Open Journal for Sociological Studies

Number 2, 2021

43-56
Risk Factors of Juvenile Delinquents’ Post Rehabilitation Relapse: Evidence from Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Authors: Mandlakazi Tshunungwa & Emeka Emmanuel Obioha

Abstract

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This study explored the risk factors of post-rehabilitation relapse among juvenile delinquents in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is foregrounded on three sociological theories, namely, labelling, differential association and social control. Through snowballing technique, a sample of 35 respondents was drawn from population of parents and guardians in Mthatha whose children had attended rehabilitation. Data were collected by survey (questionnaire) and subsequently analyzed by use of complementary statistical tools. While social rejection (0.806) is the main core frisk factor of post rehabilitation relapse, being male (β=-0.13), younger age (β=-0.349), living in rural area (β=0.223), higher number of siblings (β=0.464) are social attributes mostly associated with post rehabilitation relapse among juveniles. This study recommends post rehabilitation monitoring program that targets the more susceptible social categories as identified in this study.

57-70
Enactments of Curriculum Policies in Greek Secondary Education: Regulative Discourses and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities

Authors: Sofia Koutsiouri, Ioulia Antoniou & Anna Tsatsaroni

Abstract

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Many critical research studies have documented the complex ways in which global policies on school curricula are reshaped at national and local levels. This paper focuses on the discourses which regulate the recontextualizations of global policies in local school settings. The paper presents an empirical study on the enactments of language curricula in the Greek school education system. Using Bernstein’s theory of knowledge pedagogization, we analyze data produced by semi-structured interviews and classroom observations in five lower secondary state schools with socially and ethnically diverse student populations, in the inner city of Athens. Our findings show that, while the socially disadvantaged schools are regulated by discourses on inclusion, in the more advantaged schools of the study regulative discourses are related to performance management concerns. The paper points to the potential implications of such discourses, claiming that challenging educational inequalities requires to identify and act upon the discourses regulating teachers’ practices.

71-80
Digital Literacy, Education and Employment Status: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Authors: Azra Habibija-Ražanica & Ensar Mekić

Abstract

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At time when digitalization processes are happening faster than ever all around the world, it is not surprising that importance of digital literacy is on the same level as basic literacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we witness that the importance of digital literacy is more important than ever before. In this “new normal”, people all around the world are going through a process of change. This study aims to investigate if digital literacy depends on employment status and education level of people in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Using structured survey as a measurement instrument, the data has been collected from 210 respondents, residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The validity and reliability of measurement instrument was confirmed through Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s alpha values. To find out about differences in digital literacy of employed and unemployed respondents, Mann-Whitney U test has been performed in SPSS. To understand differences in digital literacy because of different education levels, the Kruskal-Wallis H test has been performed in SPSS. Results revealed that difference in digital literacy of employed and unemployed respondents is statistically insignificant. On the other hand, differences in digital literacy at different education levels are found to be statistically significant.

81-94
orced Labor Exploitation: Illegal Trading in Protected Goods in the Southern African Countries

Authors: Godfrey Thenga

Abstract

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Human exploitation refers to the curtailment of fundamental human rights. The crime plays out notwithstanding the laws that criminalizes human abuses. This study explored the policing of human trafficking and forced labor in the Southern African countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and assesses the capabilities and abilities of law enforcement agencies in the region to curb the scourge. In this study a qualitative perspective was adopted with use of literature study and interviews. The prevalence of organized criminal groupings exacerbates the problem of human trafficking and forced labor in the region. Law enforcement corruption is rife as the police are often accused of acts of receiving bribes. There are capacity constraints in the policing agencies across the region which impacts negatively on proactive enforcement of protected goods. The study reveals that respective law enforcement agencies work in seclusion and do not systematize their databases to share information with other agencies owing to a prevailing cynicism amongst countries. It is proposed that there should be harmonization of law enforcement agencies’ databases to share information for intelligence purposes and to develop defensive and responsive response mechanisms to thwart the crime.