Nutrition †Food Essay

In our today’s society, especially western countries, the issue of fast food seems to be at the top of every health related debate. As these debates become more controversial, the question of who bears the responsibility remains unanswered. In his essay, Don’t Blame the Eater, David Zinczenko attempts to answer this key question by placing the greater responsibility of America’s obesity and other fast food related health issues on the fast food industries. Contrary to Zinczenko’s argument, Raldy Balko, in his essay, What You Eat Is Your Business, states that, people should take ownership of their health and well-being, and are therefore responsible for what and how they eat. Although both Zinczenko and Balko address the issue of responsibility, though with contrast, but valid arguments, Zinczenko seems to present a more convincing argument due to the way in which he explains the politics of food, the way in which our lifestyles are altered by what we eat, and things we can do to change the way we see food and its role in our lives. Although Zinczenko hold consumers responsible to an extent, he blames the fast food industries for the rising rate of obesity and other health issues related to fast food due to their failure to provide labels for their products. Zinczenko convincingly supports his claim by noting statistical data that shows the rise in money spent to treat diabetes. â€Å"Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder only 5 percent of childhood cases were obesity related, or Type 2 diabetes. Today, according to the National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country†(Zinczenko 392). He argues that, if the fast food companies are regulated so that they are responsible for their food contents, by providing proper labels, than consumers will make informed food choices. Contrary to Zinczenko, Balko argues that what one eats should be a matter of personal responsibility. To Balko’s credit, I believe that people should take personal responsibility for their health by adding a sensible diet and exercise to their routines. Where I differ from Balko is when he says that government restrictions on food are a result of people making poor food choices. According to Balko, â€Å"a society where everyone is responsible for everyone else’s well-being is a society more apt to accept government restrictions† (397). I think Balko’s argument in this regard, is a selfish one, and is an attempt to exempt the rich from paying their fair share of taxes that would otherwise benefit the poor or some middle families who cannot afford the high cost of health insurance. Both Zinczenko and Balko seem to agree on the rising health costs that are somehow a result of fast food, these two authors seem to differ on reasons. Zinczenko argues that health care cost is on the rise because of diseases caused by fast food due to the failure of fast food companies to provide labels and that consumers should not be blame for it. However, Balko argues that it is so that, we allow the â€Å"government to come between us and our waistline† (396). Balko states that, the more the government continues to fund health issues that are direct attribute of poor food/health choices, the more people will continue to dine on fast food and engage not in an effective diet and exercise regimen. (398) The growth of the fast food industry and the rate at which fast food is consumed is so fast, and its accompanying risks of obesity and related cardiovascular diseases have become a societal epidemic. Zinczenko blames the fast food industries for the spring in the rate to which obesity have grown in the United States. Even though Zinczenko is right about the rising rate of obesity, and that the consumption of fast food forms part of its etiology, the thesis of his argument cannot be proven and therefore cannot form the basis for his claims against the fast food companies since there are other contributing factors regarding the cause, onset, and progression of obesity. Obesity is also biologically linked. These biological attributors include: genetics, hormones, enzymes, and vitamins and minerals. Some people have fat in their genes that, no matter what they do, they are just fat. Others have issues with hormonal imbalances and or inadequate enzymatic actions that would aid in the adequate digestion and absorption of certain foods. Fast food is just one of the many environmental attributes associated with obesity. So Zinczenko can accurately make his case against the fast food industries for providing labels so as to enable consumers make informed food choices and not a case of obesity. Sometimes, people are too fast to pass judgment on others, especially people that are obese. I am equally guilty of the accusation myself. I work as a nurse at a nursing home facility and, in most cases, when staff member comes to me complaining of headache, first thing I say to them is; let’s check your blood pressure and, God forbid, the blood pressure is elevated, or if that person just look fat to me, my next comment is, it is because of all the junk you eat. My judgment, though may be incorrect, is based on the fact that most of these staff members are single parents, live in inner cities, and have a total commute time of two hours to and from work. Not to mention, some of them have more than one job. However, these people are being made to feel guilty about something that is totally out their control. In most instances, their wages aren’t even enough to meet up with their rents and utilities bills. Fast food comes handy in such instance where one can spend ten dollars and get ten cheeseburgers to feed a family of three to five versus going to the grocery store where each healthy ingredient is almost equivalent to the price of the entire dinner comprising of fast food. People fall back on fast food because it is cheap. Zinczenko explains that his parents were split up and that he had to live with his mother who worked long hours just to make the monthly bills. â€Å"Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. † (Zinczenko 391). In Zinczenko’s case, his lifestyle is altered because fast food is his only option since his family is dysfunctional. His single mother has to work very hard to pay bills and provide him a meal. It doesn’t matter the kind of meal. A meal is a meal, especially for someone who doesn’t have the time to prepare a home cooked meal. The people afflicted with fast food related obesity are not to blame for what they eat because they have very little or no options regarding what they eat due to all of the above reasons. However, to Balko’s point, while people may not have the option about what they eat, they have the option to control how they eat. Zinczenko states in his essay that fast food is â€Å"the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal†, and so, he urges his readers not to â€Å"blame the Eater† (392). But as with Zinczenko, we are well aware of the role fast food play in our lives. We understand that, though fast may be one, or the only available meal choice that we have, the way we eat can help us determine the role these foods play in our lives. Zinczenko supports his argument about the role food play in his life by giving information about his pre-college weight. â€Å"By age 15, I had packed 212 pounds of torpid tallow on my once lanky 5-foot-10 frame† (392). Even Zinczenko believes that, consumers are as equally responsible for the way they eat. However, he maintains his argument that the fast food companies bare the greater responsibility. In conclusion, both the eater and the producer are responsible for fast food related obesity, but I believe that the fast industries should bare the greater responsibility. Fast food companies must provide their consumers with proper food labels that enable them to make inform decision about what they eat. Label should not be falsified or misleading, like in the example giving by Zinczenko about the misleading label on the â€Å"chicken salad† (393). He refers to the salad as not healthy and that it is a caloric death- trap aimed at eaters who will not suspect it. Although Balko makes some really good points, his objectives seem to me as a means to an end. Zinczenko cautions that there are few or no alternatives to what we eat and that things have to change. Balko cautions that allowing food regulations for labels means letting the government between you and your waistline. In either case, we as a people have a responsibility to consider what and how we eat.

Crm Banking Sector Essay

A study of customer perception of CRM initiatives in the Indian Banking Sector Vanisha Oogarah-Hanuman Lecturer Faculty of Law and Management University of Mauritius Sharmila Pudaruth Lecturer Faculty of Law and Management University of Mauritius Vinod Kumar Research Scholar Department of Management Studies School of Management Pondicherry University Victor Anandkumar Reader Department of Management Studies School of Management Pondicherry University ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the front-end effectiveness of CRM strategies in the banking sector in India by studying the customer perception of CRM initiatives. This is an empirical research which is descriptive in nature and relied mainly on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire to study the perception of Indian customers. Findings: Banks operating in India have failed to impress their customers on their CRM efforts. Various CRM initiates and dimensions measured in this study report unfavorable response. This under-performance has occurred in spite of technological developments and new processes in place Practical implications: The findings will have useful implications for Banks operating in India in order to think in line with the customers’ response. The study emphasizes the importance of retaining profitable customers for a lifetime and the growing importance of CRM in order to better satisfy customers in the Indian Banking Industry. Originality/value: Crucial aspects pertaining to CRM in the Indian banking sector had been under-researched and the aim of the present study is to have a broadened investigation of the CRM initiatives adopted by Indian banks. The study provides a discussion on the concept of CRM in the Indian banking sector and proposes recommendations to assist the banking sector on how to nurture profitable, long-term relationships with the customers Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. org Page 1 1. Introduction In today’s banking environment, it is becoming difficult to build and maintain strong and lasting relationships with customers. In fact, the challenges of building strong customer relationships have become even greater for banks with the emergence of e-business, diffusion of innovations and agile new competitors in the banking sector. The introduction of Customer Relationship Management has provided banks with a driving philosophy, a reoriented information system and a communication tool that helps to create invaluable and knowledge based relationships. Therefore, banks are developing a continuing long-term business relationship with customers and they are shifting their focus from market share to mind share of customers. The literature review has focused on the importance of CRM in the banking sector and the importance of maintaining profitable relationships with banking customers, which in turn leads to profitability through customer loyalty. Close relationship with customers will require a strong coordination between IT and marketing departments to provide a long-term retention of selected customers. Accordingly, this paper will aim to investigate important attributes which customers value as far as customer relationships in the Indian banking sector is concerned. No doubt, considerable literature on CRM is available worldwide but there is limited research throwing light over the importance of CRM in the Indian banking sector. Therefore, the paper reviews pertinent literature on CRM in the banking sector. Then, the methodology employed to collect and analyse data is outlined. Then the findings are discussed, implications are described and the paper further makes strategic recommendations towards enhancing customer relationships in the Indian banking sector. Directions for future research are also proposed in the arena of customer relationship management and banking sector. 2. The Indian Banking Sector and CRM The economic reforms initiated by the Government of India roughly about a decade ago have changed the landscape of several sectors of the Indian economy [1]. The Indian banking sector is no exception. The economic reforms have also generated new and powerful customers (huge Indian middle class) and new mix of players (public sector units, private banks, and foreign banks). The emerging competition has generated new expectations from the existing and the new customers. The new rules of competition require recognition of the importance of consumers and the necessity to address the needs through innovative products supported by new technology. Perceptions and expectations of the customers have undergone a sea change, with the innovative and modern banking services offered to the customers. This necessitates banks to include a customer-oriented approach whereby they build, maintain and manage longstanding relationships with their profitable customers in order to gain sustainable competitive edge. 3. Conceptual background Over the past two decades, the literature has argued that businesses across all sectors will have to change their approach to marketing, which should now be carried out through relationships, networks, and interactions [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Such a marketing approach is very Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. rg Page 2 different from the more traditional one based on transactions affecting the Four Ps (product, price, place and promotion). 3. 1. CRM in the Banking sector Customer relationship management (CRM) has been as important to the banking industry at the start of the 21st century as it has been to any other industry. Many banks have used CRM tools to acquire more customers and to improve relationships with them. A key aspect in banks embracing technological platforms and delivery systems is the impact this will have on bank-customer relationships. Therefore, in order to achieve banking excellence, meeting customer needs and offering innovative products is not sufficient in itself. The balance between relatively high costs of relationships with customers and the need to maintain profit growth needs to be finely tuned, if marketing is not to revert back to a transactional paradigm [8]. Likewise, increased customer expectations have created a competitive climate whereby the quality of the relationship between the customer and the institution has taken a greater significance [9, 10]. The development of effective customer relationships is widely advocated as a key element of marketing strategies in the service sector (Ennew, 1996). Therefore a binding and long-term customer relationship seems to be necessary for many banks to react to the changed conditions and to guarantee the continuity. For many customers, a strong banking relationship is as vital as any other business relationship they maintain. This gives CRM-driven banks an advantage in that customers want the benefits of a solid relationship. Common benefits for customers of banks using CRM include wider access with branch locations, Internet and ATMs; access to service and support; discount credit rates and enhanced savings; and other customization opportunities. Attracting new customers should be viewed only as an intermediate step in the marketing process. Developing close relationships with these customers and turning them into loyal ones are equal aspects of marketing. Thus relationship marketing ought to be perceived as attracting, maintaining, and in multi service organizations, enhancing customer relationships [12, 13, 14, 15]. Another important facet of CRM is customer selectivity. As several research studies have shown not all customers are equally profitable for an individual company [16]. 3. 2. Role of Service Providers in the Banking Sector Although CRM has become widely recognized as an important business approach, there is no universally accepted definition of CRM. Swift defined CRM as an ‘enterprise approach to understanding and influencing customer behaviour through meaningful communications in order to improve customer acquisition, customer retention, customer loyalty, and customer profitability’ [17]. Kincaid viewed CRM as ‘the strategic use of information, processes, technology, and people to manage the customer’s relationship with your company (Marketing, Sales, Services, and Support) across the whole customer life cycle’ [18]. Parvatiyar and Sheth defined CRM as ‘a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining, and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer [19]. 3. 3. Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention and Customer Relationships Customer satisfaction and loyalty are some key elements of business success and profitability. The more satisfied the customer, the more loyal the customer and the more Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. org Page 3 durable the relationship. And the longer this lasts, the more profit the company stands to make and the higher the market share. Getting existing customers to provide referrals should be one of the effective ways to add new business [20]. A referral from a customer can often open the gates and allow a salesperson access to previously unreachable prospects. Huntley found that when the quality of relationship is high, customers are more willing to recommend the seller’s offerings to colleagues and they purchase more from the seller [21]. Maintaining high-quality relationships with customers appears to increase their willingness to provide referrals [22]. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are highly correlated [23], but they form two distinct constructs [24]. Customer satisfaction with a bank relationship is a good basis for loyalty [25, 26], although it does not guarantee it, because even satisfied customers switch banks [27]. One important reason for switching is pricing [28, 29]. Hence, banks have launched customer loyalty programmes that provide economic incentives. Although the effectiveness of loyalty programmes has been questioned [30, 31, 32], research has shown that they have a significant, positive impact on customer retention and share of customer purchases [33, 34]. In a similar vein, Reinartz and Kumar suggest that customers can be grouped according to share-of-wallet and profitable lifetime duration, and that each customer group should be targeted with a specific strategy [35]. By adopting such a customer focused strategy, organisations can maximise the lifetime value of each customer by anticipating needs and offering timely solutions [36]. Likewise, according to Hartfeil, ‘Products are not profitable; customers are, and we analysed our customer base, segment by segment, we found that each required a different strategy to maximize its profitability to the bank [37]. For instance, every customer (both business and personal) is assigned to a banker at National Australia Bank Ltd whereby bankers are required to actively manage their portfolios according to volume of business, interest margin spread, fee income, profitability, customer retention, and the acquisition of new customers [38]. While ample literature is available on generic CRM today, hardly any information is forthcoming on the gains from CRM initiatives in the Indian banking sector. There is scarce literature on how the customers respond to the CRM measures adopted by the banks. This research has attempted to study the customer perceptions pertaining to the CRM initiatives adopted by the banks in India. Thus it helps to investigate the front-end effectives of CRM strategies in the banking sector. 4. Research Methodology This is a descriptive study using primary data collected through an experience survey. The data collection instrument used was a 3-part structured questionnaire using a 5-point Likert Scale. Part-1 was pertaining to the relationship building aspect of CRM and it had 19 questions which were framed using the relevant variables identified from literature review. Part-2 focused specifically on the interaction with the customer service representatives. Part-3 was concerned with customer perceptions on complaint handling and his/her behavioural intentions. Necessary demographic details were also collected to serve as categorizing variables. Prior to data collection, a pilot test was conducted to ensure comprehensiveness, clarity and reliability of the questionnaire. The pretesting of the questionnaire was done among 10 customers randomly, resulting in some minor modifications of the wordings of some survey Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. rg Page 4 items. The method used to administer the questionnaire was through a personal interview so as to obtain more accurate, reliable and valid information and to make the respondents at ease by maintaining a social rapport with them. The target population to be sampled was the individual customers of the Indian banking sector. Owing to the need for a relatively large sample size while at the same time keeping the research costs down, the sample size of this study amounted to 150 customers and the quota sampling technique was adopted based on the net profit and market share figure as shown in Table-1 below.

Excel-based Candidate Short-lister Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Excel-based Candidate Short-lister - Essay Example The intelligent rule is based on the numbers of ‘A’ grades in the essential criteria requirements which is then sorted again by the number of ‘A’s in the desired criteria. This gives a more scrutinized level of sorting, for selecting the most qualified candidates in case of huge number of candidates satisfying the requirements. Moreover, each page is enhanced with a ‘Save’ and ‘Print’ option so as to ease the operation of saving the work and printing them whenever required, during the process. The below screen shot shows the initial screen of the tool. Figure1. Initial screen of the Candidate short-lister tool For easy navigation, View application data and view shortlisted data options are added in the initial sheet, which when clicked will take us to the respective sheet. The desired and the essential criteria for the job description are added in the respectively columns without any space between the cells and also between the head ing and the data as shown in figure 2 and ‘Generate Application_data Sheet’ is clicked. This will create template for the Application data sheet for entering the application data (shown in figure 3). Figure2. Entering the essential and desired criteria for the job description Figure3. ... p, which when clicked will shortlist all the candidates satisfying the given requirements based on their grade and creates a report in the shortlisted Candidates sheet(figure 5). The minimum qualifying grade used in this selection process is also given in the Shortlisted Candidates sheet in pink line. If the user is not satisfied with the number of shortlisted candidates and want to maximize or minimize the result, they can edit the field and refine the search (figure 6). Figure4. Data are entered manually in the application data sheet In case, if we want to sort the report to choose a required number of candidates, we can use the Intellisort option in the shortlisted candidates sheet, which will internally perform a sort based on the number of ‘A’ grades in the essential criteria and again on the number of ‘A’ grade in desired criteria. This is shown in figure 7. Figure 5. Short-listed candidates Figure6. Refine search by editing the options in pink line Fi gure7. Sorting the candidates using Intellisort If we want to shortlist only the top 5 candidates for interview scheduling, we can click the Shortlist Top 5 button on the Shortlisted Candidates sheet which will internally perform an intellisort and selects the top 5 candidates and creates a report on the Top 5 Candidates sheet (figure 8). Figure8. Selecting the top 5

Outline Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Outline - Research Paper Example This role has remained the same up to date, and therefore, more than ever international relations are crucial in maintaining global peace. It is from this understanding that as a political science major, I feel motivated to focus on international relation. Further, the rapid changing economies around the world, I believe that international relation is a study necessary to enable proper implementation of international trade policies, and define the requirements and limitations to cross border trade. Further, international relations are required to determine cross border policies for immigrations, given the high rates of immigration. People travel between different countries for business, tourism, employment or temporal visits. Processing of visas and other necessary policy documents will certainly require this profession. The increasing numbers and occurrence rates of global issues like environmental disasters and terrorism, which are greater than any country or continent, call for global collaborations. Pursuing global cooperation is becoming necessary in order to solve such issues. International relations come in handy to help bolster such global cooperation for a similar curse. Finally, international relations play a greater role in promoting culture, than the usual facilitations of goods and services exchange between countries. Such activities like students exchange programmes; cultural exhibitions and cultural tourism enhance understanding and appreciation of human expressions worldwide. All these will require international relations for effective

Survival of the Fittest Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Survival of the Fittest - Article Example This will help the employees in saving his/her jobs because health care administrators are already looking to retain only those employees who can work in more than one area. Secondly managers have to motivate employees by participating in two way communication with them. Thirdly employees can continuously get involved in the process of improving the quality of the service by providing clean and safe environment to patients and other officials of the health care system. Lastly, administrators of health care system should try to reduce their cost by negotiating with suppliers and it is the right time to do so as suppliers they are ready to negotiate due to bad economic conditions. Mark S. Learner states that an individual who is responsible for carrying out activities should try to take the credit for what he has done otherwise his activities and importance will be undermined. Lerner states that an individual has to show his technical abilities in order to save his/her job. In my opinion this is not completely true because an individual can not perform all kinds of jobs related to a field and if he/she will try to do so, he will feel over burdened and employees of health care settings are already over burdened because organizations are practicing

Methods for Teaching Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Methods for Teaching - Essay Example The lecturer then winds up the lesson with an expanded explanation and demonstration concerning the topic to accomplish assimilation and understanding (Mertig, 2003). A good example is a teacher preparing to lecture on a topic on mental illness. The teacher will ensure that he or she provides adequate information to the students inform of narrating and demonstrations. Demonstrations include showing pictures of a mentally ill patient and showing their symptoms through a picture or video while teaching. Lecturing involves defining mental illness, stating the possible causes of mental illness in the society then providing methods of managing mental illness, which can be drugs or therapies. The students will take notes and ask questions at the end of the lecture before the teacher comes up with a test to determine whether his or her students understood what mental illness is all about. Simulated practices offer students with opportunities to be involved in patient care experiences they may not have an opportunity to encounter in actual clinical settings for example coming across a patient with mental illness. These patient situations may have high impact events they may not experience in their normal classroom learning. Simulation offers an opportunity to assess clinical verdict of a mentally ill patient. It gives an opportunity to students for them to critically analyze their actions, reflect on their own set of skills, and assess the clinical verdicts of others (Davis, 2007). Simulation promotes active learning and participation because it allows the students to participate in taking care of the mentally ill patients and be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses while handling the patients. It is through participation that they are able to judge and analyze critically whether class work is what happens in the mental institutions. Simulation provides a new avenue for educators and researchers to improve nursing education and practice as well as

Study guide - short answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Study guide - short answer - Assignment Example Prices play a significant role in influencing inflation/deflation and setting up demand and supply. There is minimal or no government intervention in free market economies. The forces of demand and supply determine how much should be produced and establish the income distribution curve. The price mechanism in a free market economy represents a cycle of real income from consumers to producers and back. For example; if the government prints out money to pay war contractors, the prices of equipments used in war will increase. The money incomes of the war contractors and their employees will significantly increase. The increase in their spending power will induce them to consume more commodities. The sellers will be compelled to increase their prices to match the increased demand. The war contractors and employees will be willing to spend their money income to pay for the higher prices rather than do without the commodities. Increased money incomes mean that a dollar will have a lower subjective value. Illustration: Let the war contractors and employees be, ‘W,’ and those who directly supply the commodities to them be, ‘X.’ Group X will increase its purchases from its wholesalers (Y). Group Y will have more income to purchase more commodities from the producers (Z). The cycle is continuous such that the increase in money incomes and prices covers the whole nation. When the cycle is complete, almost everyone will indicate higher incomes in terms of

Methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Methodology - Essay Example Qualitative research methods provide the researchers with rich data and help him to broaden his horizon during the research. Moreover, it allows the researcher to look at the data with several perspectives and conclude it with the one that seems the most feasible in terms of research question and scope. Qualitative research, as mentioned earlier, is mostly used when the researcher is not completely aware about the fact that what exactly is being looked for (McBurney & White, 2009). In this case, the same is very much true. The topic here is the effect of globalization on Saudi Arabia. However, important here to note is that the effects are unknown and hidden and only this research would be able to reveal the same. One may start this research with a narrowed perspective, a presupposition in mind that the globalization may only have affected the GDP, trade volume, services sector and employment levels. A quantitative research method would allow the researcher to check out the relation and impact on all these elements in terms of past and present number. However, what if the researcher’s assumptions are faulty and effects of globalization are widespread on other elements as well. A quantitative research would fail to overcome this problem; however, a qualitative research definitely would. Nevertheless, qualitative researchers are often very subjective (Marshall & Rossman, 2010). Despite the fact that this type of research would provide many perspectives to the researcher, but he or she would definitely pick the one that suits most of him or her, thus leading to biasness. In addition, qualitative research also makes life difficult to conclude something since there is nothing in black and white (Balnaves & Caputi, 2010). Quantitative research is the collection of hard and numerical data that provides absolute, clear picture, black and white picture of the happenings. Unlike qu alitative

The Political Influence of Focus on the Family Essay

The Political Influence of Focus on the Family - Essay Example He first gained national recognition as the author of the book Dare to Discipline, in which he advocates using spanking as a form of disciplining children. His recognition as a family advocate and as a Christian leader led to what is now a huge organization dedicated to preserving traditional family values. In addition to the organization's radio broadcasts, it has a series of Bible-based magazines and publications geared toward various groups of people, such as teens, seniors, and singles, and also a political action magazine called Citizen, in which it encourages political involvement on various social issues. It also has an affiliate organization called Focus on the Family Action, which is focused on conservative political activism. Dobson writes, on Focus on the Family Action's website, that the affiliate organization provides "a platform for informing, inspiring and rallying those who care deeply about the family to greater involvement in the moral, cultural and political issues that threaten our nation." (Dobson, "About Us") As a special interest group, Focus on the Family's political focus is to support family values-related issues that are endorsed by the Republican Party. Dobson and Focus on the Family have a lot of pull when it comes to having their voices heard in Washington. He has been known to be very vocal on a wide range of things, including judiciary appointments, prayer in schools, and abstinence education. Dobson himself has been invited to the White House during both the Reagan and current Bush administrations to consult with staff on family-related issues. ("Focus on the Family") Focus on the Family speaks out on many political issues, though there are two "hot-button" topics on which the organization maintains strong opinions and that are at the forefront of the conservative movement politics today. Likely the most controversial issue to which Focus on the Family devotes much of its attention is same-sex marriage and gay rights. As defenders of family values, the organization's stance is that marriage is to be between a man and a woman. On the organization's Web site it is stated that marriage "deserves respect and protection. Any efforts to redefine marriage destroy the institution - and ultimately - civil and healthy society. Thus we oppose any government recognition or endorsement of marriage counterfeits, including same-sex unions." ("Same-Sex 'Marriage' and Civil Unions") Dobson and the organization also hold very strong opinions on the issue of abortion. They believe that the fetus is a human being from conception, and to abort that fetus is murder. Their pro-life stand is about protecting the rights of the unborn child. Francis J. Beckwith writes in an article on the organization's Web site that Focus on the Family believes "the unborn has a right to life that ought to be enshrined in our laws." (Beckwith) There are two main political tactics Focus on the Family has used to use its pull within the conservative movement. One of these is the use of scare tactics to encourage its millions of radio listeners, publishing customers, and other supporters to vote for and speak out in favor of Republican candidates and conservative stances. In his article "James Dobson: The Religious Right's New Kingmaker", Michael Crowley writes that "no one helped Bush win" the 2004 Presidential election "more than James Dobson." Crowley asserts that Bush may have won the swing

Explore the Problems Behind Sexual Deviance, Violence, or Crime and Essay

Explore the Problems Behind Sexual Deviance, Violence, or Crime and Poverty - Essay Example Majority of the world’s population today has been living in the state of poverty. In fact, the 2009 World Bank has shown that almost three billion people around the world are earning less than two dollars and fifty cents a day and 1 billion children live in starvation. There are also more or less 30,000 people around the world who dies everyday because of no food to eat (Shah, 2009). There has been no record found showing the origin of the word poverty. Nevertheless, scholarly authors believed that this term became apparent first in biblical accounts claiming that the poor will always be near in God’s heart. It has also been classified into two, absolute and relative poverty (Byrns, n.d.). Absolute poverty is cited as the state wherein the people don’t have any of the basic necessities and are totally impoverished. On the other hand, relative poverty is likened to a situation in which the people have the basic necessities but were not enough to satisfy them. Nonetheless, this classification is measured after the determination of the country’s poverty line. The late Pope John Paul II has written that poverty is the main force in armed conflicts which gravely threatens peace and security (as cited in Frederick, 2009). Significantly, two economists stated that poverty as a concept has qualitative and quantitative dimensions (Mabughi & Selim, 2006). The qualitative aspect is evaluated in terms of the standard of living while the quantitative dimension is assessed by the level of consumption. Despite these varying ideas, the World Bank has introduced a comprehensive yet radical definition which became the guiding principle of understanding poverty in the international community. Such definition emphasized the importance of an active and purposeful action towards change from both the wealthy and poor sections of the society (World Bank, n.d.). An online movement to fight poverty enumerated its causes and consequences. The causes

Types of Conflict Essay Example for Free

Types of Conflict Essay Conflict in business meetings usually falls into two categories: 1. Real professional differences – Conflict can arise from very real differences in professional opinions. In many cases, these differences dont develop into open conflict. But conflict is more likely when the outcome is extremely important, when the decision being made is irreversible, or when the impact of making the wrong decision will reflect badly on those involved. When this type of conflict is left unresolved, it can rapidly spoil relationships. 2. Power struggles and personality issues – Conflict can arise when individuals or groups dislike one-another, or feel that their positions are being threatened. This type of conflict tends to be more about peoples personalities than about facts or decisions being made. The techniques well discuss below still apply, but you may also need to resolve the underlying problem. For more on this, see our articles on Conflict Resolution (in particular, Thomas and Kilmanns conflict styles) and on Resolving Team Conflict. Reducing the Opportunity for Conflict The best defenses against conflict often involve preparing thoroughly before the meeting, and chairing strongly during the meeting. If you develop a reputation for running tightly structured meetings, theres less chance that individuals who attend those meetings will try to pursue their own agendas. See Running Effective Meetings for practical tips on how to do this. Send out the agenda in advance, and when the meeting begins, ask the group to agree to it. Then follow your agenda closely, but dont be overly rigid. If a conflict arises, a good agenda makes it easier to recognize that the group is going off course. If people agree to the meetings goals, interruptions that lead to conflict arent as likely to occur. You should also be alert for meetings where the atmosphere and dynamics of the people involved make it more likely for conflict to arise. These include gatherings where known troublemakers – individuals or groups with a history of causing conflict – are present. They also include meetings of new teams that have reached the storming stage of their team development – when individuals begin to struggle for influence, but the team hasnt yet established effective ways of working. Read more about this in Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. In these situations, state the meeting rules in advance. For example, meeting rules might be as follows: †¢ Individuals will be allowed to speak after raising their hands – and only one person may speak at a time. †¢ The chair may summarize what has been said to make sure everyone understands. †¢ Everyone will be invited to contribute, so that one person cannot take over the discussion. As chair, you must be firm about managing and enforcing these rules! If the team needs to make decisions, you may also want to establish the decision making process, and ask all participants to agree to this. Gaining Benefits from Conflict Have you ever attended a meeting in which a conflict – probably the real professional disagreement type – was successfully resolved? If so, you can appreciate the benefits of working through your differences to a satisfactory conclusion. Conflict is not, therefore, something you need to avoid at all costs. In fact, conflict can sometimes be the quickest and best way to make creative progress. You certainly dont want everyone automatically to say yes to everything without proper discussion! Spotting Potential Conflicts Early One key to spotting the first signs of conflict is watching body language. If the conflict is mostly due to professional differences, rather than personality differences, the sooner you allow people to make their points, the better. Make sure that people have the opportunity to express disagreement as soon a possible, so that issues can be resolved and the discussion can proceed on a correct basis. How do you know if someone is frustrated? Look for these signs: †¢ Making facial expressions of amazement or disagreement, such as shaking the head or rolling the eyes. The person may also fidget, or move around in a restless or nervous manner. †¢ Looking at other people to see if anyone elses body language or facial expressions reveal their disagreement with the speaker. †¢ Whispering or writing notes to another person. This may indicate that the frustrated person is checking on his or her position or trying to gather support for a confrontation. This can apply to both types of conflict. †¢ Staring, possibly in an intimidating way, at the speaker or potential target of confrontation. When you spot the signs of conflict brewing, use the resolution approaches set out in the next section proactively rather than reactively. And nipping the problem in the bud is usually better, because then no one will have to live with the memory of what was said at THAT meeting. Resolving Conflict So, what if you follow these suggestions, and an unexpected conflict still occurs? What do you do then? Here are some approaches and techniques you can use. Depersonalization This involves wording issues so that they focus on what one party doesnt like rather than the person who is proposing the unpalatable option. How does this work in practice? Lets going back to our earlier example: Well, I can see your arguments for appointing Alison. But I just think James would be better, and youre not going to convince me otherwise. As a leader, you need to pick this up and rephrase the statement: So what youre saying is that while Alison clearly has strengths, James strengths may well be more important. From here, you can move the discussion into an objective analysis of the relative importance of different qualities. Questioning Another approach is to switch your teams focus from conflict to research. Encourage people to provide information, rather than state that theyre angry or disagree with something. To achieve this, use some carefully phrased questions. Dont just ask yes-or-no questions – try to clarify what people are thinking. Ask for specific examples, and perhaps suggestions for how the disagreeable idea would need to be changed to make it acceptable to them. In some cases, the alterations they want may be quite small. When a conflict arises in a meeting, you, as the chair need to take control. Dont let others start wading in to the conflict by interrupting you or the speakers. Remove or Reduce the Perceived Threat A key cause of anger or conflict is that people may perceive that they, or things they hold dear, are threatened. Perhaps they feel that something being discussed threatens their reputation, judgment, chances of leading a successful project, or chances of getting a bonus. Or perhaps they perceive a threat to a project theyve worked hard to promote, or believe in strongly. There are two parts to this: the perception of threat, and the threat itself. This is where you need to explore the issue and fully understand what it is. Its possible that the perception may be wrong – perhaps based on faulty or incomplete information. Here you need to supply the correct information. Or it may be that the perception is correct, and the person is right to feel threatened. Here you need to address the situation. Another thing you can do is make sure that you clear up unknowns, because the unknown is often treated as a threat. Going back again to our example of the Alison vs James hiring decision, you might ask the supporters of each to talk about what benefits their non-preferred candidate would bring to the team, and what areas for development theyd need to work on. Take Things Off Line There are times when you cant resolve a situation in a meeting: this is particularly the case where problems involve sensitive personal issues, which shouldnt be discussed in public. In this case, youll need to acknowledge the disagreement, and arrange a specific meeting to address the issue later on.

The Halot, Elizabeth-Jane and Their Gender Roles Essay Example for Free

The Halot, Elizabeth-Jane and Their Gender Roles Essay â€Å"Dont be the girl who fell. Be the girl who got back up.†-Jeanette Stanley. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy introduces the readers to Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta, two girls of both different means personalities. The comparison by Thomas Hardy of Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta reveals two different sides of the gender barriers that faced young women in the 1800’s. This comparison shows that Hardy is an early feminist. This is shown through examining each girl’s respective personality, their friendship, how each handles it, and the gender role side that each are portraying. Elizabeth-Jane is the book’s heroine. She is the daughter of Susan and Henchard. Elizabeth- Jane is quiet and shy. Elizabeth-Jane also cares a large amount about doing what’s proper. She worries about her friend Lucetta’s reputation, and how to fix it. Elizabeth- Jane is an all-out good person. She seeks to better herself by studying, â€Å"Knowledge-the result of great natural incite- she did not lack; learning, accomplishments-those, alas, she had not† (Hardy 82). Elizabeth-Jane has this passion to learn more that the reader does come to admire about her. She is not too concerned about finding a man to marry. Elizabeth- Jane seems content to just learn and be alone. However, when it comes to Elizabeth-Jane and men, the reader see an entirely new side of her. When Lucetta effectively replaces her in Farfrae’s mind, she just lets it go and goes on with her life. Yes she’s miffed for about five seconds but in the end she just leaves and moves on. It is this fact that makes it hard to root for Elizabeth-Jane in the end. On the entirely other side the reader encounters Lucetta. Lucetta is Elizabeth-Jane’s only friend in the world. She is vain and petty. Lucetta is Henchard’s former lover. She was young and naive. She blabbed her mouth everywhere and with the help of Michael Henchard ruined her reputation. This left her in ruin and she wrote a ton of love notes to him. All of this happens because he promises to marry her. The most important thing to know about Lucetta is that she is a manipulator. She will cry in order to get what she wants from men. In this regard she is brilliant and the reader looks upon her with both disgust and admiration. The reader see’s Lucetta for one of her more human qualities as follows, â€Å"‘Bring me a looking glass. How do I appear to people?’ She asks languidly. ‘Well- a little worn’, answered Elizabeth-Jane† (161). Lucetta is well aware that once her beauty is gone, she will never be able to find another man to marry her. She also knows that she has two choices if she wants to remain proper, she can stay single because she has been ruined or she can marry again and hope that her past never comes back to haunt her. This then leads the reader to the realization that she will not only do anything to get a man but s he also will do anything to keep her scandal in the past. This includes stepping on her friend in order to accomplish this. This form of her personality is not surprising, given the time period. Now there’s the friendship between Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta. This unlikely friendship starts out in a grave yard, specifically at Elizabeth-Jane’s mothers grave. Both of these young women are there for very different reasons; Elizabeth-Jane is having a pity party because Henchard was mean to her, and Lucetta is finding out if Susan is really dead because she is still after Henchard at this point in the book. From this meeting Elizabeth-Jane gets both a friend and a new place to live. As this friendship grows, it becomes clear how differently both of these young women approach friendship. Elizabeth-Jane listens to Lucetta vent about her affair, â€Å" ‘This person- a lady- once admired a man much- very much’, she said tentatively. ‘Ah’, said Elizabeth-Jane† (160). Elizabeth-Jane doesn’t judge her; she listens to her and tries to help Lucetta. On the other hand, Lucetta doesn’t act like a good friend, at least not by the readers parameters. She does try however, â€Å"My husband is downstairs. He will live here till a more suitable house is ready for us; and I have told him that I want you to stay with me just as before† (200). Lucetta is so wrapped up in herself, and the fact that she found a way to remain respectable that she doesn’t realize just how terrible that statement really is in regards to Elizabeth-Jane. She figures that all she had to do to remain a good friend to Elizabeth-Jane is make sure she still has somewhere to live. That by the reader’s definition is not a good friend. This leads the readers to the gender role sides each; Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta are on. Elizabeth-Jane is the modern women according to Hardy. She wants to learn and become more intelligent. Elizabeth-Jane also by the end of the book becomes independent and able to take care of herself and Henchard. The readers see this independence when she says, â€Å"Father-I will not leave you alone like this! She cried. May I live with you, and tend upon you as I used to do? I do not mind your being poor. I would have agreed to come this morning, nut you did not ask me† (278). Elizabeth-Jane doesn’t ask her father if she can come with him, she tells him that she’s coming with him. Over the book she has gained enough gumption that she no longer cares what Henchard wants, Elizabeth-Jane only cares about what he needs. It is for this fact that the readers can classify Hardy as an early day Feminist. He portrays Elizabeth-Jane as the only character with any redeemable characteristics. She grows over the course of the books, when the person that she is compared with dies a very stereotypical death for a woman in the 1800’s. Lucetta is a complicated individual. The reader has a love hate relationship with her when it comes to the side she’s on for gender roles. Lucetta does embody the perfect 18th century women. She understands that she has to fix the scandal that rocked her life. Lucetta also understands that she needs to get a man to marry her and keep him with her no matter what. One of the ways she guarantees this is, â€Å"He knew his wife was with child†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (266). Lucetta gets pregnant. The thinking behind this is that Farfrae can’t leave her pregnant and still keep his business and reputation intact. This is a classical move for her, which fits within the gender role that has been set up for her. Lucetta also uses varying forms of manipulation on people throughout the book. The first of such is, â€Å"’you’re probably aware of my arrangement with your daughter, and have doubtless laughed at the-what shall I call it- practical joke†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (139). with this simple statement Lucetta is doing her best to lure Henchard over to her house. She knows that things are bad between him and Elizabeth-Jane, and saw an opportunity to make a move to right her ruined reputation. Lucetta is quite good at making people do what she wants. This fact is more telling than any of the other things she does in the entire book of how this young girl was raised. The other part of Lucetta proving that she is the perfect 18th century young women is what she does when she thinks her secret is getting out. She does as follows, â€Å"She stood motionless for one second—then fell heavily to the floor† (260). Instead of dealing with the fact that her scandal had come back to haunt her, Lucetta simply falls to the floor. This is a normal reaction to things like this for young women in the=is time period. It was expected of them. The men had decided that women were so fragile that they couldn’t really handle much. In the end Lucetta dies from a severe miscarriage. This could have been helped if Lucetta had just faced her scandal and lived with the consequences. Hardy used Lucetta to show the readers just where lying, manipulation and running away from things get them. Lucetta is a well-used character when it comes to understanding the complex gender roles of the 18000’s. In conclusion the reader can learn a lot about gender barriers from reading Hardy’s novel. It is the comparison of Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta that gives the reader a clear look into exactly what they faced in regards to gender barriers. It is this specific comparison that opens the reader’s eyes to the fact that hardy is an early day feminist. The reader can see this the clearest when reading about Elizabeth-Jane. She is shy and simple in the beginning of the book, by the end however she is strong and independent. Elizabeth-Jane does go through a transformation into the bright young women that Hardy is trying to demonstrate. Then the reader has Lucetta, she is petty and simple minded. Lucetta is also the perfect 18th century young women. She has been raised to use the gender barriers to her advantage. Lucetta faints when things don’t go her way, she manipulates men into doing what she wants till she doesn’t want them anymore, and she keeps secrets and lies no matter what. In the end she gets what she deserves, Lucetta dies having a miscarriage. She faints and panics when it looks like her scandal is going to be revealed to her husband and the entire town. Once she faints, she starts to miscarry and ends up dying because of it. This fact is Hardy telling the readers that if you lie and manipulate people than you will lose in the end. The comparison of these two young women makes it clear how hardy felt toward women. He thought that women were worth a second look; they could learn and be smart. They didn’t have to just be a piece of arm candy for men to parade around whenever they wanted to. To embody this he portrays Elizabeth-Jane as the modern young women and Lucetta as the stereotypical 18th century young women. Throughout the book the readers root for both Lucetta and Elizabeth-Jane. By the end of this book however they are rooting for Elizabeth-Jane to come out on top and are secretly glad that Lucetta has died. The good news is that in the end Elizabeth-Jane is the girl who fell by she is also the girl who got back up and became something better than before.

Age and Gender Differences on Fear of Crime

Age and Gender Differences on Fear of Crime The current study aimed to investigate age and gender effects on fear of crime and their relationships with attitude towards prisoner and crime, life satisfaction, living arrangement and religion in a Chinese sample. 170 undergraduate and postgraduate students, with a mean age of 21.9 years, participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire on fear of crime. In general, women reported significantly greater fear of crime than men. A factor analysis was performed and two factors were extracted: fear of being cheated and fear of physical harm. An age-gender interaction effect was found after controlling the variable of attitude towards prisoner. Results indicated that older females had higher levels of fear of being cheated than males. Yet, gender and age differences in fear of fraud victimizations are a largely unexplored area. Additional research is needed to examine how womens fear of being cheated varies with age. Introduction Fear of crime has received considerable attention in the criminological studies. Over the last few decades, research has been carried out to explore how fear of crime is explained and handled by society. Information about fear of crime not only help us to understand and interpret what fear of crime meant for individuals and societies, but also facilitate government to develop active plans to tackle publics fear. Anxieties about crime may lead to behavioral adaptation, e.g. taking precautions against crime and avoiding certain places. Nonetheless, public anxieties about crime may also have negative consequences for the individual and for society. For example, they may exacerbate the impact of crime by damaging an individuals quality of life or may affect the community by deteriorating a shared sense of trust, cohesion, and social control (Jackson, 2006). The concept of fear of crime and its causation is widely examined in the criminological field, but there is a lack of agreement on the definition of fear of crime. Fear of crime may involve two different concepts: an evaluative component and an emotional component (Skogen, 1984). For instance, Hollway and Jefferson (1997) referred crime fear as irrational response in which the rational, calculating individuals who routinely miscalculate their true risk of crime; whereas Ferraro (1995) suggested that fear of crime is an emotional reaction of dread or anxiety to crime or symbols that a person associates with crime. Past research has identified a number of factors which appear to make a contribution to fear, such as age, gender, race, vulnerability, neighbourhood cohesion, personal knowledge of crime and victimization, confidence in police and criminal justice systems, perception of risk, and assessment of offence seriousness (Box, Hale and Andrews, 1988). However, the current study wil l focus mainly on age and gender effects on fear of crime. Gender and Age Effects It is well-documented that women are more fearful of becoming a victim of crime than men despite the fact that they are less often victimized by serious violent crime (Pain, 2001; Fetchenhauer and Buunk, 2005). Over the past decades, researchers have proposed different approaches to resolve the fear victimization paradox: (1) hidden victimization of women; (2) gender tendencies of women to recall victimization experience, and to generalize fear from one context to another; (3) vulnerability of women; and (4) male discount of fear. Most crime surveys have shown that the levels of violence against women (e.g. domestic violence) are far higher than men; therefore it has been argued that women are not irrationally fearful of crime. It is because women and elderly under-report their actual victimization, and thus they appear to be less victimized (Pain, 2001). However, some have suggested that women tend to generalize the actual experience of victimization across spatial contexts than men (Pain, 1995; Farraro, 1995). Warr (1984) found that fear of sexual assault operated as a master offense among women and their fear of sexual assault influenced fear of nonpersonal crimes, such as burglary. Yet, still others reported that males often discount their fear of crime (Smith and Torstensson, 1997). Previous literature has demonstrated that males are suppressed by the perception that it is not socially acceptable to express ones fear; and when men are being perfectly honest, they may actually be more afraid of crime than women (Sutton and Farrall, 2005). On the other hand, the vulnerability hypothesis suggested that women are physically weaker than men and therefore they are less able to defend themselves against (typically male) perpetrators. A considerable amount of studies have also shown that that gender difference in fear of crime often reflects gender difference in physical vulnerability (e.g. Smith and Torstensson, 1997). Apart from gender, age is another important factor that predicts fear of crime. However, the definition of elderly varies across different studies (Chadee and Ditton, 2003). For example, Sundeen and Mathieu (1976) defined elderly as 52 years or above, whereas Warr (1984) suggested 66 years and over. Yet the most common definition of old is aged 65 or above. Since there has been no agreement on the definition of what constitutes old, mixed results were found on age. Some researchers argued that older people report higher level of fear than young people (e.g. On and Kim, 2009). In contrast, others suggested that elderly people are less likely to be victimized and thus they have the lowest level of fear (e.g. LaGrange and Ferraro, 1989; Chadee and Ditton, 2003). On and Kim (2009) explained that older people (aged 65 and over) often experience a drop in social networks (e.g. withdrawal from work, loss of close family members, increasing physical and psychological fragility), and their so cial isolation or feeling of loneliness intensifies fear of crime. Recently, it has been proposed that the relationship between fear of crime and age is non-linear and varies with crime type (Moore and Shephred, 2007). Past research has shown two different inverted U-shaped patterns in fear of property loss and fear of personal harm. Fear of property crime peaked at some time during middle-age, whereas fear of personal harm decreased with age (Chadee and Ditton, 2003; Moore and Shepherd, 2007). The oldest age group (75 or above) exhibited the lowest levels of fear for both property crime and personal crime (Chadee and Ditton, 2003). Prior research has shown that gender and age often interact with one another in producing the fear of crime differences (Ortega and Myles, 1987; Haynie, 1998; Pain, 2001). Significant gender differences in fear are observed among younger people. Nonetheless, this gender-fear gap has narrowed as mens reported fear of crime has gradually increased over tim e while womens has remained stable (Haynie, 1998). Attitude towards prisoner and crime and life satisfaction Much research on fear of crime has been focused on the perceived risk of crime; little is known about how peoples attitude towards prisoners and quality of life link to their fear of crime. Informal social control, trust, and social cohesion are important factors that contributed to the feelings of security; hence, one might argue that fear of crime often reflects individuals life satisfaction and their perceptions of social control. Jackson (2006) puts forward the view that public attitudes toward crime raise fundamental sociological problems but with a twist: public perceptions of deviance, social order and social control (p.253) and he claimed that public perceptions of crime reveal how people conceive social order (including the norms, values, and morals that bind communities and constitute social glue) and what they see as hostile to that social (maybe specific groups or wider social changes regarding values and morals, ethnicity diversity, and transformations in the political a nd economic arenas) (p.261). Therefore, it has been suggested that high levels of community efficacy, social cohesion, and a tight social structure (with low levels of anonymity and distrust) might inhibit fear of crime (Farrall, Gray and Jackson, 2007). In the last decades, researchers have questioned the validity of previous studies on fear of crime. LaGrange and Ferraro (1989) criticized that the experimental designs of previous studies were problematic. First, it has been suggested that measures of crime risk are often mistaken for measures of crime fear. Second, several widely used crime survey do not measure fear of crime, in which implicit questions are used in crime survey to measure fear (e.g. how safe do you feel or would you feel being out alone in your neighborhood at night?) instead of explicit questions. Hence, LaGrange and Ferraro (1989) have developed an 11-itemed crime fear survey to overcome the above shortcomings. The current study aims to use LaGrange and Ferraro (1989) crime fear questionnaires to examine gender and age effects on fear of crime in a Chinese sample. Method Sample A total of 170 participants (77 males, 92 females and 1 without specifying gender) were recruited in this study. The sample consisted of both undergraduates and postgraduates. Participants aged from 18 to 48 year-old (M = 21.94; SD = 4.07). Descriptive statistics of the sample were presented in table 1.They joined this study on a voluntary basis. Instrument Attitudes towards Prisoners Scale (Melvin, Gramling, Gardner, 1985) This scale contains 36 items. Participants were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert Scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The scale had a satisfactory reliability level, with overall alpha = .91. Life Satisfaction Scale. Life Satisfaction Scale, a five-item-scale developed by Diener and his associates measured general satisfaction towards life (Diener et al., 1985; Larsen, Diener, Emmons, 1985; Pavot Diener, 1993). It was validated locally (Wang, Yuen, Slaney, 2009). Participants were asked to rate the items on a 7-point Likert Scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The overall alpha is satisfactory at .88. Fear of Crime Scale (Ferraro, 1996) The ten items of this scale were rated on a 10-point Likert scale, raning from 1 (not afraid at all ) to 10 (very afraid). Unlike the Attitude towards Prisoners Scale, the Fear of Crime Scale had not been validated locally, thus prior to any analysis, a set of validation procedures was performed. First, two items that could not match the current research purpose were removed: while the item being raped or sexually assaulted was removed due to its gender nonequivalence, the item having your car stolen was also removed because not many college students in Hong Kong owned their own cars. After removing the two items, the Kasier-Meyer-Oklin (KMO) and the Bartletts Test of Sphericity were performed to see if the originally factor structure could be employed in this study. The KMO value of the eight items was 0.80 and the Bartletts Test of Sphericity was significant (p Results Checking for Covariates Based on previous studies, life satisfaction, religion, and living arrangement are all possible covariates. In order to be classified as a covariate, these variables should correlate with a) any of the independent variables (age and gender) and b) any of the dependent variables (total fear of crime, fear of physical harm and fear of being cheated). Preliminary analyses indicated none of these variables satisfied the above conditions, so they would be excluded in subsequent analysis. Testing of Hypothesis Prior to analysis, all variables excluding gender were mean-centred. This was done to reduce any multicollinearity and to facilitate model estimation when main effects and interactive effects were both present (Aiken West, 1991). To compare the relative influences of age and gender on total fear of crime, fear of physical harm and fear of being cheated, three sets of hierarchical regression were performed. Attitude towards prisoners was first entered into the equation as a covariate, followed by age and gender; the Age X Gender interaction term was entered afterwards. Gender Difference in Fear of Crime: There was a main effect that gender had on all three types of crime fear, where female was always significantly more fearful than male (see Table 2). See table 3 for the mean and standard deviation of the three dependent variables in each gender group. Age Effect on Fear of Crime: While age positively correlated with fear of being cheated, no significant correlation was found between age and the other fear of crime constructs (see Table 4). Yet after controlling for attitude towards prisoner as the covariate, the predictive power of age on fear of being cheated disappeared (see Table 2). Age X Gender Interaction Effect on Fear of Crime: Significant Age X Gender interaction effects on total fear of crime and fear of being cheated were found. However, such interaction effect did not happen for fear of physical harm (see Table 2). To further investigate these significant interaction effects, two sets of hierarchical regression on total fear of crime and fear of being cheated were performed after splitting the sample into male and female subgroups. Attitude towards prisoners was first entered into the equation as a covariate, followed by age. After controlling for the covariate, age was no longer a predictor of total fear of crime for both gender groups. Yet for fear of being cheated, while it could be predicted by age for female (ÃŽÂ ² = .14, p Discussion The present study aimed to look at age and gender effects on fear of crime and their relationships with attitude towards prisoner and crime, life satisfaction, living arrangement and religion in a Chinese sample. In general, women reported higher average scores on fear than men among all aspects of crime, indicating that women were always more afraid of crime than men regardless of how fear of crime was measured. Women in our sample also reported that they were most afraid of being raped or sexually assaulted, followed by fear of being murder and fear of being attacked by someone with a weapon. This pattern of results were in line with previous findings that women were more fearful than men because they were particularly vulnerable to crime and were less able than men to defend themselves physically; therefore, women perceived themselves to be at greater risk of crimes than men (LaGrange and Ferraro, 1989; Smith and Torstensson, 1997). The results were also consistent with previous s tudies that fear of sexual assault operated as a master offense among women, which in turn heightened their fear of other victimizations, e.g. murder, attacks, or burglary (Ferraro, 1995). On the other hand, fear of being murder was most common among males, followed by fear of being attacked by someone with a weapon and fear of being raped or sexually assaulted. Interestingly, the current results replicated the findings of LaGrange and Ferraro (1989) in which men reported that they were afraid of being sexually assaulted (presumably by other men). In the second part of the study, a factor analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between gender and age of participants and their various crime perceptions. Results of the present study showed a gender effect on fear of crime, in which women had significantly higher score on total fear of crime, fear of being cheated and fear of physical harm than men. These findings were consistent with previous research in which females might have lower threshold for fear than males. An evolutionary approach has been put forward by researchers to explain this gender difference in fear of crime (e.g. Campbell, Muncer and Bibel, 2001; Fetchenhauer and Buunk, 2005; Sidebottom and Tilley, 2008). In a Dutch study, Fetchenhauer and Buunk (2005) showed that females were significantly more fearful than males when presented with scenarios (both criminal and non-criminal events) that resulted in physical injury, and they proposed that gender differences in fear of all kinds of events that inv olved physical injury may be the result of sexual selection that favoured risk-taking and status fights among males, and being cautious and protecting ones offspring among females (p.111). The current study also found a significant positive correlation between age and fear of being cheated, suggesting that older people were more afraid of being cheated than younger people. The result reflects the varying importance attached to material wealth with age: the costs of property loss might have greater impact on middle-aged group since they are more likely to have accumulated property and have dependent children compared to younger age group (Moore and Shepherd, 2007). Based on data derived from the 2001 British Crime Survey, Moore and Shepherd (2007) concluded that fear of property loss was greatest at around 40-60 years, peaked at around 45 years, whereas a lower level of fear was observed at about 16-25 years. Another possibility for the age differences in fear might be due to socialization. Past research has shown that socialization may increase the amount of contacts with others, and thus people who socialize more often may increase their likelihood of fraud victimizat ion (Van Wyk and Manson, 2001). In a recent study, Schoepfer and Piquero (2009) demonstrated that risky behaviour and age were important factors that predicted the likelihood of fraud victimization: individuals who were open to financial risk-taking and engaged in more risky behaviours were more likely to be a victim of fraud (e.g. free prize fraud, credit or bank account fraud and being billed for more than what the product is worth). It should also be noted that older people in our sample are postgraduate students who might have higher income and socialize more often and thus they have greater opportunities to be victimized than younger people. Results in this study also showed that the relationship between age and fear of being cheated was influenced by individuals attitude towards prisoner. Since not much research has been done on fear of being cheated, more studies are needed to look at the relationship between age and fear of deception. Nonetheless, no significant correlation was found between age and fear of physical harm, indicating that that age was not associated with levels of fear of being physical harm. Further analysis was performed in the next section to look at gender and age effects on various constructs of fear. Significant gender-age interaction effects were found on total fear of crime and fear of being cheated. After controlling the variable attitude towards prisoner, age was a significant predictor of fear of being cheated in females, but not in males. There was a positive correlation between age and fear of being cheated among females, suggesting that older females were more fearful of being victimized than males. This may be due in part to the fact that personal victimization can have more serious consequences for women than men. Past research has indicated that crime fear involve both emotional and evaluative components and it is shaped by the vividness of the image of crime and perceptions of the severity of the consequences of crimes, together with feelings of personal control and perceptions of victimization likelihood (Jackson, 2006). It has been found that some vict ims of fraud may experience more harmful long-term effects than those victimized by conventional crimes, and many of them continued to suffer from lasting problems with finances, self-esteem, embarrassment, and self-blaming even ten years after the incidents (Shover, Fox and Mills, 1994). Recently, Schoepfer and Piquero (2009, p.210) argued that some fraud victimizations have even been equated to those of rape since both crime are rarely reported by victims and both involved victim facilitation, and questions of guilt and responsibility are the burden of the victims; hence, this makes females more fearful of being cheated than males. However, the current results did not support some of the past findings on fear of fraud victimization. Mixed results were found in previous studies concerning gender difference on fear of property loss. For instance, LaGrange and Ferraro (1989) found no gender different on fear of being conned or swindled out of money and fear of being approach by a beg gar; whereas Moore and Shepherd (2007) showed that men were more fearful than women of property loss. One of the possibilities for the discrepancy in these findings might be due to the cultural difference in crime rates. Since fear of crime also reflects actual crime rate in society, results in the present study might also suggest that older women are more vulnerable to minor crimes, e.g. street or telephone deception, than men in the local area. Yet, no interaction effect on fear of physical harm was found in this study. Additional study might be needed to investigate how womens fear of being cheated varies with age. There are two possible limitations in the current study that should be taken into account. The first one relates to variables that were not included in the questionnaire, namely the mass media effect, crime prevalence and previous victimization experience. Due to the limitations of the standard questionnaire used in the present study, these factors were not included. It is well-established that the mass media plays an important role in shaping individuals attitude towards prisoner and the perception of crime and fear. According to the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF), people may attend to information about criminal activities from a series of amplified stations (e.g. mass media and interpersonal communication), and the risk signals may interact with a wide range of psychological, social and cultural processes in ways that intensity their actual risks (Kasperson et al. 2003). Researchers have demonstrated that tabloid readers who have an extensive level of crime media exp osure are about twice more likely to be worried than those who have limited exposure to crime source (Smolej and Kivivuori, 2006). Previous literature on media consumption and public attitude toward crime has also shown that offenders are often portrayed as different from the general population and viewed as psychopaths that prey on weak and vulnerable victims (Dowler, 2003). Recently, Reiner (2008) argued that crime stories often exaggerate the crime risks faced by higher-status people and always disproportionately representing women, children, or older people as victims, and this might heighten publics fear of crime. Over the past decade, researchers have attempted to integrate fear of crime into macro and micro levels of analysis (Ferraro, 1995; Jackson, 2004). At the macro-level, publics fear of crime is related to crime prevalence in society and local communities; whereas, at the micro-level, neighbourhood characteristics and personal characteristics (e.g. previous victimization experience, anxiety and everyday worry) may interact to produce differential perception of risk which, in turn, produces either fearful or adaptive reactions to crime (or both) (Farrall, Gray and Jackson, 2007). In future research it might be interesting to examine how these factors interact with age and gender to produce different levels of fear of being cheated. The second possible limitation is that the current findings could not be generalized into diverse cultures with different age groups. In this study, subjects were undergraduates or postgraduates recruited from a local university and they might have similar ag e, background, living situation, and ethnicity; therefore, their crime experience will be alike. In the future study, participants from various age groups and cultures are needed in order to generalize the results outside the Chinese society.

New commercial landscaping technological processes and restructured Ess

New commercial landscaping technological processes and restructured as a Limited Liability Corporation. Joe's is being considered as a potential business investment, "Business Venture Capital". Buying an existing business can be an excellent way to become a business owner or to expand your present business. You can save time and effort of building a customer and supplier base. You may also avoid the trouble of locating equipment and hiring and training employees. However, you should abide by the Latin slogan which translates "Let the buyer beware." If you are not careful, acquiring an existing business can lead to disaster. (Poznak, 1998) Joe's Landscaping and Tree Trimming (Joe's) began as a small sole proprietorship. In efforts to expand and become a company that investors would be interested in, the company has ventured into new commercial landscaping technological processes and restructured as a Limited Liability Corporation. Joe's is being considered as a potential business investment, however, after reviewing the requirements of the legal due diligence process, it is my recommendation that an investment is not made into Joe's. In the third quarter of 2002, investors pumped $4.5 billion into 647 entrepreneurial companies, a decrease of 26% from the prior quarter, which saw $6 billion of funding to 838 startups. While IT startups consistently gain venture capitalists' attention, software companies continue to gather the largest amounts of cash despite a 10% drop in funding from the prior quarter. Representing 22% of total investment dollars, 180 software companies got funding, totaling $993 million. "Software is once again leading VC back to its roots, being the largest category in all of 2 but the last 10 years," says Tracy Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture-capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He says that software companies are a safer bet for investors, as they have lower initial capital requirements and early milestones for achievements. (www.informationweek.com) While startups at all stages are struggling in this down market, the stakes are highest for new companies who want to gain first-time funding. Only 159 entrepreneurs received first-time funding in the third quarter, compared with 214 in the second quarter. Software startups took 30% of that money. Overall, the tightened i... ...ele. Since more revenue dollars are used for labor expenses, it is imperative that management maximizes the productivity they get out of their employees. (www.asbdc.com) It is imperative to mitigate major risks when considering investment opportunities. Potential liabilities are often over looked in the excitement of the investment opportunity. Liability claims from hazardous working conditions and potential environmental concerns makes Joe's a risky investment. More research needs to be done to ensure the company is utilizing environmentally safe products, tools, and is creating opportunities to produce safer materials and processes. References Arkansas Small Business Development Center. (2003, April). Retrieved June 23, 2004, from http://www.asbdc.ualr.edu/bizfacts/8002.asp Cuneo, E. C. (2002, October). More Venture Capitalists Keep Their Wallets Closed. Retrieved June 23, 2004, from http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021028S0010?ls=TW_012803_fea&fb=20030128_software Poznak, J. L. (1998, August). Buying a business: Let the buyer beware. Retrieved June 23, 2004, from http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=203222&extID=10032&oliID=213 New commercial landscaping technological processes and restructured Ess New commercial landscaping technological processes and restructured as a Limited Liability Corporation. Joe's is being considered as a potential business investment, "Business Venture Capital". Buying an existing business can be an excellent way to become a business owner or to expand your present business. You can save time and effort of building a customer and supplier base. You may also avoid the trouble of locating equipment and hiring and training employees. However, you should abide by the Latin slogan which translates "Let the buyer beware." If you are not careful, acquiring an existing business can lead to disaster. (Poznak, 1998) Joe's Landscaping and Tree Trimming (Joe's) began as a small sole proprietorship. In efforts to expand and become a company that investors would be interested in, the company has ventured into new commercial landscaping technological processes and restructured as a Limited Liability Corporation. Joe's is being considered as a potential business investment, however, after reviewing the requirements of the legal due diligence process, it is my recommendation that an investment is not made into Joe's. In the third quarter of 2002, investors pumped $4.5 billion into 647 entrepreneurial companies, a decrease of 26% from the prior quarter, which saw $6 billion of funding to 838 startups. While IT startups consistently gain venture capitalists' attention, software companies continue to gather the largest amounts of cash despite a 10% drop in funding from the prior quarter. Representing 22% of total investment dollars, 180 software companies got funding, totaling $993 million. "Software is once again leading VC back to its roots, being the largest category in all of 2 but the last 10 years," says Tracy Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture-capital practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He says that software companies are a safer bet for investors, as they have lower initial capital requirements and early milestones for achievements. (www.informationweek.com) While startups at all stages are struggling in this down market, the stakes are highest for new companies who want to gain first-time funding. Only 159 entrepreneurs received first-time funding in the third quarter, compared with 214 in the second quarter. Software startups took 30% of that money. Overall, the tightened i... ...ele. Since more revenue dollars are used for labor expenses, it is imperative that management maximizes the productivity they get out of their employees. (www.asbdc.com) It is imperative to mitigate major risks when considering investment opportunities. Potential liabilities are often over looked in the excitement of the investment opportunity. Liability claims from hazardous working conditions and potential environmental concerns makes Joe's a risky investment. More research needs to be done to ensure the company is utilizing environmentally safe products, tools, and is creating opportunities to produce safer materials and processes. References Arkansas Small Business Development Center. (2003, April). Retrieved June 23, 2004, from http://www.asbdc.ualr.edu/bizfacts/8002.asp Cuneo, E. C. (2002, October). More Venture Capitalists Keep Their Wallets Closed. Retrieved June 23, 2004, from http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021028S0010?ls=TW_012803_fea&fb=20030128_software Poznak, J. L. (1998, August). Buying a business: Let the buyer beware. Retrieved June 23, 2004, from http://www.keepmedia.com/ShowItemDetails.do?itemID=203222&extID=10032&oliID=213

Reality is Like A Dream in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by

Reality is Like A Dream in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates intrigues readers in her fictional piece â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been† by examining the life of a fifteen year old girl. She is beautiful, and her name is Connie. Oates lets the reader know that â€Å"everything about her [Connie] had two sides to it, one for home, and one for anywhere but home (27). When Connie goes out, she acts and dresses more mature than she probably should. However, when she is at home, she spends the majority of her time absorbed with daydreams â€Å"about the boys she met†(28). This daydreaming behavior is observable to the reader throughout the story. From theories about dreams, theories about subconscious thought, and the clues that Oates provides, the reader is lead to believe that Connie’s experience with Arnold Friend is a nightmare used to awaken her to the consequences that her behavior could result in. Have you ever experienced a dream or a nightmare that seemed like reality? Most people in the world today would say that they have. Although this realistic dream experience does not occur often, when it does, clear distinctions are hard to make between the dream and reality. Theories exist that explain dreams as our subconscious thoughts delving into our minds to make us reflect upon feelings or experiences that we neglect in life when awake. Connie often flirts with her feelings about sexual encounters. In fact, Larry Rubin believes that â€Å"Connie’s intense desire for a sexual experience runs head long into her innate fear of having such an experience† (58). Connie’s tendency to eventually dismiss these fears forces the reader to make the connection between her experience wit... ...tomy between reality and dreams quite well throughout her piece. She provides the reader with two ways to experience the story: either as reality or as reality that turns into a nightmare. This dichotomy that Oates creates â€Å"allows the reader to escape this story, and allows this story to end† (Hurley 374). The end of the story shows Connie entering the new world of experience, and Oates wants the reader to sense her fear. Oates intricately provides the reader with clues that help see why Connie’s experience with Arnold is just a nightmare. She also allows the reader to see how this nightmare is meant to scare Connie into making the realization that her decisions have consequences. I hope that anyone reading this learns from Connie that not everything we do is good for us, and we have to think about the consequences of our actions, whether good or bad, before we act.

Impact of Pregnancy Cortisol Levels on High and Low Working Memory Capa

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Impact of Pregnancy Cortisol Levels on High and Low Working Memory Capacity The terms â€Å"baby brain† and â€Å"maternal amnesia† are informally used to describe the perceived memory loss and inattentiveness many women report suffering during pregnancy (Cuttler, Graf, Pawluski & Galea, 2010). Previous studies have suggested that this perceived memory loss may be associated with temporary exhaustion of working memory capacity (WMC) (Casey, 2000). In 1971, Marian Diamond and collegues did extensive research on pregnant and non-pregnant rats and demonstrated for the first time that pregnancy reshapes the brain (Diamond, Johnson & Ingham, 1971). Their findings suggest that pregnancy in rats increases dendritic spine density in areas of the brain that regulate learning and memory as well as areas involved in control of fear and anxiety. During stressful situations, adrenergic activation prompts secretion of epinephrine by the sympathetic nervous system (Elzinga & Roelofs, 2005). The hormone cortisol is made by the adrenal glands and is also essential in response to stressful situations. When adrenergic activity and cortisol levels are concordantly increased, working memory impairments proceed. Throughout the third trimester of pregnancy, cortisol reaches levels consistent with those seen in Cushing’s syndrome (Glynn, 2010). Cushing’s syndrome is defined by excess cortisol levels dispersed by the adrenal glands as a result of a tumor or medication (Margulies, Voto, Fescina, Lastra, Lapidus & Schwarez 1987). Individuals suffering from Cushing’s syndrome experience a wide range of symptoms, one of which is a decrease in working memory. Working memory (WM) is a theoretical structure referring to an ind... ...10). Literature associating endocrine exposures during gestation and changes in memory function, support that women with lower levels of cortisol display poorer verbal recall memory performance (Glynn, 2010). However, performance on working memory tasks did not differ between pregnant and non-pregnant participants. The contradictory evidence pertaining to the impact of cortisol on memory suggests that further study is needed to understand its effects. Working Memory Attentional Control Measures of performance on tests of WM suggest that WMC increases continually between early childhood and adolescence (West, 1996). Empirical studies have also supported that WM is among one of the cognitive functions most sensitive to decline in old age. West (1996) theorized that the declines in WM as we age is due largely to the deterioration of the pre-frontal cortex. Impact of Pregnancy Cortisol Levels on High and Low Working Memory Capa PROJECT DESCRIPTION Impact of Pregnancy Cortisol Levels on High and Low Working Memory Capacity The terms â€Å"baby brain† and â€Å"maternal amnesia† are informally used to describe the perceived memory loss and inattentiveness many women report suffering during pregnancy (Cuttler, Graf, Pawluski & Galea, 2010). Previous studies have suggested that this perceived memory loss may be associated with temporary exhaustion of working memory capacity (WMC) (Casey, 2000). In 1971, Marian Diamond and collegues did extensive research on pregnant and non-pregnant rats and demonstrated for the first time that pregnancy reshapes the brain (Diamond, Johnson & Ingham, 1971). Their findings suggest that pregnancy in rats increases dendritic spine density in areas of the brain that regulate learning and memory as well as areas involved in control of fear and anxiety. During stressful situations, adrenergic activation prompts secretion of epinephrine by the sympathetic nervous system (Elzinga & Roelofs, 2005). The hormone cortisol is made by the adrenal glands and is also essential in response to stressful situations. When adrenergic activity and cortisol levels are concordantly increased, working memory impairments proceed. Throughout the third trimester of pregnancy, cortisol reaches levels consistent with those seen in Cushing’s syndrome (Glynn, 2010). Cushing’s syndrome is defined by excess cortisol levels dispersed by the adrenal glands as a result of a tumor or medication (Margulies, Voto, Fescina, Lastra, Lapidus & Schwarez 1987). Individuals suffering from Cushing’s syndrome experience a wide range of symptoms, one of which is a decrease in working memory. Working memory (WM) is a theoretical structure referring to an ind... ...10). Literature associating endocrine exposures during gestation and changes in memory function, support that women with lower levels of cortisol display poorer verbal recall memory performance (Glynn, 2010). However, performance on working memory tasks did not differ between pregnant and non-pregnant participants. The contradictory evidence pertaining to the impact of cortisol on memory suggests that further study is needed to understand its effects. Working Memory Attentional Control Measures of performance on tests of WM suggest that WMC increases continually between early childhood and adolescence (West, 1996). Empirical studies have also supported that WM is among one of the cognitive functions most sensitive to decline in old age. West (1996) theorized that the declines in WM as we age is due largely to the deterioration of the pre-frontal cortex.

Blood Brothers

The past few weeks I have been reading the play Blood Brothers written by Willy Russell. It is the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth. Wealthy Mrs Lyons, who is not able to have her own children, blackmails her maid, Mrs Johnstone into giving her one of her new born twins. Mrs Lyons says all Miss Johnston’s other children well benefit, as the Johnston’s have little money. The women agree that it should be their secret and no one else will ever know the truth. The play explores many themes, some being, superstition, friendship and social class.This essay will discuss the changes in the relationship between Edward and Mickey, while also looking at the conveyed themes. The first time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are seven. â€Å"My best friend always had sweets to share. † Mickey is describing Eddie as his â€Å"best friend. † When the brothers first met Edward shared sweets with Mickey, this small gesture started their friendship. If Ed ward had not shared his sweets the brothers might have never became friends. When they find out that they were born on the same day Mickey asks Eddie to become his ‘blood brother'.The boys both made a small cut on their hand, then linked the cuts together, making the blood from the boys join. Both mothers find out about their friendship and are fast in telling their sons to break it up. Edward tells Mickey, ‘My mum says I haven’t got to play with you’ Mickey replies ‘Well, my mum says I haven’t to play with you’. Both mothers are trying to get the twins to stop communicating. By this time the brothers are good friends and blood brothers. Against their mothers wishes the brothers continue to have a friendship until Mrs Lyons even decides to persuade her husband to move the family away.Soon after, the Johnston’s are moved to a house in the country – unknown to them it’s the same area in which the Lyons moved to. The br others meet again in a field at the age of 14, not knowing who the other is. After the move the Johnston’s life has improved, Mickey still has a crush on Linda but doesn’t know how to ask her out. This is another part of fate, they live close by and were both excluded from school at the same time. The twins go to the cinema together, then they finally realise who the other is and meet up with Linda.Mrs Lyons spots Mrs Johnston and tries to kill her. The boys friendship is still strong but the time gap has left a toll. Edward’s vocabulary is not as posh/strong. Also the contrast in backgrounds shows. Mickey smokes, while Edward doesn’t. Edward lives in a ’posh’ area Mickey lives in the estate. Also Edward attends a private school while Mickey goes to the county school. The next time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are 18. ‘If I was Mickey I would have asked you years ago. ’ Edward is jealous of the feelings Linda has for Mick ey.He knows Mickey feels the same for Linda and puts his ‘best friends’ feelings over his own and persuades him to ask her out. While Edward is away at University Linda falls pregnant and Mickey looses his job. This pushes Edwards life further away from Mickey’s. Edward socialises and is in further education. Mickey is on the dole with a pregnant wife, he’s a lot more pressured than Edward. When Edward returns Mickey doesn’t have any money, ‘The Christmas Party’s gonna be on me. ’ Mickey had promised to take Edward out for a treat.Edward said he would pay, but if anything, this put more pressure on Mickey and it pushed him into participating in a ‘hold up’ with his brother, Sammy. The job goes all wrong, Sammy shoots someone and they both end up in jail. While in jail Mickey is put into a depression and ends up on antidepressant drugs. ‘I get depressed an’ I need to take these cos they make me better. â €™ Edward helps Mickey and Linda get a house and gets Mickey a job. This puts a strain on Mickey and Linda, Mickey feels he is a failure as his wife had to get help off a friend. ‘I’m not stupid, Linda. You sorted it out.You an’ Councillor Eddie Lyons. ’ He thinks Linda and Edward are having an affair. Mickey gets a gun and goes to confront Edward. ‘I’ve been thinkin’ again, Eddie. You an’ Linda were friends when she first got pregnant, weren’t y’? Does my child belong to you as well as everythin’ else? ’ The police enter, and try to convince Mickey to drop the gun. Mrs Johnstone enters, and pleads with Mickey to not shoot. She blurts out that they are brothers, and that she couldn’t afford to keep them both. Mickey’s jealousy is shown, ‘Why didn’t you give me away!I could have been †¦ I could have been him! At this point Mickey’s gun goes off accidentally, th e police open fire. Both brothers are dead. In conclusion the relationship between Edward and Mickey has its up’s and downs. At first they are close friends and are then separated, at fourteen they meet up again and are coincidentally separated once more. By the age of eighteen Mickey realises the differences and is betrayed by Edward. In the end realisation hits the brothers as they are told the truth, a childish pact was for real. The overall message is that although everyone has secrets, if they really matter they will be found out. Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is a musical by Willy Russell which was written and first performed in 1981. The musical is about twin brothers, separated at birth, with one kept in a low-class family and the other adopted into a wealthy family. The characters of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons, the mothers, are total opposites. Mrs Johnston is a struggling, single mother of seven, with another two on the way, whereas Mrs Lyons is a privileged, yet childless, married woman. One of the main themes of the musical is superstition for example; the song ‘shoes upon the table’ is all about superstition.Another big theme of the musical is fate. Eddie and Mickey meet almost as if they are meant to, and instantly take a liking to one another. When they lose contact, they meet again, proving they are supposed to be a pair. Also the narrator plays the role of the devil and he sings the song lyrics ‘you know the devil’s got your number’ and that is implying that no matter what, fate i s going to happen wherever the characters are living or whatever they are doing. The last theme to the musical is social class, the whole way through the musical we are being reminded about how different these characters are to each other.Willy Russell shows this by their clothes, accent or speech. The opening scene started with a funeral we saw some men dressed in black suits putting two bodies into coffins (Mickey and Eddie) however the gauze curtain was still not raised. This seemed like the past and present of the story, as this first scene was the inevitable end. I think that was effective because it immediately gets your attention and you become eager to know what’s going on. Mickey and Eddie lay side by side both dead. The narrator then tells us the story of what happened. This is cross-cutting as it shows a different time period then returns to the current one.When we are first introduced to Mrs Johnston, she is a single mother ever since her husband left her for a yo unger woman. She is not dressed in the best of clothes as she does not have much money and her job is cleaning Mrs. Lyons house. Mrs. Johnston is a low–class Liverpudlian, who is extremely hard working. Mrs Johnston is shown as a woman in her thirties but a very worn out woman because of the stress of work and her children. Mrs Johnston stutters at times because of her being under pressure, like when Mrs Lyons is persuading her to give away one of the twins.And by Mrs. Johnston stuttering it shows she is unsure and pressured into something she doesn’t want to do. Willy Russell presents Mrs Johnston to the audience as a decent woman, who gives lots of love to her children, but she can’t give them more than that because she hasn’t got a well-paid job and she is working as Mrs Lyons’ house maid, which takes a lot of her time, which could be spent with her children instead. That is why Mickey and his siblings are left to learn about life themselves on the streets. That makes the audience sympathise with the poor people.She shows that to the audience after she learns she is going to have twins by saying: â€Å"With one more baby we could have managed. But not with two. The Welfare have already been on to me. They say I’m incapable of controllin’ the kids I’ve already got. They say I should put some of them into care† so because she loves her children and wants to keep them she makes the sacrifice of giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons with hope that he will have a better life then what she could give him. Even though she regrets giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons her superstitions stops her from telling anyone about what she has done out of the fear of killing her own children.Mrs Lyons contrasts really strongly against Mrs Johnston. At first, Mrs Lyons is shown as a bright person in her thirties, unlike the stressed Mrs Johnston who is the same age. Mrs Lyons is an upper middle-class woman. She is dressed very smartly as she has the money to have nice clothes. Mrs. Lyons is a very patronising woman, who is forceful and pressurising. Mrs Lyons uses negative views about extra children so that Mrs Johnston will have to give away one of the twins to her. She doesn’t do this in an aggressive way, but in a dangerously sweet way. So that Mrs.Johnston doesn’t feel like she can cope any more. Willy Russell also shows Mrs. Lyons to be self-centred as Mrs Lyons is willing to take a child away from its mother, so that she can save herself. Mrs Lyons is a very sly and devious woman, as she uses superstition against Mrs Johnston, so that she can keep one of the twins. Her facial expressions are very stern and persuading and her body language comes across very confident as she knows that’s she is manipulating Mrs. Johnston. The Narrator is also a very important part to the musical; he acts as a shadow of the other characters. Firstly he was like the host.He constantly kept appearing and kep t the performance flowing. It seemed as if he had the remote to slow things down and also to speed things up when he wanted. He wore a smart black suit which gave him a high profile. His voice was used quite well because he adjusted it to make it loud and directive as a narrator should have but it also had a bit of power in it. During the performance he popped up here and there just to clarify things for the audience. The Narrator is there as a reminder of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons’ agreement. The other characters don’t acknowledge him which shows he is of a ghostly nature.The Narrator raises suspicion and builds up tension between the characters. The Narrator also has no emotions and he comes across as a very cold person which makes the audience feel as if he is like a devil type figure. Although he is a devil like figure, he is a neutral character because he doesn’t choose sides and we don’t know anything about him, other than he knows the fate of each character. The Narrator is trying to tell Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons that their pact won’t work, because the truth will be known. He uses repetition and rhyme, so that his lines are more catchy and memorable.The character of Mickey was portrayed really well as the person playing this role was showing great child like movements such as pulling his jumper over his knees and also by the way he was speaking. The way Mickey was speaking came across very child like as he was doing a lot of rhyming and simple sentences. Mickey also plays childhood games, like mounted Police and Indians, and runs around with a toy gun. When Mickey was playing his cowboy like games he pretended to have a horse between his legs and he galloped around the stage like a child would do.As Mickey got older he showed he was acting more mature and he understood that life wasn’t going to be easy for him and he needed to work for things unlike Eddie who had everything sorted out for him. When Mickey has got out of prison he is really unsteady and has to take pills to calm himself even though he doesn’t need the pills, he just thinks he does. But when Mickey takes the pills, Willy Russell uses stage directions to give the characters emotion with their physical movement, so when Mickey takes the pills the lights come up on Mickey.We see him go to take his pill, we see him struggle not to take it’’ Russell does this to get the audience to feel sad and sympathetic for Mickey. So in this scene the lighting is really dim, which reflects on Mickey’s thought processes which are slow and aged. You can see from this scene that prison has aged Mickey beyond doubt. Mickey used movement and his voice to really portray Mickey’s vulnerability. Mickey’s movements were slow and it seemed like every step he took was agony. His speech was slow, and his voice was extremely quiet.He walked hunched over, as if trying to protect himself from an unknown fear. Edd ie is the complete opposite to Mickey as he was raised in a wealthy family and he shows this in his body language because he stands up straight, speaks politely and is never rude. When Eddie first meets Mickey, Mickey speaks in common English and uses slang around Eddie and he finds it amazing because he has never heard any one talk like that. Eddie seems to have grown up very fast because at the age of seven, he is already very polite and well spoken. His parents have influenced him because he is like a miniature adult.Throughout the whole of the musical Mrs. Johnston sings about Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe is a very clever icon to use throughout the musical. This is because using her as a reference sets us in the correct time period. She is also a good symbol, because she has links to many of the themes in the play including death, addiction and beauty. All the scenes were set in the same location; and the set design remained the same for the whole performance, even when the ba ckdrop changed however, the insides of houses, occasionally descended from the ceiling to show the insides of each home.One the right side of the stage was a wall which had graffiti on it and that represented the lower class type of area that Mickey and Mrs. Johnston would live in. Class difference is displayed very clearly in Blood Brothers, in particular the difference in wealth between the two families. Eddie's parents ensure that he has a comfortable upbringing and is able to study at university and receive a qualification, resulting in a highly paid job. This is completely different to Mickey.He comes from a poor family which meant that he was stuck in a dead end job in a factory. â€Å"I bleeding hated it, standing there all day never doing anything apart from putting cardboard boxes together. † This reflects Mickey's frustration and highlights the lack of opportunities open to him, which adds to the dramatic effect of the musical because it prepares us for trouble in t he future. A good example of dramatic irony in the musical is when Eddie and Mickey decide that as they are such good friends they will become blood brothers. Hey, we were born on the same day. That means we can be blood brothers. † The audience knows that they were actually brothers so that creates dramatic irony. I really enjoyed the musical Blood Brothers and it helped me understand the class difference which is displayed very clearly in the difference in wealth between the two families. I also liked the way the actors never came out of role when bringing in props e. g. chairs, tables and carpets. I also loved how the lighting would make a very serious point feel more real and intense. Blood Brothers The past few weeks I have been reading the play Blood Brothers written by Willy Russell. It is the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth. Wealthy Mrs Lyons, who is not able to have her own children, blackmails her maid, Mrs Johnstone into giving her one of her new born twins. Mrs Lyons says all Miss Johnston’s other children well benefit, as the Johnston’s have little money. The women agree that it should be their secret and no one else will ever know the truth. The play explores many themes, some being, superstition, friendship and social class.This essay will discuss the changes in the relationship between Edward and Mickey, while also looking at the conveyed themes. The first time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are seven. â€Å"My best friend always had sweets to share. † Mickey is describing Eddie as his â€Å"best friend. † When the brothers first met Edward shared sweets with Mickey, this small gesture started their friendship. If Ed ward had not shared his sweets the brothers might have never became friends. When they find out that they were born on the same day Mickey asks Eddie to become his ‘blood brother'.The boys both made a small cut on their hand, then linked the cuts together, making the blood from the boys join. Both mothers find out about their friendship and are fast in telling their sons to break it up. Edward tells Mickey, ‘My mum says I haven’t got to play with you’ Mickey replies ‘Well, my mum says I haven’t to play with you’. Both mothers are trying to get the twins to stop communicating. By this time the brothers are good friends and blood brothers. Against their mothers wishes the brothers continue to have a friendship until Mrs Lyons even decides to persuade her husband to move the family away.Soon after, the Johnston’s are moved to a house in the country – unknown to them it’s the same area in which the Lyons moved to. The br others meet again in a field at the age of 14, not knowing who the other is. After the move the Johnston’s life has improved, Mickey still has a crush on Linda but doesn’t know how to ask her out. This is another part of fate, they live close by and were both excluded from school at the same time. The twins go to the cinema together, then they finally realise who the other is and meet up with Linda.Mrs Lyons spots Mrs Johnston and tries to kill her. The boys friendship is still strong but the time gap has left a toll. Edward’s vocabulary is not as posh/strong. Also the contrast in backgrounds shows. Mickey smokes, while Edward doesn’t. Edward lives in a ’posh’ area Mickey lives in the estate. Also Edward attends a private school while Mickey goes to the county school. The next time Edward and Mickey meet is when they are 18. ‘If I was Mickey I would have asked you years ago. ’ Edward is jealous of the feelings Linda has for Mick ey.He knows Mickey feels the same for Linda and puts his ‘best friends’ feelings over his own and persuades him to ask her out. While Edward is away at University Linda falls pregnant and Mickey looses his job. This pushes Edwards life further away from Mickey’s. Edward socialises and is in further education. Mickey is on the dole with a pregnant wife, he’s a lot more pressured than Edward. When Edward returns Mickey doesn’t have any money, ‘The Christmas Party’s gonna be on me. ’ Mickey had promised to take Edward out for a treat.Edward said he would pay, but if anything, this put more pressure on Mickey and it pushed him into participating in a ‘hold up’ with his brother, Sammy. The job goes all wrong, Sammy shoots someone and they both end up in jail. While in jail Mickey is put into a depression and ends up on antidepressant drugs. ‘I get depressed an’ I need to take these cos they make me better. â €™ Edward helps Mickey and Linda get a house and gets Mickey a job. This puts a strain on Mickey and Linda, Mickey feels he is a failure as his wife had to get help off a friend. ‘I’m not stupid, Linda. You sorted it out.You an’ Councillor Eddie Lyons. ’ He thinks Linda and Edward are having an affair. Mickey gets a gun and goes to confront Edward. ‘I’ve been thinkin’ again, Eddie. You an’ Linda were friends when she first got pregnant, weren’t y’? Does my child belong to you as well as everythin’ else? ’ The police enter, and try to convince Mickey to drop the gun. Mrs Johnstone enters, and pleads with Mickey to not shoot. She blurts out that they are brothers, and that she couldn’t afford to keep them both. Mickey’s jealousy is shown, ‘Why didn’t you give me away!I could have been †¦ I could have been him! At this point Mickey’s gun goes off accidentally, th e police open fire. Both brothers are dead. In conclusion the relationship between Edward and Mickey has its up’s and downs. At first they are close friends and are then separated, at fourteen they meet up again and are coincidentally separated once more. By the age of eighteen Mickey realises the differences and is betrayed by Edward. In the end realisation hits the brothers as they are told the truth, a childish pact was for real. The overall message is that although everyone has secrets, if they really matter they will be found out. Blood Brothers Blood Brothers is a musical by Willy Russell which was written and first performed in 1981. The musical is about twin brothers, separated at birth, with one kept in a low-class family and the other adopted into a wealthy family. The characters of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons, the mothers, are total opposites. Mrs Johnston is a struggling, single mother of seven, with another two on the way, whereas Mrs Lyons is a privileged, yet childless, married woman. One of the main themes of the musical is superstition for example; the song ‘shoes upon the table’ is all about superstition.Another big theme of the musical is fate. Eddie and Mickey meet almost as if they are meant to, and instantly take a liking to one another. When they lose contact, they meet again, proving they are supposed to be a pair. Also the narrator plays the role of the devil and he sings the song lyrics ‘you know the devil’s got your number’ and that is implying that no matter what, fate i s going to happen wherever the characters are living or whatever they are doing. The last theme to the musical is social class, the whole way through the musical we are being reminded about how different these characters are to each other.Willy Russell shows this by their clothes, accent or speech. The opening scene started with a funeral we saw some men dressed in black suits putting two bodies into coffins (Mickey and Eddie) however the gauze curtain was still not raised. This seemed like the past and present of the story, as this first scene was the inevitable end. I think that was effective because it immediately gets your attention and you become eager to know what’s going on. Mickey and Eddie lay side by side both dead. The narrator then tells us the story of what happened. This is cross-cutting as it shows a different time period then returns to the current one.When we are first introduced to Mrs Johnston, she is a single mother ever since her husband left her for a yo unger woman. She is not dressed in the best of clothes as she does not have much money and her job is cleaning Mrs. Lyons house. Mrs. Johnston is a low–class Liverpudlian, who is extremely hard working. Mrs Johnston is shown as a woman in her thirties but a very worn out woman because of the stress of work and her children. Mrs Johnston stutters at times because of her being under pressure, like when Mrs Lyons is persuading her to give away one of the twins.And by Mrs. Johnston stuttering it shows she is unsure and pressured into something she doesn’t want to do. Willy Russell presents Mrs Johnston to the audience as a decent woman, who gives lots of love to her children, but she can’t give them more than that because she hasn’t got a well-paid job and she is working as Mrs Lyons’ house maid, which takes a lot of her time, which could be spent with her children instead. That is why Mickey and his siblings are left to learn about life themselves on the streets. That makes the audience sympathise with the poor people.She shows that to the audience after she learns she is going to have twins by saying: â€Å"With one more baby we could have managed. But not with two. The Welfare have already been on to me. They say I’m incapable of controllin’ the kids I’ve already got. They say I should put some of them into care† so because she loves her children and wants to keep them she makes the sacrifice of giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons with hope that he will have a better life then what she could give him. Even though she regrets giving Eddie to Mrs. Lyons her superstitions stops her from telling anyone about what she has done out of the fear of killing her own children.Mrs Lyons contrasts really strongly against Mrs Johnston. At first, Mrs Lyons is shown as a bright person in her thirties, unlike the stressed Mrs Johnston who is the same age. Mrs Lyons is an upper middle-class woman. She is dressed very smartly as she has the money to have nice clothes. Mrs. Lyons is a very patronising woman, who is forceful and pressurising. Mrs Lyons uses negative views about extra children so that Mrs Johnston will have to give away one of the twins to her. She doesn’t do this in an aggressive way, but in a dangerously sweet way. So that Mrs.Johnston doesn’t feel like she can cope any more. Willy Russell also shows Mrs. Lyons to be self-centred as Mrs Lyons is willing to take a child away from its mother, so that she can save herself. Mrs Lyons is a very sly and devious woman, as she uses superstition against Mrs Johnston, so that she can keep one of the twins. Her facial expressions are very stern and persuading and her body language comes across very confident as she knows that’s she is manipulating Mrs. Johnston. The Narrator is also a very important part to the musical; he acts as a shadow of the other characters. Firstly he was like the host.He constantly kept appearing and kep t the performance flowing. It seemed as if he had the remote to slow things down and also to speed things up when he wanted. He wore a smart black suit which gave him a high profile. His voice was used quite well because he adjusted it to make it loud and directive as a narrator should have but it also had a bit of power in it. During the performance he popped up here and there just to clarify things for the audience. The Narrator is there as a reminder of Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons’ agreement. The other characters don’t acknowledge him which shows he is of a ghostly nature.The Narrator raises suspicion and builds up tension between the characters. The Narrator also has no emotions and he comes across as a very cold person which makes the audience feel as if he is like a devil type figure. Although he is a devil like figure, he is a neutral character because he doesn’t choose sides and we don’t know anything about him, other than he knows the fate of each character. The Narrator is trying to tell Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons that their pact won’t work, because the truth will be known. He uses repetition and rhyme, so that his lines are more catchy and memorable.The character of Mickey was portrayed really well as the person playing this role was showing great child like movements such as pulling his jumper over his knees and also by the way he was speaking. The way Mickey was speaking came across very child like as he was doing a lot of rhyming and simple sentences. Mickey also plays childhood games, like mounted Police and Indians, and runs around with a toy gun. When Mickey was playing his cowboy like games he pretended to have a horse between his legs and he galloped around the stage like a child would do.As Mickey got older he showed he was acting more mature and he understood that life wasn’t going to be easy for him and he needed to work for things unlike Eddie who had everything sorted out for him. When Mickey has got out of prison he is really unsteady and has to take pills to calm himself even though he doesn’t need the pills, he just thinks he does. But when Mickey takes the pills, Willy Russell uses stage directions to give the characters emotion with their physical movement, so when Mickey takes the pills the lights come up on Mickey.We see him go to take his pill, we see him struggle not to take it’’ Russell does this to get the audience to feel sad and sympathetic for Mickey. So in this scene the lighting is really dim, which reflects on Mickey’s thought processes which are slow and aged. You can see from this scene that prison has aged Mickey beyond doubt. Mickey used movement and his voice to really portray Mickey’s vulnerability. Mickey’s movements were slow and it seemed like every step he took was agony. His speech was slow, and his voice was extremely quiet.He walked hunched over, as if trying to protect himself from an unknown fear. Edd ie is the complete opposite to Mickey as he was raised in a wealthy family and he shows this in his body language because he stands up straight, speaks politely and is never rude. When Eddie first meets Mickey, Mickey speaks in common English and uses slang around Eddie and he finds it amazing because he has never heard any one talk like that. Eddie seems to have grown up very fast because at the age of seven, he is already very polite and well spoken. His parents have influenced him because he is like a miniature adult.Throughout the whole of the musical Mrs. Johnston sings about Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe is a very clever icon to use throughout the musical. This is because using her as a reference sets us in the correct time period. She is also a good symbol, because she has links to many of the themes in the play including death, addiction and beauty. All the scenes were set in the same location; and the set design remained the same for the whole performance, even when the ba ckdrop changed however, the insides of houses, occasionally descended from the ceiling to show the insides of each home.One the right side of the stage was a wall which had graffiti on it and that represented the lower class type of area that Mickey and Mrs. Johnston would live in. Class difference is displayed very clearly in Blood Brothers, in particular the difference in wealth between the two families. Eddie's parents ensure that he has a comfortable upbringing and is able to study at university and receive a qualification, resulting in a highly paid job. This is completely different to Mickey.He comes from a poor family which meant that he was stuck in a dead end job in a factory. â€Å"I bleeding hated it, standing there all day never doing anything apart from putting cardboard boxes together. † This reflects Mickey's frustration and highlights the lack of opportunities open to him, which adds to the dramatic effect of the musical because it prepares us for trouble in t he future. A good example of dramatic irony in the musical is when Eddie and Mickey decide that as they are such good friends they will become blood brothers. Hey, we were born on the same day. That means we can be blood brothers. † The audience knows that they were actually brothers so that creates dramatic irony. I really enjoyed the musical Blood Brothers and it helped me understand the class difference which is displayed very clearly in the difference in wealth between the two families. I also liked the way the actors never came out of role when bringing in props e. g. chairs, tables and carpets. I also loved how the lighting would make a very serious point feel more real and intense.