Our Identity Is Shaped by Our Relationships Essay

Good morning/afternoon everyone, my name is Jessica Holmes and I’m coming from the VCAA education department. I’m here today to talk to you about how, â€Å"our identity is shaped by our relationships†. When I say relationships, I don’t just mean boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, I’m also talking about family, friends and other relationships. I’m talking about identity since it’s your context writing theme for year 12. Our family is huge in determining who we are and what we are all about. They tell us from day one what is good about us and what we can or cannot do and we absorb it all as children letting it shape us. Our family in most cases dictate our political beliefs, our economic beliefs, our religion, and our social beliefs and frame our overall view of the world. Think of the beliefs you developed outside of the family and you won’t find many. Now the problem these days is that the family as we know is falling apart. There are too many single parent families; a young man does not have a role model for a male because the dad is not there. This is a problem as that young man now gets his idea of being a man from bad influences, such as local thugs or a character from a movie. Even with the families fragmenting these days, the role of the family in our lives is huge beyond anything we can ever understand. Your friends shape your identity just as much as your family, if not more. You learn different things from every person you meet. Your friends are someone who you are with most of the time, so you would pick up many things from them. You gather the traits from those around you and your mind will tell you which are good and bad. Mean Girls is a perfect example of how friends shape you. Cady changes herself to fit in with her new posh friends, her friends shaped her as a mean girl, but it wasn’t long till she found who her real friends were and what her identity was. Your identity is shaped by your real friends, who you hang out with the most. Our other relationships that shape our identity would be our teachers. They teach us what is good and bad and they educate us and help us. Our employers are another source that shapes our identity; they shape out who we are and what our profession is. Our society and neighbours also shape our identity. In the novel â€Å"Growing up Asian in Australia†, Tom Cho wrote a short story called â€Å"Learning English†. He had to learn English to mingle with this neighbours and the society he lived in. When he first arrived in Australia, he didn’t know English, so he found it difficult to communicate with everyone. He learned English for the society, so the society shaped him. I would like to finish up by saying; every relationship shapes your identity. You would not know about it, but if you think about it, all relationships play their own roles and shape your identity in their own way.

Biblical Worldview Essay

Biblical worldview which can also be Christian worldview refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual, group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. It is how one perceives the world through their Christian view. The world view impact the choices one may make throughout life and is based on our principles and ideas. Leadership for transformation: The impact of a Christian worldview states that â€Å"But worldviews are also ways of life, for beliefs direct us, values guide us, and principles motivate us to certain kinds of action and behavior.† There are many things in life that helps us shape our worldview in today’s society. Romans chapters 1-8 gives us vital information regarding identity, relationships, culture, and about the natural world. Natural world was created by God through his words. I believe and feel in my heart that God is the creator of heaven and earth and all things that exist. The article states that God is Creator, unseen but not without witness, beyond comprehension but not unknowable, powerful but not impersonal, and freedom granting but not controlling. In Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. God created day and night, he is responsible for the sun that shines in the day and the moon that is bight at night. He created men and women in the image of his likeness and with a purpose and plan. He created us so that we can form an intimate relationship with him. I also, believe that God created us in the natural world as sinners, and his son Jesus Christ was sent here to save us from our sins. Human Identity is based on our relationship that we form with God. Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. From the day that we were created it was for Gods purpose and plan for our lives. Once you accept Christ into your life you can then began to see your identity, it is based on our calling from the Lord. With Christ in your life you will see life in a whole different perspective. In Romans it talks about how our identity is rooted deeply in our commitment to God. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God† (Romans 8:14, KJV). So with that being said our identity is based on our relationship we have with God, not by our environment or surroundings. Romans teaches us  about how we should treat our human relationships. Sometimes human relationships are the most difficult and hardest to keep in order. In Romans the first chapter 29th verse. It explains how we are filled with unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, deceit, malignity; whispers. Romans shows us that we are all full of sin and we must turn to God and have a relationship with him, before we can have form human relationships. When you have a relationship with God you can learn how to treat others and respect others. Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. When you help and be a blessing to others, God will bless you abundantly. When we are unfaithful to God we run the risk of affecting our human relationships. Being that we were created in God’s image it is only right that we love each other as God loves us. According to John Valk article all humans are to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their situation or station in life. Romans also had messages containing culture in its scriptures. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. God is not a God of color, or culture it is for anyone who believes in God and follow his commandments. D. Kim article states that we assume that morality is culturally relative, that ideas and beliefs emerge historically by cultural forces, and are not right or wrong in any final sense. Different cultures have different beliefs, but in Romans it speaks of only believing in the word of God. Romans tells us the God does not save according to cultures, he saves by people believing and having faith. So, now after the knowledge I received from reading Romans is that I have to trust and believe in God, no matter what culture I’m from. In conclusion after we have learned that Romans Is immense and detailed. It gives us information for our salvation. That nothing in our lives or without God or by accident. It teaches us that we must believe in God to know and understand or identity, to form our human relationships, and understand that culture does not exist when you believe in God. I am so glad that God saw fit to send his only begotten so that we can be saved from our sins. BIBLIOGRAPHY Kim, David. & McCalman, David. (2012). Journal of business ethics: The sacred/secular divide and the Christian worldview, Vol. 109 2: 203-208 Valk, J. (2010), Leadership for transformation: The impact of a Christian worldview. J Leadership Studies, 4: 83-86. doi: 10. 1002

The Research on Effects of substance abuse on prisoners in Austin, Assignment

The Research on Effects of substance abuse on prisoners in Austin, Texas - Assignment Example The rate of substance abuse in prisons has increased leading to detrimental health effects and even death in extreme cases. Since substance abuse is not a new concept in the prisons, there is need for close attention to avert negative effects. The study focuses on impacts of substance abuse to prisoners and the society. A major focus was on establishing reasons behind the high incidences of substance abuse in the correctional facilities. Through the study, negative impacts of substance abuse on prisoners and the community as well as other stakeholders would be determined. The effectiveness of mechanisms put in place to treat substance abuse and rehabilitate victims is examined. This would help in identification of loopholes, which result in negative outcomes. Introduction There has been a steady rise of substance abuse in prisons in Austin, Texas. Substance abuse is the harmful and use of substances for purposes of altering the normal mental state of an individual. Although treatment and other mechanisms have effected to address the issue of substance abuse, little progress has been made. There are a number of factors associated with substance abuse in prisons with correlation observed between crime and substance abuse. A study of factors that lead to the rising trend of substance abuse would go a long way in helping minimize effects and evaluate the involvement of other stakeholders (Ireland et al., 2010). Stakeholders and interest groups Stakeholders involved in the substance abuse can be used to achieve maximum outcomes even with the limited resources. The center that deals with substance abuse outlines stakeholders and their role in managing substance abuse in prisons as well as their relationship to the treatment process. There should enhanced collaborative efforts and partnerships between key stakeholders. The system of criminal justice and substance abuse management community can and should work together for the common good of everyone involved (Neubauer , 2011). The possible contribution from major stakeholders can be immense and may lead to highly desirable outcomes. The center for substance abuse treatment, divides stakeholders into five primary categories. First, there are community stakeholders who include the public, the media, victims, legislators, businesses and community organizations. Second, are those stakeholders associated with offenders in one way or another? They include the offender, employers, family members, and providers of social services. The third set of stakeholders is those found within the system of criminal justice and they include prosecutors, police officers, and judges, attorneys for the defense, as well as parole and probation officers. Fourth are the stakeholders within the system of public health who include providers of mental health services as well as healthcare organizations. The fifth category is for stakeholders within the system of alcohol and other substance treatment. All the stakeholders con tribute significantly to management of substance abuse in prisons which would lead to the common good of everyone involved. The enhanced collaboration and partnership among all stakeholders would result in higher probabilities of ex-offenders succeeding in the streets and communities that are safer for everyone. Products of such cooperation and collaborations focus on coming up with a comprehensive system to promoting,

Critical Analysis for Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Critical Analysis for Managers - Essay Example In case there are hitches in the systems or the cultural elements are disjointed, the organization ends up performing below its standards. Through a case study, this paper will compare and contrast the systems and cultures and discuss the extent to which each can illuminate and inform the management role. In Disney-Smile Factory case, the employees identify themselves with the organization. The organization has been able to develop a positive culture which ensures that the employees are proud of working in Disneyland. For instance, Disneyland look is often a source of some amusement to the subordinates who feel privileged to be part of the group that puts a smile on the faces of thousands of the customers who visit the park each day. As a result, even during stressing days, employees are able to control their emotions and deal with delays and queries emanating from the customers without feeling aggrieved by the load of the work and responsibilities (Inceoglu 2002). The systems have played a significant role in enabling the employees to feel as a part of the organization. For instance, the organization has ensured that the systems that are in place minimize the contact of the employees with the customers (Murthy 2007). Therefore, when they are needed to intervene, the employees go out of their way in order to initiate contact with Disneyland customers. However, such a hitch does not make the employees feel as if it’s odd. This is because they are satisfied with the working environment in the organization and they are always ready to ensure that they go out of their way in order to ensure that the customers are satisfied with the services being offered (Hiriyappa 2009). This aspect has played a significant role in increasing customer loyalty towards the organization. Furthermore, it has lowered the level of turnover in the organization. The systems especially those

Branding and promotion strategies, market segmentation, target Essay

Branding and promotion strategies, market segmentation, target marketing and positioning in international tourism - Essay Example Tourism Australia is a statutory body subject to the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act). This recognises the commercial focus of the new body and the need for it to operate flexibly in a commercial environment." The expenditure of tourist dollars by international visitors has the same economic effect for a country as selling products by export in international markets. Attracting international visitors is, therefore, encouraged by most countries around the world-especially by their governments and major tourist service providers such as airlines, hotel chains, major tourist attractions and tourist events. With increasing international travel, due to technological innovations in transportation and global communications, the competition for international tourists is increasing and, therefore, applying marketing principles and techniques to destinations has become a growing area of marketing practice. Of particular relevance to the international marketing of destinations are branding and promotion strategies, market segmentation, target marketing and positioning. Australia is a long-haul destination from many of the large tourist markets. ... ive skills and knowledge of four separate organisations: the Australian Tourist Commission; See Australia; the Bureau of Tourism Research and Tourism Forecasting Council. The main objectives of Tourism Australia under the Tourism Australia Act 2004 are to: Influence people to travel to Australia, including for events; Influence people travelling to Australia to also travel throughout Australia; Influence Australians to travel throughout Australia, including for events; Help foster a sustainable tourism industry in Australia; and Help increase the economic benefits to Australia from tourism. Tourism Australia is a statutory body subject to the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act). This recognises the commercial focus of the new body and the need for it to operate flexibly in a commercial environment." The expenditure of tourist dollars by international visitors has the same economic effect for a country as selling products by export in international markets. Attracting international visitors is, therefore, encouraged by most countries around the world-especially by their governments and major tourist service providers such as airlines, hotel chains, major tourist attractions and tourist events. With increasing international travel, due to technological innovations in transportation and global communications, the competition for international tourists is increasing and, therefore, applying marketing principles and techniques to destinations has become a growing area of marketing practice. Of particular relevance to the international marketing of destinations are branding and promotion strategies, market segmentation, target marketing and positioning. Australia is a long-haul destination from many of the large tourist markets. Therefore, the

The Confession of Saint Patrick Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Confession of Saint Patrick - Essay Example He narrates the story of his life from his childhood through to adulthood and right up to the time before his death. This account by St. Patrick gives us an insight into the background of the prevailing times and also lending focus to the legends and the myths that shrouded his personality. This biographical account is edited by Whitely Stokes and was compiled by Beatrix Fà ¤rber and Benjamin Hazard. The language used by the author was Latin. His father was Calpornius, who was a deacon in an era much before celibacy became the rule for priests. He was a Romanized Briton. Patrick’s mother came from an upper-class Gaulish family of Martin of Tours, though Patrick does not pride himself for the fact. As time gradually rolled by, Patrick’s enslavement had a great impact on him and strengthened his faith in the Christian religion. At the very impressionable age of sixteen, he admitted in his ‘Confessions’ that he was captured and brought to Ireland to serve as a slave to a Druidic chieftan named Milchu in Dalriada, at the County Antrim. But at the age of twenty two he escaped from there and once again reunited with his parents at Britain where later he became ‘one of the first Christian clergymen in Ireland, being preceded by men such as Pallidius (c.380-457/61). His first convert was his patron Dichu, who gifted him a huge barn (sabhal) where a church was constructed and the site still retains the name of Sabhal that is pronounced as â€Å"Saul.† In Ireland, Patrick was not the first Christian missionary, because much before him were missionaries like Secundus and Pallidius who continued their active work in the south of the island. But even so, Patrick is given a lot of credence as one of the best missionaries because his teachings had a great impact especially in provinces like Ulster and Connaught where there were no Christians before. He came across as a man who possessed a deep love for God and courageous enough to face

Final paper Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final paper - Movie Review Example The role of violence in the film is to establish and to preserve power, on the one hand, and to defend the helpless from power-greedy individuals and groups, on the other hand. The film establishes this role through the construction of the nature and ends of violence by using the elements of storytelling, cinematography, music, and editing, while the effect of these scenes on the audience is to help them realize the positive and negative uses of violence, as they witness how the cultural historical background of China demonstrates the conflict between Chinese and American cultures through the conflicts between autonomy and domination. The film uses violence to how some people use violence to impose their authority and to oppress marginalized people for economic purposes. The storyline has a chronological timeline and plot that revolve around the time of transition in China, from being a closed to being an open-market society that is vulnerable to Western and local exploitation. The timeline simplifies the presentation of the story with a clear ending, middle, and ending. Continuity editing helps the audience understand the causes and effects of violence on the Chinese society. In the film, the British use their guns to show their power over the Chinese. An example is what happened to Wong’s patient who got shot. Wong says that the patient got into the wrong ship because he got confused with the flags, so the British shot him. The low angle shot shows how Wong is in a strong moral position because he helps heal those who are victims of violence. The shot tilts to his bloodied hands, as he says: â€Å"The à ¢â‚¬ËœWesternization Movement† is now underway† (Tsui, Once Upon). The scene shows the use violence through weapons in order to show and to preserve power. Another source of violence comes from internal actors, who like the outsiders, desire to use violence to

To what extent does personality predicts employee performance Essay - 4

To what extent does personality predicts employee performance - Essay Example While hiring people the human resource personnel have the belief that the employees will have certain skills, abilities and personalities that will make sure that they add positively to the performance of the organization they are being hired into. The concept of personality and its effect on employee performance comes in management of the workforce and in synchronizing the different workers to make them work in harmony for the better goal of delivering the expected goals in the organization. In this work we shall look at how the employee’s personality can be used to predict their performance. For instance, in any organization, the managers or the supervisors are mandated to oversee the other employees and see unto it that what is supposed of them is being done in the correct way. An employee’s personality can hinder the supervisor from interacting well with her if maybe he/she is temperamental and usually takes the advice given personally. This way it will prove very hard to incorporate such a person in the team of employees that is deliberating in achieving the goals of the organization. This paper will address that in details and look at various cases and ways that can be used to harmonize different personalit ies and make all the employees productive in an organization. The personality of a person may have an impact on his/her performance according to the work h/she is doing and the amount of interaction that is required in the specified job. While hiring employees, human resource personnel usually conduct interviews to assess the candidates’ personalities and traits together with their beliefs and attitudes and then allocate them the duties in departments that they feel they will deliver best and feel best working. For instance, while looking for a person to hold the position of a salesperson in a given organization, the best candidate should be the one who exposes high levels of

The Advertisement by Cordaid Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Advertisement by Cordaid - Assignment Example The researcher states that the advertisement by Cordaid provides food for thought for every one of us. It reflects the fact that while we indulge in the luxuries, there are people literally dying of not getting the basic human needs. A very emotional appeal is used in the advertisement to make people pause and think with a broader perspective. It, in fact, has become very necessary for people to see outside their secluded comfort zone and take in to account the people who are barely making it. The fact that almost half the world which is over three billion people are living on less than $ 2.50 a day is reason enough to do that. The advertisement has a very mocking feel to it as well. The models are shown posing like any top model in Vogue selling outrageously expensive products. The use of irony to plea for aid while posing like a high profile fashion shoot, is in fact, a satire on the commercialism of the branded products. The ad is cashing and drawing on the guilt of the wealthy an d affluent for the donations. This ad is used to stir the feeling of guilt in the wealthy next time they choose to brand shop. So clearly the target market is people who are capable to donate and contribute towards the greater good of eradicating poverty. The ultimate message of the advertisement is amply conveyed through the effective and relevant illustration and captions. The visual comparisons of the price of one luxury item with the price of the provision of a basic and simple human need are clearly depicting that it takes a lot less to support a poverty-stricken person than to invest in a worldly luxurious item. The feel of the advertisement is quite depressing. The backdrop of a un-habitat and shabby, dreary and dry desert is creating a very depressing ambiance which was obviously the need of an advertisement prompting people to contribute and extend a helping hand to the poor. The visuals of the advertisement are working to reflect poverty at its extreme. The look of the mal -nutrition-ed model in a humble setting subtly and rightfully portrays the innumerable human beings greatly relying on us for their basic needs.

Entrepreneurial Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Entrepreneurial Behaviour - Essay Example However, it has been provided so that the individual analyst can interpret what an entrepreneur is necessarily espouses in the broadest sense. Harkening back to the question at hand, whether or not an entrepreneur is born or made, the analyst should consider the fact that the ultimate answer to this question is both, neither, and some mixture in between. Far from being a clever manipulation of words, it will be the express intent of this particular analysis to define how the entrepreneur requires skills that are inherent to some individuals, how other individuals can learn these, and how a synergy between the two types of individuals is ultimately possible. Through such an identification is the hope of the student that the reader will come away with a more informed interpretation of what the entrepreneur espouses and how individuals without a certain level of entrepreneurial spirit or â€Å"gift† can effectively navigate within this particular paradigm. Firstly, it should be noted that as with any skill set that one learns in life, there are inherently individuals that are born to a natural level of talent in terms of being an entrepreneur. Some individuals have necessarily understood this to mean that the entrepreneur is with someone that is somehow genetically predisposed to be an effective entrepreneur and to gain a degree of notoriety and success in its accomplishment. However, flipping this argument on its head, the reader should note the fact that certain individuals are born with a certain proclivity to playing music, others with a certain proclivity to art, and still others with a certain proclivity to memorization etc. etc. However, this does not mean that educators, or the parents, should despair that their child will never be a musician, artist, etc., instead, it merely means that the educational process will need to be engaged at a further level of length and perhaps a further level of rigor in order for the

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response in Schools Essay Example for Free

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response in Schools Essay The professional nurse uses clinical judgment and decision making skills to provide appropriate nursing care and collaborates with other health care professionals responding to the emergency or disaster. The purpose of this paper is to outline the professional nurse’s role and how the nurse works with other responding personnel as well as the community affected in the event of a tornado that affects a school. The Role of the Nurse A disaster is defined as any natural or human-made incident that causes disruption, destruction, and/or devastation requiring external assistance (Stanhope, 2012). Schools are generally considered a safe haven for the children attending, but various types of emergencies can occur within the school walls that impact the school and the surrounding community. Severe weather can be a natural disaster when it produces tornadoes. Tornadoes have proven to be large scale disasters, causing problems ranging from loss of power to major structural damage and resulting in physical injuries, including loss of life. Tornadoes outside of a school setting cause severe damage and casualties, but when the tornado hits a school it becomes a disaster setting for all school personnel and the school nurse. The school nurse immediately is looked at when there is any type of medical emergency. When there is an entire school that has been affected by destruction like a tornado, the school nurse is most definitely overwhelmed with patients. The nurse must be prepared and work closely with all responding personnel to ensure a timely response to all affected, inside the school and the parents affected outside the school. The school nurse is an expert in the nursing process and should utilize these steps in order to care for all involved in a disaster like this. The professional nurse, through her education, should be prepared to utilize the nursing process (assess, plan, implement, evaluate). It is critical the school nurse knows his/her role prior to the disaster. His/her role includes triage, coordination of the first aid response team, and direct hands-on care to the victims of the emergency. The school nurse also plays an important role in the mental health support for the students and faculty involved during the emergency and in the recovery phase of the emergency. The nurse must be able to identify with and be able to communicate with all responding healthcare personnel. The responding will include, but is not limited to, firefighters, both paid and volunteer, EMS personnel, Emergency Management Personnel, law enforcement, and local healthcare providers, such as physicians and nurses. The school board office will also have responding personnel to the scene as well. The main goal of the professional nurse is to communicate with all responding personnel and ensure that everyone involved in the response clearly knows their role and who they should report to. Nursing Strategies Every community can always improve in their response to emergencies and disasters. Planning before the disaster hits is the key. Preparations for a facility’s response to an emergency involving realistic training exercises, (O’Boye, 2006) can greatly reduce anxiety levels and increase the likelihood of more positive results. Some examples of emergency and disaster planning includes, but is not limited to, mock exercises, more interagency cooperation in the mock exercises, identifying how we, as a community, will respond, who would be in charge of communications, who would be in charge of logistics, and a list of every one’s role in the emergency response (Laureate, 2012). The school nurse is in a leadership position to provide continuous coordination and training of all school personnel as well as the communities involved as part of the school’s emergency plan. Implementing the National Incident Command system into the school’s emergency plan is vital. This system includes universal protocols and language (Stanhope, 2012). This system acknowledges the need for mutual aid response and allows for easy to understand communication and description of roles no matter what agency or community the responders come from. This system should be implemented in every school because when a disaster strikes, especially at a school, people come from all over the country to render aid and this system provides a framework that everyone can understand. Summary The school nurse’s assistance in community-wide planning groups is helpful in the facilitation of a rapid, coordinated, effective emergency response within the framework of the Incident Command System. This includes establishing standard emergency response plans and participating in skills, drills and exercises to evaluate the response capabilities of a school, as well as the effectiveness of the plan (NASN, 2013). Disasters occurring at schools create a larger scale disaster because not only is there the disaster inside the school, but there is also a disaster created outside the school from all of the parents wanting answers that sometimes takes hours to produce the answers to. Planning is the key and the school nurse is in the position to help in the planning of the response plan in these disasters.

Strategic Operations Management Som Marketing Essay

Strategic Operations Management Som Marketing Essay Strategic operations management (SOM) isnt only about how an organisation manages effectively its day-to-day activities. Furthermore, it provides the organisation with long-term objectives as well as strategic decisions and actions to achieve those objectives. (Slack et al., 2007, p.63) SOM is vital to any organisation. It is the core determinant for the organisations success because it involves every part within the organisation. Moreover, it helps organisations to achieve organisational goal and gain competitive advantages. The four advantages of operations management (Slack et al., 2007, p.22) emphasise the importance of SOM: Helps organisations reduce cost and increase the efficiency in product/service production. For Toyota case, we all recognised one its vital competitive advantage is cost; this is the evidence that SOM helps Toyota reduce cost, increase efficiency. Increases revenue by increasing customers satisfaction through good quality and service (we can find Toyota also focuses on customers satisfaction and quality) Reduces the amount of investment required for increasing operations capacity and innovative resource deployment. In a competition world, a heavy industry like automobile always has to invest on discovering the new techniques to improve and hasten production processes. Being able to reduce these costs will help Toyota give competitive price. Provide the basis of future innovation through building a strong base of skills and knowledge inside the company. This is also important, because it will motivate Toyota to develop the capability in order to adapt with possible change in the future. Besides, SOMs importance can be clarified by the Top-down perspective of the four perspectives model: Slack et al., The four perspectives on operations strategy. Operations management, 5th ed., p.64 Top-down Perspective: the starting point of operations strategy. It supports corporate, business and functional strategies of an organisation. At corporate level, we can see Toyota positioned itself to global, economic, political and social environment (Slack et al., 2007, p.63). Itll help Toyota decide: The type of business they want to do The markets in which they will operate Allocation of cash between different businesses At business level, strategic decisions helps Toyota create business strategies that related to individual business units within the organisation. The business strategy will support these business units to focus on particular customer, markets and competitors. For example when we analyse the Toyota Corporation, we find this description: Toyota runs by 3 segments: The Automobile segment designs, manufactures and sells automobiles; The Finance supports relevant financial data; and the other is responsible for housing, information and communication. (The New York Times, 2012) So, we can see SOM in Toyota attaches individual business units to the corporate strategy by formulating the goals for individual business units. At functional level, SOM make different departments recognise and hence support the business strategy. Different departments such as: operation, marketing, RD would be managed to adhere to the business objectives. Generally, lets simplify the whole points by analysing Toyota Global Vision (Toyota-Global, 2012). Here, the corporate level decision focuses on: quality, innovation and human resources. Pass to the business level, business goals and strategic decisions are formulated, then Toyota will the specific performance objectives (quality, flexibility, cost). Finally, at functional level, different departments and functions will act accordingly through various techniques (JIT, TQM, JIT) and continuous process improvement, to meet the objectives given in business level. b) To understand Toyota from different perspectives, we should use Stakeholder Analysis to identify Stakeholders expectations in associated with 5 performance objectives (Slack et al., 2007, p.39)This table describe Toyotas 5 main stakeholder groups (Toyota-Global, 2012) and their expectation. Performance objectives Stakeholder types Stakeholders expectations Quality Customer Shareholders Society Quality of product/service, safe vehicles Speed Customer Shareholders Reduce throughput time and waiting time Dependability Customer Business partners On time delivery Flexibility Customer Suppliers Toyota Availability of different models to choose from Cost Customer Toyota Lower price and superior performance Lets analyse each group in detail: Customers: Customers expectation How Toyota addresses? Meet customers expectations? Quality Toyota strives to do thing right at the first time. With Total Quality Management (TQM) Toyota controls the quality from development, procurement, production to after sale service, while focusing on continuous improvement. Yes Opportunity to feedback and receiving of the information Listening to customer, giving timely supports. Yes http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/customers/quality.html Safety and reliability Offering modern technologies and information to prevent accidents such as: virtual human model, navigation system, audible system Recent recalls of 7 millions of cars because of faulty window switches may oppose this statement (Kollewe, J., 2012) http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/customers/safety.html Low price By applying effective techniques on processes, Toyota can lower the costs, thus giving low price to customers. (JIT, Jidoka, Lean manufacturing) Yes Dependability Toyota production system (TPS) helps on-time delivery Yes Flexibility Toyota offer a wide range of product Yes http://www.toyota-global.com/company/vision_philosophy/toyota_production_system/ Employees: Employees expectation How Toyota addresses? Meet employees expectation? Safety health Creating safe and healthy working environment Yes Pride Motivate and inspire the employees to work with full energy. Yes Confidence Guarantee a stable career and secured working conditions Toyota has sacked 350 workers in Australia (OConnor, P., 2012) this may cause some tensions for current employees. Equality in all aspects Emphasize mutual respect and harmony in work place. yes Opportunity Continuous develop HR yes http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/employees/ Business partners: Partners expectations How Toyota addresses? Meet partners expectations? Equal opportunity Giving equal opportunities for all suppliers, providing clear guidelines to potential supplier. Yes Fairness in receiving information All partners are well informed Yes Long term procurement Open-door policy to encourage fair competition Yes Stable relationship Mutual benefit based on mutual trust Yes Trust Unified cooperation with partners. Yes http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/partners/#policy Society/Communities: Society/communitys expectations How Toyota addresses? Meet societys expectations? Environment preservation Development of eco-friendly models. Reduce amount of CO2 in product, manufacturing, production process Develop recyclable material, resource and product Yes Safer vehicle Produce safe vehicles to prevent accidents Not really, because of the recent recalls. Innovation in life style Motivate activities concerned in environment preservation Yes. Other automakers (Honda, Ford, Mitsubishi) are influenced to produce this kind of product. (Schulte, M., 2012) http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/society/mobility.html Social welfare Social welfare programs Yes Jobs Provide employment opportunities to unemployed. Yes Infrastructure Infrastructure development activities Yes Traffic safety Education and training Yes http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/society/contribution.html http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/society/environment.html Shareholders: Shareholders expectations How Toyota addresses? What Toyota prioritises? ROI Sustainable profitability Respect for the agreements Respect and follow the laws Support the long-term vision for management Dividends and shares Dividends based on investment plans, business results, cash revenues http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/stakeholders/shareholders/ In addition, Globalisation has considerable influence on Toyota strategic operations management activities. Globalisation comes with plenty of opportunities as well as challenges (Slack et al., 2007, p.680). With the help of internet, Toyota can easily be available to worldwide customers, procurements and other transaction activities will become internet-based, which helps reduce cost and enhance quality control. Lets identify what challenges and opportunities of globalisation for Toyota: Greater competitions, wider range of customers demands, and partners around the world. Higher customers awareness and expectations Global value chains increasing complexity competition Higher knowledge of culture, behaviours is required Higher requirement of technology applications. Continuously increase of product standards Require more efficient and effective supply chains Require continuous improvement and innovation Having a clear view on the influences of stakeholders and globalisation to Toyota, we can clarify the SOM in different perspectives: Product/service perspective SOM in Toyota focus on transferability of products/services (Slack et al., 2007, p.681). This means Toyota guarantees their design compatible with different hobbies and attitude of customer throughout the world. Here, Toyota considers widening range of options to cope with different cultures and customers, the RD department will be commanded to design according to the customers expectation. The five performance objectives should be focused at the business level of strategy to gather and maintain customers loyalty. Toyota guarantees a reliable quality in every product with competitive price in order to satisfy customers expectations. Provide safety and reliable vehicles that inspire enthusiasm at affordable prices. (Toyota-global, 2012) Relationship with suppliers and other partners is important. Since its establishment, Toyota has sought to work closely with its suppliers in its manufacturing activities (Toyota-Global, 2012) Hybrid car is a good innovation and should be developed as it meets both customers and societys demand. Toyotas unique hybrid system combines an electric motor and a gasoline engine in the most efficient manner. It saves fuel and reduces emissions while giving ample power. (Toyota-Global, 2012) Manufacturing perspective Toyota should emphasize the quality in every product to enter global market. The TQM at Toyota is to ensure this. To compete with other automakers around the world, Toyota always find the ways to reduce costs, yet guarantee an acceptable quality. Again, the importance of partnership is justified, in associated with continuous development on: waste reduction, stock control, human skills, capacity planning and control, process improvement, etc. For example, Toyota pioneers the Lean manufacturing concept, a production method that focuses on reducing waste. Specifically, Toyota use common parts and designs for multiple product lines and reducing the number of suppliers, so that Toyota can buy parts and components at greater number, with lower cost. (Ann All, 2010) Localizing manufacturing makes Toyota effectively deal with different markets around the world. Now there are 51 bases in 26 different countries and regions. In addition, there are design and RD bases in nine locations overseas (Toyota-Global, 2012] Toyota should always make continuous improvement. Flexibility and dependability should be noticed in the manufacturing arena. Layouts of facilities need to be adjusted properly with the culture of particular region. Process technology development should be emphasized. Here availability of skills, serviceability and maintenance options can be exploited (Slack et al 2007 p681) Capacity and inventory planning and control are other areas to consider. Here Toyota JIT is helpful Administrative perspectives Toyota respects the different cultures and beliefs. Toyota is establishing a corporate culture with abundant vitality by fostering human resources that include a diverse range of individuals. (Toyota-global, 2012) Job design should be considered in globalisations. Here cost of labour, skill availability, cultural should be considered. (Slack et al., 2007, p.681) Business recovery plan should be developed to minimize the damage on reputation caused from risks. Supplier management should be considered to increase quality, and reduce cost. Toyota may develop knowledge management to increase knowledge base within the organisation. Environmental-friendly is highly considered in Toyota Because of the globalisation, Toyota may face the increases of new competitors, new products, low pricing, better quality. So, its important to promote continuous improvement principle, whilst avoiding errors (quality problem, employee sacks) as these will damage companys reputation. Task 02 For big organisations, global capability mostly came from their capability in manufacturing (Pepsi, Coca-cola). Then, Toyota would be also such case, as their success has been considerably contributed by manufacturing functions. (T., Ohno, 1988) shared a story about the strange growth at Toyota though many companies were suffering the economic recession. The operation way of manufacturing function was included in TPS. The two main concept of this system include Jidoka and Just-in-Time: where Jidoka guarantees of product quality through the prevention, in-time correction, and Just-in-Time is about reducing waste and speed enhancement in work processes. (Toyota-Global, 2012) Generally, Toyotas global capability came from the continuous development of various long-term objectives: TPS, efficient use of resource, human skills, waste reduction, customer focus, supplier network improvements, emphasis on quality and customisation, inbound logistic management, inventory control For clarifying the Toyotas competitive advantages, lets analyse through the five performance objectives (Slack et al. 2007, p 39) Performance objectives Competitive advantage How Toyota did it? Quality High quality The Jidoka helps prevent possible errors of product. The Lexus series are carefully done from the design, production, procurement, to the service delivery for customers. Good quality helps reduce the re-works, lessen the confusion, thus increase dependability, efficiency and reduce cost(Slack et., al, 2007) Speed Quick delivery Toyotas JIT principles, inventory control and inbound logistics management helps enhance the speed of production and delivery. The speed emphasis helps Toyota reduce inventories and risk (Slack et al., 2007) Dependability Reliable delivery Again, the JIT, planning and control systems help Toyota to provide on-time delivery, both to internal production process and customers. This helps Toyota increase efficiency operation, saves the time, money and gives stability to the company.( Slack et al 2007) Flexibility Production flexibility Mix flexibility Volume flexibility Delivery flexibility Wide range of product Toyota develops variety of attractive and practical models such as: Camry, Prius, Varis Toyotas R D division often design different models to satisfy different markets. Toyota is able to adjust the volume in production process. Toyota even can reschedule the manufacturing priorities. It would help the organisation to become agile, maintains dependability, and saves time. ( Slack et al 2007, p 47) Cost Low price Perhaps price is the strong competitive advantage of Toyota. Price is very important in automobile industry. However, effective cost reduction has been helping Toyota to provide favourable price. This make Toyota the leader producer in automobile industry. The performance objectives in Toyota could be illustrated by this polar diagram: Adapted from Slack et al., Operations management (2007), p.55 Besides, identification of the customers needs and expectations should be critical considered. Therefore, the order winning factors and qualifying factors could be appropriate to identify the competitive advantage of Toyota. Order winner is customers key reason for buying a product/service, while qualifying factor is the minimum competitive factors required to get the attention from customers (Slack et., al, 2007, p.69.). For Toyota the order winning factors include: standardized quality and design, low price, and dependability. Qualifying factors are: wide range of products, quick throughput-time and quick delivery to customers (speed) Adapted from Slack et al., Operations management (2007), p.69 In addition, different customers and markets have different expectation, so these factors would change according to that. For example, Lexus is a luxury series of Toyota, its target market is higher income people, therefore, the order winners would be: high quality, gorgeous design and qualifying factors are: acceptable price, quick delivery and reliable delivery. Task 3 Analysing the operation strategy at Toyota through Top-down perspective, we see that corporate level strategy lead the organisation to long-term objectives such as: innovation, waste reduction, continuous improvement Business level concentrates on performance objectives such as quality, cost, flexibility and dependability, and adapts the strategy according to the corporate objectives. And at functional level, different functions (manufacturing, RD, marketing) plan, execute and cooperate steps to achieve business objectives. These are evidences of how effective Toyota pursues its long-term objective: Toyota applies TQM, Kanban, JIT in production to achieve performance objectives. At the product/service segment, Toyota focus on innovation, quality and customer care (Toyota Code of Conduct, 2006, p.12) Finally, at administrative perspective, Toyota pays attention to: sustainable location decisions, long-term capacity management, continuous resource development and long-term supplier relations (Toyota Code of Conduct, 2006, p.12)). Here, we should notice that supplier relationship is important; Toyota should manage the first and second-tier suppliers effectively to work globally because advantages come from the close relationship with suppliers (Slack et al., 2007) These following concepts can be helpful to analyse Toyota Operation Strategy: Product Life Cycle (PLC) Product Life cycle Source: Marketing FAQ,What is Product Life Cycle(PLC)? 1. Introduction stage In introduction stage, when something new is introduced in the market, competitors will be few. Companies should develop flexibility to adapt with changes in the market (Slack et al., 2007) For example with Toyota case, a new great model Prius Hybrid has just entered the market. Assume it is in introduction stage, then customers who purchase this model would be innovators. This model seems to be well designed in shape and technology, so competitors are few, but may not exclude big competitors such as Mercedes, BMW, GM Then, the order winning factors here should be the design and qualifying factors should be quality, price. That means, Toyota should focus on design, and pay attention to quality and price. 2. Growth stage This stage is characterised by sales volume and competitors increase. The objective should be keeping up with demand expectations and ensuring the quality (Slack et al., 2007) Toyota will compete with competitors, order winners will be quality, speed and dependability (deliver according to the demand) to cope with increasing demand, and satisfying factors will be price and flexibility. We recognise that Toyota offers a wide range of product and price for different markets customers in order to attract different market segments. Lets take the case of Toyota Camry 2012, currently it is in growth stage and the target market is average income people. Its facing a rough competition with Honda Accord, both companies emphasize the quality. Though the quality, design, performance is somewhat similar, Honda is slightly better than Toyota. However Toyotas offering variety of same type products such as: Matrix, Sienna, Avalon providing more options for customers, which may yield more profits. (Halvorson, B., 2012) 3. Maturity stage In this stage, the demand has a sign to fall; some competitors withdraw from the market exclude big players. The concentration should be turned to price reduction. Here, company has to deal with cost, production and supply issues (Slack et al., 2007) Toyotas target customers now should be the mass market. Then, order winning factors will be low price, and dependability of supply. The qualifying factors are flexibility (various types of model) and quality. A wide range of product may bring some profits as Toyota already had different target markets. Consequently, Toyota should focus on cost reduction, dependability and expansion of market. We can see how Toyota applies this practice by the example of Lexus: Lexuss in maturity stage, which explains Toyotas efforts to offer a wide range of models: sedan, hybrid, SUVs which we can find in the link below: http://www.lexus.com/models/allVehicles/ 4. Decline stage Decline stage is characterised by: sales decline, more withdrawal, price competition and cost focus. (Slack et al., 2007). Here, customers are the people who follow new style late, and competitors will be less. Price war will happen and obviously, order winning factors will be low price, qualifying factors are dependability of supply. At this stage, Toyota should focus on reducing costs. Lets look at the Toyota Qualis model which had gone to the decline stage and it was replaced by the Innova. Toyotas trying to replace with Innova, probably they will sell the remaining Qualis with low price. (TNN, 2005. The Economic Times) Efficient frontier Toyota might use this approach to position its main performance objectives in order to achieve effectiveness in operation (Slack et al., 2007). With Toyota, the high variety will make the cost higher. There are some ways such as: innovation of sustainable products, increasing product life in the PLC, positioning of product at various stage in the PLC could help Toyota limit variety. In Toyota case, there are quality, cost and variety that need to be considered properly to increase the efficiency of product Adapted from Slack et al., Operations Management, 2007, p.78) Toyota can link the frontier approach with PLC to make rational decisions. Different PLCs stage requires different concentrations, Toyota may adjust its variety/quality/cost accordingly to adapt with the situation. For example, suppose Innova model reached Maturity stage in India, then Toyota would focus on cost reduction. Since Indians only prefer family car like Innova, variety should be ignored. Consequently, Toyota should sacrifice Variety to achieve cost efficiency. Toyotas competitive advantages overview Kanban System A unique method developed by Toyota. Here, JIT and Lean manufacturing are applied effectively. This method helps Toyota develop the production process speed and efficiency. Therefore they can avoid inventory, waste of resources, product error and other unwanted costs. Kanban system provides some benefits such as: waste reduction, inventory avoidance, error-free manufacturing, which help Toyota produce quality products with low cost, increase their competitiveness over other automakers. (Toyota-Global, 2012) Relationship with Suppliers Toyota understands the importance of having strong relationship with suppliers. As an integral part of Kanban system, suppliers are always up-to-date with new changes in Toyota. A lot of investments were done by Toyota to extend its supply network. As a result, Toyota is one of the organisations possess strongest supplier network in different areas of the world. The principal measure of supplier relations in the American auto industry is the OEM benchmark Survey that is published by John Henke of Oakland University. Suppliers rank auto manufacturers using 17 measures from trust to perceived opportunity. In the 2003 survey Toyota ranked first followed by Honda and Nissan, while Chrysler, Ford and GM were fourth fifth and sixth. The survey also showed that Toyotas scores had improved over 7% over 2002. Another automotive supplier survey published annually comes from J.D. Power. The 2003 survey found that Toyota, Nissan and BMW are the best North American automakers in promoting innovation with their suppliers. (David McBride, 2004) Valuable culture As a Japanese organisation, Toyotas management is highly concern with Japaneses culture. Here, the loyalty and pride is highly respected. Besides, Hofstedes 5 cultural dimensions shows Japanese is characterised by highly regarding hierarchy authority, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. This leads to these following results: Employees willingly follow the command from managers, so the decision making process and the implementation of decision will be faster. The employees strive to get to perfection due to the high uncertainty avoidance. Every worker has their pride of their work, so they wont damage their own credibility. Long-term orientation leads every individual in the organisations to continuous development and perfection. These cultural benefits made employees at Toyota continuously develop themselves thus get better performances. Because of this, the cultural value is considered one of Toyotas strongest advantages. Task 4 Lets apply the SWOT analysis for the overall review on Toyota Favourable Unfavourable Internal Strengths Strong global presence Strong brand image Strong financial performance Effective marketing and distributions to different market segments. Toyota production system Continuous improvement and innovation Strong relationship with partners Weaknesses Heavily relied on imports for inputs Heavily depends on Japan and U.S. market. Recent recalls in 2010 External Opportunities Increasing demand for hybrid electric vehicle Enough capability to produce more quality, green, fuel efficiency products. Opportunities in Asian market. Threats Increase competition from other automakers. Uncertain economic condition Usual demand is gradually changing, due to the environmental and fuel price issues. Recommendation Toyota should focus on their hybrid technology as the demand increases and pay attention to green technologies. Thanks to their reputation of quality and innovation, these concentrations can help Toyota get an additional competitive advantage. The Build your Toyota is a great innovation; customers can customize their own model. http://www.shopatgst.com/gstbuildyourtoyota/default.aspx?zip_code=70000Vehicle=nullYear The RD section should always be invested properly as it will keep Toyota up-to-date with modern technologies. Note in mind that now the green, fuel efficiency technologies are most concerned with the society. Keep promoting its brand in key markets, and in new-developed countries such as Russia, China, Brazil, and India. The demand in these markets is increasing due to the improvement of quality of life. Governments of China and India have reduced taxed for automobile, this may be the chance for Toyota. Keep observing the competitors, while focusing on the quality factors to avoid mishaps (2010 recalling) that damage their reputation and market share. Toyota should consider applying vertical integration in the growing markets and improve the management of different portfolios. Conclusion As the leading manufacturer of automobiles market, Toyota has all the required conditions to continue their successful journey in the future. Though there are currently some disadvantages, Toyota can still improve by taking more responsibility in community, environment and society. References: Ann All, (2010). Did Lean Manufacturing Contribute to Toyota Recall? IT Business Edge. 29th Jan., 2010. [online]. Available from: [accessed 5th Oct., 2012] David McBride, 2004. Toyotas Extended Lean Enterprise. EMS Consulting Group. 1st Dec., 2012. [online] Available from: [Accessed 5th Oct., 2012] Halvorson, B., (2012). Toyota Camry Vs. Honda Accord: Compare Cars. The Car Connection. 11th Sep, 201. [online]. Available from: [Accessed 4th Oct., 2012] Kollewe, J., (2012). Toyota recalls 7m cars worldwide over window fault. The Guardian. 10th Oct., 2012. [online]. Available from: [Accessed 12th Oct., 2012] OConnor, P., (2012). Toyota Australia sacks 350 workers. World Socialist Web Site. 17th Apr., 20

Human Rights Of Individuals And Amnesty International Criminology Essay

Human Rights Of Individuals And Amnesty International Criminology Essay Human rights are the basic rights of any individual regardless of the fact that the individual may belong to any religion, country, and background. Human rights are collective set of rights which an individual enjoys to live. These are rights that apply to all human beings. Human rights ensures that the dignity of an individual is protected, people are given respect within and in other societies. Human rights expresses the idea that all human beings should be treated equally and with justice and the moral values should be same and applied on all humans. The Human rights are majorly categorized as religious, civil, political, social and economic rights. (a) Civil rights comprises of rights which an individual enjoys as a citizen including right to life. It includes freedom to live, protecting people from discrimination as gender, religion, immigrant status, age etc. This includes the rights the state provides being a citizen. (b) Political rights comprises of the right to vote, having the right to express and the right to political participation. (c) Economic and social rights includes the basic rights an individual enjoys, promoting equality in society. It comprises of the right to proper education, right to a living in a safe environment, adequate housing and food, right to proper health facilities and right to social security. Economic rights includes the right to employment. (d) Cultural rights constitute the right of a society linked to cultural freedom. The right to perform cultural practices, to speak ones own mother language and the right to rituals and indigenous land. The protection of these rights are essential for the sustainability and survival of humanity. Human rights benefits people in ways that they can be protected from any social, legal and political violence. Violation in the human rights means to deny the basic rights of an individual. Violation of human rights lead to unbalanced society. Human rights are sheltered by national and international laws. FIVE INTERNATIONAL CASES ON VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS Throughout the course of human history, there have been many examples of violation of human rights. Some examples of violation of human right laws are given, 1. The most tragic case of human rights violation took place in China where due to hukou household registration system, millions of rural migrants are denied basic facilities including education for children. This distinction is based on the place of residence which has categorized citizens to be eligible for certain socioeconomic benefits. This system limits the rural from some socioeconomic facilities as education, health facilities, and better sources of income which their urban dwellers enjoy. 2. The failure of the Mexican military court system to provide justice in cases involving military abuses against civilians is a another examples of human rights violation. In many such incidents sliders detained civilians, held them captive, tortured and abused them and even applied electric shocks. No investigation are done on such cases and no action taken by military against the soldiers involved in such incidents despite medical proofs of tortures. 3. Another example of human right violation is the forced evacuation of Roma Gypsys by the Italian government. In a controversial plan, the Italian government is evacuating nomadic camps which will result in the destruction of 100 camps, leaving 1,000 people homeless resulting in violation of rights of these peoples. 4. In one incident of Human right violation, Iraqi prisoners of war are held by Britain in legal black holes similar to US at Guantanamo Bay, without trial for more than five years. Two Iraqis Faisal Attiyah Nassar al-Saadoon, 56, and Khalaf Hussain Mufdhi, 58 were accused of execution of British soldiers but both men denied any involvement in the fighting. 5. Cases of detention of journalists and scholars in Iran, restricting their right of freedom of speech and academic freedom are sad examples of human rights violations. Two Iranain brothers and physicians Kamiar and Arash Alaei were charged for allegedly communicating with enemy governments because of their participation in global health conferences. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Amnesty international founded in London In 1961 aims at providing justice and rights to those whos rights have been violated. It aims at protecting the dignity of every individual belonging to any society, ethnicity, religion or country. People worldwide face many problems which results in violation or in some cases complete denial of their basic human rights. Amnesty International works globally by collecting information on issues societies are facing and focuses on reducing the abuses to peoples through campaign locally and globally. People in Amnesty International are involved in many activities worldwide ranging from helping free prisoners, stopping violence against women and children, settling disputes between nations, abolishing death penalties and to free people from the discrimination they face which results in violation of their basic rights. Amnesty International emphasizes the Governments to provide security to their citizens when they face a challenge or harsh condition. MAJOR ROLES AND FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL The main function of Amnesty International is to record any kind of human right violation worldwide and work against it. Amnesty International stress that the Governments of every country should work to meet its responsibility to protect, respect and promote the human rights of every citizen. Following are the major key areas on which Amnesty International works on, 1. Ending Violence against women: People in Amnesty International are involved in campaigns, working against violence against women and girls worldwide. This includes ending all type of violence against women ranging from domestic violence and abuse, sexual abuse, torture and discrimination. Enforcement of laws on violence against women and abolishing laws on women discrimination. It also involves empowering women so that they can protect themselves from the discrimination and work as an active citizen. 2. Stopping violence against Children: Worldwide children faces many abuses and are denied their basic human right. Children suffer many types of violence ranging from torture to death penalties. Amnesty International aims at protecting the rights of children worldwide providing them education and against imprisonment of children. It is also working towards reducing the discrimination of girls education. Amnesty International works to end the employment of children into armed forces and to reintegrate former child soldiers back into civilian life. 3. Abolish Death Penalty and torture: Amnesty International opposes the death penalties, regardless of the fact that what the crime is. Death penalty is an inhuman punishment and results in violation of right to live. 4. Protecting Rights of Refugees, migrants and Internally displaced persons (IDPs) : Millions of people are forced to leave their homes and move to new areas as a result of war, poverty and natural disasters. These people move to other areas in their own country or to other countries in search of homes and better standard of living. Unfortunately they face many situation which results in violation of their basic human rights. As in case of Iraq where many people have migrated to other places as a result of war, Amnesty International is calling on US, UK and other developed countries for resettlement of these refugees who are in urgent need of shelter, food and medical care. 5. Rights of Prisoners of Conscience : Amnesty International has been working for Prisoners of Conscience and has succeeded in helping in release of many such prisoners. Prisoners of Conscience are those prisoners who been imprisoned either because of lawful expression of their beliefs or are human rights defenders facing government intimidation, individuals at risk of execution, or those languishing in arbitrary detention. 6. Protection of Human dignity: To protect human dignity is the main function of Amnesty International. Amnesty International focuses on promoting the respect of every individual belonging to any religion, country, gender or ethnicity. Protecting the moral values of every individual. EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE FREED AFTER INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE There are many success stories of release of prisoners after international pressure. Such stories area great hope for the human rights activists. Following are some of the success stories, 1. In 1998, two OCESP members, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera were arrested by military and were tortured to confess to arms and drugs-related crimes. Amnesty International took up their case and found that they were found guilty on basis of false evidence. National and international pressure in the case forced President Vicente Fox to order their release from prison in 2001. 2. On 16th September 2005, Felipe Arreaga Sà ¡nchez, environmental activist, founder of the Peasant Environmentalist Organization of the Sierra de Petatlà ¡n was released after international pressure. He was arrested in November 2004, accused of a murder that took place in 1998. 3. In February 2009, Ayman Nour was unpredictably released from prison after four years due to International pressure. He was a prominent political dissident and a one-time presidential candidate. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Though there have been records of cases and incidents in developed countries but the rate of human rights violence is higher in developing countries as compared to developed countries due to many reasons. In developed countries institutions are strong and corruption rate is low. In developing countries freedom of speech and human rights is not well appreciated. In some societies major rights are not even considered as human rights in the first place. Due to lack of resources, unequal distribution of resources, injustice, unemployment and increase in violence the rate of human rights violation is increasing. The increase in war on terrorism is also resulting in human rights violations. War its self creates disturbance, depriving people of basic rights, where fear, mistrust and violence increases in societies. The main reasons resulting in violation of Human Rights in developing countries are, 1. Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and casts systems: The discrimination done on basis of cast system, ethnicity, family background results in human rights violation. For example as in India the cast system which has divided the Hindus into different casts, restricts them from adopting a better standard of living. People who belong to lower classes do not have the right to eat and sit between people belonging to high casts. 2. Democratic and institutional weakness: One reason for violation in civil and political rights is because of bad governance, democratic and institutional weakness in developing countries. Power exists in the hands of few people or in hands of those awarded through heredity. People are not given right to vote; right to choose the kind of life they want to live. 3. Economic instability, Lack of resources and unequal distribution of resources: Economic instability is major factor in failure of certain developing countries in human rights violations. These societies do not have the means to facilitate their citizens with basic social and economical rights. Another reason for human rights violation in developing countries is the lack of resources. Inefficiency in allocation of resources such as food and health facilities, housing and other results in violence in society. In this way people are forced to live in bad situations. Unequal distribution of resources creates differences in society where large differences are created between rich and poor. 4. In many societies a number of human rights violations are accepted culturally. There are certain practices taking place in these societies which are not considered as violation of human rights. In fact these practices have been part of the culture of the area for such a long time that these practices have become traditions. No one looks at it as violation of human rights. Such as in some societies of the developing countries womens are not given right to vote, girls are denied right to education and practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) have become traditions in these societies. 5. Corruption and violence is a major contributing factor in violation of human rights in developing countries. Major threats of human rights faced by these nations is the result of corruption. Violence created as a result of the above factors are depriving humans of their basic needs and resulting in violation their basic rights. ASPECTS OF POVERTY AND HUMAN RIGHTS Poverty is condition in which an individual, a family or society is deprived from basic economic necessities required for living. Poverty leads to human rights violation. A poor person faces many types of abuses, stress and difficulties. When an individual does not have the right to proper standard of living, proper food, proper health facilities, education, to adequate housing and income, results in violation of human rights. Most of the various aspects of poverty can be considered as the denials of ones right to a decent living. Poverty leads to bad standard of living. Everyone has the right to live a life in which all basic facilities are available. Some aspects of poverty and human rights are given below, 1. Poverty and Child labor: In developing countries the ratio of child labor is very high due to the fact that in these countries as there is economic instability, discrimination and poverty, families of poor people have to work very hard to earn and compete for a proper living. In such societies children work along with their parents due to which the child gets no education due to which the ration of child labor has increased in the past few years in developing countries. 2. Poverty and Women rights: Over one million people around the world are living a life of poverty and majority of them are females. Poverty results in discrimination in women rights in many ways. It results in limitation of a womens access to power, education, health facilities, job etc. In some cases it has been seen as there is increase in poverty, the female of the house would limit everything and focus on her family so as to meet their needs. This way the female neglects her own basic rights just for the sake of her family. Increase in domestic and sexual violence is a major factor resulting in women poverty. 3. Poor societies face much discrimination: Poor societies are treated unfairly which is a major barrier to achieving their human rights. Poor people do not have access to many facilities. In some societies ethnic background and racism leads to poverty. As example of India is coated earlier where due to cast system people face discrimination whereby human rights of an individual or community is violated or completely denied. When people do not have the basic necessities and live a life of poverty, it results in imbalance in society, creating violence and an unsustainable society. Poor communities do not participate in decision making which leads to bad policy making. 4. Violence and poverty: Violence in poor communities is caused as a result of poverty. When people are denied their basic rights (right to food, adequate living, health facilities, employment and freedom), they adopt certain methods which results in violence in society. Discrimination between poor and rich in providing jobs and education creates frustration which results in violence leading to violation of human rights. 5. Poverty leads to unsustainable living: When individuals in a society or country are not given the basic rights of living leads to an unsustainable living. ASPECTS OF TERRORISM AND SECURITY ASPECTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS The increase in conflicts with nations and the religious conflicts has initiated the increase and deterioration of human rights globally. 1. Migration: Increase in war on terrorism has resulted in migration of thousands of people within their own countries or to other countries. People leave their homes and property in search of a peaceful place to live. First their right to live is deteriorated and secondly the area they migrate to is totally new to them. These people face many problems. They live in tents no matter how harsh the climatic conditions are, they are treated as strangers in the new place, have difficulty in getting employment and are treated as violence creators. There are many examples of such incidents; the recent is the Roma Gypsys from Italy. 2. Increase in prisoners and abductions: Terrorism has increased the abduction of people to places where human rights are totally violated. Disappearance and detention of prisoners and keeping them in jails without trail or fair trial. Human abuse is increasing with the increase in establishment of detention cells and camps like Guantanamo Bay and increase in handing of suspects to be engaged in terrorist activities. Up till now no one knows how many detention cells or camps are present and up till now due to this so called war on terrorism, how many individuals including men, women and children have been detained or killed. 3. Security is the basic right of every citizen of a country, which is the duty of the Government and other local agencies. But unfortunately Governments have adopted such methods to control terrorism as torture, which are resulting in increase in insecurity of citizens. Killing and incidents of abuse, rape, kidnapping, robbery increases. 4. Terrorism creates an environment of distrust, violence, affects human security and dignity, destroys democratic setup of society, creates fear in society, negatively affects the social and economical development of the country, results in violation of human rights and threatens the security of the state. 5. One aspect of increase in terrorism and insecurity affecting the human rights is the destruction and disturbance these activities cause. These activities causes mass destruction of public, private and personal buildings. It creates fear in society. The daily routine lives of citizens is badly affected. As in the case of suicide attacks in any country or such acts results in violation of human rights. People do not feel safe and decrease their outdoor activities. Damage to property, shop, office or factory decreases the labor of an individual thus affecting the livelihood and income in an already economically instable country. REFRENCES: http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR410382005lang=e. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.1.108305094 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/15/china-migrant-workers-children-education http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/29/mexico-hold-military-account-rights-abuses http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/army-accused-of-human-rights-abuse-in-case-of-iraqis-held-without-trial-for-five-years-847457.html http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146286.php

Early Learning: How Do Head Start Programs Contribute to Success Essay

The Head Start Program contributes to the successful learning of children in a major way. Head Start promotes healthy prenatal out comes, enhances the development of infants and toddlers, and promotes healthy family functioning. The children are giving a better chance to succeed in school and life. Therefore, the rate of human learning and development is in the early years. Head Start is a Federal funded, comprehensive child development program that has an overall goal to prepare children from low-income families for school (Administration for Children and Families). The Head Start Program is under the direction of local, non-profit organizations in almost every county in the world. The Head Start Program originally began in 1965, by President Lyndon London (Zigler). A report written by The United States Department of Health and Human Services states that the Head Start Program began in 1995 for children from birth to three years of age, and has expanded to serve approximately 800,000 children and their families in 664 communities across the United States. To prepare a child for ...

Carvers boxes: Something Is Not Right :: essays research papers

Carver's "Boxes": Something is Not Right Have you ever had that eerie feeling in the back of your mind that something just is not right? It is as if there is some unknown reason that a situation has a different meaning then what is obvious. This feeling is the disguised backbone of Raymond Carver's story, "Boxes". In this story the son seems to be experiencing this feeling as his mother decides to move again. There are gaps in the story line which shows that the son's dialog does not match up with his thoughts throughout the situation. These gaps highlight a hidden theme that associates the son's feelings about his mother moving with her death. One of the reasons the son unconsciously believes he will never see his mother again, is because his mother mentions more than once in the story that she would like to die. These gaps in the story where the mother mentions dying in the same scenes that have to do with her moving associates her moving with her death. One instance that she mentions dying is where she is complaining about the weather in Longview: "I mean it, honey. I don't want to see this place again except from my coffin. I hate this g.d. place. I don't know why I moved here. I wish I could just die and get it over with" (p. 413). I do not think the son believes she really wants to die but she puts the idea of her dying in his subconscious. There is a gap at that point that is up to the reader to figure out. The gap is widened farther in that same scene. The son remembers thinking about a man working on a power line. The man leaned out supported only by a safety belt and the son thought about if the man fell. The son is still on the phone with his mother: "I didn't have any idea what I was going to say next. I had to say something. But I was filled with unworthy feelings, thoughts no son should admit to. 'You're my mother,' I said finally. 'What can I do to help?'" (p. 413). What were these thoughts? Why doesn't the narrator tell us? The son cannot help being affected by these powerful words of his mother. This gap in the story is important because the son is thinking about how that man working on the pole could easily die if his safety belt does not hold. At this point he also has unmentionable thoughts about his mother.

Frankenstein and Of Mice and men Frankenstein and Of Mice And Men are :: English Literature

Frankenstein and Of Mice and men Frankenstein and Of Mice And Men are different in almost every way. They are written in different times, by different classes Frankenstein and Of Mice and men Frankenstein and Of Mice And Men are different in almost every way. They are written in different times, by different classes of people and in different areas of the world where life is dissimilar to the extreme. The primary characters are nothing like each other, and the books are written in contrasting styles. Frankenstein is about a scientist who inadvertently creates a monster in his pursuits of the reanimation of deceased creatures. It is concerned with the life of the scientist and his anguish when the creature that he has made turns evil, and homicidal. Of Mice And Men is about two migrant ranch worker's quest to actualise the 'American Dream' whilst trying to avoid tribulation on the ranch where they are earning their living. However,there are some similar themes in the two novels, for example, the loneliness ofthe primary characters, and the way society reacts to something that is considered 'atypical' by their standards. In this essay, Frankenstein and Of Mice And Men will be critically compared and contrasted. Themes in the novels will be taken into account, as well as the use of language and the social and historical background to the novels. This will be closed by a conclusion where the main points will be brought up again. Isolation is one of the most frequent occurrences in the two novels. In Of Mice And Men, Lennie is disassociated from the others, not because he wants to be, but because of his low intellect he is considered 'different' by the men on the ranch, and society. This is much like the situation of Frankenstein's monster. Because of his displeasing appearance, he is abhorred by society and forced to live away from it, secluded in forests and so on. '"Finding the door open, I entered. An old man sat in it, near a fire, over which he was preparing his breakfast. He turned on hearing a noise; and perceived me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut ran across the fields..."'. Other characters in Of Mice And Men, for example Crooks, are victims of this forced isolation. Crooks is a black man in a predominantly white area. Black people had been brought to America due to the Slave Trade, but even though it was abolished, black people were still seen as slaves, and below white Americans. '"'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink."' Another character that is a target for this is Curley's wife.

Physical resources improve the performance of a business Essay

Explain how the management of human, physical and technological resources can improve the performance of Thorpe Park. In this task, I will be explaining how Thorpe Park manage their human, physical and technological resources and how good management of these resources improve their performance. 1. Good management of Thorpe Park’s physical resources Physical resources are the man-made tools or equipment needed for the day-to-day running of Thorpe Park. Basically, physical resources are anything that provides Thorpe Park with the means to perform its business processes. Thorpe Park’s rides are in good condition, are safe, are durable and are efficient and this demonstrates the high maintenance of their rides. Thorpe Park maintain their rides everyday (sometimes every 2 hours). This also demonstrates the high level of maintenance of their rides. Also, Thorpe Park have a team management team which monitor if there is a high standard of maintenance which creates high standards. The cleanliness and hygiene of Thorpe Park’s rides also demonstrates that the rides are being maintained well. How good management of physical resources improves Thorpe Park’s performance By Thorpe Park maintaining their physical resources to a very high standard, it increases the health and safety standards. This ensures customer needs a nd expectations are met and satisfied. Meeting customers’ needs and expectations ensures repeat business for Thorpe Park and more customers. More customers and repeat business will lead to an increase in ticket sales and more profit. Thorpe Park can then use this extra profit to re-invest into building new rides, maintaining existing ones. 2. Good management of Thorpe Park’s human resources Human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of Thorpe Park. It also refers to the division of Thorpe Park that is focused on activities relating to employees. Thorpe Park can manage their human resources well and this can be done through various means. These means are by granting their employees free travel and food, discount on rides for family and friends, premium pay rates and other benefits from being an employee in Thorpe Park. By doing this, the employees of Thorpe Park are motivated to give their all to customers and be productive. Thorpe Park can manage their human resource well by training their employees. Training is  the ability to give employees skills and knowledge to do their job properly. They can provide this training for employees through the recruitment process. The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organization) for a job opening, in a timely and cost effective manner. They do this by identifying the need for a new employee, describing who you want through a person specification, describing what you want them to do through a job description, attracting potential employees, analysing candidates’ strengths and weaknesses and selecting the best person for the job. If the potential employee decides to take the job, Thorpe Park can then train the employee. However, if the potential employee decides to reject the job offer, they will have to start the recruitment process again which in the long run wastes time, money and reduces productivity. If the employee is recruited well, they will be able to meet the needs and expectations of customers. How good management of human resource can improve the performance of Thorpe Park By Thorpe Park are able to manage their human resources well, they will be meeting the needs and expectations of their customers. Thorpe Park meeting the needs and expectations allows them to build a good reputation and gives them more customers than their competitors such as Alton Towers, Chessington, Legoland or other any entertainment venues. This will allow Thorpe Park to expand as a business and increase their market share (A percentage of total sales volume in a market captured by a brand, product, or company) and the dema nd for their rides. 3. Good management of Thorpe Park’s technological resources Technological resources are resources such as software, designs, music, or text. These resources are owned like physical resources and are known as ‘intellectual property.’ Intellectual property laws allow people to own ideas and have rights over them. Thorpe Park can manage their technological resources well by constantly checking their programs and making sure they do not crash. They can manage technological resources by updating software regularly and making sure they run smoothly. Also, Thorpe Park have an IT team who specialize in ensuring programs are running smoothly and upgraded and updated regularly. Furthermore, the ticket collection system, the CCTV cameras, security systems, speaker systems, music and Wi-Fi all shows that  the technological resources in Thorpe Park are being managed well. How good management of technological resources can improve the performance of Thorpe Park By Thorpe Park managing their technological resources well, the customers’ experience is enhanced. This makes the customers of Thorpe Park happy, safe and satisfied because they are able to contact the outside world and enjoy their stay. This will result in repeat business for Thorpe Park and will allow Thorpe Park to attain more customers which will boost their sales, profit and reputation in the long run.

What Affect has the outward movement of retailing office

a. ) The Retail Revolution that has been occurring in waves since the 1970's was such a shift in the way in which our services are provided that consequences for surrounding areas were inevitable. With the first wave of decentralisation of the inner city areas supermarket food industries left to edge-of-city sites causing much strain on the need for corner shops which in comparison to the mega-stores were of low variety and unattractive to shoppers. This coupled with the fact that the residents of rural areas were increasingly becoming more mobile meant that there was an overall decline in general store and corner shops in many rural areas that neighboured large cities. With a decline in services available close by there are always going to be people who lose out. For instance older residents that perhaps have lived in these villages for a long time may not be car owners. Consequently these people will decide to move to a place that has the services they require close by and there will be a decline in population. Any area in a cycle of declining population and loss of services often continues to do so until the process of dilapidation is out of control. We saw this process in Caistor, a rural settlement outside of Grimsby, where the introduction of a Morison's Super store 7 miles away had caused great decline. Also a Tescos 10 miles away from Caistor provided a bus service to and from the village meaning the rate of decline is intense. Evidence we found showed that for a town of population of 3,500 the village still had adequate services. However, the roots of the village were of a prestigious schooling reputation, which had fuelled much growth in the area at one time. Now the supermarkets have a firm hold in the neighbouring area the growth has subsided to what we see today. Many stores closed down, being converted back into residences in many cases. Only some specialist functions survived. Mainly those that rely on the village image to sell their product, for example Sandham's Wine cellars. Large losses in services and shops have clearly occurred though and from the looks of the village it will have difficulty in attracting outside investment. You can read also Waves This is a common problem in rural areas today, the problem has spiralled into disrepair and only a large cash injection to make the area seem more attractive will solve the problem. In more suburban areas including rural areas that have become suburbanised due to urban sprawl another consequence of decentralisation is apparent. Along the edge of Leeds places like Moortown and Headingly we noticed that District centres were catering for their local communities. In Moortown there was a clear Jewish presence in the area and in Headingly a student orientated district centre. Both examples of how the change in retail provision is affecting change. People can afford to be more demanding and to go farther afield to find what they want so retailers are responding by getting closer to the communities they cater for. b. ) Inner city areas in light of the mass decentralisation have understandably tended to decline with the closure of smaller shops drawing the public away from the city centre and many traditional high street areas have become very run down places. This has caused somewhat of a response from city planners who finally admit that decentralisation is a bad thing and doesn't simply relieve congestion. The American response to the decline of their inner city areas was to convert the CBD to specialist shopping areas that offer something the out of town malls and plazas do not. Many schemes including the adaptation of high rise foundations to custom shopping centres have been paid for in order to rescue America's city centres from desertion. In Britain however, city centres have declined still, but not nearly as much as America due to planning controls put in place and less suburbanisation. Still the major movements of decentralisation have created a pull factor away from the city centre and high street units. There were five main changes to the high street: 1. ) Large companies having standard image, large stores were broken into smaller units and a core and frame of the CBD itself was emerging, where it was clear that in the frame area refurbishment of shop fronts and insides was no longer economically viable 2. ) Functions became more varied with an increasing number of personal consumer services, financial, household, medical, leisure, and government services. . ) The perception of the high street as the focus for the community has become less strong 4. ) Land rental price increases and there was increasing competition for non-retail investors to maximise profits through office blocks etc 5. ) The highs street's position in the urban structure is under threat as retailing diversifies in character and location Another affect that the changes have brought about, are the planning responses in Britain. We saw how America specialised its CBD in order to make it more attractive again. British city councils have taken action to combat the decentralisation and many schemes have been tried, some worked, others failed, in any case the answer usually requires a large monetary input. In Leeds for example full pedestrianisation of large blocks has made for more pleasant shopping environment attracting shoppers making the land more desirable for retailers again. Attractive indoor centres are an extension of this with places like the Trinity centre, which have clearly had large investment and the heritage based Granary Wharf and Corn Exchange that link a tourist attraction in to bring in the shoppers. Mass shop front refurbishment like that of the Victorian quarter, which has also been roofed over, attract prestigious shops into the area and breathe life into the city centre again. The costs involved for these type of schemes are no doubt enormous and one can only expect to see retail prices rising as a result. But Leeds is just one example of where the schemes have worked, many other British cities to this day are suffering the affects of decentralisation brought about by the Retail Revolution.

Framework for the Assessment of Children and their Families Essay

The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (which I will refer to as the assessment framework in this assignment) is an ecological framework that includes personal, intra-personal, inter-personal and sociological influences on development. It was developed in response to findings from a programme of research on child protection (Department of Health 1995), and a series of government inspections (Social Services Inspectorate 1997a,b). Social workers often have to balance the needs of children and families with agency requirements, which Davies (1997), points out are often underpinned by a legal mandate therefore accountability is a complex concept in social work. The assessment framework provides a systematic way of gathering, analysing, understanding and recording what is happening to children and young people within their families and the wider context of the community in which they live, (Department of Health, Department for Education and Employment, Home Office, 2000); and the skill in undertaking and recording an assessment according to Coulshed & Orme (1998 p.26) lies in the ability of professionals to collect enough of the right kind of information and this can only be done in the right kind of environment. Cleaver and Walker’s (2003) research study found that the implementation of the assessment framework overall has been successful, it has facilitated joint working  between agencies having a profound influence on policy and practice in children’s services. The Every Child Matters policy initiative was a positive social policy programme in a lot of respects and a catalyst for radical reform however some of the processes and procedures invaded and undermined the rights of the child to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR), Hoyle, (2008), which I will discuss further in this assignment. There have been many criticisms of the assessment framework and Helm (2011) mentions that even though the quality of assessments have improved there is persistent difficulty with levels and quality of analysis and a repeated failure amongst professionals to pay sufficient attention to what children and young people may be saying about their own needs and experiences. Parton (2010) highlights that during the period since late 2008 & the tragic death of Baby P, the focus has shifted more centrally to child protection where prior to this period the emphasis was on ‘safeguarding’, and there has been a renewed official priority given to social work to which the developments have been given an added impetus with the election of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition government in May 2010 which generated the Munro review into child protection. I will provide a critical analysis of how relevant legislation and policy impact on assessing the needs of children and their families and I will discuss ways that inadequate assessments can lead to failures. To successfully implement the assessment framework a process has to be followed which requires social workers to be skilful and experienced. I will explore ways in which the assessment framework is a useful tool in contemporary social work practice, identifying the significance of risk and safeguarding with children and young people and how we can learn from past mistakes. In addition I will discuss some of the dilemmas that social workers face with the assessment process in relation to the rights of children and families. Legislation and Policy in the Children and Families Assessment Framework The assessment framework was introduced under section (7) of the Local Authority Social Services Act in 2000 and implemented in April 2001. (Millar & Corby, (2006). It followed the introduction of the Children Act (1989) which legitimises actions taken by social workers. The framework builds on the duties of assessment of needs set out in section (17) and schedule (2) para (3) of the Children Act 1998. (Parker & Bradley, p.18), and builds on responsibilities under section (47) of the Children Act which obliges local authorities to consider making inquires if concerns have been expressed about a child’s well-being or possible maltreatment. Assessments under section (47) involve a shared responsibility in consultation with other professionals. Failure to properly implement Section (17) schedule (2) meant that the broader welfare needs of disadvantaged children was overlooked so the DOH had to refocus social work practice so that child protection concerns were included in the assessment framework. Parker (2007) states that the assessment framework is policy driven and highlights the importance of inter-agency sharing of information and cooperation in working together, while emphasising the principles of person-centred, strengths-based practice. It is made up of three domains (triangle) that represent the child’s developmental needs, the parenting capacity to respond to those needs and family and environmental factors with the child’s welfare at the centre (Department of Health, 2000a). According to Parton (2010), there was an important shift under the New Labour government away from services that were framed primarily in terms of ‘the family’ to ones that were explicitly ‘child-centred’. The Every Child Matters (ECM) policy framework a direct response to the Climbie Report was developed within government and championed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in September (2003), and underpins the Children Act (2004). The ECM joined-up services for children and families under one roof; so how can anyone dispute that not every child matters? Well, it only applied in 150 local authority areas in England and was not scheduled for  implementation in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, which would lead to the assumption that every child matters in England but not in the United Kingdom. Also under the ECM framework was a considerable financial investment, made in establishing a universal child surveillance database (Contact Point) and countless areas of activity concerning children but were brigaded under the ‘every child matters’ brand. The Integrated Children System which built on the assessment framework according to White et al, (2010) disrupted the professional task, engendering a range of unsafe practices and provoked a gathering storm of user resistance, (p.405). Parton (2011, p.16) notes that the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition government made it clear, after its election victory in May 2010, that it was the reduction in the public finance debt that was its overriding and most urgent political priority and immediately set about reducing public expenditure. The new government established an independent review of child protection, chaired by Eileen Munro within three weeks of coming into office, (Parton, 2010, p.2); and the new government also began to dismantle key elements of the ECM framework (e.g. Contact Point), and almost consigned the enormous ECM website to the archive! ( Butler & Hickman, 2011). Research tells us that when thresholds are likely to be raised if there are limited resources, financial constraints or the pressure of increased workloads, this is a way that organisations can ration responses, by prioritising cases, (Turney et al, 2011), executive summary notes that, where children are neglected or abused evidence in dicates that the help they received from services was inadequate. The Munro review is the latest in a long line of policy initiatives in England set up to address the challenges for the state and wider society to the problem of child abuse. (Parton, 1985:2006). The review argues that a major reason why child protection policy and practice has developed in the way that it has in England arises from negative and critical responses from the media to professionals, in particular social workers, so improving the public image of social work is key to improving child protection. (Parton,  2012, p.158). But the review did not make it clear what it meant by child protection or what it identified as the main aims of the child protection system (p.154) The Assessment Process Assessment can be seen as an on-going, continuous and mutual process in which the service user interacts and participates. Darlymple and Burke (2006) explain that participation defines an activity where people are not just listened to or consulted but are also able to influence and achieve change. It is a process of what has happened and what is happening now. (Butler & Hickman, 2011 p.168), and Smale et al. (1993) highlight the idea of ‘exchange’ in assessment in which a two-way communication takes place, enabling the views of service users and professionals to be accorded equal respect. The assessment framework describes itself as ‘rooted in child development’, (DOH, 2000) therefore it is vital that social workers have a thorough understanding in child development as this is critical for work with children and families. It takes the skill and talent and understanding of a social worker to make sense of the information gathered from different sources and begin the process with the information in front of them. Sometimes the information needs to be collected again and again at the cost of the people using the services, especially if they have already given information to a social worker previously, but the process is an on-going one so in some cases negotiations need to be made with a range of people. Each child’s needs should be assessed individually when referred to services. An initial assessment is completed within 7-10 days. The initial assessment gathers information along the three parameters of assessment framework, which determines what services (if any) are needed. The tight time constraints can at this stage in the assessment framework can influence the initial decisions about where and how to manage referrals. Regan (2001) mentions that the form filling associated with the assessment framework is a time-consuming obstacle to the process of engaging helpfully with people.  (cited in Millar & Corby, 2006, p. 888). The core assessment which is an in-depth process containing numerous questions, is only necessary if it is clear from the initial assessment that a more detailed assessment is required and if there are safeguarding concerns. It uses the full model of the assessment (the child’s needs, the needs within the wider community) and the (capacity of the parents) and should be done within 35 working days. Current statutory guidance on promoting the health and well-being of looked after children (DCSF, 2009) suggests the use of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as an early stage screening tool for this purpose. (cited in Turney et al, 2011). In social work practice, it is important to agree on the assessment plan with the child and it’s family so all parties are aware who is going to be doing ‘what’ and ‘when’, and how the assessment will be used to inform overall judgements about the child’s needs and subsequent planning, (DOH, 2000a). Two studies conducted by Corby et al, (2002a) who sought the views of 34 sets of parents being assessed under the new framework, concluded that almost all parents were satisfied or had positive views about the initial assessments and two-thirds felt in a similar way about core assessments. Focus groups who also took part in the study were also positive about initial assessments and had mixed views about the core assessments. The majority raised issues about time constraints and staff resources. The study doesn’t mention, which local authority area the study took place, the ages of the parents or the ethnic origins as this may have made a difference to the outcome. Anti-oppressive and Anti-discriminatory practice when conducting assessments should take into account people’s differences, for example religion, colour or race. If assessments are done correctly it will be person-centred and will include diverse factors such as the gender, sexuality or age of a person, cited in Turney et al, (2011). They also note criticisms of the child development model and that it doesn’t take into account the child’s disability and suggest that the assessment should include tailoring of templates to reflect their strengths, abilities and needs through their chosen method of communication. Coulshed and Orme (1983) discuss drawbacks to the assessment process in that they could be used to control not just access to services but also disadvantaged sections of the community for example dossiers kept on so-called ‘problem families’ or those who have assertively sought assistance, and Ahmad (1990) mentions the adjective ‘aggressive’ which is applied to black clients who assert their needs for equitable services and that white assessments fail to take into account black realities and environments. Preston-Shoot, (2003) adds that studies have shown that social workers have a lack of referencing to research and theory in their assessment reports. The components of the assessment framework requires more than just vision. It requires social workers to observe behaviours as well as gather information which can be non-verbal, for example observing facial expressions, looking at attachments with family members, observing body language etc. The message in social worker practice is clear, that when working with children and their families it is vital to have a non-judgemental manner, not to make assumptions when carrying out assessments and intervening with individuals and to keep an open mind. In addition social workers should, maintain adequate and accurate note keeping records and should ensure accountability when working in collaboration with other organisations. Risk and Safeguarding The discussion of risk and safeguarding and allocation of resources is a reminder of the power that social workers hold. The assessment framework (Department of Health et al., 2000), attempted to move the focus from the assessment of risk of child abuse and ‘significant harm’ (Department of Health, 2001) to one that was concerned with the idea of risk of impairment to a child’s overall development in the context of their family and community environment. (cited in Parton, 2010 p.7). Parton, (2010) discusses that by the early 1990s the child protection and child welfare systems could be characterised in terms of the need to  identify ‘high risk’ cases so that these could be differentiated from the rest. According to Dale et al., 1986; Parton and Parton, 1989, ‘High-risk’ was conceptualised in terms of ‘dangerousness’, for it occurred in the small minority of ‘dangerous families’, and such families were subject to extreme family dysfunctions and violent personalities and were seen as the primary cause of child abuse and needed to be identified so children could be protected. Government guidelines that specifically focused on ‘the protection of children from abuse’ was reinforced further in the only official guide on the purpose and content of professional assessments from the Department of Health, (1998) guide, Protecting Children: A Guide for Social Workers Undertaking a Comprehensive Assessment. The guide was specifically designed for social workers in cases where abuse was either substantiated or highly suspected and was concerned with assessments for ‘long-term planning in child protection’ cases. (Parton, 2010, p.6) So how can risk be identified? According to the (2003) Green Paper the risk characteristics of experiencing negative outcomes is concentrated in children with certain characteristics, and the more risk factors a child had, the more likely it was that they would experience negative outcomes for example ‘poor parenting’, ‘crime’ and ‘anti-social & deviant behaviour’ are seen to playing key roles and it is stated that identifying factors and intervening early provided a major strategy for overcoming the social exclusion of children and avoiding problems later in life. (cited in Parton, 2010, p.10) The Department of Health (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2005), following the introduction of the Children Act (1989) commissioned a series of research studies which reported an over-emphasis on issues of abuse and neglect at the expense of assessing and supporting families. The (SCIE) drafted the report ‘Managing risk and minimising mistakes in services to children and families’ in 2005. The report based on a pilot study of organisational approaches to risk management and includes opportunities for learning from safeguarding incidents. The teams involved in the study were practitioners and service users recruited from England and Wales and fieldwork was conducted in July/August 2004 from both teams. Regarding the  needs assessment, the report mentions that assessing and safeguarding children from significant harm is complex, which means that near misses involves cases where potential significant harm to children was overlooked. During the referral and assessment stage the near misses arise due to the prioritisation of cases  professional not having an accurate or full picture of what is happening decisions made by other teams or agencies The report concludes that in relation to assessing the needs of children in particular the need to safeguard them from significant harm practitioners commentaries showed that near misses were a regular occurrence and were part and parcel of the job. The report also suggested that latent failures are embedded in the system which include a lack of sufficient resources to meet the needs of children and families. (SCIE, 2005, p.35) The role of social work practice in children’s services in England has in relation to child protection seen a dramatic change. Since late 2008, Parton (2010) mentions that following the Baby P’s tragic death, policy and practice have moved in new directions and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS, 2009) reported that there were nearly 50 per cent more care applications to court in the second half of 2008-09 compared with the first half of that year. High-profile and very public criticisms of social workers and other health and welfare professionals in cases of child abuse put increasing pressure on child welfare services in the UK. (Parton, 1985; Butler and Drakeford, (2005). More recently the sentencing of 9 Asian men in the ‘Rochdale Grooming’ case in which critics have highlighted further ‘protection’ issues amongst professionals. So with clear messages from research, what is the best way for professionals to address issues of risk to children? The report focused primarily on active failures and it states that good practice is to learn from past mistakes and a key means for learning is to harness the knowledge and expertise from service users and to improve assessment systems promoting the welfare of children and families. (SCIE, 2005). Social workers also need to  know why they are seeking a particular piece of information and how to process it questioning all the information from sources, being intuitive and thinking analytically and critically. Professional issues in relation to rights of children and families and the assessment process. Jones (2001) mentions that social work assessment frameworks in general largely ignore the value of listening and forming supportive relationships, diminishing the power of service users to express their concerns effectively, and adds that social workers often have to balance the needs and rights of the child with those of the parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) sets out the independent rights of the children, but it also states that the ‘best interests of the child’ are usually served by supporting the child’s family, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, (2005). The (JRF), 2005 study examined the tensions inherent in child and family policy, it’s implications of human rights legislation for policy development and the extent to which government has managed these responsibilities through the development of appropriate policies and structures for service delivery. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), sets out the parents and children entitlements, including the right for respect for family life enshrined in Article (8). The (2005) study encourages a debate about managing the tensions between policies in support of children and those directed at parents and the family and concludes that contradictions and conflicts in policy in children’s welfare eclipses parents’ rights, and there is no consistent overview of how interests of family members are managed across the generations. It also states that at local level, Children’s Trusts might be strengthened by changing their name to Children and Family Trusts encouraging holistic thinking and making their remit explicit. ‘Although the ECHR has been integrated into domestic law through the Human Rights Act, it’s entitlements are not promoted in social policy and despite signing up to the CRC the government has not incorporated its articles into UK legislation’. (JRF, 2005) It is important as part of the assessment process and for a good assessment to keep the focus of the child at the centre of the assessment process. Although this may be a problem with teenagers who are already going through changes and many of whom have estranged relationships with their parents and families. Studies note that there is sometimes an unwillingness of some social workers to intervene with teenagers and evidence from Serious Case Reviews indicate that suicide was a common cause of death with teenagers aged between the ages of 16 to 17 years of age. Social workers need to be aware of the dangers and of the impact of non-engagement with teenagers, and agencies need to have appropriate strategies and resources in place to address their needs (Brandon et al., 2008 and 2009; Hicks and Stein, 2010; Stein, 2007) (cited in Turney et al , (2011). The Turney et al, (2011) research article indicates that there are difficulties for many social workers in making and sustaining relationships with children and with representing the child’s voice in assessments and evidence shows that on occasions practice has fallen short of the standard required. Helm (2011) writes that children and young people have clearly identified that professionals fail to really listen, not because of a lack of time, but because they focus on adults views and protect themselves from the difficult nature of what they are being told. (p.908) Ferguson, (2001) mentions the difficulties that social workers and other professionals face in such cases of assessing the needs of children while at the same time trying to engage a mother and father who don’t always want the intervention, and research shows that there is considerable evidence that the nature of parental relationships with professionals affect decisions arising from assessments. Turney et al, (2011). Assessments of disabled children raises a number of complexities and challenges; for example the child developmental model underpinning the assessment framework can be seen by some social workers as not appropriate for disabled children (Cleaver et al.,2004; Mitchell and Sloper, 2008). Children need support at various stages of the assessment process so as to be  able to exercise their own rights. (Butler & Williamson 1994, Darlymple & Hough 1995). The child’s views whether expressed verbally or non-verbally and those of relevant people in the child’s life to the assessment is usually sought to get ideas about the best way of helping the child. (Coulshed and Orme, p.26). The assessments of parents relies on verbal communication, but if the parent has learning disabilities or there are language barriers communication could be misinterpreted. A qualitative study carried out by Walker (1999 a,b) in which 15 children aged between 12 and 15 were interviewed for the purpose of viewing children’s experiences of review meetings. Many of the children viewed assessment as formal and bureaucratic, which they said took place on the adults’ terms, and many wanted to get away from the meetings as soon as possible. One child described feeling as an outsider, when adults opened their diaries and planned the next meeting without consultation with the child. Some children felt the language used was difficult, and the aim of meetings was to talk about them and not with them. Conclusion The Assessment Framework is underpinned by child development and an ecological framework developed in response to findings from a programme of research on child protection. It provides a systematic way for social workers to gather and analyse information and recordings of what is happening to children and young people within their families and the wider community in which they live. Legislation and policy legitimises what actions social workers can take when undertaking assessments. There was an important shift under the New Labour Government in assessment with the ‘Every Child Matters’ policy framework which was a direct response to the Climbie Report & the death of Victoria Climbie. The ECM framework joined-up children’s services under one roof, but it was only implemented in England, it was a considerable financial investment and established a child surveillance database and countless areas of activity were brigaded under the ‘every child matters’ brand. Within 3 weeks of coming into office in May 2010, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition government’s most urgent political priority was reducing the public finance debt. The government established an independent review of child protection chaired by Eileen Munro, which is the latest in a long line of policy initiatives in England. The new government dismantled the key elements of the ECM framework almost consigning the enormous ECM website to the archives. The Assessment Framework as a process appears to have been welcomed by professionals and service users, but there have been criticisms. Messages from research tell us that the issues raised from professionals regarding the assessment process were the time constraints and staff resources and usually when there are limited resources, thresholds are likely to be raised and organisations tend to ration responses to their services by prioritising cases, and Turney et al (2011) note that in cases where children are neglected or abused evidence shows that the help they received from services was inadequate. Discussing Risk and Safeguarding according to Parton (2010) ‘high risk’ in the early 1990’s was conceptualised in terms of ‘dangerousness’ and occurred in a small minority of dangerous families. But the 2003 Green Paper looks at certain characteristics associated with risk such as ‘poor parenting’ or ‘anti-social behaviour’ (deviance) as playing a key role in negative outcomes associated to ‘risk’. The Social Care Institute for Excellence 2005 study found that during the referral and assessment stages near misses occurred due to prioritisation over cases and professionals not having an accurate or full picture of what is happening in a child’s life and that near misses were part and parcel of the job. 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