Males out of work : societal attitudes towards non-working men in Malta

Abstract

Throughout this dissertation, the main objective is the attitudes and personal judgements, when considering the possibilities and particular perspectives of Maltese men who are out of work. unemployment has been tackled from many different angles in order to engage in a better understanding towards this concept. Both individual and societal variables were considered and discussed since it is a known fact that such are high influences on each other. The motive of the study is to gain a better perception with regards to the different possibilities and ideologies which might be framing one’s judgement with regards to men in unemployment. Malta, being a small, very traditional and communitarian country, creates an environment of knowing each other’s take on certain contemporary issues, such as employment status. However, the emergence of the technological era, raised globalisation to an entirely different level. This is what differentiated the input given by the different generations. Unemployment is socially constructed as being a negative matter which not only negatively affects the individual but also society at large and drives him/her into doing criminal acts or not conforming to society’s norms and values. Apart from evaluating how this could be the case, this study created a distinct view on this. Taking participant response into consideration, allows a sociological study to take a step further and analyse real time contextual perspectives. On account of, different scholars such as Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, Walter B. Miller, Arlie Hochschild, this study explains the interrelation between behaviours, attitudes, emotions and reactions, and how these are the product of societies input on our personal views and ideologies. Gender difference was also a major constituent in this study. Assumption and implementation were also by-products of this and are discussed. Gender oriented barriers are a general aspect throughout the whole study. Such barriers create a boomerang effect type situation, blocking social change from taking place, in this regard. If society’s response towards men in unemployment is invalidated - disregarding the reason for being in such a position - a repulsive effect would be created, damaging the progression that would have already taken place, such as women entering the labour force. Throughout this study, many concerns are put to light regarding societal attitudes with regards to men out of work in Malta. This was done in pursuit of making accessible certain conceptions which might be less conventional, and which might reform a person’s mindset in the long run.