Social Stratification

Question: What are the causes of social stratification in the Caribbean? Throughout our lives, there must have been some form of categorization whether your complexion or financial status. Even in today’s society, people are judged and put into groups based on their race or even sometimes religion. This is known as Social Stratification. This however could not be possible without a diversed Caribbean that is present today. Cultural Diversity then speaks about the different ethnic traditions such as custom, race and language that are found in the society. Take for example Jamaica that has a motto â€Å"Out of Many One People†. This can be seen as a perfect example as many different races or ethnic groups reside in Jamaica and widely the Caribbean. As a result, a means of Social Stratification takes place in the society. Mohammad (2007) states that it is a ranking system which organizes or places persons in the society in a hierarchy. In addition, it can be classified as a characteristic of society as it appears to be present in most of our Caribbean islands. Although this is viewed as a form of inequality, the system was derived from events that took place some years ago. The main causes of social stratification are the Plantation System, Emancipation and Social Mobility. Historically, this system started on the fields of the sugar plantation. The persons who toiled in the hot sun in the fields were known as slaves and were viewed as the â€Å"lesser people†. Their masters however were the opposite as they had all the power and wealth so they were seen as more highly and respectable individuals. A distinction between them had begun as the gap between them had gotten bigger due to the mobility of the masters. A hierarchy was built and the slaves could be seen at the bottom due to the bias judgment of the pigment of their skin. During this period of history according to Greenwood (2003), a middle class was also developed owning to the fact that not all persons were classified as slaves or whites. Therefore a middle class was now a part of the hierarchy and they were called the mulattos. These sets of people were still judged on the colour of their skin and the materialistic things that they owned. This brought much segregation and division among them because of the differing cultures and the whites believing that they were better than others around them. Emancipation which took place years after the Plantation System with the slaves also helped with Social stratification that most Caribbean islands are experiencing now. Emancipation is the period in history when many of the African slaves got freed. Despite the fact that freeing the slaves was indeed an advantage to them, it brought a negative effect. With freedom came the advantage of schooling and getting educated, however not many persons were able to go forward with it. There was a division among the Blacks or the ex-slaves as only the better ones were able to get the chance to be taught. When this took place, many of the ex-slaves felt that they were lesser than even their own race or group and so there was categorizing present as even the whites were then divided into two groups, the Petite and the Blancs. This caused much hatred among them as social status made them feel as though they were superior to others. With the use of the hierarchy, there must have been some movement of persons whether up or down the ranking of the social ladder. This is known as social mobility; which even in today’s society it is taking place. It is even taking place as we speak. Mohammed (2007) states â€Å"Education is the primary means of accessing social mobility throughout the region† (p. 65). It is through education that most of the Caribbean leaders rise to such high authority or positions. Even in today’s society, it is the persons who are wealthy and are of light complexion that gets recognition for jobs and positions. Everyone else who falls below that, is classified as poor and is in the lower class on the hierarchy. Weber argues that social class is primarily based on power, prestige or status. In conclusion it can be said that social stratification all started from the days of slavery and even nowadays persons are still being ranked on race, colour, sex, religion and finance. References Greenwood, R. , Hamber, S. (1980). Arawaks to Africans. Macmillan Publishers Limited Mohammed, J (2007). Caribbean Studies for Cape Examinations. Macmillan Publishers Limited http://wps. prenhall. com/ca_ph_macionis_sociology_5/23/6031/1544046. cw/index. html http://www. youthlinkjamaica. com/cxc/sociology20030916. html http://stmarys. ca/~evanderveen/wvdv/class_relations/social_stratification. htm

Essay Romeo and Juliet

ESSAY â€Å"The older you are, the wiser you get. † is a well known proverb that provides insight in human tendencies to be impulsive, perfunctory and hasty. Part of maturing as a human being comes from understanding a predicament, deducing a solution and carefully reasoning whether there will be any consequences and if they would be worth it. Impulsive acts flaunt incompetence and immaturity. Albeit embarrassing regardless, there are often more resilient consequences than merely looking foolish for acting in manners that jeopardize goals and contravene strategies of success.Failing to analyze any situation appropriately in the heat of the moment incurs undesirable outcomes such as a punishment of some sort or in some cases, death. This is the message that William Shakespeare tries to convey in his infamous play, Romeo and Juliet. This play revolves around characters from two rival families that elicit their deaths and that of several others due to their impulsive personalitie s. Romeo, Juliet and Tybalt each let a particular emotion cloud their judgement, causing them to make decisions with no prior thoughts of consideration for consequences.Their lack of will to resist and control their desires becomes the cause of their demise. When experiencing certain emotions, one's thoughts are clouded and it becomes difficult for them to make rational decisions. Romeo is a very impulsive character. It's as if he suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. He tends to over react and his impulsivity puts him in several difficult situations before it kills him. Firstly, Romeo is very dramatic. His feelings are superficial and shallow.This is established at the very beginning of the play when Romeo says: â€Å"Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still, Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will! Where shall we dine? O me! What fray was here? † . (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 165) Romeo dramatically muses about his â€Å"love† for Rosaline to Benvolio f or a lengthy period before he abruptly changes the topic of discussion momentarily to where they will eat dinner.This indicates an impulsive and whimsical tendency. This quotation helps enforce character development into play, allowing the reader to infer the lead character's major personality traits and flaws. Albeit at a very small and irrelevant scale, Romeo's tendency to act over-dramatic puts himself in state of mental distress unnecessarily. Secondly, Romeo's impetuosity is made very unambiguous and perceptive to the reader during the famous â€Å"balcony scene† in the play. The following conversation takes place between Romeo and Juliet in Act 2, Scene 2: ROMEO: With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out, And what love can do that dares love attempt; Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me. JULIET: If they do see thee, they will murder thee. ROMEO: Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye Than twenty of their swords: lo ok thou but sweet, And I am proof against their enmity. (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 65-70) Romeo proclaims his love for a woman he met less than 24 hours ago, making his impulsivity indisputable. He displays complete disregard for the safety of his life by being on Capulet property just to catch a glimpse of a girl – Capulet's only daughter and prize – he met the evening earlier. His very presence in such a place at midnight is impulsive on its own, but to claim to not value his life in lengthy, redundant romantic speeches is careless, immature and unacceptably lackadaisical.Fortunately, Romeo escapes the property unseen. If he had been caught, he would have been killed. This shows Romeo's poor decision making skills, his disregard for carefully choosing his decisions and how they could have gotten him in danger. Lastly, Romeo gets himself killed because, yet again, he does not reflect on his actions before executing them. In Act 5, Scene 1, Romeo says to Apothecary,  "Let me have a dram of poison†¦ † (Act 5, Scene 1, Line 60).Romeo utters this statement in severe melancholy upon hearing of Juliet's apparent death in Verona. Him hastily travelling to a druggist emphasizes on Romeo's tendency to overreact and not give any apparent thought to his own life or his future. At this point, Romeo's character traits are made very clear to the reader. In conclusion, careless behaviour is potentially cataclysmic for the person impulsive and the people around him. This is especially true when an individual allows an emotion to cloud their judgement.Since Romeo allowed himself to get attached to Juliet quickly, lustfully he found himself in a miserable position where Juliet, Lady Montague, Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris die because he impulsively decided to fall in love with a member of the Capulet family without thinking of the long term consequences and in his grief he decided to take his own life mindlessly. Similar to Romeo, Juliet is also depicted as an impulsive character who neglects rational thinking when flooded with emotions. This is made particularly evident during the balcony scene when Juliet says, Three words, dear Romeo, and good-night indeed. If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrowBy one that I’ll procure to come to thee Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite, And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay And follow thee my lord throughout the world† . (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 145). This quotation testifies to Juliet's callow and childlike decision to consider a boy she met hours ago as her husband. Marriage is genuine and a huge step in someone's life.It is brought together by hundreds of tiny threads which are sewn by the couple over years, not within a few hours. The idea of falling in love, the lust for Romeo and the excitement of rebellion causes Juliet to not think rationally. The lust she feels causes her to follow her heart rather than her mi nd. The man she consents to marrying is part of a rival family and pursuing marriage with Romeo would be redundant and dangerous as another brawl would break out between the two families before they would succumb to the marriage. Had she thought rationally and considered the consequences beforehand rather than acting impulsively she ould have saved lives of many others, including her own. Fortunately for Romeo, she wasn't caught conversing with him while he was under the balcony. Impulsivity is a repercussion of impatience. Patience is a virtue and in this case, a life saving one. However, although short-term trouble was avoided successfully, one is not always guaranteed to be so lucky. This is demonstrated later in the play when Juliet says to Friar Lawrence, â€Å"Be not so long to speak. I long to die if what thou speak’st speak not of remedy† (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 65). Juliet is devastated when Lady Capulet forces her to make Paris her mate for life.In desperate se arch for a solution, she goes to Friar with a dagger and announces her plan of suicide, blackmailing him of proceeding with the aforementioned plan if Friar doesn't give her an alternative. Friar suggests taking a coma-inducing potion which will fake her death, after which she could elope with Romeo. In utter incoherence and mad impulsivity, she takes the potion without speaking with Romeo. Relying on Friar and a messenger to give Romeo the message, she irresponsibly fabricates a scene of death and gets put in the Capulet crypt. Upon Romeo's arrival there, he has a confrontation with Paris.They duel till Paris's death, after which the derangement of the whole situation takes control of Romeo's senses, causing him to drink poison and die. Her impulsivity is not left unpunished this time as she causes the death of two people close to her and the death of Lady Montague later on. Failing to think the consequences beforehand causes the person and the people around him/her to suffer menta l or physical injuries to potentially huge extents. Lastly, Juliet's impulsivity is made absolute when she mindlessly decides to take her life. In Act 5, Juliet's final words testify that her final impulsive action is detrimental.She says, â€Å"Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die† (Act 5, Scene 3, Line 69). Upon witnessing Romeo's deceased body laying lifelessly next to an empty flask of poisonous drug, Juliet grabs Romeo's dagger and stabs herself to her demise. She does not think about the consequences of killing herself for a boy she met less than a week ago. She sees no escape other than immediately killing herself, leaving the rest of her life unlived. Therefore, in conclusion, inability to appropriately weigh their options makes people take decisions impulsively and impulsivity can be injurious.In Juliet's case, Romeo and Paris paid for her impulsivity and the deaths of those were indirectly related to th ose of others such as Lady Montague, Mercutio and Tybalt. Tybalt is a character from the Capulet family who, like Romeo and Juliet, allows emotions to dominate and overpower his judgements which result in impulsive actions with fatal consequences. However, unlike Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt has trouble controlling his anger. His easily perturbed temper leads to his desires of resorting to violence. Although a different emotion than lust, anger is an unwanted emotion regardless, failing to repress which has inevitable consequences.Tybalt's impulsivity is first hinted upon when he says, â€Å"It fits when such a villian is a guest. I'll not endure him. † (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 75). Tybalt is completely enraged by Romeo's presence at the Capulet ball to the point at which he wishes to duel him. With anger clouding his judgements, he doesn't consider the Prince's warning the following morning. Had he not been told to quite down, he would have confronted Romeo, perturbing the peace. H is impulsivity and inability to control his emotions when aggravated is his biggest strength while being his biggest weakness as well.This quotation is significant, because of its adequate approach to character development. Furthermore, this quote helps the reader infer the message of the play itself: impulsivity is more or less masochistic and inability to repress emotions to a reasonable level can be fatal. Secondly, another impulsive decision taken by Tybalt occurs in Scene 1 when he says, â€Å"What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee, coward! † (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 65) In this quotation, Tybalt exclaims openly about his hatred for Montagues.His anger speaks for him, attracting trouble with those hateful words. His inability to control himself attracts the prince, getting them all in trouble. In a way, this incident is the guarantee of his near death. If Romeo hadn't killed him for killing Mercutio later on, t he Prince would have had him executed, because of the warning he gives after Tybalt disrupts the peace by starting a brawl. Lastly, Tybalt's impulsivity gets himself killed, becoming further evidence to how impulsivity gets you in trouble. Tybalt says, â€Å"Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries.That thou hast don’t me, therefore turn and draw† (3:1:63, 64). Tybalt taunts Romeo, hoping to initiate a duel for his anger to be drained. He seeks duels, never wanting to consider talking about the issues. It is due to this, that he finds himself murdered. Had he chosen to consider alternatives with a calm mind, he would have saved his own life and that of Mercutio. Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.It is a necessary skill, which becomes more troublesome the longer one chooses to not master it. In conclusion, strong emotions, desires and urges come to everyone. Learning to be able to adequately control them to a safe degree is a necessity. Romeo, Juliet and Tybalt all act impulsively because they are unable to repress their emotions. Romeo's lust for Juliet causes him to act recklessly, risking his life for a woman he barely knows. Since he allowed himself to become infatuated with Juliet, he found himself very lonely at her apparent death.He saw no other option other than that to kill himself. His impulsivity was fatal as he was too foolish to repress his emotions. Juliet, being as foolish as Romeo returned his love. Lustfully, she also allowed herself to get attached too quickly. She foolishly accepted Romeo's proposal, risking her family's name and honour for a boy as unprepared and unsuitable for a mate in a realistic world as a newborn. Had she been smart and not returned Romeo's love like Rosaline, her life would have been saved. Lastly, Tyb alt also made several foolish decisions.Despite of his anger proving harmful, he never practiced the advice he was preached: to not disrupt peace amongst the public. Making several impulsive decisions like starting a brawl in the street for something that could have been easily apologized for and killing Mercutio, Tybalt ensures his final destination. If all three characters were more mature and weighed their options before making any decision, they each would be alive at the end of the play. However, that would have made a boring play, wouldn't it have?

Opportunities and Challenges of E-commerce Development in China Essay

Opportunities and Challenges of E-commerce Development in China - Essay Example China has the potential to be the largest market for about everything and e-commerce is no exception. E-commerce is the trend which is opening an opportunity for companies if they capture the quickly changing marketplace. It is not very hard to estimate how big this market can be. In 2010, Chinas e-commerce sales exceeded RMB 460 billion. The expectations are that this figure will triple in the next three years and exceed RMB 1.5 trillion. China might overtake the US in three years as the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace. Its online market would grow to 7% of all retail trade. In 2011 this trade was only 3% which lags the e-commerce activity in the US and Europe. Taobao.com dominates the marketplace in the consumer to consumer (C2C) trade. It holds 80% market share compared to 20% of business to consumer activity. But rapid activity regarding business to consumer (B2C) is underway. And this will have a huge impact on the e-commerce industry in China. Big businesses are realizing the potential of e-commerce and names such as Walmart are gearing up to seize this opportunity. They have already opened the China e-commerce headquarters in Shanghai. To understand how the dynamics of e-commerce work in China a study by Bain & Company surveyed 600 Chinese shoppers. It inquired what motivated them to online buying and what the drawbacks of this trend were. The survey suggested that convenience was the second most important factor in price that motivated them to shop online. The majority also showed their interest in the product variety they got while shopping online. In fact, 19% of the participants stated that convenience was their primary reason for shopping online and 15% stated that variety inspired them to shop online.

Higher Government Spending Must be Good for Growth Essay

Higher Government Spending Must be Good for Growth - Essay Example That’s why this issue regarding government spending is important, if it’s not done properly, the country might face a serious financial crisis. Types of Government Spending There are numerous sources that enable the government to undertake such a big task. It has to get sufficient amount of funds to be invested for economy’s growth. Some of the areas for Government Spending can be Transfer Payments, Investment, Subsidies and Grants etc. (Alexiou and Anastasiadis 12) Transfer Payments are those unrequited payments as no such money is asked for as an exchange when this payment is made. After setting social welfare programs, Governments redistribute income among the deserving people, and these transfer payments are used to provide these incomes. Subsidies given by the government body should not be mixed with these specific payments given. With sound stewardship, along with a high degree of accountability, transparency and integrity, these transfer payments are manag ed by government (Weinbach and Paul 344). ... Another source for government/public spending is ‘Subsidies and Grants’. Government take out a certain proportion from the capital reserves (money collected from taxes or other financial sources) they already have and then spend a certain amount of this money for the welfare and betterment of the society. Usually, these subsidies and grants are used to industrialize a state and encourage business owners to continue their business and economic activities (Nijkamp and Poot 124). Another source for Government spending can be ‘investment’. Investment is the foundation of Economic Growth and increases standard of living in the long run. Investments in human capital, education, labor skills and training, investment in physical capital, infrastructure and lastly investment in innovation, these all types of investments enables the economy to increase its growth and use its resources in the best possible way. Many of the high-income countries exist due to the presenc e of infrastructure in the country and this is mainly due to the investment that takes place (Wahab 135) Potential Benefits Governments make use of numerous grants and subsidies to support employment in the country, either by subsidizing private companies or by providing employment guarantees to the workers. Government procurement has been extensively used from past many years to require ‘fair wages’ from private contractors. In addition to this, government spending on social security benefits produces extra demand, because it gives greater purchasing and spending power to the citizens who would otherwise have very low real incomes and thus, this extra spending power

How does clothing become a part of the self-realization of people Essay

How does clothing become a part of the self-realization of people - Essay Example The paper "How does clothing become a part of the self-realization of people" discovers the fashion and identity. In marketing, Vieira (2009) defines fashion as the broad based behavioral phenomenon evidenced by a variety of material as well as non material contexts. More aptly, it has been defined as an ever changing trend that is frivolous, and has a deep influence on the life of people and is accompanied by frivolous reasons. Clothing has a huge influence on not the perception of person wearing them but also on the people around the individual. In the fictional story of Batman, in Gotham, better portrays this continuum. For instance, an individual wearing a suit is attributed to certain perception generally, and the same applies for an individual wearing a street wear. When in a suit Gordon seemed trustworthy and professional but when in street wear, he was almost misidentified, and mystical. Clothing worn on a person’s personality and identity always makes one feel confide nt and organized, for instance for an athlete whose work demands means donning the sports attire, and the same individual may behave different, for instance when in a suit. The outer perception of an individual on the persons’ choice clothing is may be determined by societal cultural patterns. Consequently, clothing carries a message and creates a pseudo message that is needed by a circumstance individuals find themselves in Ozipek. In this case Bruce Wayne’s costume is the perfect example and as seen in Batman.

First Step in Creating an Ad Campaign-Exploring Target Audience Assignment

First Step in Creating an Ad Campaign-Exploring Target Audience - Assignment Example Taking into account that they represent about 33 million people, then roughly 7.59 million teens live in the Midwest. Supposing that the teen population matches the overall demographics for gender, then 3.8 million are male. The data covered 13-19, so accounting for five parts of seven, then 2,71 million are within our target audience. The average spending power of this group is $40 per week from all sources, including jobs, equaling an annual market of 2080 per capita, for a grand total of about 4 billion dollars annually, when adjusted for low income groups in the demographic profile. They also influence about 19% of all household spending in addition to their personal buying power. Convergence is the trend. Most teens now own a cellular phone, a music player and a personal computer. The trend is moving toward smartphones which enable all of these functions or a smart phone and a tablet, such as the Ipad. However, the girls are way ahead of the boy in this age group with only 23% of the boys owning smartphones. All of the group is connected in one way or another, and they share information. Most boys (and girls) belong to at least one social networking site and one online gaming site that includes forum functions. TitleSmartphone Ownership by Teens and By Sex | Text Message Blog Volume2011Issue10/7/2011Editionhttp://www.textmessageblog.mobi/2011/01/14/smartphones-female-teens/Ref TypeWeb PageRetrieved Date10/7/2011Source

Summaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Summaries - Essay Example Among these sources of threats include malicious codes, industrial espionage, malicious hackers, loss of some physical and infrastructural support, incidences of employee sabotage, fraud and theft, errors and omissions, and threats to personal privacy. A computer virus is a code segment that is capable of replicating by possibly attaching copies of it to existing executable files, implying that viruses can exist in a computer without infecting the system; not unless one opens or runs the malicious program. It is majorly spread by sharing of infected files through emails and removable disks. A worm, on the other hand, is a self-replicating program or algorithm which has the capability of creating copies of it and thereafter executing without the requirement of a host program or user interventions. Just like in the case of viruses, worms exploit the use of network services to propagate itself to other hosts systems within the network topology. A Trojan horse is a program which performs a desired task, however, which also includes the unexpected functions. After installation or running of the Trojan horse, it gets activated and starts to alter the desktops by adding ridiculous active desktop icons; deleting files and destroying other information on the systems; and creating backdoor on the computer systems to offer malicious users the easy lee-ways into the system. Its unique feature that explicitly distinguishes it from worms and viruses are that it does not actually replicate/ reproduce by infecting other files. A Blended threat is rather more sophisticated in the sense that it bundles the worst known features or viruses, worms, Trojan horse and malicious codes. For its aided transmission, it can exploit the server and the linked internet vulnerabilities to initiate, and thereafter transmit by spreading its attacks to other various systems interlinked within the network structure. Blended threats are characterized by

Employee Development Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Employee Development - Case Study Example Learning is a ubiquitous phenomenon. Everyone learns on a daily basis. It is not possible to do a good job without learning. Learning is an ongoing lifelong process. No matter how good one is, he has scope to learn and do better. Learning can be done at close quarters or even from a distance. Peter Cresswell, general manager for consultancy services at Siemens, says, "Companies tend to think that they have got a unique problem and struggle with the idea of how to take it forward. But one of the benefits of training is that it allows you to apply a positive solution to any activity. Nothing is unique and nothing is insurmountable through either organizational or personal development" (Employee development coursework assignment). An organization keeps its performance in order by providing constant training to its staff and workers. Training is a learning process within a time frame. It raises the learning curve of an employee and keeps him attuned to the latest gadgets and services. There are many training models to choose from. An organization chooses the model that best suit it purposes. The training model must seek to enhance quality and it is in every employee's interest to develop his performance through training. Businesses producing exceptional results year after year have to thank their training programs for their employees. Training help forge good team work (Employee development coursework assignment). Diversity Issues Culturally diverse workforce makes challenging working environment. Cultural difference, ethnicity, nationalism, cultural identity, cultural taboos, cultural shock, cultural colliding, and diversity can cause difficult times in the work place. Diversity may not mean only racial differences but also differences in gender, age, sex, and religious beliefs. Diversity is the spice of life. It helps individuals and organizations by offering a wide range of options in different situations. Diversity is the combination of seven different colors that combine to give one color - white. However, diversity can also create rifts and class consciousness. Diversity does not mean only adversities. An enlightened management is capable of assimilating the diverse backgrounds and creates harmonious working conditions to achieve excellence. Globalization has been responsible for diversity in many corporations. It is mandatory for corporations to put in place appropriate training of its diverse personnel to

The choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The choice - Essay Example Book Summary Distracted is a book by Maggie Jackson who is an author and a journalist. The book’s credibility is enhanced by the fact that the content is based on information that is backed by adequate research. Jackson documents her vast travels and describes her meetings and discussions with professionals and researchers in various fields ranging from biological and physical sciences to arts and technology. Jackson’s ideas flow coherently in the book and the smooth read is captivating. Some of the topics in the book stand out and catch the reader by surprise because of their bizarreness. The organization of her thoughts and her ability to summarize them in a way that can be easily understood hints at her experience as a journalist indicating that individuals live in a â€Å"virtual, mobile, split focus world† (129). At the introduction, Jackson expresses her opinion that is the motivation for the book’s content. She believes that society is gradually hea ding towards a bleak future because of a stagnant culture and society. She believes that society is fast losing its ability to focus because of the nature of contemporary life, and that this lack of focus has corroded the ability to be keen and aware. Attention is crucial for intimacy to develop between the members of the society, and this intimacy contributes to cultural development. Jackson’s point that the society is headed towards a dark future because of an attention deficit provokes the reader’s thoughts. All the nine chapters of Jackson’s book are organized under three major parts including lengthening shadows: exploring our landscape of distraction, deepening twilight: pursuing the narrowing path and dark Times†¦or Renaissance of attention. The chapters under the first and second parts of the book are each titled â€Å"Focus,† â€Å"Judgment† and â€Å"Awareness.† In the last part of the book, she reveals that the titles of the chapters in the first and second parts are the three levels of the attention system. Chapter one of Jackson’s book focuses on presenting Jackson’s idea on distraction and the role that technology plays in society’s attention, or lack of it. The second, third and fourth chapters reveal what Jackson sees as the three main settings that shelter the problems that encourage the continued lack of attention. In chapter five, Jackson highlights privacy issues, with arguments that revolve around how social media like Facebook and surveillance impact negatively on trust whereby she indicates, â€Å"†¦we are nurturing a culture of social diffusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (94). Chapter six of the book focuses on the written word concerning interaction with individuals. In chapter seven, Jackson questions the impact of technology on society. She leaves the reader to ponder the thought whether machines are evolving to be more like humans or if humans are evolving to be more like machines. The eighth chapter addresses the idea of preservation and the challenges it faces. In the ninth and last chapter, Jackson focuses on the duty and importance of attention. It is in this last chapter that Jackson explains the three networks of the attention system as she offers the solution to distraction. One could argue that Jackson’s move of dividing the chapters under titles is a forced construction. Jackson’s books focus on individuals in United States of America. Despite her sources and facts being from credible sources, a reader outside of the United

The Theories of Thomas Hobbes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Theories of Thomas Hobbes - Essay Example Talking about Hobbes’s state of equality, he strongly believed that we as human tend to be very watchful of the differences that lie between all individuals: differences that distinguish the diverse individuals from each other. For example he said that some of us tend to perceive others as smarter or wiser than ourselves, however, what we fail to take into account is that the bulk of the people around us are more or less the same as ourselves, particularly in thought. Such was the way in which Hobbes defined equality of human nature, that given a particular situation many of the individuals would react to it much in the same way. Moreover, Hobbes felt that all human beings were materialistic beings, motivated by nothing so much as they are motivated by self-interest, thus the term egoism (Clarke, 1995). This self-interest which dominates human nature in Hobbes’s point of view is the root cause of all chaos and anarchy that has ever prevailed throughout human history. Hobbes believed that if ever in a dilemma, an individual will always choose the alternative which benefits him the most, irrespective the extent of damage that it may cause to anyone else. This egoism of man never allows him to be content with what he has. Rather it requires him to constantly desire more and more power than he already has. Consequently, Hobbes described his â€Å"State of Nature,† which was from the nature made by God as one would normally expect it to be. The Hobbes's State of Nature is one which any known State can undergo at a time of absolute chaos and anarchy.

Merced County Health Status Essay Example for Free

Merced County Health Status Essay A community’s health can be established through a myriad of differing factors. Three specific factors that will help to determine the health of the county in which I live are community safety, disaster preparedness, as well as an analysis of the population. The community under review, Merced, is located in central California and made up of seventeen cities and communities whose individual populations do not exceed more than 75,000 and covers an area of approximately 1,972 square miles (United States Census Bureau, 2010) with a total population of approximately 255,793 people in 2010 (Merced County California, 2012). The first area of importance is community safety. It is important to beginning discussion with the one of the most basic of health indicators; the air we breathe. The air quality index in Merced County is 48, a median value that takes into account only the most hazardous air pollutants (Air Now, 2012). This value is only slightly lower than the air quality index of California, but is approximatly 30% higher than the national average (Air Now, 2012). Another important area that must be addressed is the water we drink. In Merced County most of our drinking water comes from groundwater sources which are collected by two public water systems. Most all areas in Merced County are affected by three different pollutants: Nitrates, Ethylene Dibromide (EDB), and Dibromochloropropane (DBCP) (Air Now, 2012). Although all three of the pollutants fall below the water standard or eliminated through the public water systems, these pollutants will continue to be an issue because EDB and DBCP were used by farmers for many years to fumigate crops. Another area of concern in community safety is the safety hazards within the sociocultural environment. The ability to work, shop, or simply ride your bike and feel protected within the area in which you live are important features in determining the health of a community. With 1. 2 police officers and 4. 4 sheriff officers per 100,000 people and an average response time of 3 minutes (Merced County Office of Economic Development, 2012); most people can be fairly confident that they and their property are protected. However, crime rates have risen in the past few years. In 2009, Merced County experienced 1,658 violent crimes; the majority of which involved aggrivated assult but also included 26 murders, 78 forcible rapes, and 276 robberies (United States Department of Justice, 2012). There were also 4,390 property crimes and 90 cases of arson (United States Department of Justice, 2012). Rate of offenses per 100,000 are as follows: violent 568. 3, property 567. 3, drug 512. 9, sex 37. 9, other 489. 1, and totaling 2,175. 5 per 100,000 (United States Department of Justice, 2012). Considering there are only 5. law enforcement officers per 100,000 people, it would appear as though crime will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. These numbers are especially troublesome considering budget cuts that will surely affect all public safety departments (Layoff Watch, 2011). There are a couple of ethnic groups within Merced County that feel especially vulnerable, the Hispanic community and the Asian community. The Hispanic community nearly makes-up 50 percent of the population and is congrigated in the poorest of neighborhoods. Yet another concern involving public safety is the ability to obtain medical services. Within Merced County there are only two hospitals that offer emergency medical service, Memorial hospital of Los Banos and Dignity Health of Merced. Memorial hospital of Los Banos is a relatively small hospital with the ability to admit a total of 46 patients (Memorial Hospital Los Banos, 2008). The emergency room has the ability to care for a total of 6 patient’s requiring immediate emergency care, but has the capability to fly patients out to other facilities if required. Dignity Health of Merced is the larger of the two facilities and cares for the majority of the population of Merced County. Dignity Health has a total of 194 beds available. Dignity Health has approximately 10,900 admissions per year and total emergency room visits equaling around 66,000 per year. On a typical weekend the emergency room will see about 250 patients between the hours of 7 a. m. and7 p. m. (M. Parker RN, personal communication, June 8, 2012). Also serving the community are 8 primary clinics. The majority of these clinics are located within the city limits of Merced and Los Banos. Those located outside of these locations will have to drive upto 30 minutes to obtain medical services. Merced County also has five psychiatric facilities, only 2 of which are capable of admitting patients. Country Villa Merced Behavioral Health Center has 96 beds available for the community and has the ability to care for long-term patients between the ages of 18 to 65 years of age (Country Villa Merced Behavioral Health Center, 2012). Marie Green Psychiatric Center is a smaller facility that has the ability to admit upto 20 patients between the ages of 18 to 65 years of age, but this is a short term facility that can only care for patients for up to 90 days. Currently, in the Merced County area there are no psychiatric facilities that have the capability to care for psychiatric patients under the age of 18 or over the age of 65. Emergency preparedness within Merced County is primarily controlled by the Department of Public Health. Merced County’s emergency preparedness was last updated in 2003 and in general addresses â€Å"preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation activities† (City of Merced California, 2012). In the preparedness phase, activities are concentrated in advance of a disaster. Actions are focused on â€Å"implementing hazard mitigation projects, developing hazard analyses, developing and maintaining emergency plans and procedures, conducting general and specialized training, conducting exercises, developing mutual aid agreements, and improving emergency public education and warning systems† (Merced County California, 2003). In the response phase an emergency situation is imminent or likely to occur. During this stage the county initiates actions to increase its readiness. In the recovery phase the focus is to return public services to Merced county residents and return any area affected by the emergency to its previous condition. The mitigation phase occurs before and after emergencies. After a disaster or emergency, mitigation or alleviation, includes â€Å"reducing the impact of hazards that exist within Merced County† (Merced County California, 2003). Although Merced County Public Health Department concerns itself with the county as a whole, it must also make provisions for areas more susceptable to emergencies or areas where there is an increased difficulty to disseminate information. Within these areas there are disproportionate ethnic minorities. The two primary ethnic groups, hispanic and asian americans, are particularily at risk because of transportational and housing issues as well as dysfunctional attitudes toward disaster planning or preparedness. Within Merced County the Hispanic community makes up nearly 50% of the population and constitutes the majority of those living below poverty level. This translates into the majority of the population within the economically depressed areas having inadequate housing or malfunctioning transportation. When a disaster does occur, this group will be the hardest hit as they will not have the financial means to recover what they have lost. This group also has the highest potential for harm due to the inability to relocate to an area that is safe due to transportational issue. What places this group at highest risk are their attitudes toward disaster planning or preparedness. After speaking with six different families from a depressed area, all but one family put any thought into a potential emergency, and none of these families had money set aside for such a disaster (personal communication, June 1, 2012).

Effects of Type 1 Diabetes on Pregnancy

Effects of Type 1 Diabetes on Pregnancy Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a serious endocrine disorder caused by a deficiency or diminished effectiveness of the hormone insulin and is categorized into two sub-categories, type 1 and type 2, together with the lesser known variant gestational diabetes (Burden, 2003, pp30-32). Type 1 diabetes is thought to be a genetically controlled autoimmune disorder that presents in childhood and is also know as juvenile onset diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in older, obese individuals; however, this type of diabetes is becoming increasingly more common among children and adolescents. Debatably, this is because of the increase in childhood obesity because of the sedentary lifestyle some children are adopting in today’s society. There is also an hereditary predisposition to type 2 diabetes. If one or both parents have type 2 diabetes the offspring is at an increased risk of getting the condition (Rosenbloom et al, 1999, pp345). It is important to note that g estational diabetes that is a complication of pregnancy is different from the pre-existing diabetes in pregnancy that will be discussed in this essay. It is thought that approximately three to five percent of pregnancies are complicated by type 1 diabetes. During pregnancy diabetes mellitus can have a damaging detrimental affect on both maternal and foetal health. Conversely, diabetes is affected by the physiological changes that take place during pregnancy (Bewley, 2002, pp47-48). This essay will examine the effects of type 1 diabetes on a seventeen year old (Carol) that is six weeks pregnant. The essay will start by investigating the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in order to acquire a global picture of the disease. The aetiology and physiology of type 1 diabetes will then be discussed. This essay will then go on to consider the signs and symptoms of the condition and its effects on Carol now and in the future. Next the complications of diabetes in general and during pregnancy will be discussed, considering the effects on Carol and her unborn child. The effects of type 1 diabetes on the developing embryo, foetus and mother will be addressed. Finally, the hereditary link for type 1 diabetes will be considered and the essay will then be concluded. Epidemiology Diabetes mellitus is a growing global and public health problem. The World Health Organisation (2006, p1) estimates that the problem could escalate to an estimated three hundred million people by 2025. It is thought that approximately one and a half million people in the United Kingdom have diabetes mellitus. Type 1 accounts for approximately twenty percent of cases of diabetes mellitus. Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than eighty percent of cases with more than one million people diagnosed in the United Kingdom (Burden, 2003, pp30-32). The aetiology and physiology of type 1 diabetes mellitus This section focuses on the causes of disease and the biological aspects of diabetes mellitus. As mentioned type 1 diabetes results from the complete absence of the hormone insulin that is involved in glucose metabolism. It is thought that it is an autoimmune disease in which the bodys immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans that are embedded in the tissues of the pancreas (See diagram 1). Diagram 1, this shows the islets of Langerhans that are deeply embedded with the tissues of the exocrine pancreas (http://cal.man.ac.uk/student_projects/2000/mnby7lc2/pancreas.htm). Diagram 1 The pancreas has two functions the exocrine cells produce digestive fluids and the endocrine cells produce hormones. It is the endocrine insulin producing beta cells that are important in the role of diabetes mellitus. The beta cells (see diagram 2) make insulin and when the body’s immune system attacks it results in the destruction of these cells. As the cells die insulin production stops and the consequences of this are impairment in function of, and damage to many of the organs in the body. Diagram 2 shows the insulin producing beta cells that are found in the islets of Langerhans (http://cal.man.ac.uk/student_projects/2000/mnby7lc2/pancreas.htm). Diagram 2 It is not known exactly what triggers this immune attack, but susceptibility to the disease might be inherited. The autoimmune attack may be triggered by reaction to a virus infection. The attack is thought to be carried out by the T cells of the immune system (Waugh and Grant, 2001, p234). In Diabetes mellitus there is too much glucose in the blood. When carbohydrates are eaten they are broken down into glucose. This process is known as gluconeogenesis and occurs in the liver and kidneys. The level of glucose in the blood is regulated by the naturally occurring hormone insulin. Insulin promotes transport and entry of glucose into the body’s cell and tissues. Glucose is essential to the production of energy within the cells and without it cellular death will occur (Tortora and Grabowski, 2003, p627). Signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes mellitus This section will examine the signs and symptoms that Carol would have exhibited before diagnosis and during the course of the condition. The initial clinical indication of untreated diabetes relates to elevated blood sugar levels, and loss of glucose in the urine. When there are excessive amounts of glucose in the urine, water is taken out of the body in large amounts by the process of osmosis (Waugh and Grant, 2001, p235). This results in polyuria (increased urine output) and that leads to dehydration. Dehydration causes polydipsia (increased thirst) leading to increased fluid consumption. The inability to utilise glucose energy eventually leads to weight loss despite excessive hunger (polyphagia). Dramatic weight loss would have been a clinical sign exhibited by Carol. Some patients also complain of fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Patients with diabetes are prone to developing infections of the bladder, skin, and vaginal areas; this is because hyperglycaemia can disrupt the action o f phagocytes that are help to fight infection. The immune system in diabetes sufferers is suppressed and this limits the body’s ability to resist invasion by bacteria or viruses. Fluctuations in blood glucose levels can lead to blurred vision and extremely elevated glucose levels can lead to lethargy. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious medical condition resulting from uncontrolled diabetes. Ketoacidosis is caused by lack of insulin and occurs when the body uses fat as an energy source and ketones build up in the blood. Ketoacidosis starts slowly and builds up to a life-threatening condition that can result in coma and possible death (Burden, 2003, pp30-32). Carol may have exhibited all or some of these symptoms when first diagnosed and she is exhibiting symptoms of weight loss, tiredness and mood changes at present. Debatably, this is because here blood glucose levels are uncontrolled due to her pregnancy. Having said this however, research has found that adolescents (in particularly girls) are not vigilant in all aspects of managing their condition. Having a certain level of hyperglycaemia will enable a person to eat, yet remain thin. In today’s society that is obsessed with thinness teenage girls might undertake such an action (Carson, 2000, pp36-37). Complications of diabetes mellitus in general and during pregnancy There are many long-term clinical complications of diabetes that affect various systems and organs of the body. Having diabetes mellitus increases the risk of developing irreversible microvascular or macrovascular disease. Microvascular diseases include retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy and macrovascular diseases include ischemic heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. These disease are all a result of poor glycaemic control (Donnelly et al., 2000, pp1062-1066). Diabetic retinal and renal disease will be discussed in more detail as pregnancy can result in further complications and poor pregnancy outcome. Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that can lead to blindness. The longer a person is diabetic, the higher the chances are of developing the condition. It is thought that prolonged periods of hyperglycaemia cause damage to the blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eye. Diabetic retinal disease can deteriorate during pregnancy and poor glycaemic control in the first trimester is associated with the progression of retinopathy (Hill, 2004, p40-44, Donnelly et al, 2000, pp1062-1066). Carol should have her retinas examined at the start of her pregnancy to establish if she has pre-existing retinopathy. If retinopathy is diagnosed than Carol will need to have regular eye tests to monitor the condition. Continuous good glycaemic control will stop the condition from progressing. Diabetic renal disease or nephropathy is again caused by hyperglycaemia resulting in damage to the capillaries in the kidneys. The kidneys are then unable to undertake filtration of amino acids and this leads to hypertensive disease. Women who have pre-existing nephropathy are at an increased risk of poorer pregnancy outcomes. This is because high blood pressure as a direct result of nephropathy can cause pre-eclampsia. This in turn can cause premature delivery and maternal death (Donnelly et al, 2000, pp1062-1066, Hill, 2004, pp40-44). It is important therefore, that Carol’s blood pressure is monitored throughout her pregnancy as hypertension is a sign of pre-eclampsia (Bewley, 2002, p50). Effects of type 1 diabetes on the developing embryo, foetus and mother It is suggested that type 1 diabetes mellitus in pregnancy puts the foetus and the developing baby at far greater risk than is imposed on the mother. Various, potentially damaging problems can arise from foetal reactions to maternal glucose levels. Therefore, if a mothers glucose levels are high, the foetus will have correspondingly high levels (Bewley, 2002, p51). If a mothers blood glucose levels are continuously high (hyperglycaemia) during the first-trimester there is an increased risk of congenital anomalies such as neural tube defects that include spina bifida, abnormalities of the heart and anatomical abnormalities of the bones (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health, CEMACH, 2005, p37). Neural tube defects are major birth defects of a baby’s brain or spine. They happen when the neural tube (that later turns into the brain and spine) does not develop in a correct anatomical manner resulting in damage to the brain or spine (Tortora and Grabowski, 2003, p1073). This happens within the first few weeks that a woman is pregnant, often before a woman knows that she is pregnant. Another condition that is attributed to maternal diabetes is that of Polyhydramnios. This is the medical condition of too much amniotic fluid in the amniotic sac. Polyhydramnios is generally due to maternal diabetes and is thought to be caused by increased foetal urination. This is caused by the elevated amount of glucose in the mothers blood that cross the placenta and makes the blood of the foetus hyperglycaemic. This results in increased urine output from the foetus. In pregnancies affected by Polyhydramnios, approximately twenty percent of the neonates are born with a congenital anomaly of some type. There are a number of risks that are increased in polyhydramnios including cord prolapse, placental abruption and perinatal death (Pilu Nicolaides, 2006) Other adverse neonatal conditions that are attributed to maternal diabetes are neonatal mortality, premature birth, hypoglycaemia and an increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome (Bewley, 2002, p51). There is also an increased risk of macrosomia that can lead to an augmented possibility of shoulder dystocia and an assisted delivery. Macrosomia is related to maternal hyperglycaemia and is characterised by larger-than-normal birth weight in a newborn at over 4500 grams (10 pounds). High levels of glucose in the mothers blood readily pass through the placenta to the developing baby stimulating insulin production in the baby. Insulin is a potent growth hormone and so fat is deposited which can result in a large baby. This can cause shoulder dystocia and birth trauma because the baby will not easily fit through the birth canal. Postpartum, the newborn continues to produce excessive quantities of insulin that can result in the infant being hypoglycaemic.The mother has an increased pr evalence of pre-eclampsia, postpartum infection, postpartum bleeding, and caesarean section (Reece et al, 2004, p169) . It appears from the research indicated that Carol needs to have optimum glucose control for her own health and for that of her baby. Women with type 1 diabetes should have a pre-conception glucose level within normal limits that is an HbA1c of below 7 percent. The management of pregnancies complicated by pre-existing diabetes mellitus should begin prior to conception (Reece et al, 2004, pp481). However, at seventeen it is quite possible that Carol’s pregnancy was unplanned. Is type 1 diabetes mellitus hereditary? It is thought that there may be a genetic or inherited susceptibility to diabetes. If a parent has type 1 diabetes, the chance that their children will be affected is about twenty-five to forty percent. In the instance of type 1 diabetes various genes have been indentifyed that might predispose an individual to the disease. Therefore, it is suggested that this genetic mutation might incline an individual to diabetes. It is debated that a genetic element is not, in itself enough to cause autoimmunity. It is suggested that external influences such as a viral infection are thought to trigger the disorder. It can be said that type 1 diabetes is an immunological disease that has a genetic background cause (Littorin, 2001, pp1033-37). It is possible therefore, that Carol has inherited a genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes from her mother, but environmental factors might activate the actual disease. Conclusion Diabetes is an increasingly common disease that if not controlled can cause a number of disabling lasting complications that can have a destructive influence on both quality and quantity of life. Type 1 diabetes is thought to be an autoimmune disease that leads to the complete destruction of the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is needed to help glucose enter the cells of the body. Glucose is required in the cells to produce energy for normal cell function. It is possible that there is an hereditary link that predisposes an individual to the condition. As Carol was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus at the age of seven and she has had difficulty in controlling her blood glucose levels, she is at an increased risk of developing diabetic complications. It appears that her pregnancy will also intensify the effects of some of the complications affecting both her own health and that of her baby. It is suggested that Carol needs to attain good glycaemic control for her own health and for the health of her baby. Bibliography Bewley C (2002) Diabetes in pregnancy. Nursing Standard, 16, 25, 47-52. Burden M (2003) Diabetes: signs, symptoms and making a diagnosis. Nursing Times, 99, 1, 30-32. Carson C (2000) Managing adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Nursing Times, 96, 45, 36-37 Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health: Pregnancy in Women with Type 1and Type 2 diabetes in 2002-03, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. London: CEMACH; 2005. Diagram 1 and Diagram 2 http://cal.man.ac.uk/student_projects/2000/mnby7lc2/pancreas.htm, date accessed 23/11/2006. Donnelly R, Emslie-Smith AM, Gardner ID and Morris AD (2000) Vascular complications of diabetes. British Medical Journal, 320, 1062-1066. Hill J (2004) Identifying and managing the complications of diabetes. Nursing Times, 100, 34, 40-44. Littorin B (2001) Family Characteristics and Life Events Before the Onset of Autoimmune Type 1 Diabetes in Young Adults: A nationwide study. Diabetes Care, 24, 1033-1037. Pilu G and Nicolaides KH (2006) The 18-23 week scan: Polyhydramnios. http://www.fetalmedicine.com/18-23scanbook/Chapter14/chap14-03.htm, date accessed 23/11/2006. Reece EA, Coustan DR and Gabbe SG (2004) Diabetes in Women: Adolescence, Pregnancy and Menopause. 3rd edition, Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Rosenbloom AL, Young RS, Joe JR and Winter WE (1999) Emerging Epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes in Youth. Diabetes Care, 22, (2), 345-354. Tortora GJ and Grabowski SR (2003) Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 10th edition, New Jersey, John Wiley Sons, Inc. Waugh A and Grant A (2001) Ross and Wilson Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness. 9th edition, London, Churchill Livingstone. World Health Organisation (2006) Diabetes. Fact sheet NÂ °312, September 2006, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/ date accessed 23/11/2006.

Factors When Planning Recruitment In Health And Socialcare Nursing Essay

Factors When Planning Recruitment In Health And Socialcare Nursing Essay Introduction Employment of individuals in health and social care organisations is a challenge given the complex nature of the goals of quality patient care and efficient utilisation of the resources, variety of professionals working in such organisations and different motivation needs of the employees (Benson-Dundis, 2003). Appropriate Human Resources (HR) strategies and leadership and management style can address the issues of staff recruitment and retention in the health and social care organisations (Price, 2003). The following essay aims to critically analyse these factors which should be taken into consideration to recruit and retain individuals in these organisations. The essay begins by understanding the process of recruitment and the HR strategies which can ensure that appropriate individuals are employed for the job position. This is followed by a discussion on team working in the health and social care organisations and the manner in which effective team working can be achieved. Next, the essay will discuss the manner in which the organisations can address the staff’s needs of learning and professional development and the final section of the essay will discuss the role of appropriate form of leadership and management style in retaining the employees and ensuring their job satisfaction. Recruitment in Health and Social Care Recruitment in the health and social care is the process of identifying and engaging appropriate individuals who can help the organisation to meet the health and social care needs of quality and efficiency (Buchan, 2000). However, Eaton (2011) argues that organisations which only focus on developing better recruitment and filtering strategies adopt a very constricted view of Human Resources Management (HR). He mentioned that the organisations should be also concerned about retention of these individuals who were selected, hired, trained and imparted the crucial experiential knowledge. This understanding guides the discussion to value the two pillars of recruitment and retention in health and social care HRM. The aspects of retention and meeting the motivational needs of the staff will be discussed later in the essay. At this point, it is essential to consider the factors which are indispensable while employing individuals in the health and social care organisations. The relevant literature supports that the job vacancy should be sufficiently advertised through appropriate sources which will inform the target set of individuals with desirable skills and knowledge about the prospects of potential employment (Den Adel et al, 2004). However, Price (2003) mentioned that the recruitment officials should be able to respond to the fast-paced nature of the Information Technology (IT). He mentioned that along with advertisements in newspapers, healthcare magazines, agencies and recruitment consultants, the HR staff should also demonstrate the ability to engage the potential employees through e-recruiting. For instance, recent graduates could be informed about the vacancy through their preferred means of communication, such as social networking and e-mails (Truss et al, 2012). Job advertisement should be able to provide concise and comprehensive form of information to the candidates by appropriately describing the role, job description and person specification. Michie and West (2004) supported that this form of information is helpful for the organisations, HR teams and the candidates and should include duties and responsibilities, job purpose, location, type of contract, working hours, wages and benefits. At the same time, Kabene et al (2006) highlighted the importance of skill matching the candidate with the responsibilities of the job position. For instance, Buchan (2000) mentioned that while recruiting health and social care managers, the recruiters should ensure that the candidate is aware of the national health and social care policies legislations and national targets. Similarly, while recruiting nurses, the recruiters should ensure that the candidate is equipped with the 6Cs principle comprising of nursing skills of care, compassion, courage, communication, competence and commitment (O’Brien-Pallas et al, 2001). However, Buchan (2000) highlighted the aspect of the recruiters own knowledge and awareness of the recruitment policies and fair practice. He mentioned that the recruiters should demonstrate adherence to the national employment laws which lay the foundation of equality and diversity at workplaces. Dubois et al (2006) also supported that the recruiters should be able to explicitly demonstrate the fairness and transparency of the recruitment process and any practices of favouritism should be appropriately addressed with immediate actions. The legislative and policy frameworks act as the common reference of guidance for the recruiters in health and social care organisations. The Equality law consisting of the Equality Act 2010, The Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 and Work and Families Act 2006 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality and marital status (Truss et al, 2012). The National Health Services (NHS) organisation in the UK has set out its mission statement of aiming to employ a diverse workforce who reflects the communities and groups using the NHS services (Price, 2003). Health and social care organisations in the UK aim to utilise the Individual Merit Principle which directs the recruiters to employ candidates only on the basis of their knowledge, skills and experience (Truss et al, 2012). However, the recruiters also have to consider the factors which ensure adherence to the ethical HR practices such as protection of the information of the employees and candidates. The Data Protection Act 1998 guides the HR staff to maintain the confidentiality of the information of the employees and candidates (Truss et al, 2012). Employees’ and candidates’ personal data should be obtained only for the lawful purposes relevant to the employment (Price, 2003). Similarly, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 guides the recruiters to maintain transparency of the process of recruitment (Truss et al, 2012). The recruitment of the overseas nationals should be undertaken while adhering to the UK immigration policies of right to work in the UK (Price, 2003). The trio of paper or online application, interview and references is the most common framework followed by the recruiters of the health and social care organisations (Hongoro et al, 2004). However, it is argued that in order to ensure that the most appropriate individuals are employed in the health and social care organisations, the recruiters should aim to use a mix of various recruitment approaches (O’Brien-Pallas et al, 2001). These approaches are online questionnaires, aptitude tests, interview performance, assessment centre performance, personality profiles, appraisals for internal candidates and references (Michie West, 2004). Some authors (Hongoro et al, 2004) mentioned that candidate selection on the basis of interview can be misleading as the candidates are highly likely to provide biased responses which might not necessarily reflect the actual thoughts and personality of the candidate. Despite this criticism of interview-based selection, interviews still remain one of the most popular, feasible and economic form of candidate selection (Michie West, 2004). Eaton (2011) supported interviews as the means of providing information to the candidate, addressing the candidates’ queries related to the job position and verifying the assumptions made by the recruiters when they evaluated the candidates’ application and Curriculum Vitae (CV). Similarly, recruiters in the recent years are also acknowledging the importance of the psychometric tests in order to identify any attitude or behaviour-related differences between the candidates and in order to predict their future behaviours while working in the organisation (Hongoro et al, 2004). The recruiters should then undertake the procedure of candidate assessment and comparison. Candidate assessment is the procedure where each candidate is evaluated for the specified job and comparison is the practice of identifying the individual whose skill, knowledge and experience meet the job specification (Truss et al, 2012). Team Working in Health and Social Care In order to understand the manner in which teams work in health and social care, it is first essential to identify the importance of group interaction. Atwal and Caldwell (2005) supported that in a typical health and social care organisation, the groups perform the five important roles of forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. In the forming stage, individuals within a team start the process of knowing each other which is followed by storming where these individuals start understanding each other in order to develop a bond and a feeling of mutuality. In the norming stage, the individuals attempt to relate themselves with the internal group values, beliefs and norms and focus on the aim of the team. In the performing stage, these individuals act in order to meet the team goals by following the relationship-oriented leadership style and in the final stage of adjourning, the team members address the issues of closure after achieving the team goals. These five stages of team interaction provide a general overview of the team relationships in health and social care; however Baker et al (2006) argued that team interaction is a highly complex subject and any single theory cannot capture the level of this complexity. They supported this argument by highlighting the different types of leadership and its impact of the motivation levels of the team members. Teams are comprised of leaders and followers who perform in their respective roles in order to meet the overall goals of the team (Nishii-Ozbilgin, 2007). In health and social care, leadership is defined as an organisational role responsible for achieving a structured form of relationship amongst the team members and is able to exert influence in order to derive expected employee performance (Mullins, 2007). Another definition of leadership supported that leadership is an entity which is responsible for removal of the social barriers and is able to meet the highest level of the members’ motivational needs (Mullins, 2007). These two definitions show the two most prominent styles of leadership, the first definition is reflecting an autocratic form of leadership and the second definition is describing a democratic view of leadership. Followership is a more recently studied phenomenon and the two types of followers are described as active or passive followers where the former believes in creative thinking and the latter likes to follow the provided instructions (Nishii-Ozbilgin, 2007). The types of leadership and followership add to the complexity of team interaction which makes every team in the health and social care organisations unique in their functioning and team relationships. Health and social care organisations have a variety of teams with their unique set of knowledge, skills, relationship and experience (Cadman-Brewer, 2001). Some of the common teams are patient handling teams, representatives, carers, campaigning teams, teams of doctors and nurses, management teams and health and hygiene awareness promoters and caterers (Baker et al, 2006). However, Atwal and Caldwell (2005) argued that despite the variety of teams in health and social care, there are certain common factors which should be addressed in order to allow these teams to work effectively. These factors are team collaboration, stability, composition, leadership, senior leadership support, clinical specialist leadership and the members’ knowledge and experience of quality improvement (Nishii-Ozbilgin, 2007). Effective team working in health and social care can be developed by allowing the members to present their diversity of skills, developing inter-team understanding and bonds and maintaining an honest approach (Mullins, 2007). Similarly, Atwal and Caldwell (2005) highlighted the importance of communication between the team members by mentioning that the diversity of skills would not be appropriately utilised in the absence of communication. Many authors (Buchan, 2000; Mullins, 2007; Price, 2003) have identified leadership as the catalyst for effective team working in health and social care and Baker et al (2006) supported that the organisations should invest in leadership development sessions. At the same time, Atwal and Caldwell (2005) mentioned that effective team working can be developed by identifying the individuals’ training and development needs of the members. Staff Training and Development Eaton (2011) mentioned that the team members’ training needs can be identified by collection of feedback from individuals through one-on-one and group discussions. Similarly, Adams and Bond (2000) support that along with discussion-based feedback collection, the organisations should also aim to obtain objective data in the form of questionnaires and information on skills and knowledge provided by the employee on their CV. On the other hand, Benson and Dundis (2003) supported that the data on staff’s learning needs and development can be collected through observation of their performance. The use of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat) analysis framework is supported by other authors (Mullins, 2007) for specifically identifying the future learning needs of the employees. The role of staff brainstorming sessions on the subject of future skill acquisition and development is supported by Benson and Dundis (2003). Following the identification of the training needs, the health and social care managers should undertake measures for continuous professional and personal development of the employees. The organisations can promote academic knowledge acquisition of the experienced staff by funding their advanced academic programmes, such as post-graduation (Buchan, 2000). Similarly, Adams and Bond (2000) mentioned that the organisations should also aim to organise regular staff training and education sessions. The role of the external educators is highlighted by Dussault and Dubois (2003) as they mentioned that often external educators are able to deliver a newer perspective on the quality improvement issues. Benson and Dundis (2003) further mentioned that the organisations can ensure staff learning and development by providing them access to the library resources where the staff can consult the journals in order to update their clinical knowledge and competency. This also allows the staff to reflect on their performance and identify future action-plans (Eaton, 2011). Reflection is a crucial component of nursing professional development and therefore organisations should promote this practice (Benson-Dundis, 2003). In addition to reflection-based learning, the junior and relatively less experienced members of the staff should be guided by a practice-based mentor who can identify the various learning needs of these employees (Eaton, 2011). Based on these strategies and identification of the staff’s learning and professional development needs, the organisations should implement the Staff Development Programme (SDP) which will enable the employees to become competent practitioners. The managers should gather the information of the number of staff members to be enrolled in the programme and this knowledge can be obtained by requesting the target group of staff to submit the SDP application form (Eaton, 2011). Thereafter, the nature of the programme should be taken into consideration; SDP should be feasible, economical and comprehensive in nature (Eaton, 2011). The delivery of the SDP should be meticulously planned so that it meets the initial aims of staff development and learning (Price, 2003). The SDP should also include the assessment system so that the effectiveness of the programme can be evaluated and future SDP improvement goals can be identified (Benson-Dundis, 2003). Most importantly, Adams and Bond (2000) supported that the staff should be adequately informed and engaged during the planning and delivery of the SDP so that the programme can gain from the staff feedback. Based on this understanding, I will attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the Staff Nurse Development Programme (SNDP). The programme lacked a comprehensive approach in its design as the programme did not include the development of additional competencies. However, the programme adequately informed the staff by providing a set of guidelines for the staff and the assessors, structure of the programme, core competencies, assessment framework, literature on the source of evidence, implementation, review forms and personal development plan. The staff’s feedback was collected after the completion of the programme and most of the members of the staff expressed that the programme was effective and helped them to identify areas of competency development. Leadership in Health and Social Care Organisations As mentioned previously, there are two principle forms of leadership, autocratic and democratic. The present health and social care organisations understand the importance of using democratic form of leadership as the way of promoting strong organisational culture and staff engagement (RCN, 2005). Based on these two forms of leadership, the literature on leadership has identified the relevant styles of leadership, transactional and transformational (Mullins, 2007). A transactional leader believes in reprimanding sub-standard results and rewarding good performance (Sullivan-Decker, 2009). Similarly, a transformational leader concentrates on staff relationships as the means of collectively addressing the organisational goals (Sullivan-Decker, 2009). A transformational leader utilises his/her exceptional communication skills in order to encourage the staff to engage in the decision-making process and express their concerns (White, 2012). On the basis of these characteristics and traits, a transformational leader is supported as more suitable for leading staff in health and social care. This is because a transformational leader will be able to derive better collaborative working amongst different professional groups, such as doctors and nurses (RCN, 2005). Working relationships in health and social care organisations can be managed by change in the organisational culture (White, 2012). Organisational culture is a form of umbrella term which includes the perceptions, behaviours and actions of individuals in an organisation (Michie-West, 2004). In order to achieve an effective Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) working , the leadership roles should address the issues of employee job dissatisfaction, lack of staff communication and knowledge sharing (Atwal-Caldwell, 2005). A transformational leader should organise interactive sessions where the employees should be motivated to express these aspects (Mullins, 2007). The management should respond to these concerns and change its existing autocratic style of managing the employees and develop a participative and collaborative organisational culture (RCN, 2005). The understanding of the different management approaches has contributed to my professional and personal development. I have observed that in the bottom-up management practices, the employees are included in the decision-making process and feel valued by the organisation. On the other hand, in the top-down management approach the staff is not included in the crucial organisational decisions and feels more concerned about their own position rather than the organisational goals of quality and efficiency in health and social care. Conclusion The essay critically discussed the factors to be considered for planning recruitment in health and social care organisations. The essay discussed that the job vacancies should be adequately advertised and should include concise and comprehensive form of information on job description and person specification. The HR recruiters should have updated knowledge on the UK employment and other relevant laws such as the Equality Act 2010, Data Protection Act 1998, Work and Families Act 2006 and Freedom of Information Act 2000. The recruiters should utilise the different recruitment approaches such as personality profiles, aptitude tests, online questionnaires, interviews, assessment centre performance appraisals for internal candidates and reference to select the most suitable candidates. Thereafter, the relevant theories of effective team working such as the five stages of team interaction and leadership and followership were discussed. Some of the common teams in the health and social care organisations are patient handling teams, representatives, carers, campaigning teams, teams of doctors and nurses, management teams, health and hygiene awareness promoters and caterers. Effective team working can be achieved by addressing the factors of team collaboration, stability, composition, leadership, senior leadership support, clinical specialist leadership and the members’ knowledge and experience of quality improvement. The staff training needs can be identified through workplace observations, collection of feedback and SWOT analysis. Employees’ continued professional development can be ensured by funding for their advanced education, providing access to library resources, conducting education sessions and providing practice-based mentors for the junior staffs’ learning needs. A transformational leader is more suitable for leading the staff in health and social care because a transformational leader will be able to derive better collaborative working amongst the different professional groups, such as doctors and nurses. My own understanding and experience support that a bottom-up management style is more successful in achieving a better staff participation and commitment towards the organisational goals. References Adams, A., Bond, S. (2000) â€Å"Hospital nurses’ job satisfaction, individual and organizational characteristics.† Journal of Advanced Nursing, Vol. 32 (3) pp: 536–543. Atwal, A., Caldwell, K. (2005) â€Å"Do all health and social care professionals interact equally: a study of interactions in multidisciplinary teams in the United Kingdom.† Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, Vol. 19 (3) pp: 268–273. Baker, D. P., Day, R., Salas, E. (2006) â€Å"Teamwork as an Essential Component of High-Reliability Organizations.† Health Services Research, Vol.41 (4p2) pp: 1576–1598. Benson, S. G., Dundis, S. P. (2003) â€Å"Understanding and motivating health care employees: integrating Maslows hierarchy of needs, training and technology.† Journal of Nursing Management, Vol. 11(5) pp: 315–320 Buchan, J. (2000) â€Å"Health sector reform and human resources: lessons from the United Kingdom† Health Policy and Planning. Vol. 15 (3) pp:319-325 Cadman, C., Brewer, J. (2001) â€Å"Emotional intelligence: a vital prerequisite for recruitment in nursing.† Journal of Nursing Management, Vol. 9 (6) pp: 321–324. Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., Schaufeli, W. B. (2000) â€Å"A model of burnout and life satisfaction amongst nurses.† Journal of Advanced Nursing, Vol.32 (2) pp: 454–464. Den Adel, M., Blauw, W., Dobson, J., Hoesch, K., Salt, J (2004) â€Å"Recruitment and the Migration of Foreign Workers in Health and Social Care†. IMIS-Beitrage Vol.25 pp: 201 230. Dubois, C. A., Nolte, E., McKee, M. (2006) â€Å"Human resources for health in Europe.† In Dubois, C.A., McKee, M., Nolte, E (eds.) Human Resources for Health in Europe eds. Maidenhead: World Health Organization, Open University Press. pp. 1–14. Dussault, G., Dubois, C.A. (2003) â€Å"Human resources for health policies: a critical component in health policies† Human Resources for Health. Vol. 1 pp: 1-16 Eaton, S.C. (2011) â€Å"Beyond ‘unloving care’: linking human resource management and patient care quality in nursing homes† The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol. 11 (3) pp:591-616 Hongoro, C., McPake, B. (2004) â€Å"How to bridge the gap in human resources for health† The Lancet. Vol. 364 (9443) pp:1451-1456 Kabene, S.M., Orchard, C., Howard, J.M., Sorianol, M.A., Leduc, R. (2006) â€Å"The importance of human resources management in health care: a global context† BioMed Central. Vol. 4 pp:1-7 Michie, S., West, M. A. (2004) â€Å"Managing people and performance: an evidence based framework applied to health service organizations.† International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 5 (2) pp: 91–111. Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th Edition. Great Britain: Financial Times Pitman Publishing Imprint Nishii, L.H., Ozbilgin, M. (2007) â€Å"Global Diversity Management: A Conceptual Framework†, International Journal of HRM. Vol.18 (11). Pp: 1993-1894. O’Brien-Pallas, L., Baumann, A., Donner, G., Murphy, G. T., Lochhaas-Gerlach, J., Luba, M. (2001), â€Å"Forecasting models for human resources in health care.† Journal of Advanced Nursing, Vol. 33 (1) pp: 120–129 Price, A. (2003) Human Resource Management in a Business Context (2nd edn.) , London: International Thomson Business Press. RCN (2005) RCN Clinical Leadership Programme: Transforming Clinical Leaders to become Agents of Positive Change. Royal College of Nursing. [Online] Available at:http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/78651/002524.pdf (10 October Accessed 2014) Sullivan, E. J., Decker, P. J. (2009) Effective Leadership and Management in nursing (7th edn.) New Jersey: Prentice Hall Truss, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C. (2012). Strategic human resource management. New York: Oxford University Press. White J. (2012) â€Å"Reflections on strategic nurse leadership.† Journal of Nursing Management Vol. 20 (7) pp:835–837

mortal kombat :: essays research papers

Mortal Kombat â€Å"According to Time magazine, September 27, 1993, violence in video games is on the rise especially with the release of Mortal Kombat. Over 50 million children all over the United States brought this violence into their homes. The parents and other adults of these children finally decided that the video games in the U.S. had gone too far.† Mortal Kombat was the first game that brought blood and gore into the video game world. Mortal Kombat started in the arcades it was such a hit, they made it into a game you could buy for personal use. Critics raved over it when it was first introduced, saying it was too violent for kids and it needed to be taken off the shelves. This game appealed to many people because of its real-life graphics, blood and gore. The game was also responsible for the video game rating system used today. The game was an instant hit, they made an endless amount of Mortal Kombat games, for every gaming system imaginable, there was even a movie made based on the game. This essay will illustrate how Mortal Kombat is violent, and take a critical point of view of this popular game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mortal Kombat is a video game based around hand-to-hand combat between two characters in the game. The person playing would control one-character and use combinations of punches, kicks and special moves to cause as much damage to the opponent as possible. This game is fun and very addicting; children would end up playing the game constantly trying to master the moves and techniques of the game. People found it fun because the characters and the worlds that you fight in seem like some fantasy, most people would fight their friends to see who would rein supreme; it was a constant challenge to be the best fighter. With the new game that came out not too, long ago you are able to plug an internet cord in the back of your gaming system and play anyone in the world. This game caught so much criticism that the makers had to take the blood out of the game, and they turned it in to white sweat, but little did the critics know that there were codes you could enter to bring the blood back to the game. There also were codes called â€Å"Fatalities† which were finishing moves where you could decapitate someone’s head, rip their arms off and burn them alive.

Essay --

In the short story The Ones Who Walk Away from the Omelas, Ursula Le Guin illustrates a community that is joyous. However, the community is torn because the source of their happiness is due to the choosing of an unfortunate child that resides in a basement under of the beautiful public buildings of Omelas neglected and barely ever eating. Le Guin explanation that although the people of the community are very happy, they are also very well aware of what is providing them that happiness. He writes, â€Å"all know [the child] is there†¦ They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery† (257). This unjust and cruel pun ishment this child must endure for the sake of the community causes an ethical dilemma that tears apart the community. The ethical dilemma forces the community to acknowledge their living situation and ask themselves: What is more important? Their happiness or this child? Thus, they must make a choice to either walk away from the life and community they have lived in for their whole life because their source of happiness is at the cost of a young boys life. Or, do they continue to live in Omelas and ignore the harsh conditions that this young boy is exposed to. In the story the boy is described as a six-year-old boy that is neglected, locked away in a dirty room, abused mentally and physically, and alone(Le Guin, 257). He barely has any fat on him because all he is fed is â€Å"hal... ...e law, it does not mean that it is right and that we should be so ignorant to reason. In this situation, I would not be able to live with myself knowing that this one little boy is not being fed, being kicked, and left alone to basically die for my happiness. That is completely unacceptable. I believe that while it is innate for us to settle for comfort, we should not live a life that needs abuses someone to accomplish something. According to the categorical imperative, one should abide what they ought to do because it manifests from the moral law. Thus, I would walk away from Omelas because all people are equal and I would not be able to view this boy as a means to my end, which is happiness. Also, if that is the only way for me to achieve happiness then it is not true happiness but superficial emotion that can easily be demolished if anything happens to the boy.

Unfounded Stereotypes and Stereotyping at State University Essay exampl

Unfounded Stereotypes at State University Choosing a college major is often a difficult and distressing task for many students. Most individuals attend college to obtain a career that will lead to wealth and success. When deciding on a major, students consider their main interests as well as the opportunities offered by particular fields of study. Many of these young adults, however, never consider that the decisions they make can determine their "status" at a university and can be the source of many generalizations by peers. Especially at the State University, certain majors are believed to be more credible than others. For example, those found in the fields of mathematics and science are perceived to be highly difficult and time consuming, and therefore command a great deal of respect in the college arena. On the other hand, majors found in Arts and Letters and Business are deemed to be quite a bit easier, less stressful, and as a result are often scorned. Because of these stereotypes, students of Arts and Letters and Busi ness command much less respect in the university and receive much less credit for academic accomplishments. In order to eliminate unfounded stereotypes, all majors at Notre Dame should be equally regarded because they reflect a student's interests and strengths rather than define his or her identity and intelligence. Upon arrival at the State University for freshman orientation, students are immediately sorted into categories. One's dorm provides the initial identity as students march to countless events chanting the cheers that have been handed down from upperclassmen. However, these stereotypes are all in fun and are rather temporary as the welcomes fade and all begin to feel a part of the student bo... ...etitive learning environment in which students would choose their majors based on their own interests and needs and would refrain from making so many judgments about the fields of their peers. While the solutions are not clear, the goals are, and once achieved would lead to a more enlightened community. Works Cited Bundick, Rachel. Personal Interview. 19 November 1998. Clayton, Mark. "Big Majors on Campus." Christian Science Monitor March. 1998: 1-6. Â   Gardner, H. Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice (169). New York: Basic Books (1993). Â   "How to Pick a College Major." USA Today Magazine Sept. 1997: 1-2. Â   Orndorff, Robert M., and Edwin L. Herr. "A Comparative Study of Declared and Undeclared College Students on Career Uncertainty and Involvement in Career Development Activities." Journal of Counseling & Development July, 1996: 1-17.

Promote equality and diversity in work with children and young people Essay

These were put into place to ensure that all organisations and agencies involved with children between birth and 19 years should work together ensure that children have the support needed to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and ahieve economic well-being. The key aspect of the Act was to overhaul child protection and chilren’s services in the UK. Every Child Matters has been futher developed through the publication of the Children’s Plan 2007 which sets out to improve educational outcomes for all children. Race Relations Act 1976 and 2000 This places a statutory duty on schools to promote race equality. It makes it against the law for a person to be discriminated against, whether directly or indirectly. Schools are expected to improve the educational achievements of all children and to promote equal opportunities and good relations between different racial groups. Schools are also required to have a race equality policy which is linked to an action plan. Disability Discrimintaion Act 1995 and 2005 This made it illegal for services (shops and employers) to discriminate against disabled people. According to this Act, a person has a disability if ‘he /or she/ has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his /or her/ ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. Now it is a statutory requirement to encourage the inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream schools. The Disability and Discrimination Act 2005 builds on the 1995 Act by requiring all schools to produce a Disability Equality Scheme. This must set out ways that schools promote equality of opportunity and promote positive attitudes towards pupils, staff and others who are disabled. Also, there must be an Accessibility Plan in place which identifies how th school will increase access to the curriculum improve the physical environment and provide information in a range of ways to meet the needs of individuals with diability. SEN Code of Practice 2001 The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 strengthened the rights of parents and SEN children to mainstream education. It made significant changes to the educational opportunities that are available to children with disabilities and special educational needs. Human Rights Act 1998 The United Nations first set a standard on human rights in 1948 with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1998 the Human Rights Act gave a further legal status to this. The basic human rights are: the right to life freedom from torture and degrading treatment freedom from slavery and forced labour the right to liberty the right to fair trial the right not to be punished for something that wasn’t a crime when you did it the right to respect for private and family life freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom to express your beliefs freedom of expression freedom of assembly and association the right to marry and to start a family the right not to be discriminated against in respect t of these rights and freedoms the right to peaceful enjoyment of your property the right to an education the right to participate in free elections the right not to be subjected to the death penalty. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 The UK signed this legally binding agreement in 1990. It leads on from the Human Rights Act and sets out the rights of all children to be treated equally and fairly and without discrimination. 1.2 The imprtance of promotiong the rights to participation and equality of access All pupils should be able to fully access all areas of the curriculum. The advent of the Every Child Matters framework and the focus on personalised learning in all sectors of education has also made this high on the agenda. The reasons for this are: Human rights: – all children have a right to learn and play together – children should not be discriminated against for any reason – inclusion is concerned with improving schools for staff as well as pupils Equal opportunities in education: – children and young people do better in inclusive settings, both academically and socially – children and young people should not need to be separated to achieve adequate educational provision – inclusive education is a more efficient use of educational resources Social opportunities: – inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society – children need to be involved and integrated with all of their peers. We always have to be aware of the needs of different pupils, whatever these may be. These may become more apparent as we get to know individual pupils. These who may be vulnerable could include pupils: – pupils with special educational needs – those who speak English as an additional language – who are new to the school – pupils are gifted and talented – whose culture or ethnicity is different from the predominant cultture of the school – who are in foster care – whose parents’ views are not consistent with those of the school. 1.3The importance and benefits of valuing and promoting cultural diversity All schools must be aware of the importance of valuing and promoting cultural diversity. Most schools are actively include a number of strategies to ensure that children from all cultures feel welcome in school. These may be: – words are displayed in a variety of languages in classrooms and in different areas of the school – other languages spoken in different lessons or during registration – themed days, festivals and celebrations from other cultures discussed and explored – representations from other cultures found in books and learning resources, and displayes around the school – parents involved in ‘finding out’ sessions with children. These will have a number of benefits for children and young people – mainly that they will grow up in an environment which values cultural diversity and enables us to learn from one another. If children and young adults are finding out about other cultures and belief systems from an early age, they become more open and accepting towards each other. Children from all backgrounds need to know that the culture and status is valued as this helps them to feel settled and secure. This in turn contributes to the being able to learn. If they feel isolated or anxious, it is more likely that learning will be difficult for them. Outcome 2Pudersant the importance of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people 2.1Ways in which children and young people can experience prejudice and discrimination There are many ways in which children can experience prejudice and discrimination in school. There is a big pressure on children to fit in and to conform with expected appearances and behaviour that they may be discriminated against and bullied that they may be discriminated against and bullied if they do not. In school, all staff needs to be vigilant to ensure that children respect and embrace diversity. Children can experience prejudice and discrimination in the sam way as adults due to race, religion, age, sex, culture or ethnicity. We can focus on: – comments about a child’s appearance or clothes – children not interacting with others who may be ‘different’ – children being excluded because they are boys or girls – children only socialising with otrs of the same race or ethnicity. 2.5How to challange discrimination Whenever we witness discriminatory behaviour and comments, we have to challenge, record and report the incident. Children sometimes say things without understanding the impact on others, also the consequences. It should be made clear to them that their comments are not acceptable and that everyone in school should be treated fairly and with respect. Outcome 3Support inclusion and inclusive practices in work with children and young people 3.1What is meant by inclusion and inclusive practices Pupils are all have an equal right to education and learning. Equal opportunities and inclusion should take account not only of access to provision on school premises, but also to facilities outside the school setting. All organisations that offer educational provision must by law ensure that all pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. The school should ensure that inclusive practices are a matter of coures within day-to-day provision and that any barriers to inclusion are identified and removed.