Does Pakistani Society Accept Corruption as a Changed Value with Reference to Religious Perspective?

Transcription

1 International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:13 No:1 69 Does Pakistani Society Accept Corruption as a Changed Value with Reference to Religious Perspective? Asad Ullah*, Mussawar Shah** Abstract-- The major objective of this research was to assess the impact of upon the prevalent values in Peshawar. The conceptual framework comprise of perception of values as independent variable, and perception as dependent variable. The objectives were to find out people s perception, causes and institutional role regarding and social values, and suggest remedies. A sample size of 15 respondents i.e. 98 from universities, 7 from anti agencies (NAB) and 5 from institutions, was selected to ascertain their attitude towards phenomena at hand through Likert scale as measurement tool. Proportionate random sampling technique was used for choosing the respondents. Association test (Chi Square test) was used to determine the association between dependent and independent at bi-variate level. Gamma ( ) statistics was further used for determining the strength and direction of relationship. the study found that most independent variables are significantly associated with perception, which included knowledge of religion (P<.), Ijtehad in controlling (P=.), bill boarding of values (P=.), educational support to highlighting values (P=.), involving the leaders (P=.), religion stresses to intact social values (P=.), institution for stressing over moral training (P=.). Moreover, practicing religion (P=.), regular awareness to guide masses (P=.), imposition of punishments (P=.). The study made it clear that against the ideal orientation to values, the individual s sense of value is under change because of changes in real orientations to values, caused due to changes in social circumstances. It is concluded that the social values are deteriorating, being replaced by which is getting the rank of a rising social value and is largely in practice amongst members of society, especially in various economic aspects of social life. Nevertheless, people still believed that prevalent social order is strong enough to combat this shifting dynamics, by generating a morality based environment. Index Term-- Corruption, Social dimensions, Religious values. I. INTRODUCTION Corruption is defined as the perversion of integrity in the discharge of public duties for self enrichment. The political scientists diagnose it as something wrong with the political * Lecturer, Department of Rural Sociology, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar ** Professor, Department of Rural Sociology, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar system of the government (Awan, 4). To charge someone of it is assumed that the two sets of actions of give and take are dependent on each other and is illegal under the state laws, morally wrong by commonly accepted local moral principles, or both. International estimates show that an amount of US$ 1 Trillion is paid as bribe each year. In rigid and poorly working states, is adopted by public as an unavoidable choice and is found highly cruel to poor masses. Such a state of intense undermines social values of the society, exposing the masses towards insecurity and instability. However, serious efforts, to tackle can improve per capita income up to 4 times. The above reasons make economists believe as the greatest barrier to development (World Bank, 4). Every society is witnessing Corruption in the present day scenario due to the complex social systems which dictates for competition and development ranging from individual to group endeavors. The concept of this competitive sense ought to have been controlled, governed and directed by the existing cultural and social practices. Any society having a broader base for internalizing the fragmentation within their social fabrics succeeded in controlling and directing the change. While others with less capacities to absorb, suffered with the menace of new values in total contrast to the operational social system identified and called as. Beets (7) stated that, as most of the world s major religions teachings are based on fairness and honesty, therefore high attention is paid to determine the relationship between religion and and can be used in efforts to lessen. Thus it is necessary to consult the leaders and groups for their support against because of two important reasons. Initially because the religions imply discouragement of theft, untruthfulness, misdeed, and exploitation of others so faithful attachment to religion ideally will abstain from. Secondly the persons who are not true believers of religion are more liable to involve in because of nonexistence of direction. Tittle and Welch (1983) stated that the foundation of social order is based on communally held values. These values are of such a high influence that the people internalize these values with dedication, they don t even can imagine of deviance, if at any time, idea of breaking of rules come to their mind, it is not materialized because of repulsion of dishonest deed or possible thoughts of blame will limit action. Social control mechanism is supplemented by religion by connecting supernatural help to moral teaching, thus communally held

2 International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:13 No:1 7 values and teachings are mutual aides. The resolute to morality and internalization of moralities is strengthened by involvement in activities, thus higher the observance of practices and involvement in trainings the higher would be compliance to rules, especially those rules having moral components. In Pakistan remained a priority problem since independence (National Accountability Bureau, 7), which has deep roots (Noman, 1988) as has been ranked worst than average in the international surveys on (Mauro, 1995). Rose-Ackerman and Stone (1996) has linked with poor governance impeding economic growth and slowing down the development of a healthy private sector. In Pakistani society this phenomenon is also displaying harassment, hassle, red tapism and delays in accomplishing the legal tasks that provide few incentives for good performance (Murray-Rust and Vander Velde, 1994). Keeping into considerations the bleak picture of Pakistani society with reference to effects of on its social order, this study is designed to explore the possible reasons through proceeding objective of associating the people s perception on with deteriorated social values in economic institutions. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was carried out in Peshawar City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A sample size of 15 respondents was selected through criterion devised by Sekaran (3). Respondents were further categorized as Academicians, Anti- Corruption staff and Religious Scholars, being the custodians of dynamism and thereby predicting the transition in social value in the prevalent social environments. A conceptual framework was devised as shown in the Table-I and questions were asked accordingly from the respondents devised through Likert scale. The dependent variable (Corruption Perception) was indexed and cross tabulated with independent variable (economic aspects of social values) to measure the association. Chi-square test outlined by Tai (1978) at bi-variate level was used through the formula as below; ( ) = x = j k j 1 j 1 (oij - e ij) eij T ABLE I CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Independent variable Dependent variable Religious values Corruption perception The Fisher Exact Test which also is known as Exit Chi-square Test was used instead of a simple Chi-Square, to overcome the violation of Chi-Square assumptions. The relationship developed by Fisher to overcome such violation is given in equation devised by (Baily, 198) through equation shown below; (a+b)! (c+d)! (a+c)! (b+d)! Fisher Exit Test Probability = N! a! b! c! d! Moreover, Gamma statistics was used to measure the strength and direction of association (Nachmias & Nachmias, 199). SN - SN Gamma ( ) = SN + SN NS = Same order pair ND = Different order pair III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Frequency and Percentage Distributions of Respondents With Respect to Their Perception of Religious Values on Religion supports social control by connecting supernatural help to moral teaching, thus communally held values and teachings are mutual aides. All universal religions discourage theft, untruthfulness, misdeed, and exploitation of others, through faithful attachment to religion abstained from, thus preventing the idea of breaking of rules with strong comeback based on social stigmatization. Moreover, the persons who are not true believers of religion are more liable to be involved in because of nonexistence of direction. To know the impact of values upon the thinking of the respondents regarding, some of the attributes of values, in context of, were asked from each respondent. Analysis of these responses are reflected in Table-II, which show that almost 94% respondents supported that religion stresses to keep social values and ethics intact, 84% termed institutions stressing moral training over materialistic well being, 86% supported that knowledge of religion reduces, 88% thought practicing religion reduces, 96.7% affirmed that regular awareness and guidance to the masses improve social values and reduce, 81.4% stressed on frequent "Ijtehad" with reference to, controls, 63.4% authenticated method of displaying teachings through billboards to reduce, 93.3% stressed on promoting teachings in educational institution to reduce, 96.6% supported imposition of Islamic punishments to reduce and 91.4% attributed silence of Ulema against encouraged. It could easily be depicted from the data that people s knowledge with reference to injunctions exist, however, a proper role needs to be performed by the government and scholars etc. to redirect people behavior through proper propagation i.e. through billboard, mass media etc, as indicated by Tittle and Welch (1983) that teachings and knowledge work as a major source of providing fairness to beliefs in morality for implementation i.e. compliances and practices. These results also support the views of Beets (7) that explained that religion prefer moral well being over physical gain and faithful attachment to religion ideally will abstain from, however, the non followers are more liable to involve in because of nonexistence of direction. The author stressed on paying high attention on consultation with

3 International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:13 No:1 71 leaders and groups for their support against. T ABLE II FREQUENCY AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF RESPONSES REGARDING RELIGIOUS VALUES ON CORRUPTION. N=15 Statements Regarding Religious Disagree Uncertain Values and Corruption disagree Religion stresses to keep social values and ethics intact. () (1.3) 7 (4.7) 55 (36.7) 86 (57.3) Religious institutions stress moral training over materialistic well being. (.7) (1.3) (14) (43.3) (4.7) Knowledge of religion reduces () Practicing religion reduces. () Regular awareness and guidance to the masses improve social values and reduce. () Frequent "Ijtehad" with reference to, controls. (4) 3 () (1.3) (1) 15 (1) 3 () (6.7) 49 (3.7) 84 (56) (5.3) 83 (55.3) 61 (4.7) () 8 (5.3) (13.3) 19 (7.7) 13 (8.7) Display of teachings on billboards reduces. () (13.3) 35 (3.3) 85 (56.7) 1 (6.7) Promoting teachings in Educational institution can reduce () (1.3) (5.3) (74) (19.3) Imposition of Islamic punishments reduces. () 1 (.7) 4 (.7) 59 (39.3) 86 (57.3) Silence of Ulema against encouraged. () 1 (6.7) 3 () 1 (66.7) 37 (4.7) * Number in table represent frequencies and number in parenthesis represent percentage proportion of respondents. Association between Religious Values and Corruption Religion is the universal institution that s teachings are based on fairness and honesty. Its functions include moral wellbeing of its followers and social control in the society. It gives direction to behavior, discourages moral evils and encourages ethical values. It supports social control by connecting supernatural help to moralities, thus communally held values and teachings are mutual helpers. Faithful attachment to religion ideally causes withdrawal from. Unfortunately little attention is paid to determine the relationship between religion and and use of religion in reducing, similar is the state of use of beliefs, knowledge, practices, and consultation with leaders and groups for their support against. Perception of values for its association with reliably, was limited to few statements given in Table- III and discussed below. Initial step in observance of religion is to have the knowledge of teachings. As the religion teaches fairness and discourages immoral acts, therefore knowledge of religion is assumed to increases honesty. To test the same logic based on perception of the respondents, the relationship of knowledge of religion was measured through cross tabulated with perception. A positive ( = +.334) and significant (P<.) relationship was instituted. The above relationship indicates about the clarity of vision of the respondents with reference to injunctions upon and corrupt practices. The findings are further endorsed by the relationship sought between Ijtehad in controlling the ( = +.44), (P=.), with perception. It is because people had an acknowledgment in values, playing as a checking and controlling instrument. Ijtehad asks for continuity with reforms as per situational demand by the giudes. It could easily be depicted here that people want values to persist irrespective of any change in the situation. Bill boarding of values, on could contribute towards reduction of this menace as signified by a positive ( = +.183) and significant (P=.) relationship. Again educational support to highlighting values on was supported by a positive ( = +.379) and significant association (P=.). This could be having a profound effect in social order by involving the leaders as indicated by a highly positive ( = +.788) with significant association (P=.). The above results give particular direction for eradicating of this menace through the emphasis on involving the educational institution for raising awareness along with displaying certain slogan in the public places, showing the as an impious act rather a curse. Furthermore, leaders involvement

4 International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:13 No:1 7 has also been highlighted by Beet (7) where their favor has been considered of profound impact. Religious role is quite obvious in having harmony and integration in the society as emanated by the relationship between religion stresses to intact social values (P=.) with a negative relationship ( = -.3) misdirected and improperly utilized for bringing integration to the social system in our society. It could be attributed to the misinterpretation of values, misdirected use of the values by the vested interest and lack of dedication from leadership. People in the study had recognition to the institution for stressing over moral training (P=.) however a negative relationship ( = -.19) was indicative of the fact that these institutions were always misused for individual s personal interests over the national cause. Religion is used as an instrument of showoff by ignoring its true picture for reducing as indicated by the relationship between practicing religion Religious Aspects of Values Religion stresses to keep social values and ethics intact. Religious institutions stress moral training over materialistic well being. Knowledge of religion reduces. Practicing religion reduces. Regular reduces (P=.) with a negative ( = -.415) and significant association with perception. It is evident here that religion has not been allowed by its custodians in effective influence to minimize/eradicate. These results are further in line to the relationship, inducted upon, regular awareness to guide masses impose social values with perception of, with significant (P=.) but negative ( = -.185). It could be attributed to the factor that religion as an institution is not performing for bringing clarity to the social values and interpreting the as phenomena. Imposition of punishments was supported by highly significant association (P=.) with perception of. However, a negative ( = -.18) signifies its nonexistence. It could be detected from this relationship that Islamic mode of punishment could eradicate, once brought into practice with sound legislature and administrative support. T ABLE III ASSOCIATION BETWEEN RELIGIOUS VALUES AND CORRUPTION Attitude Corruption Perception Total Statistics Strongl y disagre e Disagre e Uncertai n Strongl y (P Value) Disagree 1 (.7) () 1 (.7) () () (1.3) = Uncertain () () 5 (3.3) (1.3) () 7 (4.7) () () 1 (6.7) 44 1 (.7) 55 (36.7) (.) (9.3) () (1.3) 7 (4.7) 61 (4.7) 16 (1.7) 86 (57.3) = -.3 () () 1 (.7) () () 1 (.7) = disagree Disagree 1 (.7) () 1 (.7) () () (1.3) (.) Uncertain () () 5 (3.3) 16 () 1 (14) (1.7) = -.19 () 1 (.7) 15 (8) 5 (33) (1.3) 65 (43.3) () 1 (.7) 4 (.7) (1) 61 (4.7) (7.3) Disagree 1 (.7) 1 (.7) (1.3) (1.3) () 6 (4) = Uncertain () 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 8 (5.3) 5 (3.3) 15 (1) 5.31 (.) () () 13 (8.7) 68 1 (6.7) 91 (6.7) (45.3) () () 7 (4.7) 9 (19.3) (1.3) 38 (5.3) Disagree 1 (.7) () () (1.3) () 3 () = Uncertain () () () 15 (1) () 15 (1) = (.) () 1 (.7) 1 (6.7) 37 1 (.7) 49 (3.7) (4.7) () 1 (.7) 13 (8.7) 53 (35.3) 16 (1.7) 83 (55.3) Disagree 1 (.7) () 1 (.7) () () (1.3) = Uncertain () () 1 (.7) (1.3) () 3 () = -.415

5 International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:13 No:1 73 awareness and guidance to the masses improve social values and reduce Frequent "Ijtehad" with reference to, controls. Display of teachings on billboards reduces. Promoting teachings in Educational institution can reduce Imposition of Islamic punishments reduces. Silence of Ulema against encouraged () (1.3) 15 (1) 65 (43.3) () () 6 (4) 4 (6.7) (1.3) 84 (56) (.) 15 (1) 61 (4.7) = Disagree 1 (.7) () 5 (3.3) (1.3) () 8 (5.3) = Uncertain () 1 (.7) 5 (3.3) 14 (9.3) () (13.3) (.) () 1 (.7) 11 (7.3) 81 (54) (1.7) (7.7) = () () (1.3) 1 (6.7) 1 (.7) 13 (8.7) +.44 Disagree 1 (.7) () 7 (4.7) 1 (8) () (13.3) = Uncertain () 1 (.7) 11 (7.3) 1 (14) (1.3) 35 (3.3) (.) () () 4 (.7) (9.3) 85 (56.7) (44.7) = () 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 7 (4.7) 1 (.7) 1 (6.7) Disagree 1 (.7) () 1 (.7) () () (1.3) = Uncertain () () 3 () 5 (3.3) () 8 (5.3) () 1 (.7) 18 (1) (1) 111 (74) (.) (51.3) () 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 5 (1.3) 9 (19.3) = (16.7) Disagree 1 (.7) () () () () 1 (.7) = Uncertain () () (1.3) 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 4 (.7) () () 11 (7.3) 48 (3) () 59 (39.3) (.) () (1.3) 1 (6.7) 58 (38.7) 16 (1.7) 86 (57.3) = -.18 Disagree 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 3 (.) 1 (.7) 4 (.7) 1 (6.7) = Uncertain () () 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 1 (.7) 3 (.) () 1 (.7) 18 (1) 7 11 (7.3) 1 (.) (46.7) (66.7) () () 1 (.7) 35 1 (.7) 37 (4.7) = (3.3) * Values in table represent frequencies and values in parenthesis represent percentage proportion of respondents IV. CONCLUSIONS The study found a common level of understanding of social values, which were believed as emotional and psychological drives that are learned through experience and senses and made a part of belief system. The values were believed as a source of integration in society and almost evenly treating all sections of society with slight variation. The society, however, varied in application of social values on themselves, leading to adoption of different evaluative standards based on socioeconomic levels of members. Religious values were found as source of revival of social values and ethics as training stress on preferring social values over material well being. Knowledge of religion in general and practicing religion in particular was found as a source of revival of social values, for which, the respondents suggested a major role on the part of leaders based on additional efforts in form of awareness rising and ijtehad, besides punishments properly imposed through legislation. REFERENCES [1] Awan, K. B. (4). Anti Corruption Strategies in Pakistan. Lahore. Bookbiz. [] Beets, S.D. (7) International and religion: an empirical examination. Journal of Global Ethics, 3(1), pp [3] Baily, Kenth D. (198). Methods of Social Research. nd Ed. New York. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. P. 48. [4] Mauro, P. (1995). Corruption and Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics 11(3): pp [5] Murray, R., D. Hammond, and Edward J. Vander Velde. (1994). Changes in Hydraulic Performance and Comparative Costs of Lining and Desilting of Secondary Canals in Punjab, Pakistan. Irrigation and Drainage Systems 8: pp [6] NAB annual report. (7). National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan.

6 International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences IJBAS-IJENS Vol:13 No:1 74 [7] Nachmias. Chava Frankfort and David Nachmias (199). Research Methods in Social Sciences. 4 th Ed. St Martin s Press Inco. New York. USA. [8] Noman, O. (1988). The Political Economy of Pakistan London: KDI. [9] Rose, A., Susan, and Andrew Stone. (1996). The Costs of Corruption for Private Business: Evidence from World Bank Surveys. Washington, D.C. World Bank, Private Sector Development, [1] Tai, Simon. W (1978). Social Science Statistics, it Elements and Applications. California, Goodyear Publishing Company. [11] Tittle, C.R. and Welch, M.R. (1983) Religiosity and deviances: toward a contingency theory of constraining effects. Social Forces, vol, 61(3), pp