Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis Paper - Essay Example supported by Graff who also explains that students are trying to expound on various notions, opportunities and subjects that education has provided, to develop an analysis on the most liked and exciting subjects and opportunities in education. This clearly explains the fact that students are now pursuing education and creating some entertainment effect from various operations undertaken in the school and classroom environment. Graff states that, â€Å"The chance to try on a variety of clashing ideas, to see what they feel like, is one of the most exciting opportunities an education can provide; it can be especially rewarding for students who come to the university with already developed skills at summarizing and weighing arguments and synthesizing conflicting positions on their own.† This clearly explain how education has created an environment where students get to understand various chances available in the education sector, and implement on decisions of creating an environm ent that is favorable to try various subjects and opportunities, which becomes a primary source of entertainment among students from various universities (Greene and Lidinsky, 338). Liberal education and how education has been viewed by students in various institutions of learning has been discussed by various scholars. Graff’s argument on education has been analyzed, and research indicates that there are some cases where Graff supports the argument by Edmundson on the same basis of education. For instance, Graff supports the notion argued by Edmundson that students have diverse perceptions of education, including the idea that education can be termed as a form of

Introduction Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Introduction Assignment - Essay Example Having dabbled in fiction writing during my spare time, I find that most of my characters are created to be replicas of people whom I interact with in the real world. Thus serving to become an analytical tool of my relationship with people. Allowing me to vent out my frustration, joy, and sadness as I deal with real life situations in fictionalized manners. Thus giving me room for creative release of my pent up emotions and tension. For me, it is the fact that I can use my personal life to create a fictional story that serves as both my strength and weakness. My strength because I am able to create situations that help me deal with my life, and my weakness because I have to write things down in order to be able to properly deal with my problems. Without writing as a channel for my inner troubles and demons, I feel that I would have not become the capable and adjusted person that I am today. Writing her helped me find my voice. It is that voice that helps me get through my life tribulations because as I write things down, I begin to analyze and find solutions to whatever problem is plaguing me at the

Health Promotion And HIV

Health Promotion And HIV The origins of health promotion lie in the 19th century when epidemic disease eventually led to pressure for sanitary reform for the overcrowded industrial towns. Alongside the health movement emerged the idea of educating the public for the good of its health (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). In 1977 the World health Assembly at Alma Ata committed all member countries to the principles of Health for all 2000 (HFA 2000) that there should be the attainment by all the people of the world by the tear 2000 of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life Naidoo and Wills, 2000). The Ottawa charter held on the 21st of November 1986 was the first international conference on health promotion and provided the basis for the current practice of health promotion. It defined health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individ ual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment (WHO, 1986). Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life-styles to well-being. It went ahead to identify strategies for health promotion namely; build healthy public policy, create supportive environment, strengthen community actions, develop personal skill and reorient health services (WHO, 1986). HIV/AIDS BACKGROUND AND ZIMBABWE The HIV virus is the cause of the Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). All countries of the world are now affected with about 39.5million people living with the disease globally. 2.1million of the global 2.9million deaths due to AIDS in 2006 occurred in Africa ( UNAIDS/WHO, 2007). The extent of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic in Africa makes it qualitatively different from other regions. According to UNICEF (2005), the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has already orphaned a generation of children and it projected that by 2010, 18 million African children less than 18 years are likely to be orphaned by HIV. Africa has the worlds youngest population, with the youth constituting 33% of the total population. Subà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Sahara Africa is home to 70% of young people living with HIV/AIDS and 90% of the AIDS orphans in the world. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is compounded by gender and age, making young people and women in particular more likely to contract the virus than others. The age distribution of HIV infection in Africa is skewed towards younger females, with infection rates among teenage girls five times higher than teenage boys in some countries.Zimbabwe is not spared this burden. One in six African is a Zimbabwe which has a population of about estimate of 140 million people. The first case of the Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was identified in Zimbabwe in 1986. HIV prevalence then rose steadily from 1.8% in 1998 to 5.8% in 2001. However, in the 2003 survey, the National HIV prevalence had dropped to 5%. At a current level of 5.6%, HIV/AIDS prevalence is highest amongst young people less than 30 years (World Bank, 2006). Several factors have been identified as the most important in driving the HIV epidemic in Zimbabwe. These include; early marriage of females and inadequate access to condoms and contraceptives particularly for young people. Young peoples lack of access to contraceptives is exacerbated by the age-structured society where children and young people have little or no control over their health, especially sexual health. There is also inadequate sexual education in schools as well as a restricted discussion of sexual health matters in public and even in families. Zimbabweans can have multiple wives as they think they can afford to take care of. This is very ambiguous and the result is that a lot of women are mistreated and left to take care of themselves without actually being empowered to do so. Other factors implicated are the presence of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), stigmatization and the inadequacy of health care systems (APIN, 2006). In addition, various cultural prac tices and values influence the health practices and sexual behaviour of our focus group. This makes them particularly vulnerable. Vulnerability can be defined as the degree to which an individual or a population has control over their risk of acquiring HIV, or the degree to which those people who are infected an affected by HIV are able to access appropriate care and support. (AIDS Vancouver, 2005) Zimbabwe being a male-dominated society, women are viewed as inferior to men, in some areas in particular in rural areas and some townships. Womens traditional role is to have children and be responsible for the home. Their low status, lack of access to education, and certain social and cultural practices increase their vulnerability to HIV infection. Many marriage practices violate womens human rights and contribute to increasing HIV rates among women and girls. Zimbabwe has legal minimum age for marriage, however in some areas early marriage is known to be allowed by parents, as they consider it a way to protect their young daughters from the outside world and maintain their chastity. Girls may get married between the ages of 14 and 15, and a large age gap usually exists between husbands and wives. Young married girls are at risk of contracting HIV from their husbands because it is considered acceptable for men to have sexual partners outside of marriage and even for some men to have more than one wife. Because of their age, lack of education, and low status, young married girls cannot negotiate condom use to protect th emselves against HIV and other STIs. Practices such as female genital mutilation also contribute to the scourge (APIN, 2006). COMPARATIVE STATISTICS From Appendix 1(behind), the tables show WHO statistics (2007) and compares different parameters from Zimbabwe, Brazil and South-Africa. It estimates Zimbabwes population, for 2005, at 131.5 million. This is compared to South Africas figure of 47.4 million and 186.4 million for Brazil. Zimbabwe and Brazil are classed as developing countries while South Africa is a middle-income African country. All these countries have achieved varying degrees of success in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Deaths due to HIV (per 100,000) are 8 for Brazil, 167 for Zimbawe and 675 for South Africa. Figures for HIV prevalence in adults aged 15 years and above show that the prevalence is reduced in Brazil (454 per 100,000 people), but Zimbabwe (3,547 per 100,000 population) and South Africa (16,579 per 100,000 population) still have very high numbers. This buttresses the fact that Africa still has major problems in the fight against HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS POLICY IN ZIMBABWE According to the Federal Government of Zimbabwe, the overall goal of the HIV/AIDS Policy is to control the spread of HIV, to provide equitable care and support for those infected by HIV and to mitigate its impact to the point where it is no longer of public health, social and economic concern, such that all Zimbabweans will be able to achieve socially and economically productive lives free of the disease and its effects. (Federal Government of Zimbabwe, National Policy on HIV/AIDS, 2003; pp. 13-14). The objectives of the policy include, among others to foster behaviour change as the main means of controlling the epidemic and to ensure that prevention programmes are developed and targeted at vulnerable groups such as women and children, adolescents and young adults, sex workers, long distance commercial vehicle drivers, prison inmates and migrant labour. The target is to improve the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practices of high-risk populations, including youths and adolescents , to HIV/AIDS by 20 percent by the year 2005 and 40% by 2010. With the WHO statistics, there seem to be a lot of work to be done in achieving the above target. YOUTH EMPOWERMENT MODEL THE INTERVENTION The model was developed by a combination of two existing models of health promotion namely Caplan Holland (1990) and Beattie (1991) (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). Beatties model uses criteria of mode of intervention (authoritative-negotiated) and focus of intervention (individual-collective) whereas Caplan and Holland use theories of knowledge and theories of society (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). From Caplan Holland (1990) the following components were taken: radical humanistic perspective (empowerment approach) and humanistic perspective (educational approach). From Beattie (1991) were taken; health Persuasion (educational approach) and personal counselling (behavioural approach). This model thus comprises of the 4 components namely; Radical Humanist/Empowerment approach where individuals are encouraged to form social and organizational networks including self-help groups, Humanist/Health Education approach this involves peer education and awareness campaigns, including activities such as dramas, role plays and debates, Health Persuasion which is essentially behaviour modification and life skills, Personal counselling which is client led and focus on personal development. The health promoter is a facilitator rather than an expert. (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). APPROACHES The components of this model made use of three main approaches to health promotion: behavioural, educational and empowerment approaches. The empowerment approach is based mainly on the formation of social and organisational networks including self-help groups, peer groups, abstinence clubs etc. The emphasis of this approach is to help people to identify their own concerns and gain the skill and confidence to act upon them Naidoo and Wills, (2000), and the behavioural approach aims at behaviour modification. It also uses personal counselling as a means of promoting healthy sexual behaviour, therefore aiming to impart life skills to the students, which would teach them to communicate, to learn to say no to casual sex, to wait till the right time and to make the right decisions. The educational approach aims to provide knowledge and information with the hope that this information would enable the students to make the right and informed choices (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). This would be achieved by means of awareness campaigns, debates, lectures, dramas, role plays, posters and other information, education and communication (IEC) materials. A key part of the education of these students would be peer education. Over the years, there have been various studies and theories supporting the use of peer education as a successful health promotion strategy. Peer pressure can be quite enormous and influential particularly in the focus age group. APPLYING THE COMPONENTS OF THE MODEL DISCUSSION As earlier mentioned, there are four main components of this health promotion model: health education, health persuasion, empowerment and personal counselling. EMPOWERMENT Empowerment in the broadest sense is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.the process by which disadvantaged people work together to increase control over events that determine their lives'(Laverack, 2004). This entails raising consciousness of both the primary and secondary audiences; emphasis is on the exploration of personal responses to health issues. The students are encouraged to form social networks such as self-help groups and peer-educator-led groups. These social networks can lead to self-empowerment. The WHOs definition of health promotion as increasing peoples control over their health places it alongside the key concept of community empowerment (Laverack, 2004). Community empowerment can be viewed as both a process (something used to accomplish a particular goal or objective) and an outcome (in which empowerment is the goal or objective itself). There is considerable overlap between community empowerment and other concepts such as community participation and community development. Community empowerment builds from the individual to the group to the broader community (Laverack, 2004). Health promoters have conventionally viewed community empowerment as a part of bottom-up approached. In this the outside agent act to support the community in the identification of issues which are important and relevant to their lives, and to enable them to develop strategies to resolve these issues. Community empowerment includes personal (psychological) empowerment, organizational empowerment and broader social and political changes. Community empowerment has been viewed in health promotion literature as a five-point continuum model comprising the following elements; personal action, the development of small mutual groups, community organizations, partnership, social and political action. Each point on the continuum can be viewed as an outcome in itself, as well as a progression onto the next point. If not achieved the outcome is stasis or even a move back to the preceding point on the continuum (Laverack, 2004). The latter goes on to say the dichotomy between top-down disease prevention and lifestyle change and bottom-up community empowerment approaches is not as fixed as it is sometimes portrayed. As applied in this youth empowerment model, both approaches were used. HEALTH EDUCATION Health promotion is rooted in the narrower, more established field of health education. Health education is communication activity aimed at enhancing positive health and preventing or diminishing ill-health in individuals and groups, through influencing the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of those with power and of the community at large (Downie et al, 2006). Use of education in health promotion has to do with communication aimed at enhancing well-being and preventing ill-health through influencing knowledge and attitudes. The purpose is to provide knowledge and information, and to develop the necessary skills so that a person can make informed choice about their health behaviour (Naidoo and Wills, 2005). Health education interventions are valued because they empower people, enabling them to make desired changes and increase their control over their health. It involves working directly with them, enabling communication and feedback that in turn can be used to fine-tune the intervention, enhancing its effectiveness (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). This can be carried out in classrooms, and clubs aiming to empower the students. The peer educators will also be used at this stage as well as PLWHA. The contents for education in HIV prevention will include issues such as meaning and cause of HIV/AIDS, means of transmission non-transmission, modes of prevention, available treatment and management for PLWHA. HEALTH PERSUASION Health persuasion in this initiative forms a part of the Prevention Education. These are intentions directed at individuals and involve mainly health professionals, trained counsellors and peer educators, all acting as facilitators. The aim of this is to influence the development of positive health behaviour in the students, so that as they grow older, they can have good sexual health. People Living with HIV/AIDS are also involved as they are some of the greatest champions of HIV prevention as earlier mentioned. The ultimate aim of health persuasion is encouraging people to adopt healthy and careful lifestyles. The emphasis is on abstinence, safer sex and faithful partnership. The avenues included: classrooms and School HIV/AIDS prevention clubs, distribution of fliers and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials and involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS. PERSONAL COUNSELLING This focused on personal development and students (one-on-one or in groups) are helped by a facilitator to identify their health needs to increase their confidence and life skills. Peer Education This is the teaching or sharing of information, values and behaviours between individuals with shared characteristics such as behaviour, experience, status or social and cultural backgrounds (Macdowall et al, 2006). It is a prevention strategy for reaching youth either in school settings or for marginalized out of school youth, mainly through community based out reach programmes. Approaches to recruiting peer educators have included; providing information about a project and then asking for volunteers (Macdowall et al, 2006) identifying and approaching popular opinion leaders from among target groups; and asking members of the target groups to nominate peers. HEALTH PROMOTION RATIONALE Zimbabwe for obvious reasons stated above has a problem in tackling the scourge of HIV/AIDS and this required a multi-pronged approach in order to make an impact. Thus, developing a health promotion model targeted at the youth is in place. According to WHO, it is imperative to focus on young people because they have a high risk of contracting HIV since once they become sexually active, they often have several, usually consecutive, short-term sexual relationships and do not consistently use condoms. Likewise, IV drug use spreads at an alarming rate in this age group. Furthermore, young people often have insufficient information and understanding about HIV/AIDS; they may not be aware of their vulnerability to it or how best to prevent it. They also often lack access to the means of protecting themselves (WHO, 2004). The National HIV/AIDS policy specifically focuses on adolescents and youths, with a view to changing their sexual behaviour and practices, particularly before they become s exually active. School based programmes are logical avenues to provide most youth with preventive health education which should include helping the youth to identify their personal values and to promote positive self -esteem to enable them to resist pressure to engage in risky sexual behaviour. Zimbabwe practices a 7-2-3 system of education. Here individuals are expected to spend 7 years in the primary school, 2 years in sixth form 3-4 years in the University. The secondary school age in Zimbabwe is between 12-18 years. The focus for the model is in high school students aged 12 to 18. There were several reasons why the school is a key arena for health promotion. First, in accordance with a prevention is better than cure philosophy, it is better to encourage young people to adopt healthful lifestyles than to try to change unhealthful behaviour patterns in adulthood. Secondly, there is evidence that risk factors for disease in adulthood often originate early in life. Thirdly, schools provides a unique opportunity to augment other influences on health-related behaviour with properly planned programmes of health education (Downie et al, 2006). As early as 1982, it was reported that the age of first sexual intercourse had continued to drop in Zimbabwe and was then such that 50% of 16 year kids were already sexually active (Nwokocha and Nwakoby, 2002). Thus, the age range for the study is appropriate to equip them before they become sexually active. Mzikazi High School Bulawayo, Zimbabwe was the chosen high school. Mzilikazi is in Matebelaland, second capital city of Zimbabwe with an estimated population of 1.2 million residents. The city has a rich tourism culture and hospitality. Current research estimates the prevalence of HIV in Bulawayo at 6.19% , making it the second highest of all the states in Zimbabwe (The Herald News, 2006). Its easy access to Victoria Falls makes it a centre for visitors from different parts of the world. All these aid the sex trade in a country so rich yet poverty is the order of the day. People who do possess some knowledge about HIV often do not protect themselves because they lack the skills, support or incentives to adopt safe behaviours. High levels of awareness among the youth, a population group particularly vulnerable and significant as regards the spread of HIV/Aids, have not led, in many cases, to sufficient behavioural change. Young people may lack the skills to negotiate abstinence or condom use, or be fearful or embarrassed to talk with their partner about sex. Lack of open discussion and guidance about sexuality is often lacking in the home, and many young people pick up misinformation from their peers instead. PARTNERS IN THIS HEALTH PROMOTION The key partners in this initiative were the primary the students, and the secondary parents, teachers, school nurse and other members of the school community including staff. Other partners included professionals such as all clinical health practitioners such as doctors, nurses, and others health professionals who will act as facilitators, the local School Authorities, and donor agencies that are focused on HIV/AIDS issues they play a very crucial roles in community HIV prevention programmes. Donor agencies were involved in the provision of funds that were used in executing the project. PLWHA (People living with HIV/AIDS) have very important impact as people see for themselves living testimonies of the HIV scourge. It must be stated that stigmatization and discrimination against PLWHA are common in Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, some progress has been made more recently because of increased national campaigns and more visible and vocal societies and support groups for people infected with or affected by HIV. Their efforts have helped educate the public about HIV/AIDS, dispelling myths and giving the disease a human face (APIN, 2006). A potential reason for failure of school health promotion is that of culture clash between the school and the home and elsewhere (Downie et al, 2006) hence the inclusion of the parents in the secondary audience. However while the concepts of outcome succees were addressed to some degree in the study, there was nevertheless, a lack of firm and consistent evidence that positive outcomes had been achieved by the partnership concerned. Partnership working is seen as providing benefits that are achievable, improve health of whole population through working in partnerships with groups and individual to systematically address health needs within a community, (Coles and Porter, 2009). The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts of society, (Achenson, 1998). Wilson and Charlton (2004), claim that culture clashes in partnership working can often expected between people from different social background. In this study the barrier between the partners was the cultural background for the children , parents and the leaders. In this instance the NGOs were the leaders of the health promotion. The break down in communication and understanding of the intended education started when the educators told the students it is advisable to use condoms whenever you have sex. In Zimbabwe there is a deep-seated unwillingness to talk openly about sex, partly due to rules of re spect that lie at the heart of family and kinship structures, which limit communication across generation and sexual divides. Certain prevalent cultural norms and practices related to sexuality contribute to the risk of HIV infection. Negative attitudes towards condoms, as well as difficulties negotiating and following through with their use. Men in southern Africa regularly do not want to use condoms, because of beliefs such that flesh to flesh sex is equated with masculinity and is necessary for male health. Condoms also have strong associations of unfaithfulness, lack of trust and love, and disease. Certain sexual practices, such as dry sex (where the vagina is expected to be small and dry), and unprotected anal sex, carry a high risk of HIV because they cause abrasions to the lining of the vagina or anus. In cultures where virginity is a condition for marriage, girls may protect their virginity by engaging in unprotected anal sex. The importance of fertility in African communities may hinder the practice of safer sex. Young women under pressure to prove their fertility prior to marriage may try to fall pregnant, and therefore do not use condoms or abstain from sex. Fathering many children is also seen as a sign of virile masculinity. Polygamy is practised in some parts of southern Africa. Even where traditional polygamy is no longer the norm, men tend to have more sexual partners and to use the services of sex workers. This is condoned by the widespread belief that males are biologically programmed to need sex with more than one woman, ( ). Urbanisation and migrant labour expose people to a variety of new cultural influences, with the result that traditional and modern values often co-exist. Certain traditional values that could serve to protect people from HIV infection, such as abstinence from sex before marriage, are being eroded by cultural modernisation. ( ). However the NGOs wanted to continue with this education even the other secondary partners could tell it is affecting the whole process, with advice to first stop teaching the children, educate the parents first so when the children are taught it does not cause conflict. This dilemma here appears largely about power who has it, who needs it, and how much? Successful partnership requires leaders to redefine the boundaries of power in the organisation, and this can prove challenging, ( ). Careful design of the organisations decision-making processes and the setting of clear boundaries can help you tackle the leadership dilemma. Therefore with partnership, effective communication enables us to discuss each others concerns, acknowledge our different points of view and strive to understand those views. Good communication is especially important when there are strong views or feelings about an issue. The key thing to remember is that communication goes in all directions. Effective communic ation isnt just about telling people things. Its mostly about listening to each other. Consequently good communication is crucial to partnership. Lack of communication often creates an information vacuum. This vacuum is sometimes filled with rumour and speculation. . Evaluation Two different views of evaluation pervade the literature on health promotion. From the first view point, evaluation involves assessing an activity in terms of the aims or specific objectives of that activity. William (1987) has written as follows: .the purpose of evaluation is that it should demonstrate whether an activity has been successful or to what degree it has failed to achievee some stated aims. Before we can evaluate, then, we need to be clear about the aims of the activity in relation to the degree of attainment of these aims. From the second view point, evaluation is a broader process. It involves assessing an activity by measuring it against a standard which is not necessarily related to the specific objectives or purpose of the activity. This approach has been advocated by Green et al. (1980). From the second view point, evaluation is a broader process (Downie et al, 1996). Evaluation can be defined as the critical assessment of the value of an activity (Macdowall et al, 2006). Evaluation is needed to ensure that health promotion activities are having the intended effects. Evaluating activities helps inform future plans and contributes to the building up of a knowledge base for health promotion. It also helps prevent the reinvention of the wheel, by informing other health promoters of the effectiveness of different methods and strategies (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). Downie et al (1996) identifies reasons for evaluating health promotion activities. These are to assess the extent to which projects are achieving their stated objectives, to inform the development of materials and methods, to ensure ethical practice, to optimize use of resources and to assess the place of health promotion within overall efforts to achieve health gain. Evaluation includes assessments of different kinds of events at varying time periods. A distinction is often made between process, impact and outcome evaluation. Process evaluation: this involves assessing the process programme implementation. It addresses participants perceptions and reactions to health promotion interventions. It is therefore a useful means to assess acceptability and may assess the appropriateness and equity of a health promotion intervention (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). In doing this in our health promotion study, inputs (time, IEC materials, money); self-evaluation (self-reflection); feedback from primary and secondary audience (using questionnaires, question and answer sessions, individual discussions) will be used. Impact and Outcome evaluation: Evaluation of health promotion programmes is usually concerned to identify their effects. The effects of an intervention may be evaluated according to its impact ( the immediate effects such as increased knowledge or shifts in attitude) and outcome ( the longer-term effects such as changes in lifestyle). Impact evaluation tends to be more popular because it is easier to do. Outcome evaluation more difficult because it involves an assessment of long-term effects (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). Evaluation of the impact could be planned or unplanned. Planned impact can be assessed using pre-session and post-session questionnaires or a review session with the target audience. Some of the planned impact/outcomes would include increasing attendance to activities, increase in the number of people taking part in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), increase in age of first sexual encounter and reduction in HIV prevalence rate. Unplanned impact/outcome will include counselling for other issues such as drugs and alcohol use, provision of support for PLWHA within the school community by referrals to NGOs and other support groups that can provide treatment and help them cope with other effects of living with HIV/AIDS. Limitations There are limitations to the implementation of this health promotion model. There is an ethical dilemma with regards what will be too much sexual information for the teenagers considering the cultural background. Many parents will object to some information given to their children. Issues pertaining to funds for running and sustaining the programme need to be considered. There could also be some logistics problems in terms of accessing rural areas: power, security, mobility and communication facilities all have to be provided and these are all functions of funds. Acceptability of the programme by the primary audience may be in question. The students may view the activities as being prescriptive rather than participatory, also, they may view the health professionals and facilitators as being old school in terms of age or social background or socioeconomic status and this could be a barrier which might face the programme. This is where the peer educators come in and may go a long way in overcoming this problem. If the students are able to see the project/activities as theirs, it would help to sustain the efforts after the health professionals may have left. Such continuity could be anchored on peer educator groups, abstinence clubs and other social networks. Long-term assessment of empowerment and change in behaviour is difficult. Is there any behaviour change? If so, is the behaviour change due to this Health Promotion activity alone?. These are pertinent questions which will need to be addressed at the long run. The model focuses mainly on empowerment without addressing other socio-economic determinants of sexual hea

Character Monologe of John Yosarian :: essays research papers fc

Hello my name is John Yossarian, I am a captain in my squadron of pilots that runs bombing missions during this retched war. All my life I’ve hated war I think it’s utterly pointless, men losing their lives only to ensure their freedom.. I do not know why I am being forced to fight, but the way I look at it is ‘lets just get it over with’, this type of attitude helps me try to complete my missions as soon as possible. While that may sound like an easy task the truth is it isn’t, the main reason why is because of my damn colonel†¦ Catchcart is his name and he keeps â€Å"lifting the bar† on the number of missions required by us before we can be sent home. At first I didn’t even want to have to fight, so I tried all means to get out of this blasted battle. I even said that I had a pin in my liver and was sent to the hospital, but that turned out to be more trouble then it was worth. After being discharged from the small Italian facility I could only seem to wonder why no one else saw the pointlessness of all these â€Å"heroes† fighting an endless massacre, the question never could seem to leave my mind†¦ I guess its just one of those questions that has no real answer. Some of the men in my squad are Milo Minderbinder, who had was a leader of a underground black market and the head of the mess hall, Hungry Joe, well what can I say about Joe†¦ he used to be a photographer for Life magazine and he has an obsession with naked women, quite the oddball if you ask me. McWatt, he was always a happy one, rarely caught him without a smile on his face. Clevinger, rest his poor soul, he was always an optimistic, always had a question for everything and he was usually very opinionated. You know, every man has his own limits in life, and I’ve just about reached mine with all of these missions, this war has nothing more to offer me and I nothing to offer it. So I refused to fly any more missions. I am now on the streets of Rome, but my â€Å"freedom† was short lived, an officer arrested me for not having a pass.

Basic Concept of International Development

International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development – the development of livelihoods and greater quality of life for humans. It therefore encompasses foreign aid, governance, healthcare, education, gender equality, disaster preparedness, infrastructure, economics, human rights, environment and issues associated with these.International development is related to the concept of international aid, but is distinct from, though conceptually related to, disaster relief and humanitarian aid. While these two forms of international support seek to alleviate some of the problems associated with a lack of development, they are most often short term fixes – they are not necessarily long-term solutions. International development, on the other hand, seeks to implement long-term solutions to problems by helping developing countries create the nec essary capacity needed to provide such sustainable solutions to their problems.A truly sustainable development project is one whichwill be able to carry on indefinitely with no further international involvement or support, whether it is financial or otherwise. |International development projects may consist of a single, transformative project to address a specific problem or a series of projects | |targeted at several aspects of society. will be able to carry on indefinitely with no further international involvement or support, whether it is financial or otherwise. International development projects may consist of a single, transformative project to address a specific problem or a series of projects | |targeted at several aspects of society. will be able to carry on indefinitely with no further international involvement or support, whether it is financial or otherwise. |International development projects may consist of a single, transformative project to address a specific problem o r a series of projects | |targeted at several aspects of society.

A Weeping Child, Hidden by an Evil Front Essay

Many people say, those who can become good are not truly evil and that those who can become evil are not truly good. A person who is truly evil must have no remorse for the bad they have done. A truly evil person can never become good. Lady Macbeth and her husband Macbeth commit the ultimate evil. Together, they kill their King and afterwards murder and deceive many others. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is depicted to be an evil and cruel woman in the beginning, but in the end it becomes clear that Lady Macbeth is not completely evil because she knew that what she was doing was wrong, was merely trying to please her husband, and shows complete remorse for her actions. In the early scenes of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed to be a cruel and evil woman, but despite her actions she still realizes her wrongdoing. As she plots and demeans her husband she seems to be the backbone of the plan to kill the King. According to Bernad, a published literary critic, â€Å"She is the ambitious, unscrupulous, cruel woman who would pluck the infant smiling at her breast and dash its brains out. But beneath this iron front is a heart of flesh†¦ † (52). Lady Macbeth is putting on a front of evil to try and make her self think that what she is about to do is okay. She may seem to be evil, but she is in fact completely aware of how wrong her actions are. She even mocks the manhood of Macbeth saying, â€Å" Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valor/ As thou art desire? Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life/ And live a coward in thine own esteem,† and even suggests he is more of a woman than she is, however, she cannot kill Duncan herself (I. vii. 43-47). She begs the spirits to unsex her,† Come you spirits/ That ten on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,† knowing that she cannot do the terrible things that she must as the woman she is (I. v. 47-48). Even though she claims she could dash her infant’s brains out, she cannot find it in her to kill Duncan herself due to his so called resemblance to her father. All of the evil she seems to be in the early scenes is self-proclaimed. Lady Macbeth puts on this front of evil, but beneath it all she knows that what she is doing is ultimately wrong. Lady Macbeth not only knows her wrongdoing, but is also unselfish, doing all of this with her husband in mind. Her evil persona is simply bravery. Bernad writes, â€Å"To bolster up her husband’s courage, she puts up a brave front; but when alone, she shows how empty handed she is† (52). Although Lady Macbeth does have something to gain from Duncan’s death, she is trying to get her husband courage up to do something that he ultimately wants more than anything. This is a quality of unselfishness, which is far from evil. In front of him, she simply washes her hands of the blood as if it is nothing, but behind closed doors the blood would remain. Lady Macbeth knows as soon as she receives Macbeths letter that he wants to become the King. She says, â€Å"It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great,/ Art not without ambition, but without/ The illness should attend it† (I. v. 17-20) Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth wants to be the king. She also knows that without being pushed, he will not do this for himself. In order to be the unselfish and ultimately good wife she is, she must put on this brave and evil front to get her husband what he wants. She thinks of her husband and not of herself when she pushes him to do this evil act. Lady Macbeth is not an evil woman; she is simply an unselfish woman who must be brave for her husband. Remorse is another characteristic Lady Macbeth had that is not evil. A completely evil person has no guilt for the bad they do. As the play continues and begins to come to an end, a new side of Lady Macbeth is shown. A side is shown of a more feminine, and helpless woman. Bernad writes, â€Å" She has become like a scared little girl, suddenly conscious of all the wrong she has done†, and â€Å"she has become almost a pathetic figure† (52-53). By the end of the play Lady Macbeth has become crazy, consumed by her guilt. Her previous front of evil is completely erased and her true vulnerable side is shown in her sleep. As she confesses her guilt and wrongdoing, she becomes an object of sympathy. Lady Macbeth says, â€Å"The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?/ What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No/ more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that. You mar all/ with this starting† (V. i. 44-47). As she says this she knows she will never be able to get rid of the guilt. She asks if her hands will ever be clean, referring to the guilt she will always carry with her. She then goes to bed, and falls into a sleep she will never wake up from. As Lady Macbeth becomes overwhelmed with guilt, as Bernad says, â€Å" She is the heart-broken girl sitting on the doorstep, weeping over her broken doll. No man is so callous as not to have compassion on her weeping† (52). As Lady Macbeth begins to crumble, there is no evil to her. She is simply a broken woman. Lady Macbeth’s unselfishness, remorse, and complete knowledge of her actions show that she is not completely evil. Although she seems to be evil throughout the early scenes, she realizes that what she is doing is ultimately wrong. This is a trait of a good person and not an evil one. Another one of these traits is her unselfishness. All of her bad actions throughout the play were made simply with the goal to get her husband what he wanted. Lady Macbeth ultimately feels guilt and remorse for all of the wrong that comes out of what she has done. Lady Macbeth is not completely evil because she has traits that a completely evil person cannot have. No person with the ability to do good, and care for others is a completely evil person.

Instructional Leadership And Curriculum Example

Instructional Leadership And Curriculum Example Instructional Leadership And Curriculum – Coursework Example Instructional Leadership and Curriculum Insights in the instructional Leadership and Curriculum The instructional leadership and the curriculum lead to gain of several insights in the education leadership. The instructional leadership provides insight on leadership content knowledge, that is, the knowledge requirement by the administrators in carrying out their roles as leaders as well as facilitating the students’ study. It outlines the essence of postholing for leaders by provision of the insight on the need to gain in-depth understanding and mastery of a particular subject by the leader in bid to enhance its teaching to students. In addition, the instructional training provides an insight on the dynamics of leadership especially with an increase in the concerned organizational structure (Mitgang, 2007). The instructional leadership and curriculum development provides the principals with management skills on the flaws that presents in their new areas of work. In addition, it is a quality addition medium through which leaders are empowered to develop exceptional skills in managing daily challenges within educational leadership. The instructional leadership therefore offers a wide range of insight that are significant in the development of leadership ability and skills (Mitgang, 2007).How to use the Insight in the Leadership The insights from the instructional leadership and curriculum provide a guideline on the development of personal leadership skills of the leader, in this case, the principals. The concept of postholing, for instance, can be utilized in building the knowledge base that is necessary for efficient and productive leadership. The insights on the identification of flaws within an organization can serve as pivotal points to initiate the transformations in a given organization.ReferenceMitgang, L. D. (2007). Getting Principal Mentoring Right: Lessons from the Field. Perspective. Wallace Foundation. pp 1-23

Financial report on luton brickworks Plc. The WritePass Journal

Financial report on luton brickworks Plc. Introduction Financial report on luton brickworks Plc. IntroductionWhat is Dividend?Types of Dividends:CASH DIVIDEND:STOCK DIVIDEND:STOCK SPLITS DIVIDEND:SHAREHOLDERS WEALTH MAXIMIZATION:ARGUMENTSDIRECTOR A:Formula for Walter’s model:Arguments in favour of statement:Arguments against the statement:DIRECTOR BAssumptions of MM modelArguments in favour of statement: (MR.B)Arguments against the statement: (MR.B)DIRECTOR CArguments in favour of the statementArgument against the StatementFACTORS DETERMINE DIVIDEND PAYMENT:FACTORS AFFECTING DIVIDEND POLICY:NATURE OF BUSINESS:COMPOSITION OF SHAREHOLDING:RESTRICTIONS BY CONCERNED BODIES:INFLATION:FIRM ORIENTED CONSIDERATION:LIQUIDITY:OWNERSHIP CONSIDERATIONS:CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONSREFERENCESRelated Introduction Luton Brickworks plc is newly formed company which aims to maximise the wealth of its shareholders. The board of directors of the company is currently trying to decide on the most appropriate dividend policy to adopt for the company’s shareholders. However, there is a strong disagreement between three of the directors concerning the benefits of declaring cash dividends. Director A argues that cash dividends would be welcome by investors and that a high dividend payout ratio as possible would reflect positively on the market value of the shares. Director B argues that whether a cash dividend is paid or not is irrelevant in the context of shareholder maximisation. Director C takes an opposite view and argues that dividend payments should be avoided, as they would lead to a decrease in shareholder wealth. Required: Present the theory of organisational dividend policies and integrate the assignment into your discussion. a) Discuss the arguments for and against the position taken by each of the three directors b) Assuming the board of directors decides to pay a dividend to Shareholders what factors should be taken into account when determining the level of dividend payment. What is Dividend? The term dividend refers to the part of divisible profits among its shareholders. In other words, dividend is that portion of company’s profit which is distributed among its shareholders as a percentage of par values of share at a fixed rate per share according to the decision of its board of directors. The main purpose of any business is to create profits for its owners. When any company earns profit from its business, they can reinvest that money in their business, but some companies pay profits to its share holders. However when a company decides to pay dividend to shareholders, the cash available for business will reduce. Dividend inukare paid on a semi annual basis, net of deduction of tax at the standard personal income tax rate, these are called interim dividends. These interim dividends tend to be smaller than final dividends due to cash flow, taxation financial planning considerations (Sangray, 2010). Types of Dividends: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cash Dividend 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stock Dividend 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stock Splits Dividend CASH DIVIDEND: Cash dividend plays a dominant role in sharing company’s profit; shareholders are being paid in part of company’s profit. However in US they double the taxation of cash dividend at a maximum rate of 15% and dividends are distributed to shareholders only after company pays income tax. STOCK DIVIDEND: Stock dividend is paid to shareholders only if the companies not having healthy cash position, by combining the profits of both current previous year. Such shares are also called as ‘bonus shares’ instead of paying dividend as cash. There is no great change in equity of shareholders, as stock dividend is paid until actual stock sold in order to avoid paying taxes. In general share holders have more scope to receive additional shares from the company, where it depends on the amount already owned by shareholders. STOCK SPLITS DIVIDEND: Stock split dividend is performed in a company, if there is increase in share price, obviously investors shares become too expensive to buy. Whereas liabilities, assets, equity remains same. InUKstock split is referred as â€Å"scrip issue†, â€Å"bonus issue†, â€Å"capitalization† or â€Å"free issue†. This stock split dividend resembles stock dividend. Source: investopedia.com/terms/s/stocksplit.asp SHAREHOLDERS WEALTH MAXIMIZATION: Shareholders profit maximization consolidates the volume of risk time. The goal of SWM states that the present value of the expected future cash flow of the firm should be maximized to shareholders. ARGUMENTS DIRECTOR A: He argues that cash dividends would be welcome by investors that a high dividend payout ratio as possible would reflect positively on the market value of the shares. This argument deals with RELEVANCE THEORY, where the supporting model for this argument is WALTER’S MODEL James E. Walter (1999):   dividends are relevant. The investment policy of a company dividend policy both are inter-related as they cannot be separated by their own. The value of an enterprise will be affected by dividend policy. Formula for Walter’s model: P= D/Ke-g Where P= PRICE OF EQUITY SHARES D= INITIAL DIVIDEND Ke= COST OF EQUITY CAPITAL G= GROWTH RATE EXPECTED ANOTHER MODEL WHICH SUPPORTS THIS ARGUMENT IS GORDON LINTNER MODEL Dividend relevance, as argued by â€Å"Linter and Gordon†, suggested that investors preferred dividends to capital gains due to their certainty w  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Gordon model can be used to find the theoretical value of a share by summing the shares discounted future dividend payments to infinity: P0   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     = Do (1+g)/(y-g) Where: P0 =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   current ex-dividend market price of the share r  Ã‚   =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   shareholders required rate of return g  Ã‚   =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   expected future growth rate of dividends D0 =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   declared dividend at time t0 Dividend relevance was further supported by the argument that dividends were seen by investors as signals of a company’s future profitability. Arguments in favour of statement: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company should pay dividend to shareholders if they have sufficient liquidity to satisfy their requirements. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The dividend acts as a signal to investors about the profits of the company is higher or not. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company’s market value confidence in society increase only if the dividends are paid to investors. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If company pays regular cash payments to customers the firm will be recognised in the market to get financial support from other institutions with reasonable interest rates. Arguments against the statement: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If the company pays dividend to investors in initial stage, it may lead to failure in important opportunities. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The share value of the company decreases if the company pays more dividends to shareholders. This leads to negative impact in the market. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to nature of the business the company may suffer loss, as dividend may adversely affect the company. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The regular payout of dividends will also be taxed on regular intervals, as they are corporation profits. If this profits are transferred to reserves,(capital gains) in long run, the total impact of tax would be less than the tax paid on regular dividend payments. DIRECTOR B Argues that whether a cash dividend is paid or not is irrelevant in the context of shareholders maximisation. This argument deals with IRRELEVANCE THEORY, the supporting models for this theory could be MILLER MODIGLIANI MODEL According to â€Å"Miller and Modigliani† (2010 Sudesh Sangray) the dividend payments were irrelevant should only be offered as a residual the value of a firm is unaffected by the distribution of dividends and is determined solely by the earning power and risk of its assets. The dividend policy may have no influence on the market price of the shares. Assumptions of MM model Surveillance of perfect capital markets and investors in it are rational. Securities are infinitely divisible, as there is no transactions cost, investor cannot influence the market price of securities and there are no floatation costs.   There are no differences in tax rates which are applicable to capital gains and dividends. The investment policy of a firm does not change.   It implies the financial status of the company which gives an opportunity to invest in new projects. As retain earnings will not change the business risk of the firm.   Arguments in favour of statement: (MR.B) 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Investors will not get affected if dividend is paid but investment policy will have impact on shareholders wealth maximization. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The investors are less concern about dividend payment as they always want to maximise their wealth. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The home made dividend pays to shareholders who expect regular income selling particular shares instead of anticipating dividend. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If a company tries to get income from external source, by supplying sufficient funds, then retain earnings come completely irrelevant. Where shareholders wealth can be maximised by getting income from external source. Arguments against the statement: (MR.B) The perfect capital market is unrealistic. Practically, there are taxes, floatation costs and transaction costs. Paying present cash dividend is far better than capital gains, where whose appearance is definite more accepted by the shareholders. If a company paying dividend from external source of income is not a good idea, as it leads to increase in interest rate gearing ratio, which will effect shareholders wealth. DIRECTOR C This argument deals with which is similar to relevance theory, there is no specific model that supports this argument, but Argument for and against that Dividend payment should be avoided since it reduces Shareholders Wealth Arguments in favour of the statement Net income of the share holders decreases, as they pay taxes on dividend received. This result to decrease of wealth. The profitable opportunities for firm reduce, when there is regular payment of dividend to shareholders. So, the firm should try to avoid the dividend payment to its shareholders and try to concentrate on its investment opportunities. Argument against the Statement As mentioned by â€Å"Watson Head† (2004) in the article â€Å"DIVIDEND POLICY† cash dividend plays an important role to provide reliable information to the investors. That financial condition of company is strong. The uncertainty of shareholders income reduces when payment of cash dividend is high. The management tries to reduce conflict ensure their personal benefits are mention, as there is a scope of agency problems because of owner’s interest. There is decrease in interest rates when dividend payment is high which indicates the shareholders wellbeing is doing well by management are not. FACTORS DETERMINE DIVIDEND PAYMENT: The decision of dividend is difficult because of conflicting objectives lack of decision making techniques, maximizing shareholders wealth is not easy in the long run. FACTORS AFFECTING DIVIDEND POLICY: NATURE OF BUSINESS: Mostly dividend policy is adopted by companies which earn unstable profits; where it is different from company earn stable profits. COMPOSITION OF SHAREHOLDING: If the company have cumulative preference shares, they have to be paid the present year dividend in the next year along with next year dividend and if it has equity share they need not be paid even the company has profits. Example: Microsoft etc. RESTRICTIONS BY CONCERNED BODIES: In long-term some financial companies restrict the company on paying dividend to shareholders, they pronounced a clause that no payment to be made till the loan amount is repaid back to financial institutions. INFLATION: During inflation it is not much important to pay dividend. As there is no chance of replacing the equipment as funds are generated from depreciation. FIRM ORIENTED CONSIDERATION: The dividend policy is not determined by ownership interest rates. As firm’s needs are considered as important, this includes the following. Business cycles Risk of losing control on organization Post dividend policies and stockholders relationships. Relative cost of external funds Contractual legal restrictions Availability of external capital LIQUIDITY: As explained in Investopedia Dictionary. â€Å"The degree to which an asset or  security  can be bought or sold in the market without affecting the assets price.  Liquidity  is characterized by a high level of trading activity†. To increase the sales profits earned by company should reinvest in fixed assets working capital. There are some companies which cannot generate sufficient cash even if they get profitable income. OWNERSHIP CONSIDERATIONS: The identification of owner’s interest becomes difficult if it is decentralized on wide spectrum. As every shareholder have their own objectives different opinions. Investor companies are which combines the mix of both growth desired dividends. CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS Concluding that, this report explains the financial status of the company and their decision regarding shareholders wealth maximization. 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dividend is paid to shareholders dividend policy is taken to distribute dividend to shareholders. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are 3 types of dividends cash, stock, stock splits dividend, which plays a key role in paying dividends. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Paying dividend to shareholders is an added advantage, which increase the company’s reputation in the market. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a possible adverse effect to the company depending on the nature of the business. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As investors always look forward to maximise their wealth. 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     It is not a good idea to pay dividend to shareholders now, as investors may think that the company is not having any future projects to enhance their business. 7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recommending that the company should wait for some time to gain good reputation in market and investors as well to get more profits, which help to increase in market share, and overall profits of the company. 8)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Concluding that as Luton Bricks Plc is new to company in market, there will have less scope for earning profits. REFERENCES DR.R.SRINIVASAN. (2009).  Important theories of dividend policy an appraisal.  Available: articlesbase.com/finance-articles/important-theories-of-dividend-policyan-appraisal-1353119.html. Last accessed 2nd Aug 2010. Linter. John. (1956). Distribution of income corporation among.  The American Economic. 46 (2), 2-15. American psychological association. Www.dictionary.com. dividend, Collins English dictionary, 10th edition. May 22, 2011. Pike Richard. (1996). Decisions and Strategies. In: Richard Pike and Bill Neale  Corporate finance and investment. 2nd Ed.New York: Prentice Hall,. 196-216. Watson, Denzil. And Head Antony(2007).  Corporate finance: principles and practices. 4th ed.Harlow: ft/prentice hall. pg.no:286. Sangray, S. (2011) Week-10. Advanced Corporate Finance, Dividend Policy. (Online). Available at www.breo.beds.ac.uk.(accessed on December 10, 2010). Gitman, L., J. (2009) the principles of managerial finance. 12th ed.London: Pearson Prentice Hall. Agrawalsumeets. (2010).  Theories-of-Dividend-Policy.  Available: scribd.com/doc/28162428/Theories-of-Dividend-Policy. Last accessed 27 July 2011. Dictionary. (2007).  Dividend.  Available: investopedia.com/terms/d/dividend.asp. Last accessed 02 august 2011.

Character Is Fate

Character is Fate – Essay â€Å"A man’s character is his fate† once said the Greek philosopher Heraclites. By this he meant that our personalities and actions shape the outcomes of our lives and therefore our destiny. This statement opposes the traditional view that man’s fate is determined by an external force (name it god or even chance). This argument is basically one of faith: do you believe we shape our own futures by how we act, or are our lives programmed in a certain unchangeable way? In other words, do you believe in an omnipotent being that has our lives or at least our futures predetermined? As we shall see, a man’s character defines his life (as his behaviour, emotions and actions determine his daily life), but I believe that our fate is predetermined and unchangeable and that there is divine intervention, therefore a matter that we have no control over. To support the fact that we might be able to define our daily life but not our fates or futures there is the unanswered question of ‘why do bad things happen to good people? Furthermore, character is not the only aspect in deciding a man’s fate: external events (chance and Nature) will also alter the processes and outcomes of our lives. Heraclites and Novalis (German philosopher)[1] had an interesting argument, but unfortunately one that only applies in a utopian world. Many people believe that a person’s personality determines their place in life, therefore supporting Heraclites’ idea. Basically, this suggests that depending on how a person lives, what he does and how he deals with events the outcome of his life will be shaped accordingly. For example, in Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’, we understand that Mr. Henchard’s personality flaws (his temper and his naivety especially) lead him slowly to worse situations, which finally end up in him not wanting to be remembered once he is dead. On the other hand, Farfrae, a character which is much more appealing, sensitive, humane and kind is victim of fortunate events such as the prosperity of his business and his marriage to Lucetta. Both these cases can be attributed to the fact that life is working against Henchard while it works very well for Farfrae due to their aforementioned personalities. Unquestionably, the way in which we act will attract positive or negative outcomes respectively. In this matter, we could say that we are the architects of our fates[2] and that even though it might be very difficult to do so, we can manage to change our personality and therefore change our fates in a desired direction. Fate is in our hands (or should we better say in our character), as Scottish author Samuel Smiles words tell us: â€Å"Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny. †[3] On the other hand, if we follow the argument discussed in the previous paragraph, then we could draw the conclusion that good things should always happen to good people and bad things to bad people. In real life, this is almost never true, and in many examples we can find quite the opposite: bad things happening to good people and vice versa. How many good and innocent people have been victims of the greed of evil people such as the Holocaust, the Iraq War or the bombings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima? If we want to narrow this to a theological explanation, then we can argue that God made us all in his image, therefore making us independent of moral choice and giving us total freedom (this suggests that we can control our characters in the way we decide because we have been given the freedom to do so. I don’t support this idea, but it is however the most rational to explain why bad things happen to good people: as there are also bad people in the world that act freely, then you can be a victim of their acts no matter who you are or how you are). However, as he has given everyone freedom, then we can all be victims of good and bad from other people. [4] Your character might determine your fate, but it is not the sole factor because as we can see, bad things can happen to good people and vice versa. I believe that this is a matter of chance (the fact that a good person might get in the way of a bad one and therefore have a terrible outcome which his/her character doesn’t reflect) and even tough we might have a certain personality that should lead us to a consequent destiny, unexpected and random variables get in the way and might change the course of our fates. Definitely our character will have an important role to play in determining the outcomes of our lives, but from this idea we can draw the idea that although character controls our life, we can’t control our fates: our fates are predestined. We can call these omnipotent force God, devil, providence or chance, but the fact is that our fate has already been planned for us and even if we could change our character (making us believe that we are changing our fate), we are only changing direction into a fate we think is new, but in reality is the fate that was always predestined for us. Furthermore, character is not the only factor in determining our lives. We must consider external factors such as the environment, nature and fortune. For example, in the novel ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ by Thomas Hardy, the main character, Mr. Henchard organizes a fair for the townspeople in order to show the people that despite what he appears to be, he is really kind and humane. Everything turns out wrong for him because heavy rain ruins the event (Nature intervenes) and later on in the book when he finally tries to redeem himself by taking good care of her daughter, he finds out that she is really not her daughter and that her real daughter died many years ago (fortune intervenes). We can’t attribute this ‘bad luck’ to Henchard’s character; this is simply a series of external factors that play against him in a random and unfortunate way. Yet another example is a Jewish story about a man, Moishe Lipsky, who moved into New York in the time of the Great Depression and when he applied for the only job he could find (a janitor), he was turned down because he was illiterate. So, he opened a little storefront and gradually became a rich and successful man. One day, when he goes to the bank to ask for a loan and he signs the papers with an X (as he was illiterate) and the loan officer tells him ‘Just think, in just a few years you have become a very rich man. It makes me wonder what you would have become if you could read and write’ and Lipsky answers ‘A janitor’. 5] It is ironical how things turn out in this story, but chance certainly plays a role in the success of this good and honest man. He arrives to America just in a difficult time and his predestined conditions make him illiterate. Without these factors of Nature, chance or omnipotence, the man could have actually turned out to be a janitor and not the successful businessman he turned out to be. Anyone who has a belief in an omnipotent body must understand that our nature is predestined and that our futures are set, so no matter what we do, we will always make our choices to lead the way to our predetermined fate. In an idealistic world, our character is certainly our fate, if no external factors (chance or nature) intervene. However, even though in practice we can definitely say that our personalities shape our destiny, I believe that God has a definite purpose for each one of us and therefore He has determined our destiny from the very first moment we were conceived. Furthermore, the fact that good things happen to bad people and vice versa reflects the fact that our fates must be predetermined, and therefore while our personalities might lead us in a certain way, our fate (whether good or bad) is already written. We can change our characters at free will and this will make us lead an ensuing life, but our destiny is set and no matter what we do, we will never be able to determine it. [1] â€Å"Character and fate are two words for the same thing† – Novalis [2] â€Å"Each man is the architect of his own fate. † – Appius Claudius [3] http://www. americanchronicle. com/articles/view/20750 [4] http://judaism. about. com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_murder. htm [5] http://www. petermalakoff. com/character_and_fate. html

International Relations and Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Relations and Terrorism - Essay Example The US bombing on September 11th is one case where terror was unleashed upon a mixed combination of individuals from countries across the world. International relations experts have made attempts to explain the impacts of this attack on the US and in the world. The events of September 11 are clearly etched in the minds of individuals across the world. The terrorist attack targeted and hit the World trade centre, a building that was central to the activities of many countries, not only the United States of America (Saurette, 2006). The terrorist attack in effect caused what political scientists would call a domino effect. Soon after the bombing, Afghanistan was invaded closely followed by the invasion of Iraq. The aftermath of America's retaliatory actions were only seen later, at a time when no remedial action could be taken - several lives were (and are still being) lost, and billions worth of property destroyed. The American dollar gradually devalued while the Euro has achieved tremendous gains, rich oil companies departed from the United States for Dubai and much more effects have been witnessed across the world. In Afghanistan, America's actions resulted in a gender revolution. Generally, the reputation of the US as a superpower has also been negatively affected by the attack as well as by its wars against the countries it engaged in war (Saurette, 2006). Th The terror attack on the world's superpower on a global scale raised eyebrows. The reality of terrorism has much more been accepted, and nations across the world have continued ever since to make provisions for counter-terrorism. Extremist movements have since received international attention and nations are taking pro-active measures in preventing small and big flare-ups as opposed to waiting for an attack to apply reactive measures. The events as they occurred, together with the retaliatory actions of the United States of America have provoked a lot of International Relations theorists to jump into action in an attempt to analyze the impacts of the event on international relations. The following sections attempt to critically relate international relations theories with the events that followed the September 11th US attack. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY International relations theory is geared towards providing a conceptual model that can be used as a basis for analyzing international relations. Every theory takes a reductive and essentialist form to different degrees by taking different assumptions in each case. In international relations theory, the analysis only focuses on salient events that are prove to be relevant to the theory. This can better be stated considering a case where a realist completely disregards an event that may be crucial to the constructivist and vice versa. The character and number of assumptions that are made by an IR theory practically determines how usefulness it will be. Again, several ways of thinking come to play when dealing with International relations theory. The different schools of thought which are usually conflicting include Neo-Gramscianism, Marxism, Constructivism, Institutionalism and others. Two positivist schools of thinking however have become most popular: Liberalism and Realism. Constructivism is continuously becoming a mainstream theory and particularly outside the USA, post-positivist theories are increasing in popularity (Mann,

Experience of Illness and Disability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Experience of Illness and Disability - Essay Example It also includes the behavioral responses, health care seeking, and receptivity to and adherence to the treatment of pain. Current research indicates that rheumatoid arthritis is a highly complex problem and involves sociological, economic and psychological variables, in addition to the traditional medical components. Pat, aged 46, attends a private clinic for pain relief. Pat comes from a simple family background. When he became a teen-ager, he left for the City of London to seek work in order to send money home. In London, he married Kate, who is also of Irish descent. He worked as a postman in London for twenty years. He raised his family in rented rooms with their two children. He had to work hard and he mostly did over-time work in order to support his family. Finally, the couple built their own home with the help of Kate's dad. He had felt the first sensations of pain during that time which persisted up to the present. He had chronic back pain. So he began taking ibuprofen and he carried on with this work. Then when the Mail Department was reorganized, he moved to a desk job. That was when the bouts got more frequent and painful. His doctor, a general practitioner told him that he had been carrying his post-bag wrong all those years. His doctor kept giving him repeat prescriptions for paink illers and he kept complaining they didn't work. He started taking ibuprofen, a painkiller drug. Then he started having days off at a stretch, so he could undergo some tests. Since all the tests of the doctor were inconclusive, he sought the help of an osteopath. The osteopath was professional and put him through a lot of painful manipulations but he seemed to lose interest after a while. His officemates complained about his time off from work. Kate and his kids were very sympathetic. He goes to see a psychologist who believes that his pain is real. He is comforted when the psychologist affirmed his pain.Pat's narrative is important to his recovery. By uncovering a means of interpreting the illness, he can re-establish the relationship between himself, the world and his body. (Williams, 1984). The narrative reconstruction is focused on gaining meaning and import to the illness by placing it within the context of one's own life and to reconstruct the narrative of the self (Frank, 199 5). Drawing up a narrative of one's chronic illness within the framework of one's own life history makes it possible to give meaning to events that have disrupted and changed the course of one's life (Williams, 1984). When individuals are unable to achieve this, identity issues remain unresolved. The ways in which illness effects self-change has been explored through narratives (Frank, 1995). There are three types of illness narratives: restitution, chaos and quest. Restitution involves seeking to return to the former self, chaos depicts an inability to interpret and make sense of the illness and quest, seeking to achieve a new self that draws on the experience of having suffered. In this case study, Pat's narrative reflects the restitution type where he seeks to return to his former self. Identity reconstruction takes the premise that loss of self is a fundamental consequence of chronic illness. Pat aspires to see the end of his pain. In the last few paragraphs of his narrative, he states that after the acupuncture, daily massage from Kate and a dram of whiskey, he is able to sleep well and face a

Law and ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Law and ethics - Essay Example Management failures have occurred in the past due to which policy makers were promoted to create the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Managers are involved in the act of providing misleading (overly positive) information regarding their organization. Similar kind of activities took place before the crises of 2008 and when the real valuation of the financial products were realized, the offloading of investments took place and odds turned against the managers. Due to this change in policy, several banks increased the amount of their investments and provided huge amount of loans and the end result was that some of the major banks of US lost all their liquidity and were on the verge of going bankrupt. John C. Coffee asserts that there are three main causes of the crises of 2008, these include: Failure of gatekeepers which in this case is the rating agencies, managerial failures which in this case is that the mangers gave precedence to their own interest over the interest of their investors and lastly because the regulations were relaxed by the Securities and Exchange

Strategic managent of Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Strategic managent of Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The intention of this study is Marks and Spencer as a leading UK based grocery retailer selling primarily clothing and food. The company has grown to be a successful large scale grocery being able to attract more than 21 million people each week. The company offers stylish, outstanding quality and greater value clothing and home products as well as supreme quality foods that are supplied from around 2000 different suppliers worldwide. The company is employing around 78,000 people throughout 700 UK stores and other international stores too. Clothing represents around 49 percent of its total sales and food and other items represent 51 % of the total sales. Food sales, especially as it was supplied from more than 2000 different suppliers, are highly crucial to the overall business strategy of the company. The food sales alone amounted to $ 7.90 billion in 2007- 2008, showing an increase of 1.4 percent over the figure of previous year. As the company is proud of the current business opp ortunities, Marks and Spencer remains to be the most favorite clothing retailer, and has delivered a better performance in the 2010-11. The market share of the company in terms of the value has been increased to 11.7 percent and it experienced a growth across all of its major areas because customers around the UKL sought the quality propositions of Marks and Spencer. According to the latest reports about the market share, Marks and Spencer’s share has been improved on year on year from 4 percent to 4.1 percent within a time of three months, ending in December 2010. (Milnes, 2010). With a mission to deliver quality greater valued food and clothing, Marks and Spencer could increase its potential market role and opportunities in the market and thus has achieved far better results than that of previous years. Environmental Analysis of Marks and Spencer The business environment of a firm consists of all the internal and external influences that impact the business at large, its pe rformance, productivity, revenues, competitiveness etc in particular. A large number of factors like employees, workplace situations, organizational culture, management etc influence the business internally where as other factors like competition, politics, economy, and

What are the main constraints for the effective enforcement of the Essay

What are the main constraints for the effective enforcement of the antimonopoly law in china - Essay Example Some businesses, whether private or state owned could monopolize the market activities, from which most small organizations and individual businesses felt strained, and could eventually close the businesses. Having the price of products and services dictated by a specific organization made them monopolize the markets and their shares, such that small and medium enterprises felt inferior, most of them operating under influence of bigger companies and with little as benefits. The Antimonopoly law began operating in early August 2008, making China a vital competition law jurisdiction, for international and domestic businesses, or companies with running activities in China’s territory. Its three broad rules are based on prohibiting abuse of dominant market positions and restrictive agreements, mergers rules preventing mergers or joint ventures that restrict competition as well as control M&A activities, and rules forbidding abuse of administrative powers that end up in competition restriction. The application of the law is viewed differently among the people of China. Some think it applies to all businesses or organizations in dealings of providing goods and services, while others think the complexity of the law has something to enhance leniency in state owned enterprises. However, even after its initiation, several factors have dominated to restrict full enforcement of the law. They include limited transparency, concentration, influence from government involvement, outdated economic planning, unreliable market infrastructure, unnecessary enforcement of law, insider control, and general resistance. So far, the Anti Monopoly Law (AML) is being enforced by three bodies; MOFCOM, NDRC and SAIC, to ensure fair competition, safeguard social public and consumer interest, boost economic efficiency, and restrain monopolistic behavior. The enforcement agencies continue to experience challenges and problems in the law enforcement practice, limiting effective applicatio n and acceptance of the AML by the people. 1. Limited Transparency Over the years, the enforcement agencies have been handling many cases to do with monopolistic agreements, merger control, and price and non price related cases for the companies and businesses operating and showing interest to practice within China. The NDRC and SAIC have faced accusations of hiding investigation results, but MOFCOM has so far been transparent. NDRC and SAIC, which are regulators of anti monopoly law of China have limited transparency to a certain level, raising the need for confidentiality of certain information, with respect to the companies after investigation. For example, the TravelSky, which is a state owned company, was alleged to change its discount policies back in 2009, influencing other airlines in its network to raise airfares that resulted in country wide complaints The NDRC was the enforcement agency responsible for conducting investigations in the case, but the consumers of the airlin e service and the public never got to hear the results of the investigation (Wang, 2011). The controversial issue remains as to why some investigation results of certain companies are disclosed, while those of others never get to be released to the public. Again, most of the cases brought forward are convictions of private enterprises, in areas of cartels and abuse of dominance. Does it mean that the law breakers are private organizations and businesses? Surely, the state owned enterprises (SOE) are no exception, but too many issues to do with them are being ignored, or leniency is being applied to them as a favor. The structure of

Human Recourses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Recourses - Essay Example It is however important to note that the supervisors have a clearer role of overseeing the rest of the workers to make sure they are complying with their responsibilities. The supervisors report to the managers, which therefore mean that the manager has an overall task of ensuring that all the employees have played their part in ensuring that the company’s products and services meet the required quality and standards. 2-How do you protect the intellectual property of the organization and the employee? The property of the organization as well as that of the employees are registered with the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO), which is the body charged with registration of designs, patents, and trademarks. Having registered with this body, these rights are administered by the United States Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. 3-How can you help the employee reach to top management level? In my organization, there is a hierarchical structure, which an empl oyee is supposed to follow when they want something to be addressed. Therefore, I will refer such an employee to my immediate supervisor, who will then decide how to refer them to the top management, but that will only happen if the supervisor cannot find a solution to their concern. 4-Does your company take risks? My company take very many risks, especially the financial risks. For example, there are so many programs that are invested in, which wield significant amounts of financial risks. What is important to the company is to carry out a feasibility test for any particular venture, and if it is identified that there is a possibility of being successful, the venture is implemented. However, not all ventures that are implemented emerge successful – some lead to loss of huge amounts of funds. Contrary, the company makes efforts to avoid taking risks on matters that can compromise employee wellbeing or health. For example, if it is established that a certain venture can expose employees to uncontrollable health risk, it is abandoned. 5-Should employees be punished for unhealthy lifestyle? I think punishing employees for unhealthy lifestyles is a retrogressive ways of addressing this problem, as it will only attract employee’s rebellion among other issues. Rather, there are other enlightened ways of helping the employees who experience unhealthy lifestyle. The most important solution is for the employers to device lifestyle policies, which can be used in promoting positive lifestyles and diseases management, a strategy that can also help reduce health-care spending. Disease management is a combination of strategies devised to curb cost of chronic conditions that require considerable changes in behaviour. The goal of this strategy is to curb repeated hospitalizations, avoid incidences of acute illnesses, and lower mortality risks. Therefore, any forward-looking organization should think of implementing such strategies rather than punishing the emplo yees for their unhealthy lifestyles. 6-How can drug abuse affect the job behavior? Drug abuse has a lot of unfavourable effects on job behaviour. When employees become addicted to drugs abuse, they tend to lose concentration on their job, perhaps because they want to find time to go and take drugs, because their addicted body system cannot function well without taking the drugs, because they have lost their confidence and they are suffering from low self esteem. Other impacts include frequent request of early

What are the main constraints for the effective enforcement of the Essay

What are the main constraints for the effective enforcement of the antimonopoly law in china - Essay Example Some businesses, whether private or state owned could monopolize the market activities, from which most small organizations and individual businesses felt strained, and could eventually close the businesses. Having the price of products and services dictated by a specific organization made them monopolize the markets and their shares, such that small and medium enterprises felt inferior, most of them operating under influence of bigger companies and with little as benefits. The Antimonopoly law began operating in early August 2008, making China a vital competition law jurisdiction, for international and domestic businesses, or companies with running activities in China’s territory. Its three broad rules are based on prohibiting abuse of dominant market positions and restrictive agreements, mergers rules preventing mergers or joint ventures that restrict competition as well as control M&A activities, and rules forbidding abuse of administrative powers that end up in competition restriction. The application of the law is viewed differently among the people of China. Some think it applies to all businesses or organizations in dealings of providing goods and services, while others think the complexity of the law has something to enhance leniency in state owned enterprises. However, even after its initiation, several factors have dominated to restrict full enforcement of the law. They include limited transparency, concentration, influence from government involvement, outdated economic planning, unreliable market infrastructure, unnecessary enforcement of law, insider control, and general resistance. So far, the Anti Monopoly Law (AML) is being enforced by three bodies; MOFCOM, NDRC and SAIC, to ensure fair competition, safeguard social public and consumer interest, boost economic efficiency, and restrain monopolistic behavior. The enforcement agencies continue to experience challenges and problems in the law enforcement practice, limiting effective applicatio n and acceptance of the AML by the people. 1. Limited Transparency Over the years, the enforcement agencies have been handling many cases to do with monopolistic agreements, merger control, and price and non price related cases for the companies and businesses operating and showing interest to practice within China. The NDRC and SAIC have faced accusations of hiding investigation results, but MOFCOM has so far been transparent. NDRC and SAIC, which are regulators of anti monopoly law of China have limited transparency to a certain level, raising the need for confidentiality of certain information, with respect to the companies after investigation. For example, the TravelSky, which is a state owned company, was alleged to change its discount policies back in 2009, influencing other airlines in its network to raise airfares that resulted in country wide complaints The NDRC was the enforcement agency responsible for conducting investigations in the case, but the consumers of the airlin e service and the public never got to hear the results of the investigation (Wang, 2011). The controversial issue remains as to why some investigation results of certain companies are disclosed, while those of others never get to be released to the public. Again, most of the cases brought forward are convictions of private enterprises, in areas of cartels and abuse of dominance. Does it mean that the law breakers are private organizations and businesses? Surely, the state owned enterprises (SOE) are no exception, but too many issues to do with them are being ignored, or leniency is being applied to them as a favor. The structure of

Understanding Of The Theoretical Concept Essay Example for Free

Understanding Of The Theoretical Concept Essay In this essay, my objective is to demonstrate my understanding of the theoretical concepts and techniques used in hypnotic inductions and to discuss my reasons for believing that it is best that an induction is personalised as well as the reasons why they may not always be the best strategy. Research shows that words make up 7% of our communication, tone and volume make up 38% and our body language make up 55%. In order to practice hypnosis, an individuals eyes are closed and the aim is to relax the body completely, leaving only words, tone and volume to communicate, this makes these factors very important in the process of hypnosis therefore using these factors right is the key to a successful induction. To my understanding, a personalised induction is a hypnotic induction screed that is tailored to suit a specific inividual. There are 2 induction styles that are used when personalising an induction, those are; the permissive technique and the authoritarian technique. In the permissive technique, a softer tone of voice is issued to draw the subject into a state of relaxation. With this technique, the subject and the hypnotherapist are equal partners in the process of hypnosis. More imaginative suggestions are used and greater responsibility is given to the hypnotic subject to create the right state that is needed to achieve results. Subjects who are most responsive to this technique are individuals who are very imaginative an creative because more specific imagery is used in the induction. This technique was devised by Milton Erickson in the 1900s, It is particularly used in subjects who are gaining to reach goals, such as people who want to become more successful in their occuption or career. The Authoritarian technique is a more direct and authority based technique. Its purpose is to establish control over the subject. In this, the hypnotist commands the individual to respond in a specific way. Repititious commands are given in order to alter the subjects behavior. This technique was made famous by Franz Mesmer. Subjects who are most responsive to the authortarian technique are those who have great respect for authoritarian figures, such as teachers, employers and police officers. This technique is best used on individuals who are suffering with problems that began from childhood which usually originates as a result of a response to an authority figure. The authoritarian and permissive technique can also be personalised to an individual by identifying which type of suggestions an indiviual will best respond to and is most comfortable with. These are called modalities. There are 3 main types of modalities; visual(sight), auditory(hearing)and Kinaesthetic(feeling). There are many ways to identify an individuals modality. Their interests, eye movements when using their imagination, tone of voice, the words and phrases they use when speaking and even their body type. Individuals who respond best to the visual modality induction are usually very creative and are interested in drawing, design and television. A visual person When speaking would usually use wording like; looks good to me or the future looks bright. Or they may use more color references than persons with other modalities. When using their imagination, their eyes would go up and to the right. Their voice tone is generally faster but in a high, clear tone. An auditory individual loves music and talking on the phone and find unpleasant and undesirable sounds highly intolerable. They would frequently use phrases like that sounds good or I hear what youre saying. Their eyes would go right when imagining something. Their voice is usually an even paced tone. Individuals who would respond best to Kineasthetic suggestions would usually use such wording like; i know how you feel, i cant put my finger on it or heated argument. Their eye movement when using their imagination would be down to the right. Their tone of voice is usually a soft, deep tone and speaks with pauses in speech. A hypnotherapist would usually identify the best modality to use by conversating with the client, being sure to listen to the client as this provides more doorways into their subconscious, as paying attention to the things that relax them, the way they process experiences and the style of behaviour that they will likely best react to. The therapist would also, to be more acurate, determine the clients moality through the use of rapport during the initial consultation. This helps the therapist to become more aware of any fears, phobias and illnesses of the subject.The results would then be used in the development of a personalised induction or in some cases it would actually prove that a personalised induction is not even necessary as the indivduals case may be basic enough to decide on the option of the use an already written or recorded script which would be a time saver. In one sense, we use personalised inductions because people are individuals and deserve the personal touch. However, it it because we recognise that people are individuals and are unique, that we recognise that an initial consultation cant tell you everything you ever need to know about someone. A personalised induction can presume too much. I do however believe that after a rapport a hypnotherapist cannot go wrong with personalising a screed because not all screeds are very effective in all circumstances. Each induction tends to be more effective in different situations and with different subjects, for example; The authoritarian technique would be very effective when used in a private session when dealing with an individual who is struggling with a bad habit which may have resulted from a past experience with an authoritarian figure, for eg. smoking, drinking or over eating. This is because the authoritarian technique would be used to take an indivdual back to their past to discover where their problem originated and to help the individual in understanding that incident and therefore let go of the behavior that compensates for it. In this situation, a personalised induction is more effective. However, The authoritarian style, would not be the best option to utilise in a group session, because whereas there are some individuals with which the authoritarian approach would be very effective, not all individuals respond very well with recieving a command. This could cause some individuals to become very uncomfortable which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to get some individuals into a trance. As a result, the hypnotherapy session would be very unsuccessful as a group treatment. I also believe that more direct techniques, in contrast, are powerful and often effective but often more difficult to make effective use of, often very narrow in their impact and they involve an unecessary element of submission, helplessness and reluctant agreement on the part of the subject. Personalised inductions may, sometimes be less effective with permissive suggestions because in this technique an individual is presented ideas in a carefully crafted general manner, he or she tends to process the incoming words on the basis of what he or she expects to hear, wants to hear, needs to hear. Thus, because of indirect techniques, the listeners own mind assures that suggestions are personally form-fitted to his or her needs and expectations so in this case, personalisation is not necessary. I also believe that it is best to personalise a screed because people are different in many ways. They have different likes and dislikes, cultural backgrounds and experiences therfore people have different perspectives, traits and outlooks. Personalising an induction takes these factors into account, thus helping to avoid making mistakes with a client. These factors are also what determines an individuals modalities and the more effective induction style for them, which is very important in developing a sucessful screed. For instance, some individuals may find recieving a demand when the authoritarian technique is used to be very offensive and it may even be processed as agression. The subject may even feel the need to retaliate as a result. Therefore the authoritarian style of induction may not best used with this individual. Or an subject may find it very difficult to get into a trance because of difficulty with visualising the induction, as they may be more of an auditory or kinaesthetic modality. In cases of people with phobias, personalised inductions are definitley the best option for such reason that, for example,the therapist may use the imagery of floating on a cloud with a client who is afraid of heights, this would be very disturbing for this client. Or a suggestion of floating on water may be terrifying for a client who suffers with the fear of drowning. In these cases, a personalised screed would be best utilised.