Coetzees Foe Essay Example

Coetzees Foe Paper Emory Wonham Professor Gogineni English 229C 25 October 2011 The Power of Language in Coetzee’s Foe: The Inevitable Power Struggle Between Character and Author for Narrative Control While directly questioning Western societys unfaltering acceptance of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe through the postcolonial themes of patriarchy, feminism, and racism, Coetzee’s Foe centers on the power of language as its primary theme. Issues of language and power arise out of the novels blurred relationship between literature and reality, which is vividly represented by the constant struggle between character and author to maintain control of the narrative. Susan Barton and Foe both take extreme measures in their attempts to gain control of the island story, demonstrating the novel’s emphasis on the power struggle of author and character, and society’s unfaltering belief in language that fails to distinguish between fact and fiction, inevitably leading to the creation of a mythological text. Manuel Jimenez, an English professor at the University of Seville, claims in his article, Father to My story; Writing Foe, De-Authorizing De(Foe), that Foe â€Å"presents us with a sort of investigation of a possibly silenced origin of Defoe’s text, in an exercise not of science-fiction but of literature-fiction† (8). He hints at the likelihood of Foe being a found manuscript of one of the original drafts of Robinson Crusoe. The absence of a female character in Robinson Crusoe can lead to the argument that Susan Barton’s fate as a character has been written in history since before she even reaches the island. We will write a custom essay sample on Coetzees Foe specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Coetzees Foe specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Coetzees Foe specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Although she is unaware at the time, Susan’s escape from the island is also her sacrifice of narrative control. The moment she sets foot in England, she unintentionally gives up her place in history, becoming an active member in Foe’s gradual process of erasing her from the story, manipulating her memory, and extinguishing her identity and substantiality as a human. Susan’s journey from the island to England symbolizes her transformation from a character to a real person, and foreshadows her battle with Foe to maintain narrative control and her ultimate destruction by means of literatures manipulation f reality into â€Å"mythological creation† (Jimenez 8). Susan remains oblivious to her dispensability as a character even after she returns to England and is convinced that her story is a unique example of the â€Å"good fortune we are always hoping for† (Coetzee 48). Barton’s inability to distinguish between fact and fiction is apparent from t he beginning of the novel when she has trouble identifying the â€Å"truth† in Cruso’s stories and admits she â€Å"did not know what was truth, what was lies, and what was mere rambling† (Coetzee 12). It is not until well after Cruso’s death and her return to England that Susan begins to understand Cruso’s â€Å"indifference to salvation† (Coetzee 13), and their inevitable fate as characters. Escape is Susan’s only desire when she resides on the island, and Cruso’s opposition towards rescue baffles her. Her unfaltering faith in the power of words sharply contrasts with Cruso’s, and she believes his life on the island is meaningless without a trace of written evidence to verify his experiences. She is convinced that â€Å"Cruso rescued will be a deep disappointment to the world† (Coetzee 34), and she deems it her moral responsibility to take his story with her across seas. Susan’s incomprehension of Cruso’s desire to silence his story leads her to conclude that isolation has caused him to forget the value of language as a form memory. During her time on the island, Susan is aware of the repetitive nature of the castaway novel and understands that â€Å"All shipwrecks become the same shipwreck, all castaways the same castaway† (Coetzee 18). Yet she still believes the power of language will make their story unique and immortalize them in history. Susan is conscious of the tedious and repetitive reality of their life on the island, and she is also conscious that, â€Å"The world expects stories from its adventurers† (Coetzee 34). It is with this knowledge that she confidently places the fate of their story in the hands of Foe, with the belief that he possesses the artistic ability to create the â€Å"liveliness [that] is lost in the writing down† (Coetzee 40). Foe’s unhesitant manipulation of Susan’s memoir drives her to question the true nature of this so-called â€Å"liveliness† and marks a turning point in the novel, as Susan looses her initial faith in the power of language and begins to doubt the validity of literature’s portrayal of reality. It is after Cruso’s death, and after her encounters with Foe in England, that Susan understands why Cruso had no desire to escape or to record his memories; he knew that with or without their memories, their history was already written, and their destiny as characters already determined by societys manipulation of reality through literature. The first time Susan is confronted with the possibility that her story will be altered to fit the needs of the author, not herself, the character, is through conversation with Captain Smith on her voyage back to England. He agrees that her story is remarkable enough to be a part of history, and he confirms her belief that an author would bring the story to life, adding a â€Å"dash of color here and there† (Coetzee 40). Despite being in agreement about the need of an author’s creative touch, their understanding of the extent to which an author should manipulate a story from its original form to please society is not congruent. Captain Smith explains to Susan that an author’s â€Å"trade is in books, not in truth (Coetzee 40)†. At this point in the novel Susan is still convinced that the truth of her story will be enough to receive fame and fortune, and there will be no need for it to be manipulated by her author. She claims she would â€Å"rather be the author of my own story than have lies told about me† (Coetzee 40). Susan’s awaited realization of Foe’s intentions to distort her narrative first appear when she attempts to recreate her life on the island in the form of a personal memoir. While originally intended to serve as an aid to Foe in his authorship of her narrative, her memoir ironically opens her eyes to the seemingly impossible task of telling the truth while pleasing readers. Susan begins to â€Å"understand why Mr. Foe pricked up his ears when he heard the world cannibal, why he longed for Cruso to have a Musket and a carpenter’s chest† (Coetzee 83). At this point in the novel, Susan and Friday are living in a desperate state, awaiting Foe’s publication of their story that will make â€Å"them famous throughout the land, and rich too† (Coetzee 58). As doubts of Foe’s intentions and completion of their story swim through Susan’s head, she tries to convince herself that the publication is the missing link between their current dismal life and a happy free life. â€Å"Is writing not a fine thing, Friday? Are you not filled with joy to know that you will live forever, after a manner† (Coetzee 58)? This rhetorically phrased question to the silent Friday demonstrates Susan’s denial of the reality that Foe has complete narrative control at this point in the novel. The already blurred line between literature and reality becomes even more undefined as the physical worlds of Foe and Susan collide. Susan’s resistance to Foe’s manipulation of her narrative shocks Foe and forces him to face his character in the real world, as she takes on the role as his Muse, trying to seduce him to live inside her story. Despite Susan’s unanswered letters to Foe, she still holds on to her belief that he would be nowhere â€Å"without the woman† (Coetzee 73). Just as Foe thinks he has successfully silenced the voice of Susan Barton and gained complete narrative control, she physically appears in his world, refusing to be a forgotten character. During their physical encounters, Foe attempts to convince Susan that the â€Å"island is not a story in itself. It is a waterlogged boat drifting day after day in an empty ocean† (Coetzee 117). He tries to persuade her to tell him of her life before the island, of her search for her beloved daughter, but Susan does not approve of the addition of these experiences into her story. Aware that she is losing her place in Foe’s story, she desperately attempts to defend herself to Foe as a person of substance, who deserves to be acknowledged. â€Å"I choose not to tell it because to no one, not even you, do I owe proof that I am a substantial being with a substantial history in the world† (Coetzee 131). Susan’s intentional silence can be directly compared to Cruso’s lack of motivation to escape or to record his memories. Susan finally understands that she has no control, as Cruso had no control, of the literature that will arise from their lives on the island. Foe responds to Susan’s resistance by forcing her to acknowledge his power over her fate as a character by sending a young girl to her, claiming to be her daughter. The persistent and rehearsed act this young girl performs is believable to any outsider, demonstrating the ease with which Foe can alter perception and reality. Although Susan knows this girl is not her biological daughter, her interactions with her still cause her to question the validity of her own memories. As the island becomes a fading memory, her initial confidence in the value of truth in her story staggers. Foe takes advantage of her insecurities and causes her to consider if â€Å"these are strange enough circumstances to make a story of† (Coetzee 67). Foe’s intentions with this fabricated daughter are to make Susan aware of her dispensability and lack of substance as a character. Susan is conscious of Foe’s intentions and understands that, from an outsider’s perspective, â€Å"we are as yet only a castaway and a dumb slave and now a madwoman† (Coetzee 77). When Susan continues to resist his manipulation of her narrative, Foe takes physical control over her by means of sex, dominating her physically and mentally. Jimenez views Foe’s total domination of Susan as the novel’s representation of how â€Å"the creation of the mythos can only be done at the expense of sacrificing, at least partly, fidelity to the original experience of material† (8). The creation of Robinson Crusoe was made possible by the silencing of Susan’s story, sacrificing her role in history to the mythological hero of Crusoe. The last section of the novel symbolizes Susan’s final eradication from Foe’s story, as he has at last achieved complete narrative control, leaving Susan and her story to â€Å"sink to settle among the bones of the dead† (Coetzee 141). With Susan’s character finally resting quietly at the bottom of the ocean, he takes advantage of the power of language, producing a novel that will forever breech the boundary of literature and reality. Perhaps either embarrassed by his difficulty dismissing Susan Barton as a character, or attempting to justify his manipulations of original content, Foe creates a new identity for himself, Defoe, from which he creates the famous Robinson Crusoe. The recreation of Susan’s original story supports Edward Said’s notion, found in his book Culture and Imperialism, that â€Å"how we formulate or represent the past shapes our understanding and views of the present (4). The ideal heroic figure that Robinson Crusoe still embodies in today’s society demonstrates literature’s unreliability as a source of history, and its tendency to create useful pasts that exclude unwanted elements, vestiges, and narratives (Said 15). Susan’s reflection on the events that transpired and led to the publication of Robinson Crusoe are best illustrated in the beginning of the novel, when she reflects on her own participation in the elimination of her character. After literally being erased from her own story, she realizes that she existed on the island â€Å"only as the one who came, the one who witnessed, the one who longed to be gone: a being without substance, a ghost beside the body of Cruso† (Coetzee 53). She finally understands that by leaving the fictional setting of her narrative, she consequently sacrificed her place in history, and by resisting Foe’s manipulation of her story, she was inevitably removed. She considers different hypothetical situations that could have prevented the publication of Robinson Crusoe, and thinks to herself, if only she had â€Å"said less about him, more about myself† (Coetzee 51). Her once intense desire to escape the island is forever haunted by her realization that when Cruso was forcefully removed from his island, â€Å"he was a prisoner, and I, despite myself, his gaoler† (Coetzee 43). Jimenez demonstrates how Foe addresses â€Å"the way in which language is used to generate a fabulation that can be offered and accepted as real, as an objective representation of an unquestionable reality† (8). At the end of the novel Susan comprehends Foe’s reasons for writing her out of the story, and she realizes that the relationship between literature and reality rests in the hands of authors alone, and that society is susceptible to believe anything and everything they write. She failed to see â€Å"what we can accept in life, we [society] cannot accept in history† (Coetzee 67), and in turn she becomes a victim to the power of the â€Å"tongue in which we jest and lie and seduce† (Coetzee 85). Works Cited Jimenez, M. â€Å"’Father to my story’: Writing Foe, De-Authorizing (De)Foe. † Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses. 8. 3 (2005): 7-24. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Knopf/Random House, 1993. Print.

Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century

Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century Introduction Henri Fayol has always been considered as an important pioneer of business administration theory. He is known for the formulation of the main management principles (Brunsson 2008, p. 34).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, he highlighted the main functions that managers were supposed to perform (Brunsson 2008, p. 34). However, modern scholars and practitioners often debate whether his ideas can be applicable to modern day organizations. This paper is aimed at discussing the main concepts and ideas introduced by Henri Fayol. In particular, it is necessary to evaluate them and determine the extent to which they are relevant to contemporary teaching and management practices. Overall, it is possible to argue that despite various limitations Henri Fayol’s theories continue to shape many modern busines ses; therefore they will influence education of managers. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that many people have a very simplified view of Henry Fayol, and his ideas may have more implications than it may seem at first glance. The concept of general management The ideas introduced by Henry Fayol have been both praised and criticized. In particular, one can speak about the concept of general management. Fayol believed that organizations could certainly differ in terms of their size or structure; however, there were specific tasks of a manager always had to do, namely, planning, coordinating, controlling, organizing, and commanding (Fayol, as cited in Brunsson 2008, p. 34).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To some extent, the notion of general management gave rise to a great number of theoretical works describing the functions of the management that are studied i n modern business schools. His idea of general management can be extended to the major activities of an organization. The thing is that Fayol singed out the main activities of a business, namely he spoke about the following processes: 1) commercial activities such as buying or selling; 2) accounting; 3) security activities or the protection of people and property; 4) technical activities or manufacturing; 5) financial activities or use of capital; and 6) managerial activities (McLean 2011, p. 32). He argued that to some degree, these activities were present in almost every organization (McLean 2011, p. 32). Therefore, one can say that Henri Fayol attempted to identify common patterns or features that are present in every company. In part, his theories are based on this premise. These ideas have been debated by many modern scholars. For instance, Karin Brunsson refers to empirical studies suggesting that managers do not always have to do the tasks outlined by Fayol (2008, p. 34). In this regard, one can mention some visionary leaders such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates who are primarily responsible for planning or developing strategies of their companies. In turn, there are many managers who have to pay more attention to coordinating and organizing the work of employees. More importantly, the functions are often dependent on the type of organization, its structure or culture (Brunsson 2008, p. 34). This is one of the reasons why the theories of Henry Fayol have often been criticized by modern scholars.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Furthermore, scholars point out that the main activities highlighted by Fayol are not always represented in modern companies. For example, Fayol identifies technical activities such as manufacturing. There are many cases that contradict this argument. In particular, technic al activities can hardly be found in financial services industry or hospitality industry. These are service organizations that are not engaged in manufacturing. Thus, these are exceptions to the theories of Henri Fayol. Nonetheless, they do not completely disprove his ideas. It should be taken into account that Fayol tried to apply his theories to French steel industry (Wren 2001, p. 478). He focused on organizations that were engaged in product development (Wren 2001, p. 478). His ideas proved to be applicable to those companies. More importantly, they remain relevant to contemporary companies, for example, those one representing automotive industry (McNiff Whitehead 2000, p. 146). Therefore, it is possible to say that the notion of general management may have its limitations, but it is still important for modern practitioners. The fourteen principles of management Secondly, one should mention that Henri Fayol is often credited for formulating the main principles of management. Th e most important principles that he stressed was the division of work, unity of command, authority, centralization of power, order, efficient retention of employees, and so forth (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 499). These principles helped Fayol achieve success in steel and iron industry. These principles have been used in many organizations; yet, some scholars and practitioners may question them.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, we can refer to such a principle as the unity of command; it means that an employee must follow the commands of only one manager (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 499). The main issue is that in modern companies an employee can work under the command of several managers. These are the so-called matrix organizations in which people can work on two different projects at the same time (Galbraith 2008, p 10). Moreover, these projects can be guided by different managers. Among such companies one can single out Boeing, IBM, or Proctor Gamble (Galbraith 2008, p 50). Thus, there are exceptions showing that the rules set by Fayol do not always have to be followed. Apart from that, Fayol attached much importance to the primacy of general interests over individual ones. Certainly, this idea is accepted by many business administrators. However, contemporary organizations tend to focus more on the needs of individuals. Some critics of Fayol’s theories even argue that his managerial pr inciples portray an organization as a mechanism in which every part can be substituted. More importantly, too little attention is paid to creativity, emotions, or desires of workers (Jex 2002, p. 377). This is why many scholars may object to Fayol’s theories. Researchers also point out that some of Fayol’s ideas are too general. For instance, he advocates such ideas as fair compensation of workers and promoting team spirit in the workplace. Nevertheless, he does not explain how these principles have to be implemented (Jex 2002, p. 377). This is another way to critique the ideas of Henri Fayol. Overall, these examples suggest that his views can be questioned for several reasons. First of all, they often contradict empirical findings, and his concept of general management is not applicable to every type of organization. Secondly, he does not attach too much importance on individual needs of workers. Finally, his principles lack specific details. This is one of the views on Henri Fayol’s theories. Nevertheless, some of these criticisms can be addressed. Many concepts related to management may seem subjective or too general. For instance, even nowadays it may be difficult to give an exact definition of such a notion as fair compensation. Secondly, it is not quite appropriate to argue that the theories of Fayol are inhumane. They are aimed at maximizing the overall wellbeing of different stakeholders, rather than a separate individual. This is one of the ways in which one can justify the views of this theorist. The complexity of Henri Fayol’s ideas and their practical applications Some scholars argue that the criticisms of Henri Fayol’s views can be partly explained by the fact that many people have a very simplified view of this writer, practitioner and theorist. For instance, Lee Parker and Phillip Ritson point out that Fayol can be viewed as a forerunner of modern contingency theories (2005, p. 184). The thing is that in his wo rks, Fayol often compared an organization to a biological organism that has to adjust to various external factors. To some degree, this argument implies that there is no universal principle that companies should always follow. He certainly believed that it was desirable for a manager to follow the 14 principles that he established. Nonetheless, Fayol also argued that â€Å"there is nothing rigid or absolute in management affairs, it is all a question of proportion† (Fayol as cited in Parker Ritson 2005, p. 185). In this way, he could suggest that the behavior of a manager or a leader is determined by particular circumstances, rather than a set of rigid rules. These examples suggest that Fayol was a more complex thinker than many people believe. Overall, he strived to create a learning organization that could be agile and flexible. As it has been noted before, Henri Fayol has often been blamed for not paying too much attention to the needs of workers, for example, their need for empowerment. Yet, close analysis of his writings suggests that he set very high standards for managers. On the one hand, they hand to ensure that organizational goals were achieved. Nevertheless, they had to put trust in the creative capacity of workers and their ability to take independent decisions (Parker Ritson 2005, p. 188). The recommendations of these people could not be disregarded because they could improve the process of production. One should assume that Fayol’s theories promote complete separation of managers and workers. Therefore, one can argue that some criticisms of Fayol’s theories are not quite justified, especially the belief that he viewed workers only as subordinates. Additionally, he continuously advocated workers’ right to autonomy (Parker Ritson 2005, p. 181). Thus, people should not blame Fayol for viewing employees only as cogs in a machine. In fact, he opposed to this point of view. He developed his theories at the time when too little attention was paid to the rights and needs of employees. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Fayol’s ideas were radical and unconventional. It is vital to show real-life examples of how Fayol’s ideas can be applied by modern organizations. For instance, he was one of the first theorists to point out that high turnover adversely affected the performance of a company (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 497). He noticed that businesses in which people regularly came and went were less likely to produce very good results. This is one of the reasons why he advocated effective retention of employees. This idea appealed to many Japanese companies such as Toyota that tried to encourage life-long employment of their workers (Taniguchi 2006, p. 266). Later, this strategy was adopted by many other businesses and retention of employees is one of the top priorities for modern HR managers. Additionally, we can mention such concept as just-in-time production. To some degree, it ori ginates from Fayol’s principles of order; in other words, every peace of inventory has to be in the right place (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 498). Fayol attempted to develop the methods in which one could optimize the process of production. Nowadays, these methods are studied in educational institutions; moreover, they have profoundly changed modern manufacturing companies. Furthermore, such a quality control method as quality circles stems from Fayol’s concept of employee empowerment (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 498). Thus, Fayol’s ideas continue to influence modern companies. Conclusion Overall, despite various limitations and criticisms, Henri Fayol’s ideas have significant implications for the education of future managers and business practices. This analysis demonstrates that this theorist had very complex views of organizations, and his contribution cannot be reduced only to the functions and principles of management. He attempted to create a very flexible co mpany that could react to the changes in its environment. Its success had to be based on effective cooperation of both managers and workers. Moreover, the relevance of his ideas to modern companies can be best illustrated by the practical applications such as just-in-time-production or quality circles. Therefore, Henri Fayol’s ideas will be relevant to educators and practitioners. Yet, it is quite possible that these theories will be modified so that they could better fit the needs of changing workplace. References Brunsson, K 2008, ‘Some Effects of Fayolism’, International Studies of Management and Organizations, vol. 38 no 1, pp. 30-47. Galbraith, J 2008, Designing Matrix Organizations That Actually Work: How IBM, Proctor Gamble and Others Design for Success, John Wiley Sons, New York. Jex, S 2002, Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach, John Wiley Sons, New York. McLean, J 2011, ‘Fayol – standing the test of time’, British Journal of Administrative Management, vol. 10 no. 74, pp 32-33. McNiff, J Whitehead, J 2000, Action Research in Organisations, Routledge, London. Parker, L. Ritson, P 2005. ‘Revisiting Fayol: Anticipating Contemporary Management’, British Journal of Management, vol. 16 no. 10, pp. 175-194 Pryor, M Taneja, S 2010, ‘Henri Fayol, practitioner and theoretician revered and reviled’, Journal of Management History, vol. 16 no. 4, pp. 489-503. Taniguchi, M 2006, Careers in Japan, Emerald Group Publishing, London. Wren, D 2001, ‘Henri Fayol as strategist: a nineteenth century corporate turnaround’, Management Decision, vol. 39 no. 6, pp 475-487.

Evaluate a given assessment instrument for bias Essay

Evaluate a given assessment instrument for bias - Essay Example Mr. Alvarez is described as a "salesman" and so makes the role gender specific. This is a form of stereotyping. The equality of treatment of all members of society requires that occupations in which both genders are feasibly able to carry out the role, that the job description be gender inclusive. This is critical to the practice of fairness, and in being able to interact with others with impartiality to their religious affiliation, physical appearance or abilities, gender, age, ethnic group or sexual orientation. It is suggested that the introductory sentence be changed to: Mr. Alvarez works as a sales assistant at a furniture store. This would align with Guideline 4 of the ETS standards, for the use of appropriate terminology when referring to others. 2. Students in the Physics & Astronomy Club are buying telescopes to watch the upcoming lunar eclipse. They found comparable telescopes, at the following prices, each either on sale or with a special pricing offer: Firstly, there is no reason given for the four students being chosen from the club, as there are six members who went shopping. Secondly, there is only one female in the group, and this is a science class club, which reinforces the stereotype that women and girls do not like science. I would make Louis (a) and Bernie girls. Thirdly, t Thirdly, there is complex vocabulary in that not everyone is familiar with a lunar eclipse. This is a rare phenomenon that occurs in the evening, when most are asleep, and so can be considered an unfamiliar or specialized term. Rather, replace with: star gazing. 3. A teacher needs help carrying a class set of textbooks to the department office. The teacher asks five students to carry the 35 books. If each student carried the same number of books, how many books did each student carry A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 8 Item Status: No Bias Comments and revision(s) (if necessary): The teacher's gender is not mentioned, neither that of the students, and is not necessary in order to ask the question. No complicated syntax or vocabulary is used either. Neither is the item religiously, ethnically, or physically specific (e.g., feasibly, one of the student's could have been in a wheelchair). 4. The Johnsons are considering hiring an au pair for their child. One very good applicant requests a stipend of $800 per month and health insurance, which will cost

The Law of Contract Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Law of Contract - Coursework Example The rule takes into account parol evidence in addition to other evidence as regards to a contract. Contractual capacity is the ability to understand and reason. What is the difference between someone who is crazy versus someone who has been previously declared insane by a judge? How does this affect the contract? Someone who is crazy is simply one who behaves weirdly, while someone who has been previously declared insane by a judge is one who does not have the mental capacity to make a reasonable decision on his/her own. This means that crazy persons can be capable of making reasonable decisions on their own, or they may not be capable depending on the magnitude and source of their crazy behavior. If a judge declares a person as insane, then it is assumed that such person does not have the capacity to comprehend their acts, therefore, any contract that is made by such person after being declared insane is not enforceable. Consideration is one of the requirements of an enforceable contract. Therefore, a simple contract must be supported by a consideration otherwise it is not enforceable as a contract. In other words, consideration is the negotiation aspect of a contract. It can be defined as â€Å"an act or promise offered by the one party and accepted by the other party as a price for that others promise.† (Collins 252). The following are examples of considerations: i. UCC  § 2-204(4): this section acknowledges the legal impact of the contract created through electronic instruments. It originates from means such as the communication between an individual and an electronic instrument or through the communication of electronic instruments of the involved parties.

Terrorism Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Terrorism Assignment - Essay Example Al Qaeda has, despite its being weakened through the efforts of the United States and its allies, still has the ability to target a diverse number of locations all over the world, and these mainly tend to be American interests. One of the reasons why al Qaeda has continued to survive and remain a threat to America is because of the sectarian divisions in the Middle East (Poole, 2010), which has made it easier for it to gain some political support from some prominent members of government who sympathize with them. This has ensured that members of the organization have safe places where they can operate without any interference from their respective government. It can be suggested that the presence of external forces in the Middle East, such as NATO’s military presence, have helped strengthen the organization because the former is seen as an invading force targeting Muslims instead of terrorists. Furthermore, the power vacuum left from the ousting of Saddam Hussein in Iraq ensur ed that the presence of Al Qaeda was expanded to this country. The fact that al Qaeda is still a threat to the United States has called to question its ability to protect its civilians from any potential attacks from this organization especially after the catastrophe in 2001. The security posture of the United States before the September 11 attacks is very different from the one which came after these attacks. Before these attacks, the federal government played an extremely restricted role in the internal security of the nation and most of the security matters were left in the hands of the state and local governments. Since the responsibility for internal security was left to the latter, one would surmise that they concentrated more on the domestic threat than on any potential one from outside the United States (Borch, 2003). In addition to this, most of the security agencies at the federal level were not on a high alert for any foreign attacks on the United States because such threats were considered to be non-existent. All these changed after the attacks as the United States moved to swiftly secure itself from the new external threat, al Qaeda (Chau, 2008). The activation of the American security apparatus has worked well towards ensuring that no furthe r attacks on the United States on the same scale as September 2001 have yet to occur again. The intelligence services, which once jealously guarded their jurisdictions from each other have seen an unprecedented level of cooperation between them, and these has been facilitated by the development of fusion centers as points through which they have come to share intelligence. The fact that these agencies are now sharing information, has ensured that they have become more effective in their fight against al Qaeda both at a local and international level and many potential strikes by this organization have been pre-empted (Sales, 2010). The American military has bases all over the world in allied countries and these have been put in place to protect American interests in these respective regions. Among the most prominent military bases can be found in the Middle East where they have been continuously used to fight terrorism in this region (Crook, 2006). The military has been an effective tool in dealing with the threat to the United States from al Qaeda. One of the most notable acts of the military was when Navy Seals attacked and killed the former al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, dealing a massive blow to the terrorist organization (Soherwordi et al, 2011). Furthermore, the military has used drones to strike at specific targets within al Qaeda who have been found to be a threat to the national security of the United States. Because of this drone strikes (Hudson, et al, 2012), many prominent al Qaeda leaders have been

Understanding Of Human Growth And Development Social Work Essay

Understanding Of Human Growth And Development Social Work Essay The field of psychology has vast areas of interest, and Human growth and development is one of the most popular topics being studied by social workers today. The purpose of this report is to show how essential it is for a trainee social worker to attain a firm understanding of human growth and development, and to ultimately achieve a foundation of knowledge in this area. This report will show that, with practice, preparation, assessment, reflection and finally application, this foundation of knowledge can be effectively used in positive intervention methods. (Crawford 2006) There have been many great theorists over the years, all of who had different ideas on human growth and development. This report will highlight and discuss 3 theories based on the work of Erikson, Bowlby and Bronfenbrenner. Furthermore, the report will also throw light on the pros and cons of these theories, identifying and discussing potential issues that may arise from failure to mature, as described in each theory. Finally, the report will identify the role of social workers in relation to their intervention with a client or family. The outcome of this report will be a sum-up of the key identifying points of each of the 3 theories. Using practical examples, the report will explore the effects of the theories and outcomes that may arise from failure to mature. The practical examples used will aid, guide and shape the discussion by highlighting the life span of the individual problems or issues, and will provide an underpinning reason for using each of the theories. Each theory chosen in this report is taken from a different discipline of social science; psychodynamic, sociological and psychosocial. These three disciplines all have a different emphasis, but structured in all of them is the core principle of determining what can potentially influence life course development. The first theory outlined in this report is Bowlbys attachment theory. This theory fundamentally sees the earliest bonds formed between children and their caregivers as a key factor in human growth and development, having an immense impact on progression and continuing throughout life. This theory will be examined, using social work examples with infants. There will be an explanation of how the theory is vastly important for attaining a firm understanding of the foundational relationships infants build for a healthy development. The second theory discussed in this report is Bronfenbrenners theory of ecological development. Bronfenbrenners theory describes the influences of further environmental factors on children, and their positive or negative development. For this theory, social work examples will be chosen from older adults in order to help attain an understanding of how environmental factors, at micro and macro levels, can influence social workers in relation to the stages of development. The final theory discussed in this report is Erik Eriksons model of life stage development. This theory addresses identity as an individual moves through the stages of life, and how they negotiate crisis points in a successful or unsuccessful progression, this effecting healthy development. For this theory, examples of middle-later stages of life will be discussed, and how progression through the life stages can successfully or unsuccessfully result in a healthy or unhealthy development of the individual. So, what can human growth and development be determined as? Before we discuss in depth the main theories, it would be appropriate to give a definition of human growth and development, and highlight why it is so fundamentally important for social workers to have a firm understanding of the various theories. According to Baltes cited in Crawford (date), human development is multi-dimensional; it is made up of biological, cognitive and social dimensions. Physically, from the moment we are conceived till the moment we die, we are developing biologically. Our bodies are consistently moving from one biological change to another. Subsequently, the growth of our intellectual and social development comes. This begins from very early stages in the course of life and continues across the span of each life. (Thompson) Both Freud and Erikson agree that every individual is born with a number of basic instincts, that development occurs through stages, and that the order of these stages is influenced by biological and sociological maturation (Sigelman, and Shaffer 1992). The Requirements for Social Work Training state that all social work programmes must: Ensure that the teaching of theoretical knowledge, skills and values is based on their application to practice. (Department of Health 2002) Theorists, such as Bowlby, Bronbenfrener and Erikson, have different perspectives on life span development stages and the individuals evolved behaviour as a consequence or a response to developmental milestones crises. These theories are rooted in the disciplines of sociology, biology and psychology. Each theory provides an explanation, in line with development, for arising issues and problems that individuals face and are all relevant to an understanding of the life course development. (Thompson) Social work practitioners need to have a wide range of knowledge from a span of theoretical disciplines to ensure that all aspects of an individuals make-up are considered and appreciated when working with them. (Crawford and walker) Using theory can give an explanation as to why an action resulted in a particular consequence. This can help us review and possibly change our practice in an attempt to make the consequences more effective. (Beckett) Developmental theory provides a framework for ordering the lifecycle and accounts. For factors that may shape development at specific stages. It discusses the multiple. Bio-psycho-social factors impacting development, explores the tasks to be accomplished. At each stage and considers successes and failures in light of other stages. Developmental theories also aim to recognise individual differences in development. Journal The course of life is different for each individual, and is influenced by the events and experiences that people go through throughout their lives. (Crawford and Walker, 2003) Understanding the impact of transitions within a persons course of life is important for social work practice, as it aids the social worker in attaining a firm understanding of other peoples lives, so they can effectively intervene with appropriate measures. Using theory can help justify actions and explain practice to service users, carers and society in general. The aim is for this to lead to social work becoming more widely accountable and ultimately more respected. (Beckett ) The use of theories in social work practice underpins how social workers approach their tasks. As social workers, we need to recognise the opportunities to work with people through transitions as an opportunity to grow. We need to try to enable people to use these events to trigger change, move on and develop. (Crawford) When a social worker works with an individual, utilising theories which may relate to a specific situation, will give us more direction in our work. It is clear then that theory is important in practice both for work with service users and for social work to be more valued in society. (Beckett) After the definition of human growth and development and the brief discussion of why a theory is important in social work practice, this report will now discuss the attachment theory and will explain why it can be positively used in approach and effectively in practice.4 So, what is the attachment theory? To start with, lets define the word attachment; it means a strong emotional bond between two people. Forming an attachment is based on a two-way interaction. The behaviours from an infant, such as crying, reaching, grasping and making eye contact, and the response of the caregiver both work as a reciprocal process to develop and strengthen attachment. (Woods) According to (Crawford), children use the people they are attached to as a safe base to explore, a source of comfort and a source of encouragement and guidance. According to (Fahlberg, 1991, cited in Howe), attachment aids children in attaining their full intellectual potential, sorts out what children perceives, assists them in logical thinking, helps them develop a conscience, teaches them to become more self-reliant, aids them in coping with stress and frustration, helps them handle fear and worry, assists them in developing future relationships and helps reduce jealousy.                  In 1953, a psychoanalyst named John Bowlby wrote the book Child Care and the Growth of Love. In this book, Bowlby put forward his theory that the relationship between a mother and her child, during the childs first year, is of vital importance and can greatly affect the development of the child in later life. This theory is known as the attachment theory, and it is still being used and discussed today, although it has been altered and adapted to suit the modern day economic environment and the change in the family unit over the past 50+ years. (Jeremy Holmes, 1993) Bowlby believes that attachment begins at infancy and develops throughout an individuals life, and that there are many distinctive behavioural control systems needed for continued existence and proliferation. The attachment and exploration systems are the main central points in Bowlbys attachment theory. (Elliot Reis, 2003) (Crawford) Bowlbys Maternal deprivation Hypostasis, the forerunner of the attachment theory, believes that if an infant was unable to develop a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his or her mother or permanent mother substitute, then the child would have difficulty forming relationships with other people, and would be at the risk of behavioural disorders. Bowlby says: Mothers love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as vitamins and proteins are for physical health. (Cardwell) (Bowlby 1988) goes on to say that without a secure base of first attachment relationships, children will not be able to cope with separations of normal life. For Bowlby, the impact of prolonged separation on children is viewed as maternal deprivation. Bowlby describes this as being the temporary or permanent loss to children of their mothers care and attention. Bowlby believes that prolonged separation of children from their mothers, especially during the first five years of their lives, is a major cause of delinquent behaviours and mental health issues. (Crawford) Mary Ainsworth developed a method, whereby a childs behaviour is observed when reunited with his or her mother after a short separation.   This is known as the strange situation, and it has become widely used to determine whether the attachment was secure or insecure. Ainsworths strange situation is used to measure Bowlbys hypotheses that early relationship experiences affect later adult functioning. The strange situation procedure consists of eight three-minute episodes that have been arranged so as to create increasing levels of stress for a child that will activate attachment behaviours that researchers can then observe. The resulting behaviour was used to classify the child into one of three categories. These categories are insecure avoidant attachment, secure attachment and insecure resistant attachment. Securely attached children were able to balance their need to explore the environment with their need for comfort and support from their caregiver in relation to their feelings of stress.   Insecure avoidant attached children, when stressed, continued to explore the environment, showing minimal need for comfort and support.   The children who were classified as having insecure resistant attachments stop their exploration and return to their care giver show the maximum amount of attachment behaviours. Main (1991) has since identified a fourth category that of the disorganised/ disorientated child. (Cardwell) According to Bowlby a central tenet of attachment is that: People developmental representations, Or internal working models, that Consist of expectations about the self, significant Others and the relationship between the two. (Bowlby, 1969, 1973) The main criticism of Bowlbys attachment theory came from J.R. Harris. It is often assumed that hard working, kind, honest and well-respected parents will have children who will turn out to be like them. On the other hand, in the case of parents who are bad role models, rude, and disrespectful, the children will end up the same when they become adults. According to Harris, this may be far from the truth. Harris (2008), believes that a parent does not determine a childs personality or character, and that a childs external social factors have more influence than anything else. A good example of this taken from Harris is a child from an immigrant family. Although the parents may well pick up a new language, they will still have an accent from their native language. The child, on the other hand, will learn the new language, and will speak it without an accent. Children are more influenced by their peers than their parents. (Harris, 1998). Criticisms were also levelled at Bowlbys theories because of his ideas that he concluded from work he had undertaken with juvenile delinquents who had been separated early in their lives from their mothers. The criticism is that the theories are unrepresentative of the general population, and involved too small a sample. It was also argued that not all maternally deprived children became juvenile delinquents. But in agreement with Bowlby, Stroufe (1979) stated: We cannot assume that early experiences will somehow be cancelled out by later experiences. Lasting consequences of early inadequate experiences may be subtle and complex. (Cardwell) Research has shown that, contrary to Bowlbys idea of monotropy (one primary caregiver), children can form more than one significant attachment, and these need not be towards the biological parents, and can be of either sex, although there is often a definite hierarchy. An infants attachment to his or her father is as strong as the mothers in the first few days of life. Then the attachment changes because of the different amount of time available for the parents to interact with the infant, given the work commitments. Both the mother and the father are important attachment figures for their infants, but the circumstances that lead to selecting the mother or the father may differ. For example, the father is usually selected for playing. (Schaffer Emerson 1964) According to Parke (1981), Both the mother and the father are important attachment figures, the father is not just a poor substitute for the mother. (Cardwell) When looking at how attachment theory is applied to social work practice, Coulshed (1988) proposed that psychology has been useful in the degree to which you can apply some of the theories, if you are prepared to see theoretical contributions as ways of enriching your thinking and understanding. You will gain a broad framework of information through which you will recognise the complexities and possible causes of human suffering. The attachment theory provides a valuable model in understanding relationships of families in need and promoting new and healthy attachments (Daniel et al 1999).   The attachment theory has had an impact on many areas relating to how children are cared for, including the legal framework it operates under and how services for children have developed. Some of the areas, where clear links can be made to practice being underpinned by the attachment theory has effected changes, are; When negotiating contact between children and their families it is undertaken from a child centre perspective rather from the adults involved. This may include having closer links with grandparents, relatives and any other persons who the child considers significantly important to them. (Howe) Attachment theories underpin the policies that are relevant to the development of children in public care, and form the basis for assessing their needs, such as pre-placement and post-placement support systems. The effects of separation and loss that children have experienced can be taken into account when assessing their needs. (Oloughlin) Social Work as a profession can promote the needs of children through influencing policy and practice e.g. acknowledgement that delays in placing children may be detrimental to their wellbeing should ensure that the adoption and fostering processes can be as speedy and efficient as possible. Likewise, it is clear from research that children are adversely affected by the loss of familiar peers. Children who maintain friendships over time are seen to have greater social skills and better social adjustment. This should also be promoted. (Aldegate et al) The attachment theory has allowed optimism to develop towards caring for children, as a less distorted and confused picture of child development has emerged. It is now apparent that a healthy development can occur in many different family environments. There are many right ways of meeting childrens needs. (OLoughlin) The second theory discussed in this report is derived from the discipline of sociology. Sociological theoretical perspectives explain human development by examining the interactions between people and the society in which they live. Sociologist theorists research this by looking at influencing factors at different levels of society. (Crawford) Unlike other disciplines of human development theories in which service users problems are conceptualized on individual terms, sociological perspectives on human development seek to gain a full understanding by locating the persons problems within his or her experiences in a broader picture of social and historical circumstances. In other words, rather than directly focusing on the problem and the persons inability to cope, the problem would be assessed in terms of the impact of the economic and political conditions of the day. (Cunningham and Cunningham). One theorist whose theory has being particularly influential in the study of human development is Uri Bronfenbrenner 1917 2005. Bronfenbrenner developed a theory to explain how everything in a child and the childs environment affects how a child grows and develops. His theory is known as the ecological systems theory, and it approaches a childs development by looking at different levels of interaction, from family, local communities and schools to economic and political conditions that are all influential to the development of the individual in his or her course of life. He uses the terms Microsystems, exosystem and macrosystem. He suggests that there is a reciprocal process of interaction, in that the child is both influenced by and influences his or her environment at each of the levels. (Crawford) The ecological environment is thought of as: Nested structures encircled within and inside the other like a set of Russian dolls. Starting with the most inside to the outside, these networks are described as micro systems, meso systems and macro systems (Brunfenbrenner, 1994). The work of Bronfenbrenner has been particularly influential in social work practice and is the model that underpins the framework for the assessment of children in need and their families (department of health, 2000 cited in Crawford). The theory also encourages social workers to grasp the concept and understanding of the sociological imagination, and develop this in relation to service users own lives and practice. As social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments (NOSS), this approach, therefore, helps social workers to locate service users within an understanding of the bigger picture that underlies their lives. (NOSS) Applying an ecological approach can be best understood as looking at  persons, families, cultures, communities and policies, and identifying and intervening upon strengths and weaknesses in the transactional processes between these systems. A practical example of this in practice would be the use of the ecological perspective when carrying out assessment and for planning intervention for older adults in the community. Although it is theoretical, it is very practical, as it provides a kind of a map to guide us through very confusing terrain Stevenson 1998 cited in aldegate) The population of the UK is ageing. Over the last 25 years, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over increased from 15 per cent in 1984 to 16 per cent in 2009, an increase of 1.7 million people. (Gov statistics) Elderly individuals are vulnerable and in need of social services because they often live alone, and can be subject to numerous health difficulties, such as difficulties in functional ability. As senior adults experience an increased need for care, it is predicted that, in many cases, family caregivers will begin to have a higher level of physical, emotional and financial burden. All of these issues combined warrant an increase in research related to meeting the needs of the elderly and their families living in our communities (Crawford). EST is an ideal approach for assessing the needs of elderly adults living in communities. Given the rapidly increasing numbers of baby boomers reaching retirement age and beginning to require extended support, it is important for communities and families to address the best fit for the senior adult later in life. EST addresses the micro, meso and macro systems that are an extension of the individual, and works to obtain resources in order to improve support and expand networks necessary to maintain good quality of life for senior adults. (Journal) The ecological perspective analyzes how well the individual or family fits with their environment, and is based on the assumption that when a person or group is connected and engaged within a supportive environment, functioning improves. In order to determine the best fit, usually for an individual, there is an examination of the difference between the amount of social support needed by the person and the amount of social support available in the existing environment. Once this assessment has taken place, the social worker engages with the individual and works together with him or her to offer the support needed. One unique feature of the ecological model is its distinguished concept of human development within an environmental perspective. (Bekett) Social work practice has an overarching meta-paradigm that emphasizes the person in the environment. This meta-paradigm is linked with an ecological systems perspective as a focus of attention. EST is compatible with this belief system and helps support a theoretical approach for practice at the micro, meso and macro levels with individuals, families and communities. Social workers need to be aware of how the changing needs of families will affect psychosocial and emotional factors for the elderly individuals and their family caregivers. Examples of such issues include geographical location of family members when the senior adult is in need of care, role reversal when there is a shift in the family system and a parent becomes more dependent upon an adult child, and the anticipated grief and bereavement as spouses and adult children care for elderly family members over an extended period of time. The final theory of discussion is Erick Eriksons eight stages of man. Eriksons theory is an extension and modification to Freuds psychoanalytical theory on explaining the development of the personality through childhood stages of psychosexual development. Erikson, however, provides a more comprehensive framework for human lifespan through a series of genetically influenced sequence of psychosocial stages. The term psychosocial describes an approach that considers the impact of both the individual psychology and the social context of peoples lives on their individual development.(Crawford) Each stage involves a battle between contradictory resultant personalities, and each stage has either adaptive or maladaptive qualities. To develop into a healthy, mature adult, the adaptive must outweigh the maladaptive. (Richard Gross, 2005). In other words, he suggests that people confront a series of developmental challenges or conflicts, each occurring at particular and predictable times or sta ges in their lives. One of the main elements of Eriksons psychosocial stage theory is the development of ego identity. Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction. According to Erikson, our ego identity is constantly changing owing to new experience and information we acquire in our daily interactions with others. In addition to ego identity (Quote), Erikson believes that a sense of competence also motivates behaviours and actions. Each stage in Eriksons theory is concerned with becoming competent in an area of life. If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery, which he sometimes refers to as ego strength or ego quality. If the stage is managed poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of inadequacy. (Quote) In each stage, Erikson believes people experience a conflict that serves as a turning point in development. In Eriksons view, these conflicts are centred on either developing a psychological quality or failing to develop that quality. During these times, the potential for personal growth is high, but so is the potential for failure. Eriksons eight life stages: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Basic trust versus mistrust 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Self-control versus shame and doubt 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Initiative versus guilt 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competence versus inferiority 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Identity versus role confusion 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Intimacy versus isolation 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Generativity versus stagnation 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ego-integrity versus despair Erikson suggests that whereas the outcome of moving through a life stage is unfavourable, the individual will find it more challenging to meet the trials of the next stage. Erikson further suggests that if individuals fail to develop through a stage, they may return to unsettled earlier points in their lives. (Crawford) Stage five is commonly associated with adolescence Erickson 1995 recognised this as the critical crisis of adolescence in the eight stages of development identity versus role confusion. He believes that a successful transition through childhood would lead to a progressive success to resolve this stage (Crawford). Erikson considers the fifth stage, that of adolescence, in the developmental process to be of particular importance.   He considers that by the end of this period of psychosocial moratorium, adolescents should have achieved ego identity,   that is the integration of their own self perceptions into their core identity which is both psychological and social. But he notes that some young people experience difficulty or find it impossible to commit themselves to adult roles, thus characterizing this as a period of identity crisis. When adolescents fail to achieve ego identity, it is considered to be identity role diffusion.   Applying Eriksons model to social work can help identify with individuals whether or not they have progressed successfully at previous life stages. It can also help individuals clarify and address their strengths, expectations and limitations, a duty expected of the social worker according to NOSS Key role 1(Crawford). The psychosocial perspective enables social workers to consider the influences of the relationship between the internal world of the service users and the social environment in which they live. (Howe 1987 cited in Crawford) However, Eriksons stages are criticised alongside other psychosocial stage approaches to human development because they do not incorporate difference and diversity. They are culturally specific and differences between sexuality and gender are not easily explained, because the theory was developed from a male perspective. Crawford Being too fixed and deterministic in real life, it is not possible to divide ones life into neat stages. The theory also does not consider the significance of social change in different societies and across different cultures. The model suggests there are universal experiences that all people encounter. Anthony Giddens 1991 cited in Crawford argues that modern society is continually changing, and that people pursue many different paths through their lives. Erikson describes the concept of a life cycle as implying some kind of self completion (Erikson, 1982 p. 9 cited in Crawford). This use of the word cycle can be criticised for implying a circular process whereby, in the later years of life, there is a return to the dependency of childhood. (Crawford) In conclusion this assignment has looked at Social workers need to develop an understanding of theories from a range of disciplines in order to take a holistic approach to their practice. (Crawford) Whilst it is important for social workers to have knowledge of these theories, none of the theories can be easily applied to explain a persons course of life. One theory may be relevant to a particular person at a particular moment in time. For example, one theory may be useful for child development, but not so useful in explaining the challenges of life events that influence growth and development in later life. (Crawford and Walker, 2003) All people are individuals and deserve the right to be treated as such. To do anything less would be seen as an act of oppressive practice. Social workers need to draw on many different resources and theories available to them in order to truly meet service users needs. (Beckett 2007)

Sanitation and Housing Conditions Alexandria, Virginia Essay -- Urban

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is recognized as one of the best places to live and do business on the east coast. The city’s urban planning showcases the city’s vibrant, diverse, historic, and unique neighborhoods. Urban planning began there in the 19th Century. Urban populations rose drastically, and a host of problems came with it: unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, and corruption of government. Economic depressions promoted a climate of social unrest, violence, labor strikes, and disease (Rose, 1997). In the beginning of the 19th century, development of American cities often took a compact, mixed-use form, reminiscent of that found in places like old town Alexandria. By the early 20th century, the focus was on the geography of water supplies, sewage disposal, and urban transportation (Virginia Places, 2010). This paper will discuss the city’s historical and current sanitation program and housing accommodations for sewage disposal. Before the 19th Century, sewage disposal was virtually unknown until the first American cities were built around the 1700’s. Human waste was originally disposed of in the woods, but some wealthy Virginians built large houses and used chamber pots to "do their business" indoors, and the contents would be thrown into the back yard. Later, as towns developed, waste was tossed into the streets to decompose or be washed away in the rainstorms (Virginia Places, 2010). Privies or outhouses were also built in back yards and were commonly used to dispose of waste. Toilets, also known as â€Å"water closets,† were put into homes in the mid 19th Century in the United States. The water closet had indoor plumbing where piping was run through the roof, and a gravity ... ...thier ecology – making the city easier to sustain into the coming years. Works Cited Frederick Law Olmsted (2009). FrederickLawOlmsted.com . Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/Lifeframe.htm History (2010). Alexandria Sanitation Authority (ASA). Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://www.alexsan.com/ Levy, J.M. (2011). Contemporary Urban Planning (9th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ Rose, J. K. (1997, November 8). The city beautiful movement. University of Virginia. Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/citybeautiful/city.html Sewage treatment in Virginia (2010). Virginia Places. Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://www.virginiaplaces.org/waste/sewer.html Urban planning (2010). World Lingo Translation. Retrieved December 28, 2010, from http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Urban_planning

Case Study in Abnormal Psychology Essay

The study of any case in Abnormal Psychology views multiple aspects of self-concept and various behaviors and is the foundation of defining normal and abnormal behaviors. In the complex process of defining and exploring the vast concepts of behavior multi faceted information must be incorporated. Individual behaviors, perspectives, attitudes, and personal identity reveal the internal workings of how specific aspects of life coincide to determine ones concept of normal and abnormal behavior. Throughout history individuals have sought to find out the difference between normal and abnormal perspectives and the purpose for ones existence thus it is only through self realization that society and the people within can find this answer. The exploration of behavior and the many areas that humans search to find a deeper understanding of exactly what the concept of normal behavior leads to a profound investigation of internal and external aspect of life which shapes every angle of one’s self definition. As previous generations have sought to find the answers to this important life question it is the purpose of this paper to continue that great quest into the most definitive goal of society, which is the comprehension of the many, interlinked experiences that define self. The various aspects of behavior and attitudes such as personality traits, abilities, physical characteristics, beliefs, values, goals, and roles help psychologist define normal and abnormal behavior. During the early stages of life children develop an organized and multilevel perspective of information about themselves in the process of acquiring the ability to understand the relation between self and the behavior. Behavior is present in children and centered on many levels of concrete cognitive characteristics, such as physical characteristics and skills. While the focus and perspectives of behavior change from childhood  to middle childhood, behavioral concepts become more integrated and differ as the child engages in social comparison and more clearly perceives the self as consisting of internal, external, and psychological characteristics (Self Concept, 2010). The process of understanding behavior becomes more defined as individuals reach adolescence. It is during this developm ental stage of adolescence that individuals become increasingly aware of the presence and influence of the definition of behavioral characteristic through acquiring a broader perspective of new concepts such as abstract views of the world around them, new experiences with complex issues of cognitive mental representations or self-schemas, which direct the processing of self-relevant information. Social interaction is a key element of behavioral development in which individuals learn foundational skills that aid in the comprehension of self. Through interaction with peers individuals explore or investigate new aspects of self and social interaction by recognizing like interest with peers, social behaviors, emotional responses, and social learning and problem solving skills. These developmental building blocks teach individuals vital insights of self that can be incorporated throughout life such as the development of cooperation, social exchange, demonstrating and understanding empathy as well as experimenting with different roles with behavioral settings. Interaction with society is a defining factor in ones understanding of behavior and is the building block for future and present relationships and definition. Through these various interactions with society integral relationships shape the individuals connection to the world around them and in turn lead to stability within t he internal processes which determine the individual’s perspective of behavioral concept, self esteem, and self efficiency and aids the psychologist in treating an individual with behavioral problems. Definitive concepts that an individual must comprehend in addition to understanding in relation to the hierarchy of normal and abnormal behavior concept in order to understand the complexity of self and the role that individual plays within society. Behavior is by definition the positive or negative reactions to individuals’ society and towards oneself and is viewed as the internal evaluation of one’s self worth and value. It is clear that behavior is one of the fundamental aspects of development and self, a healthy perspective of one’s life must reflect positive values and  definitions of self in order for an individual to develop a healthy mental state. The totality of an individual’s comprehension regarding behavior is a valid developmental concept that must reflect all thoughts and feelings in relation to self and society (Paterson, 2010). Self efficiency describes an individual with confidence in his or her ability to think, understand information, self control, and a defined sense of self worth. It is an important aspect of development of perception to thoroughly understand the impact that these concepts of behavior have on an individual’s life and should be valued as priority (Paterson, 2010). Two distinct experiences that affect personal development are the values of personal beliefs and social factors. In a case study of children’s behavior parents instill values that have shaped the children’s’ perspective of many social and self perspectives. In this case the behaviors displayed by a child growing up in a lower middle class family in rural America was viewed by the parents as abnormal or normal, the child’s behavior in many factors are defined by what he or she has accomplish, and the belief or worth came from validation that he or she needed and that all other aspects of life were just reflections of what society viewed as normality. Over the years many the individuals’ behavior felt as if he or she did not really know that the displayed perspectives of behavior were being viewed as abnormal. Growing up the individual gained a new perspective of exactly what normality was and realized that many of the behaviors displayed were abnormal it was this behavioral awareness that lead to psychological help. When the individual entered high school more abnormal behaviors were displayed and societal definitions determined many of the treatments used by the psychologist. There is no other concept within psychology that shapes individuals as much as behavior. It is in understanding how one’s life is changed based on the situation and experiences, the behaviors and attitudes, and the internal sense of self worth that motivates individuals to step into a deep understanding of life. Reference Self Concept. (2010). Self Concept. Retrieved March, 2011 from: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09socemodev.asp Paterson, C. (2010). Measuring Changes in Self-Concept. Retrieved March 7, 2011 from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/6/7

American Dream Essays (804 words) - Harlem Renaissance, Free Essays

American Dream Essays (804 words) - Harlem Renaissance, Free Essays American Dream What is the AMERICAN DREAM? I concluded the matter of dreaming about lifes basics wants that are exclusive to North America. The American Dream is the following: Go to college, get a good job, and finally get your own family. If we think about it, the American Dream is indeed a UNIVERSAL DREAM. The concept of the American Dream is created by this value system. The American Dream is intended to be a way of life attainable to all Americans. Whatever maybe the case, the act of trying to escape reality and the result such an act brings, is evident throughout the three novels Jews without money, by Michael Gold, Street Corner Society by William Whyte, and Passing, by Nella Larsen. All three of these books confront the myth of the American Dream. The American Dream can either be a reality or a nightmare depending upon the cultural prejudices and availability of freedom. Individuals who are united through some common bond, which may be religion social status of color, create a group or class of people. While individuals are subject to racial prejudices, which often makes up upward mobility not possible. Without equal opportunities to move upwards within society, the American Dream is not attainable. But it is possible in cases where people are willing to sacrifice their heritage culture etc. Nella Larsen, show us through this novel, that if people want, they can achieve the American Dream, but they would have to pay a price for it. This is especially true of Clare Kendry. Her passing is motivated by her desire to improve the conditions of her socioeconomic life. She is successful in achieving her American Dream, but in the end she does face the consequences of her actions. She manages to rise from being a poor girl to settling down in a well household. Using her white skin color and blond hair as commodities, she escapes the reality of her true character. She gained wealth and respect in the community through marrying an affluent successful white man. But the truth is that she paid the price of passing because she couldnt express who she was and her true identity in the fear of being caught and then left aside abandoned from the whites and the black communities. In her case, her decision to pass was self-initiated. Clare was afraid to face everyone, especially her husban d, with her blackness. When one cannot stand in front of a mirror and except him or herself, that person is bound to be doomed. In Clares case it resulted in her death. So it can be said, that in this case Clare achieved the dream of being accepted into society and a well off rich husband, but in the end she did pay the price for that sacrifice she made. Jews Without Money is a novel of life of Jewish immigrants in the tenements of New York City's Lower East Side in the early part of this century. It's a day-in-the-life tale of thieves, gangsters and honest folks just trying to get by in a new country. The novel Jews without money by Michael Gold explores the fundamental discrepancy between the American Dream v/s the American Reality due to the warping of poverty. The immigrant Jews step from steerage in search of the American dream and instead find themselves crowded in filthy, roach-ridden tenements, at the mercy of factory owners, and gangsters (the American Reality). Social depression arising due to extreme poverty led to the establishments of ghettos a completely new lifestyle. Thus the fundamental discrepancy between the American Dream v/s the American Reality exists due to the existence of poverty. Poverty seems to be the underlying cause of every misfortune in life, and thus even in their make believe world, everything they v ainly want is due to poverty and nothing else. The novel displays different forms of struggles that immigrants go through in order to escape the reality. Michael Gold wishes to be rich, but he is not able to fulfill his dreams and he believes that the American Dream is a lie. His family is unable to lift itself from the bottom of the ladder and prosper. One of their main struggle, is

Is Intelligence Inherited Essays

Is Intelligence Inherited Essays Is Intelligence Inherited Essay Is Intelligence Inherited Essay Is Intelligence Inherited? Traveling on from the eugenics-oriented surveies of intelligence of the early 20th century, it is going clear that there are different types of ‘intelligence’ that can be identified. Howard Gardner, the innovator of research on ‘multiple intelligences’ viewed intelligence as a holistic quality that encompassed the ‘capacity to work out jobs or to manner merchandises that are valued in one or more cultural settings’ ( see Gardner and Hatch, 1989 ) and used the undermentioned standards to place marks of intelligence: isolation through encephalon harm, the being of initiates and prodigies, the designation of a nucleus set of operations, a distinguishable developmental history in worlds, evolutionary history and plausibleness, support from experimental psychological science in footings of psychometric findings and the determination of susceptibleness to encoding in a symbol system ( see Gardner, 1993a ) . Harmonizing to Gardner, a construct that cou ld be labelled ‘intelligence’ has to conform to these standards, although Gardner himself ( Gardner, 1993a ) notes that doing appraisals sing the conformation of the construct to these standards is â€Å"more an artistic opinion than a scientific assessment† . Gardner ( 1993a ) identifies several distinguishable types of intelligence, including lingual, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, spacial, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal ( see Gardner, 1993a ) , and argues that each of these intelligences manifests itself in different measures in different persons, with some persons being more linguistically intelligent than others, for illustration, or certain persons holding greater personal intelligences than other persons. It is clear from the Hagiographas of Gardner, nevertheless, that Gardner is of the sentiment that all seven signifiers of his ‘multiple intelligences’ are necessary in order for an person to work optimally ; persons, for illustration, need some capacity for, and basic apprehension of, each of the different intelligences in order for them to be able to move intelligently, towards life, towards state of affairss that present themselves and towards other persons ( see, for illustration, Gardner, 1999 ) . In add-on to the intelligences already suggested by Gardner in his 1993 workFrames of Mind: the theory of multiple intelligences,Gardner ( 1999 ) suggested three other types of intelligence that should be added to his original list of multiple intelligences, viz. naturalist intelligence, experiential intelligence and moral intelligence ; merely one of these, realistic intelligence was, nevertheless, added to his original list of multiple intelligences, and describes the capacity of worlds to â€Å"recognise, categorise and pull upon characteristics of their environment† ( see Gardner, 1999 ) . In add-on to Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences, Daniel Goleman ( 1995 ) has put frontward his theory of emotional intelligence, as an emotional competence theoretical account, which basically describes the capacity of persons to understand their ain emotions and the emotions of the people around them, in footings of developing self consciousness, self direction, and sympathizing with other people’s state of affairss to be able to pull off one’s ain interactions, in footings of developing a sense of societal consciousness and an ability to pull off inter-personal relationships. Salovey and Mayer ( 1990 ) have expanded upon Goleman’s thoughts sing emotional intelligence and understand emotional intelligence as the â€Å"ability to perceive emotion, integrate emotion to ease idea, understand emotions and to modulate emotions to advance personal growth† . Bar-On ( 2006 ) has besides expanded upon Goleman’s thought of emotional intelligence, to include the term ‘emotion quotient’ which posits that emotional intelligence can be learned over clip and, as such, that it is a accomplishment that can be developed and improved through preparation, pattern and therapy ( see Bar-On, 2006 ) . Petrides and Furnham ( 2000 ; 2001 ; 2003 ) , spread outing upon the work of Goleman ( 1995 ) postulate that there are two assortments of emotional intelligence: trait-based and ability-based, with their research suggesting that, so, some signifiers of emotional intelligence should be learnable. There are, nevertheless, many critics of Goleman’s work, with many research workers proposing that Goleman implicitly assumes emotional intelligence is a signifier of intelligence, without holding any empirical cogent evidence of this, nor supplying any suggestions as to how cogent evidence of his theory can be sought ( see, for illustration, Eysenck, 2000 ) . Locke ( 2005 ) suggests that emotional intelligence is non a whole separate signifier of intelligence but that it is, instead, the construct of intelligence applied to emotions and the control/development of one’s emotions, and that, as such, the construct identified by Goleman ( 1995 ) should be referred to as a accomplishment, and non as a peculiar signifier of intelligence. This is, of class, supported by the thoughts of Salovey and Mayer ( 1990 ) , Bar-On ( 2006 ) and Petrides and Furnham ( 2000 ; 2001 ; 2003 ) who suggest that emotional intelligence can be learnt, much like any other accomplishment one might larn through preparation. It is clear, hence, that there are many signifiers of ‘intelligence’ that can be identified and argued to be. Evidence for and against the existent being of these different types of intelligence is non-existent or contrary, nevertheless, and so the issue of the heritability of ‘intelligence’ continues to be controversial. This will be discussed in more item in the following subdivision. Mentions Bar-On, R. , 2006. The Bar-On theoretical account of emotional-social intelligence.Psicothema18, pp.13-25. Eysenck, 2000.Intelligence: a new expression.Transaction Publishers. Gardner, H. , A ; Hatch, T. , 1989. Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational deductions of the theory of multiple intelligences.Educational Research worker,18( 8 ) , 4-9. Gardner, H. , 1993a.Frames of head: the theory of multiple intelligences.Basic Books. Gardner, H. , 1993b.Multiple intelligences: the theory in pattern, a reader.Basic Books. Gardner, H. , Kornhaber, M. and Wake, W.K. , 1995.Intelligence: multiple positions.Wadsworth Publishing. Gardner, H. , 1999.Intelligence Reframed. Multiple intelligences for the twenty-first century, New York: Basic Books. 292 + ten pages. Goleman, D. , 1995.Emotional intelligence.New York: Bantam Books. Locke, E.A. , 2005. Why emotional intelligence is an invalid construct.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, pp. 425-431. Petrides, K.V. and Furnham, A. , 2000. On the dimensional construction of emotional intelligence.Personality and Individual Differences29, pp.313-320. Petrides, K.V. and Furnham, A. , 2001. Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric probe with mention to established trait taxonomies.European Journal of Personality15, pp. 425-448. Petrides, K.V. and Furnham, A. , 2003. Trait emotional intelligence: behavioural proof in two surveies of emotion acknowledgment and responsiveness to mood initiation.European Journal of Personality17, pp. 39–75. Salovey, P. and Mayer, J.D. , 1990. Emotional intelligence.Imagination, knowledge and personality9, pp.185-211. Theories sing the heritage and/or societal development of emotional intelligence This essay will concentrate on Daniel Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence and the theories that have been posited sing its possible societal development. Bar-On ( 2006 ) developed a step of emotional intelligence, utilizing the construct of emotion quotient ( see Bar-On, 2007 ) , demoing that this measure can be learnt, and that it is of import that the measure is improved in persons who have a low quotient, because persons who possess higher quotients are by and large more successful in their chosen Fieldss, and in their lives in general, than persons who have lower quotients ( see Bar-On, 2006 ) . Indeed, Bar-On ( 2006 ) suggests that an individual’s emotional quotient contributes to their overall intelligence, and that this so offers a good index of how successful an person is likely to be throughout their life, with a positive relationship between an individual’s emotional quotient and their quality of life, for illustration ( see bar-On, 2006 ) . In this mode, the work of Bar-On ( 2006 ) suggests non merely that emotional intelligence is a really existent quality, which can be developed, through preparation and societal development, but that one’s emotional quotient has a major impact on the ways in which one will populate, in footings of the conditions one finds oneself in, as a consequence of one’s emotional intelligence and the successes/failures this has determined as a consequence of voyaging inter-personal relationships, for illustration. This suggests that the reverberations of a low emotional quotient are far-reaching, and, possibly, inter-generational, in footings of the effects of holding a low emotional quotient and where this places an person within society as a whole. Many research workers have suggested, for illustration, that societal position is related to low emotional quotient ( see Bar-On, 2006 ) . This suggested societal nexus to emotional intelligence is extremely evocative of the statements used by eugenicists when reasoning for a familial footing for intelligence ( see, for illustration, Fancher, 1985 ; Grace, 2006 ; see besides Detterman, 1997 ) . Surveies are on a regular basis published proposing some signifier of familial footing for ‘intelligence’ ( see, for illustration, Thompsonet al. ,2001 ) , but these surveies do non lend to any apprehension of how emotional intelligence should best be defined, nor, on this footing, how emotional intelligence could be inherited. The suggestions from the work of Bar-On ( 2006 ) are, nevertheless, that a ) emotional intelligence can be learnt, and B ) that a low emotional intelligence has a important negative impact on the quality of life of an person. This suggests, hence, that the effects of low emotional intelligence are grave, for that person but besides for their progeny, taking to a suggestion that there is some familial facet to emotional intelligence, in that one’s environment could be responsible for one’s degree of emotional intelligence and that this, in bend, is responsible, in big portion, for the accomplishments of persons, through the cross-gene rational reverberations of low emotional intelligence. The fact, nevertheless, that many research workers label ‘emotional intelligence’ as a accomplishment that can be learned ( see, for illustration, Locke, 2005 ) gives cause for hope that these environmental effects on the heritage of hapless emotional intelligence can be reversed. The causes of an familial deficiency of emotional intelligence, through the deficiency of proviso of an environment that nurtures the societal development of emotional intelligence, for illustration, can be addressed in many ways. Appropriate educational programmes, that respond to lacks in emotional intelligence, can be built in to school systems, giving kids the chance to develop their emotional intelligence, giving them the chance to win in life, in the same manner as any other extremely emotionally intelligent person. In this manner, so, emotional intelligence can be seen as one other facet of intelligence that needs to be nurtured, through instruction, with the cross-generational negative effects of low emotional intelligence being overcome through preparation. As Sternberg and Grigorenko ( 1998 ) remark, cultural and societal facets of intelligence, such as those described by Goleman ( 1995 ) and furthered by Bar-On ( 2006 ) are, nevertheless, missing in preciseness, such that it is hard to see how – or what – is being described, and, as such, it can be hard to see how a construct such as emotional intelligence could be inherited, or at least developed. Social theory has yet, on the whole, to accept Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences ( see Gardner, 1993 ) and there are many critics of Goleman’s ( 1995 ) theory of emotional intelligence and, as such, possible mechanisms for its heritage are, at best, tacit. This essay has introduced some of the possible theories sing the heritage and/or societal development of emotional intelligence, demoing how one facet of intelligence ( emotional intelligence ) seems to be a learnable trait. The essay has shown that there are clear cross-generational ( i.e. , heritable ) effects of low emotional intelligence that can be addressed through appropriate preparation programmes. Mentions Bar-On, R. , 2006. The Bar-On theoretical account of emotional-social intelligence.Psicothema18, pp.13-25. Bar-On, R. ( 1997 ) .Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory: User s manual. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems. Detterman, D. ( 1997 ) . ‘Intelligence and societal policy: a particular issue of the multidisciplinary diaryIntelligence’ . Intelligence24 ( 1 ) . Fancher, R.E. ( 1985 ) .The intelligence work forces: shapers of the IQ contention.WW. Norton A ; Co. Gardner, H. , 1993.Frames of head: the theory of multiple intelligences.Basic Books. Grace, G. ( 2006 ) . ‘Review ofIntelligence, fate and instruction: the ideological roots of intelligence testing’ . British Journal of Educational Surveies54 ( 4 ) , pp.483-505. Locke, E.A. , 2005. Why emotional intelligence is an invalid construct.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, pp. 425-431. Sternberg, R.J. , 1985.Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press. Sternberg, R.J. , 1996.Successful intelligence. New York: Simon A ; Schuster. Sternberg, R.J. and Grigorenko, E. , 1998.Intelligence, heredity and environment.Cambridge University Press. Thompson, P.M.et Al.( 2001 ) . ‘Genetic influences on encephalon structure’ .Nature Neuroscience4 ( 12 ) . Available from www.loni.ucla.edu/~thompson/MEDIA/NN/Nature_Neuro2001_genetics.pdf [ Accessed 29th May 2008 ] .

RAL's Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

RAL's - Research Paper Example In spite of the high fees associated with RAL’s, most of those coming from the poor families are the ones who usually apply for it. There is an on-going battle between the government, the consumer advocates and tax preparation companies on the continued offering of Refund Anticipation Loans. Part I Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL’s) Defined A refund anticipation loan is a type of short term loan that is applied by a taxpayer, who wants an early claim on his tax refund. The amount that is acquired through the loan will be repaid by the taxpayer’s anticipated tax refund. It may also be called as â€Å"Rapid Refund† or â€Å"Instant Money.† A contract is provided by the financial institution to be signed by the taxpayer that serves as an assurance that the loan will be paid back through the taxpayer’s tax refund (â€Å"Refund Anticipation Loan Fraud†). Common interest rates for RAL’s start from 50% up to over 500%, the basis of whic h is the length of the time that is needed to process tax forms at the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), that is According to the Center for Responsible Lending. Although this type of loan has been claimed as a way for taxpayers to have their tax refunds earlier in their pockets, more often than not it is advanced only for just a few days or less as compared to the actual date that the IRS releases the tax refund (â€Å"Tax Refund Resources for Consumers†). RAL’s give taxpayers the opportunity to get their tax refund at a sooner date and be able to use the money earlier rather than wait for a couple more days. Even so, problems occur when someone opts to use a refund anticipation loan. Basically the lender knows that the money borrowed will be paid no matter what since the guarantee is the taxpayer’s tax refund; therefore, it is considered as a safer type of loan compared to the other types, but then risking everything just to get the money sooner seems to not so und good at all (Pritchard). Refund Anticipation Loans reflect the taxpayer’s income tax return. Those who would want to avail of this can apply in banks or lenders if they can’t wait till the IRS distributes the tax refunds (â€Å"Advantages of Refund Anticipation Loan†). Some Advantages of Refund Anticipation Loan Speed It will take just a couple of days for the borrowed money to reach the borrowers’ hands. So for those who will encounter any emergencies and are desperately in need, a refund anticipation loan is an instant solution to their problems, instead of waiting for weeks or months from the government (â€Å"Advantages of a Refund Anticipation Loan†). Ease While some people struggle to find companies that will allow them to borrow money due to a bad credit history or the incapacity to pay, with RAL’ s it may not be that difficult. Simply because there is security on the lenders’ part that the borrowed money is repaid through the tax refund, so getting the loan application approved is not at all hard (â€Å"Advantages of a Refund Anticipation Loan†). Fees Fees for services rendered are instantly deducted by the tax preparer from the refund. This could be advantageous to those who cannot even afford the fees that professional tax preparation companies charge (Deutch). Disadvantages of Refund Anticipation Loans It may be the solution to some people’s financial problem, but still there are things that have to be considered

Review the literature and evidence for or against the effectiveness of Essay

Review the literature and evidence for or against the effectiveness of packaging as an important part of tobacco promotion. With special reference to Australia - Essay Example igarettes or other tobacco products should carry no advertising or promotion, including design features that make products attractive† (Voon, Mitchell, and Liberman, 2012, p. 38). White, Webster, and Wakefield (2008) investigated the impact of introducing the graphic warning labels of health on the adolescents and found that the established and experimental adolescent smokers were more likely to consider quitting smoking. The researchers also found lower intentions of smoking among students that discussed the new labels of warning with one another. The use of stronger warning labels on the packaging of cigarettes in Australia led to an increase in the population of people that reported that the warning had always caught their attention by 29 per cent (Borland, 1997). The packaging of cigarettes has a significant impact on the tendency of people to smoke. According to the results of a survey that was carried out to investigate the transaction times of tobacco in 100 different suburban retail outlets in Perth before and after plain packaging of cigarettes found that the transaction times of most retailers were reduced because of plain packaging, that suggests increased sales of cigarettes (BMJ, 2013). This is why â€Å"[p]ackaging has been used for many years to generate evocative images such as luxury, freedom, glamour, status and masculinity and femininity† (World Heart Federation, n.d., p. 5). Graphic warnings on the packaging of cigarettes in Australia include information on the potential ways of quitting smoking like website addresses and quitline numbers. Use of this strategy has been found to be effective in encouraging the smokers to quit smoking (tobaccofreekids.org, n.d., p. 4). This can be estimated from the fact that after the pictorial labels were introduced with the quitline information on the packaging of cigarettes in Australia in the year 2006, a two-fold increase in the rate of callers of quitline was noticed in comparison to the two preceding