Category: social problems

Social theories suggest the allocation of the following functions of war and terrorism. First, these are conducive to social solidarity, the importance of symbols, and the experience of civilians and war veterans. Second, war promotes the interests of the military-industrial complex, while militarism takes money away from unmet social needs (Social Problems: Continuity and Change, 2016). Terrorism and war have common political motives and implications. Conflict theory most accurately reflects the vision of war since national security goals often hide the desire for sustainable power and financial well-being of politicians who spend so much money on the army (Social Problems: Continuity and Change, 2016). World peace is possible with a systematic approach to eradicate the biological and social prerequisites for war, to rehabilitate people after the experience of combat actions, which is difficult to achieve due to the complexity of many countries’ social and political contexts.

Even though the United States is in the lead in terms of spending on medicine, there are many problems in this area. First, the phenomenon of structural racism, which is based on social discrimination, leads to high mortality rates during illness among certain ethnic groups. To be precise, in 1918, American Indians had a rate of four times higher, which now, almost forty and thirty percent of all diseases and deaths from COVID-19 occur in this ethnic group (Yearby & Mohapatra, 2020). Moreover, the majority of healthcare workers implicitly prefer to work with white people (Yearby & Mohapatra, 2020). Finally, another problem is the availability of health insurance: the percentage of white people without insurance is less than 15, while representatives of other ethnic groups, as it is correct, exceed 20 (Social Problems: Continuity and Change, 2016). It becomes almost impossible to pay for treatment without insurance due to its high cost, which negatively correlates with poverty in the country.

The criminal justice system’s functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict perspectives are compared, and they share the same view. Three points agree that the criminal justice system helps control social problems (Spector & Kitsuse, 2017). In contrast, the symbolic interactionist view holds that the system promotes social interactions in society. Moreover, from a functionalist perspective, crime benefits society, and the criminal justice system improves social regulation. These three perspectives also diverge because the conflict perspective holds that the criminal justice system practices inequality (Spector & Kitsuse, 2017). Drug use is a combination of genetic predisposition, personality traits, and environmental influences (Social Problems: Continuity and Change, 2016). If the first aspect of the fight is quite tricky, then the other two need to focus.

The sociological perspective of drug use states that drug use affects the social structure of individuals. Drug users become withdrawn and often face relationship challenges, thus having a poor social structure (Allen, 2017). The sociology perspective on drug use also states that most adolescents who indulge in drug use are influenced by bad peer relationships, bullying, popularity, and associating with gangs (Allen, 2017). Social risk factors are the major factors that influence one to start using illegal drugs. The perspective also points out familial risk factors which involve childhood maltreatment as another cause of drug use.

The most solvable social problem in society today is homelessness. An innovative way to tackle this problem is by building simple permanent houses where many people can live for free (Spector & Kitsuse, 2017). Most countries are trying to eliminate homelessness because it affects many individuals’ social lives. Gun control is a social problem that is becoming harder every day to control. Most governments try to invent technologies that can help control violence by ensuring that guns are restricted, but it is proving to be a great challenge (Spector & Kitsuse, 2017). My career choice might be affected by war and terrorism because they happen everywhere and can affect anyone. In this course, I have learned the various ways of controlling social problems, the various types of social problems, the criminal justice system’s role in controlling social problems, and the importance of controlling social problems.

References

Allen, C. (2017). Crime, Drugs and Social Theory. Routledge. Web.

Social Problems: Continuity and Change. (2016). Saylor Foundation.

Spector, M., & Kitsuse, J. (2017). Constructing Social Problems. Routledge. Web.

Yearby, R., & Mohapatra, S. (2020). Law, structural racism, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 7(1), lsaa036. Web.

Social Welfare

Despite a fundamental economic growth witnessed by Japan ensuring to provide high standards of living along with an overall conducive environment, there is an increasing cluster of significant social problems. These problems are aggressive as well as passive in nature. Although every social problem is of a substantial concern for the Japanese people, some of them will be discussed in this paper.

Issue of Pension

The entire working population of Japan has been exclusively covered by a unique public pension system. Historically it has been a feature of Japanese social and economic system to treat their non-employees, for instance self-employed, and the employees differently. One significant issue related to pension is that the ‘Employees’ Pension Insurance’ (EPI) encompasses almost every employee particularly in the private sector, but does not provide coverage to part-time employees.

Pension benefits specifically as a source of income after employees’ retirement is a critical issue. The dependent spouses of workers are not treated equally in the current pension system. The pension benefit has significant negative impacts, directly on labor force participation related to the elderly. Moreover, most pensioners do not make payment of income tax. Even though members of employee pension plan receives the related benefits at the age of sixty and members of mutual aid association at the age of fifty seven, the reduction of forty two percent in pension benefits are taken by those on basic old-age pension provided they receive them only form the age of sixty. (Rosenberger, 10).

Issue of Working Conditions

The Japanese workforce is mostly skilled and well-educated mainly due to the educational system in Japan. The high standard of living in Japan is ensured by setting a minimum wage rate which is appropriate for a decent and respectable living standard for employees and their families. However, there are some significant issues related to working and living conditions of employees.

Japanese labor law provides for a minimum of forty hour workweek. Yet, the law is generally not enforced particularly in the small firms. The role of Japanese workers is significant in the rise of Japan to the status of economic super power. Workers endure and persevere day after day, showing their support and loyalty. Death by overwork is a continuous and increasingly general result of such perseverance. However, the scenario is changing and workers have started demanding extra time for recreation and also for them. The overwork and its grave consequences are mostly the result of corporate governance existing in Japan in which managers have autonomy to pressurize employees into accepting overtime. Moreover, manages emphasize that sacrifice and hard work are essential for personal growth and promotion, resulting in overwork.

The overall living conditions are acceptable and admirable; however the scenario is not the same in case of homeless people. The public aid particularly to the poor has remained insignificant in the welfare system of Japan. The scenario for the poor has prevailed for a long period. In the year 1936, almost 83% of facilities caring specifically for the poor were owned and run privately in Japan. (Kasza, 11) Most of the poor, in order to gain living resources; are forced to work either early in the morning or at night to bring meager income.

Works Cited

Rosenberger, Nancy. “Gender and the Japanese State: Pension Benefits Creating Difference.” Anthropological Quarterly. 64(1), 10. 1991.

Kasza, Gregory J. “War and Welfare Policy in Japan.” The Journal of Asian Studies. 61(2),11. 2002.

Aging is one of the social problems that are currently affecting U.S citizens. This problem has affected the social institutions and the lives of people. The social challenges of the old people are further worsened by the economic constrains, and labeling. When we assess the issue of aging from a functionalist point of view, we realize that it is one of the social problems.

This is because the modern society does not have proper institutions and strategies that can enable the elderly individuals to cope with life effectively. Integrationists contend that people stigmatize elderly individuals since they are not able to adjust to the youthful culture. On the other hand, conflict theorists contend that problems experienced by the elderly occur since there is no effective power that can be used to streamline social institutions so that they can support the elderly.

Ageism

Ageism is another social challenge and it refers to a situation where people look down upon the elderly people in the society. In this case, people become biased against the elderly. This problem stems from the fact that some individuals perceive the elderly as worth doing nothing good that can benefit the society.

For example, they are not able to do any productive work or chores, and they are also incapable of reproducing. This kind of perception prevails in many places of work and even in the government institutions. The youthfulness that is common in U.S also makes people to develop some negativity toward the aged. The erosion of the extended family system has also partly contributed to this challenge in which the elderly are not given kinship support.

Apart from them being neglected, old individuals do endure the following challenges. They are susceptible to chronic illnesses, yet most of them are not in a position to cater for such expenses.

They are also victims of both mental and physical abuse. Since many families are not properly equipped to handle the old people properly, they always end up being institutionalized and this not good enough for them. Primary aging occurs due to cellular changes in the body. Secondary aging is an expedited type of the usual aging and it occurs due to environmental challenges. For example, stress and poor diet can expedite aging.

Modernization

Modernization is the progressive development of a society from traditional systems to a modern set up. U.S.A actively became modernized in the twentieth century. They had much focus and trust in science, education, and technology as the viable means of solving their societal challenges.

They also had interest in solving economic and social challenges. Besides this, they also encouraged urban-industrial society. “When modernization increases within a society, the individual becomes more important, and it eventually replaces the family or community as the fundamental unit of society” (Kornblum and Julian 179). As modernization increasingly becomes wide spread in a society, it normally dominates the cultural practices and religious believes.

Age Stratification

Age stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of people in terms of age clusters within a society. When age stratification is done in terms of ascribed status, it can lead to inequality and these may cause ageism. Social structures affect us in many ways. “The Stratification of society based upon age helps determine the availability of social roles, the meaning attached to members of various age groups, and the opportunities provided to the members” (Kornblum and Julian 234).

Aging in a given society is normally determined by cultural expectations. Sociologists always analyze causes and impact of the current trends, and how they affect a graying population.

Aging Population in U.S.A

There has been a gradual increase in the population of the elderly individuals in U.S.A., and it is likely to affect the health services in the country because they need better health care. It will also affect sex ratio and social services. Increase in life expectancy has greatly led to high number of elderly individuals. Approximately, a third of U.S citizens are in this age cluster.

Conclusion

The above discussion clearly depicts the problems that are affecting the elderly individuals in our society and we should change our feelings toward them. This is because we shall some day get old and we shall also experience the same negative treatment, if we do not change now. I like this topic because it enables me to understand the social problems in our society. Hence, I can find strategies for solving them.

Works Cited

Kornblum, William and Joseph Julian. Social Problems. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008.

According to Crone (2011), there are many ways that sociology can help in solving the present problems in the society. Sociologists can enlighten the society about the problems, conduct research about the problem and give report to the public on what needs to be done.

The research performed by sociologists can be used by policy makers to address the problem, analyze the existing policies and see if they are working properly or not.

In his book, James provides some steps that sociologists can use in solving social problems. Some of the social problems discussed in the book include; violence, inequality, Gender inequality, crime, and drug abuse.

Raising society’s awareness

The first step towards solving social problems is raising the society’s awareness. He suggests that sociologists can do this by analyzing the social phenomena to recognize new social problems that may have developed in the society.

According to Leon-Guerrero (2011), social problems can be described as those issues that affect most people directly or indirectly. Social problems can also be viewed as issues that affect all members of the society. They affect the society and are beyond the influence of an individual regardless of his or her power.

Once a problem has been identified, sociologists can inform the public through the media and or report to political authorities about their findings. Sociologists can act as whistle blowers by enlightening the society about what they feel is a social problem.

Presently, social media also provide a good avenue where people can air their views. Sociologists can use social media platform to excite members of the public to think about social problems. Sociologists can identify social problems based on certain sociological guidelines.

For instance, whether the social condition is harmful to people’s lives and how many people could be affected by that condition. Sociologists can also raise awareness by writing articles and publishing books about social problems.

James point out that through publications and teaching activities, sociologists are able to make people to perceive certain social conditions as problems. Raising awareness is an important step in seeking solutions society’s problems in the long run (Crone, 2011).

Conducting research

Another important step that sociologists can use in solving social problems is conducting research. It is the responsibility of sociologists to research on issues that affect the society. Research not only provides useful information about the society’s problems but also helps in finding the most suitable ways of solving such problems.

In addition, research helps to validate the existing theories and modifies them to suit the prevailing conditions. Research helps sociologists to identify problems based on their standards. For example, based on statistical research and the extent to which an issue is harmful to people’s lives, sociologists are able classify it as a social problem or not.

Data collection forms a significant part of research. Sociologists can collect data about the victims of social problems by using accurate methods such as carrying out surveys, interviews, and direct observations. James mentions that policy makers can only develop good policies based on valid data collected.

They can use some guiding questions to obtain accurate and useful data. For instance, sociologists can find out what the experiences of the victims are, how victims handle the social problem, and what happens in their lives that could be different from the rest of the society.

Sociologists can also ask the victims to give their opinions about the solutions to the social problem. Data collected from research can also help policy makers to develop appropriate strategies and policies towards solving social problems.

Developing sociological perspective

Developing sociological perspective is another step in solving social problems. Sociologists can steer members of the society towards developing sociological perspectives of viewing and solving social problems. Developing sociological perspective involves making the society to have an understanding of a social problem from the perspective of sociologists.

For instance, sociologists can make people to see the negative effects of a social problem, thus stimulating them to think towards solving it. Most policy makers use sociological principles, hypothesis, theories, and studies to evaluate and seek solutions to social problems.

According to James, sociologists can solve social problems by taking two actions. These actions include making necessary effort to communicate the results of their studies to policymakers and make them to develop a sociological perspective towards the social problem.

This will help policy makers to acquire a deeper understanding of the causes, the effects and help them seek for appropriate solutions.

Coordination of social policies

Sociologists can also solve social problems by employing proper coordination of social policies. How social policy is carried out is a key step to solving social problems. Social problems can better be solved if novel social policies are coordinated well with the existing social policies.

Sociologists should analyze how new policies and the existing policies would affect and or supplement each other. In addition, if sociologists feel that the two policies conflict each other, they can find ways of harmonizing them with an intention of solving social problems.

Implementation of social policies could fail or slow down without proper coordination of policies. Therefore, sociologists need to analyze and coordinate existing and new policies to solve social problems. Working towards a shared value is closely associated with coordination of policies.

Even though conflicting values of society members could lead to failure or slow pace of solving problems, having common values can be helpful in solving social problems. There are certain values that are widely accepted in the society.

Some of these values include freedom, equal opportunity, equality, honesty, and democracy. According to crone, these values could form the basis for solving social problems. Developed policies that are consistent with shared values would be widely accepted by majority of people, which is very useful in solving social problems.

Being realistic

Finally, it is important to be realistic in solving social problems. Even though some social problems could be solved completely if they are addressed properly, most social problems would only be solved to a small extent.

This is because solving some social problems conflict with political powers, vested interests, and the ideals of groups of people. This implies that most social problems would be bettered rather than solved fully. However, it is important to give social problems proper attention and visibility through the media to encourage the public to take action.

When media persistently covers a social problem, it is likely to be addressed by policy makers completely. Therefore, sociologists should not have very high expectations of solving all social problems completely. Nonetheless, if the condition of the social problem is made better from time to time, it would eventually be solved completely.

References

Crone, J. (2011). How can we solve our social problems?. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.

Leon-Guerrero, A. (2011). Social problems: Community, policy, and social action. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press.

Introduction

Pornography can be defined as the utilization of different means of communication as a way of bringing out sexual related feelings. It has existed from the 15th century. The exploitation may be in the field of indecent exposure or nudity to actual sexual activities. Pornography is usually channeled through different forms of communication like magazines, books, music, and film and most recently the Internet. It indication of how tolerant a community is when it comes to sexually related matters. In pornography, sex is degraded to a state that human are treated like objects, and this is accredited to the increase in the number of sexual crimes. Pornography use leads to addiction. Addiction is when a person uses pornography to a position a person becomes depended on something cannot live without it. The attachment is psychological in nature, and symptomized by the desire to see, understand and practice pornography. An individual cannot control tendencies to be in contact with pornography. When denied the payment the person will experience a sense of unwellness, and satisfying it leads to instant gratification (Adler, 2001).

Several theories have been brought forth describe the society as a social unit. The various social units in the society act as different organs in the society. A society is said to be healthy when all the organs it has are working properly, each carrying out its part effectively. Problems like pornography are experienced when some of these organs have failed in their functions.

Main body

Pornography comes in different categories. They are those that come in the form of adult magazines. These are magazines that have content that is sexually oriented information. They are legal under the supreme laws of the united stated of America. They can be found at bookstores. The other form is in the form of cassettes. This has made it easier for people to watch these pornographic movies at their own convenient time and place. Pornography can also come in the form of unregulated cable television. This is a preferred means or those individuals who could never go into a store to buy a movie. They can have the same content supplied at the comfort of their own homes.

Just like any other social problem pornography has those issues that give rise to it. In most schools these days the youths are not provided with the relevant sex education. This leads to curiosity as far as the topic is concerned. Teenagers are naturally explorative. In this quest, they get exposed to these pornographic materials and with time an addiction is inevitable. Another reason for the rise of pornographic addiction is that people have varying opinions as far as sexually matters are concerned. Tradition has defined the male as the most active and aggressive of the two sexes. This is both in perusing and the actual sexual act (Clayborne, 2010). This has led to people wanting to have information about if these roles can change a classical case of defying these traditional roles. Children growing up these days are facing with plenty of challenges, unlike older days. The family has become dysfunctional and psychological problems may make one in the future experience different sexual orientation. Pornography provides information on this for those with the condition.

Television programs have become acutely sexually suggestive especially on how it depicts women. This arouses the curiosity of the viewers for they want to see more of these suggestions. They find their way to sexually oriented material in this way. People are found to use pornography as a means of escaping from their problems. Sexual disappointment in the marriage set up has also been attributed to this addiction. Depression, boredom and low self esteem are other reasons that may push one to pornography addiction. The users of pornography often find a brief moment to escape into a world of fantasy. This need to escape more needed but with time the user becomes less and less fulfilled but then cannot do without it.

So how does one know that one is an addict to pornography? This is when one starts experiencing unmanageable sexual behavior that has negative effects on the individual but the individual is not able to stop these behaviors. We all experience problems at different points of our lives. Using pornography as a coping skill is an indication of an addiction. When one can fore go prominent family and social responsibilities just to have time for pornography involvement, this is also a sign of a problem. Another indicator based on the amount of time ne is willing to use in getting close to pornographic content. This is also shown by the persistent will in engaging in destructive behavior even after it having negative effects on his finances, well being and even social life. These behaviors are motivated by the following Un truths on the part of the addict; that the y are not acceptable, people; that no one can ever love them as they are; that their sexual needs can not be met if they depend on other people; and sex is a paramount need they need to meet in their lives. These beliefs develop as one goes through childhood. It is in childhood that most addictions start.

Pornography is seen as a condition to various social problems. Addicts are antisocial beings that have an unusually low opinion about women and are ready readily to accept explanations that tend to justify sexual crimes like rape, sodomy, e.t.c. socially it has had profound effects whereby incidences of child molestations have been directly linked to pornography. Serial murders have a history of having an addiction for pornography. Addiction to pornography starts at that point where one gets exposed to its content. Exposure may lead to addiction. People exposed would want to come back for more. By his time, the things that once appeared shocking to the individual are not shocking anymore. They finally start replicating the content of these pornographic materials as a way of living their fantasies.

It could be inaccurate to believe that pornography is just a hobby for adults to relive their sexual fantasies. Children are the most affected by pornography. The habit created pedophile, and the later prey on children to satisfy their curiosity (Kendall, 2004). Men who view pornography will often find a way of replaying the scenes with young teen as portrayed in the movies. Children exposed to these materials have the images engraved in their minds, and these might become manifest later on in life. It also makes them grow up having a crazy idea on human intimacy. These children may become sexual deviants in the society. Parents directly involved in the pornographic industry expose their children to mood swings, anger and are most likely to violate sexually their children. According to Clayborne, children possess a large number of cells in their brain that can soak up a lot of information. Most of the issues that manifest in our behavior, in our adult hood, are as a result of what we get exposed to in our childhood. Children have the habit of acting out what they see. Viewing of pornography can make children act out on more venerable kids as a means of repeating what they say.

To the men, pornography leads to a society that has no male that are willing to take up their responsibilities. It is an expensive habit to maintain, and this leads to financial insecurity. It leads the men to an angry lot, hardly available for their kids, always angry and seemingly lost in their fantasies. Women in the pornographic industry are at a big risk. The experience is violent and hurting and they may end up contracting sexual transmitted diseases (Slade, 2009). I the marriage setting it can cause the spouses to have the lack of sexual interest in each other. They may want to act out the perverted scenes on their partners. The Habit may also weaken the couple’s financial strength as it is expensive to maintain. Several measures are at our dismissal for us to use to check on pornography. Parents should take up their roles as educators (Wendz, 2008). The media that exposes us to pornography should be checked, and parents should not shy away from discussing this content with their children. The government should use the machinery available to them to check on the production and distribution of pornographic content.

Conclusion

Looking at the problem of pornography from the perspective of social structuralism is ideal. This is because the problem is social in nature and it is caused by several organs of the society failing in their functions. Such are the family, the government and also the state. These are integrated organs and need each other for the whole to be well. It however, draws a criticism that these organs perhaps need to be considered in seclusion.

References

Adler, A. (2001). Child porn and the Web. Boston: Boston Law Review 101(2):209– 273.

Clayborne. J (2010) Grimes: Porn references were fictional. London: Oxford University Press.

Kendall, N. (2004) Gay Male Pornography: An Issue of Sex Discrimination. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Slade. J (2009) Pornography in America: A Reference Handbook. Chicago: ABC-CLIO.

Wendz. M. (2008) Review – The Porn Trap. New Jersey: Mcgraw Hill.

Introduction

Unemployment is explained as the situation whereby people do not have gainful employment even after they have searched for job openings for a long time. To gauge the rate of unemployment the number of the people who are idle is calculated versus the number of people who have been hired.

Seymour argues that in order to tackle this problem one needs to ask himself why there are so many people who don’t have jobs and yet most of them posses the highest level of education (42). Education is perceived by many as the underlying reason for success but this notion applies to intellectual success. There are so many people out there who are successful in life and yet they didn’t get to the sixth grade.

There is no doubt education is important but its relevance may depreciate when there are so many educated people who don’t have jobs because in the final end its what one achieves at the end of his schooling days. Most job seekers are of the opinion that life is unfair because the students who have passion in their careers are not always given the first priority but book warmers actually get the best jobs.

Students need to be mentored on how to start their own businesses in order to deal with the current shortage of jobs. The increase in unemployment has been enhanced by the establishment of multiple training institutions that train thousands of students who are later deployed to an already saturated job market.

This saturation is evidenced by the increase in the number of organizations that are hiring employees on contract basis and also part time basis. When most students graduate they have the passion to tarmac until they land a job.

Literature Review

Scholars have developed theories that try to explain the causes and solutions for unemployment. Their arguments explain that the increase in unemployment has been brought by the labor laws that put emphasis on the need to establish workers union that is meant to fight for their rights (Seymour 31). This merger of workers has caused potential employers to shy away.

Others such as Opocher and Steedman refer to the decline in economy which brings down demand and supply of goods which causes organizations to lay off some workers (938). Industrialization has also contributed to unemployment because technology inventions have made work easier by the introduction of equipments that are used to perform tasks that were performed by several people thus the need to retrench excess workers.

For instance the introduction of tea picking machines in tea growing zones has left so many people jobless because these machines require less manpower to be operated and also are more productive. Recession has forced some organizations to close down because they are operating on losses because their sales margins have gone down (Osulivan & Sheffrin 330).

There are also those people who ignore certain jobs because they fill they don’t deserve them according to their level of education. This kind of unemployment is referred to as voluntary unemployment because the job seeker chooses to remain unemployed until he/she comes across a job that best suits him/her. This pride can make one remain in that status for a long time. Unemployment also makes people to engage in unethical behaviors such as stealing, bribery, and laziness (Graham 82).

Discussion

It is important to counsel young people prior to graduations because they should be flexible in order to survive during harsh economic times. They should be encouraged to take the first opportunities that come their way because nobody gets everything but at least everybody gets something.

According to Osulivan and Sheffrin there are also workers who are sent packing by their organizations if they are found engaging in dubious deals. This is especially due to the current rise in blue collar crimes (330) .This has been enhanced by desires of many people who want to get rich within the shortest duration possible at the expense of their employers.

Scholars argue that many people may have similar qualifications which cause that career to be flooded because the job openings are few compared to the number of people who are qualified. In some countries there are plenty of jobs but the population has very few people who are trained in those professions. In this scenario careers are said to be in conflict because most have qualifications in professions that are least required in the job market.

Conclusion

Unemployment leads to rise in crime because people look for alternative ways of earning their daily bread. There are many people who have died from stress after staying out of work for a long time. Graham explains that some jobseekers become drunkards with the aim of erasing their thoughts about missed opportunities. Unemployment has surely caused moral decay because people are engaging in very deadly activities such as prostitution which in return promotes the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Governments are giving out monetary hand outs to organizations to cushion them from recession. This means there is stable amount of money going round a given state. Most governments have established agencies that train and equip the youth with entrepreneurial skills. Banks are also offering low interest loans to business people thus more people are being absorbed into the business world.

It is therefore important to look for the more acceptable ways of dealing with unemployment in future; this will involve establishing better ways of engaging the society in policy formulation.

Works Cited

Opocher, Arigo and Ian Steedman. ”Input Price-input Quantity Relations and the Numeraire.” Cambridge Journal of Economics. 3(2009):937-948. Print.

Osulivan, Arthur and Steven Sheffrin. Economics: Principles in Action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:Pearson Prentice Hall, 2003. Print.

Seymour, Harris.The New Economics: Keynes’ Influence on Theory and Public Policy. Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2005. Print.

Graham, White. “The Poverty of conventional Economic and social policies.” The Drawing Board: An Australian Review of Public Affairs.3.2 (2001):67-87. Print.

Abstract

Modern societies face a lot of social problems; violence, family breakups and divorce just to mention a few. These problems affect the society in various ways and call for corrective measures. To solve a social problem, it is imperative for one to have a sound knowledge about the problem in question. There are three main perspectives that sociologists apply in an effort to understand social problems. Symbolic interaction, conflict and functionalism are the most popular perspectives used by sociologists. This paper discusses how the three sociological perspectives can approach the problem of family break ups in the society.

Divorce as a Sociological Problem

A family is a very important social unit in the society. All the values and attributes of a society generate from the families in that society. Families play extremely vital roles in the society. It is in the society that the values of love, care and responsibility become propagated. The parents in the family help in molding the children into hardworking and responsible individuals who can support the societal structures. The success of a family largely depends on the unity of its members. However, recent studies indicate that family breakups are on the rise. Family breakups are a threat to the society and in an effort to seek for corrective measures; the sociologists can employ the three approaches.

Sociologists can employ structural functional theory to understand this problem. The structural functional theorists view the society as a complex system that is made up of various organs (Anderson & Taylor, 2005). These organs perform distinctive roles, and the overall wellbeing of the society depends on how well the parts play their roles. These sociologists will view the family as a complex organ made up of various structures. These structures are parents and children. According to the structural-functionalist theorists, these structures have their roles to play in the family. The unity of the family will depend on how well the parents and the children play their roles. To investigate and understand this problem, the theorists will look into how well the structures execute their responsibilities in families that break up. Their assumption will be that family breakups are as a result of either the parents or the children failing to perform their tasks and responsibilities as expected of them. Indeed, most family breakups are as a result of the parents failing to meet their responsibilities. The society expects fathers to provide for their families. When they fail to do so, their families are likely to disintegrate.

To the conflict theorists, the members of a society are always at conflict with each other. The conflicts result from political, social or even economical inequality existing in the society. The conflicts are largely responsible for the observed family breakups in the society (Brinkerhoff, White, & Ortega, 2007). The conflict theorists will approach the social issue with an assumption that there are existing conflicts in the families. To these theorists, family breakups may be as a result of conflict between the parents and the children, between the children themselves and between the parents in a family. When the interests of the father conflicts with those of the mother, disunity is likely to be observed in the family (Levete, 2010). Conflict theorists argue that in a society members are not united, and they differ in several ways. Children from the same family may show a lot of variations. The differences can also lead to conflicts which may ultimately divide the families.

The symbolic interaction theorists argue that there are a lot of symbols in the society. The symbols include languages, gestures and objects in the environment (Anderson & Taylor, 2005). In a family, people may interpret symbols differently. An action or gesture done in good faith by one family member may mean something heinous to another family member (Harrison & Levete, 2009). This can cause conflicts in the family that may lead to breakups. The meanings that people attach to symbols depend on their social interactions in the environment. With the changing times, symbols are much likely to bear conflicting meanings to the parents and the children. In particular, a fashion held dear by a child may be highly detested by the old fashioned father. This may lead to conflicts which when not handled well may disintegrate the family.

References

Anderson, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2005). Understanding a diverse society. Florence: Cengage Learning.

Brinkerhoff, D. B., White, L. K., & Ortega, S. T. (2007). Essentials of Sociology. Florence: Cengage Learning.

Harrison, P., & Levete, S. (2009). Family Break-ups. London: Hodder Children’s Division.

Levete, S. (2010). Taking Action against Family Breakups. New York: Rosen Pub Group.

Introduction: Defining Narcissism as a Distractive Aspect of Social Life

The modern era demonstrates an increasing role of self-esteem, which is known as narcissism, in the sphere of social relations. The sources of narcissistic behaviors have multiple roots. Thus, some scientists dwell on the relation of the crisis to the high-tech development, which provides access to the virtual world. Moreover, it is claimed that the problem of self-love is derived from the individual models of parenting. However, after the analysis of particular behaviors, one can deduce that a number of successful personalities, which made a decisive influence on the development of global history, possessed the apparent features of narcissism. Therefore, it is logical to raise some doubts as to whether excessive self-esteem is an adverse or beneficial trait.

This paper provides a consistent account of narcissism-related conduct patterns, which appear to be undesirable for the global society. Furthermore, it dwells on the issue of individual, interpersonal, and societal interrelations that are predetermined by the feeling of self-love. Finally, in this paper, the plan of narcissism counteracting is developed on the basis of the available empirical data.

The Power of Self-Esteem: Global Implications

Undesirable Behaviors as the Direct Consequences of Narcissism

The notion of narcissism is commonly interpreted through the variety of behavioral impact. Thus, the concept is often regarded as a personal feature, which is tightly bound with the feelings of self-love, authority, and grandiosity (Campbell, Hoffman, Campbell, & Marchisio, 2011). The psychologists acknowledge that the trait of narcissism provokes a range of undesirable behaviors, which damage both the personal self of a person and the surrounding society. In this section, three critical harmful effects of self-love are regarded.

First, it is acknowledged that the individuals, who suffer from narcissism, tend to evict an attachment to violence. Moreover, the psychologists conclude that self-assured people are prone to sadism and abnormal superiority evictions. In this respect, it may be claimed that the notion of narcissism is interrelated with the desire of absolute authority. For instance, one may recount the traits of such world leaders as Napoleon Bonaparte or Adolf Hitler, who, due to their personal ambitions, established the regimes of inferiority and repressions so that to inflict the world under their dominance. Indeed, the private correspondences of these figures provide an evidence of their heightened feelings of self. The historians claim that Napoleon Bonaparte used to hide from the surrounding society the fact that his wife was cheating on him with his close friend since the authoritative person could allow neither the global public nor his subordinates and colleagues to make laugh at his family drama or, worse, to consider him weak.

Second, the feeling of narcissism is a primary stimulator of virtual life entering. This feature primarily targets the teenagers and students, who both derive their traits of malignant self-love and transfer it into the world of unreality. In other words, the young people, who are the active users of information technologies and Internet services, tend to turn into the permanent residents of virtual settings. The idea of narcissism age distinction is proved by the current research study, which suggests that elderly citizens are twice less likely to experience the authority absolutism than the youngsters (Foster, Campbell, & Twenge, 2003).

The instances of cyberbulling and Internet crimes stem from the fact that many children substitute their practical needs for the authority over the users of information technologies. It is quite customary for the students to offense each other through the social media as well as develop their self-esteems through becoming successful in the Internet space. For example, due to the research study that aimed at the investigation of narcissism progress among the American college students, it was deduced that there is a consistent increase in the tendencies of narcissistic behavior throughout the years 1989-2009 (Twenge & Foster, 2010). With the course of time, the Internet experience becomes a provoker of turning people into the virtual life since it is easier to gain status and authority in the ideal settings than in the challenging reality. The tendency often stimulates the development of mental disorders among the young people.

Finally, the malignancy of self-love is a primary source of manipulative behavior. The individuals, who adopt the attitude of superiority towards the members of the surrounding society, rarely establish any genuine friendly bonds with people. The general tendency is for the narcissists to treat their colleagues and family members as the subordinates, which can be easily ruled. The act, however, may turn disruptive for the manipulated society since those people, who actually appreciate their narcissism-prone friends, often feel abused through the acts of the latter.

Multilevel Impact of Narcissism

The idea of narcissism consequences possesses a three-fold nature. Thus, it is suggested that the trait of self-love provides some logical implications for the personal level of development as well as for the surrounding society and interpersonal relations.

The individual parameters of narcissism follow-ups account for some distinct physical and mental effects. The psychological implication of narcissistic conduct encompasses the feeling of excessive aggression, which may result in the violent behavior, alcohol, and drugs usage or even suicidal inclinations. The effects are often inflicted by the so-called ego injuries. In other words, if narcissists are underestimated or abused, their heightened feeling of self-esteem provokes the adoption of abnormal behavior, which may, subsequently, lead to mental disparities or death (Bushman & Baumeister, 2002).

From the other side, it is acknowledged that the power of narcissism accounts not only for the feelings of personal hardiness but for the intensity of vulnerability as well. Thus, the representatives of narcissistic behavior are more susceptible to stresses and psychological traumatism than those, who do not possess the feeling of excessive self-esteem. The problem primarily concerns females (Cheng, Tracy, & Miller, 2013). The crisis of narcissistic vulnerability is a provoking factor that inflicts traumas and Post-Traumatic Stress Disease.

Narcissism hinders the qualities of mutual associations. Primarily, the communication between the individuals, one of which possesses the trait of malignant self-love, is often pointless since narcissists do not accept any judgment or criticism. These instances of social interaction are, however, the parts of traditional interaction between two people. Therefore, the interpersonal association is often disrupted if the narcissists are provided with the critical appraisal of his deeds. Second, the quality of self-love substitutes customary interaction for exploitation. In other words, narcissists are much more interested in the accomplishment of their orders and wishes by other people than in the establishment of real trustful relationships. The members of surrounding societies are, traditionally, the tools of manipulation for such individuals. Nevertheless, the psychologists claim that the typical narcissist often becomes a source of admiration and power for their acquaintances (Kaufman, 2010). That is why, they attract much attention and are known for the maintaining of multiple social contacts. Still, such form of interaction traditionally involves self-conscious individuals, who need to be “supervised” by their acquaintances.

The malignancy of self-assurance accounts for the establishment of social incompetence of narcissists, who disrupt the rules of normal behavior. Thus, the individuals, who adopt the feeling of superiority towards the other members of surrounding society, do not appreciate the laws of social conduct and constantly try to reveal their opposition to the rules of a state. In other words, such people are often responsible for crimes such as disobedience of traffic regulations, under-tipping, etc. Moreover, narcissists affect the global society in terms of gathering “trophies.” Such individuals always strive to expose their achievements to the general appraisal. In this context, they are likely to practice multiple sexual intercourses or abuses as well as adopt religious and cultural blasphemy behavior. Such revelation of selfishness disrupts the norms of social conduct and provides an adverse effect on the members of the community. Finally, narcissists, primarily the political and social leader, often possess the excellent qualities of persuasion, which assists them in manipulating the surrounding populations.

Fighting against the Malignancy of Self-Assurance

The problem of narcissism provides a threat to the quality of public health. Thus, the undesirable behaviors, which evolve as the consequences of self-assurance, encompass alcohol and drug addictions (Hill, 2015). Therefore, it is crucial for the global society to reduce the level of narcissistic behaviors through the application of diverse psychological intervention.

The therapy of society relations learning is one of the most widely-spread practices of narcissism eradication. According to the regulations of this intervention, the self-assured clients are provided with the models of rewarding interaction, which aims at teaching the individuals to relate to their acquaintances in a favorable manner.

Moreover, narcissists are instructed on the emotions regulation since it is acclaimed that the need for power and dominance stems from the disparities of personal empathy. Thus, the psychologists create the specific practical methods of emotion control, which assists people in reducing some negative feelings, which contributes to the normalization of human interaction.

The narcissistic behavior often extends into a severe mental complication, which is called Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In this case, the treatment therapy usually involves clinical treatment.

Consequently, one may conclude that the traits of narcissism represent a complicated mental problem, which should be addressed on three levels of social treatment.

References

Bushman, B., & Baumeister, R. (2002). Does self-love or self-hate lead to violence? Journal of Research in Personality, 36(1), 543-545.

Campbell, W., Hoffman, B., Campbell, S., & Marchisio, G. (2011). Narcissism in organizational contexts. Human Resource Management Review, 21(1), 268-284.

Cheng, J., Tracy, J., & Miller, G. (2013). Are narcissists hardy or vulnerable? The role of narcissism in the production of stress-related biomarkers in response to emotional distress. Emotion, 3(6), 1004-1011.

Foster, J., Campbell, W., & Twenge, J. (2003). Individual differences in narcissism: Inflated self-views across the lifespan and around the world. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(1), 469-486.

Hill, E. (2015). The role of narcissism in health-risk and health-protective behaviors. Journal of Health Psychology, 2(5), 1-12.

Kaufman, S. (2010). Why are narcissists so popular? Web.

Twenge, J., & Foster, J. (2010). Birth cohort increases in narcissistic personality traits among American college students, 1982-2009. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(1), 99-106.

Introduction

Getting an issue into an agenda is one of the essential steps in policy development to address certain perceived social problems. This implies that, unless an issue appears on an agenda, addressing it in a policy becomes a nightmare. Scholars have researched extensively to determine the processes of getting issues into an agenda, issues that make an agenda, and when such issues deserve to form part of an agenda.

Despite the fact that, numerous conditions impair people’s abilities to contextualize issues relating to justice and fairness, evidently, not every condition is a problem requiring government interventions through policies. From this perspective, the paper aims at shedding light on how and when social conditions become social problems and tactics that are utilizable in an attempt to place a problem on an agenda.

The paper also seeks to unveil whether there are some issues more likely to get on the agenda than others, and sum up by examining models of power that explain the process of agenda setting conclusively.

How and when social conditions become social problems

Concepts of social problems imply that, some set of events, conditions, or even groups of people give rise to situations that are troublesome and hence alteration or reorientation of such conditions is necessary. Numerous studies claim that various social movements have the capacity to introduce new issues into the sphere of public agendas successfully (DiNitto Para 1).

A myriad of conditions exists in societies that threaten their well-being and hence requires solutions. However, not all social conditions, even if they threaten the existence of the society qualify as social problems. Social problems scholars, agrees on some fundamental objective realities within the society which while a condition complies with them, it qualifies as a social problem.

For an objective reality to amount to a social problem, it needs to incite a public outcry. This means that people within the society needs to engage in the discussions of the problem proactively. More precisely, this means that the public pays more attention to the social condition in question. Secondly, the conditions need to establish a conspicuous gap between social reality and perceived social ideals.

Therefore, the condition should enormously oppose the values embraced by the wider society (Bachrach and Baratz “Two Faces of Power” 951). Additionally, Birkland informs that, the condition that is likely to amount to a social problem requires involvement of the larger proportion of people in its definition (98).

This implies that, incase a minute segment of the total population is interested in a given condition, the condition fails to quality as a social problem. Rather the situation is taken to entangle some interest group persuading the wider society to take some action about the condition.

Importantly, in case a condition needs to amount to a social problem, a solution that is achievable through people’s collective action has to exist. For instance, if people believe they have the inability to “fight a city hall”, even if the larger population is concerned about bureaucracy practiced by the government, the condition does not amount to a social problem. It rather becomes part of people’s lives; hence, they must accommodate it.

Tactics used to place a problem on the agenda

One of the immense challenges in setting of an agenda is the determination of the tactic to deploy in placing a problem into an agenda. The policy makers may not have full awareness of a social condition that warrants incorporation in the list of social problems. To make them informed about the severity of the problem, it is then necessary to define the problem clearly and conclusively (DiNitto Para 5).

Problem definition is the greatest tactic that would enable placement of a problem into an agenda. In this context, proper problem definition aids in establishing balance of indirect power relationships, which may act in disfavor of the problem being placed into an agenda.

Bachrach and Baratz identify these indirect power relationships as “those in which communication between the power wielder and the power receiver is obstructed” (“Power and Its Two Faces Revisited” 904). A balance of these power relationships is critical especially where the problem defined challenges the status quo of the policy makers.

To ensure successful placement of a problem into an agenda, it is essential then to ensure that the problem is free from all factors that may hinder it from incorporation into an agenda. Such factors include irrelevancy and non-decision making among others.

Why some issues are more likely to get on the agenda than others are

Some issues are more likely to get into the agenda than others are. Among the reasons why some issues do not make it to the agenda level include problem definition, crowding an issue with other issues, the problem may be an illegitimate concern of the state, non-decision making, and issues irrelevancy. The seriousness of issues is expressed in their definition.

Poorly defined problems would consequently end up neglected in the agendas. However, even though the problem may have been defied properly, its concerns may be irreverent to the state. Perhaps, by considering the concept of non decision-making issues raised by Bachrach and Baratz, it is apparent why some issues end up as being agendas while others do not.

As Bachrach and Baratz reckon, “non decision making in a power context is based on the presumption that political consensus is commonly shaped by status quo defenders, exercising their power resources and operated to prevent challenges to their values and interests” (“Power and Its Two Faces Revisited” 901).

A social condition, which attracts keen interests from the wider society, constitutes a social problem, which needs solution often arrived at, after the issue of concern is incorporated in a public agenda. However, some issues, which attract immense public interest, are primarily non-issues. This is perhaps because the concerned population may lack the ability to site solution as they may lack the power to do so.

Even if solutions are available, they may largely violate the interests and the status quo of those influential figures that would set the mechanisms of enabling the incorporation of the issue into an agenda. This implies that, though a social condition may be an agenda issue, the larger population may be forced to embrace it as part of their lives since they are incapacitated to for push for likely solutions to it.

Several reasons accounts to why some issues are just taken as “non issues” in agenda setting. Taking, for instance, a condition entailing “actual disagreements in preferences among two or more groups”, (Bachrach and Baratz “Two Faces of Power” 951) as a comprising issue, is confusing. The question is, even if disagreements exist, do they attract the attention of the wider society.

If so, does the wider society have the power to solicit suggested solution? Moreover, if so, is the power limited to the extent that it does not violate the status quo of those in power? Any precondition for compliance with the two queries may make an issue end up being a non-issue. Arguably, the distinctions between issues from non-issues largely rest on social politics.

However, as Debman claims, citizens are usually apolitical until when government actions turn out to violate certain goals and rights (890). This means that, any issue of concern to the government does not concern the public in case it does not violate the public’s rights and goals. The repercussion is that such an issue may fail to end as an issue since it would have inadequate larger population endorsement.

Hence, its implementation would turn out as challenging, and the government may be forced to drop it. This means that for issues to remain as issues, the symbiotic relationship existing between the leaders and the citizens’ needs to being consistent and in harmony.

The implication of this is that, social conditions amount to issues subtle for incorporation in the agendas if they threaten both the interests of the public and the leaders- who essentially are the politicians.

However, a challenge emerges where the leaders pretend to be concerned by issues that appear to erode their interests and those of the citizen while, in essence, their interests are favored. In such a situation, the wider population is placed at cross road.

Model of power, which can better explain the process of agenda setting

The process of agenda setting is perhaps well explained by structured power model. Structured power model requires legislative support for one to retain power. This implies that, such a model is highly expected to result in better and more equitable outcomes of policies (Battaglini and Coate 118).

Deploying structured power model in agenda setting ensures equity, even in the light of bias mobilization, beliefs, values, institutional features, nature of the problem to be incorporated in the agenda, manipulative ability of people in “power”, and even policy window. Public policies are executed in the name of the larger population, which has distinct interests in the agenda-giving rise to the formation of such policies.

In setting agendas using unstructured models, the judgment of political leaders and unquantifiable factors are considered. Therefore, incorporation of personal tastes, qualitative factors and individual ethical judgments may impair the comprehension of the problem.

The solution to these challenges in agenda setting is thus “to adopt an analytical model that incorporates hypothesis which, while difficult to verify empirically, compel the investigator to explore a broader range of aspects of polity within the power context” (Bachrach and Baratz “Power and Its Two Faces Revisited” 901). This agrees well with the argument that agenda setting needs profiling with a structured power model.

The fact that, a structured model produces a broader spectrum of elements to consider in the agenda setting process, it infers that, a single best solution is also possible to get without ignoring essential factors. More importantly, problems are hard to structure without negating consideration of qualitative attributes. This means that personal tastes are widely eliminated in the agenda setting process.

Conclusion

Analyzing social problems require attendance to conflict entangling the definition of the problem being handled. Even in incidences involving certain social conditions that afflict the society, government interventions may be widely absent to resolve the matter. In the paper, this has been argued as being contributed by the fact that not all social conditions amounts to social problems.

Consequently, while setting an agenda, the setter should structure the problem and analyze it to garner information on whether it constitutes all the essential elements of a social problem. In addition to these concerns, the paper endeavored also to unveil whether there are some issues more likely to be on the agenda than others are, and endorsed a structured model of power as being the best process of agenda setting.

Works Cited

Bachrach, Peter, and Morton Baratz. “Power and Its Two Faces Revisited: Reply to Geoffrey Debman.” American Political Science Review 69.3 (1975): 892-904. Print.

Bachrach, Peter, and Morton Baratz. “Two Faces Of Power”. American Political Science Review 56.4 (1962): 947-952. Print.

Battaglini, Marco, and Stephen Coate. “Inefficiency in Legislative Policymaking: A Dynamic Analysis.” American Economic Review 97.1 (2007):118-149. Print.

Birkland , Thomas. After Disaster: Agenda Setting, Public Policy, and Focusing Events. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008. Print.

Debman, Geoffrey. “Non Decisions and Power: The Two Faces of Power of Barach and Baratz”. American Political Science Review 69.3 (1975): 889-891. Print.

Dinitto, Andrew. Agenda Setting: An Introduction to Literature, 2011. Web.

Throughout this course, we explored readings that have not only expanded our vision into the world of individuals, but also the different ways in which people view the world. The different authors we have studied have given us the opportunity to take a peek into the struggles that people are facing and the ways in which certain characters become disconnected from the world.

We have also been able to look at the ways in which individuals in the society develop the skills that enable them to deal with their problems. It has been possible for us to observe that characters from various cultural background and with different upbringing struggle with the same issues which, in some ways, are interconnected.

The texts have enabled us to visualize the indirect ways in which individuals are interlaced with each other’s lives as well as the ways in which they can be connected. The readings have also exposed the reasons explaining why family members and people who have grown up together cannot understand what one of them is going through. Perhaps, this is because they do not share certain variables that help shape their identity and worldviews.

Though one may judge the other, this judgment is often done without being aware of what influences the thoughts of that individual. There are moments when the authors of some stories make us want to reach out and interact with the protagonists and show them the mistakes they inflict on themselves. We see how some characters are scared of facing the reality that awaits them and, as a reaction, preclude themselves from the others and society and box themselves into a world where they can feel safe and protected.

We also see how some individuals interact with the people who surround them in building a kinship that gives them the strength to face the reality. They can open the doors into a world that they have not seen before. In this essay, we will explore the different stories where the characters struggle to deal with their lives or have accepted life as a failure, or fight to face reality.

We will explore the ways in which the interconnections between people can either benefit some characters or hurt the others. It will be established that reaching out to some people can sometimes help them find out something they have been unaware of. We will also show how relations can save lives in some cases and in others, how they destroy them.

In some of these stories, we come across the characters scared to face the problems, or overwhelmed by the difficulties in their lives. Such individuals choose to box themselves in an imaginable place where they can feel free and create a world of their own.

This is the world in which they are the creators as well as the managers, and can, therefore, maintain control over their lives. However, we are often made aware that by doing so, they inflict pain on themselves by convincing themselves that this lie is real and the only means of securing their emotions is by having a distraction.

In Missing, the woman feels the pain of desertion when her husband leaves for another female. This stirs up her hatred toward the male sex, which is motivated by her fear of getting hurt.

This is an example in which the protagonist is left wounded and scared even to take a risk of re-connecting with the others, especially with males. She invests her emotions into her daughter, envisioning her life in hers. Throughout the story, she claims that she does not want to goof up in her daughter’s upbringing making the first one follow in her footsteps repeating her mistakes.

However, as the audience, we observe her resentment toward her daughter getting into a relationship with a male which is partly because she does not want to be left alone. She is scared of losing her daughter, clings onto her and considers her the last hope of sanity she has. When her daughter, for example, asks her mother who cuddled her when she was young, she answers: “Only me…..I was the only one who cuddled you” (Ogawa & Snyder 81).

In The Quirk, the woman convinces herself that she lives a normal life because she carries through the role of a mother and works by going to clean the house. This is considered a systematic way of believing that one is normal. This is a woman who has not yet accepted that her life is broken because of her fears to face the reality and to know the truth about herself. She fails to proceed building a new life. She remains stagnant with the fear of loosing her daughter who hides her actual fears in the world.

In After Dark by Haruki Murakami, the character Takahashi is a musician who has chosen to delve into law. On speaking to Mari during one of their meetings, he discloses an experience he had once in court when he saw a man handed down a death penalty. On reaching home, a great pain engulfs him when he thinks of the man whose life was going to be taken away.

He explains to Mari that having faced the fact that he was going to have to endure more of these cases in the future, he would need to find a way to detach from the emotions. Just as in the case of the woman in Missing, trying to stop feeling the pain of guilt towards this man, he sees emotion in a form of an octopus with different tentacles leading to ‘darkness’.

This is his way of managing the pain and guilt he would endure when it dawns on him that he may be responsible for somebody’s death. This reaction is similarly escapist because it does not solve the real problem (Hashimoto 34).

In other stories, we see some characters who escape the reality by entering another world in which they are actually out of control. This is the world of sleep. In After Dark, Eri enters a world of sleep. The audience is aware that the reason for which Eri chooses to disconnect from the society and enter the world of sleep is that she does not want to come to terms with reality.

She can not live with her loss as a normal person. It also shows that she is consumed in her selfishness while her inability to listen to what the others are saying displays that she does not want to connect with them. She, therefore, boxes herself out.

Mari constantly describes her as ‘the beautiful sister’ who had attention from her parents, was modeling in magazines, and was always regarded as the best example to be emulated (Murakumi 152). However, this lifestyle spoils Eri and allows her to think only of herself. This makes her selfish, and when she finds out that she has lost touch with reality and cannot reconnect with the normal human life, she goes into a long deep sleep.

The kind of superficial life she has lived alienates her from the normal human life and by extension, from having some human relationships. When Mari speaks to Korigi who tells her that she is running away from something and feels happy only when she is asleep, Mari makes everything clear and assists Korigi to realize that she is actually running away from reality. This conversation gives Mari some insight into the reasons behind Mari’s constant falling into a state of slumber.

Having a sister can make one feel as if life is easy for them until they realize that the life planned out for their sister may not have had the same outlook as the one predestined for them.

In After Dark, Mari goes through her life repeating the same events as she visits to the same places at the same time and knows that there is a comfort zone around. Without acknowledging the issues Eri may be developing, she feels unlucky because she does not look like a model, and on detaching from her hopes of being like her sister, she starts building on her world as a working woman.

She says, “from the time I was little, though, my parents always told me I’d better work hard, because I am too ugly for anything else” (Marikumi 119). This hopelessness that has been impeded on her makes her aware of her future in the world and provokes her to build a wall around her (Bernstein 31).

In Clearing the Thickets, we similarly see a younger sister who looks up to her older sister. However, on being deprived of the attention from her sister and her mother, she refuses to confront the world at present and connects with an imaginable world in the garden where she is able to feel as though she belongs to something, and this in return embodies her. In Pregnancy Diaries, the younger sister is unaware of her attachment to her older sister.

When she sees her losing her appetite and grip of reality, she starts to associate the life living inside of her to that of any other responsible person. She begins to cook the meals her sister craves. Meanwhile, she begins developing anger towards everything that inflicts pain on her sister. Throughout the process of taking care of her sister, she recollects memories where they spent their time together.

Within the stories we have studied, we also see instances in which the characters are not able to identify with each other due to their lack of understanding of the thoughts behind their actions. In Clearing of the Thickets, we are shown a family of two sisters and a mother. The younger daughter has created a world for herself different from the one she shares with her family. However, her undisclosed desires and secret life seem puzzling to the other members of her family.

They do not understand the reason for which she is so introverted and disconnected from the rest of the world. Their lack of understanding is caused by the fact that they have not experienced the same feelings that she does. As a result, they are confused by her actions. In her retrospect, she chooses to run away from the pain of living a life deficient of attention (Atwill 21).

In Yoko, we similarly see a girl who is an amateur to the rural world; and as a way to deal with her upbringing, she chooses to connect with the urban world. She decides to reunite one with nature and allow herself to become embedded with the environment that grows around her. Mr. S, who comes into her life in the future, finds her stranded on a pile of rocks that are on the verge of falling down onto her.

He saves her life and after that, he works to help her fuse into an urban world. He teaches her how to get to places and find her way around. However, in doing so, he lacks understanding of why she behaves the way she does and what made her become like this (Armstrong 45).

In certain books such as Yoko, the author does not only allow us to see how words are lost in translation between the different characters, but he also allows us to understand the reasons due to which the characters are different and behave towards the world around them respectively. We are able to observe how, in Yoko’s upbringing, she wants to distinguish herself from her older sister and live a life that is not so formulaic, though we also see how in Mr. S’s life, he lives a classic role as a working man adapted to a working world (Ansari 34).

In Pregnancy Diaries, we meet two sisters who have grown up together. In their upbringing, they never had confusion or doubt about each other’s identity. However, when one of the sisters gets pregnant, the other one is confused as to how she is feeling. At first, she thinks it is just a phase but after a while, her concern for her sister grows and she blames the life that is inside of her for causing her to suffer.

Her lack of understanding and ability to communicate with her sister causes her to hate someone who is not even born. We can also say this similar to the case in Missing as the mother is unable to communicate or understand what is happening with her daughter and so, assumes that she is suffering.

In After Dark, Mari has been always certain that her sister lives a perfect life without ever questioning the possibility that she may be enduring a lot of pain. When she comes to realize that with age, her sister’s beauty has deceived her, she also becomes suddenly aware of the pain that has traveled through her and the reasons for which she sleeps as often as she does.

In certain books, we are also made aware of how the connection between characters helps them focus on and solve the problems that they are going through in their lives.

There is a way in which one character can help the other open up and do some things they are not able to do. By simply getting in touch with each other, characters can discover things about the world that they have not known before. For instance, in Dormitory, we see the girl who feels responsible for the health of the old man who lives in the dormitory (Kojima & Tanaka 148).

As the number of her visits increases, she begins to feel an attachment to him and an attraction to his knowledge of the world. She wants to learn from him, and by doing so, she feels she is reconnecting with a part of the world that she did not know. However, as this is happening, she is loosing grasp on her marriage.

Her husband writes her ‘to do lists’, but her feelings towards meeting these expectations change as she becomes more interested in her connection with the old man and her curiosity of the world to which he belongs. This shows how, by opening up a part of her, this character is also letting go another part of her life.

In other cases, involving a two-way connection, one character can influence the others and help them get involved in a world that is more like theirs, and can help them see things that they were not aware of before. In Yoko, Yoko allows Mr. S to see beyond the boundaries of a man-made world and meet the life that involves him looking out of the window and onto what is happening on the outside. In return, Mr. S helps Yoko understand how to find her way around the man-made world.

He teaches her how to get from one place to another, how to enter coffee shops and how to understand the ways in which society works. She pulls him out of his repetitive life, while he, on the other hand, brings her back down to earth (Tsushima 87). It also shows how in a world of repetition, there can be a singularity, and this can mean a bond between two people. He pulls her out of her box and forces her to face her fears, and in return, she shows him the reasons of her fears (Antloev and Hellman 45).

In After Dark, we are often shown the slight connections between the characters and how either their experiences or the things they have encountered influence other individuals. We are also able to establish how certain characters may have so much in common but never encounter each other.

Throughout the book, we hope that they will bump into each other. In After Dark, Murakami shows us the way in which the characters go through a lot of similar situations. He proves that sometimes, to make things happen, it requires someone else’s involvement in their lives in order to reconcile the relations between two people. For instance, Mari’s acknowledgment of her sister Eri and her curiosity of Eri’s life is awakened once she acquaints herself with Takahashi.

Takahashi’s confesses that he had a conversation with Eri in which she revealed her feelings towards her family and Mari. On hearing this, Mari becomes awakened and apprehensive of the changes in her sister. In other cases, we see characters that suffer from the same problems and go through the same troubles but are never able to encounter someone to talk about the fears they have faced.

Works Cited

Ansari, Sarah. Life after Partition: Migration, Community and Strife in Sindh : 1947-1962. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

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