Cornflake Production Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cornflake Production - Essay Example Most of the energy resources used are unclean and include mostly coal and petroleum fuels. These fuels are not only a threat to the environment but also costly. This implies that in the course of establishing and maintaining the energy management system, the most critical aspects need to be considered. The first action is to establish an energy policy to govern the use of energy in the plant. Next an energy management representative should be appointed. The resources can then be provided at this point. The main objective of the plant is to make profits (Kals & WÃ ¼rtenberger, 2012). The energy used should thus be affordable. One of the major objectives of the organization would be to minimize its costs and using cheap energy would be a great achievement. Nevertheless, this kind of energy has to be available because it would be impossible to plan on a source of energy that is difficult or too costly to find (Kals & WÃ ¼rtenberger, 2012). Given the current concern on global warming, environmental management is a key consideration in the type of energy used in industries. This concern means that high emissions should be avoided. This goal could only be achieved with energy resources that emits less carbon, sulfa, or any other chemicals that contribute to global warming (Kals & WÃ ¼rtenberger, 2012). In essence, the energy management philosophy would focus on three key factors. These factors include availability, cost, and environmental

Total Rewards versus performance Essay Example for Free

Total Rewards versus performance Essay The aim of this report is to advice to, the Director of human resources at Midland Credit Management (MCM) a US based debt collection company, on the effectiveness of total rewards strategy in context to organisational performance though attracting, retaining and motivating intellectual  capital. This is achieved through the analysis of a total rewards function which is broken-up in to six segments total rewards defined, element of total rewards, model of total rewards, its organisational advantages and its linkage with organisational performance. Firstly, this report explains the meaning and objectives of total rewards and then describes the elements i.e. transactional and relational rewards. A model of total rewards is followed which portrays financial and non-financial tenets as well as individual and communal aspects of strategic reward. Further it covers the advantages provided to an organisation for the purpose of attaining competitive advantage on recruitment, development of performance management and integration between human resource strategies and business goals. Lastly, the impact of total rewards strategy is evaluated in terms of physiological contract with an employee. It includes the theory of motivation, employee commitment and engagement that culminates a sense of responsibility, respect, trust and personal growth, which increased individual performance and business goals are achieved by creating a performance culture. Thus, a successful total rewards strategy pays for the value individuals bring in an organisation with a wide range of financial and non-financial rewards which helps them to perform effectively and achieve competitive edge for the organisation. Total rewards defined 1.1. Introduction: In the era of globalisation/internationalisation people management has become a significant task for human resource (HR) unit. At present, in rapidly changing and competitive business environment, the role of self-motivated, engaged, skilled and committed employees is increasingly remarkable to achieve business goals and competitive advantage. Performance management and reward strategy are the key element to directly influence individual’s performance and ultimately organisational effectiveness within the industry. In recent year several internal and external factors, competitive business environment and developments in the field of reward management has introduced a different and most influential term called total reward. 1.2. Meaning: Strategic reward can be considered as an approach to the improvement and execution of reward schemes that validates their incorporation and clutch with the business strategy and other HR strategies and that they are in connection with other reward strategies for the benefit  of both employees as well as organisation. According to Armstrong and Murlis (1998) the essence of this notion of total reward is to manage reward policies in a way that considers the various components together to support one another to maximise employment satisfaction with the result of their performance. Brown (2001) suggests that strategic reward is a way of thinking and can be applied to any reward matter occurring in organisation to make out how one can create value from it. A reward scheme directly influences the level of motivation, satisfaction that leads to employee engagement and commitment towards organisational goals. 1.3. Objectives/aims: The aim of reward strategy is to produce a sensible purpose and guidance and foundation of improving reward policies, experiences and process. It is considered as a base to acknowledge and satisfy employees’ as well as organisation’s needs. According to Sibson Consulting (2009) the aims of a total rewards strategy can be determined as follows:- coerce business success by attracting talent, engagement and retention; Guide investment decisions for the employer while enabling informed choices for the employee; Clarify the employer-employee relationship; Build a distinctive employment brand; Increase the return on rewards and create value for the enterprise; Integrate reward and HR policies and processes; Align reward processes to business needs; Provide guidance for reward system design and implementation. 2. Elements of total rewards Total reward is an effective section of a reward system and emphasises to think about all facets of employment experience of value to employees instead of remuneration and employee benefits. The concept of total rewards identifies the necessity of getting paid appropriately in terms of pay and benefits and also encourages the significance of rewarding people for the work they performed, managed and developed in their work environment. It further adds to the performance of an employee value intention that provides an obvious, gripping cause that attracts capable workforce to remain with the organisation. The components of total rewards are shown in Figure 1.0. Figure 1.0 Elements of total rewards. The principle of total rewards mingles with two effective categories of reward as discussed below (Armstrong, 2007): 2.1. Transactional rewards: These are tangible rewards and more of financial offerings and occur from transactions between employer and employees in relation to remuneration and pay-out. Such rewards can be imitable by competitors and offered to individual employees in form of base pay, contingent pay and other employee benefits. These rewards are of extrinsic nature. 2.2. Relational rewards: Such rewards intangible (non-financial) and are related to work conditions i.e. quality of working life, the work, work-life balance, recognition, performance management and learning and development. These rewards are necessary to enhance transactional rewards and differ in different organisations as they can’t be easily copies. As described above total rewards system is a blend of monetary and non-monetary rewards offered to employees that can result in valuable business success in long term. Total rewards approach is a holistic insight of entire reward system to establish incorporation of reward elements in order to drive them so that they jointly support to achieve overall efficiency of reward system. Each component of rewards is sough in a way so that they integrate each other in all ways so that employees can be rewarded and have a sense of satisfaction from their work. A total rewards strategy is structured and joint together so that it can maximise the associated effect of various reward projects for employee motivation, commitment and job engagement. 3. Model of total rewards: Towers Perrin The effective component of total rewards can be concisely presented in the Towers Perrin model of total rewards shown in Figure 2.0. This is commonly used as foundation for the purpose of planning a total rewards approach. It includes of an environment with four quadrants. The upper two quadrants- pay and benefits those represent transactional or tangible (financial) rewards. These are financial rewards are mandatory recruitment and retain employees and can be copied by competitors. On the other hand, other two quadrants which are based on non-financial (intangible) or relational cannot be easily imitated and build both human assets and human development advantage in an organisation. These lower two quadrants are essential to boost the worth of the upper two. When organisations integrate both transactional and  relational rewards strategically it empowers the overall effectiveness to achieve business success. The model makes an important difference between individual and communal r ewards precisely in the later case which are result of work situation. Figure 2.0 Model of total rewards by Towers Perrin. As mentioned above that a total rewards concept integrates between financial and non-financial rewards to enhance a reward system, the importance of both considerations is described below: 3.1. Financial rewards: All monetary rewards those are offered in terms of money and are added up in total remuneration are the financial rewards. Base pay, contingent pay for performance, contribution, competency or skill, pay concerning to service, financial appreciation programs, and benefits like pensions, medical pay and health insurance are the core elements. 3.2. Non-financial rewards: Such rewards focus on the relational or intangible rewards those are related to people needs for various recognition, accomplishment, accountability, autonomy, influence and personal development. Such rewards are directly influenced by work environment i.e. quality of work life, the work, work-life balance, recognition, performance management and learning and development for personal growth within the organisation. Non-financial rewards can be extrinsic, such as praise or recognition as well as intrinsic if they are incorporated with job performance and attention and feelings that the work is valuable. 4. Organisational advantages of total rewards In current competitive business environment it must for an organisation to treat their employees with a sense of respect, fairness and ethically. Success of a business lies in the core value of its intellectual and it is necessary to enhance, develop and retain the same to achieve competitive advantage. Kaplan (2005) suggests the following advantages of total rewards strategy: 4.1. Congruency: The aim of total rewards strategy is that all rewards, including financial and non-financial must complement the business goals and strategies. It provides an incorporated, comprehensive sight of rewards to endorse equivalence and effectiveness of plan and implements, in alliance of business and people strategy. 4.2. Road map for HR specialists: An on paper total rewards strategy gives out as a reference guide to human resource managers to develop and compile new programs. An  evaluation helps business executives to get suggestions from HR managers to execute business strategies. 4.3. Competitive edge for recruitment: In order to attract talent a total rewards strategy helps organisation to differentiate it in a competitive talent pool by attaining competitive edge in terms of recruiting people. 4.4. Improved retention: Employment offerings focuses on people value, enhanced commitment and engagement and reduce turnover. They highlight the emotional bond between employee and employer to motivate and retain people. A strategic reward can increase engagement of work force and produce positive results. 4.5. Moderate labour costs: A reward policy may enable an organisation to moderate its labour costs by trading off several segments of employment package. This can promote flexible employ arrangements which would reduce cost of employment. 4.6. Enhanced organisational performance: Within a performance culture, a total rewards strategy can influence employees’ behaviours which lead to organisational success. A total rewards strategy that satisfies the employe e needs increases productivity, employee commitment and engagement. 5. Strategic rewards versus organisation performance An effective reward strategy attracts people, develops human capital, motivates employee, gains employee commitment and at last increases employee’s performance which ultimately results in organisational performance. So far it is covered that a total reward strategy is an important factor in terms of employee recruitment, retention, development of human capital and performance management. It establishes a performance culture and enhances individual performance. Thus total rewards can be directly incorporated to organisation performance though following: 5.1. Motivation: it an element of physiological contract which encourages, directs and energises a sense to perform extra-ordinarily in want of financial or non-financial interests. Hunter et al (1990) researched that high performance is achieved by well-motivated people who are prepared to practice flexible effort. Total rewards those are practical in deciding the several motivators of employees in an organisation are expected to result to increased employee satisfaction and trigger the desired behaviour which would ignite employees to accomplishment of positive goals by taking exact behaviour which are attractive performance. Further research by Namasivayam  et al (2007) through online survey of 1223 US hotels suggested that there is affirmative association between pay and individual benefits and organisational performance. According to Pink (2005) an extrinsic motivation is required in today’s work culture. Employees have a hectic schedule and the only motivation is the needs they have to fulfil which makes a monotonous work-life balance. 5.2. Commitment: Commitment can be considered at an attachment and loyalty that employees have for their company. Mowday et al (1982) there are 3 characteristics of commitment- 1) A strong desire to stay in the organisation, 2) A strong belief in and acceptance of the values and goals of the organisation, 3) A readiness to exert considerable efforts on behalf of the organisation. According to Walton (1985) traditional control-oriented style of employee management should be replaced by a commitment strategy which enables employees to respond best and most creatively. This is possible when they are given higher responsibilities, encouraged and helped to achieve satisfaction from their jobs. 5.3. Engagement: Performance of an organisation also influenced by the employee engagement towards the organisational design to obtain desired results though intellectual assets. Reilly and Brown (2008) suggest that a strategic reward process, including both extrinsic and extrinsic reward combination, may help to develop and increase employee’s engagement. Influence of total rewards strategy on performan ce by engagement can better demonstrated as modelled below in Figure 3.0. Figure 3.0 How reward policies influence performance through engagement. Conclusion Concluding the importance of total rewards strategy in context to individual performance and consequently organisational performance, it is necessary for an organisation to introduce a clear and achievable reward scheme. The reward functions like base pay, benefits, learning and development and work environment must be described in a way those can produce benefits to employees as well as organisation. A successful total rewards strategy is the one which is integrated with business strategies and designed considering each element of rewards in reference to employee needs. It must contain proper balance of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards to recruit, employee development, motivate, engaged and committed man power.

Chinas Only Child Policy :: essays research papers

When women dream of settling down and making a family of their own, they think about how many children they would like to have. Some like small families containing only one or two children, while others enjoy really big families with four or five children. Here in America, women have the right to give birth to as many children as we want or can physically have. Other country's such as China is not that fortunate when it comes to women giving birth. Since China is the most over populated country, in 1979 they created the one child policy, only allowing women to give birth to one child to try and cut down the population growth. In many towns in China they have people that are called the "family planners" who come to women's houses every day to remind them to take their birth control and not to have more than one child. When even thinking about having a baby, women who work in factories have to ask permission to try and get pregnant. If a woman does get pregnant for the second time while working in a factory, they get their bonus taken away. The most crazy part about this policy to me is that women are getting persuaded left and right to have abortions. I am against abortions, so I think it's horrible that women are getting pressured into having an abortion when they should have the right to be happy with another child. In the video about China's only child policy, they mentioned a woman that got persuaded into having an abortion, she escaped the hospital still pregnant, was searched for, found, and was still forced to have the abortion. I feel that by finding her and forcing her to still take the abortion is not right and is pushing the lines. It's one thing to suggest only having one child, but when it comes to forcing a woman to change her mind, its wrong no matter what the purpose is. Personally, I feel that a woman should have the right to make up her own mind about how many children she should have. I would feel exposed and not comfortable if there was a woman coming to my house everyday making sure that im taking my birth control pills. Also, I don't think that it's fair for factories to not give women their bonuses if they have earned it, just because they got pregnant for the second time.

Antony and Cleopatra is based upon a dualistic vision of experience, the world of Rome pitted against the world of Egypt

Antony and Cleopatra is based upon a dualistic vision of experience, the world of Rome pitted against the world of Egypt. Rome is associated with military glory, honor, and moral duty and this is clearly depicted by the imagery used throughout the play. Through Cleopatra's words in Act 1 Scene1, the audience gets some insight into the Roman way even before Shakespeare introduces it on stage. â€Å"If the scarce bearded Caesar have not sent his powerful mandate to you, ‘Do this, or this; Take in that kingdom and enfranchise that. As she tries to predict the message form Rome, she creates an image of a powerful and commanding Caesar whose sole concern is to ensure the political superiority of the Triumvirate. Shakespeare uses the character of Caesar to represent Rome and therefore creates the idea of a politically-motivated nation. The news from the messenger in Act 1 Scene 2 also supports the political urgency of Rome as it creates images of war and conquest that is occurring back in Rome. He speaks of Fulvia coming into â€Å"the field† and the â€Å"conquering banner† of Labenius, who is an enemy of the Trimuvirate. However, the battle of Actium which occurs after the separation of the Triumvirate is where imagery truly serves to illustrate the military urgency that is associated with Rome as images of ships, sails, swords and battle give the audience a greater understanding of the emphasis they place on war and the preservation of power. This is obvious in Caesar's words as delivers commands for war; â€Å"Strike not by land; keep whole. Provoke not battle till we have done at sea. Caesar's words help to define the Roman vision of experience: militaristic and male, marked by heroic restraint in difficult circumstances, a willed ability to combat one's deepest feelings, a sustained composure when everyone else is falling apart. Egypt, on the other hand, presents a stark contrast to the political world of the Romans. Egypt represents instinctive passion, extravagant love, fertility, and magnanimity. Just as Caesar represents Rome, Cleopatra's character is used to represent Egypt as a whole. The extravagance of Egypt becomes immediately obvious as Cleopatra enters in Act 1 Scene 1. She enters with a flourish of fanfare, a train of female servants and eunuchs fanning her which evokes an image of absolute comfort and relaxation. There is no hint of political concern as she and Antony profess their love to each other in extravagant words which highlight their instinctive passion. This is reflected in Antony's response to Cleopatra's question of the extent of his love; â€Å"Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth. † There are also various references to food and drink in Cleopatra's words and these images serve to create a sense of pleasure which is associated with eating. She refers to her ‘salad days' as she speaks of her youth. She also requests â€Å"music and moody food† to quell her anxiety about Antony's return to her. The atmosphere of pleasure in Egypt is emphasized by Antony in Act 1Scene 1 as he expresses his wishes to indulge in the gay abandon and revelry of Cleopatra's kingdom; â€Å"There's not a moment of our lives that should stretch without some pleasure now. † Another important illustration of the contrast between Rome and Egypt is the imagery that depicts the change in Antony's character. Through the observations of other characters in the play, Shakespeare makes obvious the deterioration of Antony's political prowess and power. The description of this decline usually consists of a juxtaposition of imagery of strength and fortitude with that of weakness and submission. The strength of character is associated with the Antony in Rome who held his political duties in high regard. He deteriorates into a â€Å"doting mallard† of Cleopatra in Egypt where it appears that the atmosphere of abandon and relaxation has cast a spell over him, making him forget his duties as one of the most powerful men in the world. He is described as â€Å"The triple pillar of the world transformed into a strumpet's fool. † This creates the image of deterioration for one who held great power. The imagery of strength versus weakness used in Scarus' speech in Act 1 Scene 1 also portrays the decline in Antony; â€Å"His captain's heart which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst the buckles on his breast, reneges all temper and becomes the bellows and the fan to cool a gypsy's lust. † The strength of Antony's character before his indulgence in the pleasure of the East is enforced by the imagery used in Caesar's tribute to Antony in Act 1 Scene 4. He describes Antony with images of strength and resilience' â€Å"at thy heel did famine follow, whom thou fought against,† â€Å"thou didst drink the stale of horses The contrast between Rome and Egypt also highlights the underlying themes of masculine order versus feminine order as well as the role of the woman . In Rome the masculine ethos which, while having room to honour women in certain limited ways, has little place for them in public life, other than as useful political tools or upholders of very masculine ideals or as producers of soldiers. There is little respect for them as is obvious in the imagery used by various Romans to describe Cleopatra. She is described as a lustful gypsy which is an image used to degrade her character. When Octavius thinks of how his sister should enter Rome in a manner fitting her importance, the only images he can reach for which might express his feelings are ones taken from the vocabulary of military triumphs: â€Å"The wife of Antony should have an army for an usher. † It is significant that he can convey his high esteem and strong feelings for her only in images more appropriate to a returning triumphant general. On the other hand, the woman holds a role of utmost importance in Egypt. Cleopatra's position as queen is the primary image of this. Enobarbus' tribute to her also creates an image of her infinite power and freedom as a woman. something entirely at odds with the Roman emphasis on predictable order, law, and consistency. â€Å"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety. † In Cleopatra's palace, women talk openly about explicit sexuality. They are attended by men and this creates an image of female superiority. They express their sexual feelings, joke about sexual matters, and establish a close female community. The image of the horse in relation to Antony and Cleopatra's sexual encounters is one of few images that used to express sexuality. This highlights the ability of the woman to be open and expressive as opposed to that of Rome who is expected to be reserved and serve their men. Another major theme of the play to which imagery gives great insight is that of the love between Antony and Cleopatra. They profess their love for each other in an exaggerated style, using images of vastness to describe the extent of their feelings. In Act 1 Scene 1 when Cleopatra claims that she will set a limit (bourn) on Antony's love, he responds â€Å"Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth. † This trend continues throughout the play. Even in death their love is made evident by the imagery used in their speech. Cleopatra's motivation for suicide is her reunion with Antony in death; â€Å"I am again for Cyndus, to meet Marc Antony. † This creates the image of their first meeting and emphasizes the immortality of their love as she wishes to recreate that moment in the afterlife. Cleopatra herself finalizes this as she says â€Å"I have Immortal longings in me. † Another main focus of the play is politics and the desire for power. This gives rise to ‘worldliness' of the play as the Romans seek to preserve and expand their empire. The political strategies never remain confined to Rome and there is frequent mention of the capture of neighbouring countries The imagery used reinforces the sense of grandeur and the huge scope of the drama.. It is seen from Act 1 Scene 2 when the messenger form Rome describes Labenius conquering lands from Asia, Euphrates, Syria, Lydia and Ionia. There are also frequent images of the sea and the earth in relation to politics which give a sense of vastness and help to highlight the importance of politics and world conquest. This is illustrated by Cleopatra as she describes war as â€Å"the world's great snare. † Some of the political imagery used to describe Antony also helps to reinforce the huge scope of the drama. He is called â€Å"the greatest prince of the world,† â€Å"the demi- Atlas of the world,† and â€Å"the crown o'th'earth. † He is not only a strong leader in Rome but a â€Å"triple pillar of the world† as Rome's empire extends all over the globe. In examining the imagery of love and politics in Antony and Cleopatra, the underlying theme of war versus love cannot be ignored. This is made evident in the imagery in Antony's words as he struggles to find a balance between upholding his political duty and indulging in passion with Cleopatra. A prime example of this is when Antony is about to leave for war in Act 4 Scene 4. As Cleopatra tries to lace his armour he calls her â€Å"the armourer of my heart. † The image of armour gives a sense of impending war but Antony uses it to convey that Cleopatra has captured his heart. This contrasting imagery occurs several other times in the play, even in the same scene when he gives her a â€Å"soldier's kiss. † The juxtaposition of war and love illustrates Antony's conflict of choice between love and duty. It also helps to illustrate how he downplays the importance of war and politics in the face of love. Antony himself acknowledges this as he admits that he lost to Caesar at sea because he trusted Cleopatra's fleet to help him win the battle; â€Å"My sword made weak by my affection. â€Å"

Vigilance Awareness

As you are well aware, there is an increasing concern about corruption eroding the basic values of life. It has not only a negative effect in social dynamics but also erodes the value system established in the country. It is important that the younger generation who has to play a pivotal role in the development of the country needs to be educated on the urgency to fight against such unethical practices. In general, Vigilance awareness means awareness about the rights and duties of the individual in curbing corruption – both social and economic. It is a precaution to break corruption being aware of the corruption.Now-a-days, vigilance awareness week is celebrated for developing the social awareness amongst the people. When we are cheating in exams we think that we are very brilliant guy. But we don’t realize that we are leading a step towards an evil – corruption at our individual level. We are not aware of the affects of our works which lead to devastate the soci al and economic conditions of our country. Now the question arises, why we have to be aware from this corruption? Why corruption is compelling us to be more aware and aware. Because corruption is found to be one of the most damaging consequences of poor governance system.It is characterized by lack of both transparency and accountability. Corruption lowers investment, hinders economic growth and human development. It is one of the factors responsible for poverty. That’s why we have to be vigilantly aware. If we found a cheating anywhere, we should immediately lodge a complaint. But many of us think that what is the need of lodging a complaint. If we oversight the corruption, it will be repeated again & again and lead to big scam. Hence, vigilance awareness is required to identify and check the fraud and disorderness. Vigilance Awareness As you are well aware, there is an increasing concern about corruption eroding the basic values of life. It has not only a negative effect in social dynamics but also erodes the value system established in the country. It is important that the younger generation who has to play a pivotal role in the development of the country needs to be educated on the urgency to fight against such unethical practices.In general, Vigilance awareness means awareness about the rights and duties of the individual in curbing corruption – both social and economic. It is a precaution to break corruption being aware of the corruption. Now-a-days, vigilance awareness week is celebrated for developing the social awareness amongst the people. When we are cheating in exams we think that we are very brilliant guy. But we don’t realize that we are leading a step towards an evil – corruption at our individual level. We are not aware of the affects of our works which lead to devastate the soci al and economic conditions of our country.Now the question arises, why we have to be aware from this corruption? Why corruption is compelling us to be more aware and aware. Because corruption is found to be one of the most damaging consequences of poor governance system. It is characterized by lack of both transparency and accountability. Corruption lowers investment, hinders economic growth and human development. It is one of the factors responsible for poverty. That’s why we have to be vigilantly aware. If we found a cheating anywhere, we should immediately lodge a complaint. But many of us think that what is the need of lodging a complaint. If we oversight the corruption, it will be repeated again & again and lead to big scam. Hence, vigilance awareness is required to identify and check the fraud and disorderness.

Jest and Earnest Essay by David Woolf

Jest and Earnest Essay by David Woolf Jest and Earnest essayby David WoolfAnnie Dillard's "Jest and Earnest" is a complete contradiction. It compares three different points of views. The title itself is a juxtaposition, the word jest has to do with fun, and earnest is a sort of conservative seriousness. Dillard tries to convey her beliefs on creation and how even seemingly complete opposites have something in common. She depicts for us a vivid description of an occurrence and then justifies that occurrence. The imagery in her essay moves from a depiction of an atrocious act, to a description of beauty, and finally to a vision of both.From the get go, Dillard describes to us a scene in "jest" with frogs of all sorts laying in different positions. Some are above, some are below, and still others are right along the waters edge. Her essay progresses towards a more "earnest" situation where a frog is violently eaten by a giant water bug.dillard'sShe vividly describes the gruesome meal. The giant water bug first grips the fro g and then devours it by liquefying it's organs Using diction that would even make the hardest of biologists tremble, she is able to vividly describe to us the macabre attack and eventual consumption of the frog. She then justifies the act by stating that other carnivorous animals devour their prey in similar or even more vicious manners. Life is hypocritical she says because life itself depends upon the consumption of food yet survival depends on not becoming that food.Dillard then moves on to an act of beauty depicted by a mockingbird. The "jest" action of the mockingbird making a straight vertical decent from the roof gutter of a four story building was a beautiful, spontaneous act. Again, Dillard vividly describes the actions taken by the...

buy custom Exploration of the Arab-American Muslim Community essay

buy custom Exploration of the Arab-American Muslim Community essay Arab-Americans comprise an ethnicity consisting of groups of people from 22 countries spread across south-west Asia and North Africa. Some refer to them as Middle Eastern. These people immigrated to America during the 19th century and continue to do so up to date, albeit in smaller numbers. The majority of the easily identified Arab-Americans are Muslims even though they are the minority of the community. The Muslim Arab-Americans mostly stand out because of their religious and traditional practices. The noticeable practices of the Muslim Arabs are: Ramadan fasting, attending of Mosque on Friday, among others. These people also commonly stand out because of their dressing especially the women who wear hijabs or burqas. The burqa is an enveloping and modest attire that covers the body from head to toe and is mostly worn by Islamic women in public. The men also sometimes spot long beards. Unlike other foreign cultures and ethnicities in the United States, the Arab American Muslims have maintained their traditions; consistently passing them onto their children. This being evident from the learning that takes place in open Islamic private schools (Samhan). These noticeable features coupled with the fact that these Muslim Arabs do not inter-marry, makes the community an easy target for discrimination and bigotry. Their distinguishing features have also formed the basis of the stereotyping of Arab Muslims living in America. Hamza, Yaseen, El-Houbi, Duncan and Diaz (18) explain that most media channels in the early years typecast Arab Muslims as billionaires, bombers with veiled harems and long beards. Most of these stereotypes have since been done away with but the image of a Muslim bomber or terrorist has remained. The US census classifies the Arabs as whites but some Arabs especially the Muslims have felt discriminated against. This has mostly been experienced since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. There was however discrimination of Arab Muslims pre the September 11 attacks. The first wave of Arab American immigrants was confronted with discrimination on the simple ground that they were foreign but it was not that rampant. The Arab-Israeli conflict increased bias against the Middle Eastern culture owing to the fact that America supported Israel. Discrimination against Arab American Muslims was also experienced because of the war that America had been fighting in Iraq against Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was a dictator who had committed heinous crimes against humanity and was finally captured and hanged by the US government in 2006. These images of dictators and wars from Middle East had served as a way of stereotyping Middle Eastern people since that was the only way they were portrayed by the media. Discrimination against Arab-Americans was however not so pronounced as that of the other races and ethnicities such as blacks and Hispanics. Discrimination however increased with the images in the media and also terror attacks such as the 1993 bombing of World Trade Centre. A new wave of stereotyping and extreme bias became evident following the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001. This discrimination was based on the fact that the terror gang in Afghanistan identified as Al Qaeda was said to be responsible for the twin attacks. The hijackers of the planes that crashed into the twin towers were all identified as Muslims. The attacks saw Muslim Arabs in America all pigeonholed as terrorists. This was mostly seen in the airports where some even refused to board planes with a Muslim passenger. There has also been closer scrutiny of immigrants from Middle East. In some airports, the Muslim Arabs have been subjected to stricter standards. Personally, I must admit that after the terror attacks, I became more alert and conscious about the Muslims around me. The terror attacks made Americans angry as many had lost their lives and some still suffer the adverse effects of the tragedy. In some States, it was reported that Muslims were insulted in public and atta cked. Mosques were also vandalized and burnt in some places. Extreme hatred and contempt was also shown to anyone who associated themselves with the Arab Muslims. The attacks created an image of bloodthirsty, religious fanatic and animalistic Arab Muslims which saw their discrimination rampantly increase. The Council of American Islamic Relations reported that after 2001, hate crimes against Muslims tripled. The American government also closed down six charities belonging to American Muslims, following the attacks. There has also been unconscious discrimination in the criminal justice system where there has been detention and torture of suspected terrorists and this has mostly been applicable to Arab American Muslims. This was mostly seen in the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison. The stereotypes of Arab American Muslims according to the findings of this research are not true. Other studies have also proved that Arab American Muslims are very different from the terrorists. There are also many Arab American Muslims who have spoken openly against jiha and other extremist behavior. Most Muslims advocate that Islam is a religion of peace. Arab American Muslims are also from various countries with various cultures. They do not all come from Afghanistan or war torn areas. It was however observed in my research that Islam calls for modesty and conservatism and that is why the women have to cover their heads. The men do not however have to spot long beards or look like Osama bin Laden. The Arab American Muslim community is as diverse as any other community and they do not all fit in one pigeonhole. Having viewed movies and documentaries about the Middle East and especially the Muslim community, I had formed opinions and stereotypes about them. The September 11, 2001 also shaped most of my opinions about the community. I had not interacted with people of this community before, and there was no way of verifying the ideas and concepts that I had gathered from the media. This research has however helped me to interact with some members of the Arab American Muslim community. I have conducted interviews on their thoughts on racial bias in America and how at home they feel in America especially after the 2001 attacks. I have also visited websites such as alhewar.com which elaborate on the Arab American culture and dispels some of the myths held about the community in America. To fully understand the extent of the discrimination and the daily struggles of Muslim Arabs in America, I had to immerse myself in their culture. I decided to be one of the Muslims for a whole week. This meant t elling people that I was Muslim and dressing like one. I also walked together with the Muslim group of people that I had chosen to help me with the research. This experience proved to be quite enlightening and challenging at the same time. It was also worthwhile and gave me the opportunity to be able to experience everything first hand. Methodology The cyberspace has a lot of information on the Arab American Muslim community. This is where most of the information on this research was obtained from. The interviews with the Muslims were also a reliable and first hand source of information on the group. The research also relied on journal articles and television interviews and popular shows. As has been mentioned above, I researched about the Muslim Arab community by becoming one of them. The Muslim group of people who were my interviewees also served as my guides in order to make the experience more real. Everywhere we went, people understood that I was one of the Muslims and treated me as one. The Muslim community treated me with utmost hospitality even though they understood that I was not one of them. There were however stares from strangers on the streets and a shopkeeper once refused to serve us on the basis that he did not support terrorists. The discrimination was disheartening as it felt like an ambush on me even though I knew I was not a Muslim. This was the part that brought some apprehension on my part. This is because no one likes to be attacked or be discriminated against. The anxiety was also heightened by the outright confrontations from some members of the public some of whom clearly showed their disapproval of Islam. There was also anxiety at first about how the Muslims would respond to the issue of segregation, given the fact that it is still an emotive issue. I also had my doubts on the consequences of posing as a Muslim in America. The immersion however helped me get closer to the Muslim community and it helped develop a sense of trust between me and my Muslim colleagues. The Arab Muslims that I had interacted with also helped to point the places where they faced acute discrimination and emphasized that that was their daily struggle. During the interaction I found a peculiar thing that I did not expect. There were some Arab Muslims who had chosen to completely abandon their culture as a way of avoiding stereotyping and discrimination. There were also others who wished to go back to their countries of origin as they were afraid of profiling by the government. There were others who also secretly wished they were born in a different race as they were completely disgusted by the terrorists. This presented an issue of hatred of ones own race or ethnicity. I also asked the research group if they ever thought that the discrimination would come to an end eventually and if the law against discrimination was working in their favour. Most of them were of the idea that the discrimination was unlikely to end in this decade and that anti-discrimination laws did not seem to protect them from outright bias. They felt that the government had removed civil protection of Arab Muslims in America since the September 11 attacks. Findings My observations and interviews led me to the conclusion that the Arab American Muslim community has faced tremendous discrimination since 2001. The discrimination has been open in most cases and has led to serious psychological problems for some, for example the case of the man who disowned his ethnicity and Islam. Most of the Muslims would want to dispel the myth that they are all terrorists and extremists. My research on the Muslim culture also revealed that some of the Muslims were fourth generation Americans who had lived in America for a long period of time. They knew America as their home yet when they were seen on the streets people misconceived them as foreigners and worst still terrorists. The discrimination has had impact on the identity of some of the Muslims. Cainkar (23) states that some have preferred to conceal their identity by changing their names, for example one could change from Farouq to Fred. Others have also gone as far as disowning their families in order not to be identified with them. This has been made possible by the fact that Arab American Muslims without any other distinguishing features are considered Caucasian. The interviews and internet research also revealed that the government did not have a strong enough policy to curb the hate crimes and extreme discrimination against the Arab Muslims in America. This has mainly been attributed to the fact that in some cases, the government has been the biased party. The Muslims also revealed that they felt that the government viewed them as the enemies or relatives of the enemies. I also interviewed some members of the public on why they stereotyped Arab American Muslims as terrorists. Some people answered that even though they knew some of the Muslims were not terrorists, then maybe a brother or other relative back home was, making them equally terrorist. This reasoning appalled me because it seemed that going by this, then the families of the millions of criminals in America would also b e considered as criminals. The investigations also revealed that airports have been worst sites of discrimination for Arab American Muslims. This is because of the fact that the September 11 attacks were as a result of two planes that had been hijacked. The presence of a Muslim has therefore heightened anxiety at the airport and in some cases there are special security checks for them. Some are even removed from planes to be given thorough checking. This has culminated to less Muslim Arabs travelling into the country and within the country. The US Department of Justice issued an internal memo to the Immigration and Naturalization Service and US Customs in June 2002. This memo requested that Yemenis entering the US should be sought out in the airports and searched thoroughly. This requirement also applied to Yemeni Americans, and it saw many Yemeni travelers removed from planes and prevented from boarding. No stereotypes that I had before were confirmed during my exploration of the Arab American Muslim communit y. I realized at the end of the day that no human being is exactly the same as the other. Regardless of the many factors that bind people in a particular ethnicity or race, there were many other different characteristics distinguishing each individual. To work from further judgment of the Arab Americans more so the Muslims, I have decided to access websites and read books to know more about the culture. The colleagues I made from the investigation have also immensely helped me understand many of the things I did not. Conclusion This exploration project has helped me to find out a lot more than I could write in this paper. It has also helped me discover more about myself and my own culture. I learnt that discrimination can have far reaching consequences that society does not contemplate. I also learnt that stereotyping and segregation is painful and I understood civil rights movements such as that of Martin Luther King much more clearly. The discrimination of Arab American Muslims has been under-addressed unlike that of blacks in the earlier years. This is mainly because of the terrorist attacks and this has generated pain and suffering. It is clear that many Americans died during the September 2001 attacks, but hatred and segregation of innocent people will definitely not solve the problem of terrorism. The real terrorist culprits should be captured, investigated and sentenced. This was exercised during the Oklahoma City 1998 bombings, where the real culprits were captured. Whidden (2829) states that the Ok lahoma City bombings were the worst in Americas history. He also states that Arab American terrorists have been responsible for only a few bombings in American soil since 1984; most terrorist attacks being executed by Americans themselves. This is not to condone or promote terrorism but what I learnt is that in the same way one would not want to pay for the mistakes of another person, Arab Muslims in America would not want to pay for the mistakes of the Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. Justice should be afforded to all American citizens regardless of their race or ethnicity. There have however been some positive changes since the 2001 attacks and Americans are trying to learn more about Islam. We have to look for the commonalities that unite as Americans instead of erecting differences and tolerating each other (Jamal). Buy custom Exploration of the Arab-American Muslim Community essay

The Mako Shark

The Mako Shark Two species of Mako sharks, close relatives of great white sharks,  inhabit the worlds oceans – shortfin makos and longfin makos. One characteristic that sets these sharks apart is their speed: The shortfin mako shark holds the record for being the fastest shark in the sea and is among the fastest swimming fish in the world. How Fast  Do They Swim? The shortfin mako shark has been clocked at a sustained speed of 20 mph, but it can double or triple that speed for short periods of time. Shortfin makos can reliably accelerate to 46 mph, and some individuals may even reach 60 mph. Their torpedo-shaped bodies enable them to surge through the water at such a rapid speed. Mako sharks also have tiny, flexible scales covering their body, allowing them to control the flow of water over their skin and minimize drag. And shortfin makos arent just fast; they can also change direction in a split second. Their remarkable speed and maneuverability make them lethal predators. Are They Dangerous? Any large shark, including the mako, can be dangerous when encountered. Mako sharks have long, sharp teeth, and they can quickly overtake any potential prey thanks to their speed. However, mako sharks dont usually swim in the shallow, coastal waters where most shark attacks occur. Deep-sea fishermen and SCUBA divers encounter shortfin mako sharks more often than swimmers and surfers. Only eight mako shark attacks have been documented, and none were fatal. Characteristics The mako shark averages about 10 feet long and 300 pounds, but the largest individuals can weigh well over 1,000 pounds. Makos are metallic silver on the underside and a deep, shiny blue on the top. The main difference between shortfin makos and longfin makos is, as you may have guessed, the length of their fins. Longfin mako sharks have longer pectoral fins with broad tips. Mako sharks have pointed, conical snouts, and cylindrical bodies, which minimizes water resistance and makes them hydrodynamic. The caudal fin is lunate in form, like a crescent-shaped moon. A firm ridge just ahead of the caudal fin, called a caudal keel, increases their fin stability when swimming. Mako sharks have large, black eyes and five long gill slits on each side. Their long teeth usually protrude from their mouths. Classification Mako sharks belong to the family of mackerel or white sharks. The mackerel sharks are large, with pointed snouts and long gill slits, and theyre known for their speed. The mackerel shark family includes just five living species: porbeagles (Lamna nasus), salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis), shortfin makos (Isurus oxyrinchus), longfin makos (Isurus paucus), and great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias). Mako sharks are classified as follows: Kingdom - Animalia (animals)Phylum - Chordata (organisms with a dorsal nerve cord)Class – Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish)Order – Lamniformes (mackerel sharks)Family - Lamnidae (mackerel sharks)Genus – IsurusSpecies – Isurus spp Life Cycle Not much is known about longfin mako shark reproduction. Shortfin mako sharks grow slowly, taking years to reach sexual maturity. Males reach reproductive age at 8 years or more, and females take at least 18 years. In addition to their slow growth rate, shortfin mako sharks have a 3-year reproductive cycle. This extended life cycle makes the mako shark population extremely vulnerable to practices like overfishing. Mako sharks mate, so fertilization occurs internally. Their development is ovoviviparous, with young developing in a uterus but nourished by a yolk sac rather than a placenta. Better developed young are known to cannibalize their less developed siblings in utero, a practice known as oophagy. Gestation takes up to 18 months, at which time the mother gives birth to a litter of live pups. Mako shark litters average 8-10 pups, but occasionally as many as 18 may survive. After giving birth, the female mako wont mate again for another 18 months. Habitat Shortfin and longfin mako sharks differ slightly in their ranges and habitats. Shortfin mako sharks are considered pelagic fish, meaning they inhabit the water column but tend to avoid coastal waters and the ocean bottom. Longfin mako sharks are epipelagic, which means they inhabit the upper portion of the water column, where light can penetrate. Mako sharks inhabit tropical and warm temperate waters but arent usually found in colder water bodies. Mako sharks are migratory fish. Shark tagging studies document mako sharks traveling distances of 2,000 miles and more. They are found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, in latitudes as far south as Brazil and as far north as the northeastern United States. Diet Shortfin mako sharks feed mainly on bony fish, as well as other sharks and cephalopods (squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish). Large mako sharks will sometimes consumer larger prey, like dolphins or sea turtles. Not much is known about the longfin mako sharks feeding habits, but their diet is probably similar to that of shortfin makos. Endangerment Human activities, including the inhumane practice of shark finning, are gradually pushing mako sharks toward possible extinction. Makos are not endangered at this time, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), but both shortfin and longfin mako sharks are classified as vulnerable species. Shortfin mako sharks are a favorite catch of sport fishermen and are also prized for their meat. Both shortfin and longfin makos are often killed as bycatch in tuna and swordfish fisheries, and these unintentional deaths are largely underreported. Sources Shortfin Mako, University of Florida, Florida Museum website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Longfin Mako, University of Florida, Florida Museum website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Isurus , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.oxyrinchusIsurus paucus, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark, University of Florida, Florida Museum website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Mako Shark, NOAA Fisheries Fact Sheet. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Species: Isurus , Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.oxyrinchus, Shortfin makoSpecies: Isurus paucus, Longfin mako, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Ovoviviparity, Support Our Sharks website. Accessed online July 12, 2017.Flexible Scales Add to Speed of , by Sindya N. Bhanoo, November 29, 2010, New York Times.Shortin Mako Shark

Willa Seldon case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Willa Seldon case study - Assignment Example During her initial few months as the executive director, Seldon had to deliberately and at a fast pace roll out several initiatives in order to ensure that Tides Center could become a customer-centric organization that was capable of delivering an exceptional form of fiscal sponsorship services along with steady organizational growth. There were many features in the leadership style of Willa Seldon that she exhibited while her tenure at Tides Centre (A). They incorporated the modern and a few traditional methods of leadership. These are explained below: a. Changing the organization’s mission and goals- it sometimes becomes necessary to modify or completely change the mission statement of an organization. This may be required to keep pace with the competitors or align with the customers’ needs. Changes also become necessary when there are similar companies coming up in the same industry which can threat an organization to shut itself down. So in order to avoid such situa tions it is necessary to change the missions and goals for the organization concerned (Chew, Cheng & Lazarevic, 2006, p.63). From the given case study we can see that there were many places where Tides Centre needed immediate changes. Seldon had endured to utilize her strength to re-module the missions that were expected by the founder of the organization Drummond Pike. According to her version, Tides Centre was in need for an extensive modification in its cultures, its management, its operational approaches, perceptions, and its business related orientation. The entity had to change to a corporate identity instead of its non-profit orientation. This had compelled Seldon to impose time restrictions on many of the new projects. Timely changes often help to refocus on organizations and implementing new operational trends which could help to add several competitive advantages. Also mentioned in the case study is the fact that there were many companies which had collaborated with the fi nancial aid industry and so it became imperative for Seldon to bring in changes in the hospital’s organizational goals so as to keep in pace with the growing changes. b. Working closely with the entire staff - Seldon had made it a point that every single member in the organization would have to contribute for the prospective changes to be made. A leader should always incorporate his/her fellow mates in the organization’s growth programs since it would require equal contributions in order to realize its goals. As a leader, Seldon had assembled a general meeting inviting the entire workforce in Tides in order to discuss the various organizational missions and the visionary prospects. The move was carried out to include the entire workforce into her prospected changes. Critically, Seldon compelled every employee or worker to think of himself as a change agent who had to play an important role to save Tides. This was done to create a sense of belonging in the employees. A leader should always aim at bringing the entire workforce of an organization together before it executes its planned changes. This would then curb the probable chances of resistance and any conservativeness that are evident among the staff member. Seldon was also working closely with several of the colleagues irrespective of their job ranks and implementing new strategic linkages between the organizational departments (Grant, 2005, p.469). Promoting interdepartmental relationships is an important feature that needs to be followed going by the changing markets conditions and the corporate demands. This was done by Seldon when she introduced interactions between the HR department and the finance offices to ensure that the employee related matters received immediate attention. This would also ensure the recruitment,

What are the strengths and weaknesses of seeing organizations as Essay - 1

What are the strengths and weaknesses of seeing organizations as purely rational configurations - Essay Example This study will be centered towards analyzing strengths and weakness of considering an organizational configuration as purely rational. There is no such definition that can precisely explain the concept of organizational behavior. Organizational theory can be stated as a concept that helps in studying system of formal organizations and their relationship with external environment. There are various concepts which are included in such study such as leadership, organizational development, organizational behavior, organizational and industrial psychology, human resource studies and management. Organizations have developed from past many years and during due course of time people have witnessed which of them are best firms. Rationalization or scientific management, division of labor and bureaucracy are some well known organizational theories. The term rational basically indicates making a conscious decision and not getting influenced by emotions. Absence of emotional aspect might result into an inappropriate organizational functioning. This study will be focused on determining advantages of rational perspective of a firm and its possible negative consequences. There are two significant factors of rational organizational like formalization and goal specification. Goal specification can be stated as forming guidelines in order to complete tasks and allocate resource appropriately. On the other hand, formalization is a method adopted to standardize organizational behavior. These two procedures results into stable expectations and develops a rational system. In modern world the major area of concern for all firms is to offer equal opportunities to all team members and take practical decisions that are not based on emotional grounds or on any such experience. This study shall reveal dual perspective of purely rational organizations with the support of appropriate

Social Needs of Children and Adolescents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Social Needs of Children and Adolescents - Essay Example B. According to the social learning theory, children learn the skills of effective communication through their observations of adults around them. The development of communication skills among children is hence, directly related to their parents and the environment in their homes. A happily married couple is likely to give positive vibes and create a positive environment for the child which in turn leads to the development of a strong sense of emotional security in the child, thus ultimately contributing to positive interaction skills among them (Fine & Harvey, 2006). Â  C. Emotional unresponsiveness is the key quality in a family environment that may restrict the development of crucial social development skills among children. Children, who lack emotional support from their parents, tend to lack self-confidence and results in an insecure relationship between the child and the parent. This further creates a high-stress environment in the family, leading to serious negative consequences on the social development of the child (Mash, 2003). Â  D. The adoption and implementation of psychoeducational approach in a classroom help in the development of positive intrapersonal skills development among children (Hunter-Carsch, 2006). One of the most significant aspects of a classroom environment is the one which encourages the children to listen attentively. Since effective listening skills contribute to the development of effective problem-solving skills (Adams, 1994). Â  E. A classroom environment which follows a strictly formal approach while interacting with the students could prove to be detrimental to the achievement and development of effective social skills.

Improving Transactional Processing in Accounting Information Systems Research Paper

Improving Transactional Processing in Accounting Information Systems - Research Paper Example Transaction is an instance of doing business of any kind and may include buying of stocks from a security market and consumable goods at from a retail shop. In all the instances, there is exchange of money for goods or services. During the transactions, the need to keep the record of transactions increases, in order to be able to monitor the performance of the business. Businesses have adopted several strategies of maintaining their records, preparing forms and reports for financial purposes such as tax among others (Mattessich, 1998). These records are a part of the entire Information System maintained by a business. For a business to remain in market there must be a well set out Information System that enables all the stakeholders to interact with, and benefit from the available information. These systems have further been adopted into accounting due to efficiency, in some cases due to integrity. There has been an upward development of how accounting is carried out since the dawn of civilization. These changes have been necessitated by the tremendous growth of business transactions. Sometimes, the changes have been as a result of complexities involved in these transactions (Mattessich, 1998). With the emergence of technology in the past years, business operations have been affected. This includes how transactions are handled and the parties that are involved. It is however important to note that although technology may be disadvantageous in some cases, its adoption has greatly improved operations of businesses in general and more benefits can be realized should technology be monitored effectively (CBS Library, 2011). From the old days of Mesopotamia, ancient people kept records of businesses using clay tablets where they inscribed details of transactions (Mattessich, 1998). The inefficiency of such record keeping has over the years, pushed people to develop new methods

MANAGING YOUTH WORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MANAGING YOUTH WORK - Essay Example The importance of making a living is repeatedly told by the parents so that their children can understand that they have to earn sooner and later in their lives. Additionally the philosophy of work is worship is also quite prevalent in developed nations and therefore elders encourage the next generation towards living a productive life in the community. The above mentioned positive attitude is indeed helping strong economies in maintaining a higher level of living standards. When the majority of the individuals make their own living then the burden of the society divides that causes a notable improvement in the community. But in case of underdeveloped or developing country's skilled labor and highly educated people are rare and therefore the responsibility of economic welfare of four to ten people resides on the shoulders of one individual. The aforementioned condition is causing a significant hindrance in the process of fiscal development as more than seventy percent of the workforc e is unwilling to work at all. The lack of education is also considered as a leading cause of poor economic conditions in the third world (O’Higgins, 2003 pp 8). ... ished to foster certain types of professional behaviors in the youth while they are trained to implement creativity and newness in the upcoming corporate world. The professors and trainers also highlight the role of technology in the modern day business world. Youngsters are also guided to consider technological development as a friend whereas they are encouraged to embrace it when performing their responsibilities in the practical arena. The investments in youth developmental programs are ideal for those cultures where people are willing and committed towards sharing their knowledge with others. But in developing nations experienced professionals feel reluctant regarding knowledge sharing with others because they fear that their own skill set will become obsolete if they share it. Yet according to modern research if a person shares his or her knowledge with others then he or she might gather new information as well. The ability to share knowledge and its benefits are explained in So cial Exchange Theory that is identified as one of the fundamentals of modern management (Emerson, 1976 pp 347). The companies operating in developed economies play their role in supporting youth development with the help of offering internship programs so that they can train the next generation of corporate soldiers to say the least. Literature Review According to contemporary research on the topic of youth work, it is quite evident that the nations that use these kinds of programs as a source of development in youth end up with an excellent workforce for the future (Larson, 2000 pp 181). The nations that are deploying the concept of youth work include the names of America and England (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 2004 pp 111) whereas in developing nations Malaysia and

American Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

American Foreign Policy - Essay Example The country's founding fathers seem to have given overlapping powers to Legislature and Executive, and this led Edwin Corwin to say that both branches are expected "to struggle for the privilege of directing American Foreign Policy." This has naturally resulted in Executive and Legislature sharing foreign policy decisions. It has also resulted in a kind of competition and jealous guarding of their spaces, which has led to unpleasant bickering many times. Constitution has laid down these principles as an effective check against each other's power, and the hope of a highly gratifying foreign policy that would be helpful not only to America but also to the rest of the world, as America is a huge and powerful nation. They had not foreseen that America would become the only superpower, but they had definitely foreseen that it would be an influential power in the world, that would have a definite say in world matters. These thinkers want clout to be a very positive one. To a very large ext ent, they have attained their wish, though it leads to one-upmanship very often, especially when the incumbent in the White House is not a visionary. America had gained her independence much before any other colonies and her only rival in those years was Britain in world affairs. Slowly when British power diminished after two world wars, America more or less conducted her foreign affairs on her own terms and this made the American President an invincible and all-powerful personality on the world stage. But at home, there had always been a slight, sometimes more pronounced tug of war between the Executive and Legislature, which worked as an effective check during times of stress, and an irritant, sometimes even a definite threat during other. Treaties in the US are entirely executive agreements. American presidents have made many international agreements through Congressional-Executive Agreements and only the President has the power to do so. These have to be ratified by only the maj ority in both the Houses. Some constitutional scholars have said that these CEAs are unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court has upheld their validity. Once these agreements are reached they are binding while these procedural acceptances go on.  Foreign policy is the politics of shared power between executive and legislature and these two have to maintain the balance.   The extent to which the executive power touches the foreign policy had always been a matter of controversy. Today there are many pragmatic and constitutional arguments trying to fix the boundaries of executive power on war, national security and treaty interpretation.   "Finally, the President has broad residual power over foreign affairs, but that power does not extend to matters not part of the traditional executive power. Accordingly, the President cannot claim lawmaking or appropriations power in foreign affairs. American foreign policy still runs with an institutional approach where the powerful executive sometimes takes the center stage, or a less powerful one allows the Legislature to take an upper hand.  

MANAGING YOUTH WORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MANAGING YOUTH WORK - Essay Example The importance of making a living is repeatedly told by the parents so that their children can understand that they have to earn sooner and later in their lives. Additionally the philosophy of work is worship is also quite prevalent in developed nations and therefore elders encourage the next generation towards living a productive life in the community. The above mentioned positive attitude is indeed helping strong economies in maintaining a higher level of living standards. When the majority of the individuals make their own living then the burden of the society divides that causes a notable improvement in the community. But in case of underdeveloped or developing country's skilled labor and highly educated people are rare and therefore the responsibility of economic welfare of four to ten people resides on the shoulders of one individual. The aforementioned condition is causing a significant hindrance in the process of fiscal development as more than seventy percent of the workforc e is unwilling to work at all. The lack of education is also considered as a leading cause of poor economic conditions in the third world (O’Higgins, 2003 pp 8). ... ished to foster certain types of professional behaviors in the youth while they are trained to implement creativity and newness in the upcoming corporate world. The professors and trainers also highlight the role of technology in the modern day business world. Youngsters are also guided to consider technological development as a friend whereas they are encouraged to embrace it when performing their responsibilities in the practical arena. The investments in youth developmental programs are ideal for those cultures where people are willing and committed towards sharing their knowledge with others. But in developing nations experienced professionals feel reluctant regarding knowledge sharing with others because they fear that their own skill set will become obsolete if they share it. Yet according to modern research if a person shares his or her knowledge with others then he or she might gather new information as well. The ability to share knowledge and its benefits are explained in So cial Exchange Theory that is identified as one of the fundamentals of modern management (Emerson, 1976 pp 347). The companies operating in developed economies play their role in supporting youth development with the help of offering internship programs so that they can train the next generation of corporate soldiers to say the least. Literature Review According to contemporary research on the topic of youth work, it is quite evident that the nations that use these kinds of programs as a source of development in youth end up with an excellent workforce for the future (Larson, 2000 pp 181). The nations that are deploying the concept of youth work include the names of America and England (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 2004 pp 111) whereas in developing nations Malaysia and

Career Development Plan Part III Performance and Career Management Essay

Career Development Plan Part III Performance and Career Management week 4 - Essay Example The reason this is a great assessment to use is that it takes into consideration feedback from customers, the individual and their manager. This gives them a well rounded evaluation and carries more than a one sided approach. According to Focal 360 the purpose of the 360 feedback is to give employees confidential and anonymous feedback from the people around them. This allows the individual to understand at every level what they are doing right and what can be improved. This assessment could give employees a baseline of information to work from and they could then develop their own specific goals because of it. From this type of feedback we can develop individual goals that fit the employees needs. This would also encourage managers to work with each individual employee in a way that is without prejudice or judgment to the employee. We will also have to help manage dual career families. According to Human Resource Chapter 1 the employer should add some sort of childcare to the process. At the current time we do not have a budget for this but it could be something that we put in the plans for another time. We will also have to take into consideration that the timing of an advancement for an employee may not be right for their family, so we would want to offer them the advance at another time if they are a duo-career family (Human Resources, Chapter 10, p. 380). This would help us become a more "family friendly" organization. We can have available an audio program online that new hires can listen to who have not had the benefit of the training that we have planned for the group. The consultant has agreed to help us with this situation as an addition piece of the training if we would like it. Another element of training should be the opportunity to go to conferences and tradeshows. Although the company does not have the money to send them perhaps we could look at a reimbursement program for college

Investigating the Possibility of a Developmental Trend in the Way That Children Describe Themselves Essay Example for Free

Investigating the Possibility of a Developmental Trend in the Way That Children Describe Themselves Essay This version of Rosenberg’s research into children’s self-descriptions analysed data from semi-structured interviews with two children; Annie (8) and Kirsty (16). The data was interpreted to ascertain whether, as in Rosenberg’s research, children’s self-descriptions show evidence of a developmental progression and whether locus of self-knowledge shifts from other to self as children get older. Substantial support was found for Rosenberg’s theory that children’s self-descriptions become more complex with age and demonstrate a developmental trend. Some support was found for the idea that the locus of self-knowledge shifts from other to self with age but some of the children’s responses ran counter to expectation. Introduction A child’s sense of identity begins to form at a young age and develops throughout childhood. Eleanor Macoby (1980) pointed out that a sense of self emerges gradually as a child develops more complex understandings. Research shows that children differ in the way that they describe themselves at different ages. Bannister and Agnew (1977) and Harter (1983) found that as children get older they use more complex descriptions and include more references to emotions and attitudes. Younger children rely more on physical attributes, activities and preferences. Bannister and Agnew (1977) proposed that as children get older they become better able to ‘distinguish themselves psychologically’ from others (The Open University, 2009, p.20). Harter (1983) proposed that the way children describe themselves follows a developmental sequence which reflects the notion that identity develops in increments throughout childhood. Rosenberg (1979) focused part of his research into the self-concept on investigating this idea of a developmental trend in children’s sense of identity. He interviewed a sample of 8-18 year olds and created categories in which to sort the children’s responses. In keeping with the findings of Bannister and Agnew and Harter, Rosenberg found that younger children used mostly physical descriptions of themselves while older children relied more on character traits. As a result he concluded that ‘the self becomes less and less a perceptual object and more and more a conceptual trait system’ (Murphy (1947), as cited in The Open University, 2009, p.21). He found that, as children get older, they focus more on interpersonal traits and refer more frequently to relationships and inner qualities. Rosenberg also investigated what he called the ‘locus of self-knowledge’ – the extent to which children develop an ‘independent, self-reflective sense of self’ (The Open University, 2009, p.22). This was measured by asking children who knew them best, themselves or someone else. He found that younger children were more likely to claim that another, usually a parent, knew them better. Older children were more self-reliant when it came to judging themselves. Therefore, Rosenberg concluded that the locus of self-knowledge shifts with age from another to the self. Increased self-knowledge would result in more psychological self-descriptions so this relates to the idea of developmental progression being demonstrated in children’s self-descriptions. This study is based on Rosenberg’s research and is an analysis and interpretation of interview data. Children’s responses are allocated to Rosenberg’s categories in order to answer the research question: Do children’s self-descriptions show evidence of a developmental trend? This study will focus on answers to the ‘Who Am I?’ statements but will also pay attention to further interview responses to understand differences in the way children of different ages self-evaluate, view themselves and others and conceptualise an ideal self. This study also examines the concept of a locus of self-knowledge and asks: Does a child’s locus of self-knowledge shift from other to self with age? Method Design Rosenberg’s research design is employed in this study the responses from a semi-structured interview are compared. Participants The participants are Annie (8) and Kirsty (16), pupils from schools in the Milton Keynes area. They were recruited by the ED209 course team who asked school teachers for help in identifying willing participants. Materials A microphone and a video-recorder were used to amplify and record the interviews. Rosenberg’s semi-structured interview, with questions on self-description, self-evaluation, self and others, ideal self and locus-of self-knowledge was used. A sheet of A4 with the words ‘Who Am I?’ printed at the top and ten numbered lines beginning with ‘I’ was provided to enable participants to complete the written exercise. Adaptations of Rosenberg’s categories were used to analyse the responses to the Who Am I? exercise. The analysis of the ‘Who Am I?’ statements was presented on category analysis forms (appendix 1). A consent form was provided for the parents of the children to sign. Procedure The interviews took place in May 2005 during the day. Both children were interviewed by members of the ED209 course team in familiar rooms used by the schools. Annie was accompanied by a classroom assistant. The participants were told that they could stop the interviews at any time and were briefed as to the purpose of the research. A sound recordist and producer were present but efforts were made to ensure that neither they nor the equipment used inhibited the participants. Background noise was occasionally intrusive and recording halted. The final recording of the interviews was edited to ensure a smooth flow. The recorded interviews were listened to several times. The ‘Who Am I?’ statements were identified and transferred onto a pre-prepared category analysis form (appendix 1). The categories, Physical, Character, Relationships and Inner, were adapted from Rosenberg’s (see appendix 2). Each sentence read out by the interviewer was taken to constitute one statement. The statements were then coded. To ensure coding consistency, each statement was reviewed against the criteria for the inner category, then relationships, then character and then physical. Only if there was no way it could be said to fit within the ‘higher’ category was it pushed down. Even if it may have fitted within two categories, the fact that an order of review was applied meant that it would not be considered for a second category if it had already been allocated. Once the categories had been applied, the responses in each column were added up and the percentages calculated so that the results could be compared with Rosenberg’s findings. Next the detailed responses to the interview questions, including the locus of self-knowledge questions, were analysed in the context of Rosenberg’s research findings. The responses of the children were analysed to see if the same patterns were present. Ethics The data collected by the Open University ED209 course team was intended to comply with the BPS ethical code and principles. The children agreed to take part and their parents signed consent forms on their behalf. At the start of each interview the children were informed of their right to withdraw from the research and were told that they could ask for the recording to be stopped at any time. The purpose of the research and they way in which the data would be used was explained to them before the interviews began. Results The first research question was: Do children’s self-descriptions show evidence of a developmental trend? The second research question was: Does a child’s locus of self-knowledge shift from other to self with age? Table 1 shows a comparison between Annie and Kirsty’s self-descriptions. It shows that the majority (60%) of descriptors used by the younger child are about physical characteristics and activities and the remainder are character descriptors. She makes no reference to relationships or inner qualities. The majority of the older child’s responses relate to inner qualities (50%). She spreads the remainder of her descriptions across the physical, character and relationship categories. Self Evaluation When discussing their strengths and weaknesses, Kirsty focused far more on character and relationship descriptions than Annie, who focused on physical attributes, particularly for her weak points (‘my ears my legs’). However, Annie counted her friends as a strength and the fact that she likes ‘being myself’. Self and Others Annie’s awareness of similarity to others in her age group was centred on having the same likes and dislikes. She also identified differences between herself and others in this way. Kirsty talked about having the same experiences as others her own age but identified character and inner traits as distinguishing her from others. Ideal Self Annie’s notion of herself in later life was focused upon what job she might do and how else her time may be spent. Kirsty focused on the character traits that she hoped to have developed. Locus of Self-Knowledge The locus of self-knowledge responses were not straightforward as both participants gave ambiguous answers at times. Annie conceded that in some ways her mother would know her better than she knew herself and Kirsty insisted that her mother knew her just as well as she did herself. Discussion In the ‘Who Am I?’ data, it can be seen that, in accordance with Rosenberg’s findings, the majority (60%) of descriptors used by the younger child are about physical characteristics and activities. Rosenberg found that older children are more likely to use character traits to define the self. In this analysis, Kirsty actually uses a lower percentage of character descriptors than Annie, but this is influenced by the large percentage of inner descriptors used. The data in this study supports Rosenberg’s finding that older children referred more frequently to relationships. He also noticed that older children were more likely to reference inner qualities, which can be seen by the high percentage of Kirsty’s inner descriptors (50%). For the main part, the analysis of the self-description data supports Rosenberg’s findings. Rosenberg found that older children focused on interpersonal traits when describing their strengths and weaknesses. Kirsty’s responses follow this pattern but Annie also mentioned the large number of friends she has as a strength. She also said that ‘being myself’ was a strength which was interesting. The interviewer explored this a little more and she seemed to revert back to describing preferred activities. Further prompting, however, may have ascertained that by ‘being myself’ she meant that she was confident about who she was, which would be a character description. It is difficult to tell at this point if Annie lacks the ability to explain what she means which may affect the results. Rosenberg found that only 36% of 8 year olds mentioned interpersonal traits when talking about the person they would like to become, compared with 69% of 14-16 year olds. Annie and Kirsty’s responses fall into the majority pattern for their age group. Analysis of the data provides a positive answer to the research question, Do children’s self-descriptions show evidence of a developmental trend? The developmental trend as identified by Bannister and Agnew, Harter and Rosenberg, is characterised by younger children relying on physical attributes when describing themselves and older children being able to use more sophisticated and complex descriptions that focus more on psychological characteristics. The data in this study largely supports this theory. The evidence for the locus-of-self-knowledge shifting from other to self with age (as Rosenberg found) is less obvious. When asked about who knows her best at school Annie identifies teachers and parents as being the best judge of her performance, which supports the idea that the locus of self-knowledge in young children rests with another. However, when questioned further about who would be right if they had different answers about Annie’s maths performance, Annie’s responses indicate that she is the best judge of her ability. However, when questioned about her behaviour at home she places the locus of self-knowledge with her mother. Kirsty, somewhat surprisingly given her high percentage of references to inner qualities (indicating high self- knowledge), believes that her mother would know her just as well as she knows herself and explains that her mum has ‘pretty much figured me out’. She decides that any differences in answers about how she would behave at home would be a matter of different interpretations. It is possible that Kirsty is unsure about what is being asked and a reformulation of the questions might provoke different responses. Although Kirsty does not exactly place the locus of self-knowledge within herself, she does not place it with someone else either, and so the data does not, in itself, contradict Rosenberg’s theory. The analysis of the locus of self-knowledge responses produces some support for Rosenberg’s findings but it is not conclusive. However, it is important to remember that this is a sample of only two participants and so the data is not enough to prove or disprove his theory. Another limitation of this study is that the coding reliability was not checked. Coding was applied according to one person’s interpretation. Had the coding of the data been interpreted differently results may have been different for the self-descriptions data (see appendix 3 for alternative coding of Kirsty’s responses. In this instance the evidence in favour of a developmental trend in self-descriptions is present but less compelling). Another consideration lies with the ethics of the research. The issue of informed consent is often difficult in research with children. In the case of a young child, such as Annie, it is not clear that she fully understands the nature of the research, despite the fact that it is described in simpler terms than those used to explain it to Kirsty. It is also possible that the power-imbalance between the interviewers and the participants may prevent them from withdrawing from the interview, even if they are told that they can. Conclusion The results of this study provide support for the idea of a developmental progression in the way that children describe themselves, particularly the analysis of the ‘Who Am I?’ data. Qualitative analysis of the other interview questions, however, while showing some support for Rosenberg’s theory, also presents some deviation from expectations.

Media Influences On Publics Fear Of Crime Media Essay

Media Influences On Publics Fear Of Crime Media Essay Fear of Crime, Violent Behavior And Policy Changes. Mass media is obsessed with crime. Today in our society, as well as other western societies, crime seems to be a topic of fascination. The criminal justice system appears throughout the mass media. From television shows and films to books, newspapers and magazines, crime turns up for everyone to see. By the 1970s the crime or police drama had replaced the western for the most prevalent prime-time television fare (Doyle, 2006). The boundary between crime entertainment and crime information has been blurred progressively more in the past years (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). Roughly half of the newspapers and television items people come into contact with are concerned with crime, justice or deviance (Doyle, 2006). With the bombardment of criminal images surrounding people every day, the mass media often influences how people look at crime. The picture presented in the media of crime differs from the picture by official and other statistics (Doyle, 2006). How the public fears crime, the violent behavior associated with it and even some policy changes are all thought to be influenced by the media. While there is some debate as to how much influence the media actually has on these things, there is some evidence to suggest there is some connection. The study of media influences on crime has increased substantially throughout the years. In more than 30 years the interest and diversity of the field has expanded substantially, along with our knowledge about the interplay between the media and crime. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s Gerbner et al (1980) works expanded the knowledge about the relationship between the consumption of various media sources, mainly television, and the fear of crime. Heath and Gilberts (1996) works on how audience traits affects and Liska and Baccaglini (1990) works on direct experience expand the understanding of how different characteristics could affect the medias influence on the fear of crime. When people interact with the mass media, they are often showered with criminal images. It is suggested by many that this bombardment of criminal images people experience can lead to a higher fear of crime. Since many of these images are violent or include violence in some way, they can cause the public to overestimate how much crime there is. Throughout the years, more and more crime has been mentioned in the media. There is a highly skewed presentation of crime highlight stories of select forms of crime (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). It seems the old adage if it bleeds, it leads is true when it comes to news stories. The most serious and violent crimes are given the best entertaining angles and are presented as hard news, even if the facts are distorted and misrepresented (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). Often times crime in the media is stylized as infotainment, that is it is presented in a way that is edited, stylized and formatted in a way that is camouflaged as realisti c and informative (Surrette, 2006). People associate the information they see on the television to real life. If the television shows elevated crime rates, real life must also. The line between media crime and real life crime has become blurred. For example, studies in Canada have found that despite significantly lower crime rates, Canadians are more afraid of crime than their American counterparts (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). It is not quite known why this is the case since both counties enjoy much of the same viewing habits. It seems that maybe the line between reality and media portrayals of crime have blurred even more for Canadians than for Americans. This could lead to potentially remarkable analyses of how people filter news, reality shows and drama to construct their ideas about crime (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). In addition, television series and movies have seemed to make the move towards criminal themes. These criminal justice themes run throughout many American television shows, each showing a skewed view of justice in which the public absorbs. There is some debate among researchers as to whether or not the mass media actually influences the publics fear of crime. In an earlier study, Gerbner et al (1980) found that individuals who watch mass amounts of television show a higher rate of fear towards their environment than those who watch a less television. A later study conducted in the 2000s seemed to partially reinforce Gerbners early results. Even when controlling for age, gender, race, income, education and marital status, people who watched crime shows regularly showed a significantly higher rate of being fearful of crime (Dowler K. , 2003). On the other hand, the hours of television as the primary source of crime news was not significantly related to the fear of crime (Dowler K. , 2003). The crime portrayed on the television is more violent, haphazard and hazardous than the crime in reality. Those who are exposed to it more internalize these images and develop a mean world view (Dowler K. , 2003). Crime show viewers we re more likely to worry about being sexually assaulted, shot or stabbed and getting killed. On the other hand, Rice and Anderson found a weak association between television viewing and the fear of crime (Dowler K. , 2003). While Dowler himself found that there was a statistically significant relationship between the watching of crime shows regularly and the fear of crime, he also found that it was not a strong relationship (Dowler K. , 2003). Who is viewing the stories and where the person is located influences how much influence the media has on the fear of crime. Heath and Gilbert (1996) suggest that the relationship between the mass media and the fear of crime is contingent on the audience and the message. Large amounts of local crime news increased fear among those who lived in the area while large amounts of non-local crime had the opposite effect (Dowler K. , 2003). Chiricos et al (2000) also found that local and national news affected the fear of crime. They found that the effect of local news was greater for residents of high crime neighborhoods. Also, those who live in high crime areas and watch large amounts of television were more likely to be fearful of crime (Dowler K. , 2003). Other factors, like experience and demographics, influence whether or not media consumption affects the fear of crime. For instance, when a person has a direct experience with a particular crime in a story, he or she is less likely to be influenced by that story. It is when direct experience is lacking that the media influences the fear of crime the most (Liska Baccaglini, 1990). Gerbner et al (1980) found that the relationship between the fear of crime and the amount of television watched was greatest for females and whites. Another researcher also found that the females, whites and the elderly were more likely to be fearful of crime even though they had a lower risk of being victimized (Dowler K. , 2003). As mass media grew in size and number, the fear that the violent images seen on television caused violent behavior seemed to increase as well. From research on video games to violent television shows, trying to understand whether or not violence in the media causes violent behavior has been a topic of vast discussion. For centuries people have been concerned with the corrupting nature of media, dating back to at least ancient Greek and Roman times. Plato cautioned that plays and poetry may have detrimental effects on youth and should be burned (Ferguson, 2010). Throughout history, people have been arguing that violent media could lead to violent or unwanted behavior from those who are exposed to it. In the 1930s social research on the matter began and the Payne Fund studies were released which suggested a link between movie watching and aggressive behavior (Ferguson, 2010). Setting the stage for the debate that was to come, critics noticed a lack of control groups and difficulty meas uring aggression (Ferguson, 2010). Several decades later the debate would really begin to take off with the introduction of the television into society and a few decades later moral crusaders began to link crime waves with the mass production of the device. Violent crime spiked in the late 1970s to the 1980s but even though the rates were comparable to those before 1930, a link was established by looking only at a slice of Americas crime patterns (Ferguson, 2010). In the 1970s video games came onto the market with the launch of first game counsel. Almost immediately debate as to whether violent video games could have an adverse effect on childrens development started. This concern for the violence developing because of the video games at the time was founded since according to the American Psychology Associations pamphlet violent behavior is learned, not genetic (Ferguson, 2010). When Grand Theft Auto was introduced to the market, the debate really began to take off. David Grossman, a respected activist, claims video games desensitize youth to killing because they simulate the real thing. His main argument claims these killing, violent video games mimic combat and the US military actually uses similar devices to desensitize soldiers so they will be more willing to kill an enemy combatant (Ferguson, 2010). He argues that since the military began to use simulators, soldiers in combat are more likely to shoot and kill an enemy soldier than a WWII soldier (Ferguson, 2010). He also claims that exposure to violent media and specifically violent video games can be a predictor of youth violence (Ferguson, 2010). In an extensive meta-analysis study conducted by Anderson et al (2010), they found that violent video games stimulate aggression in players and increase violent behavior later in life. After playing for a short while, Anderson showed that mild aggressive beha vior increased in youth for a short while. After repeated, habitual exposure to the violent game, the youths aggressive behavior became worse and even became physical on occasion. On the other hand, while some researchers have found some positive relationships between violent video games and violent behavior, others have found no relationship or a negative one. Others who have found effects, when looked at closer by critics the relationship disappears when certain factors are accounted for. It is also said that meta-analysis of violent video games produce inconsistent and weak results (Ferguson, 2010). Sherry (2007) found that a meta-analysis on video games produced weak effects and the results were even weaker than for the television (Sherry, 2001). Numerous other researchers produced similar results that violent video games did not have an effect on the violent or aggressive behavior of children and youth. Even with their interactive nature, video games do not produce more of an effect on violent behavior than television or anything else. In the case of television, there is much debate as to whether or not there is a relationship between violent media and violent behavior. While some research has shown that violent television and media have an effect on violent behavior others do not. In a two year longitudinal study done by Hopf and associates, they found that the more frequently children view horror and violent films and the more frequently they play violent video games at the beginning of teenage years, the higher their violence and aggression rates will be at the age of 14 (Hopf, Huber, Weiß, 2008). Other research by Anderson and associates found that exposure to any kind of violent media, whether it is television or video games, increases the risk of violent or aggressive behavior in both immediate and long term contexts (Anderson, et al., 2003). Short-term exposure to violent media increases aggressive thoughts, behavior and emotions (Anderson, et al., 2003). Earlier research results tended to show that shor t term exposure could increase aggression in people (Drabman Thomas, 1974). Many of the studies done throughout the years have shown that exposure to violence on television through film and series increases peoples aggressive and violent behavior but there are a few critics out there claiming the effect is small and/or weak. Political policy changes are also thought to be influenced by the media. Since we are contently surrounded by media texts, it is reasonable to conclude that the media would have some influence on policy. Particularly gruesome, heinous crimes have tremendous appeal to the media. Since these stories sell and are attractive to both consumers and the producers, these types of crimes often saturate the airwaves and print material. The media can construct a new crime problem or can construct a moral panic around a particular crime by twisting and relaying facts. By creating a moral panic or by creating fear and anxiety around a crime, public pressure for solutions to problems are put on political figures. Some researchers found that the presentations of crime news increases pubic pressure for more effective policing and more punitive responses to crime (Dowler K. , 2003). Dowler (2003) also found that those with a college education were more likely to hold non-punitive attitudes. It was su ggested that these people were more likely to recognize the inequality of the justice system (Dowler K. , 2003). Crime news has been long understood to have influence in moving society towards law and order campaigns, increasing social control and punitive responses to criminal conduct (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). Research has indicated a sophisticated understanding of the interplay between the media and policy (Dowler, Fleming, Muzzatti, 2006). The message from the media outlets is clear: there is a strong support for more critiques of police efforts, harsher measures, stronger laws and/or an increase prison sentences. Although the debate rages on as to whether or not the media actually influence the fear of crime, violent behavior and policy changes, there are some things that future research needs to consider. First of all, one should be careful not to make associations prematurely. Assumptions should be made carefully about the production or reception of media products when the analyses based on the media products themselves (Doyle, 2006). Numerous researchers use the media texts themselves to make assumptions about the production and reception of different forms of media. Many times it is also assumed that the audience taking in the various media forms conforms to a dominant ideology the same way. While this may work for some research, work rooted in various critical theories should avoid this mistake and not assume a homogeneous public (Doyle, 2006). Secondly, one should acknowledge the considerable diversity and complexity in media organizations, production, formats and audiences (Doyle, 2006). Media and crime are both complex entities which researchers need to take into account. Crime in the media is a diverse phenomenon that needs to be accounted for. It shouldnt be oversimplified and unified. It is assumed that crime in the media isnt as varied and complex as other social phenomena. Often times the media reports have a pack mentality in which they try to appeal to a wide population. On the surface this may make it seem as though it is a homogeneous entity but in reality it is more complex. One key flaw in academic and other accounts of crime in the media a unitary, reductionist reading in terms (Doyle, 2006). This flaw should be changed by accounting for the fragments and recognizing that neither the audience nor the media texts themselves are homogeneous. More complex, specific, and contingent way of thinking about crime is needed when thinking about how it is represented in the media (Doyle, 2006). In order to explore effects or influences has been to move away from the construct of a homogenous audience and look directly at the repercussions of representations of crime in the news media in particular political and institutional contexts (Doyle, 2006). Specific media coverage could provide some insight into how the media actually influences the criminal justice system and the public. Political consequences should be considered when looking at influences and effects. It could prove to be easier to analyze effects directly on political events and other institutional contexts. Case studies should be used to show the political effects on political episodes of media coverage in a more specific, localized way (Doyle, 2006). For example, in New York, police and politicians used the media to manufacture a crime wave which served their own ends by resulting in more police resources and tougher laws. Analyzing more direct political and institutional effects of crime and the medial repres ent an advance (Doyle, 2006). It offers perhaps the best way of approaching the question of how news-media coverage contributes to the politics of law and order (Doyle, 2006). It also opens up more questions about the place of crime stories in the lives of individuals, questions that cannot effectively be answered by the fear of crime topics (Doyle, 2006). Lastly, researchers should give more attention to the very substantial interplay between crime news and crime fiction (Doyle, 2006). Most researchers only consider one subject, even though there is often similar and intersecting public concern. These common approaches ignore the fact that these two aspects could be intertwined. Both news and entertainment media texts interact, shape and are shaped by frames of meaning about crime and punishment (Doyle, 2006). Sometimes fictional television shows take their stories from news headlines. These shows incorporate the story of real life and when seen by the public it is often interpreted in that context. Both of these factors seem to be interpreted together by the public as a package. Since these items are absorbed together and not separately from each other, they should also be studied as such. There have been lots of efforts and difficulty to try and isolate and measure influences of the media on crime. For example, many critics have come forward questioning whether or not the media actually influences the fear of crime. It has been widely criticized for the way it operationalizes key concepts, like simply counting the number of hours people watch television and contrasting the attitudes of high viewers and low viewers (Doyle, 2006). Other factors need to be taken into account in order to make sure there is an actual relationship. For example, while it could be suggested that watching lots of television causes fear of crime, it could be that those who are fearful of crime tend to watch lots of television (Doyle, 2006). It is not clear which factor causes the other. While lots of research has been done to try and figure out which way the causation goes, it is more likely that fear and media consumption reinforce each other (Doyle, 2006). In an effort to isolate causality in the media more control has been imposed through the creation of experimental situations (Doyle, 2006). This has mostly been used in violent behavior and television violence relation studies. One key problem with this study is external validity: it becomes difficult to judge how the artificial environment generalizes to the outside world (Doyle, 2006). There is much debate as to whether or not media actually influences crime and criminal behavior. While some researchers contend that the effect of media influence is significant, others claim it is weak, if not nonexistent. Even if we are not influenced by them as strongly as some believe, they are still all around us. Crime is ever present while the lines between reality and the media continue to be blurred. No matter what one believes, one thing is for sure: we are and will continue to be bombarded with media images.