Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in War Veterans

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN WAR VETERANS SC-PNG-0000009299 Alwin Aanand Thomson American Degree Program SEGi College Penang 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope.As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response. Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal—such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hyper vigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria in DSM-IV-TR require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significa nt impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (American Psychological Association). . 0 DIAGNOSIS Criteria The diagnostic criteria for PTSD, stipulated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (Text Revision) (DSM-IV-TR), may be summarized as: A: Exposure to a traumatic event This must have involved both (a) loss of â€Å"physical integrity†, or risk of serious injury or death, to self or others, and (b) a response to the event that involved intense fear, horror, or helplessness (or in children, the response must involve disorganized or agitated behavior). The DSM-IV-TR criterion differs substantially from the previous DSM-III-R stressor criterion, which specified the traumatic event should be of a type that would cause â€Å"significant symptoms of distress in almost anyone,† and that the event was â€Å"outside the range of usual human experience. † B: Persistent re-experiencing One or more of these must be present in the victim: flashback memories, recurring distressing dreams, subjective re-experiencing of the traumatic event(s), or intense negative psychological or physiological response to any objective or subjective. C: Persistent avoidance and emotional numbingThis involves a sufficient level of: †¢ avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, such as certain thoughts or feelings, or talking about the event(s); †¢ avoidance of behaviors, places, or people that might lead to distressing memories; †¢ inability to recall major parts of the trauma(s), or decreased involvement in significant life activities; †¢ decreased capacity (down to complete inability) to feel certain feelings; †¢ an expectation that one's future will be somehow constrained in ways not normal to other people. D: Persistent symptoms of increased arousal not present beforeThese are all physiological response issues, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, or problems with ange r, concentration, or hypervigilance. E: Duration of symptoms for more than 1 month If all other criteria are present, but 30 days have not elapsed, the individual is diagnosed with Acute stress disorder. F: Significant impairment The symptoms reported must lead to â€Å"clinically significant distress or impairment† of major domains of life activity, such as social relations, occupational activities, or other â€Å"important areas of functioning†. (DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Assocation) . 0 PTSD IN WAR VETERANS 3. 1 Facts & Figures Operation Iraqi Freedom has become the deadliest American military conflict since the Vietnam War. Uto 13 percent of the troops returning from the deployment have reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With the daily violence in this war torn country, service men and women are subjected to increased levels of stress which can trigger PTSD. After fighting for their country and risking their lives, allowing them to re turn home only to be haunted by their actions degrades everything they were sent to Iraq to accomplish.Since the Vietnam War, methods of treating PTSD have developed and lowered the number of cases, but simply lowering the number of cases is not good enough. Unless service members can be prevented from experiencing these negative emotions, every one of them is engaged in a possible suicide mission. With the proper procedures introduced and carried out as proposed, not only the service members can be helped, but their families as well. Due to current operations in the Middle East and the recent combat operations in the past decade, many citizens have met somebody who has experienced their share of combat related stress.When you look at somebody who has been in combat, they may look like your average person on the outside, but on the inside lays memories of the violent scenes of war torn countries. Their mental health may not be noticeably altered, but they could very well suffer from haunting memories, flashbacks, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can produce emotional responses caused by the trauma endured during combat operations. It does not have to emerge immediately, but can actually happen weeks, months, or even years after the traumatic event.PTSD was often referred to as â€Å"combat fatigue† or â€Å"shell shock† until 1980 when it was given the name post-traumatic stress disorder. According to William Welch of USA Today, PTSD is produced from a traumatic event that provoked intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The events are sometimes re-experienced through intrusive memories, nightmares, hallucinations, or flashbacks. Symptoms of PTSD include troubled sleep, irritability, anger, poor concentration, hyper vigilance, and exaggerated responses.Emotions felt by victims of PTSD include depression, detachment or estrangement, guilt, intense anxiety, panic, and other negative emotions (2005). Out of over 240,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan already discharged from the service, nearly 13,000 have been in U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) counseling centers for readjustment problems and symptoms associated with PTSD (Welch, 2005). Operation Iraqi Freedom has become the deadliest American conflict since the Vietnam War and because of this, new data detailed by Cep79m. v shows that 12 to 13 percent of troops returning from Iraq reported PTSD symptoms while about 3 to 4 percent reported other mental distress. A new Army study found that 11 percent of troops returning from Afghanistan reported symptoms of mental distress. Although wartime psychology was just beginning during the Vietnam War era, later studies showed that nearly 15 percent of troops who served there suffered PTSD. The most recent studies found that nearly 30 percent of the Vietnam War veterans have developed physiological problems after returning from the war.PTSD estimates for veterans of the first Gul f War range between 2 and 10 percent (2004). These numbers are based on several key factors. The amount of combat related stress varies by unit and will determine the amount of emotional stress a soldier in that particular unit will experience. For example, according to The New England Journal of Medicine, out of 1709 Soldiers and Marines surveyed, those who returned from Iraq reported higher rates of combat experience and frequency than those returning from Afghanistan. It’s probable that those who experience more combat situations are more likely to suffer to PTSD.As noted in The New England Journal of Medicine, out of those surveyed, 71 to 86 percent deployed to Iraq reported engaging in a firefight as apposed to only 31 percent in Afghanistan. Soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq were significantly more likely to report that they were currently experiencing a mental health problem, were interested in receiving help for their mental problems, and actually used mental h ealth services (Hoge et al, 2004). As noted earlier, according to William Welch of USA Today, PTSD is produced from a traumatic event that provoked intense fear, helplessness, or horror (2005).Being wounded while in combat is a perfect example of an event which provokes intense fear. Among those who participated in a recent survey, 11. 6 percent reported being wounded or injured while in Iraq compared to 4. 6 percent of those in Afghanistan (Hoge et al, 2004). This is a clear indication that the events a soldier experiences during deployment will have influence on the possibility of PTSD after redeploying to the United States. Intense situations do not revolve around being wounded or injured. Operation Iraqi Freedom has become the deadliest American conflict since the Vietnam War.As a result, CNN notes that 90 percent of those who served in Iraq reported being shot at. A high percentage also reported killing an enemy combatant, or knowing somebody who was injured or killed. Approxim ately half said they handled a body while serving in Iraq (2004). In addition to CNN’s article, Cep79m. tv announced amazing data showing one in four Marines reported killing an Iraqi civilian while one in four Army soldiers reported engaging in hand-to-hand combat. More than 85 percent of those surveyed know somebody who has been injured or killed. More than half claimed handling corpses or human remains (2004). 3. Treatment and Prevention There is help available to those returning from the war torn countries. Almost 17 percent of the troops surveyed, who served in Iraq, suffered mental health problems while less than half of them have looked for professional help after ending their tours (Cep79m. tv, 2004). Sergeant First Class (SFC) Doug Sample of the American Forces Press Service reports that â€Å"service members can get confidential counseling through the military services’ ‘One Source’ program. The 24-hour-a-day service is for service members and t heir families, and provides quick, professional assistance with problems† (2004).The reason only half of them are seeking help could be the possibility of negative attention from their unit. Dr. William Winkenwerder says that a main barrier preventing soldiers from getting help â€Å"is the perception of stigma that some individuals have about coming forward to get that care and counseling† (Gilmore, 2004). CNN interviewed Staff Sergeant (SSG) Georg-Andreas Pogany who saw an Iraqi body which had suffered severe trauma on his second day in Iraq. Suffering from a nervous breakdown and struggling to sleep that night, he decided to tell his superior officer.He was afraid he would freeze up on patrol and was worried about the consequences. Instead of being given help, he was told to reconsider his concerns for the sake of his career. A translator attached to the 10th Special Forces Group was sent back and charged with cowardice after experiencing the same type of emotional s tress. Though his charge was dropped, his record is still uncertain (2004). Post-traumatic stress disorder may not be preventable in every individual who steps foot inside a combat zone, but things can be done to lower the number of cases which occur after deploying.The army, for example, works under a â€Å"tough and realistic training† motto. They train their soldiers during peacetime as if they were actually in a combat zone. Live-fire ranges along with tough and realistic training have helped soldiers prepare for combat and the numbers developed from the data is surprisingly low. But that doesn’t surprise many people because according to Gilmore, they have used information from former prisoners of wars to help train today’s service members to be ready for combat (2004). The military works on a schedule allowing units to use live fire ranges at certain times with a certain number of live rounds.A possibility to help lower the amount of PTSD cases related to i ntense combat situations would be allowing soldiers to use live fire ranges more often. If this means raising taxes a little more to allow for a larger budget, then by all means, it’s worth it. Before, during, and after deployment, service members are given counseling sessions to prepare them for intense situations as well as teaching them about the possibility of mental health damage. This has been a change since the Vietnam War, which could be another factor which has helped lower the amount of PTSD cases throughout the military.Another possible solution to PTSD would be to brief soldiers throughout their entire career. Before Operation Enduring Freedom, it had been nearly 10 years since the last major conflict which involved ground forces. In those 10 years, if soldiers were given briefings on the possibility of mental health damage after combat, there is a chance they would have been more prepared to deal with those situations. The Department of Defense could easily make it mandatory that each service member receives several briefings each year during their entire military career to include during deployments. Citing recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research, Winkenwerder noted some people seem more predisposed to develop depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorders as a result of negative childhood experiences† (Gilmore, 2004). Apparently, the better the life a child has while growing up, the more ready for combat they will be. The Department of Defense requires each applicant for the armed forces to take a test which allows them to qualify for a certain job within the military.Another possibility would be adding a section to the test which measures the type of childhood an applicant experienced. They could then choose only those who did not have many negative childhood experiences, if that statement is at all accurate, to fill their combat oriented positions. 4. 0CONCLUSION According to the data gathered during re cent surveys, it is clear that although the violence of war will remain the same, it is possible to lower the percentage of service members who experience mental disturbance such as post-traumatic stress disorder from combat situations. It may be impossible o completely rid the volunteer force of the possibility of PTSD, but with enough counseling before, during, and after combat operations, the percentage of those who suffer from it may be lowered dramatically. More tough and realistic training will also help set soldiers into the mindset of what it takes to survive a combat situation. The treatment and prevention is there, but does not seem to be used quite enough. Not using the prevention methods is almost like sending our troops on a suicide mission. Cep79m. tv, (2004, July 1). Soldier Mental Illness Hits Vietnam Level. Retrieved April 6, 2012 from http://www. cep79m. v/soldiermentalillness. htm (http://www. cep79m. tv/soldiermentalillness. htm) CNN, (2004, July 1). Combat stres s: The war within. Retrieved April 10, 2012 from http://www. cnn. com/2004/HEALTH/07/01/post. traumatic. stress/ (http://www. cnn. com/2004/HEALTH/07/01/post. traumatic. stress/) Gilmore, G. , (2004, July 1). Combat Degrades Some Troops’ Mental Health, Report Says. Retrieved April 16, 2012 from http://www. defenselink. mil/news/Jul2004/n07012004_2004070106. html (http://www. defenselink. mil/news/Jul2004/n07012004_2004070106. html) Welch, W. , (2005, February 28). Trauma of Iraq War Haunting Thousands Returning Home.Retrieved April 16, 2012 from http://www. commondreams. org/cgi-bin/print. cgi? file=/headlines05/0228-01. htm (http://www. commondreams. org/cgi-bin/print. cgi? file=/headlines05/0228-01. htm) NIMH  · Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Fact Sheet†. National Institutes of Mental Health. Retrieved April 16, 2012 from http://www. nimh. org/ptsdfactsheet/ A soldier carrying his wounded compatriot Smoking as a common stress reliever among soldiers. Trauma tic flashback occurring on duty. Anti-depressants are common among veterans. Traumatic enough to bring the toughest of men to tears.

Discuss What Government Policies Can Be Used to Overcome

Discuss what government policies can be used to overcome a recession A recession is two or more consecutive quarters of a year that experiences a decline in GDP or has negative GDP growth; recessions are believed to be caused by a widespread fall in spending. Employment, investment, household incomes and business profits all fall during recessions; while bankruptcies and the unemployment rate rise.Governmennts respond to recessions by adopting expansionary economic policeys such as the expansionary fiscal policey or loose monetary policey. The exapansionary fiscal policey involves the government attempting to increase aggregate demand, the two main instruments the government use to achieve this is government spending and taxation.The government increases its spending in the economey which stimulates the economey through the multiplyer effect, this huge increase of government spending acts as an injection into the circular flow and will eventually increase consumer incomes which will increase the consumers marginal propensity to consume which will therefore shift aggregate demand to the right as all of this additional income is being spent, this right shift will then lead to an increase in economic growth, this is shown on the graph below.The government can also decrease taxes such as VAT which will also increases consumer spending as it will make consumers have more disposable income therefore acting as an incentive for them to consume, causing aggregate demand to shift to the right causing growth, the government can either increase spending or decrease taxes or even apply both to the economy.However the effect of the fiscal policy will depend on how much money is pumped into the economy and how much the taxes have been reduced because if government spending has increase by a small percent or taxes have decreased a small percent it may not have much of an effect on the consumer marginal propensity to consume and so may fail to increase aggregate demand. Also de pending on the inflation rate in the economy already the fiscal policy could cause the price level to increase due to a major increase in aggregate demand as shown in the graph above.Also the policy could cause crowding out because if the increase in government spending is raised from taxes then it would lead to a reduction in private spending and if the increase is financed by borrowing then it could lead to a rise in interest rates which would lead to a decrease in private investment. There will also be a time lag involved as the government will have to wait for the multiplier effect to kick in and so in the short term this policy may prove ineffective however in the long term its effectiveness will show.Another policy the government can use is the expansionary monetary policy, the expansionary monetary policy aim to shift aggregate demand to the right by lowering the interest rates, the lowering of the interest rates lowers the cost of borrowing for example using credit cards and decreases consumers marginal propensity to save which therefore encourages consumption. These lower interest rates also encourage firms to borrow and invest therefore further increasing aggregate demand in the economy.These lower interest rates will therefore increase aggregate demand shown in the graph below. This increase in aggregate demand will therefore increase GDP as shown in the graph above. However the amount the government can decrease the interest rates by will depend at what level they are at already, for example the interest rate for the UK at this moment of time is 0. 5 and so the government would not realistically be able to decrease this any more and so the monetary policy would prove ineffective in this situation.So if the decline in interest rates does not work the monetary policy uses the tool of qauntative easing which is were the MPC â€Å"monetary policy committee† creates money through selling bonds, buying banks assets and selling loans to other banks , this money is then spent in sectors of the economy which will act as an injection into the circular flow, this will then again generate growth as it will cause aggregate demand to shift outwards.This increase in cash reserves due to the selling of bonds and so on will also mean banks will increase their lending to households and businesses which will again make it easier for people to obtain money and therefore consume therefore shifting aggregate demand to the right causing and increase in growth.Although the use of this policy could also cause inflation as shown in the graph above, the MPC also predict the future economic trends so the policy can be used at full effect and so if the prediction is wrong it could have negative effects on the economy, furthermore the effect of the qauntative easing will depend on how much the MPC is actually able to obtain through bonds, selling loans and acquiring bank assets.

My Mother Never Worked

Chris Godkin D. Maggard English 1113, 323 19, September 2012 My Mother Never Worked In the story â€Å"My Mother Never Worked,† Bonnie Smith-Yackel recalls the time she contacted the Social Security service about her mother’s death benefits. At that time, Bonnie was put on hold while the Social Security worker searched through the files for the record of Martha Jerabek Smith. During the time she was waiting, Bonnie began to reminisce about the life of her deceased mother. As time goes by, the worker eventually returns to the phone.The worker explains to Bonnie that she is not able to receive the death benefits of her mother due to the fact she never had recordable job. During the duration of the phone call with the Social Security worker, Bonnie seemed quite distraught in she was very slow to answer the questions of the worker. She took short pauses throughout her sentences before completing them. She was asked a few questions about her mother in relation to her name, a ge, Social Security number and if she was on Social Security. Bonnie told the worker that her mother was seventy eight and was on Social Security but she did not know the number.The worker then placed Smith-Yackel on hold while she searched for Martha Jerabek Smith’s record. Bonnie then used that time to search through her mind and recollect the memory of her mother. Her mother graduated high school in 1913, as did her father the same year. Martha loved Ben F. Smith, Bonnie’s father, but was afraid of marriage. The thought of planning her wedding day, having children and just being a married woman made her nervous and sick. As the years went by, she overcame her worries and married her love, Ben F. Smith, and began farming.In January, 1922 Martha gave birth to her first daughter. Her second child, a boy, was born in March 1923. During this time, they were renting farms and working on other people’s farms to earn what little income they could. Martha learned to d o a variety of tasks. Such as, tend to chickens and livestock, plant and harvest crops, and can fruits and vegetables. In September 1925, and again in June 1927, Martha gave birth to her third and fourth child- both daughters. In 1930, they reclaimed a forty-acre field. Her mother worked the fields day after day.Harvesting and planting, tending to livestock, anything that needed to be done, she was able to do. A year later, a drought hit and dried up the soil, starving and dehydrating the crops. Only half of the crops were harvested that year. In February 1934, their fifth child, a daughter, was born. During the winters, Martha sewed coats and jackets, and remade clothes so they would fit the growing children. In 1937 she gave birth to her fifth daughter. In 1939, she bared her second son. In 1941, her third son and eighth child were born.By then, she had thirty head of cattle which she milked daily. Shortly after, the Rural Electricity Administration and indoor plumbing had arrived . In 1959 her youngest child graduated. Though she was aging, Martha still worked every day out in the fields, making sure that everything was in order. Ten years later Martha and Ben were heading into town for sugar when they crashed into a ditch. Martha was severely injured and paralyzed from the waist down. In 1970 Ben F. Smith passed away. Martha had done her best to regain self-control and order in life.It was over bearing for her to lose her husband and have to deal with the burden of paralysis. She attended a rehabilitation institute where she learned to be independent and self-sufficient in a wheel chair. Though she was in a wheel chair, she still worked every day. She canned fruit and vegetables, sewed coats and even made a quilt. A voice quickly caught Bonnie’s attention. It was the Social Security worker, she had found the file. She stated that Bonnie’s mother had been receiving a widow’s pension. Bonnie then agreed with the worker.Then she stated tha t her mother is not entitled the Social Security service’s death benefit. Confused, Bonnie asked why her mother was not entitled. The worker said, â€Å"Well, you see – your mother never worked. † The way the story ends is superb. It makes one think back to all the work that Martha did on the farm and in the home. In the eyes of the knowing, we see that she had in fact been working herself to the bone on a farm for most her life. In the eyes of the government, or the blind more or less, Martha had no official work history. Therefore she was unable to receive any benefits.

Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Assignment 3 - Essay Example Garstein et al. studied the development of temperament across four cultures and found different temperaments in infants and adults in every culture (55). They found that Japanese and Russian infants were known to have â€Å"the highest and the second highest levels of fearfulness, respectively†; while, U.S. and Polish infants received â€Å"relatively lower ratings from their caregivers† (55). Super et al. (136) also studied cross-cultural differences in temperament in children belonging to seven western cultures and found that the participants â€Å"showed both general tendencies and culture-speciï ¬ c patterns† in their behavior. McCrae et al. studied the nature versus nurture debate and agreed with the fact that, along with biological factors that are responsible for the makeup of personality, â€Å"the intrinsic maturation of personality is complemented by the culturally conditioned development of characteristic adaptations† (173). Similarly, Wood an d Eagly studied cross-cultural difference of men and women in non-industrial societies, and found that they showed different attitudes towards â€Å"the economic and social structural aspects of societies† (699). These studies strengthen the idea that culture differences are equally important to study if we want to understand the variations in temperament globally. I have personally experienced that my friends belonging to different cultures have different temperaments which includes the level of happiness and sorrow they express; fright or boldness they show; and, anger or patience with which they handle things. For example, three of my friends who belong to Europe get panicked over little things; while, two of my friends belonging to Asia laugh over even big problems. My European friends are way too liberal about their lifestyle, like coming back home late in the nights and staying in apartments other than their parents’. On the

Managing the Hospitality Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing the Hospitality Experience - Essay Example This is achieved through an effort to entertain guests (Jones 2002). According to Jones (2002), hospitality should be an experience rather than a service. Guests’ experiences should be attractive to both their families and friends. Guests are craving for authentic local experiences that will establish an emotional connection (Hemming ton 2007). An excellent example is the Andaz5th Avenue Hotel. According to the general manager of Andaz5th Avenue Hotel, the experiences include fashion, events and food. According to USA today valuable and rare experiences are significant driving factors in the hospitality sector. 31 per cent of customers said destination hotels are perceived to be a hidden gem. 26 per cent of the interviewed customers said they loved to share photos of the hotels they stayed. Creating the elusive guest experiences to different customers is achievable but demanding. The expectations of guests are divergent and differ with times and seasons. Another compelling exa mple is the Renaissance Hotel. Renaissance hotel brand has introduced an ad targeting both leisure and business travelers. The brand insists that business guests who insist on free Wi-Fi and breakfast must have an experience, as well. Dan Vinh, Renaissance vice president, said the hotel hopes to offer a unique experience. He believes guests are stimulated by the environment in order to be productive. Q2. According to Visser, hospitality entails sharing of security, food and shelter with a stranger within the community who has no friend or relatives. The act of providing and receiving generosity creates mutual trust. According to Doud, generosity is a gracious act. He argues that, the use of the word stranger in the definition of generosity tends to imply that the receiver of the generous act does not deserve it because they are not acquainted to each other. The word grace implies a respectful attitude given towards people who do not deserve or earn a worm consideration. Hospitality is also hereditary. Once an act of hospitality has been done to a person or household, the same is extended to the descendants and passed on from generation to generation. This establishes a long term bond (Kandampully & Sparks 2001). Bonds established through hospitality were supposed to be temporal. The agreed period was three days, and the guests were expected to reciprocate by not overstaying. Hospitality had territorial limitations. Protection was offered within the period of stay and the boundaries of territorial influence. For instance, Arabs only offered protection as long as the guest was in within their home. Beyond that, the guest could end up become a victim of the host. Therefore, the guests used to leave at night and without any farewell to the host for fear of being pursued by the host. According to Pitt-Rivers, hospitality was not necessarily a mark of friendship. Providing hospitality, according to Pitt-Rivers, was an act of sanctity where a hostile stranger and a h ost were neutral to each other. Hospitality was an act of self interest because certain gains were expected. According to Selwyn, hospitality gave way to a transformation where the aggrieved regained their trust and friendship in the course of exchange of services. Hospitality is known to transform friends into closer friends. Hospitality is an act of selfless will where acceptance and trust are propagated. This causes hospitality to be a source of symbolic ties that create unique connections between people.

International Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

International Strategic Management - Assignment Example To adequately address his concept of sustainability, Elkingtons (1998) introduced the three Ps that include people, profit and planet therefore, the concept of Triple Bottom Line. Since the introduction of the TBL framework in mid 1990s, many organizations have been adopting the practice as their main approach that supports sustainability goals especially based on the increased ability to measure environmental and social impact in addition to the more traditional financial performance. This essay presents an evaluation of the concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and its usefulness for businesses. The difficulties of measuring TBL especially social and environmental components is also discussed bearing in mind there is no standard unit of measure for the two. By definition, TBL refers to an accounting approach for business, non-profit and government organizations to assess performance based on three frameworks covering financial, environmental and social dimensions. However, TBL represents a more complex measure of performance as it includes social and ecological aspects of the organization, which is difficult to quantify during the process of assessment. Further, this is a more plausible measure as it is more comprehensive than the eco-efficiency method of sustainability measurement, which had also gained widespread use during the time of TBL introduction. To simplify further the application of this framework, Elkingtons (1998) presented its application in terms of the three Ps comprising people, planet and profits (3Ps). The researcher, therefore, was able to breakdown his analysis where people as a bottom line refers to all the individuals interacting with the organization or products and the impact both the organization and products has on them. The organization will therefore be concerned with the wellbeing of individuals such as farmers, suppliers, of raw materials and employees

Anchor Babies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anchor Babies - Essay Example Generally, an anchor baby can be defined as a child is born to an illegal immigrant or undocumented parents especially in the United States of America and who by the operation of the U.S law acquires an automatic citizenship thus sponsoring the citizenship of other relatives into America.1 According to the principle jus soli, any baby delivered in the United States automatically acquires U.S citizenship. This doctrine is bolstered by the dint of section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment which provides as follows; ‘All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of United State†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Being an inclusive, the doctrine of jus solirenders anyone to become part of U.S citizens merely through birth; citizenship therefore becomes a birth right. A closely related doctrine is that of jus sanguinis, restrictively though in its application. This is in the sense that it solely defines citizenship by blood. In the U.S, the law on citizenship allows for citizenship under both jus soli and jus sanguinisas well as by naturalisation, viz by the operation of the law to move from a legal permanent resident to citizen. As such, the public debate insinuated above has focussed on alterations of such doctrines which have the effect of tendering an amendment of the U.S Constitution. Needles to say, efforts have been made towards this course. For instance, the amendment by Representative Elton Gallegly (Republican from Simi Valley California) who in June 1995 recommended in vain an amendment to the U.S Constitution to terminate automatic citizenship for U.S born children whose parents are undocumented immigrants. H Other efforts include the enactment of several

Factor influencing the consumers' intention to purchase online the Essay

Factor influencing the consumers' intention to purchase online the retail industry in Thailand perspective - Essay Example Shopping in the digital marketplaces has given rise to a new dimension to many businesses (Demangeot and Broderick, 2007). The method and pattern of online shopping is way different from the traditional approach of shopping. The difference in online and non online business transactions generates maximum impact on consumers, thus it is important to analyze consumers online buying decisions. E-commerce shows that this business pattern does not abide by the rules of traditional consumer behavior. Thus, it becomes an important task for all the internet retail firms to evaluate the factors that determine the consumer purchase decisions in the online markets. With the help of knowledge of such a research, the online retail business firms would be able to formulate efficient strategies by which they would be able to attract potential customers in the e-markets. In the habitual business dealings, the buyers are physically present at the time of purchases. They empirically observe the final g oods or services before they actually make the purchase decisions. However, in the course of online purchases, the buyers are only able to see the products virtually in the web pages. Thus, the distinguishing aspect of online purchase decisions provides high enthusiasm to the sellers, who desire to understand whether such modes of business would affect them positively or adversely. The literature review depicts the various empirical and theoretical studies that focus on the consumer purchase intensions in the online retail markets. It is found by Goldsmith and Goldsmith in 2002 that most of the individuals who have used internet facility to shop have trust in the process. The consumers who make purchases over the internet are generally more risky lovers that the consumers who avoid online transactions (Donthu, 1999). In the modern era online retailers have found ways to gain customer loyalty in their business transactions (Papadopoulou et al., 2001). Problems regarding security are primary, when it comes to online selling. If this problem is eliminated then most of the consumers are estimated to go for online dealings (Udo, 2001). It is believed that online business would improve if the businesses firms can make consumers believe that their websites are protected (Fenech and O’Cass, 2001). It is empirically found that the Thai consumers are highly attracted to such new modes of shopping destinations. Thus, at this juncture it is rational to study the underlying factors that determine the online purchase intensions of the Thai customers. 1.2 Rational The research aims to analyze the consumer behaviour of Thailand at the stand of online purchases. The study will focus in the consumers of Thailand altogether, it will include the ones who make online purchases and also include the ones who never go to the digital market places. The underlying motivating factor for this research work is the massive population strength of Thailand, which accounts for almost 6 7 million. In 2011 it has been estimated that the percentage of internet users have increased to almost 27.4% in Thailand. The total number of internet users was 2300000 in 2000, which increased to approximately 178310000 in 2001. Moreover, it is also estimated that the aggregate rise in internet usage has augmented by almost 660.3%

Leadership management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Leadership management - Research Paper Example The research is aimed at evaluating and understanding the leadership management practices in a selected organization which is the Tige Restaurant located in Wellington. The research is introduced by identifying the scopes of the research work with a consideration of the literary works done on similar topics till date. This is followed by the formulation of the research questions and research objectives. Suitable research methodologies which would be used to collect, analyse and interpret data are identified and explained wherein the importance of qualitative data collection through the use of questionnaire and sampling is identified to be relevant to the study. The collected data are analysed and interpreted and the findings are documented to reach to a suitable conclusion for the study. The report is concluded with the provision of relevant recommendations which can be used by the management of the chosen organization. The research paper is prepared on the topic of leadership management and leadership communication of Tige restaurant. The restaurant is a well-known Chinese restaurant situated in Wellington. The research is conducted with the aim of evaluating the leadership styles, leadership communication leadership practices and the overall leadership management in the Tige restaurant. The research is likely to be an important asset in the literary works of leadership management and leadership communication. Leadership communication and management has evolved as critical factors for the success of business organizations across the globe. As such, the study on this topic is expected to add value to the research works done in this field. The main objectives of the research are to evaluate the existing leadership principles and leadership management practices as followed in the chosen company which is the Tige restaurant. The research would take into consideration the aspects of leadership management, leadership styles, leadership

Ratio Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Ratio Analysis - Coursework Example Another reason is due to their dismissive approach towards law and regulations. This approach has resulted in an exceptionally good financial performance and efficiencies. Based on the available financial data of Tasso plc all the financial indicators are excellent with the exception of the liquidity. The most important thing in management is to find, evolve and assess involvement into possibilities that may be out there to develop and improve the company’s financial position. In so doing, the management can be able to assess various investment opportunities considering the risk that may be involved and assess the liquidity of the company. It is possible to determine the financial health of a company; this can be done by calculating the company’s financial ratios. Financial ratios are best used as a diagnostic tool to find resources of a financial trouble company. Financial ratios provide a fast and somehow straightforward approach to investigate the financial viability of a company. A ratio easily concerns one number seeming in the economic declarations to some other number seeming in the economic declaration ratios can split up in distinct assembly and each assembly can, at identical time, be sub-divided. In this paper, I will concentrate on liquidity, solvency, W orking capital management, profitability and asset efficient ratios, with this, people will be able to understand Tasso plc. Financial position and be able to appraise it. Liquidity ratios help management to know if the company can be able to undertake the day-to-day operations; this is determined by assessing the cash availability of the company. There are different methods to determine the liquidity of the company one of them is by using the current ratio. Current ratio gives as a quicker way to look at the current assets and current liabilities. They

International human resource management Assignment - 1

International human resource management - Assignment Example There are many multinational enterprises that are hiring individual from other countries and are achieving success with many projects. Movements of human resource from one country to another also give organization the benefit of choosing from a better and bigger pool of candidates. However this process has its own complications. In order to hire people from other country, a company needs to train the new employee with the culture of the host country. Depending on the involvement and expected interaction of the new employees with others, organization needs to develop a plan for the training of the new employee. The training program and the time period of the training program is decided by the time the individual is going to stay in the host country. Organizations need to evaluate the complete process and provide complete training to the individual to ensure smooth contract or job time period. There are also many problems faced by people who have to go repatriate to their native countries. This problem is severe with people who move to host country on the basis of a project contract. As soon as the contract is over, the organization asks the individual to repatriate to native country. Due to many factors individuals are reluctant to move back and prefer switching to other organizations. Due to this, organization loses on valuable employee who moves to other organizations to avoid repatriate. Organization not only loses the talented human resource but also faces loss on the cost of training and brining the employee to the host country. This way other some other organization which has not invested a dime in training the individual reaps the fruit. In order to avoid such loss, organization needs to develop a Repatriation Programme to deal and cope up with this challenge. The organizations needs to make sure that the individual whose contract has ended with the company feels comfortable in going back

Implement Marketing Strategies and Tactics Essay Example for Free

Implement Marketing Strategies and Tactics Essay Briefing stakeholders- Persons involved directly or indirectly with the organisation or project. BBQfun will be the leading outdoor-lifestyle retailer, catering to the growing need for furnishing new and renovated dwellings in the greater Brisbane area. Board of directors- BBQfun’s board of directors need to approve the plan, customers specific needs, prepare a report of high population in Greater Brisbane area, new homes and renovated homes growing from a base of 50,000 per year, low employment. Human resources staff-Human resources staff may need to adjustment demographic factors like – * Male and female population * Age segment that makes up 50% of the Brisbane new and renovated house markets, according to the chamber of commerce * High percentage of young professionals who work in the central Business district. * An average household income of over $130,000. Services marketing- Marketing based on relationship and value. BBQfun will position as a broad assortment, quality, unique outdoor –lifestyle retailer. Brisbane customers appreciate high quality and uniqueness will recognise the value and unique offerings of BBQfun. Manager- BBQfun’s manager looking for security in purchasing and house proud factor in outdoor lifestyle purchasing. Marketing and non-marketing personnel- The success of any marketing activities is equally shared between both external and internal customers group. BBQfun’s basic market need is for quality, fashionable and unique outdoor –lifestyle items that caters to the house- proud needs of our market. The success of the marketing plan of BBQfun’s many aspects are responsible for this like- advertising personnel, manager, public relations personnel, sales manager, sales team, staff, and supervisors. Objectives of the plan- * Increase sales from $15 millon per year to $20 million per year in the next three years. * Increase our loyalty customers list from 10,000 to 16,000. * Establish brand recognition in Brisbane so that at least two in three people recognise our brand in a random survey taken in 12 months’ time. * Continue increase gross profit margins. Roles and responsibilities-BBQfun’s responsibility is to provide customers with the most extensive assortment of quality outdoor-lifestyle products available in the market. Second, easy to manage long term repayment plans make unique, imported and high quality outdoor-lifestyle affordable to all. Performance measures- it is very important to know the performance measures of the BBQfun’s. There are four main steps for measuring Customers- BBQfun’s excellent staff that is highly skilled and knowledgeable about outdoor lifestyles. High customer loyalty among repeat customers.BBQfun’s great retail space that is bright, functional and efficient. Customers can see the quality of the product as it is displayed in the store. Financial-BBQfun’s advertising budget is set at $250,000 for the year. Continue to finance the easy manage long term repayment. The imported products make up 33% of the assortment. Internal business process- BBQfun wants their products and service meet customer needs so BBQfun try to new dwelling population, shopping patterns requiring easy access and customer car parking counts. Learning and growth-BBQfun has created an outdoor- lifestyle range of retail products that are differentied and superior to competitors. BBQfun provide 3 year guarantee is unique in the market place. BBQfun want to grow their business in the commercial, suburban neighbourhood or urban retail district. BBQfun‘s will do direct mail and local advertising. BBQfun has 15-20 full time staff, plus casuals. Marketing strategies and the resources-A marketing strategy is the foundation of a marketing plan; it integrates an organisation’s marketing objectives, goals, policies and actions.BBQfun’s 3 types of marketing strategies- Defensive strategies- BBQfun’s mission is to provide customers with the most extensive assortment of quality products available in the market. BBQfun continue to finance the easy manage long term repayment plan for customers. Developing strategies-BBQfun’s developing strategy is increase sales from $15 million per year to $20 million pe r year in the next 3 years, increase loyalty customers list from 10,000 to 16,000. Attacking strategies- BBQfun’s customers are mostly aged between 20 to 50, making up 50% of the new and renovated dwelling market. Outdoor lifestyle stores have been very successful in stand alone, extensive car park access, close to new housing estates being established. By offering a superior service in range and uniqueness, BBQfun will excel relative to the competition and achieve goals. Resources -Elements that are utilised to assist the process like- human, information and communication technology, financial and physical. * Human resources relates to the people. BBQfun’s marketing plan and strategy related to the people because this is a outdoor lifestyle retailer company. BBQfun’s customers are male and female and high percentage of young professionals. * Financial- BBQfun’s advertising budget is $250,000 for the year. BBQfun will try to get articles about BBQfun into the BrisNews magazine. BrisNews magazine has seen a dramatic increase of sales immediately after the article was published. * ICT – For advertising purpose BBQfun is using local letter box, radio, and magazines. BBQfun‘s will do direct mail and local advertising, with coupon inserts in the BrisNews magazine likely to be the most successful of the campaigns. Communication and team building strategies- Effective communication is essential in any workplace and is essential for building or improving business and work relationships. Team building strategies are also essential in effectively running an organisation or team. BBQfun’s objective is to create customer awareness regarding their services offered, develop that customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The message of BBQfun is easy access outdoor-lifestyle products in Brisbane. This message will be communicated through a variety of methods like- direct mail. BBQfun will also use ads and inserts in Brizzy magazine. The 5Cs of effective team building are- Clear expectations-If we want to implement successful team building strategy then clear expectation is very important. In a team every person knows the role they are expected to play as well as the roles of other team members. Each and every member of the team needs to understand how and where they fit in the organisational structure. Channels of communication- Team building strategy cannot achieve without open channels of communication. It involves everyone like directors, managers, team leaders and team members. It helps to create working atmosphere and encourage to employees to discuss the problems amongst themselves. Conflict resolution-When a group of people working together then differences emerge into the open. By communication they try to solve the differences. If they can’t resolve their problems without assistance then implement mediation with an impartial third party and organise a workshop on this subject. Consequences- Make sure each team member feels responsible and accountable for team achievements. Understand the individual contribution and give them appreciation if they are doing well. In this way it encourages them for individual creativity. Celebrating achievements as a team- Every employee or team member plays an important role in the success or failure of an organisation. So need to celebrate achievements as a team. Marketing mix- BBQfun’s marketing mix is comprised of these following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion and customer service. Strategies for monitoring marketing activities- The marketing plan require the monitoring of all marketing activities in order to analyse their performance. Implementation strategies for effective and accurate monitoring processes need to be considered and implemented. BBQfun’s each aspect of marketing plan should be monitored and evaluate. These aspects are important to achieve goal- Timeline, Resource, Costs, sales, contacts made relationship. BBQfun‘s single objective to position BBQ as the premier outdoor –lifestyle store in the greater Brisbane area within 5 years. BBQfun wants to create customer awareness regarding their service and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The direct mail campaign will be away to communicate directly with the consumer in this way BBQfun create a good relationship with customers. It is envisaged that new products will be developed on a regular basis in line with changes in customer taste which is targeted at every 12 months. By getting feedback from these firms then changes is possible in the product. Feedback, decision making process of customers is very important aspect for the development of the product. Local business owners are often part of an informal fraternal organisation where they support each other’s business. BBQfun recently become a member of the outdoor Lifestyle Association. BBQfun’s marketing manager is responsible for marketing activities and has the authority and responsibilities over all company activities that affect customer’s satisfaction. .

Experiences Of Women Mature Students In Higher Education

Experiences Of Women Mature Students In Higher Education Internationally there has been a large body of literature presented on the experiences of mature students, who have returned to higher education after a significant absence from compulsory education (for example, Baxter and Britton, 1999; Baxter and Britton, 2001; Lister, 2003; O’Donnell and Tobbell, 2007; O’Shea and Stone, 2011) to name but a few. Within much of this literature Baxter and Britton (1999:181) would point out that despite the marginalisation of women in educational research studies, this has not been the case in the literature presented on mature student whereby the â€Å"mature student is usually assumed to be female† and studies have particularly focused more so on women returners rather than both genders. Up until the late 1980s through to the early 1990s the primary research method used to conduct much of these studies was the large-scale quantitative survey, (for example, see Watkins, 1982) where the findings illustrated that mature students had a shared set of characteristics including educational background and educational achievements (Baxter and Britton, 1999; Parr, 2000). However, mature students are not a homogenous group, as each student’s higher education experience will be determined by factors including class, gender and ethnicity (O’Donnell and Tobbell, 2007; Morgan, 2013). Therefore, Richardson (1994:322) would state that to research the life experiences of mature students in higher education, this cannot be â€Å"carried out by means of bare quantitative procedures such as questionnaires† where the appropriate approach required would be to conduct individual semi-structured interviews. The defining feature which categorises mature students is based on age but this can vary on the country in question, for example, in Sweden, Norway and Australia the mature student is classified as someone who is over twenty-five years of age (Thomas and Quinn, 2006) as opposed to the UK where according to the Higher Education Statistics Authority the mature student is someone who is over twenty-one (HESA, 2014). According to Smith (2008:1) the term mature student â€Å"identifies a category of learners who embark on a course of study later in life† and can include any adult education programme such as further and/or higher education Historically, the role of women was to devote themselves to the position of homemaker. However, as western society as advanced to become more egalitarian this has witnessed a rapid shift in mothers with child/ren returning to education to become more self-sufficient and to gain a sense of self-identity. However, Baxter and Britton (2001) would argue that while trying to balance their student role, women still have a multiplicity of other roles were they shoulder the responsibility of childcare and domestic life, therefore, inequalities between genders are still widely seen. In recent times, the subordinate role of women in societies for example non wage winner, 2nd class citizen etc.throughout the world has significantly improved, slowly closing the gender gap in equality. One of the many advantages to this in modern society is that women have now the opportunity of gaining a good education. According to Parr (2000) this has led to increasing numbers of mature women returning to educ ation, not just to gain a paper qualification or to obtain better job opportunities but also to become more self-sufficient and to gain a sense of self-identity. This increase in mature women returning to higher education can be linked to the formation of ‘lifelong education’ (O’Shea and Stone, 2011). The concept of lifelong education is not new whereby, ancient societies emphasised the need â€Å"to learn from the cradle to the grave† (Gishti, 2009). However, it was not until the late twentieth/early twenty-first century that lifelong education became ‘heralded’ as an new age phenomenon, and became high on the social agenda of many governments and international organisations such as, UNESCO (Jackson, Malcolm and Thomas, 2011). In 1972 UNESCO International Commission on the Development of Education published the â€Å"Faure report† with the aim to assist governments in formulating and implementing new strategies in lifelong education. The primary underpinning of this report emphasised how important it was that every individual had the opportunity to lifelong education (Learning to be, 1972). This led to the UNESCO institute becoming the first institution to address the needs and aspirations of adult learners and in 2006 the name was changed to UNESCO Ins titute for Lifelong Learning, to reflect the institute’s focus on adult learning (UNESCO, 2013). According to Lister (2003) the primary focus in the role of lifelong learning is to combat social exclusion and target previously excluded groups. One of the many disadvantaged groups that lifelong learning particularly aims to benefit is those of women who have caring responsibilities and childcare commitments. Encompassing a broad perspective Lister (2003) would also note that the role of higher education plays a key part in the development of lifelong learning However, Jackson et al (2011:5) argues that in western societies women continue to be limited to their choices of learning when returning to education as â€Å"the gendered nature of the hidden curriculum [†¦] restrict women’s access† to many courses. This in turn can create difficulties for women who are interested in following a particular career path. Nonetheless, for mature women lifelong learning can be a source of empowerment and emancipation (Bhattachra, 2014). Therefore, â€Å"education is seen as empowering, in that it opens up employment opportunities and is a vehicle for the development of the self.† (Baxter and Britton, 2001:87). Upon commencing on this journey of self-discovery, O’ Shea and Stone (2011) would note that as mature students, women may harbour feelings of self-doubt and hesitation. In trying to play the role of the student, O’Shea’s (2014) study found that mature women encounter many anxieties where they feel like ‘imposters’ in a higher education institute after having been absent from education for such a long time. According to O’Donnell and Tobbell (2007) many adult students in general, regardless of their gender, feel vulnerable because they lack experience in formal education and also because they have additional pressures outside of education to contend with, such as family responsibilities. From the scoping review of the literature above there is a clear demonstrable opportunity for research on mature women that return to education after a significant gap. Therefore, this dissertation aims to explore how non-traditional mature women manage their student role along with the multitude of other responsibilities that they shoulder. Within the framework of this study, this dissertation will also examine the emotional journey of mature women from the transition of ‘expected’ roles to the enablement of participation in life-long learning and personal capacity building. Coming from a feminist perspective the social specific issues which will be addressed include the empowerment, inequality and oppression of women with children or other caring responsibilities.

Classical School and Positive Criminology | Essay

Classical School and Positive Criminology | Essay Around the mid-eighteenth century, philosophers began arguing for a more rational, humanistic approach to criminal punishment. They sought to eliminate the cruel, public executions which were designed to deter crime or scare people into submission. In doing so the Classical and Positive Schools, as they pertain to criminal behavior, began to take shape. The field of criminology basically began with the establishment of the Classical School. According to this school human behavior is rational, meaning individuals have the ability to choose right from wrong and therefore they rationally choose to commit crime. The Classical School was developed by Cesare Beccaria, an Italian philosopher and Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, in response to the cruel European justice system that existed prior to 1789. Eighteenth century Europeans utilized capital punishment as a consequence of crime and deviant behavior. On the other hand, the Positive School, developed by Cesare Lombroso, an Italian surgeon, and two of his students, Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo, is the study of criminal behavior based upon external factors. According to Franklin P. Williams in Criminological Theory (2014), He reported that criminals manifest traits of sensory impairment; a lack of moral sense, particularly the absence of remorse; and the use of slang and ta ttoos (page 30). Lombroso believes a person is predisposed to a criminal lifestyle because he is born a criminal and not made into one. Each school of thought, Classical and Positive, has impacted the criminal justice system today. Both schools are in force, and both are instrumental in the ending of cruel, inhumane treatment of criminals and to the reformation of the death penalty. The Classical School views human behavior as rational in nature; believes that people have the ability to choose right from wrong; and believes that the major factor governing a persons choice is the desire to obtain pleasure and avoid pain. Punishment for crimes should be swift and certain, and must be public, prompt and necessary. It has to be proportionate to the crime and dictated by law. The primary idea behind the Positive School is that criminals are born as criminals, not made into criminals. It is the nature of the person, not how one is raised, that results in criminal tendencies. The positivist rejects the ideas that humans have a free will, that each individual makes a conscious, rational choice to commit a crime. They believe that an individuals behavior is determined by various biological (atavism), psychological (faulty personality development) and sociological (social structure) factors. Basically, due to these factors, responsibility for an offenders actions is reduced. Also, the punishment for crime must fit the offender rather than the crime. Rehabilitation, instead of punishment, is a major part of the treatment plan under this school of thought. Classical and Positive Schools both share the same idea that criminal behavior can be controlled and is a consequence of human nature. The two schools believe the most serious crimes are committed by people who are atavists or who fail to change into a civilized human state. The Positive School is concerned with reforming the offender by isolating the causes of the offenders criminal behavior, while the Classical School focuses on retribution by creating an environment where crime is based on a persons free will. The Positive School studies the natural origin of crime and focuses on what factors induce offenders to commit crimes. In contrast, the Classical School believes the offender commits a crime of his own free will knowing a form of punishment will follow. The Classical School emphasizes that people make a rational decision to commit a crime. This means that the offender will think the crime through considering the positive and negative consequences of the crime. So, if the immediate gain of the crime exceeds to consequences of punishment, the offender will choose to commit the crime and suffer the consequences later. Individuals who believe in this theory, believe the logical way to reduce crime is to give criminals harsher punishments. An example of harsher punishments is the mandatory minimum sentencing laws requiring set prison terms for certain crimes. However, the one-size-fits-all concept may seem like a quick fix, but they undermine justice by precluding judges from fitting the punishment to the individual and the circumstances of the offense as theorized by the Positive School. Also, the tough on crime mentality, through mandatory sentencing laws, adds to the billions of dollars spent to incarcerate offenders who may fair bett er under community supervision programs, such as probation. Mandatory minimums also lead to prison overcrowding, excessive costs to taxpayers and a diversion of dollars for law enforcement. Each school of thought, both the Classical and Positive, impacts the criminal justice system today. They are both in force and contribute to the ending of cruel and inhumane treatment of criminals. The United States Constitution is based on these two schools. The classical school concepts of letting the punishment fit the crime is the basis for the sentencing guidelines of the justice system and the positive school concepts make it possible for criminals to acquire the rehabilitative services they need in order to become functioning members of society. References Williams, III, Franklin P., and Marilyn D. McShane. (2014). Criminological Theory, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Self-Assessment and Reflection Essay -- Personal Writing Essays Papers

Self-Assessment and Reflection   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the last seven weeks, I had an opportunity to look back and analyze the events that has shaped my life. This was a unique experience where I was emotionally comfortable enough to look back at life. I was able to objectively revisit many events that were often buried and too painful to face. I was free from the turmoil of emotional fears of failure, anger, regret and loneliness, which often clouded my perception. . I was able to dwell on many pleasant and unpleasant events with more comfort and confidence. I accepted each event as part of life, regardless of whether it was a good or bad experience. I understand that life transpires even when we are not prepared for it, but more importantly, it is how we deal with circumstances that keep us going forward. For the first time, there was clarity and I became aware of two main points one was my life changing/challenging experience and the second was my financial growth. My life has been a journey filled with challenging experience, which consist of some unfixable actions, like leaving home. I grew up in an authoritarian, religious environment where personal expression and freedom did not exist. Since I could remember, there was a constant pressure for me to conform into Indian Christian society. Over the years the burden of not being able to convey my feelings and endless demands grew to hatred and retaliation toward my parents. The day after my high school graduation, without lett...

Causes of World War Two Essay -- WWII WW2 World War 2

World War two has to be the most famous war of all time. It was the largest, most tragic, horrifying of them all, and the first to have millions of people killed in the duration of it. Is it just me, or does it seem rather ironic that the very thing that was meant to solve the first World War is the most important of all of the causes of the second? And that the people who were supposed to fix the problems that that war caused were only really helping another along? The "war to end all wars" did not do that at all. Things like expansion and appeasement and the rise of dictators were obviously all for the war as well. So. Let me start with appeasement. Why was it such a large part of this war? There were so many people wanting so much that others had, and those that had it were forced to roll over and let it be taken. Because they were frightened. They were so scared of getting blown up that they would have handed over just about anything if it kept them alive. And mainly what people wanted was? more land of course! That was the expansionism part. They were the two things tha...

Effects of Foreign Direct Investment Essay

The possible positive and  negative effects of FDI  inflows Ing. Tomà ¡Ã… ¡ Dudà ¡Ã… ¡, PhD. Possible positive effects FDI provides capital which is usually missing  in the target country Long term capital is suitable for economic  development Foreign investors are able to finance their  investments projects better and often cheaper Foreign corporations create new workplaces Possible positive effects FDI bring new technologies that are usually  not available in the target country. There is empirical evidence that there are spillover effects as the new technologies usually spread beyond the foreign corporations Foreign corporations provide better access to  foreign markets Ex. Foreign corporations can provide useful  contacts even for their domestic subcontractors Possible positive effects Foreign corporations bring new know-how and  managerial skills into the target country Again, there is a spill-over effects – as people leave the corporations they leave with the knowledge and know-how  they accumulated Foreign corporations can help to change the economic  structure of the target country With a good economic strategy governments can attract  companies from promising and innovative sectors Possible positive effects â€Å"Crowding in† effect The foreign corporations often bring additional  investors into the target country (ex. their usual subcontractors) Foreign corporations improve the business  environment of the target country Ethical business or rules of conduct Possible positive effects Foreign corporations bring new â€Å"clean†Ã‚  technologies that help to improve the  environmental conditions Foreign corporations usually help increase the  level of wages in the target economy Foreign corporations usually have a positive  effects on the trade balance Possible negative effects Foreign corporations may buy a local company  in order to shut it down (and gain monopoly  for example) â€Å"Crowding out† effect We can see this effect if the foreign corporations  target the domestic market and domestic  corporations are not able to compete with these  corporations Possible negative effects Foreign corporations may cut working  positions (privatization deals or M&A  transactions) Foreign corporations have a tendency to use  their usual suppliers which can lead to  increased imports (no problem if the  production is export driven) Possible negative effects Repatriation of the profits can be stressful on the  balance of payments The high growth of wages in foreign corporations  can influence a similar growth in the domestic  corporations which are not able to cover this growth  with the growth of productivity  The result is the decreasing competitiveness of domestic  companies Possible negative effects Missing tax revenues If the foreign corporations receive tax holidays or  similar provisions The emergence of a dual economy The economy will contain a developed foreign  sector and an underdeveloped domestic sector Possible negative effects Possible environmental damage  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Incentive tourism†

Manipulation Case Study Essay

Who has manipulated my mind in relation to reality? I believe that society has manipulated my mind in relation to reality in some way because I think that reality is just a state of mind. The physical aspect of the things I can see, touch, taste, etc. make me believe that everything I encounter is factual. Also society says to believe only what you believe to be real and don’t believe in fantasy because you have no physical connections to imagination. How can I break free from the bonds of those who seek to manipulate me? I can break free the bonds of those who seek to manipulate me by choosing what to believe and to have an open mind when using critical thinking. I can use my logic when it relate how I receive information by make choose whether to let negative energy in my life affect me or choose to overcome it decide how I’m going to reaction to the situation. I believe that sometimes if people actually took the time think about things before they reacted on pure emotion then they can see that taking a few seconds think any negativity in their life they choose how they should react. An example when I’m driving and somebody cuts me off naturally I’m upset and wondering why this person would do something like. In some cases I want to speed next to the person in engage in an offensive gesture or go on verbal rant at that person but I usually take a second to think about it and realize maybe this person is in hurry or not pay attention while driving. By me choosing to restrain from getting in a road rage battle with that driver chose to the better person because at the end of the day we both are just trying to get to or destination. What preconceptions do I have in my life that might distort my vision of reality? The preconceptions that I have in my life that distorted my vision of reality is that all people are decent and kind. As a kid growing up I believe that all people were decent and kind because society was more civilized and simple. Now that I’m a adult I know that is not true at all because of how society is nowadays with in rapid increase in crimes such as murders, kidnappings, child molestations, etc. People have ability to be decent and kind but some choose to evil and cruel. Every person has the potential to be criminal because in today’s society have become desensitized.

Audience Analysis

The ACA Open Knowledge Online Guide Tyrone L. Adams, Ph. D. [[email  protected] edu] D’Aquin Professor of Journalism and Communication Department of Communication University of Louisiana, Lafayette and Peter A. DeCaro, Ph. D. [[email  protected] edu] Department Chair and Associate Professor of Communication Department of Communication California State University Stanislaus The Significance of Audience Analysis: Strategically Considering Your Target Populace It cannot be said often enough: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!Knowing your audience—their beliefs, attitudes, age, education level, job functions, language and culture—is the single most important aspect of developing your speech. Your audience isn’t just a passive group of people who come together by happenstance to listen to you. Your audience is assembled for a very real reason: They want to hear what you have to say. In public speaking, the audience is the entire reason This module helps you understand: Th e critical importance of understanding your audience. The various methods used in analyzing a given audience.The five layers of any given audience analysis. you are giving the speech; thus, the audience is the most important component of speechmaking. We analyze our audience because we want to discover information that will help create a link between the speaker and the audience. We call this link identification. Aristotle loosely called it â€Å"finding a common ground. † This isn’t a one-way process between the speaker and the audience; rather, it is a two-way transactional process. When you ask an audience to listen to your ideas, you are asking them to come partway into your experience as a speaker.And, in return, it is your obligation to go partway into their experience as an audience member. The more you know and understand about your audience and their needs, the better you can prepare your speech. For example: Bob Mullins, a local bank officer, was preparing fo r a speech at the Rotary Club in Dallas, Texas on â€Å"finding the right loan† for a diverse ethnic audience. He knew his topic extremely well, had put a lot of hard work into his research, and had his visual aids in order. One of the things he had not completely considered, however, was the audience to which he would be speaking.On the day of the event, Mr. Mullins delivered a flawless speech on car and home loans, but the speech was not received well. You see, on this particular week, a major segment of the audience consisted of the â€Å"Junior Rotarians† who wanted to hear about â€Å"personal savings accounts† and â€Å"college savings plans. † It was a critical mistake. Had Bob considered the full nature and makeup of his audience prior to the event, he might not have been received so poorly. A hard lesson learned. This module is dedicated to understanding how a speaker connects with an audience through audience analysis.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3. 0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3. 0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. I. How Do I Analyze My Audience? Whenever thinking about your speech, it is always a good idea to begin with a thorough awareness of your audience and the many factors comprising that audience. In speech communication we simply call this â€Å"doing an audience analysis. An audience analysis is when you consider all of the pertinent elements defining the makeup and characteristics of your audience. There are many elements to consider, too, such as: age, gender, education, occupation, language, ethnicity, culture, background knowledge, needs and interests, and previously held attitudes, beliefs, and values. Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list. But, it does help you get a good general understanding of the demographics shaping up whom, precisely, you will be addressing.From the Greek affix demo (of the people) we come to understand that demographics are detailed accounts of human population characteristics. These accounts are usually rendered as statistical population segments. Demographics are widely used by advertising and public relations professionals to analyze specific audiences so that their products or ideas will carry influence. However, all good public speakers consider the demographic characteristics of their audience, as well. It is a, if not the, fundamental stage of preparing for your speech.So now you may be saying to yourself: â€Å"Gee, that’s great! How do I go about analyzing my particular audience? † Well, first you need to know that there are three overarching methods (or what we like to call â€Å"paradigms†) for doing an audience analysis: (1) audience analysis by direct observation, (2) audience analysis by inference, and (3) audience analysis through data sampling. Once you get to know how these methods work a bit better, you should be able to select which one (or even combination of these methods) is right for your circumstances.Audience Analysis by Direct Observation Audience analysis by direct observation, or direct experience, is, by far, the most simple of the three paradigms for â€Å"getting the feel† of a particular audience. It is a form of qualitative data gathering. We perceive it through one or more of our five natural senses—hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Knowledge that we acquire through personal experience has more impact on us than does knowledge that we learn indirectly. Knowledge acquired from personal experience is also more likely to affect our thinking and will be retained for a longer period of time.We are more likely to trust what we hear, see, feel, taste, and smell rather than what we learn from secondary sources of information. All you r eally need to do for this method of observation is to examine the broad composition of your audience working in its natural state. If you are lucky enough to be able to do this before speaking to your audience, you will be able to gather some basic reflective data that will help you arrange your thoughts and arguments for your speech. One excellent way to become informed about your audience is to ask them about themselves.In its most basic form, this is data collection. In the classroom situation, you should have had ample time to get to know your fellow classmates and become familiar with who they are on a personal level. Through class conversations—and your unmonitored small-group conversations before and after class—you will be able to get to know and appreciate each class member as both a human being and an audience member. You will come to understand what interests them, convinces them, or even makes them laugh.Do not discount even a simple form of data collection such as distributing a three- or four-item questionnaire before class. You might arouse interest and curiosity in your topic while you also gain valuable data. Knowledge acquired from personal experience is also more likely to affect our thinking and will be retained for a longer period of time. Clearly this cannot be done in every speaking situation, however. Often, we are required to give an unacquainted-audience presentation. Unacquainted-audience presentations are speeches where you are completely unfamiliar with the audience and its demographics.In these cases, it is always best to try and find some time to sit down and talk with someone you trust (or even multiple parties) who might be familiar with the given audience. These confidantes can be very constructive in helping you understand the context in which you will be speaking. You see, not understanding the basic demographic characteristics of an audience, or further, Who is it that I am going to be talking to? that audienc e’s beliefs, values, or attitudes about a given topic, makes your presentation goals haphazard, at best.Look around the room at the people who will be listening to your speech. What types of gender, age, ethnicity, and educational-level characteristics will you be appealing to? What expectations does your audience have for your presentation? These are all important questions you should be asking yourself before you begin doing your research and drafting your outline. Who is it that I am going to be talking to? What, exactly, makes them, as listeners, tick? Audience Analysis by Inference Audience analysis by inference is merely a logical extension of your observations drawn in theWhat, exactly, makes them, as listeners, tick? method above. It is a form of critical thinking known as inductive reasoning, and another form of qualitative data gathering. An inference is when you make a reasoned tentative conclusion or logical judgment on the basis of available evidence. It is best used when you can identify patterns in your evidence that indicate something is expected to happen again or should hold true based upon previous experiences. Do you need to learn how to interpret information and draw conclusions? Absolutely! We make inferences—or reasonable assumptions—all the time.For example, when we hear someone speaking Arabic, we infer that they are from the Middle East. When we see this person carrying a copy of The Koran, we infer that they are also a follower of the Muslim faith. These are reasoned tentative conclusions that we make based upon the evidence available to us and our general knowledge about people and their traits. When we reason, we make connections, distinctions, and predictions; we use what is known or familiar to us to reach a conclusion about something that is unknown or unfamiliar for it to make sense. Granted, of course, inferences are sometimes wrong.Here’s a familiar example: Some of your classmates recommend a part icular course to you, telling you that it is relatively simple. You’ve heard similar things from other students, so you take the course and discover that they were, indeed, right. These same classmates recommend another course allegedly just as trouble-free as the last one. Only this time, you discover the opposite to be true. The course was insanely difficult. You inferred, or made a reasonable assumption based on information from your fellow classmates, that the course they recommended would be easy. Hey! You aren’t alone in this regard.Everybody makes these types of mistakes. It’s a normal part of processing information. Audience Analysis by Data Sampling Unlike audience analysis by direct observation and analysis by inference, audience analysis by data sampling uses statistical evidence to quantify and clarify the characteristics of your audience (data is the plural form of datum). These characteristics are also known as variables, and are assigned a numeric al value so we can systematically collect and classify them. They are reported as statistics, also known as quantitative analysis or quantitative data collection.Statistics are numerical summaries of facts, figures, and research findings. Audience analysis by data sampling requires you to survey your audience before you give your speech. You need to know the basics of doing a survey before you actually collect and interpret your data. The Basic Questionnaire There are a great number of survey methods available to the speaker. However, we will cover three primary types in this section because they are utilized the most. The first type of survey method you should know about is the basic questionnaire, which is a series of questions advanced to produce demographic and attitudinal data from your audience.You can easily gather information from your audience, using questions similar to these below: My academic level in college: I currently have: no children 1 child 2 children 3 or more ch ildren I can best be classified as being: Caucasian Black or African American Hispanic of Asian descent other My marital status is: single married divorced/separated widowed These questions probe more deeply into the psyche of your audience members, and will help you see where they stand on certain issues. reshman sophomore junior senior My age is: less than 18 years of age between 18-21 years of age between 21-25 years of age over 25 years of age Clearly, audience members should not be required to identify themselves by name on the basic questionnaire. Anonymous questionnaires are more likely to produce truthful information. Remember, all you are looking for is a general read of your audience, you should not be looking for specific information about any respondent concerning your questionnaire in particular. It is a bulk sampling tool, only.While you can gather basic demographic data (as shown above) easily, we need to adjust our questions a bit more tightly, or ask more focused qu estions, in order to understand the audience’s â€Å"predispositions† to think or act in certain ways For example, an attitudinal extension on the basic questionnaire might ask some of the following questions: I regard myself as a: conservative liberal socialist independent I believe that: there is a God there is not a God there might be a God, but I’m unsure none of the above These questions probe more deeply into the psyche of your audience members, and will help you see where they stand on certain issues. Of course, you may need to change these questions a bit to get to the heart of your specific topic. But, once you do, you’ll have a wealth of data at your disposal which, ultimately, will tell you how to work with your target audience.I believe that abortion is: wrong, and should be illegal wrong, but should remain legal okay, but should be illegal okay, and should remain legal none of the above Value Hierarchy by Ordered Categories Another method of finding out your audience’s value set is to survey them according to their value hierarchy. A value hierarchy is a person’s value structure placed in relationship to a given value set. The way to determine a person’s value hierarchy is to use the ordered categories sampling method. In ordered categories, the surveyor lists a number of values on a piece of paper, and asks the respondent to order them on another piece of paper, according to their importance to the respondent (the respondent is the person who fills out the questionnaire).What occurs is that the respondent takes a series of values and, in turn, develops them into a concrete self-ordered The way to determine a person’s value hierarchy is to use the ordered categories sampling method. list. Each response is different, but when analyzed by the speaker, common themes will present themselves in the overall data. Accordingly, the speaker can then identify with those common value themes. See the exa mple below for a given speech on â€Å"homeland security initiatives:† Targeted Value Set Life Liberty Safety Freedom Justice Family Faith Patriotism Democracy Likert-type Testing of Attitudes The final method of assessing your audience’s attitudes deals with Likert-type testing.Likert-type testing is when you make a statement, and ask the respondent to gauge the depth of their sentiments toward that statement either positively, negatively, or neutrally. Typically, each scale will have 5 weighted response categories, being +2, +1, 0, -1, and -2. What the Likert-type test does, that other tests do not do, is measure the extent to which attitudes are held. See how the Likert-type test does this in the speech example on â€Å"unsolicited email† below: UNSOLICITED EMAIL 1. Unsolicited email should be illegal 2. Making unsolicited email illegal would be fundamentally unfair to businesses 3. Making unsolicited email illegal would be a violation of the First Amendment (Free Speech) 4. I usually delete unsolicited email before ever opening it 5.I sometimes open unsolicited email when I am bored Strongly Agree 1 Agree Neither agree nor disagree 3 Disagree Strongly Disagree 5 Ordered Value Set 1. Freedom 2. Democracy 3. Liberty 4. Safety 5. Justice 2 4 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 A small Likert-type test will tell you where your audience, generally speaking, stands on issues. As well, it will inform you as to the degree of the audience’s beliefs on these issues. The Likert-type test should be used when attempting to assess a highly charged or polarizing issue, because it will tell you, in rough numbers, whether or not your audience agrees or disagrees with your planned advocacy. †¦ re your audience members literally â€Å"speech captives† who have somehow been socially or systematically coerced into hearing you? II. The â€Å"Five Layers† of Audience Analysis No matter which of the above inquiry methods you choo se to do your audience analysis, you will, at some point, need to direct your attention to the five â€Å"layers† of audience analysis. These are the five layers through which you will learn to better appreciate your audience. Let’s now examine these layers and understand the variables and constraints you should use to estimate your audience’s information requirements. Layer 1: The Situational Analysis The situational audience analysis layer considers the situation for which your audience is gathered.This layer is primarily concerned with why your audience is assembled in the first place. Are they willingly gathered to hear you speak? Have your audience members paid to hear you? Or, are your audience members literally â€Å"speech captives† who have somehow been socially or systematically coerced into hearing you? These factors are decisively important, because they place a major responsibility upon you as a speaker, whichever the case. The entire tone an d agenda of your speech rests largely upon whether or not your audience even wants to hear from you. Many audiences are considered captive audiences in that they have no real choice regarding the matter of hearing a given speech. In general, these are some f the most difficult audiences to address because these members are being forced to listen to a message and do not have the full exercise of their own free will. Consider for a moment when you have been called to a mandatory work meeting. Were you truly happy to listen to the speaker, in all honesty? Some might say â€Å"yes,† but usually most would rather be doing something else with their time. This is an important factor to keep in mind when preparing your speech: some simply do not want to listen to a speech they believe is compulsory. The voluntary audience situation, in stark contrast, is completely different. A voluntary audience is willingly assembled to listen to a given message.As a rule, these audiences are much easier to address because they are interested in hearing the speech at hand. To visualize how this works, reflect upon the last speech, concert, or show you’ve attended of your own accord. While the event may or may not have lived up to your overall expectations, the very fact that you freely went to the occasion speaks volumes about your predisposition to listen to—and perhaps even be persuaded by—the information being presented. There’s something else to be said about captive versus voluntary audiences, as well. Modern communication researchers have found that captive audiences are more heterogeneous and that voluntary audiences are more homogeneous.In other words, when captive audiences are gathered, the audience is typically heterogeneous or characterized by many demographic differences among individuals. On the other hand, when voluntary audiences assemble, by and large, they are populated by homogeneous groupings, or, audiences which are characteriz ed more by their demographic similarities than their differences. Sometimes audiences are mixed in their situational settings, too. For instance, take the everyday classroom situation. While college is pronounced to be a voluntary listening situation in that students choose to attend higher education, many people in the college classroom environment sadly feel as if they are still â€Å"trapped† in school, and would rather be elsewhere. Obviously, this erception colors how information is being processed—and in some cases, not being processed. On the other hand, some students in college are truly there by choice, and attentively seek out knowledge from their teacher-mentors. What results from this mixed audience situation is a hybrid captive-voluntary audience, with those who are only partially interested in what is going on in the classroom and those who are genuinely involved. Of course, this leaves you with a difficult set of circumstances when preparing for your cla ss speeches. Both you and your professor are well aware that the audience you will be speaking to Would you be more inclined to talk to issues bearing upon id not enroll in the course to hear from you, specifically. However, this difficulty of speaking to a hybrid captive-voluntary audience does present you with an excellent opportunity: you will have the good fortune of speaking to people who do and do not, fully, want to hear from you. What a prospect! You literally get to hone your speech skills on both types of audiences, thereby learning a skill set that many never get to exercise. You should begin this wonderful opportunity by considering ways to inform, persuade, and humor a mixed situation audience. Think of it as a learning occasion, and you’ll do just fine. Layer 2: The Demographic Analysis those gender, age, and race qualities?The second layer of audience analysis is demography. As mentioned before, demographics are literally a classification of the characteristics of the people. Whenever addressing an audience, it is generally a good idea to know about its: age, gender, major, year in school, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, et cetera. There are two steps in doing an accurate demographic analysis: (1) the gathering of the demographic data, and (2) the interpretation of this demographic data. Sometimes, this information is gathered by the questionnaire sampling method, and is done formally. On other occasions, this information is already available in a database and is made available to the speaker.Some noteworthy speakers even have â€Å"scouts† who do demographic reconnaissance on an audience prior to a speaking event, and make ad hoc interpretations on that audience based upon key visual cues. For example, congresspersons and senators frequently make public appearances where they use stock speeches to appeal to certain audiences with specific demographic uniqueness. In order to know what type of audience he or she will be addr essing, these politicians dispatch staff aides to an event to see how many persons of color, hecklers, and supporters will be in attendance. Of course, doing ad hoc interpretation of demographic characteristics is, indeed, more an art form than a science. Still, it is a common practice among many professional speakers.Consider for a moment how valuable knowing that your audience will be mostly female, between the ages of 25 and 40, predominantly married, and Caucasian, could be to you as a public speaker. Would you change your message to fit this demographic? Would you be more inclined to talk to issues bearing upon those gender, age, and race qualities? Or, would you keep your message the same, no matter the audience to whom you were addressing? Frankly, the smart speaker would shift his or her message to adapt to the audience. And, in a nutshell, that’s the purpose of doing demographics: to embed within your message the acceptable parameters of your audience’s range of needs.This, of course, raises an extremely important ethical issue for the modern speaker. Given the ability to do demographic data analysis and interpretation of an audience, does a speaker shift his or her message to play to the audience entirely? Or, on the other hand, does a speaker not shift his or her message so as to remain true to his or her motives? It is a delicate balancing act, for certain. Demographic information not only has the ability to truly enlighten a speaker, it also has the ability to modify a speaker’s original intent. Only you will be able to alleviate the tension between a speaker’s need to adapt to an audience and his or her need to remain true to form.Some political critics have even argued that our modern leadership no longer â€Å"leads,† it merely speaks according to demography and issue polls. Layer 3: Psychological Description: On Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values Unless your selected speech topic is a complete mystery to your aud ience, your listeners will already hold â€Å"attitudes, beliefs, and values† toward the ideas you will inevitably present. As a result, it is always important to know where your audience stands on the issues you plan to address ahead of time. The best way to accomplish this is to sample your audience with a quick questionnaire or survey prior to the event. This is known as the third layer of audience analysis, or psychological description.There are three things you seek to identify when performing a description: the audience’s (1) attitudes, (2) beliefs, and (3) values. They are your calculated allies †¦ it is always important to know where your audience stands on the issues you plan to address ahead of time. in understanding how your audience thinks. 1. Attitudes What exactly is an attitude? In basic terms, an attitude is a learned disposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a person, an object, an idea, or an event. Attitudes come in different forms. You are very likely to see an attitude present itself when someone says that they are â€Å"pro† or â€Å"anti† something.But, above all else, attitudes are learned and not necessarily enduring. Attitudes can change, and sometimes do, whereas beliefs and values do not shift as easily. Let’s examine a sample list of attitudes below: Pro-war Anti-affirmative action Pro-choice Pro-business Anti-discrimination Anti-war Anti-slavery Pro-gaming Anti-government Pro-capital punishment Pro-diversity Pro-life Anti-gambling Anti-drugs Anti-capital punishment These are just a small range of issues that one can either be â€Å"for† or â€Å"against. † And, while we are simplifying the social scientific idea of an attitude considerably here, these examples serve our purposes well. Remember, attitudes are not as durable as beliefs and values.But, they are good indicators of how people view the persons, objects, ideas, or events that shape their world. 2. Beliefs Beliefs are principles. Beliefs are more durable than attitudes because beliefs are hinged to ideals and not issues. For example, you may believe in the principle: â€Å"what goes around comes around. † If you do, you believe in the notion of karma. And so, you may align your behaviors to be consistent with this belief philosophy. You may not engage in unethical or negative behavior because you believe that it will â€Å"come back† to you. Likewise, you may try to exude behaviors that are ethical and positive because you wish for this behavior to return, in kind. You may not think this at all, and believe quite the opposite.Either way, there is a belief in operation driving what you think. Let’s now turn to examine some sample beliefs: – The world was created by God. – Marijuana is an addictive gateway drug. – Ghosts are all around us. – Smoking causes cancer. – Anyone can acquire HIV.  œ Evolution is fact, not fiction. – Marijuana is neither addictive nor harmful. – Ghosts are products of our imagination. – Smoking does not cause cancer. – Only high-risk groups acquire HIV. 3. Values A value, on the other hand, is a guiding belief that regulates our attitudes. Values are the core principles driving our attitudes. If you probe into someone’s attitudes and beliefs deep enough, you will inevitably find an underlying value.Importantly, you should also know that we structure our values in accordance to our own value hierarchy, or mental schema of values placed in order of their relative individual importance. Each of us has our own values that we subscribe to and a value hierarchy that we use to navigate the issues of the world. Truth be known, we really aren’t even aware that we have a value hierarchy until some of our values come in direct conflict with †¦ we make decisions small and grand, based from our value hierarchi es. each other. Then, we have to negotiate something called cognitive dissonance, or the mental stress caused by the choice we are forced to make between two considerable alternatives. For example, let’s assume that you value â€Å"having fun† a great deal. You like to party with your friends and truly enjoy yourself.And, in this day and age, who doesn’t? However, as a young adult now experiencing a significant amount of independence and personal freedom at college, you have many life options at your disposal. Let’s also say that some of your close personal friends are doing drugs. You are torn. Part of you wants to experience the â€Å"fun† that your close friends may be experiencing; but, the more sane part of you wants to responsibly decline. In honesty, you are juxtaposed between two of your own values—having â€Å"fun† and being responsible. This real life example is somewhat exaggerated for your benefit. Realize that we make dec isions small and grand, based from of our value hierarchies.Let’s look at some basic values common to people around the world: Accomplishment Aesthetics Authority Competency Creativity Learning Flexibility Health Independence Intellectual stimulation Leisure Material Status Peace Power Security Teamwork Layer 4: Multicultural Audience Analysis Demography (as outlined in Layer 2) looks at issues of race and ethnicity in a basic sense. However, we believe that in our increasingly diverse society, it is worthy to pay particular attention to the issue of speaking to a multicultural audience. Odds are that both your classroom audience and any real world audience that you encounter will have an underlying multicultural dimension.As a speaker, you need to recognize that the perspective you have on any given topic may not necessarily be shared by all of the members of your audience. Therefore, it is imperative that you become a culturally effective speaker. Culturally effective speak ers develop the capacity to appreciate other cultures and acquire the necessary skills to speak effectively to people with diverse ethnic backgrounds. Keep these issues ever-present in your mind: Language: Many people speak different languages, so if you are translating words or phrases, make sure that your translations are correct and that you are using concrete language instead of slang or jargon, which can be confusing.Advancement Affiliation Broadminded Competition Economic Return Family Freedom Helping others Influence Intellectual status Loyalty Moral fulfillment Physical work Prestige Self-expression Variety Adventure Appearance Community Cooperation Education Fast Pace Friendship Honesty Integrity Leadership Management Order Pleasure Recognition Travel Wisdom Cognition: Realize that different cultures have different cultural-cognitive processes, or means of looking at the very concept of logic itself. Accordingly, gauge your audience as to their diverse ways of thinking and be sensitive to these differing logics. Ethnocentricity: Do not assume that your culture is dominant or better than other cultures. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture or ethnicity is superior to others. Remember that, in many cases, you will be appealing to people from other cultures. Ethnocentric viewpoints have the tendency to drive a wedge between youKnowing that culture does play a major role in interactions between you and your audience is a good step in becoming an effective communicator. and your audience. Values differ greatly: Not only do individuals have value systems of their own, but societies promote value systems, as well. Keep in mind the fact that you will be appealing to value hierarchies that are socially-laden, as well as those that are individually-borne. Communication styles differ greatly: While you are trying to balance these language, cognition, cultural, and value issues, you should also recognize that some cultures prefer a more anima ted delivery style than do others.The intelligent speaker will understand this, and adapt his or her verbal and nonverbal delivery accordingly. Audience Analysis and the Multicultural Audience Today’s speakers face many cultural challenges. These challenges include ethnocentrism, stereotyping, verbal and nonverbal misinterpretations, differences in information processing, and translation difficulties. Ideally, it would be wonderful to be able to master every culture and language, but we cannot be superhuman. Still, there are some universal cultural attributes you can identify through audience analysis that will give you a basic understanding about your multicultural audience.Knowing that culture does play a major role in interactions between you and your audience is a good step in becoming an effective communicator. The key is for you to find alternative approaches to delivering your message, with both verbal and nonverbal elements of communication, that are more in line with your audience’s cultural instincts. There are three areas of cultural orientation we will explore: (1) cognitive styles: how we organize and process information; (2) decision-making: what we accept as evidence; and (3) communication patterns: how we communicate verbally and nonverbally. 1. Cognitive Styles The word cognitive means thought. So, â€Å"cognitive styles† refers to thought patterns.Studies of cognitive styles suggest that people fall into open-minded and closed-minded categories. The openminded person seeks out information before making a decision. They are more likely to see the â€Å"relatedness of issues. † They admit that they don’t have all of the answers, and they need to learn more before they can draw a conclusion. The closed-minded person has tunnel-vision—he or she sees only a narrow range of data and ignores the rest. They accept information only if it conforms to their established mindset. Another aspect of cognitive styles is how people process information. We divide such processing into associative and abstractive characteristics. A person who thinks associatively is filtering ew data through the screen of personal experience, such as in direct observation. New data can be understood only in terms of similar past experiences. This person’s mind is generally closed to all information that does not reflect established values. Individuals that display abstractive characteristics think very analytically, and concepts are abstracted quickly. Innovation often takes precedence over tradition. So you can see how understanding these differences will help you develop your speech. And a third cognitive process is how we actually link information in a chain to come to a conclusion or decision. Generally, there are two types of thinking: linear and systemic.Linear thinking means that we process information by creating an associative link, that is, we first begin with A, then go to B, then to C, and so on, until we have created a chain of reason in order to come to a conclusion. Individuals who process information systemically consider all of the information at one time, mulling it over. This type of person may holistically consider A, B, C, and D, at the same time in order to come to a conclusion. Each type of cognitive process requires a different style of organization and delivery of your speech. The trick is to know how If they think that you are a credible speaker, chances are you can influence their decision-making process. and when to use both styles, and that’s where audience analysis comes in. 2.Decision-making Members of different cultures arrive at decision-making in different ways. These ways can be described as faith, fact, and feeling. The person who acts on the basis of faith is using a belief system which can be a religion or political ideology. Presenting facts in your speech that do not reflect religious or political beliefs can be a waste of time. His or her faith operates independently from facts. People who believe in facts want to see evidence to support your position. They can be the most predictable to persuade. People tend to accept scientific evidence rather than question or reject it. And finally, people who believe in feelings are the most common throughout the world.These are the people who â€Å"go with their gut instincts. † If they think that you are a credible speaker, and they develop a â€Å"liking† for you, chances are you can influence their decision-making process. 3. Communication Patterns Verbal Communication Each culture has a system for communicating. Hall has indicated that these systems can fall into two categories: low-contextual communication and high-contextual communication. Cultures that express themselves in a high-context communication system emphasize how intention or meaning can best be conveyed through the context (e. g. , social roles or positions) and the nonverbal channels (e. g. , pa uses, silence, tone of voice) of the verbal message.The high-context system is also known as an indirect verbal style, or indirect communication, verbal statements tend to camouflage the speaker’s actual intentions and are carried out in a softer tone of voice. Rules for speaking and behavior are implicit in the context. What this means is that much of the communication is expressed through nonverbal behavior—a slight nod of the head, a simple hand gesture as acknowledgement, a brief smile. Compare this to a low context communication system, where exchange of facts and information is stressed. Information is given primarily in words and meaning is best expressed explicitly. The lowcontext system is also known as a direct verbal style, or direct communication, verbal statements tend to reveal the speaker’s intentions with clarity and are enunciated with a forthright tone of voice.Generally speaking, low-context communication (LCC) refers to communication patterns of direct verbal orientation: straight talk, nonverbal immediacy, and sender-oriented values (i. e. , the sender assumes the responsibility to communicate clearly). In the LCC system, the speaker is expected to be responsible for constructing a clear, persuasive message that the listener can decode easily. In comparison, high-context communication (HCC) refers to communication patterns of indirect verbal orientation: self-humbling talk, nonverbal subtleties, silence, and interpreter-sensitive values (i. e. , the receiver or interpreter of the message assumes the responsibility to infer the hidden or contextual meanings of the message).In the HCC system, the listener or interpreter of the message is expected to â€Å"read between the lines,† to accurately infer the implicit intent of the verbal message, and to decode the nonverbal subtleties that accompany the verbal message. Nonverbal Communication As the global village continues to shrink and cultures co-mingle, it is essen tial for public speakers to become more sensitive, more aware, and more observant to the nearly limitless numbers of motions, gestures, and body language that surround us every day. And as we cross over cultural borders, we should learn to respect, learn, and understand more about them. Nonverbal communication is a powerful form of human expression. It is everywhere.People all over the world use their hands, heads, and bodies to communicate expressively. Nonverbal messages are often the primary means of relating our emotions, our attitudes, and the nature of our relationships with oth- Eye contact is an important channel of communication. ers. Nonverbal messages can express what verbal messages cannot express and are assumed to be more truthful than verbal messages. Some major areas of nonverbal behaviors include: eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture and body orientation, proximity, paralinguistics, and humor. Eye contact is an important channel of communication. It si gnals interest in others and for some, eye contact with your audience increases the speaker’s credibility.You’ve heard the statement â€Å"Look at me when I’m speaking to you,† or you are taught in public speaking to make â€Å"eye contact† with your audience. This is another culturally dependent orientation. Among the Japanese, one way to show that you are listening is to close the eyes in contemplation and nod the head slightly, up and down. The Japanese are not ignoring the speaker nor are they taking a nap. It is one way to show concentration and attentiveness. The Japanese prefer indirect eye contact; they avoid direct or prolonged eye contact as mush as possible. Making eye contact with your audience is important, but knowing who to make that eye contact with is equally as important.Remember, some audience members expect you to look them directly into their eyes, while others may prefer indirect eye contact. What about something as simple as a hand gesture – say the â€Å"thumbs up† with a closed fist? In the U. S. it can mean support or approval, â€Å"O. K†. or â€Å"Good Job! † It is also used for â€Å"hitch-hiking† in the U. S. In France this same gesture means zero. In Japan it means money or coins. In Nigeria it is a rude gesture. In Australia, if pumped up and down, is an obscene gesture, and in Germany and Japan it is the signal for â€Å"one. † Here’s where you walk a fine line—if you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff, and unanimated.A somewhat lively and animated delivery may entertain your audience and demonstrate your confidence about your knowledge of the speech material. On the other hand, if you emphasize certain nonverbal gestures that one or more segments of your audience find offensive, you may wind up alienating them. We can make some general assumptions about Low-Contextual and High-Contextual cultures. The e xchange of facts and information is stressed with members of Low-Context cultures. Information is given primarily in words and meaning is expressed explicitly. There is a stress on task performance, and the communication style is considered to be unemotional and impersonal, with a high degree of objectivity.Low-Context individuals are also informal communicators, where dispensing with ceremony and rigid protocol is accepted, if not the norm. Reasoning is deductive; based on theory and logic. And members prefer analytical thinking, which breaks problems into small chunks. Direct eye contact is expected from both the speaker and audience. In High-Context cultures, shared experience makes certain things understood without them needed to be stated explicitly. Rules for speaking and behaving are implicit in the context, as is the preference for implicit communication. The communication style is emotive and personal, with a high degree of subjectivity and a stress on relationships. There is a high emphasis on protocol and social customs.Reasoning is based on experience and experimentation, with a preference for holistic thinking that is focused on the big picture and interrelationships between components. Indirect eye contact is expected from both speaker and audience. Remember that no two people behave in precisely the same way. Nor do people from the same culture perform exactly the same gestures and body language uniformly. For almost any nonverbal gesture there will probably be someone within a given culture who might say, â€Å"Well, some might attach that meaning to it, but to me it means†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and then they will provide a different interpretation. It is not only what you say in your speech that is important, but it’s how you say it that can make a difference to a multicultural audience.Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, and at times, even more so. Do we expect other cultures to adopt our customs or are we willing t o adopt theirs? We may not have time to study a language, but taking time to learn the nonverbal signals is a powerful communicator. We want to create a safe, inclusive environment for all audience members. Even though we have these cultural differences, people come together because they share similar interests. The success of your speech depends upon you, your research, and the quality and accura- †¦ you want to put your best work forward, and let your audience see your confidence and preparation shine through. cy of your information.Remember, communication always takes place between individuals, not cultures, but understanding cultural orientations will always help you become an effective speaker. Without nonverbal communication, our world would be static and colorless. Layer 5: â€Å"Topic Interest† and â€Å"Prior Knowledge† Analysis Finally, you want to query your audience for their interest in, and prior knowledge of, your topic. If the goal of your speech i s to deliver a unique and stirring presentation (and it should be), it would make perfect sense to know ahead of time if your audience: (1) is interested in what you have to say, and (2) has any prior knowledge regarding your topic.It stands to reason that you do not want to give a boring or trite speech. That much is clear. Instead, you want to put your best work forward, and let your audience see your confidence and preparation shine through. And, it also stands to reason that you don’t want to make a speech that your audience already knows a lot about. So, your job here is to â€Å"test† your topic by sampling your audience for their topic interest and topic knowledge. Defined, topic interest is the significance of the topic to a given audience; oftentimes related precisely to the uniqueness of a speaker’s topic. Likewise, topic knowledge is the general amount of information that the audience possesses on a given topic.These are not mere definitions listed fo r the sake of argument; these are essential analytical components of effective speech construction. Unlike multicultural audience analysis, evaluating your audience’s topic interest and topic knowledge is a fairly simple task. There are two ways to go about doing this: (1) through informal question and answer dialogue in class, or (2) more formally through an actual survey. Either way, it is best to have some information, rather than none at all. Imagine if you will, the laundry list of topics that people have heard over and over and over, ad nauseam. You can probably name some yourself, right now, without giving it much thought.If you started listing some topics to yourself, please realize that this is the point of this section of this module; your audience is literally thinking the same exact thing you are. Given that, topic preparation is strategically important to your overall speech success. Again, do not underestimate the power of asking your audience whether or not you r topic actually interests them. If you find that many people are not interested in your topic, or already know a lot about it, you have just saved yourself from a potentially mind-numbing exercise. After all, do you really want to give a speech where your audience could care less about your topic—or even worse— they know more about the topic than you do yourself? Not at all!The purpose of this section is to help you search for the highly sought-after public speaking concept called uniqueness, or when a topic rises to the level of being singularly exceptional in interest and knowledge to a given audience. We know that you wish to excel in giving your speech, and indeed you shall. But first, let’s make sure that your audience is â€Å"turned on† by your topic and hasn’t already heard the subject matter so much that they, themselves, could give the speech without much (if any) preparation. One final note: There’s an old adage in communication studies that reasons: â€Å"know what you know; know what you don’t know; and, know the difference between the two. In other words, don’t use puffery to blind your audience about your alleged knowledge on a particular subject. Remember, there is likely to be someone in your audience who knows as much about your topic, if not more, than you do. If you get caught trying to field an embarrassing question, you might just lose the most important thing you have as a speaker: your credibility. If you know the answer, respond accordingly. If you do not know the answer, respond accordingly. But, above all, try and be a resource for your audience. They expect you to be something of a de facto expert on the topic you choose to address. Conclusion Obviously, when thinking about what kind of topic you are going to select, it is compulsory for you to keep your audience in mind.Not doing so will put your speech at risk of not corresponding â€Å"Fail to plan, plan to fail. † with the information needs of your audience and further jeopardize your credibility as a speaker. In this module, we have covered (I) how to analyze an audience and (II) the five layers of audience analysis. In sum, this information equips you with the foundational knowledge and skill-set required to ensure that your topic complements your audience. And, after all, if we are not adapting to meet the needs of our audience, we are not going to be informative or convincing speakers. There’s a contemporary maxim that runs strong: â€Å"Fail to plan, plan to fail. We, your authors, believe that if you have failed to fully consider the nature, make-up, and characteristics of your audience, you are—for all intents and purposes—neglecting the spirit of the public speaking exercise. Confidently speaking to audiences can be somewhat addictive. The experience, when properly executed, can be empowering and help you succeed personally and professionally throughout your life . But, you must consider whom you are addressing first, and take their every requirement into account. We are linked to, joined with, if not bound by, our audiences. And, your main speaking ambition should be to seek identification with them, and for them to, likewise, seek identification with you. Works Consulted Bem, D. J. (1970).Beliefs, attitudes, and human affairs. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Pub. Co. Benjamin, B. (1969). Demographic analysis. New York: Praeger. Caernarven-Smith, P. (1983). Audience analysis & response (1st ed. ). Pembroke, MA: Firman Technical Publications. Clevenger, T. (1966). Audience analysis. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. Colburn, C. W. , & Weinberg, S. B. (1981). Listening and audience analysis (2nd ed. ). Chicago: Science Research Associates. Gibson, J. W. , & Hanna, M. S. (1976). Audience analysis: a programmed approach to receiver behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall. Hayes, A. (1994). The role of culture in demographic analysis: a preliminar y investigation.Canberra: Australian National University, Research School of Social Sciences. Jastrow, J. (1918). The psychology of conviction; a study of beliefs and attitudes. Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin. Jaszczolt, K. (2000). The pragmatics of propositional attitude reports. Oxford; New York: Elsevier. McQuail, D. (1997). Audience analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Nelson, N. , & De Saulles, T. (1993). Signs and symbols. New York: Thomson Learning. Pressat, R. (1972). Demographic analysis; methods, results, applications. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton. Rokeach, M. (1968). Beliefs, attitudes, and values; a theory of organization and change (1st ed. ). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Ting-Toomey. S & Chung, L. C. (2005). Understanding intercultural communication. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing. Tucker, K. T. ; Weaver, II, R. L. ; Berryman-Fink, C. (1981). Research in speech communication. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall. Youga, J. M. (1989). The elements of audien ce analysis. New York: Macmillan. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3. 0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3. 0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.