Individual Project and Presentation (3,000 words 50%) A student Essay

Individual Project and Presentation (3,000 words 50%) A student negotiated project and structure interview on a specialism of t - Essay Example It is the contemporary reality that ICTs or Information Communication Technologies have entered all spheres of our life. As a teacher of ICT, the practitioner finds himself using it more and more every day. In the context of formal education, ICT is recommended to be used by children from their earliest years. Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford (2000) position that since the early age children ought to be finding out as well as identifying the uses of ICT in everyday life. Computers along with programming toys are recommended for use to support learning. Use of play will provide a well-structured foundation for the later use of applications. In other words, the priority of modern education is to integrate ICT across the curriculum. The term ICT is used in modern education when one speaks about digital literacy. While the first associations with this term are the Internet, mobile phones, computers, Facebook, television, games, and Twitter, in education a few scholarly definitions are used. Specifically, Hague (2010), who says that ‘digital literacy’ is a confusing term, provides the following definition: digital literacy constitutes â€Å"critical and creative and cultural practices that allow one to understand and share the meaning and knowledge in different modes and formats through various forms of engagement with technology and media† (Hague 2010, 6). ... Indeed, Eshet-Alkalai (2002) says that the term’s indistinct use leads to ambiguity as well as misunderstanding, low-quality communication, and development of misconceptions. It is noted that a certain inconsistency exists between the supporters of the view that digital literacy is majorly about technical skills and those who support the view that digital literacy is about focus on both cognitive and socio-emotional aspects of functioning in an extensively digital environment. Hence, one of the research questions in this paper is â€Å"Is digital literacy more than just using a computer?† Two other questions are: â€Å"Is digital literacy covered in enough depth in the setting?† and â€Å"Should digital literacy lessons be taught earlier?† First of all, let us critically analyse views on the problem of the nature of digital literacy and its major components in available academic sources. The very concept of digital literacy, the term that is widely used to day, was introduced by Gilster (1997) back in 1997. Gilster (ibid) provided a generic explanation of digital literacy rather than a list of competencies and skills that defined digital literacy. In his view, digital literacy is simply an ability to comprehend and utilize information from a range of various sources, i.e. a sort of literacy typical for the digital age. Needless to say, the definition was quite broad, but it evidently opened the door to interpretations by different authors. While the term had been used before, it was Gilster (1997) and then Eshet (2002) that contemplated digital literacy as a broader concept. Specifically, Gilster (1997) explicitly observes that digital literacy is all about mastering ideas rather than

The construction of sexuality through culture and history Essay Example for Free

The construction of sexuality through culture and history Essay Introduction The queer theory has led to questions on the sexuality in various cultures. Teresa de Lauretis is the person [www. cddc. vt. edu]who came up with the phrase â€Å"Queer Theory†. It was at a working conference on theorizing lesbian and gay sexualities that was held at the University of California, Santa Cruz in February 1990. Once the term queer was, at best, slang for homosexual, at worst, a term of homophobic abuse. Today queer has come to be used differently, sometimes as an umbrella term for a coalition of culturally marginal sexual self-identifications and at other times to describe a theoretical model which has developed out of more traditional lesbian and gay studies. Queer focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire. Institutionally, queer has been associated most prominently with lesbian and gay subjects, but its analytic framework also includes such topics as cross-dressing, hermaphroditism, gender ambiguity and gender-corrective surgery. In many respects, Queer theory is grounded in gender and sexuality. Due to this association, a debate emerges as to whether sexual orientation is natural or essential to the person, as an essentialist believes, or if sexuality is merely a construction and subject to change [www. cddc. vt. edu]. The essentialist theory was introduced to Queer Criticism as a by-product of feminism when the criticism was known by most as Lesbian/Gay Criticism. The feminists believed that both genders have an essential nature (e. g. nurturing and caring versus being aggressive and selfish), as opposed to differing by a variety of accidental or contingent features brought about by social forces. Due to this belief in the essential nature of a person, it is also natural to assume that a person’s sexual preference would be natural and essential to a person’s personality, who they are. The Constructivists counters that there is no natural, that all meaning is constructed through discourse and there is no other subject other than the creation of meaning for social theory. In a Constructivist perspective, it is not proper to take gay or lesbian as subjects with objective reality; but rather they must be understood in terms of their social context, in how genealogy creates these terms through history. Foucault explains in his The History of Sexuality, 200 years ago [www. ipce. info] there was no linguistic category for gay male. Instead, the term that applied to sex between two men was sodomy. Over time, the homosexual was created through the discourses of medicine and especially psychiatry. What is conventionally understood to be the same practice was gradually transformed from a sinful lifestyle into an issue of sexual orientation. Foucault argues that prior to this discursive creation there was no such thing as a person who could think of himself as essentially gay. Queer theory is mainly addressing the issues on gender and sexuality. Due to this question, a debate arises as to whether sexual orientation is natural or essential to the person, or if sexuality is merely a construction and subject to change. This theory has led to criticism known by most people as Lesbian/Gay Criticism. The feminists believed that both genders have an essential nature for example nurturing and caring versus being aggressive and selfish as opposed to differing by a variety of accidental or contingent features brought about by social forces. so natural to assume that a person’s sexual preference would be natural and essential to a person’s personality, who they are [www. ipce. info]. The Constructivists counter, that there is no natural, that all meaning is constructed through discourse and there is no other subject other than the creation of meaning for social theory. In a Constructivist perspective, it is not proper to take gay or lesbian as subjects with objective reality; but rather they must be understood in terms of their social context, in how genealogy creates these terms through history. Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures This refers to the behaviors, beliefs, knowledge, and references shared by members of sexual minorities or transgendered people by virtue of their membership in those minorities. Not all members of a particular sexual minority participate in, or are aware of, the subculture that may be associated with them. In addition to simply not knowing that the culture exists, non-participants may be geographically or socially isolated, they may feel stigmatized by the subculture, they may simply dislike it (feeling it is outdated, corrupted, or does not align with their personal taste or style), or they may prefer to affiliate with some other culture or subculture. The sexual minorities [Kaahumanu and Yaeger]defined by sexual orientation and gender identity include: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people (LGBT). they are often seen as having a common culture. The existence of (LGBT) has also been questioned by noting the exclusion of some of these groups by others; for example, biphobia among gays and lesbians, transphobia among non-trans LGB people, or lack of inclusiveness of lesbians in gay milieu. For example, in some cities, especially in North America, gay men and lesbians tend to live in certain neighborhoods. This culture is mainly associated with the people of North America or Europe. LGBT communities also organize a number of events to celebrate their culture, such as Pride parades, the Gay Games and Southern Decadence the largest LGBT street fair in North America [Kaahumanu and Yaeger].

Community Care for Substance Misuse | Evaluation

Community Care for Substance Misuse | Evaluation From a service users perspective, critically evaluate people with substance misuse who live in supported housing. Introduction This paper discusses some salient aspects of community care of people with substance misuse who live in supported housing in the UK. Some of the issues that would be discussed include community care provisions with reference to legislative enactments; policy and practice initiatives in service sectors; a short review of the developments of community care policy and practice; an evaluation of the experiences of community care in a district and on different service users and carers– all these keeping in mind the requirement of anti-oppressive practice in working with service users and carers in community care. To keep the arguments within the ambit of the meaning and implications of the topic of discussion, and to impart clarity and precision to them, it is thought prudent to define at the outset the terms and concepts used in the course of discussion. A contextual definition of ‘service users’ adopted from the one given by Hanley et al in their 2003 INVOLVE report is that ‘service users’ are ‘patients; unpaid carers; parents/guardians; users of health services; disabled people; members of the public who are the potential recipients of health promotion/public health programmes; groups asking for research because they believe they have been exposed to potentially harmful circumstances, products or services; groups asking for research because they believe they have been denied products or services from which they believe they could have benefited; organisations that represent service users and carers† (Hanley, B et al, 2003, p.13). The words or the phras e â€Å"substance misuse† means the use of illegal drugs, or the improper use of alcohol, or prescribed medication, or over-the-counter medicines, or volatile substances such as aerosols and glue. ‘Substance misuse’ has become as much a serious problem among older adults as among the young; causing physical and mental health problems for them. Substance misuse has also the wider impact of affecting not only the lives of those directly involved but also those of their families and the communities in which they live. Gavin defines supported housing as â€Å"accommodation wherereceipt of housing supportservices is a condition of residence† (Gavin, n. d.) He continues to say that such â€Å"accommodationcan be grouped individual self-contained flats, or may be shared housing, with or without shared communal facilities. Support staff may be based on-site or be visiting staff. This type of housing is usually provided for groups of people with similar needs, e.g . older people, homeless people, people with mental health problems or those recovering from alcohol problems. People can live in supported housing for varying lengths of time, dependent on their individual needs and the type of service† (Gavin, n.d). Government Policy in respect of service and care In one of its published documents (DH 2002), the Department of Health has given detailed guidance about the regulation on ‘Supported Housing and Care Homes’. The document begins by saying that â€Å"Government policy for community care aims to promote independence, while protecting service users’ safety† (DH 2002). Contextually, here ‘independence’ would obviously imply the freedom for individuals to choose on their own the housing, the care and support, including the embedded choices in respect of risk and protection. One objective of the Care Standards Act, 2000 has been to ensure high standards of care and to protect vulnerable people. The Act, however, has not changed the definition of a care home and matters implicit in that definition. â€Å"In respect of personal care the specified types of care include assistance in physical activities such as feeding, bathing, toileting, and dressing; in non-physical tasks such as encouragement, advic e and supervision relating to physical activities; and emotional and psychological support in social functioning, behaviour management, and assistance with cognitive functions† (DH 2002). Anti-oppressive stance in service users and carers in community care In a multi-racial and multicultural society such as that of the UK, it is imperative that service users and carers should rise above common prejudices and discriminatory practices to be true to the requirements of their profession. To assist voluntary adherence to such practices, the UK has enacted legislation mandating anti-discriminatory practices in the provision of ‘social services’ and care facilities. This requirement is incorporated in the Sex Equality Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Children Act 1989; and reinforced by other legislations such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 and the Human Rights Act 1998. Anti-oppressive practice demands knowledge of the legislation and an understanding of the personal values of service users. An Open University document says that some of the ways in which anti-oppressive practice enter into practice include â€Å"‘colour-blindness’ (or blindness to other aspects of identity): ‘multi-culturalism’: thinking that it is enough to learn about other people’s culture and to celebrate diversity without examining our own attitudes; concentration on one aspect of identity to the exclusion of others; failing to ask service users how they like to be thought of, in other words asking them to define their own identity; cultural relativism: excusing abusive or criminal behaviour on the grounds of culture or other aspects of identity; failing to act for fear of being thought racist (or sexist, ageist or disablist). Social workers need to examine and question the sources and nature of their own power and the ways in which this is exercised in their relations with children and families and service users† (OUL, p. 107). It is also necessary to encourage the use and implementation of the GSCC’s Codes of Practice to social care workers, service users and carers (GSCC, 2002). Service users relation with anti-oppression practices (AOP) need a little further elaboration, as it is a much debated issue and an equally ‘sore’ one in the repertory of the social workers’ kitty. It can be said that in recent years public conscience has been outraged at an all-pervasive emergence of AOP in the work of service users and a simultaneous emergence of the ‘philosophy of ‘anti-oppressive practice’ in social work challenging discrimination in all forms and along all lines of disparity, including race or ethnicity, culture, sexuality, gender, disability and age. It is to the credit of ‘social work providers’ to have pioneered this development and to come in for the brunt of much criticism (Wilson and Beresford, 2000). We find that in 1970 an influential document, The Client Speaks did not include in its sample service users people not born in the UK â€Å"since the reaction of ‘non-natives’ to social work ar e likely to be complicated by cultural differences, language problems and so forth† (Meyer and Timms, 1970). However, despite social work’s ‘commitment’ to AOP policies and practices, equal access to services and support, and the provision of â€Å"culturally appropriate services and support have continued to be qualified† (Watson and Riddell, 2003). Inadequate access, or repeated denial of it, to important social work and social care services were reported by minority ethnic service users, who also said to have been ‘pushed’ as it were to the use of less valued areas of intervention in care services (Beresford and others, 1987; Vernon,  1996). Morris (1996) says that there is a wide prevalence of ‘inappropriate assumptions about BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) service users’; â€Å"for example, the levels of informal support available to them, continue to be reported (Morris, 1996). Some issues relating to refugees and asylum seekers, â€Å"where social work may be expected to be part of the policing and control processes introduced where citizen rights have not been granted or have been refused† were also said to worrying issues. (Shah, 1995). Other issues pointed out by service users in which they experience problems relate to their social work practice on the basis of gender, disability and age (Morris, 1991). Another issue concerning community care, although not directly related to AOP, has been the ‘inordinate pressure’ for people to be placed in residential care. Large number of people is estimated to be living in such provisions and they include older people and disabled people of younger age, who according to service users could be supported to live in their own homes n accordance with the objectives of the community care paradigm. Along with the increase in the number of people in supported housing, another development has been that the service users have been able to impact on policy (Thompson, 1991). This has been evident from the introduction of direct payments schemes with new legislation in 1997 (Glendinning and others, 2000). People receiving direct payments have steadily increased in number along with the expansion of the range of service users receiving direct payments. (example, Newbigging with Lowe, 2005). It may be recalled that direct payments were pioneer by the disabled people’s movement. The aim was to put the individuals who received support to be in charge of the cash that the support would cost; and for them to decide on what support they wanted; from where to have that support (from disabled people’s organizations, for instance); to initiate and run such schemes; and for the support to be sufficient to make it possible for them to have ‘independent living’; that is to say for people to live their lives as far as possible on equal terms to non-disabled people or non-service users (Barnes, 1993). Direct payments scheme, however, met with serious problems and obstacles which undermined it. Local Authorities officials opposed it because they in the scheme a steep erosion of their control over their own services. In many instances the prescribed budgetary limits have meant that direct payments have often not been sufficient to ensure independent living. Further, â€Å"frequently there has not been equity between service users; the process of assessment has continued to be dominated by traditional professional values, direct payments appear often to have been understood officially in consumerist terms (as if people were just buying services), rather than as a means of empowerment, requiring infrastructural support; and contracts have increasingly been placed away from disabled people’s  organisations to commercial organisations which have undercut them and offered an inferior service. The cumulative effect has been to subvert direct payments as a truly different approach to personal and social support (Beresford and others, 2005). The government has reiterated its policy of individualised approaches to support a central plank in social care policy by bringing together different funding agencies to provide support for service users (Duffy, 2004, 2006). Care-service in Bradford To examine a representative district-centred programme to tackle the ‘evil’ of alcohol misuse, a brief account of the Bradford district’s ‘alcohol harm reduction strategy’ is considered here. According to a ‘Draft Status Report’ on the subject,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Bradford is in the highest (worst) quartile for all three types of alcohol-related crime (all crimes; violent offences; sexual offences) included in the 2006 Local Alcohol Profiles for England (NWPHO). The number of all crimes in Bradford attributable to alcohol in both 2004-5 and 2005-6 was just over 12 per 1000, down from nearly 15 per 1000 in 2003-4; alcohol related violent offences for all three years was fairly stable at between 8 and 9 per 1000 population. Alcohol-related sexual offences increased significantly in 2005-6 to a three-year high of around 0.16 per 1,000 (NWPHO, 2006 – this data is based on the Government Strategy Unit’s formula for alcohol attributable fra ctions for each crime, which was developed from survey data on arrestees who tested positive for alcohol). 20% of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued by WY Police in 2004 to 16 and 17-year olds, and 24% of those to adults, were for alcohol-related disorders† (Smith, 2006). To tackle this problem of alcohol misuse Bradford District has put in place ‘the Bradford District Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy’ based on the 2004 National strategy for the purpose. The Bradford Strategy has the objective of â€Å"continually reducing alcohol misuse and the personal and social harms it causes, so enabling ever-increasing numbers of Bradford residents and visitors to live healthy and fulfilling lives, free from crime, disorder, intimidation, anti-social behaviour and avoidable health problems† (Smith 2006). Specifically the strategy aims to â€Å"reduce the number of people who drink alcohol above recommended limits; to reduce alcohol-related crime, disorder, nu isance and anti-social Behaviour; to reduce the harm caused by alcohol misuse within families; to reduce the prevalence of harmful drinking by children and young people aged under-18; to reduce alcohol-related accidents and fires; and to ensure that Bradford City Centre and outer town and village centres are areas that the local population and visitors can enjoy without fear of alcohol-related violence and victimization† (Smith 2006). The Bradford Metropolitan District Council APA Impact Analysis 2007, says that â€Å"134 young people in substance misuse treatment (April – Feb 07) shows 54 YP currently  Receiving substance misuse treatment from Specialist CAMHS [Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Service]; 100% of young offenders are screened for substance misuse in 2006/07, and 92.9% of those testing positive were referred for specialist assessment, an improvement of 16.4% on the previous year. The figure for entry to treatment also increased by 9.6%. In 06/07 there have been 4 substance related admissions to hospital in young people aged under19 years mirroring figures for 2005/06† {Bradford Metropolitan District Council APA Impact Analysis, 2007). Development of community care policy The UK community care policy is based on three planks of ‘autonomy’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘choice’ (Levick 1992). There have been disputes going on since the introduction of the NHS and Community Care Act (1990). On the one hand, the Act and its policy guidance have been seen as a significant development in the care reform for older people. Three factors have contributed to the enactment of the legislation: first ‘the marketisation’ of the public sector from 1979 onwards (Means and Smith 1997); second, in theory, joint planning between health and social services promoted integrated and multidisciplinary community services; in practice, such arrangements failed to realise such services and were criticised as pedestrian and patchy; and third, the government policy of privatisation encouraged people to enter private residential homes through a system of social security financing different from that of local and health authorities. (Mooney 1997). This policy essentially channelled public sector funds into the private institutional sector while leaving the domiciliary sector chronically under-resourced. It is the older people who were adversely affected in a serious manner by the policies of the 1980s in respect of community care. The Audit Commission (1986) pointed out the principal fallacy of the perverse fina ncial incentive which supported the development of private institutional care at the expense of community care, through the income support system. In 1989 government accepted the findings of the Griffiths Report of 1988 and came out with a three-pronged policy: user choice, non-institutional services promotion, and targeting. In 1990, the Community Care Act was put on the statute book. Conclusion In concluding this essay it may be recalled that this paper has been an exercise in delineating some important aspects and issues relating to people with substance misuse who live in supported housing in UK. In the course of discussion issues relating to the various concepts and concerns of the subject matter of the discourse have been explored and analysed. It was seen that service users want to see social work which will be non-discriminatory and which will intervene on their behalf, offer support to secure their rights and needs. It has also been seen argued that â€Å"social work could be more effective in safeguarding service users (both adults and children) from the risks that they currently encounter in the social care system, including serious risks of neglect, abuse, denial of rights, bullying, racism, etc† (Beresford and others, 2005; Branfield and others, 2005). References Audit Commission (1996) Balancing the Care Equation: Progress with Community Care, HMSO, London. Barnes, C. (1993), Making Our Own Choices: Independent living, personal assistance and disabled people, Derby, British Council of Organisations of Disabled People. Beresford, P. Shamash, 0. Forrest, V. Turner, M. and Branfield, F. (2005), Developing Social Care: Service users’ vision for adult support (Report of a consultation on the future of adult social care), Adult Services Report 07, London, Social Care Institute for   Excellence in association with Shaping Our Lives. Bradford Metropolitan District Council APA Impact Analysis, (2007): at www.bradford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7697DD51-729F-45D6-BF6E/0/BradfordMDCImpactAnalysis2007FinalVersion.pdf [accessed Oct. 26. 2008] Branfield, F. Beresford, P. Danagher, N. and Webb, R. (2005), Independence, Wellbeing And Choice: A response to the Green Paper on Adult Social Care: Report of a consultation with service users, London, National Centre for Independent Living and Shaping Our Lives. DH (2002); Department of Health: â€Å"Supported Housing and Care Homes Guidance on Regulation†; File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat; at www.cat.csip.org.uk/_library/docs/Housing/supportedhsgandcarehomes.pdf/ [accessed Oct. 26, 2008] Duffy, S. (2004) In Control, Journal of Integrated Care Vol 12, No 6, December 2004, pp 19-23. Duffy, S. (2006) The implications of individual budgets, Journal of Integrated Care Vol 14, No 2, April 2006, pp 7-13 Galvin, John: â€Å"Supported Housing: Definition†; at www.thehousekey.org/jargon-supported-housing.aspx/ [accessed Oct.25, 2008] Glendinning, C. Halliwell, S. Jacobs, S. Rummery, K. and Tyrer, J. (2000), Buying Independence: Using direct payments to integrate health and social services, Bristol, Policy Press Griffiths, Sir R (1988) Community Care: Agenda for Action, HMSO, London. GSCC (200) General Social Care Council: Codes of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers, London, GSC Hanley, B et al (2003): â€Å"Involving the public in NHS, public health, and social care research: Briefing notes for researchers† (second edition), INVOLVE at www.invo.org.uk/pdfs/Briefing Note Final.dat.pdf [accessed Oct.25, 2008] Levick, P (1992) The Janus face of community care legislation: An opportunity for Radical Opportunities in Critical Social Policy, Issue 34, Summer 1992, pp.76-81. Mayer, J.E. and Timms, N. (1970): The Client Speaks: Working class impressions of casework: London, Routledge and Kegan Paul Mooney, KM (1997): â€Å"Preoperative Management of paediatric patient†; Plastic Surgical Nursing Journal, 17(2) 69-71. Morris, J. (1991), Pride Against Prejudice, London, Women’s Press. Morris, J. (editor), (1996), Encounters With Strangers: Feminism and disability, London, Women’s Press. Newbigging, K. with Lowe, J. (2005), Direct Payments And Mental Health: New Directions, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation in association with Pavilion Publishing and Research into Practice. OUL: Open University Learning: â€Å"Anti-oppressive practice†: File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/file.php/3499/K113_1_PracticeCards_p105-112.pdf / [accessed Oct.26, 2008] Powell. Jason L (1990): â€Å"The NHS and Community Care Act (1990) in the United Kingdom: A Critical Review† Centre for Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University, UK Shah, R. (1995), The Silent Minority: Children with disabilities in Asian families, London, National Children’s Bureau. Smith, Nina (2006), Senior Policy Officer, Bradford District Council: â€Å"Status Draft for Consultation; Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy For Bradford District†; at www.bradford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2EDEB823-302B-4352/0/AlcoholHarmReductionStrategyconsultationDraft070 [accessed Oct. 25, 2008] Thompson, C. (editor), (1991), Changing The Balance: Power and people who use services, Community Care Project, London, National Council for Voluntary Organisations Vernon, A. (1996), A Stranger In Many Camps: The experience of disabled black and ethnic women, in Morris, J. (editor), Encounter With Strangers: Feminism and disability, London, Women’s Press. Watson, N. and Riddell, S. (editors), (2003), Disability, Culture And Identity, Harlow, Pearson Education. Wilson, A. and Beresford, P. (2000), Anti-Oppressive Practice: Emancipation or appropriation?, British Journal of Social Work, No. 30, pp553-573.

Myths, Legends, and King Arthur Essay -- European Literature Essays Pa

Myths, Legends, and King Arthur Throughout the dawns of time, people have recorded lives and made histories about the past, the people and all of their dramatics. One such story is Le morte d'Arthur, or in English, the Death of Arthur. Despite its French title, the actual text was written in English. It is a twenty-one book series written by Sir Thomas Malory in 1469-1470 describing in detail the problematic lives of the Arthurian legends. Sir Thomas Malory was believed to be born in 1408, but no one really knows for sure. (New Standard M-86) He was an English author, compiler, and translator who was most known by his works on the Arthurian legends, and also the first great author of the English prose and epics. (Encarta, Malory) He was also a knight from Warwickshire who ended up serving time in the military on French soil under Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. He was knighted for his efforts sometime before 1442 and served in Parliament in 1445. After that he spent many years in imprisonment for political and municipal charges. He spent most of his last twenty years in prison. (CRC) It was during this time that he wrote his version of the Arthurian Legends, basing most of his work on French and English originals in prose and verse. His version of the story was originally called The Book of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. It wasn't until after his death, when a man named William Caxton published his book in 1485 did it become known as Le morte d'Arthur. (New Standard M-86 & L-277) In order to explain the book, I must first explain the story of King Arthur. I'll take you to the beginning of the tale with Arthur's father Uther Pendragon. The story in itself actually begins with Merlin, whi... ...inter William Caxton arranged Malory's work into a single narrative in 1485. (Encarta Arthurian Legends) I chose this story in truth because I was running out of ideas, and happened across it when I was looking up landmarks in London in my Encyclopedia. I had found a section for English literature on the way and stopped to take a look at it. The authors of the volume were nice enough to put examples of the stories in time periods. I found the time period I needed and found Sir Thomas Malory's tales of legendary soap operas. I also liked the idea because it was one of my favorite stories when I was growing up. How it represents the society that created this version of woes, happiness and Arthur, and our present society, is we all have evils that we must contend with and no matter what age you live in there is always a soap opera life waiting around the corner.

Organizational Behavior Concepts Essay

Organization behavior concepts are the study and identification of management activities and strategies that provide employee effectiveness through understanding of the complex nature of individual, group and organization process. Organization behaviors concept draws from variety of disciplines including psychology and sociology to explain the behaviors of people in the company. Therefore concepts are methods or formulas followed to govern the individual or group productivity of the company and the effectiveness of leadership in an organization. Since more companies are looking at how to automate and improve their services, they are creating self-services opportunities for employees and streamlining application based process so as managers can focus on key issues while performing their task. This has brought about a great success to software companies for the rise in demand of their products and services. IBM being a Worlds premier single source provider for multi-vender IT solutions has a great success that encouraged more planned concept to enhance the corporation meet its target and consumers need. Human resource practices Human resource management has become one of the most important aspects of running a company. It has been realized that having a competent and a motivated workforce can help a company create a competitive advantage which other companies may find hard to replicate in the market. Therefore there is need for the company to take bold step in order to address issue of hiring and retaining a competent work force. It will begin by changing the style of leadership from the authoritative rule in order to give the workers more freedom to make their own decision as pertains to the operation of the organization. But them most important thing is for the organization to come up with a human resource plan that will be integrated in the overall growth strategy. A strategic human resource plan will define issue on hiring, retaining, training and development of the workforce in order to maintain a competitive workforce. According to the famous McGregor’s theory x and y, in x mangers assume workers are lazy and irresponsible and require constant supervision and external motivation to achieve organizational goals. The theory y managers assume workers want to work and can direct and control themselves. In advocating for theory y, managers who allow opportunities for individual challenge and initiative and who encourage participation would achieve superior performance. (Glyn 1999) Through the years, IBM has consistently practiced and emphasized the development of human relation to achieve individual goals. Through practice, The Company has managed to achieve notable achievements in attraction of new and retaining current customers. IBM has given a great consideration in strengthening relationship between the customers and the company which have brought about a great growth in sales both locally and internationally. IBM has a planned strategy to be followed by leaders and employees that avoids differences in interpretation of issues and ideas that may favor the relationship between them. The set rules govern all issues addressing any human relation in the company therefore saving money and time. The IBM has well organized bureaucratic strategies which have eliminated variability in result. When new employees are employed, they come in with different skills, experiences and goals, the rules themselves are standardized so that the personnel changes do not disrupt the whole company’s human resource management. When each individual employs personal skills, ideas and goals they may not rhyme and this may cause difference in management and definitely misunderstanding between individuals or group. Therefore this has been fully put in to consideration and has helped the company achieve in the competitive market. This have also helped the company position faster specialized skills eliminating many subjective judgments by managers where rules and regulations are established properly and have a set method to follow to avoid different individuals employing their rules hence causing conflict between the concerned parties. This has gone hand in hand with training of leaders and employees on the set rules to standardize their performance and reinforcing human resource department. IBM has currently been able to achieve the right segment in the market which has made it possible for the company to enter the main stream of the market. This was made possible close interaction between the company and customers through entering into contracts with local and international companies raising the need for close relationship and work together to fill the demand and high sales volume. Motivation Motivation is the force or impetus behind behavior and actions. This energizes behavior and directs behavior towards a goal. In IBM, managers are always expected to create a desire of working to employees by creating conducive environment and a favoring atmosphere for working. IBM has been advocating the use of reinforcement by rewarding. An attractive object or event is supplied as a consequence of a particular work done perfectly. According to behavior approach to motivation, managers have an understanding of employees motivation which begins with careful analysis of incentive and rewards that are present in the company. These incentives are like privileges and money. Its always managers responsibility in IBM to identify behaviors that need to be reinforced like outstanding performance, punctuality, neatness and completion of work. The managers are always alert to notice the desired behavior occur. Occurrence is always accompanied by reinforcement. An employee who shows an improved performance is rewarded. The principle is that reinforcement strengthens behavior and gives that exact behavior a chance to occur again. In IBM, cognitive approach state that behavior is determiner by over thinking and not reward or punishment, it is initiated and regulated by mental process and not external events. Managers’ role in motivation is to help workers develop on curiosity and help them develop methods for searching for information. In IBM, workers are trained to be intrinsically motivated. The social working approach is an integration of cognitive and behavior aspect. This theory sees motivation as a product of two main forces, individual expectations of success in a task and vicarious experience. Individual expectation of success is determined by personal effectiveness, personal effectiveness is also called self efficiency and refers to personal confidence. The manager should empower employees to become competent in performing a task. If the empl9oyee knows that he will succeed in doing a task, then his motivation will be high. Vicarious experience constitutes the observation of other workers and compares performance. If the worker discovers that his performance is poor, he may lose his sense of competence. In this respect the manager should the employee to keep up with level of performance of other employees so that motivation is highlighted. Though intrinsic motivation comes from the worker, is referred to as ego involvement. This results from employees identification with desired goal. The employee is fully involved in learning a task. Managers task is to empower the employee to identify with that work if the need for confidence is made. Competence means ability to perform) Ability to master every a task also mean competitiveness. In a task every employee has interest and desire to perform confidently in a company’s task. Managers’ role is to discover how to empower the employee to achieve. In IBM corporation managers assist the employee by providing them with opportunity to become competent and help them to avoid failure. They achieve this by giving them a task that they are intellectually capable of achieving. When an employee is successful in performing a task, his self concept is enhanced and this gives great respect to the company. In IBM Corporation, motivation is displayed in personal goals and that very many motives are personalized depending on what the company wants to achieve. These personalized goals determine individual level of aspiration. Due to continued success, there is always an aspiration to modify and develop company’s strategies that would enhance better performance for both managers and employees. Organizational structure The IBM Corporation has a well planned leadership strategy which is an important factor that determines the viability of an organization operation. Good leadership is responsible for growth of the organization while unplanned leadership is responsible for drift in an organization. Planning mode of leadership, there should be a procedure to follow and that will help in determining the weaker points in the leadership therefore avoiding drift. Management is the most important factor that determines the viability of any organization operation. Good management is responsible for growth of the organization while bad managements can be held responsible for collapse of organizations. The IBM Corporation is currently being held at ransom by the kind of leadership structure. There are many kinds of leadership that are used in running organizations depending on the kind of the organization. In IBM the authoritative kind of leadership in the organization has been responsible for some of the problems like making of decision for the organization. In this regard it is clear that there is a problem in making decision since they are made from the top and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has to be consulted before any decision is made despite the fact that there are other people in the organization who are more experienced in this work. Authoritative leadership holds the organization to the management and it discourages innovation since the CEO has to be consulted on all matters regarding the operation of the organization. The CEO acts to provide guidance for the organization and one of the duties of CEO are to delegate duties of the office. In this regard, the CEO has to give some of the authority to other managers in the organization in order to decentralize decision making process. Rise in the interest in developing people through out the organization could be attributed to a number of factors. In IBM, employees are taking broader ranges of responsibility, managers, in particular are faced with a completely new environment. They are responsible for more people often worked in strategy-oriented companies and therefore, the skills and competencies that previously served them well no longer work. They have to make fundamental changes and come up with more planned productive strategies to avoid drift. (Jackson 2005) Advertisement is another most important component that characterizes the operation of IBM Corporation in the market since it raises the awareness of the consumers about the availability of the products in the market. Therefore a well planned advertisement is an important component that helps a company to penetrate the market especially when introducing a new product. Lack of a planned advertisement may have limited growth of the company which in return may cause losses in the company. Keeping in mind that the company is operating in a very competitive market, there is a need to plan strategies to follow to avoid any sort of dissatisfaction to the customers which may lead to a drift. IBM Corporation market has a wide scope which comprises of many factors. These factors are essential for the maintenances of businesses competitiveness of the services and goods being delivered by the company in the market, either in goods or services, the IBM marketing team has the privileges of collecting relevant data from its market target which quite fundamental is its goods and service improvements that enable the maintenances of high competitiveness in the international markets. (Michael 1993) When introducing a new technology in the organization, IBM Corporation has a proper planning that enables the employees adapt and learn much quicker because lack of proper planning can cause a drift that may be hard to recover. The corporation has set strategies to be followed and adequate training to lessen the risk of taking more time omitting other duties. The introduction of new technology in a company has caused a drift in many companies for most managers command employees on making use of technology that they are not used to therefore causing alternation of formally followed rules. Example, if the company has been using paper work may in accounting department, introduction of computers may alter the set road map because of training and mental ideas that one is supposed to do more than before therefore causing a drift. To avoid this, the IBM Corporation has set a long term planning and informs the employees in advance so as they may be prepared physically, mentally and psychologically to avoid more excitement on introduction of the new technology. Conclusion If the company fails to have a proper planning, is likely to be faced by many challenges. One of the biggest challenges the company is likely to face in the structure of the business in the sense that will be difficult to change or recover. The managers may work hard but the competitors may continue enjoying great profits due to lack of proper management strategy. Management should be well planed and strictly followed to know the weaker parts of management. A well addressed strategy in all areas of leadership will enhance a greater interest in the company, workers participation and productivity. In IBM, the relationship between managers, employees and consumers is valued and put in to great consideration, this is encouraged because it gives a good reputation to the company hence increasing its business achievements world wide.

Record Management System Essay

A student record is about any written information about the students. Student records are often viewed as paperwork produced for the education accreditations. However, a well-designed student record system, whether using paper documents or automated systems, produce many benefits. The most important of these is the ability to report information for decision making about individual students, school and programs. A second benefit, particularly with automated systems, is efficiency in processing and exchanging student records among schools. The focus on student outcomes and records has been a burden to our school, for them to monitor well the information and the performance of the students. Various student records, data and information were required to have proper organization and management to provide sustainable student record. This thesis or system helps the school’s administrator or the teachers for maintaining the records of the students. As technology changes, we want to be updated or to be modernized. Using the manual record and grading system, sometimes causes to confusion. We all know that manual record system are just hand written, so it may cause confuse someone just because he or she cannot understand the hand writing of the person and also sometimes the student records are being misplace. Unlike in automated record system, the information’s can be clearly understood because it is computerized and can be kept in a folder. In the past, universities and large school districts in particular have created their own bespoke student record systems. One such example is the Repository of Student Information (ROSI) system at University of Toronto. With growing complexity in the business of educational establishments, most organizations now choose to buy customizable software, and increasing numbers are buying software as a service. Most student information systems in use today are server-based, with the application residing on a central computer server, and being accessed by client applications at various places within and even outside the school. But student information systems have been moving to the web since the late 1990s and that trend is accelerating as institutions replace older systems. In the Philippines, some of the university used the Student Recording System or Student Information Systems. Like in Benguet State University, they provide their new way record management and transaction processing that wouldachieve efficiency on processing student information. It would be a great help to the administrativepersonnel, academic personnel, grantors or stakeholders, parents and students in updating, retrievingand generating student data. Importance of the Study The study entitled â€Å"Guidance Record Management for Cavite State University Imus Campus† will help the university to maintain an organized and systematic record for guidance unit. The web- based record management will serve as a bridge between the student and the guidance office. The study will help the Guidance Office to manage the Student Information Profile, the offenses and the good morals of the student. It will build a foundation in becoming more efficient of the guidance servicing unit in Cavite State University Imus Campus. The universities students will help the student to access easily the Guidance Unit and enjoy its services. They can be easily update to the universities announcements and will be aware of their offenses. The study also enables the examinee to know the result of the exam through online and download it for the requirements needed for the enrollment. They can now access the guidance office on their home now with the help of internet. The study will serves as a reference for the future researchers who will study the guidance servicing unit. It will give them wide information about the study and broaden their knowledge. I recommend the future researcher to make the study more emphasize and broader. Statement of the Problem In the Cavite State University Imus Campus, Guidance Office still using a semi†computer based system and paper†based student record management. Staff finds it tedious in searching and preparing reports on student’s information and also laborious due to repetition of processes done in filling and updating of records. As main goals of the school, it sought to answer the following questions: The Student Information Profile Sheets has been disseminated in the university for the Guidance Record. But the said SIPs failed due to lack of time to sort all the records. How to provide an easy way to manage all the records of the students and easily fill-up the information? (See Appendix A, Figure 3). Every end of semester, staffs need to pass their accreditations for their accomplishment reports. It is undeniably and obviously, that making reports in Guidance Office was very laborious. How will it be easier for them to finish their accomplishment reports? (See Appendix A, Figure 4). Every end of semester, the Discipline Officer/ Entrance Examination Officer conducting an entrance examination. It hassles them to accommodate over one hundred examinees just to announce the result of their examination. How to provide an alternative way to announce the entrance examination results? (See Appendix A, Figure 5). The request of good moral is hassle for the students because they need to photocopy the requests and wait for the long 3-day working process of the Guidance Office. How to provide the student can easily request and get their Good Moral Certificates and help the Discipline Officer to its recording? (See Appendix A, Figure 6). Objectives of the Study The study aims to develop a web-based application for Guidance servicing Unit in Cavite State University Imus Campus. Generally, the study aimed to design to create a website that will render the services of Guidance Unit in Cavite State University. It shall help the university to manage the student’s information. It will also enable the student to fill-up and generate their Student Information Profile (SIP). It will also provide the announcement for the entrance exam results every semester and update the students’ every day. It should also have a high security and control measures for the student’s privacy. It will then produce a new transaction, Good Moral Certificate request online and record management of student offenses. And lastly, it will improve the generation of record reports. Specifically, the study aimed to; 1. Plan a website that will enable the student to fill-up their SIP and the  university to manage the SIPs. 2. Design an entrance examinees result online. 3. Design a new way for making an accomplishment reports. 4. Analyze the process for requesting and releasing good moral certificates. Time and Place of the Study The system development started last August 2014. The researcher’s interview was conducted on June 2014 located at Cavite State University Imus Campus. They conducted requirements gathering and system construction on July 2014. In September 2014, the researcher stated doing the documentation of the study. The study is expected to be done by the end of September 2014. Scope and Limitation The study is conducting for the efficient student record keepings. The study is limited only to the features like SIPs record, entrance examination results, university announcements, information’s security, new Guidance transactions and generation of reports. The said features are only made for the Guidance Service Unit of Cavite State University Imus Campus. The Guidance Administrators (Guidance Counselor and Discipline Officer) are the authenticated persons to manage the system. They can add offenses, view incident reports, add announcements, view all the student information, and view Good Moral Certificate requests and display the entrance examination results. Students can only view announcements, submit incident reports, view their profile, request good moral and be notify about their offenses. Examinees can only view their entrance examination result. And the teachers can only submit an incident report. Definition of Terms Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Is a style sheet language used for designing the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language and which enables to separate the designing from coding. Downloadable. Receiving a data from the local server and convert it to a file. Mysql. Used for making  a relational database management system. Online.Accessing the website through internet connection and its done over the internet. PHP. A general purpose programming language designed in making a website. Record Management System (RMS). An application that is responsible for collecting inputted data. Student Information System (SIS).An application that organized, record and manage the information of student. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES Presented here in Chapter 2 is the synthesis of research that supports the evaluation of record management system and student information system. For further understanding of the study, the researchers made use of different reading materials related to the online system. Related Literature Presented here in Chapter 2 is the synthesis of research that supports the evaluation of record management system and student information system. For further understanding of the study, the researchers made use of different reading materials related to the online system. These materials such as books, thesis and other web articles are essential in broadening the knowledge of the researchers. These will also guide the researchers to achieve their target objectives by getting ideas on other related studies and make improvements as possible. The information gathered by the researchers focuses on the record management. Security measurement information in terms of student’s information privacy to be considered in developing an online system is also obtained. Marrero (2009) in his study entitled â€Å"Student Information System for the University of the Cordilleras† stressed that the concept of Information Systems (IS) emerged in the early 1960s. More often, when information system is defined, the field Information Science is always associated, IS is an academic field that deals with the generation, collection, organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of recorded knowledge. Furthermore, it is a collection of related components designed to support operations, management, and decision making in an organization. Generally, IS is supposed to inform people. Information System  supports people or users in making intelligent decisions based upon the information derived from reliable data. MIT (2009) gave emphasis that Student Information System (SIS) provides students with access to their academic and biographic records as well as the ability to update their address information and pre†register for classes; it provides instructors and departmental administrators with class list information; and provides advisors and departments with access to the individual academic records of their students. Therefore, SIS is an integrated approach in acquiring, storing, analyzing and controlling the flow of student data throughout the institution. Highly developed SIS can be useful in nearly all institutionalInternational Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research Issue 4 201341 ISSN 1839†9053 departments’ functions and can greatly increase efficiency and response times of traditional labor and time†intensive processing of student data. According to Desousa (2008), Web based application have four core benefits. These are the following: 1) Compatibility. Web based applications are far more compatible across platforms than traditional installed software like web browsers. 2) Efficiency. Everyone hates to deal with piles of paper unless they do not have any other alternatives. The benefit of web based solution makes services and information available from any web†facilitated Personal Computer (PC). 3) Security of live data. Normally in more complex systems data is moved about separate systems and data sources. In web†based systems, these systems and processes can often be merged by reducing the need to move the data around. Web†based applications also provide an additional security by removing the need for the user to have access to the data and back end servers. 4) Cost Effective. Web†based applications can considerably lower the costs because of reduced support and maintenance, lower requirements on the end user system and simplified plans. According to Tech-Faq (2013), the programming language called PHP is quickly rising to be one of the most preferred web browser programming languages due to its user-friendliness, efficiency, and user control. PHP allows a user to describe specific functions within the code in order to drastically control the way a web browser displays and organizes information. A user is able to mix PHP and HTML within the same document to reach the desired effect. According to Vennapoosa (2013), Throwaway Prototyping Model is especially useful when the  project needs are vaguely and poorly laid out. It functions by providing proof that something can indeed be done in terms of systems and strategies. Throwaway Prototyping Model is used for certain projects and will eventually be discarded after the project has been completed. It is also known as Close-Ended Prototyping. Related Studies In the Online Student Information System of Benguet State University (OSIS-BSU), Philippines of Ms. Rochelle D. Pacio (2013) in Benguet State University. She used the Rapid Application Development (RAD) Methodology with the development of 30- 90 days. The proposed online student information system is integrated to the website of the university which serves as a portal for the students. The system covers the posting and updating of students’ personal data sheet. The Student Information System of University of Baguio, proposed by Ms. Elisabeth D. Calub (2005) of Saint Louis University. She used the Goal-Exception Dependency (GED) Model. This model serves as the student information of the University of Baguio. It serves as the portal and announcement viewer of the students. The Student Guidance System, a thesis proposal of Mr. Jay Pabs (2004) with a methodology of Agile. The purpose of this program is to record the complaints and or problem of a student in guidance office. This will keep track the past record of a certain students by using this program. And of course, to eliminate a paper work, retrieve the record easily, and create a report. Based on the three studies, authors conclude that it would be still easier to use the Throwaway prototyping. There are some features that were alike of this project. So there is no so much adaptation in those theses

Simmilarities and differences of Tsarist and Communist rule essays

Simmilarities and differences of Tsarist and Communist rule essays Essentially, many of the main aspects of Communist and Tsarist rule were the same, mimicking each other in their use of repression through state security to keep the people under control, and the total supremacy and completely unrestricted power of one figure over the masses. Therefore, in both regimes, the skill of the leader determined the success of the regime. However, there were obviously key differences too. For example, the belief that workers should eventually own all the factories and land, taking all power from the elites in the process, and the role of Russia on an international stage. The Soviet regime was based on Marxist theory. It sought to overthrow capitalism through a workers revolution and establish a system whereby the community owned all property. In this way, the Soviets hoped to create a classless society of equal economic status. An extract from a Bolshevik newspaper on 1 November 1918 states that we are not fighting against individuals, but plan to get rid of the bourgeoisie as a class. Marxism believed that workers in Russia had more in common with the same class of people in another country, rather than the Russian aristocracy or elite. Tsarist rule, in contrast, promoted capitalism. The aims of the Tsarist regime depended largely on the views of the Tsar in power. The Westernisers believed in more political freedom and the prevention of revolution through reform. The Slavophiles wanted to preserve the traditional social structure and rule with fear to repress the proletariat and lower classes. A letter from Nicholas II to his mother states that in response to the 1905 revolution, the other way out would be to give the people their civil rights. Both regimes relied on the strength and skill of one man to take the country forward. Both the Tsarist and communist regimes were very dictatorial. The Tsars privileged position was secured by the Tsa ...

Compulsive Hoarding

Compulsive Hoarding Free Online Research Papers As little as 15 years ago, people with extremely cluttered homes were known as pack rats or collectors. There has been a growing problem where homes become so extremely full of possessions that it makes it impossible to use the rooms in the house for the purpose in which they were originally intended. No cooking in the kitchen, no family meals in the dining room, and no entertaining friends and family in the living room because all of these spaces are occupied by the treasures of a hoarder, practically floor to ceiling. â€Å"Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary. More than 3 million people are compulsive hoarders.† (Flynn, Chan, Severson, 2010) Hoarding can sometimes appear in early adolescence. If not addressed, it will usually get progressively worse. Some of the symptoms may include: -Cluttered living space; -Inability to discard items; -Keeping stacks of newspapers, magazines, or junk mail; -Moving items from one pile to another, without discarding anything; -Acquiring un-needed or useless items sometimes even trash; -Difficulty managing daily activities including procrastinating and trouble making decisions; -Difficulty organizing; -Perfectionism; -Excessive attachments to possessions and difficulty letting anyone touch or borrow them; -Limited or no social interactions. Hoarding can range from a harmless mess, to a life threatening condition. (Scheff, 2010) Triggers and Causes Family and Genetics Hoarding seems to run in families. Obviously, if one was raised by a hoarder, one is much more likely to be a hoarder, as many people often emulate the environment in which they were brought up. However, some research also points to a genetic link. â€Å"People with this problem tend to have a first degree relative who also does, so it might be genetic, or it might be a modeling effect.† Says Randy O. Frost, Ph.D., a psychologist at Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. â€Å"Genetic research suggests that a region on chromosome 14 may be linked to compulsive hoarding in families with OCD. The study, carried out by a team from John Hopkins University School of Medicine in March 2007, analyzed samples from 999 OCD patients from 219 families. Families with 2 or more hoarding relatives showed a unique pattern on chromosome 14 where as other families’ OCD was linked to chromosome 3.† (Collingwood, 2009) Trauma Some people classified as hoarders may just be harmless pack rats until some kind of trauma occurs in their life. Often hoarding spirals out of control after the death of a loved one such as a parent, spouse, or child. Divorce can also trigger hoarding to manifest a previously underlying problem into a disaster. Compulsive Shopping Hoarding also highly correlates with compulsive shopping. Compulsive shopping also correlates with other characteristics of hoarding such as indecisiveness and perfectionism, which also correlates with OCD. Hoarding is not only characterized by the inability to discard items, but also by the obsessive way in which they are acquired. â€Å"It may be the case that compulsive shopping is one manifestation of an underlying pattern of mental activity that is part of a more general tendency towards compulsive acquisition.†(Murray, Close, Frost, 2010) Related Disorders OCD Hoarding has long been considered a symptom of OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. However, in the last 10 years, psychologists have begun to notice a difference. Sometimes there is a person with OCD who has a tendency toward hoarding, and sometimes there are compulsive hoarders without OCD. It is estimated that at least 18 to 30 percent of people with OCD have hoarding tendencies. (Frost, Steketee, 2010) Although hoarding is not considered to be a disease in itself right now, this may all change soon. Experts have been debating if it is a symptom of OCD at all, and it may be recatagorized in the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Some of the distinctions between Compulsive Hoarding and OCD may include the following: -Different from most patients suffering from OCD, most hoarders do not want help. This makes then also much more difficult to treat. -Medication seems to work far better for patients with other forms of OCD. -Hoarders have specific cognitive deficits not shared by people with other forms of OCD, such as the inability to categorize and make decisions. -Treatments for hoarding are more tedious and take longer than typical OCD treatments -Hoarding OCD is much more likely to suffer relapse than other types of OCD. (Elliot, 2009) OCPD Besides OCD, compulsive hoarding is also linked to other disorders and is even a diagnostic criteria for OCPD, or Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. One study suggests that almost twice as many hoarders meet the criteria for OCPD rather than OCD. Similarities between OCPD and hoarding include preoccupation with details, organizing and orderliness. Patients suffering from both disorders have very little insight into the severity of their disorder and most often do not recognize the negative impact of their behaviors on their lives. Hoarding may also correlate with disorders such as ADD and ADHD where people also have a great deal of difficulty focusing, making decisions, and organizing. (Wiegartz Carmin, 2010) Effects on Family and Home Living in the home of a hoarder is very stressful. Unlike people with other obsessive compulsive disorders, hoarding compulsions directly affect all other persons living in the house. Although the emotional effects of other OC related disorders can affect the family, it is generally indirect and can be avoided. Often it is just an inconvenience. Hoarding, however, profoundly affects all persons living under one roof. For example, the hoard more often than not, spills out from one room to another until all rooms, including the bathroom, and kitchen become un-useable. This is very unsanitary and unhealthy. Also, very often if something goes wrong with the plumbing or electricity, a hoarder may not hire professionals to come in and fix the problems due to embarrassment or inability to access the area. (Fugen, Slavin, Donelly, 2010) For the family of one who hoards, it is impossible to live in the same house and not experience emotional, or even physical trauma. Not only through the mess, but also because hoarders’ extreme need to control all aspects of the house cause extreme friction and tension. A primary cause of contention is the loss of usable living space in the shared areas of the home including the living room, dining room, bathrooms, hallways, kitchen, entry ways, yard, and even the bedrooms of other family members. The emotional effects of hoarding are very difficult on a marriage, and often end in divorce. (Fugen et al., 2010) Family members are forced to live in utter chaos. The hoarder assumes control of the entire house and does not allow their family members to make and decision about the home in which they live. This results in feelings of bitterness and resentment. Often, family members get so frustrated with the mess that they will attempt to organize, discard, and clean up without the knowledge or permission of the hoarder, resulting in big, blow out fights. The hoarder will become even worse due to this â€Å"deception† because they feel violated and disrespected. This causes them to become even more protective of their possessions. (Fugen et al., 2010) The hoarding behaviors of the parent of a child can severely affect the child’s life. Children are either not allowed or too embarrassed to have friends over which adversely effects their social development, leaving them feeling isolated. Children become withdrawn and depressed and tend to do poorly in school or even drop out. Children of hoarders are prone to become abusers of drugs and alcohol. (Fugen et al., 2010) Hoarding also affects the quality of life in the home from a health aspect. Individuals living in a hoarded house often suffer from headaches and respiratory problems. As clutter develops, it becomes impossible to dust or vacuum for years at a time. In addition, spilled liquids are often not cleaned up causing all manors of mold, fungus, and insect infestation. Also, the home is likely to become infested with rats and other vermin who will deposit feces and urine within the clutter causing a whole range of other health issues. (Fugen et al., 2010) Another safety hazard is the clutter itself which makes it difficult to move about the house. Pathways become blocked by fallen or new clutter and one could trip and fall and be seriously injured. Extreme clutter also puts the home at a significant risk of having a fire. Also because of the clutter, it would be extremely difficult for emergency personnel to rescue individuals trapped inside the house. The home of a hoarder could literally cave in. People often underestimate the weight of their possessions, and the floors and walls could be destroyed under the pressure of an extreme hoard. It is even more dangerous if the home has pets. Cats often not find their litter box, if there even is one, and dogs cannot hold it long enough for their masters to navigate through the mess, leaving the animals to urinate and defecate throughout the house. The result is absolutely toxic. The hoarder becomes accustomed to the smells, and hardly notices a problem. The levels of ammonia make the air in the home unsafe to breathe, both for the animals and humans. Animal feces, mold, and fungus make it very dangerous to inhabit the house, and it may be reported and condemned by the city. (Fugen et al., 2010) Levels of Hoarding An official organizational assessment tool has been developed by a group known as the NSGD, or National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. This clutter/hoarding scale was developed to give professional organizers and clinical psychologists specializing in chronic disorganization and hoarding definitive parameters. The parameters relate to specific health and safety issues. Five different levels have been established to measure the degree of squalor and severity that professionals may be dealing with. Within each different level, there are four specific categories which define the severity of clutter and hoarding potential. -Structure and zoning; -Pets and rodents; -Household functions: -Sanitation and cleanliness. (Delson, Govinsky, Prince, Shultz, 2003) Level I hoarder Household is considered standard. No special knowledge in working with the chronically disorganized is necessary. Level II hoarder Household requires professional organizers or related professionals to have additional knowledge and understanding of chronic disorganization. Level III hoarder Household may require services in addition to those a professional organizer and related professional can provide. Professional organizers and related professionals working with Level III households should have significant training in chronic disorganization and have developed a helpful community network of resources, especially mental health providers. Level IV hoarder Household needs the help of a professional organizer and a coordinated team of service providers. Psychological, medical issues or financial hardships are generally involved. Resources will be necessary to bring a household to a functioning level. These services may include pest control services, â€Å"crime scene cleaners†, financial counseling and licensed contractors and handy persons. Level V hoarder Professional organizers should not venture directly into working solo with this type of household. The Level V household may be under the care of a conservator or be an inherited estate of a mentally ill individual. Assistance is needed through the use of a multi-tasked team. These members may include social services and psychological/mental health representatives (not applicable if an inherited estate), conservator/trustee, building and zoning, fire and safety, landlord, legal aid and/or legal representatives. A written strategy needs to be outlined and contractual agreements made before proceeding. (Delson et al., 2003) Subtypes of Hoarding Animal Hoarding Animal Hoarding is a complex community health issue. It involves mental health, animal welfare and public safety concerns. In most cases, animal hoarders appear to believe they are helping their animals. They believe that any home is better than letting the animals die in a shelter. They are in denial and are able to convince other people that they are in control of the situation. Usually, animal hoarders are completely blind to the fact that they are not helping the animals, and they do not see the degree of suffering that they cause. Indications for an animal hoarder may be: -Owning many animals without knowing an exact number of how many; -Home is deteriorated and may have dirty windows, broken furniture, and holes in the floors and walls; -Extreme Clutter; -Strong smells of ammonia and the presence of urine, feces and vomit; -Animals are unsocialized, emaciated, and lethargic; -The presence of fleas and vermin; -Individual isolated themselves from the community and appears to also be in neglect themselves; -Individual insists all animals are loved and cared for, even in the presence of extreme distress and illness. (ASPCA 2010) Dr. Stephanie LaFarge, ASPCA Senior Director of Counseling Services says; â€Å"I have worked with many animal hoarders in their homes. Their mental illness allows them to maintain an absolute denial of the filth and suffering of the animals. They simply cannot see, smell, or react to the situation as a normal person would.† (ASPCA, 2010) Garbage Hoarding Some people suffering from compulsive hoarding are obsessed with collecting garbage. The term for this is syllogomania. These people will go as far as climbing into dumpster and removing trash to bring home with little to no insight as to how unsanitary their actions are. Often they believe that they are doing good for the world by saving what they consider to be useful items from going to the dump. In their minds, they plan to find use for these items at a later time, but instead just manage to turn their own home into a dump. Collectors Some compulsive hoarders do not just simply collect junk, but focus their attention on one or more type of useful items in copious amounts. Often these homes are not as unsanitary as the homes of garbage or animal hoarders. However, what starts out as a harmless collection may soon turn into an obsession. Collector/Hoarders are known to collect some of the following items; clothing, newspapers, magazines, books, toy trains, cameras, and personal items, just to name a few. These types of hoarders most likely also have a problem with compulsive shopping and may spend many hours and lots of money frequenting flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales, and may also be hooked on home shopping channels and eBay. Case Studies Animal Hoarder â€Å"On Tuesday, November 9, 40 cats were seized from a mobile home in Tampa, Florida, that authorities called a â€Å"liter box without litter,† according to the St. Petersburg Times. After an anonymous tip led them to the property, officials entered the residence wearing protective gear to shield them from the smells of the unsanitary home. All of the cats were kept on one side of the mobile home where the windows were sealed and there was no ventilation. Many of the animals had conditions such as respiratory infections, open wounds and urine burns. The news source reports that ammonia levels begin to become unsafe at 25, and this home reached 38. Kevin Lamar Addison, who lived with the animals, was charged with five felony counts of animal cruelty and 40 counts of unlawful containment of an animal. (ASPCA, 2010) Garbage Hoarder Lloyd is an elderly man from California. He was told by his mother, during the Great Depression, â€Å"Don’t put anything on your plate that you can’t eat, and don’t waste anything.† Lloyd collects garbage from dumpsters and has a giant outdoor hoard of miscellaneous debris. Five years ago, it was so bad that the county came in and cleaned it up. They also fined him 50,000 dollars. This made him feel violated, and he began hoarding worse than ever. He ignored the huge fine, on continued to hoard his property. Now he is facing another fine of the same magnitude. Lloyd hoards everything including, but not limited to broken fans, construction garbage and debris, pieces of worthless broken furniture, paper, and empty boxes. Lloyd was originally a successful insurance salesman, but buckled under the pressure and began drinking. His family fell apart as he became controlling, violent, and abusive. Even after being sober for 35 years, his abusive and obsessive behaviors persist, and his family finds him difficult to love. Even when he is out with his grown daughter, he cannot resist removing items from garbage cans. Facing 100,000 dollars in fines, he agrees to get help. He could possibly lose everything. Lloyd’s situation is desperate. He sleeps in a trailer on his property that is also hoarded. He climbs in through a window to sleep, because all entry ways are blocked. He has no electricity, no running water, and no ventilation. He has not been inside his house for over a year. After seeing the grotesque situation in which Lloyd lives, Dr. Liz Moore, the clinical psychologist working on his case, has no choice but to get Adult protective services involved. During the clean up, Lloyd has problems parting with any garbage. He is hostile and agitated and is lamenting over every piece of trash. He has very little insight into his situation and is erratic, and could possibly be suffering from dementia. Lloyd is removed from the property for the last part of the cleanup to get as much done as possible. There is very little hope for Lloyd because of his negative mind set, age, and possibly his dementia. He will most likely be removed from his home by Adult Protective Services. It is not humane to continue to let him live alone. Sixty dumpsters were filled on his property, and only 25 percent of the hoard was removed. His property will most likely be surrendered to the county. (Flynn et al., 2010) Collector Theresa is a retired state worker, and a mother of six grown children. She raised her family in California and kept a clean home. All of the children had chores. Ten years after her kids were grown and gone; Theresa moved to Alabama and bought a house to be closer to her side of the family. Her husband stayed behind in California to continue to work. Three years ago, tragedy struck, and Theresa lost three family members in a short period of time. Alone and devastated, Theresa turned to shopping to ease her pain. Theresa frequented the thrift store two times per day. Her husband sent her $5,000 at a time. Her shopping got so out of control that she went through their entire life savings totaling $112,000 in one and a half years. Theresa believes the 3,000 designed purses that she owns will bring in a small fortune. She is counting on the sale of these items to save her from bankruptcy. Her husband worked two jobs his entire life to support the family. He retired two months ago, and moved to Alabama to be with Theresa. He was shocked by what he found. The house is hoarded floor to ceiling with clothes, purses, and shoes. Nobody is allowed to touch her possessions, she is controlling and possessive. Extremely in debt, and facing financial ruin, Theresa agrees to get help. Dr. Susan Chabaud, licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in OCD and hoarding comes on to help Theresa. She breaks down soon into the session, realizing what she has done. In addition to the pressure of her financial burden, Theresa is afraid her husband will leave her. She has tested his loyalty to the limit. Professional organizers arrive with dumpsters. The team begins removing items from the house. At first, things are going smoothly, but Theresa unravels when she notices things being thrown out. She breaks down, and the cleanup comes to a halt. Her family is afraid of her temper. When the crew leaves for the day, Theresa climbs into the dumpster and removes items. The next day, consignment experts arrive to assess the value of Theresa’s 3,000 purses. It is disappointing when they discover that most of her bags are designer imitations, and 95% are worthless. She is upset that she cannot get top dollar for her bags, and only walks away with $300. This will not prevent her from bankruptcy. Theresa is humbled by her situation, and the rest of the cleanup goes smoothly. Her husband is pleased with the progress and sticks by her side. Theresa is provided with after care funds, and uses them to get counseling. Her daughter steps in and intervenes financially to save them from ruin. (Flynn et al., 2010) Treatment Initial Assessment The first step in helping one who hoards overcome their affliction must be through a thorough psychiatric evaluation to rule out primary psychotic disorders such as, dementia, and major depression as a cause to the problem, since apathy, fatigue, or hopelessness could lead to failure to discard, clean, or organize possessions. The initial session should include an assessment of the amount of clutter, types of items acquired, usability of the space, health and safety hazards, beliefs about possessions, information processing deficits, avoidance behaviors, insight, motivation for treatment, social and occupational functioning, and activities of daily living. (Saxena 2008) Pharmacotherapy Hoarding symptoms may be treated with Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, or SRIs. A few studies of OCD patients have found that hoarding symptoms were not easily treated with these drugs, and responded poorly to them. Another study, however, found that compulsive hoarders responded equally well to SRIs as non-hoarding OCD patients, with signifigant improvements in shared symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and overall functioning. Similar proportions of hoarding and non-hoarding OCD patients responder strongly and partially. The proportions of people dropping out of the study were also similar. Compulsive hoarders who completed treatment showed a mean 31% decline in symptom severity. Hoarding symptoms improved as much as other OCD symptoms. (Saxena 2008) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Hartl, Frost, Steketee, and colleagues developed a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or, CBT treatment strategy based on their Cognitive/Behavioral model of compulsive hoarding. They are the leading researchers on the subject. They conceptualize hoarding as involving four main problem areas; -Information processing deficits; -Problems in forming emotional attachments; -Behavioral avoidance; -Erroneous beliefs about the nature of possessions. Treatment involves cognitive restructuring, decision making training and exposure and response prevention involving the discarding of clutter. After 20 weeks of treatment, five in seven patients had noticeable improvement in acquiring of new possessions, awareness of irrational reasons for saving possessions and organizational skill. The ability to discard possessions also improved, but more slowly. This study also demonstrated the need to address patient motivation and involve family members in treatment. (Saxena 2010) Conclusion A growing awareness has shed some light on the deeply rooted problems of compulsive hoarding. Hoarding is a serious condition that not only affects the individual with the problem, but also has a serious impact on the lives of all persons living in the home, as well as loved ones living outside the home who want to help, but do not know how. The issues of a hoarder are deeply seeded and not easily treated. In order to provide adequate treatment, several different levels of therapy are recommended, including; therapy with a clinical psychologist specializing in hoarding, professional organizers, and perhaps even drug therapy to reduce anxiety. Strong family support is also very important, as relapse is almost inevitable. Hoarding has long classified as a symptom of OCD, but research has shown strong evidence that it is its own entity with a unique profile of core symptoms, genetic markers, and neurobiology abnormalities that differ from those of OCD. Perhaps in the near future, compulsive hoarding will be classified as a separate disorder entirely. More research is recommended. References ASPCA (2010) www.aspca.org 11/12/2010 Collingwood, J., (2009) the Genetics of Compulsive Hoarding. www.psychcentral.com 11/06/2010 Delson, S., Glovinsky, C., Prince, T., Schultz, H. (2003) the NSGD Clutter Hoarding Scale Official Hoarding Assessment Tool. www.nsgcd.org 11/12/2010 Elliot, C., (2009) Hoarding OCD. www.psychcentral.com 11/17/2010 Flynn, N., Chan, M., Severson, D., (2010) AE Hoarders Fugen, N., Slavin, J., Donnelly, M. (2010) How Compulsive Hoarding Effects Families. www.ocfoundation.org 11/6/2010 Frost, R., Steketee, G., (2010) Hoarding: Clinical Aspects and Treatment Strategies. www.childrenofhoarders.com 11/03/2010 Murray-Close, M., Frost, R. (2010) the Nature of Compulsive Buying and Acquisition. www.sophiasmith.edu 11/15/2010 Saxena, S. (2008) Neurobiology and Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding. www.childrenofhoarders.com 11/12/2010 Scheff, S. (2010) Hoarding: It Usually Starts in Early Adolescence, Around Age 12, and it Tends to get Worse with Age. www.examiner.com 11/6/2010 Wiegartz, P. Carmin, C. (2010) Hoarding and OCPD. www.academyofct.org 11/17/2010 Research Papers on Compulsive Hoarding19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraStandardized TestingGenetic EngineeringThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseResearch Process Part OneRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

A Study On The Blooming Of Convenience Store

A Study On The Blooming Of Convenience Store This research proposal studies on the factors which affect the blooming of convenience store in petrol kiosk. The components of blooming of convenience store are based on the economy of the country, the sales of petrol kiosk, and the spending potential of the customer. Objectives: To investigate how the economy of the country can affect the blooming of convenience store in petrol kiosk To investigate how the sales of petrol kiosk affects the blooming of convenience store in petrol kiosk To find out if the spending potential of the customer affects the blooming of convenience in petrol kiosk Research Question: How the economy of the country can affect the blooming of convenience store in petrol kiosk? How the sales of petrol kiosk affect the blooming of convenience store in petrol kiosk? How the spending potential of customer affect the blooming of convenience store in petrol kiosk? Introduction: A convenience store is a small store that sells items such as bakeries, beverage, biscui t, car care, confectionary, groceries or some selective processed food, lubricants, personal care and household, salty snacks or local tidbits, tobacco, newspaper and magazine. Some part of petrol kiosk may also sell windshield washer fluid, radiator fluid and maps. A convenience store can be a reasonably profitable  business  because many people will pay extra to buy an item quickly and conveniently or sometimes to make up for the convenience they offer. The price in convenience store are often higher the supermarkets or hypermarkets. The key for a successful convenience store is the location. That’s why stores are normally located along busy roads, high population neighbourhoods and petrol kiosk. Travellers normally stopping by for petrol or toilet facilities are often appreciate the convenience of having foods, drinks, reading materials and maps available without having to go to a supermarket. Convenience stores are usually open even when supermarkets are closed and us ually allow for quick shopping and service. For locals, they likely to go to convenience store when their regular supermarket is closed and they need the items such as milk, toilet paper or bread that they already running out at home. However, many locals go to convenience stores regularly to buy magazine and candy. Students often buy cold drinks and snack foods from convenience store. Many convenience stores have microwaves for heating up the prepared sandwiches, soups and hot dogs they sell. Some stores also have coffee and breakfast sandwich special for those people who travel for work in the morning. Drinks and coffee machines and prepared foods are often together in another area and there may be a deli. Newspaper sometimes included in these offers and it may be available at the front counter and or at the magazine rack in the store. Convenience stores often carry at least some ready-to-go items such as muffins and doughnuts. Significant of Study: This study aims at finding out the relationships between the large potential of customer, the economy, and sales of the petrol kiosk, spending potential of the customer and strategic location with the blooming of convenience stores in petrol kiosk.

The Democratization of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Democratization of China - Essay Example in 2011 sparked public outrage as the government was criticized sharply through blog sites in China with around 200 million followers (Ahlquist and Erik 449). The examples shows how democracy in China is being fought for at a price and they show that the country is soon to experience the independency of the civil societies thus illustrating that the countrys political regime is now facing the challenge of making China a democratic state (Liu and Dingding 41). Also, over the last few decades, academicians especially from the western countries have always used some typical terms to refer to the political situation in China where terms like authoritarian resilience, rightful resistance, and illiberal adaptation have been used to describe the countrys democratic future (Liu and Dingding 43). However, the situation is fast changing where China is now moving closer to modernization that states that economic development is the basis for democratization. Therefore, there is hope for democracy in China as this essay outlines the country’s struggle to become a pure democratic state and also the challenges that may confront the Chinese in their question to become democratic. One of the major problems with the Chinese economic geography is that resources are more concentrated on the urban areas where most of the affluent population lives (Wang 409). However, there is the imminent marginalization of the poor population who lives in the rural areas. In effect, there is an unequal distribution of resources, and this forcing the Chinese to pile pressure on the government for economic democratization (Liu and Dingding 41). The implication is that the unequal distribution of resources brings with it some political consequences where more visible inequality makes the population be disconnted with the political situation. On the other hand, inequality has become a significant political issue in China as more rural dwellers are moving to cities to access apartment buildings,

Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Executive Summary - Essay Example For example in a laundering shop dry cleaning is excluded during laundering process, but included on a customer request while the remaining steps like hanging, pressing and packing would still exercised before giving back to the customer. It follows policies and procedures with specific amount of products to be completed. An assembly area utilizes a line flow of sequence and objects. Companies follow this strategy commonly for make-to-stock purpose. It requires huge amount of capital to be invested. Every worker in assembly is responsible to carry out same work repeatedly for a complete shift. To keep the logistical impact low the products are moved from station to station automatically. In this step a steps are fixed for the production of the products. It is structured in way that high volumes of products are produced within a complete standard. It also required high capital investment with very low flexibility. The workers are just for monitoring the equipment for quality checks and

Changes in the international system and the right to choose Essay

Changes in the international system and the right to choose - Essay Example However there are groups and cultures that do not feel this way and do not adhere to these norms contesting that human rights agendas reflect western civilization. Women's rights are surrounded by much debate when it comes to cultural values and norms. A historical cultural tradition in some African countries has been the practice of female circumcision. When women were asked why they practiced this they said because it had always been done, most claimed because it is this act that makes them a woman and that without the act being performed on them they would not be a complete woman, this meant that they may not be desirable for marriage in later life. If this practice was stopped females would have to redefine themselves within their community and culture. On the one hand the introduction of a liberal rights culture in defense of gender-based violence into these communities would greatly challenge cultural identity and their social framework, however on the other hand just because it has always been done this way does not mean that women want it this way so highlights conflicts within cultures as well as between them. Having a women's rights culture enables women to have some freedom of choice and choose which set of values and norms they wish to accept. So contestation exists within cultures on the grounds of human rights when it comes to women's rights and it exists not only in developing nations. The Christian right in the US are pro-life and lobby vehemently to state and federal government opposing women's rights to choose, yet the protestors live in one of the most liberal nations in the globe. It must also not be forgotten that the US only abolished segregation in 1965 and that from 1876 until abolition the Jim Crow Laws mandated a 'separate but equal' status for black Americans ("Jim Crow laws" 2007). Another example of a contestation is reformist Muslims as whilst they wish to incorporate liberal rights including equality for all individuals through reinterpreting the Quran the holy texts state that men and women are not equal (Zubaida, 2004). The Shari'a, Islamic law, is fundamental to all Muslims but for reformists the problems lie with the historical context within which its religious laws are written. The issue that many Muslims have is that liberal rights cultures are secularized and therefore implicate their cultural identity because of the fundamental need of Islam to live by the Shari'a. Global rights, in this case women's rights, only become powerful at the local level, when groups and individuals from one particular cultural identity wish to change their way of lives. The liberal model of the international system is concerned with the individual who seek to serve their own self interest. Moravcsik argues that in the international system the quest for self interest is competitive therefore there will be some who are more dominant than others (Brown, 2004). Consequently if states are similar in their values and norms the world will have less tension than if divided on ideals. For Moravcsik the international system has the ability to change as state behaviour reflects what individual's