scholarly journals Religious Fanaticism and Changing Patterns of Violent Crime in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1378-1389
Author(s):  
Olisa Anthony Enweonwu ◽  
Ikenga Patrick Ugwu ◽  
Dominic Chukwuemeka Onyejegbu ◽  
Chinwe Edith Areh ◽  
Benjamin Okorie Ajah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Structural Functionalism ◽  
Comprehensive Programs ◽  
African Traditional Religions ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Religious Differences

Fanaticism has brewed into different forms in the Nigerian context – and the gravest is religious fanaticism. It has taken hold of most clans, religions, and ethnic groups across Nigeria. Religion has always existed in Nigerian societies and also has fanaticism but the level of violence precipitated by this fanaticism is apparently unprecedented. This paper journeys into the beginning of religious fanaticism in Nigeria and its changing patterns of violence. It highlights the root causes of religious violence in Nigeria and visible patterns in this violence. The paper adopted structural-functionalism theoretical formation and gathered data from textbooks, e-books, journals, online articles, newspapers, and magazines. At the end, the paper recommends that Nigerian governments initiate comprehensive programs to reconcile the religious differences that have evolved over time between Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religions.

Revitalized or Disorganized? Unpacking the Immigration-Crime Link in a Multiethnic Setting

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 680-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Sydes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Census Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hybrid Modeling ◽  
Skilled Immigrants ◽  
States Experience ◽  
Over Time

Objective: To date, much of what we know about the immigration–crime link is based on the United States setting. Yet, contextual features unique to the United States may produce distinct outcomes for immigration and crime that do not hold elsewhere. This study therefore tests the applicability of ecological frameworks largely derived from the United States experience (such as the immigration revitalization thesis) in a country with a greater mixture of ethnic groups and where immigration policy is focused on recruiting skilled immigrants. Methods: Utilizing an innovative hybrid modeling approach, this article draws on three waves of census data and nine years of official recorded crime incident data to examine the effect of immigration on violent crime across 882 neighborhoods located in two Australian cities. Results: The results offer little evidence that neighborhoods with a greater concentration of immigrants have more crime or that increases in the immigrant population over time are associated with increased violence. Diversity however appears to have a more problematic effect on violent crime in both cities. Conclusions: While these findings are relatively consistent with previous research in the United States, whether this similarity is due to a process of revitalization requires further investigation.

STORYTELLING AND MEANING RECONSTRUCTION: A METAPHORICAL PERSPECTIVE

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-169
Author(s):  
M L Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Meaning Reconstruction ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Over Time

Storytelling consists of an interaction between a narrator and a listener, both of whom assign meaning to the story as a whole and its component parts. The meaning assigned to the narrative changes over time under the influence of the recipient‟s changing precepts and perceptions which seem to be simplistic in infancy and more nuanced with age. It becomes more philosophical in that themes touching on the more profound questions of human existence tend to become more prominently discernible as the subject moves into the more reflective or summative phases of his or her existence. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the metaphorical character of a story, as reflected in changing patterns of meaning assigned to the narrative in the course of the subjective receiver‟s passage through the various stages of life. This was done by analysing meaning, from a particular storytelling session, at different stages of a listener‟s personal development. Meaning starts as literal and evolves through re-interpretation to abstract and deeper levels towards application in real life.

Rethinking Public Theology in Ethiopia: Politics, Religion, and Ethnicity in a Declining National Harmony

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171
Author(s):  
Wondimu Legesse Sonessa
Keyword(s):  
Public Theology ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Religion And Ethnicity ◽  
Almost All ◽  
African Traditional Religions

Abstract Ethiopia is a country of multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Almost all of its citizens claim affiliation with either Christianity, Islam, or African traditional religions. Adherents of these religions have been coexisting in respect and peace. However, there is a growing tension between the citizens since the downfall of the dictatorial military government of Ethiopia, which was displaced by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. Politics, religion, and ethnicity are the major causes of the declining national harmony under the current government. My claim is that addressing the declining national harmony caused by the religious, political, and ethnic tensions in Ethiopia requires of the EECMY to rethink its public theology in a way that promotes a national harmony that values peace, equality, justice, democracy, and human flourishing.

Globalization, Institutions, and Ethnic Inequality

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Nils-Christian Bormann ◽  
Yannick I. Pengl ◽  
Lars-Erik Cederman ◽  
Nils B. Weidmann
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Trade Openness ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
Domestic Institutions ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Ethnic Inequality ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Recent research has shown that inequality between ethnic groups is strongly driven by politics, where powerful groups and elites channel the state's resources toward their constituencies. Most of the existing literature assumes that these politically induced inequalities are static and rarely change over time. We challenge this claim and argue that economic globalization and domestic institutions interact in shaping inequality between groups. In weakly institutionalized states, gains from trade primarily accrue to political insiders and their co-ethnics. By contrast, politically excluded groups gain ground where a capable and meritocratic state apparatus governs trade liberalization. Using nighttime luminosity data from 1992 to 2012 and a global sample of ethnic groups, we show that the gap between politically marginalized groups and their included counterparts has narrowed over time while economic globalization progressed at a steady pace. Our quantitative analysis and four qualitative case narratives show, however, that increasing trade openness is associated with economic gains accruing to excluded groups in only institutionally strong states, as predicted by our theoretical argument. In contrast, the economic gap between ethnopolitical insiders and outsiders remains constant or even widens in weakly institutionalized countries.

Club convergence of crime rates in the United States of America

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kolawole Ogundari
Keyword(s):  
Violent Crime ◽  
Property Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Club Convergence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Convergence Club ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The cyclical behavior of US crime rates reflects the dynamics of crime in the country. This paper aims to investigate the US's club convergence of crime rates to provide insights into whether the crime rates increased or decreased over time. The paper also analyzes the factors influencing the probability of states converging to a particular convergence club of crime. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on balanced panel data from all 50 states and the district of Columbia on violent and property crime rates covering 1976–2019. This yields a cross-state panel of 2,244 observations with 55 time periods and 51 groups. In addition, the author used a club clustering procedure to investigate the convergence hypothesis in the study. Findings The empirical results support population convergence of violent crime rates. However, the evidence that supports population convergence of property crime rates in the study is not found. Further analysis using the club clustering procedure shows that property crime rates converge into three clubs. The existence of club convergence in property crime rates means that the variation in the property crime rates tends to narrow among the states within each of the clubs identified in the study. Analysis based on an ordered probit model identifies economic, geographic and human capital factors that significantly drive the state's convergence club membership. Practical implications The central policy insight from these results is that crime rates grow slowly over time, as evident by the convergence of violent crime and club convergence of property crime in the study. Moreover, the existence of club convergence of property crime is an indication that policies to mitigate property crime might need to target states within each club. This includes the efforts to use state rather than national crime-fighting policies. Social implications As crimes are committed at the local level, this study's primary limitation is the lack of community-level data on crime and other factors considered. Analysis based on community-level data might provide a better representation of crime dynamics. However, the author hopes to consider this as less aggregated data are available to use in future research. Originality/value The paper provides new insights into the convergence of crime rates using the club convergence procedure in the USA. This is considered an improvement to the methods used in the previous studies.

Divine Revelation in West Africa and Central Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 419-435
Author(s):  
Josiah Ulysses Young
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Doctrine Of God ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
African Independent Churches ◽  
Independent Churches ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
African Traditional Religions

This chapter examines divine revelation in West Africa and Central Africa, with a historical focus on the relation of biblical beliefs to African traditional religions. It discusses the African independent churches, specifically the Église de Jésus-Christ sur la Terre par le Prophète Simon Kimbangu; Vincent Mulago’s essay in Des prêtres noirs s’interrogent (1956); specific essays from the book Biblical Revelation and African Beliefs (1969); and Engelbert Mveng’s book L’Art d’Afrique noire: liturgie cosmique et langage religieux (1964). The chapter also examines the recent scholarship of the Ghanaian theologian Mercy Oduyoye and the Congolese scholars Oscar Bimwenyi-Kweshi and Kä Mana. Regarding the relationship between divine revelation and African traditional religions, it discusses J. B. Danquah’s book The Akan Doctrine of God (1944), the arguments of the Congolese Egyptologist Mubabinge Bilolo, and the West African scholar Ntumba Museka.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Sören Urbansky
Keyword(s):  
World History ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Academic Interest ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Over Time

This introductory chapter focuses on the overlapping and mingling of distinct nomadic and sedentary cultures and European and Asian civilizations along the Argun. It shows that the study of the multiple ways in which the Sino-Russian border was negotiated on the ground remains a lacuna in the scholarship. Such neglect is all the more striking in light of the landmark's geopolitical significance and pivotal role in world history, its unique and radical changes over time, and the growth of general academic interest in borders. Here, the chapter provides a new focus for research before turning to how the Argun Basin was populated over the course of centuries. It illustrates the changing patterns of population in such an inhospitable area.

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