Herbal Medicine

Being a part of alternative medicine, herbalism is often opposed to orthodox medicine. I believe that herbalism can make a good competition to conventional medicine as it has not only a set of methods to cure people, but also a developed philosophical and cultural background, which makes it a complicated system. Herbal Medicine is a medial system, which helps to maintain good health and prevent illnesses.Herbal   practitioners state that good health is much more than an absence of disease. Normal functioning of the body and good work of all systems and organs of an organism is the main and ultimate goal of alternative medicine. History of Herbal Medicine The history of herbalism counts more than five hundred years. Western herbal medicine was founded about 5000 years ago. Since ancient times humans used herbs for food, medicine and making clothes. The term â€Å"herb† is usually used to speak about the plant which is used for medical purposes. So called â€Å"herbs† have been used for centuries to treat people from different diseases. Archaeologists stay that herbs have been used by humans since the Middle Paleolithic era, which is dated more than 61,000 years ago. (Butterfield) Herbal remedies were used in Egypt, Greece, Rome and Middle East. Columbus and other travelers who succeeded him brought a lot of new herbal remedies to Europe. Herbal remedies became especially popular during the era of Henry VIII. A new science, which combined the use of herbs and astrology, was developed during his rule. Herbal medicine was used for centuries and modern medicine did not appear until the end of the Second World War. Technological development made it possible to produce synthetic drugs, which gradually replaced herbal remedies. Nowadays herbal plants become more and more popular. People start realizing that reducing pain symptoms is not enough to cure illness. Herbal medicine is able to give them alternative to orthodox medicine, which treats only symptoms but not the causes of the illnesses. Nowadays there is a separate branch of herbalism called pharmacognosy. This science is preoccupied with the study of drugs produced from plants and animals. There are a lot of sources from which people obtain knowledge about the characteristics of different plants. â€Å"Much herbal knowledge is obtained through attentive empirical observation of a plant's effects on humans. In some traditions, intuition and sacred teachings are important. Many traditional herbalists believe in a ‘life force' that is yet to be fully understood. † (Mysteriously, 119) In addition by mystical approach, modern science gives rational explanations of different components, which create a healing effect of herbs. Only specialists know that a lot of modern medicines used in pharmacology originally derived from plants. Components, which are used to produce synthetic medicaments, derive from natural products. For example, aspirin was originally produced from the bark of willow tree and morphine is achieved from poppy. Most herbs used in herbal medicine have well-studied and explained peculiarities, which explain their curing effect. Old art of herbal treating is almost forgotten now and synthetic drugs have replaced natural products but people start remembering about the positive effect of herbal treatment and it becomes more and more popular in the modern world. Scientific study gives additional reasons to make confidence in alternative medicine in general and herbalism   in particular. Scientists continue to uncover new qualities of herbs, which give additional opportunities in the sphere of medicine. â€Å"In 1993, the British medical journal Lancet reported that in tests conducted in both Germany and Italy, extracts from the ancient Chinese ginkgo tree were successful in treating cerebral insufficiency in older patients. As a remedy that improves the circulation of blood to the head, it is able to help the memory of elderly people. † (Bruno) Ancient people, who could cure practically any disease with the help of herbs possessed knowledge practically lost nowadays. Latest statistics shows that interest to herbal treatment has increased during resent time. People are looking for the ways to be healthy and holistic approach used by herbal medicine appeals to many of them. Herbalism as a Part of Alternative Medicine Usually herbal remedies are used by the practitioners of so called holistic medicine, who believe that there is inner force inside of each human being and this force can help to maintain physical and mental health. Despite the practitioners of holistic medicine do not reject germ theory of illness applied in traditional medicine, they state that this theory does not give convincing explanations about the reasons of illnesses. As states Leonard Bruno in his article Western Herbal Remedies:   â€Å"They argue that many diseases and conditions come about because the individual's inner force or natural immune system is weakened or out of balance. Therefore, they prescribe herbal or plant remedies that are found in nature in order to return an individual's natural inner balance, strengthen the resistance to disease, and maintain good health. † (Bruno) Herbalists use a plant as a whole to treat their patients. In contrast to conventional medicine, where healing characteristics of medicines are based on single chemical constituents, herbal specialists use plants. Each plant provides a unique combination of elements and curing effect is achieved by this unique combination. Herbalists believe that even if we take a combination of all components, which constitute one plant, they will not be as effective as same components, which are found in this plant. So called â€Å"whole plant† philosophy is based on the idea that plant is much more than a sum of its components. Each plant consists of hundreds of different elements and their combination is unique for each plant. This combination gives plant its unique characteristics, which are used in herbal medicine. An effect, created by the sum of components and elements contained in the planed is called synergism. This peculiarity of herbal medicine becomes a subject of controversy because it is not accepted by conventionally trained professionals. The list of active constituents can not serve as an explanation of curing effects of herbal medicines. Herbal remedies influence human body in same chemical manner as synthetic drugs do. From the other side there are several distinctions, which make an effect of herbal medicines and synthetic drugs on organism different. Herbal medicines consist of difficult combination of different elements and these elements affect several organs. These elements get to blood by indirect ways that is why their effect can be not as quick as the one of synthetic medicines but it will definitely be more extensive. Herbs generally make a complex pharmaceutical system. They contain vitamins, minerals, trace elements of different oils, alkaloids, tannins and many other elements. Complexity of effects herbs have on human organism can be traced on different examples. For example, both, tea and coffee contain practically similar dozes of caffeine but everybody knows that coffee usually has stronger stimulating effect. This effect can be explained by big quantity of tannin, contained in tea. Tannin prevents caffeine from absorbing and this reduces   tea’s stimulating effect. (Holmes, 118)  Ã‚   Another example is a comparison of synthetic antibiotics and garlic. Garlic is known as one of the best natural antibiotics but its action is based in principles, which differ from the action of antibiotics. Antibiotics kill bacteria and stop illness. But they kill all kinds of bacteria, including ones which are necessary for good functioning of an organism. In contrast to synthetic antibiotics, garlic does not kill bacteria useful for organism and even vice versa, stimulates them. Since herbal treatment is based on holistic approach qualified herbalist starts his treatment with long interview with a patient. His interview sometimes covers different spheres of client’s life because in alternative medicine physical health is not separated from mental and emotional state. Latest researches prove that a lot of illnesses have psychosomatic nature and that is why it is not enough to treat only physical side of the problem. The cause of the problem, which causes an illness, can sometimes differ from a diagnosis made by mainstream professionals. Special diet and exercising can be added to the course of herbal treatment in order to improve the result. Peculiarities of Herbal Medicine Herbal treatment can be used for treating practically all known diseases and in the most cases herbs can replace synthetic drugs used in conventional medicine. Effectiveness of herbs is proved by multiple investigations. Herbal remedies are used for different purposes. They can improve digestion, stimulate respiratory and circulatory systems of organism. Other kinds of herbal remedies are used to improve the functioning of nervous and endocrine systems. Stimulating these systems helps to strengthen immune system. Herbs perfectly remove toxins from organism. Usually herbs are classified   according to the sphere of their use. Some herbs are used to stimulate nervous activity, other have antiseptic action and are used to treat infections. Medical use of herbs is diverse. Herbs are used to make oils, infusions, tinctures, and salves. There are several ways of herbal administration. Herbs can be drunk, others are used for external treatment only. There are special herbal capsules. Mainstream physicians rarely prescribe herbal treatment and those, who want to be treated with the help of herbs should find qualified herbalist of naturopathic physician. Unfortunately, insurance companies very rarely cover the cost of herbal treatment. This kind of treatment can be covered only in the cases when herbal treatment is prescribed by mainstream physician. Herbalism vs. Conventional Medicine Conventional medicine is often opposed to herbalism. There are several key differences, which differ these two systems. Despite orthodox medicine is a dominating medical system there are a lot of people who turn to alternative methods, including herbal remedies. There are several factors, which explain this phenomenon. First of all orthodox medicine shows its failure. There are a lot of cases when synthetic drugs can not help people. As states Williams, â€Å"the vacuum created by the abandonment of nutrition by orthodox medicine, is directly responsible for nutrition becoming an alternative therapy. In other words, the so called food faddists and nutrition quacks so often complained about by the medical profession, owe their very existence and continued survival to orthodox medicine! Nature, as they say, abhors a vacuum. â€Å"(Williams, 112) Growing popularity of herbal medicine proves his thesis about the failing of orthodox medicine. The conflict between conventional and herbal medicine presents two different systems of believes. These two systems show two different approaches to human health. Representatives of orthodox medicine do not want any changes to occur. They do not recognize alternative medicine as a valid system of treating people. At the same time there are representatives of orthodox medicine, who use alternative methods as a supplementary means to their orthodox methods. In this case we meet a kind of controversy when orthodox specialists use separate holistic methods while rejecting holistic medicine in general. Conventional medicine does not use individual approach to each patient. In conventional medicine all similar symptoms are usually treated by same medicines. â€Å"Many patients feel alienated by their physicians, who do not always seem to treat them as individuals. This alienation is compounded by the often extreme costs of high-tech medicine. Further, many synthetic drugs have adverse side effects, or have been overused to the point of no longer being effective† (Bruno)   Modern herbalism is based on several principles. First of all its main goal is to optimize health and wellness. The accent in treatment is made on the state of the person as a whole, but not separate symptoms. Individual approach is one of main principles of   herbal medicine. Uniqueness of each individual is a main treasure in herbal medicine. Such an approach is contrasted to conventional medicine which uses standard approach to all patients. Conventional medicine uses a single drug to treat single disease. Herbal medicine treats each patient individually. Herbal specialists believe that similar symptoms of illnesses can be caused by different reasons and that is why they treat each person individually. Herbal medicine is based on the principle of fragile balance, which maintains our mind and body in healthy condition. When this balance is broken a disease starts. In this case disease is regarded as a signal about broken balance and that is why herbal medicine makes everything possible to renew the balance. Such an approach can not guarantee quick treating of all symptoms because all treatment is directed to renew balance. Specialists of herbal medicine believe that organism is able to cure itself as soon as its balance is renewed. As states Leonard Bruno â€Å"Thus the person who takes an herbal remedy should not always expect to see all symptoms disappear immediately, since the natural medicine is intended rather to support the body's systems. The proper functioning body will then remedy the symptoms† (Bruno) Holistic approach used in herbalism is contrasted to philosophy of reductionism, expressed by conventional medicine. Orthodox medicine aims to achieve the state of optimum health where people experience as little pain symptoms as possible. Holistic medicine derives from the notion of holism or balanced functioning of an organism, which becomes the main sours of healthy condition. As states Williams in his book Nutrition against Disease â€Å"Unlike reductionism, holism does not seek to fragment, or impose artificial limitations upon, human knowledge and learning. Rather than dissect the body into numerous separate and independent functional areas , it recognises the interdependence of our various bodily systems. †Ã‚   (Williams, 79) When speaking about dissecting the body into pieces, he definitely speaks about orthodox medicine, which does not regard human body as a one organic unity and treats each symptom and each organ separately. Merits and Demerits of Herbal Medicine Herbal remedies have a lot of advantages. First of all they are natural products, which have mild effect on human organism. Herbal medicines can be used to treat practically all illnesses. Along with positive sides, herbal medicine have some demerits. Herbal medicines do not have so quick effect as synthetic drugs do. Like it was mentioned before herbal medicines treat the causes of an illness, not its symptoms, that is why it can require longer course of treatment to treat all dysfunctions of an organism. People should be aware that using herbal and conventional medicines together without the doctor’s advice can be dangerous. Synthetic and herbal medicines can come in conflict and cause negative effect on human organism. Despite all advantages of herbal medicine and its good impact on human health it is necessary to remember about potential dangers when using herbs for medical purpose. The most toxic and dangerous medicines are produced from plants. Natural origin of herbal medication does not make them completely safe. There is a danger of misuse or overuse of medicines produced from plants. It is true that the most remedies produced from plants are safe but it is still necessary to address a doctor before using herbs as medicines. In addition there is danger of different reactions when herbal remedies are used together with conventional medicines. That is why each person must consult a herbalist before turning to herb treatment. Possible demerits of herbal medicines are fully compensated by positive sides of these remedies. In the most cases herbal remedies are not less effective than synthetic drugs but have much less side effects, if any. Most of conventional drugs have many side effects. Treating one symptom, they hurt other part of an organism. Natural remedies never or very seldom cause side effects. Herbal medicines can make an alternative to practically all synthetic drugs and using them people can escape negative effects of synthetic drugs. Natural remedies are especially suitable for children who are very sensitive to different chemical components. Herbalism becomes very popular among young parents, who try to use only natural products for their small children. Natural remedies can be used for people, who are allergic to synthetic drugs. Herbalism uses holistic approach, which helps to treat an organism as one whole and individual approach helps to choose treatment effective for each separate individual. That is the reason people turn to herbal medicines again. Conclusion Western history of medicine is mainly the history of herbal medicine and I am sure that herbalism will occupy deserved place in the future medical system. Since ancient times people used herbs to treat different diseases and it was hard to find any disease which could not have being cured with the help of herbal remedies. Herbal medicine went through the period of decline during the time after the Second World War. During this time synthetic drugs replaced herbs and people turned to so called conventional medicine. Nowadays the situation is changed again and people start using more and more herbal medicines. Latest research made by the World Health Organization states that more than 80 percent of people turn to herbal treatment in different forms and believe that it is an effective medical method. (Micozzi)   Dispute between herbal and conventional medicine lasts since the development of orthodox medicine and both sides have strong arguments to defend their positions. Herbal medicine is an effective system of treatment and prevention disease and scientific recognition it gets in the official world, is a good proof of its effectiveness. If we consider all reasons pro et contra herbal medicine, we will understand that it deserves to occupy a descent place in the modern world. May be it will not be able to replace orthodox medicine but it can be used as an alternative way of treatment in many cases. Lack of information about alternative types of treatment often deprives people of additional opportunities to choose treatments suitable for them. Works Cited Bruno C. Leonard â€Å"Herbal remedies, western†. Encyclopedia of Medicine. 20010406. FindArticles. com. 16 Mar. 2007. http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_g2601/is_0006/ai_2601000663 Butterfield, J. and Sexton, J. â€Å"New Remedies for Old Ills' USA Weekend, Dec 30, 1994-Jan 01, 1995. Helman, C. Culture, Health, and Illness, 3rd ed. Oxford: Butterworth Hellman, 1994. Holmes, P, The Energetics of Western Herbs, revised 3rd ed. , Vol. 1, Snow Lotus Press Inc. , Colorado, USA, 1997. . Holmes, P, Jade Remedies, A Chinese Herbal Reference for the West, Vol. 1, Snow Lotus Press Inc. , Colorado, USA, 1996. Micozzi, M. ed Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. New York:Churchill Livingston, 1996 Mysteriously, L. â€Å"Western Hebraism,† pp 111-120 in Fundamentals of Complementary and Alterative Medicine. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1996. Williams, R. J. , Nutrition Against Disease, Pitman Publishing Corp. , New York, USA, 1971. Shein-Chung Chow; Annpey Pong; Yu-Wei Chang On Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinical Trials Drug Information Journal; 2006; 40, 4; Health Module pg. 395

On the Ethics of Psychological Research Essay

Potter Stewart an associate justice of the United States supreme court once said that â€Å"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do†. He believed in doing things pragmatically instead of impractically and it made him more recognized for his realistic approach to his job. Ethics in life are very important in setting standards of morality and integrity, especially since ethics show the principles and values that one uses to govern their actions. Ethics in psychology are very similar to the ethics we follow on a day to day basis. The ethics in psychology often relate to how people are treated when put in experiments in order to complete theories and concepts that are psychology based. When psychology research began many experiments began as well, to test the many beginning theories that came about when psychology was introduced to researchers. The American Psychological Association now has a code of ethics for psychology resear ch due to the fact that many psychologists in the past have violated the safety, belief systems, needs, values, and the overall protection of their participants. The code of ethics that has been put in place by the APA holds all psychologists to the same set of standards and provides a guideline in an attempt to ensure professionalism and respect for all involved and sometimes this doesn’t occur. The APA published the first ethics code in 1953 that equals about a 16 page document today, but in 1953 it seemed so much larger back then. The reason that the ethics code was written is because ethics in research of psychologists began to be questioned by society for their safety and effectiveness. The research studies that were performed in the past often became public scandals and compromised the principle of research. Following the code of ethics is very important in research. The five reasons to adhere to the code of ethics is to promote the intent of research, promote a basic normality that helps when researchers collaborate, to ensure the liability of the experimenter, to gain more support from the general population, and to promote morality and obligation (Resnik). The overall incentive for the code of ethics according to Resnik is to constantly advocate for effective research while also being consensual. These ethics placed must be followed just to maintain the respects of t he rights of research participants, the reputation of psychology, and the dignity of research principles. Another purpose of ethics in research is for the safety of the people involved in the experiment, and the notoriety of psychologists in society. Committees of research must have a code of ethics that discuss the guidelines made by the APA and the personal ethics for the experiment. Some of the most important codes are informed consent, debrief, protection of participants, deception, confidentiality, and ability to withdraw. (Mcleod). According to the research done by Mcleod, the APA is using the code of ethics to protect their name and the reputation they have built, a so to maintain a stability of trust with their experimenters and participants. There were many unethical procedures after 1953 even though those guidelines had been set. Some of the experiments were very traumatic to patients and almost risked their lives, or could have died or killed each other. One of the many most known unethical experiments that occurred was the Stanford Prison Experiment. This experiment was conducted by Philip Zimbardo in 1971, and the purpose of the experiment was to attempt to understand the development of power norms in society and specifically the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations in a prison environment. Twenty four students were chosen out of 75, half were assigned roles of prisoner and half were assigned the role of guard. In the experiment Zimbardo made it very realistic for the prisoners, having cops come and arrest them, having rules that they had to follow, but gave the guards no prior training. The end result of the experiment being guards who became consumed in power and behaved in a brutalizing way, and prisoners who became submissive and cowering (Mcleod). While Zimbardo didn’t actually go against any ethical codes while outlining his experiment and he got the experiment approved before conducting it, some believed that his place as the conductor of the experiment was to stop the simulation from getting too abusive which it did, but he didn’t stop it because he was trying to maintain the realism of the experiment, and in the end he felt as though he did what was best for the sake of research. Regardless of this, Zimbardo did go against the ethics code in multiple ways like the fact that the experiment was unpredictable, the guards were drunk, and no steps were taken to avoid harm of his volunteers. He faile d to understand that participants are people and should their dignity should be maintained because â€Å"respect in research refers to respect for people and respect for truth† (Yousef). Zimbardo’s experiment was evaluated by the APA, where they said that all ethical guidelines were followed. The overall unethicality of the experiment left the participants with long-term scarring mentally and physically, and this is just another reason why ethics are important in research. Ethics are maintained to provide structure in experiments to promote effective decision making, while also being aware of the benefits and risks of the experiment. In experiments conducted previous to the release of the code of ethics, often times there was a lack of informed consent, pressure on volunteers, risk of safety of participants, deception, and even violation of natural born rights. The whole overall purpose of ethics is to â€Å"help researchers grapple with the ethical dilemmas they are likely to encounter by introducing them to important concepts, tools, principles, and methods that can be useful in resolving these dilemmas† (Resnik). There are five general principles of ethics, which are informed consent, debrief, protection of participants, deception, and ability to withdraw. When it comes to informed consent participants must distinctively say â€Å"yes† and give permission to the researcher to be involved in the experiment. The researcher must outline the details of the experiment like the purpose, the possible risks, procedures involved if there are any and many other things. Debriefing is very important in research because it’s where the participants gets to sit down with the research and understand the research, clear up misconceptions and to make sure the participants leaves with the same sense of cognition they arrived with. Along with this goes deception, and participants should not be mislead about the resear ch and though some deception may occur, researchers must attempt to keep it at a minimum. The main thing researchers should be aware of is the protection of their subjects, and participants should not be subject to more harm than they would experience in everyday life. The very last thing is the ability for a participant to leave the experiment whenever they feel like they are in danger or in a extremely uncomfortable situation. These codes of ethics have really made research more controlled and prevent negligence and misconduct. The basics to remember about ethics is that research done by psychologists should meet the criteria for ethics before the experiment is conducted. Subjects should be informed about the dangers and basics of the experiment and provide authorization. Psychologists do many experiments just because they are unethical and it all starts with what they believe and consider to be right and wrong, and sometimes the extreme involvement in personal research make the research seem less dangerous than it is. Scientist deals with many controversial topics and often stray away from norms and rules to build their theories and strengthen their ideas and beliefs. Our natural instinct often goes against what we think and the code of ethics is put in place to mandates the things that researchers are able to do while conducting an experiment.

Essay Atheism

Atheism Atheism is the belief in the absence of god or gods and that death marks the end of an individual’s existence. Given that they do not believe in the existence of a god or gods, their ethical goals are determined by secular, or nonreligious, aims and concerns; they are in complete control of their destiny. Most Atheists attribute their history to the Greek and Roman philosophers Epicurus, Democritus, and Lucretius. Even though they did not actually state that god or gods did not exist, they are considered the first Atheist writers. They merely stated that gods were not involved in the life of humans.However, Richard Dawkins is a well-known atheist and regarded as the father of modern Atheism. Over the years, there was a rise in Atheist believers. Thomas Hobbes doubted the literal value of religious books in the 18th and 19th centuries, Ludwig Feuerbach believed that God was invented by humans, and in the late 19th century, it rose again due to Charles Darwin’s th eory of evolution and other scientific advancements that came around. The secularist movement, also in the 19th century, came about to eradicate church involvement in state affairs. The reasons behind an individual’s beliefs in Atheism are usually personal.Many may choose to follow it because they feel that other religions are illogical and that there is not enough support to prove the existence of any god or gods. Additionally, they feel that religion brings about struggle and separation and weaken human rights and impede scientific research. In Atheism, they celebrate birth, marriage, and death. Naming ceremonies welcome babies into the world and family and friends attend. When people get married, it is a non-religious joining; it is extremely personal and reflects no religious rituals or any godly existence.All of their ceremonies are all personal and solidify their belief that they do not require gods or holy writings to dictate their lives or public/personal affairs. Whi le researching Atheism, I was a little skeptical; I have not always heard the best about atheists. The reason I picked this â€Å"religion†, or lack there-of, is because no one in class did a presentation on it and I was disappointed. I know that what I knew about it was most likely all biased opinion on a belief that many people hate. I was surprised at what I found and glad that I picked it. Atheism, I believe, is highly misunderstood, and hough followers do not have a belief in god or gods, they do, from what I understand, have faith. Faith in themselves. They believe in themselves to be strong enough to develop their own moral compass with out a guideline. I find that empowering. The way that they celebrate birth and marriage was beautiful in its own unique way. They personalize everything, and that makes everything so much more intimate and precious. I am not going to convert or anything like that, but I have developed a deeper understanding for a belief that I had once held in contempt.I hate to say that, but I really did, and I am happy to announce that I have educated myself for the better. Candomble An African-Brazilian religion, Candomble has about two million followers. It is a combination of various beliefs, also known as a syncretic religion. It contains elements of Christianity, particularly of Catholicism, but at its core are the traditional African beliefs of Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu. Roughly translated, Candomble means â€Å"dance in honor of the gods†, which explains why dance and music play such significant roles in this religion.They worship God, or Oludumare, and deities called orixas that serve Oludumare. They express themselves through dance and music and have no holy scriptures. Its roots can date back to slavery times in Brazil, and ever since then, it has develop into a very popular religion there, namely in Salvador da Bahia. Some followers want to rid the religion of its Christian â€Å"taint† and return it to its uncorrupted form. In Candomble, good and bad does not exist but bad acts do have their consequences.Each persons goal is to fulfill and carry out their own individual destiny which is controlled by the orixas. Orixas can be defined as ancestors, both recent and ancient. They are also regarded as spirits that can connect humans to the spirit world. A person’s personality is a reflection of his or her own orixa. A group or orixa’s are called Baba Egum, who regulate the moral code or guarantee the continuity of morals from one generation to the next. In Candomble, worship takes place in the form of dances and songs, which allow the orixa’s to enter their body.Both priests and priestesses lead them. Women play a significant role; women who are called â€Å"mothers of the holy one† lead services and train others to become priestesses. Temples, or terreiro, are their sacred places of worship and they have indoor and outdoor sections and designated places for t he gods. Candomble is a very spiritual religion that solidified its beliefs while being pressed down by the shackles of slavery. I did not intend to do my second religion on Candomble, but when I stopped to look at it, I absolutely caught my interest.I liked how the orixa’s could link humans to the spirit world; I have always been interested in that kind of stuff. I found this religion to be inspiring and exciting because it is an oral religion and so there are no written scriptures or books. I find it exciting because it is so highly centered on dance and music; more so than any other religion that I have come across. I cannot say that I had a biased opinion when coming into this religion, because I did not even know it existed. I enjoyed learning about it and from what I understand; the followers are very enthusiastic about their religion and remembering their ancestors.

Ownership of Medical Record Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ownership of Medical Record - Term Paper Example To transfer and data through ROI procedure, the patient has to submit a written request to the hospital. If the request is found to be bogus or invalid, then it is rejected. The medical records of a patient can be amended on the patients’ request. The changes in any type of information are to be updated as soon as it occurs for the fluent working of the hospitals. To alter any information, the patient has to make a complete request with his name record number and password (if any). The request must also consist of the changes to be made, for example, if the address is to be changed then the new address must be submitted along with the older one. Any alterations without the permission of the patient must be fined heavily. A patient can also revoke his record if needed. Revocation of any record should also be done according to the rules set by HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability act). To cancel the account patient has to visit the hospital once and get all his information deleted. The hospital must delete all private and disclosed data available. After the revocation, the hospital will no longer be responsible for the duplication, abuse or loss of that data. The alteration or cancellation of a medical record must be done within a specific time period. The thing that deals with this rule is the timely response mandate.

Intrercultural communication - group case study Research Paper

Intrercultural communication - group case study - Research Paper Example The behaviors and communication of people are largely determined by the culture they have learnt or have grown accustomed to and which they derive their world views from. When cultures are facing challenges as the ones being faced by the Chinese and Americans in terms of culture, barriers to communication such as stereotypes, discrimination, ethnocentrism and prejudice are likely to take place and these may cause conflict (Martin & Nakayama 55). In this case therefore, Americans with their outspoken nature are likely to regard the Chinese as weak because they tend to lean towards humility side and this stereotype may lead to discrimination and especially in regards to leadership positions (Crossan 3). The Americans using this stereotype and because they regard their culture as being the superior one to all the other cultures, take over the power and tend to want to make all the decisions which in turn affect communication patterns in the organization. If this is taking place in China where the majority of the American businesses have moved to, then the Chinese are likely to retaliate negatively and this in turn only affects the business and its objectives of seeking profits. Humility and outspokenness are all about language, its components, the perception it creates, the attitudes it leads to when it comes to communication as well as its variation in communication styles (Martin & Nakayama 140). The Americans apply their outspokenness when making business deals. They use humor more often than the Chinese do and also tend to use slang and other informal language especially in internal communication. This normally tends to create an attitude and perception of openness and employees being much more relaxed in the workplace. When the employees are however used to humility with all its quietness and formalities, they may find the openness disturbing and this may even affect their work performance. They believe in

Institution of affiliation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Institution of affiliation - Essay Example This statement is open to criticism and can be easily misinterpreted (Marr, 2012). Marr argues that genetic material can be traced back in time, but is arguable that, it reaches certain limit. In essence, it is disputable to imagine that all humanity is in a lineal civilized from the remainder of the world. Another instance, were I find a claim not substantial at all, is the assertion that, the Hom sap wiped out the Neanderthals. The primary cause was mass murder and this attributes to the argument that humans are naturally violent and clannish. I do not subscribe to this assertion, because if that is the case, why then cohesive state control is not regarded as an eternal necessity. In the last three episodes, Marr explains his understanding on revolution, industry and extremes. It is evident that, watching this series a clear mind of Marr is visible. Marr wanted to take the present generation through the evolution process of humanity, then revolution, industrial aggressiveness and f ar reached extremes. Marr expresses the path of revolution as being similar in all the revolutions that have occurred across the globe. For instance, he mentions of idealism, and then follows extremism and ultimately collapse of power into the hands of strong military man (Marr, 2012). However, commentators have repeatedly rehashed the idea that revolution leads to autocracy and attribute the evils of the 20th century to the French revolution. It is evident that Marr’s objective is to malign the inspiration of revolution by refuting that revolutions are not driven by ideas and at the same time asserting that such revolutions keep on rolling because of ideals. I find Marr’s arguments conflicting. They do not add up to indicate his beliefs on then real causes of revolutions. However, my reflection on the overall aspect of revolution is inclined is to the fact that, the initial civilizations were because of being driven to extremes and the response to survive gave rise to revolutions (Marr, 2012). This opinion is subject to criticism. On the same note, Marr fails to give correct account of the Russian revolution. Instead, he delivers piece-wise information, and at the end, the whole scenario result to portraying the Russian revolution as a derivative of the machinations of German imperialism in a bid to conceal the responsibility of the Russian population and Bolsheviks as the real forces that drove the revolution. The question arising is, does Marr imply what he believes in or simply his insinuations are meant to cow people to his selective study? I believe the Russian revol

Ozone Depletion Regime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Ozone Depletion Regime - Essay Example According to them, when the compound Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) reaches the atmosphere, it can be broken down by ultraviolet radiation which in turn would result to a release of chlorine atoms. The chlorine atoms would then destroy large amounts of ozone molecules (O3), aggregately called as the ozone layer. Molina and Rowland further contended that since ozone layer absorbs most of the ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation from the sun, the depletion of the ozone layer would have dangerous health, environmental and economical implications. The study, which was published on the journal Nature on June 28, 1974, paved way to further studies of the subject and in 1976, the National Academy of Sciences finally confirmed the Rowland- Molina hypothesis. By early 1980's some countries, including the United States and Canada are already exerting their efforts to mitigate the use of the CFC including imposing ban on the non- essential uses of the compound. National efforts however are not enough in that the utilization of ozone depleting chemicals is on a global scale, and it entails a global effort to reduce the use of the ozone depleting substances. To attain this objective, an agreed international effort became necessary. In 1981, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), acted on behalf of a proposal to conduct a global convention on the issue. There was a long deadlock as to the international negotiations to phase out ozone-depleting substances because of such issues as the lack of understanding about the extent of the threat and the presumed unavailability of a technological capacity to respond to the challenge (The Montreal Protocol: History 2001). Finally in March 1985, the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer was signed. The Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer, though reflects international agreements to address the ozone depletion issue, does not contain legally binding control to reduce production and consumption of ozone depleting substances. A need for stronger measures is deemed necessary especially with the advent of reports of an ozone hole over Antarctica and a generated public fear of a possible ozone effected global disaster. Thus resulted th e Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, "the first concrete international measure to control ozone-depleting chemicals" (Parson 2001). The Objectives of the Regime The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer has a generally broad objective in that it merely requires its parties to "take appropriate measures" to protect "human health and the environment from ozone depletion". The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer moved on further from these general goals by imposing stricter measures and by specifying concrete objectives of limiting and regulating the use of the ozone depleting substances. The initial objectives of the Montreal Prot

Israel and Palestine Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Israel and Palestine - Assignment Example en attack Jerusalem and Jordan parts controlled by the Israeli while Israelites attack Palestinians in Jordan, Jerusalem and Gaza as a means of retaliation and maintenance of security from what they term as terrorism from the Palestinians. Although the international community has shown interest in reconciliatory and mediation roles, I think the problems of Israel and Palestine can only be resolved by mutual consent by the Jews and the Palestinians. Reconciliation attempts had been made since 1948 when independent Palestine State and independent Jewish State were established (Sela, 2002). The move seemed to bring an end to a serious conflict in the region, but the struggle between the two countries is still on until now. There is need for the Palestinians and the Israelis to change their attitudes towards each other, but this is difficult because each side has strong and radical conviction about their religion, territories, power and security. International community may play the role of advising and encouraging both sides to loosen their demands, but the final road to peace will be created by the two nations willingly. The Jews and the Palestinians agreed that Palestine actually deserved to be a free state. West Bank and Gaza was considered to be acceptable locations of the Palestinian State. However, disagreements ensued on the shape and boundaries of those regions (Sela, 2002). The two regions have been the main centers of fights between Israel and Palestine. This clearly shows that the Israeli-Palestine conflicts are fueled by disagreements on boundaries. In this case, no international body will come to the region and tell Israel that this land belongs to Palestine, so just leave it, or tell Palestine the same thing. Israelites and Palestinians alone have the ability to sit and agree on the boundaries, but because each one of them wants to take control, they never seem to come to such an agreement. That is why conflict does not seem to be ending soon. What

Diet effects on plasma lipoproteins ( Paraphrasing ) Essay

Diet effects on plasma lipoproteins ( Paraphrasing ) - Essay Example It is in the form of lipoprotines that the cholesterol and triacylglicerol are set on the move in blood. Ordovas (2005) has characterised lipoproteins as â€Å"generally spherical particles, with a surface layer composed of phospholipids with the fatty acids oriented toward the core of the Particle†. Carrying lipids from one inner organ to another is being the main function of these lipoproteins. The lipoproteins are chiefly those chylomicrons, named Very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), Immediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), High-density lipoprotein (HDL). Chylomicrons are the largest lipoproteins, consisting mainly of triacylglycerol with apoB-48 and apoA, -C, and -E. Triacylglycerol is hydrolysed with endothelial-bound lipoprotein lipase, changing the chylomicron into a chylomicron remnant rich in cholesteryl ester. These remnants are removed from the circulation by interaction with the remnant receptors mainly present on hepatocytes. Chylomicron remnant rich in cholesteryl ester is made from chylomicron when triacylglycerol is hydrolysed with lipoprotein lipase that move towards endothelial. Mainly by the contact with remnant receptors found mostly on hepatocytes, the chylomicron remnants are removed. Tryacylglycerol with apoB-48, and apoA, -C, and –E are present in chylomicrons which are the major lipoproteins. Very low-density lipoproteins are secreted mainly by the liver, with apoB-100 and apoE on their surface. They are transformed into mature VLDLs by accumulating cholesterol ester, apoC, and apoE from HDLs. They then either interact with lipoprotein lipase to convert into IDLs, which can be taken up by the liver, or convert to LDLs by interacting with hepatic triglyceride lipase. VLDL particles vary in size. Small VLDL is converted into LDL, via IDL, to a greater extent than large VLDL, which is converted to a form of IDL that appears to be removed from the plasma before conversion to LDL. Mostly, liver discharges very

Land Law - Dimensions of land Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Land Law - Dimensions of land - Essay Example The corporeal and noncorporeal components are known as realty to distinguish it from personalty. The latter being personal or movable property (Gray & Gray 2007). Thus in the eyes of law land is a multidimensional asset as discussed below. The first two dimensions of land: it is a two dimensional piece of earth with defining contours, features and limits of jurisdiction. Which is recognised by the registrars, conveyancers, surveyors and ramblers. However this definition too does not takes into account the low water mark area in the coastline. The three mile territorial area including water constitute land. However , even outside this three mile limit the channel tunnel subsoil upto the middle of English channel is called land (Channel tunnel act 1987). Thus land includes land covered with water as well (Gray & Gray 2007). 4-5The third dimension of land: A Latin maxim says that the one who owns land owns the heaven above it and the earth deep down to the centre. It certainly indicated three-dimensional nature of land but lacks practical wisdom. The indefinite extension of territory of land would mean an airplane passing over it causes trespass. Still some three-dimensional characteristics is to be accepted for land in statutory definition. A land can be held above surface and may be divided horizontally. Thus different owners can hold the titles of the land each holding a stratum of cubic surface above or below the surface layer of the earth (Gray & Gray 2007). The components of these three dimensions are (Wilkie 2006; Gray & Gray 2007; Dixon 2005): The word 'hereditament' in law means nature of right involved in ownership of land. land law is all about-not just the land (the soil, the grass, the trees, the buildings), but the rights that people may have in land. Thus, land is to be reclassified as including corporeal and incorporeal hereditaments. Ownership of land may equally include ownership of a house and ownership of a right of way over someone else's house (an incorporeal hereditament). The land law may be viewed from corporeal and incorporeal rights or by distinction between fixtures and chattels. The fee simple owner's right of air space: The owner's rights extend to such a height as is reasonably necessary for the ordinary use and enjoyment of the land. In Baron Bernstein of Leigh v Skyviews and General Ltd [1978] QB 479, Griffith J stated that it was necessary to balance the rights of an owner to enjoy the land against the rights of the general public to take advantage of all that 'science now offers in the use of airspace'. Where there is an interference with the legitimate rights of the fee simple

Answer Fences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer Fences - Essay Example This is a clear indication of the racial discrimination that exists between the black community and whites in the US. It is for this reason that Troy prevents his son from participating in sports. He approaches the school team coach and warns him about his son’s involvement in the team. In addition to this, he cancels the white man’s trip from North Carolina to recruit his son. Cory is extremely furious about his dad’s resistance and insists that he will not leave the school team. It is a clear indication that Troy has some experience with discrimination. Rose Cory’s mother pleads with him to allow their son to participate in sports. She says, â€Å"Why don’t you let the boy go ahead play football, Troy? Ain’t no harm in that. He’s just trying to be like you with the sports†. Bono depicts racial discrimination when he says â€Å"†¦my granddaddy used to pull his teeth with plier. They ain’t had no dentists for the co lored folks back then†. Elements of corruption also exist in the play when Troy sets a man free buy paying

High School Seniors Essay Example for Free

High School Seniors Essay Many people believe open lunch should be a privilege extended to seniors who wish to leave the school grounds and adjacent areas during their assigned lunch periods. This privilege is predicated on the belief that students as they enter their final years of high school should be trusted to make mature decisions and act responsibly. Some students wish they could leave only so they could get something to eat other than school food. I understand that not every senior shows the proper maturity and they should be identified and treated accordingly. When it comes to privilages, seniors dont have many compared to underclassman. Sure, we get a free period as opposed to study hall and a senior skip day, but dont we deserve more for our twelve years of hard work and effort put into school? Dont we deserve something that, frankly speaking, makes everyone more aware of our seniority status, something that we can enjoy this year and the other grades can look forward to? That something can be found in probably one of the more controversial topics in high schools, off campus lunches. I understand the school is responsible for us from the time we arrive at school until the time we depart, and being able to have an off campus lunch would mean we are still the schools responsibility, even though were not on campus. However, what if parents were to sign a note stating their child is allowed to leave school during lunch hours and would be their responsibility? If anything was to happen to a student, parents would not have the right to run into school, arms flailing wildly, blaming whomever they can for what happened to their child. But isnt it time that the school lets us depend on ourselves in making the better decisions, which in this case would be coming back to class in time. We are going to go from being monitored all day long to a college environment where we are the ones to decide what to do. Pupils who fail to meet their responsibility may forfeit the privilege altogether and may be subject to other disciplinary actions. The school should develop rules and regulations that promote compliance with the policy and ensure that only eligible seniors utilize the privilege of open lunch.

Introduction Applied Performance Practices Business Essay

Introduction Applied Performance Practices Business Essay Financial Rewards is the most fundamental applied performance practice in organizational settings. Pay has multiple meanings, such as symbol of success, reinforcer and motivator, reflection of performance, reduce anxiety and so on. The meaning of money also varied. There are four types of rewards in the workplace: Membership and Seniority Based Rewards -Represent the largest part of most pay checks and fixed wages, seniority increases. Job Status-Based Rewards -Include job evaluation and status perks. Competency-Based Rewards -Pay increases with competencies acquired and demonstrated. Performance-Based Rewards -An overview of some of the most popular individual, team, and organizational performance based rewards. Besides that, company will have their own way to increase the job effectiveness and improving the company performances. Below are the type of way: Job Design- The process of assigning tasks to a job, including the interdependency of those tasks with other jobs. Job Specialization The result of division of labor in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people. Job Rotation- The practice of moving employees from one job to another. Background of the Coca-Cola Company Soft drinks are getting popular nowadays. There are so many soft drinks company around the world. One of the most popular beverage company is Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company, produces a variety of soft drinks and consumer products. Coca-Cola was founded in May 1886 by Dr. John S. Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia, a pharmacist. There was a time when Pemberton actually trying to concoct a headache remedy, but once he mixed his special syrup with carbonated water, a brand new taste drink is created. He let some of his customers tasted the result, and they praised for the awesomeness of the drink. He realized that he has successfully created something new and it is the popular soda fountain beverage. The name of Coca-Cola was coined by his bookkeeper, Frank Robinson. Later on, a businessman, Asa Griggs Candler has purchased it and introduced it as a carbonated soft drink in the market. Then Coca-Cola dominated the market of carbonated soft drinks throughout the 20 century. Coca-Cola has also became one of the global market leaders in the beverage industry. The branch of Coca-Cola has spread all over the world, such as North America, Eurasia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Pacific. There are approximate more than 500 non-alcoholic beverage brands owned or licensed by the Coca-Cola company, mainly sparkling beverages but also a variety of still beverages, such as waters, enhanced waters, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and energy and sports drinks. Being the worlds largest beverage distribution system, there are more than 200 consumers enjoy their beverages at a rate of more than 1.8 billion servings a day. Coca-Cola also rank among the worlds top 10 private employees with more than 700,000 system employees. The Company competes with PepsiCo, Inc., Nestle, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., Groupe Danone, Kraft Foods Inc. and Unilever. Mission Vision There are many challenges faced by the company. Competitors are making brand new strategies to defeat the company. Therefore, the company need to clear and understand the direction of the business in the market and predict the future. Their vision for next ten years is about to create a long term destination program for their business which will also provide them a Roadmap for winning from their bottling competitors. Mission Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions. To refresh the world To inspire moments of optimism and happiness To create value and make a difference. Vision Our vision serves as the framework for our Roadmap and guides every aspect of our business by describing what we need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable,  quality growth. People:  Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be. Portfolio:  Bring to the world a portfolio of  quality  beverage  brands  that anticipate and satisfy peoples desires and needs. Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value. Planet:  Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities. Profit:  Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities. Productivity:  Be a highly effective, lean and fast-moving organization. Content Part Theory and Concept Coca-Cola Company relies on prudent systems, offers employee jobs with high motivation potential, expects staff to manage themselves, and delegates power to branches, resulting in high levels of employee empowerment and performance. The most common elements of reward using by Coca-Cola Company are based on long term incentives reward, annual incentives reward and base salary reward. All the rewards given to the employees based on membership and seniority -based rewards, competency-based rewards and Job status based-rewards. All middle and senior management, excluding our executive team, participate in the CocaCola Hellenic Long- Term Incentive Plan. Starting from the 2011-2013 Long-Term Incentive Plan, they operate under a new format aimed at linking employee performance to short- and long-business priorities and rewarding employees accordingly. Incentive payouts are based on business performance against three-year objectives which are set on an annual basis. Exceptional business performance may result in awards in excess of individual target payouts. The performance of the plan will be measured against selected KPI performance over a three-year period; that KPI s includes volume market share, net sales revenue per unit case and Group ROIC. The target payout for the plan is determined for each individual based on their performance, potential and level of responsibility and the plan payout takes places at the third anniversary of the plan. Coca-Cola Company awards the employees by using performance-based rewards. The employees will receive their reward based on their performance. Besides, Coca-Cola Company also using types of reward like annual incentive reward. The reward will be given to the employees based on the Job-status-based reward. While their goal is long-term sustainable growth, the Compensation Committee chooses annual incentives to pay to reward Named Executive Officers for individual performance and operational results for an operating group and/or overall Company performance on an annual basis. The annual objectives are carefully chosen to ensure integration and alignment with our overall long-term objectives. At the start of the incentive period, Compensation Committee designs the target amount, based on a percentage of base salary. Total benefits package is highly regarded and is designed to meet employees basic and life-changing  benefits  needs. As market dynamics evolve, the Company regularly assesses our benefits programs to ensure employees receive those benefits they value and are provided with diverse options that address the issues of individuals and families and promote healthy lifestyles. As  to fetch information on the part of employees problems, Cola-Cola Company makes  close collaborative  or communication  system  with them to satisfy them all to increases their efficiency and effectiveness. Because need and wants of employees are changing day by day to satisfy meaningful needs and wants are very important in the behalf of organization so as to use best potential of both physical and mental competencies is very important. Thats why defining criteria of rewarding them have a significant importance for the mutual  benefits  of  both  employees  and  organization.  Rewards  have  greater  importance  and effectiveness in Pakistani cultures, because people have more demand of them. What do you think is the most important emerging issue in the design of work? Diversity and limitlessness are the factors that stand out in the case study about the Coca-Cola Company.    With Coca-Cola being a worldwide company that offers such an array of products, they must hire flexible and diverse employees to support the needs of the still-growing company.    The employees reviews reaffirmed that by hiring a diverse group of employees and task them with different challenges in different countries; their choice to staff the company in this way has been successful.    By working with other unique individuals, they are enlightened by new methods of thinking and working.   The work specialization of Coca-Cola Company is high, as each Manager is made responsible for only a particular function, which is his expertise. There is no boredom or monotony as each salesman is meeting the different sort of person and the work is challenging and promotions are based on performance there is no monotony and boredom. Real Life Example The Coca-Cola Company rewards programs are regularly benchmarked against a select peer group of the major competitors and key players in the local market. The rewards management teams are based on the rewards programs that set by the company to give rewards. There are many ways to rewards the employees and one of the rewards ways that the company rewards the employees is based on the performance-based rewards. First the Coca Colas management team prefers grade for defining pay. Before there prepare the performance reward level there will do the research by conducting survey for the top five companies. There will conduct minimum three year rewards ranges of those top five companies and take average of them. Then there will decide their performance rewards system according to their management grades. The each year inflation rate has to be included no matter the employees individual performance increase or not. The Coca Cola human resource management also looking forward to performance ratings has mentioned. It will help the team to define a system in an organization systematic from to remove biases and ambiguity. Besides that the examples of the company use the competency-based rewards. The Coca Cola Company is a beverage industry which is focus more on the product with high quality, sell more and also get more customer satisfaction. So the management team creates more opportunities for the sales people to sell more and get more. By generating high work performance and make more profits, the company are able to utilize full potential of sales people. Because of that rewards system, the sales people have more opportunities to get rewards of both intrinsic and extrinsic ones. The table below is the example of the competency based rewards. Ares under consideration Sales% H.R% Account% Analysis Performance to organization goals 60-70 65-75 50-60 Average Performance of workers A achieve 40-55 50-60 40-50 Unsatisfied Performance of workers B achieve 75-85 60-70 60-70 Good Acceptance Thus, the Coca Cola Company also have use the job status based rewards. There are many country Coca Cola Company is providing such rewards likes Great Britain, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium. Those countrys company are depending on the job and grade the employees could be offered a company car, mobile phone, laptop, private health insurance, financial planning or free internet at home. Besides those countries, Norway and Sweden are offering the company car with free fuel. Furthermore, different job status of employees can choose different type of rewards, perks or benefits. Beside the reward, The Coca Cola Company also has a different way of conducting business than most companies. There has used the job design for the work or job management. There start with looking for secret ingredients that potential employees may have that will help grow the recipe for success for the individual and the company. At the each level and location, The Coca Cola Company will use the best combination of diverse individuals to fill the different positions in a way that benefits the team at the location. The main objective there focus which is on diversity of their employees as well as their products and markets can continues being successful. By using the diversity, it has great success as one of the main criteria for employee searches. Besides that, there also dont limit their employees position in the company in order to allow them to grow within the organization as well as personally, which allows them to take the job as far as they want it to go. The Coca Cola Company also will think about or consider the idea and suggestions from all level, again can using their diversity to improve the company and also the individual. The mutual respect and appreciation within the workplace nurtures the individuals so that there grow within the company and that in turn reduces turnover, boosted employee morale, productivity, teams work and company loyalty. Lastly, because of that, the Coca Cola Company is still growing more every year. Disadvantages of Coca-Cola Company rewards system We all know the concept of nothing is perfect and same goes to Coca-Cola Company. It sounds so sweet on what rewards Coca-Cola Company has given to the employees, but there is a lot of weaknesses hidden and left unseen. First and for most, Coca-Cola Company rewards the employees based on their performance. However, using the performance based reward may only reward those who apparently contributed to company and neglected the others employees that contributed silently. This may pop-up the feeling of jealousy among the employees. The discrimination or dissatisfaction among employees may affects their morale and companys reputation. Besides, performance based reward system may bring out the problem that the employees will have focusing on individual rewards and abandoned the teamwork. Competition can be good but if its too aggressive it can be detrimental. The employees may lose sight of their customers needs and allow service or satisfaction to suffer in lieu of achieving good performance. Unity is strength, there are works that couldnt be done individually. Therefore, performance based reward should paying attention on team reward but not individual reward. Due to the reason of humans judgment might be bias, a system is necessary to evaluate the employees job performance. The KPI is one of the system generally used by the company. However, there are some disadvantages when measure the employees performance based on KPI. KPI couldnt measure long term performance of the employees. As if the appraisal is only measure the recent performance, hence it is not conducted fairly. It may cause animosity in the office. In addition, KPI only focus on the outcome and it lose the creativity from the employees. This may discourage employees from experimenting with innovative solutions that might produce a better result. Moreover, the employees loyalty couldnt be measured. Employees loyalty represented how much can he scarified for the company which is also a main point to lead company to success. Aside from that, the annual or monthly incentives given by the company shouldnt be equal to everyone, because it might demotivated the employees from working hard. They might have a thought that nor matter they did anything right or wrong they will still rewarded the same by the company. Giving different base rewards may motivate the employees from working harder. Coca-Cola Company rewarding their customers based on monthly too. A company giving rewards too often might leads to huge expectation of employees. The employees may expect to receive same value of rewards in future, then any potential motivation of reward will be lost. The gift will act as a regular compensation but not an additional bonus for motivation. When a bigger pay-out doesnt happen, employees can become disgruntled, which can hinder work performance or, in a worst-case scenario, leave the company. Therefore, there must be a good balance of incentives for these admin/support staff or else they will not feel appreciated. Last but not least, Coca-Cola Company should have paying greater reward to those who hardworking and overtime always. Some of the employees are dissatisfied on the pay of overtime since the half hour of working is not counted. It shows that Coca-Cola Company is not treating fair to their employees. While talking about job specialization, one of the key disadvantages of specialization is that jobs often become monotonous. Employees do not like to focus on one specific job because it may increase employees boredom and they will become tedious, empty and unsatisfying. With specialization, people rarely meet the final product and  are merely selling their labor for a price as if it were a commodity. Their job satisfaction decreases and the quality of job performance will fall. At the same time, it may cause unemployment. This happen when there is no similar job offered if you are fired. Also it limit the freedom of the choice of work. Lesser flexibility; in the absence of a worker, it is hard to shift workload to any of the available workers because they do not have variety of skills. Greater chances of workers getting local muscular fatigue because the same muscles are used in doing the task. As job rotation promote employees to perform different task, if they discover it as a weakness, the task would not be performed well as those is specialize is stronger at it. Another disadvantage is that staff could be rotated away from a task that they enjoy, or perform very well to a high standard which could lead to other staff members not performing the same tasks as well. Furthermore, a huge amount of money is needed to train the employees, to make sure the employees able to handle the task given through job rotation strategy. When the employees are moving around into multiple positions, you must invest time and money into training the workers in all those positions. Not only cost, but also the time of the managers  and others who must train the employees in each area. Recommendation For the performance-based reward use by the Coca-Cola company, our team share the same thoughts that performance-based reward does not fully motivate employees to enhance their best performance practices, which doesnt flexible enough to cover all kind of peoples motivation. Peoples have different values, beliefs or motivation. Some doesnt seek for monetary rewards only, but they also looking for higher job satisfaction, the relationship with the people together and participation in value creation. Besides that, different cultures can influence the meaning and value of money. After go through the disadvantages of current reward system, we suggest Coca-Cola to evaluate their own reward system effectiveness rather than giving more reward to ensure performance and rewards can reach the balance level. First of all Coca-Cola company must ensure their rewards given are valued by the employees. Delivered rewards have to drive the specific employee behaviors to achieve business strategies. Every rewards given will be appreciate by employees and push themselves to achieve higher productivity and performance. Make sure the company and staffs alike understand the value of each reward to ensure transparency. Therefore it is better to have combination of reward system to provide the workforce from different races and cultures can gain their values. Secondly, Coca-Cola must ensure rewards are relevant to attract and retain the staff who can contribute well to the company either way in intrinsic rewards or extrinsic rewards. Last but not least, watch out for unintended consequences too. Some employees may take rewards for granted and company have to make confirmation on rewards given must be make good use by them. For multinational company like Coca-Cola, although they had decentralized the management decision making, job analysis and designing follows the same international structure. Although some deviations may be found on some regions, the company adapts a similar job description and analysis structure. Therefore, Coca-Cola should encourage employees to have self-leadership to perform better in every task. It helps to apply self-motivation and self-direction to accomplish task and cope with company business strategies. The elements of self-leadership included with setting personal direction, construct thoughts pattern, design natural rewards, self-monitoring and self-reinforcement. It trains employee to have higher levels of conscientiousness and extroversion, and positive self-evaluation too. In organizational factor, it turns to more job autonomy, employees tend to have participative leadership and able to build measurement-oriented culture. When employees capable of doing their jobs wel l, organization will require less man power and save more cost on human resources. Well-trained employees will be more productive when theyre more directly involved in decision making process, rather than closely supervised by many layers of management. Empowerment also recommended in Coca-Cola. Empowerment is based on the idea that giving employees  skills,  resources,  authority,  opportunity,  motivation, as well  holding  them responsible and  accountable  for outcomes of their  actions that will  contribute  to their  competence  and  satisfaction. When employees believe they have the authority to make decision, it can improve task significance and task identity. They feel that they have more freedom and discretion and their action influence the companys success. They dont have much excuse to escape from their responsibilities. They know more options, limits, or have experience that helps them make good decisions for the company and the customer.  Ã‚  They have been trained.  Ã‚  That same training can easily be delivered to the frontline employees so they can make better decisions, quickly, and accurately. In a nut shell, if Cola-cola wants to be more competitive in the market, they need to keep up with the changes in management. They need to concern about the organization directions and business strategies. Employees run the company and Coca-Cola must know how to reward his employees and restructure their organization structure whenever the time has come.

Effects of Alzheimers and Risk Factors

Effects of Alzheimers and Risk Factors Alzheimers disease (AD) is a chronic degenerative disease process that is currently affecting upwards of 5.3 million people in the United States (Alzheimers Association, 2010). This disease can cause physical and mental hardships on not only the client but on caregivers alike. In the following paper we will discuss the disease process including causes and risk factors, the effects on the clients activities of daily living, the challenges with social, family, spiritual and cultural life, disease prevention and treatment along with long term management, and lastly, nursing care and interventions that can facilitate the life of a client with Alzheimers. Because the disease results in cognitive impairment, psychological effects will be referred to throughout the paper. In order to grasp the needs of a client with Alzheimers disease, we must first understand the disease process itself. According to Mosbys Medical Dictionary Alzheimers disease is defined as, a condition characterized by progressive mental deterioration (2009). As individuals age numerous variations in the brain occur. Some of these changes include a decrease in brain size, deterioration of the cerebral cortex, and a loss of neurons that is dramatically hastened in the patient with AD. A decline in production of acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin is common in patients with this disease (Ignatavicius Workman, 2010, p. 970). These things can subsequently cause brain cell death which leads to rapid memory loss (Mayo Clinic, 2011). There is inconclusive evidence on where the impairment occurs when processing information in the brain. A recent journal article, published in Brain Imaging and Behavior, comments on this ongoing mystery and writes, [It is unknown] whether t he memory impairment results from failure of encoding, consolidation or the retrieval mechanism (Blacker, OKeefe, OBrien, Pihlajamaki, Sperling, 2011. p. 37). The etiology of AD is unfortunately still unidentified. It is known, however, that people with this disease actually do have a smaller amount of living brain cells than a person without the disease. Connections in the brain are also diminished and cannot transmit as easily (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Professionals have speculated many risk factors that they think contribute to a diagnosis of Alzheimers disease. The two most important factors include an age over 65, and being of the female gender. However, genetic factors, chemical imbalances, being of an African American descent, lower educational level, environmental agents (such as viruses like herpes zoster, herpes simplex, exposure to zinc and copper), and immunological changes are all also potential causes (Ignatavicius Workman, 2010, p. 970). AD is easily identifiable by its signs and symptoms which manifest in different stages. There are three stages that occur. The first stage is the early onset of Alzheimers in which patients will have simple forgetfulness and often will deny that there is a problem, resulting in seclusion. Stage two is progressively worse; the patient will soon become disoriented to time, place and events. In this stage incontinence as well as speech and language become problematic for the patient. The patient begins to become progressively more embarrassed and agitated. In the final stage, or stage three, the patient is no longer able to care for him or herself and is often unable to verbalize needs or able get out of bed without assistance (Ignatavicius Workman, 2009, p. 971-972). This stage of Alzheimers significantly affects patients activities of daily living. Simple tasks such as brushing teeth, combing hair and changing clothes are impossible for the patient to do. Because of their self-care d eficit, the patients family may have to provide personal cares along with ADLs and psychological reassurance. This can cause both emotional and financial stress for the family. Forgetting peoples names or faces can have a debilitating effect on a patients social life. Patients will often have little to no social etiquette demonstrated by screaming obscenities, playing with their own fecal matter and other aggressive behaviors as an example. Sleep patterns are often disturbed and patients usually take frequent naps during the day and are active at night (sundowners syndrome). This disrupts the patient and his or her familys daily routine (Ignatavicius Workman, 2009, p. 973). This type of diagnosis could likely affect their cultural beliefs as well. For example, cultures, such as Hispanic, strongly believe in elder respect and taking care of the elderly. Extended family will often live under one roof. For these cultures a patient with AD may become more of a burden to the whole family rather than a culture that might accept assistance from a nursing home or assisted living center. Spiritual life can also be affected. The client may no longer be able to go to religious services due to their potential social inappropriateness or because the family may have to closely accompany them. The client may forget, or find it unnecessary, to partake in practices that they previously carried out. This may make the client and family feel very frustrated. Whereas there is no known way to prevent AD, there are many interventions to prevent the complications associated with the disease. Since memory impairment is the main symptom of Alzheimers the client is expected to be very confused and disoriented. The nurse should be prepared to answer all the patients questions truthfully and keep him or her oriented by possibly providing single date calendars and keeping them on a non-changing routine. These things will help them to become more comfortable in their environment and be familiar with what is going to happen (Ignatavicius Workman, 2010, p. 975). Validation therapy is one way that health care providers can achieve both of these goals. This therapy entails the staff member recognizing the patients feelings and concerns without lying to them or dismissing the fear. For example if the client has already eaten breakfast, and returns to the dining hall expecting a second breakfast, an appropriate response from the nurse would be something along the lines of, I notice you are still hungry, I will get you another piece of toast. It would be inappropriate for the nurse to tell the client that he or she has already eaten because this may cause the client to become very agitated. The response does not dispute the client, but it also does not support the idea that he or she has not eaten breakfast (Ignatavicius Workman, 2010, p. 975). Caregivers should also promote self care management. Sustaining independence in the clients ADLs is very important for the client with AD and can sometimes help to prolong self physical management. The nurse will also need to instigate bowel and bladder programs. It is important that these clients are toileted every two hours and as needed. Incontinence can be very embarrassing for the client and anything the staff can do to prevent this is encouraged. Staff should keep the client well hydrated and may need to remind the client to drink often. If on a 2 hour and PRN schedule the client is l ess likely to acquire an injury by trying to get up and go to the bathroom on their own. Next, it may be helpful to regularly take the client on walks and to provide them with something to do. Be sure to minimize stimulation and ensure safety. As for long term management of the disease it is likely that the client will eventually need to be placed in a long term care setting such as assisted living. Interestingly enough, in a journal article from The International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry it states that recent evidence suggests that behavioral interventions and techniques are more effective than any other means of care including pharmacological approaches. They affirm that staff should be well trained to deal with these clients and that they play a huge role in the clients overall disposition and how he or she will cope with managing their disease (Ayalon, Arean, Bornfeld, Beard, 2009, p. 118-123). For some psychological management, caregivers should promote memory training and assist with facial recognition. It is important that they use redirection techniques and promote effective communication that has been tailored to that client specifically (Ignatavicius Workman, 2010, p. 974-978). Alzheimers disease is very complex and has many components to successful nursing interventions, but when followed can lead to great results. Two creative nursing interventions that we were able to come up with are (Pts. with AD should be involved in social interaction to decrease feelings of boredom, anxiety and decreased self-esteem. A possible intervention the nurse can use to help a pt. with AD is to encouraging the pt. to sing with others and help pick out music; this can possibly improve the pts. mood and behavior. It is believed that listening to enjoyable music during routine activities can decrease agitated behavior. Fun activities such as playing musical instruments ( triangle, maraca or even a toy hand drum) can be easy for the pt. to do and also entertaining. ) I am not sure what to do about the other one but with my grandpa we used to put a picture on his door to help him remember what room was his, but that kind of similar to what we talked about above. By 2050 it is expected that the prevalence of Alzheimers disease will increase to 14 million people (Ignatavicius Workman, 2010, p. 970). As healthcare providers it is important that we educate ourselves on this disease because it is nearly inevitable for anyone of us to avoid caring for a client diagnosed with it. In this paper we discussed the disease process including causes and risk factors, the effects on the clients activities of daily living, the challenges with social, family, spiritual and cultural life, disease prevention and treatment along with long term management, and lastly, nursing care and interventions that can facilitate the life of a client with Alzheimers disease.

Siddhartha Essay -- essays research papers

In the days of Siddhartha, there were different ways of achieving the Enlightenment. Learning about the Enlightenment couldn’t be taught with words, but can be taught mentally, and individually. Siddhartha went on a voyage to achieve enlightenment and finally learned about it. It all takes place in ancient India where he lived with his father who is a Brahmin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Siddhartha was a handsome man who lived with his father in ancient India. Everyone in the village wants Siddhartha to become a Brahmin like his father. Govinda, who is Siddhartha’s best friend, together they perform all the rituals of religion and does all the rituals which bring him peace and happiness. Siddhartha doesn’t want to become like his father, he feels that his father and the elders of the village have not achieved enlightenment and he feels if he keeps living with his father, he will never learn. Siddhartha longs for something more, that the elders haven’t done. Siddhartha and Govinda want answers for the achievement of the enlightenment. One day, Samanas passed through the town begging for food. Samanas believed enlightenment can be reached through asceticism. Siddhartha believes that the Samanas can provide him with some answers. Siddhartha then joins the Samanas even though his father doesn’t want him to join. Govinda als o wants to find a path to enlightenment, and he joins Siddhartha in his new life. Siddhartha adjusts quickly to the ways of the Samanas. The Samanas have be...

My Philosophy of Teaching Essay -- Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education The purpose of education is to provide students with a knowledge base that will enable them to achieve their goals. These goals will vary from student to student, but an education will enable students to reach their highest potential. Education is a gift and a privilege that all students, no matter their social status, race, or ethnic background, should receive. Education should better society as a whole, and this can only be accomplished through the hard work and dedication of teachers. Teachers play an imperative role in the educational process because the entire development of the student’s education would not be possible without them. This world would have no doctors, lawyers, or engineers if teachers did not help them to reach those professional goals. I believe teachers are handed an opportunity to impact the lives of students, and it is my responsibility as a future teacher to embrace that opportunity with a positive attitude. As I strive to fulfill my role as a teacher, I plan to adhere to the following guidelines: ...

Naval Technology: 1450-1750 Essay -- effective naval vessels, ships

　　The Early Modern Era saw great change in the field of naval technology. Exploration and the desire to expand trade fueled the development of new, more effective naval vessels. These vessels, in turn, contributed to the growth of worldwide trade and interconnection that marked the period. 　　In 1453 the Ottomans took control of Constantinople, and effectively cut off direct European trade to East Asia. Because of this, in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, exploration in search of alternative routes became a key focus of Western European nations. 　　The development of such vessels as the caravel and carrack allowed for the great expansion of this trade-driven exploration. The caravel, a small, lateen-rigged ship of 12-18 meters (Russel, 229) , was developed as a fishing boat in the early 13th century, in Portugal. Its maneuverability and speed made it possible for explorers, merchants, and fisherman alike, to go further, faster. The Caravel would become the backbone of early Spanish and Portuguese exploration, and the model on which many other vessels were based. Columbus used two caravels in his ‘discovery’ of the new world: the Nià ±a and the Pinta; and Vasco Da Gama used the caravel Berrio in his expedition around Africa. 　　 　　The carrack, or nao, was a large, multi-decked ship that used a combination of square and lateen sails to ensure a balance of power and maneuverability. The carrack became the premiere ship of early exploration and trade as it was able to carry up to 1,000 tons(Johnston) and was capable of withstanding the lengthiest voyages. The premiere ships of the voyages of Columbus, De Gama, and Magellan were all carracks. 　　These early vessels allowed for the mass exploration and colonization, of the American... ...Modelling: Rigging Patterns - The Carracks and Caravels." Jan's Sites: Navigation. N.p., 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Glete, Jan. Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650: Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe. London: Routledge, 2000. 150-60. Print. Konstam, Angus. The History of Shipwrecks. New York: Lyons, 1999. Print. Rodrigues, Francisco. Roteiro De Malaca. 16th Century. Engraving. N.p. Russel, Peter E. "The Caravels of Christ." Prince Henry 'The Navigator': A Life. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale UP, 2001. 225-38. Print. Schwarz, George R. "History of the Caravel." Caravel. Texas A&M University, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. Vroom, Hendrik Cornelisz. Hollandse Schepen Overzeilen Spaanse Galeien Onder De Engelse Kust. 1617. Oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Web. Johnston, Ruth A. "medieval ships and boats." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2013.

Prison Violence Essay

Incarceration rates rose to unprecedented levels in the history of the U.S.’s imprisonment. Therefore, concern about social control of the incarcerated, that is, prisoners’ behavior, has increased. High inmate disciplinary infractions, especially violent infractions, are a threat to the safety of prison, of correctional staff, and of other inmates. Nevertheless, the issue of discipline in prison is important from an economic perspective, because an estimated average cost per infraction at a medium security prison is $970 (Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). For these reasons, Jiang & Fisher- Giorlando conducted a research to help explain violent incidents, incidents against correctional staff and incidents against other inmates in prison. Identifying the risk factors of inmates to commit violent acts of misconduct is of great importance to prison administration. This type of research can assist in the classification process of inmates entering institutions as well as the o ngoing classification adjustments of inmates already in custody. This study will identify and investigate factors for violent institutional misconduct. These factors include; however, are not limited to race, age, education and employment, family ties, length of sentence, security level, prison environment and gender. The hypotheses of this study are: 1. Violent prison misconduct is more prevalent among African-American and Hispanic inmates than Caucasians or any other ethnic group. 2. Inmates who are residing in maximum-security facilities are more violent than inmates residing in medium or minimum-security facilities, especially towards correctional staff. Literature Review Race Several studies were conducted to examine the role of race in inmate adjustment process and prison misconduct, especially prison violence. There were indications that there is a direct relationship between race and violent prison misconduct. Those findings support theories such as prison adjustment and subculture of violence, which say that minority groups have higher rates of violence in prison society than white inmates (DeLisi et al., 2004; Griffin & Hepburn, 2006; Gillespie, W., 2005; Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009). According to Wayne Gillespie (2005), Caucasian inmates appear less likely to engage in most types of misconduct compared to African American and Hispanic inmates. Blacks are more likely than Whites to evoke protective violent responses to perceived dangerous situations or threats of physical injury by aggressive, violent behavior aimed at protecting self or preventing retaliation (Gillespie, W., 2005). Age Age and prison violence had an inverse relationship. The older inmates were, the less likely they were to be involved in violent prison misconduct. Younger inmates were significantly more likely to be involved in violent prison misconduct. This relationship was widespread throughout all the studies (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007; DeLisi et al., 2004; Griffin & Hepburn, 2006; Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2005; Ruddell et al., 2006; Sorensen & Cunningham, 2008). Education and Employment Research shows an inverse relationship between level of education and rates of prison misconduct. As level of education increased, involvement in violent prison misconduct decreased (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007; DeLisi et al., 2004; Wooldredge et al., 2001). As stated by Wooldredge, Griffin, and Pratt (2001), inmates who were employed prior to incarceration were less likely to be involved in violent prison misconduct. This group was more invested in conforming because they had more to lose. Inmates who worked prior incarceration were more likely than other inmates to be concerned with going home and continuing employment. Family Ties Social and family support was inversely related to violent prison misconduct (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007; DeLisi et al., 2004; Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2005; Wooldredge et al., 2001). Inmates with less social and familial support committed significantly more acts of serious prison violence (DeLisi et al., 2004). Moreover, inmates who made and received more telephone calls from children were less likely to commit violent rule violations (Jiang, Fisher-Giorlando & Mo, 2005). According to Jiang and colleagues (2005) inmates with strong family ties had more to lose if they were involved in violent prison misconduct. Sources of family support included mail, telephone calls, and visitations. Rule violations could result in loss of visiting privileges, which is a strong source of strengthening family ties. Length of Sentence The relationship between length of current sentence that inmates are serving and violent prison misconduct is debatable. Inmates with shorter sentences were more likely to commit violent acts. Short term sentenced inmates were usually younger and they still possessed a street mentality. Inmates with longer sentences were usually older and appeared to better understand the need to co-exist with other inmates as well as correctional staff (Wooldredge et al., 2001). Security Level Several studies showed that security level is a predictor of rule violation (Camp et al., 2003; Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008). To be more specific, inmates residing in working cell-blocks and dormitories are less likely than are those in lock-down cell-blocks to commit violence and incidents against correctional staff (Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). Prison Environment Prison environment exerts an influence on inmate misconduct, especially interpersonal violence (Blackburn et al., 2007; Camp et al., 2003; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008). Research conducted by Camp et al., (2003) indicated that prison’s organizational factors influenced inmates’ behavior that led to violent misconduct. Furthermore, institutions with inexperienced staff had greater report numbers of inmate misconduct. Moreover, prison crowding, as one of the ecological factors, influenced inmate behavior because it produces intermediate psychological states, such as depression that then lead to misconduct (Camp et al., 2003). Gender Previous studies showed that gender was inversely related to violent prison misconduct (Blackburn et al., 2007; Camp et al., 2003; Wolff et al., 2009). Male inmates reported higher percentage of physical victimization perpetrated by staff, although percentage of inmate on inmate physical victimization was equal for male and female inmates (Wolff et al., 2009). This suggests gender-patterned interactions between inmate and staff in which male inmates compared to female inmates are more aggressive against authority figures. In summary, what is known from the literature reviewed is that some factors might influence inmates’ behavior. What is missing is the correlation between those factors and prison violent misconduct, which is addressed by my study. Key variables identified in the reviewed literature are race, age, education and employment, family ties, length of sentence, security level and prison environment, which are incorporated into the study’s methodology as surve y and focus group questions. Theoretical Review To explain inmate behavior in prison three major theoretical models have been proposed. They are the deprivation, importation, and situational models. A true explanation of violent inmate misconduct lies in a combination of those three theories. However, the importation model can be use as the most legitimate singular explanation of violent prison misconduct. The main focus of an importation model is on the influence of pre- prison socialization and experience of the inmate on his/her behavior while being incarcerated (Jiang & Fisher- Giorlando, 2002). According to Jiang & Fisher- Giorlando (2002) inmates’ behavior can be largely determine by their distinctive traits and social backgrounds. The importation model is a reflection of a pre- prison norms and beliefs system of an inmate rather than a result of incarceration in a facility (Irvin & Cressey, 1962; as cited in Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). As importation model implies inmate behavior while being behind the bars is an extension of the antisocial behaviors that criminal offenders developed in the community (DeLisi et al., 2004). Research Design The research design that I used was the analysis of an existing database. I downloaded and analyzed an existing data source from the National Archives of Criminal Justice Data, which can be found at www.ICPSR.org. The data source that I downloaded and analyzed has number 24642 and the title of it is Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities. The principle investigator of this study is United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the time period is January 1st, 2005 to December 30th, 2005. I chose this dataset because it contains the information needed to do my study on prison violence misconduct. The 2005 Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities is the seventh enumeration of State institutions and the fourth of Federal institutions sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and its predecessors. Earlier censuses were completed in 1974, 1979, 1984, 1990, 1995 and 2000. The facility universe was developed from the Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities conducted in 2000. In 2000, data were collected from 84 federal facilities and 1,584 non-federal facilities operating on June 30th, 2000. In 2005, each State’s Department of Corrections was contacted to identify new facilities and facilities that had been closed since June 2000. Telephone follow-ups were carried out during 2006. All but one respondent-State of Illinois- participated in the Census.My study determines if in a time period between January 1st, 2005 and December 30th, 2005, the correctional facilities used in existing dataset 24642 experienced physical or sexual assaults, misconduct against correctional staff and misconduct against other inmates. The response options for dependent variables have values such as: 1 which is label Yes, 2 which is label No, and 9 or 999 which is label Missing. This study aims to determine if independent variables such as race, age, education and employment, family ties, length of sentence, security level, prison environment and gender have a strong correlation with the dependent variables. Data Analysis For my analyses, I used SPSS Statistics program in version 18.0. I ran frequencies and descriptive tests on both dependent and independent variables. Moreover, I ran ANOVA and t-test to test how facility security levels and race/ethnicity of the inmates impact or don’t the amount of violence. Results Table 1: Age of the inmates residing in the facilities during the 1- year period of 2005 (Independent Variable). |Descriptive Statistics | | | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid |Yes |475 |26.1 |28.6 | As seen in Table 2, during the 1-year period of 2005, 28.6 percent of facilities indicated that yes, there were physical or sexual assaults. The other 71.4 percent indicated that there were no physical or sexual assaults. As seen below in Table 3, during the same year period there was an average of just under 16 inmate-on-inmate assaults at facilities. I also ran a frequency table of staff deaths by inmates, but there were very few. Table 3: During the 1- year period of 2005 how many inmate on inmates assaults (Dependent Variable). | | | | | |N |Minimum |Maximum |Mean | | | | | | | |Y1_BETWEEN 1/1/2005 AND 12/30/2005 WERE THERE PHYSICAL OR SEXUAL ASSAULTS | The results in the above tables test my hypothesis about how facility security levels impact (or don’t) the amount of violence, using three different measures of the dependent variable: physical or sexual assaults; inmate deaths; and inmate-on-inmate assaults. I ran three ANOVA (analysis of variance) tests, and the results are shown above. Only the ANOVA tests for Y1 and Y3 were statistically significant. There was no difference by security level in the number of staff deaths by inmates, probably because those were low to begin with. However, in terms of physical and sexual assaults (Y1), these were highest at minimum and low-security facilities (mean =1.91). In terms of inmate-on-inmate assaults, these were highest Maximum/close/high facilities, with an average of nearly 34 assaults by inmates on other inmates in 2005. Table 7: Type of Violence by Race/Ethnicity | | |Y1_BETWEEN 1/1/2005 |Y3_BETWEEN 1/1/2005 | | | |AND 12/30/2005 WERE |AND 12/30/2005 HOW | | | |THERE PHYSICAL OR |MANY INMATE ON | | | |SEXUAL ASSAULTS |INMATES ASSAULTS | |X1_race_white |Pearson Correlation |-.391(**) |.341(**) | | |Sig. (2-tailed) |.000 |.000 | | |N |1631 |1665 | |X1_race_black |Pearson Correlation |-.453(**) |.392(**) | | |Sig. (2-tailed) |.000 |.000 | | |N |1625 |1657 | |X1_race_ethnicity_Hispanic |Pearson Correlation |-.290(**) |.202(**) | | |Sig. (2-tailed) |.000 |.000 | | |N |1450 |1479 | ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). As seen above in Table 7, both White and Black race, as well as Hispanic ethnicity, were statistically significantly related to dependent variables Y1 and Y3. Y2 is not shown in the table format because neither race nor ethnicity was related to staff deaths by inmates. Again, this may be due to the small number of staff deaths. An odd pattern emerges: Y1 (number of physical and sexual assaults) was significantly and negatively related to all three race/ethnicity variables. On the other hand, Y3 (number of inmate-on-inmate assaults) was positively and significantly related to all three race/ethnicity variables. The reasons for this are not clear, but may have something to do with the meaning of the questions asked for Y1 and Y3. As for the size of the correlation coefficient, it is the highest for Blacks (r= -.453 and .392), next highest for Whites (r= -.391 and .341), and lowest for Hispanics (r= -.29 and .202). Discussion To return to my first original hypothesis that violent prison misconduct is more prevalent among African-American and Hispanic inmates than Caucasians or any other ethnic group I have to say that my findings only partially support that statement. According to my results violence among or by African- American inmates appears to be the highest, and is followed by violence among or by White inmates. However, violence by or among Hispanic inmates is the lowest comparing it to violence among or by other races. Moreover, my findings on the impact of security level of facility on prison violence were not exactly what I expected because they differ depending on a type of an assault. Therefore, they partially support my second hypothesis that inmates who are residing in maximum-security facilities are more violent than inmates residing in medium or minimum-security facilities, especially towards correctional staff. I found that counter to what I expected, super-maximum facilities are not the most dangerous correctional institutions but they have the highest inmate on inmate number of assaults. Findings from this study about how race impact prison violence partially support what I have found previously in the literature review. According to Wayne Gillespie (2005) and my findings White inmates less likely engage in most types of misconduct compared to African-American inmates but not Hispanic inmates. However, my results on the impact of security level of facility and prison violence are interesting because they do support the findings mentioned in the literature review. All the findings suggest that security level does affect the amount of in-facility violence, but that differs by the type of violence. Limitation of the Study While conducting my research by using existing database I had to face a few problems with it. First of all, the database I found had a lot of variables, which had a value that was missing. Second of all, when I ran the tests such as descriptive or frequencies it was hard to describe the results because they were confusing. I wasn’t sure in some cases if the results showed me the number of inmates or the number of facilities. I tried to go back and find the answers in the codebook, which didn’t really contain much more information than the database. Moreover, the meaning of the questions that were asked, especially for dependent variables, wasn’t clear and I believe it impacted somehow the results of the tests I ran. References Blackburn, A. G., Mullings, J. L., Marquart, J. W., & Trulson, C. R. (2007). The next generation of prisoners: Toward an understanding of violent institutionalized delinquents. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5(1), 35-56. Document ID: 1541204006295156. Camp, S. D., Gaes, G. G., Langan, N. P., & Saylor, W. G. (2003). The influence of prisons on inmate misconduct: A multilevel investigation. Justice Quarterly, JQ, 20(3), 501-533. Document ID: 434413761. Cunningham, M. D., & Sorensen, J. R. (2007). Predictive factors for violent misconduct in close custody. The Prison Journal, 87(2), 241-253. Document ID: 0032885507303752. DeLisi, M., Berg, M. T., & Hochstetler, A. (2004). Gang members, career criminals and prison violence: Further specification of the importation model of inmate behavior. Criminal Justice Studies, 17(4), 369-383. Document ID: 10.1080/1478601042000314883. Gillespie Wayne, (2005). Racial differences in violence and self-esteem among prison inmates. American Journal of Criminal Justice: AJCJ, 29(2), 161-V. Document ID: 972985931. Griffin, M. L., & Hepburn, J. R. (2006). The effects of gang affiliation on violent misconduct among inmates during the early years of confinement. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33(4), 419-448. Document ID: 0093854806288038. Irvin, J., & Cressey, D. (1962). Thieves, convicts, and the inmate culture. Social Problems, 10, 142-155. Jiang, S., & Fisher-Giorlando, M. (2002). Inmate misconduct: A test of the deprivation, importation, and situational models. The Prison Journal, 82(3), 335-358. Document ID: 003288550208200303. Jiang, S., Fisher-Giorlando, M., & Mo, L. (2005). Social support and inmate rule violation: A multilevel analysis. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 30(1), 71-89. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com Ruddell, R., Decker, S. H., & Egley Jr., A. (2006). Gang intervention in jails: A national analysis. Criminal Justice Review, 31(1), 33-46. Document ID: 0734016806288263. Sorensen, J., & Cunningham, M.D. (2008). Conviction offense and prison violence: A comparative study of murderers and other offenders. Crime and Delinquency, 56(1), 103-125. Document ID: 0011128707307175. Steiner, B., & Wooldredge, J. (2008). Inmate versus environmental effects on prison rule violations. Criminal Justice and Behavioral, 35(4), 438. Document ID: 1455568521. Wolff, N., Shi, J., & Siegel, J. (2009). Patterns o f victimization among male and female inmates: Evidence of an Enduring Legacy. Violence and Victims, 24(4), 469-84. Document ID: 1825737261. Wooldredge, J., Griffin, T., & Pratt, T. (2001). Considering hierarchical models for research on inmate behavior: Predicting misconduct with multilevel data. Justice Quarterly, 18(1), 203-231. Retrieved from http:// proquest.umi.com