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Research Article
Sexual Violence Against Women, Incest, and Honor Killing in Arab Countries: A Sociological Appraisal
Khalid Hreish*
,
Iyad Khamaysa
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2026
Pages:
297-307
Received:
13 June 2026
Accepted:
23 June 2026
Published:
8 July 2026
Abstract: This study offers a sociological analysis of the cultural and structural factors associated with sexual violence, incest, and honor killings in Arab countries. The article employs feminist sociological perspectives and structural violence theory to analyze how patriarchal beliefs and ideologies contribute to permissive attitudes towards sexual violence against women in the region. The analysis points to three interrelated dynamics that sustain these forms of violence. First, sexual violence and incest in the family are regulated and perpetuated through cultural norms, namely the incest taboo and patriarchal kinship systems, which construct an environment in which the abuse is systematically concealed. Second, these cultural elements serve as tools of social control, repressing women’s sexuality and autonomy within the context of honor killings to conceal sexual abuse by male family members under the guise of family honor. Third, the study highlights the contradictory role of social control forces, including the criminal justice system, which often fails to protect victims of incest and instead punishes these victims through tacit acceptance of honor-based justifications and procedural barriers that effectively return legal authority to the family. Based on a comprehensive review of sociological literature, legal frameworks, empirical data, and victim testimonies from several Arab countries, the article calls for a radical re-evaluation of legal and social responses so that they protect women rather than family reputation. The article examines recent legal reforms in Jordan, Tunisia, and Lebanon as possible models for change, while critically addressing continuing issues of enforcement, cultural change, and the gap between legislative reform and social practice. The study concludes with a call for dismantling the patriarchal systems of belief that devalue women’s lives and privilege family honor over human rights, and for continued investment in legal reform, psychosocial support, and grassroots advocacy to end these forms of violence.
Abstract: This study offers a sociological analysis of the cultural and structural factors associated with sexual violence, incest, and honor killings in Arab countries. The article employs feminist sociological perspectives and structural violence theory to analyze how patriarchal beliefs and ideologies contribute to permissive attitudes towards sexual viol...
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Research Article
Politikal Decisions of the First All Kazakh Congress and Ies Role in the Sovietization of the Kazakh Aul (1925)
Bakyt Nurpeissova*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2026
Pages:
308-319
Received:
7 March 2026
Accepted:
20 May 2026
Published:
11 July 2026
Abstract: The subject of this study is the political decisions of the First All-Kazakh Congress (Council) of 1925 and their impact on the organization and transformation of the Kazakh aul under the conditions of the formation of Soviet statehood. The aim of the research is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the political decisions of 1925, to determine their historical significance, and to assess the extent of their influence on traditional forms of aul organization. The methodological framework of the study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systemic analysis. Comparative-historical, problem-chronological, and structural-functional methods were employed, enabling the Council’s decisions to be examined within the broader context of central policies and regional specificities. This article analyzes the political decisions adopted at the First All-Kazakh Congress of 1925 and their role in integrating Kazakh rural society into the Soviet administrative system. Drawing on archival materials from the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the study explores the socio-political context of the Congress, national cadre policy, administrative-territorial reforms, local budgets, and the institutionalization of rural soviets. The adopted resolutions marked a transition from zhuz-based governance to a territorial-economic administrative model. The findings indicate that the decisions of 1925 were aimed at unifying the system of governance and gradually transforming traditional institutions. The planned reforms contributed to the redistribution of power, strengthened structural control, and laid the groundwork for subsequent socio-economic transformations. At the same time, contradictions were revealed between the proclaimed principles of self-government and the actual centralization of power. It is concluded that the political decisions of 1925 played a key role in the modernization of Kazakh society, while simultaneously limiting traditional forms of social organization.
Abstract: The subject of this study is the political decisions of the First All-Kazakh Congress (Council) of 1925 and their impact on the organization and transformation of the Kazakh aul under the conditions of the formation of Soviet statehood. The aim of the research is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the political decisions of 1925, to determine t...
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Research Article
Utilization of Modern Family Planning Methods Among Women of Reproductive Age (15-49) Years, in Juba Payam, in Juba City, South Sudan
Lomuluja Keppa Yongo Kenyi,
David Robinson Mutekanga*,
Israel Kibirige
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2026
Pages:
320-336
Received:
23 April 2026
Accepted:
12 May 2026
Published:
11 July 2026
Abstract: Modern family planning methods have created a very important avenue for women and families to have sizes they want at the time they need them and also manage them effectively. However in many developing economies this has been hindered by various factors. Many countries in Africa are facing this challenge especially for women in the reproductive age of 15 to 49 years. This study therefore set out to investigate the factors that affect the utilization of modern family planning methods among women of reproductive age (15-49 years) at Juba Payam (District) in Juba City of South Sudan. The study was conducted in Juba Payam and targeted a population of 372 women and a sample size of 197 was considered. The study was cross sectional and applied both qualitative and quantities methods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics to derive means, frequencies, and percentages. Inferential statistic was used to derive odds ratios and significance using logistical regression and multivariate analysis. The study met all the ethical considerations required by law and regulations of Bugema University, Juba City authorities and South Sudan. The results revealed that the majority of the respondent were young women aged between 20-35 years, with some having only up to primary education level and with very low income. The contraceptive prevalence rate was very low (34%) and husband’s approval (85.5%) greatly affected the utilization of modern family planning methods. The need for education and awareness was also strongly reported and emphasized in the findings. It is therefore recommended that there is need for education and awareness on top of improving the local incomes of the local women especially those with low levels of education. Finally, since men are crucial in decision making among these communities, they should also be targeted in the education and awareness programme on modern family planning methods.
Abstract: Modern family planning methods have created a very important avenue for women and families to have sizes they want at the time they need them and also manage them effectively. However in many developing economies this has been hindered by various factors. Many countries in Africa are facing this challenge especially for women in the reproductive ag...
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Research Article
Social Welfare in Two Local Baptist Churches in Ghana
Joseph Adasi-Bekoe*
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2026
Pages:
337-347
Received:
3 March 2026
Accepted:
1 April 2026
Published:
27 July 2026
Abstract: A key defining feature, which distinguishes Christian believers from those who make empty profession of faith, according to Jesus is the practical exhibition of brotherly love for one another. Jesus expects all His followers to make the provision of social welfare shortfalls of individuals a priority. The first church understood this expectation of Jesus and made the provision of the social welfare needs of its members a prime concern. The book of Acts suggests that the first believers made provision for social welfare needs of their members a major priority. The members of the first church in the second century similarly took bold steps to ensure social welfare shortfalls of members are met. This study, undertaken in a modern cosmopolitan area in Ghana, compared how the modern church understood this requirement of Jesus. The study showed that in the two Baptist Churches, even though provision for social welfare of members may not be as comprehensive as in the early church, the churches had quite effective ways of discovering social welfare needs of members and had also made effective provisions for addressing the welfare shortfalls once discovered.
Abstract: A key defining feature, which distinguishes Christian believers from those who make empty profession of faith, according to Jesus is the practical exhibition of brotherly love for one another. Jesus expects all His followers to make the provision of social welfare shortfalls of individuals a priority. The first church understood this expectation of...
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Research Article
Patronage and Social Integration: A Re-examination of the Struggle of the Orders
Blavo Etsri Babatunde*,
Ubani Williams Omokide
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2026
Pages:
348-355
Received:
7 June 2026
Accepted:
24 June 2026
Published:
28 July 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.hss.20261404.15
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Abstract: In virtually every stratified society known to history, the relationship between the powerful and the powerless has been mediated by intricate systems of exchange, protection, and obligation. The ancient Roman Republic furnishes one of the most illuminating case studies in the dynamics of class conflict and social integration, a reality that has attracted significant scholarly attention. This paper re-examines the social conflict in Republican Rome, known in classical scholarship as the Struggle of the Orders, with a view to identifying how patronage - the clientela - functioned as an instrument of social integration among the various classes of Roman society. The paper argues that the much-examined conflict between the patricians and the plebeians was not simply a destructive confrontation between two hostile orders; rather, it was a prolonged, negotiated process in which the institution of patronage served as both a mechanism of social control and a platform for gradual integration and political realignment. Drawing on the works of Brunt, De Ste. Croix, Saller, and Wallace-Hadrill, among other classical scholars, the paper further demonstrates that the resolution of the Struggle of the Orders did not abolish social hierarchy but rather reconfigured it around a new Patricio-Plebeian nobility in which patronage remained the central organising principle of political life. The paper further engages a theoretical framework distinguishing network integration - in which individuals are incorporated through personalised patron-client relations - from civic integration, in which individuals are constituted as equal members of a shared legal and political community, demonstrating that the Struggle of the Orders was, in its deepest logic, a prolonged demand for the latter. In its comparative dimension, this paper draws illuminating parallels between the Roman patron-client system and the Nigerian phenomenon of godfatherism - the baba kekere, babaogun, and maigida - arguing that both represent culturally rooted expressions of hierarchical social exchange that, when corrupted by elite self-interest, imperil broader social integration.
Abstract: In virtually every stratified society known to history, the relationship between the powerful and the powerless has been mediated by intricate systems of exchange, protection, and obligation. The ancient Roman Republic furnishes one of the most illuminating case studies in the dynamics of class conflict and social integration, a reality that has at...
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