Thursday, December 26, 2019

The Current Service Level Agreement - 1223 Words

Introduction After reviewing the current Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Finman Account Management, LLC, Datanal Inc, and Minertek, evidence was found that security standards necessary to protect all parties were not addressed within the body of document. The following information technology security standards are recommended to protect all parties involved and should be applied to the SLA in this case. For Finman Account Management, the chief concern is to provide guidelines within the SLA that address data protection, authorized use, sharing of data, and retention/destruction of data. Furthermore, Finman is devoted to protecting intellectual property, patents, and copyright information while also safeguarding physical†¦show more content†¦(6) â€Å"Appropriate technical and organizational measures shall be taken against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.† (Key Definitions of The D ata Protection Act | ICO, 2015). Authorized Use, Retention, Sharing, Destruction The primary focus of Finman’s corporate data strategy is to limit the retention, sharing, use and destruction by Minertek and Datanal. An IT alignment strategy will match each organization’s capabilities, resources, strengths, and risks to formulate strong goals for each partner to align. The standards and procedures proposed within ISO/IEC 20000 explain best practices for service management. ISO/IEC 20000 provides the approach for establishing best management practices and includes establishing policies and procedures to provide proper information assurance for data, cyber security awareness training and risk management. Cybersecurity awareness training will reduce the chances of risks occurring between the three parties engaging in any activity outside the best practices of the ISO/IEC 20000, while also mitigating risks to employees and networks. Once training has been completed, each company will be responsible for th e unauthorized retention, sharing, use and destruction of Finman’s corporate data. Furthermore, theShow MoreRelatedThe Dispute Between The Ministry Of Health And Long Term Care And The Ontario Medical Services Agreement1229 Words   |  5 Pagesthe physician services agreement. Background: The current issue is that physicians have now gone three years without a formal contract with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. An agreement has not been made due to opposing views on budget costs. The tentative physician services agreement was rejected on August 15th, 2016 by the OMA. 55% of the OMA members voted, and of the voting group, 63.1% voted against the physician services agreement. (CBC 2016) The rejected agreement included a physician’sRead MoreIn This Report I Will Be Identifying The Different Types1237 Words   |  5 PagesIn this report I will be identifying the different types of trade, discussing the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in global trade and how specific trade agreements operate and their impact on international trade. 2 Types of trade Free trade is the minimal amount of tariffs, quotas and taxes to allow countries to trade â€Å"freely†. The opposite of free trade is known as protectionism; the practice of shielding a country s domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports. 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To further study the current situation of Chinese education exports, this article will review the basicRead MoreTft2 Task3 Essay1348 Words   |  6 PagesTFT2 Task 2 Thomas Garner Student ID: 336227 Information Security Modification Recommendations Service Level Agreement Between Finman Account Management, LLC, Datanal Inc., and Minertek, Inc. After careful review of the current Service Level Agreement(SLA) â€Å"A Service Level Agreement for Provvision of Specified IT Services Between Finman Account Management, LLC, Datanal, Inc., and Minertek, Inc.† we have determined that standard Information Technology security measures have not beenRead MoreImpacts Of The Regional Trading Blocs1192 Words   |  5 Pagescreation of the economic regional blocs aims to minimize the obstacles between nations that share the same geographic border and to facilitate the circulations of goods and services. In fact, the regional trading blocs differ in terms of political structure and economic objectives, but the rapidity of trading goods and services within the different regions around the globe wouldn t be possible without establishing unified political and economic units. For example, the European Union (EU) as otherRead MoreProcurement Strategy And The Contracting Of Manned Guarding Services1696 Words   |  7 Pages The main ingredients of an effective procurement strategy with reference to the contracting of manned guarding services. Name Date A procurement strategy is an important tool in the procurement of goods or services. The strategy serves as a guide in the procurement process and should be updated regularly to ensure it satisfies the needs of the organisation. A strategy is defined as a plan selected to bring a desired future. It involves planning and ordering of resources so as to realizeRead MoreCase Analysis Of Cloud Networking1340 Words   |  6 Pagesensure open communication channels for an organization to adequately operate on the global scale. Crowd hosting allows the use of more than one server to reduce downtimes in the case of a mechanical malfunction. An organization can sign a services agreement with a cloud hosting vendor to secure access to the technology. As with any purchase, business leaders must ensure the chosen vendor is the best option for the organization. For the purposes of this decision, I have chosen to compare productsRead MoreUsing Problem Solving For Address Challenges927 Words   |  4 Pagesdaily basis. URS (An AECOM Company) Federal Services provides program management and technical services to the US Government, and engineering design, planning, and construction services for public and private businesses. URS also provides technology test and evaluation (TE) support, with the US Military as one of its largest customers (URS, 2015). The TE group serves as an independent evaluator for new and emerging technologies. As part of the TE services, URS conducts technology assessments and

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible - 821 Words

The idea of those who have sinned can be cruelly punished is one that that is both emitted in the Scarlet Letter and The Crucible. Both literary works share similar ideas, but also have quite a few differences. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the writer, utilizes symbolism for the scarlet letter, to be a symbol of Hester’s shame. The embroidered â€Å"A† on Hester’s bosom symbolizes the sin of adultery which she had committed. Not only was the sign of embarrasment used but also the scaffold had great importance in the Scarlet Letter. The scaffold was used as place of humiliation and guilt, where the criminal was put in a place to be viewed and judged by the whole town, ultimately, being judged by God. In addition, Pearl, Hester’s daughter was a constant reminder of the sin Hester had done. The town viewed Pearl as the devil’s offspring, due to the fact that she was born out of sin and not real love. In all, symbolism helps readers see the character’s e motions and realize that symbols form a person. Not only symbolism but imagery too, has a critical role in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne is successfully able to describe in detail the prison when it is first described in the beginning of the novel. From the door that is â€Å"heavily timbered with oak† to the building with a â€Å"beetle-browed and gloomy front,† Hawthorne successfully describes the place of darkness and sin. Oddly enough, in front of the prison, there is a rose bush. The rose bush can be used to describe a concept of peace orShow MoreRelatedThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter1130 Words   |  5 Pagespeople in society, there is a certain set of logical unspoken rules that are not written rules. The understanding and following of these rules will allow you to belong in most groups. Unspoken rules are what make a group who they are. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter both have perfect examples for the relationship between unspoken rules and belonging. Also, these works take place in the 17th century around the same area. This creates almost the same setting for both stories where the unspoken rulesRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter And The Crucible1169 Words   |  5 Pagesof the different ideologies and beliefs of the time period. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible both take place at a time in our nation’s history that is much studied for its significance. These were times when America was just beginning to become colonized. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible teach the readers vital information about the time period in which these texts take place. To begin with, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible relay vital information to the reader about how rule-breakers wereRead MoreThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter1322 Words   |  6 PagesThe Crucible and The Scarlet Letter have several commodities in common. A basic summary of The Crucible is, it’s about a village, Salem, in the 1600’s, wherein witchery is loose and several conflicted souls must be captured, purified, confessed, or hung. The attempt to dispose of all witchcraft was tampered with by citizens of Salem being dishonest and deceitful. Lots of the deception stemmed from the jealousy, vengeance, and other personal vendettas. The Scarlet Letter summarized is that it is aboutRead MoreThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter1337 Words   |  6 PagesThe Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are two literary works that helps to shape themes for generations of inquiry. The books emphasize the themes stated all throughout the deposition of the story. They were also books t hat spoke about a messages as the social issues were taking place during their time periods known as, ‘The Red Scare’ and ‘Puritan Takeover.’ The two books are especially interesting in the way they display these themes, while going about them differently. The Crucible focuses on theRead MoreThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter2065 Words   |  9 PagesPuritanism as well. Both Miller and Hawthorne take negative stances against Puritanism. This can be seen in their works The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter deals with the Puritan intolerance of those who committed a sin. In Hester Prynne’s situation, her adultery with Reverend Dimmesdale seemed to have sparked a particular hatred for her within her community. The Crucible deals with the Puritan fight against witchcraft. Many people in the town are accused of being witches and are forcedRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter And The Crucible1502 Words   |  7 PagesThe Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two stories both set in the early days of the Massachusetts colony. Both of these stories have many similarities between them, including setting, situations, and conflict. The two stories were also very different. The effects of sin on the characters, how they deal with their sin, and the consequences of their actions are different in each story. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are different works and although they deal with similar conflicts the consequencesRead MoreComparing the Crucible and the Scarlet Letter1071 Words   |  5 Pagesbooks. Two selections that go into detail about some of the different aspects of the Puritan people are The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. These two particular writers who wrote of Puritan times conveyed, in their text, the similarities of religion, punishment, and adultery in the Puritan community of 17th century. br brBriefly, The Crucible looks at some the actual historical events of the Salem witch trials. It was witchcraft that the story was setRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter and the Crucible Comparison948 Words   |  4 PagesSkyler Vincent English 2333 Amanda Cuellar April 04, 2012 In The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, they are both known to be a part of the Puritan religion. The puritans are known to be very strict. Often people are put to cruel punishments for mistakes or sins they had committed. The actions they take to â€Å"punish† a person are extreme. The Puritans act and seem so committed to their religion. The people seem â€Å"Holy† but you never really know what happens behind closed doors. The Puritan religionRead MoreScarlet Letter And The Crucible Comparison732 Words   |  3 PagesThe Comparison of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible Both in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, women play an important role in the story. Whether it’s for the good of the town or for the worse is the main difference in the stories. Both take a different view on women, and make them the main driving feature of the story, leading to be an interesting comparison when put side by side. In The Crucible, the women of the storyRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter vs. the Crucible Essay703 Words   |  3 PagesThe edgy tale of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is comparable in many ways to Arthur Miller’s haunting play The Crucible. Both are set in Puritan New England in the 17th century and revolve around the harsh law enforcement of the time. However, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman as she deals with her heavy Puritan punishment, whereas The Crucible follows hysteria as it spreads throughout an entire town. Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, was found guilty for

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The Shift of Economic Power from East to West Essay Sample free essay sample

In this essay I will speak about how the universe power has shifted from the E to the West. If we see today’s modern universe. we would be astonished and fascinated as to how the universe power has shifted from the great E to the West. What are the chief ground and factors that lead to the displacement in the power? Excuse me. if I have condemned the cognition and ideas of the great minds. but I am composing this essay with a limited cognition of mine merely for the academic intent. and nil more. The universe that we lived in has been shaped through the changeless numbering of events and activities which if we logically deduce are really absorbing. Though it might look undistinguished and historical to speak about the male monarchs and their states of the ancient universe. but it would be prejudice if we forecast our hereafter by overlooking these facts. We will write a custom essay sample on The Shift of Economic Power from East to West Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As to my cognition. of all the civilisation of pre-modern universe. the great power resided with China prior to 1500BC. which was so the Ming dynasty. This peculiar dynasty had bigger land mass. more modern and sophisticated engineering along with the highest cultural groups of that clip. Even the westerners were really funny and unqualified in comparing to them. It is said that many of the finds that were introduced during the 18th and nineteenth century in the Europe were priory. enforced and eradicated by the Ming’s ( i. e. paper currency. Fe ore metallurgy. irrigation methodological analysis. Ship edifice etc ) . The inquiry comes as to why did they halt? If we see the history of China. it has ever been a Confucian state with high bureaucratism. They were more secularist and stiff with the province policies. When they found that people were profiting more from the trade and the new finds. which indirectly threatened the province policy they closed all the boundary lines an d ties. so as to be more self trust. equal and better their ego dependence. China cut itself up for about many centuries. This made it distant signifier the other portion of the universe and it slugged behind in the race. After the autumn of the E came the rise of the West. the so called Industrial revolution began during the mid of 1700’s because of the series of the event that took topographic point in Great Britain. It began in Great Britain. and so later spread throughout Western Europe. Northern America. Japan. and finally the remainder of the universe. Assorted contingent events took topographic point. giving more advantage to great Britain i. e. Britain had a great geographical advantage with political autonomy. with high societal mobility and with the innovation of steam engines and scientific revolution. it went on to go a ace power neer earlier. By the terminal of the 16th and the beginning of the seventeenth century it had colonized about half of the universe. And with the development of steam engines. railroads. ocean traffic. electrification. fertilisers it had an absolute advantage in about every sector. And because it had settlements all over the universe helped in the expense of the huge cognition in a really short period of clip. Then during the 1900’s we saw the displacement of the power from Europe to United States of America. United States of America itself was ab initio derived from 13 British settlements. It was one of the first states in the universe to win in the colonial war of independency. Since so United States ( federal constitutional democracy ) has been turning at the changeless rate of 1. 7 % except during the clip of great depression. But Great depression and World War II has besides played a really critical function in the development of United States of America. Here is how the narrative goes ; Great depression began with the Wall Street clang on October 1929. because of legion factors such as ill-regulated market that permitted overoptimistic loans by Bankss and investors. high consumer debts. deficiency of high growing in new industries. inordinate bad debts in existent estates. and the deficiency of assurance amongst the consumer. The extremum of the crisis when economic system reached stone underside was during 1932-33. unemployment rose by more than 20 % . Herbert Hoover lost the 1932 presidential election to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The memory of Depression besides shaped modern theories of economic sciences and resulted in many alterations in how the authorities dealt with economic downswings. such as the usage of stimulation bundles. Keynesian economic sciences. and Social Security. Harmonizing to me World War II had played the function of the accelerator for the recovery. Large resources were mobilized and employment increased due to the defence demand. Government disbursement increased by more than two creases due to the war menu production. Multipliers consequence took topographic point. and so the economic system rejuvenated. Since so America has been turning invariably with a strong financial policy and a prudent pecuniary policy.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Key Success Factors of the Global Online Fashion Business

Introduction ASOS has developed greatly since its inception in year 2000. In its early years of operation, the online fashion store was dealing with products that had been inspired by celebrities such as ephemera and other design products (Alexander, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Key Success Factors of the Global Online Fashion Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Adoption of growth strategy and launching of Marketplace in its website has significantly increased its potential. Moreover, its sales volume has also expanded overseas (ZavrÃ… ¡nik, 2007). Over the years, ASOS online fashion business has grown tremendously. This has been attributed to its knowledge on consumer behaviour. As an online company, it has been keen in identifying how groups or individual customers make decisions regarding their quantity of purchases and where to buy them from (Ashworth et al., 2006; Grant Graeme, 2005 ; Walker, 2010). Its current designing skills and competences have made the company to be a leading online fashion retailer in UK (Osarenkhoe, 2009; Walker, 2011). Besides, the online retailer employs efficient customer support and engagement, better presentation of its products and design choice. These are some of the strategies the company is applying in order to be ahead of its rivals like Harvey Nichole. In addition, it has endeavoured to offer effective and efficient services to its customers. In its online site, it launches approximately 5000 new product lines each month, offers an equal number of own label styles and designer wear from collaboration with other fashion industries and independent designers (Evans, 2011; Osarenkhoe, 2009; Walker, 2010). The company is continually seeking to maintain the quality its products to match the present fashion needs of customers. In order to achieve this strategy, the retailer is ensuring that its products are up-to-date and have vibran t life cycle (Nelson Paek, 2006). The latter method puts into account the various stages which products go through. Depending on the choice, taste, preference and trends, products may exhibit ether short or long life cycles (Grant Graeme, 2005). The Nature Of Management Issue The management at ASOS has put into consideration the need to understand the needs, behavioural variables and consumer characteristics to evaluate purchase decisions of its customers. The company has put in place serious consumer engagement through the use of blogs on a regular basis.Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, ASOS Life forum has been instrumental in reaching out for both prospective and active customers. One of the merits of this form is that it allows consumer interaction especially on matters pertaining to the products of the company. In order to make it a long term strategic pl an that can be achieved easily, the company has instituted plans that will rejuvenate its marketing skills. For instance, increasing the attractiveness of its bran is one of the top priorities of the company. Various outreach channels such as forums, Frequently Asked Questions and blogs have been used to improve consumer interaction with the industry (Alexander, 2010; Lu, Karpova Fiore, 2011). These needs can be met through engagement of consumers in order to understand their feeling, beliefs, attitudes knowledge and motivation. Besides, the company is looking for other ways and means of understanding how psychographics, marketing mix, social class and culture can influence the behaviour of consumers. However, the company has an advantage over its competitor Nichole Harvey in terms of making quick sales due to its lean profile (Ashworth et al., 2006; Murphy, R. 1998; Walker, 2010). Hence, its speed in response to changes in the market trend is high just as its ability to lose produ cts that have lost fickle fashion demands (Dias, 2003). Some of the research questions that will be used will include: Is ASOS a good example of online fashion business? What are the needs of the online fashion business? What online fashion business consumers expect? What are the weaknesses of the online fashion business? How to face it? What are the key success factors of the online fashion business? This research proposal will seek to attain the following objectives at the end of the study: Identify both external and internal factors that influence fashion industry Identify ethical issues affecting the industry and its sustainability Identify the needs, strengths, weaknesses and unique selling strategies of the industry SWOT analysis Strengths ASOS has continued to display its strength as the leading fashion retailer in UK. Althugh fashion trends keep changing and are shorter in life cycles, ASOS has always made brilliant sales since its products have longer life cycles (Ashwo rth et al., 2006; See appendix II).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Key Success Factors of the Global Online Fashion Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is normally achieved by a sequence that its clothing products go through and which include making products available to customers through website invitations. Its homepage offers links to new products and which receive heavy promotion (Grant Graeme, 2005; Hagman Polsa, 2011; Karise Quinn, 2011; Marciniak Bruce, 2004). Additionally, the company has experienced rapid growth in terms of sales and profits for a considerably long period of time. It has expanded internationally with the aim of marketing itself using newly devised strategies. It has come up with a program that allows its customers to resell unwanted items through the new ASOS Marketplace (Barnes Lea-Greenwood, 2010; Laohapensang, 2009; Walker, 2011; ZavrÃ… ¡nik, 2007). Moreover , the online retailer has captured the market by acquiring over 3.5 million registered users as well as introducing about1,300 new products on a weekly basis. To date, it owns slightly over 36,000 beauty, accessory and clothing lines (Alexander, 2010; Carrigan, Marinova Szmigin, 2005; Dias, 2003; Evans, 2011). ASOS has a large international market for selling its products. Hence, it is capable of clearing its stock in good time, extend its product life cycle as well as create new products (Grant Graeme, 2005; Karise Quinn, 2011; Lu, Karpova Fiore, 2011). The online retailer also makes its product information to be available to customers through promotions. It also develops buying pattern knowledge and demography for its customers through its customer relationship management prgram (Nelson Paek, 2006; ZavrÃ… ¡nik, 2007). Weakness ASOS weakness lies in the distribution sector that fails to meet the needs of the market (Dias, 2003; Gam, 2011; Murphy, 1998). This failure affects ad vocacy and loyalty of customers which is the main aim of engaging consumers. On the same note, heavy discount stock caused by distribution problem plays a key role in lowering gains in terms of profits (Osarenkhoe, 2009; Walker, 2011). Additionally, the company faces low sales in some seasons forcing it to operate limited warehouses. The impact is that stocks go slowly and as a result profit making margin is relatively on the lower side (Hagman Polsa, 2011).Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Opportunities ASOS intends to create a strong run of sales by allowing its independent and smaller designers to sell their products through the company’s website. Through its ASOS Marketplace initiative, it will increase traffic to its site by allowing customers to resell unwanted items through the site (Ashworth et al., 2006; Lu, Karpova Fiore, 2011). Moreover, ASOS intends to boost its performance by launching Fashion Finder, a new feature that will expand its market in oversees by allowing customers to search for both the brands in ASOS and those outside ASOS (Laohapensang, 2009; Marciniak Bruce, 2004). This together with the language website it intends to launch will drive their sales further and increase the pace at which it sales its products (Karise Quinn, 2011). Threats The Company faces a threat to its brand name being short-changed by a rival retailer in Germany (Barnes Lea-Greenwood, 2010; Gam, 2011; Marciniak Bruce, 2004). Anson intends to block ASOS from doi ng cloth sales in Germany through legal procedures. The claim that the names of the two companies are almost similar is indeed a threat to a brand name that has captured the market (Carrigan, Marinova Szmigin, 2005; Dias, 2003). According to the management at ASOS, this close similarity in brand name may cause confusion among customers. Visual Analysis Distribution in organization plays an important role in enhancing industry performance and sustaining competitive advantage (Nelson Paek, 2006). The problem of distribution affecting ASOS can be tackled through organizing the functions of customer care, consumer engagement, transportation, inventory control and management initiatives (Alexander, 2010). In consumer engagement, organized forums, FAQ’s, product review and advertising will help ASOS to effectively improve its distribution channel. Efficient and effective distribution system eliminates inventory, effort and time wastage. Customers’ needs are satisfactorily met when they receive their products in good time (Grant Graeme, 2005; Holmlund, Hagman Polsa, 2011; Laohapensang, 2009). To achieve proper distribution, there is need to synchronize the industry’s supply chain with the demands of customers through functions such as distribution, procurement and production. Additionally, the problem can be mitigated when chain supply partners form a collaborative effort (Lu, Karpova Fiore, 2011). This will reduce stock-outs, lead time, costs, inventory levels, and conversely increase the accuracy of information and service to the customers (Ashworth et al., 2006; Nelson Paek, 2006). Area Standard delivery times in working days (monday – friday) Standard costs Express delivery times in working days (monday – friday) Express costs Americas From 7 days From $6.00 From 3 days From $12.00 Europe From 5 days From â‚ ¬6.00 From 2 days From â‚ ¬12.00 Rest of the World From 6 days  £10.50 From 3 days  £20.00 The oretical Input In order to answer the research questions, a fashion adoption theory will be used. It will be able to explain the ASOS business environment, its fashion influences to consumer needs, choice, decision making and use of products offered (Alexander, 2010). ASOS is a good company since it is aware of the current needs and expectations of its customers. As a fashion designer, the company puts into consideration factors that motivate and caters for the needs of its customers such as physical profile, socioeconomic characteristics, sex and age (Barnes Lea-Greenwood, 2010; Lu, Karpova Fiore, 2011; Murphy, 1998). Additionally, in its decision making process, it is guided by social and psychological forces to influence fashion decisions that meet the demands in the market. These forces include fashion marketing systems, socio-cultural developments, lifestyle, social influence, psychological identity and cognitive orientation (Hagman Polsa, 2011; Karise Quinn, 2011; Laohapen sang, 2009; Walker, 2010). Moreover, in choosing the best fashion for its customers, the company considers the perception customers have on certain products (Alexander, 2010; Ashworth et al., 2006; Barnes Lea-Greenwood, 2010; Dias, 2003; Evans, 2011; Grant Graeme, 2005). It is important to understand that consumer perceptions tremendously affect their awareness on fashion. ASOS establishes the interest of the consumers, create awareness and identifies the decisions on evaluation and purchasing that they have (Walker, 2011). Needs of an online fashion business Most importantly, a good online business should be in a position to understand the degree of operation and interaction in order to meet the needs of consumers. To begin with, it is imperative to investigate and explore social issues that may potentially affect business operations alongside creating product awareness. This direct influence on consumers when making purchases (McColl Moore, 2011). Therefore, actions such as dis posal, use, decision, alternative identification and evaluation need to be applied to meet the needs of consumers (Laohapensang, 2009; Murphy, 1998). Online fashion businesses need to understand that some of the factors that influence the decisions of the consumers to adopt and purchase fashion products include desire to adjust to changes in the society, psychological and social needs (Marciniak Bruce, 2004; Osarenkhoe, 2009; Walker, 2010). To meet these needs, fashion leaders compete in developing new fashions, shop frequently, seek information related to fashion and use more money to buy clothes (Lu, Karpova Fiore, 2011). Therefore, these leaders of fashion businesses need to access fashion information, be exposed to social forces and know how to time fashion adoption in order to meet the demands in the market (Carrigan, Marinova Szmigin, 2005; Gam, 2011; Hagman Polsa, 2011; McColl Moore, 2011). Also, knowledge of products will influence fashion businesses to increase their k nowledge on EFC, adopt new methods and use this to their advantage in the market to motivate and encourage consumers in making purchasing decisions (Nelson Paek, 2006). Expectations of consumers Today, the market place is filled with green products bearing in mind that consumers have been made aware of products and the environmental impacts they are associated with. Therefore, consumers seek products which favour them and would much willingly pay more to have green products (Evans, 2011; Gam, 2011; Grant Graeme, 2005). As a result, most fashion companies seek a friendly strategy that takes care of the environment. Consumers have also become environmentally conscious (Ashworth et al., 2006). One of the green imitative programs embraced by ASOS is environmentally friendly clothing (EFC). It has been recognized as a need among fashion seekers since it does not only fit as a social component but it also satisfies basic human needs (Karise Quinn, 2011; Laohapensang, 2009; Murphy, 1998 ; Nelson Paek, 2006; Walker, 2010). Consumer needs are influenced by opinions, motivations and lifestyles. They do recreational shopping and attend promotional events guided by the need to obtain a fashionable product that reflects their recreational and social identities (Marciniak Bruce, 2004; Osarenkhoe, 2009). Additionally, consumers have interests to appear well and therefore this heightens their expectations in the fashion market to get a product that will satisfy their needs (McColl Moore, 2011; Walker, 2011). Secondary data Secondary data will be obtained from two broad methods. These are: Quantitative Qualitative Quantitative This will comprise various data bases which contain information on online business and especially clothing retail business. Some of the resource materials for quantitative analysis of this research study will include published books, per reviewed journals, newspapers, magazines and credible websites. Qualitative Although empirical research is not the primary methodology for this study, observation, field notes, focus groups transcripts as well as structured and semi structured interviews will form the better part of secondary data and qualitative analysis. Information for this research will be gathered from secondary sources which will include books, journals and magazines. The researcher will use literature sources to examine other fashion industries, their characteristics, ongoing debates and challenges faced by similar business operations. Theories and strategies that have been used successfully in accordance with the literature will be examined and measured in relation to the operations of ASOS (Appendix I). A conceptual framework will be developed from the literature analysis on how to cope up with challenging fashion business issues and to balance operations of the business with customer demands. The Value of the Project The study has investigated and identified critical elements of performance within the context of fashion industry. Issues surrounding online fashion business like consumer engagement challenges, strengths and weaknesses and how to resolve the associated problems have been tackled. Generally, the research study will provide a strategic approach to overcoming weaknesses in high performing firms such as Harvey Nicole (Holmlund, Hagman, Polsa, 2011). The strategies that have been adopted in the literature review will potentially provide solutions to both the the value chain and in the operations of the Harvey Nicole designer fashion business. Putting into consideration the needs, tastes and preferences of the customers through fashion labels places the fashion business at a position where it can make better sales and enjoy profits. Future studies should offer broader explanation on financial and operational measures that will give more understanding on the impacts in terms of success in performance and output. It is also important to suggest that further research need to be conduc ted on descriptive study, annual sales volume and other characteristics of the business. Timetable Research timetable References Ashworth, C. J. et al. 2006. â€Å"Web-weaving† An approach to sustainable e-retail and online advantage in lingerie fashion marketing. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management. 34, 497-512. Alexander, N. 2010. Consumer receptiveness to international retail market entry. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management. 38, 160-172. Barnes, L. Lea-Greenwood, G. 2010. Fast fashion in the retail store environment. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management 38, 760-772. Carrigan, M., Marinova, S. Szmigin, I. 2005. Ethics and international Marketing Research background and challenges. International Marketing Review, 22, 481- 493. Dias, L. P. 2003. Generational buying motivations for fashion. Journal of fashion marketing, 7, 78- 86. Evans, M. 2011. Consumer behaviour towards fashion. European journal of marketing. 27, 1-10. Gam, H. J. 2011. Are fashion-conscious consumers more likely to adopt eco-friendly clothing? Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management.15, 178-194. Grant, I. J. Graeme, R. S. 2005. Buying behaviour of â€Å"tweenage† girls and key societal communicating factors influencing their purchasing of fashion clothing Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. 9, 450-467. Holmlund, M., Hagman, A. Polsa, P. 2011. An exploration of how mature women buy clothing: empirical insights and a model. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. 15,108- 123. Karise, H. Quinn, B. 2011. Identifying the characteristics of small specialist international retailers. European Business Review. 23, 314-327. Laohapensang, O. 2009. Factors influencing internet shopping behaviour: a survey of consumers in Thailand. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 13, 501-513. Lu, Y. Karpova, E. E. Fiore, A. M. 2011. Factors influencing international fashion retailers’ entry mode choic e. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. 15, 58-75. Marciniak, R. Bruce, M. 2004. Identification of UK fashion retailer use of Web sites. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management. 32, 386-393. McColl, J. Moore, C. 2011. An exploration of fashion retailer own brand strategies. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management.15, 91-108. Murphy, R. 1998. Case study: Schuh – Clothing for Feet on the WWW. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management. 26, 336–339. Nelson, M. R. Paek, H. 2006. A content analysis of advertising in a global magazine across seven countries. Implications for global advertising strategies. International Marketing Review. 24, 64-87. Osarenkhoe, A. 2009. An integrated framework for understanding the driving forces behind non- sequential process of internationalization among firms. Business Process Management Journal. 15, 286-317. Walker, S. 2010. Book retailing on the Internet. Market Assessment 2010. 4, 4-181. Walk er, S. 2011. Clothing retailing. Market Report 2011. 10-134. ZavrÃ… ¡nik, B. 2007. Critical Success Factors for International Fashion Retailers Entering Foreign Market. Fibres textiles in Eastern Europe. 15, 13-18. This research paper on Key Success Factors of the Global Online Fashion Business was written and submitted by user Muhammad S. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

History of LEGO -- Everyones Favorite Building Blocks

History of LEGO Everyone's Favorite Building Blocks The small, colorful bricks that encourage a childs imagination with their multitude of building possibilities have spawned two movies and Legoland theme parks. But more than that, these simple building blocks keep children as young as 5 engaged in creating castles, towns and space stations and anything else their creative minds can think of. This is the epitome of the educational toy wrapped up in fun. These attributes have made LEGO an icon in the toy world. Beginnings The company that makes these famous interlocking bricks started as a small shop in Billund, Denmark. The company was established in 1932 by master carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, who was aided by his 12-year-old son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. It made wooden toys, stepladders, and ironing boards. It wasnt until two years later that the business took the name of LEGO, which came from the Danish words LEg GOdt, meaning play well. Over the next several years, the company grew exponentially. From just a handful of employees in the early years, LEGO had grown to 50 employees by 1948. The product line had grown as well, with the addition of a LEGO duck, clothes hangers, a Numskull Jack on the goat, a plastic ball for babies and some wooden blocks. In 1947, the company made a huge purchase that was to transform the company and make it world-famous and a household name. In that year, LEGO bought a plastic injection-molding machine, which could mass produce plastic toys. By 1949, LEGO was using this machine to produce about 200 different kinds of toys, which included automatic binding bricks, a plastic fish and a plastic sailor. The automatic binding bricks were the predecessors of the LEGO toys of today. Birth of the LEGO Brick In 1953, the automatic binding bricks were renamed LEGO bricks. In 1957, the interlocking principle of LEGO bricks was born, and in 1958, the stud-and-coupling system was patented, which adds significant stability to built pieces. And this  transformed them into the LEGO bricks we know today. Also in 1958, Ole Kirk Christiansen passed away and his son Godtfred became head of the LEGO company. By the early 1960s, LEGO had gone international, with sales in Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, and Lebanon. Over the next decade, LEGO toys were available in more countries, and they came to the United States in 1973. LEGO Sets In 1964, for the first time, consumers could buy LEGO sets, which included all the parts and instructions to build a particular model. In 1969, the DUPLO series, bigger blocks for smaller hands, was introduced for the 5-and-under set. LEGO later introduced themed lines of LEGO. They include town (1978), castle (1978), space (1979), pirates (1989), Western (1996), Star Wars (1999) and Harry Potter (2001). Figures with movable arms and legs were introduced in 1978. By 2015, LEGO toys were sold in more than 140 countries. Since the middle of the 20th century, these small plastic bricks have sparked the imagination of children around the world, and LEGO sets have a strong hold on their place at the top of the list of the worlds most popular toys.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

John Hopkins in his article, Constitution of Essay Example

John Hopkins in his article, Constitution of Essay Example John Hopkins in his article, Constitution of Essay John Hopkins in his article, Constitution of Essay A beneficiary under a trust is a voluntary unless he has provided valuable consideration. [ 1 ] Where a gift is made, the donee will ever be a voluntary as it is by definition made without consideration. The traditional just axiom is that equity will non help a voluntary. [ 2 ] This by and large means that where a gift is made amiss, equity will non enable the intended donee to claim the gift under a trust. However, there are exclusions to the regulation. This essay will see these exclusions and the extent to which the regulation has developed from equity will non help a volunteer to a place of equity will non help a voluntary if, in making so, it would mend the effects of a manque donor’s folly . The taking instance in this country isMilroy V Lord[ 3 ] where a voluntary title which purported to delegate 50 portions to Samuel Lord on trust for Milroy. Lord was already moving as Milroy’s agent under a power of lawyer. The formalities of the portion transportation were non complied with. Milroy hence sought to set up that a trust had been declared. It was held that an uneffective transportation does non represent a declaration of trust without at that place being a clear purpose to make a trust. Furthermore, if a voluntary colony is to be valid and effective, the trustor must hold done everything which was necessary to be done to reassign the belongings and render the colony adhering upon him. [ 4 ] As the portions had non been transferred, no trust was created and no gift made. The instance ofMilroy V Lordtherefore provides that for the colony to be adhering there must be either an outright transportation, a declaration of ego as legal guardian, or a transportation of belongings to a 3rd party as legal guardian. The facts ofJones V Lock[ 5 ] were that a male parent produced a check collectible to himself and said Look you here, I give this to babe ; it is for himself and placed the check in the baby’s manus. He so took the check back saying that he was traveling to set it off for him. It was held that there had been no effectual gift because no valid transportation had occurred. Furthermore, it was held that a failed gift can non be construed to be a valid declaration of trust. It was said that the important rule is that an proprietor must non be deprived of his belongings unless, by doing a valid gift or trust, he has demonstrated the earnestness of his purpose to dispose of the benefit of his belongings. [ 6 ] However, where the belongings is vested in the legal guardians in fortunes outside their capacity as legal guardians, the trust may be constituted, even though the donees are voluntaries [ 7 ] (Re Ralli’s Will Trusts[ 8 ] ) . Other exclusions include the regulation inStrong V Bird[ 9 ] andDonationes Mortis Causa. As these exclusions are uncommon, the chief exclusion and development every bit set out below will be the focal point of this piece. The instance ofRe Rose[ 10 ] demonstrates the rule that where a giver has done everything they can to reassign rubric to another but that straight-out trust has non been completed, an just involvement will hold passed, even where the beneficiary is a voluntary. [ 11 ] This rule is hence an exclusion to the general regulation that equity will non help a voluntary and is based upon the unfairness of renegue oning on a promise one time the giver has purported to reassign rubric by making everything necessary for him to make. The rule inRe Rosehas late been extended. InT Choithram International SA V Pagarani, [ 12 ] a adult male lying on his deathbed sought to declare an inter vivos trust over his belongings. The settlor’s purpose was to go one of nine legal guardians, but he failed to reassign legal rubric to all nine legal guardians and as a effect, under the ordinary jurisprudence of trusts, the trust would non hold been validly constituted. The Court of Appeal therefore held that he had neither efficaciously vested the belongings in the legal guardians, nor did his words of gift render him a legal guardian. Furthermore the tribunal will non give a benevolent building so as to handle uneffective words of straight-out gift as taking consequence as if the giver had declared himself a legal guardian for the donee . In the words of Hopkins, the Court of Appeal decided the affair on the footing that equity will non help a volunteer or perfect an imperfect gift . [ 13 ] In leting the entreaty, the Privy Council accepted the axioms but added that equity will non endeavor officiously to get the better of a gift . The concluding for keeping a trust was that the trustor had done all that was necessary to represent a trust, by declaring himself as legal guardian. His words that he would give’ could merely so intend I give to the legal guardians of the foundation trust title to be held by them on the trusts of the foundation trust deed . [ 14 ] The instance ofChoithrammay hence be taken to be support for Hopkins’ statement that that the tribunals have left behind the well-known just axiom equity will non help a voluntary and have reframed it as equity will non help a voluntary if, in making so, it would mend the effects of a manque giver s folly. This is because, in bothRe RoseandChoithramthere was no folly in the sense that the giver had non done all that was necessary and hence, on the footing of the reformulated axiom the trusts were justly held. Conversely, in bothJones V LockandMilroy V Lord, the giver had non done all that was necessary, and was hence moving in folly. However, this is non the terminal of the developments. InPennington V Waine[ 15 ] A owned 1500 of the 2000 portions in C Ltd. She instructed P, a spouse in C Ltd hearers, that she wished to reassign 400 portions to her nephew H and that he was to go a manager. A signed the portion and P placed it on the company’s file . A made her will a short clip later willing the remainder of her shareholding but doing no reference of the 400 portions transferred to H. Under the traditional jurisprudence, as seen above, the gift would hold been complete merely one time the signed stock transportation signifier and the portion certification had been handed to the beneficiary. The Court of Appeal in fact held that the gift was to be regarded as wholly constituted, despite the deficiency of bringing and the fact that there was seemingly nil to halt A from remembering her gift. [ 16 ] The Court of Appeal followed the axiom as stated inChoithramthat equity will non help a voluntary but will non endeavor officiously to get the better of a gift. It was held that at the clip it would be conscienceless for the transferor to be able to alter their head, equity should keep the gift to be decently constituted. Per Arden LJ: If one returns on the footing that a rule which animates the reply to the inquiry whether an seemingly uncomplete gift is to be treated as wholly constituted is that a giver will non be permitted to alter his or her head if it would be conscienceless, in the eyes of equity, vis-a-vis the beneficiary to make so, what is the place here? There can be no comprehensive list of factors which makes it conscienceless for the giver to alter his or her head: it must depend on the tribunal s rating of all the relevant considerations. What so are the relevant facts here? [ A ] made the gift of her ain free will: there is no determination that she was non competent to make this. She non merely told [ H ] about the gift and signed a signifier of transportation which she delivered to [ P ] for him to procure enrollment: her agent besides told [ H ] that he need take no action. In add-on [ H ] agreed to go a manager of the company without bound of clip, which he could non make without portions being transferred to him. It has been argued that this determination was based on a misinterpretation of the determination inChoithramwhere it was held that it would be as conscienceless for a trustor who had declared a trust when he was one of a figure of legal guardians to later resile from his declaration as if he had declared himself to be the exclusive legal guardian. [ 17 ] Furthermore, it is widely accepted that the determination goes much further than old jurisprudence. [ 18 ] Analyzing Hopkins’ statement in visible radiation of this development, it is improbable that the axiom can be said to be redefined to integrate the donor’s folly, as the present place appears to go forth plentifulness of range for helping a voluntary where making so would rectify a donor’s folly. Indeed,Pennington V Wainemay good be overruled in the hereafter, but at present, the most disposed re-statement of the axiom is: equity will non help a voluntary unless it would be conscienceless non to make so . [ 19 ] Bibliography Delany, H. , and Ryan, D. , Unconscionability: a consolidative subject in equity , ( 2008 )Conv401 Garton, J. , The function of the trust mechanism in the regulation in Re Rose , ( 2003 )Conv364 Halliwell, M. , Perfecting imperfect gifts and trusts: have we reached the terminal of the Chancellor’s pes? , ( 2003 )Conv192 Hopkins, J. , Constitution of trusts – a fresh point , ( 2001 )CLJUK483 Hudson, A. ,Equity and Trusts, 5ThursdayEdition ( 2007 ) , Routledge-Cavendish Martin, J.E. ,Hanbury and Martin: Modern Equity, 17ThursdayEdition ( 2005 ) , Sweet A ; Maxwell Morris, J. , Questions: when is an invalid gift a valid gift? When is an incompletely established trust a wholly constituted trust? Answer: after the determinations in Choithram and Pennington , ( 2003 )PCB393 Oakley, A.J. ,Parker and Mellows: The Modern Law of Trusts, 9ThursdayEdition ( 2008 ) , Sweet A ; Maxwell Pettit, P.H. ,Equity and the Law of Trusts, 10ThursdayEdition ( 2006 ) , Oxford University Press Tham, C.H. , Careless portion giving , ( 2006 )CONVPL411 Watt, G. ,Trusts and Equity, 3rdEdition ( 2008 ) , Oxford University Press 1

Thursday, November 21, 2019

THE LECTORAL SYSTEM OF GERMANY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

THE LECTORAL SYSTEM OF GERMANY - Essay Example The parliament is usually given fourteen days to elect its chancellor officially after the final election results. Normally, elections happen after every four years and the same process begins all over again. There are no by-elections in Germany - if members of the Bundestag die or resign in office, those next on the list of the party in the appropriate State/Land automatically succeed them (Welle, 2009, para13). 30 Like all countries in Western Europe that have adopted the proportional system, Germany has more than twenty percent female parliamentarians, which clearly indicates a strong correlation between the type of electoral system and the level of female representation. As expounded earlier on, Germany uses a mixed or double electoral system with both a proportional representation system and single member constituencies and each of them selects half of the Bundestag members. However, the election of the majority of German female politicians is through the proportional representation list. Unlike in other countries such as the United Kingdom where voters and local parties object to having imposition of all-women shortlists on them, the list system in Germany has enabled parties to increase the proportion of female members of parliament in the Bundestag quickly.   38 The system of proportional representation also includes a quota that requires from each province, a minimum of two female delegates. This means that the parliament body will be at least twenty-five percent women. In full representation, there is an increase in the access of greater number of candidates. Sun argues that holding all other factors constant, under proportional representation system, the likelihood of electing women is almost twice as compared to majoritarian systems. Furthermore, under full representation system, measures such as quotas for minimum number of candidates aimed at increasing the representation of women are much easier to implement since the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Chapter 10 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 10 - Case Study Example Adults within the community identified an inability to control social problems because of social disorders within the community members, which contributed to the increased spread of HIV by promoting immoral behaviors. The churches only contributed to the control by creating solutions through identifying community needs and not considering issues contributing to the spread of HIV (Cene et al., 2011). Some of the community based used to control HIV include the use of media to provide information concerning HIV AIDS. Training of community leaders can help reduce stigma among community members. Other activities that the group identified include use of group counseling to provide and outreach to the entire community (Cene et al., 2011). According to the youth, disagreed with the adults view and felt that tension within the society like lack of cohesion related to separation and poverty made different individuals within the community fail to identify their individual belonging and reduced the availability of resources outside individual networks. The youths explained racial conflicts between whites and AA, disagreements based on region borders, and economic differences among members of the community contributed to the conflict (Cene et al., 2011). The study participants felt that those churches did not provide enough information to control the spread of HIV within the community. Some of the church leaders do not talk about HIV or even get involved in community activities that provide information of HIV. Church leaders consider HIV a disease brought by homosexuality and fornication. These opinions helped to distance some people and very difficult to get the numerous resources inbuilt in the churches (Cene et al., 2011). The techniques used to handle this challenge include, cohesiveness among people which assist in reducing the spread of HIV. Doctors should use the information to modify

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Teaching Plan Essay Example for Free

Teaching Plan Essay Maria is a 23-year-old female on disability pension. She left school since she was 12 years old and currently staying with her grandmother in Dromana. She has a long history of Borderline Personality Disorder with a self-harming behaviour and been experiencing chronic suicidal thoughts which often occur spontaneously with clearly definable triggers. These thoughts can be managed effectively well by the use of distraction/relaxation techniques, however, her level of distress can quickly escalate to an acute crisis situation whereby Maria becomes overwhelmed by the desire to end her life and emotional pain. Maria will then attempt to self-lacerate to reduce her distress or overdose on over the counter or prescribed medication. One of the crisis plans that would prevent her from inflicting harm to self is by encouraging her to call a clinician or duty worker during business hours or call the Triage after business hours for phone coaching to de-escalate her current acute emotional state. As Maria is learning to move from her emotional mind to a ‘wise’ mind, we are encouraging her to try to balance these better. Maria understands that her emotional mind and wise mind are often unbalanced, which usually makes her emotions take hold which then often escalate, leading to self-harm behaviour. [Source: Out-Patient Record, Peninsula Community Health Service (2010)] Introduction Patient teaching plans are tools developed by nurses in facilitating a systematic and evaluative way used in communicating to their patients regarding a particular treatment or practice. According to Bastable (2008, p. 07), a teaching plan is a â€Å"blueprint for action to achieve the goal and the objectives that have been agreed upon by the educator and the learner. † In this context, the nurse is the educator while the patient is the learner where a teaching and learning activity will occur for a specific treatment of therapy will occur. Bastable (2008) further explained that patient teaching plans should have a â€Å"purpose, content, methods and tools, timing, and evaluation of instruction. † The purpose, content, methods and tools, timing and evaluation of instruction should be in line with the objectives nd goals of a teaching plan. In order to have a more comprehensive and effective teaching plan, there is a need to identify concisely the elements of an ideal education process (Bastable 2008). By using a case study of a patient with a Borderline Personality Disorder, this essay will explain the importance of a patient teaching plan. It will further discuss the underlying principles and practice in the development, implementation and evaluation of a teaching plan based on the case study cited. It will also discuss the underlying processes in the development of the patient teaching and learning plan. It will then discuss the issues that will occur in the implementation of the patient action plan. Finally, it will give an analysis of the impact of the teaching plan to the patient. Importance of Patient Teaching Plan to Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) patients have the tendency of â€Å"exercising aggression, self-mutilation, impulsive behavioural dyscontrol, or self-damaging behaviour† (Latalova Prasko, 2010 p. 239). Thus, there are chances that BPD patients have the behaviour to harm themselves like slashing, being violent to other people and they can also be impulsive. According to a letter written to the editor published in the Journal Academy of American Physicians Assistants (JAAP, 2000) by Roxane Head, the patients that have BPD â€Å"may experience simultaneous conflicting thoughts, images and emotions. † Hence, these conflicting thoughts, emotions and images could trigger higher level of suicidal tendencies. Incidence of BPD cases are brought about and associated to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which establishes the link that causes mood instability as a result of prior â€Å"parental abuse or neglect. (JAAPA, 2000) In this context, parental abuse can be attributed from childhood experience which can either be â€Å"physical or sexual. † (JAAPA, 2000) Based on the case study presented above, Maria has experienced sexual abuse from her step-grandfather. It has also been stated that she has the tendency to do self-harm and over-dosing herself with medications. Based on the symptoms of BPD, there is a need for an immediate treatment and intervention when a mental crisis occurs. However, some BPD patients are not confined in hospitals or treatment facilities but are in their homes and are away from the management of clinicians and therapists. The introduction of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a kind of treatment program for BPD patients that focus on the â€Å"teaching of behavioural skills in helping and facilitating individuals in replacing maladaptive behaviours with skillful behaviours. †(Neacsiu, Rizvi, Linehan, 2010) Phone coaching or therapy is one of the common DBT methods that are being used in treating BPD patients. Thus, there is a need for nurses and other medical practitioners to educate BPD patients on how to contact and communicate to clinicians and phone therapists. Hence, an effective teaching plan is needed to be designed and implemented which is tailor-made for BPD patients using some learning theories. Principles and Practices Development and Implementation of Teaching and Learning Plans Patient teaching and learning plans are aimed to assist nurses and other health educators in formulating a comprehensive of plan of teaching activities that for a certain type of patient, just like BPD (Falvo, 2010). Since BPD patients are known to have irregular emotions, DBT treatments such as phone coaching or therapies target emotion dysregulation and its after-effects by enhancing motivation and teaching skills aimed at areas of deficit (Vitaliano, Lynch Linehan 2010). Thus, in developing a teaching plan for BPD patients, it would be helpful to use specific learning theories that explains and targets the emotions and behaviours of individuals. One of the learning theories that could be applied in formulating a teaching plan is the Cognitive Learning Theory. According to Ziegler (2005, p. 60) Cognitive Learning Theory focuses on â€Å"cognitive restructuring† process of the mental state of the learner. Thus, it is beyond duplicating certain behaviour but rather it is more on storing and remembering some information in the learner’s mind. Emerson (2007, p. 19) suggested that the learning process using the cognitive learning theory would entail some cognitive steps in a progressive manner in â€Å"acquiring, processing, and structuring† information which makes the learning to be involved or â€Å"active† in the learning process. Hence, in formulating a teaching plan it is also essential to make the learner or the patient as the centre of the learning process. Nurses who are geared toward educating their patients or clients must initially focus and assess their patient’s behaviour as well as their mental and physical capacity (Sarman, Daugherty Riegel, 2000). Sarman, Daugherty Riegel (2000) further explained that it is important to consider the patient’s â€Å"physical condition, medications, culture, and psychosocial attributes but not always dependent on whether the patient perceives the need for change and is motivated to do so. Hence, the patient’s behaviour, especially with current mental illness or disorders should not be considered as a hindrance in patient teaching, but it is also part of a nurse’s â€Å"professional responsibility† to initiate a process in â€Å"teaching, motivating, providing resources to support in maintaining and sustaining the change† (Sarman, Daugherty Riegel, 2000). In Maria’s case, it is helpful to consider the Cognitive Learning Theory in formulating a teaching technique for phone coaching. According to Binks, Fenton, McCarthy, Lee, Adams Duggan, 2009) the initial step in teaching, is to help the client establish a link between their thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions to target a patient’s symptoms. † In Maria’s case, she has the tendency to harm herself when a crisis arises. Further, it is also essential to teach the client to â€Å"monitor his or her own thoughts, feelings and behaviours and also providing alternative ways of coping with regards to the specific symptoms of her current illness,† which is BPD (Binks, et. al 2009). In this step, it is essential to help Maria identify the level of feeling or emotion that she is currently experiencing or feeling at a specific attack. As part of the cognitive learning process, the use of visual aids such as mood charts and graphs would be helpful for the learner in acquiring, processing and structuring and applying it. According to Mountain (2008, p. 105), mood charts can help in understanding the â€Å"intensity of emotions, anxiety, emotions and the patient’s symptoms. † Mountain (2008, p. 105) further explained that mood chart will help in the learner to be â€Å"more aware on the moods and how they change. Thus, in the case study being cited, it will use a mood ring chart that classifies different emotions and level of anxiety with a corresponding colour. The mood ring chart would facilitate in Maria’s learning process as it would facilitate her in communicating to the phone coach therapist the level of emotion or anxiety she currently experiencing. The mood chart would be very helpful in Maria’s case since she will be seeking treatment from a phone therapist who would help her manage the crisis attack by either distraction or relaxation techniques, which would cause a change of her emotion or mood. Another teaching style that will be used is by demonstration. This teaching technique can be implemented and used in the case study since there is a need for the nurse-educator to teach the patient how to use the phone in contacting the phone therapist or clinician. In Maria’s case, it is very important that the nurse-educator should teach the patient a step-step process by demonstrating and giving instructions on where to locate a phone, who and what number to call, how to use the phone and how she will communicate to the phone therapist or clinician. In this way, the Maria will learn to use the phone with much confidence because the inability to use the phone and other technologies could hinder the success and effectiveness of the treatment. Evaluation of Te aching and Learning Plans In the development of a teaching in a patient education process, it is essential to consider the importance of evaluation. Bastable (2008, p. 558) argued that evaluation is defined as â€Å"a systematic process by which the worth or value of something-in this case, teaching-and learning- is judged. In this context, evaluation is a process in measuring the effectiveness of the development and implementation of patient teaching plans. The significance of the evaluation process is a critical aspect in the nurse teaching process and decision making since it would create an impact in its outcome and to future development and implementation of further patient teaching plans (Bastable, 2008). Hence, it is important to measure the effectiveness of the outcome of the teaching process to determine which aspects of the teaching plan needs to be improved and corrected as well as for the benefit of future teaching plans. In evaluating the teaching plan developed for Maria, it is essential to determine of what guidelines and methods to use in its evaluation. As the teaching plan has been developed for Maria which was patterned from Bastable (2008), the purpose, goal and objectives were clearly defined as well as its methods of instruction, resources needed and the methods of how it would be evaluated. To evaluate the teaching plan for Maria, it is essential to focus on the objectives set and its content outline which could be verifiable by the methods of evaluation being set. The first objective in the teaching plan is to help er recognize if she’s depressed or needs therapy, this can be recognized by post-testing. The second and third objective is to help her locate phone numbers of clinicians as well as how to use the phone to communicate with a clinician, this can be evaluated a return-demonstration by Maria after the nurse-educator teaches her how to perform these processes. The fourth and fifth objectives is to teach Maria how to distinguish the type of mood she is experiencing and associate it with the corresponding colour based on the mood chart and these processes can be evaluated by post-testing. The last objective is to teach Maria to listen and comprehend what the phone therapist is advising while is undergoing phone coaching and this could be evaluated through question and answer with the nurse-educator. Possible Issues that Might Occur in the Implementation of the Patient Teaching Plan In the implementation of patient teaching plans, there is a tendency that there is a difficulty in motivating patients to learn what have been taught in the patient teaching plans. There is also a possibility that the patient will not follow the skills and steps being taught. In the case of Maria, there will be a tendency that she will not listen of what the nurse-educator will be teaching her, like by recognizing her level of emotions. There also might be a possibility that she will insist a certain level of emotion which in reality is not real emotion that she is experiencing which would cause a contradicting intervention or treatment from the phone therapist. Impact of Teaching Plans to the Patient The evaluation on the implementation of patient teaching plans is not the ultimate indicator that the teaching plan for a certain patient is successful. However, Falvo (2010) argued that a teaching plan can be deliberately considered successful when a patient like Maria can be able to manage her crisis attacks even without the help of phone coaching therapists. By using the case study, Maria will be able to perform the prescribed distraction or relaxation techniques when she is experiencing depression or anxiety attacks. Conclusion The development of teaching and learning plans is a very important step in the treatment of mental disorder patients. It is vital that these teaching and learning plans should be meticulously developed in a way that would suit to specific individual needs, especially to patients with serious mental disorders like Maria who is suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. The development of patient teaching plans should be carefully planned and could be flexibly adjust depending on the circumstance that could possibly occur during its implementation. Lastly, careful monitoring and evaluation in the implementation of teaching plans is very important in the learning processes to identify positive results to be maintained and at the same time improve areas that needs to be addressed.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Setting, Symbolism and Oppression of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper: Setting, Symbolism and Oppression of Women Have you ever been locked in a dark closet? You grope about trying to feel the doorknob, straining to see a thin beam of light coming from underneath the door. As the darkness consumes you, you feel as if you will suffocate. There is a sensation of helplessness and hopelessness. Loneliness, caused by oppression, is like the same darkness that overtakes its victim. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in "The Yellow Wallpaper," recounts the story of a young mother who travels to a summer home to "rest" from her nervous condition. Her bedroom is an old nursery covered with ugly, yellow wallpaper. The more time she spends alone, the more she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper's patterns. She begins to imagine a woman behind bars in the paper. Finally, she loses her sanity and believes that she is the woman in the wallpaper, trying to escape. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses setting and symbolism to suggest that imprisoning oppression causes a type of loneliness (in women) that can lead to a deadly form of insanity. Gilman uses setting to suggest that imprisoning oppression causes a type of loneliness that can lead to insanity. Gilman's young mother describes the nursery bedroom "with windows that ... [are] barred for little children" (426). In the above passage, the barred windows seem to intensify her oppression, and her perception that she is being imprisoned. Gilman also uses the young woman's description of the summer home to express her feeling of being all alone. "It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of Eng... ...chniques that Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses in "The Yellow Wallpaper" to suggest that a type of loneliness (in women) caused by imprisoning oppression can lead to the deadliest form of insanity. By using setting, Gilman shows how the barred windows intensifies the young woman's imprisoning oppression, the isolated summer home represents the loneliness the young woman feels, and her hallucinations of the wallpaper pattern indicates her transition to insanity. Wallpaper symbolism is used throughout the story the pattern representing the strangling nature of the imprisoning oppression, the fading yellow color showing the fading away of the young woman, and the hovering smell representing the deadly insanity to which she succumbs. Like the darkness that quickly consumes, the imprisoning loneliness of oppression swallows its victim down into the abyss of insanity.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Is Online Social Networking Building Social Capital Essay

This is an argumentative research paper that examines Robert Putnam’s definition of Social Networking and provides arguments that Social Networking Sites are building Social Capital as Putnam intended its definition. First, this paper will explore Putnam’s definition of Social Capital as well as its alternate definitions. Second, it will explore the definition of Social Networking according to Putnam as well as other comparable definitions. Third, it will distinguish certain distinctions in the concept of Social Networking, Social Networks, and Social Capital. Fourth, it will examine Putnam’s thesis that Social Capital has been declining due to the growing popularity of electronic appliances, computers, and henceforth, Social Network Sites. Fifth, it will examine alternate arguments that other researchers have made in contrast to Putnam’s key arguments. Sixth, this paper will evaluate all of Putnam’s key arguments compared to arguments directly in contrast with Putnam’s thesis. This paper will likewise provide personal insights and assessments that existing body of knowledge in this area has not yet covered. Finally, seventh, this paper will conclude that contrary to Putnam’s thesis that Social Capital has been declining due to the growing popularity of Social Network Sites, Social Capital has in fact been growing at a very rapid pace. Introduction Robert Putnam’s most influential work Bowling Alone, which appeared in 1995, signaled the major changes that the Internet Age has brought about in the daily lives of Americans. Since then, the virtual community has grown in leaps and bounds as rapid technological advances and innovations radically changed American life. Putnam laid the groundwork for his arguments in Bowling Alone with Alexis de Tocqueville’s observations of American life during the 1830s (65). Note that Toccqueville’s era basically covered the economic transition of America from the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age. This was an age where the exodus of rural Americans into American cities to work in factories and financial centers represented mass migrations as well as increased productivity. Putnam continued laying the groundwork for his arguments as he described the shift from the industrial age to the Computer Age through a growing body of research on the sociology of economic development (66). Since Putnam’s ‘Bowling Alone’ appeared in 1995, Putnam’s Computer Age has already quickly shifted into the Internet Age starting in 1997 as Boyd and Ellison represented in their timeline ending 2006 (212). Note also that the Internet Age signified the start of a worldwide trend in globalization where offshore manufacturing plants and the off-shoring of many American jobs created a great impact on American lives and local communities as well as certain ways of doing work. In this light, this paper will now explore Putnam’s perception of American Society through the concepts of Social Capital and Social Networks or Social Networking. Definitions Putnam provided a definition of ‘Social Capital’ through an analogy with physical and human capital as the social scientists of the Industrial Age perceived the phenomena (67). For Putnam, physical and human capital pertain to â€Å"tools and training that enhance individual productivity† while social capital â€Å"refers to the features of a social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit† (67). Putnam’s central premise on social capital is that a person’s public and private life is heavily and immensely influenced by social connections and civic engagement (67). In support of this definition, Barish aptly provided a simplified and paraphrased version: †¦[I]t makes sense to understand Putnam’s techniques for describing and evaluating the American community†¦ His argument goes†¦ like this: A screwdriver is a valuable thing. It can help me build a house, or fix a car, and so it increases both my individual productivity and the collective productivity of my community. Similarly, any social connections that I have, whether with members of my bowling team, friends from the bar, co-members of the local Rotary club, or congregants from my synagogue increase my personal productivity and the productivity of my group. Just as the screwdriver is a piece of physical capital, the social contacts that I maintain constitute ‘social capital’ and are beneficial to both myself and bystanders in the community. † In another light, a literature review provided a more thorough definition of social capital in its broad, elastic, and indicative terms covering both its positive and negative indications (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe 1145). Broadly speaking, a 1988 definition of social capital refers to the accumulation of resources via the relationships among people (1145). It has also been noted that social capital has an elastic definition relative to the field of study it is being used in (1145). In such different fields, social capital is generally seen as both a cause and effect or more elaborately in a 1992 definition, as a sum of â€Å"resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition† (1145). Social capital is usually equated to beneficial results like â€Å"better public health, lower crime rates, and more efficient financial markets† (1145). Meanwhile, indicators of its decline are the following negative outcomes: â€Å"increased social disorder, reduced participation in civic activities† and escalating distrust among members of the community (1145). Having established the framework for understanding Putnam’s social capital, the next exploration will be on Putnam’s perspective on ‘Social Networks’. Amusingly, Putnam did not provide a formal definition of social networks but rather discussed or described its context as follows: 1. Vitally important â€Å"for job placement and many other economic outcomes;† 2. Highly efficient, highly flexible ‘industrial districts’ based on networks of collaboration among workers and small entrepreneurs;† and 3. â€Å"The consolidation of country post offices and small school districts†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (66). With this context, it can now be discerned that Putnam’s focus on social networks is work-related or those that pertain to economic value or productivity. Additionally, since Putnam’s influential Bowling Alone in 1995, social capital and social networks have produced conceptual offshoots as Boyd and Ellison show in their 2008 definition of ‘Social Network Sites’ and its difference with ‘Social Networking Sites’ (211). In simple terms, Boyd and Ellison define social network sites as web-based services that enable people to show and tell about their social networks resulting in connections that will otherwise not happen among people with existing as well as previously existing offline connections in their line of work, schooling, community, family, former community and other specialized social groups (211). While Beer makes a fine argument on the broadness of Boyd & Ellison’s definition and that there is a need to classify and categorize Social Network Sites or SNS (517-9), it is evident that aside from the people that are involved in an existing social network, interests like bowling (Putnam) or content like videos in the case of YouTube (Beer 519) can bond together strangers with similar interests. These make the boundaries between social network sites versus social networking sites confusing as Boyd and Ellison attempted to differentiate (211). Distinctions With the above definitions, clear-cut distinctions are now discernible from the available body of work pertaining to social capital, social networks, and social networking compared with Putnam’s concepts. Firstly, social capital according to Putnam are built from an individual’s public and private life as shown by a person’s productivity through social connections and local community involvement. Quan-Hasse and Wellman also note that Putnam’s social capital is essentially limited to a neighborhood, city or a country. Moreover, Quan-Hasse and Wellman distinguishes Putnam’s concept of social connections as â€Å"interpersonal communication patterns, including† physical visits, face-to-face physical â€Å"encounters, phone calls and social events. † In addition, Quan-Hasse and Wellman distinguishes Putnam’s local community involvement, which is usually termed civic engagement, as the â€Å"degree to which people become involved in their community, both actively and passively, including such political and organizational activities as political rallies, book and sports clubs. In this regard, Putnam’s concept is distinctive mainly as geographically-knit in nature rather than geographically-dispersed. Secondly, from Putnam’s point of view, social networks are usually work-related or community-related where mutual benefits are produced as results or positive outcomes of a group activity or group activities involving physical actions or efforts. In this regard, Putnam’s concept is distinctive mainly as physical rather than virtual. Thirdly, based on Putnam’s perspective, social networks involve social bonds among people who see eye-to-eye, face-to-face, and physically in a geographically-knit location while social networks or social networking is social bonding and bridging among people who knew each other or even strangers in a geographically-knit or geographically-dispersed location. In this regard, Putnam’s concept is distinctive mainly as an interaction between people with prior connections versus total strangers. Social Capital’s Decline Putnam presented a doom and gloom scenario with the advent of the Electronic and/or Computer Age and its manifestations like the mailing list and television. He skillfully used facts and figures to illustrate that Social Capital has declined through the following manifestations: 1. low voter turnout and substantial statistical differences since the 1960s compared with the 1990s (67); 2. lower public meeting attendance in a town hall or in school (68); 3. lower trust in government (68); 4. ower membership in workers’ unions, parents-teachers associations, fraternities, religious organizations and other mainstream organizations (68-70); and 5. lower membership in organized bowling leagues and the unprecedented rise in solo bowling (70). Putnam argued that the decreased sales of pizza and beer among bowling lane proprietors is a fitting example of a negative economic trend due to the decline of social capital, when certain groups of people who bowl ed together now prefer to bowl alone. Noteworthy of Putnam’s five indicators that supported his argument is item 3. lower trust in government. All other indicators involve some form physical action or effort while trust is basically an abstract concept. Social Capital’s Rapid Growth Quan-Haase and Wellman carefully noted Putnam’s thesis about Social Capital’s decline and likewise identified C. S. Fischer’s counter-arguments against Putnam’s that: 1. Putnam’s measures of social capital’s decline are invalid and unreliable; and 2. he amount of decrease appeared to be substantial from the point of view of Putnam while Fischer argued that it is negligible and short-term. While Fischer’s counter-arguments against Putnam’s are not taking a 360 degree turn to illustrate the contrary, Fischer’s arguments subsequently fueled other arguments against Putnam’s contentions that showed the other side of the fence. Quan-Haase and Wellman insightfully observed: â€Å"The Putnam-Fischer debate is a continuation of a 150-year long tradition in the social sciences to see if community is declining or flourishing since the Industrial Revolution. In short, the economic changes brought about by technology like machines and electricity for the industrial revolution or television, electronic components and computers for the Electronic/Computer Age are quite moot and academic. Quan-Haase and Wellman are essentially saying that there will be a natural decline in the railroad business when automobiles replace the old mode of transport just like when trains replaced horses, and horses replaced walking. The natural decline in the older technology as it is replaced by a newer technology does not necessarily represent a decline in social capital rather it simply represents a decline in an old technology. Meaning, new measures are simply needed to accurately determine social capital’s decline or growth. And most likely, social capital has grown rapidly due to the newer technology rather than its opposite or contrary perspective whether these are supported with figures or not. Quan-Haase and Wellman are basically saying that Putnam’s facts and figures didn’t fit when social capital is evaluated from a historical perspective. Another worthy contention is that Social Capital has, on the contrary, rapidly grew. Since Putnam’s concepts are too focused on the adult population, Putnam failed to foresee a growing trend among the younger population getting involved in social network sites (Hargittai 280) and technological advancements providing suitable substitutes to face-to-face contact like the web-camera, online team gaming across different geographic locations, broadband, etc. Comparative Evaluations and Insights Putnam’s definition of social capital and his concept of social network are essentially encapsulated within a by-gone age. First, face-to-face encounters, physical activities, geographic cohesion and the nature of jobs and hence, productivity, have changed and are constantly changing. Second, Putnam’s view that only the adult population is capable of building social capital could be very limited. Third, social connections and civic engagements could have had transformed into a different form. Putnam laid the groundwork for his thesis with great leverage on Tocqueville’s observation of the Industrial Revolution in America. This groundwork has made his argument shaky and his definition of social capital quite narrow, failing to recognize that societies, hence social capital, in fact evolve as new technologies appear from the Stone Age, to the Iron Age, to the Bronze Age and so forth. Cooperation, collaboration and productivity normally improve as new technologies appeared throughout history. Hunting bands now became metropolitan cities with millions of residents. Caves now became mega-structures of skyscrapers that house thousands of humans. The examples would be endless. First, face-to-face encounters are now possible across great geographic distances through video conferencing, net meetings, and the like as teams of people work together across different time zones and different countries. Social Networks and Social Networking are not necessarily limited to websites but could also include the other technological tools that would facilitate communication, collaboration and cooperation. Thus, Putnam’s social network, which has a local flavor, has now become global. Moreover, various workers across the different U. S. States can now work collaboratively and cooperatively. Moreover, leisure time has also taken new dimensions. While bowling leagues may no longer be in fashion because bowling is in fact an individual sport rather than a team sport, new forms of recreation that encourage teamwork are now available as online games. Physical activities have likewise taken a new and robust meaning. Individuals now have a wider range of options when, where, and with whom they are going to spend their time with. Ticket reservations for vacations and other leisurely activities with groups of people now take lesser time to execute. Of course, Putnam’s argument that trust in government has declined, and this appears to be strong, exemplifies a decrease in social capital,. Yet from a different angle the same facts and figures would actually prove the contrary. Social Capital would have had in fact increased because greater civic engagement is now possible through the power of television and the media. That the low trust in government is simply saying that society is now more aware of what government is doing through television rather than through an actual attendance in a town hall. Moreover, society has become more efficient through the membership dues derived from mailing lists because these huge funds can finance professional lobbyists that would maximize a person’s civic engagement. A highly paid professional lobbyist with huge funds representing a huge membership can do more compared to a group of individual amateurs representing a small group of people in a community. Second, exactly because of social networks and social networking, the youth are now actively involved in a variety of social activities online including collaborative projects, group assignments, net events, and online team sports. Third, social connections and civic engagements have now transformed into a different form. Group chats through the Internet are now possible among friends that are located at great geographic distances where they can view each other’s faces. Downloading forms and information from a government website is now more efficient compared to actually attending a town hall meeting. Moreover, social network sites are actually populated by people who have prior physical connections with one another rather than total strangers. Conclusion Putnam appears to have overlooked the effects of the various economic transformations brought about by technology that transforms society during the course of history. Thus, making his definition of social capital unresponsive to the changing times. However, this paper finds that Putnam’s general definition of social capital as referring â€Å"to the features of a social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit† is accurate and sound. The finding of this paper is that Putnam’s drawback appears to have occurred in his exposition of the general definition. This exposition provided metes and bounds that are geographic in nature, physical in nature, and pits people who have already established prior social connections versus total strangers. Migrations due to the nature of jobs, the highly evolved efficiency of transport systems, academic choices and suburban development have essentially dispersed people geographically. Social Network Sites basically strengthens these former social bonds. Most noteworthy also is that technological advances are now providing suitable substitutes that solve geographic and physical limitations making productivity more efficient through better communication, cooperation, and collaboration. The best evidence in terms of facts and figures that social capital has indeed been built up by online social networking is the phenomenal growth and popularity of social network and networking sites. Another is the exponential trade volume growth on Ebay. Of course, the only difference in these observations with Putnam’s definition is on how Putnam elaborated his ideas. He built his groundwork and framework of understanding on a local and physical aspect that ultimately made him unable to foresee the economic, and thus social, transformations taking on a global flavor: that somehow, everyone is connected and affected with and by another. This is the same reason why civic engagements have also likewise taken a worldwide scope in such organizations as Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund and even through international causes like the fight against global warming and world hunger.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Porn Addiction: Causes And Effects Essay

Porn addiction is one of the current problems brought about by the advancement in the information technology sector. Like other addictions, addiction to porn exhibits some common signs and follow a similar pattern as other addiction to substances and drugs. Addiction to pornography can be seen when one spends more time engrossed with a pornographic material to a point of neglecting important people like family or friends. After these moments, the person may also exhibit â€Å"mixed feelings of well being and guilt† because they have to lie about the time they’ve spent looking at or reading the material (Help Guide). The addict may also exhibit anxiety and depression when unable to access the material or might generally be irritable when their time to find complete sexual pleasure is interrupted or shortened. At times when the addiction becomes too serious the addict may experience hardships at the work place or in school because of frustration or may start misusing money by buying more porn materials or gambling and further much worse start engaging in flings with unknown people to satisfy new sexual fantasies. (Help guide) pornography in the current age has become harder to control and hard to censure. The internet which is relied upon by millions of people for information and telecommunications has played a big role in spreading pornography to people of all ages. Given its simple accessibility and fairly liberal use in many countries, any person with the knowledge of using a computer can access pornographic material on the internet at any time. According researchers to Internet pornography is the new crack cocaine, meaning that it is a highly addictive leading to undesirable characters â€Å"such as, misogyny, pedophilia, boob jobs and erectile dysfunction†, Singel (2004). The fact that the internet allows one to access numerous sites anonymously makes it ideal for porn viewing to become a habit. To make it worse even children as young as 7 yrs old have been known to access porn from the internet. Pornography is hard to delete from the mind one an addiction sets in. compared to cocaine addicts, the porn addict has a difficult time â€Å"†¦recovering from their addiction than cocaine addict†¦ since coke users can get the drug out of their system, but pornographic images stay in the brain forever†¦Ã¢â‚¬  because the chemicals released in the body are what heroin and other substance users really aim for but never achieve; thus it is hard for anyone who is an addict to ever fully recover (Singel, 2004). The internet presents the largest challenge in the fight against porn and addictions. About 5 years ago over 1. 3 million porn sites and more than 260 million pages, making it one of the most profitable industries in the United States. In 2006 the industry raked 13. 3 billion dollars in the United States alone and more than 97 million dollars in the web. According to statistics form the internet filter review more than 72 million users accessed adult sites each month (Statistics on pornography). According to Statistics from Divorcewizards. com â€Å"At a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended â€Å", had been divorced and they blamed the internet as a major cause of break in the marriage among the cases they pointed out, porn contributed to more than half of the reasons given. (Statistics on pornography). Other effects the computer had on the individual were carpal syndrome and dry eyes especially those who access porn on the internet while seated; headaches and sleep disturbance; eating irregularities among other issues. The underlying causes for the development of addiction could be mental illness relationship problems and /or substance abuse. According to experts there was a big connection between people who used substances and hard drugs and porn addiction. In other instances such as the church, many pastors admitted that they had either been tempted or had actually been accessing porn thorough the net even when they knew this was a sin. They also admitted that pornography was always an issue when it came to the congregation and the clergy alike such that a survey revealed that more than 30% of the clergy men in the past 8 years have visited the pornographic sites in and majority of them a couple of times. ( Statistics on pornography) It was also discovered according to Focus on the Family Poll carried out in October 2003, that at least 47% percent of families indicated that they hard experienced problems at home because of pornography especially with the children and adolescents. According to London school of economics, children who were aged between the ages 8 to16 were much more likely to have viewed pornography within their home setting. This was supported by figures which showed that 9 out of 10 children within the specified age bracket had accidentally viewed porn on the internet in computers they use at home together with their families. Also important is the fact that 1 out of every 7 children who frequently used the internet had been sexually solicited; a realization that sex predators had started using the internet to lure kids. Indeed, according to the journal of Adolescent health 76% of victims in the internet initiated sexual exploitation case fell between the ages 13 to 15 and mostly girls. In most of these cases the children were led into sexual encounters which were mostly forced. The coarse language and sexually overt material that the internet and other media, displayed became a matter of concern for the government in 1996 where the United states department of justice noted the â€Å"Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene) material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions†(statistics on pornography). A leading psychologist Dr. James Dobson explains that â€Å"pornography addiction causes a person to become desensitized to the material,† making one develop boredom or lack of interest in what was once appealing. This is also followed by fantastic imaginations of the victim playing different roles in different scenes; begins to treat serious relationships casually and shows solitary tendency preferring to spend a lot of time privately. Dr. Dobson demonstrates how porn addicts unable to be satisfied by their partners decide to seek their fantasies and this leads to serious problems in marriage and even divorce. Cyber sex seems to have taken the place of relational sex because in majority of the patients he was attending to, 68 % had been hooked up to cyber sex did not have relational sex. Usually, as was testified by some of his patients, the individual beginning the habit does not realize it’s an addiction until they try to stop and they can’t. The thing becomes bigger than the individual hence it alienates him from his family and friends. (Gabriel Lefrancois, 2008). Defenders of pornography have put forward arguments that pornography in itself is not harmful, and therefore Banning or regulating it is unfair. Basing their argument on the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, 1970, they reject the apparent relationship between exposure pornographic material and the resulting behavior. However over the years many researches have conclusively shown there is a significant relationship between conditioning and human behavior. Psychologists at the Wisconsin University found that â€Å"brief exposure to violent forms of pornography can lead to anti-social attitudes and behavior. Male viewers tend to be more aggressive towards women, less responsive to pain and suffering of rape victims, and more willing to accept various myths about rape†. The psychologists showed that continued exposure to such materials made people insensitive to rape as a criminal offense thereby changing their attitude attitudes toward women in particular the way they viewed and treated women (Documented Effects of Porn). In addition, increased exposure to the materials also created an unusual desire for violent sex, conflict and suffering deviant behavior like abuse as well as molestation and pedophilias. Sociologists such as Murray Straus and Larry Baron of University of New Hampshire found out that rape increased exponentially with rates of high sales of sexually laden magazines. This was also confirmed by experiments carried out to show that exposure to violent and no violent pornography over some time yielded different results. Exposure to non- violent pornography made the subjects in the research very accommodating and understanding of women and they tended to be much gentler with them, however exposure to violent pornography gave the opposite results proving that ‘exposure to violent pornography, even after provocation , produced essentially no antiwoman aggression, fantasies, or attitudes†( American Psychological Association). A University of Texas Professor Robert Jensen in 2008, showed how attitudes expressed in porn spread from the California valley where the porn films were made â€Å"†¦to the bedrooms of real people in real places,† Jensen explained how this permeating effect of pornography was harmful due to racial undertones it carried which to a larger extent have continued to a main feature of television programs. He argued that porn expressed the desire by woman to be mistreated and the right of men to do so. He finally conclude that in order to tackle individual and societal harms produced by porn, we must acknowledge a moral quality to our relationships with one another and must come to a consensus on what the â€Å"limits of the sexual experience are. † (Kalloch Andrew, 2009) Pornography is very much in the public domain. In the US for instance, almost all theatres show x- rated films; almost every book or video store offer porn materials and most of the movies shown on box office which have sexually exploitive material rake in about 50 million dollars each year. Pamela Paul, a writer notes that â€Å"often pornography use ruins relationships, increases sexual dysfunction, and changes what men expect from women†. She reveals how a person who thinks it is harmless, found out that the moment they got used to pornography, their sex lives changed. They lost the human form of sex and adopted the computerized one. She explains how before the advent of the internet men and women alike used to see porn from time to time but the internet has made it so easy and so harmless that one cannot see when they are slipping in to addiction until it is too late. I fact most of them are usually happy and in complete denial that they are addicted until their marriages or jobs are lost (Paul Pamela, 2005) Though it is evident that the causes of porn addiction may be very few and subtle. The fact that we rely on the internet to communicate and do most of our work puts us in the direct pipeline of pornographic materials available. It is only our curiosity which separates us from clicking the button and accessing millions of materials filled with porn. Like some of the critics have shown, it might be very hard to take the experiments by the psychologists as conclusive because they do not take into account the fact that addicts seek out porn materials by themselves even before the addiction actually sets in and therefore the action by the psychologists in the experiments to give or expose the subjects to pornographic materials in order to observe change in behavior is absurd. The part which makes porn addictive is when it is sought by the person themselves. This trains and conditions the mind such that the body is always guided by the mind to imagine and seek the object of imagination as opposed to merely being given a specific material. Explaining further, there are other sexually stimulating materials which may not be considered stimulating in the general sense of the word for instance wearing boots or uniform of a certain kind. They may be appealing to some people and not elicit any feeling in others. It is therefore the responsibility of the individual to make a choice of weather to avoid visiting porn websites all together in order to have a healthy relationship or to pop in once in a while and risk getting addicted. The choice is yours. References A Help Guide: Internet porn and cyber sex addiction http://www. helpguide. org/mental/internet_cybersex_addiction. htm [Accessed 24th April 2009 Documented effects of pornography http://www. forerunner. com/forerunner/X0388_Effects_of_Pornograp. html [Accessed 24th April 2009] Kalloch Andrews (2009) Texas professor decries porn permeating media: Harvard law record http://media. www. hlrecord. org/media/storage/paper609/news/2009/04/16/News/Texas. Prof. Decries. Porns. Permeating. Effect-3712817. shtml [Accessed 24th April 2009] Lefrancois Gabriel (2008) Online porn addiction, Hitched Magazine [Online] http://www. hitchedmag. com/article. php? id=134 [Accessed 24 April 2009] Paul, Pamela (2005) How porn destroys lives, belief net 2005 http://www. beliefnet. com/News/2005/10/How-Porn-Destroys-Lives. aspx [Accessed 24th April 2009 Ryan Singel, (2004), Internet porn, worse than crack? http://www. wired. com/science/discoveries/news/2004/11/65772 [Accessed 24th April] 2009] Statistics on Pornography, sexual addiction and online perpetrators, http://www. safefamilies. org/sfStats. php [Accessed 24th April 2009] Studies on effects of pornography, Data from PsycLIT Database – American Psychological Association. http://www. netspeed. com. au/ttguy/refs2. htm [Accessed 24th April 2009]