Inequalities of Life Expectancy in Irish Society - Case Study Example

Introduction Inequalities of life expectancy, income, respect are just some of the numerous depictions of this phenomenon. The paper shall look at constituents of inequality, its patterns and what can be done about it so as to boost cultural diversity in Irish society and in prisons. Why we need equality legislation In Ireland, there are vast differences between skilled and unskilled workers. The probability of death by heart disease and lung cancer amongst the latter group compared to the former group is about 4: 1. Income inequality in the country may not be as severe as it is in the world’s most unequal societies such as Brazil but studies have shown that managers/ senior executives in Ireland get twenty three times as much income as production level staff. Resource inequality is also depicted through racial and disability lines. Inequality in respect is manifested through the lack of recognition of other people’s concerns. Inequalities in love and care are seen through abuse among children, through inhumane conditions in prison and neglect of the elderly. Power inequalities are eminent in political structures where women are underrepresented or in the employer employee relationships. Equalities of working and learning are illusive among low income families. For instance studies show that children from homes with higher professional occupations are four times as likely as those from lower occupations to attend college or any tertiary institution in Ireland. (Lynch et al., 2009) These disparities are even worse among persons with disabilities or racial minorities such as Travellers. Ireland has also witnessed patterns of inequality based on sexual orientation, social class, gender and age. These diverse cases of inequality have caused many entities in Ireland to respond to them. For instance community development movements and women movements largely target inequality in social class and gender respectively. Also, Ireland itself has responded to these inequalities by enacting legislations such as the Employment equality Act of 1998. In the EU, the Treaty of Rome was enforced to deal with such issues. Despite these positive responses, there is still a lot more that needs to be done in order to genuinely promote diversity in Irish society generally and in Irish prisons particularly. This is because most Irish and EU actions are mere antidiscrimination initiatives; they rarely deal with the very notion of inequality. These represent just a small portion of what needs to be done since inequalities in reward, power, prestige and social structures have not been questioned and changed. The latter discussion has largely centred on the macro level. However, one cannot ignore other small incidences here and there that still indicate how far Irish society is from achieving true equality. For example, an article by the ‘Irish Independent’ points towards such disparities. McHugh (2007) reported that an African immigrant worker (who was an engineer by profession) had been arrested falsely and detained because of alleged illegal immigration. This was done even after Mr. Frank Kakopa had demonstrated to the concerned authorities that he was a legal worker through his proof of employment. The immigration service went on to place him in a high security prison for two days. His family was left stranded in an Airport after what was a bitter end to a family vacation. The latter individual was visiting Northern Ireland from Liverpool for some days and he was well within his right to do so. This victim of inequality was highly affected by psychologically affected by the incident and filed a discrimination suit against the Immigration services through the assistance of the Equality commission. The presiding court ruled that the Immigration services had wronged Mr. Kakopa and that he was to be compensated for those wrongful actions through a fine and apologies. Such a scenario goes to show that if a large government institution such as the Immigration services can treat individuals in such an unequal manner, then the rest of Irish society is yet to come to terms with the concept and a lot needs to be done in order to curb such incidences. Equality legislation is just one of the many ways in which society can achieve this effectively. Another area that reveals the need for equality legislation in Ireland is the public service sector. Upon analysis of this sector, one can see the gaps existent in provision of these services. For instance, most institutions normally fail to take a holistic view of the issue of multiculturalism as they rarely consider jointed efforts to eliminate racism and other inequalities in the workplace. Besides that, there is also a need for most of this institution to address systemic discrimination and work policies need to reflect changing demographics. A study carried out by the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (2006) that entailed NGO consultations and personal interviews found that a series of minorities still lacked access to GP registration while some of them had been denied treatment. Additionally, the interviewees also felt that poor communication through language barriers was yet to be addressed in certain schools thus indicating that there was a need for diversity training in education. There were also problems in policing as it became imminent that in certain areas, police officers failed to follow up on racist incidents properly although this was not the same for all Locations. Employment issues were brought to the forefront as well since immigrant workers are often subjected to longer work hours, low wages, unfair dismissal as well as inaccessibility to sick leave. These issues are further compounded by challenges in housing where many minorities are forced to contend with plummeting rent prices as well as uncomfortable living conditions where multiple occupancies are necessary. There is no doubt that Ireland has made a number of improvements in service provision since several initiatives have been enacted. Nonetheless, for these initiatives to fully promote equality, then they ought to be mainstreamed to the public domain. (Watt & McGaughey, 2006) After examination of the Irish society in general, it is imperative to look at the prison service in particular as studies have shown that this is one of the most fertile grounds for race based inequality and discrimination. The prison service is given their responsibility for taking care of all inmates under its authority. This means that due protection should be given to those who may be subjected to the problem of discrimination. For instance, in Britain an Inmate known as Zahid Mubarek was murdered by his roommate Robert Stewart. A commission of inquiry into the matter realized that there were inherent flaws in prison management that led to this death since it was preventable. The killings were race related and the guilty party was a known racist radical. It was therefore irresponsible for the prison service to place an inmate classified as an ‘at risk party’ alongside a roommate with radical racist views and noted psychological problems. There are a series of issues that can be revealed from such an occurrence in the prison setting. First of all, equality related issues always compete with security related ones and precedence is often given to the latter than the former. Also when overcrowding occurs, then greater focus is placed on prison transfers which make management of equality issues quite complicated. This is especially because equality and discrimination often focus on the individual while the prison service is mostly interested in the entire prison environment. Cases of understaffing often put inmates at risk of inequality since minimal efforts are made to study and analyse potential risks. Besides that, it has also been shown that staff members are at increased risks when working in the prison setting. Their working conditions often place them under stressful conditions and this may sometimes cause them to deemphasise equality based issues. It is critical for stakeholders in the prison environment (staff, prisoners and management) to have deep interpersonal relations. This is only possible though ample training and maintenance of an atmosphere of mutual respect. The government has tried to contribute towards race relations in prisons; however, its responses have only deepened the racial problem as minimal efforts have been given to the root causes of inequality. Legislation needs to be such that it addresses dehumanizing approaches. For instance, most prison employees often refer to inmates as ‘bodies’ that should be taken to court or be prepared for release. This puts such prisoners at a disadvantageous position since they have been emotional distanced from the people who come into daily contact with them. However, the latter problems are largely as a result of overcrowding. Policies must be put in place to deal with this issue first. In other words, there is a contradiction by the Irish government in terms of its approach towards crime and treatment of individuals with regard to race relations or other discriminatory issues. The latter seem to be a mere deviation from the former. The government is largely interested in punitive actions as a method of curbing crime yet it claims to be concerned about the needs of minorities in its prisons. Prison authorities often find themselves in tricky situations where they must comply with general policies on punishment but still apply contradictory elements through emphasis on equality issues. Therefore, equality legislation is imperative in Ireland and Europe so as to bridge the gap between policy action and policy intent. (Spencer, 2009) The prison service order of 1997 mandated all prisons to create a race relations management team that would be in charge of dealing with equality and discrimination issues in prison settings. The latter teams have been implemented in a number of prisons but studies show that creation of such groups is not necessarily the ultimate solution to promotion of diversity in prisons. There is a need to embrace the fact that most of these groups still have certain issues that are yet to be tackled and this is the point at which equality legislation needs to be incorporated so as to make such initiatives more in tune with occurrences in prisons. For instance, although most of these teams are expected to meet frequently i.e. six times in a year, stipulations have not been made on what needs to be discussed. Consequently, equality legislation needs to be improved such that it makes it mandatory for such a team to make in depth discussions about any incidences that may have been reported. Aside from that, some issues such as ethnic monitoring also need to be addressed. There are substantial cases in which most of these race relations teams collect data on discrimination; however, minimal solutions are given on how to deal with those aspects. Equality legislation can improve such areas by implementing mandatory brainstorming on evidence collected about discrimination and inequality in prisons. Implementation of those solutions needs also to be included in future legislations. There is also a need to train all members of such groups. Individuals need not wait for dramatic incidences in order to validate any sort of findings that they may be necessary in the process of dealing with their challenges. Lastly, there is a need to make diversity and race related issues more central to the operations of prison populations especially when a prison’s governor treats it with the seriousness it deserves and expects the same of staff members. (Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, 1984) Conclusion Society is plagued with various sources of discrimination and recent approaches to legislation have largely centred on discrimination rather than inequality. A more holistic approach is needed in public institutions all over Ireland and this ought to be done through improvements in equality legislation. In the prison setting, the biggest problem so far centres on race relations. Equality legislation will be critical in bridging the gap between policy and practice. References Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. (1984). COE recommendations concerning foreign prisoners. 374th meeting of the ministries, R (84) 12 Spencer, J. (2009). Trying to get it right – what prison staff say about implementing race relations policy. Journal of Criminology and Criminal justice, 9(2), 187-206. Watt, P. & McGaughey, F. (2006). Improving government service delivery to minority groups. NCCRI report Lynch, K., Baker, J., Cntillon, S. & Walsh, J. (2009). Equality from theory to action. Basingstoke: Palgrave Publishers Mc Hugh, M. (2007). Unfair arrest of African Immigrant. Irish Independent, 29 October Read More