The Impact of Community Studies on Social Problems

The Impact of Community Studies on Social Problems

With a surge in societal injustices and acts of inequalities, the need for a scientific approach to these setbacks is a matter of great concern. A scientific approach involves the development of conjectures, deriving possible predictions from the conjectures (hypotheses), and therefore conducting experimental studies or empirical analysis as per the stated predictions. Community study is one such scientific approach. This academic discipline incorporates concepts from anthropology and sociology as it applies ethnographical, social research techniques, as well as participant observation in its study of a community.

Gender-based violence, a societal problem     

Gender and sexual discrimination is one contemporary societal issue that has elicited heated debates and recorded developments over the decades, with severe cases leading to deaths. Discrimination is the difference in treatment accorded to an individual concerning their socially defined characteristics. Gender-based violence (GBV) is, therefore, violence aimed at an individual based on their gender identity, biological sex identity, or their apparent observance of socially outlined standards regarding femininity and masculinity (MOZAMBIQUE, 2016).

A case study of GBV in Ecuador

            Despite the significant strides and achievements that have been made to address the GBV menace to eliminate it, Gender-based violence is a social injustice that is widely accepted within the Ecuadoran society. According to a publication by AIDSTAR-One in March 2012, Myra Betron presents a case study series on GBV in Ecuador. Betron paints an image of the state of mental and physical health of Gender-based violence victims. The article explores the relationship between gender inequality, gender-based violence, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

According to Tappis, & Doocy (2016), the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that nearly 35% of the married women, as well as partnered women in consented intimate relationships of the age of 15 to 49 years, suffered physical violence from their intimate partners during their period of stay or association. To counter this alarming upsurge, the Ecuadorian government has been in partnership with the Ecuadorian Centre for Women’s Advocacy and Action (CEPAM) to combat this problem. Since 2004, the two parties have devised holistic provision of services aimed at helping GBV victims as well as work towards the prevention of the continuous recurrence of the social problem.

The role of Community Studies in addressing GBV

Gender-based violence is deeply attached and associated with a society’s culture. Therefore, to effectively address this social ill, an analytic community study is recommended in the community of interest. Tappis, & Doocy (2016) argue that any community study aimed at addressing GBV ought to employ scientific techniques to extract useful findings whose application could help eliminate the injustice. In their article, Tappis, & Doocy conduct a narrative content inquiry and assessment of the globally recommended preventive programs such as the improvement of accountability systems, change in socio-cultural norms, monitoring and recording Gender-based violence, the reconstruction of community and family support systems, engaging traditional as well as formal legal systems, and involving both boys and men in the prevention of   Gender-based violence.

Through community studies, activities such as community care programs could be rolled out with a primary aim of preventing and responding to GBV. Community studies enable sociologists and researchers to understand the population’s perception of gender and gender-defined roles (Glass et al., 2018). In the case of Ecuador, the preventive and responsive initiatives rolled out by CEPAM and the Ecuadorian government include grassroots GBV sensitization programs with social centers where GBV victims air out there experiences and counseling (which also involve legal actions) are conducted. It is through such interactions that individuals living in abusive marriages, families, and relationships get to be enlightened of what is expected of them and the corrective actions actionable.

A community care program is a theory-based initiative. This program is geared at inculcating a feminist-conscious society through the creation of a health approach aimed at preventing and responding to Gender-based violence (Glass et al., 2018). This approach is incorporated within an ecological context that emphasizes the urge for comprehensive analysis of the manifold and interrelating social levels of elements that promote, propagate, and tolerate Gender-based violence. Therefore, community studies will help address social, institutional, community, family, and individual factors that contribute to not only GBV but any form of social ill. Consequently, the application of society and standard techniques in such problems would attract global humanitarian support from organizations such as UNICEF once the locally based social system is structured to address such issues communally.

Additionally, comprehension and application of community studies in preventing and responding to societal problems reveal the shared beliefs in societies, therefore the ability to apply specific recommendation cross-culturally (Ansari, & Iqbal, 2019). In 2010 USAID through AIDSTAR-One undertook case studies in Ecuador, Vietnam, and Swaziland. In all these three nations, these societies recorded extremely high prevalent GBV cases, which were attributed by their unspoken rules and beliefs that made GBV against women and girls not only accepted but also normal (Betron, 2012). In these nations, women suffered prejudice and discrimination as they were regarded as inferior to the male gender. Such beliefs require a universal redress, which through grassroots public education on the worth and value of the female gender in any society.

In conclusion, Gender-based violence and other social injustices are realities to contend with. In most cases, they are caused by misinformation and discriminative cultural practices that promote them, therefore elevating such ills. Hence a social investigative technique through community research studies paves a better approach in the prevention and response to GBV.