* PU sociologist says inability to cope with globalisation a leading cause of violence
* Says Pakistani society ‘emotional’, rather than ‘rational’, and more prone to deviance * PU political science professor says poverty a major factor in violenceBy Nadia Usman
LAHORE: Social scientists have described Pakistani society as a “confused society”, which according to them is a major reason for rising violence levels.
“Not withstanding the major changes occurring across the globe, our people are becoming more violent. Another cause of violence in our society is that the basic needs of the individuals are not fulfilled,” they said.
Punjab University (PU) Sociology Department Director Dr Mohammad Hafeez said there was an imbalance between people’s needs and wants, and the opportunities they had to fulfil them.
He said Pakistani society was facing a lapse because of globalisation, which was another crucial factor for growing violence.
“Our society is not responding duly to the pressure coming from across the world, which is becoming a ‘global village’,” he said.
“Our people are not only unable to understand this situation, but they also find it hard to adjust to the rest of the world. As a result, frustration is plaguing the people, who forget their moral and ethical values, and become violent to vent their feelings,” he added.
Deviance: Hafeez said the social structure and circumstances also fan tendencies to become violent. “When an individual is denied his right to a basic necessities such as food, shelter, and security, he resorts to various forms of violence,” he added.
He said that Pakistanis as a nation were “emotional”, instead of being “rational”.
He said there had been several incidents in which people were murdered for Rs 100. “When a society functions on ‘emotionality’, it tends to fall to deviations more than the one which prefers rationality,” he concluded.
Poverty: PU Political Science Department Chairwoman Dr Umbreen Javed said that Pakistani society was a “confused society” owing to the fact that old traditions still existed, but our people have been unable to balance them because of recent changes.
She said that poverty was also a major factor encouraging violence.
“When basic necessities such as food, medicine, and clean water are not available for an individual, he has no option left but to resort to violence,” she said. She said that lack of recreational activities and restrictions on expressing oneself made the society ‘stressed’.
“In a closed and suffocated society like ours, individuals are not allowed to express their viewpoints and feelings, which results in acts of violence,” she added. She said gender segregation, moral and ethical degradation, and a lack of role models in communities were also among the reasons for the increase in violence. “Even in Europe it was only after the Renaissance that the Europeans emerged as a stable society. Pakistani society too, over a period of time, will be able to prosper as a fully developed society,” she added.
In Punjab, there were 323,772 recorded cases of violence during 2007, out of which 44,370 cases were reported to have been committed against people. About 67,689 cases were perpetrated against property; 139,014 were committed in violation of local and special laws; and 69,671 fell under the category of ‘miscellaneous’.
Over 1.6 million people worldwide lose their lives to violence each year, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) study, which shows that violence is among the leading causes of death for people aged 15-44 years and accounts for 14 percent of deaths among males and 7 percent of deaths among females.
Courtesy: daily Times
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