Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Internation Recruitment and Selection Essay

The world has been rapidly transforming due to the changes in technology, innovations, and the reduction of trade barriers into and out of countries which have permitted globalization. Due to globalization human resource management has been forced to take a more international approach, and has demonstrated that a more effective management of human resources internationally is imperative for the success of companies in international business (Shen). Therefore international organizations need to understand the roll that plays the international human resource management (IHRM) department, and the importance of adopting an effective recruiting, selecting, and training strategies that will enable the company to select the right talent for the right places. IHRM plays a very important and challenging roll in the international setting of organizations because â€Å"they must develop practices which will maintain congruence with the overall strategic plan of their respective multinational c orporations, while balancing the economic, social, political, and legal constraints of the host countries† (Caligiuri). Companies understand that the only way to develop strong and successful global leaders, which are keys to competitive advantage, is through an IHRM department that has a well develop competitive strategy in place. Multinational Corporations (MNCs) like Unilever and Huawei Technologies Co., a Chinese networking and telecommunications supplier, have understood the importance of a well develop IHRM department and have implemented strategies that are aligned with a global approach that support the business operation worldwide (Gartsdie). Based on Heenan and Perlmutter model there are four competitive strategies as well as different training alternatives for global assignees that MNCs can use to develop a successful IHRM approach. The recruitment and selection (staffing) policies which MNCs implement for their foreign subsidiaries will vary greatly for every company, and should be determine accordingly with the IHRM approach the organization is pursuing (Ball). MNCs can be divided in four types based on their management approach and corporate philosophy. The first approach a MNC may consider is the ethnocentric approach which is â€Å"characterized by low pressures for cost reduction and low pressures for local responsiveness† (Ball). Ethnocentric MNCs are not willing to give up the control over foreign subsidiaries, and prefer to place expatriates employees belonging to the home country of the firm, in all key management positions abroad. IHRMs departments that adopt this approach believe that expatriates are more capable than employees of the host country, and they expect that their expatriate managers transfer headquarters’ culture and philosophy to the host nationals (Caligiuri). This approach is normally used by MNCs with primarily international strategic orientations in the early stages of globalization. The advantage of an ethnocentric approach is that it expands the experience of expatriates and prepares them for high level management positions who execute strategic decisions from headquarters. Many expatriates adapt, learn the language, and perform effectively within the host country (Ball). However data suggest that there is a high turnover rate among expatriates because many of them do not have the special set of skills, characteristics, and abilities (e.g. tolerance of ambiguity, adjust quickly, empathy, actively manage social contacts) that are required to be successful in such position (Caligiuri). Because of the previous statement it is imperative that MNCs understand that facilitating proper training and development to the expatriate is a very important part of the IHRM department because it has a major impact on the effectiveness of the expatriate manager and â€Å"research has shown that cross-cultural training is an effective intervention to prevent expatriate failures† (Deller). However MNCs today face a big problem because studies show that only fifty percent of all expatriates receive adequate training (Deller). Another very important aspect to the IHRM department needs to consider when selecting the right candidate under this approach is to keep in mind the impact in the family of the expatriate. The family’s willingness and ability to adjust is of crucial importance for the assignee’s employer and it needs to be address during the staffing process as well. Another disadvantage for this approach is that is more costly for the corporation because it has to offer more incentives to the expatriate (Deller). In the selection process it is the responsibility of the IHRM department to evaluate the efficiency and cross-cultural proficiency of the candidates to ensure the success of this approach. The polycentric staffing policy is a second approach that can be implemented by IHRM departments of MNCs. Under this approach the human resource department will look for host country nationals (HNC) to manage subsidiaries in their own country with some coordination form headquarters (Ball). With this approach IHRM departments do not need to worry about looking for certain skills or characteristics for an international setting because the candidates are employed at the subsidiary level and they do not have language and culture barriers, labor turnover reduces, productivity increase, there are ideal information of industry, legal and political configuration, and the first cost of employing them is less expensive. Also using this approach makes the subsidiary looks less foreign (Caligiuri). However the problem with hiring HCNs is that they are not familiar with the home country of the international company and with its corporate culture, policies, and practices (Ball). The underlying crisis in communication and control between the headquarters and the subsidiary due to language barriers, conflicting national loyalties and differences in personal values may create an inconsistency in the strategic management process that will result in the subsidiary operating as a separate unit. Home country national’s lack of exposure to international assignments and lack of career mobility among HCNs are also some disadvantages of this approach and ultimately will affect the competitive advantage of the MNC (Padala). According to the article of Jie Shein, â€Å"HCNs are included in management development schemes only at the subsidiary level and HCN managers are rarely promoted to senior management positions† (663). When staffing under this approach IHRM departments can choose from hiring HCNs in the home country or HCNs in the host country. Many MNCs have experienced difficulties in hiring high caliber of HCNs managers because of the lack of long-term IHRM planning and training and ineffective international management development (Shen). When the polycentric staffing approach is not adequate the regiocentric staffing approach might be a better option. The regiocentric staffing approach can be used for companies with a regional strategic approach. In this approach employees are selected for key positions within the region the subsidiary is operating, employing a variety of HCNs and third country nationals, TCNs (Ball). From this perspective the communication and integration systems must be highly sophisticated for headquarters to maintain control over the regions however the host national are given the opportunity to manage their own subsidiaries. The likelihood of HNCs career advancement is greater within the region, but still limited in headquarters (Caligiuri). The training and development for this approach are the same as with the polycentric staffing approach. One of the biggest advantages of this approach is that it serves as a bridge for MNCs to gradually move to a geocentric staffing approach. The geocentric staffing approach is used in companies with a transnational strategic orientation. This staffing approach seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of nationality, selecting the best person for the job, irrespective of nationality is most consistent with the underlying philosophy of a global corporation (Padala). This approach is ideal because the human resource strategy will be the same across all subsidiaries, using the best practices from wherever they might be found across the MNC worldwide networking of operations (Ball). However one of the drawbacks of this approach is that it can be expensive to implement because of increased training, compensations packages, and relocations costs, and it could require longer lead time (Padala). IHRM staffing approaches are very important but training and development also play a very important role in the international setting. International training and development is one of IHRM’s most crucial activities. While it is true that MNCs recognize the significance of international training and development for their employees there is knowledge that this corporation’s training strategies are weak and not effective. Current researches show that today the majority of companies have ineffective training and management policies that have resulted in frequently employee failure (Shen). In order to succeed in the global arena MNCs need to implement an effective international training and development program for expatriates, HCNs, and TCNs. Globalization has definitely created a very competitive business market in which international human resource management plays a crucial role for the success on multinational corporations. It is imperative that corporation carefully analyze every staffing approach available and implement the one that will help them select the right candidates for the right position, and provide the candidates with the appropriate training and development in order to create a competitive advantage. Works Cited Ball, A. Don, et al. International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition. 13th. New York: McGraw-Hill. Print. Caligiuri, Paula M., Linda K. Stroh. Multinational corporation strategies and international human resources practices: bringing IHRM to the bottom line. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 6:3 September 1995. P.494-498. Deller, Juergen. International Human Resource Management And the Formation of Cross-Cultural Competence. Institute of Business Psychology, University of Lueneburg, Germany. International Management Review. Vol.2 No. 3. 2006. Gartside, David, Griccioli, Stefano, and Rustin Richburg. Different stokes: How to manage a global workforce. Issue No.2. 2011. Outlook. Accenture. . Padala, Shanmukha Rao Dr.; Dr. N.V.S. Suryanarayana. Approaches to International Human Resource Management. September 11, 2012. Articlebase.com. . Shen, Jie. International training and management development: theory and reality. Journal of Management Development. Vol 24 No. 7, 2005. November 2, 2012.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Small-Scale Fish Farming in Bangladesh

Small-scale fish farming in Bangladesh Introduction For many people in Bangladesh small-scale fish farming is an important opportunity to generate income and is a significant nutritional source providing protein-rich food all year round. It comprises of a range of options that can be adapted to suit the needs and capacity of people living in rural Bangladesh. The two approaches commonly implemented on a small scale are: †¢ Local pond fish farming Open water fish farming in lakes, rivers, dams and reservoirs The benefit to low-income farmers is that they are able to invest in fish cultivation when there is sufficient income, which will then be able to generate additional income and food when other sources of income are limited. Much of Bangladesh is flooded annually during the monsoon season as water flows into the country through the Ganga (Ganges), Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. This provides an extensive range of habitats for wild and cultivated fish species.Fish catches are h ighest after the monsoon rains when supplies of other foods, such as rice, are low. With so much water, fishing plays a vital role in the economy of rural villages. Fish farming options Capital intensive One of the main trends in fish culture over recent years has been towards capital-intensive, high-input high-yield systems, which can dramatically improve the rate of production if operated in ideal conditions. The development of practical hatching techniques has vastly improved fish cultivation and allowed careful breeding and selection of desired species to take place.Although these techniques were introduced to Bangladesh some years ago, it has taken time for them to become established. Commercially produced fish have become a significant proportion of the total fish supply. But intensive cultivation methods increase the cost of fish production beyond the reach of poorer farmers. Consequently, alternative low-cost approaches have been promoted by NGOs working in the country. Fish farming for the poorAn enormous variety of water bodies, including rivers, irrigation canals, flood plains, beels (large depressions), ox bow lakes and ponds are dispersed throughout Bangladesh offering considerable potential for fish cultivation, but a general lack of capital, access to resources and knowledge means that many farmers are unable to provide all the commercial inputs required for intensive production methods. An alternative low-cost approach is more appropriate for many people, relying on existing water bodies and natural vegetation and household waste, supplemented with animal protein in the form of snails and homemade supplements for fish feed.Many NGOs are adopting strategies to minimise the inherent riskiness of fish culture by undertaking research into low-input systems, low-cost technology, fast growing species and alternative management practices. Pond culture Site selection is an important factor in the success of a fish farm but the ideal site is usually not available to poorer families. Site location will be dependent on a number of factors: †¢ The fish species being raised. †¢ Soil quality, which affects water quality and productivity. †¢ An adequate supply of water. †¢ Land ownership. Marketplace and market conditions. †¢ Fish food and other inputs available to the farmer. †¢ Groups adjacent to water. †¢ More than 1 metre water retention capacity for at least 6 months of the year. †¢ Pollution free. Ideally, the fishpond should be 0. 5 to 1. 0 metres at the shallow end and sloping to 1. 5 to 2 . 0 metres at the drain end. Drain vales, baffle boards or tilt-over standpipes should be incorporated into the design. It should be possible to drain the pond within three days. The edges of the pond should have a slope of 2:1 or 3:1 on all sides.If possible the pond should be located to take advantage of the effect of the wind on the surface of the pond to mix the water; although locations that are too windy can cause erosion of dykes. If the site is very windy the long side of the pond should be at right angles to the prevailing wind. Hedges and trees can be used to protect the pond. In practice, existing ponds and pools are abundant in Bangladesh, often located near to farmers’ homes. Small-scale fish cultivation is mainly a secondary occupation for farmers. These ponds tend to be small (less than 0. 5 acres) and do not have any water drain facility. They are commonly referred to as fishponds but are in fact â€Å"borrow pits†, where earth has been removed for building. Fish breading is just one of the activities that the ponds are used for. Other uses may include domestic water use, washing, irrigation or duck keeping. Ponds are occasionally integrated into paddy fields as additional ditches. Consequently, the ponds have many limitations for producing fish. In managing the ponds there are many potential problems to be considered, including: †¢ Broken pond ba nks; check the pond walls on a regular basis. An irregular water supply, too much water in the monsoon season and too little in the summer. †¢ Predators; check the pond for signs of snake and rat holes. The Boal fish is a particular menace that eats smaller fish. †¢ Grazing animals can damage the pond banks and should be kept out of the way. †¢ Silting or a build up of organic matter; check the bottom of the pond and scoop silt out when required. Mud on the bottom of the ponds can be agitated with a rope to release harmful gasses. †¢ Leakage; check the inlet and outlet on a regular basis. Fish diseases; check the fish on a regular basis. †¢ Poor water quality; lime can be added to improve the water quality. Open water fish farming Open water fish farming is particularly suited to Bangladesh with its many water sources. Cages or pens are used to separate an area of larger water bodies for fish cultivation. The selected water source should be of good quality w ith low turbidity. Dams and reservoirs primarily exist to store water but as a secondary function these bodies of water can be stocked with fingerlings or fry and the fish can be harvested later on using nets.In river locations a slow current is necessary and there should be little disturbance from water traffic. The disadvantages are: †¢ Fish farmers have little control of the water, as they do not own the dam or reservoir. †¢ Water cannot be drained, as the main function of the resource is to provide water. †¢ There are likely to be more predators of the fish in the water. †¢ It is not possible to feed or fertilize the water, as occurs in more intensive fish farming, so there is a reliance on naturally occurring fish food. There is a potential risk from disease but stock held in small-scale cages scattered around villages will probably be less vulnerable than stock held in more concentrated and centralized commercial systems. †¢ The risk from theft and van dalism is a serious problem in some places. This is especially real for the poorest people who are perceived as easy victims. †¢ A significant expansion of cage culture activities in some villages could lead to local depletion of snail or other foods, to the detriment of ducks and other domestic and wild animals. †¢ Multiple ownership of ponds can be a major drawback to the effective use of such resources.Consensus over access to the water for the poor has to be developed. Figure 2: Bilkish Begum and Hamida Begum working with fish cages (Photo credit: Practical Action / Zul) Fish cages Cages are used as a form of farming in their own right within flowing or large bodies of water and can also be used in small pond fish culture to protect fingerlings in the initial stages of development. Small cages with a capacity of one cubic metre are suitable for fingerling protection. The cage can hold up to 300 fish at a time. People grow fish in their local ponds using a simple fish c age known locally as a â€Å"hapa†.A few young fish are put into each â€Å"hapa†, which acts as their home, floating just below the surface of the pond. Cage construction Cages can be made using a few cheap materials. Bamboo poles form an outer frame that is covered in netting; inside is a â€Å"nursery† section for the younger, more delicate fish; and floats are added at the corners. A cage is a very simple means of restraining fish in one place and it can be easily made using local materials. Cage design must incorporate certain physical properties, including the ability to hold fish securely but also to be within the financial means of the cage operators.The cages presently used are small in size, measuring between 1 and 2m3, inexpensive and simple to construct. Farmers use both fixed and floating cages. In general, fixed cages are installed in water where the depth is relatively low and bamboo poles can be fixed into the riverbed or substrate. Floating cage s do not have this limitation and can be used in deep water. Floating cages tend to be easier to manage but when selecting the type and design the following points should be considered: †¢ Ability †¢ Input availability †¢ Natural disaster †¢ Type of water body Water depth †¢ Water current †¢ Water retention period over one year †¢ Social problem †¢ Cage management Fixed cages Fixed cages are very easy to construct and only require a small amount of capital investment. The materials needed to make fixed cages are netting with an 8mm mesh size, bamboo, rope, twine and sinker. Routine management is difficult for these cages and storms, strong currents, tidal surges and flooding may cause damage if precautionary measures are not taken. Fixed cages are difficult to move from one place to another during water fluctuation.A top cover is usually provided on cages to reduce the risk of fish escaping, especially in areas prone to flash floods where wate r levels rise very quickly. A small opening is kept at one edge or in the middle of the top covering for feeding purposes. A feeding platform made of fine mesh is placed on the bottom of each cage to minimise food loss. To fix the cage, four bamboo poles are fixed in the substrate and the four top and bottom corners of the cage are tied to the bamboo poles with nylon rope, allowing the cage netting to stretch.To minimise installation cost and to reduce daily management labour, cages are sometimes fixed in rows with a narrow space between the adjacent cages. Floating cages The size of the cage is usually 1m3. A top net is always used to minimise escapees because the cage is only a few centimetres above the water surface. The top of the cage is on hinges that can be opened to allow feeding, the checking of fish, the removal of waste and harvesting. A layer of fine mesh net is placed along the bottom of the cage and 10 centimetres up each side which reduces food loss.However, where wat er has a high turbidity, the use of fine mesh is not recommended as it clogs up the mesh and causes structural stress on the cage frame. In these areas, feeding trays should be used instead of fine mesh. Buoyancy is achieved by using four plastic floats (buoys) which are tied to the four horizontal frames, approximately 10 centimetres from the top of the cage. Bamboo frame cage To make a 1m3 bamboo cage, twelve one metre long bamboo sticks (about 2cm in diameter) are required and fixed into the holes of the angles, one angle for each corner, giving a box shape. Advantages and disadvantages of fixed and floating cages | |Fixed cages |Floating cages | |Advantages | |Cost per unit is small |Water volume remains constant even with a fluctuation in the water | |Not damaged by storms |level | |Easy age management |Cage can be installed in deep water | |Cage bags spread properly in the water |Floating cage with box type frame gives adequate space inside | |Easy to construct | |In tidal water bodies the effective cage depth is greater | |Disadvantages | |Water depth inside cage varies with the fluctuation of the water |Cost per unit is higher than fixed cages | |level |Algae deposits on cage net affect the water exchange | |Vulnerable to tidal surge and storm |Cage management i. e. cleaning, moving and sampling are not easy | |Cage cannot be installed in all types of water bodies |Due to water flow sometimes the cage bag does not spread properly | |Prone to crab cutting |Easy to steal fish by lifting the cage | |Poorer fish growth and higher mortality rate |During flooding may wash away | Cage managementCare of cages – cleaning of aquatic weeds nearby, removal of water hyacinth, cleaning of waste feeds from cages, cleaning of deposited silts from cage, removal of dead fishes, checking cage frames, floats, ties, anchors, feeding trays etc. , cage shifting, considering the water level, checking water pollution and guarding. Care of net – Algae attachme nt should be cleaned at regular basis to ensure water exchange, net holes must be checked properly and need quick repairing when necessary. Care of fish – profitability depends on proper attention to the fish growth, regular, adequate and quality feeding is important. Fish health and disease should be monitored during feeding and sampling.The fish must be fed daily using aquatic weed or a mixture of rice bran, oil cakes, kitchen waste, chopped snails or cow dung. Minimising risk of cage culture †¢ Appropriate cage design can help minimise failure. †¢ The use of more than one cage per household greatly reduces the risk of an individual losing all fish. †¢ Placing many cages together in clusters also reduces the risk of poaching. †¢ Individual farmers can form groups that can guard the fish and therefore considerably reduce potential poaching threats. Fish types Fish is an important part of the diet for the people in Bangladesh providing protein calcium, fat ty acids and vitamins.Traditionally, a variety of local species were used in ponds, mainly carp, caught from the wild as spawn (fertilised eggs or small fish). One of the main drawbacks of this source of supply is that along with the desired fish species come many undesirable ones Most of the species currently used in the cages in Bangladesh are exotics. However, for decades these fish have bred naturally and distributed themselves throughout the flood plains and the delta. Common fish types The selection a suitable fish species will depend on various biological and economic factors, such as; †¢ Market price †¢ Growth rate †¢ Ability to reproduce simple culture of young fish Match of fish and available fish feed †¢ Water temperature is an important criteria in assessing which fish species is suitable. The main types of cultivated fish are Carp, Tilapia and Catfish. Other fish suitable to cultivation are eel, tawes, mullet, snakeskin, and rohu. Some fish are more suitable to pond conditions than others, some fish will not adapt the confined conditions while others such as the indigenous Koi (Anabas testidunous) have been found to thrive in cages. Small indigenous species In addition to the main cultivated species there are many indigenous breeds of fish that play an important role in the nutrition of the population.These fish are classed as small indigenous species although not all fish within this classification are particularly small. Of the 260 species of fresh water fish found locally, over 140 species are classified as Small Indigenous Species (SIS) and account for over 80% of the total catch, consumed by the poorer section, as preferred species. The term SIS would seem to be a recent re interpretation of the Bangla word chotmach (literally small fish) as opposed to Boromach (literally large fish). Common fish within the small indigenous species category include: Figure 3: Bilkish with prepared food for her fish (Photo credit: Practical Action / Zul) †¢ Small catfish †¢ Knifefishes Snakeheads †¢ Needlefishes †¢ Minnows, Rasboras, and bards †¢ Loaches †¢ Anchovies and sardines †¢ Spiny eels †¢ Climbing perch †¢ Gobies †¢ Mud Perches †¢ Glassfishes †¢ Fresh water prawns Small, low-value fish are particularly important for the extremely poor after the rice harvest when the demand for their labour declines. Feeding the fish With the non-intensive approach it is possible to feed fish on nothing more than scraps and waste, duck weed, oil cake, kitchen waste, rice bran and snails which will provide all the nutrition required. Some low-cost feeds are bought in by the households, typically rice bran and oilcake, but these costs are minimal.Occasionally, the diet may be supplemented with commercially available compound feeds. In most cases a mixture of diets is offered, according to their availability and needs of the fish. Fish harvesting and marketing Growth is r apid in the warm climate of Bangladesh and the fish attain marketable size within 3-9 months, providing farmers with a rapid return on their investment and labour. Fingerling production culture cycle is between 1 and 2 months. Cage nursery producers can sell fingerlings to the pond farmers and ox-bow lake operators. Fish for food culture cycle is between 4 and 6 months. Fish food producers consume the cage fish as well as selling them in the market.Figure 4: A group of landless women discussing finances in Madaripur (Photo credit: Practical Action / Neil Cooper) Profitability depends on many factors including the type of water body and culture, cage construction materials, the choice of fish species, fingerling size and price, stocking density, feed price, availability of protein rich feed, culture duration, cage management, harvesting and marketing. Another concern relates to economies of scale. Almost all enterprises are subject to economies of scale, and cage culture is no except ion. The labour of looking after one small cage is far greater per kilogram of product than that for looking after a large one.The cost of the cage per kilogram of production will also be higher for a small cage versus a large cage. However, co-operative use of labour can be used to realise economies of scale in relation to labour, and this is already done in many villages. The third concern, related to the second, is comparative advantage. A significant proportion of the fish is intended to be sold for cash rather than consumed by the farmer and his family. In the medium term, an important question is whether small-scale producers in villages are well placed to compete – either with larger commercial producers, or producers from elsewhere. If they are not, and if competition increases, then prices – and returns – will steadily decline.In practice there is strong local demand for fish throughout the country, and small-scale producers are well placed to serve wid ely-dispersed rural markets. Secondly, the use of surplus off-season and/or family labour is itself a comparative advantage. Thirdly, in those systems which use local food resources, such as natural foods and kitchen wastes, feed costs are relatively low compared with those for commercial producers. Small-scale fish producers should therefore be able to survive competition in much the same way as village-scale poultry producers have survived, and even to some extent benefit from the increasing number of intensive poultry operations. References and further reading †¢ Small-scale Freshwater Fish Farming by van Ear et al.Agromisa 1996 †¢ Cage and Pen Fish Farming: Carrying Capacity Models and Environmental Impact FAO Fisheries Technicla Paper 225, 1984 †¢ Food, Livelihoods and Freshwater Ecology: The Significance of Small Indigenous Fish Species, ITDG Bangladesh, 1999 For further information, please contact: Practical Action The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Devel opment Bourton-on-Dunsmore Warwickshire CV23 9QZ United Kingdom Tel: + 44 (0)1926 634400 Fax: + 44 (0)1926 634401 E-mail [email  protected] org. uk Website: www. practicalaction. org Practical Action Bangladesh G. P. O. Box 3881 Dhaka 1000 Bangladesh Tel: + 880 – (0)2 – 8111934, 9110060, 9123671 Fax: + 880 – (0)2 – 8113134 E-mail: [email  protected] org. bd

Monday, July 29, 2019

Reflection in Higher Education Learning Essay

Personal development planning (PDP) can involve different forms of reflection and reflective learning. Much has been written and said about reflection in recent times, but for many, it remains a somewhat mysterious activity – or is it a capacity? Whatever it is, if the titles of modules and courses, and references in QAA benchmark statements are anything to go by, we are using it extensively in a range of contexts in learning and professional development in higher education. This paper is intended to provide a background to reflection and reflective learning for the development of PDP within the higher education sector. It will provide a brief guide to current thinking about reflection, a discussion of its application in higher education learning and some practical support for the use of reflective activities. Developing a conception of reflection Like many topics in higher education, the notion of reflection has encouraged both a theoretical and a practical literature. The focus of this paper is primarily on the practical uses of reflection but a brief discussion of theoretical approaches will locate the thinking in an academic context and it will facilitate further study of the topic where this is required. The aim in this section is to produce a conception of reflection that takes account of the theory but that can be applied practically and usefully in formal and informal learning contexts. But we start from where we are†¦.. Starting from where we are†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦a common-sense view of reflection There is no point in defining reflection in a manner that does not relate to the everyday use of the word if further confusion is not to be created. ‘Reflection’ a word we use in everyday conversation. What might we mean by it? In common-sense terms, reflection lies somewhere around the notion of learning. We reflect on something in order to consider it in more detail (eg ‘Let me reflect on that for a moment’). Usually we reflect because we have a purpose for reflecting – a goal to reach. Sometimes we find ourselves ‘being reflective’ and out of that ‘being reflective’, something ‘pops up’. There has been no conscious purpose as such – but there is a useful outcome and there may have been a subconscious purpose. It is also apparent that we reflect on things that are relatively complicated. We do not reflect on a simple addition sum – or the route to the corner shop. We reflect on things for which there is not an obvious or immediate solution. Often the latter will be instigated by or associated with a range of feelings and the experience of such reflection may be emotional or spiritual. We return to issues concerning emotion and reflec tion later. It would seem that reflection is thus a means of working on what we know already. We put into the reflection process knowledge that we already have (thoughts, ideas, feelings etc), we may add new information and then we draw out of it something that accords with the purpose for which we reflected. A simple definition of reflection might be: Reflection is a form of mental processing – like a form of thinking – that we use to fulfil a purpose or to achieve some anticipated outcome. It is applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution and is largely based on the further processing of knowledge and understanding and possibly emotions that we already possess (based on Moon 1999): Some theoretical approaches to reflection Reflection is theorised in so many different ways that it might seem that we a looking at range of human capacities rather than apparently one. To start with, we review briefly several of what might be called the ‘classical’ approaches. John Dewey wrote on the educational implications of a range of human mental functions over the earlier years of the twenty first century. His work was based on keen observation of the functioning of others and reflection on his own processes. Dewey’s interest in his own processes makes his writing particularly interesting in the current context. It appears that somewhere in the middle part of this century education researchers forgot that they are people too with, between their finger-tips, an amazingly useful resource from which to learn about human functioning. The return to this understanding could be seen to be an important benefit of the interest in reflection. The legitimacy of ‘I’ and ‘my functioning’ is being re-established and the role of personal development planning will also carry this forward in the near future. Dewey saw reflection as a specialised form of thinking. He described it as: ‘a kind of thinking that consists in turning a subject over in the mind and giving it serious thought’. His definition of reflection is that it is: ‘Active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and further conclusions to which it leads†¦it includes a conscious and voluntary effort to establish belief upon a firm basis of evidence and rationality’ (Dewey, 1933). Jurgen Habermas (1971) focused on the way in which humans process ideas and construct them into knowledge. Reflection plays a role in this process. Habermas talked about three kinds of knowledge –  instrumental knowledge – where we know ‘how’ or ‘that’ and where the concern of the knowledge is to understand and thereby function within, and control our human environment. – knowledge that is concerned with the interpretation of human action and behaviour. We largely ‘interpret’ in the social sciences in order to better our understanding of society and human behaviour. – knowledge that is a way of working with knowledge, acting on the first two forms of knowledge. This form of knowledge is developed through critical or evaluative modes of thinking and leads towards the emancipation or transformation of personal, social or other situations. It concerns the quality of the bases on which we make judgements. There is some disagreement about the role of reflective processes in the development of instrumental knowledge – given that the development of sophisticated science can match this form of knowledge. However, it certainly has an important role in the interpretation and comparisons of understanding in the second level and in the critical and evaluative modes of the third. David Kolb (1984) is well known for his development of the Kolb cycle – or cycle of experiential learning. The cycle is drawn in many different ways using different words that sometimes seem to affect its meaning. It is depicted below in a simplified manner that it is not too far from Kolb’s words: Concrete experiencing (have an experience) Active experimentation Reflective observation (try out what you have learned)(reflect on the experience) Abstract conceptualising (learn from the experience) The cycle revolves with new learning undergoing active experimentation and ‘recycled’ through new experiencing. In this way what was a cycle becomes a spiral (Cowan 1998). Thus Kolb considered reflection as a mental activity that has a role in learning from experience. In the Kolb cycle, reflection features as a development of the process of observation – and apparently it occurs before a person has learnt. Others would see reflection as part of learning and part of the processing of material already learned, having a  kind of cognitive ‘housekeeping role’ as well as generating new learning (Moon, 1999a). The notion of reflection as part of the means of learning something new seems to conflict with the common-sense use of the term (above). There is a massive literature on experiential learning, much of which is based on the Kolb cycle, and much of which perhaps over simplifies what is an immensely complex activity. While the cycle does have has value, it may say more about how we manage the learning of others, than about the process of learning per se (ie. it is more about the teaching process). Donald Schon focused on reflection in professional knowledge and its development (1983, 1987). He suggested that there is a crisis in the professions related to a mis-understanding of the relationship of theory to practice and of the kind of theory that a professional uses to guide her practice. The espoused theory – as learnt in formal institutions and in professional training – is not the theory that proficient professionals eventually use to guide practice. They build up an expertise from their practice (theory-in-use) by being reflective. Schon noted that the theory in use tends to be tacit. Professionals are not necessarily able to describe the basis on which they act. A particular role of professional development is to make this ‘knowing-in-action’ explicit so that it can be the subject of further reflection and conscious development. Schon suggests that there are two types of relevant reflection. Reflection-on-action is the reviewing that occurs after an event while reflection-in-action is part of the processing of an effective practitioner while actually acting. There are doubts expressed about the existence of a form of reflection that occurs while an individual is acting (eg Eraut, 1994) and sometimes Schon has been inconsistent in his writing. However he has had great influence in stirring up debate on the nature of professional knowledge and the role of reflection in professional education. Many others have written about reflection, most developing ideas from those mentioned above. Examples are Boud, Keogh and Walker, 1985; Boud and  Walker, 1998; Cowan, 1998, and Brockbank and McGill, 1998. Much of the material in this paper is derived from Moon, 1999 which takes a broader and sometimes more critical view of reflection and focuses on its relationship to learning. We thus have described a common-sense view of reflection and those of four influential theorists but we could be reviewing four different human activities that happen to have the same name – reflection. Might there be a common idea lurking there, or an explanation as to how the ideas could fit together? Moon (1999) suggests that the differences in approach are accounted for largely by different focuses – either on the process of reflection, on the purpose for it or the outcomes of reflection – in effect, how it is used. Schon, for example, is concerned about reflection as a mechanism for professional and perhaps personal development while Habermas is concerned with its role in the building of theory. Kolb explores the role of reflection in learning – setting a context for it, but referring relatively little to reflection itself. Dewey is exceptional in taking a holistic view of reflection as a process – a view that accords with the common sense definition above. Before we pull these ideas into a summarising model there is one more stray factor that some, but not all of the approaches to reflection mention and that is the role of emotion in reflection. Some theorists see the role of emotion in reflection as very significant and frequently neglected (eg. Boud, Keogh and Walker, 1985). However, there are questions to be asked. Is the emotional content of reflection always present and influential? We would seem to be able to reflect on a number of ideas without emotional content to the reflection. Then – are emotional effects the subject matter of the input and output of reflection (like other ideas on which reflection occurs), or do they steer the process of reflection (acting as a kind of milieu in which reflection takes place). Could they be part of the process of reflection? If they are part of the input and / or outcome – is it ‘knowledge of how I feel’ or is it the actual feeling that is part of the  input and / or outcome? All of these seem to fit experiences of reflection and there is no clear answer in the literature. A relatively simple input – outcome model of reflection seems to summarise the variety of approaches to reflection in the literature. It locates the approach of Dewey and the common-sense definition as concerned with the input and the actual psychological event of reflecting with others largely concerned with the outcomes of reflection. In other words, it suggests that reflection is a simple process but with complex outcomes that relate to many different areas of human functioning. Fig 1 provides a summary of these ideas and a basis for the consideration of reflection in PDP. Broadly it adopts the definition for the process of reflection on page 2 but recognises that there are different contexts for reflection that often influence our understanding of its meaning.Fig 1 An input / outcome model of reflection The relationship between reflection and learning What is the relationship between reflection and learning? Much has been written about both reflection and learning and there seems to be an assumption that reflection is related to learning – but what is the relationship? We explore it in this section (there is more detail in Moon, 1999) Reflection and the learner’s approach to learning One set of ideas that seems to be significant to unravelling the relationship between learning and reflection within the process of learning seem to be the research on approaches to learning (Marton, Hounsell and Entwistle, 1997). This research suggests that there is a fundamental difference in success in learning between adopting a ‘deep’ approach and a ‘surface’ approach to a learning task. A deep approach is where the intention of the learner is to understand the meaning of the material. She is willing to integrate it into her existing body of previous ideas, and understandings, reconsidering and altering her understandings if necessary. The new ideas are ‘filed’ carefully and integrated. In contrast, a surface approach to  learning is where a learner is concerned to memorise the material for what it is, not trying to understand it in relation to previous ideas or other areas of understanding. It is as if the new ideas need to be retained f or the moment, but not ‘filed’ for any lasting purpose. These approaches to learning are not ‘either or’ situations, but at extremes of a continuum and the same learner may choose to learn differently according to the task at hand. The conception of a continuum of approaches to learning allows us to hypothesise a hierarchy of stages of learning along the continuum that characterise surface and then progressively deeper approaches to learning. This is a useful device when we attempt to locate reflection in the process. It is important to note that we cannot actually see that learning has occurred, we can see only the results of learning which can be termed the ‘representation of learning’. The same area of learning might be represented in different ways – writing, oral account, graphic display and so on and it is through the description of the representation of learning that we identify the stages of learning. The stages are as follows: Noticing, – the least detailed form of learning – you cannot learn something if you do not notice it at some level (which could be unconscious). Representation is of the material is as memorised, modified only by the degree to which it is forgotten. Making sense – getting to know the material as coherent – but only in relation to itself. Facts may be fitted together like a jigsaw but not related to previous understandings. Representation is coherent reproduction, but not related to other ideas and not processed. Making meaning – the beginnings of deep approach – there is a sense of meaningfulness but there is not much evidence of going beyond the given. Representation is of ideas that are integrated and well linked. There is the beginning of development of a holistic view. Working with meaning – a sense now of going beyond the given, linking into other ideas. There is the creation of relationships of new material with other ideas. Representation is reflective, well structured and demonstrates the linking of material with other ideas which may change as a result. Transformative learning – evidence that the new learning has transformed current understandings in reflective processes. Representation demonstrates strong restructuring of ideas and ability to evaluate the processes of reaching that learning. There are creative / idiosyncratic responses. On the basis of this model, There are at least three ways in which reflection might be seen as relating to learning. a) Reflection has a role in the deeper approaches to learning – the last three stages described above, but not in surface approaches to learning (the first two stages); b) We learn from representing learning – when we write an essay or explain something or draw a picture of it, we represent it to ourselves and learn from the re-processing (Eisner, 1991). This is a reflective process; c) We ‘upgrade’ learning. For example, we can go back to ideas learnt only to the stage of ‘making sense’ (eg in the form of facts – bits and pieces) and can reprocess those ideas through reflection, integrating them with current understandings (Vygotsky, 1978). This might be conceived as a kind of ‘chewing the cud’ exercise – or cognitive housekeeping (see earlier). These forms of learning from reflection are commonly exploited in the patterns of higher education pedagogy. In the case of the first (a), there is much literature on the encouragement of students to take a deep approach to learning (Marton et al, (1997). At the same time, there is acknowledgement that nature of current higher education may inhibit these attempts (lack of contact with students, the ‘boxed’ nature of learning in a modular system etc). In particular it is worth remembering that assessment tends to drive student learning and if students (can) perceive that a deep  approach is the manner in which to succeed in a learning task, they are more likely to adopt such an approach. In terms of learning from the representation of learning (b), we ask students to reprocess their learning into essays, examinations, reports and explanations in tutorials. It is interesting to consider the implications of Eisner’s suggestion that we learn differently from different forms of representation. In different forms of representation we exploit reflection differently. We probably do not fully enough exploit the representation of learning as a means of enhancing learning in current higher education. A well functioning tutorial system is an example of a means by which we encourage students to upgrade their learning (c). A student lecture is not ideal ground for taking a deep approach to learning. It seems likely that the attempt to get notes down on paper would interfere with the processing involved in taking a deep approach to learning. Preparation for and involvement in a tutorial is the opportunity for many students to reflect on and process their learning into a more meaningful state – in other words, to ‘re-file’ it. Revision for examinations is another opportunity for review of previous learning such that understanding is deepened (Entwistle and Entwistle, 1992). It is interesting to note that the value of the Kolb cycle (see above), and the whole notion that learning is enhanced through experimentation or ‘doing’ is explained by a) and b). If learners are required to represent their learning in some meaningful activity, they will have have been forced to adopt a deep approach to the learning in the first place – or to upgrade their surface quality learning (c ) into more meaningful material. Reflection provides the right conditions for learning We have suggested above some ways in which reflection is immediately related to the learning process, but there also seem to be other forms of this relationship that are usefully described in the notion that the activity of reflection provides the right conditions for good learning (Moon, 1999a).  We summarise these ideas below, continuing the lettering system from above since these are more ways in which learning and reflection are interrelated. d) Reflection slows down activity, giving the time for the learner to process material of learning and link it with previous ideas. There is evidence that when a lecturer pauses in a lecture, the ‘wait time’ enables students to learn better (Tobin, 1987). We could more often stop and ask students to think about an issue that has arisen in a lecture (etc). e) Reflection enables learners to develop greater ‘ownership’ of the material of learning, making it more personally meaningful to themselves and improving their grasp of it (Rogers, 1969). It will also enhance the student’s ‘voice’ in her learning (Elbow, 1981). f) A particularly important means by which reflective activity generally supports learning is through the encouragement of metacognition. Metacognition is the awareness of one’s own cognitive functioning – in this case, learning. There is evidence that good learners have better metacognitive processes than poor learners (Ertmer and Newby, 1996). Study skills programmes that support learner’s awareness of their learning processes seem to be more successful than those that focus on techniques (Main, 1985). g) We suggested above that reflection occurs when we are dealing with material that is relatively complicated – or ill-structured. If we are encouraging students to reflect, we are, in a sense, challenging their learning. There is evidence that it is by challenging learners with ill-structured material of learning, that they improve their cognitive ability (King and Kitchener, 1994). Bibliography Angelo, T and Cross, K (1990) Classroom Assessment Techniques, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Collings, J, Watton, P (2001) JEWELS Project: Learning through Independent Work Experience – Final Report.JEWELS@exeter.ac.uk Boud, D; Keogh, R and Walker, D (1985) Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning, Kogan Page, London Boud, D and Walker, D (1998) ‘Promoting reflection in professional courses: the challenge of context’, Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), pp191 – 206 Boud, D and Garrick, J (1999) Understanding Learning at Work, Routledge, London Brockbank, A and McGill, I (1998) Facilitating Reflective Learning in Higher Education, SRHE / OUP, Buckingham Cowan, J, (1998) On Becoming an Innovative University Teacher, SRHE / OUP, Buckingham Dart, B; Boulton-Lewis; G, Brownlee, J and McCrindle, A (1998) ‘Change in knowledge of learning and teaching through journal writing’, Research Papers in Education 13(3), pp291 – 318 Dewey, J (1933) How We Think, D C Heath and Co, Boston, MA Dillon, D (1983) ‘Self-discovery through writing personal journals’, Language Arts, 60, (3) pp373 – 379 Eisner, E (1991) ‘Forms of understanding and the future of education’, Educational Researcher 22, pp5 – 11 Elbow, P (1981) Writing with Power Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process, Oxford University Press, New York Entwistle, N and Entwistle, A (1992) ‘Experience of understanding in revising for degree examinations’ Learning and Instruction, 2, pp1 – 22 Eraut, M (1994) Developing Professional Knowledge and Competence, Falmer Press, London Ertmer, P and Newby, T (1996) ‘The expert learner: strategic, self-regulated and reflective’ Instructional Science, 24, pp1 – 24 Flavell, J (1979) ‘Metacognitive aspects of problem-solving behaviour’, in L Resnick, (ed), The Nature of Intelligence, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale Fulwiler, T (1986) ‘Seeing with journals’, The English Record, 32, (3), pp6 – 9 Fulwiler, T (1987) The Journal Book, Heineman, Portsmouth, New Hampshire George, J and Cowan, J (1999) A Handbook of Techniques for Formative Evaluation, Kogan Page, London Gosling, D and Moon, J (2001) How to Write Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria, SEEC Office, University of East London, London Habermas, J (1971) Knowledge and Human Interests, Heineman, London Hatton, N and Smith, D (1995) ‘Reflection in teacher education – towards definition and implementation’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 11, (1), pp33 – 49 Hettich, P (1976) ‘The journal, an autobiographical approach to learning’, Teaching of Psychology, 3, (2), pp60 – 61 Holly M (1991) Keeping a Personal-Professional Journal, Deakin University Press, Victoria King, P and Kitchener, K (1994) Developing Reflective Judgement, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Kolb, D (1994) Experiential Learning as the Science of Learning and Development, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Marton, F, Hounsell, D and Entwistle (1997) The Experience of Learning, Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh Main, A (1985) ‘Reflection and the development of learning skills’, in Boud, D, Keogh, R and Walker, D Reflection: turning experience into learning, Kogan Page, London Moon, J (1999) Reflection in Learning and Professional Development, Kogan Page, London Moon, J (1999a) Learning Journals: a Handbook for Academics, Students and Professional Development, Kogan Page, London Moon, J (2001) Short Courses and Workshops: Improving the Impact of Learning and Professional Development, Kogan Page, London Moon, J (2002 – in preparation) (Provisional titleï Å  A Handbook of Programme and Module Development: linking levels, learning outcomes and assessment Kogan Page, London. November, P (1993) ‘Journals for the journey into deep learning’, Research and Development in HE, 16, pp299 – 303 QAA (www) The subject benchmark statements are available at the QAA website – www.QAA.ac.uk Rogers, C (1969) Freedom to Learn, Charles E. Merrill, Columbus Ohio Schon, D (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Schon, D (1987) Educating Reflective Practitioners, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Selfe C, Petersen, B and Nahrgang, C (1986) ‘Journal writing in mathematics’ in A Young and T Fulwiler (eds) Writing Across the Disciplines, Boynton / Cook, Upper Montclair, New Jersey Selfe C and Arabi, F(1986) ‘Writing to learn Engineering students journals’ In A Young and T Fulwiler, Writing Across the Disciplines, Boynton / Cook, Upper Montclair, New Jersey Sumsion, J and Fleet, A (1996) ‘Reflection: can we assess it? Should we assess it?’, Assessment and Evaluation in HE 21, (2), pp121 – 130 Tobin, K (1987) ‘The role of wait time in higher cognitive learning’, Review of Educational Research, 57, (1), 69 – 75 Vygotsky, L (1978) Mind in Society, the development of higher psychological processes, Harvard University press, Cambridge, MA Watton, P and Moon, J, (2002 – in preparation) A collection of papers on work experience (not title yet), SEDA, Birmingham Wagenaar, T (1984) ‘Using student journals in sociology courses’, Teaching Sociology, 11, pp419 – 437 Young, A and Fulwiler, T (1986) Writing across the Disciplines, Boynton / Cook, Upper Montclair, New Jersey

Priority Health Issue Report and Critical Analysis of Health Promotion Essay

Priority Health Issue Report and Critical Analysis of Health Promotion Initiatives - Essay Example Third is through the use of a priority area to be determined by examining the cost to individuals and the community. A higher cost will imply a higher level of prevalence (Diabetes Australia & Australian Diabetes Society, 1988). Potential to change is also a method that may be used. Having evaluated the health status of the country, the government has pinpointed the following health priority issues. First are the groups that are currently experiencing some forms of health inequities. Second are the rapidly increasing levels of preventable chronic diseases such as mental complications, cardiovascular diseases, permanent disability and increased mortality rate. Third are the growing and the ageing population, as Australia’s life expectancy rate continues to increase. The Australian health care system has made great contributions in the improvement and maintenance of good health status for the Australians. The healthcare system works with the government to fund the healthcare of public and private bodies. This is in addition to rehabilitation, treatment and diagnosis systems. The system has also extended its cover to all citizens and people can now participate in private health insurance to extend their healthcare coverage. Australia’s healthcare system has also focused on improve technology to better their services to the people. To improve the health status, the Australian healthcare system in collaboration with the federal government has put in place professional and regulatory associations that look on the credibility and applicability of the laid down healthcare approaches and their benefit to the public (Scoggins, RAND Europe, & Rand Corporation, 2008). To address Australia’s health priorities, various actions will be of great importance. First is the use of the public health approach through what has been defined as

Sunday, July 28, 2019

'Health Inequalities Persist.' Discuss in relation to health and Essay

'Health Inequalities Persist.' Discuss in relation to health and health care - Essay Example In virtually all societies some people are regarded as more important than the others, more worthy of respect or more useful than others either within the society as a whole or in certain situations. This position relative to that of other people in the Group is called ‘status or class’ and may be based on many factors such as wealth, heredity, possessions, sex education, skin colour, job or age. Thus according to Gerard O’Donnell (1994:370), class is defined as: a broad category of people within a society who have similar social and economic status. Although primarily based on economic factors, such as ownership or occupation, class also encompasses attributes such as lifestyles and attitudes. In this context, status is a person’s social position as defined by others and the person with a high status is regarded as more worthy of respect, accorded more esteem and has more prestige within that social group. Usually people who occupy high class positions are generally richer than those who occupy lower classes and they have more wealth through earnings or investment. In this regard, a wealthy person enjoys access to better life chances such as heath care, education and shelter. Research has shown that the notion of class or status in society has a bearing especially on access to health care facilities. This notion was illustrated by a report, Inequalities in Health, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Security in 1980, commonly referred to as the Black Report. It found a close link between class and life expectance. The report commented: ‘the class gradient can be observed for most causes of death and the lower the person’s social class, the more likely they are to suffer an illness that they have had for a considerable time.’ The report concluded that the lack of improvement, in some cases deterioration of the health experience of the unskilled and semi skilled manual classes throughout the 1960s was

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The Five-Task Strategy Making Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Five-Task Strategy Making - Assignment Example Monitoring significantly increases the chances of success of the strategy-making process because it offers a critical outlook of the whole exercise, including areas of weakness and how to correct them. Unlike monitoring, evaluation is concerned with what has been achieved. In this exercise, the organization examines the decisions and actions it has taken and determines whether they were successful or not. In case of failure or success, evaluation reveals the reasons for the outcome. The organization can then use this information to develop more effective processes in the future. Corrective adjustments are often done either to increase the success ratio of the process, or to develop better procedures and systems to support future processes (Neluheni, Pretorius, & Ukpere, 2014). The whole process of monitoring, evaluation, and corrective adjustments can be done by either internal or external practitioners. Ultimately, organizations should aim at limiting the amount of monitoring, corrective adjustments and evaluation by conducting highly efficient and effective planning (Valler, Tait, & Marshall, 2013). Thorough planning limits the need for intensive monitoring and evaluation and large-scale adjustments by reducing the number of mistakes made. There are three key elements of strategic planning addressed in this case study. The first is the development of a strategic vision, mission, and core values. The second is setting objectives, while the third is crafting a strategy to attain the objectives and the company vision. In this case, Harry Lindsol, who is a prospective investor, has conducted an analysis of the market and relevant trends before deciding on the best investment option (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, & Strickland, 2014). He has also made a strategic investment decision because his course of action is based on comprehensive analysis and evaluation of all relevant factors. A major advantage offered by eBooks relates to editions.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Testing in HR Recruiting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Testing in HR Recruiting - Essay Example In addition, the poorly carried out interview is detrimental to an organization future. It is in this regards that tests are mandatory during interviews to sieve out unwanted traits in organizations. Inappropriate hiring can be costly errors to rectify and as such, manager should concentrate on convincing hiring processes, which offer, return on investment. In a busy organization stress, tolerance tests are extremely imperative. This prevents the hiring of employees who cannot withstand pressure from both customers and managers. Subsequently, a satisfactory interview process through tests also enables identification of personal style of employees whereby only people with proficient personality traits get the chance (Dessler, 2011). This makes the interviewing process a critical area in human resource management where channeling of all resources is necessary. The future of any business organization depends on the nature of employees. Ambitious, dedicated and focused employees guarantee the success of an organization while lazy and less enthusiastic employees assure a fall in the operations of an organization. Psychometric tests during interview offer an evidence-based insight into behaviors of employees (Palmer & Varner, 2005). Nevertheless, straight, forwards, pertinent information gets concealed to the interviewing managers that are vital in the hiring process. In any event, that a psychometric test is not carried out before hiring managers will have problems coming up with non committed; at times arrogant employees who do not only make the business fail but also demoralize other employees. It is in this regards that clients with impressive results get retained in the hiring process (Hyder & LÃ ¶vblad, 2007). This improves greater self-awareness among management teams and employees. Â  

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Native Americans in Texas Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Native Americans in Texas - Research Paper Example It is believed that these tribes came from Asia, thus crossing borders to occupy the Northern parts of America. The main tribes which occupied this area are the Apache and the Comanche people. Other than these two tribes, Texas also held many other different communities. This paper seeks to discuss the Native American in Texas and their diverse ways of live, as well as their, characteristics. The most ancient Texan groups comprised of nomadic activity as a main culturalactivity. According Elonera’s records made on Native Americans in Texas, about ten thousand years ago, these groups comprised of few people per holding who practiced hunting activities as a source of food. These people held the Plainviewand Folsom cultures in the present New Mexico regions.2 This is according to studies made in the area. The findings reported weapon points which had knives and scrappers as well as fire places. Some of their characteristics include the art of hunting in groups by the use of weapons such as spears during hunting. These ancient spear heads and weapons were made from carved stone. The hunters used large blocks of stone or flint tomake cores, whereby they selected large pieces of blades to make their spear tips. This art of chipping stone was common amongst the Clovis and Folsom hunters. The tips made by each group are named according to the group which made them, such as Clovis points. As found in most ancient groups, the males did the hunting tasks while the women fended their young ones. The women also did other tasks such as gathering and collecting food and sometimes the minor wild animals.3 They also assisted in preparation of hide and skin for other uses as well as prepare and cook food for their families. These groups practicedthese hunting and gathering activities in well-organized schedules.However,this highly depended on the seasonal trends during the year. These groups comprised of archaens who lived and

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

A Risk Management Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Risk Management Policy - Essay Example To determine the full extent of an organization’s vulnerability to security breaches, a risk assessment should be undertaken to gather comprehensive information and data prior to designing the risk management policy. Due to the fast pace of technology, attack tools frequently change parallel with updates in software increasing the probabilities of security risks. In this particular case, the organization faced the following types of threats: unauthorized access from the internal personnel and confidentiality breach as a result of infiltration by a hacker or an attacker. The assessment indicates weakness in their overall information security system and policies requiring the revisions and enforcement in risk management. Proposed Management Risk Policies To address the risk on information being stolen by inside personnel, the following measures are recommended: (1) strengthen company policies on recruitment and screening new IT applicants and present IT personnel to include background checking in terms of past work experiences, credentials and qualifications; (2) a code of discipline must be incorporated in the policies to contain sanctions for violations and infractions of policies, particularly on confidentiality of information, to wit: reprimand for initial violations, warning for subsequent infractions, suspension without pay, expulsion, outright firing, as required; (3) a classification of both hardware and software systems according to crucial importance must immediately be made to determine authorized and trust users depending on lengths of service and roles and responsibilities; (4) codes and personal access numbers must be assigned; and (5) a rotation of critical authorized employees must be implemented as a check and balanc e mechanism, concurrent with regular monitoring and audits of critical and crucial confidential areas. To address the hacker or attacker from infiltrating the system, the following courses of action are suggested: â€Å"(1) apply software security, (2) control use of administrative privileges, (3) control access based on the need to know, (4) continuous vulnerability testing and remediation, (5) install anti-Malware defenses, (6) limit and control ports,

How is shopping on the internet different from and similar to shopping Essay

How is shopping on the internet different from and similar to shopping in stores - Essay Example Many stores as well as online shops provide the customers with a guarantee for the product for a certain period of time, during which the product can be replaced if it turns out to be inefficient or faulty. Store shopping is quicker and more convenient than the online shopping. The customer can go to the market any time, purchase the item and bring it along back to the home at the same time (â€Å"Traditional Vs. Online†). This way, the customer is able to save all the time that would otherwise have been consumed in shipping. Store shopping is also more convenient than the online shopping in terms of replacement. If the product purchased is damaged, the customer can quickly go and have it replaced without having to wait for several days in the case of online shopping. Online shopping is safer as compared to the store shopping. Items purchased online are insured and the companies take responsibility for full replacement in case of any damage caused to the item on its way to the customer. On the other hand, when a customer purchases an item from the store, he brings it home at his/her own discretion. The item may be robbed or stolen once it has been taken out from the store. Online shopping is also safer than the store shopping because the customer is not exposed to the risk of accidents on the roads. Online shopping proves more cost effective as compared to the store shopping. When a customer stays at home, he/she only shops the item he/she needs. When he/she goes to a store to buy a thing, there are a lot of attractions that encourage the customer to spend money on. A customer hardly ever returns without taking a light meal at the nearby restaurant or a cupcake shop that comes in the way. Concluding, online shopping and the store shopping resemble and differ from each other in a number of ways. While the two are the same in terms of the method of payment, the range of items and the responsibility for their

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

BHS 400 STRESS MANAGEMENT (Module 5 CBT) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BHS 400 STRESS MANAGEMENT (Module 5 CBT) - Essay Example The web address is http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-management-topic-overview. The article has been reviewed by specialists in the field. The article was last updated in April, 2007. The page provides accurate information with limited advertising. References list has been provided. The article is updated regularly and all the links are functioning properly. The page can be viewed without any restrictions and conditions. Based on these aspects, I recommended this site to my friend. Following is some useful information I gathered from the webpage. Stress has some adverse effects on health. These effects have been elaborated in the webpage. Symptoms of stress include increased heart rate, increased breathing, headache, stiff neck, tight shoulders, back pain, increased sweating, nausea and diarrhea. Prolonged stress can affect various organs in the body. It suppresses the immune system and triggers infections. Stress has been linked to high blood pressure, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, heart attack and heart failure. It can worsen symptoms in gastro-esophageal reflux, peptic ulcer disease, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acne and psoriasis. Stress is also linked to erectile dysfunction, low fertility, pregnancy-related problems and painful menstruation (Curtis, 2009). There are mainly 3 types of stress coping strategies. These are cognitive or reframing strategies, action-based strategies and emotion- based strategies. The cognitive strategies which help an individual cope stress are re-framing the situation are laughing it out and deliberate positive reinterpretation. Action-based strategies recommend involvement of problem-solving skills and solution of the problem by systematic approach. Emotion-based strategies are the most commonly recommended strategies to deal with stress. These strategies

Monday, July 22, 2019

Youth Sports and Character Development Essay Example for Free

Youth Sports and Character Development Essay Character development is not something that can be gained or developed over night. Character development is the multiple life skills that an individual builds within themself throughout their lifespan. When a person develops good character in their early years of life, they will benefit in the long run because they used the life skills they gained and put them to use, becoming a successful individual in all aspects of life. There is one thing for certain in this world, everyone wants to accomplish something in life and we want to recognize our full potential. In order to do this we must have some skills, and in this case it’s life skills. Life skills are a range of characteristics we express such as communication, commitment, hard work, setting goals, etc. If an individual wants to excel at a job, a sport or any discipline, that person must learn and master particular skills. Retaining life skills that you have developed allows an individual to deal with life’s difficulties and struggles more effectively. People do not realize this, but when a person develops essential life skills and are able to acquire them for their own uses when they want, that individual has more control over their life and are therefore are happier and more productive in life. Participation in sports at a young age helps provide good character development within an individual. Sports are one of the most influential ways for a person to develop good character development because sports involve all aspects of character development. As a sports participant you will gain life skills, perseverance, and ethical decision-making skills. Perseverance is a characteristic that is important for any individual to gain and being active in a sport will help you develop the feeling of perseverance and understand its importance. Perseverance a personal character development where an individual learns the importance of working hard until they reach their goal, and the feeling of success that individual experiences displays through perseverance is the importance of hard work; knowing that success doesn’t come easy. â€Å"Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game†. This famous quote may seem simple to figure out and its significance for an individual but don’t let the simple context of its meaning throw you off; this quote has a strong motivational meaning that relates to perseverance and is useful for any individual to be successful in life. From my perspective, this quote reinforces the idea of not giving up on personal accomplishment. Whether your goal is as simple as making a base hit or something big as wanting to open up your own business; accomplishments in life aren’t handed to us. Some goals may come easier for others, they could try two times and obtain their goal or it may take up to 20 times; the important matter is how they handle their failures. In baseball/softball a player is allowed three strikes until they are called out. As a player, being called out at the plate is a tough call to mentally accept. It’s essential for a player to develop the importance of not giving up because mentally it can change a player’s perspective on the importance of perseverance. Don’t let three strikes keep you from hitting the ball next time your up to bat; shake it off and tell yourself, â€Å"I’ll get it next time†, develop the feeling off determination. This strategy is relatable for anyone who has goals they want to accomplish. You never know when you will reach your goals in life. Things may not work out the first time you go after it but, it doesn’t mean you have completely failed, you must keep playing the game. When an individual reaches their goal and becomes successful the feeling they will experience is unexplainable and different for everyone. It’s no wonder why this quote and the development of perseverance play such an important role in an individual’s life and when a person develops this part of character development at a young age, it helps them become successful at an earlier stage in their life. Ethical decision-making skills are important in our everyday lives because we are constantly making decisions on something, whether it’s deciding on what you will do on a day-to-day basis or if it’s dealing with a situation that must be resolved. Having the ability to affectively make the best decision possible for any situation by gaining ethical decision skills and putting them to use are essential for everyone. When a person is involved with sports, they are constantly learning and practicing ethical decision-making skills because there are always decisions that must be made. Whether the situation is between two teammates or dealing with calls in game situations, there are always decisions being made. Being a participant in sports, an individual obtains personal and social values and behaviors. This is where an individual builds close relationships through the experience of being apart of a team. Within the building of close relationships in sports, a person learns how to work effectively in-group settings. Individuals gain and learn the importance of handling different situations and viewing them in a strategic way when resolving a conflict. Other features of an individual having good character are honesty, integrity and ethical behavior. These characteristics are brought about through being a participant of a sport because when an athlete recognizes they are in the wrong during game play, they develop the importance of honesty. i. e. In baseball/softball: a runner makes contact with the ball, the player runs to first base but realizes they didn’t touch the bag when the ump calls the player safe. That player is honest with the ump and says they missed the bag, then goes back to the dugout. ) This action of honesty a player displays transitions into ethical behavior because they knew they were in the wrong when the call on the play was made so they displayed ethical behavior by walking back to the dug out. It says a lot about a player if they are willing to risk the team an out/point by being honest and acting in an ethical manner. Another ethical behavior that has developed is the notion of helping others. This is effective because a player learns to respect the opponent, and if an opponent is injured in the middle of a game they put those their ethical behavior by helping the opponent off the field or helping them back up from the ground. This action becomes important in an individuals life because it is one of the things that makes a person have good character. If they learn how to help their teammates or their opponents in a sports atmosphere, as they grow older they will use this characteristic in their everyday lives. Another characteristic that falls into honesty and ethical behavior is integrity. In sports it’s always about teamwork and playing by the rules, and by practicing these ethical behaviors an individual develops the meaning of integrity and the importance it plays in our day-to-day lives. Over time an athlete has the experience of always having to follow the rules, and this will continue into the future when dealing with society. Developing integrity is not only limited to following rules but also is related to an individual’s academic success. As a student athlete, in order for a player to participate in a sport, they are obligated to sign an academic integrity policy. This form requires an athlete must obtain, and keep, a certain grade point average that is set by the school or coach. This type of discipline is important because it demonstrates hard work, determination and maintaining to the responsibilities you agreed to. Academic integrity is a great tool for a person to obtain because it follows in with following the rules and if an individual wants to be successful in life they must follow the rules and maintain their obligations they agreed to. From experience, academic integrity has impacted my academic success throughout my school years. I never have had the chance to slack on a homework assignment or get away with not studying. It is a simple concept; if I wanted to participate on a team I must keep my grades up or I simply would not be able to be apart of a team. I have been asked how I am able to do it and how do I go to school, work, and play softball. My answer is simple, I just got used to it and having the responsibility of keeping my grades up is helpful and has been a great discipline strategy for me. A sports participant also is able to develop the concept of balancing different commitments such as school, work, and a sport. This is important because as we grow older we become busy with work and our family life. We must learn how to balance between our activities so we become responsible, successful individuals in all aspects of life. Integrity doesn’t stop there. It follows an individual for the rest of their lives. The impact of participation in sports and the influence it has on academics transitions into career outcomes. If a young athlete grows up practicing academic integrity, they use their motivation and are able to visualize how important success is and are more likely to further their education beyond a high school degree. When I interviewed my coach from West Virginia, he said, â€Å"academic success is important to me and as a coach. I want my girls to be successful college athletes on and off the field. My hopes are that when each one leaves and moves on with their life that they use all the life skills they developed here to be successful wherever they go. Softball is important for me but what’s more important is that my girls are staying on top of their schoolwork and getting good grades. Even though my girls are here on scholarship, they are also here for a college degree and I think it’s important the girls and myself don’t loose sight of what’s more important. I stick to my academic policy; each girl must have a grade point average of 3. 0 or higher. If anyone is struggling I make sure they regularly meet with a tutor even if it means they miss practice or a game. If they fall under my expectations I must follow up with my word and as hard as it is I have to suspend the player until they improve their grades†. My coaches aspect on academics is what has helped me develop good academic skills and will be useful for me as I move towards graduating from college and start working in a field of my degree. I found it informative when my coach was knowledgeable on character values and how they are broken up into two parts. As participantion in sports an individual develops two types of character values: social and moral. When an athlete gains social values, they are developing loyalty, dedication, sacrifice, teamwork and good citizenship, while moral values include the development of honesty, fairness, fair play, justice and responsibility. I wanted to research the two types of character values and understand them in a more in-depth understanding. There was an online article my coach referred me to that said, â€Å"Social values, which are highly esteemed in our society, are about the real world and how society views the importance of social character. Moral values are first principles, meaning that they stand by themselves; if we violate any one of these, we violate people directly. Social values are positive assets but must be tempered by moral values. A person who has strong social character may have little or no moral character. An individual can be highly dedicated and loyal to an immoral cause. Because sport may foster social values, character development through sport should help athletes learn to weigh a social value against a moral value and then act on that moral value† (Beller, December). All of these characteristics play an important aspect in a player’s character development, which become successful tools throughout life. Referring back to the development of perseverance, participating in a sport teaches you to reach for something higher that you have never imagined; helping you set life goals. This character development alone gives an individual the opportunity to be successful in life. When a person reaches their lifetime goal, they then use the other tools they developed in order to keep their lifetime goal successful. (i. e. n individual applies for a job and is hired. This person uses their social and moral development skills along with other good character skills they developed to be a successful worker who makes a difference for the company. Having a well-rounded development of good character is what makes an individual stand out from others, especially in a work setting. ) As an athlete you learn the importance of â€Å"The six W’s: Work Will Win When Wishing Wont†. It takes hard work when achieving anything in life, nothing comes easy and it especially does not come by wishing for it. As a participant in sports I learned the meaning of the six W’s through my experience of coaching and playing sports my entire life. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the involvement in athletics and the impact it has played throughout my life All of the different character development aspects I just discussed have contributed to the development of my individual character, academic success and achieving my personal goal. As a young girl, since the day I could walk, I have been committed in the involvement of sports. Dance and pee wee baseball were the first two activities I became involved with. Throughout my middle and high school years I participated in dance, softball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, track and cheerleading. As I progressed into my junior and senior year of high school, I decided it was time to start focusing more on my lifetime dream. I was in third grade when I went from playing peewee baseball to playing slow pitch softball, later advancing into fast pitch softball. This when I decided I wanted to be the pitcher on any softball team I will play for. My goal didn’t stop there though; I wanted to take my dream farther, my goal was that one-day I would get paid to play softball. Third grade was when I decided that one day I was going to be the pitcher for a division one or division two college or university. For 15 years I dedicated myself to pitching, and what people do not realize is the fact that most pitchers, such as me, spend an hour at least four to five times a week outside of team practice working on our pitching skills. All year I practiced pitching whether it was my dad catching me or the brick wall, outside in the blazing sun or the pouring rain, inside a gym or on concrete, there was always a way to do drills and pitch; no excuses! It was my freshman year when I got moved up to the varsity softball team, and it was my junior and senior year when I outstandingly succeeded. I’ll never forget beating Fort Hill High School, ending their undefeated record, all the no-hitters and one-hitters I threw, and all the recognition I got for throwing such excellent games. I was able to recognize the importance of teamwork, knowing I would not have been able to throw such excellent games if it were not for their excellent defense. Just like the saying, â€Å"There’s No I In Team†. Throughout those years I developed all the essential life skills, knowing I wouldn’t have been able to develop these skills if it was not for my involvement in sports. My character development through sports did not stop with my senior year of high school. It was my senior year of high school when colleges were scouting me and I realized how much my hard work had paid off. A few division three universities in Pennsylvania wanted me to sign with them and be apart of their team. Although that amazing opportunity was there, I wasn’t satisfied because my dream was to get paid and I was determined to reach that goal. I ended up visiting a few division two colleges where the coach’s final decision was not to recruit me. It became mentally difficult for me to accept without becoming discouraged and not wanting to give up on softball altogether. My pitching coach Staci and Wes who is the head coach of Frostburg State University, was one of the biggest impacts on my mental development when it came to perseverance. They taught me the importance of hard work and the role of a pitcher on a team, which was a big part of my character development. It allowed me to not to let the denial of a few colleges stop me, so I decided to advance my goal a little farther and took into consideration the thought of playing out of state. It was May of 2008 when I signed my letter of intent to play division two softball for Potomac State College of West Virginia University. A DII softball team chose to recruit me and pay me to play softball for them. Even though it was an unexplainable feeling, I want to focus on the development aspect of the experience itself. Within my two year contract with Potomac State we were the East and West Pennsylvania state champs both years, undefeated in our conference one year, had high winning records both years, and placed in the tournament we played in down south. These were all great achievements each player will remember for the rest of our lives, but it is the character development we learned that makes each and every one of us successful now and in our future. After those two years I decided to move down to a division three college or university where I could focus more on my degree. After contemplating between a few, in fall 2010 I took the opportunity to play for Coach Caldwell at Penn State Altoona, where I would finish my last two years of softball. Unfortunately last spring in 2011, I was pitching a game when I got line drive straight back to my pitching hand, right on the bone. Luckily nothing was fractured but the doctors said there is a chance of permanent tightness or tendonitis that could develop. Of course with my developed life skills of perseverance, hard work and determination, I was not going to let the injury keep me from playing softball. It was this past fall, 2011, when I started into my fourth year of college softball. I was determined to be able to pitch the same way I did back in high school; I felt fresh and ready to go. A few weeks went by before the end of the season when my mind was telling me one thing and by body another. It was a combination of overusing my arm, the wrist injury and school, which helped me realize that maybe it was time to end my softball career. It was a tough decision but I think it was time to face the facts; if I keep pushing myself then eventually I will tear myself apart to the point I can not even coach. I do not plan on advancing to the pros and plus I had to view the biggest picture of it all; my goal was to get paid to play softball and I accomplished that part of my life. I figured it was okay to move on, advancing my life experience by putting my develop life skills and character development to use so I can live a successful and rewarding life. The coming spring of 2013 will be the first time in 15 years that I won’t be participating in softball. I’m not sure what to expect, but I know it is going to be difficult for me but I think as long as I stay focused on the importance of my future and the positive impact sports has had on my life, I will be satisfied with my decision. It was not just the feeling of accomplishment that has helped me develop a positive character development, but all the experiences within each year that helped me gain a well-rounded development of good character and essential life skills. All the developments I gained has made me successful in my work and school settings. My transition from involvement in sports at a young age to the college level gave me the skills and character development that lead to coaching young girls. Coaching is something I never imagined doing but when the opportunity came my way in 2009 I was speechless. For me, coaching is a personal reward because I am able to give back to what has been a positive part of my life. It is not something anyone can do, a coach must have the essential skills mentally and physically in order to be an effective coach. When I got recognized I was specifically asked if I would be interested in giving personal pitching lessons for 20 dollars and hour. Today, I am still coaching young girls back home in the area and one day I plan to be apart of a high school or middle school softball team as their pitching coach. It is obvious to see the influence sports have on an individual’s character development. If a child starts participating at a young age and stays committed throughout high school, they are more likely to become successful in their future. Altogether with the experience of my participation and having the opportunity to coach, I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it was not for the essential life skills, ethical decision-making skills and character development I gained through being a sports participant. I will use my essential tools when dealing with a future situation that may deal with friends, family, a work setting or just my day-today activities. My communication, leadership and team building skills will allow me to work with others in any atmosphere. The determination and hard work ethics will help me become successful one day when use my college degree to apply for a job. I will be able to successfully balance my life activities on a daily basis staying committed. My honesty and integrity development has made me an individual who is reliable and trustworthy. I have gained all aspects of character development, and I owe it all to the involvement of sports and the coaches who influenced these essential life skills that produced my good character development. In conclusion, through my involvement in sports, my different observations through coaching, an interview with my coach and the surveys, youth sports have a positive impact on the development of good character. Sport programs have the influence to promote the development of sports-man-like behaviors, ethical decision-making skills, and an overall curriculum for moral character development. The experience of being apart of a team also provides an individual with a social environment to acquire personal and social values and behaviors contributing to good character and good citizenship that is used throughout an individual’s life.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Nature versus Nurture: The debate

Nature versus Nurture: The debate A View of Two Fields of Thought: Nature versus Nurture A debate has been brewing in the field of education and philosophy for hundreds of years. Many intellectuals have pondered over this subject and have taken one side or the other, but to this day no definite answer exists. The battle of nature versus nurture, or rationalism versus empiricism, has so long been debated and has been addressed in so much literature that one would be hard pressed to find an educator who hasnt thought about this topic and considered the merits of each school of thought. This debate affects how educators view their students as well as how they believe children can be taught, so it is important to explore the history of each side and investigate the evidence so educators as well as parents can understand how to access their childs potential. In 380 B.C.E. Plato wrote a play titled Meno. In this work, he discussed through his characters how intelligence was based on recollection. This concept was derived from the idea that once a human being dies, his soul is reincarnated into another human being and that newly born person has all of the knowledge that his former life possessed. Therefore, Plato believed in the idea that knowledge was innate (Allen 165-174). He believed that people were divided into social or intellectual classes by the type of metal that supposedly ran through their souls. These metals were gold, silver, brass and iron and they were used to keep the social hierarchy in check. If someone were believed to have gold in their soul, they would theoretically govern the state and be of superior intelligence. Someone who had silver in their soul was seen as a warrior of the state and if someone was believed to have brass or iron in their soul, they were never meant for a high ranking position in the social spher e but to dwell on the earth as members of the lower class (Voegelin 230). The next great mind to enter the nature versus nurture debate came around in the mid 1600s. Rene Descartes created an entire school that is known today as the Cartesian school of thought. Descartes and his followers adopted the idea of dualism, meaning that the soul is separate from the body and that the soul does not have a physical manifestation (Gardner 33). This idea goes along well with the previously mentioned theories of Plato. In a dedicatory letter to the Sorbonne, Descartes attempted to prompt his literary work, Mediations on First Philosophy. This letter outlined Descartes key ideas concerning knowledge and dualism. He emphasized that all that is known about God is manifested in people, and to figure out those manifestations one must use reasoning, which takes place in the brain. Also throughout the letter Descartes made it a point to mention how people have certain aptitudes for different vocations, such as metaphysical studies or geometry; he also explored the idea that people can be intellectually gifted, as to say they were granted their intelligence from birth. Descartes had little evidence to support this reasoning beyond his heavy reliance on philosophy and his strong religious beliefs. Like Plato, he believed that the soul lived on after the body had expired (Descartes 3-11). As time moved on, the nature argument started to move away from the religious vantage point and more toward scientific research. Francis Galton would be among the first men who conducted such experiments. In Galtons book Hereditary Genius he stated the argument that the high reputation of a man could be used as an accurate assessment of high ability. He studied eminent men such as the Judges of England from 1660 to 1868 and also the Statesmen during the reign of George III. Along with these men, Galton also studied men of a wide variety of professions since he believed it was important to study many different grades of ability (Galton 2). He studied nearly 300 families and concluded that eminent men do tend produce eminent sons (307). From this conclusion, Galton set out to continue his research, only this time he wouldnt focus his attention on the biographies of successful men; he would continue his research with the study of twins. Through the process of sending out surveys to people who either were twins or those who were close relatives of twins, Galton found further support for his rationalist theories. At first he addressed a number of twins who were very similar from birth, and then he addressed those sets of twins who were dissimilar from the very beginning, which he considered more relevant to his cause. He presented several testimonies from parents of twins stating that even though the twins were nurtured the exact same way from the moment they were born, they showed great difference. A specific case stated that two male twins acted as compliments to one another. One boy would possess a certain set of qualities and attributes where as the other would be the polar opposite of his twin brother who had received the same nurture. Galton states that through all of his correspondences, he could not find one case where the twins started out different and were assimilated through nurture (Galton 391-406). Galton continued to study the issue of hereditary intelligence in many other books and journals, but one his most famous proposals was his ideas on eugenics. Because Galton believed that knowledge was inherited, he thought that it would benefit humanity if only intelligent people were allowed to reproduce. In â€Å"Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope, and Aims†, Galton laid out his plan for how this process would go about happening. He went as far as to call this way of living a â€Å"new religion† that should be fully pushed upon people so they whole heartedly accept it (Galton ). We now know that for a period in history, Galtons ideas were successful and many people around the world were sterilized against their will as a way to attempt to breed the perfect human race (Dikotter). In Galtons later research he discovered â€Å"regression to the mean†, which is the idea that human beings tend to move toward the average no matter how above or below average their parent s are. This discovery disappointed his hopes of breeding the perfect human race (Galton â€Å"Regression†). Another interesting contributor to the nature argument was Cesare Lombroso. In his book, â€Å"Crime, its causes and remedies†, Lombroso attempted to lie out the naturally occurring tendencies of a criminal. He studied groups of people in Europe and came to the conclusion that features such as hair color, skull size and facial structure were indicators that a person was innately criminal. He also determined that race was a factor in finding naturally born criminals as well. He used the Jewish people as an example for his race theory. He said that Jews were much less likely to commit crimes compared to the gypsies, who he believed where in the same socioeconomic class. Lombroso wrote about schooling as well. He believed that if a student in elementary school displayed the characteristics that he had categorized as criminal then the student should be taken away from the other children and be caught in a way to discourage the innate criminality from surfacing (Lombroso). Much more recently, Charles Murray has addressed this debate and has strongly lobbied for inherited intelligence. In the book â€Å"The Bell Curve† written by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, these men aimed to prove that Americas growing inequality was due to the fact that skilled labor was much more valuable today than unskilled labor. Because both Herrnstein and Murray believed that IQ directly correlated with skill, they believed that the gap between people in society will only continue to grow as unskilled jobs fade away (Murray bell curve). In an article written by Murray published in the Wall Street Journal, he claimed that a persons IQ is directly connected to their intelligence and that that number cannot possibly change no matter what kind of education is given to that student. Through his investigation, he found that when someone tried to raise their IQ, it only went up an average of about 8 points as after time progressed, the number returned back to what it had originally been. Considering the national assessment of educational progress scores, 36% of all fourth graders were below the standards of basic achievement in reading; Murray stated that this number should be considered acceptable since 36% of fourth graders, according to the normal distribution, have IQs lower than 95. He even made the bold claim that if you argue that an IQ test doesnt determine intelligence, then G, someones natural intellectual ability, does (Murray Newspaper). The other side of the nature versus nurture debate lies with those who believe nurture is the predominate cause of intelligence and personality. A few years after Descartes died, John Locke came forward with his views on rationalism verses empiricism. He thought it was wrong to believe a small child had any innate ideas, and he is well known for his theory that a mind is like a blank, white piece of paper that parents and teachers can write on as they see fit to shape and mold the child into adulthood. Locke believed that ideas came from two places: first from sensory information and second from reflections (115spiral). In Lockes â€Å"Essay Concerning Human Understanding† he attacked the theory of innate knowledge by assuming that if there were innate principles in the human mind, everyone would agree on these principles. Because not all people agreed, it proved to Locke that there were in fact no innate principals at all. Also, in what seems like a direct attack at Descartes , Locke argued the innateness of God to be fictional because there are cultures all around the world that do not recognize any god at all (Locke). Around the same time as Locke, George Berkeley achieved recognition for his theories on empiricism as well. Berkeley believed that the mind was what everything in existence revolved around and that matter did not actually exist, thinking that all things in the world were composed of ideas (Flage). He thought that all things were either sensations or perceptions and one can only know what one sees. Berkeley believed that when a person looks at something, they only see the appearance of the object and not the real qualities which arent perceivable to anyone. Human senses are the only way people can understand the things in the world (Berkeley 193-215). The third well know empiricist of the time was David Hume. Hume believed that what was in the mind could be broken down into basic sensations. He theorized that thinking was just a byproduct of disconnected sensations and ideas were like vague copies of distinct perceptions or impressions and everything past those ideas and perceptions were unnecessary to explore (D. Murray 11-12). Years later in the late 1800s, John Watson published a book called Behaviorism. He presented a thesis about human instincts and discussed what human beings are born being able to do. He claims that those functions are in fact not instincts as instincts were defined at the time. He claimed that everything that people had initially thought were instincts were actually learned behaviors that came about as a result of training. On this evidence, he stated â€Å"that there is no such thing as an inheritance of capacity, talent, temperament, mental constitution and characteristics† (Watson 75). He believed that if a child has a father that is a good swordsman, the child will only become a good swordsman if the father nurtures him to be so, not just because he has his fathers genes. He supported this idea by referencing all the different customs and tendencies of people all across the world and how they all differ due to their culture and environment (74-75). One relevantly recent phenomenon is the Flynn Effect, which is describes as significant increases in IQ over time. This effect has been attributed to a variety of factors such as â€Å"improved nutrition; increased environmental complexity; and family, parental, school and methodological factors† (Daley 215). All of these components of the Flynn affect were at first criticized for focusing on only industrialized and urban areas, but a group of people from the University of California went to Kenya to help strengthen the Flynn Effects environmental explanations (215). The study took place in the Embu District of Kenya. The first research was done in 1984 and then again in 1998 with two different groups of children. The researches administered three tests to the group of children they were studying. The tests were: the Ravens Progressive Matrices, the verbal meaning test, and the digit span test. It was determined that the second group of children in 1998 scored higher than those in 1984, proving that the Flynn Effect was definitely present. To explain these increases the researchers looked to see if the environmental factors had changed during the 14 years. Nutrition became better, which is represented by the increase in kilocalories and protein from 1984 to 1998 as well as a decrease in children who had an insufficient caloric intake. The environment also became more complex, with the addition of a few televisions as well as a majority of parents reporting to have read a newspaper or magazines at least once a week. Both of these factors had not existed in the community during the 1984 study. In addition, family size decreased in Kenya, which allowed the households to spend more on the individual children and the family structure shifted from nuclear families to single parent households run by the mother. Parental education and literacy also increased during the 14 years, going from 26% of mothers reporting no schooling in 1984 to only 8.7% in 1998. Schooling didnt change much during the time period, but there was an increase in the number of children who attended Sunday school, so this could be seen as an extra day of schooling. The health of the children didnt improve and the hemoglobin counts actually worsened over the time period, but the most severe causes of anemia decreased from 1984 to 1989 (217-219). The main impacts on the children according to this study were parental literacy, family stature and health. All of the children in the study belonged to the same tribe so the researchers believed this to be proof that the environment a child is raised in has much affect on his or her intelligence (219). One of the most recent empiricists is Geoffrey Canada. Canada grew up in inner city New York but moved to Long Island with his grandparents in his early teens. He graduated from high school and went to college and then attended graduate school at Harvard University. Canada eventually became the CEO and president of Harlem Childrens Zone. Currently, the program spans 97 blocks in New York City and caters to nearly 8000 students. He whole heartedly believes that with the right amount of guidance and direction, the struggling students in inner cities can learn to appreciate learning and to increase their intelligence through their environment in the classroom (Moore). In Paul Toughs book â€Å"Whatever it takes: Geoffrey Canadas quest to change Harlem and America† the program is described in great detail and it shows how the lives of the children have been adjusted to foster learning (Tough). The programs success became evident in 2009 â€Å"when its charter school, the Promise Academy, eliminated the achievement gap for math between average black students and white students in New York City† (Moore). The debate over nature versus nurture spans back to when philosophy was predominantly the way of explaining the acquisition of knowledge and continues in more recent times with scientific evidence consisting of facts and numbers giving support to one side or the other. Both the recent and historical back and forth between great scholars helps each individual, be they parent or educator, come to their own personal conclusions of whether nature or nurture is the more dominant factor contributing to a persons knowledge and IQ. Works Cited Allen, R.E.. Anamnesis in Platos Meno and Phaedo.The Review of Metaphysics13 (1959):165-174.JSTOR. Flage. 29 Mar. 2010. Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. sax: Indypublish.Com, 2003. 193-215. Print. Daley, Tamara, Shannon Whaley, Marian Sigman, Michael Espinosa, and Charlotte Neumann. IQ on the Rise: The Flynn Effect in Rural Kenyan Children . Psychological Science 14 (2003): 215-219. JSTOR. Flage. 30 Mar. 2010. Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes (Volume II). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. 3. Print. Dikotter, Frank. Race Culture: Recent Perspectives on the History of Eugenics. The American Historical Review 103 (1998): n. pag. JSTOR. Flage. 29 Mar. 2010. Flage, Daniel. George Berkeley (1685-1753). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . James Madison University, 4 Apr. 2004. Flage. 28 Mar. 2010. . Galton, Francis . Regression Towards Mediocrity in Hereditary Stature. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 15 (1886): n. pag. Jstor. Flage. 2 Apr. 2010. Galton, Francis. The History of Twins, as a Criterion of the Relative Powers of Nature and Nurture. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 5 (1876): 391-406. JSTOR. Flage. 29 Mar. 2010. Galton, Francis. Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope, and Aims. The American Journal of Sociology 10 (1904): n. pag. JSTOR. Flage. 28 Mar. 2010. Galton, Sir Francis. Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into Its Laws and Consequences (Classic Reprint). asdbjsadjkas: Forgotten Books, 2009. Print. Gardner, Howard, Mindy Kornhaber, and Warren K. Wake. Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1995. 33-36. Print. Herrnstein, Richard J., and Charles Murray. Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book). 1st Free Press Pbk. Ed ed. New York City: Free Press, 1996. Print. Lombroso, Cesare. Crime: Its Causes and Remedies. 1918: Legal Classics Library, A Division Of Gryphon Editions, 1994. Print. Moore, Jina. Empathy is his superpower / The Christian Science Monitor CSMonitor.com. The Christian Science Monitor CSMonitor.com. N.p., 7 Sept. 2009. Flage. 4 Apr. 2010. . Murray, Charles. Intelligence in the Classroom Half of all children are below average, and teachers can do only so much for them. . Wall Street Journal n/a (2007): 1-3. Print. Murray, D.W.. What is the Western Concept of the Self? on Forgetting David Hume. Ethos 21 (1993): 11-12. JSTOR. Flage. 30 Mar. 2010. Tough, Paul. Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canadas Quest to Change Harlem and America. New York: Mariner Books, 2009. Print. Voegelin, Eric. The La. Plato. 1 ed. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2000. 230. Print. Watson, John. B.. Are There Any Human Instincts?. Behaviorism. San Diego: West Press, 2008. 74-75. Print. Theories of Crime and Gender: Research Study Theories of Crime and Gender: Research Study Crime Gender __________________________________ Contents (Jump to) Introduction    Why Gender? Why Crime? Ground Rules – Laying the Foundation for a Thorough Discussion: Feminism Sociological Motivation Offenders – Women who Violate the â€Å"Norm† Victims –   In their â€Å"natural† place†¦ In the System – The Influence of Dominant Social Structures Paradigms Field Perspective – A Short Experimental Inquiry into Current Perceptions about Women Violent Crime The Verdict – Moving Forward with Facts†¦ and assumptions References __________________________________ Appendix A Research Surveys Appendix B Annotated SPPS Output Appendix C Raw Data Introduction Why Gender? Why Crime? The answer to the question posed above could be any one of the following: In the tradition of Sir Edmund Hillary in referring to why he climbed Mt. Everst, simply, â€Å"Because it is there†. In the modern tradition of rhetoric, â€Å"Why not?† In ‘typical’ answer one might expect, because both are compelling, engaging topics in which virtually everyone has a vested interest in and both are issues fundamental to the social and political fabric of modern life. The truth is simply â€Å"all of the above† with a heavy emphasis on #3. These topics have the fortune of being both broad and â€Å"loaded†. It is broad in the sense that both subjects, in and of themselves, is the subject of the life’s work of numerous notable academians as well as that of many law enforcement, social service and legal professionals. Without question, the subjects, especially gender, is loaded with emotion. While many might believe that feminism is a wasted effort to redirect attention and funds, others pursue the topic with all the righteous vigor of that associated with the abolition of slavery. The topics of gender and crime would be much easier to cover if, like a traditional Venn diagram, there were but a small area of overlap. In contrast, the two subjects seem to only grow when combined. With this in mind, a logical treatise on the subject is yet possible by presentation with a logical stepwise progression through fundamental theoretical perspectives followed by the systematic treatment of each key stakeholder. Following this, original research will be reviewed and discussed in light of the foundations laid. Based on these findings, additional lines of inquiry to tease out further salient differences and issues will be proposed. Ground Rules Laying the Foundation for a Thorough Discussion: Feminism Sociological Motivation Feminism It becomes quite apparent with on a cursory review of literature that crime is a man’s arena. Unanimously, researchers agree that the overwhelming majority of crime is committed by men and that gender is the strongest predictor of criminality (Messerschmidt 1997, p. 1; Belknap 2001, pp. xii, 5-6; Heidensohn 1997, p. 491). In itself, this begs the question of why this is the case. Though any answer to this question falls short of the answer to the ‘whole’ question, it is enough to pique interest and to begin a line of inquiry into the simple matter, given the roughly 50/50 gender distribution, why must is be the case that men commit more than ten times the crimes that women do (or are they just not caught?). The simple fact that most crimes are committed by men and not by women creates questions as to the reasoning behind this. Though seemingly far from what might be considered a typical feminist agenda, the issue of crime and gender is indeed a fundamental issue of gender and, therefore central to the thoughts of feminism. In assigning a feminism interest to the issue of gender and crime, additional complications arise due to the multiple perspectives of feminism within its own ranks. While the uninitiated might label all feminists alike, this is not the case as there are five major division within the overall perspective of â€Å"a woman-centered description and explanation of human experience and the social world† (Belknap 2001, p. 16). Below is a table listing each major faction and the outlook regarding key issues: Label Perspective Liberal feminism Believe that women’s access to equality in education, employment and â€Å"public† things in general are blocked by generally accepted (but wrong) principles, policies and laws. Marxist feminism Disciples of this division are most concerned with class and economic inequalities. Socialist feminists Take issue with Marxist’s in that they insist that it is not class alone but also instilled systems and that perpetuate inequalities. Radical feminists Another reaction against Marxist feminism that again goes beyond it in that they emphasize patriarchal systems as sources of inequality and, of all the factions, this one is the most likely to â€Å"hold individual men, rather than society, responsible†. Post-modern feminists Advocates of a multiple perspective view in that the issues that any woman faces are different based upon class, race, age, etc. (Belknap 2001, pp. 16-17) Though feminism is a diverse and sometimes, even divisive, arena, each ‘faction’ has a belief that men and women should receive equal treatment under the law and in society in general. Criminology, with its overwhelming use of masculine models, theories and subjects has largely attempted to impose these models upon female crime, crime victims and system-issues in an effort to explain how and why female crime occurs. Though these models are insightful and useful, they do not fully explain male or female criminology. Consequently, the utilization of the feminist perspective may be quite useful in not only generating models for female offenders but able to shed light on what went wrong with male criminals. This feminist viewpoint is different from other perspectives in the following ways: Gender is not a natural fact but a complex social, historical and cultural product related to but limited to any biological basis for sex. Gender and gender relation create and sustain fundamental order in social life and institutions. Gender relations are based upon masculine and feminine constructs in which men are viewed are socially, politically, and economically dominant over women. The production of knowledge is gendered in that men produce it from their point of view. Women and women’s issues should be at the center of attention and inquiry. (Belknap 2001, p. 13) With the realization that half of the planet’s population is female, the duration of the dominance ‘typical’ perspectives becomes even more curious. Thus, in consideration of crime and gender, the feminist perspective can be enlightening both for the perspective on the majority as well as to provide novel insight into female-committed crime as well as how it is possible that approximately 93% of the [female] populate are ‘crime-free’. Were we able to find this mystery female ‘ingredient’ (is it butterflies?) and, were it able to be instilled, socialized, taught, administered or cultivated in any way in the other half of the population, the world would be virtually crime-free. An example of how the feminist perspective has already fundamentally changed the view of society at large is in regards to rape. Clearly a violent crime, [male] researchers had, prior to the emergence of the feminist perspective, simply gathered data on this crime in the same way that did not fully capture the reality of situation. Specifically, the number of rapes committed each year was reported based upon statistics gathered from police records, a source that is contingent upon a crime being reported and how a crime is defined. As it would turn out, many â€Å"rapes† are not reported and further, the legal definition of â€Å"rape† may not exactly fit the reality of a victim who may have been forced to have sex (Belknap 2001, p. 20). Sociological Motication: Why People Commit Crime There are a number theories as to why crimes are committed. Clearly, there are crimes of passion and as many other reasons as there are unfulfilled desires of the heart. Despite the overwhelming possibilities, there emerge a few predictable bases as well as other â€Å"systematic† rationale for deviant behavior. Without engaging in the broadest of philosophical arguments as to what constitutes â€Å"right† and what separates this from â€Å"wrong†, a key tenet to lawbreaking that we should accepts is that of â€Å"mens rea† or, â€Å"guilty mind†. This Latin phrase is central in that we excerpt from our discussion those who commit a crime â€Å"by mistake, under duress or while insane† (Hampton 1990, pp.1). Consequently, of the millions of crimes committed, it becomes imperative to study the matter to determine to cause and ultimately to prevent their commission in the first place as those who commit such acts do so willfully, with at least s ome idea of the potential penalties and with the knowledge that harm is likely or, depending on the crime, is certain to occur to persons or property though this will be presented not from a individual psychological perspective but rather that of a large scale sociological perspective. Early criminologists believed primarily believed that crime was a ‘class’ problem, an issue that was confined for the most part to lower socio-economic strata (Lynch 1996, pp. 4, 8-9). This view point is still widely held and, as regression goes, still has significant explanatory power though there are other variables in the equation. As criminologist evolved in their thinking, questions of gender and race began to be considered. Messerschmidt, in Crimes as Structured Action (1997), indicates that each of these variables is more than a simple binary-type factor that someone either has or does not. In the same way that feminists recognize different feminist experiences, Messerschmidt puts for a theory of structured action. Similarly, in this model, each factor is contextual and has a relational aspect with regards to the other factors. For example, in some circumstances, one may be a â€Å"male†, in others, and â€Å"African-American† while yet in others â⠂¬Å"working class†. These identities are constructed through social interaction and existing social structures such as church, home, work, etc. Defined in broader terms, social structures are those â€Å"regular and patterned forms of interaction over time that constrain and channel behavior in specific ways† (Messerschmidt 1997, p. 5). These social structures are created by culpable people and perpetuated by the same. In essence the perspectives that one accepts and endorses, even if implicitly, one also perpetuates, even in cases in which one ‘just goes along with it’ as ultimately, there is an accountability that people take on themselves when they choose to construe themselves as a certain way in a specific situation (Messerschmidt 1997, pp. 4-6). Though it is something of the ‘American way’ and reminiscent of some versions of Arthurian legend that a person who is ‘good’ or works ‘hard enough’ is not limited in their ability to achieve success as the world sees its, there seems to be a great correlation between one’s race, class, neighborhood, gender and other key factors as to how one’s life choices play out. This view is specifically termed the â€Å"structured life course† and indicates that ones choices about any given matter are often not so much a function of a true individual choice but are frequently arise of a function of nearly inevitable consequences caused by political, social or economic forces that serve to either increase of decrease the likelihood of any particular act (Lynch 1996, pp. 6-7,15; Messerschmidt 1997, p. 7). In support of this, consider the following facts: 34% of all families living under the poverty line are headed by single female workers. 65% of all females in the work force are either single, widowed, divorced, separated or married to men earning less that $15,000/year. African Americans earn, on average, 64% of what whites earn.  ½ Of African American children grow up in poverty. The wealthiest 1% possess 42% of the wealth in America. Most millionaires are born, not made. Class affects where you grow up, how you grow up, the quality of schools you attend (from elementary through college), occupational choices, career path, whom you marry and the cycle begins again with your children. (Lynch 1997, p.11, 12, 16) An additional explanation for the problem of crime that has the potentiality to build upon the precept of the structured action theory is the theory proposed by Hirschi and Gottfredson in A General Theory of Crime (1990) in which they posit that the critical variable in an individual choosing to commit a crime is that of â€Å"self control†. With the exception of a very few acts, the overwhelming majority of crimes are â€Å"trivial and mundane affairs that result in little loss and less gain† (Brannigan 1997, p. 405). Further, the authors suggest that crimes, though usually unplanned, are the result of deliberate (though poor) choices and incur a degree of recklessness or offensiveness that is variable to the extent of the â€Å"underlying criminality† of the individual. The degree of â€Å"criminality† is closely related to this extent to which they are impulsive and, according, have low self-control. In terms of their character or behavior, this has a number of outcomes which contribute to the ‘downward spiral’: a need for immediate gratification, the â€Å"utilization of simple means†, i.e., pay without performance, sex without marriage or commitment, justice or revenge without court costs or delays, etc., biases towards risky and exciting activities, little interest in â€Å"skilful or sophisticated criminal planning† and, insensitivity to the pain of others (Brannigan 1997, p. 406). From these behaviors, additional consequences follow such as tendencies to: smoke, drink, use drugs, gamble, have children out of marriage and engage in risky, illicit sex, be impulsive and insensitive, physical (i.e., not ‘intellectual’), short-sighted, and nonverbal (Brannigan 1997, p. 406; Storvall, E., L. Wichstrom, H. Pape Nova. 2003, p. 194) The character trait that produces this string of products is produced (or not) in the first six to eight years of childhood (Brannigan 1997, p. 410). During this period, the institution of the family is particularly important as a person is socialized and receives the psychological grounding that produces good impulse- and self-control. Without discounting either the structured action theory, life course theory or the general theory of crime (low self-control), a discussion of criminal behavior would not be complete without a discussion of life cycle theory of Sampson Laub. In the life cycle theory, the idea of internal and external factors in the commission of crime is viewed within the perspective that criminality is a function of age. In this theory, it is noted that, â€Å"the patterns of offending over [an individual’s] life cycle commonly follow an age curve – a peak†¦ which rises throughout the late adolescence and which declines into early adulthood†. Interestingly, the level of the crest of criminality varies with the race and gender of the offender as well as, accordingly, with those that can be labeled â€Å"high- or low-frequency† offenders (Brannigan 1997, p. 409). With this in mind, Brannigan points out, many programs that are aimed at curbing crime or rehabilitating o ffenders will commit grievous errors if the assumption is made that a certain regimen is effective that fails to account for this â€Å"invariant† feature (Brannigan 1997, p. 410). Another model, social capital or social bond theory, names the additional external factor of positive or negative social pressures in the form of relationships and so-called â€Å"social capital† that exists in the form of a steady job, a good marriage and other stabilizing (or not) relational bonds that influence criminality (Brannigan 1997, p. 411; Belknap 2001, p. 47, Batton 2004, p. 430; Giordano, Cernkovich Rudolph 2002, p. 990). The fundamental approach of this theory is on what induces most people and nearly all females to obey the law. Because of this, it is a distinctly feminist approach in light of the overwhelming data indicating that crime is, in nearly all cases a male issue. In all, there are a number of approaches that one can justifiably take to explain why people commit crimes. Though each one can be viewed as a separate proposition, it does not seem to be a crime to simply use each for what it is, that is, a partial representation of a broad and complex topic. In light of this, it seems to be a reasonable approach to posit a de facto theory by which race, class and gender, in combination with internal self-control and external relational factors work together to create real and virtually real structures and courses that interact over the course of a person’s life span to create a seemingly complete, reasonable and accurate explanation for most criminal acts. Viewed contextually, combinations of such risk factors as being male, having a corrupted network of friends could be overcome by being raised in a caring family environment with other ‘insulating’ factors. Similarly, a moment of poor impulse control could begin a process that quickly spirals out of control. Offenders Women who Violate the â€Å"Norm† In summary of women as principal agents in the commission of a crime, a few general trends become obvious: women commit a very small portion of all crimes, about 4-7% in the US and UK, the crimes they do commit are, on average, fewer, less severe and less likely to be â€Å"professional† or repeat offenders, women form a very small portion of prison populations. (Heidensohn 1997, pp. 491-492) Further, in all crimes except rape, the factor of gender becomes even more disparate as men are not only far more likely to commit a crime, they are even more likely to be a victim (Batton 2004, p. 423). According to 2000 statistics, men accounted for 89.6% of murder arrests and commit suicide at approximately 4x the rate of females (Batton 2004, p. 425). Though women commit far fewer crimes, some authors note that the rate of growth of female offenders is growing at a faster rate than that of males (Heidensohn 1997, pp. 494-496). Despite this, it is important to keep in perspective comparatively diminutive population of female offenders and that a large increase in the relative rate may yet still be quite a small number in absolute value. In regards to our ‘wholly unified’ theory as a composite of ‘all with predictive power’, a review of homicide data from 1960 – 2000 indicates that as female work for participation increased, the rate of murders committed by females has decreased. This suggests that as women gain greater power through increased penetration of established social structures, this has reduced the stress and frustration and subsequent ‘out-of-control’ feeling that can lead to lethal consequences. This finding is in contrast to male homicide rates that, during the same period, either stayed the same or increased, while workforce participation also remained constant (Batton 2004, p. 452). One theme that seems to emerge across studies of deviant behavior in females and males is the tendency of females to reports higher internal sources of problems than males (Storvall, E., L. Wichstrom, H. Pape Nova. 2003, p. 200; Batton 2004, pp. 428-429). Examples of this would be depression, stress from â€Å"success† in breaking through social structures or stress in being frustrated by them. This suggests the possibility that the specific motivations behind the commission behind criminal acts may be more internally driven for females and more external for males. In support of social bond theory are findings from research on female juveniles who socialize in three predominantly different setting with regards to support structures in the form of relationships and friendship networks. In this research, the greater the extent of the female-dominated friendship bonds, the less the extent of property crimes. This effect was greatest in â€Å"school females† and progressively weaker with â€Å"school males† and â€Å"street females† and virtually nonexistent for â€Å"homeless males† (McCarthy, Felmlee, Hagan 2004, p. 805). In regards to women who do commit crimes, particularly violent crimes such as domestic abuse or murder, they do so very much as men seem to do. For example in the case of domestic violence, both women and men were â€Å"equally likely to have used severe violence and inflicted severe injuries†¦, to have previously committed violence against nonintimates, and to have been using drugs or alcohol at the time of their arrest† (Busch Rosenberg 2004, p. 49). Victims In their â€Å"natural† place†¦ Despite males being victims of crimes more than females, no discussion of gender and crime would be complete with out a discussion of women as victims of crimes. Indeed, this fact may even be surprising to many that would think that ‘female’ is synonymous with being weaker and more vulnerable. Though women may not be, on average, physically as strong as men, the image is clearly more powerful than reality and this may propogate the well-documented fact that women, despite being a victim less, fear being a victim more (Belknap 2001, p. 206). There are however, certain crimes that are notably perpetrated almost exclusively against women. The most heinous of these is rape and no legitimate discussion of gender and crime would be complete with its omission. Rape is a crime typically committed against women and, in all likelihood, is committed far more than it is reported. While it is the case that it does disproportionately affect women with figures of 34% of Native American women, 18 % of white women, and 19% for African American indicating that they have been victimized (Belknap 2001, p. 218). An additional study surveyed 930 women randomly who gave responses indicating that 44% had been â€Å"victims of a completed or attempted rape† with 24% indicating a rape did definitively occur. Yet another study indicates that up to 53% of women experiencing some form of sexual assault (Belknap 2001, p. 231). TO put this into perspective, if you are a man, chances are 50/50 that your mother, your wife and your daughter has or will be sexually assaulted. If this was a female issue, it seems that the widespread dissemination of information such as this might affect matters. Though the incidence of any rape is too high, reporting and data gathering on this is itself a confounding issue, due in largely to the twin factors of social pressures to not report a shameful experience and the often uncertain definition of what actually constitutes â€Å"rape† or â€Å"sexual assault†. Also, there is likely the disproportionate reporting of certain types of rape such as the stereotypical â€Å"stranger assault† in which it is more socially acceptable to be a ‘victim’ (Belknap 2001, p. 233). The experience of being violated in the way of a rape is often difficult for women to admit, knowing that they may likely bring negative attention to themselves in the form of â€Å"victim blame† or potentially even with the threat of additional violence. Until comparatively recent times and not until the advent of the feminist influence was there much sympathy in the ‘system’ for rape victims (Belknap 2001, p. 215). Additionally, many of rapes are not the stereotypical ‘man in the bushes’ crime but are committed in situations that are â€Å"fuzzy†. Circumstances involving former consensual partners such as ex-boyfriends or ex-husbands or in scenarios where consent might have been given to point or scenarios that escalate out-of-hand but involved consent for some degree of sexual activity cloud the judgment not only police, prosecutors, and juries but the minds of victims as well. Regardless of the relationships of the victim to the offender who is convicted, Scully, indicates that none of them felt â€Å"guilt† regarding their proven actions. This finding corroborates the findings and predictions of the self-control theory as postulated by Hirschi and Gottfredson in which perpetrators are insensitive to others (Belknap 2001, p. 234). An additional crime that is typically thought of as one in which females are victims is that of domestic violence in which up to 23% of women reporting an incident with this over their lifetimes (Heidensohn 1997, p. 495). This is yet another situation in which there are social structure pressure as well as the familiar problem of definition. In regards to the degree of activity needed to constitute a â€Å"crime†, one study indicates that none of the men that completed a survey on the matter defined a number of listed incidents as a â€Å"crime† while 39% of the surveyed women identified them as such (Heidensohn 1997, p. 495). Clearly, a difference of opinion exists. This difference of opinion, though not justified, is nicely illustrated by research that indicated victims of domestic violence â€Å"justify† it and that the perpetrators â€Å"excuse† it. Specifically, regardless of the degree, women, who comprise 95% of the victims of this crime, either underreport the incidents or the severity of the incidents and men use excuses such as frustration, anger or intoxication to avoid or deny responsibility and justifications to deny â€Å"wrongness† (Belknap 2001, p. 268). In the System The Influence of Dominant Social Structures Paradigms The criminal justice system can be seen as part of the contextual framework that provides for the perpetuation of existing social structures. It can also and has been the cause of much positive change. In this irony of a duality of roles lie specific examples of how these can occur. An example of this occurs in the recently discussed situation of domestic violence. Following an incident, any incident, the police are typically the ones called to address the situation which, according to some view domestic disturbance calls frustrating because they feel they are â€Å"fighting crime†. Additionally, these types of calls can be among the most dangerous due to the unknown risks and the possibility to the police becoming involved with a very emotional perpetrator who may have the perspective that the police are ‘invading the sanctity of his home’ (Belknap 2001, p. 292). On arrival, police may find a situation for which they are untrained to deal in the case that skills such as mediation may be required. Additionally, many calls for assistance are made to prevent or in anticipation of a ‘situation’. If the police defuse the situation by their presence, the situation still exists when they leave†¦ it has only been deferred (Belknap 2001, p. 293). If the police are potentially unprepared to deal with a situation, the courts represent an additional layer of structure that imposes constraints on behaviors. For example, there is a good chance that a matter may not even go to judgment due to either plea bargaining or the defendants refusal to prosecute, sometimes to fear of retribution, sometime with false hopes but always in denial of the sequence of events that has begun (Belknap 2001, p. 294). Another component is the ‘system’ of the courts that merits identification is that of sentencing in cases in which women are offenders rather than being the victims. Though part of the reason the women’s prison population is far smaller than that of men is that far fewer women commit crimes. Despite this, with regards to sentencing for similar crimes, 20% of men convicted go to prison whereas only 5% of women do (Heidensohn 1997, p. 503). One reason for this is postulated to be that of â€Å"chivalry†. This phenomena is marked by the application of stereotypical, broadly-held and socially reinforced belief that one should ‘be nice’ to women (Heidensohn 1997, pp. 503-504). Of final note with regards to the idea of factors within the system that affect the issue of crime and gender are the patterns of employment of women within the ‘system’. In terms of women who are employed either in law enforcement or in the prison system, there are firstly comparatively few with women occupying 9% of police positions, 11.5% of corrections facilities and 20% of attorneys (Belknap 2001, pp. 357-358). This is again reflective a social system that reflects male dominance and a continuing male perspective that is, slowly, adapting to the influence of feminism. Field Perspective A Short Experimental Inquiry into Current Perceptions about Women Violent Crime To test for statistically significant variances with regards to perception of crime, a short survey (Appendix A) was administered to a group of 44 students comprised on 22 males and 22 females. Respondents were asked to read two brief crime scenarios and then recommend a sentence for the perpetrator. The two scenarios were identical with the exception that one involved bodily harm. The results of this survey indicated virtually indistinguishable responses with regards to gender with either case. Despite this, both male and female responders were significantly more likely to sentence more harshly the perpetrator who involved the use of bodily harm by an average of approximately 4.5 months. Utilizing a 2-tailed test, this was significant at the plonger sentence (H0 = sentenceA B) and not just simply a different sentence. With this in mind, the results were significant at the weaker p,0.10 level, a result that would likely change were the sample size larger. The Verdict Moving Forward with Facts†¦ and assumptions While the above experiment did not clearly showing gender differences that might have been expected, it is important to keep in mind that the crime involved property, a likely neutral proposition for which shared social