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Medicaid

Medicaid Current Federal policy

Medicaid was created by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 to cater for the health needs of Americans who were not able to work. The program gives states the freedom to choose whether to participate or not. Nonetheless, all states participate. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid services have outlined parameters that states must meet in to receive federal funding. The Center also controls eligibility and the health care services covered.

President Barack Obama introduced a health care law that standardized Medicaid requirements, particularly so that many Americans making up to 133 percent of the poverty line could qualify. The law did not, however, make it because a Supreme Court intervention overturned it. States now had the option to expand Medicaid at will. 25 states succeeded in doing so, some did not (Alley et al, 2015). Since Trump became President, the eligibility of Medicaid became more diverse allowing states to include work requirements as a necessity for low-income and needy Americas covered under Medicaid.

Without including Federal matching funds, Medicaid uses up 20 percent of state spending. Every year lawmakers consider ways to improve the program in terms of cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and outcomes. The Affordable care Act allows states to expand Medicaid at will. The recent ruling by the federal district court that the ACA is unconstitutional, state lawmakers have an oncoming task.

How the policy has evolved over the years.

Since its signing in 1965, Medicaid has become a medical safety net for millions of Americans who may not be able to access health care coverage from any other source. Over the years, a long list of laws has adjusted the program adding services for various groups that were not initially included. The changes have also expanded the list of individuals eligible for Medicaid and added more care options catering to the poorest of the poor.

The program began as something known as the Elder-care program that later morphed to form Medicaid after small attention of legislative attention of three federal proposals, and serving primarily to satisfy the continued demand for more federal support for state healthcare programs. Because there was no careful attention to certainty and poor planning (Sommers, Arntson, Kenney, & Epstein, 2013). Unlike Medicare, Medicaid is a program jointly run by federal and state governments. Each state administers its own program following guidelines created by the federal government. The federal and state governments are responsible for funding responsibilities using a system that relies on the level of poverty in the state. Wealthier states receive 50 percent of the federal share and the poorest receive 74.7 percent of federal subsidies.

The lingering problems of Medicaid

As Medicaid uses a huge part of state budgets, policymakers are looking for ways to reduce the costs and to ensure that the program generates effective outcomes. The policy changes also look to ensure state programs are managed effectively. Over its half-century history, Medicaid has been a source for essential and evolving issues for the state as well as federal policymakers. Approximately one in five Americans receive Medicaid by 2017, which makes it the largest source for low-income families including women, children, seniors as well as people with disabilities.

Medicaid is, in principle, a program of public assistance but its design makes it extremely difficult to introduce cost-saving incentives that make recipients behave like consumers. Federal laws and policies limit to what extent cost-sharing states can impose on the people covered under the program (Polite, Griggs, Moy, & Lathan, 2014). While some states have succeeded in conducting financial incentive experiments that show promise like cash accounts managed by beneficiaries, any room that the state can maneuver is limited by federal policy. There has also been the issue of fraudulent enrollments and claims. This kind of abuse has been made more serious by the fact that the program caters to a class of beneficiaries that have little to no interest in cooperating with the efforts introduced to streamline medical vare and cut down long-term expenses.

In summary, the inherent flaws of Meducauid guarantees that the programs exploding costs will endanger the nation’s financial health. Just like social security and Medicare, this program represents an implicit promise of costly benefits, the cost that will grow beyond future revenues. Unlike Medicare and Social Security in terms of costs, the expenses of Medicaid in the future will not just appear on the books of the federal treasury under heavy debt. Medicaid is also the largest financial obligation of state governments, which most of the time are not allowed to issue debt on operating expenses. With the program already taking up a fifth of state operating budgets, its growth will mean that state taxes will go higher, and the budget for basic states services such as public safety and education or both will be reduced.

The case of California illustrates this concern. California is one of the hardest-hit states with a $20 billion budget deficit since 2013. Despite this, the state was facing a 25 percent increase in its Medicaid obligation by 2014, which meant the taxpayers would have to add an additional $2 to 3$ billion on the budget every year. The sustenance of current programs has become such a huge problem and it appears that states no longer have the capacity to move forward in the current environment.

It is crucial to note that Medicaid is not a health-care program but one of the biggest components of the nation’s welfare state outweighing cash assistance, housing aid, and food stamps in terms of dollar value. Like these three programs, Medicaid in a number of times provides implicit discouragement to work, since one loses eligibility for such an important benefit following an increase in income. Unless policymakers introduce reforms to end the general cycle of dependency-they can apply fixes that have proved useful in other areas of welfare, such as time limits and work requirements. However, Trump’s imposed the requirements that work should be part of the requirement for eligibility was overruled by the court which means the string incentive against moving up the economic ladder still exists. Refusing work, or accepting jobs that are without long term commitments or are off the books is the current rational choice for families facing the high actual tax rates created by the eligibility requirements for Medicaid. Obamacare is believed to have heightened this problem.

How Congress should deal with the issues

Meaningful reform of the system will require the reduction of its size, scope, and cost to taxpayers. The idea should be to increase self-reliance among the middle class and to remove disincentives that hinder low-class Americans from moving to the next economic level. The power should not be concentrated on the federal government but should be returned to states, local institutions, families, and charities. The may goals should be to ensure that the most in need of public resources actually help the most in need of such kind of assistance. Congress should divide the work into four key elements.

Medicaid should be converted into a more specialized program assisting those with chronic mental or physical problems who are, for all practice commitments, areas of the states. This was after all the original idea that led to the establishment of Medicaid half a century ago. It is important to categorize individuals who are most likely to depend on the state for a prolonged period due to chronic conditions and healthy people who have lost their job and other short-term emergencies, who find themselves without health coverage or any savings. The program should be focused on the former and not the latter, efforts to cater for the needs of those people who are able to work and contribute to society should take a different form and should be designed to create just the safety net required for when required. Congress should revise eligibility standards accordingly, adding an isolated program to make private health insurance premiums more affordable for contributing members of the society.

States should be awarded more latitude to try out more initiatives to coordinate care to be able to effectively manage the remaining Medicaid caseload that will last for a long time. States should be allowed to experiment with both the practice of medicine and the practice between the program and other state entities. What this means is that state agencies should coordinate to avoid creating huge costs for one another-for instance, when a patient eligible for Medicaid suffering from severe mental illness goes of medication, cause a public disturbance or commits a crime, they are arrested and taken to jail before being transported to a psychiatric hospital. Tracking this movement can help reduce these destructive cycles.

Congress revising the Medicaid policies to allow states to experiment with various initiatives allows states to avoid things such as the myth of prevention savings. The myth of prevention savings is the idea that front end expenses lead to back end savings. For instance, preventive medicine is often beneficial in the prevention of chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. However, decades of data have shown that preventive medicine is quite expensive and such an approach does not save money (Baicker et al, 2013). Most people that take these preventive measures would not develop the conditions that they took preventive medication for even if they did not. As a result, the cost of Medicaid does not match the financial benefits. Preventive care should not be considered a savings but an expense.

References

Alley, D. E., Asomugha, C. N., Conway, P. H., & Sanghavi, D. M. (2016). Accountable health communities—addressing social needs through Medicare and Medicaid. N Engl J Med, 374(1), 8-11.

Baicker, K., Taubman, S. L., Allen, H. L., Bernstein, M., Gruber, J. H., Newhouse, J. P., … & Finkelstein, A. N. (2013). The Oregon experiment—effects of Medicaid on clinical outcomes. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(18), 1713-1722.

Polite, B. N., Griggs, J. J., Moy, B., & Lathan, C. (2014). American Society of Clinical Oncology policy statement on Medicaid reform. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 32(36), 4162.

Sommers, B. D., Arntson, E., Kenney, G. M., & Epstein, A. M. (2013). Lessons from early Medicaid expansions under health reform: interviews with Medicaid officials. Medicare & Medicaid research review, 3(4).

Looking For Leroy

Introduction

Issues pertaining to racism and racial stereotypes have always made a popular topic in the contemporary human society. Indeed, it goes without saying that racism is embedded in the United States fabric especially considering its history with slave trade. As much as slave trade may have been abolished more than a hundred years ago, the stereotypes that were created at that time as pertaining to the characteristics, physical attributes and mental aptitudes of individuals on the basis of the color of their skin are yet to be completely eliminated (Tatum 13). Needless to say, individuals of African origin or rather African Americans have been on the receiving end of these stereotypes. There have been misconceptions as to the fact that they have considerably low mental aptitudes and are significantly more emotional than their white counterparts. This, undoubtedly, has had a bearing on the treatment that they receive in the workplaces, their economic situations, earning potential and even the manner in which the criminal justice systems treat them (Tatum 15). Even more demeaning are the stereotypes pertaining to their body structures and what they would mean. Indeed, the society has come up with perceptions as to what a perfect body structure for African Americans entails. In essence, any individual whose body structure does not adhere to these stereotypes would have certain misconceptions formed about him. These misconceptions may revolve around the individual’s sexuality, his nature, temperament, intellectual aptitudes, as well as whether they are criminals or not. This is the topic around which Mark Anthony Neal’s book named “Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities” is centered.

This book makes for an engaging, as well as a provocative analysis pertaining to the complicated manner in which black masculinity has persistently been read and misread by the American popular culture in the contemporary human society. Neal underlines the fact or notion that black boys and men are, in a profound way bound by and to their legibility. The term legible, in this case, would be used to underline undesirable bodies or bodies whose structure would trigger a negative image. In this case, “legible” black male bodies would, in many instances, be rendered as criminal, or rather bodies that are in need of containment, as well as constant policing. Neal, in an ironical twist, argues that this type of legibility comes as a desirable relief to the white America as it offers easily identifiable images pertaining to black men in an era that is characterized by shifts in gendered, sexual, as well as racial identities. Indeed, Neal underlines the far-reaching likelihood pertaining to rendering legible black male bodies, or rather bodies that appear too real to the larger majority of the contemporary human society, as illegible, while, at the same time rendering the illegible black male bodies, the type or side of black masculinity that many would find it difficult to believe are real, as legible.

While varied factors may have played a role in the proliferation and the continued existence of these stereotypes, it is evident that the largest part of the blame would go to the media. Indeed, Neal Notes that there exists a troubling connection between the manner in which the media portrays black males and their lowered opportunities in life. There exist distorted or imprecise portrayal patterns, as well as causal links between the manner in which the media portrays black males and the attitude of the public towards them. Indeed, black males are underrepresented in the corporate media, and in instances where they appear, their positive associations are relegated to the periphery while their negative connotations are amplified in a manner that shapes public imaginations that result in increased antagonism towards African American males especially with the belief that they have violent and criminal inclinations.

In the examination of the role of the media in reinforcing disintegrating these stereotypes, Neal undertakes the analysis of the movie “The Wire” and especially the Bell character in the movie as played by Idris Elba. While there exists many movies that depict black men, “The Wire” distinguishes itself in the fact that it explicitly suggests that the dominant social, economic and political constructs that the contemporary human society has held onto are no viable any more (Neal 88). In fact, this may be the reason as to why the movie performed dismally, as the brilliance that Bell (portrayed by Elba) exudes, criminally or otherwise, is rarely related with characters of black origin on cable television or even network. Indeed, the movie drew its biggest fans from individuals that identified with the characters in question, as well as its critics.

One of the characters that challenge the notions that have been created by the mainstream media is Omar. Neal notes that the movie’s production team went against the grain in coming up with a character whose hypermasculinity and homosexuality is firmly established thereby allowing him to emerge as the ground for numerous projections (Neal 93). He is marked as having a queer identity especially considering the connection across the unfixable and unfixing social and political positioning against “heteronormativity”. Neal acknowledges that the character presses the boundaries pertaining to the portrayal of black masculinity on television (Neal 93). His brilliance especially in court is bound to raffle feathers especially with regard to the mental aptitude of black men. Indeed, this may be portrayed by the fact that he offers some help in the waiting room to a white court officer who is trying to fill a crossword puzzle and gives the correct answer to the question on the Greek god of war. This is definitely bound to ruffle feathers as it may be indicative of the fact that black people have equal if not higher intelligence levels or mental aptitudes than their white counterparts (Neal 94).

In addition, the movie’s depiction of Bell is a challenge to the commonly held conventions. As much as Bell is functioning in the drug world under Barksdale, he comes with a corporate demeanor that is yet to be accepted in the minds of a large number of people in the contemporary human society. He is evidently intelligent, skilled and disciplined, something that is far from the conceptions that are held pertaining to black men. Indeed, the fact that he undertook a business course creates the notion that he has a worldview that cannot be contained by the corners controlled by Barksdale’s empire. Of particular note is the manner in which his capabilities are brought out after the incarceration of Barksdale. The manner in which he takes over the drugs trade gives him the capacity to create an aura of independence in his operations, which safeguards the capacity of the business to grow within a short time. In a dispute where he is admonishing employees who do not seem to be concerned about their jobs, Bell exudes confidence as he applies some theories that he was taught in the business school to create an impression as to how their ineptitude would hurt customers and the business at large in the long-term (Tatum 45). This underlines the fact that black people have the capacity to profitably run businesses just as their white counterparts, as well as grasp economic and academic concepts and apply them in their businesses to safeguard their profitability. His flexibility is underlined by the fact that he has different magnitudes of social and cultural capital that allows him to function and transition rather effortlessly in different spaces (Neal 101). These are all things that may not be expected of black people.

In conclusion, racism and stereotypes have been controversial topics. Blacks, unfortunately have been on the receiving end of these stereotypes, thanks to their root in slavery. These stereotypes are used to determine the mental aptitudes of individuals, with Mathew Neal stating that the bodies of black male may be used to characterize them in line with their sexuality, intelligence or even criminal nature. However, the book undertakes an analysis of varied movies that have challenged these stereotypes that are primarily propagated by the media. Of particular note are the characters in the movie “The Wire” whose mental aptitudes seems to challenge that of their white counterparts. Omar assists a white officer in filling a crossword puzzle, thereby challenging stereotypes on their intelligence. In addition, he comes off as brilliant in the manner in which he presents evidence in court. The managerial skills and business acumen of Bell challenges these stereotypes especially considering the profitability he drives in the company.

Works cited

Neal, Mark A. Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities. , 2013. Print.

Tatum, Beverly D. “why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations About Race. New York: Basic Books, 2003. Print.

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The Theme of Oppression in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

Published in 1983, Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird describes two opposing experiences of two birds: one bird suffers in captivity while another bird is free to live as it pleases. To cope with the circumstances, the caged birds result in singing, indicating freedom. The author employs the metaphor of two birds to paint a picture of oppression that showcases the simultaneous suffering of the birds. Particularly, the poem portrays the experiences of African American communities in society. This text explores the dominant theme of oppression as `depicted in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou.

The first demonstration of freedom is in the comparison and contrast between the free bird and the bird being held prisoner. Part of the reason behind the justification is that it passes across the message of oppression. The poet uses the term caged bird throughout the text and narrates it is trapped in a narrow cage. The bird has limited mobility and is left with no option apart from singing about freedom (Saputri, 78). Worth noting, the term “caged bird” represents an extended metaphor particularly for the African American community past characterized by systemic oppression in the United States. The poem also portrays the oppression experiences of the African American community. The term ‘caged bird” captures the overwhelming cruelty and agony of oppression of the marginalized group by speaking to the bird’s emotional suffering.

The author, Maya Angelou, employs the metaphor of the caged bird to not only show oppression but also show how physical and emotional limitations affect oppressed people. In line 10 of the poem, the speaker notes that the caged bird could barely see through the bars (Zaini and Mohsin 13). At first, it seems as if the poem will proceed to talk about how the cage stands in the way of the bird’s sight. However, the poem proceeds to talk about the bars that hold the bird captive as bars of rage. The bird is a prisoner and there exist physical bars insight which the bird rarely sees. The reason is that the bird is blinded by rage. Through showing the limits that are imposed by the bars and the emotional effect of those limits, the author makes it clear that anger and the environment cannot be separated from each other. The oppression in the cage is not enough to keep the bird captive because captivity transforms the bird robbing itself of its very self.

The poem’s main point in showcasing the bird singing is to highlight sadness that comes with the oppression. Historically, most people that defended slavery and other forms of oppression among people of color argue that song and dance was part of the black culture. It was an indication that people of color were contented and happy with their oppression situation. The notion that such music might have been an expression of emotional and cultural was ignored. The poem however disputes that the music was a symbol of contentment. On the contrary, the poem does not concede to the racist and convenient interpretation of black songs by their white oppressors. Rather, it insists that anguish forced upon African-American communities must be acknowledged.

In closing, oppression is the main dominant theme in Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird. The speaker uses this the metaphor of the caged bird to push the theme. Unlike the free bird, the caged bird has never tasted freedom and there is nothing that his spirit yearns for more. Maya Angelou insists that music was a symbol of emotional confinement and it is important to acknowledge the oppressions that African-American communities have gone through in the past.

Works Cited

Saputri, Gisa Maya. “Racism towards African American community as reflected in Maya angelou’si know why the caged bird sings: black aesthetic criticism.” rubikon: Journal of Transnational American Studies 8.2 (2021): 78-90.

Zaini, Qudsia, and Mohsin Hasan Khan. “Maya Angelou’s Battle with Alienation in I know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies 5.1 (2021).

Research on Sexual Assault

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Proposed Research Topic: Sexual molestation and abuse against minors damages the undeveloped body of the victims and their undeveloped mind causing life-long suffering to the unfortunate victims.Introduction

There are categories of crime that affect the community as well as their victims such as rape, sexual assault, and other sex related crimes. In the very way we lead our lives and raise our children, the impact of sexual crime, rape and assault can be seen. This is because these crimes affect our overall sense of safety. The media today is full of constant baggage of violence and sex. For someone to have the trend of what is going on, he only needs to read the newspapers or watch TV. The coverage on sexual assault and crimes can become saturated particularly when the crime is high profile in nature and the offender or victim well known in the community. It becomes even worse if there are multiple victims of sexual assault, and the crimes being committed by serial offenders operating within a particular jurisdiction. It however important to understand that the problems of sexual assault and rape are far much worse than the fear they bring to many and the terrible nature of the crimes themselves. It is the community reaction coupled with the crime itself victim’s stereotypes and many myths which make investigations on these crimes so difficult and prosecute. This is because many people live in denial of the occurrence of these crimes in the society, at times the people involved are well known and respectable figures in the society. Another problem that arises is the general understanding of the term “sexual crime” bringing in a general stereotypical understanding of sex crime. When we think of sex, we think pleasure, warmth, love, emotions and many more of the kind. Prople on the other hand perceive that crime is associated with violence, anger, devastation, and fear and it is associated with theft, burglary, murder and the like.

Definitions

Looking at sexual assault in legal terms, it is a statutory offence in various jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Scotland, Wales, and England and its definition determined by each jurisdiction. There are jurisdictions that use highly technical or detailed definitions of the term sexual assault. Generally, sexual assault refers to any involuntary sexual act where someone is physically forced or coerced to take part or engage against their consent or will. It may also involve non-consensual touching of a person. It includes rape, groping, forced kissing, child sexual abuse and torturing a person in a sexual manner.

It is very important to carry out sexual assault research because statistics carry significant power of persuasion. These researches provide accessible and instant way of grasping the extent as well as nature of social issues. It is worth noting that ant statistical data has a complex methodological history that reflects how it should be used. This research helps in determining barriers to disclosure, low rate of reporting to the police, varying definitions of sexual assault and abuse, the effects of sexual assault to the victims and the factors leading to sexual assault.

To the victims of sexual assault this research seek to educate them on possible ways dealing sexual assault crimes and the steps that should be taken when one has been faces with such an assault. This research encourages sexual assault victims to always make reports to the relevant authorities and also helps educate them on how to live with it.

Thesis Statement

The personal intimate nature of sexual assault and violence has made it very difficult to detect despite being widespread across many societies. Children, relatives, friends and neighbors should be trained to identify and report incidences of sexual assaults and violence if ways of controlling this crime are to be developed and the crime controlled effectively. On the other hand this violence cannot be categorized as personal crime since the victims always suffer from depression, stress, poor health among others. Alcohol and increased use of drugs leads to increase of sexual violence and assault especially in the collage going group. Though there are many proposals of innovative methods of dealing with sexual assault in the US, this problem still persist. Sexual assault makes the sufferer feel rejected, less productive and isolated.

Background

In the past sexual violence was considered to be something only happening to the women during war and peace times especially in the ancient Greek in the 20th century. This contributed to negligence of all indicators of the methods, aims and magnitude of the violence was. It started being considered a minor issue and became criminalized towards the end of the 20th century, with a wider concentration and focus on the victims. There are so many myths about sexual violence and assault. These myths continue to perpetuate in today’s society because they have been socially accepted. Many of these myths have put blame on the victims of sexual assault and minimized the responsibility of the offender. The seriousness of the offence has also been neglected by these myths leading to the victims of sexual assault left feeling isolated and neglected. With this condition, they feel ashamed and have no support to begin the healing process. It is very important to understand these myths on sexual assault as they help in support and treatment of the victims. In order to reach our goal of ending sexual violence, we should dispel these myths surrounding sexual offense and hold the offenders accountable. Some of these myths are: the belief that sexual assault won’t happen to me or to anyone I know; the belief that sexual assault is provoked by the victim’s behavior or by the way they dress; the belief that most sexual assaults occur between strangers; the belief that sexual assault only occur in the dark; the belief that men cannot be sexually assaulted; the belief that most sexual assault occur because of uncontrollable impulsive act; the belief that people who commit such acts are mentally ill; the belief that those that do not fight back have not been sexually assaulted.

Discussions

There have been no or few hard data on sexual assault and violence in the hands of the law enforcement and policy makers to base the responses of sexual violence and assault until of recent. The national Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) has captured a wider range of information and data on the cases on sexual assault that have been reported to law enforcement. There have been two researches extracted from 1991 with the aid of 1991 NIBRS files that has summarized the data collected from 60991 victims of sexual assault and another summarizing the information on 57752 people believed to be the offenders. From the information collected, 67% of the assaults are against juvenile victims and these juvenile victims are more likely to be male. Out of 6 cases of sexual assaults on juvenile victims, 5 occurred in the residents. On the other hand crimes on adults were likely to occur anywhere. Out of the total number of cases in this research 60 % of the offenders were adults offending the underage of 12 years and below and most of the offenders were well known to the victims. According to the research assault on children of age 6 and below are likely to go unreported or the offenders released,( Snyder, 2000)

Though widely condemned, sexual abuses on children have been more prevalent than realized previously and the offenders do not admit to have committed the assaults. In such a situation only the child’s testimony can be the evidence. Children are believed that they cannot participate in such legal proceedings without trauma, and also since they are not adults. This is according to the members of the criminal-justice system. There are barriers effective to successful completin of assault cases against children. Such barriers include the ability of a child not to speak and give the actual scenario, children not able to participate in legal proceedings on the grounds of not being as credible as adults. Organizations such as the Children Aid Society of Ottawa can help bring a case on children sexual assault against the offender. The CAS workers can investigate the allegations based on the information provided to them by the parents of the children. The worker as part of the investigation may involve the police and other authorities to protect the children Berliner (Berliner, 2010).

For the past 20 years or so, different researchers have brought forward reports indicating widespread problem of rape in the American social setup. Many researchers have concluded that nearly one out of four women is raped in their life time. This causes long term health problems and physical distress among women. According to many researches, the assault impacts go far much than the victims. Also affected are their families and friend and also even neighbors. Another group that is also affected is those who help the assault victims like the advocates, therapists and researchers who may experience vicarious trauma. Methods should be developed to prevent sexual assault and focus put on improving community response.(Campbell, 2005)

There have been arguments from some feminists that myths on sexual assaults constrain the reporting of these assaults to the authorities. It is true that myths have been widely accepted by different societies and they play a big role in preventing report to the police. There are many myths that come up with sexual assaults. Some of these myths are: the belief that sexual assault won’t happen to me or to anyone I know; the belief that sexual assault is provoked by the victim’s behavior or by the way they dress; the belief that most sexual assaults occur between strangers; the belief that sexual assault only occur in the dark; the belief that men cannot be sexually assaulted; the belief that most sexual assault occur because of uncontrollable impulsive act; the belief that people who commit such acts are mentally ill; the belief that those that do not fight back have not been sexually assaulted. With the analysis of 186 sexual assault cases at the hospital based sexual assault care in 1994 with the aid of logical regression, a positive association was identified between reporting of these assaults to the authorities and overtly violent components of real rape myth, occurrence of physical injuries and use of physical force. (Mont Du Janice, 2003)

There are sexual assault prevention programs offered by North American Universities that focuses on attitude change. According to these programs, the most effective sexual prevention technique is self-defense training however not considered as an integral component of typical prevention program (Söchting, 2004).

In spite of the fact that the criminal equity framework has experienced change to dispose of sexual assault case steady loss and to enhance the general treatment of rape exploited people, few studies have analyzed the impact of these changes. In this study, the creators look at prosecutorial charging choices over two remarkable purviews: Kansas City, Missouri, which uses a particular unit for rape cases, and Miami, Florida, which does not utilize a specific unit to focus the impact of prosecutorial specialization on case results. The discoveries of the study uncover that, regardless of contrasts in departmental arrangements and rates of supplication dealing and trials, prosecutors’ charging choices and the indicators of charging are comparable in the two locales. The creators reason that, paying little heed to whether choices are made in a specific unit or not, victimized person validity is a genuine “central concern” of the prosecutor in rape cases (Beichner, 2005).

According to the Rennison Marie’s study on the assault cases reported to the police between 1992-2000, on the victims that were injured and treated from completed rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. The research indicates that of all rape, 39 % of attempted rapes and 17% of assaults against females led to injuries. The reports were most likely to be done by the victims. 45 % of injured female victims reported attempted rape as compared to 22 % injured of unreported attempts received medical care (Rennison Marie, 2002).

Meta-examinations of the adequacy of school rape training projects on seven result measure classifications were directed utilizing 69 studies that included 102 treatment mediations and 18,172 members. Five of the result classifications had critical normal impact sizes (i.e., assault demeanor, assault related disposition, assault learning, behavioral aim, and occurrence of rape), while the result regions of assault sympathy and assault mindfulness practices did not have normal impact sizes that contrasted from zero. A critical finding of this study is that more drawn out mediations are more successful than concise intercessions in changing both assault state of mind and assault related mentality. Mediator investigations likewise recommend that the substance of programming, kind of moderator, sex of the group of onlookers, and sort of gathering of people may additionally be connected with more prominent project adequacy. Suggestions for exploration and practice are examined (Anderson,2005).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it has been very difficult to measure the actual and true extent of sexual violence against women. This is because most of the cases of assault go unreported. Approximately 36 per cent of female sexual assault victims usually go unreported to the authorities. Only 19 percent of the sexual assault victims report to the police. The main factors behind the hidden figure of sexual assault are disclosure and issues of prevalence. The most sexual assault victims are female and most assaults occur at home and it is a crime that is on the rise, growing steadily in the US though many studies indicate small decrease in the number of sexual assaults and rape cases in the US.References

Anderson, L. A., &Whiston, S. C. (2005). SEXUAL ASSAULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A META‐ANALYTIC EXAMINATION OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29(4), 374-388.

Beichner, D., &Spohn, C. (2005). Prosecutorial charging decisions in sexual assault cases: Examining the impact of a specialized prosecution unit. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 16(4), 461-498.

Berliner Lucy &Barbieri Kay Mary. (14 APR 2010). The Testimony of the Child Victim of Sexual Assault.Social Issues (40)2, 125-137.

Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. M. (2005).Understanding rape and sexual assault 20 years of progress and future directions.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(1), 127-131.

Mont Du Janice, Miller Lee- Karen &Myhr L. Terri. (April 2003). The Role of “Real Rape” and “Real Victim” Stereotypes in the Police Reporting Practices of Sexually Assaulted Women.Violence Against Women, 466-486.Rennison Marie Callie PH.D. (August 2002). Rape and Sexual Assault: Reporting to Police and Medical Attention. 1-4

Söchting, I., Fairbrother, N., & Koch, W. J. (2004).Sexual Assault of Women Prevention Efforts and Risk Factors.Violence Against Women, 10(1), 73-93.

Snyder, Howard N. (2000-07-00). Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics. A NIBRS Statistical Report. 1-22

Introduction

Birth defects are quite common in children whose mothers have been using and abusing certain drugs more so, illegal ones. One of the most common birth defects in children is known as gastroschisis. Gastroschisis belongs to a category of birth defects called ventral wall defects. These defects involve the belly (abdominal) area of the baby/ fetus. It results in the free extension of the fetal bowels in amniotic fluid space via a minute opening in the fetus’ abdomen. This is mostly in the right side of the belly button (umbilicus). More often than not, gastroschisis involves part of the large intestine and the small intestine spilling in the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus.

Gastroschisis is prevalent in about 1 in every 500 live births and more often than not occurs in babies born to mothers below the age of 20. It is important to acknowledge that there is no particular cause associated with gastroschisis. However, studies show that mothers who have been using vitamins in the course of their pregnancy stand higher risks of giving birth to children with birth defects of which gastroschisis is one. Unlike other defects of the abdominal wall, gastroschisis is basically not related to structural anomalies such as chromosomal anomalies except intestinal atresia or blockage. This occurs in approximately 10% of the cases.

Diagnosis

Gastroschisis is mainly diagnosed by ultrasound and in most cases following an imminent maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein tests done in the pregnancy’s second trimester. Gastroschisis prenatal diagnosis allows the parents to plan and discuss the options pertaining to postnatal management with the pediatric surgeon and obstetrician. Families with diagnosed gastroschisis undergo comprehensive level 2 ultrasound evaluation. It is always important that the individuals undergo other tests to distinguish gastroschisis with other abdominal wall defects like omphalocele. Once the initial consultations and evaluations have been conducted, the physician and the family would formulate a personalized management as well as follow-up plan to aid in the recovery of the child.

Having in mind that gastroschisis involves the exposure of fetal intestines to amniotic fluid in which case they are unprotected in the course of the pregnancy, complications such as lower fetal growth, lower volume of the amniotic fluid, bowel dilation and preterm delivery have a high likelihood of occurrence more so in the third trimester. This underlines the importance of close surveillance of the condition in the third trimester by the use of sonography combined with fetal surveillance monitoring (volume of amniotic fluid, Doppler ultrasound, biophysical profile) to monitor the fetal well-being and determine the right time for delivery.

Gastroschisis repair

Gastrointestinal repair involves surgical correction where the extra abdominal bowel is returned back to the abdominal cavity. This is then followed by the closure of the abdominal wall. It is important to acknowledge that this is done immediately after the birth of the child. In most cases, these children are born through the cesarean section.

Gastroschisis repair may be performed either with immediate primary repair of the condition or more often than not staged repair approach. This depends on the postnatal assessment of exposed bowel condition.

Primary gastroschisis repair

This involves reducing the extra bowel and closing the abdominal wall in a single operation. However, many are the times when the primary gastroschisis repair is not feasible due to the risk of bowel inflammation and dilation resulting from exposure of fetal intestines to amniotic fluid.

Staged gastroschisis repair approach

This approach kicks off once the child has been delivered. In this case, the abdominal contents that are exposed would be placed in protective covering before the infant is transferred to the infant or newborn center. Once admitted to the center, a silastic sheeting more commonly known as SILO would be placed around the exposed or herniated bowels. This silo would then be reduced every day at the bedside up to such a time when the abdominal contents get level with the abdominal skin. Once the abdominal contents are level with the abdomen the final closure of the abdominal wall is done. During the final closure, ventilator or breathing assistance would be necessary. The surgeons wait until the baby has become stable enough to undergo surgery. The waiting period may take between a week and ten days. Once the baby is ready to undergo surgery, he or she will be placed under general anesthesia in which case they will be asleep and experience no pain in the course of the operation.

The surgeon examines the bowels carefully for birth defects or indications of damage. Any unhealthy parts are removed while healthy edges are stitched together. All the abdominal organs lying outside the belly would be placed into the abdomen before the opening is repaired. In some cases, more surgery will be required later in order to repair the belly’s muscles.

Post surgery procedures

As much as the abdominal closure is done with gastroschisis repair, quite some time passes before the intestines recover fully from the condition. In this case, the first feeding is provided intravenously. With return of the bowel function evidenced by passing of bowel movement, the feeding through nasogastric (NG) tube is slowly initiated while the IV feeds continue. Breast milk may be pumped and frozen for the NG feeds in case it is tolerated. If not, special alimental formula may be given. The NG feeding is gradually increased while oral feeding is also introduced.

Potential complications

Quite a number of complications are likely to occur caused by the varied procedures on e undergoes including-:

Anesthesia- allergic reactions to drugs, breathing difficulties

Surgery- infections, bleeding and blood clots

Other likely complications of gastroschisis include-:

Breathing problems in case the abdominal space of the baby is small. This necessitates the use of breathing machine or breathing tube for some time after surgery

Organ injury

Inflammation of tissues lining the abdominal wall and covering the abdominal organs

Problems with absorption of nutrients from the food and even digestion more so if the small bowels had been extensively destroyed.

Success rates

Enhanced surgical techniques as well as neonatal care have ensured a high success rate. 85-90 % of the babies born with gastroschisis have survived. This however does not undermine the fact that long hospitalization is required not to mention the occurrence of complications more so pertaining to intestinal functioning. Since the condition is treated at infancy, if short-bowel syndrome complications do not occur, treatment is quite successful (above 85% success rates).

Why use High Frequency Jet Vent rather than High Frequency Oscillator Vent

High frequency jet vent HFJV is preferred to the High Frequency Oscillator Vent HFOV due to the high frequency pulmonary gas exchange and ventilation. This means that the carbon dioxide produced by the infant would be more efficiently excreted in a given minute.

Conclusion

While gastroschisis is quite a serious condition which could actually lead to infant mortality, iit is important to acknowledge that surgical method has prove to be quite effective in remedying the condition with very high success rates. This is complemented by the technological advancement as well as more knowledge in neonatal procedures.

References

Parker SE, Mai CT, Canfield MA, Rickard R, Wang Y, Meyer RE, et al; for the National Birth Defects Prevention Network. Updated national birth prevalence estimates for selected birth defects in the United States, 2004-2006. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2010 Sept 28. [Epub ahead of print]

Bird TM, Robbins JM, Druschel C, Cleves MA, Yang S, Hobbs CA, & the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (2009). Demographic and environmental risk factors for gastroschisis and omphalocele in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. J Pediatr Surg, 44:1546-1551.

Williams LJ, Kucik JE, Alverson CJ, Olney RS, Correa A. Epidemiology of gastroschisis in metropolitan Atlanta, 1968 through 2000. Birth Defects Res A. 2005; 73:177-83.

Feldkamp ML, Reefhuis J, Kucik J, Krikov S, Wilson A, Moore CA, Carey JC, Botto LD and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Case-control study of self reported genitourinary infections and risk of gastroschisis: findings from the national birth defects prevention study, 1997-2003. BMJ. 2008 Jun 21; 336(7658): 1420-3.

A research Proposal to find the Compaq failures and appropriateness of its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Company.

Name

Institution

A research to find the Compaq failures and appropriateness of its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard

Background Information

With rapidly developing technology, consumers tend to look for unique and developed features of Pc’s from various companies in the US. In 1982, Compaq firm started and was the largest supplier of Pcs as it had the best system with better graphics and improved performance compared to its competition (Frontain, 2020). Due to these unique features, Compaq continued to rise, contributed by engineers who are experienced, became the youngest firm recording very huge sales. It was the market leader in PCs and shipped more units internationally than in the united states (Pillar, 2002).

However, in 2002, Compaq firm collapsed, having a lot of debts of $2 billion and its stock was trading at $12, which has lowered by 23.5%, from $51 (“Four companies that failed spectacularly, and the lessons of their premature demise,” 2015). Its sales had lowered, showing poor marketing strategies alongside other failures. These conditions led to the firm’s acquisition by Hewlett-Packard, a company which exists to date, but went through a lot of challenges after the acquisition (Editors, 2015). Compaq firm started with experienced managers and well-developed marketing strategies that led to its short period of success. Nevertheless, this paper attempts to find the reasons for Compaq firm failure after twenty years of operation.

Objectives of the Research

The main objective of this research is to:

Understand the failures that led to Compaq Firm collapse and acquisition after twenty years of successful operations.

Identify the strengths of Hewlett-Packard that may have worked for Compaq company.

To understand whether current consumers prefer Hewlett-Packard products compared to Compaq in relation to affordability, quality, and efficiency.

Determine whether the acquisition was the best option for Compaq Firm and identify alternative options.

Qualitative methods

Focus Group

In this research, five of the former management team personnel of Compaq company will take part to give their experience and views of their actions and occurrences that led to Compaq failure. Also, they will provide suggestions on possible actions that could be taken to save the Compaq company rather than acquisition. Also, ten consumers of Compaq products then and have been using Hewlett-Packard products will be asked a variety of questions to give their comparisons of satisfaction. Also, two members of the Hewlett-Packard management team will be asked questions on their strength over Compaq company.

Themes Discussed

In the research, issues to solve the objectives will be discussed. First, the failures of Compaq firm in 2002. Second, the strengths of the Hewlett-Packard company over Compaq, third, Factors that lead to the satisfaction of current consumers and lastly, alternative options for Compaq company to find solutions for reduced sales and a lot of debts.

The methods to be used in this research are in-depth interviews and discussions to conduct an analyzed study that provides answers to the study questions.

Quantitative Methods

Since the qualitative response will be based on a group answer, a questionnaire will be used to get more information on the individual perspective on product satisfaction and ways for improvement.

The questionnaire will consist of both the Likert-style and open-ended questions. Likert-style questions will provide a scale of 1 to 10 to show experience and satisfaction with the two comapnies. One will represent the lowest level of satisfaction, while ten will show the highest satisfaction. The open-ended questions will work well for the sampled managers, to provide information and their views on alternative ways to save Compaq and also the different management methods for the companies.

The Likert style questionnaire will include these questions:

I would consider Hewlett-Packard products to Compaq due to its efficiency

I am more satisfied with Compaq prices than Hewlett

Compaq PCs are more durable than Hewlett-Packard

I am a regular consumer of Hewlett-Packard products

The open-ended questions will include:

What were the Compaq management methods?

What were the marketing reasons for Compaq failure?

Was acquisition the best solution for Compaq firm? Give reasons

What were the possible alternative ways to solve Compaq challenges then?

Which management methods make Hewlett-Packard different from Compaq?

The questionnaires will be issued to the sample group of consumers, Compaq managers, and Hewlett-Packard managers. Analysis of the information that will be provided will be done according to the three categories while considering individual opinions of the named concepts. The various groups will give exclusive details required for the research other than concentrating on only the consumers.

References

Editors, Z. (2015). Worst tech mergers and acquisitions: HP and Compaq | ZDNet. ZDNet. Retrieved 26 February 2020, from https://www.zdnet.com/article/worst-tech-mergers-and-acquisitions-hp-and-compaq/.

Four companies that failed spectacularly, and the lessons of their premature demise. Managers.org.uk. (2015). Retrieved 26 February 2020, from https://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/september/four-companies-that-failed-spectacularly-and-the-lessons-of-their-premature-demise.

Frontain, M. (2020). COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Tshaonline.org. Retrieved 26 February 2020, from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dnc01.

Loss and DisplacementName

 

Aimee Bender is a short story writer and American novelist who graduated from the distinguished creative arts program at the University of California, Irvine.  Bender has a unique use of metaphors and word play that sets her apart from other writers. The overall purpose of a writer’s work can be interpreted through the techniques that he/she apply. Their purpose may vary from being informative, fictitious or even as a form of advertising, but it is this underlying purpose that enables the readers to understand and take meaning or interpret the main context of the author’s work. In a large way, it also assists the readers to get familiar with the influences trigger the authors to make such decisions regarding the information they will bring out in their works. Additionally, the authors select wisely the details and words they use in order to achieve their purpose (Maunder 93). It thus follows that authors may never always be aware of what it is that they are doing as they start on a work of literature, and Bender herself acknowledges in an interview with the Buffalo Almanack. This paper will discuss Aimee Benders short story ‘Loser’ to identify the choices and decisions she makes in her writing in order to bring out the theme of loss and displacement. The story is about an orphan who loses his parents at a very tender age without having any control over their loss, but later turns out to be a helper for other people in finding things that they lose and misplace. It is a story of how a young man feels lonely and isolated as he is abandoned and has to deal with the horrors of the hard past of losing his parents early and even feels displaced without a family unit.

The first writing choice that Aimee Bender employs to make the readers understand that her story is about loss and displacement is the human conflicts that occur in the story between the orphan and his neighbors, which clearly depicts the society’s loss of the sense of appreciation. This is when, after the orphan’s gift of sniffing up lost items was discovered and most people in his community instead of appreciating him began accusing him of being responsible for the loss as a means of gaining unnecessary attention.  A clear example is that of Jenny Sugar whom he went to pick for a date and incidentally helped her mother find her misplaced hairbrush. Instead of Jenny appreciating his efforts, she lashed out at him and even ruined the date for them, a good indication of how the society in this story is suffering from the loss of the sense of appreciation. While at dinner, she said, “You planned all that, didn’t you? …You were trying to impress my mother. Well, you did not impress me.” This event reminded him of how lonely he was and even captures the reader’s attention to see how he has no one to go back home to for consolation or even someone to celebrate his gift. At the thought of such, the reader can appreciate the magnitude of the grief that one goes through after losing his/her loved ones. Such a skeptical reaction from someone who was to be his confidant shows how the young man was lost in his world, without a confidant who would have given him the sense of life, or even celebrate his gift. The manner in which Bender shapes Jenny Sugar in this instance shows the extent to which the people int his society have lost the sense of gratitude.

Aimee Bender also uses a lot of twists in her story using magical elements to push forward its emotional aspect of loss and displacement. But although magic does not qualify to be regarded as a natural element in our daily lives, it has helped to show the link between reality and imagination. This is through fears or phobias, fantasies and even how our expectations collide with reality (Brooks, 2011). It means, therefore that whatever Aimee Bender imagines in her story about the magical gifts of the orphan boy automatically makes up the story’s world. It has helped her to introduce us to a world that is difficult to achieve in the normal life and which would not be possible if she relied on giving out her story as a reality. This is because her story now shifts from being not only about the orphan boy with the unique ability to sense or sniff out and recover misplaced and lost objects but also about things that we cannot easily recover. These things are lost selves and people. An example is where the orphan boy, through his magical abilities, was able to sense the shirt of a kidnapped kid, Leonard Allen, and helped recover him. Bender says, “He turned off his distractions, and the blue shirt came calling from the northwest, like a distant radio station. The young man went walking and walking. And about 14 houses down, he felt the blue shirt shrieking at him.” In reality, we know that this cannot be possible, but in the story’s world, everything is made to be quite advanced to the extent that everything can easily be made clear and believable. Due to his ability, the young orphan boy was also able to understand himself and even the extent of his capabilities despite the criticism from some of his neighbors. From this quote, you can understand that he cannot find lost people, and he can only find objects.

The quote from the story shows the readers that this story is about displacement because the young man could feel the displaced objects and help recover them. Bender says of him thus: “He lay in bed that night with the trees from other places rustling, and he could feel their confusion.” The significance of this statement cannot be emphasized. Although the young man could sense and help recover the lost/displaced items, he could not help bring back the senses of these lost people. Indeed, the loss of a moral sense and appreciation has been brought out very well by Bender, as he has applied mockery to depict how a significant portion of the population viewed the young man.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Bender, A. Loser.

Brooks, L. (2011). Story engineering: Mastering the 6 core competencies of successful writing. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books.

Maunder, A. (2007). FOF Companion to the British Short Story. New York:

Infobase Pub.

 

 

Student’s Name

Institution

Course

Date

Medical and Economic importance of Bacteria

Bacteria consist of a wide range of microorganisms that show exciting differences based on their nutrition, morphology, habitat, and reproduction. Bacteria play a role in our day-to-day lives, such as assistance in digesting food. However, the majority of individuals link bacteria as disease and death-causing mediums and associate them with dirt. As a result, a question arises, ‘’should bacteria be considered friend or foe to humans?’’ In my opinion, bacteria are beneficial to our daily ways of life; for example, they assist in the nitrogen cycle in leguminous crops, applied in biotechnology in gene cloning, and used to decompose organic matter.

Firstly, bacteria help in nitrogen fixation in legumes. Document D (Nitrogen cycle) gives details about the role bacteria undertake in converting nitrogen from the air into nitrates and ammonia. These nutrients are essential in crops as they are easily absorbed by roots and transformed into nucleic acids and amino acids. The absorption of nitrogen by the rhizobium bacteria present in the roots also assists crops in growing in nitrogen-deficient soils. The nitrogen introduced into the food chain is later absorbed by human beings through digestion and ingestion as they consume food from these crops. Benefits go two both ways as crops and humans gain.

Secondly, bacteria are used in genetic-engineering procedures. Document F (Uses in Biotechnology) explains how bacteria are used in biotechnology in the gene cloning when genes are copied and expressed from giver organisms. They are used as cloning vectors in the transfer of a given specific gene into the bacterial cell plasmids using restriction enzymes. The restriction enzymes bind both vector and chromosomal DNA to the inverted palindrome, thereby dividing the DNA and producing sticky ends. DNA ligase combines both the sticky ends of both DNAs forming a recombinant DNA. Proteins produced from this recombinant technology profit most people as they are used to produce medicines, synthetic vaccines, and substances such as insulin used by individuals with diabetes. Thus, the application of bacteria in the biotechnology industry acts as a benefit to human health and the economy by reducing production costs.

Lastly, bacteria act as decomposers as they break down organic matter into carbon dioxide and other nutrients such as nitrogen. Document E (Decomposition) shows the procedures under which decomposition takes place. Fats, cellulose, and proteins are first turned into soluble compounds, then into organic acids, and lastly, forming methane, water, and carbon dioxide. The process of decomposition is essential since it releases excess nutrients into the soil, enhancing plant growth. Absence of this process, some of the nutrients taken up by plants would remain intact in leaves and other tissues resulting in insufficient nutrients in the soil. They ensure that nutrients are recycled. Also, many grounds would remain covered by wood and dead leaves forever. Thus they help in maintaining the ecosystem and ensure it is clean. Also, plants use carbon from carbon dioxide and water released from decomposition to process their food. Therefore, decomposition, as a process caused by bacteria, is of advantage to humans and plants. Bacteria have a positive impact on the lives of individuals.

Media Literacy in Understanding Media Messages

Student’s Name

Institution of Affiliation

Date

As the Media Literacy textbook states, people do not typically prefer media messages that are too far removed from their own experiences.

What are the personal implications of this?

Individuals do not prefer media messages that are too far removed from their experiences; this is true in that individuals are more likely to support a conclusion that aligns with their beliefs and values while rejecting messages that they believe are far-fetched from what they stand for (Lanette et al., 2018). The preferred media messages with individuals’ experiences are quite similar in regard to the personal, social, and cultural implications. From an individual’s perspective, an individual can miss out on a beneficial media message merely because they believe that the message does not relate to them directly. These individuals believe that since the media messages are too far removed from their personal experiences, there is no need to pay attention, and this reduces the effectiveness of the media messages. Based on this, media messages need to be tailored according to what relates to the intended audience.

What are the social and cultural implications of this?

Media messages that are too far removed from individuals’ personal experiences have both social and cultural implications that are almost similar. One of the implications is that it creates a divide in society, with individuals trying to avoid media messages that are too far removed from their personal experiences (Oliveira, Araujo & Tam, 2020). This has the implication of avoiding the chance to learn something new and different away from their culture. As a result, this may have the implication of reduced diversity in the society as ideas from other cultures are denied – less absorbed. This can be dangerous to society as it may widen the racial/ethnicity gap, increasing the rate of discrimination in society.

How can you engage with media in a more globally responsible way if the messages don’t align with your own cultural experiences?

One of the major ways that an individual can engage with media in a more globally responsible manner, especially if the messages do not align with a person’s cultural experiences, is through being media literate. Media literacy involves being receptive to all messages regardless of personal experiences (Kellner & Share, 2019). Whether the media messages are derived from personal experiences or not, I believe that everyone can benefit from learning about new cultures, providing an opportunity to increase knowledge through diversity.

References

Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2019). The critical media literacy guide: Engaging media and transforming education. Brill.

Lanette, S., Chua, P. K., Hayes, G., & Mazmanian, M. (2018). How much is’ too much’? The role of a smartphone addiction narrative in individuals’ experience of use. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2(CSCW), 1-22.

Oliveira, T., Araujo, B., & Tam, C. (2020). Why do people share their travel experiences on social media?. Tourism Management, 78, 104041.

Media Response

Question 1.

Neoliberalism is a hallmark of freedom in the American media. Neoliberalism relates to a free market, a concept that ensures profit maximization in the spirit of businesses to thrive in the best way available to them. Neoliberalism is both a political and economic concept that defines a free market in a way that affects the societal worldview on what it means to organize all dimensions of human life. In the media, it has led to the deregulation of broadcasting and the privatization of the industry to include a free market that is keen on profit generation. It is a perspective that attaches good governance to a free market for people to thrive in their endeavors.

Question 2.

Asian or Asian-American characters in media are presented as the model minority because they possess all of the superior qualities expected of an individual while remaining fairly “un-American” in the way of their cultural practices. They are viewed as technically proficient and robotic performers in reality shows. The American reality scene works well to ensure representation of racial minorities, yet adheres to racialized narratives and stereotypes through depicting real people as having the said qualities. In their attainment of the American Dream, the main idea is to show how an Asian-American immigrant’s (model minority) journey to success is through gratitude, maintenance of their cultural heritage, hard work, and humility.

Question 3.

Hegemony is a representation of ideas, especially those that dominate over others and over an entire community in connection to relationships structured by power. For hegemony to be complete, it must be downright unnoticeable. It can also be seen as a tool that the ruling elite uses to perpetuate more power and status by pushing forward their own agenda and philosophy. For example, the idea of the nuclear family is used as a measure of success for women, even where the society still advances a picture of an independent woman. In such an instance, hegemony, and the idea of an independent woman is suppressed by a countering idea that holds more power over a society.

Question 4.

The Western Beauty Myth is a homogenization of the sought after appearance, including looks, race, sexual orientation, economic class, and physical appearance. Physical beauty is not the only component for the ideal female. Instead, the complete picture is made up of young, thin, attractive, heterosexual, wealthy, and White women. This form of beauty is presented as superior to any other racial form. To non-Western cultures, such media representation can be disempowering leading to crisis on self-identity, behavior, and national pride. For example, women from non-Western cultures will attempt to appear western by using product that Westernize their appearance including cosmetic surgeries and other procedures.