Contemporary social issues

Formulate strategies for dealing with contemporary social issues that influence Caribbean family life.

A social issue is defined as any condition that is widespread and conflicts with the norms and values of the society that affects a large number of people directly or indirectly.

■ A social issue is a problem that influences a large number of individuals within a society.

■ A social issue has many categories in depth.

■ It’s a common problem we see happening in our society.

■ It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual’s control, and is the source of a conflicting opinion on the grounds of what is perceived as morally correct or incorrect.

Try this: Identify the social issues in the clipart images above.

The Caribbean in which we live is plagued with many social issues. The governments are having great difficulty attending to these issues. In most cases, these issues have surfaced on account of individual’s refusal to conform to or abide by the laws of society.

The characteristics, therefore, of a social issue are:

■ It conflicts with the norms and values of society.

■ It affects a large number of people both directly and indirectly.

■ It is difficult to solve and, therefore, requires collective effort to solve it.

Try this: Can you add SIX more social issues to the list below.

The following are examples of social issues that can be found in the Caribbean society:

1. Child abuse

2. Domestic violence

3. Incest

4. Juvenile delinquency

5. Poverty

6. Sexually transmitted diseases

7. Street children

8. Substance abuse

9. Suicide

10. Teenage pregnancy

11. Alternative lifestyles

12. Desertion

13. Trafficking in persons

14. Care and concern of the aged and those with special needs

Some of these issues identified have been in existence for a very long time. Governments have made attempts at solving them, but they lack the human and financial resources needed to deal with many effectively.

1. With their limited resources, governments have created employment opportunities to alleviate the scourge of poverty.

2. There has been advertisement using various media in an effort to educate and sensitize the citizens on the main factors that have contributed to the wide spread of many social issues.

3. The call has been made on local and international agencies to assist, financially and technically, in dealing with our many social ills.

4. It is also very evident that an attempt has been made to put in place laws that punish people who engage in social issues which are of an unlawful nature.

5. Governments have offered direct help and assistance to victims through various funds and programmes.

THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL ISSUES

The family seems to be most heavily affected by social issues daily. Every individual who is involved in the social ills of the society is a part of a family which, therefore, means that a family will undoubtedly be affected.

The following are common effects of social issues on the family:

1. The family relationship will be affected – the issue may cause conflict between family members.

2. There will be alienation by other members of the society – if a member of the family suffers from a communicable disease, society might assume that the entire family is suffering from like disease and alienate them.

3. Some families may lose important members, such as parents (breadwinners), big brother/sister, etc, at the hands of crime, through desertion, imprisonment or even death.

4. Families may be forced into financial depression because of excess money spent on trying to rehabilitate one of its members.

5. Younger family members may model the behaviour of those senior members who enrol themselves in undesirable behaviours, thereby causing a cycle of the social issues.

TEENAGE PREGNANCY

There is growing recognition that teenage pregnancy and early parenthood can lead to poor educational achievement, poor physical and mental health, poverty, and social isolation. Socio-economic disadvantage can be both a cause and an effect of teenage pregnancy.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

■ We must seek to prevent unintended conceptions (rather than reducing pregnancy levels through abortion ).

■ There is a demand to strengthen secondary

preventive efforts – education, employment and support – aimed at helping the mother and child.

■ It is also necessary that we provide sex education before young people become sexually active. Help them to develop an open attitude and a positive approach to sexual health and relationships.

STREET CHILDREN

‘Street children’ is a term for children experiencing homelessness and living on the streets. The definition used by UNICEF gives the concept of boys and girls, age less than 18 years, for whom ‘the street’, which includes unoccupied dwellings and wasteland, has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately protected or supervised. These children may engage in:

1. Stealing

2. Substance abuse

3. Unprotected sexual practices

4. Dropping out of school

5. Running away from their home

6. Behaviour that might be detrimental to their development or health.

WHAT SHALL WE DO?

■ Provide children with educational opportunities through informal/non-formal education.

■ Provide families with ways to obtain a regular income.

■ Train parents on responsible parenting and family life, especially the care and protection of the young.

■ There is a need for temporary shelter for child victims of physical and sexual violence, abandoned children and runaways.

■ Children’s hotline may serve a very important purpose – a network to combat violence against children.

■ Parents should be held accountable for their underage children on the road.

ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE

An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle that is diverse in respect to mainstream ones, or normally alleged to be outside the cultural norm. It can be described as anything that deviates from the expected.

Some examples are:

■ Alternative child-rearing, such as homeschooling, co-parenting and home births.

■ Restrictive dieting, such as veganism, vegetarianism or raw foodism.

■ Body modification, including tattoos, body piercings, non-surgical stretching like ear stretching.

■ Non-normative sexual lifestyles.

■ Alternative medicine and natural methods of medical care, or herbal remedies, as medication.

Veganism is the practice of consuming (eating, buying, using, supporting) only things that don’t harm animals – no meat, no dairy, no beauty products that are tested on animals, no fur clothing and the like.

HOW SHOULD WE TREAT ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES?

■ People need to be informed about the variations, labels and titles that exist in our society.

■ We must be tolerant. Even when we are not in agreement with these lifestyles, we should not be abusive in any way. However, there is nothing wrong in letting people know how we feel in a decent and peaceful way.

■ Persons who practise these lifestyle must also realise that they form a subculture and that their behaviour will come as a culture shock to many; they, too, must be tolerant.

HOMEWORK

1. Define the term ‘social issue’.

2. Suggest three ways in which you can decide what is a social issues.

3. Suggest five social issues that affect most individuals in your community, and give three reasons why you chose these social issues.