College Stress Essay - 762 Words

College Stress Jack’s heart pounds as he casts panicked looks around the classroom. He doesn’t recognize the professor, he doesn’t know any of the students, and he can’t even figure out what the subject is. In front of him is a test. At the very last minute his roommate awakens him. It’s only another anxiety dream. The very fact that dreams like Jack’s are common suggests that college is a stressful situation for young people. The cause of this stress can be academic, financial, and personal. Academic stress is common for college students. For many students, going to college is more than just attending classes and taking notes. They usually have a hard time understanding school guidelines and deciding what major they want to†¦show more content†¦In addition to academic stress, students often feel financial pressure. Most of the college students work part-time while attending college. They have more responsibilities than just maintaining their GPA. Paying for their school tuition and textbooks are the big two unavoidable expenses that they have to spend. Students often complain and feel frustrated about how much they have to pay for their textbooks and other materials related to their classes. Besides these expenses, students also have other financial responsibilities as well. Paying the rent, car payments and car insurance are stressful issues that students have to deal with. Like many other college students and myself, my girlfriend has to work two part-time job s in order for her to have enough money to pay her bills. Buying clothes, movie tickets, gifts for friends’ birthdays are other pressures that students have to cop with while they are in school. Base on these expenses, it is pretty obvious that students must have some sort of incomes that they can rely on for the expeneses so that they can service in school and accomplish their dreams. Along with academic and financial worries, students also face personal pressures. For those who have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, they have to deal with their partner’s attitude and differences. For example, IShow MoreRelatedStress Of College Stress802 Words   |  4 Pages The Stress of College Expenses College is something you should not have to stress about. It is just continuing to a higher level of education, and later pursuing your dream job. At least that is what most people think, until it comes down to applying for colleges. It costs to apply for college, and when you get into college, you have to pay for a meal plan, your dorm room, textbooks, and personal belongings. You also have to worry about your tuition and student loans. All of thisRead MoreStress on College Students797 Words   |  3 Pagesfirst-year college students face to stress. Stress is come from different ways. From The Associated Press and MTV conducted a survey of college students, 74% of students feel stress about grades,67% of students feel stress about financial worries, 54% of students feel stress about their families and 53% of students feel stress about relationships(The Associated Press and MTV,2009). In the following, I would like to discuss what cause, effect and prevention of college stress. The cause of stress is dividedRead More College Stress Essay766 Words   |  4 Pages Typical November nights in a college students residence include cramming obligated to catch for papers due in December, and exams that lurk around the corner on a topic you felt up on sleep for. Deadlines and due dates are non-existent for students until the night before since the preoccupations; partying and overall good times which lack libraries and study sessions, expel more excitement than the adrenaline rush of a chemistry chronicle or a pre-cal problem. At most schools, the days of dorm rulesRead MoreThe Effects Of Stress And Stress On College Students1412 Words   |  6 PagesStress is a word that many college students hear on a daily basis; it is a concept that resonates with all students, regardless of age or major. People of all ages experience stress at various times in their lives, but college is a particular time when an individual can be plagued by heightened levels of it. At any given time, a college student might feel academic, financial, and social strains, yet they might not possess the resources to satisfy the demands of these stressors. Accumulation of theseRead MoreCollege And Students Stress Essay852 Words   |  4 Pages Topic: College and Students stress I ve been in college for a short amount of time and I can say that I am completely aware of the fact that you can definitely get discouraged, tired and maybe even wish to drop out and quit college completely.Most people also can get very stressed and will want to give up without putting in the effort,and according to this class, the reason is solely due to the person lacking communication.I however, plan to explore other reasons as to why people drop out. Read MoreThe Effects Of Stress On College Students991 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction of the Article Stress is something that everyone has to deal with. However, as unique as each person is, so is their response to stress. This case study, entitled: Exploring the Effect of Stress on Mood, Self-Esteem, and Daily Habits with Psychology Graduate Students, was performed due to the lack of quantitative data on the subject of the effects of stress on college students. The researchers stated their hypothesis in two parts. They are: â€Å"(1) daily habits, self-esteem, and moodRead MoreThe Effects Of Stress On College Students968 Words   |  4 PagesStress Depression, anxiety, and anger are all problems that affect only a handful of people; but stress affects over fifty percent of the population. Stress claims many victims daily through different factors like work, school, and/or family. It is often hard for people to cope with stress because they can’t find a solution, or often times, stress can’t be managed and we have to adjust to it. College students go through a lot of stress, causing many problems, and not enough solutions. College studentsRead MoreThe Effects Of Stress On College Students And Cognitive Processing906 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Stress is a nonspecific response of the human organism to any demand make upon it. It can influence the way we perform on tests and homework and how we act at home or work. There are different types of stress that can occur in the body. Acute stress is the body’s response to imminent danger. This short-term stress usually occurs when we are told we will have a quiz or have to give a speech in class. Chronic stress is a prolonged physical or emotional stress. This can cause damage toRead MoreManaging Stress as a College Student1979 Words   |  8 PagesManaging Stress as a College Student Imagine you are back at your first day of college. You are trying to forget the fact that you have left your family, friends, and old life behind and beginning to accept that you are staring a new one. You walk into your first classroom and instantly forget all the good and exciting aspects and start to realize exactly how different this whole experience is going to be. After taking a look at the syllabus you begin to get anxious and overwhelmed. You startRead MoreStress About A Working College Student929 Words   |  4 PagesAs a working college student, I am no stranger to stress. Stress about school work, and stress about paychecks is no fun at all. Although, I have come to terms with it and just accepted it as another fact about growing up, I still don’t like it. I started working during my junior year of high school. Before I got that job, the only other place I worked was my aunt’s beauty store, and I only got $20 for two days of work. Since I had little to no experience, finding a part time job during high school

Judith Jarvis Thomson s A Defense Of Abortion Essay

Judith Jarvis Thomson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† is a uniquely reasoned argument for the right to abortion that uses strong analogies to challenge pro-life arguments that are based on the premise that a human life begins at the moment of conception. In this paper I will argue that Thomson is correct in her view and that her analogies solidify her argument, which then becomes impervious to criticism from philosophers like Keith J. Pavlischek or David B. Hershenov who bring up other factors irrelevant to Thomson argument that are easily disputable by facts. Thomson starts her paper by clarifying that while she does not agree with the premise that â€Å"life begins at the moment of conception† she is willing to accept it in her argument to prove that it is a counterpoint to abortion that is as weak as the rest of the pro-life argument. In her essay, Thomson uses three major analogies to illustrate different scenarios to which abortion would be considered. The â €Å"Violinist Analogy† describes a pregnancy that has been induced by rape and, foreshadows to a section later in the essay, where she goes into detail about where the line is drawn when two innocent lives are at risk and what is the third party’s role in the problem solving. It is a case in which the Society of Music Lovers has kidnapped you and attached you to a revered violinist who needs your kidneys to support him so he can live. The doctor says it is a nine month procedure, after which, he will be healthy again and you willShow MoreRelatedWomen s Rights By Judith Jarvis Thomson s A Defense Of Abortion1614 Words   |  7 Pageswomen’s rights entail? For instance, should abortion be considered one of the select inalienable rights for women? This topic of human rights, specifically that of pregnant women, is discussed in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion†. In this defense, Thomson makes her claim â€Å"While I do argue that a bortion is not impermissible, I do not argue that it is always permissible† (655 Perry). In other words Thomson has come to the conclusion that abortion may only be permissible under certain circumstancesRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Jarvis Thomson934 Words   |  4 PagesJudith Jarvis Thomson is an American moral philosopher that is well known for her defense of moral justice and description of moral rights. She has published in prestigious papers in ethics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of law. Including the most widely written essay â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† , that was published in 1971 in the journal of philosophy and public affairs. This essay constructs abortion rights with pregnant woman’s rights to control her own body and it’s life support purpose, as opposedRead More A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson Essay1075 Words   |  5 PagesA Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson In the article A Defense of Abortion Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible even if the fetus is considered a person. In this paper I will give a fairly detailed description of Thomson main arguments for abortion. In particular I will take a close look at her famous violinist argument. Following will be objections to the argumentative story focused on the reasoning that one persons right to life outweighs anotherRead MoreIs Abortion Morally Permissible?966 Words   |  4 PagesIn Judith Jarvis Thomson’s philosophy paper, A Defense of Abortion, she argues that abortion is permissible because an individual’s right over their own body outweighs a fetus’s right to life. In this paper I will focus on whether or not abortion is always permissible. First, I will present Thomson’s argument which says that abortion is sometimes permissible. I will do so by describing her â€Å"famous violinist† thought experiment. Next, I will ob ject to Thomson’s claim and expand the scope of her argumentRead MoreAn Essay Of Two Abortion Arguments1701 Words   |  7 Pages Jill Sikora Marquis v.s. Thomson (An Essay of Two Abortion Arguments) Philosophers, lawyers, theologians and others have devoted and continue to devote their lives to study of the ethics of abortion. Since abortion was legalized, the abortion debate has intensified, and does not show any signs of being resolved anytime soon. The idea’s that advocate the women’s right to abort or the proactive logic that supports the pro-life view and the fundamental identity of the baby all come in handRead MoreA Defense Against Abortion By Judith Jarvis1439 Words   |  6 Pages In her article â€Å"A Defense Against Abortion,† Judith Jarvis Thomson explores the permissibility of abortion through both the rights of a fetus and of a woman, and further argues that abortion is sometimes permissible under circumstantial situations. Thomson offers multiple thought-experiments, but the one I am focusing on in my paper is her burglar-based argument. In short, this situation involves you leaving your window open, knowingly increasing the risk of a burglar entering your home. She furtherRead MoreShould Abortion Be Legal For Women?1350 Words   |  6 PagesForty-two years after the highly controversial case Roe vs. Wade, that made it legal for women to have an abortion, society continues to debate whether or not women should have the right to have an abortion. Judith Jarvis Thomson’s famous article â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† defends a women’s right to have an abortion. However, I disagree with Thomson’s defense against abortions, and believe that abortions are highly immoral and should be illegal. Many whom are pro-choice argue that a fetus is not a personRead MoreArgument For Abortion : The Freedom Of Choose Life1263 Words   |  6 PagesMilsky Argument for Abortion: The Freedom to Choose Life Judith Jarvis Thomson argued that the â€Å"the impermissibility of abortion does not follow from the premises that every fetus is a person and that every person has a right to life† (Thomson) Thomson distinguishes between what we ought to do versus what we are morally required to. This essay will show how abortions are permissible and not permissible according to Thomson. Thomson first starts about her argument that abortion may still be morallyRead MoreThe Moral Permissibility Of Abortion Essay2270 Words   |  10 PagesThe Moral Permissibility of Abortion When faced with the choice of life or death, most people would choose to live. In fact, most would not want someone else making that decision for them. They would claim that as a living and independent entity it is solely their choice as to whether they continue to live or not. While this concept may seem fairly straightforward, there seems to be some great debate when it is applied to abortion. For many, they will maintain that the fetus has the right to lifeRead MoreThe Argument Of Abortion On Abortion1692 Words   |  7 PagesThe argument of abortion is largely circumstanced around whether or not a fetus should be considered as a human person and, if indeed it is, when exactly in the stages of development can a person agree with the aforementioned statement. Most pro-life supporters firmly believe that a fetus is a human at the instance of conception and use this as a sole basis to argue that abortion is therefore immoral. Judith Jarvis Thomson is not convinced that this basis i s a sufficient defense and approaches the

Storm Born Chapter Four Free Essays

We were on each other before we even made it to his room. If our actions on the dance floor had been racy, our grappling in the elevator was downright X-rated. Fortunately no one else rode up with us, which was a good thing, considering the disheveled state of our clothing when we finally made it inside. We will write a custom essay sample on Storm Born Chapter Four or any similar topic only for you Order Now All the while, some reasonable voice in my mind kept whispering, You don’t do this kind of thing. But I was. And I wanted to, very badly. It was a nice room, not surprising in such a nice hotel. A king-size bed offered comfort in the moonlit room, and beyond it, a sliding glass door opened out to a balcony that overlooked the desert. I didn’t have time to admire the view because Kiyo pushed me down onto the bed, pulling my shirt off at the same time. I’d already done a fair job at undoing his pants in the elevator, so I had an edge in the race. When we were both naked, I saw him sit up and lean over the side of the bed, fumbling with the grocery store bag on the floor. We’d had to make an unromantic – but necessary – stop for condoms. I was on the pill, but even in the heat of passion, I wasn’t so foolish as to trust going into unprotected sex with a stranger, no matter how charming. Kiyo’s eager hands practically tore the box apart, causing the little packets to scatter on the floor. He picked one up and opened it, and I helped him put it on. I smiled both at his reaction to my touch and the fact that the condom was a deep scarlet. When it was on, I admired him for a moment. Everything about him was perfect: the shape of his body, the sculpted muscles, the tanned skin. His eyes were dark and demanding in the dim lighting, black depths that wanted to wrap me up. There was an intense quality to him, something primal and feral. He regarded me in a similarly scrutinizing way just before pulling me down onto the bed with him, laying his body across mine. All he did was kiss me at first. Everywhere. He tasted my lips again and then my neck, tracing its shape with his tongue. My breasts held his attention for a long time after that, but then, breasts occupied most guys’ attention as a general rule. He held them and kissed them, biting the nipples, keeping his eyes locked on mine the entire time. For me, it was like traces of fire shooting under my skin, like his touch was some kind of drug my body needed to survive. When his face moved between my legs, it was only to nuzzle against the sensitive skin down there, to run his tongue along the place where my thigh connected with the rest of my body. He inhaled deeply, burying himself against me as though he needed to take more of me in. He moved back up so that we were face to face once more, his body again on top of mine. My own body was in agony, uncertain as to why we weren’t expediting things. I don’t know what look was on my face, but he smiled at me. It was a knowing smile, an animal smile. â€Å"There is nothing in the world,† he said in a soft, burning voice, â€Å"like the smell and look of a woman about to let you have her.† â€Å"‘Have?'† I laughed. â€Å"Are you calling me a possession?† â€Å"We’re all possessions during sex, Eugenie.† And then I felt him slide into me, slowly at first as though he would inch his way in and catch me unaware, and then plunging all the way. I thought the earlier delay around the tour of my body might have made him less hard, but if anything, he felt harder and bigger than when I’d put the condom on. He moved at a rough, fast pace that in any other man would probably have ended things in thirty seconds. Somehow I suspected that wouldn’t be the case here. It wasn’t. I dug my nails into his back, arching myself up as though I could drive him farther and farther into me. Already I was almost painfully full, but it was a good pain, the kind that danced with pleasure, making the two inextricable. He moved with long, rapid strokes, watching my face carefully to see how I reacted to every movement and shift of position. When he hit a spot that made my lips part and cries grow louder, he thrust harder and more fiercely. My cries bordered along the edge of screaming, and he moved his hands to hold my wrists and keep my bucking body from moving. The wrist that had been hurt with the keres complained a little, but it was lost to the building sensation between my legs, that burning liquid heat waiting to explode through me. Besides, I wasn’t being gentle either. I slipped my hands from his hold and clutched at his back, letting my nails dig in fierce and deep, almost hard enough to draw blood, I realized. That knowledge didn’t make me stop. I f anything, I dug deeper until he snatched my wrists back and held me down again. It was the roughest sex I’d ever had. And probably the best. â€Å"Don’t close your eyes,† he told me. I hadn’t even realized I’d been doing it. Vision seemed a superfluous sense at the moment, compared to everything else I felt. â€Å"Look at me,† he whispered. â€Å"Look at me.† Our eyes locked as the pressure within me finally exploded, sending my body thrashing and shaking. My screams faded to one low moan, the only way I could give voice to the feelings coursing through me. One might have thought Kiyo would slow down after that, but he didn’t. He kept up the same ardent pace, still holding me, and it was almost too much after that orgasm. I could see from his face that my reactions aroused him, drove him on further. I was his possession in that moment, just as he had said. My combative, fighter nature flared up just then. I decided that I didn’t want to be the possession anymore. Dominance and power ruled my days; it would with sex too. I moved my hands from his back to his upper arms and shoulders. Relying on the element of surprise, I rolled him over, using my legs to pin him down, wrapping them around his hips. Pleased surprise poured over his face. He hadn’t expected me to be so strong. He shifted as though he might try to throw me, and I shoved him down. It turned into a rougher motion than I intended, but he didn’t mind. If anything, it made the passion on his face grow. â€Å"You submit now,† I growled, pressing my palms down onto his chest. A smile twisted at his lips. â€Å"Sure.† I guided him back into me, exultant that I was the one in control now. I moved my hips up and down, leaning over so I could watch him slide in and out of me. My hair, long since freed from its ponytail, hung over him, grazing his skin. I have hair the color of cinnamon, a tawny russet not dark enough to be auburn, nor light enough to be strawberry. In this lighting, however, it was only a dark veil between us. He brushed it aside and rested his hands gently under my breasts so he could feel their movement as I rode him. Looking up through my hair, I watched his face now that I was the one controlling him. It was exquisite. I moved faster and harder, bringing him all the way into me, watching and adjusting as I did. I wanted to see him come so badly, see the look on his face when he lost control. I knew we were close when his hands dropped from my breasts to grip my waist and hips. His fingers clenched tightly into my skin, just as mine had earlier. He kept his gaze on me, bold and unafraid of me seeing him in climax. I moved more fiercely, urging him on, and then I heard a soft, ecstatic sound issue forth. His eyes never left mine, and his hands slid to the backs my shoulders, suddenly raking down my flesh as his body released itself into mine. I yelled out in surprise at the pain from where he’d scratched me. How sharp were his nails? Did he have talons? I’d dug into him too but nothing like what he’d just accomplished on me. When he’d recovered, and his frantic gasps had returned to normal, he seemed to realize what he’d done. â€Å"Oh my God, I’m sorry,† he said, his breathing still heavy. He pulled me to him, putting his arms around me, careful to avoid the places he’d gouged. I laid my cheek against the warm, sweaty skin of his chest. â€Å"Did I hurt you?† I didn’t know which part of sex he referred to – probably that last bit of scratching – but really, it didn’t matter. â€Å"No,† I lied. â€Å"Of course not.† When we’d both sort of come back to ourselves, we ransacked the shopping bag again and produced the cheap wine we’d purchased along with the condoms. It had seemed hilarious at the time, considering our earlier conversation on courtship gifts. We sat naked and cross-legged in bed, drinking from the glasses that had already been in the room. We talked a little, and though the conversation was a bit less substantive than in the bar, it still felt comfortable. It was hard to be eloquent after the wild, animal experience we’d just had. I went to the bathroom at one point and peered at my back in the mirror. He’d missed my tattoos but definitely drawn blood and torn skin. It was startling. I wet a washcloth and cleaned my stinging back as best I could, then pulled on one of the plush white robes hanging on the back of the door. Kiyo still sat on the bed, watching me, but I left him there and took my wine outside to the balcony. It was a gorgeous night. The cacti and other desert plants stood painted in shadows and moonlight cast from a full silver moon. Selene was out tonight, and I guessed she’d come through for me just now. Crystalline stars adorned the blackness. I had a telescope at home and mused that it would have been a good night to study the heavens. Except that it looked like the weather would turn on us soon. This surprised me, considering how clear it had been most of the day. Rain was rare this time of year. But dark clouds were tumbling quickly across the sky, blotting out the stars they passed. On the horizon the clouds came from, I saw a faint flicker of lightning. A wind picked up, the kind of wind that rises and falls like one’s breath. The air was warm and alive, building up tension and power. It wouldn’t be a dismal, glowering storm; it would be the kind of storm that left you awestruck about the power of life and nature. I felt alive too in that moment, as restless and wild as the tempest about to come. I felt pretty confident I had never opened myself up to anyone as much as I had to Kiyo just now. I had let myself go. It was frightening and thrilling at the same time. I heard him step out onto the balcony a few minutes later and then I felt his arms slide around my waist and his chest press against my back. He rested his chin on my shoulder. All was quiet around us. We were far from the highway, and no one else seemed to be awake. There was only the sound of the wind blowing around us and thunder growing louder. Kiyo’s hands slipped to my waist and loosened the ties. He then reached up and tugged at the robe so that it fell off, leaving me naked to the elements. I started to turn away, shy, but he held me where I was. â€Å"No one’s out,† he murmured, running his hands over my body, grazing my breasts as he moved farther down. â€Å"And even if they were, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re beautiful, Eugenie. You are so amazingly beautiful.† He buried his face against my neck, and I leaned into him as he kissed me. His hand slid down between my legs and stroked me as the wind caressed my skin. When I whimpered out of desire, he released me for a moment, and I heard a slight rustling. He’d brought a condom outside with him. Presumptuous bastard. He had it on in seconds and then returned his hands to me, positioning me so that I bent over, my hands holding on to the railing. He pressed up behind me, and then that hard thickness was inside me again, once more claiming possession. I was almost rubbed raw from our last round, but as he kept moving into me, I eventually grew wet again, allowing the line between pleasure and pain to blur once more. It seemed crazy, having sex out here in public like this, but it was the kind of crazy that felt pretty damned good. Apparently he had an exhibitionist streak. But no one was out here. It was just us and the desert and the storm. I hadn’t thought I could come any more tonight, but he proved me wrong just as the first warm drops of rain began to fall. Thunder and lightning occurred together around us now; the storm had reached us, screaming its own ecstasy to the earth. Still Kiyo moved into me, oblivious of the weather, intent only on me and him. At last, when we were in a full downpour, I felt him shudder and give a few last hard strokes before pulling out. Then he turned me around and drew me to him again. I could hear his heart beating in his chest almost as loudly as the thunder around us. The desert flickered and flared to life in the lightning, and the pounding rain threatened to drown us. But neither of us noticed. I fell asleep pretty quickly after that, lying under the covers in his arms once we’d both toweled off. No insomnia tonight. Yet, I woke up a couple hours later, not entirely certain why. Then I knew. Kiyo’s hand was pressed against my mouth, making it hard to breathe. The storm had stopped; all was silent in the dark room. I started to struggle, and then his mouth was by my ear, his voice barely audible. â€Å"Shh. Something’s in here.† I nodded my understanding, and a moment later, he released his hold. We both lay perfectly still, and I thought about his choice of words. Something, not someone. Literal and figurative chills suddenly crept over me. Following Kiyo’s gaze, I looked up at the wrought-iron headboard and saw ice crystals spreading along it like fine white lace. Our breath came out in small clouds, and my bare skin shivered with the cold. A shape moved into my field of vision, shining in the returned moonlight. I had known what it was before seeing it. An ice elemental. A creature vaguely anthropomorphic and composed of sharp, glittering ice crystals. Technically, however, it was just one of the gentry. Some of them could not pass physically into our world, just as some shamans could not cross physically into theirs. Gentry not wanting to come in spirit but lacking the strength to come over with bodies intact would sometimes cross in an altered, flawed form. An elemental form. Of course, the thing was, any gentry not strong enough to come physically was not even close to being as strong as me. I could kick any elemental’s ass easily. Well, if I had the right tools, of course. At the moment, all I had – aside from my own physical strength – was my jewelry, which was more defensive than offensive. All of my weapons had been left at home, save my wand, which was in my purse. Unfortunately, my purse still sat over by the door where it had been dropped immediately upon entering the room, lest it hinder Kiyo and me ripping each other’s clothes off. A dilemma, truly. But the ice elemental could see we were awake now, and a cold smile – seriously – crossed its face. Screw this. I was going to have to make a move for the door and hope I was faster than it. I started to tell Kiyo just to stay still, but suddenly he leapt from his lounging position and nailed the elemental squarely with a kick straight to the solar plexus. The elemental flew backward, hitting the wall, and for a moment, I could only stare. I’d barely seen Kiyo move. One minute he was with me, the next he was on the elemental. And was he on it! I mean, I was stronger than a lot of people, but I could not have landed that blow. I knew of few who could. It was my will or weapons that fought a creature like this in the end, not my body. How had Kiyo done that? I stared at him incredulously, then realized I was missing my window here. I sprang from the bed, slipping out of Kiyo’s reach. â€Å"No, Eugenie! Stay away!† I made it to the door, but the elemental was getting up. Its eyes focused on me, and my stomach lurched, knowing I had attracted this creature here and possibly put Kiyo at risk. The elemental gave a tinny laugh as it watched me empty out the purse onto the floor. â€Å"Yes, Eugenie Markham, stay away. Stay away, little swan.† It took a step toward me. Frantically, I searched for the wand. Where had all this shit in my purse come from? â€Å"How do you know my name?† I asked, hoping to distract it. Gentry, no matter their form, loved to hear themselves talk. â€Å"Everyone knows your name. And everyone wants you.† I’d never thought a walking chunk of ice could look lascivious, but this one pulled it off. I shuddered and not from the cold. â€Å"But I see someone has already tasted you tonight. No matter. I don’t mind following in another’s wake, nor will I be the last to spread those soft legs – â€Å" The creature was so fixated on me and what it wanted to do to me that it’d forgotten about Kiyo. Kiyo had surveyed the room during the exchange, and I’d seen his eyes rest on a tall, wrought-iron lamp. His eyes glittered with a dark heat, almost frightening in its ferocity. With the elemental distracted, Kiyo dashed for the lamp, again moving with incredible speed, and then in one motion, swung it at the elemental, hitting it with the force of a tank. A large chunk of ice broke from the elemental’s body, and it roared in agony. Iron or steel will always hurt the gentry, regardless of which world they walk. I wondered if Kiyo had known that. The elemental lunged at him, and the two of them wrestled on the floor, rolling over and over as they struggled to land a hit. Kiyo fought savagely, and each time he dug his fingers into the monster, it would hiss in pain. I had my wand now and advanced toward the two of them. I thrust it out, making it an extension of my arm. With alcohol still metabolizing in my body, as well as me being physically exhausted, I knew I couldn’t destroy the elemental, but I could sure as hell send it back to the Otherworld. The air tingled around me, and again I smelled ozone. The elemental realized what I was doing and released Kiyo, trying to stop me. Kiyo did not let his prey go so easily, however, and moved forward, his foot again connecting with the creature – this time on the back. The weakened elemental stumbled to its knees. I could usually do expulsions on my own, but tonight I needed a little divine help. â€Å"By Hecate’s grace, I cast you from this world. In Hecate’s name, I return you to your own realm.† The elemental screamed its fury, but it was already dissolving. â€Å"Leave here, and return no more, you fucking bastard. Go.† The elemental shattered in an explosion of ice. Some of the crystals grazed my skin, cutting it. An onlooker might have thought it had been destroyed, but I had only damaged its elemental manifestation. It had gone to the Otherworld in its own body. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears, adrenaline surging through me. Another creature had known my name. And like the keres, it had seemed terribly interested in me in a†¦Biblical way. Bleh. But I had more pressing problems. Slowly I turned to stare at Kiyo who was watching me with equal caution, taking in my posture and the charged wand in my hand. Kiyo. Dark, sexy Kiyo, who had wooed me in the bar and just given me the best sex of my life. The same Kiyo who had just fought an elemental with more strength and speed than I ever could have mustered – more than any human could have mustered. He had also not turned into a blabbering, shocked idiot like most humans would have – should have – around an elemental. He had seen one before. He knew what it was, just as he knew what my wand and incantations were. What had earlier seemed like a passionate encounter for me suddenly had a vile edge. Fear traced my spine as we stared at each other, neither of us certain what to do. The words were on my lips, but he asked them first. â€Å"What are you?† How to cite Storm Born Chapter Four, Essay examples

Impact of Oil Revenues on OPEC Members Macroeconomy

Question: a) Identify the nature of resource cost structure and the practical significance of different costs; b) Explain the factors influencing optimum size and the significance of demand and supply relationships; c) Demonstrate an understanding of the relevance and limitations of economic theory to management decisions.? Answer: Introduction The main aim of the study is to analyze that how the oil prices have an impact on the aggregate supply of an economy. Here, Russia has been taken into consideration. The fast and the steady increase of the prices of the oil in between the years 2002-2008 and a large fall of the prices have a great impact on the energy prices. Al-mulali and Che Sab (2012) puts forward since the last two periods, the prices of the oil have increased at a higher rate. The rapid decrease in the prices of the oil benefits the oil importing nations and on the other hand, is disadvantageous for the exporters of the oil. The Russian economy is literally dependent on crude oil ranging between $100-115/barrel which leads to engage into severe problems. But the prices of crude oil have dropped below $80 in the past few years which seems to have typically impacted on Russian economy. The lower level of the energy prices reduces the cost of the production and ultimately causes an increase in the aggregate supply. This shows that the change in the energy price will ultimately have an impact on the business sectors regarding the production and the supply in the short run. Fall in the oil prices The shocks in the oil prices have been caused due to two factors like: OPECs Decision to control the output The wars As per the economic theory, the decrease in the prices of the oil causes the aggregate supply to shift in an upward direction that is to the left. This shows that the aggregate supply will increase and there will be a reduction in the price level (Alom, 2015). At the same time, Alom, (2015) has mentioned that technical fracking is also a considerable approach that estimates in creating trouble in rendering the fall in the oil price. Apart from fuel, petroleum is also used as a medium of energy in several countries. But it is needed to be mentioned with increase in the use of renewable energy in the different countries, demand is oil is slowing down (Azar, 2013). War in most of the Middle East countries has also enabled the oil price to be dropped seriously. It has a cohesive effect on a judgmental factor that analyzes better prodigality in this matter. If the oil price of one of the exporting country falls, then it will lead to the profit of the importing countries as they can be able to procure oil with the lesser amount of foreign currency. The main reason for the fall in the oil prices is that the Russia as it wants to protect their domestic production of the oil. At the same time, it has also wants to safeguard their economy form the foreign attacks. The fall in the price level hampers the investment on the greener pattern of the energy like the cars. On the other hand, the fall in the oil price levels ultimately increases the cost of the environment (Nwosa, 2014). The research studies show that the crude oil prices have been decreased by 50% in the recent periods. The fall in the oil prices, have a huge impact in reducing the cost of transport and the cost of the business. Figure 1: Crude oil prices (Source: Latosov, Volkova and Siirde, 2011, p.140) To analyze through the economic theory, with the dwindling price of oil shifting of to downwards is essential. Along with the other countries Russia exports oil to Italy. Once the price of the oil drops, it becomes critical for the importing countries to handle this approach. Foreign currencies are not as in an esteemed factor that puts its effect on procuring the price. During the recent years, according to the study of Enders and Jones (2015), there has been a drop as much as 50% in the price of the crude oil. A) Impact of Decreasing Oil Price on Russian Economy: The cost of living of the customers declines due to the lower prices of the oil. At the same time Enders and Jones (2015) highlighted that, it will also reduce the transportation cost and in this case, the inflation rate will be lower. This is one of the reason for which the rate of inflation in UK have been decreased to 1.2%. If the real wages is fixed and constant, then the customers have the higher level of income in their hands to spend. This will help the customers to spend more amount of their income on the other products. As per the words of Ben Sita and Abosedra (2013), it is just like the tax cut, which will ultimately increase the value of GDP. The fall in the crude oil prices, have also some of the impacts on the macroeconomics. This will have the two impacts on the economy. Firstly, it will lower the inflation rate in the economy, but on the other hand it will also help in the generation of the higher output within the economy. B) Discussing AS and fall of Oil Price from Russian Economic Viewpoint: Figure 2: Aggregate supply curve (Source: Designed by researcher) The above diagram highlights that the reduction in the oil prices and the cost of the firms shifts the aggregate supply in the rightward direction, which lowers the rate of the inflation and increasing the GDP. Some of the economists like Freedenberg et al. (2014) have shown that the fall of the prices of the oil is ultimately leading to the increase of GDP by 0.1%. OX in the previous design stands for GDP whereas OY is the price level. SRAS1 and SRAS2 = average supply curve appears to be delineated from the short run point of view. Shift from the aggregate supply towards the right projects inflation and hike in GDP Russia. Price level is the most outrageous approach that help in determining exporting nations generating better revenue. Tax revenue funded for a project is also detrimental in this approach that states the revenue the government is spending is funded. The fall in the prices of the oil had very bad impact on the exporters and in this case, the oil exporters funded the government spending. For example, it has been observed that Russia has gained the tax revenue of around 70%. The fall in the prices of the oil, will ultimately leads to the deficit in the budget of the government or it will require the higher rate of the taxes or the cuts in the government spending. Gayfullina and Nizamova (2015) have shown that the other oil exporting countries like Venezuela now days are dependent on the revenues that have been generated by the process of oil production so that the social expenses can be funded properly. Other oil exporting countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE have been building the adequate amount of the foreign exchange reserves so that they can be able to afford the fall in the oil prices in order to generate the revenues. This is the reason for which Saudi Arabia have not responded due to the cut of the output. The fall in the prices of the crude oil weakens the global economy and at the same time reduces the demand. Komijani, Naderi and Gandali Alikhani (2014) critically analyzed the weakness of the global economy, which ultimately hampers the recovery of the economy. Figure 3: Inflation Rate (Source: Nwosa, 2014, p.70) C) Impact of AS on Russian Economy: Latosov, Volkova and Siirde (2011) have shown that fall in the oil prices relieve the consumers to some extent who have the higher amount of flexible income. However, if the deflation is given and if the confidence of the consumers is low then in that case, the customers will save rather than spending the amount on the goods and the services. The main problem is that if the Eurozone made an entry in the deflation, then in that case, it will ultimately lead to the long-term constant growth and it will be bad, as it will ultimately reduce the GDP debt ratios (Nazlioglu and Soytas, 2011). The fall in the prices of the crude oil, have ultimately leads to the fall taken together price level within the economy (deflation). This ultimately leads to the different macroeconomic problems. The problems are the less expenditure on the goods and the services and investment by the consumer. At the same time, it also creates the other problems like increasing the burden of the debt, for the Eurozone economies. Figure 4: Crude Oil prices (Source: Nazlioglu and Soytas, 2011, p.494) In many cases, it has been observed that the customers of UK have welcomed the low prices of the crude oil, as it will ultimately increase their disposable income. At the same time, it will also helps in the strengthening of the economy. For this reason, the Consumer Price Index have been reduced and thus for this reason, the Bank of England delayed their rise in the interest rate (Frydenberg et al. 2014). Russia depends on income that has been generated by exporting the crude oil to the other countries. The research studies shows that around $825 US billion dollars have been generated by the Russia and as the price rate of the oils have been continuously decreasing, the market share of the oil exporting countries have also been reducing at a faster rate. For this reason, the Russia has been suffering from different kinds of the internal problems and in many cases; they are struggling hard in order to satisfy the members (Nazlioglu and Soytas, 2011). Conclusion From the entire chapter, it can be seen that in future there will be an upward pressure on the price of the oil. On the other hand, there will be problem for the transportation. Therefore, in that case, the vehicles need to be fueled by the other sources of the energy that is the renewable sources of energy other than the crude oil. Therefore, it is to be recommended that the energy efficient policies need to be incorporated for the efficient purposes. In the future, the importing countries will be benefited due to the falling oil prices and in this case, the demand will rise. As demand rise, the supplier will increase the oil prices due to shortage of oil. This increase in the price of the oil will contribute to stagflation. Reference List Almulali, U. and Sab, C. (2013). Exploring the impact of oil revenues on OPEC members' macroeconomy.OPEC Energy Review, 37(4), pp.416-428. Al-mulali, U. and Che Sab, C. (2012). Oil prices and the real exchange rate in oil-exporting countries.OPEC Energy Review, 36(4), pp.375-382. Alom, F. (2015). Do crude oil prices spillover food prices? Evidence for Asia and Pacific countries.IJETP, 11(1), p.68. Azar, S. (2013). Oil prices, US inflation, US money supply and the US dollar.OPEC Energy Review, 37(4), pp.387-415. Ben Sita, B. and Abosedra, S. (2013). Causality-in-variance of prices of oil products.OPEC Energy Review, 37(4), pp.373-386. Enders, W. and Jones, P. (2015). Grain prices, oil prices, and multiple smooth breaks in a VAR.Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics Econometrics, 0(0). Frydenberg, S., Onochie, J., Westgaard, S., Midtsund, N. and Ueland, H. (2014). Long-term relationships between electricity and oil, gas and coal future prices-evidence from Nordic countries, Continental Europe and the United Kingdom.OPEC Energy Review, 38(2), pp.216-242. Gayfullina, M. and Nizamova, G. (2015). PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF MEMBER COUNTRIES OF OPEC.OGBUS, (2), pp.339-356. Komijani, A., Naderi, E. and Gandali Alikhani, N. (2014). A hybrid approach for forecasting of oil prices volatility.OPEC Energy Review, 38(3), pp.323-340. Latov, E., VOLKOVA, A. and SIIRDE, A. (2011). THE IMPACT OF SUBSIDY MECHANISMS ON BIOMASS AND OIL SHALE BASED ELECTRICITY COST PRICES.Oil Shale, 28(1S), p.140. Nazlioglu, S. and Soytas, U. (2011). World oil prices and agricultural commodity prices: Evidence from an emerging market.Energy Economics, 33(3), pp.488-496. Nwosa, P. (2014). Oil prices and stock market price in Nigeria.OPEC Energy Review, 38(1), pp.59-74.

Ac/Dc Concert Report Essays - You Shook Me All Night Long, ACDC

Ac/Dc Concert Report This concert took place at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis Tennessee. The main performance was by AC/DC and the band Gutted Snake opened for them. The members of AC/DC are Malcolm Young on guitar, Angus Young on guitar, Brian Johnson on vocals, Cliff Williams on bass, and Phil Rudd on drums. Gutted Snake opened at 7:30 PM and played until 8:00 PM. There was a remission, and AC/DC started at 8:30. They continued playing until around 11:00 PM. AC/DC played songs from all of their records. The bulk of the songs that they performed were: Give It Up, Goodbye & Good Riddance to bad luck, Got You By the Balls, Guns For Hire, Hail Caesar, Hard As A Rock, Have a drink on me, Heat seeker, This House Is On Fire, This Means War, Thunderstruck, Touch Too Much, Two's Up, Up To My Neck In You, Walk All Over You, What Do You Do For Money Honey, What's Next To The Moon, Whiskey On The Rocks, Who Made Who, Whole Lotta Rosie, You Ain't Got A Hold On Me, You Shook Me, Back In Black, Back In Business, Hells Bells, Highway To Hell, Kicked In The Teeth, and Let's Make It. These were all played back-to-back without many breaks. The pyramid is a nice sized arena and is a good housing for concerts. About half of the audience was your average 30-40 year old, and the other half were the redneck, leather wearing, dope smoking type. Nothing spectacular happened until AC/DC came to the stage. At this point fireworks went off and a big brass color blow up of the lead singer appeared on stage. Two of the band members were wearing blue jeans and black T-shirts. Two others had on black pants and black T-shirts. One of the guitarists has a traditional outfit that he always wears. This was black shorts and a white button up shirt with a tie. There were big screens above the stage where you could see the band, and what the cameras were filming. During one of the songs, there appeared a big blow up doll wearing a bikini. Toward the end of the concert they highlighted a big bell hanging from the top of the pyramid. The song You Shook Me All Night Long was one of my personal favorites. The rhythm of this song is strong with a repetitive pattern. The tempo is fast and stays about the same through the entire song. The Dynamics are medium to loud, and it doesnt have much contrast. The song is homophonic in texture, being that there is one main melody with an accompaniment. The melody has a medium range of notes and is very repetitive. This is one of AC/DCs most popular songs, and I think one of their best. Another one of their good songs is Give It Up. This has similar qualities to You Shook Me All Night Long, as most of their songs do. This song has a fast tempo, and repeating melody. The dynamics are loud and stay the same. The tone color of this song is energetic. The harmony is in major key and this is a very up lifting song. The majority of AC/DCs songs are very similar. The main difference is the speed. They have some slow songs that differ from most of their fast tempo songs. I liked the song You Shook Me All Night Long because of the beat. It has a good beat that keeps repeating. The audience was pretty wild at this concert. You had the good group, which didnt do much besides clap. Then you had the real wild group that would go crazy throughout the concert. The women were the ones doing most of the screaming and clawing at the stage. Everyone else was loud all the time except when the band was talking. Overall the crowd was great in cheering for the band. I liked the entire performance. Some of the people that attended were a little out of my league, but I still had fun. I am not a big AC/DC fan, but I enjoyed the music. They gave a great performance and had many special effects that awed us. The main thing

How to Write a Strong Essay Introduction

How to Write a Strong Essay Introduction How to Write a Strong Essay Introduction A strong introduction grabs the reader’s attention and gets them hooked. When it comes to writing quality research papers and essays, a good introduction is essential. Its where you introduce your ideas and make them look intriguing. Think of it as a first impression to convince readers your work is worth reading. It’s the high-stakes section of the essay. When you write your essay, there’s plenty to do. First, you have to build your ideas and present your thesis statement. This gives the reader an idea of what you want to say and the point you want to make. Creating a good introduction is a priority when writing. Do it right, and readers will want to continue. Use these tips to master the process and make a compelling introduction to your main points. Hook your reader right away Your first sentence sets the tone for the entire essay. Take some time to make a compelling hook. There are different strategies available to hook your readers from the get-go. For example, you might introduce facts or statistics to demonstrate why your topic matters. For a historical essay, you could use an anecdote about your subject. You could ask a thought-provoking question. These approaches get the reader actively thinking about your theme. A good introduction is engaging. Make your reader think about your topic and how you will frame your arguments. Audiences are more likely to engage with the rest of your essay once you’ve got them thinking. Contextualize the topic Give your readers the information they will need to understand your essay. For example, you might define technical terms you will use, to bring readers up to speed, or introduce points you plan to bring up later. How much information you give depends on the length of the paper and the complexity of your ideas. Be specific; avoid overwhelming the reader with unnecessary detail. Save the details for the body and conclusion of the work. Keep in mind that your introduction gives an idea of what to expect from your essay as a whole. Start relatively broadly, then narrow the focus down to your thesis. Present relevant information When offering background for your hook (e.g. anecdotes or statistics), keep it relevant. If you are writing a biographical essay, an incident from childhood can be a charming way to engage the reader. However, if you’re writing a book report, a story about a friend who did not like it may not be relevant or useful. Stay focused; the object is to make things clearer to the reader. Keep your focus on the task at hand to avoid unnecessary detours. Offer a clear thesis statement One good rule for essay-writing is summarizing your main point with a thesis statement. In essence, a thesis statement summarizes your overall argument. A thesis for a literature essay might introduce your analysis of the author’s themes. Do not use your thesis statement to explain your position; save your arguments for the body, where you have space to express your ideas and proof in detail. Traditionally, many writers place thesis statements near the end of their introduction. While you can do that, it’s not a rule. You can put your thesis statement wherever you think it would be most effective. If you think it would be more appropriate to state your case at the outset, feel free. Summarize your essay After presenting your thesis statement, it’s a good idea to explain to the reader how you plan to prove it. Provide a quick summary of your main points and what you will have to say in the body. Keep your sentences simple and clear. Instead of discussing your supporting points, sum them up by stating â€Å"how† or â€Å"why† your theme is correct. For example, if your essay is a review of a book or movie, you might enumerate your critiques here. Keep it simple. The time for multi-syllable words and complex arguments comes later. The introduction is meant to be a prelude to the essay. For now, the summary helps your readers understand what you’re telling them and what your evidence is. Avoid cliches Avoid using cliches and generalizations. In most cases, they look unimaginative and unoriginal. For example, starting an essay with a flat definition can bore your reader. If you must define a term in your introduction, find a creative and engaging way to present the information. Avoid broad, sweeping generalizations (words like â€Å"always† or â€Å"everyone†). They may ring false with some readers and alienate them. One good example of cliches in action is the college entrance essay. The purpose of this kind of composition is to attract the attention of the adjudicator and separate yourself from other applicants in their mind. However, many writers fall into the trap of presenting the topic instead of exploring the purpose or theme of the essay. For instance, rather than describing a hardship that you overcame or a success that you achieved, use it as an opportunity for self-reflection. Explore how the event or individual affected you, and what you learned about yourself because of it. In an academic paper, it’s more important to introduce your main idea or theme and to lead readers into the essay. Present your idea as the clever hook that engages the reader. Make your point without overgeneralizing or giving away too much information. Write the intro last The introduction might be the opening part of your paper, but it doesn’t have to be the part you write first. If you’re having difficulty making it work, write the essay first, and then come back to the introduction. Some writers find it easier to write the body and their main points first. It can be easier to summarize the essay if you’ve already done most of the work earlier. You may also find it easier to write after giving yourself time to get used to the piece as a whole. Jot down notes for your introduction as you write. These notes can help inform how you write the introduction later. For example, you may find a term that you need to define at the beginning. Transition into the body Sometimes you can segue smoothly from the introduction and into the body. Other times you may need a transitional sentence to flow naturally into the rest of the essay. Test your essay after you finish to see how well it flows. Read the introduction and the first paragraph of the body out loud. If the transition feels awkward, add a bridge sentence to make the flow smoother. Ask someone to read it, too. Another pair of eyes can help you spot mistakes before editing and proofreading. Consult a trusted source for suggestions on how to polish your introduction further. The introduction has plenty riding on it. A strong opening will engage your readers and get them about your ideas from the beginning. Take advantage of these tips to make your introduction more striking, engaging, and compelling. If you need help with your writing, give a call. We specialize in writing and editing essays, speeches, and reports to help you handle a heavy workload. Our team of professional writers, editors, and proofreaders are ready and willing to provide you with high-quality papers written to academic standards. Give us a

Tourism Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Tourism Concepts - Essay Example This vacation delight has attractions such as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm along with several beaches along 40 miles along the coastline. Thirty-four incorporated cities are located in Orange County; the newest is Aliso, which was incorporated in 2001. Anaheim is the oldest, incorporated in 1870 when the region was still part of neighboring Los Angeles County. It is the second most populous city in Orange County (behind Santa Ana)1 and second largest in terms of land area, and it is known for its theme parks, sports teams and convention center. Selection of the Locale: On the basis of personal knowledge and survey of 15 people people in a community, Anaheim, Orange County was selected as the destination for the study. The criteria used for the selection of the locale was: Salient Results: The survey conducted in the community revealed that 10 out of 15 people wanted to visit Anaheim, out of the three choices given to them. Six out of these ten wanted to visit Anaheim to enjoy Disneyland. The rest four said that they want to go there because it is a popular place and there are good reviews about the place. Interview conducted also revealed that the most attractive destination was Disneyland in Anaheim. This was the reason why they mad a visit to Anaheim. All five of them shared that they enjoyed the stay and three of them would also like to recommend others to visit Anaheim. Being a wonderful vacat... Convenient/accessible location Tools and Techniques: Previous knowledge obtained by the visit to the destination was applied. This was supported by: Survey of 15 people in a local community (please mention the place where you stay) was conducted. These people had never visited Anaheim (Annexure-1). Interview of 5 people who had visited Anaheim in their vacations. (Annexure-2). The study further looked into several dimensions such as attractions, infrastructure, facilities, transportation and hospitality. Internet search was carried out along with tourist guide and maps and brochures in order to get the above information. Salient Results: The survey conducted in the community revealed that 10 out of 15 people wanted to visit Anaheim, out of the three choices given to them. Six out of these ten wanted to visit Anaheim to enjoy Disneyland. The rest four said that they want to go there because it is a popular place and there are good reviews about the place. Interview conducted also revealed that the most attractive destination was Disneyland in Anaheim. This was the reason why they mad a visit to Anaheim. All five of them shared that they enjoyed the stay and three of them would also like to recommend others to visit Anaheim. Being a wonderful vacation delight, Anaheim offers all kinds of facilities from basic to luxurious lodging facilities which actually impresses the visitors. It has luxury hotels and resorts, historic inns and hotels, condon and vacation houses , extended stay and corporate housing restaurants, motels, RV parks and camping. Anaheim provides access to all kinds of a good infrastructure and allows visitors to enjoy destination in a safe and hygienic manner. This was believed by all the interviwee. Interview of the tourists revealed that

Internet in life Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Internet in life - Research Paper Example However, using a computer today is fun because of the internet. The internet has become such a necessity that it is almost impossible to figure out how our lives would be without it. Since its invention the whole world has become one big community as people are able to communicate with each other despite the distance between them or the different time zones they are in (Rosenberg 22; Tapscott,60) Parents can follow the proceedings of their children’s graduation ceremony through the internet, doctors can communicate with their patients and business executives can have boardroom meetings with colleagues from all over the world. This paper seeks to critically examine the benefits of the internet in our social lives and in sectors like communication, education, economy and politics. Computers have become one of the greatest innovations the world has ever had. They have changed the way people organise, perform, analyse and store their work. Almost every home in the world has at lea st one computer. Today, tasks are performed faster and more efficiently since people are using these machines in executing the tasks. According to Swedin, Gottfrid and Ferro, history of the computer dates back to the nineteenth century when Charles Babbage designed the first computer. The World War II and the Cold War led to the development of digital computers as nations sought to tighten their security. The development of interactive interface SAGE in the United States and connecting computers across the country with ARPANET led to the internet. As people evolve, computers and the internet technologies evolve too (7-9) Swedin and Ferro say that the computer does not organise information like the human brain. Many different jobs can be done simultaneously and the device is able to sort out its files so there is no need for book-keeping. Complex accounting formulas are processed within a very short time. The computer is also able to produce very precise images and graphs and all thi s information can be sent to millions of people across the globe instantly (44) Almasy says that, the internet traces its roots all the way in the 1950’s. In 1973, the U.S. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program, to connect several research databases across the country. In 1988, the Internet began to get the attention in the popular press after the release of the first computer virus at Cornell University. Almasy also notes that 1991 saw the beginning of the transition of the Internet as we know it today. Websites like AOL, Netscape and Webcrawler were invented in the mid 1990’s. Previously, Mosaic and Netscape were the only browsers in use but majority of Americans were still using old methods of communication like the post office. By the mid nineties, a total of four million people in the United States used the browsers each month. Today, Billions of people use the internet each day, some to search the web and others to send em ails. The emergence of social media like Facebook and Twitter has also increased the number of internet users. The internet has become a crucial part of life (Web, 10 December, 2013) The internet has influenced almost all the things done in life today. Houses, furniture, household equipment, dresses and jewellery can be bought online. Not forgetting advertisements that are everywhere on the net. Greenfield discusses the magnitude of how the net has reorganised and reshaped our lives. He has developed a

Proposing a solution to overcome the challenges of implementing Dissertation

Proposing a solution to overcome the challenges of implementing unified E- healthcare information system standards at Armed Forc - Dissertation Example The healthcare sector lacks the infrastructure to address the nation’s problems. Long-term planning is affected due to lack of reliable data on health facilities available in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The motivation for the study has arisen to evaluate how the situation can be improved in the armed forces sector, as this sector operates independent of the MOH. If the armed forces hospitals are able to effectively adopt and implement IT in the healthcare sector, the government too could be keen to emulate. Thus, with the aim to propose technological solutions to overcome the challenges in implementing the best healthcare system at the armed forces hospital in KSA, three objectives were set. Through extensive literature review and through a quality study based purely on secondary data, the study objectives have been achieved. Lack of funds, lack of a national regulatory body, shortage of national medical experts, lack of IT infrastructure, lack of standards across vendors, la ck of national data exchange plan are some of the barriers to adoption of healthcare standards in Saudi Arabia. Efforts have been made to identify the best healthcare systems in the world. Sweden appears to have the best e-healthcare strategy in the world. It even surpasses the healthcare system of the United States if the measure of quality is based on the life index of a country. Autonomy and medical data exchange are some of the other salient features in these two countries. Developing an efficient archetype, clinical process mapping and resource templates are some of the tools which have emerged as best practices in Sweden. Sweden now practices e-prescription and patient empowerment, both of which has reduced the patient healing time, reduced costs and enhanced efficiency. To implement such as strategy, training and support is essential to promote user engagement and user involvement during the system design stage. Shared vision is essential before any strategy can be implemente d. Transformational leadership is essential to challenge the existing assumptions. The study concludes that the situation in Saudi Arabia, though grim, is not insurmountable. Recommendations for an effective HIT strategy based on the findings of the study have been made. Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction page 1.1 Chapter Overview 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Rationale for Research 3 1.4 Research Aims & Objectives 4 1.5 Scope of the Study 5 1.6 Structure of the Study 5 Chapter 2. Background and Literature Review 2.1 Health-care background in Saudi Arabia 7 2.2 Health Information Technology 9 2.3 Barriers and Challenges in health-care standards 11 2.4 Background of health-care providers 15 2.5 Barriers to implementation of ICT in healthcare 18 2.6 Factors that influence healthcare technologies 20 2.7 Organizational Issues in adoption and implementation of IT innovation 21 2.8 Chapter Summary 23 Chapter 3. Methodology 3.1 Research Philosophy 24 3.2 Research Phenomenon 24 3.3 Research Design 25 3.4 Research Approach 27 3.5 Case Study Method – justification 27 3.6 Data Collection – justification for secondary research 29 3.7 Data Sources 29 3.8 Data Analysis 26 3.9 Reliability & Validity 30 3.10 Ethical Concerns 31 Chapter 4. Findings & Discussion 4.1 E-Health strategy and model from Sweden 32 4.2 Healthcare system in the United States 38 4.3 Data Analysis 43 4.4 Health-care success factors 44 4.5

A Analytical Review Of The Battle Of Hastings History Essay

A Analytical Review Of The Battle Of Hastings History Essay In October 14, 1066, the tragic Battle of Hastings took place. It was fought between the Norman Army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army of King Harold II. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, about 6 miles northwest of Hastings. Harold II was killed during the battle; historians predict or believe that he was shot through the eye by the barraging arrows fired from the Norman armies. The battle was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman Conquest of England. Although there was further English resistance after the Norman victory, the battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England, becoming Englands first Norman ruler as King William I. The famous Bayeux Tapestry shows the events of the battle. Many battles later on were built on the site of the conflict, such as Battle Abbey in East Sussex. Belonging to the most authoritative family in England, Harold Godwisnon claimed the throne soon after Edward the Confessor died in January 1066. Some historians say that Edward had verbally promised the throne to his cousin William the Duke of Normandy, but decided just before his death to give it to Harold. While Edward the Confessor had a great English nephew who might have qualified as his heir, he was considered to be too young. William had been instituting policy in England for over 15 years, and by taking Harolds crowning, he declared the start of a great battle. He planned to invade England and take over the throne. However, at that time, the Norman army was not strong enough, so nobles as far as Southern Italy were called to gather at Caen in Normandy. In order to convince them to aid him, he promised lands and titles to his followers and supporters and claimed that the voyage was secured by the Pope. William assembled an enormous fleet of about seven hundred ships, over twenty thousand men. This force waited at the port through summer, probably because of unfavorable weather conditions and more likely from fear of a clash at sea with the large English fleet. The Norman ships finally sailed for England after the exhaustion of supplies forced Harold to dismiss his fleet and army, to add to that, many English ships were destroyed by a storm. On the day of September 28, 1066, William landed unobstructed at Pevensey. Harold, who had been waiting for Normans to start their invasion, rushed his armed forces to the north to attack an invading Norwegian Viking army led by King Harald Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson, Harolds brother. He completely shattered the invaders at the battle of Stamford Bridge, near York. Upon hearing that the Dukes forces had landed, Harold hurried southward to meet the invaders. Harolds brother, Earl Gyrth, recommended a delay in the attack, but Harold was determined to show his people that he could defend his kingdom against anyone who tries to invade it, hence demonstrating his power. He headed toward London on the morning of 12 October, gathering all the forces he could on his way. He arrived at Senlac Hill on the night of 13 October. Harold organized his forces across the road from Hastings to London, on Senlac Hill. Behind him was the great forest of Anderida, also known as the Weald, and in front of him was a long glacis slope which rose to the opposing slope of Telham Hill. The English Army Three weeks before the Battle of Hastings, the English army has fought to major battles, Gate Fulford and Stamford Bridge. The Battle of Stamford was victorious for the English forces that crushed Harald Hardradas Viking army, but also weakened the English armys battle-worthiness at Hastings. The English army mainly consisted of infantry. The heart of the army consisted of Housecarls, which are full-time professional soldiers who had a long standing dedication to the King. Their armor consisted of a conical helmet, a chain mail hauberk, and a kite-shaped shield. Their primary weapon was the two-handed Danish battleaxe as well as a standard sword. The mass of the English army, called the fyrd, was composed of part-time English soldiers brought from the landowning minor nobility. These soldiers were required to serve with their own armor and weapons for a specified period of time. The English had a terrifying defense line which is the shield wall in which all of the men at the front ranks packed in their shields together; it was an invincible defense strategy. In the beginning of the battle, the shield was very effective at defending the English forces from the Norman attacks. The whole army was lined up at the front line; as the English soldiers at the front went down, forces from the back would come up front and fill the gaps of the wounded soldiers. This strategy very much aided the English forces for a while until the Norman armies found a way to breach it. The Norman Army William, Duke of  Normandy, was a skilled and experienced military leader. His troops, with both  infantry  and  cavalry, were feared and respected. He had fought and defeated the king of France in 1054 and 1057. William did not believe in being merciful to those who fought against him. The Norman army consisted mainly of nobles, mercenaries, and troops from Normandy, Flanders, Brittany and France, with some soldiers that came from as far as southern Italy. The Norman armys power was basically derived from its cavalry which was considered among the best in Europe. The Norman army was heavily armored with an alance and a sword. The Norman infantry were protected by ring mail and armed with spears, swords and shields almost like the English forces. The large number of missile troops reflected the drift in European armies for combing different types of forces on the battlefield. One of the weapons used by the Normans, the bow, was a relatively short weapon with a short draw, but despite of the fact that it was short, it was very effective on the battlefield. Hastings marks the first known use of the crossbow in the battle in English history. The Battle William relied on basic tactics with  archers  in the front rank weakening the enemy with arrows, followed by infantry which would engage in close combat, ending in a cavalry charge that would break through the English forces. However, his tactics did not work as well as planned. Williams army attacked the English as soon as they were ready and formed up. Norman archers shot several volleys but many of the arrows hit the shield wall and had very little effect. Believing the English to have been softened up, William ordered his infantry to attack. As the Normans charged up the hill, the English threw down whatever they could find: stones,  javelins, and  maces. The barrage inflicted heavy casualties among the Norman ranks, causing the lines to break up. The infantry charge reached the English lines, where violent hand-to-hand fighting took place. William had expected the English to weaken, but the arrow barrage had little effect and nearly all the English troops still stood, their shield wall undamaged. As a result William ordered his cavalry to charge far sooner than planned. Faced with a wall of axes, spears and swords, many of the horses shied away despite their careful breeding and training. After an hour of fighting, the  Breton  division on Williams left faltered and broke completely, fleeing down the hill. Suffering heavy casualties and realizing they would be quickly outflanked; the Norman and Flemish divisions retreated. Unable to resist the temptation, many of the English broke ranks, including hundreds of fyrdmen and Harolds brothers, Leofwyne and Gyrthe. In the following confused fighting, Williams horse was killed from underneath him, and he toppled to the ground. Initially, many of Williams soldiers thought that he had been killed, and an even greater rout ensued. It was only after he stood up and threw off his helmet that William was able to rally his fleeing troops. William and a group of his knights successfully counter-attacked the pursuing English, who were no longer protected by the shield wall, and cut down large numbers of fyrdmen. Many did not recognize the Norman counter-attack until it was too late, but some managed to scramble back up the hill to the safety of the  housecarls. Harolds brothers were not so fortunate; their deaths deprived the English of an alternative leader after the death of Harold. The two armies formed up, and a temporary pause fell over the battle. The battle had turned to Williams advantage, since the English had lost much of the protection provided by the shield wall. Without the cohesion of a disciplined, strong formation, the individual English were easy targets. William launched his army at the strong English position again and many of the English housecarls  were killed. With such a large number of English fyrdmen now holding the front rank, the disciplined shield wall that the housecarls had maintained began to weaken, presenting an opportunity to William. At the start of the battle the hail of arrows fired at the English by Williams  bowmen  was ineffective because of the English shields. Though many on the front ranks still had shields, William ordered his archers to fire over the shield wall so that the arrows landed in the clustered rear ranks of the English army. The archers did this with great success. Legend states that it was at this point that Harold was hit in the eye by an arrow. Many of the English were now weary. Williams army attacked again, and managed to make small chinks in the shield wall. They were able to take advantage of these gaps, and the English army began to fragment. William and a handful of knights broke through the wall, and struck down the English king. Without their leader and with many nobles dead, hundreds of fyr dmen fled the field. The housecarls kept their oath of loyalty to the king, and fought bravely until they were all killed. Following the Battle Very few defenders fled and escaped to the forest. The Norman forces pursued many of the fleeing English soldiers but they were ambushed and killed when they were walked over a steep ground, called the Malfosse or bad ditch. William and his forces rested for two weeks near Hastings, waiting for the English lords to come and submit to him. After a while, he realized that his hopes of submissions were in vain, so William began to move towards London. The Norman army met many hardships and a large number of Williams army were reduced in November by dysentery, along with that, William himself was fatally ill. However, the Norman army was reinforced by fresh troops coming from the English Channel. While William was advancing towards London, the remains of the English government had gathered together and chosen the young and inexperienced Edgar the Atheling as king. According to many historians, they have chosen this king because they said that a weak king is better than no king at all and in the absence of the Godwinson family, he was the only available candidate at that time. Not long after the election of Edgar, many people fled for their safety. Members of the English establishment such as Edgars sisters Margaret and Cristina hastily escaped with their followers to Chester for protection. Meanwhile, William advanced through Kent devastating Romney and receiving the submission of Dover and its important castle. At Dover he paused for a week receiving the submission of Canterbury  on October 29.  He sent messengers to  Winchester  who received the submission of that city from the widowed Queen  Eadgyth. From Canterbury William advanced to Southwark. After failing in attempt to cross London Bridge, William destroyed the entire town. He now tried to use an alternative route to the city by an indirect path crossing the Thames at Wallingford ravaging the land as he passes. The Norman forces finally proceeded on London from the north-west eventually reaching Berkhampstead in late November 1066. Arguments went on between Williams forces and the stressed authorities in London. They finally came to an agreement that stated that the city would be spared from further killing if Edgar resigned and William was recognized as king. This agreement seems to have been imposed on the young Edgar. In early December, Ansgar the  Sheriff  of  Middlesex, the archbishops of York and Canterbury and the deposed  Edgar the Atheling  came out and submitted to the Norman duke. William received them graciously and accepted their submission. William was crowned king on  Christmas Day, 1066 at  Westminster Abbey. Conclusion The Battle of Hastings marks a very important point in history, in which it demonstrates Williams strong devotion to take the thrown. Many battles following the Battle of Hastings were built on the site such as Battle Abbey. Till now, there is a plaque that marks the place at which Harold was killed and has fallen and the location where the high altar of the church once stood. The battle had a remarkable influence on the English language. The Normans main language was French, as a result of the rule, many new French words used by the nobles later was adopted by the English language and became part of the English language itself. As Paul K. Davis writes, Williams victory placed a foreign ruler on the throne of England, introducing European rather than Scandinavian society onto the isolated island in the last successful invasion of England.

Spending Power of Children Essay -- Marketing

In present day to day life, kids play a vital role in the purchase behaviour of the family. This paper focuses on the effects of retail communication on the purchase decision of children. The various factors which influence child’s behaviour have been studied. The methodology adopted includes thorough observation of a kid from entry to exit in the store followed by a personal interview of the accompanying person. Further, the kid’s interaction with the accompanying person has been studied and his/her evaluation of the request is noted. After analysing the complete behaviour, a framework has been proposed which depicts the complete process and the various factors which influences child’s behaviour in the store. Introduction Nowadays children’s share in the family expenditure occupies a significant place. It is also believed that this share is spent by the elders to buy necessary things for the children but now the scenario is changing. The children have the major say in deciding what things they want and what they don’t. According to one of the researcher, spending power of children or young consumers is expected to be over  £200m in the UK alone (Nicole Weiner, 2004). So now it can be estimated that how much it would have been risen over the last 7 years. Markets are also influenced by this kind of behaviour and mould themselves accordingly. We can see a large variety of child centric things in the markets, which are making huge profits despite being not much of necessity. This study is done to find out the various factors involved that influence a kid’s behaviour at a retail store and the percentage of accompanying persons that yield to the various types of influence attempts made by the kids at the store. Litera... ... ‘crying’, and ‘hitting’ contributes (33.33%), (50%)& (16.67%) respectively. For those who made simple purchasing attempts, ‘simple requesting for the product’ was their first preference with (86.67%) & ‘pointing towards the product’ was the second with 53.33% and the rest like ‘grabbing it from the shelf’ and ‘naming a product’ were at the back with 40%, 33.33% respectively. Accompanying person initiated demands are defined as those in which the accompanying persons willingly offer the product to their child. This includes voluntarily asking about child’s product preference, suggesting a certain product, inviting them for the product selection. In this ‘voluntarily asking about their product preference’, ‘suggesting a certain product’, ‘inviting them for the product selection’ contributes 44.44%, 55.55% and 44.44% respectively towards the AP initiated dema nd.

Richard Cory

â€Å"Richard Cory† Edwin Arlington Robinson â€Å"Money can’t buy happiness† is an old saying that echoes through time; however, it seems to echo so softly that it is quite often ignored. People everywhere in search for their fulfillment see money as a fast train leading to their destination of happiness. The envy and the jealousy of the poor and the needy lie with the rich and powerful. Richard Cory is the envy of the whole town. The townspeople look at him as if he had it all. They see his money, feel his power, know his intelligence and not one time do they ever doubt his happiness. They look at him as more than a mere man, and they desire and long to be looked at in this way. They assume that living like Richard Cory will bring them infinite happiness. The poem seems to indicate that everyone keeps their distance from Mr. Cory. His money does not buy him happiness and it does not bring him friends. Richard Cory led an unbearably lonely life, which is reflected in the very last line of the poem when he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. â€Å"Richard Cory† is an excellent example of didactic poetry. The whole purpose of this poem is to teach a life lesson. That lesson being that money cannot buy happiness. The poem is an iambic pentameter and consists of four stanzas. Each line contains ten syllables. The rhyming pattern is A, B, A, B. The first three stanzas of the poem describe the subject, while the fourth stanza shocks the reader. In the first stanza of â€Å"Richard Cory† the reader becomes aware of the main thrust of the poem that suggests the differences between the wealthy and the less fortunate. The speaker of the poem belongs to the latter class and the poem clearly draws out distinctions between â€Å"us† and â€Å"him†. In the second line, â€Å"We people on the pavement looked at him:† (I. ) suggests a lower class stating how they look up to him as well as merely staring at him. In the third and fourth lines the speaker uses the term â€Å"gentleman† which continues the division of economic classes. Then by claiming this gentlemanly quality from â€Å"†¦sole to crown†, (I. 3) the speaker is emphasizing how kingly Cory is. In the second stanza the speaker of the poem is careful to make sure his listeners understand that Richard Cory was just a normal, nice guy. He does not look down on the common folk; he isn’t arrogant; he speaks to people the way the speaker would expect him to. And he was always human when he talked;†. (II. 2) Cory seems very friendly and happy just like the common working-class stiffs, only better looking and richer. The third stanza tells us that Richard Cory is rich, but the speaker also exaggerates Cory’s wealth by saying he is â€Å"†¦richer than a king. † (III. 1) At this point, the audience knows the speaker is speaking in terms of wealth not personality and a successful life. In the fourth and final stanza the first two lines restate the differences between the two economic classes. As the audience reads on to the final two lines of the poem they are hit with a shock. Richard Cory, the man who has everything, the man who is everything that these hard working folk want to be—this icon of success and happiness—kills himself. Robinson uses many poetic devices to make his readers feel at one with â€Å"Richard Cory. † A metaphor can be found in the first line of the third stanza. â€Å"And he was rich-yes, richer than a king†. (III. 1) â€Å"He was rich† is the tenor of the metaphor. â€Å"Richer than a king† is the vehicle of the metaphor. â€Å"Richard Cory† is also an excellent example of situational irony. What happens at the end of the poem is different from what the reader expects to happen. Richard Cory’s death comes as a complete shock! Robinson also uses imagery to paint the picture of this handsome, wealthy, gentleman who has it all. He uses descriptive adjectives to tell about his wealth and his intelligence. He makes his readers think that this man is on top of the world. That is until the reader gets to the final line of the poem and the situational irony kicks into gear. Robinson plays off the two elements to create a vivid and shocking poem. As Robinson’s audience comes to find, it is impossible to influence true friendship and complete happiness by the size of your wallet. A king may sit on his throne his entire life and count his gold, but that throne no matter the size or the comfort could ever replace the warmth of another human being. As that gold slowly collects dust over time its sparkle will fade and so will he. Money can buy anything in the entire world except the things that matter most in life such as love, self-fulfillment and contentment. Living out a life of luxury did not alter the reality that on the inside Richard Cory was a key example of imperfection in a seemingly perfect world.

Macbeth is a monster – In the light of this comment consider Shakespeares presentation of Macbeth in the play

The idea of man as monster is one perpetually peddled not only by Gothic writers, but throughout literature; Shelley toys with the concept in Frankenstein, and Shakespeare himself explores the dark fringes of humanity in character such as Richard III. Yet Macbeth is not quite so simple – whilst he certainly possesses irredeemably features, it is difficult to bracket him with the Duke of Gloucester; similarly, though he begins the play a hero, his descent cannot be easily compared to that of the archetypal tragic hero Othello. Rather, he is a complex hybrid, challenging audiences and critics to consider the nature and definition of monstrosity itself. Perhaps Macbeth's most ‘monstrous' feature is his ambivalence to his own tyranny; whilst the natural order of Scotland is turned upside down, he acknowledges that he is ‘in blood stepp'd in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er'. Here, Shakespeare summons a viscerally violent image of Macbeth wading in a river or lake of ‘blood' before having him casually dismiss it as ‘tedious'; the contrast of surreal horror and offhand flippancy highlighting what would appear to be Macbeth's complete lack of empathy. Combine this with the fact that, in the context of production, Macbeth's regicide would have represented one of the greatest possible breaches not only of judicial but of moral code, and his fate as a character seems sealed. It may even be argued that the play's archetypally Gothic conclusion: having the characters embark to meet ‘at Scone' – the traditional site of Scottish coronations representative of all the social strictures Macbeth flouts – would lose impact if Macbeth's evil was not absolute; if his downfall is to serve as a warning against the breaking of societal regulation, then the audience must surely be without doubt that his actions were irredeemable. Though this may be an easy argument to superficially impose in pursuit of a clear-cut moral message, we must not forget that Shakespeare was a dramatist, not a sermoniser, and that to impose definite meaning on his work is to undermine it. Throughout the text, there are suggestions that Macbeth is in fact a form of Renaissance man, bridging the gap between the Medieval and the modern. In Act I, Scene iii, Macbeth ascertains that the witches' predictions ‘cannot be ill, cannot be good'; a phrase not only reminiscent of the witches' chants of ‘fair and foul', linguistically linking him to the misty supernaturalism they represent, but also unintentionally echoing the literary debate which Macbeth is most famous for; whether the witches can or cannot be seen to have any direct impact on the events of the play. In this way, Macbeth inhabits a self-aware, meta-literary role in which his monstrosity makes up just one part; his Act V, Scene V speech in which he brands himself ‘a poor player who struts and frets' supports this idea, suggesting that whilst Macbeth may appear to be ambivalent to his actions, he in fact recognises their ‘poor' insignificance in the grand scheme of life. Though these metaphysical ponderings may not elevate him to the lofty philosophical heights with which critics regard Hamlet or Lear, they certainly lift him from the more simplified view of Macbeth as pantomime villain. Finally, Macbeth must be viewed in the context of the play's other characters; most notably that of his wife, Lady Macbeth. Before Macbeth has committed any physical crime, Lady Macbeth cries for dark spirits to ‘unsex [her]' – the use of a compound adjective such as ‘unsex' representing – in it's linguistic irregularity as much as in its meaning – a total betrayal of all that it means to be human; to have a predetermined biology. In breaking the bonds of gender, Lady Macbeth finds the ability to foster ambition in Macbeth with sexually provocative blackmail (‘When you durst do it, then you were a man! ‘); perhaps Shakespeare's suggestion is that Macbeth only acts as a vessel for evil, whereas the witches, and Lady Macbeth, both of whom actively embrace the supernatural, represent the seed of evil which can take root in a man even as ‘brave' and ‘noble' as the formerly heroic Macbeth. To brand Macbeth as a monster feels far too simplistic; though, if Macbeth is to be viewed as a pre-Gothic text, the interpretation of him as an archetypal villain is understandable, this is an aspect of the play in which the imposition of a stylistic code feels reductionist and irrelevant. Instead, Macbeth ought to be viewed as a complex character in his own right, whose actions and words throw up as many conundrums as the critic or audience member may hope to find.

Culturally Competent Assessments Of Children In Need Social Work Essay Essays

Culturally Competent Assessments Of Children In Need Social Work Essay Essays Culturally Competent Assessments Of Children In Need Social Work Essay Essay Culturally Competent Assessments Of Children In Need Social Work Essay Essay This article critically analyses cultural competency as a theoretical concept and explores the demand for a model that will help societal workers to transport out culturally competent appraisals of kids in demand and their households. It is argued that the necessary constituents of a model for pattern in this country are a holistic definition of civilization, an ethical attack to difference, self-awareness, an consciousness of power dealingss, the acceptance of a place of complete openness in working with difference and a doubting attack to a commodified construct of cultural cognition . The attack must avoid the totalisation of the other for personal or institutional intents. It is argued that the Furness/Gilligan Framework ( 2010 ) reflects these concerns and could be easy adapted to help with appraisals in this country. Cardinal words: appraisal ; kids in demand ; kids and households ; civilization ; cultural competency Introduction The intent of this paper is to critically analyze cultural competency as a theoretical concept and to research the demand for a model that will help societal workers to place when facets of civilization are important in the lives and kids in demand and their households. The 1989 Children Act places a legal demand to give due consideration to a kid s spiritual persuasion, racial beginning, and cultural and lingual background in their attention and in the proviso of services ( Section 22 ( 5 ) ) . This proviso established the rule that understanding a kid s cultural background must underline all work with kids. However, there has been a longstanding concern that services to kids are neglecting to be culturally sensitive. Concern over the disproportional figure of children in demand from cultural minorities led to their specific reference in The Government s Objective for Children s Social Services, which states that the demands of black and cultural minority kids and households must be identified and met through services which are culturally sensitive ( Department of Health, 1999a: parity 16 ) . Government policy paperss progressively recognise the multicultural world of Britain. Yet, authorities assessment counsel provides practicians with small aid in footings of set uping ways in which cultural beliefs and patterns influence household life. Social work has acknowledged the demand to react respectfully and efficaciously to people of all civilizations, cultural backgrounds, faiths, societal categories and other diverseness factors in a mode that values the worth of persons, households and communities and protects and preserves the self-respect of each ( BASW, 2009 ) . There are many indicants that civilization is important in finding the ways in which some people interpret events, resolve quandary, make determinations and position themselves, their ain and others actions and how they respond to these ( Gilligan, 2009 ; Hunt, 2005 ) . Practitioners may non, hence, be able to prosecute with service users or to ease appropriate intercessions if they take excessively small history of these facets of people s lives or see them on the footing of inaccurate, ill-informed or stereotyped knowledge ( Gilligan, 2009 ; Hodge et al. , 2006 ) . Culturally competent pattern is so cardinal to appraisals of kids in demand that one might anticipate a well developed literature on the topic. This would move as a robust cognition base to underpin excellence in service bringing. Thompson ( 2006, p. 82 ) admits, there is a danger that appraisal will be based on dominant white norms without equal attending being paid to cultural differences. Failure to take such differences into history will non merely distort, and thereby annul, the footing of the appraisal but will function to estrange clients by devaluating their civilization. However, the literature in this country is surprisingly thin. Almost two decennaries ago it was described as a nothingness of published information ( Lynch and Hanson, 1992, p. seventeen ) and Welbourne ( 2002 ) argues that advancement is still slow. Boushel ( 2000 ) argues that despite the authorities s declared concern to cognize more about the impact of race and ethnicity on kid public assistance, th e limited extent to which research reflects the experience and demands of culturally diverse kids fails to back up a true grounds base for policy or pattern. There is grounds that facets of civilization can all excessively easy be underestimated, overlooked or ignored, sometimes with highly serious effects ( Crippling, 2003 ; Gilligan, 2008 ; OHagan, 2001 ) . Many mainstream child care and kid protection texts make small mention to civilization ( OHagan, 2001 ) . Not one of the 20 pieces of research into differing facets of kid protection work considered in Messages From Research ( Dartington, 1995 ) explore the cultural facets of any of the instances dealt with. There is now a turning organic structure of literature written for wellness and societal attention professionals about the importance of developing and integrating cultural sensitiveness and consciousness in their work with others ( Campinha-Bacote, 1994 ; CHYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C4 andHYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C4 a HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcety pe=HWCIT # BCP159C4 andHYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C4 Furman, 1999 ; Hodge, 2001, 2005 ; Moss, 2005 ; Gilligan and Furness, 2006 ; Sue, 2006 ; Laird, 2008 ) . However, despite the evident outgrowth of a more general acknowledgment and recognition of these issues amongst many professionals, relevant daily pattern remains mostly dependent on single positions and attitudes ( Gilligan, 2009 ) . A Department of Health ( 2002 ) survey of 40 deceases and serious hurts to kids found that, information on the cultural background of kids and carers was obscure and unworldly in that it failed to see characteristics of the kid s civilization, faith and race, as specified in the Children Act 1989 ( Department of Health, 2002, p. 26 ) . The failure to gestate accurately the cul tural and societal context within which minority cultural parents are runing impacts on intercessions offered, which served to reflect and reproduce bing impotence. . . ( Bernard, 2001, p. 3 ) . If, as this suggests, there is a shortage in societal workers ability to gestate minority cultural service users societal and cultural context in appraisals of kids, partially accounted for by a dearth of literature in this country, the deductions for pattern are potentially a failure to transport out culturally competent pattern for many vulnerable kids. In The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report 2003, Lord Lamming commented that, The legislative model is sound, the spread is in the execution ( 2003, p. 13 ) . Report after study has expressed concern over the limited accomplishments of societal services staff when project appraisals and planing intercessions with cultural minority kids ( Batty, 2002 ) . While many professionals acknowledge that there is a demand to work in culturally sensitive ways, there is grounds that many professionals working with kids and households do non ever experience equipt to make so ( Gilligan, 2003 ) . Gilligan ( 2009 ) found that whilst professionals may recognize that service users beliefs are really of import, there is small consistence in how such acknowledgment impacts on pattern. Even within his little sample, there was considerable fluctuation in attitudes and much to propose that actions and determinations are the merchandise of single pick instead than professional opinion or bureau policies ( Gi lligan, 2009 ) . Practitioners are able to go on with culture-blind attacks without these being significantly challenged by bureau policies or by professional civilizations ( Gilligan, 2009 ) . There is a clear demand to look once more at what we mean by cultural competency and to develop a model that will help societal workers to place when facets of civilization are important in the lives and kids in demand and their households. Specifying civilization There is a clear acknowledgment that aspects of civilization are important in the lives of kids and their households and that this needs to be considered in assessment pattern. In order to turn to the deficiency of apprehension and uneffective pattern among practicians in this country it is necessary to supply clear definitions of culture and cultural competency . Measuring kids in demand and their households is a complex undertaking. There is grounds of considerable fluctuation between societal workers definitions of the indispensable constituents of good plenty rearing , reflecting the fluctuation between professionals in definition of need ( Daniel, 2000 ) . When reexamining instances of serious hurt or decease, the Department of Health concluded that: . . .areas suggested by this research as ripe for development [ include ] making common definitions of being in demand or at hazard of important injury ( Department of Health, 2002 ) . It is in this context of ambiguity tha t culture must be defined. The 1989 Children Act uses the wording culture as a statutory demand in turn toing the demands of black kids, but does non offer counsel about its definition. Culture is a extremely dianoetic term and the object of an intensive theoretical and political difference ( Benhabib, 1999, 2002 ) . The building of civilization as a theoretical construct has ever been affected by embroiled positions, peculiarly in societal work ( Boggs, 2004 ) . Harrison and Turner ( 2010 ) found that participants in their survey spent considerable clip discoursing the complex nature of civilization and the troubles in specifying it. This means that when looking at the pattern of cultural competency as portion of measuring demand and put on the line the range for conceptual ambiguity is huge ( Welbourne, 2002 ) . Eagleton ( 2000, p. 1 ) provinces that, civilization is said to be one of the two or three most complex words in the English linguistic communication . OHagan ( 2001 ) argues that civilization is a complex construct, with virtually illimitable parametric quantities, which can non be defined or explained in the two or three sentences normally allocated to them in much wellness and societal attention literature. For illustration, Payne ( 1997, p. 244 ) provides a instead equivocal definition of civilization: a hard construct. It implies a comparatively unchanging, ruling aggregation of societal values, and assumes that members of an identified group will ever accept these . It is possible to analyze definitions of civilization that root from anthropology, sociology, psychological science and cultural geographics ( OHagan, 2001 ) . The anthropologist Edward Tylor ( 1871 ) formulated the most abiding definition of civilization: civilization is that complex whole which includes cogni tion, beliefs, art, ethical motives, jurisprudence, usage and any other capablenesss and wonts acquired by adult male as a member of society . The sociologist Giddens ( 1993: 31 ) says that civilization refers to the ways of life of the members of a society, or of groups, or within a society. It includes how they dress, their matrimony imposts and household life, their forms of work, spiritual ceremonials and leisure chases . OHagan ( 2001 ) defines civilization as the distinguishable manner of life of the group, race, category, community or state to which the person belongs. It is the first and most of import frame of mention from which one s sense of individuality evolves . OHagan s definition draws on anthropology and is broad plenty to dispute essentialist impressions of civilization, yet defined sufficiency to be meaningful. It besides balances the community and single facets of civilization. When we consider this definition of civilization it can be seen that all appraisa l of kids in demand occurs within a cultural context. In fact it is possibly better understood as taking topographic point within a figure of interacting cultural contexts, with the civilization of the kid at the bosom of the procedure. The usage of the construct of culture in developing cultural competency and non race has been a calculated displacement in nomenclature from anti-racist theorising. Anti-racist theory, with its accent on race, has been criticised for dichotomizing blackness and whiteness which does non allow any distinction in the experience of racism between different cultural groups ( Laird, 2008 ) . The thought of racial homogeneousness has been digesting but this thought must be challenged. White people and black people are non homogenous groups ( Laird, 2008 ) . Culture is a broader term than race or ethnicity and can include facets of age, gender, societal position, faith, linguistic communication, sexual orientation and disablement ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ) . Using the term culture allows for difference of attitude and experience between persons who are portion of the same cultural or racial grouping. If one considers that civilization is learned from coevals to coeval s, it is necessarily individual specific and shaped by one s personal and social context. The Challenge of Cultural Competence There are a assortment of paradigms in the survey of race, ethnicity and civilization which are located in peculiar socio-historical and political contexts. Cultural competency is merely one of these and has non escaped unfavorable judgment in the professional literature. Writers in societal work have argued that cultural competency depoliticises race dealingss and promotes othering ( Pon, 2009 ) , assumes workers themselves are from a dominant civilization ( Sakamoto, 2007 ) and is based on the flawed premise that geting cultural cognition will ensue in competent pattern ( Dean, 2001 ; Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010 ) . Despite its broad credence, the construct remains capable to multiple, frequently conflicting, positions. There is a demand to critically analyse cultural competency as a theoretical concept in order to do it meaningful to practicians and to supply a footing for best pattern. Concern with racism emerged in the societal work profession in the 1970s and during the 1980s major texts appeared to steer pattern ( Payne, 2005 ) . The construct of anti-racist pattern emerged built on the rules that race is a societal concept that has been used to warrant subjugation and that it is necessary to critically analyze the kineticss of power relationships that produce subjugation. Anti-racist theoreticians have criticised advocators of cultural competency for making an exotic apprehension of people from cultural minorities and for non recognizing pattern issues of societal inequality or racial favoritism ( OHagan, 2001 ) . Cultural competency has been presented as unpolitical and has been criticised for neglecting to turn to the power battles of history ( Barn, 2007 ) . Key issues of power are absent from much of the analytical thought around the paradigm of cultural competency ( Barn, 2007 ) . Given that the political, cultural and professional positions on race and ethnicity have of import effects for minority cultural kids and households, societal workers need to integrate an apprehension of power dealingss as a cardinal tool for overthrowing racism. A more sophisticated and nuanced attack is necessary, which will affect a paradigm displacement from essentialist impressions of race which view civilization in stiff and inflexible ways to one in which cultural sensitiveness is understood within the context of power dealingss ( Barn, 2007 ) . It is of import to widen the argument beyond black and white , to recognize that racial, cultural and cultural groups are non homogeneous, but to non abandon the challenging of racism and other signifiers of subjugation. Culturally competent pattern needs to take history of the tensenesss between different cultural norms and values within the UK, non merely between ethnically and culturally distinguishable groups of people. Social work norms and values may non be those of the bulk of Europeans, or even of the mainstream white UK population, as the instance of A V UK demonstrates. Writers such as Olsen ( 1981 ) , Korbin ( 1981, 1991 ) and Thorpe ( 1994 ) have problematised the impression of a cosmopolitan criterion of child care, indicating to important cross-cultural variableness. The kernel of this challenge is that standardised definitions of kid maltreatment must be contested as they needfully relate to culturally defined norms. Korbin HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/901? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=how+and+when+does+athnicity+matter A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # KORBIN-1991 ( 1991 ) , in what is now a authoritative essay, warns against the dangers of both Eurocentric pattern and excessively culturally relativist pattern. On the one manus, Eurocentric pattern serves merely to enforce one set of cultural beliefs and patterns as preferred and hence reproduce forms of domination and subjugation. In the British literature, concern has been expressed that minority households are excessively often pathologised and stereotyped, with workers over-relying on cultural accounts for their jobs and using a theoretical account of cultural shortage ( Williams and Soyden, 2005 ; Chand, 2000 ; Ahmed, 1994 ) . It is argued that they receive more and speedier punitory services than preventative/care services ( Williams and Soyden, 2005 ) . Lees ( 2002 ) argues from her research that there is a inclination to pathologise behavior that is non culturally normative , an illustration being negatively measuring the act of running off from an opprobrious place among immature black adult females instead than following inactive header schemes. At the other extreme, Korbin notes utmost cultural relativism, in which all opinions of humane intervention of kids are suspended in the name of cultural rights, may be used to warrant a lesser criterion of attention for some kids ( 1991, p. 68 ) . It has been suggested that cultural relativism freezes the position quo by doing standard-setting harmonizing to universal norms impossible ( Laird, 2008 ) . Barn et Al ( 1997 ) found that acceptance of a place of cultural relativity through fright of being labelled as racialist affected statutory proviso to kids and households. They found that some societal workers were loath to step in to protect kids because they believed that opprobrious behavior was sanctioned by their civilization ( Barn et al, 1997 ) . The kid abuse inquiry studies of Jasmine Beckford ( Blom-Cooper, 1985 ) and Tyra Henry ( Lambeth, 1987 ) concluded that culture had impinged upon events taking to the deceases of these kids. It was suggested that workers were ex cessively optimistic in their appraisals of carers and that opprobrious behaviors were interpreted as facets of civilization. Whilst these concerns turn on the acknowledgment of facets of cultural difference as important in the procedure of appraisal, it has long been noted in the societal work literature that practicians fail at the first hurdle, in every bit much as they do non recognize at all the importance of civilization: a culture-blind attack ( Dominelli, 1998 ; Boushol, 2000 ; Graham, 2002 ) . The culture-blind attack eschews difference in its hunt for a cosmopolitan expression. It suggests that a criterion of good pattern can be established which fits all. For illustration, Payne ( 1997 ) rejects the statement that western societal work theory may be incompatible with some of the nucleus constituents of other civilizations and ignores the fact that it was used extensively in the procedures of obliteration of assorted autochthonal civilizations ( OHagan, 2001 ) . Despite being systematically criticised as naif and oppressive, this attack represents a powerful paradigm within societal work ( William s and Soyden, 2005 ; Dominelli, 1998 ) . Finding the balance between these concerns poses considerable troubles for those charged with appraisals of kids in demand ( Dominelli, HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/901? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=how+and+when+does+athnicity+matter A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # DOMINELLI-1998A HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/901? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=how+and+when+does+athnicity+matter A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # DOMINELLI-1998A 1998 ) . What is needed is an attack to pattern that can dispute normative stereotypes of appropriate behavior by parents or kids while advancing the rights of kids to safety and good plenty rearing. Brophy ( 2003, p. 674 ) states Balancing a regard for differing manners of parenting and guarding against inappropriate inroads into li fe styles and belief systems, while besides protecting kids from ill-treatment, remains an demanding undertaking. Professionals can be castigated for step ining excessively rapidly or excessively easy. Social workers must run with cultural sensitiveness within the assessment procedure but at the same clip acknowledge that at the bosom of anti-oppressive pattern is a committedness to the non-relative nucleus value of human equality. A Knowledge Based Competency? Cultural competency as a pattern response to these issues has been conceptualised in several ways. There are non one, but multiple definitions of cultural competency and it appears to be a mutable, germinating construct ( Harrison and Turner, 2010 ) . The models available to help practicians in measuring facets of civilization are preponderantly of two types: appraisal theoretical accounts that try to help in the aggregation of information and the apprehension of specific service users strengths, demands and fortunes ( Carballeira, 1996 ; Hodge, 2001, 2005 ; Hogan-Garcia, 2003 ; Sue, 2006 ) and brooding theoretical accounts that aim to assist the practician to develop relevant accomplishments and consciousness in general footings ( Green, 1999 ; Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ; Papadopoulos, 2006 ) . Assessment theoretical accounts of cultural competency often refer to the integrating and transmutation of cognition about persons and groups of people into specific criterions, patterns and attitudes used in appropriate cultural scenes to increase the quality of services, thereby bring forthing better results ( Davis and Donald, 1997 ) . To work efficaciously with diverseness, practicians are expected to derive cognition of different cultural patterns and worldviews, to hold a positive attitude towards cultural differences and develop crosss of assessment theoretical accounts include the LIVE and LEARN Model developed by Carballeira ( 1996 ) which identifies a series of activities which practicians need to prosecute in to be culturally competent: Like ; Inquire ; Visit ; Experience ; Listen ; Evaluate ; Acknowledge ; Recommend and Negotiate. Another illustration is Campinha-Bacote s ( 2002, pp. 182-3 ) ASKED theoretical account which identifies five dimensions of cultural competency : cultural Awareness ; cultural Skill ; cultural Knowledge ; cultural Encounter ; and cultural Desire. In line with this attack Sue ( 2006 ) argues that culturally competent societal work pattern is defined as the service supplier s acquisition of consciousness, cognition, and accomplishments needed to work efficaciously in a pluralistic democratic society ( 2006: 29 ) . However, there is disparity in the literature as to the knowledge that is necessary for effectual culturally antiphonal pattern. The above theoretical accounts adopt a cultural literacy attack in which civilization specific information and pattern is categorised under wide cultural group classs ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ) . For illustration, Laird s ( 2008 ) book Anti-Oppressive Social Work contains chapters entitled communities with roots in India , communities with roots in the Caribbean and communities with roots in China . Similarly, OHagan ( 2001 ) includes chapters about Islam , American Indians and Australian Aborigines in his book about cultural competency. Laird ( 2008, p. 156 ) states It is merely by deriving cultural cognition, that is, larning to appreciate the assortment of ways in which people with different heritages organise their lives, that practicians from the white-majority community can derive cultural consciousness. This is because cultural cognition offers practicians a comparative analytical tool with which to analyze cultural influences upon their ain lives . From this attack knowledge is seen as cardinal to the development of cultural competency accomplishments, which are basically knowledge-based erudite capacities ( Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010 ) . It is widely believed that cultural cognition is the key to construing the codification of cultural diverseness ( Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010 ) . It is argued that without cognition, one can non be cognizant of the presence of prejudices in professional patterns and pattern could stay ethnocentric ( Adams et al. , 2001 ) . There is a inclination to believe that if a worker learns about a civilization, what Spradley ( 1994 ) calls explicit cultural cognition , so they will hold a model for working with that civilization. Widely bing constructs of cultural competency assume that the other is cognizable and that this cognition is a requirement for being culturally competent ( Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010 ) . A radically different stance has been suggested by Ben-Ari and Strier ( 2010 ) who examine cultural competency through the lens of Levinas ( 1969 ) theory of other . Levinas ( 1969 ) proposes that moralss precedes cognition. He argues that our humanity is realised through the wisdom of love and non through the love of wisdom ( the actual Greek significance of the word philosophy ) . In other words, moralss precedes any nonsubjective searching after truth ( Beals, 2007 ) . Levinas thesis ethics as first doctrine agencies that the chase of cognition is but a secondary characteristic of a more basic ethical responsibility to the other . Within this model, the chief inquiry becomes what relation to the other is necessary in order for cognition to be possible? He argues that the other is non cognizable and can non be made into an object of the self , as is done by traditional doctrine. By underscoring the primacy of moralss to knowledge, Levinas creates a new model for working a cross differences. This raises cardinal inquiries with respect to the nature of societal cognition. Laird ( 2008 ) argues that the most critical demand of culturally sensitive societal work is to maintain open the duologue between people from different cultural backgrounds and to guarantee that each single emerges as a alone complex of values, beliefs and aspirations. It is necessary to see how accrued cognition about other civilizations has the possible to restrict our openness in our brushs with people who are other to us. Knowledge about other civilizations can take to the experience of entirety: something is nil more than what I make out of it ( Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010 ) . When we totalise the other we cut down our apprehension of it. Levinas ( 1987 ) proposes that we should take for the experience of eternity, that is, the acknowledgment that something is more than what we could do of it. Berlin ( 2002, p. 144 ) notes the danger of totalizing people from other civilizations, saying sorting pe ople on the footing of group rank merely gives us the semblances that we are being culturally sensitive, when, in fact, we are neglecting to look beyond easy word pictures for the peculiar and specific ways this individual is understanding, feeling and moving . A cognition based attack to cultural competence has a inclination to make overgeneralisations of cultural groups and can take to the worker comprehending themselves as an expert despite the likeliness of them being in a place of cultural naivete ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ) . The deduction of this is that culturally competent appraisals must come from an ethical point of view of openness on the portion of the practician. OHagan ( 2001 ) provinces, The workers need non be extremely knowing about the civilizations of the people they serve, but they must near culturally different people with openness and regard . It must be recognised that ideas, feelings and actions are influenced by external and internal variables that are cultural in beginning and, as a effect, that each person who enters the kid public assistance system is alone ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ) . A effect of this is that perceptual experiences of the kid public assistance job will be alone to each client or household. Understanding how the household perceives the job enables child protection workers to work in a more culturally antiphonal manner in developing solutions. Cooper ( 2001, p. 732 ) states the significances in context of a kid s hurt are non revealed through nons ubjective facts or through expert nonsubjective appraisal or diagnosing. An in agreement significance, understanding and possible for alteration can merely be co-constructed, with the service user and their societal relationships and webs, within a located administration and multi-agency context . Aligning solutions with the cultural individuality of the household provides the possible for family-centred responses. Cultural competency must travel off from an accent on cultural cognition if it is to supply an ethical model for working with difference. A Matter of Reflection? The 2nd chief type of cultural competency theoretical account is a brooding theoretical account. Reflection has been portion of pattern discourse for a figure of decennaries ( Schon, 1983 ; 1987 ) . More late the construct of critical contemplation has taken clasp ( Fook, 2002 ) . A critically brooding response challenges the values and attitudes associated with professional behavior ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ) . An illustration of a brooding theoretical account of cultural competency is the cultural-reflective theoretical account developed by Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward ( 2005 ) . This theoretical account includes the procedures of cultural thought ; critical contemplation and brooding pattern results. A strength of the theoretical account is that is recognises the interaction between the self and the other within interactions between people of different civilizations. Ben-Ari and Strier ( 2010 ) argue that the development of the construct of cultural competency could profit from sing the significance of self and other mutuality in modern-day arguments on cultural diverseness. They analyse dealingss between self and other utilizing Levinas theory of other and research the ways in which these dealingss play a polar function in working with differences. A individual s definition of the other is portion of what defines the self ( Levinas, 1969 ) . The thought that the self requires the other to specify itself has been expressed by many authors ( Brown, 1995 ; Riggins, 1997 ; Gillespie, 2007 ) . It has been recognised that the construct of otherness is built-in to the apprehension of individualities as people construct functions for themselves in relation to an other . The deduction of this is that that all cross-cultural brushs between societal workers and service users bring into drama non merely the heritage of the service user, but besides that of the practician ( Laird, 2008 ) . Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward ( 2005, p. 59 ) note that appraisals of the societal universe are likely to state more about the percipient than the individuals under survey . Social workers need to detect and reflect upon their ain value system and traditions in order to be culturally competent. Brooding theoretical accounts, such as Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward s ( 2005 ) , recognise that our cultural thought responses are frequently automatic and outside of our control. It is necessary to inquire where our responses and linguistic communication come from ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward s, 2005 ) . The brooding procedure encourages an scrutiny of values and beliefs underpinning reactions. It involves disputing our premises, recognizing stereotypes and recog nizing power and its effects. Without this it is easy to believe that it is our manner of being is the norm and other people who are cultural, idiosyncratic, culturally curious ( Eagleton, 2000, p. 26 ) . Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward ( 2005, p. 29 ) note that being so familiar, our ain manner of thought and our ain manner of life can so easy seem simply human to us . OHagan ( 2001: 262 ) states cultural competency emerges from strict self-exploration ; it expands the professional s empathetic repertory, guaranting there is no culturally biased instant response . It is self-awareness and an ethical stance of openness that are the most of import constituents of cultural competency, non accumulated cognition of the other . Developing a Model for Practice Having re-conceptualised the indispensable constituents cultural competency it is necessary to see what deductions this has for pattern in the country of appraisals of kids in demand and their households. Any deductions have to see the policy and organizational context that appraisals of kids take topographic point within. The policy that underpins appraisal in this country is The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families ( The Assessment Framework ) ( Department of Health, 2000b ) . The Assessment Framework was issued as counsel under the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, which means that it must be followed by local governments unless there are exceeding fortunes that justify a fluctuation. The Assessment Framework represents a manner of capturing the complexness of a kid s universe and an effort to build a coherent attack to roll uping and analyzing information about a kid ( Rose, 2001 ) . The model is underpinned by an ecological attack, intendi ng practicians finishing an appraisal consider three domains : the developmental demands of single kids ; rearing capacity ; and household and environmental factors. Each domain is further divided into dimensions that indicate cardinal countries that should be considered for that peculiar sphere. The Assessment Framework provinces, differences in conveying up kids due to household constructions, faith, civilization and cultural beginnings should be respected and understood. . .every attempt should be made to guarantee that bureaus responses do non reflect or reenforce that experience [ day-to-day experience of favoritism ] and so, should antagonize it Guaranting equality of chance does non intend that all kids are treated the same. It does intend apprehension and working sensitively and knowledgeably with diverseness to place the peculiar issues for a kid and his/her household, taking history of experiences and household context ( Department of Health, 2000b, p.12 ) . However, the attending given to facets of a kid s civilization within the Assessment Framework is really limited. If a practician uses the Assessment Framework without doing mention to the attach toing counsel, as appears to often be the instance ( Horwath, 2002 ) , it would be easy to construe the influence of civilization on household life in a really narrow manner. The Practice Guidance attach toing the Assessment Framework notes that . . .although many professionals are cognizant that it is indispensable to take history of race and civilization, and in peculiar to be culturally sensitive in their pattern, they are frequently at a loss to interpret this into practical footings ( Department of Health, 2000a, p. 38 ) . Whilst acknowledgment of issues of civilization in appraisals of kids has had a turning organic structure of literature, the limited extent of empirical research in this country fails to bolster evidence-based policy devising and potentially signals a failure to transport out culturally competent appraisal for cultural minority kids ( Boushol, 2000 ; Welbourne, 2002 ) . There is small empirical grounds to show that the rule of cultural sensitiveness and consciousness ushers practitioner determination devising, or to verify the claim that it benefits cultural minority clients ( Williams and Soyden, 2005 ) . Williams and Soyden ( 2005 ) carried out a cross-national survey that examined these concerns within the context of kid protection. Their survey demonstrates that despite fluctuations in national policies the kid s cultural association evokes small important response by societal workers irrespective of the state, corroborating a mostly universalist attack ( Williams and Soyden, 200 5 ) . Overall, their findings suggest that the logic of universalism continues to extenuate against the important recognition of difference in appraisals of kids ( Williams and Soyden, 2005 ) . This highlights a clear demand to develop a model to help practicians in measuring facets of civilization when transporting out appraisals of kids in demand and their households. It is unrealistic to anticipate practicians to carry on separate appraisals of issues originating from civilization ( Furness and Gilligan, 2010 ) . Any extra appraisals are likely to be unwelcome to service users, many of whom tell research workers that they undergo excessively many already ( Furness and Gilligan, 2010 ; Dartington Social Research Unit, 2004 ) . Harrison and Turner ( 2010 ) found that deadlines and clip restraints were considered to be hindrances to culturally competent pattern and pattern responses have to be cognizant of these issues. There is tenseness between trying to supply culturally competent practicians within nerve-racking, under resourced public systems ( Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005 ) . Therefore, any suggested model for cultural competency in measuring kids in demand and their households has to be compatible with the Assessment Framework s ( Department of Health, 2000a ) recording signifiers and timescales. It has been established that the necessary constituents of a model for pattern in this country are a holistic definition of civilization, an ethical attack to difference, self-awareness, an consciousness of power dealingss, the acceptance of a place of complete openness in working with difference and a doubting attack to a commodified construct of cultural cognition . To accomplish this it seems indispensable that practicians are non limited by a procedural theoretical account of appraisal, but are free to inquire appropriate open-ended inquiries, in order to let people to show themselves in ways that they choose, are familiar to them and esteem their expertness. It is besides of import to recognize that beliefs and patterns will change even amongst those within the same cultural grouping. A assortment of day-to-day life activities may be deeply influenced by a individual s civilization and may, hence, necessitate geographic expedition with them: race and ethnicity ; linguistic comm unication ; faith and spiritualty ; modesty and privateness ; vesture, jewelry and makeup ; rinsing and hygiene ; hair attention ; supplication ; holy yearss and festivals ; physical scrutiny ; birth ; contraceptive method ; abortion ; attitudes to decease, deceasing and mourning ; medicine ; mending patterns ; transfusions, organ contribution and graft ; last offices ; postmortem and funeral services ( HusbHYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C36 andHYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C36 HYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content /full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C36 andHYPERLINK hypertext transfer protocol: //bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2? maxtoshow= A ; hits=10 A ; RESULTFORMAT= A ; fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief A ; searchid=1 A ; FIRSTINDEX=0 A ; resourcetype=HWCIT # BCP159C36 Torry, 2004 ) . Discussion of these issues may inform the appraisal in important ways. Gilligan and Furness ( 2010 ) have developed a model with the purpose of helping practicians to reflect on and measure the relevancy of their ain spiritual beliefs and those of service users in appraisals. The model consists of eight cardinal inquiries to assistance practicians ( Gilligan and Furness, 2010 ) ( see Figure 1 ) . This model, which follows loosely person-centred and strengths-based attacks ( Rogers, 2003 ; Saleeby, 2008 ) , has been piloted with societal work pupils and refined through feedback and application. The model was developed to be integrated into the most often used bing models for appraisal, including the Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their Families ( Department of Health, 2000b ) . Questions one to seven of the model ( Gilligan and Furness, 2010 ) represent an attack that incorporates the indispensable facets of an ethical attack to cultural competency outlined above and could easy be adapted in order to help with culturally competent appraisals more widely ( See Figure 2 ) . If the 8th cardinal inquiry is removed, this model besides avoids the totalisation of the other through an inappropriate usage of cultural cognition . The practician needs to get down with a holistic definition of civilization as discussed above and follow a critically brooding attack, sing power dealingss and their deductions. This attack to working with cultural diverseness implies, foremost and first, an ethical relation to difference. The brooding attack of the theoretical account avoids the totalisation of the other for personal or institutional intents. The acknowledgment that differences can non be to the full known means that we are cognizant that they are ever more than what we grasp. Ben-Ari and Strier ( 2010 ) believe that spread outing our apprehension of Levinas ethical stance, which absolutely advocates the replacing of cognition with duty, is a promising lead in this way. It is non merely that cognition is non adequate, but that under certain conditions, it can even be harmful. Finally, this theoretical account does non detach working with differences from an anti-oppressive position presuming societal duty towards the excluded and oppressed ( Dominelli, 2002 ; Danso, 2009 ) . Clearly there would be a demand to through empirical observation research the utility and effectivity of such a model for sing facets of civilization in appraisals of kids in demand and their households, which would necessitate to see the organizational context within which such appraisals take topographic point. 87.5 per cent of participants in Gilligan and Furness ( 2010 ) pilot of their model said that it had been and would be helpful in their appraisals. However, the fact remains that such a model adopts an ethical stance towards difference in civilization. Decision To to the full appreciate and prosecute with affairs associating to civilization when measuring kids in demand and their households is non easy and a balance needs to be struck between places of Eurocentric pattern and excessively relativistic pattern. It has been argued that the necessary constituents of a model for pattern in this country are a holistic definition of civilization, an ethical attack to difference, self-awareness, an consciousness of power dealingss, the acceptance of a place of complete openness in working with difference and a doubting attack to a commodified construct of cultural cognition . The attack must avoid the totalisation of the other for personal or institutional intents. It has been argued that the Furness/Gilligan Framework ( 2010 ) reflects these concerns and could be easy adapted to help with appraisals in this country. Underestimating or disregarding the topographic point of civilization can ensue in the loss of chances to do existent differences a nd betterments in the lives of service users, while inactivity could, on juncture, lead to serious injury. Competent practicians need to set aside their ain biass and to stay unfastened and receptive to the demands of all service users. In the present clime, it can be hard for busy practicians to happen clip for contemplation and personal development. However, this is critical if societal workers are to work efficaciously within a culturally diverse society. Figure 1: Furness/Gilligan Model: Principles for Reflection on Religion and Belief 1.A Are you sufficiently self-conscious and automatic about your ain spiritual and religious beliefs or the absence of them and your responses to others? 2.A Are you giving the individuals/groups involved sufficient chances to discourse their spiritual and religious beliefs and the strengths, troubles and demands which arise from them? 3.A Are you listening to what they say about their beliefs and the strengths and demands which arise from them? 4.A Do you recognize persons expertness about their ain beliefs and the strengths and demands which arise from them? 5.A Are you nearing this piece of pattern with sufficient openness and willingness to reexamine and revise your programs and premises? 6.A Are you constructing a relationship which is characterised by trust, regard and a willingness to ease? 7.A Are you being originative in your responses to persons beliefs and the strengths and demands which arise from them? 8.A Have you sought out relevant information and advice sing any spiritual and religious beliefs and patterns which were antecedently unfamiliar to you? Figure 2: Adapted Furness/Gilligan Framework: Principles for Reflection on Aspects of Culture 1.A Are you sufficiently self-conscious and automatic about your ain cultural individuality and your responses to others? 2.A Are you giving the individuals/groups involved sufficient chances to discourse their cultural attitudes and beliefs and the strengths, troubles and demands which arise from them? 3.A Are you listening to what they say about their civilization and the strengths and demands which arise from it? 4.A Do you recognize persons expertness about their ain civilization and the strengths and demands which arise from them? 5.A Are you nearing this piece of pattern with sufficient openness and willingness to reexamine and revise your programs and premises? 6.A Are you constructing a relationship which is characterised by trust, regard and a willingness to ease? 7.A Are you being originative in your responses to persons civilizations and the strengths and demands which arise from them?