Oppressive Policies Research Articles

Rape Myth Acceptance: Gender and Cross-National Comparisons Across the United States, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria

Many studies indicate that rape-supportive beliefs persist and influence sexually aggressive behaviors and hostility toward women. Despite the plethora of studies, cross-cultural knowledge remains sparse. The present study examined rape myth acceptance across gender and countries (i.e., United States, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria). An online questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 699 respondents in the four countries. Results suggested that respondents in Nigeria were the most likely and respondents in United States were the least likely to endorse rape myths. Respondents in South Africa were less likely than respondents in Ghana to endorse the myth that the female victim of rape “asked for it” and that the male perpetrator “didn’t mean to” rape the female victim. Although men were more likely than women to endorse rape myths, female respondents in Nigeria endorsed the myths “she asked for it” and “he didn’t mean to” more than did male respondents in Nigeria. In general, exposure to various patriarchal structures and ideologies; differences in preventive, protective, and punitive policy responses to gender-based violence; repressive cultural and religious practices; reinforcement of demeaning stereotypes against women; and psychological assimilation of oppressive policy, values and beliefs may be responsible for cross-national differences. Cross-country differences in rape myths suggest the need for formal and informal intervention in vulnerable countries. International transfer of effective policies and programs for combating gender-based violence in protective countries might lead to considerable changes in vulnerable countries and help to shift the focus from patriarchal to egalitarian views of women.

Applying anti-oppressive approach to social work practice in Africa: reflections of Nigerian BSW students

Purpose As the next generation of social workers in a continent bedecked by oppressive customs, it is cardinal that the voices of social work students be heard. This study aims to share the reflections of Nigerian BSW students about anti-oppressive approach to professional practice. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted among fourth-year social work students at one of the elite universities in the southern region of Nigeria. Findings Results reveal that, although willing to challenge oppressive practices, social work students are ill-equipped to apply anti-oppressive approach to social work practice in Nigeria. Research limitations/implications This study makes an important contribution to the field and to the existing literature because the findings have broader implications for social work education in Nigeria. Practical implications In enforcing the suggestions of this study, it is expected that social work education will become able to produce competently trained students who are only knowledgeable about anti-oppressive social work but are equally prepared to address Nigeria’s myriad oppressive practices that have long undermined the nation’s quest for social development. Social implications The application of the anti-oppressive approach to social work practice is integral to ridding society of all forms of overt social injustice and other forms of latent oppressive policies. Originality/value Suggestions are offered to Nigerian social work educators toward ensuring that students are not only well equipped in the understanding of anti-oppressive social work but also ready to apply this model to professional social work practice following their graduation.

The Role of Global Powers in the Prolongation of the Syrian Conflict

Since the peoples uprising in 2011 against the authoritarian regime of Bashar Al Assad and its oppressive policies, Syria is entangled in a long spiral of violent conflict. Though several factors explain the violent nature of the conflict and its longevity. However, the geopolitical interests of the regional and global powers like Saudi Arabia vs. Iran and the US vs. Russia respectively, in this country has been the main determinant of this war. The intervention of the US and Russia in this war for their vested geopolitical interests has brought havoc and disaster to the country. By supporting opposite parties both these states have, instead of creating peace, prolonged the conflict for almost a decade. This paper tries to analyze the role of the global powers in the Syrian civil war, through the Power Transition Theory. No prospects of peace are visible in the near future as long as they try to balance one anothers power or unless there emerges a clear dominant power.

Re-reading the Propaganda and Counter-Propaganda History of South Africa: On the African National Congress’ (ANC) Anti-Apartheid Radio Freedom

ABSTRACT Radio Freedom, the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) “exiled” broadcasting platform, is arguably the oldest politically aligned and anti-apartheid-created broadcasting media institution to be solely dedicated to propaganda that challenged the racially oppressive policies of South Africa. Launched as a counter-response to the void that was left by the banning of anti-apartheid political activity in South Africa, Radio Freedom initially conducted its broadcasting activities in South Africa. It was later forced to broadcast from several African countries that were hosting the then exiled ANC. The focus of this article is on understanding how the ANC’s Department of Information and Publicity (DIP) in general, and Radio Freedom in particular, assisted this political organisation in maintaining a “virtual” presence in South Africa using propaganda and counter-propaganda strategies. Using a qualitative research approach in understanding the strategies and planning of the ANC’s cross border propaganda machinery, the article suggests that the ANC developed an objective of controlling and maintaining its image through political propaganda. Relying on the growing interest in media history scholarship, this article argues and concludes that Radio Freedom is one of the key media institutions that can be used to understand the history of media and its response to apartheid South Africa.

Opening the Pandora’s Box: Kelsen and the Communist Theory of Law

This paper examines Hans Kelsen’s Communist Theory of Law in the context of his general critique of natural law theories. Kelsen argues that since there is no such thing as objectively determined natural law, a theory that attempts to use it to establish constraints on positive law is at risk of automatically justifying the latter. Kelsen deploys this ‘Pandora’s Box Objection’ in his characterization of the Communist theory of law as the ‘handmaiden’ of the Soviet government that conserved, rather than challenged, oppressive policies. The Objection is limited in scope. Firstly, it applies only to ‘forward-looking’ Communist theories of law that justify transitional socialist legal arrangements rather than seek to abolish the legal form as a whole. Secondly, it does not eliminate the Rule of Law constraints that are independent from natural law fetters - hence the state does not have a ‘blank cheque’ to introduce any positive law.

La crisis de los Refugiados en Grecia: El desarrollo del racism. Respuestas antirracistas e implicaciones para el Trabajo Social

El racismo en Grecia se ha venido construyendo a lo largo del tiempo a través de divisiones sociales y su legitimación se ha producido a raíz de políticas punitivas y violentas: Reflexionar acerca del desarrollo histórico del racismo poniendo el énfasis en la actual crisis de los refugiados es la clave del presente artículo. Junto a ello se reflexiona acerca del papel ambiguo que en ocasiones desempeña la profesión del trabajo social en este ámbito cuando a menudo sin pretenderlo contribuye a implementar políticas injustas y a reproducir desigualdades sociales. Basado en los paradigmas antiracista y de solidaridad que han emergido especialmente en los tiempos de crisis, la discusión de este artículo apunta a la urgente necesidad para el trabajo social de resistir contra el racismo por medio de una acción antiopresiva tanto a nivel macro como a nivel micro.Racism in Greece across time, has been constructed through social divisions and legitimized via violent and punitive policies. Reflecting on the historical development of racism and with a special focus on the current refugee crisis, this paper provides insights into the profession’s ambiguous role that is called to undertake in the implementation of unjust and oppressive policies and reproduction of social inequalities. Based on the anti-racist and solidarity paradigm that has risen especially during the crisis, the discussion indicates the urgent need for social work to resist and struggle against racism via anti-oppressive action both at micro and macro levels.

The Italian Fascist regime, the Catholic Church and Protestant religious minorities in ‘terre redente’ (1918–40)

This article explores the policies of discrimination and oppression towards Protestant communities in interwar Italy exercised by the state authorities and often incited by the Catholic Church. In particular, the circumstances in the multi-ethnic north-eastern region, the Julian March, are analysed in the context of so-called Border Fascism. The Protestant Churches had had in the past a prevalently ethnic character, but with the annexation to Italy, their background had been in several cases either concealed or, through migrations, Italians eventually became majorities. Another significant characteristic is that Slovene and Croatian minorities only rarely adhered to Protestantism, other than the relatively few Seventh-day Adventists and ‘Fratelli’. Based on the archival documents, oppressive actions of the Fascist authorities against Adventists in Trieste as a response to a complaint by the Catholic curia accusing them of proselytism are reconstructed. The investigations and harassments of Adventists show all basic similarities to the episodes of oppression against certain Protestant minorities in other parts of Italy, while the nationality of their members was a crucial factor in determining why of all minority religions, aside from the Jewish, it was this community which experienced the most oppressive police treatment in the Julian March region.

Born the Year after the Flood

This essay reveals the true history of my people. It demonstrates our highly developed social, spiritual, and political governance structures. Our use of the water systems underscores the ecological integrity of sustainable development that we fostered for thousands of years. Yet, due to colonization and oppressive policies designed to destroy Indigenous identity, culture, and history, Indigenous knowledge and governing systems have been put in jeopardy. Colonial policies intended to dispossess and oppress First Nations by depriving us from Indigenous lands, controlling all aspects of our lives, which created dependence by limiting Indigenous peoples’ abilities to provide for themselves. Furthermore, these policies had no Indigenous input or representation and were designed to eradicate or eliminate Indigenous rights, titles, and the right to self-determination to easily gain access to Indigenous lands for development and industrialization, such as in the case of the massive hydroelectrical dams that continue to alienate my home community today.

Supporting transgender students: School counselors’ preparedness, training efforts, and necessary support

Negative school climate and oppressive policies and laws significantly impact the psychological and academic well-being of transgender students in the United States. LGBTQ students consistently identify school counselors as the most supportive school staff member. Although school counselors have the ethical obligation to advocate for transgender students in their schools, little is known about transgender-specific training for school counselors or efforts by school counselors to train school staff about the needs of transgender students. The current study explored: 1) school counselors’ readiness to work with transgender students; 2) counselors’ efforts to train school personnel on transgender issues; and 3) self-reported type of support school counselors need from school personnel to appropriately and effectively provide services to transgender students. Results show that school counselors lack transgender-specific training, both during training programs and on-the-job. Also, participants shared that their efforts to train other staff on transgender issues was overwhelmingly met with administrative resistance. Finally, participants described different types of support they need from school personnel in order to effectively provide services to transgender students. Recommendations for improving transgender-specific training and ways to support school counselors’ advocacy for transgender students are discussed.

Ebed-Melech’s protest to King Zedekiah as a model of modern protest movement (Jr 38:1–17)

Generally, there are three types of protest, namely prophetic, political and sacramental protests. The prophetic protest has to do with various prophets protesting against nations, kings and policies of the government. Political protests have to do with various groups of people protesting against government policies of oppression. Protest by a group of people of certain faith against the evil that is perpetrated by governments or other authorities is known as sacramental protest. This article is about an individual called Ebed-Melech who protested against the wicked act of King Zedekiah and his princes. The article discusses how Ebed-Melech’s protest, just as the prophetic, political and sacramental protest, can become a model for modern protests all over the world. This article insists that Ebed-Melech’s courage, concern for justice, love, kindness and compassion makes him suitable to be a model for prophetic, political and sacramental protests in the modern world. The Ebed-Melech protest is an example of individual responsibility in the modern world that is filled with injustice.

The Place of Students and Workers Activism in Politics: A Historical Reflection

History has revealed that overtime Students and Workers through their activism have played a significant role in politics as they have acted as checks in any political dispensation that is against the common interest. This is because while the proletariats (workers) produce the wealth plundered by those in authority, the students form the literati, on whose shoulders rest the conscience of the society. It was in line with this mandate that in the 19thCentury, Russian students were at the forefront of the struggle against the Czars’ exploitative and dictatorial social system. Similarly, Chinese students constituted the most active groups in the fight against feudalism and Japanese colonization. In the 1960s, students took up arms in opposition to inhumane Western consumer societies and their exploitation and repression of the poor, black and yellow races. Also, American students were actively involved in the civil right movements, especially in the Southern parts. Under the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) they created a climate of opinion about the Vietnam War which the American people could not ignore. In Africa, outbursts in Mali, Zaire, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa have shown students and workers as an important factor in decolonization politics. This is because the oppressive policies of the state have most often further impoverish them both physically and psychologically. However, with the attainment of Independence, this role has been crippled by the forces which they paper intends to interrogate. Data obtained from primary and secondary sources were deployed to carry out the study with an analytical and narrative historical method. Findings indicate that oppressive politics has been the major factor that stimulated their role in politics especially during the decolonization process and that in the neocolonial state, emerging forces and policies of the government are directed at destroying this role. Keywords: Workers, Students, Governance, Politics

Militancy and violence as a catalyst to kidnapping in Nigeria

This study examines the concept of militancy and violence as a catalyst for kidnapping in Nigeria. The study acknowledges that there may be violent and non-violent militancy, but kidnapping is always forceful and violent in nature. Nigeria has witnessed and continues to witness various forms of militancy and violence, which have generated a booming new enterprise in the form of kidnapping for ransom. Government efforts to address these problems have been discriminatory, sentimental and engulfed in ethnicity. The lop-sidedness and apathy shown by the government in thwarting this menace has led to militants’ demands for self-determination and sovereignty. Triggers for militancy, such as social injustice, oppressive policies, marginalization and resource control, seem to have no bearing on government agenda and policy. There is mistrust as to the intent of the government in containing the rising profile of militants and kidnappers, thereby creating fear in the minds of Nigerian citizens. We recommend among other actions: re-value orientation, good governance based on justice and the rule of law, and reform of the criminal justice system.

Impact of Oppressors on Truthfulness: A Case Study on University of Karachi – Students (Under-Graduate & Graduate)

Under this truth model and research study, the truth is defined as a central fold, which is communicated of its surroundings. Truth is always there available to every person for being revealed but each type of personality is distracted, distressed, dominated or oppressed with an oppressor who is a hurdle in prevalence of truth to each personality. It might be a voice, noise, a physical barrier or distortion etc..The communication type between each and every elements of the model is extra personal in nature. The truth to any one type whether, through direct or indirect interaction. Therefore, the model responds for two-way communication process where, each entity or element act as sender and as well as receiver in the same discipline.The model and research study will further help in finding the core hypothesis i.e. to calculate when the ability of truthfulness in under-graduate, post-graduate and graduate standard students come into existence when dealing with various oppressive conditions and policies i.e. being unaware with the truth, and reacted when dealt with the situation of known about the truth, furthermore; what sources are acquired for prevalence of truth. Secondly, the inheritance element in the process of discovering truth from ancestral roots and the frequency of parent child interaction in investigating of disturbing conditions and matter. How both the ends respond i.e. positively or negatively? The truth model will also be assisting in understanding the scenarios of untruthfulness (social interaction) when opposite reactions insist students to act differently to prescribed criteria and standards. Various studies show that untruthfulness occur due to in hunger and starvation. Further, truthfulness is the adverse situation in anger or aggression (need to be checked). Some other factors such as social disorder, neglected by superior authorities (teachers or maestros) also result in provoking truthfulness in the students. The model will be quite helpful in checking of such disorders of truthfulness. Keywords: Two-way Communication process, Disorders of truthfulness, Hunger and Starvation DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-6-14 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

Settler colonialism, Indigenous cultures, and the promotional landscape of tourism in Ontario, Canada's ‘near North’

ABSTRACTSettler colonialism relies upon a logic of elimination that strives to dissolve Indigenous culture and title to ancestral lands. In Canada, settler colonialism has steered not only oppressive state policy directions, but also settler narratives that essentialize and displace Indigenous Peoples and cultural connections to land. Tourism is an especially potent social force through which such settler stories can be perpetuated and resisted. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Indigenous culture is portrayed in the tourism promotional landscape of Ontario's ‘near north’, a rural leisure landscape for nature enthusiasts and second-home owners. While Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee First Nations have inhabited this area for generations, their cultural presence is often marginalized in development discourses, both historical and contemporary. Our study draws upon critical discourse analysis of websites produced by stakeholders associated with three case study sites – a Provincial Park, an annual cranberry Festival, and a major casino operation – to understand both the limits and opportunities of tourism in relation to maintaining and revitalizing Indigenous culture. In so doing, our paper contributes to critiques of settler colonial power relations and how these infiltrate tourism, and identifies pathways for disrupting the erasure of Indigenous cultures in tourism.

On the universal and the particular in studying oppressive mobility regimes

Focusing on the particularities of migration management and bordering in Portugal, contributions to this Special Issue inevitably raise our awareness about a more universal form that increasingly structures the management of mobility in states across Europe and beyond. This universal form that dominates migration management is colonial in its constitution, global in its reach, technologically advanced in its control, dehumanising in its implementation, and oppressive in its essence. Inspired by articles in this Special Issue, this afterword suggests that a key for studying critically the spread of the universal form in its particular instantiation is a reorientation of the ethnographic gaze towards moral subjectivities of bureaucrats and policymakers in institutions that implement oppressive migration policies. We must attempt to trace, analyse and understand how state actors justify servicing a blatant new form of an Arendtian 'banality of evil' that leads to the dehumanisation and exclusion of illegalised migrants and refugees.

A Re-imagining of Evaluation as Social Justice: A Discussion of the Education Justice Project

While efforts to increase access to higher education for incarcerated populations are laudable, the prominent discourse, rationale, and examined outcomes are narrowly defined. Too often program evaluations, especially those within criminal justice contexts, implicitly prescribe values and condone oppressive policies, while claiming neutrality through methodology. What is needed are evaluation frameworks and theories born in opposition to the current ‘gold standard’, which currently fails to consider conditions linked to the many structural inequities of society, and misses the opportunity to advocate for social justice. This paper presents a restorative justice approach to evaluation, conceptualized to address the complex socio-political and cultural dynamics of educational programs within prisons, and as way to bring stakeholders together to generate new meaning and understanding. Vignettes are utilized to illustrate what a restorative justice approach to evaluation might look like within the case example of the Education Justice Project, a higher education program within prison.

Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father and Benjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire

Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father and Benjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire

МОВНИЙ АСПЕКТ ПОСТКОЛОНІАЛЬНОЇ МЕНТАЛЬНОСТІ УКРАЇНЦІВ: ДЕСТРУКЦІЯ «ПРАВА МОВИ» ЯК ФУНДАМЕНТУ ПРАВА НАЦІЇ

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problem of postcolonial mentality in contemporary Ukraine, in particular the question of its linguistic component. The era of neocolonialism continues to exist even after the actual collapse of the colonial system in the twentieth century. The consequences of the long colonial past of peoples and nations are the deformed sense of national identity and, accordingly, the phenomenon of postcolonial mentality. More than three hundred years of the colonial regime in Ukraine and the purposeful policy of cultural expansion and language oppression promoted the formation of such a distorted type of national consciousness. The main manifestation of post-colonial mentality is a contemptuous attitude to the Ukrainian language, a diminution of its meaning as the foundation for nation-building, since artificially spreaded bilingualism actually appears as a means of Russification. It is proved that, despite the purposeful but inconsistent policy of renaissance during the Independence, the dominant influence of the Russian language in public and everyday use can not be ignored, since these phenomena are mostly chauvinistic in nature, which manifests itself in an apparent offensive on the legitimization of the Ukrainian language as the language of the State Ukraine, as the foundations of the right of the nation as a whole, as well as acting as a field for speculation as a conscious means of successfully manipulated technique in the slogan of the necessity of bilingualism, which is positioned as an essential attribute of the modern globalized world. Ukrainian/Russian dichotomy appears axiologically as shameful / prestigious, which, according to the author, is one of the manifestations of the post-colonial mentality of Ukrainians, namely the linguistic aspect of the functioning and even the collision between two cultures, nations, ideological systems and mentality. The language of the postcolonial mentality of Ukrainians is the subject of an analysis of the problem of finding means and efforts for the consolidation of the Ukrainian nation in connection with the urgent need for confrontation and prevention of linguocide by the aggressor state, since such colonial practices are total anachronism in a democratic society.

Countering Ethnic Violence, Extremism, and Terrorism or Human Rights Violations: A Case Study of Central Asian Republics

Central Asia has been declared as ‘not free’ region by most of the global human rights organizations. The region has been governed by the old socialist-minded leadership since its independence. This style does not give room for civil liberties and human rights. Furthermore, the region has been marked with extremism, terrorism and ethnic violence for a long period of time. The regimes are also supported by other ‘not free’ states especially Russia and China. Such kind of regional dynamics has encouraged the states to adopt oppressive policies in order to strengthen themselves. This research focuses; to understand the social and ethnic demography of the Central Asian region; to understand the hyper-presidential political systems of the region; to understand the violent and non-violent movements against the ‘system’, and to analyze the state policies towards human rights and civil liberties.

Human rights and mental health in post-apartheid South Africa: lessons from health care professionals working with suicidal inmates in the prison system

BackgroundDuring the era of apartheid in South Africa, a number of mental health professionals were vocal about the need for socio-economic and political reform. They described the deleterious psychological and social impact of the oppressive and discriminatory Nationalist state policies. However, they remained optimistic that democracy would usher in positive changes. In this article, we consider how mental health professionals working in post-apartheid South Africa experience their work.MethodsOur aim was to describe the experience of mental health professionals working in prisons who provide care to suicidal prisoners. Data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic content analysis.ResultsFindings draw attention to the challenges mental health professionals in post-apartheid South Africa face when attempting to provide psychological care in settings where resources are scarce and where the environment is anti-therapeutic. Findings highlight the significant gap between current policies, which protect prisoners’ human rights, and every-day practices within prisons.ConclusionsThe findings imply that there is still an urgent need for activism in South Africa, particularly in the context of providing mental health care services in settings which are anti-therapeutic and inadequately resourced, such as prisons.