Community Development

University of Karachi

Tazeen Azeem

Suicide in

Pakistan Assignment #1

Suicide Suicide is a multi-dimensional disorder, which results from a complex interaction

of biological, genetic, psychological and environmental factors.

Suicide in Pakistan In a country like Pakistan where growing economic instability, especially poverty,

has forced people to sell their children and body organs, the reasons behind

increasing rate of suicides could be understandable.

Pakistan is also a Muslim country and according to Islam suicide is forbidden.

Islam is the only religion that has a clear scriptural ban on suicide, so, it has an

independent effect on lowering suicide rates but still many people commit the act

everyday in Pakistan.

Some psychology experts also agreed with the fact that majority of suicides are

usually linked to economic difficulties but there are other reasons behind

committing suicides and these can force a person to end his or her life or release

them from the pain they are suffering from.

Reasons behind committing suicides

depressive disorders

unemployment

domestic violence

parental separation

growing economic instability

child abuse

bullying

rising inflation

loss of social cohesion

Remedies of suicide

Ideally mental health and suicide prevention programmers should be

integrated within the primary health care (PHC) system.

Crisis intervention centers and suicide prevention telephone hotlines play an

important role in helping suicidal people

Restricting availability of latter two can potentially prevent 50% of suicides.

Public education campaigns to promote safe storage of insecticides are

needed.

Summary

The traditional low rates of suicide and the protective influence of Islam appears to

have undergone a radical change in Pakistan and suicide has become a major

public health problem. There is need for collaboration between government, non-

governmental organizations and public and mental health professionals to take up

this challenge.

Corporate social

responsibility Assignment #2

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to

behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the

quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community

and society at large. Or, A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to

contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. A concept whereby

companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations

and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis

CSR Implementation As all businesses know, living up to promises is essential to success. Failing to

meet CSR commitments, in the absence of satisfactory explanations, can lead to

problems for a firm, including disgruntled employees, shareholders, business

partners, customers, communities and others. A firm that effectively implements its

commitments is not only less likely to run into problems, but may be more

favorably looked upon when problems do arise than a firm that continually fails to

meet its obligations

Measurable Targets and Identify Performance Measures A firm needs to set measurable targets for the commitments. In this regard, firms

behave not differently from individuals. Athletes may set personal goals, such as

“win an Olympic medal,” but they frequently set more achievable, intermediate

targets. In essence, these intermediate targets are guideposts along the way to the

ultimate goal, providing a gauge of progress and an opportunity for re-evaluation

should adjustment in approach, training or resources be necessary.

A firm's approach to setting measurable environmental, economic and social

targets and tracking success in meeting them is fundamentally not different from

the athlete's approach to winning an Olympic medal. A widely used approach to

measuring success is to identify the objectives underlying a CSR commitment,

develop key performance indicators, work out the measurement method and then

measure the results. Regardless of the exact approach taken, it should follow the

SMART guidelines:

Simple

Measurable

Achievable

Reliable

Time-bound

The scale and nature of the benefits of CSR for an organization can vary depending

on the nature of the enterprise, and are difficult to quantify, though there is a large

body of literature exhorting business to adopt measures beyond financial ones.

However, businesses may not be looking at short-run financial returns when

developing their CSR strategy.

CSR may be based within the human resources, business development or public

relations departments of an organization, or may be given a separate unit reporting

to the CEO or in some cases directly to the board. Some companies may

implement CSR-type values without a clearly defined team or program.

Through globalization they have encountered new challenges that impose limits to

their growth and potential profits. Government regulations, tariffs, environmental

restrictions and varying standards of what constitutes "labor exploitation" are

problems that can cost organizations millions of dollars. Some view ethical issues

as simply a costly hindrance, while some companies use CSR methodologies as a

strategic tactic to gain public support for their presence in global markets, helping

them sustain a competitive advantage by using their social contributions to provide

a subconscious level of advertising.

To retain a focus on outcomes, companies must set targets, measure progress

against them, and link incentives to their achievement. The saying “what gets

measured gets treasured” is as true for external engagement as for any other area of

business. Ideally, companies should measure outcomes in terms of value added to

the business, a challenging standard

Via CSR the firms can achieve the targets of high profits, better customer and

human relationships externally as well as internally (resulted in staff welfare).

When the relations got better than the firm can prosper with exceptional

performances and goal achievements.

Crime & deviance Assignment #3

Crime and Deviance

Crime: An illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government. The

punishment of crime will be more severe than the punishment of deviance.

Deviance: behaviour that deviates or moves or away from norms of society. It is

considered abnormal. Deviant behaviour is considered unacceptable but depending

on the context it may be viewed differently by some.

Social control: ensures people conform to social rules and societies accepted

norms and values. Done through formal and informal agencies of social control.

Social order: refers to the patterns and regularities in life.

Types of crime:

• White collar crime: middle class crime that is mainly invisible which means

many are not caught. An example would be fraud

.• Corporate crime: large scale crimes based on companies i.e. Bhopal disaster.

May be committed against employees, consumers, the general public or the

environment.

For sociologists, the term deviance does not mean perversion or depravity.

Deviance is behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a

group or society. In Pakistan, alcoholics, gamblers, rapists, and atheists would all

be regarded as deviants. Being late for class is categorized as a deviant act; the

same is true of dressing too casually for a formal wedding. On the basis of the

sociological definition, we are all deviants from time to time. Each of us violates

common social norms in certain situations.

Deviance involves the violation of group norms that may or may not be formalized

into law. It is comprehensive concept that includes not only criminal behaviour but

also many actions not subject to persecution. The public official who takes a bribe

has defied social norms, but so has the college student who refuses to sit in an

assigned seat or cuts class. Of course, deviation from norms is not always negative,

let alone criminal. A member of the police force who exposes corruption and

brutality present within the force is deviating forms the norms of the force.

As we noted earlier, deviance can be understood only within its social context. A

nude photograph of a man or woman may be perfectly appropriate in a medical

college but would be regarded as completely out of place in an elementary school

classroom.

Social Class

Assignment # 4

Class

Class is a relative social rank in terms of income, wealth, education,

status/position, and/or power. A class consists of a large group of people who share

a similar economic and/or social position in society based on their income, wealth,

property ownership, job status, education, skills, or power in the economic and

political sphere. Class is determined not just by “economic capital” (what you earn

or own) but also by “social capital” (who you know) and “cultural capital” (what

you know). Our class identity affects us on the personal and emotional level, not

just in economic terms, since it influences how we feel about ourselves and others.

The Class Structure of Pakistan

The class structure of Pakistan is characterized by Asiatic capitalism, with the non-

agricultural sector of the economy dominated by petty commodity production and

small-scale capitalism. This has implications for the country’s politics, society, and

culture.

This work on the class structure of Pakistan is based on the framework of historical

materialism. It is an important work, since in recent times class analyses have been

largely neglected in works on South Asia, particularly on Pakistan. This study

therefore fills a gap in our knowledge. Sketching the history of the region that is

now Pakistan, it analyzes the class structure from the time of the Mughal Empire,

through the distortions of the colonial era and the transition to capitalism, to the

class structure of contemporary Pakistan. It avoids over-schematic arguments,

attempting to proceed from facts rather than from any ideal forms. The study

develops three propositions.

First, the author establishes that the mode of production of pre-colonial South Asia

was qualitatively distinct from European feudalism. Marx’s notion of the Asiatic

mode of production is more consistent with the pre-colonial historical evidence.

Second, the colonial path of capitalist development of South Asia resulted in a

socio-economic formation that combined features of the Asiatic and capitalist

modes of production, which this study terms Asiatic capitalism. Empirical analysis

of agrarian relations in Pakistan reveals the relative absence of wage labour and the

continuing existence of various forms of pre-capitalist economic relations within

the overall framework of a capitalist economy.

Third, the vast majority of the non-agricultural working population of Pakistan

today is engaged in handicraft and manufacture. However, manufacturing and

services are dominated by petty commodity production and small-scale capitalism.

Hence, while being significant in terms of output, the formal large-scale industrial

sector, which was developed along the model of state-corporate capitalism,

remains relatively small in terms of provision of employment.

Social Classes in Pakistan

A social class is a homogeneous group of people in a society formed on the

combined basis of 1. Education 2. Occupation 3. Income 4. Place of residence And

have who have similar social values similar interest in lifeand they behave a like

have approximately equal position of respect or status in a society. The social

classes of Pakistan. 1. Upper social class 2. Middle social class 3. Working social

class.

1. Upper social class. The upper social class which generally have high level of

income and belong to be most high paying profession and they live in most

cleanest place of the country and money will be no problem for them and their size

is 2% of the total society and approximately 3.7 million they have 60% to 65% of

money of the country. They are actually 1. High status leadership 2. Big business

man 3. Top management of the company

2. Middle Social Class. The USC and MSC education are met different like USC

study in foreign country like oxford university and MSC are study in local

university of their country but income size will found more different their houses

are different their house are not huge and not think for a huge house of defense and

think a house of Gulshan-e-iqbal their population is 28% out of the total population

their population is 53 to 54 million of the total population They are actually 1.They

are small to medium size business man. 2. Middle management 3. Low ranking

govt officer And the big difference in USC and MSC is house concentration they

focus more to their house but USC not so much home focus they are less and MSC

lot home focus.

3. Working Social Class. The WSC are not much more educated they are not in

very accurative profession their income is low and they build one two room poorly

houses, electricity not available water etc. Their size is 70% out total population of

Pakistan. They areactually 1. They are very small size shop owner. Skill, semi skill

& unskilled 2. Low grade govt staff ( peons, driver) 3. Poor former 4. Political

worker

What are some advantages and disadvantages of a class system in society?

I have to say that there are a good few advantages and disadvantages to a class

system.

Firstly the advantages, it gives stability to society, if all where equal, then in theory

everyone would not have a right to control the other, and therefore society

collapses.

Second, there is social mobility. Those who do work hard can move up the ladder,

thus giving an incentive to archive higher and therefore making society progress.

With no class these incentives would not exist.

However, Social mobility is limited in most societies, for example within the

United States and the United Kingdom, money talks. Statistics show that those

born in class 1 groups (Professional business e.g.) are more likely to stay in that

group. This is the same for groups of a lower nature like the underclass as you

stated. If you are born in the underclass, you are more likely to die in the

underclass then join rank 1. This can be supported in statistics of working class

students going to University, what is averaging about 35%, but of those students

most go to "lower ranking" Universities.

Looking into Bourdieu’s theory of Habitus (Overall orientation to or way of being

in the world’ (Sweetman). Habitus is earned from socialisation into society, what

comes primarily from their family which in turn is affected by class. So this child

is socialised into his/her class beliefs, giving a theory into why working class boys

shun education and so miss out on that opportunity.

This all effects a person's lifestyle and there positioning into social stratification.

Because of this it reinforces class and so class becomes partly self policed.

Moreover class is reproduced, it is not random that someone meets another person

at a polo game and happens to be of the same class when they marry and have kids,

as two people meeting at a club. Class has brought them together and so is reborn

with that family.

Thus showing that class is embedded and somewhat closed.

Karl Marx Theory of Social Class

Karl Marx was a German economist whose ideas and works generated much

controversy. He is known to have inspired revolutionists and has been

considered a threat to national governments. Marx was one of the few social

scientists whose main focus of his work was on social class. He believed that

one's social class determined one's social lifestyle.

During his time, Marx became increasingly involved in the plight of the working

poor. He felt that the wealthy (the bourgeoisie) held the control of resources and

continued to accumulate wealth off of the labors of the poor working class (the

proletariat).

Marx believed that the proletarians would evidently feel alienated from their

work (from not being allowed control of their work) and would eventually revolt

against the wealthy to demand a more equal and just society. Marx felt that the

cause of such inequality in wealth and lifestyle was the result of capitalism and

that to reach a more equal society, capitalism should be replaced with socialism.

Elton Mayo's Theory

Assignment # 5

Elton Mayo's Theory of Motivations & Contributions

to Management Theory

Who Was Elton Mayo?

Elton Mayo was born in Australia in 1880. He became a lecturer at the University

of Queensland (1911 - 1923) and the University of Pennsylvania, and then became

a professor of Industrial Research at Harvard University from 1926 - 1949. He is

best known for his work on the Hawthorne Studies, and is considered one of the

fathers of the Human Relations Movement.

What Was The Prevailing Theory Of Management Prior To Mayo's Work?

Elton Mayo started his work at Hawthorne in 1924. The

prevailing management theory at that time was scientific management, as defined

by Frederick Winslow Taylor, an industrial engineer who felt that standardization

and enforced cooperation was the way to guarantee the highest work output from a

team, after conducting numerous time and motion studies to determine the best

way to do specific jobs.

What Were The Hawthorne Studies?

Hawthorne refers to a Chicago-based Western Electric plant. It had agreed to a

study by the National Research Council at its plant to determine the impact on

productivity of lighting changes on its 29,000 employees.

Initially, two groups were selected and the impact of lighting changes on their

productivity was measured. It was found that any change in lighting - even making

it worse - improved productivity, so the initial conclusion was that change in

working conditions led to the improvements.

Additional changes were then made to working conditions, to see what other types

of modifications could improve output. In all cases productivity went up.

Mayo was invited to participate in this study, and visited the project in 1929 and

1930 to conduct interviews with workers.

A third stage in the research project involved a group that did not have productivity

increases. Interviews showed that the group had a standard for output which they

all worked toward, and that they had higher regard for the standards set by their

group than those of company management.

What Was The Outcome Of This Work?

Mayo concluded that these experiments showed that workers who have the ability

to impact their working conditions and output requirements are more satisfied with

their positions, and that cooperation and a feeling of being part of a cohesive group

were more important to productivity than financial incentives or physical working

conditions.

This work also led to the conclusion that managers need good interpersonal and

leadership skills, not just technical ability, to effectively lead a team.

What Is The Human Relations Movement?

The Human Relations Movement is the name today for the concept that social

aspects - such as job satisfaction, group norms, and quality of leadership - have a

greater impact on productivity than non-social aspects, such as compensation. This

concept has resulted in much greater attention paid to these social

aspects of work by today's employers vs. those in the early

1900's.

Summary of Mayo's Beliefs:

Individual workers cannot be treated in isolation, but must be seen as

members of a group.

Monetary incentives and good working conditions are less important to the

individual than the need to belong to a group.

Informal or unofficial groups formed at work have a strong influence on the

behavior of those workers in a group.

Managers must be aware of these 'social needs' and cater for them to ensure

that employees collaborate with the official organization rather than work

against it.

Mayo's simple instructions to industrial interviewers set a template and

remain influential to this day:

A. The simple rules of interviewing (from The Psychology of Pierre

Janet published posthumously):

1. Give your full attention to the person interviewed, and make it evident that you

are doing so.

2. Listen - don't talk.

3. Never argue; never give advice.

4. Listen to: what he wants to say; what he does not want to say; what he can not

say without help.

5. As you listen, plot out tentatively and for subsequent correction the pattern that

is being set before you. To test, summarize what has been said and present for

comment. Always do this with caution - that is, clarify but don't add or twist.

Criticism on Mayo’s Theory:

Mayo's contributions to management theory were criticized by intellectual Daniel

Bell. Writing in 1947, Bell criticized Mayo and other social scientists for

"adjusting men to machines," rather than enlarging human capacity or human

freedom. More recently, in 2003, James Hoopes criticized Mayo for

"substituting therapy for democracy."