CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. What is Sociology?

 The first social scientist to use the term sociology was a Frenchman by the
name of Auguste Comte who lived from 1798-1857. As coined by Comte,
the term sociology is a combination of two words.
 The first part of the term is a Latin, socius- that may variously mean society,
association, togetherness or companionship. The other word, logos, is of
Greek origin. It literally means to speak about or word.
 A simple definition here is that it is the study of society and culture.

A simple definition of sociology

“Sociology is the study of society”

“Sociology is the scientific study of human society, social behavior, patterns of

relationships, and the development, structure, and functioning of human groups.”

1.2. THE FOUNDERS OR THE PIONEERING SOCIOLOGISTS:

1.2.1. AUGUSTE COMTE, French Social Philosopher (1798- 1857)
o Comte was the first social philosopher to coin and use the term sociology.
o He defined sociology as the scientific study of social dynamics and social
static.
o Comte believed that a theoretical science of society and the systematic
investigation of human behavior were needed to improve society.
o Comte defined sociology as the study of social dynamic and social static:
(a) (Social Dynamic) = signifying the changing, progressing and
developmental dimensions of society.
(b) (Social Static) = refers to the social order and those elements of
society and social phenomena which tend to persist and
relatively permanent, defying change.

1.2.2. KARL MARX (German, 1818-1883)

o Marx as social philosopher, contributed greatly to sociological ideas. He
introduced key concepts in sociology like social class, social class
conflict, social oppression, alienation, etc.
o Marx, like Comte, argued that people should make active efforts to bring
about societal reforms.
o According to Marx, economic forces are the keys to underestimating society
and social change. He believed that the history of human society has been
that of class conflict.
o He dreamed of, and worked hard towards realizing, a classless society,
one in which there will b e no exploitation and oppression of one class

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 by another, and wherein a l l individuals w i l l work according to their
abilities and receive according to their needs.
o Marx introduced one of the major perspectives in sociology, called social
conflict theory (Macionis, 1997)

1.2.3. HERBERT SPENCER, British Social Philosopher, (1820-1903)

 Spencer viewed society as an organic system, having its own structure and
functioning in ways analogous to the biological system.
 Spencer introduced ideas of the evolution of human society from the lowest
("barbarism") to highest form ("civilized") according to fixed laws. It was
called "Social Darwinism", which is analogous to the biological
evolutionary model.
 “Social Darwinism” is the attempt to apply by analogy the evolutionary
theories of plant and animal development to the explanation of human
society and social phenomena (Team of Experts, 2000).
1.2.4. EMILE DURKHEIM, French Sociologist, (18581917)
o According to Durkheim sociology is the study of social facts. (social facts,
are distinct from biological and psychological facts).
o Social facts, here means the patterns of behavior that characterize a social
group in a given society. They should be studied objectively.
o The job of a sociologist, therefore, is to uncover social facts and then to
explain them using other social facts.

1.2.5. MAX WEBER, German Sociologist (18641920)

o Weber defined sociology as the scientific study of human social action.
(Social action refers to any "action oriented to influence or influenced by
another person or persons…")
o Social action is concerned with the interpretive understanding of human
social action and the meaning people attach to their own actions and
behaviors and those of others.
o He argues that we cannot understand human behavior by just looking at
statistics. Every activity and behavior of people needs to be interpreted.
o For him a sociologist must aim at what are called subjective meanings, the
ways in which people interpret their own behavior or the meanings
people attach their own behavior (Henslin and Nelson, 1995;
Rosneberg, 1987).

1.3. Subject Matter, Scope and Concerns of Sociology

 The scope of sociology is extremely wide ranging, that includes every aspect
of human social conditions; all types of human relationships and forms of
social behavior (Indrani, 1998).
 Sociologists are primarily interested in human beings as they appear in
social interaction and the effects of this interaction on human behavior.
 Sociologists are interested to know what processes lead to these interactions,
what exactly occurs when they take place, and what their short run and long
run consequences are.
 The major systems or units of interaction that interest sociologists are:
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 (1) social groups such as the family or peer groups;
( 2 ) social relationships, such as social roles and dyadic
relationships,
(3) social organizations such as governments, corporations and
territorial organizations such as communities and schools (Broom and
Selzinki, 1973).
 Sociologists are keen to understand, explain, and analyze the effect of social
world, social environment and social interaction on our behavior.

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 CHAPTER TWO
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
2.1. The Concept of Society
2.1.1. Definition:
 The term society is derived from a Latin word socius. The term directly means
association, togetherness, gregariousness, or simply group life.
o The concept of society refers to a relatively large grouping or collectivity of
people who share more or less common and distinct culture, occupying a
certain geographical locality, with the feeling of identity or belongingness,
having all the necessary social arrangements or insinuations to sustain itself.
2.1.2. Basic Features of a Society

1. A society is usually a relatively large grouping of people in terms of size.

2. Its members share common and distinct culture. This sets it apart from the
other population groups.
3 . A society also has a definite, limited space or territory. The populations that
make up a given society are thus locatable in a definite geographical area. The
people consider that area as their own.
4. The people who make up a society have the feeling of identity and
belongingness. There is also the feeling of oneness.
5. Members of a society are considered to have a common origin and
common historical experience. They feel that they have also common
destiny.
6. Members of a society may also speak a common mother tongue or a major
language that may serve as a national heritage.
7. A society is autonomous and independent in the sense that it has all the
necessary social institutions and organizational arrangements to sustain the
system.
2.1.3. Types or Categories of Societies
Sociologists classify societies into various categories depending on certain criteria.
1) Level of economic and technological development attained by countries.
Thus, the countries of the world are classified as:
a) First World Countries: are those which are highly industrially
advanced and economically rich, such as the USA, Japan, Britain,
France, Italy, Germany, and Canada and so on.
b ) The Second World Countries: are also industrially advanced but not
as much as the first category.
c ) The Third World societies: are those which are least
developed, or in the process of developing. These countries may be
regarded as the"poorest of the poor" (Giddens, 1996).
2) Temporal succession and the major source of economic organization
i. Hunting and gathering societies: The simplest type of society that is in
existence today and that may be regarded the oldest is that whose
economic organization is based on hunting and gathering.

ii. Pastoral and horticultural societies: Pastoral societies are those whose
livelihood is based on pasturing of animals, such as cattle, camels,
sheep and goats.

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 iii. Horticultural societies: are those whose economy is based on
cultivating plants by the use of simple tools, such as digging sticks,
hoes, axes, etc.

iv. Agricultural societies: This society, which still is dominant in most

parts of the world, is based on large-scale agriculture, which largely
depends on ploughs using animal labor.

v. Industrial Society: It emerges after the Industrial Revolution in Great

Britain during 18th, Century. It is a type of society in which goods are
produced by machines powered by fuels instead of by animal and
human energy.

vi. Post-industrial society: This is a society based on information, services

and high technology, rather than on raw materials and manufacturing.
The highly industrialized which have now passed to the post-industrial
level include the USA, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe.

2.2. The Concept of Culture

2.2.1. Definition
o The concept of culture refers to the whole ways of life of the members of a
society. P
o It includes what they dress, their marriage customs and family life, art, and
patterns of work, religious ceremonies, leisure pursuits…etc
o It also includes the material goods they produce: bows and arrows, plows,
factories and machines, computers, books, buildings, airplanes, etc (Calhoun,
et al, 1994; Hensiln and Nelson, 1995).
2.2.2. Basic Characteristics of Culture
1. Culture is organic and supra-organic:
 It is organic when we consider the fact that there is no culture without
human society.
 It is supra organic, because it is far beyond any individual lifetime.
Individuals come and go, but culture remains and persists.

2. Culture is overt and covert: Culture is generally divided into:

a) Material Culture: consists of any tangible human made objects such
as tools, automobiles, buildings, etc.
b) Non- material culture: consists of any non-physical aspects like
language, belief, ideas, knowledge, attitude, values, etc.

3. Culture is ideal and manifest (actual): Ideal culture involves the way people
ought to behave or what they ought to do. Manifest culture involves what
people actually do.

4. Culture is stable and yet changing: Culture is stable when we consider what
people hold valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to
maintain their norms and values. However, when culture comes into contact
with other cultures, it can change. Or also through innovation and adaptation
to new circumstances.

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 5. Culture is shared and learned: Culture is the public property of a social group
of people (shared). Individuals get cultural knowledge of the group through
socialization.

6. Culture is symbolic: It is based on the purposeful creation and usage of

symbols; it is exclusive to humans. Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to
humans and to culture.
o Symbolic thought is the human ability to give a thing or event an
arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning Symbols
are the central components of culture.
o Symbols refer to anything to which people attach meaning and which
they use to communicate with others.
o More specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures, sounds or
images that represent something else rather than themselves.
2.2.3. Elements of Culture
a) Symbols
 Symbols are the central components of culture. Symbols refer to anything
to which people attach meaning and which they use to communicate with
others.
 It is the human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and
grasp and appreciate that meaning.
b) Language
 Language, specifically defined as a system of verbal and in many cases
written symbols with rules about how those symbols can be strung
together to convey more complex meanings.
 Through Language, culture is communicated and transmitted. Without
language it would be impossible to develop, elaborate and transmit culture
to the future generation.
c) Values
 Values are essential elements of non-material culture. Values are general,
abstract guidelines for our lives, decisions, goals, choices, and actions.
They are shared ideas of a groups or a society as to what is right or
wrong, correct or incorrect, desirable or undesirable, acceptable or
unacceptable, ethical or unethical, etc., regarding something.

 Values are dynamic, ( they change over time). They are also static, (they
tend to persist without any significant modification). They are also
diversified, (they vary from place to place and culture to culture).
d) Norms
 Norms are implicit principles for social life, relationship and interaction.
(detailed and specific rules for specific situations).
 Norms are derived from values. That means, for every specific norm,
there is a general value that determines its content.

2.4. Culture Variability and Explanations

o Cultural variability refers to the diversity of cultures across societies
and places. As there are different societies, there are different cultures.
o Cultural diversity or variability can be both between societies and
within societies.

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 o We use the concept of subculture to denote the variability of culture
within a certain society. Sub culture is a distinctive culture that is shared
by a group within a society (Stockard, 1997).
o We call it sub culture, because groups (with their sub cultures) exist
within and as a smaller part of the main, dominant culture. (e.g
distinctive culture of university students, street children etc.)

2.5. Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism and Culture Shock

i) Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism is an attitude of taking one's own culture and ways of
life as the best and the center of all and on the other hand, regarding
other ethnic groups and cultures as inferior, bad, full of errors, etc.
 It is the tendency to apply one's own cultural values in judging the
behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures.
ii) Cultural Relativism
 Every society has its own culture, which is more or less unique.
Every culture contains its own unique pattern of behavior which may
seem alien to people from other cultural backgrounds.
 A culture has to be studied in terms of its own meanings and values.
Cultural relativism describes a situation where there is an attitude of
respect for cultural differences rather than condemning other people's
culture as uncivilized or backward (Stockard, 1997).

iii) Culture Shock

 Culture shock is the psychological and social maladjustment at micro
or macro level that is experienced for the first time when people
encounter new cultural elements ([Link] things, new ideas, new
concepts, seemingly strange beliefs and practices.)
 No person is protected from culture shock. However, individuals vary
in their capacity to adapt and overcome the influence of culture shock.

2.2.6. Cultural Universals, Alternatives and Specialties

1) Cultural Universals
 Amid the diversity of human cultural behavior, there are some
common features that are found in virtually all societies.
 Cultural universality refers to those practices, beliefs, values,
norms, material objects, etc., which are observed across all
societies in the world, or across different social groups within a
society.
 Cultural universals condition behavioral similarity among individuals
in a given society or across societies.

2) Cultural Alternatives and Specialties

 There are many diverse ways of doing the same thing. This is called
cultural alternative.
 In other words, cultural alternatives refer to two or more forms of
behavior in a particular society which are acceptable in a given
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 situation. These alternatives represent different reactions to the same
situations or different techniques to achieve the same end.
 Cultural alternatives are (also) the types of choices that allow for
differences in ideas, customs and lifestyles.
 Cultural specialties refer to the specific skills, training, knowledge,
etc. which is limited to a group or specific members of society.
 They are those elements of culture which are shared by the members
of certain social groups but which are not shared by the total
population.

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 CHAPTER THREE
SOCIALIZATION
3.1. The Concept of Socialization: Definition and Necessity
1. Socialization is a process of making somebody social and fully human.
2. Socialization is a process whereby individual persons learn and are trained in the
basic norms, values, beliefs, skills, attitudes, way of doing and acting as
appropriate to a specific social group or society.
3. In terms of view of individual persons, socialization is a process whereby a
biological being or organism is changed into a social being.
4. In terms of the group, society or any professional organizations, socialization
is a process whereby the organizations', social groups' and society's structure
and well-being are kept and sustained.
5. It is the process whereby the culture, skills, norms, traditions, customs, etc.,
are transmitted from generation to generation - or from one society to another.

3.2. The Goals of Socialization

Socialization has also the following specific goals (Broom and Sleznki, 1973):
o To inculcate basic disciplines by restraining a child or even an adult from
immediate gratification;
o To instill aspirations;

o To teach social roles;

o To teach skills;
o To teach conformity to norms; and
o To create acceptable and constructive personal identities.

3.3. Human Biological Bases of, and Capacity for, Socialization

o From among the animal kingdom, humans are the only ones who are capable of
socialization because they are endowed with the necessary biological bases that
are lacking in other animals.
o The following are the key biological characteristics of human beings on which
socialization is based:
1. Absence of Instincts: The term "instinct" in its current social science
usage refers to the complex behavior patterns for which some animal
species as biologically programmed.
Human have biological drives or impulses such as hunger, thirst, sex, etc,
rather than instincts. This absence of instincts makes humans dependent
on social direction and their behaviors are amenable to such direction.
2. Social Contact Needs: Humans need sustained social contacts. Satisfaction
of the social contact and initiations needs in humans is a strong biological
imperative.
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 3. Longer Period of Childhood Dependence: The human infant need much
longer period of physical dependence and sexual immaturity than other
animals. The need to acquire the techniques and skills of social living
further prolongs the dependence. Such longer period of dependence, during
which the child is cared for and controlled by others, results in an
intense emotional dependence that remains throughout life.

4. Capacity to Learn: A high level of intelligence is an innate human

biological potential. Hence, humans are highly educable; they can learn
much more than other animals and can continue to learn more over a
longer period of time.
5. Language: Man's ability to learn is a function of his capacity for language.
Other animals may have some degree of intelligence but only humans have
reasoning capacity because they have language. Language expresses and
arouses emotion; conveys feelings, values and knowledge.

3.4. Patterns of Socialization

There are two broadly classified patterns of socialization. These are:
i. Repressive: Repressive socialization is oriented towards gaining obedience,
ii. Participatory socialization: is oriented towards gaining the participation of the
child. Punishment of wrong behavior and rewarding and reinforcing good
behavior are involved in the two kinds of socialization, respectively.

3.5. Major Types of Socialization

3.5.1. Primary or Childhood Socialization
o This is also called basic or early socialization.
o Much of the personality make-up of individuals is forged at this period in life.
without it, we would cease to become social beings.
o Hence, children should be appropriately socialized from birth up to
particularly five years of age, because this period is basic and crucial
one.
o A child who does not get appropriate socialization at this stage will most
likely be deficient in his/her social, moral, intellectual and personality
development. Some grew up developing anti-social attitudes, aspirations
and practices.

3.5.2. Secondary or Adult Socialization

o While socialization is an overbidding issue for children and adolescents, it is a

never-ending process that continues throughout life.
o This stage of socialization is necessitated when individual take up new
roles, reorienting themselves according to their changes social statuses and
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 roles, as in starting marital life. The socialization process at this stage may
sometimes be intense.

3.5.3. Re-socialization and De-socialization

 Re-socialization: means the adoption by adults of radically different norms
and life ways that are more or less completely dissimilar to the previous norms
and values.
 Re- socialization signifies the rapid and more basic changes in the adult life.
The change may demand abandonment of one lifeway with a new one, which is
completely different from, and also incompatible with, the former.
 De- socialization : refers to stripping individuals of their former life styles, beliefs,
values and attitudes so that they may take up other partially or totally new life styles,
attitudes and values. The individuals have to abandon their former values and take
up new ones in order to become part of the new social group. thus De-socialization
typically precedes re-socialization.

3.5.4. Anticipatory Socialization

o Anticipatory socialization refers to the process of adjustment and adaptation in which
individuals try to learn and internalize the roles, values, attitudes and skills of a
social status or occupation for which they are likely recruits in the future. They do
this in anticipating the actual forthcoming socialization.
o However, anticipatory socialization may not be adequate when the nature and scope of
life transition is complex. It may be difficult to fully anticipate what will happen.

3.5.5. Reverse Socialization

o Reverse socialization refers to the process of socialization whereby the
dominant socializing persons, such as parents, happen to be in need of
being socialized themselves by those whom they socialize, such as
children.
o This idea seems to be associated with the fact that socialization is a two-
way process. It involves the influences and pressures from the
socializees that directly or indirectly induce change the attitudes and
behaviors of the socializers themselves.

3.6. Agents and Components of Socialization

 Agents of socialization are the different groups of people and institutional
arrangements which are responsible for training new members of society. They
help individual members get into the overall activities of their society.
 There are three components to socialization process.

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  There is the socializee who could be either a newborn child, a recruit to the army or
the police force or a freshman in a college or an intern in medical service.
 Then again there are the socializers who may be parents, peer groups, community
members, teachers or church members.
 Both the socializee and the socializer interact with one another not in a vacuum but in
a social environment which plays an important role in the socialization process.
 These different socializing environments are called socialization settings.
 The most socializing agencies are:
o The Family,
o Peer Relationships,
o Schools,
o Neighborhoods (The Community),
o The Mass Media, Etc
3.7. Social Institutions
3.7.1. Definition and Main Features
o Social institutions: a social institution is an interrelated system of social
roles and social norms' organized around the satisfaction of an important
social need or social function.
o In general' a social institution is an established pattern of behavior that is
organized to perpetuate the welfare of society and to preserve its form.
o Three main functions of social institution are:
(a) perpetuation of the welfare of society'
(b) preservation and maintenance of the form of society'and
(c) meeting the major needs of the members of society.

3.7.2. Major Types and Functions of Social Institutions

The five social institutions of major significances are:
(a) Economic institutions: those that deal with economic and property
relations;
(b) Polity and law: Those that are concerned with social control with politics and
law government' the police' court' etc;
(c) Religious institutions: Those concerned with the supernatural magic and
religion;
(d) Family: those based on principles of kinship' meaning' social relations created
by descent and marriage; and
(e) Educational institutions: those that deal with the need for training individuals
in the roles' values' skills' knowledge' attitudes etc which are
associated with being a citizen and a worker.
Each institution performs two types of social function. These are:
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 a. primary functions' which are also called manifest' explicit' or
direct functions;
b. secondary functions' which are also called indirect' hidden' or
latent functions. Through these functions' social institutions fulfill
important needs in the society.
The primary functions of the five major social institutions are as follows.
1. The Family
o The family is the most important social unit in any society. And as a
major building block of any society, the family fulfills two basic functions.
These are reproduction and socialization.
o Society reproduces or recreates itself through the family. Children are born
in the family to join the society (reproduction). Parents play the roles of
nurturing' caring for' teaching and training children; children are expected to
play the roles of good and teachable trainees (Socialization) .
2. Economic Institution
o Every society needs to make effective use of the scarce resources. Goods and
services have to be produced to meet the basic needs such as food' clothing'
shelter' etc.
o Economic institutions are responsible for organizing the production' exchange'
distribution and consumption of goods and services.
3. Religious Institution
o This asocial institution is responsible for meeting (providing) spiritual needs
of the members of the society. There are puzzling questions about the
meaning of the human life' human destiny' the universe' and other questions.
o Religion and related institutions like magic provide explanations for these
puzzling paradoxes of life and provides meaning and purpose for life.
o It helps people to cope with purposelessness' meaninglessness and sense
of alienation and frustration. These institutions also help members of
society conform to social values and norms' and play their expected
social roles appropriately. They also provide a sense of social solidarity
among members of society.
4. Political Institution (Government and Law)
 These social institutions are responsible for protecting the society from
internal disorder' crime and chaos; as well as from external threats and
invasion.

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  They are responsible for maintaining peace and order at micro and macro
levels; enforcing social control; and maintaining the welfare and well-being of
society.
5. Educational Institution
o This social institution is responsible for providing training for the members of society.
It serves as center of knowledge production' exchange' and distribution.
o Generally' educational institutions are responsible for the vertical and horizontal
transmission of material and non-material cultures.
 Vertical transmission: means over time from one generation to another
generation;
 Horizontal transmission: means over geographical space or from one
society to another.
o Educational institutions also play the role of preparing members of society for
the statuses and roles that re associate with being good citizens and workers'
holding various occupations.

CHAPTER FOUR
AN OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL PATHOLOGIES
4.1. The Concept of Social Pathology
o Social scientists usually talk about social pathologies or social problems.
(Ranchman' 1991; Zastrow' 1996).
o The term pathology is a Greek word' which is composed of pathos and logos. It
literally means the study of diseases and disease processes. The term social
pathology generally refers to the pathos of society, i.e.' the "social diseases"
that affect society.
o However' a more explanatory term is social problems. Social problems are
those diseased conditions of society that affect its normal functioning.
Sociologists argue that social problems are best understood in the social
institutional context. Although the causes for social problems are multiple'
sociologists contend that they are usually the manifestations of the failure in the social
institutions themselves.

4.2. The Universality and Locality of Some Social Pathologies

(Problems)
 It may be right to state that some social problems are universal in their nature;
this means that they occur everywhere across all societies. They may derive
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 from the fundamental similarity of the nature' origin and destiny of all
human societies.
 From Anthropological point of view, all human beings share common bio-
psychological problems and as such they have more or less similar basic
interests' questions' fears' etc. Although they may vary in terms of scale' all
societies face such kinds of social problems.
 However' some of the social problems seem to emanate from the local
conditions; they are the manifestations of the specific cultural and ecological
settings of a society' as well as the reflections of the socio-historical and
political dimensions of the society. They also reflect the level of technological
advancement a society has arrived at.

6.3. Social Deviance and Crime

Deviance is behavior that members of a group or society see as violating their
norms. Definition of deviance varies according to groups. Whether an action or
behavior is considered deviant depends on time' place and social situations (Henslin
and Nelson' 1995).
o There are psychological and sociological explanations of deviance.
o Psychological theories focus on the personality of individuals. Certain
genetic and biochemical abnormalities lead individuals to commit deviance and
criminal acts.
o Sociological theories focus on the forces beyond the individual. Differential
association theory maintains that people learn deviant acts through
socialization; structural strain theory maintains that deviance occurs when
conformity to widely accepted norms of behavior fails to satisfy legitimate'
culturally approved desires.
o According to the control theory' every person is naturally prone to make
deviance' but most of us conform to norms because of effective system of
inner and outer control. It is those who have less effective control who
deviate.
o Another sociological theory called labeling theory states that behaviors are
deviant when and only because people label them as such (Caffrey and Mundy'
1995).
4.4. An Overview of Some Common Social Problems:
The nature' type' intensity and complexity of the social problems in contemporary society are
reflections of:

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 o The country's long history of underdevelopment;
o Socio-cultural backwardness;
o Poor level of scientific and technological development;
o Lack of good governance and political instability;
o Uncontrollable natural conditions' such as droughts' famine' etc;
o The mismatch between rapidly growing population and economic
development; and
o Urbanization and economic growth' among others (Fasil' 1993).

6.4.1. Vulnerability to Famine and the Problem of Food Insecurity

 Many countries especially in Africa have been experiencing vulnerability to

famine. They have successively been hit by severe droughts, or over rainfall,
culture of laziness as well as socio-political insecurity and resulting famine
which claimed the lives of innumerable citizens and those of animals.
 The rural population is more vulnerable to famine. The quality of life of the
rural people has as a result deteriorated very much. The most important sections
of society that are more affected by the famine and drought are often
children' women and the aged. Of the death toll due to famine' these categories
constitute of the largest proportion (Fasil' op cit).
 Vulnerability to famine as a social problem' thus' results in a number of adverse
consequences on health. "Famine and food insecurity aggravate the
spread of diseases; it is now well known that the mass death and famine
induced mortality are caused not only by starvation but also by the spread of
diseases among the already vulnerable population.

6.4.2. Prostitution

 Prostitution as a social problem seems to be associated with the growth of

urbanization and urbanism as a way of life. Although it has existed
throughout history' it has become rampant in this age of modernization.
 Some cities in south East Asian countries like Malaysia' Singapore and
Thailand are notorious for the sex industry.
 The term prostitution is now replaced by a more humane term commercial sex
work. This term is introduced to indicate that like any other work' prostitution
is also an industry' where individuals are' mainly due to factors beyond their
individuals' capacity' forced to sell their bodies to earn money for a living.
o The root causes of commercial sex work are usually

16
 o Poverty
o Harmful traditional practices: e.g. early marriage' forced marriage and
marriage by abduction' among others.
o Dysfunctional marriages' entrenched poverty and economic dependency
often drive females to prostitution;
 Young girls from rural areas often flee to urban centers from harsh social and
cultural conditions in the rural areas. They end up engaging in commercial
sex work to earn a living.

6.4.3. Unemployment

 Governments in developed and undeveloped countries alike these days face the
mounting social problem of unemployment.
 The unemployed are those who currently in search of a gainful job and are
dependent on somebody else for their living. There are other categories like
the underemployed; these are those who are engaged in a job that does not
match their level of expertise or training.
 The problem of unemployment has many adverse ramifications on the
unemployed and the society at large.
 Desperation and disappointments may lead many to self-destructive and anti-
social behaviors and actions'such as drug addictions' alcoholism' organized
crimes (like robbery)' suicide' and violence against women' theft and
begging.
6.4.4. The Youth and Drug Addiction

The problem of drug addiction is now a number one social problem' particularly in developed
societies. It is now common to hear from the electronic media and to read from the print media
that the tradition of drug usage is a growing one in many large urban centers in any given
country.

REFERENCES

1) Bekele Woldekidan. 2002. Revival, Ethiopia and the End of the Last Days.
Addis Ababa: Full Gospel Believers Church of Ethiopia.
2) Bilton, Tony, et al. 1996. Introducing Sociology. Third Edition. London:
Macmillan
3) Calhoun, Craig, et al. 1994. Sociology. 6th Ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
4) Chapman, Steve. 2000. Revise AS Sociology. London: Letts Educational
5) Day, Phyllis J. 1996. A New History of Social Welfare. Second Edition.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
6) Stockard, Jean, 1997. Sociology. Discovering Society. Belmont' CA:
Wadsworth Publishing Company.
7) The New Encyclopedia Britannica (Micropedia) 1991. Vol.1O' PP.928-929
17
8) Torres, Carlos A. and Theodore R. Michele. 1998. Sociology of Education.
Emerging Perspectives. Albany: State University of New York Press.
9) Word Book Encyclopedia. 1994. Vol. 18' PP. 564-567

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