Examples: Behavioralist Statement of the Social ProblemThis was taken from an early submission by James DeGraft Johnson (of Ghana) |
My country has ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 25 (1) states "Everyone has the right to a standard of living for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Article 15 of the Draft Protocol to the African Charter of Human Rights and Peoples Rights provides that "women shall have the right to equal access to housing and to acceptable living conditions in a healthy environment. To ensure this right State parties shall grant to women, whatever their marital status, access to adequate housing" My country has ratified the African Charter. Article 13(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also states "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state" I believe the "residence" here is not a slum or palace. Goal number seven of the Millenium Development Goals also expects governments to enhance the living conditions of at least 100 million people who dwell in " shantie towns", "slums" and other such places by the year 2020. Article 35(3) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana my country states " the State shall promote just and reasonable access by all citizens to public facilities and services in accordance with law" Article 37 (2) (b) of the same Constitution states "the State shall enact appropriate laws to assure the protection and promotion of all basic human rights and freedoms, including the rights of the diabled, the aged, children and other vulnerable groups in development process". I believe that the "vulnerable groups" here can be expanded to include poor people who also do not have connections with the political and influential class. Article 37 (1) of the same Constitution of Ghana states " The State shall endeavour to secure and protec a social order founded on the ideals and principles of freedom, equality, justice, probity and accountability as enshrined in Chapter of this same Constitution. Chapter 5 of the Constitution highlights a number freedoms, rights and a host of others. As at now there is no legislation upon a person can go to court to seek redress in many of the facilities and social amenities that tax money is used to provide. Aside from these and other laws to numerous to mention here, governments in Ghana have attempted to actualize some of the ideals but have not succeeded for there is no legislation to use to seek probity accountability and others. In the late 1950's The Tema Development Corporation was established and one of the major responsibilities was to provide housing for the residents of the then developing industrial and port city. As at now there are people who have to live in Tema because they work that do not own any of the houses there. They have to rent these houses. On the other hand there are people who even do not know Tema but own houses that they have rented out because of their "CONNECTIONS" to the powers that be. Early in the 1960's The State Housing Corporation was also established to provide houses to Ghanaians. It was an elaborate establishment that has Offices even at the local level but there are a numerous Ghanaians that have no houses but rent them. This because those who have traveled outside and are earning hard currency are able to afford the houses and rent them out to those who are still in Ghana and are still paying taxes. It is important to note that those living outside do not pay taxes for there is no system in place to do so. In the 1970's the Bank For Housing and Construction was established to advance loans to Ghanaians who wanted to build their own houses and this also followed the same pattern to the detriment of the middle class by Ghanaian standards. It was people with connections who benefited from this institution. In the 1990's The Social Security and National Insurance Trust, a Social Security system in place Ghana decided to go into the provision of housing to Ghanaian workers who were contributing to the Scheme. It was laudable but the houses found themselves in the hands of those with money and connections to the neglect of those who do not have money but are honest workers and contributors to the scheme. Those who have connections and even those who are living outside the country and or have connections and money are those who own these houses. There is yet another institution The Home Finance Company that has been set up with public money but must be run as a pure economic enterprise. Their houses go to those who are connected, have money and others. Some of these people are not even living in the country. Some people have become absentee "Real Estate Owners" to the disadvantage of those in Ghana. I have to mention that government and those who are put in charge of such institutions are to be reminded that the poor also have the Right to own their houses. It is for these and other reasons that I feel the Right that has been enshrined in the 1992 in respect for housing has to be put in a legislation so that it can be enforced. |
The first step in the problem-solving methodology is to define the general nature and scope of your problem. One of the purposes of this section is to raise the awareness of the problem and to galvanize the politicians into action. The research report is really written for what we call the 'rational skeptic' (i.e. the legislator who thinks he will vote against your bill, but decides to read the report anyway to see if you have anything worthwhile to say). Usually, the rational skeptic needs a bit of convincing to see that you are really addressing an important social problem. James states that the Ghanian government has recognized that people have a right to adequate housing, and is bound by international law to provide all citizens, especially poor and vulnerable persons, with access to decent housing. Although I would usually devote a little more time to describing the housing conditions in which poor Ghanians live, how inadequate housing conditions impact tenant health, etc.; it may not be necessary for James to spend time describing the general social problem to his readers, or convincing them that it is important for the government to take steps to ensure that all citizens have access to adequate housing. If you are addressing a well-known problem that everyone believes is important, you do not need to spend much time explaining how horrible the current situation is. In contrast, if you are addressing a problem that few people know about, or that may strike people as unimportant, it is wise to devote a fair amount of time to describing the superficial appearance of the problem, and how it impacts human health, national (and personal) finances, the environment, cultural identity, political inclusion (especially of poor and vulnerable persons), and national security. The Narrow Statement of the Social Problem Rather than addressing all of Ghana's housing issues, James narrows his topic to focus on the distribution of state-subsidized housing to rich persons who have connections and who are, all too often,not even living in the subsidized housing. According to James, families that actually need housing assistance rarely receive it. By narrowing his topic, James is able to focus on a smaller number of role occupants, and will be able to describe the problematic behaviors in detail. Whose and what behaviors constitute the difficulty? James identifies implementing officials in numerous state agencies as primary role occupants. In addition to describing what these implementing officials do that comprises the social problem, James will also need to describe the actions of both rich and poor loan applicants, and he may also need to describe the actions of non-governmental financial institutions. It will be necessary for James to differentiate between different role occupants, because the explanations for each set of role occupants' behaviors will be different. Areas for improvement: This is the quality of posting we might hope to see during the second week of the distance course. Between weeks 2 and 4, drafters conduct detailed research into the behaviors that comprise the social problem. During the coming weeks, James may wish to conduct the research needed to : • provide a more detailed description of what the existing programs are supposed to do and of who is currently receiving housing loans, subsidies and grants under them; Some questions to ask: • Are all loan applications maintained? |
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