Michael Caine Essay

The Oscar winning British actor Michael Caine was born in 1933 at Bermondsey in London. He did not come from a theatrical family. His father was a porter at the Billingsgate fish market. His mother was a charlady (cleaning lady). His real name was Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. Young Maurice was evacuated from his home during the German World war II Blitz. He was placed in a home for 6 weeks where he was badly mistreated. He was beaten and poorly fed. At times he was locked in a cupboard. Finally his mother rescued him and throttled the lady who had mistreated him. The family expected Maurice to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he had other plans. He had early, if non-professional experiences with acting. At the age of 3 years on a regular basis he would have to convince the rent collector that â€Å"Mummy’s out†, while she hid behind the front door coaxing him. Family Michael did not come from a theatrical family. His father was a porter at the Billingsgate fish market. His mother was a charlady (cleaning lady). Michael’s father liked to gamble. His mother worked as a cleaning lady to give her sons a better life. Brothers Maurice grew up with his brother Stanley. The boys had an older brother, David, who was born with epilepsy. He was institutionalized as a baby. It was widely assumed in the 1920s that epilepsy was a form of mental illness which was untreatable. Their mother kept David’s existence a secret until her dying days. Childhood The Oscar winning British actor Michael Caine was born in 1933 at Bermondsey in London. His real name was Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. The family expected Maurice to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he had other plans. He had early, if non-professional experiences with acting. At the age of 3 years on a regular basis he would have to convince the rent collector that â€Å"Mummy’s out†, while she hid behind the front door coaxing him. World War II Evacuation Young Maurice was 6 years old when war was declared with Germany. He and brother Stanley were evacuated from his home during the German World war II Blitz. He was placed in a home for 6 weeks where he was badly mistreated. He was beaten and poorly fed. At times he was locked in a cupboard. Finally his mother rescued him and throttled the lady who had mistreated him. His mother was later evacuated as well. Education After the Blitz, Michael attended Wilson’s Grammar School, an academically selective secondary school. It was located in Peckham, close to where Last Orders was filmed. He did not like school and left at age 16. A Methodist minister introduced him to amateur theatricals which he did enjoy at school. Military Service He entered the army as a private after a few years of low-paying jobs. He was stationed in Korea and did not like the army either. Family Caine married one of his rep co-stars, Patricia Haines. The two had a daughter, Nikki, before divorcing. Caine later married Shakira Caine (nee Baksh) in 1973, Thy have two children: Dominique and Natasha. Career Caine has become a major film star, appealing to both men and women in his wide range of films. He is a versatile and very hard-working actor. His film career was launched by playing gritty working-class roles. The first was Alfie (1966) in which he played a womanizing Cockney in swinging London. Then came a trilogy of spy movies which were big successes. He played Len Deighton’s bespectacled agent, Harry Palmer, in Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and The Billion Dollar Brain. He received Oscar nominations as Best Actor for Alfie, Sleuth and Educating Rita, he has won two Best Supporting Actor awards: for Hannah and her Sisters and The Cider House Rules. One film critic claims that Caine’s poor background caused him to take on a variety of roles in poor movies just to keep on working. Films Caine’s best remembered films are probably: Ipcress File, Zulu, Mr. Destiny, A Bridge Too Far, Miss Congeniality, Last Orders, The Man Who Would Be King, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Sleuth, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Hannah and Her Sisters. Interestingly in Zulu he plays a dilated aristocratic British officer, quite a stretch from his background. The portrayal was right on, at least with American audiences. I’m less sure about British audiences. Sources Caine, Michael. What’s It All About (1992)

The Associations Anxiety

The Associations between Anxiety and Psychological and Biological Factors Many people believe that anxiety exists in the occasions that give you a lot of stress. Presence of anxiety is mainly due to the environmental elements. In my opinion, anxiety is a result of imbalance of internal states of human being rather that purely caused by environmental factors. The external environment only triggers the disequilibrium of mental status but not all the person will experience anxiety under a same stressful situation. But first, we must understand what anxiety is and how it is formed.In this report, some case studies in General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) help to illustrate my point. First of all, anxiety is a combination of different emotions like nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. It is different from stress. Stress is only an unpleasant state in our body and leads to some biological arousal such as increase in heart beat rate and breathing rate. Stress can be caused by several kin d of emotion like nervous, embarrass or fear which is usually caused by external stimulus. Stress will disappear without the presence of the stimulus. However, for anxiety, formation of tress is more than environmental irritation.Under the same situation, some people will feel anxious but some may not. Different person have different level of stress and anxiety towards same stimulus. Thus, there must be something other than external causes in appearance on anxiety. It may be more related to the cognition of the person which is how the person Judge and value an object or issue as different people have various perceptions and determinations. In understanding which type of person with certain kind of Judgment tends to experience anxiety rather than Just tress, psychological factor including ego and personality can give an explanation to this phenomenon.Other than psychological aspect, some biological factors also lead to creation of anxiety in GAD patients. First of all, anxiety tends to associate with ego. A person with a weaker ego tends to experience stronger anxiety in high frequency. It can be explained by the model proposed by Sigmund Freud. Ego is to please the id which is referred to humans basic instincts, sex and aggressive, and at the same time it also mediate id with superego which is the moral of human beings. Ego helps maintain a healthy and stable psychological state and solve the internal conflicts between id and superego.When the internal conflicts cannot be solved, anxiety will appears which is an unhealthy emotions affecting people's behaviors. There are several factors leading to a weak ego but the main concern is the childhood development of the person which is further illustrated by a Neo-Freudian psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan. In Sullivan findings, person with unhealthy growth in childhood block one in building a healthy ego and hence affecting the developing healthy personality. People have unpleasant experience in childhood may result in stronger id or weaker superego.So, ego is not able to balance them and affect the development of healthy personality. Their behaviors may deviate from social norms which make them feel anxious when receiving negative consequences. Also, when people receive condition parental love, they tend to have weaker ego and lower self-esteem. Since their parents only express their cares to the children when they have good performance, they cannot accept their faults and always attribute the reason of failure towards homeless. Once they cannot fulfill their expectations or goals, they will suspect their own abilities and afraid of being blame by others.They overlook the environmental factors and overestimate personal factors. Ego is being destroyed as the central value has been doubted or even denied. This can explain the reason of people having weak ego and unhealthy personality tends to experience intense anxiety in higher frequency and thus proving the association between ego and anxiety . In a recent research done by Assai and her group mates (201 1), it reveals the relation between psychological and behavioral control and self-reported GAD symptoms. It is found that children's behaviors are greatly influenced by parents.Conditional love is actually a kind of parental control that love will be given only following parents' instruction. Under this circumstances, children do not receive chance to develop ego and understand who they are and what they really want to do. They over-rely on their family and thus cannot bearing risk. When they step out into school or society, they have to deal with different challenges individually. Therefore, heir ability to handle problems will be lower and thus experience higher stress level. Some of them may even anxious about things do not have to worry.It shows that excessive parental control which is an unhealthy childhood development leads to the symptoms of over-reaction toward a minor issue. Even though the object or event is sti ll ambiguous and not imposing direct danger to the person, (s)he is daddy interpret it as a threat and (s)he cannot adore anymore. Anxiety arouses and interfere the normal behaviors. In the studies carried by Boston Children's Hospital, children with GAD will anxious in true events, past behaviors, social acceptance, family matters, personal abilities and perceived personal.It has no â€Å"on-off' switch for the worries and they tend to get extreme perceptions. For normal children, they will still have these worries but it usually appears in the present of certain stimulus or occasions which trigger your thought. Stress on them is specified on targeted issue and will disappear after all. However, children with GAD are not easy to relax and concentrate since the stimulus for their worries refer to lower self-esteem and weaker ego which permanently exists before any changing to improve it. In the world, most of people have healthy and happy childhood period.Nevertheless, some of them still get anxious frequently. The appearance of anxiety seems not only associated with ego. In biological field, scientist studied the heredity of which characteristics, both superior and inferior, can be carried down to next generation. Personality can also be inherited by parents. People with type A personality is ambitious, rigidly, sensitive, impatient. They cannot easily accept failure. A little setback will trigger their nervousness and take precautions in order to turn the thing back to correct track. In there words, they have low adaptability and over-react to changes.They will have relatively higher stress level than normal person. Type A personality can be genetically inhered by last generation but also be shaped by environment. People staying at the high tension state over a long period of time, they will more likely feel anxious. For example, people work in the company which required high accuracy and stable performance with long working hours. They will experience extr emely high level of stress for long time. They afraid of the consequences of making a mistake and thus need to double check and make sure everything is competed and correct before submitting to boss.Those people may have chance to become perfectionism which they will force themselves act perfectly at any moment. They may be rigid that they cannot handle problem in a more flexible way. They will be impatient and try to finish all the cases as fast as they can. They are not able to relax and anxious of something that does not need to worry about at that time. Moreover, the deficiency of brain may also leads to anxiety. Some of GAD patients are diagnosed that part of the brain component or levels of neurotransmitters are abnormal. In psychological studies, neurotransmitters are important in regulating humans behaviors and mental health.Especially for GAB, serotonin and endorphins, they are relatively significant in maintaining emotions. GAB is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which contr ibutes to canceling the effects of the excitatory SSP. Decrease in level of GAB leads to anxiety as the person will always has high activity level in brain transmission and keep him at a relatively high tension state. Serotonin involves in regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating and aggression. Abnormal amount of serotonin leads to difficulty in getting sufficient rest and become aggressive. Endorphins help to relief pain and some pleasurable emotions.Lacking of endorphins make the person hard to neither enter into positive emotions nor eliminate the negative moods. The person will become irritable and sensitive and thus not able to relax. A GAD patient, James, whose brain was not functioning well and having imbalance level of various neurotransmitters, turned him into an anxious person. He was easily distracted by minor thing and often nervous. He could not sleep well and complained of headache. It serious disturbed his cognition and he could not have clear mind to make Judgmen t. He might than always has bad performance which brings him stress again.Other than neurotransmitter, defective in brain also cause the instability of emotion. Other than abnormal level of neurotransmitters, James also suffered from malfunction of temporal lobe located in cerebrum which processes and coordinates stimuli received for learning, thinking, remembering and conscious awareness. Temporal lobe is responsible in process of various sounds and sights stimuli and managing the long term memory storage. As a result, he had difficulties in memorizing instructions and recognizing the work. He always forgot simple procedures.By comparing to normal person that can finish targets, James tends to have weak self-esteem and thus give a lot of pressure and blame himself of the failure. Besides, malfunction of some emotion centers such as magical also lead to GAD. Researchers have found that some GAD patients have larger volume of magical. Magical plays a central role in the fear response and aggression. Also, it promotes the fight or flight response which they person will either attack or escape hen facing dangerous. The enlarged magical is easier be triggered to alter people and hence creating fear and aggression.It can explain why the patient will feel anxious to stimuli which do not carry any threat. Brain activity is influenced by the magical so that they always get nervous. Therefore, existence of anxiety is affected by the brain structures. All people experience stress but people with psychological or biological problems tends to develop anxiety over same level of pressure. People act differently towards under the same environment the aforementioned evidence and studies suggest a utter way to understand anxiety that psychological and biological factors may have greater association with anxiety.

Analyzing Aspects of Service Recovery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analyzing Aspects of Service Recovery - Essay Example In relation to theoretical aspects of measuring service quality in healthcare, it is important to note that the issue of quality in healthcare services always generates immense pressure to the healthcare providers (Rubenstein 2006, p. 70). It is of paramount importance that the patients get assurance of quality care and services that they subscribe to. It is also reasonable when the customers and patients expectations are not only met but also clearly understood under the constraints the hospitals must operate in. It can be quite difficult to measure the quality of services because intangible specifications are the ones used to determine it. An example is colour, width, height, depth among others. Many organizations have chosen a methodology called SERVQUAL (service quality) to measure the quality of their services. It is a service quality questionnaire that uses 5 dimensions in its quest for quality. The five dimensions include: responsiveness, reliability, assurance, empathy and ta ngible qualities such as appearance of physical facilities among others. Each dimension is measured on a scale of 1 to 7 together with its expectation and perception. The weight of each point is done according to customer importance (Schoeman 1992). The score from each dimension is then multiplied by the weighting. After this, the expectation score is subtracted from the perception score to get the Gap Score. If the Gap Score is negative, it indicates that the actual service (the perception score) is below expectation (the expected score). The Gap is the reliable indicator of the five dimensions of service quality. Decision making models can help the health care sector to assess the perceived service quality in the sector (LaCombe 1995, p. 558). . The model rates performance of hospitals. Hospitals should put more emphasis on providing health care services with empathy, reliability and professionalism to give qualified services that are satisfactory. The hospitals can improve their service quality and better service delivery to their consumers if they addressed their individual issues highlighted by SERVQUAL methodology. Considering intergenerational service preferences in health service management and delivery, health care needs vary with age and health care for the older persons has generated a number of services and programmes. This is in response to the need of a more oriented and community-based care for the ageing population. In America, the young population is fast changing to the middle-age population. This has resulted to a greater demand for health care services and products and vast competition amongst the health care providers (Porter and Teisberg 2004, p. 66). The development of a health care plan for the elderly has been directed by a range of principles and concepts that influence it. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also come up with guidelines and policy statements through the WHO Active Ageing Policy Framework that influence the commun ity health care development program. The health care programs aim is to introduce value and new scope to the existing primary health care program by adding integrated social and health services. This will be achieved through a partnership with the public and private health care providers to meet the increasing needs of the elderly. The process of building a comprehensive program for the elderly requires consideration of some overarching facts as a guiding

How has Lean Manufacturing Influenced the Service Industries Essay - 1

How has Lean Manufacturing Influenced the Service Industries - Essay Example In the paper, the benefits and challenges of lean manufacturing are analyzed with a goal of demonstrating how corporations within the service industry have employed lean manufacturing to provide consumer value for their services. The analysis also provides recommendations on how companies within the service industry would effectively employ lean manufacturing to enhance their competitiveness and performance within the market. The argument within the paper supports lean manufacturing as the prerequisite for effective and high-quality services and consumer value within the service industry. The implementation of lean manufacturing within the service industry has significantly influenced the quality of services that companies offer to their customers. It is through lean manufacturing that the quality of services is effectively improved. The quality of services is defined by the ability of a company to meet or exceed the expectations of a customer. Lean manufacturing has allowed service providers to offer services that are aligned with the unique needs, tastes and preferences of consumers. This is made possible through the role of lean manufacturing in ensuring that consumers get exactly what they want. The design of services within the lean manufacturing paradigm is based on the specifications of consumers. In this sense, companies are able to provide diverse services, which are aligned with the attributes of various market segments. More importantly, lean manufacturing has allowed companies to deliver services at the right time. It is through lean manufacturing that companies are able to deliver services and goods when buyers need them.

Production Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Production Management - Essay Example ated tasks are being attended to with necessary know how and skills.The deepening of this trend is evidenced by the fact that several of these sub contracting firms(SMEs particularly) have acquired specialist status and their deployment is much sought after.In fact doing business in such a fashion equates working in highly organized networks of organizations that are lined up for specific responsibilities for delivering the final products or services.In the construction business there has been a concerted move towards systematic hiring of contractors and as a catching trend of last 20 years such hiring has become highly specialized with a large and growing network of specialist trade sub contractors. The growth of the specialist sub-contract sector in the construction industry has ensured the importance of specialist trade sub contractors to the overall project development process. ... aptations required by the construction industry to accommodate the design, contractual, administrative, control and co-ordination aspects of various levels of involvement on construction projects. A bird's eye view of a typically networked and partnered construction effort-Comparison between UK and US In order to serve as an illustration a large sized state construction effort in US can be cited as below: "In most cases, the Department of Finance and Administration's Bureau of Building serves as the construction program manager for state construction projects in Mississippi. The Bureau of Building represents the interests of the entity and exercises independent oversight of the professional contractor and constructor team (i.e., general contractor and sub-contractors). The Bureau of Building, professional team, constructor team, and a building commissioning agent, when applicable, enter a contractual relationship for a project. The Bureau of Building exercises direct oversight of architects, engineers, building commissioning agents and other contract professionals, while it performs indirect supervision of the construction contractors through the primary professional contractor and the building commissioning agent. Because the bureau does not have the in-house capability to perform some of the design and construction tasks that some private construction program managers can provide, it may employ engineers, contract analysts, architects, or construction project administrators to manage and monitor projects. The bureau has authority to compel adherence to contract specifications and schedules, applying sanctions to firms or individuals within the constructor team that do not fulfill their responsibilities"(Joint,2005). The above is a typical

The Duality of Human Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Duality of Human Nature - Essay Example The Duality of Human Nature So man’s fundamental nature must play a part in the duality of human nature. In the end, it comes down to the path an individual decides upon despite being influenced by society and man’s fundamental nature. The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a perfect example of the duality of human nature. Many people have pondered why some people give into their evil nature, and others give in to their good nature. A reader might have the same question about Dr. Jekyll. Why did Dr. Jekyll give in to Mr. Hyde? A Cherokee legend gives the best answer: An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." The answer is clear; Dr. Jekyll fed Mr. Hyde more than he fed Dr. Jekyll. Every time Dr. Jekyll drank the potion, he fed his evil side, or Mr. Hyde. The first time he drank the potion, Dr. Jekyll felt â€Å"at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked†.

Article Critique Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critique - Article Example To be specific, the study concentrates on the girls’ accounts of their enculturation into secrecy. These accounts have pertinent value as they disclose how the girls treated secrets as social objects and often depersonalized secrets when using them as social currency. Merten also points out that â€Å"using secrets to shape friendship and enhance social position was part of the larger process whereby secrecy became a vehicle for developing subjective reason and an exchange perspective among these girls.† (Merten, 1999). The study, therefore, specifically concentrates on relating secrecy with enculturation and the findings have immense value in a deeper understanding of the concept of secrecy. The research is undertaken to develop competencies in evaluating qualitative research; develop analytical skills, the approach is investigative, and the result of the study is that the findings are not logical and satisfactory. The research has been conducted in a suburban community near Chicago at junior high school and interviews with 83 female students and 77 male students provided the data for the study. The purpose of the interviews was to find out the various aspects in the lives of the participant students and the importance of events and relationships in their lives. The observational field notes along with the findings of the interview were used to make the investigation in the study. The relevance of the interviews which were open-ended and informal in style was great in making the ultimate conclusion of the research. The accounts of the girls concerning their experience with secrets in their lives were not the result of a natural dialogue. The accounts by the girls, thoug h were mainly influenced by the peers, could give a complete idea about the various aspects relating to secrecy. Throughout the analysis carried out in the research, the methodology had a pertinent role in the findings of the study. The strategy

Parapheasing Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Parapheasing - Article Example This allows for personal contact between manufacturer and supplier in order to solve any conflicts that might arise (Fynes et al., 2005). A manufacturer depends on suppliers. If a supplier does not deliver than trust is lost. Once trust is lost, the manufacturer and supplier relationship suffer. The Porter Five Force state five forces impact a business. The five forces are bargaining power of customers, threat of new entrants, bargain power of suppliers, threat of substitute products, and competitive rivalry within the industry. A supplier’s bargain power ranks with customer power, threat of new entrants, substitute products, and rivalry. Supplier bargaining power is important. That is why supplier and manufacturer relationship is so important. Input prices deviate from those that would prevail in a perfectly competitive input market in which input suppliers act as price takers due to the lack of competition. When the market has three major suppliers, the individual suppliers cannot negotiate prices. If the individual suppliers get contracts, the main goal is keeping the business. The larger suppliers can give bigger discounts due to the volume of business done. The individual suppliers cannot afford to not make a profit, whereas a bigger supplier can absorb profit loss better. Thus bigger suppliers can provide lower prices than individual suppliers. In a competitive input market the product can be offered at a level rate. For example, if product X costs a specific amount to make. Suppliers would be able to offer product X for about the same amount. Suppliers can make or break a business. Suppliers only have a concern for the individual business in regard to what will happen to their supply business. Suppliers are only as good as the supply of product given for the least amount of money. If a business fails, the supplier can find someone else to supply. Businesses rely on good

Carnival Cruise Lines Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Carnival Cruise Lines - Case Study Example Few large firms or companies then are left to control the entire market share in the industry and this then will leads to a consolidated industry. Firms or companies like Carnival Cruise Lines in the cruise industry are very well established with very large economies of scale (Enz, 2010). In such cases, the industry is likely to be more competitive compared to the fragmented industries. This is all because well established firms in a consolidated industry have the ability to implement several strategies and come up with new products after thorough research. With adequate resources, firms in a consolidated industry will always be on the run to compete with one another to win more clients and improve their general sales. Such firms will advertise their products aggressively to improve brand loyalty and create awareness of their products and services among many customers in the market. Taking an example of the Carnival Cruise Lines, it is clear that what is happening between the company and the Royal Caribbean International is a stiff competition to win more customers and establish strong brand of their products. 2. A consolidated industry is usually made up of few but very big firms or companies who entirely dominate the industry and control a large market share of a certain product type. This is all because when some new firms try to enter the industry, they meet some setbacks and a lot of competition with the few big firms which have a lot of resources to win a big share of the market. The firms in a consolidated industry deal in differentiated products and get very high profit margins. In that case, one can say that a consolidated industry is more resembles an oligopoly structure because in an oligopoly market structure, there are few firms who control a large market share with differentiated products (Enz, 2010). Like in oligopoly market

Therapist Perspective Paper Essay Example for Free

Therapist Perspective Paper Essay A sixteen year old teenager refuses to leave home and the therapist must review the situation from a MRI therapeutic approach. First, the MRI approach would not focus on the problem or how it developed but rather what efforts have the parent made to reach a resolution. MRI stems from the premise that families use practical attempts at resolving their situation but the attempts are ill-advised. MRIà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s main focus is aimed at dilemma driven solutions; there is no advantage in long term change or what capacity the problem serves within the family. Haley and Madanes derive from the same school of thought but with some differences. Haley interest lay in the power struggles that exist and believe the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“symptom such that the cost of keeping it up outweighed the gainsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Niolon, 1999) Madanes was worried about out of place hierarchies, where an adolescent uses problems to alter the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“behavior of parentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Niolon, 1999) Both agree that families function within a hierarchical order, thereby reconstructing the hierarchical and boundary issues that will prohibit à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“dysfunctional feedback loops from starting, a sort of plan ahead strategyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Madanes, 1981) The belief is as families we have problematic stages to endure, in order to arrive at a resolution stage. A therapist using this approach would also focus on the parents, along with family interactions. Therefore, the reason Jose has the problem is the behavior he has been learned from his parents, he has developed a problem from his observation of how his parentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interact and solve problems. The Milanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s school of thought is not solution driven but founded in the power struggles within the family dynamics that have occurred over a long period of time even through several generations enabling the familyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s problems to continue Techniques used for intervention in the strategic and systemic therapies are based in the belief that situations are keep up by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“self-defeating patterns of behaviorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Madanes, 1981) Therefore, in order to effectively make change within the family, there must be a modification in the structure/dynamic of the family. MRI therapist believe that families or individuals are entrenched in their problems and need assistance moving forward. Therapist will assist the family and Jose in setting achievable behavioral solutions. Additionally, MRI models the concept of help the family to reach resolution with a particular issue and ignore other issues unless the family or individual specifically ask for therapy on the other issues. Moreover, one must set obtainable and clear objectives, and once this objective has been attained therapy will concluded. MRI therapist would inquire of the parents what strategies have they imposed to get Josh to go outside. (Nichols, 2012) Haley and Madanes objective is often a realignment of the hierarchy within the family and across generations; focusing only on the realignment that relate to the current issue. Meaning, the therapist will work on enhancing the relationship with Jose and his antagonistic parents. To achieve this objective the parents will need to discuss the problem that exist within their relationship in order to help Jose. Theorist believe that establishing trust within the family, allows the family to pay attention to the present issue. The difference with Haley and Madanes from MRI is the belief that once the present issue has been sustained/managed and trust established the exploration of other family issues can be dealt with. Furthermore, therapy can continue beyond resolving the current problem but can terminate once effective change has occurred within the fundamental factors that created the issue. The Haley therapist would focus on a dysfunctional triangle and the conflict between the parents. Additionally, Madanes would also be interested in the triangulation but would also focus on the fact that Josh could be protecting his parents. Milan held the basic belief that therapy effects change, and that the therapist is charged with the duty of outsmarting the family at their own games; by creating strategic methods that expose the families à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“dirty gamesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Nichols, 2012) and then one can began to reshape the family purpose. Reshaping techniques help families understand or effect change by helping families view their situation through a different lens. Moreover, the therapist would locate the power alliances within the family and those alliances extending across generations which perpetuate or broker the families à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“dirty gamesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Nichols, 2012) In conclusion the therapist must understand the strategic and systemic approaches in order to effect change in Josh and his family. Sometimes it is necessary to dig beneath the surface of a problem and get to the root even if family member are uncomfortable disclosing family secrets that have been guarded for generations. Additionally, breaking family bonds and upsetting the cohesive alliances that have banded together for generations is an effective measure to get family members to reshape their actions and thought process.

Satisfying Needs And Wants Of Customers At Profit Marketing Essay

Satisfying Needs And Wants Of Customers At Profit Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION Marketing is to establish, maintain and enhance relationship with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involved are met. This is achieved by mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises. Brassington F and Pettitt S( FT Prentice hall,2006) Developing a marketing strategy is a very fragile process and all organizations make extra effort for it to gain customers. Customers knowledge is very essential to gain them. Marketing strategy has a vital role to play in an organization. Customer relationship is very important for a business. Customer needs should adhere to organisational objectives and this is important. In a nutshell we are statisfying needs of customers with profit. According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, they offer recognised qualifications and trainings and also provide advice on marketing, their base line is : SATISFYING NEEDS AND WANTS OF CUSTOMERS AT PROFIT Marketing strategy should be adhered to customer needs and wants. Customer is an essential factor of an organisation, his likes and dislikes, thoughts and wants change with time. Its very natural, that human beings change their attitude, desires after a certain time period. The strategy should respond to those changes effectively. To capture market, companies should adopt affective techniques. Customer should know what we are doing. Monitoring and control after strategy implementation is very important. COMPANY PROFILE OF TESCO Tesco PLC holds the leading position among food retailers in Great Britain, with a market share that exceeds 15 percent. In England, Scotland, and Wales, the company runs 588 supermarkets, 257 of which are superstoresstores that sell food items in addition to a variety of other products, including gasoline, clothing, housewares, and alcoholic beverages. Tesco also operates 32 stores in Northern Ireland and 77 in the Republic of Ireland under various brands, 43 in Hungary under the Global and Tesco names, 31 in Poland under the Savia name, and 13 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia under the Tesco brand. In Northern Ireland, the company also runs 52 Wine Barrel off-license outlets. Tesco is the largest independent gasoline retailer in Britain; its 288 gas stations sell 12.5 percent of the gasoline sold in the United Kingdom. Recent company innovations include the Clubcard loyalty card as well as offerings from Tesco Personal Finance, which include a grocery budgeting account called Clu bcard Plus, a Tesco Visa Card, and a Tesco savings account. BASIC PLANNING RULES FOR A STRATEGY VISION AND MISSION All companies have their vision and mission statements which describe the organization.Some organizations have two statements. Reputed companies have one vision statement. It is a small description of an organizations future. What is the business? Customers? How value of customer can be increased? Tesco Vision is EVERY LITTLE HELPS A LOT Concept A strategy should be customer oriented, customer knowledge is essential. To know your customer, customer diversification in categories is important. They can be divided into segments according to their liking and disliking trends. A market research can be conducted to know the trends. After trend analysis, competitive advantage can be attained. According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably. For quality oriented customers we should make a strategy that draws their attention to our quality products and prices. Strategy should match our strengths. After strategy formulation, customer awareness is important. We need to develop channels to makle the customers aware of our offers. Systematic Approach To develop a systematic approach is hard and fragile task then all the other marketing tasks. Its id nutshell which includes all the companies objectives and plans.(Malcolm Macdonald,2008) Sequencing and scheduling of Activities Organisational managers are responsible for executing all the marketing activities and scheduling them. The main steps to make the execution on time are: 1 Identify activities to be performed 2 Determine the time required for activity completion 3 Determine the activity sequence. 4 Timing of all activities. 5 Assign responsibility(O.C Ferrel,Michael D,2007) Integration of activities Integration are of two types Simple Complex In simple, organizations subcontract the easy activities to other countries and keep complicated duties to themselves. Small companies support this strategy. In complex, the companies make decisions at the headquarters.(Bradley F,2005) Resource requirements Companies go with diversification if they have strong assets. Such Organizations introduce themselves in markets where the resources are according to their abilities. They have more opportunities if the resources are general. (Bradley F,2005) Time Scaling Time scaling is of two types 1 Production time scale 2`Commercial time Scale Both of them have different requirements according to the production and Marketing departments of the organization.(Suerie C,2005) Implementation and control:- A plan is nothing unless it degenerates into work.(peter drucker) Control is the way that we catch faults in strategy. Types of control:- Annual plan control Profitability control Efficiency control Strategy control STRATEGIC MARKETING PLANNING PROCESS This Process consists of a pattern of sensible steps that are taken to arrive at a Marketing plan. The next step would be to analyze the Market. Inorder to analyze the market there are some dimensions which need to be covered. Growing submarkets Size of Markets Market growth Profitability of Market Structure of Cost Distribution system Development and Trends Success indicators (Mcloughlin D, A.Aker D, 2010) SETTING MARKETING OBJECTIVES There are two factors Customer oriented objectives Market oriented objectives Both objectives should be designed to earn profit and gain customer. Goal setting should keep the organizations internal and external environments in centre. Only then a realistic business strategy can be developed. The goals should be smart, measurable, realistic, achievable, specific and time bound. (McCorkell G,1997) http://www.businesslink.gov.uk STRATEGIC MARKETING A strategy is a plan that integrates an organizations major goals,`policies,decisions and sequences of action into cohesive whole.(Proctor T,2000) MARKETING STRATEGY A marketing strategy should be coherent to the marketing plan. It should always be the same practically. SEGMENTATION In order to put in place a marketing strategy, the first step is to understand the market. Divide the market in to different categories. E.g. the business sector is huge market. This market can be categorized business nature. Banking industry is separate market. Steel industry is a separate market and similarly Textile is a separate market. The next step is to analyse, number of businesses working in each sector. Size of each business, their level of working. After doing this analysis, customer trends need to be analyzed , what do they want. Then after analysing we should be understand where we have the competitive advantage. And how can we bring it to use. POSITIONING Positioning means to make an image in the mind of the customer. His perception about us. What he thinks about us. What do we want him to think. How can we do that is part of the marketing strategy. Some businesses want to offer quality and some offer cheaper rates. This is where we want the customer class comes in. Does he fall in the higher class, middle class or lower class. MARKETING MIX Afetr segmentation, market selection and positioning the product, the next step is to make a marketing mix. Business should then evaluate its different marketing mix strategies which include the 4 ps. According to Adcock et al The right product, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price PRODUCT Organizations should work on the product. How the customer values the product. It also depends a little on the company where it wants to draw attention. Existing products should have a different line of action on how the product should be modified. PRICE The price aspect is critical. If customers want quality at any price. Then in the above P(Product), the company might focus on quality. If the price set is low then the customer might see it as low quality, others might favour it to meet the finances. PLACE Accessibility is the answer to gain customers. Products available to customer in his local area, then this is an advantage. Because if products are of basic or daily needs, customers have many options and will prefer the nearest one. Internet shopping is another plus point. PROMOTION Customer awareness to product is also important. Either through internet, media or print media. Until and unless the customer does not have the knowledge, we wont make any sales. Tesco Tesco,s way promotion are advertising, public relations, direct mail, sales promotion and personal selling http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php These were the 4ps. For more detailed and comprehensive study, 3 more ps were included: PEOPLE An organisation needs to make sure that its resources such as the employees are fully trained. They should have enough product knowledge to satisfy customers. PROCESSES The processes of the company should be efficient enough to handle customers and satisfy them according to their needs. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE This factor refers to the companys appearance. How the employees look, the premises. These elements put an immense impression about the business in their mind. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk DISADVANTAGES These tools are just like the ingredients of a strategic marketing plan. If any one of it is not focused and given a detailed consideration then chances are of failure. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES SWOT ANALYSIS If an organisation works honestly with it self, this will lead to success. A business should look in its internal and external environments. For every business it is important that it analyses its strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats (SWOT analysis). Then it realises where it stands. After it knows what its actual picture is, then accordingly strategies should take shape. A companys strength could be Good customer service Good offers, packages Excellent knowledge According to a report some of Tesco,s strengths are Diverse ranges of products à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Open 24 hours service à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong flow of cash à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increasing turnover and profits à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong Balance Sheet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Growing Supermarket Chain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand Awareness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Online Shopping http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php Weaknesses Weaknesses could be like Lack of resources Average reputation Accounting system is not good Tesco,s weaknesses There is a mind positioning of low quality -(Tesco value brands) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lack of local knowledge of customers and culture THREATS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competition which is strong à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unpredictability in Price of raw materials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recession à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shift of market to globalisation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Takeover bids http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php Opportunities Internet as a source of new markets New technologies can help product improvement. Threats New competitor in market http://www.businesslink.gov.uk In order to identify the Macrofactors, we use Step: stands for Social, Technological, Economic, Political factors Steeple: Social, Technological, Economic, Ecological, Political factors, Legal and Ethical Fators. Pestle: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Ecological factors. Now these three tools vary from organization to organization.(Blythe J, 2006) PESTLE External environment includes the forces outside the organisation. Its called the PEST analysis. PEST are the factors that make the business wade in the external environment. But businesses have to survive. POLITICAL Political changes also affect the business. If a new regulation is imposed like taxes, this could effect the companies cost. TESCO After the European Integration and agreement of free trade, the market has opened up for British Companies to invest in Eastern Europe. Tesco already has 60 Hypermarket store in Hungary.  Ã‚   ECONOMIC Economic factors like change interest rates, exchange rates also affect the business. SOCIAL Social factors include change of lifestyle, fashion, attitudes of people which change demand for certain product. Tesco Changes in consumer demands, trends and lifestyle show both opportunities and threats for the company. Opportunities in terms of new market and consumers, however, there are added threats of developed Swedish retailers. http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php TECHNONLOGICAL Technology has immensely changed the way businesses work now. Tesco Changes in retailing sales through the Internet is now very common. Paperless operation, access through secure servers; provide flexibility in the business running. Sweden is going through technological development with companies like Ericsson, Tesco would enjoy the logistic and distribution channels already in place http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php LEGAL Tesco National legislation for health and safety both in terms of consumer rights and also in terms of production of own natural renewable resources for making clothes ENVIRONMENTAL Businesses do not have control over these factors what they can do is react to these changes by accordingly adjusting the SWOT environment. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk BCG MATRIX Stars ? Cash cows Dogs This tool is used by businesses to evaluate their different business units (SBU).It was developed by the Boston Consulting group. It places the different SBUs of the business in each quadrant according to their market share and reputation STARS These products are market leaders have good market share and growth CASH COWS These products have high market share in low growth markets. QUESTION MARK These have low market share in high growth markets. These products need considerable thought if they should be supported or not. They are not generating much income. DOGS These products have low share in low growth markets. Very poor performance and should be withdrawn.(L. Kurtz D,2008) PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE It is a model which represents the life of a product. It has four basic stages INTRODUCTION The product is developed and introduced in the market. GROWTH This phase of the cycle is where the product gains market share and generates income. MATURITY In this stage the product has achieved the maximum share and is at its maturity point. DECLINE After achieving the maximum share the product undergoes a decline phase where it has no more demand for it self.(Saaksvuori A,Immonen A,2008) Product Life Cycle Model PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL Threat of new Entrants Industry competitors Bargaining power of Supplier Bargaining power of Buyer Substitute Threat Porter argued the strategy is not just as series of models at the corporate level of strategy. He noted that strategy includes analyzing potential entrants, suppliers,buyers,substitutes, and competitors. BARGAINING POWER OF BUYER It is the ability of the buyer to bargain. This power increases as the buyer has more options to buy from. NEW ENTRANTS These are the new companies entering into the industry and are a threat to the existing ones. BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIER It is the ability of the suppliers to decide the price for their product and the terms. SUBSTITUTE THREAT Alternate products offered by companies for a particular product are also threat to existing entities.(Michael J. Stahl, DavidW. Grigsby,1997) MARKETING STRATEGY OPTIONS According to Michael Porter, orgaizations can continue with three strategies, 1 Differentiation Strategy 2 Cost Leadership 3 Focus Strategy DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY This strategy is used by an organization to make itself different from other businesses. This strategy helps the organization to charge more from customers as compared to competitors. One thing is for sure that if customers get extra value they can pay more. Rolex watches charge more for there product. They earn their reputation by the quality of metal, stainless steel. They undergo special test for quality assurance. COST LEADERSHIP This strategy is used by companies to boost sales. They reduce their cost slightly below the cost of rivals and sell the products more. Timex has been a cost market leader for long. They make simple watches at low price for mass market. FOCUS STRATEGY Organizations using this strategy focus at particular market or group of buyers. Organizations might make thier focus using differentiation or cost leadership strategy in that specific market.(Ricky W. G,2007) CORE COMPETENCES These are skills used by organizations to provide customers with extra benefits. Competences could be Speed Consistency Acuity Agility Innovativeness (Hamel.G, Prahalad CK,1996) RISING EXPECTATIONS Customer expectation has increased due to companies continuing improvement towards their product to satisfy them. Since every company competing with Tesco is giving almost comparable products so the only way to get an edge is to give something extra to surprise them. Employee training is also very important to cope with customer expectation like giving a free delivery at home. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE Technology is changing at a very fast rate so companies need to be good supporters or followers. Tesco can and is improving towards reducing the ques inside the stores by improving the websites so grocery orders can be taken online. COMPETITION Competition has increased tremendously in many industries and so many companies who were weak have fallen out, due to added factor weak economic conditions. Tesco club card scheme has really helped it to get through the economic condition. GLOBALISATION In this era every business considers and makes decisions according to the international market. Now the world has developed it self to be a global village. Spread of information, media, internet many different of doing business online has raised the competition even more. (Doyle.P, Stern. P, 2006) Tesco is becoming a growing chain and is one. This chain has helped it to secure strong profits.It has and should continue to operate in other countries to gain customer bank and explore new markets. IMPLEMENTATION. Tescos functional areas are Administration The administration department should keep the internal operations maintained. Finance Finance department should take care of cash flows and also take measures to control cost with out effecting profit. Marketing Marketing department should focus on sales increase and product training for employees. Research and development Research and development should maintain the standards of product quality. Information Technology Tesco has introduced self checkout machines through which people can pay themselves instead of waiting in ques. If the objective is to increase sales. To increase the sale, Tesco should work on its sales and marketing Department. Employee training is important. Product knowledge for employees so that customer satisfaction is guaranteed. It will help the human resource to market the product and give the customer what they need. As a result, we will experience an increase in sales. Customer awareness is very essential. E-marketing is also an important tool in this era to make it easy for people to buy products online. It is more easy for people to do transactions online and get delivery on time. CONCLUSION In a nutshel, i would say that marketing should have proper department in every business and it should work on an genuine plan. The rules and principles of marketing should be adhered to make the marketing plan successful. A company should also keep up with its functional areas so that the plan work smoothly.

Homespun to Sophisticated: Place as Transformer :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Homespun to Sophisticated: Place as Transformer Works Cited Missing It is common in the transcendental philosophy to associate the act of transcending with a place. Philosophers, artists, and writers fled to Niagara Falls and the White Mountains in search of sublime scenery that would connect them with God. One of the leading Transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson, states that "Nature deif[ies] us with a few and cheap elements" (Emerson, 27). The essential communion between man and nature, through something he calls the "Oversoul," enables man to transfer the world into the consciousness, thereby uniting himself with God. Ironically, as the Transcendentalists were streaming into the countryside, young women from farms surrounding New England, especially from the White Mountains, were flooding the cities looking for work in the mills. The "Lowell Girls" went into the city to earn money for themselves or for their families and to undergo a transformation from a "homespun country bumpkin" to sophisticated, respected city woman with a "sense of independ ence." These changes and improvements were part of the Lowell experience. The owners of the mills created a myth of the mills as a transformer which was then perpetuated by the mill girls via word of mouth or through their writings in the Lowell Offering. The fictions in the Lowell Offering express their desire to be seen as transformed into the ideal woman. The act of self-representation through writing, which has as its central essence the transformative power of a place, was utilized by writers such as Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau. The popularity of their writing and their ideas of the importance of the individual's relationship with God, nature and work surely influenced the Lowell women's writing and their desire to be seen as transformed. According to Transcendental philosophy, "nature is transcendental" (Emerson 197). "There was nothing in the intellect which was not previously in the experience of the senses, by showing that there was a very important class of ideas or imperative forms, which did not come by experience, but through which experience was acquired; that these were intuitions of the mind itself; and [Kant] denominated them Transcendental forms" (Emerson 197). Man experiences God and his power in the natural world. Beauty which is unavoidable in the natural world has "the presence of a higher, namely, of the spiritual element ... essential to its perfection. ... Beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue" (Emerson 28).

Euthanasia: Humane and Dignified Essay -- Euthanasia Killing Argumenta

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Advances in modern medical technology have served to deny people the right to die, and euthanasia, it may be argued, has emerged with the purpose of reclaiming that right. Euthanasia, which is defined as â€Å"granting painless death to a hopelessly ill patient with a non-curable disease,† is a very controversial issue (Russell 3). Illegal in all countries, except the Nertherlands, it is still practiced all over the world in an attempt to give people the right to a painless, and natural, death (Emanuel 1). In short, the advances in modern medicine and its techniques, have created a situation whereby people’s lives are artificially extended, despite the fact that they could be in an irrecoverable coma or suffering from an incurable chronic illness, leading increasing numbers of people to support euthanasia, as an option for a humane and dignified death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While there is a tendency to treat euthanasia as a single concept, it is actually a very general one involving two distinct methods and practices. In general terms, it is defined as â€Å"the mercy killing of a person, that is to say, the intentional and express termination of a life whose quality is such that it is not worth living† (Kluge 132). In more specific terms, euthanasia is either active and positive, or passive and negative, with both being further defined according to whether they occurred voluntarily, involuntarily, or nonvoluntarily. That is, whether it occurred according to a person’s wishes, or against his wishes, or simply without his wishes due to his being in a condition where he can’t express himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In examining the different forms of euthanasia, it ultimately becomes clear that both voluntary and non-voluntary passive, or negative, euthanasia do not violate ethical principles as they act in such a way that they basically restore man’s right to death. This form of euthanasia â€Å"means discontinuing or desisting from the use of extraordinary life-sustaining measures or heroic efforts to prolong life in hopeless cases when such prolongation seems an unwarranted extension of either suffering or unconsciousness† (Russell 20). That is, it is an action that has the purpose of allowing death to occur naturally, whereby it becomes very difficult to criticize passive or negative euthanasia according to ethical and religious arguments. This form of euthanasia, although it can occur without ... ...ed before carrying it out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When reviewed from ethical perspectives, it becomes increasingly difficult to defend the artificial extension of life, and to reject passive euthanasia. If one were to consider the doctor’s role as a healer, or a reducer of pain and suffering, it would seems that medical technology actively prevents the fulfillment of this role. Thus, the objective has become the extension of life, through unnatural and artificial means, regardless of the hopelessness of recovery, or the pain and suffering experienced by the patient. It would not be an exaggeration to call this unethical, both from the religious perspective and the medical one. According to the first perspective, it is unethical insofar as it interferes with God’s wishes that a person die. In relation to the second, the unethical aspect emerges from the fact that many doctors are no longer fulfilling their professional duty to reduce suffering but are, in reality, prolonging and intensifying it. Thus , to support passive euthanasia means supporting traditional religious and medical ethics. That is, the simple right to a natural and humane death, with as little extension of suffering as possible.

Essay --

O’Connor’s background impacted her writing style of southern cultures in her short stories. Being born and growing up in the south played Born into an Irish Catholic family; Flannery O’Connor grew up alongside her encouraging and supportive father, Ed, and her overprotective, proper mother, Regina. She was the only child and of devoted Roman Catholic parents. O’Connor is a Georgia girl; her younger years were spent in Savannah, Georgia until the family relocated to Milledgeville, Georgia when her father was diagnosed with degenerative lupus. Much of her childhood was spent with her mother having a close look on her, overbearing her welcome. Behind her bold attitude â€Å"was a precocious, gifted and shy loner struggling to assert herself against the expectations of â€Å"proper† Southern womanhood,† (Desmond 151). Unfortunately, her graduate school days at Iowa University were put to a halt when she was diagnosed with lupus at age twent y-five. At this point in her life she moved back to live with her mom on a dairy farm right next to Milledgeville. O’Connor’s time spent growing up in Savannah and with her mom on a dairy farm has allowed her to develop characters, settings and scenes from her native south especially the properness and mannerisms established. Besides the culture effect and another big part of O’Connor’s short stories was her religious background. Although it was not until two years after her father’s death that O’Connor’s creative and inventive talents swiftly came alive as well as her deep profound faith. John F. Desmond was one hundred percent correct when he said, â€Å"writing was for her a spiritual vocation, success or failure to be measured by the fidelity to God and not by human standards,† (Desmond, 152). Not ... ...ut ten feet above and they could see only the tops of trees on the other side of it. Behind the ditch they were sitting in there were more woods, tall and dark and deep.† (O’Connor 359). The tall, dark and deep woods are a parallelism to the lack of faith and moving forward in it. Three shots and the grandmother was silent. The grandmother’s death signifies the rising of Christ. Although she didn’t always live a Christian lifestyle, the third shot it was almost as if she became alive spiritually. O’Connor’s illustrates the scene, â€Å"†¦her face smiling up at the cloudless sky. Without his glasses, The Misfit’s eyes were red-rimmed and pale and defenseless looking† (O’Connor 365). Smiling at the sky and eyes helpless, dead physically her facial expressions resemble that she spiritually came alive and rose like Jesus did, as if she was a believer accepting Him.

Did The Children Of Yesterdays Generation Get Better Parenting Then Todays Children Are Getting

To compare the previous generation with the present generation is unfair. While there may be some truth to the assertions that the moral foundations that have been instilled in the previous generation are degrading, the antecedent facts and circumstances surrounding the two generations are certainly much different. Yesterday’s children are now today’s parents and to assert that the method of parenting has eroded in the span of a single generation is to belittle the heralded parenting that the previous generation has given.To sustain an argument in this line of thinking would be to suggest that the next generation will have even less of a moral foundation than today’s generation. This is hardly the case and nobody would like to see that it will happen. The reason that it may seem this way is because of perception and the significant changes that have occurred in society in such a short period of time. Any generation has a tendency to perceive themselves differentl y from other generations. The line of Stanley reflects this sentiment, â€Å"The world is not the way it used to be when I was growing up.†This thinking may come from the inherent need of people of always compare themselves with others to find out their true identity or it may also be because of the generational identity that forces others to see those not belonging to a certain generation to be different. Whatever the reason is, the fact is that comparisons will always be made between the previous generation and the present generation. This comparison is not only with regard to the moral foundations or upbringing but will extend to other aspects such as successes and failures.There may not really be such a huge difference between the previous generation and the present generation but this is highlighted more by the fact that inter-generational communication has a tendency to create a bigger gap between the two. The problem that this creates is that what the present generatio n perceives as the norm and what they perceive as morally acceptable is different from what the previous generation perceives. What was once considered taboo, such as sex, is now discussed openly and even taught to elementary children.To argue which side of the issue is moral is an impossible task. The line of Natasha shows this when she argues against corporal punishment. â€Å"Who is to say all that corporal punishment back then was the right way to raise kids though? † It is clear that both sides could sooner come to an agreement if there was a better way of communicating with each other. The other reason why it may seem that the children of yesterday received better parenting than today’s generation is because of the rapidly changing world.â€Å"But they are not being raised the same way,† Andy insisted, â€Å"because society won’t allow it. † The point of Andy is well taken and the circumstances are very different now than they were before. Wh en the parents of the previous generation had time enough to spend with their children, today’s generation does not have the same benefit. The difference in the way social interactions occur is also a factor because the present technology allows people to communicate without even seeing each other.This matter accounts for a lot when it comes to parenting because the access that today’s communication technology provides means that children are more open to outside sources or influences than they previously were. Despite all of what is happening, the method of parenting has not changed so radically so as to suggest that yesterday’s generation received better parenting because, as mentioned earlier, the parents of today where yesterday’s children and the methods of parenting that they employ today are but the methods that they themselves learned from their own parents.To apply the mathematical theory of transitivity, if today’s parenting is bad and th e parents today were taught by the previous generation, therefore the previous generation also used bad parenting. As Natasha put it, â€Å"My sister and I used to get whippings all the time. I ended up in college and she ended up in jail. Why did that happen? We should have turned out the same. I never beat my kids when they were growing up, and today they are both straight –A high school students. That’s why that old saying ‘spare the rod and spoil the child never made any sense to me. †It is clear therefore that such is not the case. Every generation not only seeks to raise their children the way that they themselves were raised but they also strive to become better parents than their parents ever were to them. The real issue therefore may not really be that yesterday’s generation received better parenting than the present generation but that there is a reluctance to accept the influence of the societal changes that have taken place as well as th e manner by which technology has radically changed every facet of our lives, even the way parenting is done.The question is not so much whether or not a child should be given a beating or whatever positive reinforcement or method exists but whether or not the problems of the current generation are being addressed. Changing times call for changing methods. Issues once considered taboo may be considered as acceptable under today’s norms and may be even the parenting that was considered as the standard may be considered out of touch with reality for the next generation.

Police Essay

Police generally perceive the risk of injury, assault, and even death to be greatest for domestic violence calls. Why do police have these beliefs, and what is the reality of the situation? When responding to calls few inspire more dread among police officers than answering to a domestic call. Police have generally the perception of risk of injury, assault and even death. There is always this perception among police officers when answering domestic calls. Such perception cannot be avoided because domestic calls most often than not have the element of unpredictability. Emotions are high and this can run even higher if coupled with drugs and alcohol. Indeed, responding to a domestic call can be very risky on the part of the police officers. When they respond to such call, they are perceived as the threat instead of being the protector. Traditionally, a police officer would respond to a call and restore peace as soon as possible and then clear from the call. The community policing philosophy dictates that the officer review of the problem, analyze it and try to come up with a solution to the problem. (Denise Papagno). However, this theory is not realistic at all. Upon responding to a domestic call, the police officer enters into a domestic abode as a protector, but in the eyes of the owners of the abode despite his good intentions, he will always be the intruder. Hence, the police officer cannot effectively do his job especially if the victim refuses to leave and instead would insist in not doing anything or even file a complaint for that matter. It is essentially difficult for police officers to face and respond to domestic calls as society now views domestic calls as a serious crime and not merely a private family quarrel. The fact that not all of the police are educated in handling domestic issues or why the victim does not leave her abuser or why the batterer abuses the victim. Because of this, the police fail to understand victims of domestic calls and are less inclined to help them in the next call. In your opinion, what is the most problematic myth associated with policing? Explain your answer. As early as the 18th century, police work or policing is associated in being a night watchman. The job basically entails maintaining order against threats to order itself – wild animals, fire or unruly behaviour. However, at the turn of the century, policing has evolved into something more than being a night watchman. Police not only has to maintain order in their respective communities but they are also tasked to solve and fight crimes. Hence, the notion that police can solve any crime reported to them grew. As crime fighters, this notion has proven to be an additional burden to policing. Even simple and private nuisances such as littering, drunkenness and unruly behaviour are called in and reported to the police. Hence, this takes up on the workload of policing instead of focusing more on the serious crime-solving work. But together with the notion of being crime-fighters came the myth of police brutality. The average citizen sees policemen as having â€Å"zero-tolerance†. For example, in domestic calls, instead of turning in their abuser, victims would opt not to do anything for fear of the police. If they fear their abusers, victims fear the police more. It does not help that there are also police mandates such as that of Rudy Giuliani who implemented a version of Broken Windows policing across New York City. Thus, policemen were tasked to become aggressive in stamping out public disorder such as drunkenness, jaywalking and noisiness. In reality however, policing is not just being brutal and aggressive towards those lawbreakers. The concept of â€Å"community policing† has made advancement in policing. Thus, police officers who are on foot patrol have elevated the common myth about policing because admittedly, an officer who is inside the squad car and safely sealed inside cannot relate with the other people from the neighbourhood.

Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Essay

I did not understand why I had to take a research class when all I wanted to do was be a staff nurse in a critical care unit. Research? Evidence-based practice? Why are these topics in the nursing program? I have enough to do just learning all the content in my clinical courses. What do research and evidence have to do with developing my nursing abilities? I trust the faculty, the textbooks, and clinical experience to prepare me for nursing. I’m already getting what I need to know. That was my earlier attitude. Now that I am practicing, I have a new appreciation for nursing research and the evidence it provides for application to practice. I have an entirely different way of addressing clinical questions. I’m starting to ask questions about how I can improve the care I give to patients and how I can be involved in my workplace’s efforts to improve care for the patients it serves. I have discovered by purposeful reading in my practice area that research reports and research summaries contain many implications that apply to practice in the critical care unit.  ¦ QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHILE READING THIS CHAPTER: 1 How can faculty encourage students to read research journals? 2 How does research affect nursing practice? 3 How can nurses motivate colleagues to base their practice on research? KEY TERMS Clinical nurse researcher (CNR) An advanced practice nurse who is doctorally prepared and directs and participates in clinical research. Clinical nurse specialist (CNS) An advanced practice nurse who provides direct care to clients and participates in health education and research. Clinical practice guideline (CPG) an evidence-based guide to clinical practice developed by experts in a particular ? eld for direct application in clinical environments. Control group Subjects in an experiment who do not receive the experimental treatment and whose performance provides a baseline against which the effects of the treatment can be measured. When a true experimental design is not used, this group is usually called a comparison group. Data collection The process of acquiring existing information or developing new information. 104 Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice CHAPTER 6 105 Empirical Having a foundation based on data gathered through the senses (e. g. , observation or experience) rather than purely through theorizing or logic. Ethnography A qualitative research method for the purpose of investigating cultures that involves data collection, description, and analysis of data to develop a theory of cultural behavior. Evidence-based practice The process of systematically ? nding, appraising, and using research ? ndings as the basis for clinical practice. Experimental design A design that includes randomization, a control group, and manipulation between or among variables to examine probability and causality among selected variables for the purpose of predicting and controlling phenomena. Generalizability The inference that ? ndings can be generalized from the sample to the entire population. Grant Proposal developed to seek research funding from private or public agencies. Grounded theory A qualitative research design used to collect and analyze data with the aim of developing theories grounded in real-world observations. This method is used to study a social process. Meta-analysis Quantitative merging of ? ndings from several studies to determine what is known about a phenomenon. Methodologic design A research design used to develop the validity and reliability of instruments that measure research concepts and variables. Naturalistic paradigm A holistic view of nature and the direction of science that guides qualitative research. Needs assessment A study in which the researcher collects data for estimating the needs of a group, usually for resource allocation. Phenomenology A qualitative research design that uses inductive descriptive methodology to describe the lived experiences of study participants. Pilot study A smaller version of a proposed study conducted to develop or re? ne methodology, such as treatment, instruments, or data collection process to be used in a larger study. Qualitative research A systematic, subjective approach used to describe life experiences and give them meaning. Quantitative research A formal, objective, systematic process used to describe and test relationships and examine cause-and-effect interactions among variables. Quasi-experimental research A type of quantitative research study design that lacks one of the components (randomization, control group, manipulation of one or more variables) of an experimental design. Randomization The assignment of subjects to treatment conditions in a random manner (determined by chance alone). Secondary analysis A research design in which data previously collected in another study are analyzed. State-of-the-science summary A merging of ? ndings from several studies concerning the same topic. Examples include meta-analysis with a quantitative approach and integrative review with a descriptive approach. Survey A nonexperimental research design that focuses on obtaining information regarding the status quo of a situation, often through direct questioning of participants. Triangulation The use of a variety of methods to collect data on the same concept. LEARNING OUTCOMES After studying this chapter, the reader will be able to: 1 Summarize major points in the evolution of nursing research in relation to contemporary nursing. 2 Evaluate the in? uence of nursing research on current nursing and health care practices. 3 Differentiate among nursing research methods. 4 Evaluate the quality of research studies using established criteria. 5 Participate in the research process. 6 Use research ? ndings to improve nursing practice. 106 UNIT ONE The Development of Nursing CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter provides basic knowledge regarding the research process and the ultimate importance of evidence-based nursing practice. The intent is to inspire an appreciation for nursing research and to show how it can improve nursing practice and how results can be translated into health policy. Nursing research is de? ned as a systematic approach used to examine phenomena important to nursing and nurses. A summary of major points in the evolution of nursing research in relation to contemporary nursing is presented. A description of private and public organizations that fund research is given, and their research priorities are listed. Major research designs are brie? y described, and examples of each are given. Nurses of all educational levels are encouraged to participate in and promote nursing research at varying degrees. The process of locating research and evidence for practice is reviewed. Students are introduced to the research process and guided in the process of critically appraising published research and research syntheses. Ethical issues related to research are examined, and historical examples of unethical research are given. The functions of the institutional review board (IRB) and the use of informed consent in protecting the rights of human subjects are emphasized. DEFINITION OF NURSING RESEARCH Research is a process of systematic inquiry or study to build knowledge in a discipline. The purpose of research is to develop an empirical body of knowledge for a discipline or profession. Speci? cally, research validates and re? nes existing knowledge and develops new knowledge (Burns and Grove, 2007). The results of research process provide a foundation on which practice decisions and behaviors are laid. Research results create a strong scienti? c base for nursing practice, especially when deliberately and carefully evaluated for application to speci? c clinical topics (Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt, 2005). In recent decades the nursing discipline has begun to pay much greater attention to the necessity of participating in research. Nursing research is a systematic approach used to examine phenomena important to nursing and nurses. Because nursing is a practice profession, it is important that clinical practice be based on scienti? c knowledge. Evidence generated by nursing research provides support for the quality and cost-effectiveness of nursing interventions. Thus recipients of health care—and particularly nursing care—reap bene? ts when nurses attend to research evidence and introduce change based on that evidence into nursing practice. The introduction of evidence-based change into the direct provision of nursing care may occur at the individual level of a particular nurse or at varied organizational or social levels. In addition to nursing research aimed at affecting the direct provision of nursing and health care to recipients of nursing care, nursing research also is needed to generate knowledge in areas that affect nursing care processes indirectly. Research within the realms of nursing education, nursing administration, health services, characteristics of nurses, and nursing roles provides evidence for effectively changing these supporting areas of nursing knowledge (Burns and Grove, 2007). Today the importance of nursing research to the discipline is recognized. However, much nursing history underlies the current state of acceptance. EVOLUTION OF NURSING RESEARCH Nursing research began with the work of Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War. After Florence Nightingale’s work, the pattern that nursing research followed was closely related to the problems confronting nurses. For example, nursing education was the focus of most research studies between 1900 and 1940. As more nurses received their education Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice CHAPTER 6 107 in a university setting, studies regarding student characteristics and satisfactions were conducted. As more nurses pursued a college education, staf? ng patterns in hospitals changed because students were not as readily available as when more students were enrolled in hospitalaf? liated diploma programs. During this period, researchers became interested in studying nurses. Questions such as what type of person enters nursing and how are nurses perceived by other groups guided research investigations. Teaching, administration, and curriculum were studies that dominated nursing research until the 1970s. By the 1970s more doctorally prepared nurses were conducting research, and there was a shift to studies that focused on the improvement of patient care. The 1980s brought nursing research to a new stage of development. There were many more quali? ed nurse researchers than ever, widespread availability of computers for collection and analysis of data, and a realization that research is a vital part of professional nursing (Polit and Beck, 2006). Nurse researchers began conducting studies based on the naturalistic paradigm. These studies were qualitative rather than quantitative. In addition, instead of conducting many small, unrelated research studies, teams of researchers, often interdisciplinary, began conducting programs of research to build bodies of knowledge related to speci? c topics, such as urinary incontinence, decubitus ulcers, pain, and quality of life. The 1990s brought increasing concern about health care reform, and now in the twenty-? rst century, research studies focus on important health care delivery issues, such as cost, quality, and access. Research ? ndings are being used increasingly as the basis for clinical decisions. Evidencebased practice (EBP) can be de? ned as the process of systematically ? nding, appraising, and using research ? ndings as a basis for making decisions about patient care. The rise of technology and the worldwide access and ? ow of information have transformed the decision-making processes of practitioners. Helpful informational websites for busy practitioners are listed in Box 6-1. No longer do nurses simply compare outcomes of patient care with other units in the B O X 6–1 Helpful Websites l f l b i National Guideline Clearinghouse—resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines www. guidelines. gov US Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Practice Guidelines www. healthquality. va. gov AHRQ Healthcare Innovations Exchange—innovations and tools to improve health care www. innovations. ahrq. gov/index. aspx The Evidence-Based Medicine Education Center of Excellence—extensive list of databases, journals, and textbooks http://library. ncahec. net/ebm/pages/resources. htm U. S. National Institute for Health Consensus statements http://consensus. nih. gov Centre for Evidence-Based Nursing, based at University of York—United Kingdom www. york. ac. uk/healthsciences/centres/evidence/cebn. htm The Joanna Briggs Institute, based at Royal Adelaide Hospital and the University of Adelaide, Australia—multiple evidence resources for practice www. joannabriggs. edu. au Cochrane Center—resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines www. cochrane. org 108 UNIT ONE The Development of Nursing same hospital. Nurses and other health care professionals are more likely to look for solutions, choices, and outcomes for patients that represent the best available knowledge internationally (Hamer and Collinson, 2005). RESEARCH PRIORITIES Why set priorities for research in the nursing discipline? Can nurses do research in areas that match personal areas of interest? The answer to the second question is, yes, certainly. But nursing exists to provide high-quality nursing care to individuals in need of health-promoting, health-sustaining, and health-restoring strategies. The main outcome of research activity for a nurse is to eventually put the knowledge gained to work in health care delivery. Research priorities, often set by groups that fund research, encourage nurse researchers to invest effort and money into those areas of research likely to generate the most bene? t to recipients of care. Of course the funding opportunities offered by such groups do not hurt the research enterprise either. Research costs money. Thus nurses engaged in research often match personal interests with funding opportunities that are available during the planning phase for a proposed investigation. Two major sources of funding for nursing research are the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research [AHCPR] and reauthorized as AHRQ by Congress in 1999). Both of these organizations are funded by federal congressional appropriations. Private foundations and nursing organizations also provide funding for nursing research. National Institute of Nursing Research As part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NINR supports research on the biologic and behavioral aspects of critical health problems that confront the nation. The NINR’s research focus encompasses â€Å"health promotion and disease prevention, quality of life, health disparities, and end-of-life† (NINR Strategic Plan 2006-2010, 2006). A small sampling of potentially supported research topics includes those aimed at: ? Determining disease risk and treatment through utilizing genetic information ? Determining effective health-promotion strategies for individuals, families, and communities ? Discovering approaches that encourage people to effectively take responsibility for symptom management and health promotion ? Assisting in identi? cation and effective management of symptoms related to acute and chronic disease ? Improving clinical settings in which care is provided ? Improving the quality of care giving in settings such as long-term care facilities, the home, and the community ? Understanding predisposition to disease, socioeconomic factors that in? uence health, and cultural health practices that either protect from or expose to risk for health problems ? Improving symptom management for those at end of life The areas of research emphasis published by the NINR are useful guides for investigators developing proposals but are not considered to be prescriptive in nature. Investigators bring to bear their own unique expertise and creativity when proposing research in harmony with NINR priority research areas. Annually the NINR conducts a roundtable discussion with multiple nursing organizations to obtain the feedback of the disciplines regarding the need for continued or new research Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice CHAPTER 6 109 emphases. Information obtained is used in setting future research agendas and making decisions about funding of proposals submitted by researchers (Of? ce of Science Policy and Public Liaison, NINR, 2009). The NINR website details current announcements regarding research priorities (www. ninr. nih. gov/ResearchAndFunding). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality The AHRQ broadly de? nes its mission as â€Å"improving the quality, safety, ef? ciency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans† (AHRQ, 2009a). As an agency of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, the AHRQ’s health-related aims are to reduce the risk of harm by promoting delivery of the best possible health care, improve health care outcomes by encouraging the use of evidence to make informed health care decisions, transform research into practice to facilitate wider access to effective health care services, and reduce unnecessary costs (AHRQ, 2009a). Since the inception of the agency in 1989, strategic goals have centered on supporting improvements in health outcomes, strengthening measurement of health care quality indicators, and fostering access to and cost-effectiveness of health care. The 1999 reauthorizing legislation expanded the role of the agency by directing the AHRQ to: ? Improve the quality of health care through scienti? c inquiry, dissemination of ? ndings, and facilitation of public access to information. ? Promote patient safety and reduce medical errors through scienti? c inquiry, building partnerships with health care providers, and establishment of centers for education and research on therapeutics (CERTs). ? Advance the use of information technology for coordinating patient care and conducting quality and outcomes research. ? Establish an of? ce on priority populations to ensure that the needs of low-income groups, minorities, women, children, the elderly, and individuals with special health care needs are addressed by the agency’s research efforts. The research-related activities of the AHRQ are quite varied, but a recent shift emphasizes a more deliberate translation of research evidence into practice. In a process similar to that used by the NIH, investigators are invited to submit research proposals for possible funding through grant announcements. A listing of current areas of the agency’s research interests can be found online at www. ahrq. gov/fund/portfolio. htm. The AHRQ actively promotes EBP, partially through the establishment of 14 EBP centers (EPCs) in the United States and Canada. EPCs conduct research on assigned clinical care topics and generate reports on the effectiveness of health care methodologies. Health care providers may then use the evidence in developing site-speci? c guidelines that direct clinical practice. AHRQ also actively maintains the National Guideline Clearinghouse (www. guidelines. gov), an website that makes available to health care professionals a wide array of clinical practice guidelines that may be considered in health care decision making. Another recent addition to AHRQ’s initiatives is the Healthcare Innovations Exchange (2009b), which provides a public source of information about innovations taking place in health care delivery. Submitted innovations are reviewed for the quality of achieved outcomes, providing evidence as a foundation for decision making by others who may be searching for or considering similar innovations. Although most AHRQ activities are intended to support health care professionals and institutions, the agency supports health care recipients by designing some information speci? cally for dissemination to the lay public (AHRQ, 2009a). 110 UNIT ONE The Development of Nursing Private Foundations Federal funding is available through the NIH and the AHRQ. However, because obtaining money for research is becoming increasingly competitive, voluntary foundations and private and community-based organizations should be investigated as possible funding sources. Many foundations and corporate direct-giving programs are interested in funding health care projects and research. Computer databases and guides to funding are available in local libraries. In addition, grant-seeking enterprises often purchase subscriptions that allow computer access to enhanced listings of funding foundations that include information about the types of projects those foundations typically fund. Though subscriptions are expensive, costs are often balanced by the ef? ciency with which suitable funding prospects are identi? ed. An example of such a service is Prospect Research Online (www. iwave. com). Private foundations, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2009a, 2009b) or the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (2009), offer program funding for health-related research. Investigators should be encouraged to pursue funding for small projects through local sources or private foundations until a track record is established in research design and implementation. After several years of experience in the research arena, investigators are more likely to be successful in securing funding through federal sources, such as the NIH. Nursing Organizations Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), the American Nurses Association (ANA), and the Oncology Nurses Society (ONS), are a few of the nursing organizations that fund research studies. STTI makes research grant awards to increase scienti? c knowledge related to nursing practice. STTI supports creative interdisciplinary research and places importance on identifying â€Å"best practices† and benchmark innovations. Awards are made at the international and local chapter levels. The ANA awards small grants through the American Nurses Foundation. Specialty nursing organizations offer grants to support research related to their specialty. For example, the ONS awards grants that focus on issues related to oncology. To summarize, multiple potential sources of funding are available for research projects. The individual or group wishing to conduct research will need to carefully develop a proposal, search for a possible funding source, and submit the proposal. Libraries and the Internet provide ample information about the many foundations and organizations interested in funding research endeavors. Most research institutions establish of? ces that help in the search and procurement of funding. Thus researchers are supported in their work of knowledge building. COMPONENTS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS The research process involves conceptualizing a research study, planning and implementing that study, and communicating the ? ndings. The process involves a logical ? ow as each step builds on the previous steps. These steps should be included in published research reports so that the reader has a basis for understanding and critiquing the study (Box 6-2). STUDY DESIGNS Study designs are plans that tell a researcher how data are to be collected, from whom data are to be collected, and how data will be analyzed to answer speci? c research questions. Research studies are classi? ed into two basic methods: quantitative and qualitative, two distinctly different approaches to conducting research. The researcher chooses the method based on the research question and the current level of knowledge about the phenomena and the problem to be studied. Quantitative research is a formal, objective, systematic process in which numeric

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Essay

Over time, the United States Immigration system has undergone a myriad of comprehensive reforms which have proven to greatly impact the composition of its population. Though it is unclear whether these specific policies were products of theoretical assumptions, such as those associated with a country’s economic stature, the social norms of the time period, or further contributory factors such as the existing political landscape, the issue of immigration has continued to remain problematic in the 21st century and requires a structured approach. Preceding the current Obama administration and previous Bush administrations of the early 2000s, relatively recent major reforms were made to the U.S. immigration system through the passage of bills beginning in 1986 under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, in 1990 under the Immigration Act, and in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Bodvarsson and Van den Berg, 368). Each of these legislative bi lls proposes different sets of provisions which include, to some degree, address comprehensive immigration reform. However, the policy strategy to include these broader reforms on recent immigration legislation have largely failed to emerge from beyond the preliminary procedures of Congress as a result of strong opposition by today’s lawmakers. More specifically, the notable policy trend in contemporary immigration legislation involves the heavy emphasis on border enforcement as the principal solution to the issue as a whole. The comprehensive processes that were once established through the legislative bills of the 1980’s and 90’s, such as the family reunification programs, legal amnesty clauses, and population ceilings, are now largely absent from the one-dimensional enforcement system utilized today. It is within the scope of this philosophical shift that has elicited the question of why the most recently implemented immigration policies have been limited to the expansion of border enforcement mandates, while preceding legislative reforms aimed to embrace a somewhat broader framework that addressed additional issues beyond enforcement? More importantly, is strictly focusing and funding border enforcement programs the most economically feasible solution in comparison to alternative methods? In order to reach an appropriate conclusion to the questions raised by the current trend, it is required that an extensive evaluation and comparison of the fiscal budgets of recent policies be conducted, in addition to an examination of the overall efficiency and  effectiveness of those policies by analyzing annually recorded statistics. Also, a thorough understanding of the overall complexities and interconnectedness of these policies with other prominent issues in the public policy realm is required and must serve as a starting point in order to clearly establish the context of the existing public discourse on immigration. This gradual regression of the US immigration system can be understood by first examining some of the ways in which certain large-scale issues played a role in the federal government’s policymaking process during the turn of the 21st century. Migration Policy Institute analyst Marc R. Rosenblum discusses some of these issues in depth in his insightful piece titled, Understanding the Stalemate over Comprehensive Immigration Reform. As he points out, the months following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks demonstrate the ways in which the immigration system was, though indirectly, greatly effected by the efforts made by Congress and the President to take swift action, in which he reite rates in his words, â€Å"immigration processes and border controls immediately became a central topic of concern,† (4). This immediate response by the government led to a massive restructuring of the immigration system under new security and anti-terrorism policy measures. Any notion that these actions would essentially entail some comprehensive reforms would prove to only result in the passing of the Real ID Act in 2005 which only toughened regulations for immigrants trying to acquire a state driver’s license, and also did so only as an attachment to another unrelated measure (5). Other efforts by supporters of comprehensive immigration reform in both the House of Representatives and Senate would eventually fail to push forward any new legislation in 2006 and again in 2007 despite passing the Senate, but ultimately lose momentum for any chance to propose restructured visas or legalized amnesty after the abrupt economic decline of 2008 (6). Even more recent legislative efforts to renew comprehensive reforms by Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey in 2010, as well as by former Texas Representative Solomon Ortiz in 2009, died in Congress despite Ortiz’s CIR ASAP bill being referred to committees (loc.gov, 2012). Though Senator Menedez†™s bill was reintroduced in earlier of June 2011 to the current 112th Congress, the senate has only passed a total of 24 public laws this year (loc.gov, 2012). In contrast, enforcement based provisions as well as their monetary funding  requirements passed easily over the same period of time through bills such as the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Rosenblum, 5). The legislative activities during these years present the very pattern that remains today. One that had ultimately began with the passing of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, where President George W. Bush authorized the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which would eventually become the permanent cabinet department that federal border enforcement programs and immigration officials would operate under (Chishti et al, 2). In addition to his discussion on the policy agenda set forth by the 9/11 attacks, Rosenblum offers specific examples as to why the trend favoring the strict use of enforcement has continued and declares that within the field of immigration policy there is a strong bias which is, â€Å"in favor of enforcement rather than legalization or visa reform,† (10). He continues to then list three primary reasons for the existence of the bias noting of the cost-benefit advantages of migration enforcement, the procedural difficulties for drafting and enact ing new legislation, and its classification as an issue which is conveniently easy to support in the political arena (Rosenblum, 11). While Rosenblum’s examples summarize the most basic obstacles that have successfully defeated any efforts to formulate comprehensive reforms earlier in the decade, these same rationales have only continued on and remained consistent today, even under a newly elected President in Barack Obama. Given that the 2007 McCain-Kennedy bill marks perhaps the most legitimate effort at achieving comprehensive immigration reform in the 21st century, it seems as though the complexities of the legislative processes and strategic ploys utilized by the field’s major players have successfully prevented any changes to policy approach. However, it is also critical to note that Obama’s legislative agenda became focused with the sudden economic downturn shortly after taking office in 2008, as well as taking on other major legislation in addressing healthcare and insurance reform. The outline of these concerns can also be understood as a list of relatively new constraints upon compreh ensive immigration supporters, as there is a distinct contrast in the policy approaches between the 107th-112th congress and those with which preceded it. The earlier legislative bills which utilized comprehensive immigration measures, such as the Immigration Reform  and Control Act of 1986, were generally aimed to address and, if successful, rid some of the problems at which the immigration system faced at the time. However, it is also clear that by doing so these specific programs also helped to realign and improve the current system as a means to better establish the general trajectory and stable functionality of the system in the future. Though the extent to which programs were more or less effective is often debated, it is necessary to assume that the immigration system as a whole requires continuous adjustments appropriate for fulfilling, as writer Richard A. Boswell states, â€Å"the overall objective of immigration laws in the United States,† or more specifically to, â€Å"keep the flow of people into the country to a manageable level, while preserving the interests of family unity and the need for labor,† (Bosw ell, 204). While Boswell’s definition is by no means interpreted as federal law, the author’s statement essentially grasps the premise of immigration and two of its most pressing issues which remain at the core of the modern day discussion. As the congressional record of today’s policies in the greater the 21st century have shown, lawmakers have failed to properly preserve immigration by choosing to over pursue and implement a vast agenda of security measures which, have thus far proved only ineffective and highly inefficient in solving the field’s most glaring issues. The continued efforts to focus on enforcement and reestablish stricter policies have proceeded beyond necessity and have reached excessive levels of spending without producing adequate or proportional results. The statistical reports provided by the federal government reinforce these observations, as they largely reflect the emphasis of strict enforcement programs backed with high spending, particularly when evaluating the fiscal year budgets and recorded results for all active US immigration organizations. For example, dating back to 1990 the United States Border Patrol had a fiscal year budget totaling the amount of $262,647. Since then, their budget has dramatically increased by 1,251 percent given their reported 2011 fiscal year budget of $3,549,295 (CBP.gov, 2012). For their parenting agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the budget also grew from $5.9 billion in 2003 to $11.8 billion in 2011 (DHS.gov, 2012). The newly created Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency also experienced a budget increase over time, from $3.3 billion to $5.7 billion in 2011 and  peaking at $6 billion in 2009 (DHS.gov, 2012). The examination of the data also revealed an unlikely detail, depicting no drop or reduction in enforcement spending despite the economic downturn during the fiscal year of 2008, nor afterward in 2009 (DHS, 2012). Although the funding for enforcement continues to steadily increase, the immigration system remains largely cost-ineffective. In an article published by the Immigration Policy Center, estimates calculated by the National Immigration Forum stated that costs to detain a single person under the ICE agency amount to $166 per day, and also require over five million dollars in daily operating costs to detain 33,400 people in more than 250 facilities (immigrationpolicy.org, 2012). The article also reported that, â€Å"In 2009 and 2010, over half of detainees did not have criminal records,† and that â€Å"Traffic offenses account for nearly 20 percent of those who did,† (immigrationpolicy.org, 2012). The statistics listed in the article suggest a clear pattern of inefficiency that takes place at a micro level on a day-to-day basis. Although it is hardly sufficient to utilize these numbers as the fundamental basis against the use of heavy enforcement in immigration, an examination of the fiscal issues and its greater impacts at the macro level represent many more problems. Given that the increased spen ding on enforcement programs aim to essentially reduce the overall unauthorized immigrant population in the United States and prevent further illegal entry into the country, statistics provided by research studies suggest that the coveted outcomes do no match the actual results. When looking at the Department of Homeland Security’s annual population estimates for the unauthorized immigrant the number was reported to be 11,510,000 for the year 2011 which grew in comparison to the 10,790,000 estimated for 2010 (dhs.gov, 2012). Though there are immediate concerns given the data limitations which distort the overall accuracy of the estimates made by the DHS, the unauthorized immigrant population living in the United States has thus far grown significantly from the 8.5 million as detailed by the department back in the year 2000 and into the double digits during the new decade (dhs.gov, 2012). Those who strongly support the strategy of strict enforcement, such as Jessica M. Vaughan of Immigration Daily, expected quite the opposite of what the current statistics have measured. In her article, Vaughan anticipates that through strict enforcement tactics such as attrition, immigration enforcement should then  greatly improve to being both â€Å"faster and ch eaper,† (cis.org, 2012). Also, she offers a prediction that the strategy could, â€Å"reduce the illegal population from its current 11.5 million to 5.6 million in a period of five years, a 51 percent reduction,† (cis.org, 2012). Considering the scope of these outcomes and the results of the actual data producing statistics not even remotely close indicate that the current enforcement programs are ineffective, but continue to experience budget growth. Still, in the simple context of theoretical presumptions, heightened security measures and the overall approach of adopting strict immigration laws should ideally yield the capacity to generate a mass reduction in the unauthorized immigrant population over time, and provide greater collective protection against the most dangerous criminals and/or terrorists that are considered threats to the United States. However, another alarming statistic mentioned by immigrant attorney Tara Magner from an analysis done by Syracuse University research proves the liabi lity of these assumptions at which, â€Å"It found that less than 0.01% of arrests of noncitizens by Homeland Security agents were terrorist related,† (Magner, 3). With the steady growth of enforcement budgets continuing at the forefront of US immigration policy, one can conclude that the current system is in desperate need of more cost-efficient and highly beneficial reforms. Another key aspect at which the current US immigration system affects is the national economy. For example, author Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda uses a general equilibrium model in his research to help calculate and project the economic outcomes of alternative immigration reforms (Hinojosa-Ojeda, 177). Under his first alternative scenario, which calls for the creation of, â€Å"a pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants in the United States and establishes flexible limits on permanent and temporary immigration,† his research estimates a yearly increase in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product by .84 percent, or $1.5 trillion dollars over a full decade (177). This alternative alone holds more positive benefits for an already struggling economy by primarily improving wages and productivity but also by increasing small-business formation, home ownership, and greater household investment in education (187). In a second setting, Hinojosa-Ojeda analyzes the effects of a temporary worker program and concludes that the U.S. GDP would increase  annually by a slightly less .44 percent, totaling an additional $792 billion over a 10-year span (177). While comparatively not the optimal scenario between the two, establishing a temporary worker program remains on the table when constructing a partisan bill in Congress. Also, an extreme third option proposing mass deportation is for the most part an unrealistic policy approach and widely unpopular on both sides of the issue but nevertheless, â€Å"serves as an extreme or boundary case against which we can evaluate the other two scenarios,† as articulated by the author. (188) When closely examining the first scenario and its greater effects, however, the comprehensive reforms also add close to $1.2 trillion dollars in consumption and more than $250 billion in investment, while also generating additional tax revenues of $4.5 to $5.4 billion dollars, numbers that can sustain new jobs at a range between 750,000 to 900,000 (189). It is then made clear that the benefits of comprehensive reforms exceed those brought forth by a temporary workers program or a mass deportation and is thus the most favorable option, despite any difficulties it may have in becoming a bipartisan political acquisition that successfully reaches a vote in Congress.