Epistemological And Psychological Views Of Divorce

Epistemological and Psychological Views of Divorce This paper looks at divorce from different perspectives of thought. By using personal experience, critical thinking and Christian integration I am able to evaluate the implications of divorce. Marriage is a vow intended to be kept, and when a couple decides to separate it detaches from God’s perfect will for their lives. From a sociological standpoint divorce can effect kids, government policies and communities. Divorce does not only effect the couple but people outside of it. The rate of separation is so prevalent that society accepts this as a social norm. The goal of my paper is to prove that divorcing is not beneficial for long-term happiness or mental health. Identifying the solutions through a struggling marriage by epistemological thought and psychology will ultimately decline the rate of divorce. The concept of divorce can be understood through reason, empirical investigation and revelation. By reason, one can assume t hat divorce will not lead to happiness but to loneliness and uncertainty. This paper will further explore empirical investigation which has assessed that divorce will not guarantee true satisfaction or contentment. Through the testimonies of many, their experience has led to a revelation of truth in their lives, and the true meaning of marriage. Literature Review of Epistemology and Divorce The study of Epistemology is evaluating how we know what we know. We know that divorce is a commonShow MoreRelatedThe Development Of The Child1766 Words   |  8 Pageslife course. It also describes the socio-historical circumstances in human relations such as divorces as one transition. It describes how the transitions affect the development of a child in one way or the other. It provides explanation on how divorce has negative effects on children. For instance, the child is often face emotional stress in the first year of the divorce but after two years of the divorce, family interaction become less chaotic and more stable. The child comes back to normal statusRead MoreReaction Paper About Monetary Policy3087 Words   |  13 Pagesthrough the scientific understanding of the social realm. Writing shortly after the malaise of the  French Revolution, he proposed that social ills could be remedied through sociological  positivism, an epistemological approach outlined in  The Co urse in Positive Philosophy  [1830–1842] and  A General View of Positivism  (1848). Comte believed a  positivist stage  would mark the final era, after conjectural  theological  and  metaphysical  phases, in the progression of human understanding.  In observing the circularRead MorePhenomenological: Qualitative Research and Research Methodology9542 Words   |  39 Pagesexample, creativity and freedom) without explanation, whilst psychology as an art is marginalised as not being rigorous and exact in academic circles. Phenomenological thought offers a way out of this dilemma by providing a better understanding of psychological phenomena as spontaneously lived, within an expanded idea of ‘science’. Giorgi (1995, p. 27) reasons that the natural sciences developed on the basis of the nonconscious object as its model, in contrast to the human sciences that focus on humanRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesand provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters on phenomenology, critical theory and psychoanalysis. Like all good textbooks, the book is accessible, well researched and readers are encouraged to view chapters as a starting point for getting to grips with the field of organization theory. Dr Martin Brigham, Lancaster University, UK McAuley et al. provide a highly readable account of ideas, perspectives and practices of organization. By thoroughlyRead MoreEpekto Ng Polusyon19213 Words   |  77 Pagesrecognise that 5% of health years of life are lost worldwide by women because of domestic violence and on a worldwide scale, domestic violence is a significant cause of disability and death. Assertions that all forms of domestic violence whether psychological, economic, emotional or physical come from the abuser’s desire for power and control are widely supported (Women’s Aid, 2004). Research suggests that domestic violence occurs within a context of coercive control because of male attitudes and beliefs

Essay on Understanding HIV/AIDS - 877 Words

In today’s world HIV/AIDS has become an epidemic that has not only challenged the research of our medical professionals, but also the lives of several children born with this infectious disease. In order to understand this epidemic we have to travel the path in which it was discovered. In 1985, human immunodeficiency also known as HIV was discovered by scientist and that discovery alone brought up many questions with very little definite answers. Due to this discovery several people are in search of an understanding cure for this disease, but the question still remains what is AIDS and how can we prevent the transmission from mother to fetus? Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, also known as AIDS, is a condition†¦show more content†¦Because of this fear many children born with this disease are apprehensive about sharing their status with their friends, a girlfriend, or a boyfriend. Mainly because they feel theyll be looked at differently or isolated by the individua l who may not have a clear understanding of how the disease is transmitted or how they contracted it. According to Brooke Minters she stated their challenges are daunting and she elaborates by saying say theyve dealt with losing sick parents and friends, disclosing their status, engaging in sex with uninfected partners, and enduring medical side effects with unknown consequences. Unfortunately, their battle to live life to its fullest is far more challenging for many born with this disease to endure. However, many find ways to become a model for those living with the disease and for those who may or may not know their status. Brooke Minters reports that a young man, Lafayette Sanders of Philadelphia, was born with the disease at birth have decided to become a peer educator for iChoose2live, a youth program that encourages HIV awareness and career building. She quoted Sanders who stated I want to destigmatize it. Brooke reports, Sanders now 24, stated My main goal is to get people to talk about HIV. This is a sensitive topic for many and several have made a conscientious decision to a void, ignore, overlook, or completely forget aboutShow MoreRelatedHiv / Aids And Aids1472 Words   |  6 PagesHIV/AIDS is the major ongoing issue attacking sub-Saharan Africa. The damage caused by HIV/AIDS strips families, communities, and increases poverty. In Kenya, the plague has mainly targeted those in the fertile and reproductive age groups. According to estimates by the United Nations of AIDS (UNAIDS), â€Å"Indication of 22.5 million people were living with HIV in Africa, over 1.6 million people were estimated to have died from this syndrome, and well over 11 million children have been orphaned by AIDSRead MoreHepatitis Carinii Pneumonia ( Pcp )1708 Words   |  7 Pageswas renamed in 1982 to what we now know as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids). HIV is the precursor to Aids. HIV attacks CD4+ T Cells. T Cells are the white blood cells that assist the body with fighting off cold and infections. A severe loss of those essential C D4+T Cells weaken the body’s immune system resulting in AIDS, which frequently results in death. A person can contract the HIV virus through unprotected sexual intercourse via bodily fluids such asRead MoreHiv/Aids Essay1086 Words   |  5 PagesHIV/AIDS BSHS302 May 21, 2012 Faye Flanagan HIV/AIDS Social issues facing HIV/AIDS today are as diverse as the people that are affected by the disease. Advocating for a large group of people takes action at the macro human service practice. The goals and intervention strategies will be similar to micro human service and will involve the same strategies to bring justice to human rights for all members of society. One strategy is including a broader range of other diversity in research inRead MoreThe Epidemic Of Hiv And Aids1535 Words   |  7 Pagespopulation include providing access to health care, HIV testing and syringe services programs. The Office of HIV Planning in Philadelphia focuses on the needs of the population, conducts community outreaches and educational sessions. As previously stated, 32 state Medicaid programs reimburse for routine HIV screening of adults aged 15-65 years, regardless of risk. This policy allows for individuals to more likely participate in this screening process. HIV testing can be done through health care professionalsRead MoreAIDS1469 Words   |  6 Pagessyndrome (AIDS) is the final stage of HIV disease, which causes severe damage to immune system and numerous of dead all over the world. AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among people ages 25 – 44 in the United States. Millions of people around the world are living with HIV/AIDS, includin g many children under age 15 (PubMed Health). In addition, AIDS ranks the first leading of death in Vietnam. More than 260000 people living with AIDS and an estimated 100 people become infected every day (AIDS inRead MoreSexual Deviance And Its Effects On Target Population895 Words   |  4 Pagesconnection, we gain a deeper understanding, which highlights the complexity of this issue, as well as the challenges facing public health officials. Transitional Slide C. Impact on Target Population 1. Aside from statistical data highlighting HIV/AIDS incidences and prevalence amongst MSM, it’s imperative to consider the emotional, physical, and financial impact persons suffer when newly diagnosed. In many instances, the same holds true for those living with HIV/AIDS. 2. Psychological issues ariseRead MorePrevalence Of Hiv / Aids1525 Words   |  7 PagesPrevalence of HIV/AIDS in Ohio It was already stated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic impacts persons regardless of sex, age, race/ethnic group and/or geographic region in Ohio, but certain populations seem to be more impacted than others. There are 11, 544,225 people living in Ohio. 80% are white, 12% are black, 3% are Hispanic, and less than 2% are Asian. Each year in Ohio, about 1,000 people are diagnosed with HIV. In 2013, 1,180 people were diagnosed. Overall, there are almost 20,000 known to be livingRead MoreAids : The Age Of Aids943 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the Age of AIDS film many topics that were related to AIDS were brought up that I did not know anything about before. I did not know that there could so many strings attached to a disease and have such an influence in people’s lives whether it was negative or positive. The first scene in the movie I thought was powerful was the scene where kids with HIV were forced to leave school due to the fear of the parents and the ignorance they had back then about not understanding how HIV were transmittedRead MoreOn-Going Fear of AIDS Essay1550 Words   |  7 PagesAIDS isn’t a disease people have known about since the 1800s. In fact, it wasn’t even known as AIDS until a couple years after its discovery in the 1980s. Before, it was called Gay Related Immunodeficiency Disease, or GRID (â€Å"Natural History of HIV/AIDS†). And because of the fact it wasn’t discovered until the 1980s, people feared the disease and still do to this day. It’s been thirty years and many are still not properly educated about AIDS (Hawkins 16). The fear, stigmatization, and discriminationRead MoreEpidemiology Paper on Hiv800 Words   |  4 PagesPromotion May 16, 2014 HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It can lead to immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. It is caused by the HIV entering the uninfected body and stats to destroy CD4+cells which are there to help the body fight infection and disease (Webmd.com, 2014). Once you have HIV, you have it for life. More than 1.1 million people in United States alone are living with HIV and 1 out of 6 font even know it. About 50,000 people are infected with HIV each year (Cdc.gov, 2014).

Pax 7 Gene for Spinal Cord - Brain and Neural Crest - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about thePax 7 Gene for Spinal Cord, Brain and Neural Crest. Answer: Introduction The development of skeletal muscle, spinal cord, brain and neural crest is largely influenced ny Pax 7 gene. The entire brain consists of Pax 7 gene transcripts in a subset of cells at the initial stage. However, in the later life, the expression of the gene is restricted only to mesencephalon. Pax 7 gene is a sequence-specific DNA binding factor, the functional role played by the gene during development is mediated by the selection of the target gene (Xu et al., 2013). Describing the gene Pax7 gene is one of the significant developmental control genes and is a member of thepaired box of transcription factors. The major functions of the Pax7 gene is the contribution of the gene in the neural development in order to establish dorsal polarity of the neural tube. Additionally, the Pax7 gene helps in continuous refinement of its expression to the brain nuclei thereby, ensuring regional identity. Pax7 gene is plays a significant role in human diseases and cancers. Homology and encode protein The Pax7 gene is highly conserved within a paired box sequence and encodes for a paired DNA binding domain. This suggest that the Pax7 gene plays a significant role in the transcriptional factor by influencing the binding and regulating downstream target genes. The Pax7 gene is categorized by the presences of 128 amino acid DNA with paired binding DNA with two subunits. The two subunits are the N terminal (PAI) domain and the C terminal (RED) domain. Mechanism action of protein One of the significant function of the Pax7 gene is its function in the early neural development in order to establish dorsal polarity of the neural tube along with continuous refinement of the expression. The continuous refinement of the expression helps the Pax7 gene to express regional identity to the brain nuclei, particularly in the superior colliculus. The Pax7 gene also contributes in the development and regeneration of the skeletal muscles. Pax7 are also helps in building the muscle satellite cells along with regulating the proliferation of the satellite cells thereby, regulating the entry into the myogenic differentiation program (Gunther et al., 2013). Pax7 expressional action Pax7 gene is generally expressed during the development of the brain along with the ectodermal cells including the nasal olfactory epithelim and neural tube. The expression of Pax7 gene is also noticed at the lining between the mid brain and the hind brain along with regions close to the mesencephalon and pons. Overlapping of the Pax7 gene and the Pax3 gene is noticed in the neural crest , CNS and the somites. In the initial stages of the embryonic development, the expression of the Pax7 gene is noticed in the neural folds that later develops into neural tube. The dorsal sensory neurons are developed from dorsal neural tube. Pax7 gene has huge influence in activating the target genes that regulates the entry of the satellite cells in the myogenic development program along with determining the survival of the cells. The satellite cells develop into stem cells that regulate the maintenance and repair of the skeletal muscles. The expression of the paired box transcription factor of Pax7 gene influences the satellite cells (Wen et al., 2012). Mutation of Pax7 gene and evidence The activation of some genes are dependent when some of the DNA segments of one chromosome are switched with another. This process generally occurs during mitosis process. For example, during cancer, a small portion of chromosome 2 or chromosome 1 is switched with chromosome 13. As a result, the Pax3 gene moves next to the gene named FOXO1. During the embryonic development, Pax7 genes plays a significant role is promoting the growth of the cells and embryonic tissue. However, after the completion of the process, the genes are automatically deactivated. FOXO1 gene helps in activating the functions of other genes. Therefore, simultaneous movement helps in activating the Pax gene thereby, resulting in the formation of tumour and a functional transcriptional activator. The striated muscle consists of a highly malignant tumour, Rhabdomyosarcoma, that is formed from the primitive mesenchymal cells along with differentiation wthin the rhabdomyoblastic lines. Rhabdomyosarcoma is mostly found in children and is one of the soft tissue cancers. Rhabdomyosarcoma develops in four forms: botryoidal rhabdomyosarcomas , alveolar, embryonal and pleomorphic. In the case of paediatric cancer alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, the Pax7 gene fuses with FKHR by the variant (1:13) (p36:q14). Therefore, it can be said that the development of paediatric cancer alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is due to the rearrangement of Pax7 gene on chromosome and fusion to FKHR on chromosome 13 (Missiaglia et al., 2012). References Gnther, S., Kim, J., Kostin, S., Lepper, C., Fan, C. M., Braun, T. (2013). Myf5-positive satellite cells contribute to Pax7-dependent long-term maintenance of adult muscle stem cells. Cell stem cell, 13(5), 590-601. Missiaglia, E., Williamson, D., Chisholm, J., Wirapati, P., Pierron, G., Petel, F., ... Delattre, O. (2012). PAX3/FOXO1 fusion gene status is the key prognostic molecular marker in rhabdomyosarcoma and significantly improves current risk stratification. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 30(14), 1670-1677. Wen, Y., Bi, P., Liu, W., Asakura, A., Keller, C., Kuang, S. (2012). Constitutive Notch activation upregulates Pax7 and promotes the self-renewal of skeletal muscle satellite cells. Molecular and cellular biology, 32(12), 2300-2311. Xu, Y., Liu, J., Lan, X., Zhang, Y., Lei, C., Zhang, C., ... Chen, H. (2013). Consistent effects of single and combined SNP (s) within bovine paired box 7 gene (Pax7) on growth traits. Journal of genetics, 92(2), 53-57.

Robinson Crusoe And Friday Essay Example For Students

Robinson Crusoe And Friday Essay The primitive Friday demonstrates exceedingly good values superiorto those of the civilized Crusoe. Fridays honesty, loyalty, andnatural innocence are unequaled by Crusoes deceptiveness, lack of trust inFriday, and pessimistic ideas. Early life in civilization givesCrusoe preconceptions that dont allow for simple, natural thinking. Yet,Friday, raised as a savage, is given to simple childlike behavior. When compared with Crusoe, Friday triumphs with his good-natured morals. Fridays honesty is apparent, not only to the reader, but also to Crusoe. Crusoes own description of Friday is evidence of this, I had a singularsatisfaction in the fellow himself: his simple, unfeigned honesty appeared to memore and more every day(148). Crusoe specifies Fridays honesty assimple and unfeigned. It seems Crusoe would haveexpected a savage to be misleading, also a sign of hispreconceptions. Again, when Crusoe is jealous of Friday at his expression of joyat the thought of his own country, Crusoe found everything he said was sohonest and so innocent, that I could find nothing to nourish mysuspicion(152). Crusoes jealousy stems from his civilizedthinking, and Fridays pure expression of truth comes from hisprimitive ways. Yet, when Friday surprises Crusoe with a simple andinnocent question Crusoe pretended not to hear him(150). Crusoe issurprised and attempts to deceive Friday to forget the question. It seemsCrusoes natural reaction in that situation is to lie. Friday has an honestythat Crusoe cannot compete with. In everything that Friday says a nd does, herelates only the truth because Friday does not know differently. Furthermore,part of this honesty comes from Fridays deep loyalty to Crusoe. Fridaysservitude to Crusoe is demonstrated immediately after his rescue when Friday puthis head on the ground and put Crusoes foot on his head. From that point on,Friday is completely loyal to Crusoe. After a good while, Crusoe is even awareof this fact, I daresay he would have sacrificed his life to save mineupon any occasion whatsoever(147). Yet, Crusoe doesnt trust Friday,While my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure I was every day pumpinghim, to see if he would discover any of the new thoughts which I suspected werein him(152), he thinks Friday would leave and become a cannibal andCrusoe. Crusoe later realizes his mistake, the honest, gratefulcreatureto my full satisfaction(153). Next, Crusoe doesnt trust Fridayin the beginning and places him outside to sleep, I had placed a kind oftrap doorevery night(145). Crusoe again is b linded by hiscivilized thoughts and thinks Friday may attempt to kill and eathim. Eventually Crusoe knows better, For never man had a more faithful,loving, sincere, servant than Friday was to me: without passions, sullenness, ordesigns, perfectly obliged and engaged; his very affections were tied to me,like those of a child to a father(145). Crusoe describes Friday as theperfect servant, almost like a father to a son. Friday would give his life forCrusoe, yet Crusoe distrusts him. Only Crusoes civilized andtherefore evil thoughts on humanity could cause him to distrust such an honestservant. Crusoe spent time in civilization and thinks about thingsin an experienced, and rather pessimistic way. Friday, on the other hand, isinnocent of society and hasnt been taught anyway to think. Crusoe believes thatman has a tendency to do evil, the devilcause us to run upon ourdestruction by our own choice(150). He thinks anyone, especially asavage would be tempted by the devil. Yet when he tries to explainto Friday about the devil, Crusoe exposes Fridays pure and natural innocence,but there appeared nothing of this kind in the notion of an evil spirit,of his origin, his being, his nature, and above all, of his inclination to doevil, and to draw us in to do so too(150). Friday is very pure and simpleperson. He boldly asks questions about God, if God much stronger, muchmight as the wicked devil, why God no kill the devil, so make him no more dowicked(150). Friday had listened with great seriousness andnow had thought with his pure and simple mind, and baffled Crusoe I scarceknew what to say to him(150). All of Fridays questions and thoughts onGod are natural and simple, owing to his primitive upbringing. .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 , .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .postImageUrl , .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 , .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:hover , .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:visited , .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:active { border:0!important; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:active , .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7 .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub5cac3c50afc60944e28f7a502d286b7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Herman Melville And Moby Dick EssayFriday surmounts and even shocks Crusoe in his honesty, loyalty, and innocence. Friday manifests all of his qualities to a point beyond Crusoe, because Fridayembraces these values with a primitive sense, not tainted bycivilization. It seems that civilization is not what itshould be, and a savage has more of the qualities that acivilized man should have. It brings up a question to society tolook at itself, and see what it is producing in people: values ormisconceptions?

Introduction and Learning Objectives of Accounting free essay sample

Completing the Balance Sheet Student Handout Contents: 1. Learning Objectives 2. Tutorial Questions 3. Lecture Materials Lecturer: Dry Victoria Clout Website: http://tell. Nuns. Du. AU Introduction and Learning Objectives In this week we are turning our attention towards the remaining major component of the balance sheet owners equity. Like liabilities, owners equity represents another form of financing for a business. At first glance, liabilities (capital provided by redirectors) and owners equity (capital provided by owners or shareholders) may look very different. As we delve deeper into the topic, however, you will appreciate that debt and equity are at either end of a continuum of financial instruments and that sometimes, financial instruments exhibit both debt- and equity-like qualities. Further, you will note that some financing arrangements do not appear in the balance sheet at all! In our discussion of equity financing, we discuss the option of using equity as a source for resources (assets) of the corporation. We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction and Learning Objectives of Accounting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Shareholders are a key source of initial finance for a company. While traditionally regarded as the owners of a companys assets, more recent thought suggests that the shareholder exchanges their investment in a company for a right to the residual cash flows of the firm (dividends). At the end of this topic, you should be able to: LOL . Describe the components of owners equity ALL.

Marine Science vs. Oceanograph essays

Marine Science vs. Oceanograph essays The European Sea Floor Observatory Network is establishing a network of long-term, sea floor observatories at key provinces around the European area in relation to physical, chemical, oceanographic and biological phenomena. ESONET is focused in the ocean margin areas which are less well known and generally beyond the reach of existing ocean data systems. The European Ocean Margin region extends approximately 15,000 kilometers from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, comparable with the total land mass of Europe. Only a small fraction has been explored and new features and animals are discovered every year. The objective is to produce a practical plan for long term monitoring of the ocean margin environment around Europe. ESONET will be complementary to other oceanographic networks. Both long-term data collection and alarm capability in the event of hazards, like earthquakes, will be considered. Another relationship between geological oceanography and marine biology is the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), set in the late 1980s to study the ocean carbon cycle. An ambitious goal was set to understand the controls on the concentrations of carbon and associated nutrients in the ocean. A new field of ocean biogeochemistry emerged with an emphasis on quality measurements of carbon system parameters and interdisciplinary field studies of the biological and physical process which control the ocean carbon cycle. As they studied ocean biogeochemistry, they learned that the simple views of carbon uptake and transport were severely limited. JGOFS has been supported primarily by the U.S. National Science Foundation in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The European Sea Floor Observatory Network is establishing a network of long-term, sea floor observatories at key provinces around the European area in relation to physical, chemical, oceanographic and biological phenomena. ESONET is focused i ...

The Global Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Global Business Environment - Essay Example The environment in which Toyota operates is becoming extremely tough every day. All businesses are facing problems today due to increasing costs, cultural diversity, globalization and decrease in global demand. The world has seen a great financial crisis in recent years and economies are still to recover from it fully. In such environment companies are finding it hard to produce and sell its product to customers. The external environment is also affecting organizations in new ways because media and communication technology has developed so much and any ethical issue can seriously hurt the reputation of the company. Competition is also increasing in business environment as companies are trying to innovate and market their products in better ways. In this report we will conduct an external environmental analysis for Toyota. We will talk about markets, competition and regulations that can have an impact on the company. The ethical issues, corporate social responsibility and environmenta l policy and its affect on Toyota will also be discussed. This paper will deal with the external environment and not with the strategy of Toyota. Markets, Competition and Regulation Markets are evolving at a great pace in today’s fast moving world and it is important to keep in mind the changing demand of target market. Competition is also increasing as companies are trying to increase efficiency by decreasing costs and improving quality of their products. Regulations are also getting stern everyday and automobile companies have to keep in mind the safety standards set by the companies. This means increase in testing of cars which will lead to greater costs. In this section the impact of markets, competition and regulation on Toyota will be discussed. Markets and its Impact of Toyota The main target market of Toyota is the middle class income group of the world. These are the people who cannot afford luxurious cars but want vehicles that are cheap but durable vehicles. Toyota provides cars to middle income people of the world and prices are also lower in comparison to BMW and Mercedes. Over the years this target market has been consisted as they cannot switch to expensive cars and they also don’t switch to cheaper manufacturers. This is why this market of Toyota was considered relative safe and loyal to Toyota. But this is changing because now the target market of Toyota is also evolving. The target market is demanding innovation in designs and specifications. The medium income group target market has become more aware of the different brands in the market. They have also become more design oriented and are demanding newer and better designs. Car movies and games have informed the market about fast cars and sleek designs therefore they want these things in their cars. This problem is staring Toyota in the face because design was never a strong point of the company and its focus was on durability and prices. Evolving markets are in this way impact ing the business strategy of Toyota. The main strategy of Toyota is that of reducing service costs by giving customers quality and durability (Harrup & Janssens, 2008). This is causing problems because the markets of Toyota are evolving and they are demanding better designs from the company. The external environment is therefore impacting the strategy of Toyota. The increasing focus on design and specification of the market can decrease the demand of Toyota cars. Customers will look for new car manufacturers

Benefits of technology evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Benefits of technology evolution - Essay Example Speaking about the evolution of technology we can’t but say that the question if it benefits us or not is rather controversial. The trouble is that some inventions in the field of technology are beneficial, but some of them on the contrary cause a lot of harm. Some people even state that technology makes us â€Å"imprisoned† that means too much dependence on the technology. Thus, some individual reject technology recollecting the life of our ancestors, who had a chance to live longer maybe because technology was not so highly developed. However, we can argue that technology is still very helpful and it is not possible to live without it in the modern world. But for the technology we would lose many opportunities. First, technology helps us to maintain physical health. Using special technological adjustments such as artificial limbs and pacemaker, many people have an opportunity to live full-fledged life. Certainly, we should not rely on the technology and conduct health y way of life. Some people make a mistake believing that technology can always save them. Thus they ignore physical activity and consume unhealthy food. Technological opportunities in the field of healthcare are not unlimited, however, they can save lives of many people. For example, pacemaker can make one’s heart beating after it stops! There is no need to say how many lives were saved with the help of this technological adjustment. Those people who went through amputation can keep living full-fledged lives with the help of artificial limbs. But for this adjustment, their abilities would be limited and they would have to use wheelchairs and would always need somebody’s help if decide to go outside. We even do not need to mention such devices as ultrasound and X-ray, which are invaluable in the process of illness diagnosis. Technology allows patients to contact the specialist they need through the internet. Also there is an opportunity for nurses to monitor patients di stantly. Doctors also have easy access to patients’ history that is stored in computers. Field of education also benefits from technology evolution. Students have easy and fast access to different kinds of information. Online tests help check the level of knowledge. The opportunities provided by the technology are also invaluable for teachers as they are able to get the material needed for the classes in the internet with no need to look for it in the library. Students can pass exams in the electronic regime and teachers can send instructions by e-mail. Technology also helps develop curriculum: â€Å"The traditional, paper-based development process has some crucial problems. Conducting needs assessments, holding committee meetings of teachers and development experts, mailing materials to reviewers, and waiting for responses takes enormous time and effort and often results in low participation. Most importantly, logistical constraints mean that the people most directly impact ed by the new materials—teachers and students—are too often not included in the development process (apart from a few committee representatives) and commonly find that the materials created lack quality and usefulness†(Scholl). Communication also represents a field that benefits from technology. In the past people had to cross long distance just to talk to each other or transfer some message. â€Å"Modern technology has made it simple to discover our old friends and also discover new people

Legal Department Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Department - Essay Example As Adoranti (2006) explains, business to business and commercial contracts explicitly define the obligations of sellers and buyers. This includes the specifications of the contacted for products/services, their quality and time/place of delivery. The violation of contractual obligations, on either side, can be cause for the invalidation of the contract and grounds for the payment of financial penalties (Adoranti, 2006). As our organization's legal councilor emphasized, the binding form of contracts implies that it is incumbent upon the organization to ensure that a contract works in its favor and not against it. Hence, within the context of our organization, the policy is that no sales contract is signed prior to the formulation of an inter-departmental business plan which details how the organization will fulfill the contract and whether, indeed, it can. Only following a thorough review of this plan does the legal department authorize the signature of the contract. The regulations which the legal department has imposed upon contractual commitments are an outcome of prior negative experiences. Two years ago an overenthusiastic sales department committed the company to the supply of more than it could produce within a specified time period. As the Sales Director had the authority to conclude contracts, the outcome was the overextension of corporate resources in a bid to satisfy its contractual obligations and, ultimately, a failure to meet the time of delivery, resulting in the imposition of fines upon the company. This incident, as the corporate legal councilor informed me, instigated a revision of corporate policy, whereby contracts could only be entered into following inter-departmental meetings and the formulation of business plans which outline strategies for the fulfillment of contractual obligations. Contracts, however, do not represent the extent of the legal department's involvement in corporate and business processes and relations. Indeed, one of the department's primary concerns is employee relations, the implementation of corporate policy and the assurance of adherence. Insofar as the aforementioned is concerned, Poole (2004) identifies it as one of the more important of any corporate legal department's responsibilities, comparable to the implementation of law and order. As such, the legal department governs/supervises employee relations and ensures adherence to a specific code of conduct. This code of conduct extends to company-related behavior following the termination of the employee-employer relation. For example, in the event of an employee's dismissal for non performance of job related responsibilities, he/she is, as per the employment contract signed, warned against both defaming the company and exposing company business secrets. This, as the legal councilor advised m e, was standard practice in most organizations but, without doubt, one of the more important of the legal department's responsibilities as it involved the safeguarding of the company from disgruntled former employees. The protection of the company against defamation, not just by former employees but by competitors and the media consumes much of the legal depa

Corruption In Latin America The Case Of Ecuador Politics Essay

Corruption In Latin America The Case Of Ecuador Politics Essay As part of an activity in the area of studies in Latin America, the purpose of this essay is to analyze Corruption as one of todays most marked problematic in politics, but more specific the paper will focus in discuss the reasons and consequences of corruption and its manifestation in Ecuador. The background of the regions domestic politics, neighboring countries like Bolivia and Venezuela and its influence over national politics, and the actual events which have determined the situation Ecuador is facing nowadays; during the development of the essay some of these variants will be explained. In this essay, effects of legality and legitimacy will be addressed towards corruption, and how the failure of one of them, lead to larger possibilities of corruption. It will be also explained the reason corruption causes poverty and creates barriers to overcome this problem and the explanation of how corruption affects more to the poor people due to their fewer options to deal with its consequences. It has also shown the negative impact on programs for the eradication of poverty, making them ineffective. Another trend of corruption addressed in this paper is the tendency to the misallocation of resources and the resulting stagnation of economic development. Some of the key factors related to corruption participation, questioning the authority and the observation of law citizens have towards their governments, have being reflected it variables like the income per capita, percentage of poverty, lack of opportunities for education and health care, all of them negative correlated with Corruption. Corruption not only violates the economic and social rights but also violates civil and political rights, distorting or invalidating the political processes and institutions, weakening the role of the judiciary and law enforcement officials. Latin America, a continent full of contrast, determined by a wide variety of climates and natural resources, it also occupies the status as having some of the most corrupted countries in the world. The main issues drawn into this problematic derived from the dilemma of Legality and Legitimacy; the first one is defined as situations accepted by the establish law, while legitimacy consists in the credibility of this law. For many decades Latin American presidents have faced coups and judicial proceedings for corruption cases, Pinochet and Fujimori are clear examples. These violations to democracy and citizen rights have resulted in the lack of credibility in the governors and government institutions by the population. Corruption has had greater impact in the macroeconomic variables, reducing the opportunities to be part of an important international trade and scaring away any forms of foreign investment. Latin Americas institutions are viewed as obsoletes, and due to the high corruption public officials are involved into, the inexistence of governmental institutions provide more chances for all types of corruption, among others, cronyism and embezzlement. Another important factor inducing to corruption in the Latin states is the lack of vertical accountability, which is the standards citizen must have for their political leaders and the punishment they should received, if doing something wrong. Despite many Latin nations counts with a system of elected representatives, the empowerment giving for decision makings to individuals and institutions exert a disproportionate influence in national politics, state and local levels through corruption; This creates loss of public confidence in the institutions of democracy, losing their legitimacy among their citizens. Some of the most common examples of corruption are related to taxation, distribution of public resources and trade regulations. It is important to mention not all the countries posses the same grade of corruption, for instance Panama and Peru have shown a rapid growth (except in 2008-2009), Brazil, Mexico Colombia and Chile have grown into political maturity and a certain economic prosperity; But countries like Honduras, Venezuela, Paraguay and Ecuador have gone backwards, sustaining political instability, the rising of poverty and new opposition parties. In general terms corruption is a phenomenon which many democratic nations face around the globe, its best defined as political corruption involves the abuse of public power for some private benefit (Canache et al, 2005). In the case chosen for this paper, Ecuador, a country in Latin America with a population of 14 million of people is consider according to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009 as the fourth most corrupt country in Latin America after Haiti, Venezuela and Paraguay respectively. To understand Ecuador todays situation, it is crucial to stress some key facts in the countrys political system. Since the 90s was marked by The Confederation of Ecuadorian Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) consider as of Latin America ´s most active indigenous movement, who despite the efforts was unable to reach a vigorous participation in the political system. During the years to come (1997-2005) Ecuador counted with five different presidents, Abdala Bucaram, Fabian Alarcon, Jamil Mah uad, Gustavo Nova and Lucio Gutierrez, three of them elected by popular vote and then forced to leave office by coup dà ©tat; Some of the causes were the severe Ecuadorian Financial crisis in 1999 by the falling of international oil and the latest one caused by popular revolts known as rebelià ³n de los forajidos leader by Rafael Correa. Ecuador actual formal president Correa ran for presidency in 2006 with MPAIS as his electoral movement, competing against the PRIAN and PSP two of the most powerful parties in the country. His strategic formula to win the spot was defined by anti neoliberals formulas, promising a political reform, redesigned the governmental institutions and placed the state as the main actor in regulating the national economy. Correa, characterized by left turn ideology, played his first card by calling to a plebiscite to support his idea of a new constituent agenda annexed to the creation of a new constitution, winning by 82% yes vote; the triumph was indubitable in double sense, not only he placed 80 of the 130 seats with his viewers (MPAIS) in the constituent assembly, but he appeal for the public opinion as a democrat, taking peoples voice into account and increasing public content on his government. Due to the new constitution elections were call again in 2009, this time Correa won in the first round with an overwhelming 51,69% of approval. Despite his triumph during the last year his popularity has dropped from an initial 73% to 52%; Correa Falling in the polls was due, among other things, the scandal sparked by millionaires public contracts awarded to Fabricio Correa, brother of the president. This Abuse of public power for private gain is consider as one of the most popular form of corruption, which results into a mistrust of the population in the government and its institut ions. According to Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International when basic institutions are weak and nonexistent, corruption spirals out of control and the increased looting of public resources, enhance the insecurity and impunity. 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Country Rank 82 74 79 89 113 112 117 138 150 151 146 CPI Score 2,4 2,6 2,3 2,2 2,2 2,4 2,5 2,3 2,1 2,0 2,2 The above graphic shows the Corruption Perception Index during the past 10 years in Ecuador, the score maintains a similar range, but more surprising regardless of the many different presidents Ecuador has counted with, and the different policies applied, they seem to be trapped in the same problem: Corruption When Correa took office he argued to be part of todays new wage of leftist president, with domestic and foreign policies to be implemented according to the 21st century socialism. Although he increased social expenditure by rising salary wages and conceding credits to small businesses, they were likely to be short term concessions, per suiting a permanent campaign and keeping opposite parties under control. Part of Correas government initial trend was retuning the exploitation of natural resources done by foreign multinationals to the Ecuadorians, instead in practice, he signed contracts with outsider companies for the exploitation of strategic mining and energy resources, the real question here is what was under this rare contradiction, or perhaps is a form of clientelism? In this process, Indian communities living and working the lands signed to the mineral multinational complained, but Correa dismissed the movements, replacing and rejecting claims; in other words, his new socialism proved to have a lack any social structural changes, but more into what he opposed or not. Some other initiatives took by Correa and his government, relying in the countrys development strategy, was granting telecommunication monopolies to private firms, an opposition to land reforms by attacking the agro-commercial class (located mainly in Guayaquil) and a subsidy with clear support to the capitalist class. Some responses by the people have resulted in protests, and a consider drop in the polls. One cannot assume the surplus of money for private benefits in Correas government, but the lack of transparency in the actions made with the public budgets; prove the non existence control by Ecuador legislature, an ineffective judiciary, as well as non independent oversight bodys institutions and a weak implementation of the law. In the International Arena, the situation of Ecuador has followed two paths; the most visible influence by other states in Ecuadors government orientation is the clear support from other leftist presidents, as it is the Case of Venezuela with Hugo Chavez, and Bolivia with Evo Morales. The alignment for new plans of cooperation within the nations and the ideas of imperialism by remain in power, adds more reasons to believe the impunity of corruption Ecuador posses. The idea of refusing to pay the external debt by Correa, stressing an illegitimate foreign debt, contracted by past corrupt governments was conceive by the World Bank as a way to mislead public budgets into actions leaded for private gains, and although Correa did not take the risk, the hinders for development and the investment in the country has maintain a low range due to the apparent instability of Ecuador The opposition by renewing the U.S. military base in Manta expired in 2009, the resistance of signing a FTA with U.S., and the diplomatic crisis handle with Colombia in 2008, have been some of the events which placed the country resistant against globalization, and rumors of ties with the terrorist group FARC with president Correa have damage the states image considerably. Some other scandals have included the spenditure of more than US$ 4 billion in subsidizing sectors which do not require, like petroleum products and the electrical sector, consuming over 80% of total subsidies; the benefits seem to be directed to the elite classes, leaving behind the thousands of people living in poverty conditions. When corruption is spread in a country variedly segments are involved, but the most affected Part of the population is the poor due to their incapability to absorb the costs, and this is exactly the consequences of corruption in Ecuador, where the percentages of poverty have raised dramatically over the past years. Corruption has undermined the people in many ways, traducing in inequality, remote access to health and education, and therefore the illiteracy of the population. One of the main consequences is a conversion to a society very tolerant with corruption, perpetuating a vicious cycle ending again in more corruption. Nowadays Ecuadors domestic politics is highly oppressed by Correas government, leaving narrow participation for the opposition parties PRIAN and PSP, and almost no room for the rising of new parties. Also in encounters coercion to Indigenous movements, dismissing any kind of ideas nonaligned with Correas conceptions. President Rafael Correa admitted this year that there is widespread corruption in the society of his country and announced his government is preparing a national campaign to fight against corruption. Correa stated corruption has not yet reached the levels of the upper government, it has taken not only the public sector but the private sector as well. Actually there is a campaign which evolves the entire population, acknowledging the population they must denunciate anyone who enriches with public money, and avoid paying taxes is a form of stealing to the state, and therefore is a form of corruption. Among other strategies the campaign promulgates to claim any information regarding to politicians visiting them with special offers. Corruption is negative related to the countrys performance in terms of GDP, international trade, foreign investment, economic diversity and wealth (Volkema, 2001) meaning corruption will have to be taken seriously by the government, the strategies implement m ust focus on addressing the real causes of corruption in order to balance Ecuador to a more prosperous and equal country. PERSONAL OPINION AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS As stated in the preamble to the United Nations Convention against corruption, the scourge poses a serious threat to stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethics and justice and jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law in my opinion this phase can be linked to Ecuador actual situation, where no real institutions exist for defending populations rights, and the coercion of opinion from other movements and a constituent assembly who obeys to Correas mandates encloses the country with clear and pure examples of corruption. Ecuador is a country with its majority are indigenous living to merely filling some of their needs, leaving aside the idea of attending to schools and very weak health system, consequently they do not bother to really claim for a more transparency government. Although is it true many protests are done in Ecuadorian lands, they seem not be effecting with lowering corruption, in my opinion the country must concentrate in creating proper institutions in order to audit this process, but society itself must engage into one voice, proclaiming their rights and cease the toleration of corruption. It is wicked to say elections should be call again and chose another candidate from a more capitalist party, and one of the main reasons is that history have shown despite the wing a president comes, corruption still persists, so even mayor changes should be done. One of my recommendations is the creation of programs that develop the economy of the poorest ones, and based in hypothesis made Davis and Ruhe (pag 6) countries with a high per capita income and upper foreign investment are perceived as less corrupted. At the same time this part of the population will have more opportunities for education, and the generations to come will be more aware of how deep corruption hurts a country. I do not criticize the new leftist in their in basis or proclamations, but I contentedly oppose the way the ideas from the 21st century socialism its being applied, contemplating a more equal distribution, but in reality the only beneficiaries are the ones who receive mayor contracts for being brother of the high commanders, or the elite people who keeps the subsidies supposed to be for helping the real needs of one economy, and neither the suppression of voice, which is why after studying the different variables in Ecuadors corruption I finish this paper by pointing Mahadma Ghandis quote Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.

USS Arizona, A Great Ship :: American History Pearl Harbor World War II WWII

On December 7th, 1941 tragedy struck when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. Many ships were sunk during the attack, but one of the most recognizable was the battleship the U.S.S. Arizona. This was one of the ships that was in line in the infamous battleship row. Because of where the U.S.S. Arizona was located it was a sitting duck to dive bombers and torpedo bombers of the Japanese. Once the ship was hit it went down in nine minutes. The sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona caused 1,177 service men to die while on board. The U.S.S. Arizona should also be known for all of its accomplishments during its tenure as a battleship. The Arizona had a very long and prestigious career before it was sunk. During the U.S.S. Arizona's life is served many important functions, from patrolling waters to escorting important people. The loss of the U.S.S. Arizona will forever be remembered as a tragic loss for the United States and its armed forces. The U.S.S. Arizona was in the United States Navy for a very long time before it was sunk. The reason why the U.S.S. Arizona was built was because it was part of America's pre-World War 1 modernization of the Navy. It was built in the Brooklyn Naval Yard with the other Pennsylvania class battleship. The builders of the U.S.S. Arizona started the layouts on March 16, 1914. It took a few years before the Arizona would finally be launched. The U.S.S. Arizona was put into commission on October 17, 1917. When it was built it was a very expensive ship. After all the construction was done the grand total for the ship was 12,993,579.23 dollars. When the Arizona was built it was considered to be a Pennsylvania class battle ship. This meant that it was an upgrade over the Nevada class battleship, which was the types they built before the Pennsylvania class. The main upgrades that they made was that they ships of the Pennsylvania class had two more main battery guns, a greater length and wate r displacement, and it had four propellers for a higher maximum speed. They also upgraded the size of the secondary battery guns. Because of this the U.S.S. Arizona carried a punch that no one would like to deal with. This consisted of four triple turrets for the main battery, and 22 single turret secondary battery. The Arizona also had many anti-aircraft guns for protection.

Nature vs. Nurture Controversy

The nature versus nurture debate concerns the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities (â€Å"nature,† i. e. nativism, or innatism) versus personal experiences (â€Å"nurture,† i. e. empiricism or behaviorism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. The phrase â€Å"Nature versus nurture† in its modern sense was coined[1][2][3] by the English Victorian polymath Francis Galton in discussion of the influence of heredity and environment on social advancement, although the terms had been contrasted previously, for example by Shakespeare (in his play, The Tempest: 4. ). Galton was influenced[4] by the book On the Origin of Species written by his cousin, Charles Darwin. The concept embodied in the phrase has been criticized[3][4] for its binary simplification of two tightly interwoven parameters, as for example an environment of wealth, education and social privilege are often historically passed to genetic off spring. The difference being that wealth, education and social privilege are not part of the human biological system, and so cannot be directly attributed to genetics.The view that humans acquire all or almost all their behavioral traits from â€Å"nurture† was termed tabula rasa (â€Å"blank slate†) by philosopher John Locke, and proposes that humans develop from only environmental influences. This question was once considered to be an appropriate division of developmental influences, but since both types of factors are known to play such interacting roles in development, most modern psychologists and anthropologists consider the question naive—representing an outdated state of knowledge. 5][6][7][8] In the social and political sciences, the nature versus nurture debate may be contrasted with the structure versus agency debate (i. e. socialization versus individual autonomy). For a discussion of nature versus nurture in language and other human universals, see also psychological nativism.

buy custom Managed Care essay

buy custom Managed Care essay Managed care refers to a range of health care systems that are used to reduce the cost of health benefits provision and improve the value of care. It could also be a health insurance plan that covers the enrolled persons through co-copayment or co-insurance. These are programs that are used to lessen needless health care costs using various systems such as economic inducements for doctors and patients to identify more affordable types of care and improved beneficially cost allotment. It ensures a balanced billing to every member of the society irrespective of their status. Managed care was facilitated by the ratification of the Health Maintenance Act of 1973. Though the techniques were introduced by the public health preservation organizations, different private health benefit schemes are now using them. Managed care is supposed to suppress medical cost by for instance, reducing avoidable hospitalization and causing the healthcare field to develop efficiency and competitiveness. When a person enrolls for the managed care plan, he identifies a doctor who is referred to as the primary care provider who takes over the responsibility of coordinating his health care Managed care has played a significant role in making quality healthcare reachable by many people across all economic status. Let us examine how this system has achieved success in the society as well as its failures. There are several managed care systems that have been employed by experts in reaching their goals. These include capitation, which involves paying a doctor a certain fixed amount for each sick person irrespective of the cost and time needed to treat a person. In this system doctors agree to charge a certain reduced amount from their normal charges in substitute of giving medical care to a group of sick people. Capitation is an example of managed care operations that try to keep the cost of healthcare at manageable level. Other systems that seek to improve the quality of healthcare for example clinical procedures that try to change the clinical administration of certain specific health issues such as high blood pressure are also regular managed care practices. What are the weaknesses of managed care? Since managed care seeks to reduce cost and time of treating a patient and on the other side improve the healthcare standards, critics have argued that it may not reach its intended goals. The technique has therefore achieved some success but has also experienced its fair share of shortfalls. Among its shortfalls is that most of the managed care wellbeing plans are provided by commercial firms, consumers argued that their cost control efforts were more geared towards saving money that providing proper health care (Nations Business, 1998). Consumers felt that manage care reduce the amount of time physicians spent with patients. This made it difficult for patients to get doctors attention thereby failing the techniques intended purpose. Dissatisfied patients and lobby groups argued that managed care systems were managing costs by refusing necessary services to patients, including in fatal situations or by provision of low substandard care. Due t o the increased criticism, many states passed legislations regulating the standards of managed care offered to patients. In addition, insurance companies answered the public and political demands by starting to give other plan options that had a wider range of care networks. Managed care has a wide range of structures and names. One of the structures is the risk based Managed Care Entities (MCEs) which are employed in providing and managing benefits. In a contract that covers the full risk, MCE agrees to offer all benefits on the basis of per month per member which is known as complete capitation. In case the enrolled person uses the services that go beyond the capitation payments, the additional costs are met by the managed care plan. If the case is the other way round where the enrolled person uses less, the plan either reinvests or keeps the unused money. If the contract is partial, the plan is usually paid beforehand to deliver a section of services such as crisis services or mental health case while the rest of the services are givenon a fee of services basis. In some cases, an incomplete plan could be at risk for costs or gains that go beyond a predetermined edge more than or less than a set cost. Another structure is the Administrative Services Or ganizations (ASO) which governs benefits and claims for a set administrative charge while carrying petite or no risk at all for the price of delivering care. As much as all the stakeholders may want to control the costs of health care using managed care system, doctors are the ones who can make this fact more real. This is because managed care is configured around different incentives to promote the practice of affordable medicine and to reduce differences in medical practice patterns. This means providing quality healthcare and at the same time reducing the recourses needed and in this case money. More often than not, efficiency is capitalized on by increasing production while managing cost. Therefore, managed care may necessitate performing more using less time per every sick person, less expensive drugs as well as less expensive diagnostics examinations and treatments. All these operations or tasks are carried out by the doctor and therefore he is the only one who can determine whether they are achievable or not. Incentives in monetary form are often used to influence doctor behavior and may involve rewarding doctors who exercise medicine prudently by giving financial rewards for example bonuses. Those who carry out unnecessarily numerous procedures and are not cost efficient on the other hand, may be reprimanded by preservation of bonuses or parts of their income. Inducements which are not in money form may be used by superiors to pressurize those who are not able be accountable to the financial interests of their employer. These fiscal and non fiscal incentives raise the moral concern that doctors may compromise patients support in order to realize cost savings. There is also the issue of trust between patients and physicians. Many are alarmed that managed care could weaken patient doctor relationship by eating away at the patients confidence in their doctors thereby minimizing the time doctors spend with sick people and curbing patients access to doctors. Managed care has been known to alt er the way relationships between doctors and patients begin and end. Health preservation organizations for instance only pay for medical care that is provided by their doctors. Annihilation of patient doctor relationship can in addition occur without the choice of the sick person. This occurs for instance where employers change health plans and hence employees have no other option but to cut ties with their doctors. Further more, some types of managed care develop a monetary incentive for physicians to spend very little time with every individual patient. For example, in the preferred provider arrangements, doctors may reimburse for cheap costs for attention by attending to many patients. This could be detrimental since it reduces the available time to talk about patients problems, explore different treatment options as well as maintain a significant relationship with patients. How can managed care affect the facts stated above? As we had mentioned earlier the success or failure of the managed care techniques largely depends on doctors. Since managed care is supposed to structure ways of reducing the cost of medical care, doctors should be able to draw a line between moral responsibility and money. By this I mean, doctors should not ignore patients need for attention just because they are on a managed cares scheme. Like we have mentioned above, some schemes authorize the doctor to give the patient a certain amount of time after which he must proceed to the next patient. Critics of managed care have always raised issues with such arrangements arguing that this does not give priority to the patients well being. Another problem that managed care experts are working on is the quality of health that patients get. There is a probability of compromising on the standards of treatment as people try to minimize cost. According to the American Journal of Medical Care there has been unsuitable antibiotic prescription to patients under managed care suffering from influenza (Misurski, Lipson Changolkar, 2011). This means that experts in the industry must ensure that high quality of medication is maintained. It must be understood that no amount of money can be compared with the safety of a person and therefore we cannot afford to save money at the expense of human lives. As much as we may want to save on medical cost, we may end up loosing more when lives of people are put on the balance. Let us now look at how well managed care has achieved its objectives. The purpose of managed care has been to ensure quality health care, at an affordable cost with easy accessibility to all members of the society. According to the available information, managed care has received good response from the general public as well as the authorities. In the US for instance, 90% of all the people who are insured are now under the enrolment of a certain from of managed care (America's Health Insurance Plans, 2007). This shows that the plan is working well in the public domain and therefore many people have preferred to enroll. Through the use of various points of service it is possible for the enrollees to choose the system to use up to the point where the service is available. Various techniques have been put in place to ensure that the plan achieves the success it is currently enjoying. These include selecting providers that supply a comprehensive collection of medical care services to the enrolled individuals. This means that the providers have to be scrutinized and vetted properly before being allowed to operate. This ensures that only legitimate and capable providers get to offer the plans. Another technique that has been used is the official utilization appraisal and quality enhancement programs. The quality improvement programs are geared towards improving the providers services to meet all the required standards as well as the new challenges that could face the plan over time. The providers are also supposed to review their plans to ensure a continued improvement program to fit every enrollee. Another method is the stressing on the importance of preventive care. This system seeks to educate the general public on observing the necessary measures that prevent new infections. These include encouraging people to observe hygiene, taking precautionary measures when using machines or properly dressing to keep warm just to mention a few. All these measures and others h elp in avoiding cases of illness or diseases that could necessitate one to get the attention of a physician. This meets the objective of managed care by ensuring that the visits to a doctor or administration of medication are kept at the minimal level and hence reduce the cost of health care. In addition, there has been economic incentives that encourage those who are enrolled in a program to use care efficiently. This could be through the providers or even through other health institutions. Some provider associations also allow negotiating of favorable fees in order to encourage new enrollees to get into the program. A survey that was done in 2009 by the Americas Health Insurance Plans discovered that patients who decided not to use managed care program providers were sometimes charged exceedingly high prices (Gina, 2009). This could also be tact to encourage people to enroll for the program. All these techniques have seen the number of people in the managed care rise steadily over the years. In summary, the general results of managed care have remained widely debated. The system seeks to reduce that cost of health, increase the quality of treatment and improve accessibility of health facilities to the public. Managed care received a lot of opposition from critics in the beginning who argued that the system seemed to prioritize the issue of costs rather that the more important issue of good health. Hospitalists were accused of not giving enough attention to patients under certain types of the program even during fatal situations. They believed that the scheme had not achieved its intended objective on the quality as well as the cost of health. However, with the different techniques that have been employed, managed care has been able to get impressive success and hence about 90% of the US insured population is enrolled in a certain type. Buy custom Managed Care essay

Freedom through Christianity essays

Freedom through Christianity essays Freedom through Christianity What do people look for in religion? Do they look for guidance, beliefs, reason, or do they look for help? African-Americans have looked for all of these for many years. They found all of these in Christianity. Christians believe in one God who they worship, trust, and look up to. Since Christianity was first intorduced in the early Colonial Period, African-Americans have used their Christian beliefs to fight horrible things that have gone on in America such as slavery and segregation. As African-Americans were captured through the slave trade and brought to the colonies they possessed many different religious beliefs. Many people are extremely ignorant in history and believe that all African-Americans were once united together as a whole in Africa. This was not nearly the case. Africa was made up of many different states with many different people and with many different beliefs. These people were dark skinned, but aren't all white people light skinned. The white man has never agreed on one main language. As the African-Americans were brought to the colonies from Africa, they used Christianity to help bring them together. Some people use song and dance to express their Christian beliefs. This was all started by the slaves. African-American slaves used songs, dances, and often stories to show their feelings about God. These stories were called trickster stories. As African-American slaves became more involved in the Christian faith it gave them something to live and fight for. Instead of doing labor for their white owners, they did their work for themselves and most importantly, they did it for God. Slaves were treated as animals. They were forced to work in the fields, in the house, or on the farms for free. They were beaten, deprived of food and clothing, and even raped. If slaves tried to run away they were captured and beaten. Being beaten meant being stripped of their clothes and whipped seve...

Presentation Script Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Presentation Script - Assignment Example There some visible factors which work as an obstacle in the way of success, some of the odd factors are negligence, non-attentive attitude, different perceptions, and lack of unity among the people of these two departments. Most of the times these people forget to focus on the basics of their jobs, they neglect the fact that at the end of the day they all are working for the same company and have one major responsibility to enhance and promote the brand as much as possible for the success. The sales people and marketers often disapprove each other’s ideas and show less unity regarding the sales process and marketing of the product and so this lead to further frustrations. It is necessary for both the sales people and marketers to work in collaboration of each other without disrespecting the ideas and values of others. A combination of sales and marketing can lead up to the stairs of success by overlooking the major concerns of budget. The story changes with a positive turn once all the sales people and marketers are on the same team, working together will help them in solving different budget or product related issues. They can work heads on what type customers do they have, what are their preferences and interests and how those needs and demands can be satisfied by agreeing upon on one successful strategy and a budget plan made with the consensus of both the sales people and the marketers. This exercise will help them in maintaining a healthy relationship with each other and also help in avoiding the fights and disapprovals over the available funds of the company. Before implementing on any of the product plans it is essential to do a proper research, on both in house and field levels. The best can be done through customer surveys and by doing market segmentation. Getting a whole of information about your competitors are also important, a right knowledge about the competitors and their ideas can give you an edge

Correlational Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Correlational - Research Paper Example able I choose from the study of our course while being able to make sound decisions at the workplace is the variable I choose as part of the workplace demands of a 20th century employee. I choose these two because both variables are interrelated. Having commitment in the workplace would allow one to have more ownership and a sense of responsibility towards his/her job which is a very important factor that will allow one to extract almost all possible solutions to a problem instead of jumping into the most convenient game plan that is available (Cognitive Demands of the Workplace, n.d.). On the other hand, a workplace that allows an employee to have a free hand in making decisions will increase the commitment an employee has of a company because he or she feels heard and treated as an asset that could do something beneficial to the business. Having seen the strong connection between both variables, applying the results of this survey in the workplace would definitely produce a generation of workers who would initiate breakthroughs instead of just going through the daily motions of delivering what is expected of them, would try hard to over deliver with or without a promise of an additional compensation, and lastly, would fight for any opportunity to close a deal like it was their own business even when most of the time a closed sale does not directly benefit an employee. Media, D. (n.d.). Factors Affecting Employee Performance | Chron.com. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/factors-affecting-employee-performance-978.html Cognitive Demands of the Workplace (n.d.). LDAO. Retrieved February 6, 2013, from

International Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Finance - Assignment Example For cash payments, it can sell the 90-days forward contract to buy US$ at 1.6930. At the expiry, the company will have to sell C$6,237,448 to buy the US$10,560,000. Furthermore, for the receipts the company will have to buy C$ at 1.6960 where it will be selling US$1,560,000 to buy C$919,811. Keeping in view the costs of transactions, the company can sell the 90-days forward contract to hedge the net cash flows of US$9,000,000 at bid rate of C$/US$ 1.6930. The amount payable will be C$5,316,007. ii. Money market hedge on payables will involve taking money market position to cover the future payment. Kennedy Plc can either use its own funds for the hedge or it can borrow the funds in home currency (C$) and make a short-term investment for 90 days in foreign currency. C$ borrowing rate = 3.5625% US$ deposit rate = 2.25% It needs US$10,560,000 in 90 days, therefore, the amount needed to be deposited in US$ is US$10,560,000 / (1 + (0.0225 * (90/360))) = US$10,500,932 Deposit amount in C$ = US$10,500,932/ 1.6875 = C$6,222,774 This amount can be borrowed at an annual interest rate of 3.5625%. C$ amount of loan repayment after 3 months = C$6,222,774* (1+ (0.035625 *(90/360))) = C$6,278,196 Therefore, the company would borrow C$6,222,774 at 3.5625% p.a. for 90 days. Convert the amount into US$ at spot rate of 1.6875, which will amount to US$10,500,932. Deposit this amount at US$ money market deposit rate 2.25% p.a. for 90 days. This will give the amount to be paid i.e. US$10,560,000. At the end of 90 days, Kennedy will make the loan repayment of C$6,278,196. This hedge will allow the company to fix the amount to be paid after three months. To hedge the receivables: Amount expected to be received = US$1,560,000... There are mainly three types of foreign exchange risks or exposures.This is also known as accounting risk, which a firm faces when it has subsidiary operations in other countries. When the foreign exchange movements adversely affect the translated values of assets and liabilities of the subsidiaries, it becomes an unwanted exposure for the parent company’s consolidated financial statements. This risk can be hedged by using currency futures, currency swaps etc.Transaction Exposure: This exposure is related to the future payments and receipts in foreign currency. Companies many a times limit this type of exposure by requiring the cash flows to be received and made in the home currency rather than foreign currency. Another way to minimize this risk is netting out the exposure by a lot of different currencies or only in one currency (Jacque, 1997, p.177). This is done by large corporations with significant amounts of international operations. Other techniques for alleviating short -term currency risks are currency forwards, currency futures, money market hedge, option hedge and cross hedge (Kelley, 2001, pp.32-34).Economic Exposure: This exposure is faced by corporations with large international presence and relates more with the net present value of future cash flows of a firm. The management of economic exposure involves the use of complex instruments and strategies besides the foreign exchange management (Ajami and Goddard, 2006, pp.110-111)

Berkshire Hathaway Essay Example for Free

Berkshire Hathaway Essay Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company wholly owns Geico, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, and Netjets. It also owns half of Heinz and has significant minority holdings in American Express, Coca-Cola Company, Wells Fargo, IBM, and Restaurant Brands International. I have done a lot of research into Berkshire Hathaway and CEO Warren Buffet but have been unable to find a vision or mission statement. If I had to make up a vision statement that suitably fit Berkshire Hathaway it would be the following: â€Å"Berkshire Hathaway strives to be the best-recognized, most highly respected, and most influential conglomerate company in the world.† The mission statement would be: â€Å"To provide top of the line services that significantly increase the growth of the company’s agents and affiliates.† I believe this fits this company perfectly because Berkshire Hathaway is notorious for its ingenious investing and services all thanks to a man named Warren Buffet who started out acquiring businesses. Buffet is one of the world’s wealthiest men and a key influencer in the financial market. He is Forbes’ number 33 most powerful people and ranked among Time Magazine’s most influential people. His company was ranked number 1 in Barron’s 2013 ranking of the world’s 100 most respected companies, number 8 in Fortune Magazine’s 50 most admirable companies survey, number 18 in Harris Interactive’s reputation study of the 60 most visible companies, and Forbes’ fifth largest company in the world. In his 2013 letter to shareholders, Buffet spoke of his joy for working for such a successful company. He noted, â€Å"No CEO has it better; I truly do feel like tap dancing to work every day.† My vision and mission statement align appropriately with what Buffet has done and envisions for Berkshire Hathaway. Stakeholders: Internal- Board Members: Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Walter Scott Jr., Thomas S. Murphy, Howard Graham Buffet, Ronald Olson, Donald Keough, Charlotte Guyman, Bill Gates, Steve Burke, Susan Decker, Susan Decker, and Meryl Witmer. Shareholders: â€Å"We think of our shareholders as owner-partners, and of ourselves as managing partners.† –Warren Buffet Employees: About 302,000 full-time employees. External- Customers: All over the globe, predominantly in North America. Media: Perceive the company in a certain way. Subsidiaries: Geico, BNSF, Lubrizol, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Helzberg Diamonds, FlightSafety International, ect. Communities: Omaha, Nebraska and other local communities.  Government: Local and Federal Governments.

Sexism in Othello Essay -- Othello essays

Othello: the Unquestionable Sexism  Ã‚        Ã‚   Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello features sexism as regular fare – initially from Brabantio and Iago, and finally from Othello. Let us in this essay explore the occurrences and severity of sexism in the drama.    In â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello† Valerie Wayne implicates Iago in sexism. He is one who is almost incapable of any other perspective on women than a sexist one:    Iago’s worry that he cannot do what Desdemona asks implies that his dispraise of women was candid and easily produced, while the praise requires labour and inspiration from a source beyond himself. His insufficiency is more surprising because elsewhere in the play Iago appears as a master rhetorician, but as Bloch explains, ‘the misogynistic writer uses rhetoric as a means of renouncing it, and, by extension, woman.’ (163)    Even the noble general yielded to the sexist remarks and insinuations of his ancient, thus developing a reprehensible attitude toward his lovely and faithful wife. Angela Pitt in â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies† comments on the Moor’s sexist treatment of Desdemona:    Desdemona has, therefore, some quite serious faults as a wife, including a will of her own, which was evident even before she was married. This does not mean that she merits the terrible accusations flung at her by Othello, nor does she in any way deserve her death, but she is partly responsible for the tragic action of the play. Othello’s behavior and mounting jealousy are made more comprehensible if we remember what Elizabethan husbands might expect of their wives. (45)    In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his hatred for the general Othello for his selection... ...reason to the same extent, or even greater than, men; and that men are passion-driven moreso than are women. The tables are turned on sexism at the very climax of the drama!    WORKS CITED       Jorgensen, Paul A. William Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985.    Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wayne, Valerie. â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.† The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Play in Childhood Essay

Play is one of the most defining features of childhood in Western society. It is something that all children have in common and what makes a child’s world different from adults. In answering the question, this essay will first examine the different opinions held by theorists as to why children play. I will then look at role play, which is one of the many types of play that children engage in. Finally I will look at children’s play as a social process using examples from other cultures and then briefly consider the reasons that children themselves believe they play. It is wrong to assume that children have always played. Historian, Aries (1962 in Book 1 Understanding Childhood Chapter 2) claimed that childhood was a social construction and that the view of childhood as a separate state did not occur until around the 16th and 17th century – before this, children were economically useful and not valued for the simple joy that children can bring. This was further illustrated by Mayhew (1861 in Book 1 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1), who’s observations from his meeting with the watercress girl led him to state that she had been deprived of her childhood. This was largely due to the fact that the girl’s work responsibilities did not allow time for play and she had no knowledge of parks or anything associated with play. From this it could be deduced that Mayhew felt children should play. Mayhew’s example also showed that play is a social construction, as although it was clear that the ‘watercress girl’ did not play, the fact that Mayhew suggests this is abnormal may simply be constructed from his own opinions that childhood should be a time of play. One of the first attempts to explain the importance of play came from the publication of Emile by Jean Jacques Rousseau in (1762 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1). In this, Rousseau emphasized that childhood should be a time of play and children should have the freedom to do this. For Rousseau, play is consistent with a happy healthy childhood, which is often linked with the romantic discourse. This is in contrast with the Puritan discourse which believes that allowing children to play is a risk to the civilization processes, as this can only be achieved through strict discipline. It also believes parents should be responsible for channeling children’s play into creative forms of work which will help  children to learn morally and intellectually. It is obvious therefore that these theories differ in their approaches to play. For the Romantic perspective – play is a way that children can express themselves, but for the Puritan approach, play is the way throu gh which children learn. Other opinions, such as those from developmentalist’s like as Piaget (1896 – 1980 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) saw play as an opportunity where children learn, practice and consolidate new skills and furthermore play provides them with a time where failing during a task was not going to have disastrous consequences. Vygotsky’s view on the reason why children play is different (1896-1934 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) as he believed that play was a crucial part in children’s social development in that it helps them acquire skills to learn to cop-operate with others. Play is also important for children’s cognitive development as children use psychological tools during play such as language and memory. Through play children learn, explore and extend their skills, for example Vygotsky suggested that when children play ‘make-believe’, they can experiment with adult roles and ways of that otherwise wouldn’t’t be possible for them. It is obvious therefore that for Piaget and Vygotsky, the reason children play is to learn. However, psychoanalysts like Freud(1920 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) were more interested in the significance of play for their emotional development, suggesting that a child’s psyche could be revealed through their play. Freud suggested from his research that play could have a therapeutic effect as it allowed children to rid themselves of negative feelings. Freud’s views were the building block for others like his daughter Anna who set up nursery for children during the second world war and recognised that observing children’s play had potential as a method of diagnosis, as well as being of therapeutic value for children who had experienced emotional trauma in their lives. Similarly, Klein used miniature dolls as resources that children could use to enact out their inner feelings and anxieties. This shows that psychologists such as Klein and both Anna and Sigmund Freud felt that children play to deal with emotional events in their lives. There are several different types of play, but I shall concentrate on role play now and why children engage in this type of play. This has been widely researched by Mead (1934 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1),who felt pretend and make believe situations are crucial for children’s personal development. Through role play, children are able to imagine themselves in other roles which helps their developing sense of identity, and through this children develop a sense of who they are and also how others see them. This was highlighted in Activity 2 (p8 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) which contained an extract from Bascom’s (1969 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) research in Nigeria. It involved interviewing a father while his 3 children observed the process and invented a new game from these observations. The activity asked us to think about the significance of this new game. The first child sat on ‘Bascom’s’ chair holding a pen and paper; the second child sat in the ‘interpreter’s’ chair (occupied previous to this by their father) while the third child sat on the bench imitating the ‘informer’. In the example, the second child told the third child to tell the first child about Odua. The third child then replied and from this the second child ‘interpreted’ this and relayed it to the ‘anthropologist’ in a string of meaningless sounds, supposedly echoing the English language. The first child who was meant to be the anthropologist then wrote on the paper and replied in more meaningless sounds, and so the sequence was repeated. The role-play that the Yoruba children undertook involved skilful imitation to impersonate the 3 adults and their gestures, even their language and the sequence of events. A similar study occurred in the UK by Kehily et al (2002in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) whose research was carried out through extensive interviews which were audio taped with children in their school. It was found that children incorporated the tape recorder into their games and discussions often imitating the structure of the interview process, even when they weren’t being recorded. Both of these researches on role play support Meads theory (1934 in Book 3  Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) that children have the ability to observe others and then use these observations to imitate others. The reasons children do this according to Mead is that it helps them to make sense of new and unfamiliar situations. Role play is further explored in video 3 band 3 ‘pretend play’ featuring Melissa and Hadleigh aged 4, playing mummy and baby at nursery school. This example further supports Mead’s claim by showing that pretend play helps children to act out imaginary roles. Perhaps one of the most important features of play is that it is a social process. Thomas Gregor (1977in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) studied children’s games in Mehinaku, Brazil, and believed that games mirrored the structure and values of adult society. He observed a game of teneju itai (women’s sons), this involved children marrying and carving a baby from a lump of earth. The ‘mother’ then mimics cradling the baby, which later dies, and is ‘buried’ in a hole. As early childhood death is a common occurrence for this Brazilian tribe, this game prepares children for the possible death of a sibling or playmate. This game also shows it is non competitive, did not involve hierarchies and did not identify winners or losers. In contrast, in the UK, Laura and Aalliyah (Video 3 band 3) use their imaginations in their role play acting out difficult emotions such as rivalry, conflict and death. These children are in a culture where they are protected from issues such as death and pretend play may offer children a way of exploring themes and issues that are not part of their daily life. Both examples also support Freud’s theory that children use play to act worrying or troublesome situations, and that play is a way in which children can express their feelings. Play, as a social process is not always a positive experience as Mead’s theory seemed to suggest. During play children can have many decisions to make and negotiate such as who can or can’t play, meaning play can sometimes produce power relations and social hierarchies amongst children. This was shown in research by Thorne (1999 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) who’s observations found that in the games that they played, children  created gender boundaries with single sex friendships, and that children may use play to achieve a position of high status within their group. Furthermore, play helps children’s identities develop as research with boys in Western societies showed that the play which boys engaged in involved language and physicality which was often competitive, and that they engaged in this type of play in order to help them achieve their masculine identity. This was further supported by research by Epstein (1997 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) which suggested that children engage in skipping rhymes and games such as ‘kiss chase’ in the playground in order to help construct their gender identity. Finally, it was also suggested by Back (1990 in Book 3 Understanding Childhood Chapter 1) that the play that these boys engaged in was not just play for playing sake but was also a method used to test the boundaries of friendship, and to decide who was or was not included in their ‘group’. Finally, as the research so far has been from adults, it is important to consider what children’s views are on why they play. One reason why children play is that it is a time when they can withdraw from reality and create their own fantasy world. This is seen with Joshua, (VIDEO 3 BAND1) who’s favourite type of play seems to be reading. He states that he reads because through doing this he can escape into an imaginary world. He reads, believing it to be important as it broadens his imagination and aids his learning. This example also shows that as well as being a social process, play can also be solitary. This video also shows Tinco who states that he plays at the temple to find peace and freedom which he does not experience in his home village. The reason Sean seems to play is that he enjoys being in the dark tunnel with his friends playing scary, daring games. These examples show simply that children themselves play for reasons such as to learn, find enjoyment and to have peace and freedom away from adults. These examples showed that it is evident all children play but the way they play can vary depending upon culture. This was also highlighted by Opie and Opie (1969) who researched on children’s playground culture which found that  the same rhyming games had been around for a long time, they just varied from culture to culture. We have seen therefore that different approaches have contrasting reasons as to why children play, and furthermore that children have different reasons as to why they play.One type of play which children engage in is role play which has been said to play an important part in the development of children enabling them to make sense of situations and form identities. Furthermore, children play as it is a social process which allows children to act out roles in order to help them make sense of situations around them, enabling them to gain an understanding of how others see them which in turn aids their identity development. REFERENCES Book 1 Understanding Childhood Chapter 2 U212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 1 Understanding Childhood Chapter 6 U212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 3 Understanding Childhood, Chapter 1 U212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 3 Understanding Childhood, Study Guide Audio and Visual notes, Unit 16 U212, The Open University, Milton KeynesBook 3, Understanding Childhood,; Video 3 band 1; My SpaceU212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University. Book 3, Understanding Childhood,; Video 3 band 3; Pretend PlayU212 Understanding Childhood, The Open University.