Social values and the problem of magic and sorcery from a social service perspective

Abstract

Witch crafting has rituals and kinetic methods which might be used by the witch to accomplish objectives that fall outside the power of human sensory control.  Sorcery involves illusions, spells and incantations. It affects hearts and bodies. Although science has evolved globally and in Libya in particular, some people still believe in magic and sorcery. This may be due to lack of awareness, religious conscience, or it could be the absence of conscience, which may lead to suicide, house burning, severing the ties of kinship, child deprivation, divorce and other immoral offences. This is the problem of the research that needs to be investigated. In order to fulfil the objectives of this research, it is important to identify the social values and reasons for witch crafting and sorcery, and reveal the relationship between immorality and the acts of witch crafting and sorcery. The current study relied upon a random sample consisting of 56 members out of 222 members of Misurata University, Faculty of Education. The Spss programme was adopted to analyse the data and collected from participants.

  By answering the research questions, the following findings were reached: It is a vital issue to Affirm the following principles: human dignity, belonging to groups, taking responsibility and assisting others in solving their problems, cooperating with members of society, and working settling down conflicts between people. In addition, it was found that one of the reasons for resorting to witch crafting and sorcery is hatred and the desire for  physical and social superiority.