Competitive Advantage Report of Brazil

In this report, I’m going to develop the competitive advantage of Brazil with Michael Porter’s theory. 1. Factor Conditions: Brazil has a great number of natural resources, especially at Amazon Planitia and the south of Brazil. There has fertile soil and enough facilities. In Brazil, labors don’t cost too much, it’s good for a country to prosper in its agriculture, industry and tertiary sector. The skills and average education level of people in Brazil is not so good but not so bad.There are many people with skills and good education in some big cities in Brazil, but the conditions in those small cities are not so good. There is a gap between big cities and small cities. 2. Demand Conditions: Brazil has a large market in its large land. People in big cities like St. Paulo and Rio de Janeiro would prefer sophisticated products, but the degree of consumer sophistication may not be so high in small cities. 3. Suppliers: The major industry of Brazil is agricul ture.Brazil is also good in automobile industry, iron and steel industry, petrochemical industry, computer industry, aviation industry and durable consumer goods manufacture. The supporting companies of these industries are easy to be located in the same area. Brazil used to need a lot of oil to be imported, but the percentage of the oil needed to be imported has reduced from 70% to 33%. That is what the government wants. 4. The firm’s strategy and structure as well as rivalry among competitors: Brazil is the most industrial developed country in Latin America.Brazil also has various mature manufactures. It has already gotten plenty of investment from America. Now in Brazil, some privatization issues are faced by department of insurance. The economy of Brazil is growing and there are strong competitions between businesses. Conclusion: Brazil does have some competitive advantage. It bases on the well development of some main cities like St. Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. But if Braz il want to get more competitive advantage, the government must solve the problem of the imbalance between big cities and small cities.

Barriers to Effective Communication Essay

Most important amongst the ever-recurring and constant troubles in the field of police administration is that concerned with creating and sustaining a successful method of communication. Communication is the most important medium for concerning agreement between all the personnel of a department as to the police goals. It is the foundation for a regular and ongoing understanding of problems and accomplishments practiced on a continuing basis to reach their final objectives. The process of successful communications in a department starts with the leadership establishing clear guidelines how its personnel should interact with each other, whether it is by memo, emails, forms, daily briefings or training. Leadership in any organization must identify and mandate the objectives of the organization. Pfiffner (1951) stated â€Å"In all management situations, communication consists of organizational relationships and mechanics on the one hand, and the human factor on the other, in actuality both existing together. † Communication is the method of transmitting cues, mostly written and oral, in order to adjust human behavior. The communication process works in three steps, initiate, transmit, and impact. In a police department, initiate and transmit could be where the desk sergeant, issues the daily tasking that he receives from his leadership to his patrol officers beginning a shift. Impact takes place when the officers going out on patrol implement the tasking given and could be discussing the tasking amongst each other as well to gain feedback. Hearing is a passive occurrence that requires no effort. Listening, on the other hand, is a conscious choice that demands your attention and concentration† (Livestrong, 2001). The differences between hearing and listening is that when someone is speaking and you are hearing when you just hear the words coming out, not really paying attention to all of what is said. When listening, you are collecting thought on what is being said, but if you think you already know what the person is talking about, a person could just disregard the words that were just passed. There are generally four basic levels of hearing and listening, according to Toast Masters. org. You can easily fall into one or these more categories in different conversations. A non-listener is totally preoccupied with his personal thoughts and though he hears words, he doesn’t listen to what is being said. Passive listeners hear the words but don’t fully absorb or understand them. Listeners pay attention to the speaker, but grasp only some of the intended message. Active listeners are completely focused on the speaker and understand the meaning of the words without distortion† (Livestrong, 2011). Communications are vital in law enforcement. Police personnel have to comprehend the importance of tone of voice, pitch, and variation, the variances of hearing and listening. Facial expressions, body movements and posture are also significant for effective communications. Cultural and ethnic dynamics are essential factors of a police officer’s communication skills. The formal and informal channels of communication in criminal justice organizations are two distinct processes. Formal relations, occupation explanations, duties and processes are found in formal communication channels. These channels match the formal chains of command, and accountability recognized in organizational charts, standard operating procedures, and policy manuals. For many police departments and organizations, formal communication channels are the primary standard and rarely differentiate. Informal channels are considered a â€Å"grapevine or rumor mill† type construct. Police officers discussing an incident in the locker room can be considered informal, and if the district attorney and a defense lawyer are chatting about a case at lunch or a washroom are prime examples for informal channels of communications. In an informal channel of communication, the original words that were spoken could be altered, invalid, and misconstrued so much in a department, that the information can provide inefficiency in any organization. â€Å"Barriers to communication often arise when one party is concerned about personal or professional status. The four basic categories, or types, of obstacles to effective communication are as follows: (1) emotional barriers, (2) physical barriers, (3) semantic barriers, and (4) ineffective listening. Each of these barriers can cause either the sender or the receiver to fail to communicate effectively† (Wallace and Roberson, 2009). Emotional barriers can exist in the receiver or the sender. Individuals base their translating of information on respective occurrences and beliefs. If a person believes they will be not taken seriously or made fun of when making a idea, then they will not participate in discussions or send their message. When a police officer has a case of low esteem, it could affect their duties on the street, believing that they might not be able to make a difference, stop certain criminals, and that barrier can cost the lives of innocent people or even peers. Physical barriers are the properties of an atmosphere that can cause communications to be challenging. Examples of physical barriers include equipment that does not work properly, having one officer on patrol instead of a team of two officers patrolling together in a bad neighborhood. Semantic barriers can cause differences between individuals, when one person might say one thing, and another forms an entirely different conclusion to that was said. This form of barrier can exist in a department where communication is very poor from the leadership down to the most junior personnel. Ineffective listening will occur if law enforcement personnel fail to pay attention to what others are communicating. The subject of discussion might bore or be irrelevant to certain persons, or just be to complicate to comprehend, and that transmission will be useless. Effective communication is fundamental in any chain of command. Leadership must be able to communicate its orders and direction to subordinates in a clear, concise manner, and with a positive message, so subordinate’s can perform to the best of their ability and listen to the message that is spoken, instead of just hearing what they want to hear. For an organization to communicate effectively, a person must be able to overcome the barriers that exist, and change one’s thoughts or feelings with another coworker. Taking personal responsibility ensures their workplace operates smoothly, and can rid the barriers that may plaque the organization.

Family sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Family sociology - Essay Example Sociological theories and concepts help in providing a concrete base for this understanding of the role of family life in society. Moreover, analyzing different aspects of family life using different perspectives of sociological themes and concepts help in better understanding of the concept of family ideology and its structural changes in the current society. Even though contemporary society has seen many social changes in the aspect of family ideologies and its contributions to the society, it still occupies a central role in the lives of individuals. Thus, studying the role of family from the sociological perspective can provide an insight about how a family functions within a society, and helps influencing the lives of the individuals in promoting socialization, economic contribution and cooperation. According to Anthony Giddins (2006), family is defined as a group of persons who are linked directly through blood relationships or marriage, with the adult members assuming responsibility for children and family care. By this definition, family is regarded as a social institution and also the central unit of socialization, which shares values and commitments towards one another. Of all the social institutions, marriage plays a fundamental and vital role in creating a society. Marriage is bound to have preceded society; and made it possible by binding together. It is considered to be the basis of social order and improvement, along with providing the chief support of law, morality, and religion. (Booth, Crouter and Landale 2002, p.48). The extended family was a most common family structure; however, it started to decline because of many social and economic factors. Typically, in the 1940s and 1950s, a traditional family structure comprised of a man and woman along with their one or more offspring, and was widespread in the society as an

Catfish and Mandala Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Catfish and Mandala - Essay Example His identity as a Viet-kieu - a Vietnamese who now lives in a foreign land like the United States (Martin, 2000), had brought him as much challenge as he had ever thought of. At a certain point in someone else's life, there comes a point when, even if the situation tells you that you have been the luckiest man in the world, there is only emptiness felt. Just like Andrew Pham who had been a successful engineer in California, found nothing but emptiness alone even as, according to the norms of the society, he had been victorious against the battle of the foreign land he used to know twenty years ago. When his post-operated transsexual sister had committed suicide, Pham found it hard to have peace of mind. He blames himself for his sister's untimely death. Thus, eager to find out what brought his sister to commit such unforgivable act, he went back to his hometown to figure out his real identity as a Vietnamese-American who feels out-of-place in a country he had lived for over twenty years already yet unwelcome due to their race. Catfish and Mandala is a book that is a combination of a travelogue, a memoir, and a self-discovery help book in one. The plot of the story varies from Pham's journey around the Pacific Rim, through Japan and finally through his homeland, covering the stretch of the American-built Highway 1 from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to Hanoi, and the details of his family's struggles when hey first stepped onto the foreign land of the United States. Pham was able to illustrate his family's struggle against racism and the language barrier for which they had felt how it was being a stranger lost in a land you know nothing about. There was at the same time enough evidences shown in the story regarding the confusions that had them torn between two extremely different customs - the American culture and the Vietnamese culture - that are essential in recognizing one's own identity. ("Paperbacks") The moment Pham had set foot on the Vietnam land, various thoughts of his childhood occurred to him. Although they had been bleak, Pham could remember how his childhood had shaped his future that he holds in his hands at present. Now, bicycling and looking around the country where he had been born, Pham could not even at the least feel sorry for the people who had remained in the country after the fall of Saigon. He felt hardly against their situation and blamed such luck on their capitalist society. Pham, instead of feeling apologetic about the condition of his fellow Vietnamese of the lingering poverty that they still have after a long time, he felt nothing but to blame them for what they have become. But his quest to finding his own identity had made him feel good, but at the same time bad. He had the best privileges of being recognized as a Viet-kieu. On the other hand, he had worst experiences for being mistaken for being a Japanese or a Korean. (Martin, 2000) Pham had been able to meet different kinds of people. Some of whom had been like his old friends and some were total strangers to him. Every single conversation with them was like bits and pieces of puzzles that automatically bring itself in its place that makes up his identity. Pham needs no longer find where to put each piece into the right place because it involuntarily puts itself to where

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 29

Cover letter - Essay Example petencies comprise of Complaints Management Premises Security, Confidentiality Maintenance Quality Assurance, Data Protection Act Compliance, Difficult People Handling and Continued Professional Development Conflict Resolution .In addition, over the course of my career, I have recorded several achievements such as reorganizing the reception area and effectively increased overall efficiency by 30%.I also achieved Medical Records Management, Patient Share Governance, received Greeter Awards 2004 ,Customer Care Ordinance Counselor together with Adult Care Advisor-Ombudsmen of Forsyth County. I am a time conscious and keen individual who always executes her duties with unmatched precision and within the given time frame. I am a firm believer in team work and tries as much as possible to collaborate and partner with my colleagues through sharing and building workable relationships. I am always keen on learning the latest industry trends and normally seek to adopt and incorporate them in m y work whenever possible. Finally I have excellent oral and written communication skills in addition to being equipped with exceptional presentation skills. Above all, I am a God fearing person and my integrity is above par. It’s my hope that you will kindly consider my application and invite me for an interview. I am very sure that I can make a big difference in your valuable team. Looking forward to working with you. Thank you for your time and kind

Choose a criminal case that has been covered by the media Research Paper

Choose a criminal case that has been covered by the media - Research Paper Example However, it is essential to highlight here that the paper also dissects the case as well as theoretically analyzes it. Introduction Sexual abuse has existed since time immemorial. What is intriguing about the molesters is that they have crept in to church molesting innumerable people. The media reveals that while selecting a new pope, Archdiocese of Los Angeles reached a $10 million defrayal after four men accused the former priest of sexually abusing them. It was also highlighted that the former priest was also criminally convicted in another case (Medina, 2013). It is essential to highlight here that Michael Baker was accused of molestation of minimum 23 boys over a period of 30 years. Moreover, in 2007 he was convicted for sexually abusing two boys. Certain internal documents revealed that Cardinal Mahony and some of his assistants helped the accused priests by protecting them against law enforcement. Priests accused of such a hideous act were sent to treatment centers and were la ter allowed to take by ministry (Medina, 2013). After the release of the internal document additional proofs surfaced that unveiled that the Archdiocese in 1987, signed a plan proposed by one of his most earnest of advisors that emphasized on sending Baker to a psychiatrist to which he agreed. Many officials such as Mr. Fanaldi expressed that such a minor action was taken so that they would know that Baker was in safe hands. He also highlighted that Mahony was apparently aware of the Mr. Baker’ crime than he seemed to acknowledge it. Nevertheless, the lawyer of church, Mr. Hennigan accepted that Mr. Baker was perhaps one of the most serious offenders and that the church should not have given him the ministry back he was accused of such heinous crimes (Medina, 2013). Theoretical Analysis of the Case The case has been presented in the paper time again until the people were thoroughly aware of the case and the justice was done with the molested victims. Basing on the manner of m entioning the case in the article, it is not incorrect in saying that the writer uses a liberation theory through the coverage of the case. However, before the case theoretically explained it is imperative to under the theory journalism. In accord with libertarian theory, the articles usually reflect the truth bearing in mind that individuals are very well aware of it. Hence, the theory implies that individuals are rational beings and it is not easy to cover a crime from them (Biagi, 2010). If the example of the mentioned case is taken, the New York Times presents the article in a libertarian manner to its readers. Like in the article, the writer quotes the lawyer of the church who accepts the crime and quotes the plaintiff Mr. Fanaldi. Both people quoted in the article were very direct and suggestive of the fact that the church’s ministry was involved in the case to the extent where they were able to influence the charges against the accused priest. Moreover, it can also be said that the writer felt that it is the social responsibility to provide the people with a true picture of the case. Perhaps because it will make them aware of the fact that such pedophiles are not only limited to the streets but are present everywhere (Biagi, 2010). Media Involvement in the Case The media generally plays a vital role in the coverage of events

The Necessity of Landfill Diversion in the United States Research Paper

The Necessity of Landfill Diversion in the United States - Research Paper Example In fact, the U.S. is not just one of the world leaders when it comes to manufacturing consumer goods; it is also taking the lead in waste generation. In 2010 alone, â€Å"Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash and recycled and composted over 85 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.1 percent recycling rate† (EPA 2010). With this data, it would appear that every individual in the U.S. generates 4.43 pounds of waste every day. However, the possibility of solutions in the near future is still dim and proving this is another estimate from the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA that out of the 250 million tons generated, only 85 million tons of waste would actually make their way to the recycling and composting plants. This is only 34.1 percent of the waste generated. This means that majority of the said waste are directed to one of the most commonly used solid waste management method in the world, the landfill. There are basically two kinds of wastes, organic and non-organic. The former are those that could be left to decompose through natural means while latter could not be subjected to the same treatment because of its highly synthetic composition. Both, however, contribute to the growing problem of solid waste management, especially because both could become hazards to the environment. Despite the fact that organic wastes could decompose and its composition be assimilated by the soil, these could still produce threats to the environment. During the process of putrefaction, organic wastes are known to trigger gas emissions and leaching that could contaminate the air and the soil respectively. There have been many cases also where groundwater is contaminated because of leaching. The non-organic wastes, on the other hand, pose a threat to both humans and the environment because these could contain substances that could be toxic. Since non-organic wastes do not decompose, the solutions that have been applied to these are recycling and reusing. As for the organic wastes, these are delivered to landfills where these are left to decompose through purely natural means or through the intervention of certain treatment that would hasten the process. Due to the fact that landfills are basically environmentally hazardous, there had been various studies carried for the purpose of determining safer designs that could be applied for their construction. However, there have been countless cases when leaks did occur resulting to the bacterial or viral contamination of the groundwater. Aside from this, landfills also contribute to air pollution and to the greenhouse effect because of its methane emissions. In the U.S. and in Europe, where the landfill is an integral part of solid waste management, areas that could be designated for such purpose are fast running out even as the demand for more numerous and bigger sites continue to increase. It is because of the â€Å"large numbers and the expanses of valuable real estate th ey occupy† that the landfills are problems that are becoming increasingly serious (Tammemagi 5). With all these issues attributed to landfills, there is clearly a need to determine alternative solid waste management methods. The introduction of such methods should lead to the reduction of the U.S.’s reliance on landfills and to shift instead to methods that are more viable and safer for both humans and t

Personality disorders and eating disorders Essay

Personality disorders and eating disorders - Essay Example would have been very difficult for me even to accept the behavior of Aidan initially, but with time I would have also accepted the absurd behavior or sexual innuendoes of Aidan. Like Richard only, I would have also passed through a volley of comments sometimes discreet and sometimes open from my colleagues or seniors. At one side the pang of homophobia and on the other hand the teasing and threats of mismanagement regarding handling the case form the colleagues would have been a mental pressure and anxiety for me. I would have felt disgusted, lonely, and even distracted from my other jobs as the client used to show resentment for Richard’s divided attention. At some point of time my disgust would have reached its optimum point as it can happen in the case of any happily married man. The sense of isolation or when everybody around fails to interpret one’s activities is really more depressing and frustrating for a working married man as in this case the mental disgust cau ses misbalance in behavior which causes disturbances in both the domain-professional and personal. But like Richard only I would have also discussed the case with my staff and crew cause open communication helps in clearing up all the misunderstandings and doubts. It is obvious that Richard shares a special kind of sympathy with the patient which is a mark of a true nursing staff but really it is impossible to say whether it would have been possible for me like Richard to hold back patience and face the disgust of everyone around yet serve the ailing client who can be a trauma to any one and every one. Though tough but in this case dealing with Aidan in my own way and receiving comments and giving explanations for the way of treatment would have been hard for me to balance, but with endurance and patience I would have overcome it. Putting oneself in place of Aidan who is an acute patient of Personality Disorder is weirder but like Aida, I would also have tried to cling to Richard and my

Film Assignment Essay Example for Free

Film Assignment Essay For this assignment, I chose the 1996 movie â€Å"A Time to Kill† is applying Carl Roger’s Model of Argument. The film is based on the novel of the same title by John Grisham that tells the story of finding justice amidst the racial bigotry of the South. It is the story about a black man, Carl Lee Hailey, who killed the men who raped and mauled his 10-year old daughter Tonya and is looking at a death sentence should he be found guilty of murder in court in a town where racial prejudice continues to abound. It is through the efforts of his defense lawyer, Jake Brigance that Carl Lee was acquitted and released (McConnnaghuey and Jackson 1996). At first glance, a debate is very likely to ensue. Some would say Carl Lee is guilty because he broke the law by murdering the suspects. The latter had been arrested and should have been given their day in court and let the law take its course. They believe that revenge was Carl Lee’s motive for taking matters in his own hands and that the death penalty is appropriate because of what he did, consistent to the adage, â€Å"the punishment must fit the crime. † Legally, Carl Lee is indeed guilty and the jury appears to be leaning towards that decision. However, looking at it from the other side, there are others, as personified by Jake, who believe Carl Lee did the right thing though it was very drastic. While it may be true that Carl Lee was legally guilty, this does not immediately mean he is morally wrong. In the latter part of the film, Jake won the case because he was able to find common ground, not only with the jury, but also to the audience. He took their attention away from Carl Lee and his act and instead focused it somewhere else on the actual victim Tonya. Jake did this by taking everyone on a â€Å"journey† inside Carl Lee’s mind, putting themselves in his place, retracing his road to perdition on the day his daughter came to him battered and bleeding to the time he killed the suspects. He closed the â€Å"journey† by telling the jury to now â€Å"imagine she were white. † This is the common ground Jake successfully established. The â€Å"secret† behind it was Jake is able to make the jury shed off any racial bias they may have by getting them to empathize with Carl Lee. The result was instead of looking at a black man seeking redress for the attack on his daughter, but just a father who is merely looking out for his daughter. It can be inferred that everyone on the jury would have done the same thing if the victim had been their own child. They also know how biased the justice system is in town and that black people never get a fair trial but in this case, Jake succeeded in making them see it from a different perspective. It is certain that everyone knows justice is not always found in the courtroom, especially in this town and there are times when doing the right thing means breaking the law because the law is not perfect as it is administered by a racially prejudiced society. What was substituted here is a deeper sense of justice that is common to all, rooted in religious beliefs. In other words, people like Carl Lee are guided by their personal morals that are very fundamental where it becomes easy to discern right from wrong. All in all, the film shows a demonstration on how the Rogerian Model is applied as â€Å"common ground† was established with the audience by the performers in the film through the use of empathy to establish this common ground. Bibliography A Time to Kill. Directed by Joel Schumacher. Performed by Matthew McConnnaghuey and Samuel L. Jackson. 1996.

Hans Arp Essay Example for Free

Hans Arp Essay We have already studied different artists from different fields throughout this course. By studying those artists, we have known their life and influences within the people around them, their followers, and also to the society. By knowing other artists from different fields and genre, this paper had come up into a new path of knowing one of the French painters during early 19th century. By knowing this artist, another knowledge and learning will be shared within the course. This paper will focus of Hans Arp’s life and influences. The main purpose of the paper is to show the works of Hans Arp throughout his career and how his influences influenced him and other artists by his sense of creativity and passion. Jean Arp also known as Hans Arp was born on September 16, 1887 in Strasbourg. He went through different places and countries in the world to find his self and sense. As the age of 17, Hans Arp went to Paris to explore his sense of art. Through his journey, he started to acquire the goodness of modern art. At this time, he started painting different artifacts during his inspired moments. At the age of 18 in 1905, he attended some courses of painting to Professor Ludwig von Huffman. After two years, he tried to enter Julian Academy to attend some other courses. After three years of obtaining knowledge, he went to Switzerland to start his journey as a painter. He met different painters whom he became part of. He founded the organization, which he named as â€Å"Moderner Bund† or the Modern League. Along with other painters, Arp went through different exhibits from 1911 to 1913 in different places of Switzerland and other countries. He met Apollinaire, Arthur Cravan, Max Jacob, Picasso, and Mondigliani whom became his colleagues and friends for many years. They all met in Paris. In 1911 he was influenced by the abstractions of Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) and participated in his Der Blaue Reiter exhibitions in Munich; later Cubism greatly impressed him. Then he was interested by the idea of spontaneous creativity of the human subconscious mind and this idea became dominant in his art. He created collages with torn paper, letting the pieces fall freely on a surface and then gluing them to the places where they fell down. Because of many influences coming from different painters during his younger years, his work of arts became patterns of those painters though pertaining to his own attack to his arts. He had gone through different painters that he thought would give him better knowledge and great impression of his future paintings and other creations. As he created different forms of canvass and other painting strategies, he was introduced to many other famous artists that gave him the courage to create more intensive art works that manifested within his paintings and other artworks. From 1915 to 1919, he became a well-known painter having different exhibits of his paintings in Zurich. Despite of the declaration of war during those years, he remained firm from all his works from different genres and ideologies. After many years of fulfilling his talents and skills, he married Sophie Teuber in 1922 who became his collaborator aside from being his wife. On the outbreak of the WWI, Jean Arp settled in Zurich, Switzerland, where he was involved in the emerging Dada movement. During the 1920s he produced many abstract reliefs in wood, but after 1928 he worked increasingly in three dimensions, making sculptures in the round. These sculptures are simple, abstract shapes suggestive of organic forms found in nature. Arps sculptures impressed the Surrealists, especially Joan Miro, and his influence is also evident in the work of Henry Moore. However, painting was not his only talent that many people have witnessed. He was also a sculpture and a poet. He sculptured the famous â€Å"Human Concretion† in 1935. He also wrote different poems that can be connected to his paintings and sculptures. Creating his poems was his way of creating an abstract of his paintings and sculptures. That is why along with the abundance of his paintings and sculptures are his free-verse poems. Based on his historical accounts, Hans Arp was not just a simple painter having simple dreams and purpose in life. He also showed his way of striving hard to perform changes within his environment. He was involved in the Surrealism – a movement showing their advocacy regarding the issues and conflicts within their society. It brought further idea of Arp’s identity as he put a new trend of liberalism through paintings, sculpture, and poetry. Finally settling in Paris, Arp became involved in the Surrealist movement. He joined the Cercle et Carre group in 1930 and helped to found the Abstraction-Creation group a year later. During World War II, Arp fled to Switzerland, returning to Meudon, outside of Paris after the war. He won the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1954 and created a relied for the Unesco building in Paris in 1958. After a long journey of success, Hans Arp died at the age of 79 in Solduno, Switzerland on June 7, 1966. However, before he died, he was not just a painter, sculpture, and poet with amazing thinking and ideas but also a speaker of UNESCO through his paintings. He speaks for UNESCO’s building by painting it in a mural relief. Because of his creations coming from his own thoughts and ideas, he has influenced many other painters and sculptures during and after his generation until this present generation. He had opened a new way to convey the message of paintings and sculptures as well as poems. Because he had grown through other’s influences to his works and life, he also became one of the influences of many artists today because of his magnificent contribution in the world of art. It can be said that his paintings, sculptures, and poems are simple in a literal sense, but if we tend to analyze its meaning and essence, we could obtain further knowledge and learning from his work of arts due to its big impact especially to those who really know how to describe the meanings of his paintings and other creations. As a whole, Hans Arp’s life does not contain many struggles and pains. He was just a contented painter, sculpture, and poet during his time. Despite of his success, he remained firm to what he wanted and purpose in life. In contradiction from his paintings, sculptures, and poems, his life was not a complex situation. Though he had married two times, it was not became a problem on how he managed his life. Therefore, he knows how to create a line and path to what he wants to pursue with his life like the way he draw and mould his creations. Works Cited Abcgallery. com. Jean (Hans) Arp. (n. d. ) 1 December 2007. http://www.abcgallery.com/A/arp/arpbio.html

Value Action Gap Outcomes Management Essay

Value Action Gap Outcomes Management Essay The value-action gap is a term used to describe the gap that can occur when the values or attitudes of an individual do not correlate to their actions. More generally, it is the difference between what people say and what people do. This discrepancy is most associated within environmental geography, as usually attitudes affect behavior; however the opposite often seems to be the case with regard to environmental attitudes and behaviors. The outcome is that there is a gap between the high value people place on the natural environment and the relatively low level of action taken by individuals to counter environmental problems.( The outcome is that there is a disparity between the value placed on the natural environment and the level of action taken by individuals to counter environmental problems. )This disparity has been termed the value-action gap, or occasionally, it is referred to as the attitude-behavior gap (Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002). Therefore, it is not a change in attitudes that is required, but a fundamental shift in behavior towards the environment and individuals use of natural resources, to ensure sustainable development and conservation of the environment. Debates surrounding the issue of the value-action gap have mainly taken place within environmental and social psychology. Research is often based within cognitive theories of how attitudes are formed and how this affects individuals behavior (Blake 1999). The research suggests that there are many internal and external factors that affect behavior and the reasons behind consumer choices. Therefore, it can be difficult to identify the exact reasons for why this gap exists, as it can be due to a number of reasons. When purchasing a product for example, many attributes are assessed when making decisions. Dickson (2000) suggests that the most significant factors affecting the reasons behind buying behavior are; price, quality, convenience, and brand familiarity. Young et al (2010) argue point out that the gap can also be due to brand strength; culture, finance; habit; lack of information; lifestyles; personalities; or, trading off between different ethical factors (p22). Therefore, environmental or ethical considerations are often not taken into account, regardless of attitudes people have regarding the environment. Time or convenience is usually a major determinant of consumer behaviour, and therefore a gap between values and behavior is understandable. Moreover, Chatzidakis et al (2007) argue that consumers use neutralisation techniques to justify pursuing their more selfish goals instead of purchasing environmental friendly or ethical products. Therefore, environmental values are usually less dominant in the decision-making. Development of the idea: Summary: The usual theories of reasoned action argue that values and actions are related. The theory of reasoned action states that behavioral intention is dependent on attitudes surrounding that behavior and social norms (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975). This means that a person acts or behaves in a way that correlates to their attitudes towards that behavior. Therefore, a persons voluntary behavior can be predicted by his/her attitudes and values on that behavior (Kaiser et al 1999). Homer and Kahle (1988) argue that attitudes influence behaviors and therefore values can explain the reasons behind human behavior. However, the opposite appears to be the case for certain actions, especially those related to environmental or ethical actions. In recent decades, public support for environmental protection measures has grown and, according to Barr (2004), there has also been a growing interest in ethical consumption. This has been fuelled by pressure groups, consumer groups, and even businesses (Young et al 2010).  Furthermore, increased media coverage of environmental disasters and social problems has also resulted in a heightened concern of such issues. This was given a political boost by the publication of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change (Stern 2006). Therefore, people are more aware of environmental issues, such as global warming or climate change. It is often reported that many people have a high concern for environmental issues and ethical consumption, for example, Dunlap (2002) states that 54% of Americans agreed environmental protection was a key priority, even if economic growth was restricted. Furthermore, Banerjee and Solomon (2003) also argue that the general support for Ecolabels and ethic al foods is high among the public. With these studies in mine, it is expected that there would be an increase in pro-environmental behavior, such as recycling, or limiting energy usage (Flynn et al 2010). However, these positive attitudes have not translated into a large increase these behviours and ethical consumption is still relatively low (Aguiar et al 2009). Thus, attitudes are not always a clear prediction of behavior, resulting in the value-action gap. For example, the the market share for ethical goods is low as according to Young et al (2010) the market share of ethical foods is only 5% of total food sales in the UK. Furthermore, as Dickson (2000) points out, ethical labelling initiatives such as legally logged wood, and fair-trade products, often have market shares of less than 1%. Thus, consumers buying behaviour does not reflect their positive attitudes toward ethical products (De Pelsmacker et al 2006). This means that other factors are more significant that values relating to the environment. Factors that affect behavior: There are many factors that lead to an individuals behavior, and therefore it is not just personal values that affect behavior. There are many different theories regarding how consumers make decisions. These can be applied to try and explain why there is a value-action gap for some behaviors. For example, microeconomic theory (consumer, household theory) states that, humans make decisions that maximize their utility (Sammer and Wà ¼stenhagen 2006:188). Therefore, if buying ethical or environmental products does not maximize their utility then they will not purchase them, regardless of their attitudes towards these issues. Making these decisions requires a comparison of the costs and benefits of alternative actions, rather than about certain values, within their budgetary constraint. This means other factors, such as price or quality, are still more important. Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) suggest that the three main determinants of behavioral intention with relevance to sustainable consumption are; values, needs, and motivations; information and knowledge; and behavioral control. They argue that consumers are passive when it comes to supporting environmental improvements within their budget. Behavior is often based on habit and therefore values concerning the environment are often not taken into consideration. Therefore, this can account for the low market share of sustainable products (Minteer et al 2004). These theories can explain the gap that appears between attitudes and actions. Application (Further explanation and examples): Even though many support ethical trade in principle, this is often not taken into consideration as a purchase criterion. Cohen and Murphy (2001) argue that for around 40% of consumers the environmental friendliness of a product will never be a factor in purchasing decisions regardless of positive attitudes towards ethical consumption. There are many studies which support the existence of a value-action gap. Mostly these can be found within the field of environmental geography. Lane and Potter (2007) found a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior regarding the adoption of cleaner vehicles. They reported that concern for the environmental impact of cars did not result in behavioral changes at the individual level. Thus, what consumers reported as their intended actions or concerns often did not translate into their actual behavior. Furthermore, Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) also found that positive consumer attitudes towards sustainability were not consistent with their behavioral patterns. They found that attitudes were positive whereas intentions to buy sustainable dairy products were low. They also found that peoples perceptions of the availability of sustainable dairy products was low, which might explain why attitudes were positive yet intentions to buy were low. Additionally, evidence of this gap has been found with organic food as illustrated by Hughner et al (2007) who show that despite 46-67% of the population expressing favorable attitudes for organic food, the actual purchase behavior is only 4-10% of different product ranges. Three/four main issues/debates described below: Information gap: One explanation for the discrepancy between attitudes buying behaviour is the perceived lack of availability of certain products and lack of information (Dickson 2000). Therefore, because there was a lack of information about environmentally friendly behavior this caused the gap between values and attitudes. Traditional thinking supported the idea that increased knowledge tended to encourage favorable attitudes which, in turn, lead to pro-environmental action. Burgess et al (1998) called this the information deficit model. Therefore, increasing knowledge and awareness surrounding environmental and ethical issues should result in behavioral changes. Burgess et al (1998) argue that filling the values-action gap with information would lead result in a change in public behaviors towards the environment. Furthermore, Owens (2000: 1142) argues that if people had more information about environmental risks, they would become more virtuous. Some are that to increase environmental action there needs to be educational marketing campaigns on the ethical and environmental issues Thus, the main motivations for actions are self-interest rather than altruistic. Therefore, to increase environmental action products must aim to change perceptions by using. McEachern and McClean (2002). However, so far no one has been able to confirm the validity of such a model (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002). As a result, the decision-making process could be considered as almost unpredictable: positive attitudes were not necessarily followed by positive intentions. Therefore, attitudes alone are a poor predictor of intentional behavior. As such, there seemed to be many more factors that influenced pro-environmental behavior. Barr and Gilg (2002) argue that just increasing information will not lead to behavior change that would close this gap. Due to the increased media attention surrounding environmental issues, and products such as Fairtrade having a high profile, it could be argued that there is already a lot of information on these issues, and many are aware of the issues. It is genuinely considered that many have a high regard for environmental issues. Sammer and Wà ¼stenhagen (2006) point out that while people may be aware of ethical and environmental issues and products that attempts to solve these issues, this does not necessarily mean that it plays a major role in their buying decision. . 99% of respondents in both surveys reported that they had heard the terms global warming and climate change, and most respondents said they knew a fair amount about these terms (Thornton, 2009) Yet, because the market share of these products and level of environmental action is quite low, there is exits a gap between attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the key issue is why our attitudes often fail to materialize into concrete actions (Barr 2004). Blake (1999) many national policies are based on this idea of an information deficit model of participation. For example, Going for Green (GFG). It is considered the most effective means to overcome the value-action gap is by translating environmental concern into pro-environmental behavior. This can be done through increasing information. The core assumption is that the main barrier between environmental concern and action is the lack of appropriate information. The GFG argue that the most effective way to encourage people to act is to give locally relevant information and highlight a few facts. Environmental concern and basic environmental action (such as recycling), are now becoming widespread throughout the population. However, few people take environmental actions which involve changes to their lifestyle. This may mean that environmental actions people take may be unrelated to the particular concerns that they express about the environment. This environmental value-action gap is clearly of key importance to environmental policy, not least because it is repeated at other scales, involving different actors: thus local or national government, business and even international organizations have policies whose effects fail to match up to the environmental concerns people are expressing. the attitude-behavior relationship is moderated by two primary sets of variables: the structure of personal attitudes themselves; and external or situational constraints. . Attitudes are likely to be better predictors of behavior if the attitudes in question are strong relative to other (possibly conflicting) attitudes, and based on direct experience. Situational constraints mainly refer to whether the behavior is in line with the individuals favored social norms, which in turn are influenced by different social, economic, demographic and political contexts. . Research has shown that people do not have a fixed, rational and ready-made set of values that will be activated by parti cular calls to action; rather peoples values are negotiated, transitory and sometimes contradictory. these findings suggest that the value-action gap cannot be overcome simply by using an information deficit model of individual participation, as empowerment of individuals to act does not of itself guarantee action without an appropriate institutional location within which action is located, policy turns from raising environmental awareness to promoting pro-environmental behavior, possibly involving lifestyle change, Blake 1999 As Eden (1996) has argued: policy still fails to appreciate the huge gulf between information and action, between understanding as awareness and understanding as the cause of behavior. Policy-makers seem to assume that environmental education, drawing from scientific work, will lead to people making the link between policy and action and acting in order to meet policy objectives, (p. 197) Barriers to behavior: Ajzen Fishbein have developed an additional theory of reasoned action and planned behavior. they argue that individual attitudes must include an intention to carry out a specific action that reflects a reasoned evaluation of the likely consequences of that action. Ajzen, I. Fishbein, M. (1980) Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall). other researchers have pointed out that these intentions are related to more general values, worldviews and beliefs (e.g. Stern et al, This theoretical approach has also been the dominant influence on public and policy research into public attitudes, Different people will interpret and respond to the same environmental information in unpredictable and often highly variable ways, at times producing a quite opposite interpretation to the one expected by those (often in the policy community) who promulgate the information (Myers Macnaghten, 1998). Thus individuals must accept responsibility for the future, but conditions, institutions and their own day-to-day responsibilities constrain their actions (Myers Macnaghten, 1998, p. 346). Myers, G. Macnaghten, P. (1998) Rhetorics of environmental sustainability: commonplaces and places, Environment and Planning A, 30(2), pp. 333-353. The causes of this gap between attitude and behavior can be explained in terms of personal, social and structural barriers to action. Different barriers often overlap or work in conjunction to limit behavioral change. However, these barriers can be tackled, It is considered that there are numerous barriers of motivations for individual action. microeconomic theory (consumer, household theory), which says that humans make decisions that maximize their utility (Sammer and Wà ¼stenhagen 2006:188). Furthermore, many people act impulsively and in ways that do not correspond to their declared evaluations and goals (Boulstridge and Carrigan, (2000). Attitudes often derive from social norms. For example, Schwartz (1977, cited in Jackson, 2005) has suggested in his Norm Activation Theory that the intention to perform a proenvironmental or pro-social behaviour is based on the acceptance of personal responsibility for ones actions and an awareness of their consequences. (p166) Blake (1999)- three different categories of obstacles that exist between the sphere of concern and that of action: individuality; responsibility and practicality. that both psychological and institutional factors affect individual action. Which factors are important in any one case will vary for different individuals, environmental actions, and social or institutional constraints. individual barriers refers to what social psychologists would call personal attitudes or cognitive structure. Environmental concerns are outweighed by other conflicting attitudes. wrong type of person to do certain types of environmental actions, such as campaigning. peoples perceptions of institutions and responsibility. At present, despite general environmental concern, that evaluation is often negative. Even if individual factors would support environmental action, people may still not act because they do not feel that they (as individuals) should take the responsibility for helping to solve environmenta l problems. practical social or institutional constraints that may prevent people from adopting pro-environmental action, regardless of their attitudes or intentions. These include lack of time, lack of money and lack of physical storage space (in the case of recycling), as well as lack of information, encouragement and pro-environmental facilities such as recycling and adequate public transport provision. Some people may also be physically unable to carry out some environmental actions. Clearly, there will be overlaps between the three sets of obstacles, and the reasons why people do not engage in pro-environmental action will not always fall into such neat categories. classification shows is that at a particular moment, and in a particular place, distinctions can be made between different types of barriers that may prevent individual environmental action, and that policy will need to respond in differentiated ways. policies need to also tackle other individual, social and institut ional barriers. Not just provide more information or recycling facilities. organizations that are trusted more by the public, such as environmental NGOs, are likely to be most successful. The factors involved in making people willing to reduce environmental damage are fundamentally different from the factors involved in making people take active steps to reduce damage and to improve the environment. The gap dilemma: Market-based mechanisms. Solutions: Criticism: 4 See also Attitudes, behavior, cognitive psychology, social psychology, theory of planned behavior

Comparing The House of Mirth and Daisy Miller :: Henry James, Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton’s â€Å"The House of Mirth† mainly describes the need of a woman to be married to a wealthy man and how she attempts to find the most appropriate suitor. â€Å"The House of Mirth† also observes the tedious physical and mental decline of a young woman who, because of her own weakness and indecisiveness, falls from social distinction into poverty and griminess. The story presents a cruel measure of reality and ends quite sadly. Instead of marrying and living happily, Lily weakens slowly and commits suicide, possibly unintentionally, as a way of evading a lower-class humanity in which her upper-class needs cannot survive. Lily's life is the exact opposite of dignity or beauty; she had many chances to live the kind of life she dreamed of, but lost it all. Similarly, Henry James’ â€Å"Daisy Miller,† is a rich, young, American girl from New York, traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother. Daisy is a complex combination of traits. She is feisty, independent, and well intentioned, yet she is also petty, ignorant, and unsophisticated. Daisy is also an irritating flirt. She has no public elegance or informal gifts, such as appeal, humor, and a talent for banter. Also she is primarily interested only in influencing men and making herself the hub of interest. Throughout the story, Winterbourne, the love interest of Daisy, is fixated over the issue of whether Daisy is naive, but her behavior by no means reveals whether she is or isn’t. Winterbourne accepts that Daisy is crude but wonders whether she is innocent. Frequently, Daisy seems less than innocent since Winterbourne did catch her with another man late at night at the Coliseum, which results in her death from malaria. Overall, it is the way in whic h Daisy embodies all the different forms of innocence that results in her demise. While the telling of the story is quite similar, â€Å"The House of Mirth† is different in the sense that all that character’s form of thinking is revealed to the reader. Henry James primarily portrays the story of Winterbourne and the affect that Daisy has on him. He does describe Daisy in great detail yet he fails to give any indication of why she acts the way she does. One can only ponder over ideas of how she thinks and her reasoning behind what she does in certain events. It is obvious that Daisy is ignorant to her inappropriate behavior but it is unclear if this is an act or if she is really unaware that she is acting incorrectly.

Creative essay :: essays research papers

Year 12 Essay Creative It was a typical Friday night job, thirteen young teenagers wanting to head out to the city. I received a page to my taxi referring me to an address 127 Croft Rise Eltham, I quickly checked up the address and before I knew it I was in front of the house with thirteen guys giving me directions to where they wanted me to take them in the city. Luckily the city was quiet compared to most Friday nights in Melbourne. The guys directed me to chapel St South Yarra to a club called Chasers. I dropped the guys off doing the stock no meter on and pocketing the cash for myself which was around 30 dollars. Before I knew it I had to come back to the eastern suburbs, on Doncaster road and that’s where I came across a red BMW M3 convertible with 21inch chrome rims on it, this caught my attention and the next thing I saw was a bicycle in my windscreen shattering with the airbag puffing into my face my body Rowling around in the car whilst another body went through my windscreen landing in the back seat unconscious. The nurse walked in, I could barely hear her say my name. I saw my family readily available standing around me all with black eyes knowing that they have been waiting for me to wake up only to give me the worst news of my life. The doctor and the nurse and my whole family standing in one room watching me as they tell me that I was hit by a taxi two days ago and I have been paralysed from my hip down. From my distort anger I didn’t want myself to believe this had happened. The first month moved on and went into court to face the negligent reckless taxi driver. There was a great tension in the two groups and as he went up to face the judge he was also brought up for not turning the meter on in the taxi and that he stole money from the cab. He was done for one count for negligence and one count of reckless driving and was put away for a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 20 with no bail. As the taxi driver was taken away he said it was a beautiful BMW which I didn’t understand where that was coming from.

Importance of Initial Consultation and Ethical Issues Facing the Therapist

Introduction This paper discusses why the initial consultation is so important and what factors an ethical therapist will cover in this aspect of the therapy process. It also tackles the ethical issues besetting a therapist in the conduct of his profession dealing with psychotherapeutic counseling and hypnotherapy and counseling skills. The role of a therapist in the behaviour alteration of his or her client is so vital that it is necessary to observe some ethical considerations in the practice of his profession. Importance of initial consultation An initial consultation is the first of the stages of psychotherapy and generally includes a discussion of the reasons as to why the client is seeking psychotherapy help and what he is hoping to obtain from the experience. Why it is important is because it provides an opportunity to find out whether the needs, interests, and goals of the client fit with the skills of the therapist. This stage also provides the initial clarification about the limits of confidentiality, therapeutic approach, and other terms of professional services. Moreover, the initial consultation helps both the client and the therapist to gauge whether each is likely to be able to work with the other successfully (Plante, 2011). The importance of initial consultation is also found in making a formal determination of the client’s fit for a psychotherapeutic relationship and potential for meaningful change (Klonoff, 2010). Whilst informed consent is shown as important in the therapy process, with a clear descr iption of the limits of confidentiality, full informed consent to treatment has been mandated by ethical guidelines. If for example, a client approaches a therapist for initial consultation, informed consent to treatment may involve information on behavioural therapies demonstrating effectiveness and rapid changes in the treatment of the behavioral problem that the client is complaining about (e.g. panic) (Weiner and Hess, 2006). Further, initial consultation is important because it is where a range of decisions are in terms of whether to schedule a second session. For example, the client may evaluate whether it is adequate to have his or her needs be met by working with the therapist, as well as whether the practical terms of the therapy are acceptable to the client. In addition, considering the information thus provided during the consultation session, the therapist may ascertain whether he or she possesses the needed expertise to work effectively and successfully with the client (Klonoff, 2010). Another importance of initial consultation is that it allows initiating a collaborative relationship between the client and the therapist and evaluating initial consultation efforts. If the therapist happens to assess a need for consultation services, then the entry stage would then initiate a consulting relationship. The value of initial consultation is seen in the establishment of a voluntary and collaborative consulting relationship between the counselor and the client. Different role expectations can lead to resistance on the part of the client, which thus necessitates a vital importance of agreement relating to role expectations to reduce such potential resistance. An initial step in evaluating a client’s condition is establishing an accurate diagnosis, which is done during the initial consultation (Boylan et al., 2011). Much as the above are important for conducting an initial consultation, it is also because such consultation may potentially lead the client not to continue further services. The client may come to a decision that the therapist, for some reason, cannot adequately meet his or her needs. For example, he or she may find the therapist as being too direct, aloof, expensive, inexperienced, young, old, etc., and thus may conclude that the therapist’s qualities are not fit to his or her needs. The client may also feel better after the initial consultation and may no longer feel compelled to continue further sessions. Similarly, the therapist may decline from providing continued services for a variety of reasons, such as the client’s revelation of an alcohol problem, about which the therapist might decide to refer him or her instead to a specialist in the treatment of problems relating to substance abuse (Plante, 2011). Alternatively, there are times that patients are referred by their physician right after discharge from an inpatient rehabilitation setting. Of note, the one seeking therapy for the patient is in fact not the patient himself but the patient’s family. Perceptive health care professionals are the ones who usually recognise a need for psychotherapy by the patient, with an emphasis on coping, psychoeducation, and deficit adjustment. Therefore, it must not always be assumed that it is the client who is motivated to seek psychotherapy (Klonoff, 2010). In cases of patients being considered for psychotherapy, a physician’s referral is needed, in which relevant medical records must be acquired to determine whether the patient is appropriate for therapy as well as whether he or she anticipates potential psychotherapeutic needs and challenges. It is during the initial consultation in which records are presented after being obtained and reviewed in advance in order for the therapis t to thoroughly understand what the client has gone through or is going through (Klonoff, 2010). Therefore, without the initial consultation, psychotherapeutic intervention might not be sufficient and effective enough. Ethical issues faced by therapists The psychotherapist is guided by ethical standards and codes that provide professional standards aimed at guiding their ethical conduct (Kohlenberg and Tsai, 2007). One ethical issue faced by a therapist in terms of initial consultation is whether to provide the consultation free of charge to the client, as some clients who have taken up this offer tended to decide to continue in counseling because of being obliged to do so. This would prompt a concern whether the therapist has violated any portion of the code of ethics (Welfel, 2013). There are some who do not charge for initial consultations, and it is important that the client is informed whether the therapist does or does not charge for the first session (Wheeler, 2014). A potential problem may ensue with the use of a free initial consultation. This is because clients may feel committed after the initial consultation and may have difficulty declining further treatment because the initial consultation was free of charge. Some mig ht even regard this practice as taking advantage of clients and may perhaps be seen as undue influence mentioned in the code of ethics (Welfel, 2013). Another ethical issue that may ensue during initial consultation is sexual attraction between the client and the therapist, which is identified as a boundary ethical issue (Houser et al., 2006). The client may have emotional or sex-related problems that he/she initially presents to the therapist, which the therapist must approach objectively. Albeit discussion of these feelings can foster therapeutic progress, it is still unethical and counter-therapeutic to act on them. Even when it may seem sound to become sexual with a client with sexual problems as an intervention, engaging in such unethical activity is definitely against established ethical standards and codes. Rather, the best intervention that the therapist may adopt for his/her client with sexual problems is sex therapy with the client and a significant other.The several malpractice suits filed against therapists relating to sexual relationships with their client only confirm the unethical and counter-therapeutic stance of se xual relationship between the therapist and client (Kohlenberg and Tsai, 2007). Even at the onset of the initial consultation, sexual attraction may already spark, which the therapist, being the more responsible person, must put a wall against. Emotional tyranny is also a common ethical issue that may occur even during an initial consultation. It is a term describing abuse of power by psychotherapists to the disadvantage of their clients, caused by the power imbalance between them. For example, during the initial consultation, the therapist’s power is seen in how he establishes the therapy session, how long the session should last, how often he and the client should meet, how much the session costs, and what the permissible and impermissible behaviour must be within the session (Kohlenberg and Tsai, 2007). The realm of ethical decision-making involves the aspects of ethical dilemma, the client and the therapist’s values, race, gender, personal history, etc.; local and national laws; professional knowledge; and codes of ethics (Houser et al., 2006). The therapist may also face violations relating to dual relationships. Such relationships are nonsexual that may involve counseling a friend, relative, or neighbour, as well as receiving referrals from people who know the client and the counseling process. An ethical dilemma of dual relationships may potentially occur when the therapist has several roles with a client; in that apart from being a client, the person is also a friend, a neighbor, a relative, etc. to the therapist. It has been suggested that accepting referrals from existing clients may constitute a boundary violation (Houser et al., 2006). Indeed, even at the initial consultation, the therapist is already face-to-face with the issue of whether to continue with the professional relationship, or terminate it right away upon seeing his or her friend across the table as a client seeking therapy. Self-disclosure is another ethical issue besetting the therapist. Even during the initial consultation, the issue of self-disclosure may occur. Relating to this issue, it is important to determine the extent of information a therapist should share with the client and the types of self-disclosure to be made as well. Another example of ethical issue involving boundary is socialising with a client outside the counseling session and negotiating for fees (Houser et al., 2006). One possible ethical dilemma facing the therapist during is confidentiality, which deals with maintaining privacy and non-disclosure of information to others outside the counseling relationship, unless the client expresses consent to do so (Jenkins, 2007; Houser et al., 2006). Whenever the client enters the counseling room for the first time, he or she already expects that anything being discussed with the therapist would be kept confidential. It has been found that violations of confidentiality were a common complaint made against therapists and counselors. The client, even in the initial consultation, already begins disclosing some personal matters to the therapist, which the therapist is expected to keep confidential as his legal duty. Of important note however is the fact that confidentiality is not absolute and that there are times in which the therapist may divulge certain information a necessary (Corey, 2013; Houser et al., 2006). Examples of these are those surrounding harm that may involve the client who is contemplating about suicide or is expressing thoughts about inflicting harm to others; court-involved clients; child abuse reports; and clients with medical conditions who express engaging in precarious acts relating to their condition (e.g. HIV) (Houser et al., 2006). Further, it was found that successful outcomes ensue when clients change their personal values and take a close resemblance of that of the therapist/counselor. A relevant ethical dilemma with regard to this is in order for the counseling to be successful, how similar the client’s values must be to the counselor. Moreover, another dilemma is whether fostering such similarity is ethical and helpful enough to the client. A question for the profession is whether therapists utilise moral and ethical frameworks reflecting society’s norms as the only basis of their ethical decision-making, or whether therapists come to an ethical decision whilst taking into account the values, morality, and ethical stances of their diverse client population (O’Donohue and Fisher, 2009; Houser et al., 2006). These issues are being dealt with even upon an initial consultation. Conclusion This paper dealt with the importance of initial consultation and the ethical issues facing the therapist in the performance of his profession. An initial consultation is important because it forms the basis of the client’s diagnosis. It generally covers finding out the reasons as to why the client seeks help and what he or she aims to obtain as a result of the psychotherapy experience. The ethical issues faced by the therapist in the conduct of his profession during the initial consultation are those involving a decision to charge the client for a specific fee or not for the initial consultation; potential sexual attraction between them; the issue of confidentiality and client consent; emotional tyranny; violations relating to dual relationships; and self-disclosure. Having laid down these ethical factors besetting a therapist, the conclusion being arrived at is that the therapist is bound by set standards and ethical codes through which the expected functions of his performance must be based, and that he/she should conduct the initial consultation and further sessions objectively. References Boylan, J. C., Malley, P. B/, and Reilly, E. P. (2011) Practicum Internship: Textbook and Resource Guide for Counseling and Psychotherapy. Third Edition. NY: Brunner-Routledge. Corey, G. (2013) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Ninth Edition. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Houser, R., Wilczenski, F. L., and Ham, M. (2006) Culturally Relevant Ethical Decision-Making in Counseling. London: Sage Publications, Inc. Jenkins, P. (2007) Counseling, Psychotherapy and the Law. London: Sage Publications, Inc. Klonoff, P. S. (2010) Psychotherapy After Brain Injury: Principles and Techniques. NY: The Guilford Press. Kohlenberg, R. J. and Tsai, M. (2007) Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: Creating Intense and Curative Therapeutic Relationships. NY: Springer. O’Donohue, W. T. and Fisher, J. E. (2009) General Principles and Empirically Supported Techniques of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Plante, T. G. (2011) Contemporary Clinical Psychology. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Weiner, I. B. and Hess, A. K. (2006) The Handbook of Forensic Psychology. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Welfel, E. (2013) Ethics in Counseling and Psychotherapy. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Wheeler, K. (2014) Psychotherapy for the Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse: A How-to Guide for Evidence-Based Practice. NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC. Bibliography Boylan, J. C., Malley, P. B/, and Reilly, E. P. (2011) Practicum Internship: Textbook and Resource Guide for Counseling and Psychotherapy. Third Edition. NY: Brunner-Routledge. Clarkson, P. (2005) Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy: An Integrated Approach. NY: Routledge. Cooper, J. and Alfille, H. (2011) A Guide to Assessment for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists. London: Karnac Books Ltd. Corey, G. (2013) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Ninth Edition. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Forrest, G. G. (2010) Self-disclosure in Psychotherapy and Recovery. Plymouth: Jason Aronson. Houser, R., Wilczenski, F. L., and Ham, M. (2006) Culturally Relevant Ethical Decision-Making in Counseling. London: Sage Publications, Inc. Jenkins, P. (2007) Counseling, Psychotherapy and the Law. London: Sage Publications, Inc. Klonoff, P. S. (2010) Psychotherapy After Brain Injury: Principles and Techniques. NY: The Guilford Press. Kohlenberg, R. J. and Tsai, M. (2007) Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: Creating Intense and Curative Therapeutic Relationships. NY: Springer. O’Donohue, W. T. and Fisher, J. E. (2009) General Principles and Empirically Supported Techniques of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Plante, T. G. (2011) Contemporary Clinical Psychology. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Weiner, I. B. and Hess, A. K. (2006) The Handbook of Forensic Psychology. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Welfel, E. (2013) Ethics in Counseling and Psychotherapy. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Wheeler, K. (2014) Psychotherapy for the Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse: A How-to Guide for Evidence-Based Practice. NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Episode in my life Essay

Some may ponder on how merely playing hockey changed my perspective in life and on people. Even I never expected pursuing my interest would result in such a dramatic affect in my life. It all started of when I was in my last year on the school hockey team.  Due to my seniority and experience in the game, my coach began to assign me the duty of instructing my juniors to become goalkeepers like me. One of the juniors I trained was Ili Anis Athirah who was also one of the best of my so called ‘apprentices’. We became team mates for the under 18 team in my final year on the squad. Unexpectedly, our coach chose Ili as the first eleven players and put me on bench. When I asked coach why he made such a decision, he said both of us were equally talented but Ili had two advantages compared to me; her eyesight was better and she was bigger in size than me. All my eagerness and determination to play for my last tournament shattered into pieces and turned into sheer disappointment. I was never given a chance to play during that last tournament. The team even broke into two groups. One group was on my side while the other was on Ili’s. I did not bother to gain empathy from my team mates but they were understanding and thought that coach was being unfair to me. He was treating me like an old rag that can be tossed away after being used for so long. Then, during the quarter finals against one of the strong teams of the league, I had an opening of regaining myself to my team mates and of course my coach. During that particular game, Ili performed badly and gave way to three goals for the opponent. All of a sudden, coach called Ili out and replaced her with me! Even when I was running to the goal post in those heavy goalkeepers’ equipment, I thought; THIS is the moment of truth! I wanted to prove the coach’s judgments wrong. Even though I was short sighted and smaller compared to Ili, I can still play the game effortlessly. I was not nervous because of the game but I was excited to finally get the chance to reclaim my position in the team. Strength and luck was on my side that day. Not a single goal passed through me. Even though we lost the game, I walked to the bench with the abundant feeling of satisfaction that was beyond explainable. Although I did not expect my coach to apologize for abandoning me through out that last tournament, I still felt pleased to just look at his face after the game; he had the expression mixed between amazement, disbelief and at the same time guiltiness. I know it will take him ages to realize that not giving me a chance to play during my final year truly broke my heart into pieces. From this experience, I did not only get the chance to prove my coach wrong, but I also began to appreciate my friends who were always on my side during the days of my hardships. They were the ones who faithfully listened to my feelings of disappointments and gave me strength through their words of advice. If it was not for them, I would not have the courage and vigor to confront such frustration and humiliation of being the reserved player after four consecutive years of being the first player. It also occurred to me that not everything in life is permanent. The fame and reputation I gained when I was on the team could be easily taken away by just one decision the coach made; From becoming one of the best players, I became the bench resident. I became a more humble and modest person in personality due to this experience. Fame and reputation changed from becoming one of my top priorities to the least that I could care of. I realized that there is much more in life such as the faithful friends I gained though this episode in my life. Forgiveness and patience also arose to my senses from this incident. I realized that no matter what a person does to you, we should learn to forgive them with all our hearts. I began to forgive my coach although he made a choice that swelled my heart with frustration and mortification. I learned that from forgiving and being patient, one can enjoy life better as enemies and foes will not surround their life. Above all, I learned that one should make full use of the opportunities given in life. Not everyone is lucky like me to get the chance to prove other people’s perception wrong. One should grab the chances given to them and put all his strength and efforts in making full usage of it. I began appreciating chances given to me; at the same time I became a more hardworking and passionate person in the things that I do. In essence, I would not change this experience for the world because of its positive impacts in my life and personality. I have learned how to appreciate my friends better and I also realized that fame and reputation are not the most important things in life. I have indeed become a more patient and forgivable person as well. Besides that, I began to make full use of the good chances given to me in life. No doubt, the moment of truth will stay in my heart FOREVER!

Is Children’s Development a Universal Staged Process or a Social and Cultural Process?

There are three main approaches to child development, the scientific, the social constructionist and the applied approach. Each of these approaches look at children’s development from a different stand point. I will go on to explore each approach in turn and how they can help us answer the above question. The scientific approach to child development seeks to explain the facts about child development. It does this by devising theories which are then tested through observations and experiments. A classic example of this is Jean Piaget (1896-1890) who was one of the most influential theorists in child development. Piaget built up a theory about how children’s thinking developed; this is usually referred to as his theory on Cognitive development. He proposed that children do not gradually increase their thinking capacity but that they go through a series of stages or transformations in their thinking. Piaget (1932) proposed that there are 4 main stages in a children’s development; sensor-motor (approximately 0-2yrs), pre-operational (approximately 2-6 yrs), concrete operational (approximately 6-12 yrs) and formal operational (12 yrs and over). His approach can be seen today in how the curriculum is sequenced in schools and in the rise of children’s centres across the UK. Piaget used many similar experiments to support his theory. Examples are, children were asked to compare balls of plasticine after one had been rolled into a sausage; another was for children to compare rows of counters where one row had been stretched into a longer line. In each case the younger children appeared to reason that the amount of counters or plasticine had also changed. (Light and Oates, 1990, PP. 101-106). He was trying to show that children aren’t less cognitively developed than adults but they actually think differently. In many of Piaget’s experiments he tried to show how & at what stage do children see things from another’s point of view. One very famous experiment was a construction of a model of 3 mountains. The largest gray and snow capped, the middle sized brown with a red cross on it and the smallest was green with a house on top. Children were then asked to sit on one side of the model with a doll at the opposite side. They were asked to arrange three pieces of cardboard shaped like the mountains. They they were asked to chose the doll’s view from 10 pictures and finally what the doll would see from other view points. Children younger than about 7 were unable to see things from another view point. Piaget’s claims were bold and his theories and experiments have been criticized by developmental theorists. Developmental theorists now recognise that a child’s development is far more complex than the 4 stages Piaget supported. Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) used Piaget’s stage of development as a starting point to suppose a theory about children’s moral development. He used moral dilemmas to study how children develop the capacity to make moral judgments. Kholberg (Kholberg 1967) proposed that there are 6 stages or levels to a child’s moral development, these are grouped into 3 levels with 2 stages in each; preconventional, conventional and principled. It is extremely rare to progress back in stages and each stage must be completed to move onto the next as each stage is more complex than the last. In Kholberg’s experiments children were given moral dilemmas about right and wrong to discover at what stage a child reaches different levels of cognitive capacity. Kholberg and his team started testing 75 boys in the US and went back and tested them at intervals as they grew into adulthood. However, this was not a cross section of US children as no girls were tested. The data from these scientific studies can be used to assess when a child knows right from wrong. These and similar techniques are used today to carry out assessments for courts deciding whether a child can be held criminally responsible. The social constructionist view of child development looks at the ways that childhood is experienced in different situations and circumstances. Different cultures, religions and social economic conditions have different expectations and beliefs around childhood. These have also been different throughout history. For example in Victorian Britain, children were expected to work in the home, field, streets or in factories. However in modern Britain we expect our children to spend much of their childhood learning at school. Another example is, Maya’s (U212 Video 1, band 1) experiences of childhood in the poor area Chittagong being different to the twins Yasir and Yamin’s experiences in middle class Chittagong. Each have different expectations of their roles within society according to their social boundaries, gender, family and beliefs. Central to the social constructionist approach is the concept of competing discourses of childhood. A discourse is a particular way of thinking or a particular view point that is influenced by our gender, language, history, beliefs, experiences and social boundaries. There are numerous discourses but a romantic discourse sees children as inherently good; a child would only do terrible things if damaged in some way. Contrary to this is the puritanical discourse which sees the child as inherently evil, doing evil things because they are wicked and need punishing. Using the social constructionist view allows us to recognise that a child who is a killer can be seen through these two very different discourses either needing therapy or needing punishment. Social constructionists are not about applying facts and time frames to child development, neither is it just about there being different ‘realities’ created by the way people think and make sense of children. It goes far deeper by exploring what these different ‘realities mean in terms of our moral consequences, what we expect, what we believe our outcomes can be and more importantly what our outcomes can’t be, what is hidden from our view and what we are prevented from doing by our constructed society. Rex Stainton Rogers (1992) says of a socially constructed world: ‘But what about childhood?†¦ For example. The children of Longwitten have come to understand that they ‘have to go to school’, that the human made ‘thing’ down the road is a school, that certain activities belong in he classroom, and others in the playground, and so on. The social world works because we share common understandings. ’ Stanton Rogers says (1992) that it is taken for granted that children will go to school and that this appears normal and the right thing to do in our socially constructed world, and that sometimes we fail to question or imagine anything els e outside of this. The third approach is the applied approach. This focuses on practical issues of childhood such as how should we parent out children, what support and services might we need in order to protect them. The applied approach relies on both the scientic and social constructionist approaches when applying theory and research to social policy, the law and professional practise. I have already looked at the romantic and puritan discourses. The romantic discourse believes that children are naturally good, therefore children who commit crime should be rehabilitated which Stuart Asquith (1996) describes as the Welfare model and the puritan discourse the ‘Justice’ model. The welfare model looks at children who do wrong as doing so because they have been mistreated / deprived or having been disadvantaged in some way. These children need nurturing and need our care to overcome these disadvantages. The Justice model looks as children as being responsible when they reach an age where they can be held partially accountable for their crimes. These children need to be treated as criminals and punished accordingly. Asquith’s applied approach draws on both the scientific aspects of children’s moral development and the social constructionist view on how culture and society affect us as humans.. In looking at all three approaches it is clear that they are all complex and interplay greatly with each other. The scientific approach concentrates on identifying universal stages of children’s development. These are a series of stages which all children pass through from immaturity to maturity. The danger is that these can result in a picture of a universal child which is mainly based on a western culture. There is scientific research to determine when a child can be morally responsible for a crime and scientific research has produced lots of data on what reformatory regimes appear to work for young offenders. But we must remember that the child is not a passive participant in this research. The outcomes will depend on both the researchers and child’s social constructions of their worlds. In contrast the social constructionists’ view is that immaturity and maturity are complex constructs that we have made for ourselves depending on a whole range of outside influences, these will be different for each one of us. Children do not develop autonomously from culture and society and take many different routes to maturity depending on many things including gender, culture, religion, and their social and economic circumstances in which they find themselves.

Air Asia- Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s five forces Michael E. Porter claimed that there are five competitive forces which can shape every industry by identify and analysis those five forces(appendix) and thus determine strengths and weaknesses of the industry. Those five forces are now used to determined Air Asia’s strengths and weaknesses which are shown as below: Threat of Entry There is a high barrier entering airlines industry since it requires high capital to set up everything such as purchase or lease air craft, set up office, hire staffs, and etc. Thus, this has reduced the treat to Air Asia. Moreover, brand awareness is quite important in this industry. Thus, to enter this industry not only required high capital but also have to take some time to create brand awareness. Consumers always choose the product or service they really trust. Thus, instead of creating brand awareness, new entry has to create so called brand loyalty. Hence, this is reducing treat to Air Asia too. ( Roy L. Simerly) However, the government legislation is one of the barriers for entering airlines industry. For example, MAS has been protected by Malaysia government on the route to Sydney and Seoul Incheon. Therefore Air Asia find itself very difficult getting a new route from government. This not only affects the timeline set by Air Asia but also influence their profit. Power of suppliers Every industry has someone to play the role as suppliers. Power of the suppliers is important as it will affect the industry. In airline industry, the power of suppliers is quite high since there are only two major suppliers which are Airbus and Boeing hence there are not many choices to airline industry. Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has limited the new entrant and also reducing the upgrade of planes in the immediate future. However, both suppliers provide almost same standard aircrafts and hence the switching to Air Asia is low. Moreover, Air Asia placed a large amount of order from Airbus in order to expand its routes to international routes. As a result, the power of suppliers may be reduced as Airbus’s profit may be influenced by Air Asia. ( Roy L. Simerly) Power of buyers Buyers are one of the factors which will give influence the industry whether making profit or loss. Nowadays, those buyers are much more knowledgeable and high educated. Thus, they are very sensitive to the price no matter in what product or service. In this case, even Air Asia always provide lowest price to customers, but they still will make comparison between airlines. Secondly, to switch to other service is very simple because Air Asia is not the only one who provides airline service. I. e. customers still can choose MAS, Tiger Airway, Firefly and etc. ( Roy L. Simerly) Moreover, Air Asia always leaves customers an image as they always delay the flight. Hence, as an investor or business man, they will choose more reliable airlines instead of Air Asia. Threat of substitutes Substitutes are products or services which can replace the original products or services and give almost same satisfaction to the consumers. In airline industry, there are two types of substitutes, indirect and direct substitutes. Indirect substitutes include train, bus, cruise and etc. On the other hand, direct substitutes indicate the other airline. Consumers usually prefer low cost. For example, from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, there are few transports that consumers can choose such as bus, train and air travel. If the customer is going to a budgeted trip, definitely he will choose bus which is the lowest price among the three. Moreover, the technology is now make information much more easily to assess. Customers can easily compare the price among few airlines just by assessing internet as internet make information more transparency. Nevertheless, the archipelago geographical structure in Malaysia make air travel is the most viable, efficient and convenient mode of transportation. For example, travel from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, the customer may choose to take bus or air flight. However, air plane are much more convenient and also lesser time consuming compare with taking bus to Bangkok. Rivalry among existing competitors In every industry, there is positive or negative trend to industry growth rate. If there is positive trend, then the firms have not to steal the market share among them. However, in airline industry, the growth rate is really low due to limited customers. Thus, in order to expand, Air Asia has to steal the market share from its competitors. ( Roy L. Simerly) Secondly, Air Asia leads the main battlefield in price among competitors due to its low operating costs. However, there are more competitors enter to airline industry who have major carriers as their backers or owners may lead to ‘unreasonable’ price war in the future. Moreover, Air Asia is not the only one who provides airline service. There are few low cost carriers such as Firefly, Tiger Airway and etc which makes their services provided weak differentiation. Thus, it becomes a threat to Air Asia. Biblography Roy L. Simerly, Strategic Management Case Analysis,http://www. westga. edu/~bquest/2002/strategic1. htm, assess date: 10th may 2010 Investopedia, Industry Handbook: Porter's 5 Forces Analysis, http://www. investopedia. com/features/industryhandbook/porter. asp, assessed date: 8th may 2010

Assessing Factors Of National Security

Assessing Factors Of National Security Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . Assessing Factors Of National Security National security is the necessity to maintain the endurance of the state through the use of political power, the exercise of diplomacy, economic and military. The idea developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II. Originally focusing on military might encompasses a broad range of facets all of which impose on the military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society. Therefore, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess environmental security, economic security and energy security etc. Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such as violent non-state actors, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations; some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage in this category. Measures taken to ensure national security include: us ing diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation maintaining effective armed forces implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism legislation) ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats Slide 4 – Who defines national security? State/Government/group of elites determines the main objectives of security based on the nation’s sovereignty, integrity of the state and economic prosperity. As the source of political authority, the government defines security, and this definition generally encompasses the broader spectrum of values held dear by the majority. â€Å"Since the future racial peace in this country depends on how well the gove rnment handles the sensitive issues, it is suggested that the NSC shall be the body to look into the matter†. Slide 5 – Scope Slide 6 – Factors Of National Security Slide 7 – Economy Historically, conquest of nations have made conquerors rich through plunder, access to new resources and enlarged trade through controlling of the conquered nations’ economy. In today’s complex system of international trade, ‘ by multi-national agreements, mutual inter-dependence and availability of natural resources etc., the freedom to follow choice of policies to develop a nation’s economy in the manner desired, forms the essence of economic security. Economic security today forms, arguably, as important a part of national security as military security. Slide 8 – Military This is traditionally, the earliest recognised form of national security. Military security implies the capability of a nation to defend itself, and/or deter military aggr ession. Alternatively, military security implies the capability of a nation to enforce its policy choices by use of military force. The term â€Å"military security† is considered synonymous with â€Å"security† in much of its usage. One of the definitions of security given in the Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, may be considered a definition of â€Å"military securityâ€Å": A condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences. Slide 9 – Politic The political aspect of security has been offered by Barry Buzan, Ole Wà ¦ver, Jaap de Wilde as an important component of national security. Political security is about the stability of the social order. Closely allied to military security and societal security, other components proposed in a framework for national security in their book â€Å"Security: a new framework for analysis†, it specifica lly addresses threats to sovereignty. System referent objects are defined, such as nation-states, nations, transnational groups of political importance including tribes, minorities, some religious organisations, systems of states such as the European Union and the United Nations, besides others. Diplomacy, negotiation and other interactions form the means of interacion between the objects.