Writing Style and Light Wine Essay Example for Free

Writing Style and Light Wine Essay Different writing styles appeal to different audiences. In an excerpt from, The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell, Boswell distinguishes between the two very different writing styles of Joseph Addison and Samuel Johnson. Boswell believes both are very esteemed writers but it is evident Boswell favors Johnson’s style over Addison’s. Boswell conveys his perspective on both styles with diction and devices, namely similes and metaphors. At first Boswell defends Addison against claims made on Addison’s writing style as â€Å"nerveless and feeble† compared to that of Johnson’s. In his passage, Boswell considers the social position from which Addison is writing from. He states â€Å"Addison writes with the ease of a gentleman†, indicating Addison’s style has a casual, eloquent, and polite manner. Addison’s style is flowing and easygoing like a conversation, indicating that he writes the way he speaks. He is more like an â€Å"accomplished companion† and does not write like he is above his audience from an intellectual standpoint but rather a knowledgeable colleague. Boswell signifies Addison is more relaxed with his writing and is easy to understand from the beginning to end. Addison â€Å"insinuates his sentiments† with an â€Å"imperceptible influence†. The way Addison communicates his ideas is not imposing and not very forceful. He causes his audience to consider his point of view and supports it with viable arguments bringing the reader to respect him. He is more like a â€Å"light wine† where he appeals to everyone. In contrast, Johnson’s style is bolder and more forceful. Boswell observes that â€Å"Johnson writes like a teacher†; Johnson as opposed to Addison makes himself known as the higher intellectual to his audience. Johnson does not hold back and states his arguments firmly like a professor speaking in front of his students. He â€Å"dictates to his readers as if from an academical chair† and does not simply suggest his point like Addison but conveys it with a commanding nature. Johnson’s readers do not just respect him, they look at him with â€Å"awe and admiration†. Boswell is one of those readers who finds Addison’s writing pleasing but prefers a more intellectually exciting read that can be found in Johnson’s work. Boswell sees Johnson’s writing as more invigorating and captivating to the ear, writing that others aim for. â€Å"Highly relished† and â€Å"like liquor of more body† is how Boswell describes his view on Johnson’s writing. The after effect of Johnson’s work is more lasting and is far more appreciated by those looking for more substance. It is apparent Boswell favors a more mind stimulating read. Readers find enjoyment in Addison’s work but are astounded by Johnson’s. He states both styles appeal to different audiences, with readers fancying Addison but admiring Johnson. Boswell respects Addison and does not show any disrespect to him in the least but clearly favors Johnson’s style. He praises both authors but elevates Johnson in a subtle way. Boswell contrasts both writers as Addison being more like â€Å"light wine† and Johnson as â€Å"liquor of more body†. Liquor is more complex while light wine is simpler. It takes one with refined taste to fully appreciate the boldness of liquor versus a common wine that is simply pleasing to everyone. Addison’s work can still be enjoyed but Johnson’s work is for those who wish to be intoxicated with knowledge.

African Corruption Essay Example for Free

African Corruption Essay This study intends to clearly show the extent to which Africa and Africans have been suffering from the ravages of corruption, fraud, and intentional mismanagement by their governments and their leaders, much to the disappointment and anger of the people. The impact of corruption on the lives of the people, the businesses, and the economy of any of the nations concerned has been studied by a number of authors, scholars, and worldwide institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and even donors (highly industrialized nations). Although Africa has a large share of the worlds raw material and mineral resources, African nations are by far the least developed and the poorest countries in the world. Robert Harris, in his book, Political Corruption In and Beyond the Nation State, (1990, p. 29,) introduced three themes. First, political corruption is an illegitimate extension of normal political activity. In trying to understand the central issue of corruption, one needs to understand the complex and intricate nature of corruption. If we ask, what is â€Å"corruption†? The American Heritage English Language Dictionary (Pickett, 2000) defines corruption as â€Å"the art or process of corruption, the state of being corrupt, decay, and rot.† As indicated above, corruption comes in many forms. In the least developed countries (LDC’s) such as Africa, all types of corruption are prevalent. The following brief case histories of these three companies will present the magnitude of the scandals, corruption, and deceit these companies perpetrated on the unsuspecting public and their business partners. Other countries of the world have similar problems of corruption, fraud, and mismanagement. From time to time, stories appear about the corruption trial of a government official, a banker, or corporate head in other parts of the world. Doing Business in Africa and Other Non-Industrialized Nations, the basic tenets of the guiding principles are that corruption, dishonesty, and unethical behavior among public officials represent serious threats to the basic principles and values of government, undermining public confidence in democracy and threatening to erode the rule of law. The aim of these guiding principles is to promote public trust in the integrity of officials within the public sector by preventing, detecting, and prosecuting or sanctioning official corruption and unlawful dishonest or unethical behavior. Monsanto Co.: Settled an SEC complaint in January alleging that the company funneled more than $700,000 in corrupt payments to Indonesian government officials between 1997 and 2002. ExonMobil, Chevron Texaco, Marathon Oil, Devon Energy, and Amerada Hess, as well as several other oil companies: These reportedly are involved in SEC investigations into bribes allegedly paid to government officials in Equatorial Guinea. Public perception of police corruption stems mainly from instances where the public has come face to face with the vice as they interact with police in their discharge of duty. My personal experience also left me with no doubt that police corruption in South Africa was daunting task for the new democratic government of South Africa. While police brutality in Kenya is much less compared to that of the apartheid South Africa, the police corruption in Kenya is much more widespread and open. Corruption in the police force takes various forms and in various degrees of sophistication. Corruption in Kenya and more particularly among the police has reached unprecedented levels. Thieves have been set free from police cells because of corruption. The ministry of public works: This is the second most corrupt institution in Kenya. Finding found that this is the Ministry that has the highest rent corruption in Kenya. A large population of the Kenyan people expressed disgust at the corruption in this ministry. The corruption at the ministry of public works is more sophisticated than meets the eye. It is also in charge of construction of government residential houses and offices. The ministry houses the largest number of government employed Engineers, professionals, and Architects. It is actually a key ministry in any government.   Millions of shillings are spent in purchasing goods and services for the government. There was no good will from the establishment to deal with cases of corruption. Where genuine outside companies have been awarded contracts, big bribes were paid to the committee before the award. In one case a contractor has given a job to put up some government circles. The author discovered that this was done just to get free money as penalties from the government. The poor jobs that we have seen on our roads are a result of corruption. This makes the land law in Kenya, one of the most complicated land systems in the world. The Crown Lands Ordinance (Cap. 280) passed in 1915 defined crown land as â€Å"All public land including all land occupied by the native tribes of the protectorate and all land reserved for the use of the members of any native tribe.† All the land rights of the natives were ignored. After all and without exception, African customs recognized land rights. African communities saw land as a gift of God to every individual. That has been the root cause of land problems in this country. Nowhere in Africa is land such expensive commodity as it is in Kenya. A Kenyan who has no land will always work hard to buy himself land. Land and Corruption in Africa The Ministry of Lands is one of the most corrupt institutions in this country. Land Cartels Land allocations, is the biggest single activity that goes on at the Lands office, Nairobi. Here, the people of Kenya will spend as much time and spend as much money, to ensure that they have been allocated land. Income tax department: African Revenue Authority is the main government agency for collecting all government revenue. No government can run on its own without taxes. Money collected from taxes is what the government uses to provide public services like Education, Health, Infrastructure, security and policing, a forestation, public service employment, defence and many others. (Transparency International Report, 2006) You cannot tax people so highly and yet fail to provide services. Over Kenya Shillings 250 billion taxes, (Transparency International Report, 2006), are collected annually by the Kenya Revenue Authority. The African revenue authority has some of the best professionals in the public service. Corruption at the African Revenue Authority is a matter of great concern. There is corruption in the organization both corporate and individual taxpayers. With the present economic situation most business people are stressed out and depressed. Research revealed that there is massive corruption in the import and export sector. Tax evasion is very high in this sector and the government loses millions of shillings through fraud and tax evasion. It was found that tax officers collude with importers and exporters to avoid tax and deny the government the badly needed revenue. This area has provided a good breeding ground for corruption in the income tax department. Officers in the Revenue Authority come across these businesses every day. The government is losing a lot of revenue by leaving these sectors out.

Tata Steel Marketing Strategy

Tata Steel Marketing Strategy In this report, Tata Steel Group (Tata Steel) has been chosen as an organisation to analyze the strategic changes made over past five years including strategic positioning, strategic capability, SWOT and drivers behind these changes. Tata Steel currently is a major player in global steel industry. In year 2005 (Figure 1), Tata Steel operation was mainly focused in Indian subcontinent and revenue generated was close to US$ 5.0 billion only. However their initiative to expand their operations globally proved very successful over last five years. From being a mere local steel producer, they transformed themselves into a major global player in steel producers (Figure 2). They have been aggressively involved in capacity expansion by acquisitions and organic growth. Business Standard once commented that Tata Steel moved into its next target to become the worlds second largest steel company by 2012 with the help of its most expensive bet worth US$ 12.9 billion on Corus Group. Last two years has been very difficult period to global steel industry because of worldwide recession. The global crude steel production for year 2009 was 1220.0 mpta (million tonne per annum) as reported by World Steel Association lower by 8% against that of 2008. The decline in demand was due to deterioration in economy experienced by key steel end users. Table 1, shows the growth/decline in terms of crude steel production for the top ten steel producing nations. However, by acquisition of Corus and other assets, Tata Steel now ranks among worlds top ten (Table 2) largest steel producers with current steel production capacity of 32.0 mpta. After five years of its expansion programme, Tata Steel is now worlds second most geographically diversified steel producers. Mission Statement In its mission statement Tata Steel expresses that while honesty and integrity are the essential ingredient of a strong and stable enterprise, profitability provides the main spark for economic activity. Founded way back in 1907, Tata Steel stress on their core ideology in its vision statement by making emphasis on their people, supplier of choice, innovative approach and their conduct. Tata Steels vision statement is now became a tangible asset, which provide right direction to their managers and employees. Tata Steel has highly skilled employee asset of 81,000 spread over five continents. Tata Steel stress on creating differential value for their customer with help of continuous improvement in their business process and product technology. Value Chain Analysis The value chain is an economic tool used to determine the strategic resources available to a company. Basic principle of the Value Chain Analysis is that the basis for a competitive advantage of a firm lies primarily in the application of the bundle of valuable resources at the firms disposal. To transform a short-run competitive advantage into a sustained competitive advantage requires that these resources are heterogeneous in nature and not perfectly mobile (Barney, 1991, p105-106; Peteraf, 1993, p180). Effectively, this translates into valuable resources that are neither perfectly imitable nor substitutable without great effort (Barney, 1991, p117). Tata Steel has few major strategic capabilities which are valuable, unique and non-substitutable. Tata Steels Strategic Capabilities Tata Steels strategic capabilities are presented in Table 3, below. Table 3 ÂÂ   Resources Competences Threshold Capabilities Threshold Resources Threshold Competences Steel production plants at various geographical locations. Production and Sales management. Offices and buildings at various geographical locations. All other general management skills. Sufficient supply of raw materials for steel making. Sophisticated IT skills. Sufficient cash flow. Safety management. Pool of skilled personnel. Excellent customer service. IT System in place. Efficient management structure. Logistic, freight and shipment facilities. Effective employee welfare system. Capabilities for Competitive Advantage Unique Resources Unique Competences Varieties of products which caters to industries like Infrastructures, Automobiles, Aviation, Energy etc. Very competent sales team with high negotiation skills which create market for their products. Tata and Corus brands. Excellent use of IT systems for very effective use in sales process. Highly capable management team. Continuous developing and upgrading new products to serve different industry levels. Online portal Metal junction for buyers. Highly skilled managers and directors who improve and support the company success. A century experience in steel making. Integrated supplier and buyer management. Strong financial backing from group. Lowest cost steel producer in world. Very strong presence in India which is a big market for their products. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to eliminate risk associated with various processes. First mover advantage through innovative products processes. Continuous Improvement Process (CIP). Excellent RD for cutting edge technology and products. Operational efficiency and excellent quality control. Many proprietary products such as Tata Tiscon etc. Long-term relationship with buyers and suppliers. Porters Five Forces Analysis Tata Steel has registered double digit growth in past few years except their European business. By applying Porters Five Forces analysis principal, we can evaluate the Tata Steels market competitiveness and its current and future strategy towards intense competition faced at various fronts. Threat of New Entrants: Low Threat to new entrants in any industry sector is a major challenge. However in steel industry entry barrier is high hence threat of new entrants are relatively low based on factors such as huge capital investment, economies of scale, government policies and product differentiations. Steel industry requires huge capital investment to set up an integrated steel production facility plant which is currently close to US$ one billion/mtpa as per Steel Manufacturers Associations recent estimate. This deters any new entrants entering in this field. By increasing their production capacity to 50mtpa and wide variety of products they can lower their cost, hence more profit, sustainability and these conditions are unfavourable to any new entrants. Raw material is a major issue with corruption related to mining allocation and land acquisition, it makes difficult to new entrants to come in this field. Various regulatory clearance and environmental issues also pose big barriers to new entrants. Entry barriers in terms of product differentiation are very low in steel industry. Competitive Rivalry: High The steel industry is truly global in terms of competition with large steel producing countries like China significantly influencing global prices through their aggressive exports. In steel industry, branding is not very common hence little differentiation exists between their competing products. Tata Steel faces stiff competition with their competitors such as Arcelor Mittal, POSCO etc. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: High Tata Steel enjoys greater autonomy in raw materials supply as they own mines for raw material supply. Tata Steels fully integrated supply chain system keeps abundant supply of raw material for their plants. However, other steel producers, who dont have their own mines, have to rely on raw material suppliers. On global level raw material market is dominated by the three mining giants BHP Billiton, CVRD and Rio Tinto. They make mineral market as oligopolistic and supply two-thirds of the processed iron ore to steel producers hence command very high bargaining power. Other steel producers, who dont have their own mining operations, must buy raw material at market prevailing price and pass that hike to consumers which makes them less competitive. Threat of Substitute Products: Low New materials may pose threat to viability of steel. Aluminium, plastics and other composite materials are being considered as substitute in sectors like auto, aviation etc. Concrete is another substitute material that may pose threat to use of steel in infrastructure and energy sectors. Some of the substitute materials such as aluminium itself are very costly, hence doesnt pose very big threat against steel producers. However the growth led by infrastructure sector, automobile sector, aviation sector and consumable goods will keep demand up for steel hence more growth for Tata Steel. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Average Bargaining power of buyers is very limited due to their fragmentation. Big players of the major steel consumers in sectors such as auto, aviation, energy etc may squeeze greater amount of bargain. On the other hand these bulk consumers may offer long term procurement offer to the company hence more revenue generated. However, small and retail consumers are scattered, though they consume significant amount of steel production, dont have the same bargaining powers as in case of big players. Tata Steel Group SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis of any firm provides knowledge about the challenges and opportunities faced by Tata Steel group in future. They are detailed below. (S)trengths Tata Steel has acquired vast mineral reserves which is a key to their operations. These reserves can cater their raw material demand for next three decades. Tata Steels mineral reserves are located at various strategic geographical locations such as India, Australia, Canada, Mozambique, Oman, Ivory Coast etc. Tata Steel has very capable, credible and reliable top management. Their successful global expansion plan in last five years proved this. Tata Steel has successfully acquired and integrated Corus Europe, NatSteel Indonesia and Millennium Steel Thailand. Tata Steel uses custom made state of art integrated information management system for their routine operation. Their advanced RD capability has improved further by acquiring Corus which is world renowned for its product innovation. Tata Steel uses Tata Groups strong distribution and retail network. Its Groups demand for steel is very high due to their presence in most of the sectors. Currently Tata Steel produces 32 mpta of steel and by completion of DPCL project its total capacity will reach to 50mpta which will make it second biggest steel producer in world. Tata Steel has structured risk management process in place in their operation known as Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). ERMs key function is to identify risk at every level and mitigate the same. Tata Steel mitigates very well the cyclicality situation which occurs in steel industry occasionally by its broad spectrum of its product portfolio. Tata Steel expansion plan has consolidated its position worldwide and by diversifying its portfolio and market is in process to become a pioneer in steel industry. Tata Steel has very strong brand value for its products. This has strengthened further by acquiring Corus which itself is a big brand. Their successful integration with Corus was a benchmark in corporate history. (W)eaknesses Tata Steels substantial debt burden of US$9.8 billion is a major weakness. Their debt equity ratio is currently 1.77, which reflects company finances are met by debt due to Corus acquisition. Its European business (Corus) has a high exposure to spot price and a high operational gearing thus creating very high risk of price volatility. Tata Steel relies for some raw material on international suppliers, which expose their profitability in case of steep rise in their prices. Tata Steels Indian operation is very much hampered by lack of infrastructure, shortage in power supply, lesser productivity, bureaucratic hurdle in export etc. Additional levies and tax imposed by local government put them in less profit making situation. The subsidies provided by some nations (China etc) will make their product less competitive in price hence reduce their demand. (O)pportunities Currently the emerging economies are undergoing huge infrastructural developments, which require significant amount of steel in all sectors. In India the scope for expansion of its steel products are enormous in every sector, which Tata Steel can exploit very well with its increased production capacity. As per World Steel Association estimate, the consumption of steel will be doubled in next two decades. By Acquiring Corus and improving its own RD activities, Tata Steel moved towards a better product differentiation and enhanced product portfolio which provide them new opportunities over its competitors. Their geographical locations with integrated operations and marketing strategy are a key factor in capturing market share and increasing their financial performance. They can implement Coruss advanced automation technology in their own plants to improve productivity, economies of scale, cost reduction, increased output and operational efficiency to achieve better performance. Following recent recession, various assets (minerals, plants facilities etc.) are available at a very low price due to their financial difficulty. Tata Steel, with strong backing from its parent group can secure future supplies of raw materials for steel making. With increased steel production capacity of 50 mpta, they will be the second largest steel manufacturer after Arcelor Mittal and most geographically diversified company with wide variety of product mix. (T)hreats Steel Industry is major source of greenhouse gas emission, which makes them very vulnerable against many litigation and legislation in future. The raw materials used in steel production are non-renewable and their source is depleting very fast. Due to rising cost of steel products, the end users are looking for substitutes of steel; which can be a major threat to Tata Steels business. Intense competition among international steel player and cheap steel available from China are another major threat to Tata Steels performance. Tata Steels huge debt is one of major threats against them. The rising interest will increase their debt burden. Future Outlook Following two years of worst global economic downturn, the world seems to be regaining some economic stability. There is moderate growth from developed world; however emerging economies are registering very strong and sustainable growth with robust domestic market. Before recession, the steel demand was very strong with over 6% growth during last decade; this is primarily driven by robust growth in BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), South East Asia and Middle East. By 2025, as per forecast BRICS countries will have 46% of global population and will consume 65% of the global production and will have three quarter of the global GDP. The raw materials for steel making are going at record due to high demand, higher freight rates and monopoly of three big natural resources companies. The effects of the above factors are reflected in higher steel price and decrease in profit margin of steel companies. However Tata Steels strategy adopted over last five years for securing long term contract for raw materials supply or acquiring new raw material mines at various geographical location has helped them to keep their prices competitive and making whole operation as viable. Tata Steels integration with Corus has completed successfully and producing better result than expected. Tata Steels strategic effort of capacity expansion and effort to secure raw materials source at various geographical locations yielding positive results. Tata Steels upstream integration process ambition will lead them to achieve 100% self-sufficiency in India and around 50% self-sufficiency in Europe in next 5 years. Tata Steel is investing heavily in RD to get breakthrough technologies and develop new products and services that reduce the production cost and environmental impact over the product lifecycle. To improve its processes, priority is given to energy conservation schemes; in technology break-through such as Ultra Low Carbon Steel making and in other innovative projects where the Group has proprietary technology. Conclusions It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, this famous quote meant a lot to Tata Steel. Five year back, just after starting of their ambitious global expansion plan, they were hit by worldwide financial tsunami which tested their resilience. Their well formulated and proved business strategy has shown resilience and ability to withstand the unprecedented highs and lows of a future that often comes unheralded. They have taken proactive initiative across all geographies to minimise aftermath shock of recession. Their strategy began to pay off towards the last quarter of year 2009, when they rebounded to profit after the turmoil of recession. Undeterred by the economic turbulence, the Company continued to place emphasis on working practices in health, safety and corporate citizenship, with specific initiatives taken in all these areas. In addition, a continued focus on engineering solutions for customers is helping it maintain its position of a product pioneer. Tata Steel believes in staying alert to future opportunities while never letting go of its core values. This is the philosophy that has underpinned its growth over the years and one that remains its key driving force. The strategy adopted by Tata Steel during last five years to become a global player paid off. They increased their revenue and production by six fold by capacity expansion or acquisition. They achieved raw material self-sufficiency of 50% by year 2010 and by year 2012 they aim to increase it to 60% by more investment in mines acquisition. In last five years Tata Steel became a global player from a local steel producer with currently global presence in 50 markets and manufacturing operations in 26 countries. Appendix A: Reference List Tata Steel Group Annual Report 2009-10 G Johnson, K Scholes R Whittington (2008), Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th Edition Text Cases, Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall http://www.tatasteel.com Barney, J. 1991. Firm Resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management, 17 (1): pp99-120. Barney, J.1995. Looking inside for competitive advantage, Academy of Management Executive. 9(4). Pp49-61. Peteraf, M. A. (1993). The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view, Strategic Management Journal, 14 (3), 179-191 Porter, M.E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy, Harvard Business Review, January, 78-93. Porter, M.E. (1996). What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, 61-78.

What does it mean to be an Individual? :: essays research papers

I am afraid that this is more a long question rather than an answer. What exactly does it mean to be an individual? Or are we even individuals? I suppose what is meant when we say we are individual is that we have individual thoughts, as really our actions throughout our life are far from individual or unique. They may seem to be but really they are not. If this is true though then we rarely get our individualism out, if what is seen is not individual. We think ourselves more individual than say an ant, but then is it possible for their to be a thing that would class itself as more individual than us, and if so in what ways would that thing be different and what would make it more individual? I said previously that maybe only our thoughts are individual, but does this even hold to be true? Our thoughts are there usually to fulfil a certain action, even if the most silly action. Take for example a fear of spiders as a thought. I suppose this isn't exactly silly but it does fulfil the action of protecting someone from what they see as a danger. Our thoughts may be slightly different and so too are our personalities, but really don't they seem to fulfil the same task, the highest up being to survive. Obviously this is taking a broad view, but since our thoughts lead to generally the same goal, then is it only the slight difference in thoughts to achieve the goal that make us individual, and if so, are we really that individual since ultimately our "individual" thoughts lead to the same thing? Since it is our actions that let us interact with others, such as in sports or other things, maybe it is that our individual side is alone, being away from others and only in our own thoughts. This may not be totally true since one can share their thoughts, but looked upon from higher up, say from a worldly view, then this is only the sharing of opinion, with many different means reaching the same end; growing closer to the other person through interaction and the show of individualism. Another example of such a thing is any type of art, be it music, painting, poetry or any other type. These kind of things are regarded by some to be the greatest show of one's individuality as they may think that each brush stroke in a painting shows some of your personality.

A Noble Cause :: Short Stories Violence Crime Essays

A Noble Cause The three young punks had been walking down a street in their neighborhood looking for whatever they could get their hands on and generally up to no good, when they stumbled upon an old man lying on the curb. "Hey, check the old dude down on the curb. Let's see what the ol' guy's got!" gibed one of the three ruffians. "Yeahhh!" agreed another, grinning from ear to ear like a hyena at the sight of fresh meat. "Hold it!" said Rick, the leader of the pack. "He might be Five-O! Net, go over there and turn him around. Let's see what he looks like." Ernesto, or Net or Neto, as he was known by his close friends, did as he was told and using his leg as a lever, cautiously turned the man over, and immediately the man started convulsing and coughing violently, taking Net by surprise and causing him to stumble back. The man continued his violent coughing for a while, and then muttered something incoherently. He opened his eyes and looked around dazed and confused, but the glare from the sun was too bright, so he used his hands to shield himself with. Then he started coughing again, but this time the coughing turned into full-blown retching, making the three young punks turn away in disgust. After the man finished, Net, who was closest to the man, gave him a quick, hard kick to the groin. The man yelled out in pain, grabbing his crotch and writhing on the ground -then he began to vomit all over again. "Damn, Net, what did you do that for?" asked Rick. "Sucker pissed me off! Now it smells like crap around here!" "Yeah, well you just made him vomit again, DICKHEAD!! Don't mess with him again, understand?!" Rick said angrily, as he approached the man for a closer look. The man appeared to be genuinely drunk, but police undercover cops were good at disguising themselves and going through elaborate charades in order to make street arrests. "Come on, Rick, man, let's see what he's got," said the middle of the ruffians, Johnny, itching to get his hands on the man, and eyeing the man's gold diamond ring with special interest. "Wait! I've got to be sure this dude's not 5-0!" "Rick, man, he just vomited all his crap out! He ain't no 5-0! Look at him, he's just a drunk ol' dude!"

Affirmative Action Essay -- Rights Equality Inequality Papers

Affirmative Action Since its implementation in the United States in 1965, affirmative action has been a heated topic of debate. Designed to address the issue of inequality in American society, affirmative action is a number of programs and policies designed to give women and racial minorities more opportunities in education and the job market. As a result, affirmative action has received opposition, mainly from blue collar white males who feel that it compromises their best interests. In this paper, we will attempt to evaluate the impact of affirmative action on all Americans and its effectiveness in addressing the issue of inequality. History: Affirmative action was first mentioned in executive order 10925 on March 6, 1961. On July 2, 1964 the Civil Rights act was signed by President Johnson to guarantee equal rights to all Americans. President Johnson introduced affirmative action on June 4, 1965. He gave a speech defining the concept of affirmative action as a way of countering the discrimination that had continued despite the passing of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees. On September 24, 1965 executive order 11246 enforced affirmative action for the first time (Brunner). Affirmative action was met with both support and opposition. Conservatives saw it as opening doors of opportunity for minorities while shutting them for whites, calling it reverse racism. Because many conservative Americans prided themselves on hard work and making a fortune out of nothing, they resented what they thought of as blacks getting a free ride. They argued that Jews and Asians also underwent harsh forms of racism and discrimination but are largely successful now without the use of Government aid (Brunner). Supporter... ...center.org/DB/factsheet/historical-trendsII.htm {scholarly primary, print via internet; authoritative} â€Å"Housing and Household Economic Statistics.† U.S. Census Bureau. www.census.gov/hhes/income {scholarly primary, internet only; authoritative} â€Å"Race: Overview.† Public Agenda. 2004. http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/overview.cfm?issue_type=race {scholarly secondary, internet only; authoritative} â€Å"Race: Quick Takes.† Public Agenda. 2004. http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/angles.cfm?issue_type=race {scholarly secondary, internet only; authoritative} Ward, Dr. David. â€Å"Affirmative Action.† 2001. http://enlightenment.supersaturated.com/essays/text/david ward {scholarly primary, print via internet; authoritative} R. Yetman, Norman. â€Å"Race and Ethnicity†. Sociology McGraw-Hill. 1994 316-359 {scholarly primary, print, authoritative)

Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation

In this essay I intend to analyse the attachment theory of well-known British psychiatrist Dr John Bowlby. I will examine both the primary and secondary research behind the theory and look at some of the arguments against it before going on to explore the impact Bowlby’s research has had on the early years setting. Edward John Mostyn Bowlby was born in London on February 26th 1907 to a fairly upper-middle class family. His parents were of the belief that too much parental affection would in fact spoil a child and therefore spent very little time with him, as little as one hour per day.His primary care-giver was the family nanny until, when he was four years old, the nanny left. Bowlby later described this as being: â€Å"as tragic as the loss of a mother† (www. mentalhelp. net/poc/view_doc. php? type=doc;id=10104;cn=28) He was then sent away to boarding school at the age of seven. It is therefore entirely comprehensible that he became increasingly sensitive to childrenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s suffering and how it appeared to be connected to their future mental health. Bowlby began his study at Trinity College Cambridge where he studied psychology.He excelled academically and spent time working with delinquent children. He then went on to study medicine at University College Hospital and enrolled in the Institute of Psychoanalysis. Upon his graduation he began working at Maudesley Hospital as a psychoanalyst. It was while studying medicine that he volunteered in a children’s residential home and began to develop his interest in children who appeared to him to be emotionally disturbed. While working in the residential home he encountered two particular children who intrigued him.The first of these was a very isolated, affectionless teenager who had no permanent, stable mother figure and the second was a young boy of seven or eight who followed Bowlby around constantly. This led him to speculate that there was a possible link between a child’s mental health problems and their early childhood experiences. It was generally believed by many early theorists that the need to make a bond with a mother or mother substitute was part of our ‘biological inheritance’ and Bowlby’s experience and observations lead him to whole-heartedly agree.The resulting body of work and research carried out by Bowlby became known as the attachment theory. It was his firm belief that babies are ‘biologically programmed’ to be dependant on their mother. He went so far as to say that there was a ‘critical period’ in a child’s life from birth to age three where the child would be irreparably damaged psychologically by a prolonged absence from the mother. He referred to this absence as ‘maternal deprivation’. He wrote in his book, first published in 1953; Prolonged breaks (in the mother-child relationship) during the first three years of life leave a characteristic impression on the childâ€℠¢s personality. Such children appear emotionally withdrawn and isolated and consequently have no friendships worth the name† (pg 39, Bowlby J. Child Care and the Growth of Love, 1974) While working at the Child Guidance Clinic in London in the 30s and 40s Bowlby began to suspect that not only was a child’s mental health affected by the lack of bond with their mother but there may well be a correlation between delinquent behaviour in children and ‘maternal deprivation’.This led him to carry out his own study between 1936 and 1939 to try and prove this to be the case. The resulting scientific paper was published in 1946 and entitled 44 Juvenile Thieves. The study involved Bowlby selecting 88 children from the clinic. Of this group of children 44 had been referred to him for theft and 44 had been referred due to emotional problems. Half the children in each group were aged between five and eleven years of age and the other half were between twelve and sixteen. There were thirty-one boys and thirteen girls in the first group and thirty-four boys and ten girls in the second.The two groups were roughly matched for age and IQ. On arrival at the clinic, each child had their IQ tested by a psychologist and at the same time a parent was interviewed by a social worker to establish and record details of the child’s early life. Bowlby, the psychiatrist at the clinic, then conducted an initial interview with the child and parent. The 3 professionals then met to compare notes. Bowlby then went on to conduct a series of further interviews with the child and/or parent over the next few onths to gather more in-depth information about the history of the child, specifically in their early years. Bowlby considered his findings to be entirely conclusive. Of the 44 thieves Bowlby diagnosed 32% as ‘affectionless psychopaths’. He described this condition as involving a lack of emotional development in the children, leading to a lack of con cern for others, a lack of guilt and an inability to form meaningful and/or lasting relationships. Bowlby concluded that this condition was the precise reason why these children were capable of stealing.His speculation was further strengthened when he discovered that 86% of the children with affectionless psychopathy had experienced a long period of maternal deprivation in the first five years of their lives. They had spent the majority of their early years either in institutions or in hospital with little or no visitation from their parents. Interviews also showed that the majority of these children had been undemonstrative and unresponsive since approximately two years of age. Only 17% of the thieves who were not diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced maternal deprivation in the early years.Of the second group not one child proved to be affectionless and only two of them had experienced prolonged maternal separation. Bowlby concluded in the resulting paper; â€Å" There is a very strong case indeed for believing that prolonged separation of a child from his mother (or mother substitute) during the first five years of life stands foremost among the causes of delinquent character development† [Bowlby J. pg 41] Many have however argued that Bowlby’s findings were not reliable. It has been suggested that as the study was carried out retrospectively this may have tainted the results.It is possible that the parents or the children had not recalled events accurately or indeed that they had not responded truthfully to questioning in order to put themselves in a better light. Michael Rutter suggested in 1981 that some of the children in the study had never had a mother figure at all so their delinquency was not due to maternal deprivation but rather to ‘privation’ of any sort of loving attachment. Bowlby looked at research done by others which could support his own findings. He examined both animal studies done by Hinde and H arlow and Lorenz as well as child studies.He noted in particular the work of Rene Spitz and Katharine Wolf. Spitz and Wolf had observed 123 babies during the first few years of their lives while they were being looked after by their own mothers who were in prison. When the babies were between 6-8 months old their mothers were moved elsewhere within the prison for a period of three months and the babies were cared for by others inmates. Spitz and Wolf noted that the babies lost their appetite, cried more often and failed to thrive during this period of separation. Once the babies were returned to their mothers their behaviour returned to what it had been previous to the separation.These results certainly appeared to support Bowlby’s hypothesis however others disagreed. In Czechoslovakia in 1972 Koluchova wrote of twin boys who had suffered extreme deprivation. Their mother had died soon after the boys were born and their father struggled to cope on his own. At eleven months of age the boys were taken into care and were considered to be normal, healthy children. A few months later their father remarried and at the age of eighteen months the twins returned to their fathers care. Unfortunately the father worked away from home a great deal and their step-mother treated the boys horribly.They were beaten, given very little food, made to sleep on a plastic sheet on the floor and sometimes locked away in the cellar. This continued for five and a half years and when the boys were examined at the age of seven they were found to be severely mentally and physically retarded. The twins were hospitalised until they were able to be placed in a special school for mentally disturbed children. They coped well with their schooling and went on to be fostered by a very affectionate, kind lady and in her care they blossomed.By the age of 15 the boys IQ was normal for their age and their emotional health had improved immensely. Koluchova’s work would appear to demonstr ate that it is in fact possible for a child to recover from maternal deprivation in their early years if they are given the love, support and security required later in their childhood and that the results of maternal deprivation need not be permanent. Schaffer and Emerson also disputed Bowlby’s findings and argued that, although an infant needed to form a bond, children could form multiple attachments and they could benefit greatly from the attention of the extended family.They performed a study in Glasgow in 1964 where they observed 60 children from birth – eighteen months. They met with the mothers once a month and interviewed them to ascertain who the infant was smiling at, who they responded to etc. They found that many of the infants were forming numerous attachments. Twenty of the children studied were not attached to their mothers but to another adult, in some cases the father and in others another family member or even a neighbour. Schaffer states; â€Å"Ther e is, we must conclude, nothing to indicate any biological need for an exclusive primary bond† [Davenport G.C. pg 38] In 1950 the World Health Organisation, who had been following Bowlby’s work closely, commissioned him to write a report on the mental health of homeless children in post-war Europe. While researching the report Bowlby visited several countries and met with many childcare professionals and experts giving him the opportunity to look further into his theory on attachment and the importance of a strong bond between mother and child. His findings supported his thinking entirely and the report was written in six months and published in 1951, entitled Maternal Care and Mental Health.Bowlby went on to publish further papers and books and his findings and research on attachment and the mother child bond has had a profound impact on childcare in general and that of the early years setting. As Juliet Mickleburgh states in her article Attachment Theory and the Key P erson Approach â€Å"Bowlby's research is recognised as the foundation for our understanding of the centrality of making secure attachments in infancy. † [Juliet Mickleburgh, www. eyfs. info] There have been numerous changes to childcare practice since the 1940s and Bowlby’s influence must be acknowledged.It can be no coincidence that ‘family allowance’ was introduced in 1946 in the UK, the same year 44 Juvenile Thieves was published, making it affordable for mothers to stay at home with their children. Bowlby made a plea for reforms in the care of young children in hospital and advocated ‘rooming in’ where the baby stays with mother from birth in the maternity ward. Although some children’s hospitals were already extending visitation rights of parents many more followed their lead after the publication of Bowlby’s W. H. O report, ensuring that the mother/child bond remained as strong as possible.In the early years setting we hav e witnessed the implementation of the ‘Key Person Approach’ pioneered by Elinor Goldschmied. This approach recognises that an infant will be comforted by a secure relationship with one specific adult. We can now see this in practice in the nursery, each child has their own ‘Key Worker’ who has the duty of monitoring the child’s needs and development. This approach also accepts the need for parents and early years practitioners to work together rather than independently and the key worker regularly liaises with the parents regarding their child.Parents are also encouraged to become actively involved with the life of the nursery and to work in partnership with the nursery staff to provide their child with a positive, stable and stimulating learning environment. In my view as a parent and an early years practitioner I believe that Bowlby’s research has benefitted both children and families immensely. As a mother I feel that society supports my ri ght to be at home with my children until they go to school and that I am the child’s most vital resource in their early years, not only for nourishment but for their emotional development.To echo the words of John Major, Bowlby laid the foundation for mothers in the 21st century to go ‘back to basics’. As a practitioner I believe that the implementation of the ‘key person approach’ can be immensely beneficial for both the child and the parent. The child knows that there is always someone there to whom they can turn if necessary and the parent knows that there will always be someone looking out for their child in the setting and that he/she is being given the attention and care of a trained adult in their absence.I have witnessed first-hand in the nursery how a child who is upset by the departure of their mother can be comforted by the attention of their key worker. I have also observed how the key workers are constantly monitoring the children to pin point any needs, to witness the achievement of developmental milestones and to document this for the parents in the form of the Personal Learning Plan, a written and photographic record of the child’s achievements within the setting.In conclusion, although there have been arguments against Bowlby’s research methods many professionals agreed with his findings regarding the importance of a secure attachment in the early years. These findings, and undoubtedly those of others in the field, have led to positive reforms in childcare. As we progress through the 21st century women are feeling the need, either for financial reasons or the belief that they too have the right to work, I find myself asking will society continue to regard the bond between a mother and her child as paramount or will ‘maternal deprivation’ increase and society as a whole be damaged as a result?Bibliography www. mentalhelp. net/poc/view_doc. php? type=doc;id=10104;cn=28 Bowlby J. 1953. Ch ild Care and the Growth of Love, 2nd ed, England, Pelican Books Davenport G. C 1994. An Introduction to Child Development, 2nd ed, London, Collins Educational www. eyfs. info/articles/article. php? Attachment-Theory-and-the-Key-Person-Approach-66 .