Racial Inequality Essay

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, the narrator, asks her father, â€Å"Atticus, are we going to win it?† to which he replies, â€Å"No honey† (Lee 87). Atticus knew his hometown of Maycomb would never emerge from its racial inequality, but he did everything he could to prevent it. Racial inequality is the unjust treatment of minority groups, such as African Americans. While some believe America can achieve true racial and social equality, America is unable to rid itself of racism because it is a human characteristic for people to group together with those whom they share similarities, and years of unequal opportunities for minorities will not be forgotten. Certainly, it is human nature to assemble into groups. The Civil War began because the Northern and Southern states started to develop different political and ethical beliefs, thus slowly growing apart from each other. The most profound of these beliefs was the veracity of enslaving African Americans. Once African Americans, tortured and neglected, were freed from slavery and finally recognized as American citizens, a new social ladder was created, where blacks were typically found at the bottom. This is referenced in the article â€Å"Only the Accused Were Innocent†, where author David Oshinsky writes about the Scottsboro trial of 1931 when nine black teenage boys were accused of raping two white women, â€Å"As news of their story spread across the country, a huge crowd, chanting â€Å"Give ‘em to us† and â€Å"Let those niggers out†, threatened to storm the Scottsboro jail† (Oshinsky 1). These statements uttered by white men allude to the fact tha t prejudice against blacks is a negative factor, causing different associations within society. In this situation, no one can deny that African Americans, as a whole, will always remember the wrong that has been done to them by society. For example, in the article â€Å"Affirmative Action Harms Society†, Martin Luther King Jr. is quoted, â€Å"Segregation scars the soul of both the segregator and the segregated† (Canady 6). Segregation gave African Americans scars that  will never fully heal. Also, in the article â€Å"Only the Accused Were Innocent†, the truly innocent Scottsboro Boys, some found guilty, some found not-guilty, continued to struggle through life, many of them returning to jail, and even one committing suicide. One of the nine boys says, â€Å"Everywhere I go, it seems like Scottsboro is throwed up in my face†¦ I don’t believe I’ll ever live it down† (Oshinsky 5). In final consideration, African Americans dealt with racial inequality for years, and they continue to face unjust treatment. A typical white man is suspicious when he sees a black man walking along a lonely street at night, and a typical black man is scared when he notices an unfamiliar white man strolling toward his front door. These are small ways barriers are set up between races. Maya Angelou once said, â€Å"I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.† This statement is true when realizing blacks will not forget about segregation. Racial inequality might have diminished, but it will never fully disappear. Works Cited Canady, Charles T. â€Å"Affirmative Action Harms Society.† Affirmative Action. Ed. Leora Maltz. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Jan. 2015. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Harper Collins, 1960. Print. Oshinsky, David M. â€Å"Only the Accused Were Innocent.† The New York Times 3 Apr. 1994: 1-6. Print.

Macbeth and Political Force Essay

Adversity is something that one will always go through from the moment they are born to the moment they die and this is a fact that everyone knows as they grow up. One many not know about adversity while they are young but they eventually understand the meaning to it. Many are able to overcome the many adversities that lie in their path but there are a few that are not able to endure it and give up half way. Those who are able to endure the pain and suffering that comes with adversity will then receive the reward of pride. Eventually after overcoming many adversities, one will gain much confidence and one’s identity will change depending on how they overcome it, how many they have overcome, and most importantly, why they have overcome that specific adversity. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the titled protagonist is shown as a loyal member to the kingdom of Scotland’s political force and is an example and role model to others as he is a man who completes his duties as a warrior and endures the many hardships and adversities for his kingdom and king. Presenting him a new opportunity of a future and a short cut to his ambition, Macbeth struggles with himself, as he is unable to react properly and indecisively must choose a path that will bring unnecessary problems and bloodshed for the future. Through Macbeth’s struggle of loyalty, Shakespeare reveals the many choices of paths that will lead to one’s destruction. Struggling to maintain his loyalty and values towards his kingdom and king, Macbeth falters and hesitates as he is presented with a shortcut to his ambition and wish. As a shortcut is presented to Macbeth to his wishes, Macbeth chooses the short and easy pass and therefore gives up on overcoming adversity and avoids any adversity that lie in his path. After fulfilling his duties as a political force and respected thane of Scotland, Macbeth is greeted with supernatural figures that present him all the glory and wealth that any man would want, a sudden different adversity that lie before him and is unable to react properly due t the difference from his original plain adversity. Life is full of surprises and therefore one should be ready for sudden changes and consequences that would happen in their life. Only then would one be able to brag and show off to others of the many different adversities that they have overcome. Once again trying to overcome this new type of situation, Macbeth tries to hold into his beliefs and values to serve the kingdom and king, but is influenced by the verbal abuse of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s values fall into the depths of hell. Many are not able to stay true to their beliefs and falter but eventually regain their balance and continue on, but Macbeth is one of those few people that are not able to regain their balance until the end. Now not knowing what to do, Macbeth follows the words of Lady Macbeth and follow the road to destruction. Choosing to move forward while ignoring adversity, Macbeth puts himself in a deeper hole by committing murder and deceiving others. Only thinking about the path he chose from the influencing Lady Macbeth, Macbeth has lost all motivation to overcome the adversities that fly towards him. After losing his righteous path and committing murder of King Duncan, Macbeth is filled with guilt and sorrow that drives him insane and causes him to lose the ability to see reality and illusion. Many, like Macbeth, lose control and cause themselves even more pain and this pain causes them to go insane but rather than continuing on, many find themselves back on the right path. Unable to stop the bloodshed, Macbeth continues to commit murder and causes him to dig a bigger hole. The murder of Banquo proves the path that Macbeth has chosen and this path causes Macbeth to eliminate anyone and everyone that lie in his path. Proceeding with his path of bloodshed and guilt, he no longer is able to endure the adversity that would lie in his way and depends on the witches. Those who have lost their way of life depends on something else and Macbeth now relies on the witches instead of his own will power that he once had to overcome any adversity. No longer able to control himself, Macbeth leads himself to the road of destruction that has no return. Though anyone has the ability to retrieve him or herself from any situation, those who have forgotten the endurance that they must face will cause them to give up. People who have avoided many adversities would have forgotten the feeling of overcoming adversities and especially sin the long avoided adversity would come back with much greater difficulty. Macbeth finally realizes the many problems he has caused himself but is still not able to overcome the adversity that he has avoided for so long. Still having his pride, Macbeth shows the die-fighting attitude many people would have if they caused many sins. Many are not able to convey their feelings very well and are misunderstood and Macbeth is unable to convey his message of defeat and would rather die than admit defeat. Also having much guilt within her but unable to move on, Lady Macbeth commits suicide to ease her pain permanently. Many run away from the fearful truth until the moment where they are not able to take any more guilt and pain. Being unable to bear any longer, the common and easy method to escape is to die which lady Macbeth has done. Macbeth’s death causes Macbeth to escape from his guilt and pain and his death also benefits the kingdom. The adversities that one must face are an important part of life and Macbeth realizes this towards his end. Adversity lies in everyone’s path and may cause most to falter and hesitate to re-visit their thinking process of if they are doing something right or not. Macbeth struggles with his loyalty and does not know what to do with his mixed feelings after the contact with the witches. Macbeth hesitates to make a decision and lets the witches control him as he is exposed with a new adversity. He loses the sight of his ambition and starts to listen to the witches and this causes him to lose the will to overcome adversity and causes him to ignore all adversity that lie in his path. Like everyone else, Macbeth has the opportunity to get out of any situations but he does not have the will power to go on so he keeps following the path of destruction that was provided by the witches. Everyone loses their path and loses their sight of reality but is able to regain their conscience and regain their balance to continue on with their path.

The Detailed Examination of the Arabs in Israel

While the nation is aware of the indignities that were forced upon the African Americans who resided in this country at the beginning of the 18th century, few people realize that similar discrimination practices are going on all over the world. One of the most prevelant examples of discrimination currently is happening in Israel against the Arabs. Arabs are being discriminated in ways that impact their ability to live a life of freedom and comfort. The plight of Arabs in Israel is very similar to what the African Americans experienced in America during the first years of the 20th century. â€Å"Few questions challenge us to consider 380 years of history all at once, to tunnel inside our souls to discover what we truly believe about race and equality and the value of human suffering. Kevin Merida (1) (on African American reparations).† During the early part of the 20th century African Americans suffered a great deal of discrimination in America. They were refused even the most basic freedoms that the constitution of the United States is supposed to provide. The right to vote, the rifht to live freely, the right against unreasonable search and seizure are all elements of life that many people in this nation take for granted. However, for African Americans of that time those were dreams that were not often realized. Today, African Americans have many recourses if their rights are not being followed, including civil or criminal proceedings as well as government intervention. It is not completely rectified but it is being worked toward. The Arabs in Israel do not have such protection currently. They are at the point in history that African Americans were during the early part of the 20th century. Housing, employment and basic living right elements are being denied to them based on the fact that they are Arabs. Arabs in Israel have been complaining about their treatment for quite awhile but many of their concerns fall on deaf ears(Winder, 2006). The Israeli government and many of the nation's citizens insist that the discrimination allegations are false and misleading. For one to fully realize and accept that the Arabs are indeed being discriminated against one only has to hold various tangible situations that they encounter against the situations that were encountered by African Americans during the first part of the 20th century. The United Nations believes that the Arabs are indeed being discriminated against and said as much in a recently published report that was released last year. It says: â€Å"The government did little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens(Cook, 2004).† The humiliating treatment of the Arabs is one issue that the United Nations believes proves the discrimination that the Israel government currently denies exists. â€Å"Among many issues, it notes the humiliating treatment of Palestinian citizens, including community leaders, during security checks at airports and checkpoints(Cook, 2004). † During the 20th century in America, African Americans were forced to live in substandard housing and work in substandard employment environments. The quantity of available buildings for Arabs to reside in are not enough in numbers for the need. While most people in America will agree that the Arabs should not be confined to certain buildings the fact is they are often confined by societal attitudes and the available buildings are too few in number and have been for a significant amount of time. The quality of the buildings that are available are also in question. The repairs do not occur in the manner and speed that they do in other areas of the nation. The buildings that are made available to the Arabs are often in such disrepair that they are uninhabitable. African Americans when through similar problems in the early years of the 20th century. They were relegated to â€Å"Colored' area when it came to buildings that they could rent and own. The buildings were in disrepair and when they asked the landlord to repair them they were ignored or forced to pay for repairs that were legally the responsibility of the landlord. The term slum lord was originated because of the treatment of landlords regarding minority tenants and the fact that those landlords allowed their buildings to become uninhabitable yet they would allow minority tenants to live there and collect their rent each month. Another area of life that is similar for the Arabs in Israel today, that the African Americans faced in America and often times still do face is the area of education. During the early years of the 20th century students who were black were forced to attend specific schools. They were given substandard supplies and resources and they were given old used textbooks and equipment that most often did not work. Arabs today are facing the same dilemma when it comes to the education of their students(Cook, 2004). This greatly reduces the ability to teach advanced course and help Arab students better the future for themselves and their children. â€Å"Israel has also sought to undermine the value of Arabic, even though it is an official language of the state. Few Jews learn even basic Arabic, whereas Arab children are required to learn Hebrew to advanced level(Cook, 2004).† While the African Americans did not have this problem in the 20th century they were forbidden at times from singing the songs that had been popular in their homeland. Whether it was a hymn or a song of life they were whipped or punished for singing them out loud. â€Å"University courses are in Hebrew or English, as are public meetings and court cases. Many Arab workers report being sacked for speaking Arabic at the workplace(Cook, 2004).† This is blatant discrimination. It is similar to the African American ban on homeland songs and stories as well as the making it illegal to teach African Americans to read and right because the Americans wanted them to remain illiterate. Without saying so the Israel government seems to have the same goal in mind by its refusal to provide current and equal schools, supplies and textbooks for the Arab students living within its boundaries(First, Israel inside the Green Line (the de facto border after the 1967 war) http://www.mideastweb.org/israel_apartheid.htm). â€Å"Much international attention has focused on the recent decision by the Knesset to ban family unification in the case of marriages between Israeli Arabs and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. In many cases, it is now impossible for couples to live together: under the new law, Palestinians are denied entry into Israel, while Israeli Arabs are banned by military orders from entering Palestinian areas(Cook, 2004).† In addition to the obvious discriminations that are being experienced by Arabs in Israel there are many instances in which they are being discriminated against that are not so obvious to the eye unless one looks very closely. One such area is the area of employment. Arabs are being discriminated against on a regular basis when it comes to employment. Research concluded that Arabs have an unemployment rate that is twice as high as the Jewish unemployment rate for the same regions. â€Å"The country's big monopoly corporations such as the telecoms firm Bezeq and the Israel Electricity Company have Arab employees in the single figures even though they have a combined staff of more than 20,000. Some of the worst discrimination is faced by the 140,000 beduin living in the Negev. Many of their communities have never been recognised by Israel, even though they predate the state(Cook, 2004). † The end result of this type of discrimination is that approximately 70,000 Arabs are forced to live in tin shacks and tents. They have no power, water or sewage service. Their children are traveling 40-60 miles each way to go to school and get back home. Removal of child benefits for Arabs have been top of the political agenda ever since. â€Å"Some discriminatory practices against Israeli Arabs – Systematic bias in education provision (HRW report) – Israel's worst 36 unemployment blackspots are all in Arab areas† The plight of the Arabs in Israel is extremely similar today to what the African Americans faced in the United States during the early part of the 20th century. Employment discrimination, housing issues and lack of education for their children were accepted practices at that time. Today, the same problems and practices are being thrust upon the Arabs who reside in Israel. For this to change the government and the world will need to step in and force change.

Negotiation, Plane Crash flight 232 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Negotiation, Plane Crash flight 232 - Essay Example When the pilot alerted her to the flight deck for the first time, she was very quick to recognize that there was an emergency – she immediately embarked on emergency response activities including preparation of the passengers for a crash-landing. After realizing there was an emergency, the crew was very quick to acknowledge that much communication was not necessary since this could have disrupted high level co-operation, which was highly needed at that moment (Boehm-Davis, Holt, & Seamster, 2001). The crew members were also very good at communication – one of the biggest factors that contributed to a large number of survivors. The crew in the cockpit was very skillful in communicating with the Sioux City approach control & control tower and the air traffic control in the Minneapolis Centre. Once it was realized that the aircraft was heading for a serious danger, the crew within the cockpit built up. For example, Dudley Dvorak rushed to the radio and spent all the time t alking with the aircraft’s SAM facility, which was comprised of a group of experts. The level of cooperation and expertise that the crew exercised in such an incident, which they had never practiced in their lives before, was particularly laudable. The crew called for advance emergency services, something that worked very well because by the time the aircraft land-crashed, all the emergency service providers including firefighters, and hospitals were already prepared (Boehm-Davis, Holt, & Seamster, 2001). Describe at Least Three Factors That Affected the Resolution of the Problem Luck Although being involved in such a flick accident can be understood to be a bad lack, the fact that two thirds of the passengers and crew onboard survived is a good luck. For example, the fact that the crew was able to get the aircraft to Sioux City with a failed engine was nothing but a sheer luck. When they touched on the ground, the aircraft had no steering, no brakes and no nose wheel or tail . The elevators, too, were out of control. Running a plane without all these parts and having some survivors following the crash-landing were a tremendous piece of luck. Another piece of luck was the fact that the plane experienced mechanical problems when it went over the relative flatlands over Iowa. This means that even if they had missed the airport, they could have probably landed on some fair level ground and still manage to get some survival. The weather was also an amazing piece of luck. It could have been extremely hard to fly the F-15 under any kind of turbulence, but fortunately, during the time of the crash the skies were clear and the visibility was excellent. Lastly, the fact that this fateful disaster occurred during the daytime was an amazing luck because the crew was able to control the aircraft well considering that they could observe the ground properly. Preparation Preparation was extremely important for such a disaster. The emergency response crews in Sioux City had a disaster response simulation every three years, which prepared them for any disaster. For example, during 1987, the organizers pretended that an aircraft that did not serve the city had crashed on its runway. After running the drill, areas of improvements were detected and changes made accordingly. Ideally, the preparation by Sioux Gateway Airport laid down a plan, which was very helpful for the crew of Flight 232. The repeated training

Financial Systems & Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Systems & Auditing - Essay Example Ledger stores information needed for preparation of financial statements and final accounts. Books of original entry, also known as prime entry books where transactions are initially recorded, such books include sales journal, sales returns journals, purchases journal, purchase returns journal, cash book and general journal. Accounting or bookkeeping assumes vital and helpful role by creating the information for giving responses to numerous questions confronted by the users of accounting information. It gives information how great or terrible the budgetary state of the business is which products or activities have been productive (Singhvi & Bodhanwala, 2006:262). Bookkeeping is vital for a business entity because of the following reasons: - iii) As the business continues to grow, there is an expanded volume of business results in a huge number of transactions, and no business person is able to remember everything. With the help of accounting records, there is no need to remember various transactions (Demski, 2007:33). Apart from the cash flow statement the other accounts are always set on an accruals basis. This basis of accounting requires that the non-cash transactions be reflected in the financial statements for the period in which their effects are encountered and not in the one in which cash or money is actually received or paid. The accounts are often prepared on a going concern basis. This implies that the accounts are made on the assumption that the  organization  will continue to operate indefinitely or for the foreseeable future. The business has no intention to curtail their operation significantly. This concept helps a business to get long-term sources of finance or loans. It also shows the financial stability to the shareholders that will affect the prices of stock (Kolitz et al 2009:507). Because of many different ways of applying concepts, each entity must select the approach that gives the most reliable picture of the entity

Expansion and Mergers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Expansion and Mergers - Essay Example 356). In this regard, a natural monopoly may have adverse effects on the market economy once organizations engage in anticompetitive practices aimed at locking out their competitors out of business. In addition, the monopoly may engage in other practices like fixing prices of goods, which is not the ideal situation in a free market. On the contrary, government regulation is crucial in dealing with excessive competition practices in the market economy (Carroll & Buccholt, 2011, p. 358). In this case, firms will engage in setting prices below unprofitable levels forcing some firms out of business while the remaining firms will raise their prices resulting to products that are too expensive for the consumers. Government regulation is important in controlling negative externalities in a market economy (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011, p. 357). By definition, Hackette and Moore (2011) defined â€Å"a negative externality as an uncompensated harm to others in a society that is generated as a by -product of production and exchange† (p. 61). It is evident that production of good has many by-products with some being harmful while the manufacturer does not pay for the harm caused. In effect, the manufacturer produces more products and earns more profits without catering for the harmful effects of the by-products. In this case, governments will always regulate such industries in order to ensure businesses do not risk the lives of others while making more profits. Rationale for the Government Intervention in the US Market Process As earlier indicated, governments regulate businesses to ensure that there was no market dominance by a monopoly. According to Geroski and Jacquemin (1985), dominance of a business firm goes hand-in-hand with the ability of the firm to exploit a strategic advantage to gain a large share of the market at the expense of its business rivals (as cited in George & Jacquemin, 1992, p. 150). In this regard, it is possible for business firms to use antico mpetitive strategies and try to edge out their competitors. Although the US is a free market, it is important for the government to intervene and ensure that all businesses engaged in ethical business practices. Since the US is a free market, it is important for the forces of demand and supply to determine the market price of goods and services. In this case, it is important for the government to regulate businesses in industries that fixed prices below the profit making levels in order to get rid of their competitors, in the US. In this regard, the government's failure to regulate makes the businesses eliminate their competitors and only raise the price of goods once their competitors are not in the market. In effect, these unethical practices do not provide for a competitive market environment. Therefore, this emphasizes the importance of government intervention in the form of regulation to ensure the forces of demand and supply remained as the important factors in determining the prices of goods and services. Self-Expansion Complexities on Capital Projects The underlying complexity currently facing any capital project in the US is obtaining capital required for expansion after the recent recession. According to LaBonte (2009), the weak economy and competition from other manufacturers led to decreased market share of the US automobile industry. In addition, the recession had an effect on credit facilities in the country. In this regard, LaBonte (2009) noted, â€Å"The recession had made credit facilities less available, which may have limited the ability of auto manufacturers and suppliers to finance their

Financial Statement Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial Statement Analysis - Assignment Example Apart from the management potential investors or creditors also benefit from analyzing financial statements as this provides them with the necessary information as to whether a company will be able to pay back the money they have invested or loaned with an appropriate return on their investment. There are various types of ratios such as Liquidity, Asset turn over, Leverage, Operating performance / Profitability and Business Ratios. Using these ratios business owners and leaders can benefit greatly as they provide insight as to whether a company has sufficient resources to meet its short term financial liabilities, is the company using its resources in an efficient manner, how much debt it has incurred to date as compared to its net worth, is the company utilizing its resources in an efficient manner so as to generate profits and increase shareholder value and what is the status of its stock price. In short these ratios can assist business owners and leaders in making more accurate and financially beneficial decisions especially when there is a lot at

Business-to-Business E-Business Technology Research Paper

Business-to-Business E-Business Technology - Research Paper Example The Business-to-Business E-Business Technology concept emerged owing to the growing use of internet technology in the business sphere. With the enhanced use of internet technology, business corporations can effectively interact with each other both in an intrinsic and extrinsic manner. Intrinsically the business corporations can better relate the head office functions with the several branches spread along different regions and also to the warehouses. The business corporations with the use of internet medium can modify the business functions related to purchases and sales in a much faster and efficient fashion. Business-to-Business technological interface helps the business corporations gain a huge number of advantages which can be enumerated as follows. Management of the inventory and sales functions is better managed by business houses through the expanded use of internet technology. The business corporations through the use of the internet medium can effectively track changes in t he external market and thereby modify the products and services rendered. Through enhanced satisfaction of consumer demand, the business houses can generate more amount of profit and also augment on the market share. Moreover, with the enhanced use of internet technology in the business medium the business corporations can effectively minimize the cost of business operations thereby enhancing the productivity aspects. Different companies pertaining to manufacturing and other information technology companies have gained largely owing to the expanded use of internet technology in the business to a business sphere (Haag, 2005,p.139-410). An enhanced understanding of the Business-To-Business Electronic Commerce technology shows that the above technology can be used in different forms by the business corporations while performing business activities.

Cultural Preferences and End-of-Life Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Preferences and End-of-Life Care - Essay Example This paper studies Kagawa-Singer and Blackhall’s (2001) article and directs its attention to the Chinese-American ethnic group, outlining some of the critical issues that affect the medical process based on the patient, family and the physician while monitoring the cultural beliefs, practices and values of the patient so as to ensure maximum satisfaction at the end of life. The paper also looks into the various challenges faced by professionals in palliative care with respect to cultural beliefs and the implications of these challenges to the professionals. On January 12, 2001, a perspective editor interviewed a 38-year old Chinese woman, Ms Z, who took care of her ailing mother and father with help from her elder sister (Kagawa-Singer and Blackhall, 2001). In December 1994, her mother was diagnosed with stage IIIB adenocarcinoma of the lung and underwent chemotherapies. She received constant treatment but succumbed to her end of life in January, 1996. To add to the ill-fated departure of her mother, Ms Z’s dad was diagnosed with Parkinson during the early 90s, and died in 1997 after numerous medications had been administered (Kagawa-Singer and Blackhall, 2001). According to Ms Z, the topic of her mother’s condition was never raised by any family member. In addition, her father never discussed his condition even after they had full information from the doctor (Kagawa-Singer and Blackhall, 2001). From the interview, a number of issues were of notable concern in the Chinese culture and they are addressed below: a) Informed consent – across many cultures, people do not appreciate telling the truth about diagnosis of certain diseases such as cancer, although it is part of U.S. health care. According to Ms Z, her mother’s diagnosis was given in a statistical book for her to read, and they never discussed that topic again. This is

Discuss what is the importance of sex education in early childhood Dissertation

Discuss what is the importance of sex education in early childhood (3-8 years) and what is parents' attitude and teachers toward - Dissertation Example Education related to sex is for mounting youthful proficiencies so that they formulate knowledgeable preferences about their activities, and sense assurance and familiarity about performing on these options. It is extensively established that children possess right to be educated about their body and also should be imparted sex education as it is a method that aids them to safeguard and protect self in opposition to mistreatment, utilization, unplanned pregnancies, or from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV and AIDS. By imparting sex education, they are empowered to discuss issues influencing them, they do possess right get their requirements meet up, also assist these children to take pleasure and in understanding sexuality as well as their affiliations (Sex Education That Works). Apart from family atmosphere and preaching, school atmosphere plays an essential role in educating students about sexuality. Some schools educate their students about the subject as they are well eq uipped and feel it is necessary for the child development, while other schools never like to handle the subject (Kirby, 1999). Humans have developed a society with different temperaments, perplexing environment of varying morals, contentment seeking and progressiveness and open-minded attitudes. It is observed that children are coddled in adult sexual performance enhancing the rate of divorces between couples. This is tragic for the children as they are being pulled by their parents (Ketterman, 2007). According to Wight and Abraham (2000), it is necessary to develop sex education on the basis of theoretical knowledge. This programme is undergoing controlled research trial in UK. Wight and Abraham (2000) further state that it is difficult to translate research based conclusions drawn regarding imparting sex education into acceptable, replicable and potentially effective classroom lessons. It is imperative to incorporate the theoretical ideas with high precision and care to create an awareness in the classroom culture. It is evident that every teacher has a different skill to teach and the incorporated information must be explicit enough to be transmitted in the manner and procedure it should be (Wellings,, 2001). It is essential to have the appropriate directions to safeguard the children and future generations from any kind of mishap (Ogunjini, 2006). Sex education is required to develop a healthy approach as well as to afford the budding minds with a vision and an outlook so that the mistakes that were done in the past could not be repeated. The mistake encompassed the birth of AIDS and STDs, had sex education would have gained magnitude in the past and concern about educating individuals would have been started a few dreaded diseases could have been prevented (Ketterman, 2007; Bryan, 1996). According to Eyre and Eyre (1999), children must be educated in an explicit manner about the sex and sexuality. It is essential for them to have complete information and it is always better to start early as soon as the child is three years of age and till the child is eight, the child must be able to be aware about many things in life and should grasp the situations, happenings going around. Sexuality begins at birth. As soon as the child is born everyone likes to know- "a boy or a girl?" Children are classified by their gender and thus they learn to discriminate between

Propsal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Propsal - Essay Example The most recent advent of distance learning constitutes the most enticing of these. The aim of this research is to find out the influence of distance training on raising the motives of teachers to participate in training programmes. It will substantially consider the case of Saudi Arabia and will specifically explore teachers' viewpoints there, regarding the potentials distance training has that make it more favourable and encouraging as opposed to those of the traditional face-to-face approach. The research, in the process, will uncover different aspects related to teachers' training programmes. This will then be correlated to assess how teachers' motivations towards training can be increased. There has been a wide recognition that training plays an important role in upgrading and improving teachers' abilities to elevate teaching outcomes toward highly accomplished educational goals. It is to be noted that an ongoing training system has been developed in Saudi Arabia in this regard. However, the beneficial consequence of the system cannot be apparently felt and there are signs that teachers are not all that interested in participating. Several reasons might be enumerated to be behind this. However, many believe that it is the approach that relies mainly on the conventional face-to-face training that is not sufficiently motivating teachers to take place. It is assumed that applying distance training approach as an alternative would be more encouraging. Although distance training is becoming widely employed nowadays and proved to be very sufficient to gain interest, the link between distance training and motivation is not sufficiently covered by research yet. This research will try to explore this sort of link and find out how significant distance training is considered as a motivating medium. Moreover, the research will assess the extent to which conventional face-to-face approach fulfils teachers' training purposes and highlights the major obstacle facing this system. On the other hand, it will also research the opportunities of applying distance training among teachers in Saudi Arabia. It will try to build a good understanding of the available information technology infrastructure and reveal whether teachers have the basic skills to facilitate information technology tools and thus get the full benefit of distance training. The research will look at how confident teachers are with distance training and find out any sort of relation between satisfaction and motivation with distance training including other factors related to working and personal conditions such as subject and level of teaching. Strategy: The proposed research will take on a quantitative approach. It will mainly depend on gathering and analyzing quantitative secondary and primary data gathered from available literature documents and by means of social surveys. This will be supported with appropriate qualitative data and analysis to provide clarification and confidence. The research will be mostly deductive in a sense that it works from the more general to the more specific and builds up its conclusion upon initial scientific hypotheses. It ought to ascertain a preliminary assumption and generates inferences about associations among selected variables. The research will try to answer the following questions : 1-To what extent do teachers in Saudi

American Express Company Essay Example for Free

American Express Company Essay American Express Company, sometimes known as AmEx, is a diversified global financial services company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. At present, there are 58,300 employees worldwide working in American Express earning annual revenue of $24. 5 billion. Its assets are valued at $124 billion, with $620 billion in annual purchase volume on American Express Cards and $87. 9 million cards-in-force. Each day, American Express makes it easier, safer and more rewarding for consumers and businesses to purchase the things they need and for merchants to sell their goods and services. An engine of commerce, American Express provides innovative payment, travel and expense management solutions for individuals and businesses of all sizes. Most of all, it helps the customers realize their dreams and aspirations through industry-leading benefits, access to unique experiences, business-building insights, and global customer care. It enables its customers to do more and achieve more. The vision of American Express is to work hard every day to make American Express the world’s most respected service brand. â€Å"Living up to our values is our first priority. † They believe in three operating principles they are: Offer superior value propositions to all of the customers Operate with best-in-class economics Support the American Express brand American Express is the worlds largest card issuer by purchase volume. They process millions of transactions daily as the premium network for high-spending card-members. The American Express is also known for helping mall business owners succeed by delivering purchasing power, flexibility and financial control. Adding on to its roles American Express also provides commercial payment tools and expertise that help companies control their spending and save billions of dollars, offer marketing and information management insights that help merchants build their businesses. The American Express employees are customer loyal experts with industry-leading rewards programs and platforms. They operate the world’s largest travel network serving consumers and businesses and are recognized as the most innovative company in our industries. They are dedicated to serving their customers, 24/7, around the world. The Values which they operate on reflect who the company is and what it stands for as a company. They believe in Customer Commitment, Quality, Integrity, Teamwork, Respect for People, Good Citizenship, Will to Win Personal and Accountability. Human Resource Practices at American Express Being a service industry firm, the employees form the base of all its operations and so the company gives a lot of importance to its HR practices which starts from assessing the need for new employees or new recruits. At American Express it starts with Projecting head counts, Assigning requisition number, identifying relevant profiles and estimating the number of candidates. The recruitment process starts with projecting the head counts i. e. by assessing how many candidates are required at a particular point in time in various departments. As per the requirements identified for different departments the company assigns a Requisition Number which differentiates various job requirements from one other. The Requisition Number is a unique code assigned by the company to different jobs which consists of the job description, minimum requirement for the job and the selection criteria. American Express then identifies the profiles that are relevant as per the requirements given by the Requisition Number and then estimates as to how many candidates will actually appear for the selection process. The company uses different sourcing channels for identifying relevant profiles as per its requirements. American Express uses both internal as well as external sources of recruitment. The Internal sources of the company consist of Employee Referral and Internal Sourcing Team under which the HR department asks its employees to refer the suitable candidates as per the job requirement. A candidate selected via an Employee Referral leads to the Employees getting a specific amount as a form of reward for contributing a resource to the Organization. As a part of the External sources the company contacts with External Vendors and Consultants and also goes to colleges for hiring. Beside this the company uses Job Postings also by advertising in job portals like www. Naukri. com, www. monsterindia. com etc. American Express also uses Social Networking Sites for inviting application by posting on www. facebook. com and www. linkedin. com . Beside the electronic media the company also advertise in newspapers like Times of India and Hindustan Times. American Express, for certain type of jobs, also invites walk-ins. After deciding when to hire and selecting different profiles as per the job advertisement given, the company goes for recruitment. For the recruitment process American Express generally prefers face to face interview. Face to face interview is given preference because of the fact that American Express being a service firm needs to test a candidate’s personality , his/her body language as how the person carries himself/ herself and his attitude towards work and also how he/she interacts with people. Face to face interview besides acting as a platform for assessing an applicant on the above mentioned parameters also allows the company to check the data provided by the candidate. The decisions regarding entry level staffing depends upon the attrition level of the company at a particular period of time. The entry level staffing is done in the form of bulk hiring and contacts from employment agencies are also utilized for the same. Wherein the company sends the required qualifications along with the Requisition Numbers for the vacant positions and then these requirements are matched up with the available candidates’ profiles. American Express hires students from across Campuses of local colleges if they are invited for the same by that particular college for recruitment else they don’t go for hiring in campuses by their own judgement. The interviews are usually held on Fridays, but as the need may be, sometimes they are conducted on Saturdays and Sundays as well. The turn ups on weekend drive ranges from 300-350 for Non Voice Requirements and 150-200 for Voice Requirements. For executive hiring American Express has tie ups with employment agencies wherein experienced people are searched for the Organization. Along with executive hiring American Express is into head hunting as one of its processes for executive hiring to have talented pool of people for the organization. American Express also prefers people from IITs IIMs for filling up their executive positions. In case of executive hiring American Express generally sells its profile to have good resources for the organization. Once the selection mode is finalized then the series of face to face interviews gets started as the further steps of selection process. Executive hiring is process which requires time duration of 3-4 months at least. American Express is into Bulk Hiring for Voice Process as well as Non-Voice Process. Apart from Bulk Hiring it is also into Executive Hiring. American Express follows a set process for conducting these various levels of interview. Since the number of turn ups for the Voice Non-Voice Processes are largely high they avoid taking an initial HR Screening Process; the reason behind this is lack of time. The Requisition Numbers that they get have a deadline that need to be met hence a HR Screening Process becomes too time consuming so it is avoided in the cases of Bulk Hiring. American Express is very staunch when it comes to hiring any candidate per se. Hence they believe that a Face to Face Interview interaction would be an ideal way to judge the candidate. The American Express has four Levels of Interview. First, Personal Introduction Round, where the candidate is required to give an elaborate insight into his Educational Background, his past Work Experience, a glimpse into his personality the Attitudes and abilities he possesses. Next step is the Voice Assessment Test for Voice Process and the Written Test for the Non-Voice Process. Wherein the candidates are judged upon various parameters like, their Communication, Accent, Voice Modulation, Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammer etc. The reason behind doing these tests is to find the right candidate for the right role i. e. f one would suit for a Voice or a Non-Voice Process. The third step is the Operational or the Technical Round. In this the candidate is assessed on the skills that they possess and that are crucial to meet that particular job requirements. The candidate is interviewed on his Technical competencies abilities. Finally, they have something called the Offer Round. It is also called the Salary Negotiation Round. This round is all about the Compensation Discussion, a discussion between the HR Manager the Candidate over the expected compensation the industry set Compensation Level. Once this discussion comes to a pause a final compensation is decided and an offer is rolled out to the candidate. The Levels of Interview slightly differ in the case of Executive Hiring. The First step in Executive Hiring is matching the profile according to the Requisition Number. Here the one thing that we need to make a note of is the fact that, a stringent HR Screening Process is followed, where the HR Manager strictly follows an HR Screening Checklist, to check whether the candidate matches the requirement as has been mentioned in and by the Requisition Number and the Job Description. All the other levels and steps being the same the only difference lies in the fact that they do not take any Written Test or Voice Assessment Test. This Step is eliminated from the process of Executive Hiring. The reason being that, this level generally constitutes of Top Level Management Employees Officials and their mode of operation differs from the base or Ground level Employees. Rest they go through the same levels and steps of the Interview Selection Process. American Express believes in On the Spot job offer for Bulk Hiring wherein once the interview process is completed the candidate is given an offer letter. Executive Hiring or Non Bulk Hiring Offer is rolled out in 2days. (Within which the Candidate’s Confirmation is required). When the company hires the candidates in bulk then the entire process of interviewing to offer takes around 2 days and after the completion all the selected candidates are offered a job-letter. To close each Requisition an Average of 2 months is required starting from the process of selecting the forms, short-listing the candidates then conducting group discussion and PI and finally closing up of interview takes around 2 months. Niche Skills and Top Level Security Profiles take approximately an average of 3-4months. The technical skills which are niche, uncommon and difficult in nature to find takes approximately around 3 months because in this the company looks for a specific quality which can be used for further growth and development of the organization. Profiles of Vanilla Skills take 2 months to close. The American Express conducts a thorough Criminal Background Check, education verification and work experience. All portions of the check are completed before the Employee can begin his/her employment with the Organization. These checks are often used by American Express as a means of objectively evaluating a job candidates qualifications, character, fitness, and to identify potential hiring risks for safety and security reasons. The Background check at American Express is also used to thoroughly investigate the Employees Background and past information in order to get a security clearance. So this background check is extremely crucial in American Express recruitment process. They give huge importance in the same. If any of the above mentioned criteria doesn’t match in this process or a failure to adhere to the background check norms could eventually lead to the cancellation of the Candidates offer and Blacklisting of the candidate. Wherein the company cancels the application of the candidate or the candidate’s selection is being closed. Information’s which are being written in the resume has to be genuine and should be according to the actual background, experience of the candidate and basically those perfect information reflects the personality the ability of the candidate. It is very easy for the candidate to prove or perform the same on the spot and simultaneously differentiate himself as the able candidate for the respective post. The American Express out sources its Background Check process to various firms. These are Syndicate firms which does the background check for its new hires in return for a fee amount. The On-Boarding Process begins when Candidate joins them for an informative first–day orientation where they learn the ins and outs of American Express history and culture. On-Boarding involves integrating and acculturating new employees into the organisation and providing them with the tools, resources, and knowledge to become successful and productive. It is a 2 day process. On boarding includes orientation collection of documents such as the Experience Certificate or Letter, Reference Letter, Educational Documents, Identification Proof etc. Orientation at American Express is a social function which serves as a familiarization programme provided to new employees. It stands as a ‘getting to know us’ programme. So they give information about their policies and working culture means how to work with American Express. In this on boarding process the new joiners are also made to fill various forms such as the provident fund and gratuity. A Separate Training Department with group or individual training in specified areas focused on carrying out assignments connected with related field they are working in which helps in improving the skills and knowledge of the employees. Special training is given to all the candidates from Campus Recruits to Bulk Hires to Executives who are recruited. This training focuses mainly on the rules and regulations the company follows and what all are the objectives the company has to achieve. The Training Methods or Forms of Training that American Express uses are vast. It comprises of Formal Training, for all employees whether they are new hires of existing employees. All and one have to undergo a formal training session in American Express. Another form of Training that American Express follows is Lectures and Classroom Trainings where in the Employees obtain training in a traditional classroom environment as per their convenience and time. It provides the employees with an environment that includes a lab, an instructor, and a structured approach to teaching. Another mode of Training that it follows is Online Training. This method is generally used in case of training the Top Level Officials and Managers. American Express Values every second of its Employees time especially when it is related to the Top management because they are involved with the major operations of the organization. So instead of disrespecting their time by calling them for a classroom session it looks for their convenience. They take up their training programs online which is quicker, simpler and convenient for them. The next form of Training method that they apply is Questionnaire. Where in the HR Manager floats a Questionnaire to it Employees / Trainees and they collect their responses and give them the feedback. â€Å"An unusual method of training its employees but it tends to be more effective than classroom sessions† says Saumyajit K. Pal, HR Manager (MIS Analytics), American Express.

Money Laundering Impact on Mauritius Economy

Money Laundering Impact on Mauritius Economy The purpose of the study concerned the impact of money laundering and its effects on the local economic and method of laundering technique in Mauritius. Money Laundering is very vast in nature; it consists of various steps, technique and approach of undertaking such unlawful activity. The research analyzes the economic effects of Money laundering in the Mauritian Economic. The research work will attempt to examine the money laundering activities and the usefulness of prevention and detection techniques by local companies. The method that is to be used is mainly studying available research papers so that we get a maximum of information. The purpose of this study is to provide the general public a broad idea on money laundering with some existed solutions. The research will be in the main interest of financial institution, Government and General Public. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 What is Money Laundering? Money laundering is the process by which money is obtained illegally. Various types of frauds corruption, cooking the books, involve money which has been preceded by several criminal acts. Individual or groups make illegal gains by carrying out these criminal acts and often swindle high amounts. Money laundering makes it possible to legitimate ill-gotten gains through computer crimes, insider trading, and bribery where these produce large amounts of profits. Money laundering takes place within all types of profit-motivated crime, such as embezzlement, fraud, misappropriation, corruption, robbery, distribution of narcotic drugs, and trafficking in human beings (ÃÆ'ËÅ"kokrim, 2008). 2.2 Characteristics of Money Laundering Money Laundering consists of a series of various transactions used to change the source of financial assets so as these assets can be used without compromising the criminals offences. These transactions involve 3 stages (Billy Steel, Money Laundering Stages of the Process): 2.2.1 Placement The first stage refers to the physical distribution of financial assets. It is the most dangerous one for the perpetuators as the money from illicit activities are introduces into the financial system. Money laundering is a cash intensive business generating huge amount of cash from unlawful activities (for example street drug dealing, where payment are made in cash). The proceeds are then place into financial institutions, in the retail economy or deposits out of the country. The principal aim of the launder is to deliberately remove the cash from the location of acquisition and to convert it into other assets so as to prevent detection from authorities. 2.2.2 Layering Layering involves creating complex layers of financial transaction designed to cover audit tails and provide secrecy. The first attempt is to disguise the origin and ownership of the funds by creating complex layers of transaction. The idea of the transaction is to disassociate the illegal funds to the source of the offence. Layering is the second stage, in which the funds are moved so as to veil or remove any whatsoever link from the crime committed to obtain the money. During the layering process, a number of accounts, financial institutions, companies, funds as well as the use of professionals such as brokers, lawyers and consultants as intermediaries could be involved   as this is where the money will be channeled. Assets that are bought through unlawful funds can be resold locally or abroad and as a result, the assets become more difficult to map out and seize. 2.2.3 Integration The final stage consists of the integration of the money in the legitimate economic and financial institution. Integration is the stage whereby takes place the creation of a legitimate basis for the asset origin. The launder make the money appear legally earned and cleaned. At this stage it is very difficult to distinguish by authorities the difference between legal and illegal wealth. The money is viewed as being legal, and the criminal can use it for any purpose. Illicit money is often removed from its country of origin to be cycled through the international payment system so as to blur any audit trait (Joyce, 2005). There are different ways in which the third stage of money laundering is done. For example, a credit card might be handed out by offshore banks, casino à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“winningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? can be cashed out, capital gains on option, and stock trading might follow, and real estate sale might lead to profit. The proceeds of criminal acts could be generated from organized crime such as drug trafficking, people smuggling, people trafficking, proceeds from robberies or money acquired by embezzlement, tax evasion, fraud, abuse of company structures, insider trading, or corruption. Popular Methods of the launders at this part of the game is Sending fake import à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" export invoices and overvaluing the price of the goods. Consequently in allows the launders to more the funds from one company or country to another with the invoices serving as source of the capital place with financial companies. A simpler technique is to shift the money (via EFT) to a rightful bank from a bank owned by the launderers, as off the shelf banks are easily purchased in many tax havens. The establishment of unspecified company in countries where the right to concealment is guaranteed. In such case the launderer is in a position to grant loans from banks to undertake certain future legal transaction. In addition launders can claim tax relief on loan repayments and interest on loan so as to increase their profits. Most criminal acts are motivated by profit, argues Financial Intelligence Unit (2008). When substantial profits are generated from crime, perpetrators have to devise a means to control the assets in such a way that they do not attract attention to themselves or the crime committed. Thus, the money laundering process is crucial in order to enjoy the profit without arousing suspicion. 2.3 Problem statement: 2.3.1 Banking Secrecy: A major drawback of money laundering Banking secrecy is a professional obligation, meaning that financial institutions shall not expose a customers financial information and they even have the right to resist any third partys enquiries in order to protect the customers wellbeing. Secrecy laws have served to safeguard persons from financial failure in countries plagued by unsteadiness, fragile currency and run-away inflation rate. Wealthy individuals and political agents are also protected by allowing them to hide their possessions to avoid the risk of persecution (Savona, E.U, 1997). In some countries, for example in Switzerland, the revelation of secret banking information is punishable by law, whether it is intentional or unintentional (Corrado, M.G, 1988). In the world we are presently living, nobody can deny the fact that banking secrecy is the most significant weapon for money launderers. Some countries like Hong Kong, Switzerland, Panama are even known as notorious banking secrecy heavens. These jurisdictions really make the crime of money laundering more severe and out of control. For instance in Hong Kong, a new regulation was introduced in 2000 which requires banks to report suspicious transactions. This resulted in 6,100 suspicious transactions being reported in 2000 and 95% of them were from banks (www.hongkong.org/press/ny-021400.htm, 15th Aug 2001) 2.4 Combating Money Laundering: The Lifting of Banking Secrecy Despite being an important part of individual privacy, banking secrecy has to be lifted in some cases as it is equally important to fight against money laundering in order to guarantee a protected and safe society. The lifting of bank secrecy has already been embodied in the most vital international documents. Each party should authorize the court or other authority to order that financial or business reports should be made accessible or be seized under the 1988 Vienna UN Convention, the 1990 Strasbourg Convention and the 2000 Palermo US Convention specifically (United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Art.5(3), 1990 Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, Art.4(1), United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Art.12(6)). The FATF recommended that financial institutions should concentrate on all unusual or large transactions, which have no evident economic or lawful purpose. Such transactions should be examined, written and be made available to supervisors, auditors and law enforcement agencies. If financial institutions doubt that proceeds come from a criminal activity, they are required to account for their suspicions to the expert authorities without delay (The FATF Recommendations on Money Laundering, 1996 Art 14, 15). These measures are innovative, modern and extremely different from the conventional banking system. In early times, the relationship between financial institutions and customers were founded on trust and confidence: neither the banker asked questions nor the customers made disclosures. The situation has now changed. Along with that, the way of thinking and attitude of bank directors, staff and that of management authorities have changed (Galvao G, 1997). 3.0 Research Methodology 3.1 Aims and Objective of the research The aim of the research is to identify evidence of banking secrecy and their effectiveness in combating money laundering. Cases of money laundering in Mauritius will be studied and analysed. Key principles from the anti-money laundering act and from regulations imposed by bank regulators (e.g. Financial Services Commission and the Bank of Mauritius) will be outlined. The study will then research on the measures taken by banks to fight against potential cases of money laundering in order to guarantee a protected and safe banking service. The lifting of bank secrecy has already been embodied in the most vital international documents. The objectives of this research are to: 3.2 Research Method A survey with a self-administered questionnaire will be the data collection technique used. The questionnaires will be sent to the senior managers, executives and branch managers of the identified banks in Mauritius. Visits to the company/meeting with the relevant person will be carried out where necessary to ensure maximum response and that questionnaire is being filled up by the addressee. Also, secondary data will be taken from company websites, reports and financial statement to supplement research. 3.3 Statistical Analysis of data After the questionnaire, the response will be input as data so as to make use of specific statistical technique. Thus SPSS statistical package will be used to analyze data for the findings of the research. 3.4 Benefits of the Research The research will be beneficial to: Companies Government Future Research Dissertations 3.4.1 Companies Combating money laundering will have a positive impact on companies: Through integrated management of financial crime operational efficiencies will improve The risk of corruption, identity crime and other criminal crimes will reduced considerably Reduced financial risk, reputational risk and legal risk Bad debts and fraud losses due to customer comprehensiveness 3.4.2 Government Money laundering has a negative effect on the economy, such as loss of control on the economical policy, economic distortion and instability. Moreover, government loss revenue as tax collection becomes more complicated and confusing. Therefore, the research will help to reduce these drawbacks. 3.4.3 Further Research Research will assist other researchers to make further research in the topic. Ghantt Chart Task/activity Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Choose topic à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Literature search à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Developing framework à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Design questionnaire à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Survey à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Data Input à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Analysis à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Writing up à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Submit à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Budget Analysis Expenditures Rs Consultants and contracts 1400 Travel 400 Supplies and materials 400 Communications (Telephone, postage, etc.) 150 Equipment (Purchase) 700 Other (Equipment rental, etc.) 400 Total 3450

Effect of Social Isolation Depression on Cognitive Decline

Effect of Social Isolation Depression on Cognitive Decline There is a lot of literature investigating how lifestyle factors are associated with protecting cognitive decline in old age. The influence of lifestyle factors on cognitive ageing is of much interest as it is within an individual’s power to change their lifestyle given the knowledge of how it affects their cognition. By identifying what lifestyle factors are related to poorer cognitive function in older adults, individuals can take the necessary interventions to steer themselves on to the right path towards maintaining cognition throughout their lifespan and therefore ensure a better well-being and quality of life. Social factors include many aspects, such as social activities, social networks, social support, living situation and marital status (Hertzog et al., 2009). However this essay focuses on social isolation and loneliness. Depression is commonly included in studies with social isolation and loneliness and therefore is also considered. There is empirical evidence to su ggest that both social isolation/loneliness and depression are related to level of cognition in old age, and this association will be discussed. How social relationships are conceptualised is important as individuals may have a large social network and an active social lifestyle, but few close friends who they feel they can rely on. Considering there are many different ways of conceptualising social lifestyle, researchers need to ensure that their measurement does assess the factor it is supposed to. This is also true for measuring cognitive ability. Including specific domains instead of, or as well as, one general cognitive assessment is favoured in the literature as it allows researchers to examine whether the predictor variables have an influence on cognitive functioning as a whole, or if it only affects certain domains of cognition. DiNapoli et al. (2014) measured global cognition and four specific domains by assessing performance on 6 tasks. However, they warn readers to be cautious of the findings within the domains as some were based on one task and others were based on two, so there is a lack of consistency within the cognitive measurement. This study investigated the effect of social isolation on cognitive function in older adults. The researchers suggest that social isolation is combined of two dimensions: social disconnectedness and perceived isolation and so these were included in the study as secondary predictors. The Lubben Social Network scale-6 (LSNS-6) was used to measure the three social predictors. Social disconnectedness was measured by 2 items from the scale; perceived isolation was measured using 4, and social isolation was the score of all 6. They were all found to have significant effects on global cognitive performance and on the four domains. Perceived isolation was found to affect cognition almost twice as much as social disconnectedness did. This suggests that while having more social relationships is important for maintaining cognition, how we personally feel about our relationships is more important. However, Cronbach’s alpha was considered when determining internal consistency of the LSNS-6 and social disconnectedness was not suggested to be a reliable measurement. This may be because Cronbach’s alpha is affected by the number of items included and social disconnectedness was only measured by 2 items. Because of this, the researchers warn readers to treat the association of social disconnectedness and cognition with caution, although it is unlikely that the result was hugely affected by this as it is consistent with previous findings. This study is a good example of how social factors can be conceptualised in different ways. Social isolation is considered in this study as a combination of social disconnectedness and perceived isolation, whereas others consider social isolation and disconnectedness to be the same thing, and perceived isolation to be something separate. Cornwell Waite (2009) refer to social isolation/disconnectedness as a lack of interaction with others, infrequent participation in social activities and a small social network. Loneliness, on the other hand, refers to perceived isolation and perceived disconnectedness from others, meaning it is about the dissatisfaction with social relationships, intimacy or support, rather than the physical absence of them. It could therefore be argued that there was not a need to measure social isolation as a combination of disconnectedness and perceived isolation, and instead these two factors should have been measured more extensively as separate entities. Depression was included as a covariate. Although it significantly correlated with poorer cognitive performance it was not found to be significant in any of the main regression analyses and therefore was only briefly mentioned. The study included a very specific sample of Appalachian community-dwelling elders, presumably because of the â€Å"isolated† stereotype associated with Appalachia (Hsiung, 2015), although the study does not discuss this. The results therefore may not represent the overall elderly population. As well as ensuring adults were aged 70 or above and from West Virginia, they also had to have at least four natural teeth in order to participate but it is not explained why. Wilson et al. (2007) focused on the effect of loneliness on cognition in old age. As it was a longitudinal study, some participants were lost but a total of 823 older adults were included in the final analysis. Cognitive ability was measured at baseline and at each follow-up. However, there was a discrepancy in the study as some participants were followed-up five times and others only twice, meaning that those who were assessed more may have performed better due to having more familiarity with the tests. Loneliness was measured using a modified version of the de Jong-Gierveld Loneliness scale. The original scale was made up of two components: emotional loneliness and social loneliness. Emotional loneliness is considered the lack of a close intimate relationship such as a partner or a best friend and social loneliness is considered as the lack of a social network or group of friends (De Jong Gierveld Tillburg, 2006). However this study only measured emotional loneliness. Two other minor changes were made but it was still found to be a valid and reliable measurement. Social isolation was also measured using standard questions assessing network size and frequency of social activity. Loneliness was related to cognitive ability at baseline on each cognitive measure, and also to more decline over time in global cognition and in three of the five domains. The longitudinal design allowed researchers to not only observe the effect of loneliness at one point in time but also examine the inter action between loneliness and time and how they affect cognition together. Participants were all free of dementia at the beginning of the study but over the four years 76 participants developed signs of dementia that met the criteria for Alzheimer Disease (AD). It was found that lonely individuals were 2.1 times more likely to develop AD than those who were not lonely. Social network was not related to incidence of AD but perceived loneliness was which suggests that the quality of relationships is more important than the quantity for developing AD. Depressive symptoms were also assessed with a 10-item version of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies – Depression (CES-D) scale. 1 item asked about loneliness and was analysed separately from the remaining 9. This 1 question about loneliness showed a stronger relationship with development of AD than depression did when it was measured using the remaining 9 items. This suggests that loneliness affects cognition more than depression does. When loneliness was analysed with the risk of developing AD, but de pression was controlled for, there was a modest reduction in the association showing that loneliness is partly determined by depressive symptoms. However, when depression and AD were analysed controlling for loneliness, there was a much larger reduction of association, suggesting that loneliness may be an important aspect of the relation between AD and depression. The researchers explored the possibility of reverse causation, which means that loneliness is a consequence of cognition decline instead of it being a cause or contributing factor. They were able to do this as they carried out a post-mortem examination of the brain in the participants who passed away in order to quantify AD pathology and cerebral infarctions. These were not found to have an association with loneliness and therefore do not support the possibility of reverse causation. However this is a very complicated subject and more research is needed. The more likely explanation suggested is that loneliness has a negative effect on the neural systems underlying cognition which is why lonelier individuals experienced more cognitive decline. Luanaigh et al. (2011) also investigated the effect of loneliness, specifically on different domains, in elders free of dementia. A doctor and a researcher visited the participants’ homes to assess them. This could be viewed as a strength of the study as it meant participants would feel more comfortable in their own homes, especially since they have willingly agreed to this, compared to having to travel to an unfamiliar environment, which could also cause fatigue. The Mini Mental State Examination was included as a way of measuring global cognition which is a very brief cognitive test. A detailed psychometric test, much like those used to measure the several domains, would have been better. The measurement of loneliness contained only one question: â€Å"do you feel lonely?† Although there were four possible answers to this question, it could be argued that one item is not enough for adequate measurement. On the other hand, it could also be argued that asking the direct question if an individual feels lonely is an accurate and sufficient measure of loneliness. Those who answered ‘sometimes’ and ‘often’ were grouped together in the ‘lonely’ group, and those who answered ‘rarely’ and ‘never’ were grouped in the ‘not lonely’ group. This meant that the severity of loneliness was not considered. Overall, loneliness was found to be significantly associated with global cognition even when depression and social networks were controlled for. The two domains most strongly associated with loneliness were processing speed, which is consistent within the research, and delayed visual memory, which is a new finding and therefore requires more research. Just like the problems of conceptualising social isolation, there are also problems with conceptualising depression. There are many severities of depression, which Dillon et al. (2014) explores. 118 depressed older adults and 40 healthy controls were matched on age and education. One problem with this is that for every 12 depressed participants there are only 5 controls. There were four subtypes of depression: Major Depression Disorder; Dysthymia Disorder; Subsyndromal Depression Disorder; and Depression due to (mild Alzheimer) dementia. Those who had moderate-severe dementia were excluded from the study. Global cognitive performance was worse for the depressed group than the controls suggesting that depression is associated with poorer cognitive functioning in old age. All four sub-types showed impairments with memory, however this could be due to the fact that they were recruited from a memory clinic, meaning it is a biased sample as they all had memory complaints. Aside from memory, the subtypes all showed impairments with different domains. This illustrates the importance of measuring both global cognitive function and specific domains, and also of looking at different subtypes of depression instead of only depressive symptoms. Overall, the research shows that depression and social isolation/loneliness in old age are related to poorer cognitive functioning. It is suggested that how individuals perceive their social relationships is more important than number of relationships when it comes to cognition. Therefore interventions should focus on perceived support and loneliness. As the studies are of observational design, the direction of the relationship is unclear. It is not possible to say that depression or loneliness cause cognitive decline as they could in fact be consequences of the decline. The relationship between depression and loneliness is also complicated as one could influence the other. As mentioned in one study, a depression scale asked about loneliness and therefore researchers need to ensure their measurements are valid. Longitudinal studies are able to look at level of decline over time but cross-sectional studies are not, and therefore more longitudinal research would be useful to understand how the period and severity of depression and loneliness affect how cognition changes with time. Word count Title = 10 Essay = 2000 References Cornwell, E. Y. Waite, L. J. (2009). Social Disconnectedness, Perceived Isolation, and Health among Older Adults. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 50(1), 31-48. doi: 10.1177/002214650905000103 De Jong Gierveld, J. Van Tillburg, T. (2006). A 6-Item Scale for Overall, Emotional, and Social Loneliness: Confirmatory Tests of Survey Data. Research of Aging, 28(5), 582-598. doi: 10.1177/0164027506289723 Dillon, C., Tartaglini, M. F., Stefani, D., Salgado, D., Taragano, F. E., Allegit, R. F. (2014). Geriatric depression and its relation with cognitive impairment and dementia. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 59(2), 450-456. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2014.04.006 DiNapoli, E. A., Wu, B., Scogin, F. (2014). Social Isolation and Cognitive Function in Appalachian Older Adults. Research on Aging, 36(2), 161-179. doi: 10.1177/0164027512470704 Hertzog, C., Kramer, A. F., Wilson, R. S., Lindenberger, U. (2009). Enrichment Effects on Adult Cognitive Development. Can the Functional Capacity of Older Adults Be Preserved and Enhanced? A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 9(1), 1-65. Hsiung, D. C. (2015). Two Worlds in the Tennessee Mountains: Exploring the Origins of Appalachian Stereotypes. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. Luanaigh, C. O., Connell, H. O., Chin, A. V., Hamilton, F., Coen, R., Walsh, C., Walsh, J. B., Caokley, D., Cunningham, C., Lawlor, B. A. (2011). Loneliness and cognition in older people: The Dublin Healthy Ageing study. Aging and Mental Health, 16(3), 347-352. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2011.628977 Wilson, R. S., Krueger, K. R., Arnold, S. E., Schneider, J. A., Kelly, J. F., Barnes, L. L., Tang, Y., Bennett, D. A. (2007). Loneliness and Risk of Alzheimer Disease. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(2), 234-240. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.64.2.234 1

Charles Taylor :: essays research papers

In The Politics of Recognition Charles Taylor explores the possibility that in order to affirm individuals' equal dignity, we must acknowledge their cultures. He claims that individual identities are socially and dialogically constructed. That is why recognition is important. It shows how the study of identity and its politics is very important in the effort to understand control and somehow reduce the occurrence of group conflicts. The views of others may not be the last word concerning our identities, but they are the first word. If so, misrecognition can damage and can be the basis of oppression and domination (p 25). Charles Taylor argues that human identity is constituted by cultural group membership, and an individual's sense of self worth is thus deeply tied to the value that others attach to his or her cultural group. As a result of this "new understanding of the human social condition," cultural recognition can be construed as a necessary component of individual recognition, and misrecognition can reasonably be considered a form of oppression (Taylor, 1994: 25-26). If cultural group attachment is a feature of the human social condition, liberal theory had better deal with cultural group rights if it is to be relevant. Such observations form the basis of several criticisms of what Taylor terms procedural liberalism. Taylor sees this form of liberalism as rooted in a Kantian view of the self in which the essential feature of the self is autonomy; procedural liberalism requires, in order to respect human dignity, a polity in which each person is able to conceive and pursue his or her own vision of the good. Taylor argues that while procedural liberalism is committed to the view that different cultures are to be tolerated and respected, it also insists that we must live according to a common set of political rules uniformly applied. This kind of liberalism, he claims, is unable to vary basic rights in order to accommodate the survival requirements of minority cultures.

Salvador de Madariagas La jirafa sagrada (The Sacred Giraffe) Essay

Salvador de Madariaga's La jirafa sagrada (The Sacred Giraffe) Amidst the fight for women’s suffrage in Spain, Salvador de Madariaga wrote The sacred giraffe, being the second volume of the posthumous works of Julio. In 1925, the time the book was published, women in the United States and much of Europe had secured the right to vote while those in Spain still remained in the fight. Madariaga an active politician as well as a writer sets up his novel as a world turned upside down. The humorous account of a make believe world where women have switched places with men depict the seemingly backwards society as a relative utopia based on peoples attitudes, rather than its social structure. The sacred giraffe starts out with a science conference contrasting the people in a mythical land known as Europe to their particular society, the Ebonites. In this land, males were thought to have dominated the public life of the fabled White Race; a humorous concept to the black women, the leaders of Ebonite society. Not only are the gender roles and skin tones different but the strange Race of 5000 years ago, were thought to be cannibalistic because "the Whites stored the remains of their dead instead of burning them"(3). The land of Ebony is a portrayed such that black is white, male is female, up is down, in this twilight-zone style country. The story plays out as a peek through a small window of time and space into the Ebonite society, centered around the doctoress Zama and her family as Zama tries to convince people that Europe did exist while her husband M’Zama, tries to fix up his brother with an eligible young women named Scruta. All the while the reader is given a tour of Ebony, exploring the major sites of the religious hive, ... ... is a long time and you don’t remember, but in those days no rain ever fell on the sea, nor on lakes, nor on rivers and brooks†¦Fish had no bones, so that children could eat them without making their parents choke, and oysters could be opened as if by persuasion"(189). The overall message of Madariaga is that it is the characteristics of each individual that form a functional society. It is neither the gender nor the color nor the exact workings of the government that allow the formation of a Utopia. Even from a seemingly ridiculous culture it is the moral thread that binds the people. The work may have been designed to influence the political swing of Spain, but its instruction holds true in all of humankind. Works Cited Madariaga, Salvador de. The sacred giraffe, being the second volume of the posthumous works of Julio. London: Martin Hopkinson & Co., 1925

Recordkeeping System

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM This chapter of the study presents the problems ascertained from the researchers’ gathered data, the objectives, the scope, delimitations and limitations, and the significance of the study. Introduction Record keeping system is a systematic procedure by which the records of an office/organization are created, captured, maintained and disposed of. This system also ensures the record’s preservation for evidential purposes, accurate and efficient updating, timely availability, and control of access to them only by authorized personnel. A record keeping system has four components namely the records, people, processes and tools. Records are the information resources which can be presented in any format and are the ones needed to document office or organizational activities. On the other hand, people represent the authorized personnel and record contacts who oversee the records management program. Processes are the procedures on how to manage records throughout their life cycle. And tools comprise the computer or software programs, shelving and file cabinets, folders, etc. , all of which keep the records organized. There are basically two procedures on how to manage records. One is manually and the other is through the use of computers and/or software programs. In manual record keeping a pen and paper could work adequately. Inexpensive and pre-formatted record books which are available at most office supply can also do the manual record keeping. While others may imply that manual record keeping are accurate for as long as manual records can be understood or explained if questioned, many others don’t seem to be convinced for several reasons. One, processing of data is slow in manual record keeping because one has to browse over the shelves and filing cabinets all day to search for a single file. Two, retrieving of records sometimes seem impossible because there are no back-up files. So once a record is lost it ends there. These are but few of the problems encountered using the manual record keeping system, both of which contributed to the rise of computerized record keeping. Computerized record keeping works on the same principles as a manual system. The only difference is that the computer automates the process so it is faster and more accurate, thus providing the user with records that are trustworthy. According to researches, trustworthy records are reliable, authentic, complete and unaltered, and usable. But to ensure that the records are trustworthy, the system must preserve the information within the records (content), the circumstances under which the records were created or received (context), and the relationship between the parts of the record (structure). All of which can be acquired preferably when using a computerized record keeping system. Having gathered all those concepts aforementioned above about record keeping, the researchers came up with the idea of proposing a computerized record keeping system for the benefit of the NSTP office since they are currently managing students’ records manually. National Service Training Program or NSTP is a program aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its three program components namely Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), Literacy Training Service and Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS). NSTP office is among the twenty offices in Kolehiyo ng Lungsod ng Lipa. It is currently headed by Dr. Armando Mendoza who is also the head of the PE Department. Yet the said office offers the two program components, the ROTC and CWTS respectively. And since all the freshmen in the college are required to take up NSTP as one of their subjects, it can be assumed that the said office handles a lot of student records, hundreds or even thousands depending upon the number of enrollees every academic year. Considering the number of records that the office handles or manages, a need to abide to the different changes such as having a computerized system is highly advisable. More so, having a computerized record keeping system will help the office or its head Dr. Mendoza itself to make trustworthy records and keep track of them and to avoid lost of students records. Statement of the Problem This states the problems ascertained from the researchers’ gathered data. 1. NSTP Office which offers two program components namely ROTC and CWTS manage students’ records using a manual record keeping system. 2. As a result of utilizing a manual record keeping in the NSTP Office, timely availability of files is often unattainable. 3. Employing a manual record keeping system in the NSTP Office cuts down the life cycle of the files because there are no back up copies, so there is basically no solution once a file is accidentally lost. Objectives of the Study This asserts the objectives that correspond to the ascertained problems. 1. The researchers aspire to develop a computerized record keeping system which will automate the process so it is faster and more accurate, providing the NSTP Office records that are trustworthy. 2. Moreover, the researchers also intend to assist the NSTP Office to attain the timely availability of files via the database incorporated in their proposed automated record keeping system. 3. Furthermore, the researchers aim to lengthen the life span of the files managed by the NSTP Office via a system which enables the user to create back up copies for his files. Scope, Delimitations and Limitations of the Study This part presents the coverage, exclusions, restrictions, limits and boundaries of the study. The system proposed by the researchers will focus mainly on the record keeping system of the NSTP office. The researchers intend to mitigate the possible solutions to the problems presented herein by means of developing a system that will assist the NSTP Head in matters that involves students’ records and its maintenance, user-convenience and retrieval. They will rely only on the gathered data and from there will start on reaching their objectives. The proposed system or program comprises a database system which will facilitate in an organized and efficient compilation of students’ records. In addition, the study will also cover the merging of the record keeping system of the ROTC and CWTS Office. However, the proposed system will provide separate modules for ROTC and for CWTS. Different security pin will be assigned for the two modules so that only the ROTC head can access their office’s records and only the CWTS Head can access their office’s records and vice versa. In spite of this, the NSTP Head will have access on both modules. Accordingly, time consumed in compiling, searching and transferring of records will be trimmed down. On the contrary, the study pays no attention to the grading system utilized by the ROTC and the CWTS Office. Thus, the researchers’ proposed system are not liable for the means of evaluation of the students’ grades done inside the office other than the inputting of final grades and the maintenance of students’ records. Furthermore, the study concentrates merely on automating the record keeping system of the NSTP Office which comprises the management of students’ records of all the freshmen who are taking up NSTP as one of their subjects as well as maintaining, and securing them via the proposed system. Significance of the Study This part affirms the importance of the study. The findings of this study are hoped to be beneficial to the following: The NSTP Office. The findings of this study are a concrete appraisal of the implementation of computer programs in their record keeping system. Likewise, the findings of this study could provide them useful and possible solutions to the problems presented herein; The institution. This study can be used as a guide in measuring how well students learned from their classes more specifically on research and application of other theories learned from various related subjects; and The researchers. This study will serve as a guide and reference material that can be used for future research work. The presentation of information provided in this study can be a basis for research students who will be doing research for the first time.

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s background Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was actually not a psychologist at first; he dedicated his time to mollusc research. In fact, by the time he was 21 he’d already published twenty scientific papers on them! He soon moved to Paris, and got a job interviewing mental patients. Before long, he was working for Alfred Binet, and refining Burt’s reasoning test. During his time working at Binet’s lab, he studied the way that children reasoned. After two years of working with children, Piaget finally realised what he wanted to investigate – children’s development!He noticed that children of a younger aged answered questions qualitatively different than those of an older age. This suggested to him that younger children were not less knowledgeable, but gave different answers because they thought differently. He spent over 10 years perfecting his theory, and it is widely acknowledged as one of the most valuable developmental theories – e specially of it’s time. It’s no lie that there are many new, possibly more valid theories now, but Piaget’s theory has had a lot of influence on schools, teaching and education all over the world.So, let’s begin exploring Piaget’s theory, the key concepts and the stages. Theories of cognitive development: Jean Piaget. September 5, 2010 at 4:00 pm 49 comments Our first years of life are an incredible, but dangerous journey. Thousands of sperm died trying to make us, and only one made it. From our journey as an embryo to a foetus – the size of a single cell to a fully sized baby – we develop more than we will our entire lives. From birth until we’re a few years old, our development is still incredibly rapid; we have so much to learn in such little time!It is advantageous to learn quickly, that way we’re more likely to survive in the cruel, unforgiving world. Piaget’s background Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was actually n ot a psychologist at first; he dedicated his time to mollusc research. In fact, by the time he was 21 he’d already published twenty scientific papers on them! He soon moved to Paris, and got a job interviewing mental patients. Before long, he was working for Alfred Binet, and refining Burt’s reasoning test. During his time working at Binet’s lab, he studied the way that children reasoned.After two years of working with children, Piaget finally realised what he wanted to investigate – children’s development! He noticed that children of a younger aged answered questions qualitatively different than those of an older age. This suggested to him that younger children were not less knowledgeable, but gave different answers because they thought differently. He spent over 10 years perfecting his theory, and it is widely acknowledged as one of the most valuable developmental theories – especially of it’s time.It’s no lie that there are many new, possibly more valid theories now, but Piaget’s theory has had a lot of influence on schools, teaching and education all over the world. So, let’s begin exploring Piaget’s theory, the key concepts and the stages. Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Background: Piaget’s theory is based on stages, whereby each stage represents a qualitatively different type of thinking. Children in stage one cannot think the same as children in stage 2, 3 or 4 etc. Transitions from one stage to another are generally very fast, and the stages always follow an invariant sequence.Another important characteristic of his stage theory is that they are universal; the stages will work for everyone in the world regardless of their differences (except their age, of course, which is what the stages are based on! ) Piaget acknowledged that there is an interaction between a child and the environment, and this is a focal point for his theory. He believed a chil d cannot learn unless they are constantly interacting with their environment, making mistakes and then learning from them. He defined children as â€Å"lone scientists†; he did not identify any need for teachers or adults in cognitive development.Children have all the cognitive mechanisms to learn on their own, and the interaction with their environment allows them to do so. To put this in perspective, another theory by Lev Vygotsky suggested that the interaction is not important at all; the child will learn when encouraged to with an adult’s assistance. The Key Concepts of Piaget’s theory: Before explaining the main part of Piaget’s theory (the four stages), it’s very important to look at some of the underlying principles behind it. †¢Schema (pl.Schemata, although some say â€Å"Schemas† for the plural) Possibly one of the most important concepts put forward by Piaget, Schemata help individuals understand the world they inhabit. They a re cognitive structures that represent a certain aspect of the world, and can be seen as categories which have certain pre-conceived ideas in them. For example, my schema for Christmas includes: Christmas trees, presents, giving, money, green, red, gold, winter, Santa Claus etc. Someone else may have an entirely different schema, such as Jesus, birth, Church, holiday, Christianity etc.Of course, there are schemata for all kinds of things – yourself (self schemata), other people (people schemata), events/situations (event schemata) and roles/occupations (role schemata). With regards to Piaget’s theory, a child might have a pre-conceived schema for a dog. If the household has a small West Highland White Terrier as a dog, the schema might be â€Å"small, furry, four legs, white†. When the child interacts with a new dog – perhaps a Labrador, it will change to incorporate the new information, such as â€Å"big, golden, smooth etc. † This is known as: â € ¢AssimilationSimply the process of incorporating new information into a pre-existing schema. So with the â€Å"dog† example, the child assimilated the Labrador’s information into the old dog schema. Assimilation is essentially fitting new information into schemata we already have in place. Unfortunately, this can lead to stereotyping. For example, if an old lady sees a teenager mug another person, she might assimilate â€Å"violence† or â€Å"crime† into her teenage schema. Next time she sees a teenager, her schema will be applied to them – and although they may be a kind person, she will probably show prejudice.Assimilation is normally a simple process, as new information already fits the pre-exisiting categories. †¢Accommodation When coming across a new object for the first time, a child will attempt to apply an old schema to the object. For consistency, let’s use the dog example again. The child may have â€Å"four legs, furryâ €  in their dog schema. When coming across another similar animal, such as a cat, they might say â€Å"Look, a dog! † – that’s assimilation. However, when told that it’s actually a cat – not a dog – they will accommodate the new information into another schema.They will now form a â€Å"cat† schema; â€Å"not all four legged furry animals are dogs – some are cats too! †. They have accommodated the new information. The process just mentioned – of assimilation then accommodation is known as – †¢Adaptation Assimilation and accommodation are the two parts of adaptation – which is simply what it says – adapting our schemata to make an accurate (enough) model of the world we live in. It is a form of learning, but an entirely different form to the kind you’d see in behaviourist psychology for example (such as operant/classical conditioning). †¢EquilibriumPiaget suggested that huma ns naturally strive to achieve a cognitive balance; there must be a balance between applying prior knowledge (assimilation) and changing schemata to account for new information (accommodation). Piaget suggested that when a child has a schema which doesn’t fit reality, there is tension in the mind. By balancing the use of assimilation and accommodation, this tension is reduced and we can proceed to higher levels of thought and learning (equilibration). The following stages form the bulk of Piaget’s theory: STAGE ONE: The Sensorimotor stage Occurs from birth to approx. years old. During this stage, information is received through all the senses. The child tries to make sense of the world during this stage, and as the name suggests, only senses and motor abilities are used to do so. The child utilizes innate behaviours to enhance this learning process, such as sucking, looking, grasping, crying and listening. To make this even more complex, there are 6 sub-stages of this one stage. To begin, the child uses only reflexes and innate behaviour. Towards the end of this stage, the child uses a range of complex sensorimotor skills. The sub-stages are as follows: 1.Reflexes (0-1 month): The child uses only innate reflexes. For example, if a nipple or dummy is put into a baby’s mouth, they will reflexively suck on it. If an object is placed in their palm, the hand will automatically grab it. These reflexes have the sole function of keeping the child alive. 2. Primary Circular Actions (1-4 months): The child now has a fixation with it’s own body with regards to behaviour(what Piaget refers to as primary behaviour); they will perform actions repeatedly on themselves (like sucking their own hand). They also begin to refine reflexes here to form more complex versions of them. 3.Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months): At around 4 months, the child begins to take an interest in their environment (their behaviour is secondary). They notice that th ey can actually influence events in their world, for example they can drop a teddy which bashes a ball on the floor. Although this occurs, the infant will not make conscious connections between what they do and the consequences, they merely observe that their actions have interesting effects. 4. Co-ordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8-12 months): At this point, the child begins to engage in goal-directed behaviour; they begin to develop cause-effect relationships.So rather than crawl over to a teddy in a cart to pick it up, they might instead pull the cart over with the teddy in to acquire it. The child effectively knows that their behaviour will have a certain consequence. At this stage, object permanence is acquired – but I will explain this after these sub-stages. 5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months): At this stage, children like to use creativity and flexibility with their previous behaviours, and the result of their experimentation often leads to differ ent outcomes.So rather than grabbing a box, they might instead try to tilt or manipulate it. 6. Symbolic/Mental Representation (18-24 months): At this stage, the child develops symbolic thought and the ability to mentally represent objects in their head. Normally, the child would need to resort to trial-and-error to achieve a desired effect. Now, however, the child can ‘plan’ to some extent and mentally construct the consequences of an action in their head. Of course, predictions are not always accurate, but it is a step up from trial-and-error.There are two key examples of mental representation in children: object permanence and deferred imitation. Object permanence is when objects exist even when out of sight. In the first three sub-stages, children will not attempt to search for an object which is hidden from their view; in their mind, the object simply ceases to exist as they cannot see it. At sub-stage four, however, they show this characteristic of object permanen ce. If an object is hidden from them, they will attempt to find it, but will repeatedly look in the same place – even if the object is moved (the so called â€Å"A-not-B error†).However, by sub-stage 6, the child is able to mentally represent the object in their mind, leading to exploration for an object even if it is moved. They will continue to look for an object until they find it, as they understand objects exist regardless of where they are. Deferred imitation is simply the imitation of behaviour a child has seen before. As a child can mentally represent behaviour they have seen, they are able to enact it through playing and in other situations. So a child might ‘talk’ down a toy telephone or ‘steer’ a toy car around the room.STAGE TWO: The Pre-operational Stage Occurs from 2-7 years of age. The mental representation of the sensorimotor stage provides a smooth transition to semiotic functioning in the pre-operational stage. This essential ly means that a child can use one object to represent another (symbolically). For example, a child swinging their arms in a circular motion might represent the wheels on a train, or sticking their arms out and running might symbolise the movement of an aeroplane. This shows the relationships children can form between language, actions and objects at this stage.A major characteristic of this stage is egocentrism: perception of the world in relation to oneself only. Children struggle to perceive situations from another point of view or perspective, as shown by Piaget and Inhelder’s Three Mountains Task (1956). In this study, children were asked what can be perceived from certain positions on a 3D model. See the diagram below for a clearer idea. Piaget and Inhelder: Three Mountains Task (1956)†] [1 The child would have been asked, â€Å"What view does Piaget have? †. In the actual study though, they were shown around 8 cards of possible viewpoints rather than the th ree above.As you can imagine, the children struggled to decentralise and pick the correct picture. Another feature of this stage is conservation. Children struggle to understand the difference in quantity and measurements in different situations. For example, suppose a child is shown a short, fat beaker full of water. When that water is transferred entirely to a tall, thin beaker – we would know the level of water is identical – only the beaker has changed. However, a child in this stage will conclude there is more water in the tall beaker, just because the level of water looks higher.Children in this stage also lack the required cognition to apply reversibility to situations; they cannot imagine objects or numbers reversed to their previous form. This will be explored in the next stage (where reversibility IS present). When a child has the ability to decenter, they are said to progress to the next stage STAGE THREE: The Concrete Operational Stage Occurs from 7-11 year s of age. This stage sees another shift in children’s cognitive thinking. It is aptly named â€Å"concrete† because children struggle to apply concepts to anything which cannot physically be manipulated or seen.Nevertheless, the child continues to improve their conservation skills, and by the age of 11 they can conserve numbers, weight and volume (acquired in that order). The child can also understand principles of †class inclusion†; perspective tasks become much easier, and children begin to understand that other people actually have different views to themselves. Simple maths, such as addition/subtraction become much easier. However, as this stage is concrete, Piaget suggests children will struggle to apply any prior knowledge to abstract situations.For example, when asked seriation tasks such as â€Å"John is taller than Pete. John is shorter than Simon. Who is tallest? † , concrete children often fail to provide a correct answer as the situation is too abstract. However, when dolls are used to represent Pete, Simon and John, the children are able to answer – as the situation is bought back to a concrete one with physical representations. STAGE FOUR: The Formal Operational Stage. Occurs from age 11 onwards. Children at this stage acquire the ability to think hypothetically and â€Å"outside the box†.Logical conclusions can be inferred from verbal information, and â€Å"concrete†, physical objects are no longer necessary. When presented with a problem, children at this stage can consider solutions to the problem in a logical manner. The child becomes increasingly â€Å"adult-like† with regards to their cognitive abilities. Scientific reasoning is apparent in this stage, and is indicated by Piaget and Inhelder’s Pendulum Task (1958). When asked to determine the effect different weights and rope length have on the speed of a swinging pendulum, formal operational children came to consistent and logical conclusions.