European Journal of Social Sciences

 Volume 45 No 1
November, 2014
Symbolism of Buddhist Arts in Ordination Hall, Luang Prabang, Laos
5-12
Chamnong Kitisakon
 
Abstract:
Symbols activate as a bridge to connect the visible with the invisible things, the materials with the immaterial, and the explainable with the unexplainable. The research of Buddhist symbolism in the ordination hall, Laung Prabang, Laos aims to research the implications of Buddhist arts in both concrete and abstract forms. The research collects not only the knowledge of the images but also the knowledge of their meanings in ordination hall, Luang Prabang by researching the information from various documents, legends, and chronicles. Moreover, the researcher went to survey and learn on location and found that ordination hall in Luang Prabang were mainly divided into two features according to UNESCO criteria: Thai style, and Luang Prabang style. The samples of this research was chosen from 13 ordination halls of the Laung Prabang style.
Keywords: Luang Prabang, symbolism, moral painting, ordination hall
 
 
The Development of the Rite Worship Phra that on Both Sides of the Mekong River
13-24
Weerayut Ledphonsatit
 
Abstract:
This study aims to investigate the development of the rite to worship Phra That on both sides of the Mekong River. The term PhraThat, the stupa contained sacred relics of Buddha, in this study means Phra That Phanom and Phra That Luangstupas. The population and sample groups in this qualitative study were the areas in That Phanom district in NakhonPhanom province, Thailand, and in Vientiane, Laos. The tools used in this study include survey, observation, and interview and focused group discussion. The study reveals that there were various aspects of development of the rite to worship Phra That on both side of the Mekong River, consisted of the participants in the worship ceremony, the tool –equipment used in the worship ceremony of Phra That, the substantial and intangible costs of ceremony to worship Phra That on both sides, the regulations and processes of the worship, and the results from processing the worship.
Keywords: Development, Phra That Worship, Both Sides of Mekong River
 
 
Assessment of Amuludun Co-operative Farmers' Coping Strategy with Economic Deregulation in Nigeria
25-31
Adeyanju Agbelemoge
 
Abstract:
Agricultural cooperatives aim at improving farmers standard of living, working conditions and developing the numerous peasant farmers on whose hands lie the provision of food for the teeming population of Nigeria.This paper studied the Amuludun Farmers' Cooperative Society in Ikorodu Farm Settlement after Federal Government removal of subsidy on farm inputs. It is a census study of all the co-operative farmers available in the farm settlement and interview guide was used to elicit information from them. The analytical tool used was descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and means; chi square-a non-parametric statistics. The results showed that co-operative farmers were all males and married, average age of 50 years and literate except six percent that had no formal education. Group working system was no longer functioning. The farmers had diversified to horticultural crops and livestock production that require less inputs in terms of hectarage, planting materials and labour; and had shifted to the use of organic manures.The chi-square analysis revealed a significant drop in production level after the removal of subsidy on farm inputs. Tractor hiring unit is advised to give priority to group farmers like co-operative societies, while the Federal government is to revisit the deregulation as it affects the peasant farmers’ production activities adversely.
Keywords: Farmers' co-operative, agricultural production, economic deregulation
 
 
Mainstreaming ADR in Nigeria’s Criminal Justice System
32-43
Chukwunweike A. Ogbuabor, Edith O. Nwosu and Edwin Obimma Ezike
 
Abstract:
The applicability of ADR in Nigeria’s criminal justice system is still trailed by the controversy of public law/private law paradigm with the result that the courts still hold that ADR is not applicable in the criminal justice system especially with regard to serious offences. This paper challenges that jurisprudence and argues that ADR applies to criminal matters including serious offences. The paper examines the use of ADR in the Nigerian criminal justice system and critical issues that impact upon its adoption. The paper posits that ADR should be mainstreamed into Nigeria’s criminal justice system on a more holistic and systematic basis rather than the piece-meal approach that the criminal justice system is currently witnessing.
Keywords: Criminal Justice ADR; Mainstreaming ADR; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Authentic Dispute Resolution; Prosecutorial Discretion; Nigeria
JEL Classification Codes: K42: Illegal Behaviour and the Enforcement of the Law
 
 
An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Citizenship Curriculum: The Inclusion of Elements of Social Psychology to Increase Levels of Tolerance and Ethno-Cultural Empathy
44-48
Wendy Booth
 
Abstract:
Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the Citizenship curriculum may go some way towards solving the problems that are often apparent in relation to racism, diversity and community cohesion. Therefore, this paper examines the introduction of social psychology, including sociological principles and examples of research, into the Citizenship or Personal Social Education (PSE) curriculum in schools. It is suggested that teaching secondary school pupils about, for example, the nature of conformism and in-groups and out-groups, as well as the impact of social factors on many marginalised and divided communities, may help to break down barriers to peaceful coexistence. The recent economic crisis has led to an often volatile situation, with an increased likelihood of phenomena such as scapegoating, therefore promoting tolerance holds just as much, if not more, importance as in the past. Furthermore, fostering tolerance is a mutual process, for just as majority populations are often required to live in harmony alongside various ethnic minorities, so too must ethnic minorities reside alongside the wider population and integrate into the society in which they live.
The education system should be the starting point for addressing the complexities of this range of issues in order to prepare young people to be competent citizens and to be able to positively contribute towards the society in which they live.
Keywords: Tolerance, empathy, education, citizenship, racism, community cohesion, social psychology, interdisciplinary
 
Cinema Discourse Analysis Hatami Kia
49-55
Shapur Behyan, Roya Poormohammad, Sima Amini Saremi, Samine Bahadori Jahromi
 
Abstract:
This study is a discourse analysis approach on the subject of war films made Hatami Kia aims reach its characterization And a investigated presented at the battle of the War Ebrahim Hatami Kia has been studied with the method of discourse analysis. The Iran-Iraq War of the early start of the Iranian revolution was and is the main subject of this paper is divided into three decades from various perspectives. The results got in this paper can be filmmaker Ebrahim Hatami Kia war, knowing that there are three periods. Hatami Kia's first time attending such settlers Watch the movie starts. Hatami-Kia, the second term can be considered films agencies glass, red ribbon and named Scent of Joseph's Shirt. And end of the period Hatami Kia with "Father" started, so that Hatami Kia, then turned away from the movie War and non-war film ever, the film was subject to a melodramatic movie turned invitation. In this paper, we study the historical background, social and cultural conflict and its relationship with the film spent three decades after the Revolution. Three decades in which Hatami Kia is born, raised and then ended.
Keywords: Discourse analysis, effects of war, Characterization, Conflict areas
 
Linking Staff Appraisal to Professional Development in the Integrated Quality Management System in South African Schools
56-70
Mchunu HT and Steyn GM
 
Abstract:
The literature on staff appraisal reveals that its ultimate purpose is the professional development of educators. This article reports on part of a study that sought to explore the need to link appraisal and professional development in the Integrated Quality Management System in schools. These schools are located in the Mafukuzela-Gandhi circuit in KwaMashu Township which falls within the jurisdiction of the Pinetown district of KwaZulu-Natal. A qualitative research design was deemed most appropriate for this study and interviews were conducted with principals, school management teams and educators in the selected schools. The conclusions drawn from the findings included the ambiguous purposes of the Integrated Quality Management System, non-adherence to the procedures and processes for implementing the system and its failure to cater for educators’ continuous professional development.
Keywords: performance appraisal, professional development, integrated quality management system.
 
 
Generational Cohort Differences in Types of Organizational Commitment among Nurses
71-91
April Lavette Jones
 
Abstract:
In hospitals in the United States, the ratio of nurses to patients is declining, resulting in an increase in work demands for nurses. Consequently, organizations face challenges with nurses’ organizational commitment. Studies have revealed generational differences, as determined by birth year, in employee levels of organizational commitment in a number of organizational settings. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the impact of generational cohorts on the organizational commitment of nurses. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional design was to address whether generational cohorts of nurses differed in their levels of organizational commitment, and to investigate whether licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs) differed in their levels of organizational commitment. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit 132 nurses in Alabama for this study. A MANOVA was employed to test the mean differences in organizational commitment by generational cohort status and nursing degree. Results revealed that generational cohort status did not have a significant impact on nurses’ levels of organizational commitment. However, the findings showed that LPNs had significantly lower levels of affective commitment than RNs. This study provided information that may be of use to hospital administrators and human resource managers in communicating the need for flexible incentive packages to address the needs of a diverse workforce. Results from the study may promote social change by providing information about how nurse credentials are associated with their organization commitment. This association is critical for building organizational stability, organizational effectiveness, and nurse recruitment and retention.
Keywords: generational cohort, organization commitment, affective commitment, continuance commitment, normative commitment, baby boomers, generation X, generation Y
 
 
The Influence of Learner Autonomy and Self-Efficacy on EFL Students in Taiwan
92-101
Hsiang-I Chen
 
Abstract:
The influences of affective factors such as motivation, anxiety, self-esteems, etc., on second language learning have been reported by numerous research studies. They were found as strong indicators of language learning. Yet, the discussion of the relationship between learner autonomy and self-efficacy has been seldomaddressed in Taiwanese EFL related literature. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study aimed to investigate the correlations of autonomy in English learning and self-efficacy among junior high school students in Taiwan. In addition, this study also explored whether there were significant differences in autonomy and efficacy among students with different individual backgrounds. Eighty junior high school students participated in this study in 2013. School-wide monthly exams and surveyswere employed as the instruments to collect the research data. One of the major findings of this study is that self-efficacy and two subscales of autonomy serve as good predictors of student’s English achievement. More results and implications are presented in this study.
Keywords: learner autonomy, self-efficacy, English learning, EFL students
 
 
Dilemmas of Social and Spatial Segregations Created by Gated Residential Areas: The Case of Istanbul
102-114
Lale Berkoz
 
Abstract:
Gated communities (GCs) can be described as residential areas that are primarily designed for middle-class and upper-class families to provide the security, comfort, better living conditions and social homogeneity that such families seek. These enclaves have, also, high-standard facilities and high-quality living spaces that are guarded 24 hours a day by means of walls, barriers, fences, gates and CCTV cameras which separate them from their surroundings. GCs allow for limited access from other parts of the city; a self-sufficient environment with various facilities such as swimming pools, private bars, playgrounds for children as well as maintenance staff and security forces. With gated communities, urban space, losing its characteristic of open-public area, becomes privatized.
Springing from several sources, GCs have huge impact on urban socioeconomic and spatial structures. They have a specific physical impression upon the urban built environment such as the fragmentation of the urban space. They have social repercussions, such as their role in the process of urban, social segregation that influences social life and, especially, social relations.
Gated communities are becoming, increasingly, popular in Istanbul. The transformation began in the 1990's when the high-income groups, who had accumulated wealth in the aftermath of the 1980's, chose to escape from the density of the city center, leaving the heterogeneous residential areas behind. They showed a tendency to settle in isolated residential areas. The growth of GCs has been nourished, further, by the increased demand for the northern and northeastern districts of the city, conditioned by the 1999 earthquake in the Marmara Region.
This article is intended to highlight one of the dilemmas inherent in the healthy housing environment of gated residential settlements and their impact upon urban social and spatial segregation. At the same time, using a spatial semiotic analysis of the GCs, I discuss how the presence of signs and images of fences, walls and guarded entrances change the meanings of residential neighborhoods in Istanbul.
Keywords: Gated residential developments, urban social segregation, spatial segregation, healthy housing environment, Istanbul