Relection in Nursing Essay

The purpose of this paper is to outline the issues of gender inequality on society as a whole, these effects are prominent in different segments or fields of the society, such as in working places, homes, education sector and as much as we can think of. Could these inequalities be the reason why women are unlikely to get the same wages/salaries as men? Historically, the domination of men in policymaking, leaderships, and most sectors of the society have been steady. Thus, the resulting segregation of men and women is not exactly surprising. Gender inequality is what causes segregation between men and women; it’s also a highly contested segment in the area of sociology, even though there is a milder occurrence of situations having to do with gender inequality now compared to early days. Its occurrence cannot be over emphasized. Difference in culture, environment, and the social era at the present moment can affect how humans perceive gender inequality? And how it affects them n egatively or positively? When we talk about gender inequality, most times our minds are driven towards the fact that men are considered higher than women in all ramifications; this is part of what brings about the inequality. Hence, this brings about patriarchy construct; ‘’which refers to social conditions being thought of or structured in a way that favors men and boys over women and girls’’ Gender inequalities are not biological but socially constructed. Theoretical approach such as the feminist theory broadens our knowledge about gender inequality.somewhat, Gender inequality has some relationship with homosexuality because its all about the perception, not just the sexuality; in cases where a person with the male gender but happens to be gay, in some areas of the society he is somehow treated as that of a female even though he is originally of the male gender, just because he has a sexuality of the female and acts in such a manner as of a woman i.e. dress codes, gestures ,relationships wife other people, the gay person is therefore treated with almost the same rank of inequality as of a woman. Examples of such cases can be seen in schools for example; a teenage boy in high s chool and has a gay sexuality is not exactly considered to be someone with a ‘high reputation’ in the school settings, he could be often bullied or made to feel so less of himself, this could explain the reason why most men with gay sexuality have more conversant interactions with women than they do with men, thus, even if he is of a male gender just because he portrays acts of a woman in his sexuality he is often treated equally as a woman, but these are only in some sections of the society. Also, in religion there is a strong connection between religion and patriarchy or religion and gender as the case might be, the question ‘Does God favor males?’ arises Christianity has it that women should always be submissive to men because a woman was made out of the ribs of a man meaning that she is under him. ‘A man is the e image and glory of God; but women is the glory of man.for man was not made from woman neither was man created for woman, but woman for man’’ (1 Corinthians 14:33-35) also in the Qur’an it is said that ‘’Men are in charge of woman hence good women are obedient’’ (Qur’an). It is no debate that women are seldom leaders of priestess in churches or congregation, it has been a battle in the last 5o years and it is only in recent times that women are being ordained as pastors and some form of leader. An instance can be seen when dealing with content analysis; which refers to as the ‘â₠¬â„¢studying of sets of cultural rules, artifacts or events by systematically counting them (to show which ones dominate) and interpret the themes they reflect’’ feminist approaches to content analysis attempts to expose pervasive patriarchal (male -dominated) and misogynist (women-hating). Elaine Hall, in her article ‘one week for women? The structure of inclusion of gender issues in introductory textbooks (1988), she demonstrated how women’s issues are treated as an afterthought in introductory-level texts, while Judith Dilorio, in a paper presented in the 1980, used content analysis to examine scholarity articles on gender role research and found out that their methods naturalized (made natural or normal seeming) social facts that diminished women and promoted male-oriented conservatism (as analyzed in Reinharz 1992:147,361). Today, different categories of feminism and gender roles are being cultivated to promote women. According to the introduction to sociology textbook ‘’Feminism liberalism acknowledges contributions of women in public realm of work place and examines whether women receive fair pay for the work they do. Kachuk explains ‘identifies women as a class entitled to rights as women’ (kachuk 2003:81). Liberal feminism helps women to be able to receive benefits not available to other women, basically it concentrates on making women equal to men in terms of employment opportunities and salary. Feminist essentialism is another gender theory which focuses of the thinking strategy foe men and women and argues for equity or female superiority in that difference, this involves social norms that are more or less natural to them, therefore the idea to this is the that morality is negatively valued in a patriarchal society, feminist essentialism speaks constructively about the potential for women’s differences from men to be positively valued. Feminist socialist according to Kaxhuk, have revise their Marxism so as to account for gender, something Marx ignored, they want sexuality and gender relations included in the analyses of the society, and finally postmodernist feminism which takes the strongest social constructionist positions, it refers to women more as subjects than as objects of sociological study, allowimg perspective of the women studied to guide their research, this can be viewed from the stand point theory. Gerda Lerner talked about patriarchal values, she defines it as ’’simply the assumption that the fact of biological sex differences implies a God-given or at least a ‘’natural’’ separation of human activities by sex, and further assumption that this leads to a ‘’natural’’ dominance of male over female.’’ This definition can be seen in many social categories such as the wage gap, pay equity, occupational segregation and many more. Feminists have also laid the impression that in a patriarchal society, men are treated as normal, while women are treated in what is considered as inherently deviant, example of such term could be viewed in the case of the witch hunts waged in Europe and later on, in colonial America from about the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Those who were identified as witches were tried and, if found guilty, executed. This for several reasons makes the witches an intriguing case for the sociological study of deviance Also, through structural functionalism effects of gender inequality can be viewed. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) talked about how people are products of societies and environment, ones behavior is way beyond what they posses in characteristics or traits, and there are social facts that take control over an individual. In his book suicide (1897) one of the things that was mentioned were how suicide could be achieved due to ones weakness in connection to the society. This theory could be an explanation as to how women are most likely considered as the weak gender compared to men, due to the way are they are reduced by the society. In socialization, feminist organizations have come up with some Attaining gender balance among managers, editors, and reviewers: This journal focuses on the gender pay gap in certain occupation, it was found that women being placed in lower pay-grade positions is responsible for the pay gap. Also brown talks about ‘’the perception that an academic career in the scientific field will not result in a permanent job for up to seven years after a bachelor’s degree. Many women consider this an obstacle to their plans to start a family, and are concerned that they will only just be getting a foot on the career ladder when they are considering having children. The irony is, research and editorial work is actually far more flexible than many other professions, meaning that women could more easily balance the demands of a family with those of their career.’’ In the Article: THE EFFECT OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION WITHIN FAMILY OF ORIGIN ON THE PERCEPTION OF GENDER INEQUALITY, ATTITUDES TOWARDS GENDER ROLES AND THE TENDENCY TO DISCRIMINATE BASED ON GENDER. T he effect inequality in gender and gender discrimination was studied in this article, it was found that individuals who passed through some kind of ender discrimination in the society, family or origin would face some sort of injustice and would be emotionally sensitive as the grown up. According to this article ‘’ A national representative sample of 1363 participants reported on their experiences of gender discrimination within their family of origin, their perception of gender inequality in Croatian society, attitudes towards gender roles, hostile sexism, their tendency to discriminate based on gender, and their willingness to engage in affirmative actions aimed to reduce gender inequality in Croatian society. Results show that 50% of women and one third of men were exposed to some form of unequal treatment in their family, both by their mothers and fathers.’’ This shows that gender inequality goes a long way. Another article titled Culture and gender inequality: Psychological consequences of perceiving gender inequality. It was said that different cultures and societies have different beliefs and reactions to how gender inequality should be justified. According to this article ‘’research investigated these differences and their psychological consequences using cross-cultural comparisons. The results show that Hong Kong Chinese women saw gender inequality as less unjust (Study 1) and less unfair (Study 2) and valued gender equality less (Study 2) than European American women did. Gender inequality caused anger (Study 1) and predicted reduced life satisfaction (Study 2) more among European American women than among Hong Kong Chinese women’’ In conclusion, the precious rights of women have been denied and violated, which has causes more harm than good in their lives and society, as it goes from generations to generations there seems to be a trend in the causes and effects of gender inequality, these are such as discrimination, segregation. feminism and patriarchy they show up in some kind of way when dealing with gender inequality. Apparently there are psychological, emotional and physical effect built on victims of gender inequality. Such as torture, threats, bully and so much more. It is imperative to put both genders into consideration and understand the essentiality of both sexes roles power fame and money should be acquired and deserved, if the male gender proves to be deserving whatever role, they should acquire it, also, if the female gender proves to be deserving to a particular role or acquisition due to hard work or some kind of technical skill, they should be given the opportunity to role. Just as the situation seems to get milder as times past, it could be assumed that in another century to come gender inequality might not be of a great sociological problem. Perhaps, there could be an increase in the number of women who are in the political sector or in the decision-making segments BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mar. 2012. . â€Å"Evolution.† California State University, Northridge. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. . Steckley, guy Kirby letts.2010.Elements of sociology. oxford: oxford university press. Zoe Kinias, Heejung S. Kim, group processes & intergroup relations, â€Å"Gender Inequality.† – Term Papers. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Shelley Correll.† Stanford Sociology Professor, Director Clayman Institute Gender Study. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. http://sociology.stanford.edu/people/shelleycorrell/shelleycorrell.html . Revija za socijalnu politiku [1330-2965] KAMENOV, Ã… ½ELJKA yr: 2011 vol: 18 iss: 2 PG: 195

Candide by Voltaire Essay

In the beginning of 17th century and the peak of 18th century, there was a movement known as â€Å"Enlightenment† which encompassed a wide variety of ideas and advances in the field of philosophy, science and medicine. Voltaire embodies the Enlightenment more than any other intellectual or writer. Enlightenment is also called the age of Voltaire. The followers of the movement had profound faith in the power of reason and rational thought. They believed that this philosophy would lead human beings to a better social structure. They attacked both the aristocracy and the church. In ‘Candide’, Pangloss and his student Candied maintain that â€Å"everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds†. This idea is a simplified version of the philosophies of the enlightened thinkers, most notable are Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. These philosophers believed that God exist and since God is perfect, so the world he created must be perfect too. They argued that people recognize imperfections in the world only because they are not aware of God’s grand plan. Voltaire does not accept that a perfect God or any God exist. Throughout the novel, he mocks the idea that the world is perfectly good and heaps merciless satires on this idea. The optimists Pangloss and Candide suffer and witness a wide variety of horrors- whipping, rapes, robberies, unjust execution, disease, earthquake, betrayal and crushing world-weariness. After Candide was thrown out of the castle of the baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, he was handcuffed and carried to the Bulgarian regiment. He witnessed the atrocities committed by the Bulgarians on the Abarian territories after winning the battle against King of Abres. They burn down villages, ravish young virgins and kill men and women alike. While travelling on ship to Lisbon along with Pangloss and the Anabaptist James they face a tempest. In Lisbon, they faced a violent earthquake, which destroyed three-fourth of the city of Lisbon. At the advice of the sages of the country, Dr Pangloss and Candied are secured for burning them alive for the infallible prevention of earthquake. In Surinam, Candide is robbed of his wealth. The lady he is in love, Miss Cunegund suffers too. She is ravished by two Bulgarians and receives two deep wounds in her belly. Her own castles are demolished and she witnesses the brutal murder of her parents and her brother. Though born a baroness, she is reduced to the station of a cook-wench. In the end she becomes the slave of Transylvanian prince and turns ugly and even Candide finds her repulsive. Pangloss the philosopher is reduced to a slave of a Turkish captain and Candide sets him free from slavery by ransom. These events only points to the cruelty and folly of humanity and indifference of the natural world and do not serve any good purpose. Pangloss struggles to find justification for the terrible things in the world but his arguments turn out to be absurd. In the end of the novel, Pangloss admits that he does not believe any more in his own previous optimistic conclusions. This example of events showed how Voltaire established his opposition towards the Christian Doctrine. He imposed Enlightenment through Pangloss’ characterization – its struggles and sufferings despite of his faith and ideology towards Christianity. The most glaring flaw in Pangloss’s optimist is that it is based on abstract philosophical argument rather than real-world evidence. In the chaotic world shown in the novel, philosophical speculations repeatedly prove useless and sometimes destructive. Again and again, it prevents characters from making realistic assessment of the world round them. It also stops them from taking positive action to change adverse situations. Pangloss is a character who is most vulnerable to this sort of folly. He checks Candide from saving the Anabaptist James from drowning during Tempest by demonstrating to him that the roadstead of Lisbon had been made on purpose for the Anabaptish to be drowned in there. When Candide lies on the ground covered with stones after the violent earthquake in the city of Lisbon, Pangloss ignores him request for oil and wine and instead makes great effort to prove the causes of the earthquake. Throughout the novel, Candide’s confusion regarding the philosophies of Pangloss is very much evident. When Candide and Cacambo are held by the armed Oreilles and they cry out: â€Å"A Jesuit! a Jesuit! we shall be revenged; we shall have excellent cheer; let us eat this Jesuit; let us eat him up†. Candied cannot accept the philosophy of Pangloss that everything is right. Voltaire elaborated his stand towards the issue of Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment. He explained through his novel the arguments of enlightenment through the characterization of Candide and counter-arguments through the characterization of Pangloss. Voltaire did not only encompass the existence of his philosophy for his belief in Enlightenment but also the existence of science, religion, and society. This criticism of philosophy that encompasses Candide is much more surprising and dramatic given Voltaire’s own status of a respected philosopher of the Enlightenment movement. Voltaire satirizes organized religion in his novel ‘Candide’. A series of corrupt, hypocrite religious leaders emerge throughout the story. The reader encounters the old women (who assist Candide and Miss Cunegund), daughter of a Pope. The pope, a man who as a catholic priest should be celibate, instead he is shown married in the story. A Catholic Inquisitor hypocritically keeps a mistress. A Franciscan friar steals all the jewellery of Miss Cunegund. Despite the vow of poverty taken as a member of the Franciscan order, he operates as a jewel thief. Finally the author introduces a Jesuit colonel who has marked homosexual tendencies. In the story religious leaders are shown to tyrannize humanity. The baroness Miss Cunegund is reduced to the status of a wench by My Lord Inquisitor. Candide meets the Pope, an orator who sermonizes on the subject of charity. The orator abuses and threatens him when he begs for food and his wife discharge a utensil full of water on him, thinking that he has accused him husband of being antichrist. Voltaire criticizes the superstitions of religious practice through the incident where sages of Lisbon decide that few men should be burnt alive to prevent further earthquakes. In the novel, the religious leaders also carry out inhuman religious oppressions against those who disagree with them on smallest theological matters. The Inquisitor persecutes Pangloss for expressing his ideas and Candide for simply listening to him. Pangloss is hanged and Lord Inquisitor preaches and cruelly whips Candide. Voltaire presents several examples of hypocrisy and immorality of religious leaders but he does not condemn the everyday believer of religion. James is a member of a radical protestant sect called the Anabaptists. These scenarios proved the idea of Voltaire towards Christianity and Enlightenment. Even if he put these elements to show the rationality of his evidences and justifications, it still shows that Christianity does not fill the incompleteness of radical belief. It also implies that Voltaire attacked the weak points of Christianity and give way to the strong points of Enlightenment. Throughout the whole novel, Voltaire made a distinct differentiation between Enlightenment and Christian Doctrine. However, it was seen that the arguments of Enlightenment brings positive evidences for its justification while Christian doctrine is obtained as negative integration of knowledge and conception. This criticism can be seen through the struggle, sufferings, and situation of Pangloss. In the end of the novel, Pangloss made up his mind and went through the light of Enlightenment as he started not to believe from his old principles and convictions. This resolution also made its readers become attracted to the illumination of Enlightenment. As a whole, Voltaire’s novel ‘Candide’ not only censure Christine regimes of power and the arrogance of nobility, but it also condemns certain aspects of the philosophical movement of the Enlightenment. It attacks the theory of optimism that argues that rational thought can restrain the evils committed by human beings.

NVQ and Competence †Essay Essay

In this supporting paper to the presentation, the purpose, the nature and the advantages and disadvantages of NVQ will be stated and analysed; finishing with a conclusion as to whether to follow a NVQ or not. The definition of an NVQ is â€Å"A statement of competence clearly relevant to work and intended to facilitate entry into, or progression in, employment and further learning, issued to an individual by a recognized awarding body†. A national vocational qualification (NVQ) is a collection of vocational qualifications (previously unstructured), which have been integrated into a single assessment standard. This has been done in order to have a nationally recognised level of academic achievement which enables employees to have a clearer level of each job applicant’s respective competency. Competency can be defined as:- ‘An underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superior performance in a job’ (Boyatis 1982, p21) Due to the heavy promotion by the Learning Skills Councils, (LSC’s) and the Department for Education and Employment; the majority of vocational qualifications are either part of the NVQ scheme, and in the rare occasion that it isn’t, most commonly when the qualification is of different nature of those offered by the NVQ syllabus, the qualification will have its equivalence identified to its respective, specific, level of the NVQ system in order for those nationwide (familiar with the NVQs) can have more clarity as to where such candidates stand on the level of competency. NVQs have been developed to suit all occupational areas, with each occupational area there are eight levels with the NVQ system to complete to attain ‘full competency’. This is structured in such a way that level one is the most basic and level eight, the most advanced level of NVQ. The ideal situation of training for competence is done by the manifestation of the development of candidates’ abilities to perform the specific tasks which coincide directly with the nature of the job in its respective department, in terms of performance results (grading), with specific indicators. NVQs have originally been developed with the purpose to serve as a reaction to the ‘confetti-scattering’ style of training which is sometimes carried out by some establishments e.g. a company which sends their staff on off-the-job training with just the objective to learn one particular skill. This training style results in the candidates becoming one-dimensional, due to  having a limited knowledge of skills. NVQs have, in fact been developed in order to give these candidates a more rounded knowledge, thus enabling them to be more versatile, efficient in their respective job positions. The design of NVQ has been structured in such a way that in each of the eight levels, there are mandatory and optional roles (or modules); these are comprised of a collection of several units, those of which are to be completed to be able to progress onto the succeeding level. The table beneath can be used in aid to understand the structural layout of each level in NVQ. There are several advantageous principles adopted by the NVQ system. These include:- 1.The NVQ qualifications are open access in the sense that no prior professional attainment or experience, nor qualifications are required, each candidate will be categorised level (1-8) after a means of analysis (be it a test or a review of current skills/ experience currently obtained). 2.The focus-based learning format of the NVQs. Progression from one level to next is based on when the criteria to advance has been met, this can be as quick or long as the individual will take to learn, opposed to other assessment standards where the timescale restricts the learner to learn in its set time. An example of this is that it is impossible to complete a Master’s Degree quicker than in a year. 3.Flexibility is a key aspect of NVQs, as they are not generally attendance based – in conjunction with the focus based learning aspect of the qualification where the learner can take as long/short as they want. This also enables candidates to continue with their respective business demands of their external employment, in conjunction with following NVQs. 4.School Integration is available to the NVQs (GNVQs), this enables candidates to have early access to the hands on approach, which runs alongside other assessment standards (e.g. An alternative run in the same centres as A –levels etc.), thus showing equivalence in value and progression routes, thus giving more viable options to the candidates). 5.Portfolio based work proves to prospective employees that a track record is available showing day to day skills being learnt, thus proving the levels of understanding and competence of each candidate. 6.Prior Accreditation being put into consideration as to which level they will be categorised, enables the candidate to use their  qualifications/experience regardless of where from, as long as relevant (i.e. A-levels, training at work etc., enabling an individual to start in a more advance d level). NVQs also have a few disadvantageous aspects when following their assessment standards, these include. 1.Labour intensive nature of assessment there is a lot of practical work undergone in the NVQs 2.More focus in gaining evidence than actual learning, lack of cognitive learning amongst candidates. As most of the proof (to validate competency level) is done via the production of a portfolio and the presenting of a track-record , this can easily turn into a ‘paper-chase’ rather than the actual focus on the learning processes of the qualification. The also, ‘going through the motion’ nature of the NVQ can also enable the candidate to not be able to reason, simply performing tasks without having true understanding. 3.Quality of assessment can, due to the large numbers of assessors, have a large variance as the marking of each individual can differ. Especially with the different interpretations of some of the jargon developed by the NVQs assessment grading schem es 4.Partial Competence due to selection of optional modules/ reduced definitions and details, as each candidate can choose their modules in the option roles category and each module having different aspects and natures, the candidate may be subject to effectively not gaining an entire knowledge in their respective occupational fields. An example of this would be (referring to table above) where each module has a code which labels the nature of the unit. Take ‘C5’, With C symbolising say, ‘Managing Self and Personal Skills’, one opting out of such a unit, could prove to give them less than the complete set of skills an NVQ could offer, thus lowering competence. To conclude, NVQs are a system devised by the government to help those in various situations, both academically and professionally in order to make them more competent in their respective field in a nationally recognised manner to potential employers. There are a range of advantages and disadvantages to the candidates as well as the employers, such as not having to follow a timescale in learning and also in not receiving a full knowledge due to optional module selection, but as to whether one should be followed  or not, according to the studies that have been carried, out should go hand in hand in the individuals situation.. For instance, one that is currently employed may not be able to dedicate a lot of time to their qualification course, would suit an NVQ whereas, an individual wishing to say, be a medical doctor, a career where having extensive knowledge of their occupational area is vital, would not suit following an NVQ course, where modules are optional and perhaps having re duced knowledge. Bibliography 1.Armstrong,M(2012)Armstrong’s Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 11th edition, Philadelphia: Kogan Page Limited. 2.Hall,L. Taylor,S. Torrington, D. (2008) â€Å"Human Resource Management†, 7th Edition. Pp. 399-407 3.Blosi,W.(2007)An Introduction To Human Resource Management, London: McGraw-Hill Education 4.Marchington,M. Wilkinson, A. (2005) Human Resource Management At Work People and development, London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 5.Lundy,O. Cowling, AG, (1996)Strategic Human Resource Management, London: Routledge

Financial Management at Marks and Spencer Case Study

Financial Management at Marks and Spencer - Case Study Example Marks and Spencer have achieved great success in the last three years and now it is in the progress focusing on core business and aiming at becoming more customer oriented and flexible business offering a wide selection of quality goods. The financial performance of Marks and Spencer during 2008 was extremely pleasing for the stakeholders. The total revenue has been increased by 5.1 % with highly strong performance in its domestic trade. But the total revenue was increased by 10.1 % in 2007 with high performance in both its home and international business. It is reported that during 2008, 4.8% of space on the weighted average method has been added to the general merchandise. Both Gross Margin of 38.9% and Net Margin of 12.2% show better performance than its last year's financial state. During 2007 profitability has been increased to 11.2% from 9.6% and 7.4% of 2006 and 2005 profitability records respectively. It shows the success achieved by Marks and Spencer in its business operation both in domestic and international trade. Marks and Spencer's UK retail has been accounted to be '8,309.1m during 2008, but it was '7,975.5 m and '7,275 in 2007 and 2006 respectively. The international retail trade of M&S was '522.7 min 2006 and '610.6 in 2007, and the international trade in 2008 has been increased further and accounted to be '712.9m. Group operating profit has also been constantly increasing for the last few years. Group operating profit of its UK retail business has been accounted to be '972.9m in 2008 with a slight increase from the figure of '956.5 min 2007. Group operating profit of its international trade has been accounted to be '116.4m in 2008 with an increase of '28.9 m from 2007's figure of '87.5m. In short, both domestic and international trades of Marks and Spencer have been constantly increasing for the last few years and getting a rather outstanding loyalty brand name among the customers. Operating profit on property disposals was '27 million but it was 1.9 million during 2007. The report also shows that the general merchandise gross margin was up by 120 basis points to 52.6% which was caused by improved buying. Net finance costs before exceptional items were increased by 4.3% after pension finance income of '58.9 million, but it was 20.8 million in 2007. Net finance cost during 2007 has been reported to be decreased to18.3% reflecting a reduction in the average net debt. Earnings per share have been increased by 28.7% to 40.4p per share that reflected as a great advantage to attract more investors than before. Cash outflow has been reported to be '917.5 million in 2008 but cash inflow during 2007 was very strong as it generated a net cash flow of ' 231.1 million in 2007. In 2007, Cash inflow from continuing operating activities had been increased by '259 million. Cash inflow from continuing operation in 2008 has been decreased by '206.6 million that has reflected a higher working capital outflow. In 2007, there was a reduction in cash outflow on leasehold repayments as compared to 2006 and hence it resulted in an increase in the working capital which was accounted to be '114.1 million.  

Japan Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Japan Civilization - Essay Example Secondly, the analysis will also discuss the way in which Confucianism was imported and ultimately adopted from the Chinese culture. The purpose of choosing to cultural/religious inclusions within Japanese history and culture is with regards to the fact that religion has a powerful means of altering the way in which a given culture approaches key concepts and topics. In short, religion in and of itself can transform a culture and differentiated in a way that other cultural inclusions may very well not. Whereas many religions spread around the world and into new areas due to the fact that a strong or resilient native religion is nonexistent, this is very much not the case with regards to how Buddhism spread within the Japanese culture. Ultimately, Japan had many forms of resilience and native religions that were extant far prior to the introduction of Buddhism from Korea. However, nonetheless, this interpretation of a new religious paradigm was not something that met with a great deal of strife or violence. Rather, Buddhism was oftentimes incorporated alongside the various native religions, such as Shintoism, that were already practiced within Japan. Moreover, Buddhism had yet another tangential effect due to the fact that the writing system of the â€Å"Kanji† was Incorporated alongside the religion within Japan. ... In such a way, these religious interpretations existed almost unquestioned up until the Meiji restoration. Regardless of their impact, the reader should come to the realization that the role that religion plays with regards to allowing a degree of transcultural development and integration in which many other forms of culture exchange could not hope to achieve in and of themselves. As a result of the widespread acceptance and integration of these religiously motivated norms and mores, Japanese society continues to indicate the influences that these religious interpretations have had upon the current times. Unlike many of the other nations or cultural patterns in history, conquest and violence did not define the means by which either of these religious interpretations spread in and around Japan; however, the cultural impact that they had upon the way in which society is currently evidenced and the means by which the religious history of these movements have developed the Japanese cultu re. Likewise, within the modern era, Japan has embraced a clear and distinct form of Western ideals, economics and culture. This can be seen since the time of the Meiji Restoration up until the current era. Although Japan is one of the most resilient and strongest embodiments of culture retention within the world, the nation has, nonetheless, been able to evolve and grow with the changing of the times and adopt and react to the prescient needs that the global influences that are acting upon them invoke. Specifically, the reader can realize that within the past several hundred years, Japan has opened itself to global commerce, shifted towards a industrialized nation, and adopted a capitalist model. None of these were normative factors of the indigenous culture of Japan;

Agriculture in the next 30 years Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Agriculture in the next 30 years - Assignment Example For quite a long time, researchers have ranked agriculture as the major source of income globally. In this regard, as the main economic activity and many countries’ economic backbone, speculations have always been made in fear of what might happen the next minute.A renowned scholar, Glen Hiemstra, of futurist.com once noted that any individual who does not emprise technology that comes along with agriculture remain a stumbling block to countries economic progress. In support to Hiemstra words, every individual’s effort towards agriculture helps to boost country’s GDP and per capita income.As an activity drawing scholarly interest, several definitions have been brought forth all inclined towards recognizing agriculture as farming or husbandry, a way of animal cultivation, plants and fungi production as well as production of foods and fiber all geared towards human life sustainability (Rosner, 2009). As a study majorly phrased as agricultural science refers to huma n activities. This paper gives an in-depth analysis of the future expectations of agriculture, drawing argument from past and present happenings. Agricultural activities date back thousands of years and it has developed tremendously due to different climates, cultures, and technology. Being the backbone of human life, agriculture had to be developed continuously to sustain the needs of the people in the world. In confirmation of the importance of the activity in generating income, most of the industries worldwide deal with agricultural product in their operations (Li, Liu, & Chen, 2011). Agriculture is thus a core activity to the world and people cannot live without it. The economy has to grow through the help of agriculture as the main activity. In general, as years go by, the need for foods, feed, fibers, biofuels, and fishing will increase significantly thus the need to develop and diversify agricultural sector. This will greatly be attributed by the desire to feed the constantly growing population, creation of employment activities to the citizens, need for a source of income and due to the fact that it is a source of foreign exchange. As such, every individual expects positive development of agriculture in the future. This is from the understanding of the impact it has to a county’s development. Agriculture is a very costly exercise in terms of cost and involvement, like for instance, buying of pesticides, nutrient runoff, excessive water usage and many more. Furthermore, pesticide poisoning, pollution of environment through chemicals emitted by agricultural activities are the major negative impacts by agriculture. Pollution of water by biofuels emitted from industries causes water scarcity hence increased the challenge of producing enough food for the growing population. Thus, the need to fulfill agricultural needs results to environmental degradation and negative implications on peoples lives in terms of high costs and their health and therefore the need for stern measures to be taken to counter the effects. It is expected therefore that in the future, having in mind the increasing living standards, the cost of all the above-mentioned will increase notably (Hiemstra, 2000). However, other scholars are for the opinion that better and cheaper means of farming might be initiated cutting down much of the expenses and hence bettering and increasing the production. The presently initiated biotechnological products will in the future, if not well handled expose human beings to dangerous infections such as cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks. People infected with such disease may even end up dying or developing lifetime complexities (Mundlak, 2000). The need to feed the growing population has called for swift development in crop production and pest control. In future, it is expected that technological advancements will be developed swiftly to curb food shortage and various pest control techniques. Disease prevalence in crops has ho wever remained constant despite all the

RESEARCH METHODS (PILOT STUDY REPORT) Coursework

RESEARCH METHODS (PILOT STUDY REPORT) - Coursework Example iagnosed with obesity and diabetes 2 are Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics, where rate of obesity reaches upto 70%, and this has been accredited to their deprived economic conditions. Obesity and diabetes are among the vigorously growing health problems faced by Americans. The prevalence in obesity rates has caused massive cases of diabetes 2 which in turn causes amputations, hypertension and blindness, and also increases chances of developing depression, cancer, heart disease, asthma, immobility and arthritis. Allowing the current rates of obesity to continue increasing implies that America will be trailing on a perilous track. Moreover, the obesity endemic, if left unimpeded, will contravene the substantial progress made in life expectancy and health in the recent decades (Klein et al., 2004). Certainly, if current and future generations are to live longer, healthy and exhilarating lives, this cosmic problem must be contained through effective policy formulation and implementation. Obesity costs the nation over $160 billion in direct therapeutic costs every year. Estimates indicate that yearly medical expenditures can be plummeted by between 7-12% if the government succeeds to eradicate obesity and diabetes 2 (Levine, 2011). Additionally, through Medicare and Medicaid, a substantial fraction of this cost is financed by assiduous taxpayers and this affects both federal and state budgets and significantly hinders meaningful economic development. It is too costly to overlook the skyrocketing premature deaths resulting from obesity and obesity-associated chronic diseases. Consequently, this pilot study seeks to explore the state government’s role in regulating obesity. It will seek to explore whether the policies of developing EMR system that back diabetes prevention, guaranteeing parity of mental and physical health services, promoting active lifestyles, increasing Medicaid funding for obesity and diabetes, and regulating the diet of Americans are

The Challenge of Ethical Behavior in Organizations Essay

The Challenge of Ethical Behavior in Organizations - Essay Example Their main concern is aggrandizement of wealth and the means employed to secure the goal are of no consequence to them. They encourage their senior staff to adopt unethical procedures and soon it becomes the policy of the organization and standard culture of the industry. Ethical diameters are linked to the behavior of the top management and the middle level management and the employees follow the guidelines as per the directions of the masters. To contain the unethical behavior of the employees the management needs to go to the root cause of the problem. A fair system of compensation that will benefit all the employees must be in place as otherwise some employees may pursue their own objectives rejecting the company’s interest altogether. They may use the system to benefit to themselves. The management should always remember that the employees can build an organization as well as they can break it. If the goodwill of the company is lost, in the present highly competitive busi ness environment, it is difficult to recoup it. When the ethical base is strong, the employees will be responsive to the directions of the management. 3. Organizational culture implies dual responsibilities. On the one side are the employees of the organization and on the other side it reflects on those who deal with the organization. Such a culture relates of the entire gamut of activities of the organization. When it is sound the consequential benefits are the enhanced image, public good will and the increased ability to attract talents to be part of the organization. For the employees to be basically sound and industrious basic conditions need to be created first and that is possible by adopting the best ethical practices. 4. Ronald R. Sims tenders two important suggestions for creating and maintaining ethical- oriented culture. That the top managers need to set the standards as it makes the big difference and the lower-level employees follow

Media WRITING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Media WRITING - Essay Example notice of public and simultaneously to attract governing bodies in taking measures against such occurrences rather than to assimilate views or to interpret a particular course of action. The intended audiences for this news were the general public. After going through the article, it can be stated that the reporter intended to depict the social concerns related with the safety and security of women in the modern day society. The institution behind this particular material can be identified as the online news publishing media. When assessing the types of industries and corporations involved in media writing, various segments such as radio broadcasting, television, film entertainment, print media and advertising among others can be identified which attempt broadcasting updated news from different genres for the general public either within the local or national or in the global periphery. The media writing illustrated through the aforementioned article hereby reveals the propaganda of online news broadcasting. The content of the material presented in the article can also be stated as well-written in a manner which is easier to be interpreted by the general public. No offensive abbreviations or ground-breaking and persuasive forms of writing have been used in this article being presented with adequate justification to gain the consciousness of the public towards such social issues. The article published by Metro Newspaper on 6th February 2013 with the title â€Å"Forgotten cruise ship becomes sand Banksy with aid of street artists† can be categorised as an advertising media writing which depicts the talent of a group of urban street artists giving a new shape to a corroded old ship by making attractive paintings on its rusted body. It can thus be stated that the media writing exhibited in this article is based upon a ‘writing for advertising’ style as the article intended to convey its audiences with a message regarding the group of talented urban based street

Same sex couple SHOULD BE allowed to marry Essay

Same sex couple SHOULD BE allowed to marry - Essay Example Countries like Belgium, Netherlands and Canada give legal assistance to homosexual marriage. Above all as the same sex couples love each other and ready to live together it is their right to pursue their option (Filer, 2010). Denial of same sex marriage is offensive in anyway and many supportive aspects could be found in this regard. First of all being a homosexual or lesbian does not deny a person his or her citizenship. So, all the citizens of a nation should have equal rights. There should not be a division on the basis of their gender. As the heterosexual has the freedom to marry the person whom he or she loves the person who prefers same sex should also be allowed to marry the one whom he or she likes. The constitution of a country is written for all the citizens of that country and the denial of their rights is unjust on the part of the constitution. Government should not interfere in peoples’ private affairs and the denial of marriage to a certain segment of population is clear discrimination. Marriage should take place on the basis of the love between two persons and gender is not a determining factor of one’s love. It is the fundamental right of every citizen. As love is the main f actor of married life denial of union between two loving hearts just because of same sex is cruel and barbaric. People who stand against same sex marriage say that marriage is for procreation. But that is a wrong idea as marriage primarily aims at loving and caring of two persons. More over there are a number of heterosexual couples who do not procreate. There have been attempts to portrait gay as deviants and overturn their right to marry as per their will. Most probably religious are there behind it, especially the catholic. But one should bear in mind the fact that the constitution is written not exclusively for any particular religious group and it is not a religious document (Homosexuality and

Sociology - families and divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sociology - families and divorce - Essay Example Of course, when compared with children whose parents are happily married, data shows that children whose parents are divorced do seem to be on a lower level of wellbeing. I believe, the real test would be to see where these children are placed with regard to their level of wellbeing when compared to children whose parents, although married, are acrimonious in their relationship. The results, I am sure, would show that children with single parents are actually much better off with regard to the level of their wellbeing than those children whose parents are acrimoniously living in a marriage. I feel the effects of divorce on children are actually great because of the fact that a lot of bitterness is revealed not only before but during the process of divorce. In fact, in most cases the bitterness that spouses feel towards each other is carried even after the divorce, to the point where the children feel like they are trapped in a vortex of resentment, and they have no choice but to find some sort of escape from it all. That is one of the reasons why the wellbeing, especially the psychological wellbeing, of children of divorced parents is low. However, lower still is the psychological and over all wellbeing of children who live with parents who are married and live together, but metaphorically are constantly at each other’s throat over small to big things. Such children are exposed to constant and relentless negativity and this adversely affects them. In the event of divorce, the rancor actually comes to an end, with parents expressing either limited and sporadic hostility, or none at all. More research needs to be done in this regard, however, from the available data that I have gone through, it is clearly established that children whose parents have divorced are actually better off than those whose parents live together but are constantly expressing their resentment towards one another. I feel that we, as

Team Ground Rules and Guidelines Essay Example for Free

Team Ground Rules and Guidelines Essay Members should be on time with assignments and responsibilities agreed to. If they are not going to be on time, post a message ASAP stating late or absent. They should check the Learning Team Forum every day for questions and late/absent notices. Lastly, communicate when you are having trouble or struggling and need assistance. Expectations for Time Management and Involvement (Participation, communication with the team, accessibility, etc) Communicate, communicate, communicate! If you will be absent or out a particular day of that week communicate on Monday of each week when you will be out. If a member is struggling or needs assistance, ask right away. Always check the learning team ‘A’ forum everyday to see if there are questions or help needed. I think we need to step-up a team secretary\admin posting sections, assignments, and updates, etc. If no one volunteers, I will be happy to do it. What to do if a team member cannot be reached or isn’t participating to the satisfaction of the team? Again, communication is key. If we do not here from a member by Wednesday 6pm on their contributions each week, we divvy up the sections that need a volunteer. A time line and due dates should be set for each task. If someone has misses a deadline then a message is posted and we finalize the missing assignment. Also, a message is posted to professor Rita Solomon-Moore, as she should be our corporate boss and he needs to know when a member is slacking so credit is assigned appropriately. Special Considerations What do you, as a team, agree will make this team experience different from past team experiences. I have only been a member of 2 previous teams now which was a horrid experience in the first team because we went from 4 assigned members to two actual participating members and I felt I pulled most of the weight on the team of 2. So, it was not a team, but just a group of members. The 2nd team was better, but didn’t follow our charter. I hope that this team builds on the definition of a team – â€Å"a group of people organized to work together†. Communication is key allowing a group of people to work together. So, if there is no communication from a member for 3 consecutive days within the Learning Team A forum, we send a note to that member. If there is no response for a day, we notify the professor.

Comparison of Nursing Stress in Public and Private Hospitals

Comparison of Nursing Stress in Public and Private Hospitals Introduction The profession of nursing is considered one of the most stressful professions in the world. Nursing is by nature a stressful occupation. Continuous and long-term stress can result in physical, psychological, and behavioral problems in nurses. Therefore these professionals have been researched time and again. To cope with these problems several coping styles are deployed by the nurse which help them deal with the everyday stressors of their life. It has been found via research that using certain unhealthy coping styles may result in a number of mental health problems (Srinivasan Samuel, 2014). Nursing is the kind of job in which professionals have to deal with immense workload which can result in a lot of health problems, both physical and psychological. . not only that, the patients that come to hospitals themselves accompany a host of problems with them such as the stress of being ill, being frightful and apprehensive about their future and often they are very bitter and sometimes even indignant. Nurses have to deal with all of this and have to maintain a sense of composure at the same time. Sometimes the nurses have to perform the role of doctors and deal with the attendants and patients which mean they have to take the insults that were meant for the doctors and wasn’t initially a part of their job requirement. Some patients and attendants can even be physically abusive at times; this can result in even more stress for the nurses. It is often seen that at times the patients are way too demanding and expect more than what their job entails, when those expectation s are not met the patients can be aggressive and they tend to show their aggression in a both verbal and physical way. These stressors expose nurses to a host of problems, depression, anxiety and insomnia being a few of them (Srinivasan Samuel, 2014). There is an extreme scarcity of nurses in both the government and private hospitals in Pakistan which makes them a valuable asset, one that must not be taken for granted. This scarcity in the number of nurses is mainly due to the discrepancy between their workload and their pay scales which make them leave their homeland and migrate to countries that give them roper compensation for their work. The work-life issues threatening retention of nurses is of serious concern for health administrators. This shortage of nursing professionals in Pakistan was researched by the Joint Learning Initiative Report in 2004 and the World Health Report in 2006 and found Pakistan to be among those 57 nations that have the most significant lack of human resource (Hamid, Malik, Kamran Ramzan, 2013). There is no shortage of nursing schools and colleges in the country, there are roughly 109 nursing institutions and 44000 nurses on record in Pakistan but the lack of nurses are still a grave problem. There are insufficient nurses in comparison to the people that need medical attention. A country that has limited nursing professionals will have dire effects on its health care systems despite having sound technological facilities. This dearth in the amount of nursing staff is not just a matter for developing countries like Pakistan but also for the countries in the developed world. There are a host of reasons behind this deficiency in the amount of nursing staff, some of them being poor working conditions, low pay and poor job satisfaction. Among the factors that have contributed to the immense shortage of nurses in Pakistan are the increase in workload, lack of any admiration or reward such as monetary incentives and inflexible nursing management (Hamid, Malik, Kamran Ramzan, 2013). Therefore, there is a dire need to research this major work force of Pakistan that has been neglected and often taken for granted. This study was planned to examine occupational stressors that the nurses face, coping strategies they deploy to deal with those stressors, and mental health problems they have as a result of those stressors. The aims of the research were to find out the differences among stressors of private and government hospital nurses. The objectives of this study were to find out the differences in the coping styles in nurses of government and private hospitals. The other objective was to find out whether faulty coping styles lead to mental health problems. Literature Review Sahraian, Davidi, Bazrafshan Javadpour conducted a study in 2013 to find out the different kinds of occupational stressors faced by nurses across several wards, nurses working in surgical, internal and psychiatric wards were interviewed in teaching hospitals of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 180 nurses were selected who worked in surgical, internal and psychiatric wards of 4 teaching hospitals. The results of the study indicated that nurses of surgical and internal wards showed significantly higher level of occupational as compared to the nurses working in psychiatric wards. It was ascertained through the results obtained that job stressors of nurses differ across different wards in the hospitals. There are several sources of stress, the environment in which one works being one of the biggest stressors. The significance of management of occupational stress is acknowledged, it effects the production of work, and it is also found to be linked with the worker’s physical and mental health. This particular research sought to assess the basis and effects of work-related stress on the capability, output, and competence of nurses. Several factors of the job have been linked to stress for e.g., excess of work, feelings of powerlessness, lack of clarity about their role as a nurse and disagreements at work. Stagnancy in the expansion of career, fear of joblessness, feelings of being underestimated and ambiguity in the chances of growth and promotion are some of the other stressors that were observed. This research revealed that stress negatively effects work effectiveness, de-motivates the performance, and instills the feelings of detachment towards the organization and its worke rs (Moustaka Constantinidis, 2010). Nursing is an extremely stressful job by nature and nurses use several coping strategies to deal with the stressors of their job. The aim of this study was to examine the major sources and consequences of job stress and coping mechanism amongst nurses in public health services. The research was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. It was concluded through this research that the nature of the work itself was the biggest stressor for nurses. The work itself included the setting of the work place, the monotony of work and the over burden of work. Some other stressors that were identified were the insensitive and unprofessional nature of the superiors, lack of acknowledgement and work place clashes. It was also found out that increased social support of friends, family and colleagues worked as a positive coping strategy against the effects of the occupational stressors. The participants relied on a number of other coping mechanisms to battle with the effects of the job (Beh Loo, 2012). Significance of the study This research can highlight the occupational stressors of nurses, the mental health problems they get as a consequence of not being able to cope with those work related stressors. This will show a different side of these professionals that people often fail to see and take their services for granted. Rationale of the study As mentioned above there hasn’t been any research done on this population and even though this job is among the toughest jobs in the world, it’s not given much regard in our part of the world. This study will not only highlight the stressors that nurses face but will also serve as a stepping stone for further researches. Research Questions What is the difference between the stressors of nurses of private and government hospitals? What is the difference in the coping styles of nurses of private and government hospitals? What is the difference in the mental health problems of nurses of private and government hospitals? Working in which ward is the most stressful for the nurses of both government and private hospitals? Which shift is the cause of most stress for the nurses of both government and private hospitals? Do faulty coping styles lead to mental health problems? Hypotheses It is hypothesized that there will be no significant difference between the job stressors of private and government hospitals. It is hypothesized that there will be no significant difference between the coping styles of private and government hospitals. It is hypothesized that there will be no significant difference between the mental health problems of private and government hospitals. It is hypothesized that positive coping behaviors would be associated negatively with mental health problems in nurses, and negative coping behaviors would be associated positively with mental health problems in nurses. It is hypothesized that higher the level of job stressors, higher the degree of mental health problems in nurses. Method Research Design A cross-sectional research design will be used for this study. It will be a comparative study as it aims to find difference between job stressors, coping styles and mental health problems of nurses of private and government hospitals. Therefore a Correlational study design will be used. This design tests for statistical relationship between two variables which are nurses of private and government hospitals. Setting Data will be collected from nurses of private and government hospitals. Phase I. Exploring the Phenomenology During the first phase the phenomenon of occupational stressors of the nurses will be explored. A total number of 50 nurses will be interviewed, 25 from government hospitals and 25 from private hospitals. Before beginning the interviews permission from the head nurse or the department of the nurses will be taken. The nurses will then be interviewed individually and will be asked about the stressors they face on a daily basis. Open ended questions will be asked so as to elicit more comprehensive and detailed responses from the nurses. Phase II. Pilot Study The second phase is the trial phase which will determine the feasibility of the research and will also determine the reliability and responsiveness of the items of the scale that is developed. Main Study In order to test the hypotheses the main study will be conducted. Participants This study will be conducted in government and private hospitals. The participants in this study will be a sample of 300 nurses, 150 from private hospitals and 150 from government hospitals. Measures Demographic data includes age, marital status, qualification, family system, no. of children, years of experience and the kind of institution. Scales: occupational stress scale, cope scale and general health questionnaire. The occupational stress scale is an indigenous scale which was developed according to the norms of our culture. The cope scale was also an indigenous scale which was adapted to find out the different coping styles of nurses in Pakistan. GHQ-12 was used to assess the mental health problems of the nurses, it is a psychometric tool often used to evaluate psychological distress, depression and anxiety. Procedure In order to collect data, the department of clinical Psychology University of Management and Technology Lahore will issue a letter which will explain the purpose of the research and data collection from different institutions. This letter will be presented to the nurses’ department at different government and private hospitals in order to obtain permission to collect data. Later the participants’ consent will be taken and the aim of the research will be explained to the participants. Ethical considerations will be considered and after the completion of data collection, results will be analyzed. Analysis of Results Once the data is collected, it will be analyzed by using SPSS 16.00 software program in order to test the hypotheses.

Research methodology: Experiences of social work managers

Research methodology: Experiences of social work managers Methodology This chapter will outline the manner in which the research was planned and completed, with reference to literature when necessary. Furthermore, it includes an important discussion of some of the ethical dilemmas that had to be considered during the sampling and subsequent interview processes. Approach This piece of research aimed to explore the experiences of managers in social work, and set out to cast light in surprisingly under researched areas. One of the central aims of this piece of research was to obtain data that was readily analysable (Arksey and Knight 1999) and valid (Whittaker 2012). The nature of the research meant a qualitative approach was used to explore the various themes that emerged from the review of the literature. This was preferred over a quantitative method, particularly as the latter usually requires larger samples for generating statistics and quantifiable data. Qualitative methods focus on seeking out and interpreting the meanings that people ascribe to their own actions (McLaughlin 2007), and allows for exploration of opinion and experience (Shaw 2003). Interpretative topics were at the core of this research; core values, which despite being substantially constant across societies and throughout history, is inherently subjective. A qualitative approach enabled the collation of data that is rich in description, detail and character (Neuman 1997). Social work research is required to enhance and develop knowledge (McLaughlin 2007), and can help explore people and communities, paying particular focus to the wider social and structural issues that affect them (Cheetham 2000). The profession is embedded in practice; therefore research that informs behaviour and questions the known and unknown elements of practice is vital to encourage lateral thinking and dynamism amongst frontline workers, as well as going someway towards boosting the professional status of social work (Bledsoe et al. 2005). With this in mind, it was interesting to note some of the barriers to accessing informants, not from social workers themselves, but from organisations. Dealing with rejection from one local council was personally frustrating, but has wider consequences for the profession. â€Å"To understand social work†¦ we must understand how knowledge is validated within the profession† (Askeland and Payne 2001:14) Furthermore, â€Å"Social work research is about social workers, what they think, what they believe, what knowledge they claim and what they do with it.† (Butler 2002:241). With this in mind, the implications of a blasà © attitude to research, albeit a small project such as this one, are significant. One of the themes that arose from the interviews, as will be discussed in more detail later, was the increasingly diverse and heavy workload of managers. Lack of time is a commonly quoted barrier to research participation amongst practitioners (Sheldon and Chivers 2000), and this is one of the reasons research remains a low priority for workers in the field (McLaughlin 2007). Furthermore, as is commented on further at the end of this chapter, having to go through organisational protocol first has implications for anonymity, and arguably has consequences on worker willingness to take part (Lewis 2003). Literature review Research into the topic of core values started with certain core textbook readings, which expanded into their recommended reading lists and cited articles. A range of literature databases including Ingenta, Social Sciences Citation Index, Social Services Abstracts were searched using keywords such as â€Å"core values†, â€Å"social work manager†, â€Å"social work management†, â€Å"managerialism and social work†, and â€Å"performance indicators† in various different orders. The search extended to databases such as Oxford University Press Journals, SocINDEX, SwetsWise and Academic Search Elite. Furthermore, using university’s Searcher Electronic Database it was possible to search a plethora of databases at one time. This was further augmented with internet searches and the use of Google Scholar. Initially, there was not a lot of research regarding retention of core values among managers, indeed this was indicative of social work as an under researched area in general. Nevertheless, broadening my search using the above keywords and Boolean operators such as OR and AND proved to be more fruitful. Interview sampling The dearth of research available in this area, and regarding social work managers more generally, proved an impetus to focusing on a particular sample. Interviewees were approached a couple of months before the interviews took place, and had been chosen specifically due to their current management related roles. Having a purposive sample avoided the common issue of ending up with a large amount of irrelevant or disconnected data (Thurlow Brown 1988) as such a method usually means that the sample has a certain level of knowledge and experience in relation to the topic (Smith 2009). A total of six interviews took place over a four week period, with all working in hospital social work at management level. This represents a small sample, but it was within the limits of this piece of work, and since qualitative methods are not reliant on large samples for credibility unlike quantitative methods (Anastas 2004), coupled with the level of research undertaken, meant a greater understanding of the issues could be uncovered (Denscombe 2007). Working with a smaller sample allows for more depth and detail of meaning, and subsequently avoids a more general and abstracted level of explanation (McLaughlin 2007). Indeed, it allowed for a more sharpened focus of this study, particularly as all the informants were in very similar roles. During the interview process, informants offered recommendations of others to interview, otherwise known as snowball sampling (Knight 2002). Whilst this was appreciated, the recommendations involved other areas of social work. Although this would have generated further data, it was felt that having a random sample would obfuscate more pertinent findings from the core interviewees and affect the generalisability of the findings. The criticisms of using a convenience sample are well noted, particularly the impact this has on generalisability to the wider population (Bryman 2012). Using informants who are already known to the researcher may have its drawbacks, but it is argued that these are outweighed by merits of such projects being used to further larger studies (Herr and Anderson 2005). Interviews Interviews were arranged through email, at which point the respondents were told of the nature and purpose of the study and what was going to be covered in the interview. This involved a general overview of the main themes that were to be explored. It was not felt necessary to give the informants a copy of the interview schedule for fear that this would impact on the conversational flow that was being aimed for. Interviews followed a semi-structured model and enabled the investigative process to remain mostly conversational and informal; the inherent flexibility of this approach allowing for detailed probing when necessary (Becker and Bryman 2004). It is a simple method of data collection but allows for detailed excavation of people’s experiences. Open ended questions were consciously used to avoid bias and encourage a free flowing narrative that was in line with the interviewees’ views and opinions whilst also following the overarching themes that were being explored (Rubin and Babbie 2007). Whilst the interview schedule did not have to be strictly adhered to, it was designed in a way that started with descriptive, open questions such as â€Å"Can you give me a description of your current role?† and slowly moved to more direct questions that aimed to elicit thoughts and opinion, â€Å"How do you feel about the statement ‘If you can manage a factory, you can manag e a team of social workers?’† Having the interview designed in this meant that the range of questions were general enough to stimulate free flowing dialogue, but also specific enough to gather relevant data. All of the interviews were recorded, and subsequently transcribed as soon as possible for reasons of confidentiality; informants could be indirectly attributed through a collection of characteristics (McLaughlin 2007). This was particularly important as the sample represents the majority of two local authority management teams, in secondary settings, and therefore could be easily identified. For this reason, transcripts of interviews were not provided in an appendix and no contextual detail has been provided about any of the interviewees. Despite the onerous process of transcribing data (O’Leary 2004: 169), it was important because it meant that more attention could be spent actively listening and tuning in, as opposed to writing notes. The interview itself, as a communication interchange establishing a framework for future evaluation and enquiry, lies at the heart of social work practice (McLaughlin 2007), and drew on some of the skills that had been developed on placement, p articularly active listening, signposting and probing. Qualitative methodologies mirror the focus placed upon person-centredness in social work practice (Connelly and Harms 2012). This highlights the transferability of skills from practice into research and vice versa. With this in mind, it was important to use these skills to ensure interviews was being guided and not led. This meant avoiding leading questions and generally putting words in the mouth of the informant. For example, asking â€Å"What do you feel the main reasons for this are?†, as opposed to â€Å"Is this a direct consequence of the increased use of key performance indicators?† Key findings and discussion Thematic analysis is a commonly used method for analysing such data (Bryman 2008, Davies 2007), and was used to explore the transcripts and highlight recurrent themes as it has been defined as a method for identifying, analysing and recording themes within data (Braun and Clarke 2006). Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six stage thematic analysis model was used as a guide, and involved getting immersed in the data in the first instance followed by creating, searching, reviewing and defining/naming themes. Initial coding was done by highlighting particular extracts that were interesting (Boyatzis 1998), separated by different colours to represent the various different topics that emerged. This was a useful way of organising what was initially a large amount of data by marking recurrent topics and words (Ryan and Bernard 2003). This stage represented an organisation of data into individual building blocks of particular topics; the next stage aimed to bring together blocks into groups of similar colours. At this stage, it was possible to identify themes. Limitations of study It would be nave to think that such a study could be generalised to a wider population (Gomm 2008, Smith 2009). However, it has been argued that although such studies are not generalisable in the traditional sense, they have redeeming qualities which set them above that requirement (Myers 2000). Small scale research highlights the importance of viewing such studies as focusing on discovery, and not proof (Denscombe 1998). The development of managerialism is not unique to the UK (Politt and Bouckaert 1997, Hood et al. 1999, Brunsson and Sahlin- Andersson 2000), and highlights the relevance and necessity of shedding light on management experiences within a paradigm that triumphs managerial prerogative (Thomas and Davies 2005). The sample represent one of convenience, as all but one of the informants were known to the researcher in a professional capacity. Whilst this has been deemed the least credible of sampling techniques (Bryman 2008), it must also be stressed that it was also purposive as highlighted previously. With this in mind it is important to recognise how the researcher’s own views and values can create a bias, particularly as the constructivist framework of qualitative research states that individuals construct their own understanding through experience (Denscombe 2003, Kuper 2008). Rigorous testing of the interview schedule was done to avoid any bias by recognising and removing leading questions. Ethics It was necessary to follow well established protocol within the university school, as well as the local council to ensure that the study was carried out in a way that was ethically sound. This firstly involved completing an ethical level one self audit, as well as qualitative appraisal tool identified in literature (McLaughlin 2007). It was important to gain informed consent from the interviewees, and discuss the extent and manner in which absolute confidentiality was to be achieved. Contingent confidentiality (Dominelli 2005) is more commonly discussed in social work, as it is necessary to spell out the precise conditions this would need to be broken, such as a criminal offense being disclosed, however this was not the case in this study. The local council’s policy on research meant that the research design was scrutinised to glean what use this had. Indeed the request form specifically states answer â€Å"What benefit will the dissertation offer to the council, if any?†. The question better asked would be â€Å"What benefit will the dissertation offer social work?†, as the organisation would arguably benefit if their goals were parallel with social work. Social work as a profession risks having its own priorities sidelined for those of employing organisations, and although workers are accountable to their organisation, social work’s struggle with developing an evidence base (Marsh and Fisher 2005) highlights the need to build a solid research infrastructure that informs best practice (Davies et al. 2000, Trinder 2000). The council procedure involved providing information on was to be interviewed and the interview schedule itself. As was briefly discussed earlier, having to tell the council who was being interviewed and the impact this has on anonymity is questionable; indeed the impact of tighter ethical and regulatory frameworks for social work students and having a research capable workforce are well noted (Dominelli and Holloway 2008). Arguably, social work research should place ethics at the centre of what it aims to achieve, and this is well noted (Hugman and Smith 1995). This is particularly important as ethics are or at least should be at the centre of practice. What this raises are issues of accountability for the researcher that mirror those of workers and managers as is discussed in the following chapters. As a social work researcher, to whom am I accountable? The current research governance framework (Department of Health 2005) has been seen to focus more towards accountability to funder s and regulators as opposed to anybody else (Dominelli and Holloway 2008). How this affects larger research projects is unclear, but as an ethical researcher, since I was unable to guarantee the anonymity of further informants it was decided that a sample of six was enough. How this subsequently affects participation is interesting but unfortunately not within the scope of this particular piece of research. References Anastas 2004 Arksey, H., Knight, P. T. (1999) Interviewing for social scientists: An introductory resource with examples. Sage. Askeland, G. A. and Payne, M. (2001) â€Å"What is Valid Knowledge for Social Workers?† Social Work in Europe, 8 (3): pp. 13-23 Becker, S. Bryman, A. (2004) Understanding Research for Social Policy and Practice: Themes, Methods and Approaches Bristol, The Policy Press Bledsoe, S., Bellamy, J., Mullen, E. Shlonsky, A. (2005) â€Å"From concept to implementation: Challenges facing evidence based social work† Evidence and Policy 1, pp. 143-151 Boyatsiz, RE. (1998) Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development Thousand Oaks, Sage Butler, I. (2002) â€Å"A code of ethics for social work and social care research† British Journal of Social Work 32 (2): pp. 239 -248 Braun, V. Clarke, V. (2006) â€Å"Using thematic analysis in psychology† Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, pp. 77 – 101 Bryman, A. (2008) Social research methods 3rd edition Oxford, Oxford University Press Bryman, A. (2012) Social Work Methods (4th Ed.) Oxford University Press Cheetham, J. (2000) â€Å"The importance of research in the education of care professionals† in Pierce, R. and Weinstein, J. (eds) Innovative Education and Training for Care Professionals. A Providers Guide London, Jessica Kingsley Connelly, M. and Harms, L. (2012) Social Work: From theory to practice Melbourne, Cambridge University Press Davies, MB. (2007) Doing a successful research project: Using qualitative or quantitative methods Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan Davies, H.T.O., Nutley, S.M. and Smith, P.C. (eds) (2000) What works? Evidencebased policy and practice in public services Bristol, The Policy Press Denscombe, M. (1998) The Good Research Guide for Small Scale Social Research Projects Buckingham, Open University Press Department of Health (2005) The Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care London, Department of Health Dominelli, L. (2005) â€Å"Social work research: Contested knowledge for practice† in Adams, R., Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. (eds) Social Work Futures, London, Palgrave/Macmillan Dominelli, L., Holloway, M. (2008). Ethics and governance in social work research in the UK. British Journal of Social Work, 38(5), 1009-1024. Gomm, R. (2008) Social Research Methodology: a critical introduction, 2nd Edition Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan Herr, K. and Anderson, G. (2005) The action research dissertation: A guide for students and faculty London, SAGE Publications Hugman, R. Smith, D. (1995) Ethical issues in social work: an overview London, Routledge Knight, P. (2002) Small Scale Research London, SAGE Publications Kuper, A. (2008) â€Å"Critically Appraising Qualitative Research† The British Medical Journal 337, pp.1035 – 1043 Lewis, J. (2003) â€Å"Design issues† in Ritchie, J., Lewis, J. (Eds.) Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage. Marsh, P. and Fisher, M. (2005) Developing the Evidence Base for Social Work and Social Care Practice London, Social Care Institute for Excellence. McLaughlin, H. (2007). Understanding social work research. Sage. Myers, M. (2000) â€Å"Qualitative research and the generalizability question: Standing firm with Proteus.† The qualitative report, 4(3/4): pp. 1-9. Neuman, W. (1997) Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches 3rd Ed. Boston, Allyn and Bacon O’Leary, Z. (2004) The Essential Guide to Doing Research London, Sage Payne, G. Payne, J. (2004) Key Concepts in Social Research London, Sage Rubin, A. Babbie, E. (2007) Essential Methods for Social Work California, Thomson Higher Education Ryan, G. Bernard, H. (2003) â€Å"Techniques to Identify Themes† Field Methods 15, pp. 85-109 Shaw, I. (2003) â€Å"Cutting edge issues in social work research† British Journal of Social Work 33, pp. 1268-1282 Sheldon, B. Chivers, R. (2000) Evidence-based Social Care: A Study of Prospects and Problems Lyme Regis, Russell House Publishing Smith, R. (2009) Doing Social Work Research Berkshire, Open University Press Thurlow Brown, N. (1988) The Curate’s Egg. Unpublished conference paper. North East Essay Mental Health Trust Trinder, L. (2000) ‘Evidence-based practice in social work and probation’, in L. Trinder and S. Reynolds (eds) Evidence-based Practice: A critical appraisal, Oxford: Blackwell Science, pp 138-162.

Religious Rationale for the Plague in Rosemary Horrox’s The Black Death

Religious Rationale for the Plague in Rosemary Horrox’s The Black Death After the September 11th, 2001 attacks, prominent religious figures claimed that depraved American lifestyles were to blame for the bombings; Protestant leader Jerry Falwell came forth and stated that the attacks were a manifestation of God’s irritation at impious people. This attitude stems from a reaction to contemporary events, but possesses roots that date back to 1348. Throughout the time of plague in medieval England, priests and other spiritual leaders insisted that mass devastation via disease was a God-sent punishment for decadent lifestyles and impious behavior. These officials claimed that the promiscuous, the scantily dressed, and the flamboyant were all to blame for outbreaks of pestilence. Religious responses to the plague of 1348, found in passages of Rosemary Horrox’s The Black Death, clearly display this sentiment, signifying the fact that standards of propriety and decorum were highly relevant to medieval religious authorities attempting to pin down th e causes of plague. In 1348, religious authorities determined that the immodest behavior of certain groups led to outbreaks of ubiquitous plague. The tendency to regard indecency as the cause of plague is displayed in records of the day. Henry Knighton’s description of a guilty crowd attending the tournaments is a telling example. He laments that, â€Å"they spent and wasted their goods, and (according to the common report) abused their bodies in wantonness and scurrilous licentiousness. They neither feared God nor blushed at the criticism of the people, but took the marriage bond lightly and were deaf to the demands of modesty† (130). As one can gather from this passage, the 1348 religi... ...se of the plague’s presence by delimiting impious behavior according to biblical law, and condemning displays of impropriety. Individuals who failed to adhere to religious dictates regarding frugality and matrimony were blamed for ushering in the disease. Those who ignored social conventions regarding decent dress and gender codes were also accused of inciting God’s wrath and bringing society to ruin. According to excerpts of Rosemary Horrox’s The Black Death, the religious message of 1348 states that human pain and suffering are divine punishment for decadence, licentiousness, and frivolity. It is interesting to note that religious leaders of the 21st century state much the same thing regarding catastrophic events. This leads one to conclude that standards of propriety and decorum will always remain an inherent part of any religious diagnosis for societal ailments.

Essay --

The play The Good Woman of Setzuan was written by Bertolt Brecht. He started writing it in 1938 but it wasn’t completed until 1943. The play begins with a water seller named Wong who is out trying to sell his product. While working, he meets three gods. The gods have been searching the earth for a good person who lives by their guidelines. However, they find only vagrants and sinners. Wong tells them about a prostitute who â€Å"can’t† say no, and is likely to do any good deed asked. Wong introduces the gods to the prositut, Shen Te, and find that she is good. By the fact that Shen Te gave them a play to stay for the night even though it lost her some money. Given that they find Shen Te to be good the gods reward her with money that she uses to buy a tobacco shop.She also allows homeless families to live in the shop. Her kindness is impressive to the gods and others, but her shop quickly becomes overcrowded, messy, and low on money. Then one day Shen Te’s mysterious cousin, Shui Ta shows up. Shui Ta kicks out the people living in the shop and returns it back into a profit-earning business. However, the audience is aware that Shui Ta is really Shen Te in a mask. Eventually Shen Te returns and continues her her good deeds. As time progresses, word of the â€Å"good woman of setzuan† spreads and more people come to the tobacco shop looking for help. As more people demand Shen Te’s charity, Shui Ta shows up more and more often. Shui Ta starts coming around so frequently that he is able to grow the business into a large tobacco shop with many employees. Shui Ta is not the only man trying to help Shen Te. Shen Te meets a pilot named Yang Sun. Shen Te like him but her friends do not. They would rather she date the local baker who... ...nkrupt and Shen Te would be unable to help anyone. At the same time, if Shui Ta grows the business larger, Shen Te would be able to help even more people. This is evident as the story progresses. As more people come to Shen Te for help, Shui Ta appears more often to create a larger shop. This is because a larger shop means helping more people. During one of the meetings between Wong and the gods, they discuss the rules put into place. The gods almost admit that they’re system isn’t perfect, but they do admit that it is difficult to manage. At the end of the trial, the gods finally sympathize with the bad moralities needed in this world by allowing Shui Ta to exist part time. This brings out the deeper questions in life like â€Å"why are we here?† and â€Å"who are we?†. At first glance, this story seems a little silly and farfetched, but upon deeper analysis we see the moral

Evaluation sheet of key research studies Essay

I decided not to revise anything for the essay part of the exam paper. This was because I felt that I had done enough research for my specialist modules and would be able to recall it when needed. In the weeks leading up to the exam I spent about 30 minutes a day going over various chapters in my study skills folder, and if there was a particular item I had trouble with I would make a note of it and go over it again the next day. Finding time at home to revise was a bit of a problem and I found that the best time was in the evening when the children had gone to bed. This meant that I was sometimes quite tired when I tried to revise and wasted some sessions simply because I could not absorb any information. In future I may choose to do my revision somewhere other that at home, for example, the library. This means I will be away from the distractions of children and phone calls. I will also give my friends and family a copy of my revision time-table so that they know not to bother me. I felt that we were given enough information before the exam to know what to expect though I would have liked to have seen a copy of an old paper and perhaps given the opportunity to have a go at completing one. When we were allowed to look at our paper I read it through once before answering any questions. Once I had done this I first answered the questions I did not need to think about too much before going on to the others, and if there were any I did not know then I left them blank. I then went onto the essay question and decided which to do, though I found making a choice difficult as I did not know how I would get on once I had started. Once I got started on the essay I realised the mistake I had made by not revising my specialist modules. I wanted to be able to include examples, statistics or case studies in my essay by could not remember any. Once I had completed the essay I went back to the questions and any that I did not know the answer to I guessed. I then proof read the whole paper and corrected some errors which I had missed. If I could have done thing differently I would have planned my revision better to avoid distractions. I found that spending 30 minutes a day trying to revise while cooking dinner and running around after the children does not work. Before the exam I was not nervous but I think this was to do with the fact I did not have time to think about it too much. I also think that I did not take it as seriously as I should have and therefore did not revise enough. While waiting outside the exam hall I seemed to â€Å"catch† nervousness from other people but cannot see any way to avoid this. During the exam I was more nervous than I expected and was really aware of how quickly the time was passing. I wanted to work out how much time I could spend on each section, but this seemed to make me feel worse as I could not remember how many points would be awarded for each. After the exam I felt a bit disappointed as I feel my lack of revision meant I could not do my best. Dealing with stress during my revision sometimes helped. It made feel more awake sometimes, though this was often short lived and I usually ended up feeling worn out. Stress often meant I could not concentrate properly and I would try to do too much in one session. In future I will try to avoid the negative affects of stress by taking regular breaks, planning my revision better, finding a better location for my revision, not revising when I am tired and taking revision more seriously. I also think that revision is something that should be a continuous process not only used just before an exam. Reviewing work monthly or termly is something that I will try in the future.

Nursing Laws and Ethics

As nursing profession continuously progresses in its quest for excellence, its nature becomes complex in the light of meeting the standards set forth by the implementing bodies in nursing profession. These standards are indeed the result of careful assessment and observation made to resolve the never ending issues and concerns pertaining to the legal responsibilities and ethical obligations of nurses.Many of these include the duty to interpret and carry out orders, duty to monitor the patient, delegation of authority, consent to medical and surgical procedures, confidentiality of medical records, negligence and others. But among the issues and concerns aforementioned, one of the most controversial issues which caught my attention is â€Å"Malpractice†. Sometimes, nurses, for some personal reason, go beyond their boundaries and exceed the scope of nursing practice they are ought to observe at all times.In abroad, there have been numerous reported incidents wherein Filipino nurs es who happened to be medical doctors here in the Philippines were charged of malpractice and was deported back here for attempting to save a dying patient in the absence of the medical doctor in-charge. Legally speaking, what they did was a â€Å"breach of duty† and basically, they should have been subjected to corresponding sanction.However, as far as nurses’ sworn duty is concerned, it’s also their responsibility to save and protect life at all cost. I understand that, doing the job beyond their legal limitations was hard for them. But because Filipino nurses are typically compassionate, they have set aside the thought of facing consequences of their actions and didn’t think twice when they saw the imminent danger to the patient’s life, considering their knowledge and experience in critical situations as doctors.It is quite paradoxical in nature, to which side they are to choose in the midst of ethical dilemmas like that. In the code of nurses d eveloped by the American Nurses Association, there is no way they condone ethically passive behaviour. But being passive will mean two things at the same time. First, being passive and adherent to the scope of their jobs will mean being firm in their chosen profession and avoid legal responsibilities on their part.Secondly, it will mean depriving them of their own wisdom and freewill to do the right thing and do nothing as if they can’t do anything in the midst of life-threatening situation. As for me, we are all trained and equipped with ethical principles and laws just to guide us in making the right decision for the good of all. But no one can really tell us what exactly to do or which way to go. It is always, our wisdom, wise thinking and judicious assessment of the situation that would lead us to make the correct decision.

Good Marriage Essay

Jim went down to the kitchen where the smell of good food beckons him. He smiled to himself, pleased to note that his wife is cooking his favorite food. They’ve been together for twenty-five years, their kids are all grown up. Yet Ana hasn’t forgotten that he likes Thai cooking, slightly spicy and rich with seasoning. He saw his wife adding cut green pepper on the diced meat that is frying on the stove. Ana turned around and saw him standing in the doorway. She bade him sit down while she finishes her cooking. Instead of sitting down, Jim went to the cupboard to get plates and utensils for their meal. The couple has always find ways to please and help each other, a practice they have kept over the years. 2. A good marriage is characterized by husband and wife’s delight in a give and take relationship. There is mutual respect for each other. Husband and wife helps each other in decision-makings, the raising of children, and doing tasks. They both take care of each other and notes what are the likes and dislikes of each party. In a good marriage, the man and wife are both happy in their decision to be with each other for the rest of their lives. That commitment is reaffirmed time and again despite difficulties and trials. In a good marriage, there is laughter and conversation. Both husband and wife will always find things to talk about, and have the time to listen to each other. 3. Looking at Jim and Ana’s lives, their twenty-five years of marriage has not always been a bed of roses. Ana is scrupulously neat, while Jim is a little scatter-brained. Ana keeps a list of things that needs to be done and does them in an organized and timely manner. She likes getting an early start, eating breakfast and finishing work ahead of time. Jim has a tendency to oversleep in the morning, getting up really late on weekends, and spending half of the day sleeping during 2 vacations. He hates putting anything on his stomach before eleven in the morning and likes to work late at night. Ana would sometimes find Jim deeply asleep after she had her bath and breakfast on a day when they’re supposed to go to the dentist. At a time when Ana likes to get an early start, while Jim wasn’t complying, she’d often get bad-tempered and a little quarrel would ensue. These little quarrels didn’t get out of hand because both of them are capable of stepping back and releasing anger. More importantly, Jim and Ana avoid bringing up past issues during arguments. They stick to what’s at hand and settle them without resorting to foul language and by properly expressing their sentiments and criticisms in a constructive manner. 4. A good marriage is not just about seeing the good side of a person. It’s about knowing his or her little habits that may or may not turn out to be annoying. Each party has to accept the totality of the other person and learn to adjust and adapt. In a good marriage, the couple must not try to change each other. Instead, they must try to meet in the middle and compromise. In a good marriage, the couple don’t start running away when things become a little complicated and difficult. 5. A good marriage, simply defined, is comprised of the good and bad things. There are times to laugh, to talk, to argue, and to make up. It is characterized by a lasting friendship where trust and responsibility go hand and hand. Meeting halfway and speaking up are necessary elements to make the relationship endure. Both parties must work hard and stick it out with one another through thick and thin. Husband and wife must selflessly think of each other’s welfare particularly when there are major issues to face and settle. It’s very important to do things together and to go away on vacations to recapture the moments when you both fall in love with each other.