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Discussion 2

The text offers several explanations to justify the racial difference in criminal characters as exhibited by individuals. It gives the reader several possible influencers that help to determine the behavior(S) that one exhibits. The United States criminal justice department has well documented the rates at which African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans perform violent crimes. According to the text, they perform these violent crimes due to the behavior that they have adopted from their neighborhoods; considering the colored people associations and their communities, it justifies this implication. These groups are as well vulnerable in terms of social structures whereby children are raised by either single or without parental guidance, which affects their moral behavior (Barkan & Rocque, 2018). Some of them do not attain the required education; therefore, low cognitive skills that affect their judgment social wise. They as well come from poor backgrounds and face prejudice in employment opportunities. This explanation captures almost all factors that explain the relationship between people of color and crime.

African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are mostly victims of circumstance or wrongly perceived criminals. There is always a general notion that people of color are criminals, according to history. The police service suspects two out of three as criminals. Given the fact that they are mostly found or tend to know about crimes, it implicates them as criminals or well connected to the criminals. Due to this information, the people of color are victimized due to perception and not evidence that implicates them (Quigley, 2011). They are wronged judged because not everyone can be that bad.

The law enforcement agencies should include in their curriculum while in training so that they prepare law officers to gather the evidence before prosecuting and individual entirely and should not be biased in terms of color and race. The agencies should as well treat all races equally and act in strict conformity with set regulations of their profession.

References

Barkan, S. E., & Rocque, M. (2018). Socioeconomic status and racism as fundamental causes of street criminality. Critical criminology, 26(2), 211-231.Quigley, W. (2011). Racism: the crime in criminal justice. Loy. J. Pub. Int. L., 13, 417.



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Introduction.

It is said that when people are united a lot of things can be accomplished. In the recent past and today, many forms of divisions have emerged in the society and world at large. These divisions have brought about conflicts between individuals, nations and even families. The differences emerge from many sources which include religious beliefs, cultural practices among others. This paper is going to look at how the world is not neatly divided based on different factors.

The world today is not neatly divided as evidenced by the difference in religious beliefs. There are many different religions in the world but the main ones are Christianity and Islam (Cervas 2007). The two religions have been in conflict since time immemorial and the borne of contention being which religion is supreme to the other. A good example of such is in Nigeria where individuals of the Islam religion want to control the northern part of the country while their Christian counter parts want to have the south under their control. This has led to attacks on members of either religion in the south and north. Churches are burnt down and Christians are attacked, on the other hand Muslims in the south are being driven out of their homes being forced to return to the north while some have lived their entire lives in the south. This kind of religious division is also seen in other parts of the world and is an evidence of the world not being neatly divided.

Another form of division common in the world is the terming of countries. It is noted that in the world countries are termed as the west, east, north, Islamic among other terms. There is a big conflict between the countries in the west and those deemed as Islamic. This is because the western countries belittle the Islamic ones and go as far as branding them as terrorist countries. This is brings about bad blood between the nations and often result to war and terrorism as evidenced by the war in Iraq and Afghanistan by the U.S.A. In retaliation there was the September, 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers of America. This kind of division only leads to blood shed and a life full of suspicion.

Division in the world can also be seen on development of different countries and how they conduct themselves in relation to other world countries. Today, there is a group of countries called the great eight nations which include France, America, Britain. Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada. These countries are deemed the most industrialized in the world and have a say in most issues concerning other countries (Sen 2001). For instance, during world summits, countries pass laws like those regulating pollution and these eight countries append their consent but when it comes to implementing, they back out but force other nations to comply. This they achieve with threats of withdrawing support in countries not complying. Such actions bring about diplomatic tensions between nations.

The world is estimated to have about 7 billion people today. These people cannot have the same opinion thus the element of division by opinion comes into play (Sen 2001). Not long ago, the world was divided on the issue of use of condoms as a means pf birth control. Some argued that it would be used by people especially the youth as an excuse to engage in premature sex. On the other hand, others argued that it prevents unwanted pregnancies and is a tool of fighting sexually transmitted diseases. Those who were in regions that were against the use of condoms were viewed as immoral and a bad influence to the society. People in parts where condom use was supported were viewed as hypocrites. This divide in opinion led to a rift between individuals. In reality, everyone is entitled to an opinion and is expected to respect other peoples’ opinions too. Though, this is not often the case, when difference in opinion heats up, it can lead to broken marriages, unions and families.

Many people when asked in which class of life they belong to will most probably answer with first, middle or low class. These kind of division in the way of life is brought about by the different economic powers of individuals. Such creates a rift between people who breathe the same air, use the same roads among other utilities but income makes them drift. Such differences may make people suffer because a low class person will feel inferior to a first class person thus will not share his views with his or her counter part even if they see them faulting or heading towards the wrong direction.

Conclusion.

The main hope of harmony lies with human beings alone and can be achieved by respecting other peoples’ opinions though they may hurt and accommodating each others’ practices. This will create an environment for dialogue thus eradication of division among individuals and countries in the world.

References.

Sen, Amartya. “A world not neatly divided.” New York Times 23 Nov 2001.

Cervas, Noel.shvoong.com.Global source for summeries and reviews.HYPERLINK “http://www.shvoong.com/tags/a-world-not-neatly-divided/”http://www.shvoong.com/tags/a-world-not-neatly-divided/HYPERLINK “http://www.shvoong.com/tags/a-world-not-neatly-divided/.07”. 07 June 2013.

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Introduction

Stories and novels have always been written to incorporate a certain message or to inspire certain feelings in people. They combine various elements such as setting, plot, as well as characterization to bring out meaning in them. It goes without saying that stories have different contexts and themes, which may revolve around love, romance, courage, strength or determination. One of the stories that espouse strength and determination is Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”. This is a story of dedication, perseverance and love, where Phoenix Jackson is used to show determination and strength even in the face of tribulations and hardships (Glen, 47). It is noteworthy that the use of the name Phoenix is appropriate as it borrows from the mythological bird said to live for more than half a millennium, die in flames, as well as rise from the ashes.

Phoenix Jackson, like the mythological bird, takes a treacherous journey through the woods and focuses on getting medication for her grandson. She departs from her home to a city known as Natchez in search of this medication. Phoenix’s perception of the landscape becomes the key focus of the narrative (Warren, 540). It is worth noting that nature is described as an obstacle to her progress, as well as beautiful. Phoenix struggles against poor eyesight and extreme fatigue, as well as impediments such as barbed wire and thorn bushes. The narrative’s symbolism and lyricism are heightened by the combined effects of Phoenix’s poor vision, old age, as well as her poetic perception of the world (Warren, 547). For example, Phoenix mistakes a scarecrow for a ghost until she comes near it and touches its empty sleeve. At one time, Phoenix has a tense episode when she comes across a white hunter who at first appears friendly. He, however, makes an arrogant suggestion that Phoenix is probably going to see Santa Claus. Once he accidentally drops a nickel, Phoenix manages to distract him and pick the nickel even though she feels that she is stealing. Suddenly, the white hunter turns and points his gun at Phoenix. It is unclear what his true motivations are as Phoenix appears unafraid. Eventually, Phoenix manages to go her way unharmed and with the nickel. Finally, she gets to the Shining City of Natchez where she enters what is presumably a hospital. A nurse asks her questions pertaining to her son. Initially, she remains quiet about her son but later apologizes stating that her memory was failing her (Welty, 461). She, however, manages to make a heartfelt description of the grandson who had his throat injured after swallowing lye. Phoenix states that he is still alive and gets medicine for him, as well as another nickel with which she chooses to purchase a little windmill as a Christmas present for the son (Welty, 462).

It is worth noting that the grandson does not appear anywhere in the narrative. In essence, this may be an indication that the grandson has already died. In this case, Phoenix could be making the journey only as a way of deluding herself that the grandson is still alive even when he is dead. This is cemented by the fact that she often sees things that are not there.

Phoenix Jackson, nevertheless, emerges as an enduring character, a symbol of stamina, determination, perseverance and life, even in the face of death or hardships. Scholars have noted that the woman’s sheer fortitude in taking a long journey alone and on foot is testament to these qualities (Schmidt, 59). This bears some mythological significance or resemblance with her bird namesake, the Phoenix bird that symbolizes resurrection. In addition, the narrative gives the picture of Christian symbolism. This is especially considering that the story is set around the Christian season, which has led scholars to opine that the journey that Phoenix took was a symbol of religious or Christian pilgrimage (Howard, 47). In essence, the selfless concern that Phoenix has for her son is symbolic of the true spirit of self-sacrifice and giving. Scholars have also argued for a conflation of Christian and mythological interpretation of this story (Hicks, 39). They argue that the cycles of natural imagery along with Christian motifs of a rebirth revolve around the central theme of Christian faith where life emerges from death (Warren, 47).

As much as a large part of the story is founded on the symbolic and imagistic use of language, it is evident from the action of the entire plot that Phoenix Jackson is in direct conflict or disagreement with the outside world (Black, 45). This is a society that rests on the hands of white people who are seen to have little or no understanding and respect for the situation through which she is going. This is especially evident when Phoenix comes across a white hunter carrying a gun (Welty, 460). This episode underlines the racial undertones that existed in the world and the disdain with which the white people held most of the colored people (Marrs, 34). The White hunter’s disdain and disrespect for her are evident, especially when he arrogantly remarks that Phoenix is heading to town merely to see Santa Claus. This is cemented by the nurse who dismisses Phoenix as a charity case, while offering little sympathy for the old woman or her ailing son (Barilleaux, 19).

In addition, scholars have also stated that the main reason behind the use of a Negro or colored woman is that only an uncivilized and relatively unsophisticated woman is worthy of representing the potent forces that inspire such love (Barilleaux, 20).

Works cited

Barilleaux, René Paul. “The Passionate Eye of Eudora Welty.” Women in the Arts. Fall 2003. Print

Black, Patti Carr. “Back Home in Jackson.” Passionate Observer: Eudora Welty Among Artists of the Thirties. Rene P. Barilleaux, ed. Jackson: Mississippi Museum of Art, 2002

Warren, Robert Penn. “The Love and the Separateness in Miss Welty.” Critical Essays on Miss Welty. Ed W. Craig Turner and Lee Emling Harding. Boston: G.K. Harr & Co. 1989. 42- 51.

Marrs, Suzanne. “Eudora Welty’s Enduring Images: Photography and Fiction.” Passionate Observer: Eudora Welty Among Artists of the Thirties. Rene P. Barilleaux, ed. Jackson: Mississippi Museum of Art, 2002.

Howard, Zelma Turner. The Rhetoric of Eudora Welty’s Short Stories. Jackson, Miss.: University and College Press of Mississippi, 1973.

Hicks, Granville. “Eudora Welty.” Critical Essays on Eudora Welty. Ed. W. Craig Turner and Lee Emling Harding. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1989. 259-67.

Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U. P., 1984.

Welty, Eudora. The Eye of the Story: Selected Essays and Reviews, Vintage Books/Random House, 1979.

Schmidt, Peter The Heart of the Story: Eudora Welty’s Short Fiction, University Press of Mississippi, 1991.

Donlan, Dan ‘”A Worn Path’: Immortality of Stereotype,” in English Journal, Vol 62, No. 4, April, 1973

Warren, Robert Penn. “The Love and the Separateness of Miss Welty,” in Kenyon Review, Volume 6, 1944,

Glenn, Eunice. “Fantasy in the Fiction of Eudora Welty,” in Critiques and Essays on Modern Fiction:Representing the Achievement of Modern America and British Critics, 1920−1951. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1952

Summary of Anthropology and the Abnormal by Ruth Benedict

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The text opines that today modern social anthropology is becoming more about studying common elements and varieties of the cultural environment in relation to the consequences they have on human behavior. The main thesis coming from the text has to do with the fact that modern civilization is not a necessary pillar of achievement in human beings; instead, it is a single entry found among many possible adjustments. The argument presented in the text is that these adjustments, whether presented in major human drives such as sex or mannerisms of joy, anger, brief within a given society, always emerge far more variable than any one culture would imply. In situations of formal marriage arrangements or religion, they are widely known; hence, they can be fairly described while in others, giving a generalized account is not possible.

From the study of cultures, one of the most striking facts is how each of our abnormalities functions in other cultures. Worth noting, the kind of abnormality does not matter, whether it is those which indicate extreme instability or those with characters of persecution, delusions, or sadism, they are well-described cultures whereby the abnormals function at ease (Benedict, 2017). Notably, the abnormals function with a lot of ease and without any difficulty and danger towards society. In our cultures, even a very mild mystic is aberrant. However, most people have regarded extreme psychic manifestations as desirable and normal and characteristic of highly gifted or valued individuals. It is hard for people who have been brought up in a culture that makes no use of the experience to know the importance of its role and how many individuals are capable of it once it is granted an honorable place in society.

References

Benedict, R. (2017). An anthropologist at work. Routledge.

Literature

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The text that contains the commonly held dark side, the Massachusetts Bay Colony Puritans: Witch-hunts, elitism, intolerance and narrow-minded zealotry is that of Cotton Mather: From the Wonders of the Invisible World. Cotton had various beliefs, and he saw the witches as tools of the devil. According to Cotton, the witches were not possessed by the spirits, but they were the agents of the devil and that they were sent as divine judgment to the sinful people to punish them for their sins. Cotton was of the belief also that sin and witches were to be destroyed before the Puritans could fulfill their destiny as the people of god and help clean the sins out of the people. It was also believed that once the Puritans had got rid of the witches and sins, god would bless them with eternal happiness.

Cotton describes the original Puritan settlers of the New England as pious that they were free of sins. He further states that the settlers were willing to give up civilization for them to live a pure land that was free from all sins. Mather in contrast also noted that the youth were morally corrupt and were prone to evil. Among the quotes by Mather is that of “The New Englanders are people of god settled in those, which were once the devil’s territories.” From the quote, we can see how the Puritans discriminated against the indigenous people.

The issue of ethnocentrism is much evident in that Cotton considered his culture and belief to be more superior and looked down on the indigenous cultures and religion terming it to be evil. In another quote, Mather discussed the plans by the devil to overturn the plantation and the churches with the aid of the witches,”…An army of devils is broke in upon the place which is the center, and after a sort, the first-born of our English settlements…” It is too unfortunate that the Puritan values and ways of lives have been carried over into our generation in that people still believe that witchcraft is associated with evil. Besides, ethnocentrism is more evident in today’s generation with most of the people looking down upon the cultures and religion of others while they consider theirs as superior.

Reference

Mather, C. (1862). The wonders of the invisible world: Being an account of the tryals of several witches lately executed in New-England. Smith.

Research Design

In this proposed study, a triangulation or ‘mixed’ research method will be used as a methodological framework for quantitatively studying prevalence and early detection of adolescent suicide and self-harm. Ideally, the study will be a quantitative research study that intends to use both primary and secondary research methods (triangulation) to accomplish its purpose. As noted by Hawton, Saunders and O’Connor (2012), self-harm and suicide are significant sources of public health problems in our nation’s adolescents with self-harm statistics being high among teenagers and suicide rates being noted as the third most prevalent cause of death among American teenagers (NIH, 2008). The triangulation research design will help us in exploring self-harm and suicide and evaluate how nurses and other professionals can recognize signs of self-harm and interrupt a cycle that might lead to suicide; which is the purpose of this study. Hussein (2009) noted that triangulation is a concept that is defined as the application of several qualitative and quantitative techniques in studying a common phenomenon for the sole purpose of increasing the credibility and validity of the study. The primary research will be conducted by means of an online self-administered survey.

The appropriateness of triangulation research approach for this study

Researchers have always argued that a good research practice often involves the utilization of multiple methods in order to enhance both the validity and reliability the research findings as indicated in the work of (Mathison, 1988).The choice of triangulation as the appropriate research design is inspired by the fact that helps in achieving improved clarity, research completeness and validity as noted by Fielding and Fielding (1986). According to Knafle and Gallo (1995), triangulation technique contributes to the overall quality of a research ‘only to the extent that it facilitates the achievement of some clearly articulated purpose’ (cited in Adami and Kiger, 2005). The convenience of triangulation in nursing research for confirmatory purposes is noted by Adami and Kiger (2005) to be heavily dependent on the principle that research should be a rigorous search for absolute and objective truth. Validity and completeness of findings on how nurses and other professionals can recognize signs of self-harm and interrupt a cycle that might lead to suicide are therefore our motivation for choosing triangulation technique for this study. The overarching objective of this study is to find ways of minimizing mortality and injury due to teenage self-harm and suicide among the American youths. This must be done with the highest level of clarity, validity and completeness that can only be achieved by means of triangulation.

Purpose of research proposal

Teenage mortality is an important public health issue because the majority of these deaths are preventable. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among adolescents and it is believed that 14 to 24 percent of teenagers have engaged in self-harm (NIH, 2008). Every two hours in the United States someone under the age of twenty four successfully commits suicide leaving behind a family and a community that is left to wonder why this has happened and also if there were measures that might have been able to prevent the death from happening (ASS, 2013). The purpose of this study is to explore how nurses and other professionals can recognize signs of self-harm and interrupt a cycle that might lead to suicide. Research into how nurses and professionals are coping with this pandemic will be explored. An important question will be how assessment tools can identify at risk youths. Nurses from many fields work with adolescents; these include those who work in clinics, in hospitals, in schools and in psychiatric units. This proposal intends to provide an outlook on how this pandemic can be mitigated through the involvement of nurses and others who work with adolescents.

Design of the survey instrument

The survey in this study will involve the design and use of online questionnaires. The design of the survey will begin by the development of a collection or bank of question items that will be suitable for answering the required research questions. The design as well as development of the survey instrument will involve six distinct steps or stages. The initial step will involve the examination of any existing models for suicide and self-harm evaluation by physicians and nurses. The second stage will involve the extrapolation of the essential items from the existing models for suicide and self-harm evaluation by physicians and nurses. The third stage will involve the examination of extant literature that reported the application of questionnaires in the evaluation of mental conditions (suicide and self-harm in particular). The fourth stage will involve the development of the criteria that was derived from the existing models for suicide and self-harm evaluation by physicians and nurses. The fifth stage will involve the design and construction of the online questionnaires to be administered to the target audience (Registered Nurses) via the appropriate channels. The fifth step will involve the piloting and revision of the questionnaires.

Data sources

The primary research method to be used is random survey sampling through the use of questionnaires to the participants of the study. An online survey tool, Survey Monkey, will be used to conduct the primary research. Secondary sources will also be consulted in the research. These sources will be from reliable peer-reviewed journal articles, books, whitepapers, personal experiences, online and offline articles, newspapers and conference papers. The research will target or involve nurses who have dealt with this problem on a personal and professional level as well as research material that can be provided from the hundreds of online websites that are dedicated to helping adolescents who feel that suicide might be their only option.

Target Audience or Participants

The target audience will be nurses who work in all areas of nursing and are not limited to those who are working with youths. The benefit of working with all nurses, regardless of their chosen field is to determine if the adequate tools are in place to identify if a child is at risk or if better screening needs to be in place. The volunteers who are already working with adolescents appear to be ready and willing to co-operate to help identify how additional methods can be identified to assist with this crisis. Nurses are on the frontline of suicide prevention and identifying adolescents who are at risk. The participants’ gender will be both male and female and can include those who have worked with adolescents and nurses who are working in all fields. The sampling survey will involve a total of one hundred (130) RN’s.

Sampling technique

This research will employ a random stratified sampling strategy. The sample population will be stratified according to state and type or nature of nursing career that they engage in (agency, ambulatory care, case management, critical care, emergency, informatics, research, psychiatric, perioperative (OR) etc). The sample will be selected from willing respondents who must all be registered nurses (RNs) and have been on the job for more than five years. The respondents will selected from sample pool of willing online participants who will answer to our request form participation in our online survey. In other words, the sample pool will be derived from various nursing website via their social media portals (Facebook and Twitter accounts) of the following websites;

-www.nursezone.com

-www.nurse.com

-www.medicalnewstoday.com

-www.internurse.com

-www.medscape.com

-www.nursingtimes.net

-www.nurselinkup.com

-www.nurseweek.com

In order to reach an extended audience and to avoid too much time wasted, the surveys will be published on the social media pages of the above mentioned websites (such as HYPERLINK “https://www.facebook.com/NurseZone” https://www.facebook.com/NurseZone for Nurse Zone ( HYPERLINK “http://www.nursezone.com)” www.nursezone.com)).

Additionally, the research will involve professionals who have had experience with adolescents who might have suggested intent to self-harm or commit suicide. A routine Google search will bring up an abundance of websites that are dedicated to helping those who are feeling suicidal. These range from the US Governments Suicide prevention hotline to private groups dedicated to those with specific issues who have volunteers who have survived self-harm or suicidal intent and are now working with others, two such groups are To Write Love On Her Arms and Laura’s Playground. These websites are dedicated to helping youth who are struggling with suicidal thoughts. Through stratified sampling of professional nurses there will be greater precision as to how to interpret assessments and which set of youth are at greatest risk and how to follow through to help adolescents with self-harm history or who have attempted suicide.

Appropriateness of Sampling Technique

The choice for stratified random sampling for this research is inspired by its ability to reduce all forms of human bias in the process of selecting participants to be included in the sample. As a consequence stratified random sample can provide us with a study sample that is highly representative (Daniel, 2011, p.127). This technique also improves the degree of representation of certain groups within a given population (such as nurses who deal with stresses out teens). This means that it ensures that a given strata is not over-represented. This method reduces the sampling error since population statistics estimates are drawn from a known population. Our sampling will be of nurses and professionals working in the field to see if the appropriate tools are being used to identify those who are at the most risk. This would be a stratified sampling that will include professionals who have previous knowledge of adolescents through their own studies, personal lives and work experiences.

In the case of secondary data, the sources will be derived from peer-reviewed journal articles, books, whitepapers, personal experiences, online and offline articles, newspapers and conference papers. Only the most relevant and most credible sources will be included in this research. In order to choose the most relevant and credible secondary sources, an elaborate strategy aimed at authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning was used as described in the work of Scott (1990). All the sources will be evaluated for currency (must be up to date) (Stein, 2002).

Role and Bias of Researcher

The role of the researcher in this study will be to investigate by means of credible sources and latest information, the role of nurse-assisted early detection of adolescent suicide and self-harm in order to interrupt the deadly cycle that leads to suicide. This would be done by the formulation of objective research question and following a research methodology that is accurate, valid and free of any bias.

Bias is defined by Sica (2006) to be a type of systematic error that can ultimately influence scientific investigations and hence distort the overall measurement process. Panucci and Wilkins (2010) noted that the identification and avoidance of bias is the sole responsibility of the researcher. In order to avoid researcher bias, I will ensure that I formulate research questions that are not too leading. As a researcher, I recognize that I will be interviewing nurses who have already had experience with young people who might be prone to self-harm or suicide. It will be necessary to develop a suitable survey to allow for those with different experiences to ensure that the data is without bias. The survey needs to be refined to eliminate bias from those who might have considerable experience with adolescents who have followed through from self-harm, to completion of suicide. A potential bias or error in the survey can be recognized by realizing that individuals with more experience who are interviewed would be more inclined to take adolescents threats more seriously than those with only casual experience who might hear the adolescents concerns but might see them as maneuvers to get attention from parents or school authorities.

References

Adami M.F., Kiger A. (2005) The Use f Triangulation For Completeness Purposes. Nurse Researcher. 12(4): 19-29

American Association of Suicidology (2013). Youth Suicide Fact Sheet. Accessed on 13th August,2013 from HYPERLINK “http://www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=232&name=DLFE-161.pdf” http://www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=232&name=DLFE-161.pdf

Daniel,J (2011).Sampling Essentials: Practical Guidelines for Making Sampling Choices. SAGE

Fielding, N. G., & Fielding, J. L. (1986). Linking data: The articulation of qualitative and quantitative methods in social research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Hawton, K., Saunders, K. E. A. & O’Connor, R. C. (2012). Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. Lancet, 379, 2373-2382

Hussein, A., 2009. The use of triangulation in social sciences research: Can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined? Journal of Comparative Social Research, (1): 1-12.

Mathison, S., (1988). Why triangulate? Educational Researcher, 17(2): 13-19.

National Institute of Mental health (2008). Suicide in the U.S.: Statistics and Prevention. NIH Publication No. 06-4594. Accessed on 13th August, 2013 from HYPERLINK “http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml” http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml

Panucci,CJ ., Wilkins., EG (2010).Identifying and Avoiding Bias in Research. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2010 August; 126(2): 619–625.

Scott, John (1990) A Matter of Record: Documentary Sources in Social Research, Cambridge: Polity Press

Sica, G.T. (2006) Bias in research studies. Radiology, 238 (3) 780-9.

Stein. ,S (2002). Sociology on the web: a student guide

AAFM Manufacturing

Prior to 2005, did local AAFM management adopt a unitarist or pluralist approach to employment relations? Does the new management team espouse the same ideology?

AAFM case generally reflects on opportunities, which are unique to untangle both the pluralist and the unitarist roots on employment relations roots. This is in relation to the marked shifts that existed between the paradigms on the managerial periods. With reference to this concept, Gennard reveals the existing distinction between pluralist and the unitarist approaches on aspects to do with human resources. He emphasizes that this form will remain harmonious indicative, a one-team aspect and an integrated approach while it will always distinguish that different groups will always exist in organizations. Additionally, he emphasizes that conflict between employees and their employers will always remain inevitable. With this in mind, the AAFM adopted the pluralist agenda, which enabled the facilitation of the internal groups by supporting the AMWU union. Additionally, some of the communication channels that were used were generally circular hence allowing organizational employees to maintain their interests’ representation through AMWU consultations with the management.

However, after the 2005 managerial exchange, the unitarist agenda replaced the pluralist vision. This was done by adjusting the decision to make it fit an authoritarian framework. This aspect was rejected by the AMWU representation contract merits. In its bid to prescribe an effective corporate employee vision adherence, the leadership staff of AAFM decided to pursue the unitarist employee policy of relations. This was also established to prevent interests of the group in influencing group-oriented objectives and the performance based objectives. The pluralist leadership model gave the employees an opportunity to have a common voice under the protection of the AMWU.

Identify the ways industrial conflict is being expressed at AAFM and the factors contributing to this conflict

Generally, industrial conflicts roles in protecting organizational worker’s interests have changed over the past years. With reference to human resources conflicts and industrial relations in Europe, the aspect of organizational conflicts tends to affect both organizational works and their companies negatively. AAFM lacks reciprocity of mitigation and bargaining opportunities when it comes to organizational communication hence a direct influence on organizational conflict. In most cases, this aspect tends to result in different measures by the affected parties, which stemmed from the dissociated organizational goals and objectives.

With reference to industrial conflicts, there are aspects that play a key role in such breakdown especially on matters that relate to employment relations. Some of these factors include strike-based advantage, fractured identity and consciousness, determined regime of accumulation and union dynamics that are variable. In as much as these factors were obvious to some extent in the AAFM conflict, the aspect of consciousness and identity and accumulation regime were main determinants of outcomes that were negative. According to both Blyton and Bacon, modern partnerships addresses mutual gains principles in a situation where the aspect of integrative bargaining allows the organizational employees to share the performance-based rewards. Nevertheless, at AAFM, employee interest’s marginalization limited the organizational employees’ identification degree within the agenda of the organization and the elimination of profit sharing potentials in their organizational economic interests.

Generally, the AAFM management was not willing to recognize AAFM employee’s dissatisfaction at the organization; instead, the unitarist position generally affected the employee’s ability to reflect on the interests of the employees. In this case, instead of putting more focus on the larger scale agenda of the pay-based concerns, the organization put priorities on other aspects. The introduction of the conceptual collective model of bargaining was an important determinant on the organizational attritional behaviors. However, reputation perceptions in such organizations are inaccurate, hence the emergence of a bargaining conflict strategy. In this case, AMWU and AAFM management established an inflexible aspect of the winner takes it all situations in the organization against compromise. In such organizations, this aspect resulted into significant losses of performance and efficiency from the workers because of the confrontational work stoppages. It was quite evident that, the in ability to establish reputational biasness and the organizational managers in ability to establish some of the employees’ motivations aspect in conflicts pursue played a key role in conflicts in the organization thus leading to strike decisions and workforce lockout.

How would the conflict at AAFM be explained and resolved from (a) a unitarist perspective and (b) a pluralist perspective?

Conflicting with the AAFM management perspectives, most practitioners claim that organizational strike activities tend to be largely intrinsically and rational generally especially when there is the aspect of a faulty negotiation framework in the organization. The main breakage of indeterminacy that is unavoidable especially in establishing relationships tends to result in positions that might be rigid which might fail to establish rational opportunities that come with collective bargaining. Van Buren et al thoughts on unitarist describe two main strategic measures of the human resources management including both hard and soft employee perspectives on contributions. In the AAFM industry, various aspects play a key role in influencing productivity against resource based employee value perspectives. Some of these factors include high volume-low industrial cost nature and labor intensive. With reference to this aspect, strategic managerial agenda might fail to align the value of organizational employee perspectives thus resulting in organizational disconnection, which might then lead to healthy conflicts in organizational labor.

Generally, unitarist aspects put more emphasis on organizational performances and market opportunities in as much as organizational employees’ interests might be subjugated. Additionally, economic priorities and human assets values according to the unitarist agenda might sometimes be overwhelming. Most unitarist agendas emphasizes on managerial controls and informational management. These agendas mostly view the thoughts as important mechanisms, which play an important role in developing, attaining, enacting and achieving organizational explicit performance objectives. In as much as it is based on harmonious agenda, unitarist authoritarian nature plays a key role on the satisfaction of AAFM employees because of their negotiation strategies and past pluralist experiences values. Over the past years, AAFM managers have pursued unitarists agenda regarding their employee perceptions for the sake of the interests of the employees. However, the underlying priorities in the unitarists agenda are economic generally. This means that outsourcing threat in the organization would be of employee concern thus thrusting this aspect might discourse into pluralistic debate within the organization for the purposes of resolving the competing interests.

Generally, pluralist regime enables organizational employees to view information aspect as a managerial accountability source and an organizational responsibility hence providing the organization with an intra-organizational competition. In as much as the core conflicts in an organization are likely to be aggravated by this particular group-based orientation, a pluralist organization gives organizations an opportunity to offer support on the organizational objectives and interests. As many practitioners would argue, conflicting aspects in such relationships are mostly based depending on the genuinely of different interests that generally assume a bargaining quality. This aspect is unlikely to attain equality especially through operational frameworks that are holistic. Instead, pluralist agendas depend on specific achievements, conflict resolution strategies and achievement of specific strategies. Additionally, pluralist resolution of conflict schemes would generally adjust towards mutual negotiation forms where organizational managers and employees tend to amend their requests for the purposes of achieving outcomes, which were agreeable. Alternatively, managerial positions which have unitarist framework and ways of thinking, in most cases, the negotiating ability tends to be limited by the operational agendas and business-based strategies.

In AAFM situation, the pluralist and unitarist positions tends to be conflict of purpose indicative whereby both the organizational employees and managers tend to prioritize specific organizational objectives without proper discussions of such arrangements. In this case, the organization preferring to the pluralist based negotiation framework, the organizational strike that was influenced by the employees was enacted for the purposes of challenging the organizational management to look into their objectives and outcomes. Enacting a unitarist-oriented management type, the organizational management dealt with the issue by being dictatorial to the organizational employees and threatened them with the possibility of denying them benefits and wages. The pluralist framework would highly depend on compromise and mutual agreements towards organizational activities while the unitarist framework would largely depend upon communication-driven aspects and different shared ideologies that mostly focus on the long-term organizational stability and performances in the organization.

Bibliography

Bacon, N., P. Blyton. “Co-Operation and Conflict in Industrial Relations: What are the Implications for Employees and Trade Unions?” The International Journal of Human Resource Management 10, no. 4 (1999): 638-654.

Brown, J.A. “Competing Ideologies in the Accounting and Industrial Relations Environment.” British Accounting Review 32, (2000): 43-75.

Calabuig, V., G. Olcina. “Commitment and Strikes in Wage Bargaining.” Labour Economics 7, (2000): 349-372.

Gall, G. “Industrial Conflict in the Engineering Construction Industry in Britain.” Construction Management and Economics 30, no. 7 (2012): 535-544.

Gennard, J., G. Judge. Employee Relations, London: CIPD, 2005.

Geraghty, T.M., T. Wiseman. “Conflict and Compromise: Changes in US Strike Outcomes, 1880 to 1945.” Explorations in Economic History 48, (2011): 591-537.

Gill, C. “Union Impact on the Effective Adoption of High Performance Work Practices.” Human Resource Management Review 19, (2009): 39-50.

Makela, H. “On the Ideological Role of Employee Reporting.” Critical Perspectives on Accounting, (2012): 1-19.

Mauleon, A., V.J. Vannetelbosch. “Market Competition and Strike Activity.” International Journal of Industrial Organization 21, (2003): 737-758.

Scheuer, S. “A Novel Calculus? Institutional Change, Globalization and Industrial Conflict in Europe.” European Journal of Industrial Relations 12, no. 2 (2006): 143-164.

Van Buren, H.J., M. Greenwod, C. Sheehan. “Strategic Human Resource Management and the Decline of Employee Focus.” Human Resource Management Review 21, (2011): 209-219.

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A turning point in life

Although I now have a career and a better life, looking back at my childhood events makes me realize how much my life has changed. Each individual has massive potential to make a remarkable turning point in his/her life (Ward 34). It always depends on the opportunity that crops up and how one exploits it (Ward 34). My life reached a turning point when I applied for an essay writing competition while in high school.

I was born in a family where the economic situation was not very stable. The family was made up of my mother and father, as a well as my two siblings. My father was an alcoholic and barely supported the young family since he was unemployed. As a result, achieving formal education alongside other basic needs posed an incredible challenge for me and my siblings. However, my mother used to do some manual work in order to educate my siblings and myself through high school. I remember the presence of my father would send chills down our little bodies as everyone feared him. On the other hand, it was ironical of him to keep telling me the benefits of reading and that he would be happy if I finished my education up to the university level. As the firstborn in the family, an enormous part of household chores fell on my shoulders alongside other responsibilities at home. My siblings were literary under my care. Although most of my time I enjoyed reading books whenever I got the opportunity, I could not see myself proceeding with the university education due to poverty in the family. The possibility of attaining this dream sank even more after my parents separated while I was still a young girl, after which my mother, two siblings and I had to relocate to another state and settled with our relatives. Initially, dropping out of school was inevitable and my mother forced me to do some volunteer works. Depression almost killed my mother but with time life had to move on.

While in high school, I knew my dreams of joining the university were crushed due to lack of fees and kept hoping that one day I would at least get a sponsor or even be lucky enough to be accepted for a scholarship. My biggest dream was to join the university and continue with my education and finally, settle down with a good career.

One day while in the school library, I bumped into an advertisement about an essay writing competition which had promised an attractive reward in addition to a University scholarship to the participants. Immediately I saw this advertisement, my heart leapt with joy and knew that my life was due to change forever if I participated. I believed in myself as a good writer and above all writing was my hobby. As a natural story teller, I often enjoyed the responses I received after narrating stories to some of my friends and family. Therefore, after briefly reading the directions on how to go about the competition I felt very comfortable and prayed that the prize and scholarship will be awarded to me ultimately. The editors required the entrants of the competition to write about moving personal experiences that had changed one’s life forever. I immediately rushed home and started planning on how to structure the story. Telling the story came naturally for me, and every word was flowing easily. I could not help feeling as if I was pouring my soul onto that paper. The writing process was more enjoyable especially considering that writing had been my hobby for a long time. In essence, filling the required five pages did not pose a serious challenge for me. In any case, pouring some details about my life (of course, mixed with some fictional details) breathed a new life in my soul. On the same note, this was a competition, and God knows that I really needed the funds. Even if I got the third position and prize, I undoubtedly could not have been so badly off.

The waiting period was the hardest for me. This was especially after learning that some of the people who had entered the competition had been writing for varied newsletters. Definitely, the chances of winning the competition or even coming close to the winner seemed to be from zero to none. However, waiting for the winner to be announced was all that we could do (or maybe some praying could help, as well). After some weeks of waiting, the winner of the competition was due to be announced. I was accompanied by my mother and two siblings to the hall where the winner was to be announced. All the winners were hopeful of winning the competition, and, of course, some seemed so sure of winning. I remember the apprehension that I felt after the name of the person whose essay ranked the third place was called out. Seeing as I was not the one, I knew then that my dream had been crushed yet again. I did not even need to pay attention to the announcement of the second and the first winners. After the cheers for the essay in the third place died down, the essay that took second place was announced. Coincidentally, the writer of that essay had a surname similar to mine. It goes without saying that millions of butterflies coursed through my tummy. And finally, the winner of the ultimate prize was announced. I could not believe my ears when my name was called out. For 16 full seconds, I could not rise up. The crowd was cheering and my mother had to lift me up so I could stand and head to receive my prize. Adding to the surprise was the presence of my dad, not only cheering with the crowd but coming up to the arena and giving me a bear hug. Suddenly, we were a family all over again.

This win is still etched in my mind. I am yet to believe or even see how I could have emerged the winner in such a crowded competition. This marked the turning point of my life. Of course, the money went a long way in catering for the needs of my family. However, what makes this the turning point of my life is the fact that it launched my writing career. I now had the self esteem to enter into other writing competitions (and win). In addition, it opened an opportunity for me as a guest writer in a local magazine, after which I climbed the ladder to become the assistant editor. Graduating from high school was undoubtedly within my reach, and the dream of getting to college was not farfetched either. Even better, worrying about my siblings was behind me as my family was back together again. Am I always grateful for that opportunity? Your guess is as good as mine.

Works cited

Ward, Koral. Augenblick: The Concept of the “decisive Moment” in 19th and 20th Century Western Philosophy. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate Pub, 2007. Print.

Topic: ABC COMPANY

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COMPANY PROFILE

ABC Company has been in function from 1999. The company was started by a husband and a wife team in Brisbane. The company has been preferred on specialist property sector to clients and its work places have been defined as well in excellent reputation. ABC has made it possible to come up with recruitment. For the past years it has helped shape career of many professionals as they partner with other multinational companies to enlarge the company.

The organization network consists of 100 staffs as well as having many offices in Australian states. However, in the last 3 years there have been struggles that have affected the economic growth. There has been complains from the clients concerning customer services, decline in successful job placements. There have also been conflicts among employees with management.

Scope of the company

In the last 3 years the company has struggled having effect on financial downturn within property sector. With an aim of making the ABC Company to rise in economic as well as having an excellent reputation has given the firm to provide ways of solving issues that describe the ways the employees as well as management ought to live in the organization.

ABC recruitment found it important to hire a Human Resource Manager that will enhance the progress of the company as well as facilitating order through implementation of ethics. The manager will enhance all goals are accomplished.

Values of the Organization

Creating knowledge of attitudes, values as well as behaviors in the organization.

Working and coordinating effectively as a team at work place.

Focusing on the knowledge as well as the competencies of the organization needs for the upcoming success.

Shape careers of many professionals in the company by making all team members becoming better in their performance.

Expectation regarding ethics

Ethics to be represented will contain information that concerns both the employees and the Management to enhance growth of the company in economy. Ethics will result to minimization of negative impact happening in the company. Returns to shareholders will be maximized.

Confidentiality Requirements

Team members and the management of ABC Company should consider interest along with rights of every member of the organization. All members of the organization are required to have intellectual as well as excellence in character. Employees as well the management of ABC Company is required to be attending seminars that concern the organization conduct to improve growth production of the company. Finally, all members should enhance growth of the company by ensuring hard work.

Consequences for breach of codes

Termination of the employment if one fails to perform his duties properly.

Failure to attend seminars arranged by the firm there will be a cut off 50% of monthly salary.

Laziness will be prohibited and member who fails to perform his duty in a fruitful way will be required to step down in his job for a period of one month.

Legislation

With consideration possibility of justifying the above restrictions the court of Australian state has offered to help the company meet his goals. The company has purposed to abide on the legislation of Australian.

A LETTER TO ALL EMPLOYEES OF ABC COMPANY

A MEMORANDUM

TO: ABC COMPANY EMPLOYEES

FROM: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER

DATE: 25TH November 2010.

RE: Code of Ethics

In the last 3 years the ABC Company has shown decline both operationally as well as in the industry sector in economy. All members have shown hard work. However, recently the organization has experienced shortcomings.

It is our initial expectation to sustain ABC Company to be productive and take account of additional financing. With this objective in mind, I look for every opportunity that is available to get rid of shutting down of the company. All members of ABC Company should learn to be polite to our clients to enhance good quality of customer service. This will enhance the client to obtain confidence in our company. All members are required to work hard. Laziness is prohibited

ABC Company has come up with ways that the firm will be using in conflict resolution. It has been noted that conflicts has been occurring between team members as well as management. If this occurs both teams should be willing to know the root issue why the conflict is occurring. Both parties should sit down and look at ways the problem should be solved. Each member of the organization should be willing to accept where he/she has wronged and be willing to apologize. All members should take the responsibility of solving conflicts in a decent manner.

The company will deal with unethical behavior within the place of work. Failure to following the above rules it will consequence to execution of employment of employees of ABC’S that will be permanent. There will be a cut off the salary for those who fail to follow the ethics. It is with this chance we are issuing this notice Please contact our offices if you have any question. I express gratitude for all your hard work on behalf of ABC Company. Aspiration you well in your upcoming activities.

References

Badiou, A (2001). Ethics: An essay on the understanding of business ethics. Pp 28, 53

Madsen, (2005). Examples of Ethics. New York. New York University Publishers

Willis, (1982). Skills of Writing a Memorandum. New York. New York Publishers

Definition of Culture

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The term culture holds several, different meanings to different people. For some individuals it might mean an appreciation if good music, literature, food or art. For others like biological scientists it might mean a colony of microorganisms growing in some nutrient medium in the lab. However, for behavioral scientists, especially anthropologists, culture can be defined as the whole range of pattern of human behavior that is learned. Edward Tylor, the pioneer English anthropologist in his book, first used the word to define such patterns. The anthropologist defined culture as that complex whole that includes belief, knowledge, law, art, custom, morals and any other habits and capabilities acquired by human beings as members of a community (Tylor, 1871). This is one of the most traditional definitions of culture that has since become the key focus of anthropology.

While culture is a strong and powerful tool for human survival, it is a fragile and complicated phenomenon, it is easily lost and it is constantly changing because in the minds of the people. The written languages, building, governments and other things made by humans are just the products of the phenomenon, but in themselves, they are not culture. It is for this reason that we cannot say that archeologists dig up pieces of culture when they do their excavations, the artifacts they find during their excavations of ancient people are only things and materials that reflect the cultural patterns of the ancient people or the things that were created through the cultural skills and knowledge of these people.

One can identify culture in urban plans and works of architecture. In today’s world, these two are excellent examples of culture and heritage in many cities. It takes people years to design and build buildings like these. People can tell what a society’s culture is or looks like by looking at different works of architecture and urban planning. For instance, it is easy to identify the work from the Renaissance period because the culture of the people from this period was marred with architectures adorned with magnificent oil paintings and glasses with different colors. Another example is the design of buildings in Washington DC. The buildings are short and uncomplicated but with clear design and structures. The skies are visible from the sidewalks, as exceedingly tall buildings do not harbor them. It is only culture that can result to such distinctive building styles.

Architecture and buildings is not the only thing that defines and illustrates culture. Diversity of people and their language and food is also another indication of culture, in diverse and complex societies like the US, for instance, where the residents come from different parts of the globe, people usually retain a set of their original cultures. As it follows, it is more likely that such people will develop and become part of a subculture in the new society. The shared traits of culture of subcultures differentiate them from the rest of the society. Examples of these subcultures in the US today include African Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans. Members from each of these subcultures share similar identities, language, food tradition and other cultural characteristics that originate from their ancestral experience and background. However, as the differences in culture between the subculture members and the mainstream culture disappear, the subcultures cease to exist except as people who claim to share a common ancestry. An example is like with the Irish and German Americans in the US.

Culture, therefore, has different meanings to different people. It might mean people from a common ancestry, food, knowledge and even skills of a certain group.

Reference

Tylor, E. (1871). Primitive culture. New York: J.P. Putnam’s Sons