There has been an alarming increase in domestic violence (DV) cases in different parts of the wor... more There has been an alarming increase in domestic violence (DV) cases in different parts of the world amidst COVID-19 related lockdowns in 2020-2021. This paper aims to understand the prevalence of DV in Pakistan through the analysis of online media sources published during the lockdown period. The objectives of this research include the questions (1) how was the issue of DV presented in the Pakistani media during the lockdown period? and (2) what messages were conveyed by the media discourses? A summative qualitative content analysis was used as a method for data collection and analysis. Three national newspapers were selected as data sources due to their relevance in reporting women's issues and their reputations. A purposive sampling technique was used to select a total of 20 articles published in these newspapers, which focused on DV amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The data shows that DV is seen as a serious social issue and is condemned in these newspapers. The power and contro...
In this world of technology, smart phone has become a vital part in everyone’s life. This study a... more In this world of technology, smart phone has become a vital part in everyone’s life. This study aims to focus on the relationship between smartphone addiction and academic performance of students in higher education. Variables such as use of social networking sites, overuse of smart phone and Academic Performance (Grade Point Average and Time Management skills) were part of this research. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 360 students of two private universities in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The target age group was 19-24 studying in Bachelors degree program. Data was analyzed through SPSS. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression tests were applied. Results reveal that there is a negative relationship between smartphone addiction and academic performance. Moreover, it has been proved that students with good time management skills achieve high grades/GPAs than those who have poor time management skills due to involvement in different social networks ...
Research with children and young adults in safe environments is fraught enough, but the process o... more Research with children and young adults in safe environments is fraught enough, but the process of such research becomes rather more challenging when the children and youth are from migrant and refugee families. This research was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad cities of Pakistan. An ethnographic approach was used to explore the daily lives of the Afghan and Pathan children and youth working on the streets. Access to the children and their families was initially made through different support organizations. A variety of qualitative participatory tools and techniques such as semi structured interviews, visual and observation techniques were used to gain and sustain the trust of the children and youth. These techniques also enabled useful rich data and an in-depth understanding of the children's and youths' daily lives, including the effectiveness of the support organizations for these disadvantaged young people. However, the worth of such tools and techniques varies acc...
This article aims to investigate the role and effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations (NG... more This article aims to investigate the role and effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the daily lives of the Afghan and Pathan children and youth working on the streets. In this ethnographic research, 30 girls and boys, aged 12 to 16, were involved in the data generation. Three NGOs were selected in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. In this research, children and youth discussed that one of the NGOs is meeting the needs of education and other two NGOs are putting their efforts but to a limited extent. This investigation also revealed that none of the studied NGOs have focused on the work based learning and skills development, however contributing to a very limited scope. The studied group has valued the NGOs’ consideration of respect and dignity aspects in their operations. It is concluded that NGOs need to plan comprehensively to play an effective role to improve the daily lives of their target groups such as children and youth working on the streets.
Introduction: Transgender community across the world is extremely vulnerable for abuse, discrimin... more Introduction: Transgender community across the world is extremely vulnerable for abuse, discrimination and violence. This vulnerability leads the transgender community towards suicidal ideation and self-harm. This paper attempts to study the phenomenon of social exclusion and how it relates to suicidal ideation and self-harm amongst the transgender youth living and working in a society. Material & Methods: The study adopted qualitative approach using document analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion. Interviews and focus group discussion were held with twenty-six respondents selected through snowball sampling technique. Results: The results indicated that transgender community was prone to suicidal ideation and self-harm tendencies. Loneliness, gender identity crises, police behavior and bad attitude of gurus were some of the contributing factors to suicidal ideation in the studied group of transgenders. Conclusion: The biggest reason among transgender for sui...
This article details the difficulties and barriers to investigation in a particular context. It a... more This article details the difficulties and barriers to investigation in a particular context. It analyses general issues, research ethics issues and personal safety which the researcher faced during an ethnographic study. It outlines those issues which are common and acceptable in a particular society, but which however create hurdles for a female ethnographer. This article questions the workability and suitability of a supporting letter from a foreign university and the problems of research ethics' application in a different setting. It also identifies some of the many issues in the field for which there are no guidelines for a researcher, so that one has to adapt according to the situation. It is suggested that university research ethics protocols need to be adapted in different research settings and cannot be applied unquestioningly as they are designed in different foreign settings. It is also suggested that more e female researchers and ethnographers should share their exper...
There is broad compelling evidence that the need for paid work and concomitant lack of access to ... more There is broad compelling evidence that the need for paid work and concomitant lack of access to education are continuing the poverty cycle for a very large number of children and youths across the world, especially migrant and refugee children. This research investigates the effectiveness of Government Organisations (GOs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) which provide programmes and services to the Afghan and Pathan children working on the streets in two major cities in Pakistan. In this research, the new Sociology of Childhood and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are used as the normative and analytical frameworks. These two frameworks consider children as rights bearers who have agency, and that such attributes need to be recognised and respected across the world. Using these frameworks, the research focuses on children and youth-the Afghan and Pathan-working on the streets, living with their families and using services from GOs and NGOs. The services provided include Drop-In-Centres (DICs), primary schools and vocational schools, among other services. In this research, five case study organisations were identified; two GOs and three NGOs, all in the major cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad in Pakistan. Ethnographic research was taken as an approach to study the support organisations and the Afghan and Pathan communities (Creswell 2013, p. 90). Participant observation and other qualitative research methods and techniques were chosen as the primary basis for data collection, because these offer the richest insights for understanding children, youth and their families' daily lives. As the study group comprises children and youth, innovative and creative research techniques included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion, life histories and field observation were used. Other innovative techniques included writing, drawings and photo elicitation to involve children and youth in the whole research process and to make them comfortable and relaxed so they enjoyed the process and offered real insights. To involve children in this research, a complete ethics protocol was approved, and followed throughout the research process and data generation. A total of 30 children and youth, aged between twelve and sixteen were accessed through identified organisations. To get an insight of views of children's parents, five life histories/stories were also conducted with the consent of the children. In addition to this, interviews were conducted with chief executives of the organisations and some staff to get an understanding of street children's issues in general, and those for the Afghan and Pathan young people in particular. Secondary data from organisations in the form of policies, action plans, reports and proposals, national
There has been an alarming increase in domestic violence (DV) cases in different parts of the wor... more There has been an alarming increase in domestic violence (DV) cases in different parts of the world amidst COVID-19 related lockdowns in 2020-2021. This paper aims to understand the prevalence of DV in Pakistan through the analysis of online media sources published during the lockdown period. The objectives of this research include the questions (1) how was the issue of DV presented in the Pakistani media during the lockdown period? and (2) what messages were conveyed by the media discourses? A summative qualitative content analysis was used as a method for data collection and analysis. Three national newspapers were selected as data sources due to their relevance in reporting women's issues and their reputations. A purposive sampling technique was used to select a total of 20 articles published in these newspapers, which focused on DV amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The data shows that DV is seen as a serious social issue and is condemned in these newspapers. The power and contro...
In this world of technology, smart phone has become a vital part in everyone’s life. This study a... more In this world of technology, smart phone has become a vital part in everyone’s life. This study aims to focus on the relationship between smartphone addiction and academic performance of students in higher education. Variables such as use of social networking sites, overuse of smart phone and Academic Performance (Grade Point Average and Time Management skills) were part of this research. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 360 students of two private universities in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The target age group was 19-24 studying in Bachelors degree program. Data was analyzed through SPSS. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression tests were applied. Results reveal that there is a negative relationship between smartphone addiction and academic performance. Moreover, it has been proved that students with good time management skills achieve high grades/GPAs than those who have poor time management skills due to involvement in different social networks ...
Research with children and young adults in safe environments is fraught enough, but the process o... more Research with children and young adults in safe environments is fraught enough, but the process of such research becomes rather more challenging when the children and youth are from migrant and refugee families. This research was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad cities of Pakistan. An ethnographic approach was used to explore the daily lives of the Afghan and Pathan children and youth working on the streets. Access to the children and their families was initially made through different support organizations. A variety of qualitative participatory tools and techniques such as semi structured interviews, visual and observation techniques were used to gain and sustain the trust of the children and youth. These techniques also enabled useful rich data and an in-depth understanding of the children's and youths' daily lives, including the effectiveness of the support organizations for these disadvantaged young people. However, the worth of such tools and techniques varies acc...
This article aims to investigate the role and effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations (NG... more This article aims to investigate the role and effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the daily lives of the Afghan and Pathan children and youth working on the streets. In this ethnographic research, 30 girls and boys, aged 12 to 16, were involved in the data generation. Three NGOs were selected in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. In this research, children and youth discussed that one of the NGOs is meeting the needs of education and other two NGOs are putting their efforts but to a limited extent. This investigation also revealed that none of the studied NGOs have focused on the work based learning and skills development, however contributing to a very limited scope. The studied group has valued the NGOs’ consideration of respect and dignity aspects in their operations. It is concluded that NGOs need to plan comprehensively to play an effective role to improve the daily lives of their target groups such as children and youth working on the streets.
Introduction: Transgender community across the world is extremely vulnerable for abuse, discrimin... more Introduction: Transgender community across the world is extremely vulnerable for abuse, discrimination and violence. This vulnerability leads the transgender community towards suicidal ideation and self-harm. This paper attempts to study the phenomenon of social exclusion and how it relates to suicidal ideation and self-harm amongst the transgender youth living and working in a society. Material & Methods: The study adopted qualitative approach using document analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion. Interviews and focus group discussion were held with twenty-six respondents selected through snowball sampling technique. Results: The results indicated that transgender community was prone to suicidal ideation and self-harm tendencies. Loneliness, gender identity crises, police behavior and bad attitude of gurus were some of the contributing factors to suicidal ideation in the studied group of transgenders. Conclusion: The biggest reason among transgender for sui...
This article details the difficulties and barriers to investigation in a particular context. It a... more This article details the difficulties and barriers to investigation in a particular context. It analyses general issues, research ethics issues and personal safety which the researcher faced during an ethnographic study. It outlines those issues which are common and acceptable in a particular society, but which however create hurdles for a female ethnographer. This article questions the workability and suitability of a supporting letter from a foreign university and the problems of research ethics' application in a different setting. It also identifies some of the many issues in the field for which there are no guidelines for a researcher, so that one has to adapt according to the situation. It is suggested that university research ethics protocols need to be adapted in different research settings and cannot be applied unquestioningly as they are designed in different foreign settings. It is also suggested that more e female researchers and ethnographers should share their exper...
There is broad compelling evidence that the need for paid work and concomitant lack of access to ... more There is broad compelling evidence that the need for paid work and concomitant lack of access to education are continuing the poverty cycle for a very large number of children and youths across the world, especially migrant and refugee children. This research investigates the effectiveness of Government Organisations (GOs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) which provide programmes and services to the Afghan and Pathan children working on the streets in two major cities in Pakistan. In this research, the new Sociology of Childhood and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are used as the normative and analytical frameworks. These two frameworks consider children as rights bearers who have agency, and that such attributes need to be recognised and respected across the world. Using these frameworks, the research focuses on children and youth-the Afghan and Pathan-working on the streets, living with their families and using services from GOs and NGOs. The services provided include Drop-In-Centres (DICs), primary schools and vocational schools, among other services. In this research, five case study organisations were identified; two GOs and three NGOs, all in the major cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad in Pakistan. Ethnographic research was taken as an approach to study the support organisations and the Afghan and Pathan communities (Creswell 2013, p. 90). Participant observation and other qualitative research methods and techniques were chosen as the primary basis for data collection, because these offer the richest insights for understanding children, youth and their families' daily lives. As the study group comprises children and youth, innovative and creative research techniques included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion, life histories and field observation were used. Other innovative techniques included writing, drawings and photo elicitation to involve children and youth in the whole research process and to make them comfortable and relaxed so they enjoyed the process and offered real insights. To involve children in this research, a complete ethics protocol was approved, and followed throughout the research process and data generation. A total of 30 children and youth, aged between twelve and sixteen were accessed through identified organisations. To get an insight of views of children's parents, five life histories/stories were also conducted with the consent of the children. In addition to this, interviews were conducted with chief executives of the organisations and some staff to get an understanding of street children's issues in general, and those for the Afghan and Pathan young people in particular. Secondary data from organisations in the form of policies, action plans, reports and proposals, national
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