusted. The jury, however, convicts Tom, regardless of the truth been known. Tom Robinson is found guilty and as soon as the judge makes his verdict, Atticus leaves the courtroom as a sign of distress. Every black person stands up as a sign of respect for Atticus. Atticus has hopes that he will eventually overturn on the decision of the jury but something even worse happens. Tom is shot and killed while he tries to escape from prison one day.

From this study, some elements are clearly visible from the southern life. Racial injustice is one of them since Tom was falsely convicted of rape simply because he was a Negro. The significance of this book is to focus on the conflict-ridden area of Southern America. The story enumerates the injustices endured by Tom including his murder. This shows that the black men were a vulnerable group that was accused continuously of vices like rape. The element of courage and compassion is also evident. Atticus is courageous enough to represent Tom in the case, even though he lost it. Atticus exposes himself and the children to the anger of the white people in Southern America. Using his strong convictions, wisdom, and compassion, the author uses Atticus as the book’s moral backbone. Atticus Finch is portrayed as a model lawyer and an exemplary parent (Phelps, 511). He also confronts his own community against its prejudices. The book is widely used and praised as a great American novel of all time. The novel shows its audience the painful past that most black people went through. This book is presumed to be assigned to students because the youth of America is particularly in need of heroes who represent a specific type of values like Atticus.

The book brings to light the cases of inequality and social injustices that are rampant in the area. Many readers have enjoyed the book because of its warmth and humor and also the severe issues of rape and racial inequality it focuses on. One of the characters, Atticus Finch, has been an inspiration and a moral hero to many readers of this book. Due to the book’s massive success, it’s widely read in high schools and middle schools here in the United States. Many writers and scholars have also referred to the work of Harper Lee. The success of the book is mainly due to the plot and the characters in it. Lee was strategic to base her book with an area that many people can relate to.

Works Cited

1. Cooper, I. (1). Nine Read-Alikes for To Kill a Mockingbird. [online] The Booklist Reader. Available at: https://www.booklistreader.com/2015/05/28/books-and-authors/nine-read-alikes-for-to-kill-a-mockingbird/ [Accessed 18 May 2015].
2. Lee, H., (17). To Kill a Mockingbird, Character List. Literature. Sparknotes.com.
3. Phelps, G. ‘The margins of Maycomb: A rereading of To Kill a Mockingbird.’ Ala. L. Rev. 45 (1993): 511.

Introduction

The feelings of people are private, most people do share feelings. The stigma of sharing suicidal intent is one of the reasons for not sharing all of them. It is the feeling that are not shared or communicated, that leave people with the ideas that there is no other option but death. Once the act of suicide has happened, society tries to find better interventions to prevent death and help offer for the families affected by the death. the intentions of society are to prevent suicide. still unknown is how to really do this, to get it to every person. So as a society we are always looking for better interventions. Little is known about why those at risk of suicide do not seek help. By also trying to come up with more interventions to prevent suicide. the effect left behind on loved ones and society to help put back the pieces.

Summary

The ideas come from the article, Suicide written by Hawton, K., & van Heeringen, K. (2009). Suicide endangerment is tough to determine as it is dependent of the person telling someone that they intend to kill themselves. There are other indicators like self injury (seeing cut marks on a person are or legs) suicidal thoughts and intent. This occurs at high rates in young adults. There is really no way to know about a suicidal intention unless the person states this. With the amount of suicides that happen in a year, you could see why it is receiving increased attention. Suicide happens in every country in the world, the only thing that differs is the numbers between them.

From the article, Do suicide survivors suffer social stigma, Author is Cvinar, (2005). There are studies that shows social stigma us evident after death by suicide. Losing a loved one to suicide, resembles the grief of losing any loved one. “However, people grieving a suicide differ in the way that the aspects of the way the death occurred can cause intense feelings of rejection and a need to conceal the cause of death, have more shame connected to the death”. (Pompili, Belvederi Murri, Patti et al 2016).

Eggertson, (2017). Federal suicide prevention framework underwhelms. Puts in their article that nearly four thousand Canadians take their own lives every year according to health Canada and most likely vastly underreported says the suicide prevention researchers say.

Society has not figured out a way to stop suicidal intentions or a way to spot an individual who has suicide ideation keeps this to themselves. So currently we only have suicidal risk prevention for people who have had a suicide attempt previously. The number who repeat and attempt is 25% (Coppersmith, Nada-Raja, Beautrais, et al 2017).

Analysis

Suicide intent is tough to figure out as most people do not share these feeling with people that could help. This does not stop our society to keep looking for ideas to help people and find the interventions. When suicide happens to be there for the family and loved ones left behind. To help them through the healing process, the bad stigma suicide gives, and the feelings of shame brought with it. Little is known about why those at risk of suicide do not seek help. The effect it leaves behind on loved ones and society to help put back the pieces. By also trying to come up with more interventions to prevent suicide.

Reference

1. Coppersmith, D. D. L., Nada-Raja, S., & Beautrais, A. L. (2017). Non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts in a New Zealand birth cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders, 221, 89-96. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.06.029
2. Inagaki, M., Kawashima, Y., Kawanishi, C., Yonemoto, N., Sugimoto, T., Furuno, T., . . . Yamada, M. (2015). Interventions to prevent repeat suicidal behavior in patients admitted to an emergency department for a suicide attempt: A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175, 66-78. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2014.12.048
3. Pompili, M., Belvederi Murri, M., Patti, S., Innamorati, M., Lester, D., Girardi, P., & Amore, M. (2016). The communication of suicidal intentions: A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 46(11), 2239-2253. doi:10.1017/S0033291716000696
4. Ribeiro, J. D., Franklin, J. C., Fox, K. R., Bentley, K. H., Kleiman, E. M., Chang, B. P., & Nock, M. K. (2016). Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors as risk factors for future suicide ideation, attempts, and death: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Medicine, 46(2), 225-236. doi:http://dx.doi.org.eztest.ocls.ca/10.1017/S0033291715001804
5. Hawton, K., & van Heeringen, K. (2009). Suicide. The Lancet, 373(9672), 1372-81. Retrieved from http://ra.ocls.ca/ra/login.aspx?inst=stclair&url=?url=https://search-proquest-com.eztest.ocls.ca/docview/199037463?accountid=39957
6. Eggertson, L. (2017). Federal suicide prevention framework underwhelms. Canadian Medical Association.Journal, 189(2), E96-E97. doi:http://dx.doi.org.eztest.ocls.ca/10.1503/cmaj.109-5367
7. Cvinar, J. G. (2005). Do suicide survivors suffer social stigma: A review of the literature. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 41(1), 14-21. Retrieved from http://ra.ocls.ca/ra/login.aspx?inst=stclair&url=?url=https://search-proquest-com.eztest.ocls.ca/docview/200800789?accountid=39957

Humor, as harmless as it usually is, has a great impact on the minds of people. One simple joke can make people think, take a hint on what they need to change or even change their perspective on some topic. That is why satire has a major role in literature. Satire can be defined as „the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices.“ There have always been people on positions they are not qualified for, abuses of power and inequalities. Luckily, there are also writers that turn a bad situation into a funny and educational story. This essay will focus on the history of satire and its purpose.

Satire probably existed long before it was formalized, because humor was used every day to make fun of the vices of society. Greeks and Romans were the first to formalize the satire, as plays in Grece and as poetry in Rome. In Greece, satire was performed by people dressed as Satrys, which are mythical creatures with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a goat. Those were plays full of humor and drama. Aristophanes wrote comedies for the ancient Greek competitions in Athens: the City Dionysia and the Leneia. Many of his works survived and have been translated into various languages worldwide. The plays were famous for critiquing Athenian society, government, and foreign policy.

On the other hand, it is said that the word satire doesn’t come from the word Satrys, but rather the Roman word satura which means mixture. This is closer to the truth because the Roman writer Horace was the first to write a satiric text in the form close to the satire today. It was very humorous and critical, but it was not intended to provoke any sort of real social change. As Europe moved into the Middle Ages, satire continued to flourish. The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, is another work still read and studied to this day. Then there is Jonathan Swift, one of the most famous satirists of all time. He wrote Gulliver’s Travels (1726) and A Modest Proposal (1729), both stunning examples of modern satire. In 1884, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published by Mark Twain. Satire kept growing in popularity. In contemporary times, satire has found a place in visual art as well, particularly in comic strips and TV shows.

The purpose of satire is not just to make people laugh, but rather to make them aware of the state of the society they live in. Writers use satire to send important messages and to better the society. Satire is the weapon of the individual against the corrupt system. It has the power to unite people that think the same. It entertains the people, but at the same time gives them food for thought. It is important to understand that satire does not intend to do any harm, it offers constructive criticism through ridicule. Satirists try to make people despise feelings such as anger, jealousy, selfishness, etc., in order to slowly change the behavior of society. We can say that every satirist is a world-changer in a way because satire is thoroughly concerned with justice, morality, and virtue.

In conclusion, satire is one of the oldest forms of expression. Its purpose is to make people think about the issues presented in a humorous way by the writer. Satire, like all literature and poetry, must be intellectually rewarding, be reasonably well written, and especially must entertain in order to be received at all.

Many of us tend to imagine what an alternative world could look and feel like. Science fiction explores our hopes and dreams for the near future. Having this power makes us escape the everyday world and the challenges we face. The Hunger Games that is produced by both Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik and The Giver, written by Lois Lowry demonstrates the topic, Nature of Power. The themes Privilege,Survival and Love and sacrifice all represent the overall topic. These three themes link and connect in some way as the characters in the texts use these to demonstrate their power. In each text it is evident that the topic Nature of Power is used in a positive way. Throughout The Giver and The Hunger Games, each character’s life is controlled and monitored by someone in power. Both the novel and the film show the characters are obligated to participate in their chosen assignments. These similarities demonstrate the lack of free will and individuality they pursue. On the other hand a difference may involve the particular laws associated with each district and the community. For example, The Hunger Games consists of war and fighting for freedom whereas in The Giver, pain and war is an unknown element.

Both The Giver and The Hunger Games tend to explore the characters’ knowledge of survival and reveal how they dealt with and overcome life-threatening situations. Throughout the film, The Hunger Games, we see the theme of survival being portrayed amongst the protagonist. Katniss shows us her sense of survival when handing Prim the newly received mockingjay pin. “It’s a mockingjay pin. To protect you. And as long as you have it, nothing bad will happen to you, okay? I promise” (9:50) This scene took place at the beginning of the film when Katniss brought home the pin the lady from the market offered her. This symbol might just have given Katniss the hope she needs to survive the challenges. Similar to The Hunger Games, in The Giver, survival is demonstrated by the protagonist. Jonas shows his way of survival when keeping Gabriel warm to prevent him from freezing to death. “He hugged Gabriel and rubbed him briskly, warming him to keep him alive” (page 203). When comparing the two texts, survival is seen in a similar way as both protagonists used the theme as a way of protection towards another.

In both Science Fiction texts, Nature of power is resembled by few of the characters when the theme Privilege comes to light. In The Hunger Games, privilege is displayed by the people associated with the Capitol. Close to the beginning of the film, Katniss and Peeta are on their way to the transport vehicle which would soon take them to the Capitol. “You two are in for a treat. Crystal chandeliers, platinum door knobs and it flies. We’ll be at the Capitol in less than two days”(20:32). In this scene Effie lets us imagine what the Capitol brings and the privilege that comes with it. Related in many ways, The Giver shows us the privilege that corresponds with the Elders of the community. “ He was the elder who had seemed separate from the others at the ceremony, though he was dressed in the same special clothing that only elders wore” (page 100). The two texts demonstrate the higher privilege some hold in the communities.

In Science Fiction, Love and Sacrifice is often displayed as power within relationships and close bonds the characters have for one another. In The Hunger Games this theme is presented when Prim’s name is called at the Reaping, towards the beginning of the film. Instead of Prim going up on stage, Katniss sacrificed herself by intivining and offered to replace her spot as a sign of the love she has for her sister. “ I volunteer, I volunteer. I volunteer as tribute” (15:30) In comparison to The Hunger Games, The Giver reveals many examples of Love and Sacrifice. Before Jonas escaped the community he asked the Giver to go with him, however the Giver kindly declined and explained he wanted to be with his daughter. “I love you Jonas, but I have another place to go. When my work here is finished, I want to be with my daughter” (page 203). This particular moment in the novel proved the Giver’s love for Jonas and his daughter. Both texts in comparison, show both the love and sacrifice the characters have assembled.

Though both The Hunger Games and The Giver are vastly different when expressing The Nature of Power, Similarities tend to overlook the differences. Both texts used the theme of survival to show the characters protective side when they are faced with someone they care about. The theme Privilege was used in both The Hunger Games and The Giver to represent the characters that were gifted with more opportunities and free will in comparison to the protagonists. Lastly Love and Sacrifice was demonstrated in both texts to show the characters close connections they had for another and the sacrifices they were willing to make. Though there are plenty of similarities, many differences can be discovered in these Science Fiction texts. The Hunger Games used survival throughout war and fighting whereas in The Giver, survival was shown as preventing starvation and new discovered feelings of pain. Privilege in The Hunger Games was represented as the Capital and the nice clothing and food it consisted of. However in The Giver, privilege was discussed with the elders and the special position they held. For the final difference, Love and sacrifice in The Hunger Games, comes into place when the protagonist was willing to sacrifice herself for her beloved sister. In a different way, The giver expresses this theme after the characters grew close connections and bonds with each other overtime. These comparisons in both Science Fiction texts show us the topic, Nature of Power is displayed as a positive aspect.

The setting of the play, The Way of the World, by William Congreve is the Restoration Era, and Congreve, as the author, has taken the help of his own drama to provide his opinion about this age. In the second chapter of the drama, William Congreve provides us a picture about the history of the Restoration Era. With the help of this Socio-cultural and historical approach of the era, Congreve tried to satirize the various things happening in the society at that time.

It is mostly through the character of Fainall that Congreve satirises the materialistic society of the time. Fainall is a character which has a huge desire for and interest in money, possession, et cetera. He is a character who shows more interest in materialistic things like those mentioned earlier than spiritual things like art, et cetera. The satires that we can see in the drama The Way of the World are marriage as an economic contract, the greed of the middle class people and the lifestyle of the rich or high class.

The first place where we can find the indirect satire towards marriage is through the married life of Fainall. Fainall is shown to have a very happy life as a husband and a man. He is married to a woman of a high class and is leading a good successful life. However, if we look into it, the marriage of Fainall is only a mean for him to exploit the fortune of Mrs. Fainall. Marrying Mrs. Fainall has given him the opportunity to lead an easy life and have access to all of her fortune. In Act III, Scene III, there is also a dialogue between Mrs. Marwood and Fainall where the latter speaks about how insignificant his marriage is to him, he considers it to be nothing.

This dialogue is one of the major examples of the indirect satire towards marriage in the restoration era. Most of the people of the time looked at marriage as an economic contract. Very rarely was there somebody marrying for love. Marriage for them was a ticket to financial security.

He sees his marriage only as legality and is only going on with it because of all the money it gives him, he never loved his wife. He even goes as far as to say that when he gets all the money of his wife, he might even leave her as she is nobody to him. Fainall had plans of squandering all the money he is getting from his wife’s fortune with his mistress. Congreve, however, is in no way stealing in the money of his wife. He is just taking advantage of the whole system of marriage of the time. Fainall also might have gotten the opportunity to get full of Millamant’s fortune as Millamant’s fortune will also go to Mrs. Fainall if she doesn’t get permission from her parent, Lady Wishfort, to marry someone.

Another indirect satire through this lies towards the male-dominated or patriarchal society of the restoration era. Through Fainall’s character and his perception towards marriage, he satirises how women at the time were nothing more than a property in a marriage transaction. Her money, estate, property and everything owned by her was given to her husband, as she, by law, had become his too. Women had very little to almost no say in the decisions regarding their marriage. Their marriage was conducted solely based on family name, social status, and their fortune. This marriage system of the time had also played a huge role in making the society even more materialistic by feeding their greed. At that time, med didn’t really need to work hard; all they had to do was marry a woman with a good fortune and who comes from the upper class so that they can get a higher social status for themselves and live their lives lazing around.

The second satire that we can find in the drama is towards the government officials, lawyers and other successful merchants who had mostly come from the middle class families. The play also helps in satirising their greed. Fainall is one such man who initially belonged to a middle class family. It was only after he had married Mrs. Fainall that he rose to a higher class of people and started enjoying a more lavish life. There is a dialogue exchange between Mrs. Wishfort and Mr. Fainall where Fainall tells the latter how there is no way to save her ruin and that she has to give all of her property to estates to Fainall. This dialogue clearly shows how there’s no end to the greed of Fainall. He first raised to the higher class my marriage and still desires to get more and more.

Fainall’s greed is a symbol for the greed of all the middle class people of the time hwo were never really happy with what they were actually getting. They always wanted to get more and were never happy with what they already have.

The third satire lies towards the lifestyle of the people of the higher class. From the beginning of the play, Fainall is portrayed as someone who lives lavishly and likes to spend money in cafés and also in playing cards and other such activities. He is a representation of all those people to eat white bread, chocolates and coffee while people of the lower class suffer to get enough food to last a day. There were also places where only the people from the high and aristocratic classes were allowed to enter. These kinds of distinctions refrained the people from the lower classes to do anything even if they really wanted to do it. These circumstances make them materialistic people who are ready to take advantage of the situation to get to the higher classes and live more lavishly. It is the gap of the society that makes them like this.

Congreve here not only satirises the lower class to want to gain a higher life style, he also satirises the aristocrats who were so involved in their own lives that they became ignorant of the trouble of the others. Fainall had enough money to make him happy. However, when he hears about the fortune of Millamant, he changes his perspective towards it and thus falls victim to his own greed.

The end of the drama is also a satire towards how most of these greedy people met their ends. Fainall, not only loses Millamant’s fortune that he was supposed to get, he also loses his wife’s fortune which is then given to Millamant.

After observing all these little scenes, we can say that the main aim of Congreve was to satirise the materialistic society of the time with this drama. He might have wanted to show the society how these people suffered because of their own greed and choices. He tries to show that doing everything based on their materialistic urges can often lead to a sad ending.

Social Work research is distinct from the more scientific community as a result of its positioning as emancipatory with a focus on challenging inequality and oppression in all aspects of the research process

Alston and Bowles (2018) suggest that social work research supports the analysis of often complicated interventions that are required to respond to society’s most vulnerable populations. Social work research can assist practitioners assess and evaluate the effectiveness of social work intervention whilst understanding the effect of legislation and social policy for service users and the wider community.

Alston and Bowles (2018) further highlight that social workers need to understand their responsibility within the research community and develop “research-mindedness” (Flynn & McDermott, 2016), concluding that social work practitioners need to be encouraged to engage critically with research evidence and integrate this knowledge into daily practice (Gray, Plath, & Webb, 2009).

Furthermore BASW has a commitment to developing policy and resources for social work practitioners, highlighting that “Social work bases its methodology on a systematic body of evidence informed by knowledge derived from research and practice evaluation” (pg)In addition highlighting the role of social work to undertake primary and secondary research on social work issues”.

Ref BASW (https://www.basw.co.uk/about-basw/code-ethics)

Witkin and Harrison (2001) suggest that research evidence can assist with providing social workers with the foundations of evidence-based practice (Witkin and Harrison, 2001).

In addition, James W. Drisko Melissa D. Grady (2012) Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) in Clinical Social Work, suggest a correlation between practice and research highlighting that this provides valuable knowledge for clinical social work practice. Suggesting that EBP is a process with both “strengths and limitations”. Drisko and Grady (2012) suggest that social workers should engage with EBP to ensure the best possible outcomes for service users. (p251)

However, the social work profession can encounter barriers to undertaking research for example resource issues, professional identity and organisational systems and culture (Cynthia A. Lietz Luis E. Zayas) This may impact on social work establishing its self within the research community.

Research Ethics

Research ethics are complex. Researchers need to weigh up the likely benefits of their research on the one hand and possible infringement of the rights and dignity of participants on the other. From the outset researchers need to consider the ethical challenges that these choices may bring. Moreover, after ethical approval has been granted, researchers still have to make many day-to-day ethical judgements during the processes of data collection, analysis, write-up, presentation and impact. In addition Bell (2017) highlights that anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent and the potential impact that researchers themselves can have on a participants and vice versa. This is an ethical duty that all researchers must adhere to.

Likewise Conroy and Harcourt (2009) emphasise that it is important to understand that ethics should be treated as an ongoing issue that cannot necessarily be settled at the start of the research practice, but must be revisited and addressed throughout the research process

However, SCIE suggest that social work values align with respect, dignity, and human rights, therefore this professional ethical positioning lends itself well to the consideration of ethics

However; Alderson p87 suggests that views can vary regarding the value of research ethics and its regulation. Highlighting that some researchers view the task of producing knowledge as a priority Hammersley (2009). In contrast, suggesting that others view research as value laden (Sayer, 2010). Nonetheless Alderson (2012) raises the caveat that there is potential risks when undertaking research, through its processes and influences that researchers must be aware of, such as the misuse of power therefore, researchers must consider the morals of their work as carefully as their methodology.

However where there are strengths to ethical research there are also limitations, (Hammersley and Traianou 2012) suggest that Ethical guidelines does not always provide straightforward answers, alternatively it promotes the need for researchers to reflect ad justify their work and this is further supported by Alderson (2012) who notes that principles and outcomes can be vague and left open to potential disagreement.

In addition, potential ethical pitfalls for researchers include the ability to present a strong enough critique of their own ways of working and their ability to balance competing accountabilities (Fuller and Petch, 1995, p.11).

Furthermore, an ethical awareness of researcher bias regarding researchers’ preconceived ideas which could influence the chosen design furthermore may prejudice the analysis and data. Therefore it is an important factor not to be overlooked. (Lietz, Langer, & Furman, 2006).

Part A

Bryman (2012) highlights that critical thought must be applied when deciding on which methodologies would be relevant, whilst acknowledging that relative strengths and weaknesses can be dependent on the contextual basis for the research.

Teater (2016) suggests that Social workers judgements and decisions are informed by the evidence relating to a particular issue. This can assist in determining which intervention is likely to achieve positive outcomes whilst minimising the likelihood of risk or harm.

Bryman (book p 31) suggests that Quantitative methodology can offer focused analysis of data collection, applying a deductive and more scientific approach to testing theory. Likewise, Michael Sheppard 2019 suggests the importance of quantitative research within social work, highlighting that quantitative research aligns with the growing desire for measurable outcomes. As seen by Dr Smith (2018) who reviewed the value of, effectively measuring the impact of social work interventions.

Sheppard (2019) suggest that researchers have identified a range of topics suitable for quantitative research, such as citizenship, health, ageing and population movement, all of which has an interconnectivity with Social Work interests. However, Bryman (2013) raises the caveat that if the researchers chosen topic has had limited research undertaken in the past, then a Quantitative approach would be more challenging as their will be limited literature to draw upon. Suggesting an alternative methodology should be applied.

Nonetheless Teater (2016) suggests social worker’s as a social researcher need to apply current and relevant knowledge to inform their practice. Therefore, collating and analysing data about social phenomenon, such as measuring the impact on children living with domestic abuse can provide social work with a holistic understanding about the prevalence and impact of these issues. Concluding that “quantitative data can address questions and assist understanding about issues that could not be answered in other ways” (pg). However Sheppard (2019), Fetterman (2009) acknowledge that those attracted to social work in the first instance lean towards a qualitative position. Highlighting that social work resembles ethnographic processes which is seen in daily practice through observations, interviews and case notes, which are used for analysis, drawing conclusions and evaluating interventions.

In contrast Litez (date) suggests that research studies undertaken through the lens of qualitative analysis provides social workers with valuable information regarding diverse issues.

However, Padgett (2008) suggests that credible qualitative research needs to minimise the risk of research reactivity and bias. Research reactivity can have an impact on how participants react therefore changing the results of the study. For example, the presence of a camera when discussing the potential criminality of an individual’s behaviour is likely affect the way participants engage.

Bell (2016) highlights In order to minimise this risk, qualitative researchers need to remain aware of how they themselves may influence the credibility of data. Additionally Researcher bias such as preconceived agendas can further impact on design and data analysis, potentially resulting in misrepresentation of the data (Lietz, Langer, & Furman, 2006) which is not seen as problematic within quantitative methodology.

However, the complex landscape of social issues faced by social workers could suggest that a mixed method approach to research would provide an essential tool Josphine Chaumba (2013).

Furthermore, Chaumba (2013) highlights that Mixed methods research provides additional elements to social work research, such as “voices of participants, comprehensive analyses of phenomena, and enhanced validity of findings” (PG). Chuumba (2013) states therefore the use of mixed methods research is essential to the social work profession.

Chaumba (2013) argues that different methodologies can be applied to different area’s of the same issue. Therefore, Mixed Methods can increase the depth of understanding for the researcher when interpreting their data from one methodology such as a survey can clarify or compliment the results from the other methodology such as in-depth interviews.

However as suggested by Bryman (2012) it is crucial that social work researchers have an understanding of how to engage with mixing quantitative and qualitative methods. This is supported by Lietz (date) who acknowledges the skill set required to analyse the quality of the research undertaken within each methodology.

Evaluating Qualitative Research for Social Work Practitioners Cynthia A. Lietz Luis E. Zayas

Part B

This literature review will explore Looked after Children (LAC) transitioning from care. This research review revealed that the majority are small scale qualitative studies. Mills & Birks (2014) suggests that social work researchers are often attracted to a more qualitative approach due to its emphasis on depth of understanding.

Searches were carried out using RGU library database, SAGE Journals Online within a 10year date range. Inclusion criteria considered UK research however, one researcher included data collected from Europe. Furthermore, ensuring the quality of the chosen research is to a high standard the review will only include peer reviewed articles.

A thematic approach was applied to the selected articles. This review will summarise the articles and group them together. The chosen research highlights an interesting correlation between three key debates.

1. Criticisms of existing support provision
2. Increased risk and vulnerabilities for care experienced young people
3. Transitions and the importance of supportive relationships

According to Action for Children (2014), “the most vulnerable young people in society experience the highest levels of instability and uncertainty within the care system” (pg). Highlighting that they lack the right support once they are no longer looked after.

Recent research undertaken by Natasha Adley, Victoria Jupp Kina (2014), Gillian Schofield (2017) et al. and Caroline Barratt et al. (2019) explored the importance of supportive relationships, acknowledging that care leavers continue to face challenges compared to their peers. These researchers applied qualitative methodology using similar age ranges 17-26, conducting in-depth semi-structured to elicit information. Furthermore, the views of the young people were positioned at the heart of their research process. By doing this, each researcher was able to present a depth of understanding enhancing their data.

Adley’ (2014) ‘Getting behind the closed door of care leavers: understanding the role of emotional support for young people leaving care’ explored care leavers views regarding their personal support networks. The use of an eco-map provided a powerful tool to illustrate gaps in support revealing that social workers, in particular, were unaware of the young people’s feelings compounding their lack of emotional support. However, Adley’s research provided limited understanding as to why this would be the case.

Schofield et al. (2017) ‘Risk, Resilience and Identity construction in the life narratives of young people leaving residential care’ explored more in-depth this phenomenon regarding practitioners. Schofield (2017) brought holism to the issue of emotional support that was not seen as explicitly in Adley’s (2014) study. However, the findings of this study echo the importance of nurturing relationships, whilst brining focus to throughcare support and work culture.

Caroline Barratt et al. (2019) ‘Exploring internal conversations to understand the experiences of young people transitioning out of care’ backed up Schofield (2017) findings applying a narrative approach complimented by Margaret Archer’s model of reflexivity (2010). The study was able to elicit detailed conversations from six care leavers providing a deeper understanding of (LAC) feelings. She concluding that participants application of attributing meaning to their experiences were “powerfully shaped by their experiences of trauma and key relationships”. (pg)

In addition, risk, lack of service provision and Corporate Parenting were a recurring theme. ‘Who Care’s Scotland’ (date) states that (LAC) are nearly 20 times more likely to be criminalised, nearly half of 5-17-year-olds living in care have a mental health diagnosis. Highlighting that young people are leaving care to early, increasing risk due to lack of support and poor social, emotional development.

The following researchers focused their research on this phenomenon. The chosen articles applied qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews, age range 12-21. However, two researcher groups only approached practitioners which may have risked presenting practitioner bias.

Jennifer Driscoll (2018) ‘Strangers and estrangement, young people’s renegotiations of birth and foster family relationships as they transition out of care and the implications for the state as parent’ study used 21 care leavers. Driscoll (2018) argued that care leavers have poorer outcomes which is a common theme seen across the Western world (Jackson and Cameron 2012). This study brought focus to UK care leavers higher risk of depression/anxiety and lack of stable relationships (Wade and Dixon 2006). Applying an ethnographic approach provided evidence from the UK and France, suggesting a commonality between countries regarding mental health problems becoming exacerbated during transition process (Stein and Dumaret 2011).

This is supported by Sarah Butterworth et al. (2016) transitioning care‐leavers with mental health needs: ‘They set you up to fail!’ Butterworth (2016) explored care‐leavers’ experience within social care and mental health services. All interviewees were diagnosed with mental health issues. The study concludes that young people view successful transitions relies on having trust in support services. Acknowledging that care leavers often experience inconsistent care, lack of supportive relationships exacerbating existing mental illness.

Legislative initiatives have shifted to help address some of these issues. In Scotland, young people can now remain in care until they reach 21 as a result of the ‘The Continuing Care (Scotland) Amendment Order (2019). Kenny McGhee (2017) published ‘Staying Put & Continuing Care: The Implementation Challenge’ interviewing nine residential practitioners from five children’s homes from three local authority areas. Findings from this study align with Schofield’s (2017) study regarding what constitutes good residential child care however this study highlighted that implementing policy and Continuing Care legislation by practitioners consistently appears linked to political agendas and commitment from service management. This was later highlighted within the Scottish Government Care Leavers paper (2019) which suggests that in order to achieve meaningful change, services must embrace legislation throughout their organisational policy and practice.

Likewise Claire Fitzpatrick and Patrick Williams (2016) echo the failings within the care system, focusing on the unnecessary criminalisation of some (LAC) within ‘The neglected needs of care leavers in the criminal justice system: Practitioners’ perspectives and the persistence of problem (corporate) parenting’ interviewing 11 practitioners/key stakeholders. Concluding, that practitioners can view care leavers as ‘risky’, thus labelling appeared to affect who would receive therapeutic support. This practitioner culture can be seen highlighted within Schofield (2017) research.

Hayley Alderson et al. (2019) ‘The key therapeutic factors needed to deliver behavioural change interventions to decrease risky substance use (drug and alcohol) for looked after children and care leavers’. Further supports this by applying inclusive approach to helping support a more profound recognition regarding drug/alcohol misuse. Alderson (2019) encompassed focus groups with 19 (LAC),16 carers and 14 professionals. The study emphasised the role of supportive relationships consistent within this review.

Both Fitzpatrick (2016), Alderson (2019) noted that there is a well-documented link between (LAC) and the criminal justice systems, yet despite the 3 year gap both highlighted the same lack of recognition in policy/practice. Both studies highlighted that specialist support for care leavers is limited requiring serious attention.

Although participatory research is by no means the only way to conduct empirical research into the lives of young people, it can lead to highly original insights and improve the credibility, Bell (2017). In addition, aligning with the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child, particularly Article 12, which states that “children have a right to express their views in matters affecting them”. This may have been lacking within Fitzpatrick, Williams (2016), McGhee (2017) research where stakeholders/practitioner voices were prioritised.

Summary

This literature review recognises differing approaches to understanding/improving (LAC) experiences. The research has provided similar findings and raises important questions regarding health social work and crime. (Alison Clark 2014). However, the chosen research has limitations in regards to small sample size, furthermore it doesn’t lend itself to providing evaluation of a wider population. However, the research helped highlight areas for further research, it is noted that there appears to be little change to the views of young people over the applied date range with consistent themes around lack of supportive relationships and poor outcomes

Introduction

Since March 2020 my life has changed completely. Before the lockdown I was a very energetic and positive person. I was just completing my degree in Criminology, having time to see friends and family. However, during the lockdown and its restriction my life has changed dramatically. I had to finish all my assignments at home, while home-schooling three children and looking after the house. My husband is a critical key work and was away from home six days a week. This meant that in order to be able to complete everything, I had to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning to finish my work and then be able to do other tasks. My mental health has been drastically affected by this and due to the effects of Corvid 19 I have stated to wonder how other women have been affected.

Aims

The main aim of this research is to find out and gather an understanding of the impact of Corvid 19 on women before and during the lockdown. I am interested in gathering the perceptions of young women that do not have children to those in a later stage of life, working mums and students. Seeing how their life and priorities have changed, also finding out about their mental health. The main theory that my thesis will draw upon is ‘Feminist Theory’, looking at a number of aspects of the complexities of lockdown and its effects, both long and short term.

However, before I focus on explaining how various parts of feminist theory can support the main aim of my research and connect with the key research questions, those questions have to be identified. The research is focusing on the following principle questions:

• How were women affected during and after lockdown?
• How where the roles in households divided?
• Can Feminist theory explain the division of roles in households?

The idea is to empower women by research method (Mauthner, 2002), by interviewing women and finding out about their lives and views and also to overcome potential abuse of power implicit in traditional male epistemologies. Kelly et al. (1994) suggest that although women taking part in the research can be informative, the researcher potentially can have the most important role, enabling and creating meanings. In mitigating researchers’ power, the importance on democratic statement and contributor empowerment is frequently overlooked or downplayed. The basic idea of participation and empowerment can confuse other parts of the research capacity and accountability: as Kelly et al. (1994) suggest, it is in the hands of the person who takes time, resources and skills to conduct methodological labour, and put all the information together and make sense out of the data. Even though the participant takes time to reflect on the subject, the person conducting the research is crucial to the whole process (Mauthner, 2002).

Feminist theory is the expansion of feminism into hypothetical, sometimes more fictional, or philosophical discussion (Kolmar at el., 2005). Although men have also lockdown been affected by Covid 19, in this research I am focusing on women; therefore, feminist theory will strongly support and aid me in the study. Feminist theory aspires to recognise the core issue of gender inequality. It focuses on examining the social role, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a wide range of different fields for men and women. In particular it has relevance to areas such as sociology, media studies, anthropology and philosophy (Donovan, 2012)

The gendered elements of Covid-19 lockdown between March -June 20202 affect home life, as the division of choice and responsibilities has been taking a long time to change. According to the International Labour Organization (2018), women still do more low-paid care work in comparison to men around the world. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic there has been a higher demand for home-based work, not just due to closures of schools and childcare services, but also due to more and more people getting ill and needing that help and care. While society has been relying on women and the work they provide, women’s mental and also physical health are at risk due to that high demand (Cohen & Venter, 2020; Geurts et al., 2005). COVID-19 has shown how big the demand for care is, not only in hospitals where trained healthcare staff are paid for their work, but also at home. However, the domestic care women provide in many cases is frequently unappreciated and unseen (Himmelstein & Venkataramani, 2019; Sayer, 2005).

As Power (2004) stated in Social provisioning as a starting point for feminist economics. Feminist Economics there is an awareness that care work is undervalued, whether paid or unpaid; women have uneven duties in accomplishing this work and this is a problem that has gathered long-lasting interest in the area of feminist economics. It is therefore very important to gather experiences of women to appreciate the impact of COVID-19 and mitigate their suffering, as nations realise the associated economic consequence of lockdown (Bahn et al., 2020).

Feminist study in economics has regularly emphasized the dependence on women for social reproduction in order to work, either if it is paid or unpaid (Laslett & Brenner, 1989; Power, 2004; Vogel, 2013). On a day to day basis in life, social reproduction can be defined in terms of the large propositions taken on by women, such as house work, physical and emotional care and any other jobs that meet basic human demands— essential to preserve current life and to reproduce the next generation (Laslett & Brenner, 1989, p. 383).

If social reproduction stopped, the whole social system would not be able to work and it would fall (Bahn et al., 2020). COVID 19 has highlighted not only the amount of female work but also the value of women’s work – paid or unpaid. With the closure of schools the role of teacher fell disproportionately on women (Women in Sport research, 2020) and community education as a device of sustenance and providing care for families was laid bare, as working women tried to organise child care. Looking across the globe, women, and particularly women of colour, have unequal low wage work, even though the work was often the front line while the COVID 19 virus spread (Bahn et al., 2020). In many cases, even when women are sick or are at high risk of catching the virus, they have no choice and still have to go to work. Many nurses, also the number of women is much higher in this profession than men, had to still go to work. As Tolich and Briar (1999) observe in Just checking it out: Exploring the significance of informal gender divisions amongst American supermarket employees, women that work in food shops, where the task they do often puts them in the direct contact with the customer, are necessary and very important roles, but unfortunately not recognised, until there is a global crisis (Bahn et al., 2020).

According to the Bahn et al. (2020), the group of women that took part in their research demonstrated that women work longer hours than men in total and also do more unpaid work in comparison to men (ILO, 2018; Sayer, 2005). Also as women are faced with responsibility of social reproduction, they could also be in situations where they have to complete unpaid work and face loss of income; for example, to take care of family members instead of taking them to the doctors (ILO, 2018).

Also all around the world, there is more single parents that are women than men; in those households most likely there is one income coming in and the whole family relies on it (Cohen, 2010). Having to support family, work and run a household is very likely to affect women’s mental and physical health (Cohen & Venter, 2020; Geurts et al., 2005).

This is not a new issue of uneven work. This problem goes far back and all around the globe. Cohen and Venter completed a research in 2015 called The integration of occupational- and household-based chronic stress among South African women employed as public hospital nurses, looking particularly at nurses in South Africa as this profession is dominated by women. Nurses are also vital to healthcare profession and in less advantaged communities. Compared to other occupations where roles are dominated by women, nurses get paid well. Though they are on many occasions faced with very difficult challenges- where they are put in difficult, poor areas and must provide help, but also deal with the expectations of families – and provide level of support. Cohen and Venter in their research performed semi-structured interviews with 71 female nurses in Johannesburg. By using social network mapping and grounded theory, they discovered difficult, connected stressors and systems of household dependence. Their results were that all women that took part in the research had been faced with a high amount of stress. They described their day-to-day lives of constant stress, with a big strain on income and time. A lot of this stress and pressure comes from home life- either where a partner is dependent on their income, children and also financial responsibilities.

Dependence is a form of social and cultural standards which appoints women main liability for unpaid work; however, nurses described their attempts as unjustifiable and anxiety-inducing; their wage and paid employment plans made reaching that accountability practically difficult (Cohen & Venter, 2020).

Framework

As staring point of creating my research I will be using Crotty’s (2015) approach and framework. Crotty (2015) supports observation that every researcher throughout the research period must have ability to solve four easy questions, he describes them as the basic elements of any research process:

1. What methods will need to be applied? What are the procedures or techniques applied to collect and evaluate data?
2. What methodology makes selection of methods used? The approach, plan of action, development or project layout is behind our choice and use of particular methods
3. What is theoretical perspective? The philosophical viewpoint advising the methodology and delivering context for the procedure and establishing its logic and principles
4. What epistemology advises our view? What the hypothesis of knowledge rooted in the hypothetical view and thus in the methodology? (Crotty, 1998 p2)

These four questions provide a complexity and breadth to the related choices that are vital in the layout of research. Crotty (2015) recommends avoiding the compulsion of going straight into methods and as an alternative promotes postponing study initiation, as this provides the researcher with better understanding of the context of the methodology. Focusing on each step of research will give a better understanding of the whole process and avoids getting lost in the process (Crotty, 2015).

By following this suggestion my research question will be placed within epistemology. The research direction will be formed so it can meet the requirement of the study issue. Subsequently, the identification of a theoretical perspective will be followed by choice of methods (Creswell, 2003).

Epistemology

Epistemology is the analysis of the nature of knowledge, it defines what we know and how we know; it also focuses on what the limits of knowledge are. It is a framework for identifying the nature and generation of understanding about the social world; that is, it relates to matters of how to comprehend the nature of realty (Stanley et al., 1993).

Combining epistemology with the main theory in my research- feminist theory-creates the feminist epistemology. Many feminists have claimed that knowledge, rationale, and science have been dominated by the perspectives of men. Feminists have recognised the sciences as equally the foundation and a position of gender differences: the institutions of science have not included women for centuries and feminist critics of science believe that gender-based issues, and issues of female interest (or, more seriously, subjects of apprehension to females and sex/gender sectors) are regularly demoted as topics of scientific examination, or are looked at as reproducing gender-normative labels; and, finishing the loop, scientific specialisms have regularly attempted to justify these types of social characterisations and organisations despite feminists questioning their validity (Figueroa et al., 2003).This belief comes from western societies, where men have been dominating by patriarchy and also men have abused the position of power to define issues, construct language and create theories (Letherby, 2003). Also, men were in place to stimulate their interest, which resulted in the western culture where men are influential in art, media, literature, and other subjects-they all exhibit predominantly male figures and qualities (Letherby, 2003). The tension between official knowledge (academical) and experiential knowledge (general, gathered through experience) is reflected via academic subjects such a sociology and history, to the extent that even the medicalization of giving birth has been male dominant. Historically, women have been over the years side-lined by academic debates and their application (Letherby, 2003).

Therefore one of my main focuses and aims is not to rebuild the rifts, but to investigate and study problems and issues of ‘finding a position’ by noticing distinctions between epistemology and research by concentrating on women’s issues and place in order to outline the methods (Letherby, 2003).

As Harding (1990) and Letherby (2003) indicate, in contrast to the male academy, feminist empiricism does not seem to be as hostile of feminist epistemologies, as they depart from the original (male) philosophical and scientific understanding of the values of acceptable analysis. Feminist epistemology uses the original approaches more appropriately, by challenging the approaches that are being used instead of challenging the task itself, and also its final methodological goal.

However, Harding (1990) states that epistemologies are ‘justificatory strategies’, required to protect the importance of feminist knowledge and to steer theory in the right direction in terms of practice and politics. However, Harding argues that if it were unable to access fundamental generalisations, feminism would find hard to keep its moral and political position in transforming the subjugation of women. Feminists are aware of efforts to impact social transformation by unqualified universal requests to women and women’s activities, thus many feminist epistemologies have progressed beyond and, looking at postmodernist work, eliminated entirely universalizing categories of gender or identity (Butler 1990;1993; Fraser and Nicholson, 1990).

Though there is also another way of looking at ‘Feminine epistemology’ – in the way that women do not necessary realise that they are different from men, but that theoretically the act of knowing is not the same in comparison to men. For example, Giligan (1982) strongly believes that when women are ‘doing’ epistemology they show more empathy, analyse problem to get more of the inside of the issue, which has maybe not necessary been looked at from a traditionally male epistemological perspective. In this sense, Giligan suggest men and women have a ‘different voice’ and view on life. Their self-concept is different. Specifically, their understanding and focus on moral issues differs. Due to that, Giligan (1982) takes issue with Kohlber’s phases of moral development and method to modify them; thus, that they take account of the way in which females assign moral logic. Giligan contends men appear to set a premium on independence, generality, conceptual objectivity. However, women, in comparison to men, find caring very important, together with nurturing, relationships and the creation of social community. Harding (1983) also shares this belief and also contends that rationality is gendered; that is, that it varies according to sex (Crotty, 1998).

Do to COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020 there has been increased panic, anxiety, and depression level for all the ages and sexes; also the relationship with food and its consumption has changed drastically (Bilal et al., 2020). In the research completed by Bilal et al. entitiled “The Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic Outbreak on the Household Economy” there has been investigation on households’ income and expenses and its effects. In their research Bilal et al. provide an online survey to four hundred and ninety-three participants/families. The aim of this research was to get the household budget issues, including income, overall outgoings, and other expenditures through COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.