Employee Portfolio Essay

The purpose of this word summary is to be in the place of three employees at Riordan Manufacturing. These three employees have recently taken various self-assessments to help the manager in managing the teams. The summary will discuss the ways in which these three employees’ characteristics affect the performance of the organization and make recommendations for additional assessment. The three employees who have taken these tests are Antisha McFadden, Marianne Felts, and Edna Scafe. Antisha McFadden has scored 76 in the test â€Å"How satisfied and I with my job?† Because her score was below the average she is a very satisfied person when it comes to her job, she is optimistic. However, she cannot accept critique and she should learn how to be able to accept critique. In the test Felts her score was 66, which says about her that she is a deliberate candidate. These are things that she does with no reason and she should start having a reason for everything she does. In t he Scafe test, Edna scores 92, which means that she poses a higher emotional intelligence. She should learn how o be less subjective when evaluating. Marianne Felts has taken the same tests, as Antisha and her results were different. In the first test she scored 76 which means that she is an average satisfied person when it comes to her job, while in the second test she scored 66 telling us that she has a higher emotional intelligence. The recommendation for Antisha is to increase the level of concentration when working so that everything is perfectly done. The third employee interviewed is Edna Scafe, who takes the same tests as the first two employees and her scores are different. In the first test, Edna scores only 92 meaning that she is not satisfied with her jobs, while in the second her score is 22 meaning that she has a more blended style of decision making. The third test shows a score of 28 meaning that she is a person with normal levels of emotional intelligence. The recommendations for Edna are to reduce the time when deciding and not to reduce the quality or effectiveness of the decision taken.

Economic Consequences of Software Crime

In 1996 worldwide illegal copying of domestic and international software cost $15. 2 billion to the software industry, with a loss of $5. 1 billion in the North America alone. Some sources put the total up-to-date losses, due to software crime, as high as $4. 7 trillion. On the next page is a regional breakdown of software piracy losses for 1994. Estimates show that over 40 percent of North American software company revenues are generated overseas, yet nearly 85 percent of the software industry†s piracy losses occurred outside of North America. The Software Publishers Association (SPA) indicated that approximately 35 percent of the business software in the North America was obtained illegally. In fact, 30 percent of the piracy occurs in corporate settings. In a corporate setting or business, every computer must have its own set of original software and the appropriate number of manuals. It is illegal for a corporation or business to purchase a single set of original s! oftware and then load that software onto more than one computer, or lend, copy or distribute software for any reason without the prior written consent of the software manufacturer. Many software managers are concerned with the legal compliance, along with asset management and costs to their organizations. Many firms involve their legal departments and human resources in regards to software distribution and licensing. Information can qualify to be property in two ways; patent law and copyright laws which are creations of federal statutes, which are subject to Constitutional authority. In order for the government to prosecute the unauthorized copying of computerized information as theft, it must first rely on other theories of information-as-property. Trade secret laws are created by provincial law, and most jurisdictions have laws that criminalize the violations of a trade-secret holder†s rights. The definition of a trade secret varies somewhat from province to province, but commonly have the same elements. For example, the information must be secret, not of public knowledge or of general knowledge in the trade or business. A court will allow a trade secret to be used by someone who discovered or developed the trade secret independently if the holder takes adequate precautions to protect the secret. In 1964, the National Copyright Office began to register software as a form of literary expression. The office based its decision on White-Smith Music Co. v. Apollo, where the Supreme Court determined that a piano roll used in a player piano did not infringe upon copyrighted music because the roll was part of a mechanical device. Since a computer program is textual, like a book, yet also mechanical, like the piano roll in White-Smith, the Copyright Office granted copyright protection under the rule of doubt. In 1974, the government created the Natural Commission on New Technological Uses (CONTU) to investigate whether the evolving computer technology field outpaced the existing copyright laws and also to determine the extent of copyright protection for computer programs. CONTU concluded that while copyright protection should extend beyond the literal source code of a computer program, evolving case law should determine the extent of protection. The commission also felt copyright was the best alternative among existing intellectual property protective mechanisms. CONTU rejected trade secret and patents as viable protective mechanisms. The CONTU report resulted in the 1980 Computer Software Act, and the report acts as informal legislative history to aid the courts in interpreting the Act. In 1980, the Copyright Act was amended to explicitly include computer programs. It now states that it is illegal to make or to distribute copies of copyrighted material without authorization, except for the user†s right to make a single backup copy for archival purposes. Any written material (including computer programs) fixed in a tangible form (written somewhere – i. . printout) is considered copyrighted without any additional action on the part of the author. Therefore, it is not necessary that a copy of the software program be deposited with the National Copyright Office for the program to be protected as copyrighted. With that in mind a copyright is a property right only. In order to prevent anyone from selling your software programs, you must ask a (federal) court to stop that person by an injunction and to give you damages for the injury they have done to you by selling the program. The Software Rental Amendments Act was approved in 1990. This Act prohibits the commercial rental, leasing or lending of software without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Another amendment to the Copyright Act was passed in 1992. This amendment made software piracy a federal offense, and instituted criminal penalties for copyright infringement of software. The penalties can include imprisonment of up to five years, fines up to $250,000 or both for unauthorized reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies of software with a total retail value exceeding $2,500 or more. According to federal law duplicating software for profit, making multiple copies for use by different users within an organization, and giving an unauthorized copy to someone else is prohibited. Under this law if anyone is caught with the pirated software, an individual or the individual†s company can be tried under both civil and criminal law. A Civil action may be established for injunction, actual damages (which includes the infringer†s profits) or statutory damages up to $100,000 per infringement. The criminal penalties for copyright infringement can result in fines up to $250,000 and a jail term up to five years for the first offense and ten years for a second offense. When software is counterfeit or copied, the software developer loses their revenue and the whole software industry feels the effect of piracy. All software developers spend a lot of time and money in developing software for public use. A portion of every dollar spent in purchasing original softwar! e is funneled back into research and development of new software. Software piracy can be found in three forms: software counterfeiting, which is the illegal duplication and sale of copyrighted software in a form that is designed to make it appear to be a legitimate program; Hard disk loading, whereby computer dealers load unauthorized copies of software onto the hard disks of personal computers, which acts as an incentive for the end user to buy the hardware from that particular dealer; and downloading of copyrighted software to users connected by modem to electronic bulletin boards and/or the Internet. When software is pirated the consumer pays for that cost by new software and/or upgrade version being more expensive. Federal appellate courts have determined that operating systems, object code and software contained in ROMs are protected by copyright. Some lower federal courts have also determined that microcode (the instructions set on microprocessor chips) and the look and feel of computer screens is subject to copyright protection. Which has created major problems for the widespread development of multimedia applications with regards to clearing copyright for small elements of text, images, video and sound. The United States Government has been an active participant in protecting the rights of the software industry. When the Business Software Alliance (BSA) conducts a raid, Federal Marshals or local law enforcement officials participate as well. An organization known as the Software Publishers Association (SPA) is the principal trade association of the PC software industry. SPA works closely with the FBI and has also written an enforcement manual for the FBI to help them investigate pirate bulletin board systems and organizations (audits). With the help of the FBI, the result of enforcement actions resulted in recoveries from anti-piracy actions totaling $16 million since the program started in 1990. The Software Publishers Association (SPA) funds an educational program to inform individuals and corporations about software use and the law. This program provides all PC users with the tools needed to comply with copyright law and become software legal. The SPA also publishes brochures free of charge about the legal use of software for individuals and businesses. Also available to help corporations understand the copyright law is a 12-minute videotape, which is composed of the most commonly asked questions and answers to them. The video tape is available in French and Spanish and all together over 35,000 copies of the tape had been sold. The SPA has also compiled a free Self-Audit Kit with which organizations can examine their software use practices. Included in the kit, is a software inventory management program designed to help an organization track their commercial software programs that are on all their hard disks. The program searches the PC†s hard disk for more than 1300 of the most common programs used in business. Also available is the SPA Software Management Guide which helps companies audit their current software policies, educate employees about the legal use of software, and establish procedures to purchase, register, upgrade and backup computing systems. The guide, in addition, provides an Internal Controls Analysis and Questionnaire. The guide also contains all of the SPA†s current anti-piracy materials. The software industry is facing the challenges of more sophisticated network environments, greater competition among software companies along with hardware manufacturers. At this moment more software than ever before is distributed on a high volume, mass marketed basis. There are many types of software out on the market and the amount is increasing every day. They range from graphical user interfaces for application programs such as mass-market spreadsheets, to more sophisticated technical software used to design integrated circuits. The use of software plays a more vital role in our daily lives than it ever has. Such as embedded software, which is critical to equipment in such locations as a doctor†s office or an automotive shop. The instrument and devices found there depend more and more on software, because software provides the flexibility to meet the many different needs to the end user. As our lives our shaped and enhanced more by technology, there is already a greater demand that impacts the software industry. One of the main concerns of the software industry is how to deal with the issues of software licensing. More and more customers want customized software suited for their business or personal need, and expect the software development firms to accommodate to their wishes. The other side of this issue is that software development firms are concerned with unrealized revenue and excess costs in the form of software piracy, unauthorized use, excess discounts and lengthened sales cycles. For the customer and the software development firm, all of these have high administrative costs in regards to software programs. Software licensing policies were originally a result of software developer†s need to protect their revenue base in the face of potential piracy. Product delivery for software is made up of a number of different components, which are referred to as software licensing. The following factors are taken into consideration when determining a cost for a software license; physical delivery pricing, metric discounts, license periods support and maintenance, license management Tech support, change in use bug fixes and Platform Migration Product enhancements. The most commonly found type of software license found in business is known as a network license. There are four types of categories that are classified as a network license. Concurrent use licenses authorize a specified number of users to access and execute licensed software at any time. Site licenses authorize use at a single site, but are slowly being phased out and replaced by enterprise licenses. Enterprise licenses cover all sites within a corporation because of more virtual computing environments. Node licenses are also slowly being phased out because they are mainly used in a client/server environment, since the licensed software may be used only on a specified workstation in which a user must log on to in order to access and execute the software application. Currently the trend in a network system is to use measurement software, which allows vendors to be more flexible in licensing arrangements. This management software monitors and restricts the number of users or clients who may access and execute the application software at any one time. This is significant because a user pays only for needed use and a vendor can monitor such use to protect intellectual property. A new type of license that is emerging is known as a currency-based license. This type of license works on the basis that it provides to the end user a specified dollar amount of software licenses. This allows licenses to cover different business application software, so long as the total value in use at a given time is less than the amount stipulated in the license. Another type of license emerging is known as a platform-independent licensing. Which permits software to be used on a variety of different computer systems within a business, instead of buying a different license for each version of the same software used by different systems. The most common type of licensing is known as shrink-wrap, the concept behind this that the licenses terms are deemed accepted once the end user breaks a shrink-wrap seal or opens a sealed envelope containing the software. A reason for these new types of licensing is that when software licensing was first introduced, the software development firms assumed that most businesses would use the software for a 8 to 10 hour period. Yet, did not take into consideration that with the advancement of technology, more businesses would want a floating license across the world for 24 hours. This made it so it was not cost effective for the software development firm. A floating license is a license that is made available to anyone on a network. The licenses are not locked to particular workstations, instead they float to modes on the network. Shareware, freeware and public domain are different types of software available to the end user, and are distinguished by different rules about how programs may be distributed, copied, used and modified. The term shareware refers to software that is distributed at a low cost, but which usually requires a payment after a certain time period and registration for full use. Copies of this software are offered on a trial basis, the end user is free to try a scaled down version of the program. If the end user wants the shareware program, included in the program is information specifying how to register the program and what fee is required. Once registered the end user will typically receive a printed manual, an updated copy of the software (often with additional features), and the legal right to use the program in their home or business. The advantage that shareware has is that it lets the end user thoroughly test a program to see if it†s useful before making a purchase. The ! authors of shareware programs retain their copyright on the contents, and as other copyrighted software should not be pirated. Freeware is also distributed at a very low cost and like shareware is found mainly on the Internet. The authors of the freeware program do not expect payment for their software. Typically, freeware programs are small utilities or incomplete programs that are released by authors for the potential benefit to others, but the drawback to this is that there is no technical support. Public domain software is generally found on the Internet and is released without any condition upon its use. It may be copied, modified and distributed as the end user wishes to do. A license manager is a system utility-like application that controls or monitors the use of another end-user application. It is generally implemented to protect intellectual property (meaning to stop illegal copying) and/or to become more competitive by offering new ways in which to evaluate, purchase and pay for software. Since the license manager controls the number of application users, there is not a need to control the number of application copies. This process lets the end user run one or more applications between machines, without violating the terms of the license agreement.

The Law of Electronic Commerce and the Internet Research Paper

The Law of Electronic Commerce and the Internet - Research Paper Example Irrespective of the contractual arrangements between the parties, the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the TPA and/or equivalent Fair Trading legislation may well apply, provided a sufficient jurisdictional nexus is established in relation to the relevant conduct. However, this is on particular problems arose by eBuy and Mr. John Online auction transactions. In the case of an eBay, auction company has control over the goods that are being auctioned. In this case of the auction, the buyers Mr. Paul paid $ 1500 the eBuy company for the goods Television. Misleading and deceptive conduct will extend to the layout of the site itself. In this regard factors such as the size, type, and color of the font, the prominence and location of hyperlinks, visibility and location of key terms and conditions, whether any distracting graphics or technology are used as well as other relevant circumstances, may be relevant to whether the Internet-based conduct is misleading or deceptive. In this case, terms and conditions of the eBay Company were not clear and the size was big so that customers clicking "I Accept" Button without reading and understanding the terms and conditions. And Mr. John was clicking "I Accept" Button without reading and understanding the terms and conditions.Mr. John's claim would depend, essentially, on whether he could establish that he was led to believe that the auction site eBay, through terms and conditions or through representations on the website, misled him as to the characteristics and security of the auction process. This issue was considered in the case of Evagora v eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Limited [2001] VCAT 49, although, being a Tribunal decision, its precedent value is limited. In that case, Evagora successfully bid for a computer in an eBay hosted auction, which was paid for but never arrived. The seller of the computer was based overseas. Evagora claimed for his loss against eBay, arguing that he did not read eBay's user agreement and that eBay represented that the auction site was safe, which overrode the terms of the user agreement. eBay was held liable by the Tribunal for the loss suffered by Evagora. It is important that the terms and conditions on which a consumer participates in Online auctions website are clear, accurate, and accessible to avoid potential claims under sections 52 and 53. It is also important not to reduce or nullify the effectiveness of any terms and conditions by contrary or inconsistent representations or impressions given to users via the actual content of the website. Answer 2 Harry's Burger Farm collects personal details from Paul. Two years later Paul is upset when his health insurer charges a higher health insurance premium because he is deemed a 'high risk' heart attack candidate. Another insurer refuses to ensure his car, citing high clash statistics for owners of mobile phones.

Thinking in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thinking in the Workplace - Essay Example being in school bring him his own set of challenges- stress, so much work to do, running out of time, procrastination and not enough rest leading to tiredness. If he is confronted with the same set of challenges everyday, the effects could interfere with his normal functions as an individual and even be detrimental to his physical and mental health. Hence, it is important for him to take action and start to make use of an appropriate time management program that he can stick to. There have been countless time management tips for people who apparently cannot follow a regular plan to better manage their schedule and have time to finish workload and still have rest. The following is a simple five-step plan, especially devised for students like Chris. 1) Make a â€Å"To do† list. Before planning out a particular schedule, determine and list down the things that you want to achieve and when they need to be done. This could be on a daily or a weekly basis and should be detailed. 2) Prioritize. After listing your goals or tasks, arrange them according to the urgency or importance. Tips-for-Boomers suggests these specific categories a) Urgent b) Important but not urgent c) Neither important nor urgent. 3) Schedule. After having prioritized the tasks, it is now time to decide when to do the job individually. It is advisable that he set or reserve a specific time frame for doing the necessary tasks, and another time frame for his leisure and recreation. 4) Reinforce and Maintain. Some time management plans do not work because they are not maintained or are hard to sustain. To help Chris in making his time management plan last, he should develop ways to reinforce his actions. One suggested way is the use of the reward system. After a few observations it is found out that Chris prefers to look at maps over verbal directions to a place. He also likes to look at pictures or paintings, and movies and is more likely to retain information presented visually. It is therefore

Fair Trading Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fair Trading - Assignment Example The Office of Fair Trading is the most important government body in this connection. It has the power to impose penalties on those found breaching the law. The amendments made to this Act in May 2004 assigned greater powers to OFT so it can now conduct investigations in case a business is suspected of violating the prohibitions. Apart from Chapter 1 and II prohibitions, business need to be mindful of the anti-competitive activities outlined in Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty. These prohibitions are similar to those contained in Chapter I and II but contain some additional information. Company directors are under increased pressure from the government now with amendments to Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 under the Enterprise Act 2002 whereby individuals found of breaching the law may face Competition Disqualification Orders. This can prevent them from managing a company for 15 years. Some key implications to remember include the power of OFT officials to demand documents that can establish the status of a firm and its trade practices. Any breach of fair trade practices can result in 10 percent fine for your business on an annual basis. Third parties can claim damages. The Enterprise Act 2002 has given additional force to compliance laws by making some anti-competitive activities criminal. The cartel offence clause can make some monopolistic activities liable to criminal prosecution. OFT gives priorities to cases of cartel offence and if found involved in a cartel, your business can face serious charges. The Fair Trading Act had initially granted power to Competition Commission for making monopoly references. However under Enterprise Act 2002 those powers have been assigned to Office of Fair Trading, which can now work as a statutory body in tandem with a Board. The Competition Commission is still an important body in this connection as it had the power to investigate monopolies on direction of Director of Fair Trade agency. However most of those powers have now been granted to Office of Fair Trading. It can still make investigations when appeal is registered on some decision taken by OFT. The Director General of Fair Trading has the power to investigate alleged breaches and if it finds that prohibitions have been violated, companies can be charged 10 percent of their annual revenue for 3 years. This is something that you will have to be very careful of since these charges can erode your profits for many years. That will consequently affect your share price and might result in a takeover. With the agencies and bodies that would try to control your monopolistic activities, there are some safeguards available which you should be aware of. If your company is concerned about possible monopolistic charges, you can instantly notify the Office of Fair Trading of agreements and any other activities that might constitute anti-competitive behavior. This can help you in seeking exemption by explaining how it might help and benefit other players. Secondly some agreements may actually not be in the jurisdiction of the agency and notification can help you understand where

Automobile Accidents Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Automobile Accidents - Research Paper Example Automobile drivers and other stakeholders who are part of automobile accidents can take control of internal factors to decrease the rate of automobile accidents. The reasons due to which automobile accidents are caused include substance abuse, cultural factors, use of mobile phone, personality traits and experience. It is most commonly believed that when individuals are under the influence of substances such as alcohol or drugs, they tend to loose control over their vehicle and cause accidents. Several accidents throughout the world are linked with alcoholism. A study was conducted by Richer and other researchers to ensure whether driving under influence of cannabis results in automobile accidents or not (Richer, 2009). The literature review section of the research proved that various researches have stated that when a driver is under the influence of cannabis there are higher chances of automobile accidents as the driver looses his control over the vehicle. The study conducted by Richer was related to driving type and by those who abuse cannabis. The research proved that when drivers are under the influence of cannabis, they drive in a reckless manner and are negative state of emotion. This opinion has been countered by Guastello through his research in which he hypothesized that individuals w ho are addicted to alcohol and are heavy alcohol drinkers are mostly involved in road accidents even when they are not under the influence of alcohol (Guastello, 1987). The research took place for three years in which 1300 respondents who were at the undergraduate level of their education reported incidents of near missed accidents each week and a questionnaire was used to measure their level of alcohol and drug abuse. The research concluded that the hypothesis was null and there was no or miniature connection between use of drugs and alcohol and automobile accidents. As stated by WHO that the 70% of the deaths that take place throughout the

Kant's Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kant's Ethics - Essay Example Kant rebuffed the notion that anything as uninformed and incidental as empirical ends, no issue how sound intended, could protected the meticulous demands of ethics. He persisted that ethical demands are obligatory -- not only essentially and unanimously, but unreservedly. Ethical demands are articulated in categorical, not hypothetical, essentials. Ethical demands be obliged to be based on rationally obligatory prescribed principles, not contingent material rules. The main point of Kant's argument has been to offer a quick contrast with the categorical imperative. Categorical imperatives do not bid us will the means to an end, and so are not conditioned by will for an end already presupposed: this is why they are unconditioned, unqualified, and categorical. According to categorical imperative each rational instrument ought to will thus and thus. Therefore the clarification given of imaginary imperatives can in no way relate to it. The very notion of a categorical imperative might appear extraordinary were one not familiar with the apparently unconditioned asserts of morality. (Hoose, 1998) Kant, though, persists that one can in no way institute the categorical imperative by a request to experience.

Wagmatcook culture & hartige centre, Cape Breton,canada 866-295-2999 Research Paper

Wagmatcook culture & hartige centre, Cape Breton,canada 866-295-2999 - Research Paper Example This centre was opened in the year 2001 and is dedicated in reviving the Mi’kmaq culture. An ancient tools collections, A wigwam of real size, photos of the Mi’kmaq people while catching salmon, hunting for caribou, and making baskets portray the Wagmatcook Culture & Heritage Centre’s theme, which is, â€Å"The Way a Mi’kmaq Lives.† Wagmatcook Culture & Heritage Centre is home to a display and heritage exhibition of Mi’kmaq cultural artifacts. There are special activities in this great facility’s hall which include dancing, drumming, and storytelling which are done by the community’s elders. Tourists and visitors get a chance to sample the traditional Mi’kmaq foods including â€Å"four cent cake,† roasted venison, and eel stew which are offered at the Centre’s restaurant. Visitors can also shop for beadwork, baskets, Mi’kmaq regalia, quill-work, and original artwork and paintings. The Wagmatcook Cultu re & Heritage Centre opens daily, all year-round (Wagmatcook.com, 1). Cape Breton Island, where Wagmatcook Culture & Heritage aboriginal site is located, is in the Nova Scotia province of Canada. It is a 3,981  sq  mi (10,311  km2) island, which is 18.7% of Nova Scotia’s total area. Even though, the Strait of Canso physically separates it from the Nova Scotia peninsula, they are artificially connected by the Canso causeway for easy transport. Cape Breton’s landmass upwardly slopes from south to north, hence culminating in the Northern Cape islands. The first residents of the Cape Breton Island were the Maritime Archaic natives who are ancestors to the Mi'kmaq people who were the island’s inhabitants at the time of discovery by the Europeans (Wagmatcook.com, 1). The Wagmatcook people history dates back many centuries. The reservation was, however, not established officially until May 2nd, 1834 by Sir Peregrine Maitland. He has been referred as the gentleman who refused to accede to the Scottish settler’s wishes of removing the Native people from the West-Side Middle River’s mouth. The centre’s operation is part of the five year development strategy by the Wagmatcook Band Council. The Wagmatcook Culture & Heritage Centre’s future plans include featuring an interpretive village offering marine opportunities and outdoor activities and travelling exhibits (religious and medicinal themes). The Smithsonian Institute possesses some four thousand artifacts collected from the Wagmatcook First Nation community (Wagmatcook.com, 1). A tour inside the Wagmatcook Culture & Heritage Center entails visiting interpretive exhibits with available guides, and witnessing first-hand the Mi'kmaq people way of life over the past centuries. The centre offers craft shops where local artisans demonstrate their craftsmanship which has been passed over for generations. You can experience the Mi'kmaq culture through story-telling, drumm ing, and dancing. Traditional foods of the Mi'kmaq people are available at the Clean Wave Restaurant inside the museum. These include eel stew, stewed venison or roasted, rabbit, deer, moose, poached salmon, four-cent cake, lis'knikn, and bannock. There is a variety of souvenirs available for sale including; beadwork (bookmarkers, necklaces, etc.), baskets, earrings, bracelets

Globalisation and Economic Sociology Term Paper

Globalisation and Economic Sociology - Term Paper Example   Different nations of people live in one city, like Lenovo representing unity in diversity with so many cultures and traditional values. Different languages are spoken.   Municipalities also register an inevitable growth and they have to provide transportable roads lighting the roads, similarly and should be committed to providing amenities of international standard to being globalization.   The technology is no more permitted, limited to a particular part of the world.   It is exchanged in order to serve the public with the latest technology. The globe is no bigger. Globalization and economic sociology represent a single economy. Single technology, efficiency, and quality of the products should be of high standard. Because of globalization and sociology, there is conspicuous change with the social life industries. One shall meat and come across different rest of different nationals represent at one place.   Different sets of different nationals represent diversified cultures, different languages are spoken at one and the same place, and at one and the same time.   They come to know each other from a closer proximity. The intimacies develop; relationships pave way for greater understanding.   The social pavilion of life is set to rolling.   Broader outlook develops into the more knowledgeable and understanding environment.   There will be a great impact on the urban sociology patterns of life. The world becomes a small place respectively inevitable economic growth, a pleasant knowledge-based environment.   The world is no bigger, thou ghts of seeing the world; the globe on a huge unknown has become so small so much can be felt immensely. The development may fold big colonies.   A lot of departmental stores will enter into the market to cater to the needs of the conglomeration.   The branded cloth stores, all varieties clothes grocers, food needs and other essentialities shall be ushering with magnificence providing job opportunities for skilled and unskilled.   The development shall develop many folds.  

AET ETO reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

AET ETO reflection - Essay Example Drag racing is a sport that anyone can partake in with comparative ease. Grassroots racing created a desire for contest among youthful adults. By associating with the local drag strip, readers are able to encounter drag racing individually. Slingshot provides the magic blend of sounds, the blazing rubber, the howling exhaust, the grit, the nitro and the flames. Turn on the Slingshot video loud and lose oneself in the excitement of drag racing history. The start of the film is a clear indication that drag history is the focus of the film. This is so because it starts by showing that the origins of drag racing is back dated 1930’s in Southern California as youthful gentlemen took to the streets to compete.   Other men prepared this rich bisque of hot riders and generated a land pace cluster that made the long trek along dirt roads into the desiccated lakes of the Mojave Desert so as to race their cars.  This is a fascinating picture to analyze how the world acknowledged motorsport events started from humble settings. Some people state that drag racing is dated together with the domestication of the horse and that people have always disputed others to acts of speed.  This video is approximately 30 minutes long and provides the chronological events of drag racing, employing interviews with a number of the most memorable men to have ever officiated or participated in drag racing.  Slingshot  is an astounding brief doc umentary and at a half hour will glue individual’s attention. In fact, I watched the movie two times and felt that I desired that it could have spent more time.   Since the movie is a sequence of work, part two will almost certainly continue the narrative.   The old video clips and photography are as spectaculars as one could get anywhere.   The backdrop chatter and music is occasionally a bit irritating, but there has to be some sound or the

How Do Economic Incentives Affect Social Preferences and Behavior Essay Example for Free

How Do Economic Incentives Affect Social Preferences and Behavior Essay For decades economic theories have relied heavily on the effectiveness of material incentives (Fehr Gachter, 2001). According to the traditional exchange theory all people are exclusively motivated by their own material self-interest. It predicts that the introduction of a penalty will reduce the occurrence of the behavior that is subject to the fine. On the other hand it states that introducing a material incentive will lead to an increase of the behavior related to the bonus. Based on economic theory, incentives have become increasingly popular and are used to increase certain behaviors in various fields including environmental policy (Andersen Sprenger, 2000; Barde Smith, 1997; Baumol Oates, 1988; Kahn, 1995; all cited in ThOgersen, 2003), household surveys (Singer, 2002) and education policy (Fryer, 2011). On the other side, penalties have been used to reduce free-riding (Feldman, Papadimitriou, Chuang, Stoica, 2006), and crimes (Akerlof Dickens, 1982). There is much evidence that supports the basic premise of economics that incentives are effective (Gibbons, 1997; Prendergast, 1999; Lazear, 2000; all cited in Benabou Tirole, 2004). However, a large body of literature in psychology has shown that explicit incentives lead to decreased motivation and reduced performance in the long run (Deci Ryan, 1985; as cited in Benabou Tirole, 2004). Titmuss (1970, as cited in Benabou Tirole, 2004) was the first who claimed that people might adopt a ‘market mentality’ when they are exposed to explicit economic incentives. He found that paying blood donors for donating blood could actually reduce supply. In the beginning there was little hard evidence that social preferences affected individual behavior, but empirical and theoretical advances over the past decades provide the basis for more support. For example, Gneezy and Rustichini (2000a) found that introducing a monetary fine for late-coming parents in day-care centers led to a significant increase in late-coming. There was no reduction in late-coming after the fine was removed. Also Fryer (2011) didn’t find evidence that providing financial incentives to teachers to increase student performance had any effect. Partly because of these findings, terms as trust, reciprocity, gift exchange and fairness have appeared in the empirical study and modeling of principal-agent relationships (Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). This highlights the importance of the influence that social preferences have on incentives. Based on the contradictions mentioned above I conclude that a more thorough analysis is needed in order to understand the influence of incentives on behavior. I’ll focus on the interplay between incentives and social preferences and how this affects behavior. In this paper I will review several mechanisms that can explain how incentives can be less effective than economic theories predict and how they can even have counterproductive effects. Furthermore I will indicate the implications of the (non-)effectiveness of incentives for economic policy. Overview of past research According to the definition of Bowles and Polania-Reyes (2012), social preferences refer to â€Å"motives such as altruism, reciprocity, intrinsic pleasure in helping others, inequity aversion, ethical commitments and other motives that induce people to help others more than would an own-material-payoff maximizing individual† (p. 4). Fehr and Fischbacher (2002) have indicated the most important types of preferences that have been uncovered by the literature. I will shortly review them below. The first important type of social preference is the preference for reciprocal fairness or reciprocity. An individual is reciprocal when he responds kindly to actions that are perceived as kind, and when he responds hostile to actions that are perceived as hostile. Whether some action is perceived as hostile of kind depends on the unfairness or fairness of the intention and on the consequences that are associated with the action. A second social preference type is inequity aversion. According to Fehr and Schmidt (1999; as cited in Fehr Fischbacher, 2002) â€Å"inequity averse persons want to achieve an equitable distribution of material resources† (p. C3). Inequity averse persons show altruistic behavior if the other persons’ payoffs are below an equitable level. However, if the other persons’ payoffs are exceeding the equitable level an inequity averse person want to decrease the other persons’ payoffs. There are a lot of similarities in the behavior of reciprocal and inequity averse individuals, since both concepts depend in some way on the perception of fairness. Pure altruism is the third type of social preference, which is very different from the former two. Altruism can be seen as an unconditional form of kindness (Fehr Fischbacher, 2002), as an altruistic person would never take an action that decreases another person’s payoff. The problem with pure altruism is that it cannot explain conditional cooperation, that is, people want to increase their voluntary cooperation in response to cooperation of others. The last social preference type that Fehr and Fischbacher (2002) mentioned is envious or spiteful preferences. An envious or spiteful person always values the payoff of other agents negatively. Therefore the envious person is willing to decrease the other agent’s payoff even if it brings along a personal cost to himself. This happens irrespective of fair or unfair behavior of the other agent and irrespective of the pay-off distribution (Fehr Fischbacher, 2002). However, spitefulness can’t explain why it is that the same individuals sometimes are willing to help others at a personal cost, while sometimes they harm other people. Over the past decades, many studies have confirmed that a significant fraction of individuals engage in reciprocal or altruistic behaviors (Buraschi Cornelli, 2002; as cited in Benabou Tirole, 2004; Fehr Gachter, 2000). Thus, many individuals do not only care about the material resources allocated to them, but also care about material resources allocated to other relevant agents. To give an overview of the incentive effects on preferences, two distinctions are made: the nature and the causes of incentives (Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). Concerning the nature of incentives, people often respond to the mere presence of incentives, rather than to their extent (Gneezy, 2003; as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). However, the extent of an incentive may also play a role. Therefore the effects of incentives on social preferences can be either categorical or marginal or a combination of the two. Bowles and Polania-Reyes (2012) also make a distinction between 2 causes of incentive effects on preferences. First, incentives can affect the environment in which preferences are learned. When this happens, the preferences are referred to as endogenous preferences. Second, the extent or presence of incentives affect the behavioral salience of an individual’s social preferences. When incentives constitute different states, we refer to social preferences as state-dependent preferences. There are three mechanisms that make social preferences state-dependent. First, by implementing an incentive, the principal discloses information about his intentions, about his beliefs about the target of the incentives and about the targeted behavior. This information might affect the agent’s social preferences which in turn affect the agent’s behavior. Second, incentives provide situational cues for appropriate behavior. Finally, incentives may lead to a crowding out of intrinsic motivations. The crowding-out effect is based on the intuition that the presence of punishments or rewards spoils the reputational value of good deeds. This creates doubt within the individual about the extent to which he performed because of the incentives rather than for himself. This phenomenon is also referred to as the ‘overjustification effect’ (Lepper, Greene, Nisbett, 1973; as cited in Benabou Tirole, 2004). In the next part of this paper I’ll give experimental evidence for both endogenous preferences and for all 3 mechanisms that make preferences incentive-state-dependent. Furthermore, I’ll give examples of experiments where crowding in has been found and explain the underlying mechanisms. 1. Endogenous preferences: incentives alter how new preferences are learned Preferences are endogenous if someone’s experiences lead to durable changes in motivations and eventually result in a change in behavior in certain situations (Bowles, 2008). In most cases, experiments have a few hours duration and therefore it’s unlikely to uncover the mechanisms that are involved in the process of durable change of preferences. Although it’s hard to explore the causal mechanisms at work, there exist some experiments that do show a durable learning effect (Irlenbausch Sliwka, 2005; Falkinger, Fehr, Gachter, Winter-Ebmer, 2000; all cited in Bowles, 2008). Gneezy and Rustichini (2000a), for example, examined if the introduction of a monetary fine for late-coming parents in day-care centers would lead to reduction of late-coming. However, the amount of late-coming parents didn’t decrease, but increased significantly. Thus incentives led to more self-interested behavior. More importantly, after the fine was removed no reduction in late-coming parents was shown, meaning that there was some durable learning effect going on. 2. State-dependent preferences: incentives provide information about the principal When an incentive is imposed on an agent, he may infer information about the principal who designed the incentive. He may, for example, infer information about the principal’s beliefs regarding the agent, and about the nature of the task that has to be done (Fehr Rockenbach, 2003). This information can lead to a negative response to fines that are imposed by principals. Fehr and Rockenbach (2003) designed a sequentially played social dilemma experiment and examined how sanctions intended to prevent cheating affect human altruism. Participants in the role of ‘investor’ could transfer a certain amount of money to another player, the ‘trustee’. The experimenter tripled this amount. After tripling the money, the trustee was given the opportunity to back-transfer some of this money to the investor. The investor could indicate a desired level of the back-transfer before he transferred the money to the trustee. In the incentive-condition the investor even had the option to impose a fine if the trustee would send a back-transfer that was less than the desired amount. Instead of imposing a fine the investor could also choose to decline the use of the fine. The decision of imposing or declining the fine was known to the trustee. In the trust-condition the investor could not make use of incentives. Fehr and Rockenbach (2003) found that generous initial transfers by investors were reciprocated with greater back-transfers by trustees. However, the use of the fine reduced the return transfers, while renouncing the fine in the incentive-condition increased back-transfers. This means that sanctions revealing selfish or greedy intentions destroy altruistic cooperation almost completely (Fehr Rockenbach, 2003). In another experiment by Fehr and Schmidt (2007), principals could choose between offering a bonus contract or a combination contract (which was a combination of the bonus contract with a fine) to the employee. What they found was that agents perceive that principals who are less fair are more likely to choose a combined contract and are less likely to pay the announced bonus. Furthermore the effect of effort on the bonus paid is twice as large in the pure bonus condition compared to the combined contract condition. The positive response to the principal’s renunciation of the fine option can be seen as a categorical effect. The threat of a fine led to diminishment of the trustee’s reciprocity. 3. State-dependent preferences: incentives may suggest permissible behavior The experiments that will be described here, differ from the experiments mentioned above in the way that here incentives are implemented exogenously by the experimenter. This means that incentives do not provide any information about the beliefs or intentions of other experimental subjects. In a lot of situations people look for clues of appropriate behavior. These are often provided by incentives. These framing effects have been investigated in many studies. Hoffman, McCabe, Shachat and Smith (1994; as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012) found that by making a game sound more competitive after relabeling it, generosity and fair-minded behavior in the participants were diminished. In some other studies (Ellingsen, Johannesson, Munkhammar, Mollerstrom, 2008; as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012) the framing effect even appeared to have changed subjects’ beliefs about the actions of others. Framing effects can also be induced in other ways than simply renaming the experiment. Providing an incentive may already provide a powerful frame for the decision maker. In an experiment of Schotter, Weiss and Zapater (1996) subjects played an Ultimatum Game experiment in which player 1 is given an endowment and asked to propose a part of this endowment to player 2. Player 2 can either accept or reject this division. If he accepts, the proposed division is implemented. However, if he rejects both players receive nothing. Schotter et al (1996) found that if a market-like competition was included in the game, that is, subjects with lower earnings would be excluded from the second round in the game, player 1 proposed less generous divisions to player 2. Furthermore, lower offers were accepted by player 2. The authors interpreted these results as that implementing market-like competition â€Å"offers justifications for actions that in isolation would be unjustifiable† (p. 38). Thus, providing incentives in the form of a competition can lead to moral disengagement. The framing effects of incentives can occur in cases of government-imposed incentives as well. An example comes from an experiment from Cardenas, Stranlund and Willis (2000) where they studied the effects of external regulatory control of environmental quality. Participants were asked to choose how much time they would spend collecting firewood from a forest, while being aware that this activity has a negative effect on local water quality. Two treatments were considered to examine whether external control may crowd out group-oriented behavior. All subjects played eight initial rounds of the game without any treatment, that is, without being able to communicate with each other and without external regulation. After the initial rounds, one subset of groups played additional rounds in which they were able to communicate. The other subset of groups was confronted with a government-imposed regulation. The regulation also involved the possibility of imposing a fine to subjects that would withdraw too much of the firewood. Although standard economic theory predicted that the regulation would increase group-oriented behavior, this wasn’t the case. When subjects were able to communicate they made way more efficient decisions. However, regulatory external control caused subjects to make decisions that were closer to their self-interest. This means that the fine, although it was insufficient to enforce the social optimum, extinguished the subjects’ ethical aptitudes. 4. State-dependent preferences: incentives may compromise intrinsic motives and self-determination A third reason why social preferences may be state dependent is because providing incentives may lead to motivational crowding out. As Bowles (2008) put it: â€Å"where people derive pleasure from an action per se in the absence of other rewards, the introduction of explicit incentives may ‘overjustify’ the activity and reduce the individual’s sense of autonomy† (p. 607). According to Deci (1975; as cited in Bowles, 2008) the underlying psychological mechanism appears to be a desire for â€Å"feelings of competence and self-determination that are associated with intrinsically motivated behavior† (p. 1607). There is a large body of literature on the psychology of intrinsic motivations going back to the early work of Festinger (1957; as cited in ThOgersen, 2003) and his cognitive dissonance theory. In the past decades a lot of experiments have been done to test the crowding out of intrinsic motivation. One of these studies comes from Gneezy Rustichini (2000b) who tested the effects of monetary incentives on student performance. 180 students were asked to answer 50 questions of an IQ test. They were all paid 60 NIS (New Israeli Shekel) for their participation in the experiment. The students were divided into 4 different groups, which were all corresponding to 4 different treatments. The students in the first treatment group were only asked to answer as many questions as possible. The students in the second group got an extra payment of 10 cents of a NIS per question that they answered correctly. Subjects in the third group were promised 1 NIS, and subjects in the fourth group 3 NIS per question that they answered correctly. The average number of questions correctly was approximately 28 in the first group and declined to 23 in the second group. Furthermore, the number increased to 34 in both the third and the fourth group. The differences in performance were significant. In a second experiment Gneezy Rustichini (2000b) tested the effect of incentives on volunteer work performed by high school children. 180 children were divided into three groups. The subjects in the first group constituted the control group and they were only given a speech about the importance of volunteer work. The second group was given a speech as well, but was also promised to receive 1 per cent of the total amount of donations collected. The third group was promised 10 per cent of the amount collected. The average amount collected was highest in the first group and lowest in the second group. The average amount that was collected by the third group was higher than that of the second group but not as high of the amount that was collected in the first group. Also these results were significant. It appears to indicate that the effect of incentives can be detrimental, at least for small amounts. In another experiment, Falk and Kosfeld (2006; as cited in Bowles 2008) tested the idea that control aversion based on the self-determination motive is the reason that incentives reduce performance. They used a principal-agent game where agents could choose a level of production that was beneficial for the principal, but costly for themselves. If the agent chose to produce nothing, he would get a maximal pay-off. Before the agent’s decision the principal could decide to leave the choice f production level completely to the agent or to impose a certain lower bound on the agent’s production level. The experimenter varied the bounds across the treatments and the principal could only choose to impose it or not. Results showed that when the principal imposed the bound, the agents chose a lower production level than when the principal didn’t impose a bound. The ‘untrusting’ principals earned half of the profits of those who did trust the agents and thus didn’t impose a bound. In post-surveys, the agents indicated that imposing the lower bound was perceived as a signal of distrust. The results of this experiment suggest that the desire for self-determination and control aversion are not the only effects of imposing the bound. Imposing this minimum was informative for the agents about what the principals’ beliefs were regarding the agents: the principals who imposed the bounds had lower expectations of the agents. Thus, the results in the experiment of Falk and Kosfeld (2006; as cited in Bowles 2008) seem to be the result of both negative information about the principal (or incentive designer) as well as the result of self-determination. 5. Crowding in Although a lot of experiments show that providing incentives has a negative effect on social preferences, there is also some evidence that crowding in can occur, that is, social preferences and incentives enhance the effect on each other. This might happen when an incentive provides good news about the principal’s type or intentions, for example when he offers the agent a reward rather than a fine. It is also seen in experiments where the incentive designers are peers in a public goods game who pay to punish free riders in order to sustain cooperative behavior (Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). The phenomenon of crowding in is interesting since it indicates how policies could be implemented optimally and how incentives and social preferences could become complements rather than substitutes (Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). Besides that, it appears that crowding in happens often in Public Goods games and Common Pool Resources games, which display the same characteristics as public policy settings. Below I’ll give an example of an experiment in which crowding in was found. Fehr and Gachter (2000) conducted a public good experiment with and without the opportunity to punish. In the no-punishment treatment the dominant strategy is complete free-riding. In the punishment treatment free-riders could be punished by their altruistic peers, since it was costly for them to punish. Therefore, if there were only selfish individuals, as assumed in economic theory, there wouldn’t be a difference between the two treatments. However, in the no-punishment treatment the contributions of the players were substantially lower than in the punishment treatment. This suggests that powerful motives drive the punishments of free-riders. Furthermore there was evidence that the more free-riders deviated from cooperation, the more they were being punished. There are several mechanisms that can explain the effect of crowding in. In the first place when a peer imposes a fine on a free-rider, this may activate a feeling of shame. Barr (2001; as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012) found that just a verbal message of disapproval already can have a positive effect on the free riders’ contributions. A second mechanism that appears to be at work it that nobody wants to be the cooperator while all others are defecting. Shinada and Yamagishi (2007, as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012) found that students cooperated more in a public goods experiment when they were assured that defecting free-riders would be punished. They just didn’t want to be exploited by defectors. A third mechanism underlying crowding in was consistent with the findings of an experiment by Vertova and Galbiati (2010, as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). They found that when a stated obligation was introduced, this produced a larger effect when it was accompanied with a small monetary incentive, rather than with a big incentive or than when no incentives were offered. The authors interpreted this phenomenon as that the salience of the stated obligation is enhanced by large explicit incentives. The latter phenomenon was also found in Ireland, where a small tax was imposed on plastic grocery bags (Rosenthal, 2008; as cited in Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). After two weeks there was a 94% decline in the use of these bags. This result can be explained by the fact that the introduction of the tax was preceded by a large publicity campaign. Thus, the incentive was implemented jointly with a message of social obligation and it seems that it served as a reminder of the importance of one’s civic duty. Implications for policy Many policies are based on the self-interest hypothesis that predicts that all individuals are self-regarding. However, as we have seen social preferences play an important role as well when it comes down to behavior. This would mean that a lot of current policies are non-optimal. Therefore a big challenge is facing the mechanism designer: how to design optimal fines, taxes or subsidies when the individual’s responses depend on his preferences which in turn are determined by the incentive imposed? In most experiments the effects of incentives were studies and afterwards the mechanisms were identified that could explain the results. However, one of the problems that the designer is facing is that he must determine beforehand how incentives will affect behavior. Based on the experiments that have been done, several guidelines can be drawn. The first is that when crowding out is found, social preferences and incentives are substitutes. This means that a negative effect of incentives is less likely to be found when the social preferences are minimal. In contrast, when social preferences are prevalent among a society, it may be more convenient to reduce the use of incentives. Also, policies that are implemented in order to enhance social preferences will be more effective when incentives are little used. The second stems from Titmuss’s claim that if the crowding out effect is so strong that the incentive has an opposite effect than intended, incentives should be used less. However, in many cases the effectiveness of incentives is not reversed, but blunted and then the implications for the optimal use of incentive isn’t that obvious (Bowles Hwang, 2008). How Bowles Hwang (2008) state it: â€Å"the reduced effectiveness of the incentive associated with crowding out would entail a larger incentive for a planner designing a subsidy to ensure compliance with a quantitative target† (p. 4). Present evidence is insufficient in providing enough guidelines to the policy maker who wants to know ex ante what the effects are of the incentives that he considers to implement (Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). What we do know is that the same incentives imposed by individuals who have no personal benefit but only want to promote pro-social behavior (as in the experiment of Fehr Gachter, 2000) are more likely to increase contributions than when imposed by an untrusting principal (Fehr Rockenbach, 2003). Furthermore it seems to be important to let the agent understand that the desired change in behavior would be socially beneficial rather than that the incentive is perceived as a threat to her autonomy or reflecting badly on the designer’s intentions (Bowles Polania-Reyes, 2012). Conclusion The self-interest hypothesis assumes that individuals are only motivated by their own material self-interest. This assumption is used in the design of many policies. However, in the past decades a lot of experiments have shown that other-regarding social preferences rather than self-regarding preferences play a role in behavior. We have seen that some mechanisms can induce pro-socially oriented individuals to behave as they are selfish. On the other hand, there are also examples of experiments in which mechanisms induce self-interested individuals to behave at a more pro-social level. Thus, incentives can lead to both crowding out and crowding in phenomena. Whereas negative information about the principal and the over-justification effect may lead to crowding out of intrinsic motivation to contribute to a good, altruistic punishment by peers who do not benefit personally is more likely to increase contributions. Furthermore it seems important to make individuals aware of their civic duty, as was shown in Ireland where a small tax was imposed on plastic bags. Regarding to public policy, we have seen that small differences in institutional design can lead to many different outcomes. This imposes a big challenge on the policy designer who has to know ex ante what the effects of the incentive that he is considering to implement will be. When social preferences are not present, incentives may have a positive effect, predicted by economic theory. However, in areas where social preferences do play a role, the use of monetary incentives needs to be reconsidered.

Practice In Uk Mental Health Area Social Work Essay

Practice In Uk Mental Health Area Social Work Essay This study takes up the examination of social work practice in the area of mental health in the UK. It is based upon the experiences of the author in the course of her work as a Mental Health Professional in a multidisciplinary team in a community care setting. Mental health issues, more specifically mental illnesses, have troubled humans from the dawn of human civilisation. The history and literature of all historical societies reveal numerous instances of mental disorders among people and the inevitably associated ostracism and discrimination faced by such people. Mental illnesses in the UK, till even some decades back were associated with abnormal, deviant and dangerous behaviour and thousands of people with different types of mental issues were housed in high security asylums against their will for years on end. Such blatant violations of fundamental human rights were carried out at the behest of the medical fraternity with the active support of the government, the judiciary, the legal system, enforcement agencies and society. Social workers entered the area of mental health in the UK in the early decades of the 20th century and progressively increased their interaction and work with mentally ailing people. The involvement of social work practice in the area grew slowly until the 1960s but increased rapidly thereafter. Greater involvement of social work practice led to the development of psycho-social models for providing assistance to people with mental ailments and helped in changing societal perceptions towards such persons. The post Second World War period also witnessed a very substantial shift in governmental and medical approaches towards people with mental health disorders. The last full fledged asylum for housing the mentally ailing was closed down in . Medical disorders are now viewed to be strongly related to various social and economic conditions as also to phenomena like racism, oppression and discrimination. The overwhelming majority of people with mental health ailments are now treated in the community, in the midst of family and friends, and institutionalisation is resorted to only in extreme cases and that too for limited periods of time. Social work practice has become very relevant to the area of mental health. Qualified social workers like the author of the study, known as mental health professionals, work with medical professionals like doctors and psychiatrists and play active, even leading, roles in the assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation of people with mental health disorders. This study takes up the case of Maya, a 68 year old Asian woman, who lives in East London. Maya is a first generation immigrant and has spent much of her life in an alien society. She suffers from depression and has been referred to the local social work authorities. Mayas case is fully described in the appendix to this study and is thus not elaborated here. The essay examines various aspects of Mayas life and experiences in order to crystallise the various factors are contributing to her current mental difficulties. Special emphasis is given to the challenges faced by people suffering from depression and to the high incidence of depression among South Asian women. The study takes up the application of social work theory to practice, the role of oppression and discrimination in the development of mental ailments, the role of social workers in helping mentally ailing persons and the importance of adoption of anti-oppressive approaches in dealing with them. It also details the social services that are available to such service users and how such services can help Jaya. Causes and Consequences of Depression Maya has been intermittently suffering from depression for the last 27 years and has undergone medication and counselling on five occasions. She was specifically referred by her GP to the local social services department following an episode of some severity. Crippling depression is one of the biggest reasons for misery in modern day Britain. It is a submerged problem of immense dimensions that is kept out of sight by family shame. The Psychiatric Morbidity Survey reveals that one in six of UK residents are liable to be diagnosed with depression. It would surprise many people to know that 40% of all physical and mental disabilities are caused by mental illness, even as 17% of such ailments are caused by depression alone. The incidence of depression among people is more than 3 times that of cardiac disease. Psychologists agree that mental illness constitutes the most important predictor of human distress in the UK and is far more powerful than poverty or various other types of disability. With few forms of deprivation being worse than chronic depression, it is evident that social workers should give the highest priority to care for persons with depression and other mental health ailments. Much of research on the causes of depression has necessarily being medical in nature. A number of medical studies reveal that depression can arise out of a range of factors like medical and physical disabilities, the death of loved people, social isolation, exclusion and loneliness, and abusive relationships, separation and divorce. Depression can also be initiated by economic and other types of stress, estrangement from family members, the compulsion to care for ailing family members and relocation. Social work research on the other hand reveals that social phenomena like racism, discrimination and oppression can play significantly causal roles in the emergence of depression. Individuals from different religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds have often been subjected to discrimination in the UK. The decades after the closure of the Second World War witnessed a large influx of people from erstwhile British colonies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean into the UK. Such immigrants, many of whom came to the UK to escape from lives of poverty, hardship and violence in their home countries, were often subjected to various degrees of oppressive and discriminatory treatment, both in the workplace and in the community. Such discriminatory treatment manifested itself in areas of employment, education and access to public facilities. Immigrants were treated differently and subjected to discrimination because of their lack of familiarity with the English language, their different physical appearances, religious traditions, cultural and social habits and their clothes. Such discrimination sometimes assumed distinctly undesirable dimensions like in the case of Christopher Clunis. A mentally disturbed person of African origin, Clunis murdered Jonathan Zito, a young white man, at a tube station in 1992.Whilst subsequent enquiries revealed that Clunis was mentally disturbed and he was subsequently institutionalised, the British media built up a picture of Clunis, (as a large, clumsy, unkempt and violent man), with strong overtones of racism. The numerous incidents of discrimination and ill treatment of persons of Asian origin in the USA after the September 11 attacks reveal racism and social discrimination to be a latent phenomenon that continues to work under the surface in societies and surfaces in response to different types of provocation and perceptions. Immigrants and their families even today have much poorer levels of education, income, health and public participation than members of the mainstream white majority in the UK. Maya is a first generation immigrant who was uprooted from her familiar North Indian environment when she was still in her teens and thrust into alien surroundings; she was unfamiliar with the local language and found it extremely difficult to communicate with others. Her social life was perforce restricted to the local Indian community in east London, which itself was very small when she came to England. Her husband and children, who had to adjust to the local community and its demands and expectations in order to survive and enhance their life chances, would have in all likelihood faced numerous incidences of discrimination and oppression over the course of their lives. Mayas domestic problems were also intensified because of her compulsion to stay with her husbands parents, a tradition that is still widely followed by the Asian community in the UK. Depression among Women from South Asian Communities in the UK A number of social work surveys and studies indicate that the incidence of depression is significantly high in South Asian women. Whilst such women originate from a large and ethnically diverse area that comprises of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ceylon, many South Asian women suffer from similar causes for mental depression. Fenton and Carlsen, (2002) state that the main causes for depression amongst such populations are experiences of racism, family difficulties, financial problems, poor physical health and lack of employment. Women from these communities experience excessive mental pressure on account of community influence and reputation. Some of them have to cope with unsuitable marriages and unhappy relationships with their in-laws. Such circumstances create enormous difficulties and life challenges and moreover do not provide any avenues for escape. Some women have described how their families and the larger Indian community made them feel inadequate and repeatedly impressed upon them that they were failing in meeting their familial obligations. Such women also feel pressurised because of social isolation, lack of friends and acquaintances, inadequate education and stressful living conditions. The case study reveals that Maya has often been subjected to stress because of her difficult and strained relationship with her mother in law. It is also evident that the option of setting up home independently was never explored by her husband. It needs to be noted that whilst joint family living is common in South Asian communities, it is also often economically necessary because of straitened financial conditions and the additional costs that are likely to be incurred if children opt to live separately from their parents. Depression evidences itself in symptoms like change in eating and sleeping habits, lack of interest in normal daily activity, withdrawal from children, family and friends, overlooking of necessary activities at the home and outside and finally self destructive tendencies. Depressed people are prone to self harm and develop suicidal tendencies. Maya suffers from irregular sleeping habits, often sleeps late at night, gets up late in the mornings and is sometimes unable to cook for her family. She has reduced her interaction with outsiders and is becoming distant from her immediate family. She often suffers from headaches and cries for no reason. Such manifestations and symptoms constitute strong reasons for addressing depression in an elderly person like Maya. Not treating depression can place her and other older people at increased risk for additional physical and mental health problems. The disinclination to get out of the house and exercise can increase her hypertension, lead to diabetes and faster deterioration of the heart, lungs, bones and muscles. It can also lead to deeper, debilitating depression. Implications for Social Work Theory and Practice Social work theory and practice is fundamentally concerned with the improvement of the social and economic circumstances of disadvantaged individuals and groups and the challenging of oppression and discrimination in all its forms. Systems theory in particular, whilst abstract in nature and not applied systematically, has helped social workers to move from linear and causative medical models to significantly greater multi-causal contexts for the understanding of human behaviour. General systems theory provides a conceptual scheme for realising the interactions among different variables, rather than by reducing behavioural explanations to one reason. This is clearly evident in the area of mental health, where depression in people and their resultant behaviour is associated with a number of interacting social, biological and psychological factors. Systems theory requires social workers to examine the multiple systems in which people interact. Assessment of mentally ailing persons will for example require social workers to obtain information from different sources and place them in appropriate family and community contexts. Knowledge of social constructionism theory on the other hand enables social workers to realise how language has been used by medical experts and other dominant groups to build up images of the mentally disturbed as people who cannot look after themselves and their families and who need to be treated by medical experts. Modern societys perceptions about mental illnesses are significantly shaped by medical models, which state that medical ailments represent serious conditions that can make it hard for persons to sustain relationships and engage in employment. They can lead to self-destructive and even suicidal action (Walker, 2006, p 71-87). Social constructionism theory states that such perceptions are built by purposely developed vocabularies of medical models, which are bursting with complex nomenclatures for mental ailments and fixed on deficits. Walker, (2006, P 72), argues that vocabularies of medical models, including that of mental illness, are social constructs, comprising of terms that detail deficits and view humans as objects for examination, diagnosis and treatment, much like machines. Such perceptions result in treatments that is focused on removal of symptoms and do not take account of actual client needs (Walker, 2006, p 71-87). Social constructionism can assist social workers in realising the disparaging chimeras that have been built by existing medical models about the mentally ill. Social workers must also be informed by the theories of oppression and discrimination that condition and shape the behaviours of people, both the oppressors and the oppressed, towards poor, isolated and disadvantaged segments of society. Neil Thompsons PCS theory of oppression (2001), states that oppressive and discriminatory attitudes in people are socialised over the course of their life by three strong influences, namely personal perceptions and cultural and structural influences. Personal perceptions about the mentally ill can arise through reading about such people, viewing them on cinema, thinking about them and other such associated activities. Cultural influences comprise of numerous cognitive inputs from school, friends, family and the larger community about the mentally ill and unstable. Structural influences arise from the various embedded factors in the larger environment like their lack of fitness for employment and their need to be bodily restricted. These PCS factors s hape the minds of individuals and build up strong discriminatory attitudes that rest below the surface and are manifested in various ways. The media outrage over the Clunis incident and the construction of the person into a larger than life image of a socially dangerous person represents the way in which such discriminatory attitudes can often shape the behaviours and actions of people. Chew-Graham et al (2002), state that whilst the incidence of depression among South Asian women is significantly higher than the national average, such women faced numerous barriers in accessing social services because of internal and external barriers. Whilst internal barriers occurred because of family structures and community pressures, external barriers happen because of their unfamiliarity with English, difficulty in communicating with local social services departments and the disinclination of social workers to come to their aid. Services thus tended to be accessed only at points of desperation if at all and increase the tendency of such women to engage in self destructive activities. Dominelli (2002), states that discriminatory attitudes are deeply embedded in the existing social work infrastructure and can be eliminated only if there is a genuine and widespread feeling among social workers to do so. The labelling theory states that the self identity of individuals is often de termined by the terms that are used to describe them.

English as a Universal Language

English as a Universal Language Language is an important tool of understanding and communicating between any members of a community in all fields of life. For the process of communications and understanding to go smoothly, one must know and be aware of signs, symbols and meanings associated with each language, as well as the cultural side behind each symbol and sign. Learning a foreign language especially English can help felicitate an individual and community ways of understanding what is going on and help to integrate and benefit from achievements as well as increase innovation. Although English is regarded as the number one spoken language in the world. one out of every five people on the entire Earth can speak English to some extent [englishenglish.com] which means fifth of the world which is not enough as those speakers come from different parts of the world and they come with different background, culture, value and beliefs. The English spoken in the UK is not the same English spoken in USA or Australia. The importance of finding a universal language due to increased movement of people and the availability of different types of communication such as the internet and other means in economic, scientific fields and the expansion of economic transactions between countries and international companies to facilitate communication in meetings between representatives of the companies. The openness of the labor market which is a result of globalization made it easier for people to travel around and look for jobs in all parts of the world which led to the pursuit of employers and major companies to take advantage of this and search for employment that reduces cost and maximizes profits, but, there is a challenge that comes along with it, the world is diverse, people come from different characters, cultures, traditions and languages. Language is not just words that are put together and structured into a sentence; it is awareness of cultures, customs and values. Therefore, the language exchanged in many companies especially international ones has a huge importance, because it means the easy exchange of information and data relating to the job among the staff as well as instructions issued by the managers, it brings employees closer together if they can understand each other and understand any technical terms that relate to the job. Religion, language and cultures are all factors that need to be taken into considerations when doing business. Each person is shaped by their own culture, where they realize it or now. Our very own opinions, beliefs and actions are dependent on the background we come from. We only realize our differences when we are faced with another culture and a different way of doing things. It is important to understand a culture to be able to communicate so that everything goes smoothly without facing problems. A worker speaking little English might have a hard time communicating and speaking up and feeling frustrated whenever having to speak the language, I personally felt this way when I was in France and just started to learn French. It is the fear of being judged and lack of confidence in knowledge which can lead them to be closed in their personal space or even worse thing would be not understanding what they have to do exactly and doing the job wrong because they were afraid to ask for help. There are different types of language that are not just expressed by words and language the is used differently between females and males and they all affect how people deal with each other in a multicultural business/work environment. Despite the many differences in defining the concept of language, I think it is ok to agree that it is the tongue of a culture; it is the channel where information travels in a nation and from a nation to another. Language is a pulse that interacts with feelings and sensations and affects them. Language is a profound mental logic that gives suggestions and gestures. Body Language Body language is communicating with people without any words spoken that are used in all aspects of dealing with others. Movements by individuals, using their hands, facial expressions, tone of voice and headshaking so that the addressee understands the message better and often used by someone unable to express what they want to say in words and wanting to clarify by making hand movements. Body language is an essential mean of communication with others that is used on daily basis. Non verbal communication is extremely important in every culture, as communication is not always with the use of words. Therefore, understanding body language and using it in a an effective manner , can improve relationships with others and may also help overcome and deal with different situations which one can be exposed to when doing business. Problems can occur from the misunderstanding of hand gestures or any other type of physical signals, because they can mean one thing in on culture and have a completely different meaning in another. You can change your body language in the workplace and the way you are looked at work, what your non-verbal communication and body language sends different messages to people you work with in an intercultural environment depending on where they come from. Despite the fact that smiling is a form of welcome in many cultures, it can be viewed as a form of embarrassment in some Asian cultures. Working with different nationalities and understanding body language is a value to the employees. In certain places the right body language can help others see your openness, flexibility and honesty. Especially in American cultures as they are all about business and getting things right therefore, sitting upright in a chair during a meeting says that you are open and alert. But it can change completely once you put your hands behind you head or cross arms in front of chest, suddenly you are expressing boredom and superiority and puts you in a defensive position. Clenching fists that is related to a nxiety or tension, scratching nose, forming a bridge with hands, reflects on lack of interest can probably make the people around you feel uncomfortable. Maintaining eye contact translate into honesty, but it is ok to look away at times as it can be seen as starring or being intense or in some Asian culture it can be looked as threatening. Respecting personal space of others is a good way to express body language in a workplace. Personal space varies to individuals from different races. (ad example for the British here) Determining the appropriate body language in a workplace in relation to touching might be a bit sensitive. A firm handshake is welcoming but touching someone on the arm, tapping on the back maybe not be. Some find it normal and some others maybe feel uncomfortable with it. In India the constant shaking of the head from side to side can be misunderstood as a non verbal way of saying no but is the contrary as it is a way to show that they understand what you are saying or a sign of agreement. Where in America shaking your head is a sign of disagreeing and saying no while people from some countries raise their chins. British people are said to be more reserved and formal. Americans are considered more open and outgoing, while Australians are seen as casual and relaxed. Gender language Different interests and tendencies between the two genders might be a reason why they speak differently. Even though woman and men live in the same environment or have the same education and lever of profession growing up there were things that were acceptable for boys to do or say and were considered to be inappropriate for girls which is maybe a reason why they communicate differently. A man has his own way of expression, he uses words that correspond with the meaning of what he wants to say exactly and briefly using specific terms that he really means while maintaining sequence. A woman may speak with simpler words and phrases. Even though they speak the same language, they do not talk in similar context. Men glorify power, efficiency and achievement. They do things to prove themselves, develop skills and strengths they have, define themselves by their ability to achieve results. Giving advice to a man without him asking for it might make him feel like he does not know what he is doing. Woman are quite the contrary, they appreciate communication, beauty and relationships. Their ideas of themselves are determined b their feelings and quality of the relationships, they feel fulfilled by participation, communicating and staying in touch. Which can maybe lead to woman getting more jobs in the service sector as they involve being chatty, social and having to face and d eal with customers. The different way of seeing things in a professional environment can lead to major miscommunication between the two genders. men and women approach communication with different interpretive frames. Where one may expect direct explicit statement, the other maybe expecting indirect expression. Not meaning men are direct and women are indirect when one expects directness and the other uses indirectness wrong interpretations and miscommunications will be the result. In a work environment if a boss who is male asks a worker who is female to finish a report he might be very direct and straight to the point while if it was a female boss she might choose her words more carefully and try not to be very pressuring if the job she asked for is not urgent. Paralanguage Sigmund Freud said He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore. The definition of paralanguage is non verbal means of communication such as one of voice, laughter and sometimes gestures and facial expressions that accompany speech and convey meaning. Silence can also be considered as a type of paralanguage, even when we say nothing we mean something. For example, when a teacher decides to stop speaking during a lecture because of the noise in the room waiting for the students to become conscious of the silence and start paying attention. In intercultural communication, paralanguage can be a bit puzzling. For example, Europeans interpret the loudness of Americans to aggressive behavior, while Americans might think the British are secretive because they talk quietly. Talking speed and the amount of silence in conversations also differ among cultures. The Japanese are comfortable having several pauses in their conversations, while Americans and many Arabic people are uncomfortable with any silence. Knowing this can help the work flow in a company go well without having workers and staff being offended and tense because you cannot change people and how they act you just have to adapt to the environment and accept change. Learning and understanding the language used between the staff and administration is very important as it reflects the strength and depth of the relationship between the administration and the teams that belong to it. Which can be shaken or changed by the interpretation or misinterpretation of that language, especially when the administrations exercises its power on employees. Knowing the meanings of words and sentences without knowing the meaning and cultural contextual use of each word is incomplete knowledge and the allegation that the foreign language learner does not need to know the cultural aspects contrasts with many goals of learning a foreign language.

Cyrano de Bergerac1 Essay -- Essays Papers

Cyrano de Bergerac1 The story of Cyrano de Bergerac is about a tragic love triangle it has effectively been told using a number of techniques including the Themes that arise, the Atmosphere of the film, and the Characters in the film. Love, passion, friendship, hate, jealously loyalty and death are all universal themes that arise in the film. The Themes are twisted around the characters almost like obstacles in the sense that the characters must overcome their own inner fears and accomplish the issues and challenges that they face. In Cyrano de Bergerac a lot of the themes revolve around himself and Roxanne. Cyrano's deep love for Roxanne and her love for Christian is the major theme in the film, then there is Cyrano writing poetic letters to Roxanne about Christians love for her, but deep down Cyrano is actually expressing his own feelings. He feels more comfortable writing his emotions than he does expressing them in person because he is ashamed of his oversized nose. The themes help to tell the story by presenting some conflict creating entertainment making the viewer keen to see what happens next. The Atmosphere adds to the feeling of the film, being set in a village in France with cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings that reflect the period dress and protocol. This then creates a wonderful backdrop for love, romance, intrigue and tragedy. The setting gives the characters an area to move around in which allows them the freedom to interact with e...

An Open Campus is a Bad Idea Essay -- public school

Wandering kids. Bumper to bumper traffic. Drug dealing. Is this the picture drawn when local students have fifty minutes of freedom during lunch to do whatever they please? Students should not be allowed to leave their school campus during lunch. An open campus would lead to truancy, disturb local businesses and neighborhoods, and cause crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truancy can occur among students if an open campus is accepted. If students have the privilege to leave school for fifty whole minutes on their own, then they have the freedom to not come back. It would break the trust between students and educators, and harsher rules would have to be enforced on the open campus rule. Numerous students who decide to ditch the remaining periods would have an excessive amount of in-school absences. This could lead to parent conferences and suspension, and possibly expulsion in some cases. When a student misses or skips a class, the information taught that day would not be accessible in the same format which others have learned. One?s academic grades can be effected from lack of information by truancy. Irresponsible students who choose to take the risk of leaving their school after lunch for the remainder of the day will not have this opportunity if an open campus is kept closed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Local businesses and neighborhoods can be disturbed if open campuses are permitted during the lunch hour. When groups of students are on their break, they can cause a commotion and be quite noisy among one a...

The Life Of Sylvia Plath :: essays research papers fc

The Life of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath's life, like her manic depression, constantly jumped between Heaven and Hell. Her seemingly perfect exterior hid a turbulent and deeply troubled spirit. A closer look at her childhood and personal experiences removes some element of mystery from her writings. One central character to Sylvia Plath's poems is her father, Professor Otto Emile Plath. Otto Plath was diabetic and refused to stay away from foods restricted by his doctor. As a result , he developed a sore on his left foot. Professor Plath ignored the sore, and eventually the foot was overcome with gangrene. The foot and then the entire left leg were amputated in an effort to save his life, but he died in November of 1940, when Sylvia was just eight years old. The fact that her father could have prevented his death left Sylvia Plath with a feeling of deliberate betrayal. Instead of reaching out to other people for comfort, she isolated herself with writing as her only expressive outlet, and remarkably had a poem published when she was only eight. Plath continued prolific writing through high school and won a scholarship to Smith College in 1950 where she met her friend Anne Sexton. Sexton often joined Plath for martinis at the Ritz where they shared poetry and intellectualized discussions about death. Although they were friends, there was also an element of competition between Sexton and Plath. Sylvia Plath's poem " Daddy" was possibly a response to Anne Sexton's "My Friend, My Friend." It was as if Plath was commenting that her writing skills were just a bit better than Sexton's. Sexton frequently would express to Robert Lowell in his poetry class her dissatisfaction with Plath's writing. She said that Plath "dodges the point in her poetry and hadn't yet found the form that belonged to her." The competitive nature of their relationship continued to the very end. To all appearences, Plath appeared normal, her social life similar to other middle class coeds.Many were attracted to Plath's brilliant mind, but few were aware of the inner torment that drove her to write, alienating her from the rest of society. Madamoiselle magazine awarded Plath a position as guest editor the summer following her junior year at Smith. Friends and family were stunned at her suicide attempt when she returned to college, most believing she had suffered a nervous breakdown due to the stress at the magazine. Her treatment was considered the best the medical world could offer and included electro-shock and psychotherapies. Plath tells her side of the story in the poem Lady Lazarus where she likens her experience to a victim of the Holocaust.