The It Girl Analytical

In the book The It Girl, by Cecily Von Ziegesar, Jennie Humphries is a girl who wants to be popular and will do anything to get that status. In the book Jennie gets sent to a new boarding school and wants to become a new person; more sophisticated and classy. Once she arrives she learns that she rooms with the most popular girls in the school and rumors start to spread about Jennie being promiscuous. She runs into some drama and ends up being accepted into the cool group of people. Jennie seeks to gain power over others to improve her reputation and to be in charge. Jennie tries to gain power over many of the girl characters to seem cool. When roommate Calli gets caught for having a boy in her room past curfew she blames it on Jennie. Jennie has to go talk to committee and testify that she was the one with the boy. Calli bribes Jennie to take the fall and Jennie holds it over her head to get her to do whatever she wants. This portrays Jennie’s want for power over the girls because it shows that she will turn against her friends if means more power for her. Another example of Jennie’s hunger for power over the girls is when Jennie forces Brett to admit her affair with Eric Dalton, the schools Disciplinary student advisor. Jennie knows that if she gets Brett to trust her and tell her secrets then she can have power over Brett and black mail. Overall Jennie tries to gain power over all of the girls to show that she is the â€Å"it† girl. Jennie seeks power over select male characters to show that she is popular and can get whatever boy she wants. In the beginning Jennie charms Brandon Buchanan with her new girl act and plays like she is clueless to how things work around the school. This convinces Brandon to like her and Jennie gains power by turning him down and saying that they are just friends. This allows Jennie to have the control of making Brandon do whatever she wants him to in order to make her like him. Another example is with Heath Ferro. Everyone goes to a party and Jennie allows Heath to take her to the famous church spot where he makes out with girls. Heath and Jennie end up kissing and when drunken Heath tries to take it to the next level she stops him and leads him back to his dorm room. This lets everyone know that Jennie has the power to say no to Heath and that she can have him whenever she wants him. Jennie also has a secret thing with Easy Walsh, Calli’s boyfriend. Jennie knows that she can’t be in a relationship with him because Calli would be mad and everyone would think she is a boyfriend stealer but she has strong feelings for him and he feels the same way. Later on Easy breaks up with Calli which shows that Jennie has a power over his feelings and can now get him do whatever she wants. Jennie has a great amount of power over the boys because she plays with their emotions and gets them to do whatever she wants. In The It girl Jennie struggles to gain power over everyone for selfish reasons. Everyone wants to be popular and have everyone love them but some people will go to the extreme to achieve this kind of power. We can learn from Jennie’s ways that there are other ways to have power and better thing s to do with power than to manipulate people and their emotions. By gaining all of this power Jennie earns a reputation but not the one she was looking for. It just shows that she is selfish and will do anything to get what she wants and to be on top. Like some say, he is most powerful who has power over himself.

Why Is Xenia Such an Important Theme in the Odyssey?

Why is Xenia such an important theme in the Odyssey? Explain your views and support them with details from the poem. (45 marks) The concept of guest hospitality was extremely important in ancient Greece. Evidence that Xenia was integral to Greek society can be found in the fact that Zeus, the king of the Gods, was also portrayed as the God of Xenia. Xenia created an obligation for the host to be hospitable to their guests, and conversely, the guests had their own responsibilities too. If either the host or the guest was to break a Xenia rule, there would be severe penalties dealt by Zeus and also by society.Some basic Xenia rules were that the guest could not insult the host, make demands, or refuse xenia. Additionally, the host could not insult the guest, fail to protect the guest, or fail to be as hospitable as possible. It was also customary for gifts to be given to the guest, or for a gift exchange to be conducted between guest-friends. The host-guest relationship was very compli cated and placed equal burden on both. This custom of xenia also held a burden of trust, where both the guest and host would have to rely on custom in regards to personal safety.This trust was reinforced by both fear of word getting out that the host had provided improper xenia, and fear of retribution by the gods, since one never knew when a traveller might actually be a god in disguise (for example, in book 1 when Athene disguises herself as Mentes and receives hospitality from Telemachus), come to test the level of your xenia. All travellers were seen as sent by Zeus and under his protection, so giving proper xenia was also a way of showing respect for the gods, especially Zeus in the form of Xenios. Xenia offers a moral ground in the Odyssey.Greek religion did not have strict moral regulations like modern Catholicism etc, and the Gods possessed a level of humanity and humility (for example, they had flaws, such as Achilles heel). Xenia imposed moral regulations in ancient Greece . It also allows Homer to convey whether characters are ‘good’ or ‘bad’, characters that show bad Xenia are almost portrayed as amoral. An example of poor Xenia in the Odyssey is Penelope’s Suitors. The suitors steal and plunder Odysseus' hall, feast on his food, take his maids to bed and all the while, each trying to take Penelope's hand in marriage.When Odysseus returns, he knows all about the suitors, and schematically kills all of them with no mercy. As the suitors showed bad Xenia, Odysseus is considered heroic for killing them. This is also an example of retribution for bad Xenia. Homer also uses Xenia as a literary device in the Odyssey. Without Xenia, much of the plot would be invalidated; Xenia customs explain many events in the Odyssey. For example, Xenia explains why Penelope and Telemachus didn’t just ask the suitors to leave rather than putting up with them.Xenia also explains why, during the battle of Troy, Glaucus and Diomedes r efuse to fight: they discover their ancestors had a Xenia bond. Traveling in Homer’s time was much more extensive and lengthier than in modern times. The less advanced methods of transportation used in Homeric times, such as by boat or by foot, were much slower than modern forms of transportation. Because of this, many more nights were spent away from home in many different locations. Also, there were not hotels or inns where travellers could pay and stay the night.Even if there were, travellers probably could not afford to pay for every night they were gone. Because of this, travellers had to rely on the hospitality of others for shelter, food, and protection. Without Xenia, Odysseus wouldn’t have been able to return home to Penelope. Xenia was also a universal way for Homer to state character’s status and wealth in the Odyssey. As it was frowned upon for aristocrats to engage in trade or commerce, Xenia was one of the only ways for Homeric heroes to acquire we alth. All hosts are obligated to provide their guests with the best food, accommodation and comfort they can.For example, Menelaus’ guests are offered water from a golden jug into a silver basin and wine served in golden cups. The xenia gifts characters give are also a statement of wealth, as well as a way of acquiring wealth, for example, when Telemachus acquires a silver krater, a wedding dress, a golden cup and other elaborate gifts from his stay in Sparta. In the Odyssey, Xenia is also shown to be one of the hallmarks of a civilised society, allowing us to judge the societies that Odysseus visits by their attitudes to xenia.For example, the Cyclopes are well informed about Xenia, yet disregard it because they have no fear of the God’s retribution. This tells us that the Cyclopes live in a formidable and amoral society. Even the Gods are shown to respect Xenia rules, for example in Book 5 when Calypso gives hospitality to Hermes. Good xenia is shown to have good rep ercussions for both the guest and the host: for example, Odysseus’ stay on the island of Calypso, where he is met with exceptional hospitality. Odysseus received this hospitality well and continued to please Calypso.Only at the end did he ever try to refuse her hospitality and leave, and even this caused no serious problems. Here we have an example of the guest-host relationship working well. Calypso is provided with a companion, even if it was not permanent, and Odysseus was provided with shelter, provisions, and protection for his men. In the end it proves to be a beneficial situation for them both. Xenia also provides a system of retribution in the Odyssey. Those shown to disregard the rules of Xenia often meet violent ends, and in turn, those shown to show good Xenia reap the benefits of this.An example of retribution for bad Xenia is when the Cyclops decides to eat rather than welcome Odysseus and his crew, and the men respond by poking his eye out. This event does not b other the gods at all. The father of the Cyclops, Poseidon, is only upset by the event because it was his son who was hurt. Zeus even praises Odysseus after the event by claiming that, â€Å"There is no mortal half so wise† (Homer, p. 3). This statement proves that violence was an acceptable answer when a host was not gracious. It also shows how the Gods justified violence as a result of bad Xenia.Overall, Xenia is a majorly important theme in the Odyssey. Not only is it used as a literary device by Homer, as it provides an explanation for many aspects of the plot and provides the poem with continuity as well as a way for Homer to portray characters as heroes and villains. Xenia also tells us a lot about ancient Greek society, as it provided a moral grounding and allowed travellers to go from place to place. Examples of Xenia in the Odyssey allow us to judge which characters are wealthy, famous, good, bad, monstrous and evil.

List and briefly describe at least five of the programs included with Essay

List and briefly describe at least five of the programs included with Microsoft Office 2010. Provide an example of when you might use each one - Essay Example It is a valuable program for analyzing numerical figures. This program is very helpful in making budget reports, calendars or invoices (Microsoft Corporation, n.d.) The PowerPoint program enables the user to make powerful presentations (Microsoft Corporation, n.d.). It now allows easier coordination with other people through co-authoring which makes it possible for collaborators to work at the same time on one presentation (Microsoft Corporation, n.d.). It is used to make office report presentations and slideshows. This program â€Å"creates professional quality publications and marketing materials† (Microsoft Corporation, n.d.). Publisher is a valuable program for making advertising materials, newsletters, greeting cards and brochures. This is the database program of Microsoft Office. It is used to manage and organize information with the use of its templates and other modular components. This program is very useful in setting up a database of a company’s customers. It is also beneficial for creating database for an organization’s workforce. Microsoft Corporation. (n.d.). Whats new in PowerPoint 2010? Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Microsoft Corporation Web site: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/what-s-new-in-powerpoint-2010-HA010336563.aspx Microsoft Corporation. (n.d.). Word 2010 features and benefits. Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Microsoft Corporation Web site:

Policy Influences and Policy Stakeholder Reflection Essay

Policy Influences and Policy Stakeholder Reflection - Essay Example In the discussion henceforth, a solution would be provided with supportive arguments to the government acting as a representative of the stakeholder group in order to expand the capacity, especially of the Port of Melbourne. Policy Influences Essay Introduction In the discussion henceforth, a solution would be provided with supportive arguments to the government acting as a representative of the stakeholder group in order to expand the capacity, especially of the Port of Melbourne. Various aspects which include the role of the stakeholder group along with the evaluation of actual or likely partners or collaborators, who would contribute towards the expansion of the capacity, will also be portrayed in the discussion. ‘Melbourne Ports-Our Future’: Mission or Purpose The mission of the organisation named 'Melbourne Ports - Our Future’, is to present an appropriate decision in relation to expanding the capacity of the Ports of Melbourne. The expansion of the portsâ₠¬â„¢ capacity is quite necessary for the purpose of meeting with an ever rising trade demand and protecting the economic future of freight gateway (The Port of Melbourne Corporation, 2011). Hence, it can be stated that the main purpose of the organisation is to arrive a standpoint whether the dredging of the Port of Philip Bay or the expansion of the Port of Hastings would be the best suitable option to plan for increased shipping capacity of the Port of Melbourne. ... m a social point of view, the various benefits of dredging include the prevention of further degradation; developing the liveability of the river communities by improving parks along with greenways for the inhabitants and most importantly, helps to expand the shipping industry (EnviCom Working Group 100, n.d.). Alternatively, the most apparent impact of the facet of dredging upon the environment lay in the fact that it adversely affects the sea grass habitat, cultural heritage and most importantly tends to impose barriers to the augmentation of tourism sector causing disturbances to facilitate the various types of recreational activities including diving, boating and fishing (The Port of Melbourne Corporation, 2009). However, dredging could make greater economic benefit as the process tends to be less-time consuming along with requiring lesser amount of investment. Apart from the initiative of dredging in the Port Philip Bay with the purpose of expanding the capacity of the Port of M elbourne, another initiative is also taken into concern which includes the expansion of the Port of Hastings. However, the Port of Hastings is viewed as a chief container port which performs its operational functions in corresponding with the Port of Melbourne so as to increase the trade demand considerably. Moreover, in order to make suitable planning for future economic growth along with the expansion of the Port of Melbourne, the Victorian government largely supported the fact that the Port of Hastings can be regarded as the favoured location for a subsequent container port. The Actual or Likely Partners or Collaborators In order to extend the capacity of the Port of Melbourne by enlarging the Port of Hastings, there pertains the necessity to work with actual or probable partners or

The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Great Gatsby - Essay Example This paper intends to examine how Jay Gatsby as a figure whose "hopefulness" is in conflict with his "conditions" in terms of his personal, professional, and social life. For one, the novel presents Gatsby as a wealthy, well-renowned businessperson who has all the power that he needs. Actually, he is a successful man, but according to the analysis of the novel, one thing is for sure, he has no friends. Although the novel tends to evade shading adequate light on the issue of Gatsby’s profound lonely life, analytical response to the novel suggests that may be it is because of the things that he used to do that challenged his ability to have friends (44). The only close people that he met are just his business associates and sometimes the throngs who came over for his Saturday parties. In this context, it is seeable that Gatsby’s personal conditions conflicted with his hope for a friendly association. He hopes to get along with friends, but as it seems, he does not have an y just business associates leaving his world a place for just hope. Additionally, Gatsby’s professional conditions conflicts directly with his hope for a long, loving life with Daisy. ... Therefore, he had many things to do and his profession required him to be always busy with his plans. Hence, there was no time to associate with people so that he could make friends and probably stay with his loved one. His Saturday parties filled with throngs explains his lack of close friends whom he can just spend the evening together (56). Based on this fact, it is agreeable that Gatsby was just a figure whose sense of hopefulness conflicted with his professional and personal life as well. Gatsby social life is yet another factor that makes him a mere figure of hopefulness. The novel discusses a story of people’s lives in the Jazz era particularly conceptualized by the entrance of a new culture, the ecstasy of money and wealth, class as well as the predominant presence of the vast â€Å"wasteland† in between and among these social conditions. Under this spectrum, the novel shows that the social conditions of Gatsby made him a hopeful man since he lived in West Egg, which is a representation of a place whose dwellers appear desolated. According to the social arrangement of the locations in Long Island where the story takes place, the West Egg, where Gatsby lives, represents homage for people with new acquired money (70). In short, it is a place for the rich while the East Egg represents homage for people whose hardworking skills remain disposable to rich people like Gatsby to exploit. Thus, it is conclusive that his social life denied him substantial companionship since there were differences between social classes during those times. Again, Gatsby was a rich man, and as the narrator suggests social class differences created a rift between people during the postwar era, which is when Fitzgerald

Cuban Missile Crisis Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cuban Missile Crisis - Movie Review Example The missile placement was being done as a means of deterring future invasion from enemies like United States. The result of Soviet Union’s decision was what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was influenced by different points of views held by leaders of the three countries involved. In this paper, the perspectives of the three countries are reviewed, as well as the result of the agreement reached between the countries. The review is done exclusively by using BBC’s documentary on the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. From the video, there are strategic and psychological analyses that the EX COMM makes to President JFK that come to represent the larger U.S perspective or view point of the Cuban Missile Crisis. From a strategic analysis point of view, the United States perceived that the Soviet Union had a motive of balancing forces to their favor so that the country would be freer to challenge the interests of the United States. But to make this possible, the Soviet Union had to have a capacitated force behind its remaining 50 ballistic missiles, which could range only to hit European countries. By placing the missiles in Cuba, the Soviet could have a closer range to target and attack the U.S. Indeed another strategic analysis that is perceived from the United States point of view was that the Soviet Union wanted to put the credibility of the United States into doubt by placing missiles at a position that can best be referred to as the backyard of the United States without the United States knowi ng of it. Then from a psychological analysis, there was a U.S held point of view that the Soviet leader Khrushchev perceived JFK as a weak leader from his inability to have firm positions against the Soviet leader in their 1961 summit. But seeing herself as the superpower of world, the US would not allow its voted leader to be taken for a weak leader who could not react to the missile laying in Cuba. The Soviet Union also had a perspective of the Cuban

The Effects of Pain-Relief Methods on Low-Risk Childbearing Women Thesis

The Effects of Pain-Relief Methods on Low-Risk Childbearing Women Delivered by Midwives - Thesis Example It is a well-known framework in the practice of midwifery that normal processes of pregnancy and birth can be facilitated through education, health care, and supportive information. These would involve both the clients and their families and would need physical care, emotional and social support, and involvement of family members taking into account the cultural values and personal preferences regarding health care (Begley, 2002, 310-317). Therefore, not only continuity of competent clinical management and care, but also there are important components of holistic care of the individual and promotion of health education. Since midwifery is all about empowering the women to join in the decision-making process and urging her to speak for herself, the patients' experiences are important in building a theory about a particular health condition. Pregnancy is a natural phenomenon while its management is not. Care of the mothers during the intrapartum period is crucial since this takes care of the mother and the baby at the same time. Immense development in the healthcare front and its related knowledge has changed the scenario in maternity and child health in the developed world (Eberhardie, 1998, 149-152), where evidence-based regulations and guidelines work in the hospital setting as well as in the community to serve the pregnant laboring mothers with the best possible care, even though it is delivered by the midwives. On the contrary, in the undeveloped and underdeveloped world, the picture is different, due to many reasons. The state and government and politics play a large role in policy making, and there is a diminished priority to such issues (Carr, 2003, 393-397). Developing care is a derivative of the education and knowledge of the midwives who offer care, whether it is in the hospital or in the community. If state nursing and midwifery education system is not modernized, there is a high chance that despite a good intent, the care by the midwives would be aff ected, and ultimately, the standard of care and satisfaction with care would be reflected through the perceptions of the patients. Latendresse et al. (2005) speculate that the quality of midwifery care contributes to shorter and easier labor, which may, in turn, reduce the risk of complications (Latendresse et al., 2005, 386-391). This practice could have an advantage not only by reducing maternal mortality and morbidity but also in terms of value for money which is a critical factor for all countries (Bernis et al., 2003, 39-57). Whatever may be the country of the mother, any mother passes through latent, active, and transitional phases of the different stages of labor, and these psychological changes have the great impact on the laboring mother, and these usually intensify as the labor progresses. These comprise a means of evaluation of a woman's progress in labor and how she is coping with the demands being placed upon her by labor and the environment within which she is laboring.

UK FILM INDUSTRY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

UK FILM INDUSTRY - Essay Example The advent of the Internet and related technologies has also brought about a paradigm change in the way enterprises are performing their business operations. The speed, technological superiority and economical operating costs are features that attract more and more businesses to put their money in internet technologies to conduct their business in a far better and cost effective manner. Films are increasingly being distributed through the internet thanks to the increasing speed of the internet and the capacities of the PC that is growing by leaps and bounds. Today, producers are distributing their wares through the internet, which gives them an advantage over costs and logistics. For example, producers can definitely have an advantage of cost when they distribute films through the internet. This also means that they gain a lot through cost savings in the logistics department. Distribution of films through the internet started in 1994 when films were streamed through the internet. However, producers of films had to contend with issues such as privacy and lack of security that often meant that their films could easily be stolen through the internet. However, newer technologies will help them to distribute their films through the internet without the fear of its being stolen. With regard to consumers, distribution of films through the internet has simplified the process of film viewing. Now, consumers can sit at home and watch their favourite movies on demand. This also means that the films that they want to watch are available to them at their convenience. They do not have to depend on physical distribution networks or make time to watch the movie. It is available to them at their beck and call. However, consumers will miss the experience of watching a movie in the theatre when they resort to the internet to watch the movie. None the less, newer technologies that will beam films direct to the theatres are expected to mix the pleasures of film watching

In Cold Blood Essay Example for Free

In Cold Blood Essay Few authors have the skill to express their view of a setting without straightforwardly telling the audience. In this small passage from In Cold Blood, Truman Capote very eloquently does just that, describing the look and feel of Holcomb, Kansas through words. With Capote’s use of many elements like figurative language, imagery, and detain, he reveals his original but mysterious views on the scenery of Holcomb. All while describing this content town, Capote builds up for a drastic change to end the excerpt. Starting strong from the first line of the excerpt, Capote puts in uninteresting details about Holcomb, and saying that other Kansans call Holcomb â€Å"out there†. This brings attention to how isolated and far away from exciting city life this small town really is. Not only does Capote bring in the details of within the town, he describes the location of Holcomb, to give the readers a larger picture. Capote points out that the town is closed in on all side with fields of wheat, a river, and prairies. The inner town is shown as remote, boring, and with a sense of calmness. Images such as â€Å"unnamed, unshaded, unpaved† and â€Å"peeling sulphur-colored paint† show how Capote views Holcomb. He describes a remote and boring place to be. It is clear that Capote see the town as average and lacking in liveliness and excitement. Alongside the details of the landscape, Capote uses a great deal of imagery to describe the town’s small impurities and quirks, as well as they lifestyle and personalities of the people that live there. Concentrating on much of Holcomb’s looks, he describes â€Å"peeling sulphur-colored paint† and ramshackle mansion†, as well as â€Å"flaking gold on a dirty window†. This strong imagery portrays the town’s deteriorating liveliness. The author then shows the residents of the town with â€Å"The local accent is barbed with a prairie twang† and a â€Å"ranch-hand nasalness†. Capote shows his thoughts of the bland town through visual imagery. Through all Capote’s imagery and description, he portrays his true feelings  of how average and dull the town of Holcomb, Kansas is. However, all this simplicity is just used to strongly contrast the ending paragraph, which ends in a mysterious turnaround of having Holcomb become noticed for a certain significant event.

Online examination system Essay Example for Free

Online examination system Essay The cellular concept, cellular frequency planning, link control, handoffs, power control, traffic capacity, propagation modelling, digital transmission techniques, fading mitigation, multiple access techniques, wireless networking, examples of current and future wireless standards. Introduction and overview (1 Lecture) Introduction to Cryptography: (2 lectures) Terminology steganography, substitution and transformation ciphers, XOR,  one-time pads, Protocol Building Blocks: (3 Lectures) Communications using symmetric cryptography, one-way hash functions, communications using public-key cryptography, digital signatures,  Basic Protocols: (2 lectures) Key exchange, authentication, secret splitting, secret sharing, cryptographic protection of databases, Intermediate  Protocols: (2 lectures) Time stamping services, subliminal channel, undeniable digital signatures, Key Length: (2 lecture) Symmetric key length, public-key key length, comparing symmetric and public-key key length, Key Management: (3 Lectures) Generating keys, transferring keys, verifying keys, using keys, updating keys, storing keys, compromised keys, lifetime of keys, destroying keys, public key management,  Algorithm Types and Modes: (10 Lecture) Electronic codebook mode, block replay, cipher block chaining mode, stream ciphers, cipher-feedback mode, output feedback mode, choosing a cipher mode, block ciphers vs. stream ciphers, Choosing an Algorithm, Choosing an algorithm, public-key vs. symmetric cryptography, encrypting communication channels, encrypting data for storage, Security Models, Windows, Linux, Web, Cookies, Biometrics (gummy fingers), Tempest, Viruses, Firewalls, System/Comprehensive Security Analysis Text Book/s Stallings, W and Brown, L., Computer Security: principles and practice, 2nd edition, 2011 Reference Material William Stallings, Cryptography and Network Security, 4th Edition, 2005, ISBN-13: 978-0131873162 Kaufman, Perlman, Speciner, Network Security: Private Communication in a Public World, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN-13: 978-0130460196 Other books will be used in the course if necessary. Department Of Computer Science Information Technology, HIC Jauharabad Campus Instructional Aids/Resources Assessment Criteria Class Assessment 35% Quizzes and Test 15 Assignment and Presentations 10 Attendance and Class Participations 5 Assignments + Quizzes Mid 25% If Required: Final 40% If Required: Total 100%

Mental Capacity and Informed Consent to Receive Treatment

Mental Capacity and Informed Consent to Receive Treatment Legal, Ethical and Professional issues surrounding mental capacity and informed consent to receive treatment Throughout this essay, we will be reviewing and discussing the legal, ethical and professional issues associated with two key aspects of paramedic practice, these are mental capacity and the ability to provide informed consent to treatment and intervention. As the title suggests, the essay will be broken down into three separate sections which will individually relate to the topics in hand. The legal section will focus on how legislation affects the two stated aspects. The professional aspect will cover how mental capacity and informed consent can create professional issues for the paramedic, whilst the final part of the essay will focus on relating the four principles of ethics to the topics which are discussed in this essay. The regulator for Paramedics, the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) sets out standards of conduct, performance and ethics which states that you must make sure that you have consent from service users or other appropriate authority before you provide care, treatment or other services (HCPC, 2016). There are four principles of ethics will be related to throughout the essay and explanations for these principles are found in appendix A of the essay (UKCEN, 2011). Legally, it is always necessary to seek informed consent before beginning treatment and intervention, except in certain circumstances which will be detailed later in this essay. The department of healths guidance on consent states that consent is a general, legal and ethical principle which must be obtained before starting treatment or physical investigation (Dept. of Health, 2009). If a clinician were to being treatment/care without the informed consent of the patient, the patient may be able to present a case of battery against the clinician. Most cases where the clinician has failed in the process of gaining consent have been due to not thoroughly explaining risks; this can lead to medical negligence as the recipient of care would not be expecting the associated risks. (Laurie et al, 2016). In legislation in the United Kingdom, there is a standardised examination called the Bolam Test which needs to have its criteria fulfilled in order to prove that medical negligence has taken pl ace. The Bolam test involves a group of peers from the same profession as the clinical reviewing the procedure which the patient may see as being negligent (The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2016). In terms of the paramedic profession, the regulator will provide peers in order to conduct the Bolam test (HCPC, 2016). In some situations, it is very difficult to gain consent before beginning patient treatment, this can be for various reasons such as the patient being unconscious. In this situation, Paramedics/Healthcare providers are able to use the doctrine of necessity which allows them to provide initial life-saving interventions in order to save life/limb when the individual receiving the care is unable to provide informed consent (Hartman K, et al, 1999). The Mental Capacity act 1983 provides the main legal basis for providing guidance and regulation on whether an individual over the age of eighteen would be seen to have or lack mental capacity, it defines a person who lacks capacity as a person who at the time of assessment is unable to make a decision for himself in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain. (Mental Capacity Act, 2005). The Mental Capacity act was created to safeguard and give power to individuals which may lack the capacity to make informed decisions about care and treatments (Brown M, 2014). The legislation in place provides clear guidance on how to safely identify when an individual lacks capacity and the rights of the individual which lacks capacity. Paramedics use a standardised approach when assessing whether an individual lacks mental capacity, this is known as the two-stage test of capacity (Dept. of Constitutional Affairs, 2007). The first stage of the test involves investigating whether there is cause to believe that there is an impairment in the function of the individuals cognitive functioning. There are many different reasons why there may be a disruption in the functioning of the mind, which can include but is not limited to: Dementia, Head injury, Stroke, Intoxication and learning difficulties (Dept. of Constitutional Affairs, 2007) . Stage two of the mental capacity assessment requires the clinician to evaluate whether the disturbance outlined from stage one causes the individual to be unable to make a specific decision with regards to their treatment, this is assessed by providing the individual with information regarding their condition and then asking them to repeat it at a later time so that the clinician is confident the patient is able to retain the information (Dept. of Constitutional Affairs, 2007). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 contains five principles which underpin the act and must always be applied i n the process of evaluating whether an individual may lack capacity, the five principles are explained in more detail in appendix B. Ethically, when a patient is deemed to not lack capacity, they are then in a position where they may be able to provide informed consent to treatment. For the patient to have informed consent they must have received or have the four components needed to make informed consent. The patient must have the capacity to make the decision. The Paramedic must fully explain the treatment, the side effects of the treatment, the risks of having the treatment and the risks of not having the treatment whilst also explaining the probability of said risks occurring. The patient must fully understand the information that has been given to them by the Paramedic and the patient must then voluntarily give consent to treatment without coercion from a third party such as a relative, friend, or the health care provider (David, 2010). In healthcare, the idea of consent may be sometimes misunderstood as doing what the doctor says which, in modern days, is not the case. There has been debate as to whether con sent was sought in the past, due to the fact the patient placed trust in the physicians beneficence (aim to reduce harm to the patient) and non-maleficence (doing no harm to patients intentionally) and therefore trusted in what the clinician was doing (Habiba, 2000). Beneficence and non-maleficence are two of the four ethical principles. The assessment of whether someone lacks mental capacity is vital in the Paramedics ability to use alternative pathways and referral systems. As Paramedics are highly skilled, autonomous practitioners and work in a variety of out-of-hospital areas, such as public places, patients own homes, and residential care settings, it sometimes proves more relevant to discharge patients from care on scene (Ball, 2005). To do this safely, in a way which will cause no further harm for the patient, the patient must have mental capacity to make their own decisions regarding their care and treatment. The key definition of mental capacity comes from the Mental Capacity Act (2005) which states that capacity is the ability of an individual to make their own decisions regarding specific elements of their life (Mental Capacity Act, 2005). Patients are only able to give informed consent to treatment/intervention if they have mental capacity and therefore it is imperative that Paramedics can effectively ass ess whether a patient lacks capacity. In assessing whether an individual lacks mental capacity, the paramedic is showing respect for the patients autonomy which is one of the four ethical principles. In terms of professional issues, the ability to provide informed consent can seriously affect the way in which Paramedics treat and advise patient. An example of this comes from a 2009 case in which an individual drank anti-freeze and then presented the ambulance crew with a letter, clearly stating that she did not consent to lifesaving intervention but did consent to analgesics in order to comfort her. Through the letter (which can be read and has been annotated in appendix C), the individual displayed she had full mental capacity to make her own decision and also accepted the responsibility for the outcomes of not receiving care (Armstrong W, 2009). In the context of a time critical situation where a decision would need to be made with regards to giving lifesaving saving intervention and withholding it, it can be sometimes difficult for the Paramedic to gather sufficient evidence that the patient (who may lack mental capacity) has created a living will, or that there is an advanced decision to refuse treatment (ADRT) put in place which clearly outlines the patients wishes (what they do and do not consent to) when it comes to end of life care. In the absence of this (or absence of any evidence of this) ambulance staff may be forced to act in the patients best interests. In the context of ambulance staff, the best interests of the patients may be difficult to decide as very little background may be available to the attending paramedic, however if the health care professional is unaware of any ADRT and has taken all reasonable steps in the time available to discover whether an ADRT is in place in the time frame available to them, the clinician making the decision will be protected from liability (Dept. of Constitutional Affairs, 2007). The HCPC states in their standards of conduct, performance and ethics that competent individuals have the right to refuse treatment and that this right must be respected (HCPC, 2016). Whether an individual is deemed to lack or have capacity can sometimes present similar professional issues to informed consent in terms of paramedic practice. For the individual who lacks capacity, it can be a very stressful time as they may be confused, disorientated or feel as though they have little control over what is happening to them. The Mental Capacity Act states that nobody has the right to deprive someone of their liberty except in situations where they lack capacity and it is necessary to give life-sustaining treatment or to prevent a serious deterioration in their condition. In this situation, any restraint used must be proportionate to the risks to the person from inaction (Mental Capacity Act, 2005). There are no additional rights or authority for paramedics to act in this situation, but if there was cause to believe that there was serious risk to an individuals life and that they lacked capacity, it would be within the Paramedics rights to act in such a way to protect the individual from further harming themselves or provide life sustaining treatment in the event of lack of capacity. Furthermore, the standards of conduct, performance and ethics provided by the health care professions council states that registrants must take all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm to service users (HCPC, 2016), therefore if a registrant were to stand aside and allow an individual who lacked capacity to cause harm to themselves or to further deteriorate, they may be at risk of committing an act of omission or even committing wilful neglect which can constitute a criminal offence. In conclusion, the professional issues surrounding informed consent and mental capacity are applied in every single incident a paramedic may attend and are closely linked. A failure to recognise a lack in mental capacity or gain informed consent may cause detrimental legal and professional repercussions for both the clinician and service user. Although Paramedics are able to seek further advice from sources such as the local police force, senior members of ambulance staff, and general practitioners in order to safeguard their practice, a good working knowledge of the policies and procedures surrounding the issues mentioned in this essay will provide a good basis for gaining informed consent, the assessment of mental capacity and management of service users who lack capacity in the pre-hospital urgent care environment. Reference List Armstrong W, (2009) Kerrie Wooltorton Inquest Held 28 September 2009 Notes of Extracts From Summing Up By Coroner William Armstrong HM Coroner Norfolk District (page 1) Ball L . (2005). Setting the scene for the paramedic in primary care: a review of the literature. Emergency Medicine Journal. 22 (12), p896-900. Brown M. (2014). Should we change the Mental Health Act 1983 for emergency services?. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 3 (3), P114-115. Department for Constitutional Affairs. (2007). Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497253/Mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice.pdf. Last accessed 11th Mar 2017. Department of Health (2009). Reference guide to consent for examination or treatment. London: Her Majestys Stationary Office. Habiba, M. (2000). Examining consent within the patient-doctor relationship. Journal of Medical Ethics. 26 (5), p183-187. Hartman K, Liang b. (1999). Exceptions to Informed Consent. Hospital Physician. 6 (3), p53 59. Health and Care Professions Council. (2016). Standards of conduct, performance and ethics. Available: http://www.hcpc-uk.org/assets/documents/10004EDFStandardsofconduct,performanceandethics.pdf. Last accessed 1st Mar 2017. Health Care Professions Council. (2016). What happens if a concern is raised about me?. Available: http://www.hpc-uk.org/assets/documents/100008E2HPC_What_happens_if.pdf. Last accessed 8th Mar 2017. Laurie GT, Harmon HE and Porter G (2016). Mason and McCall Smiths Law and Medical Ethics (10th Edition). Oxford University Press. Oxford. Mental Capacity Act (2005) . Available: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/section/2. Last accessed 11th Mar 2017. Sibson, L. (2010). Informed consent. Journal Of Paramedic Practice. 2 (5), p189. The Royal College of Surgeons of England. (2016). Consent: Supported Decision-Making. London: Professional and Clinical Standards. UKCEN. (2011). Ethical Frameworks. Available: http://www.ukcen.net/ethical_issues/ethical_frameworks/the_four_principles_of_biomedical_ethics. Last accessed 13th Mar 2016. Appendix A The four principles of medical ethics Respect for autonomy This principle involves respecting the decision-making capabilities of the service users and providing reasonable assistance in order to make informed choices regarding their care. Beneficence This principle considers the weighing up of the associated risks and costs of treatments against the benefits and likely outcomes. Paramedics should always aim to act in a way which benefits the patient Non-maleficence This principle surrounds the need for paramedics and other health care professionals to avoid causing harm to the individual. Although all treatments involve some level of harm, this should not be disproportionate to the benefits which are as a result of intervention. Justice This principle is about distributing treatments available to each individual fairly and not favouring one service user over the other by means of extra treatments/intervention. UKCEN, 2011 Appendix B The Five Key Principles of the Mental Capacity Act Presumption of capacity This principles states that an individual adult should always be presumed to have full mental capacity until they are proven otherwise. A presumption of capacity should not be made as a result of an individual having a certain medical condition or disability. Individuals being supported to make their own decisions This principle states that individuals should be supported in every possible way to make their own decision before they are deemed to lack capacity. It also means that if it is deemed the individual does lack capacity that they should still be involved in the decision-making process. Unwise decisions This principle states that the individual has the right to make unwise decisions and that the assumption the person lacks capacity should not be made based on a decision. This is due to a difference in cultural values, beliefs and preferences. Best interests This principle states that an individual who lacks capacity is entitled to the decisions which are made on their behalf are done solely in their best interests Less restrictive option This principle states that the individual who makes decisions on behalf of the incapacitated person must make decisions which will have the least effect on the individuals rights and freedoms. Mental Capacity Act, 2005 Appendix C Kerrie Wooltorton Advanced Decisions Letter Armstrong W, (2009)Â  

Nursing Care as Applied to a Client with a Mental Health Problem Essay

An extended essay demonstrating the candidate’s ability to evaluate how the application of theoretical knowledge gained during the course influences and effects the provision of quality nursing care as applied to a client with a mental health problem. The aim of this assignment is to explore the application of theory to practice with regards to a client with a mental health problem. In order to effectively care for clients, nurses need to regularly evaluate their knowledge and assess this knowledge increases the quality of mental health nursing care. The client chosen for this assignment was a female, 39 year-old suffering with agoraphobia. She was a single Asian origin, but living in a council flat in London with her father and sisters. The duration of the clients' illness was approximately nine years, since about 1987. For the purpose of the reader, this essay will be written in the first person, as it will make the assignment more coherent. I worked with the client in the community for the duration of my placement. Therefore, for two months I had regular contact with the client everyday. The client needed nursing intervention because she needed help in coping with her agoraphobia. Due to this phobia she was reliably housebound and could not successfully carry out her activities of daily living. Her father did the shopping and housework. In addition to this the client's functioning was impaired due to other physical problems. She suffered from epilepsy and she had a tumour growing in the left hemisphere, which affected her right-sided mobility. â€Å"A phobia is a fear of a specific of a specific object or scenario† ... ...each session. I then used his list as a reference when the client began to ramble. If supervision had not been used we could have become stressed through interpretation and lack of reflection. Supervision is important because it enhances nurses' education, orientation, support and facilities and nurses to think about how to use of self. (Hinchcliffe 1994). Therefore, the nurses are constantly learning and gaining insight, which impresses clients'. Quality of cares and protects nurses. So we can see from this essay that all the care subjects we have gained knowledge of in the course can greatly improve the clients' care it and our ability to care for them. We are constantly learning in practice and need to use knowledge, but supervision, reflection and other disciplines to improve our standard of care. Nursing Care as Applied to a Client with a Mental Health Problem Essay An extended essay demonstrating the candidate’s ability to evaluate how the application of theoretical knowledge gained during the course influences and effects the provision of quality nursing care as applied to a client with a mental health problem. The aim of this assignment is to explore the application of theory to practice with regards to a client with a mental health problem. In order to effectively care for clients, nurses need to regularly evaluate their knowledge and assess this knowledge increases the quality of mental health nursing care. The client chosen for this assignment was a female, 39 year-old suffering with agoraphobia. She was a single Asian origin, but living in a council flat in London with her father and sisters. The duration of the clients' illness was approximately nine years, since about 1987. For the purpose of the reader, this essay will be written in the first person, as it will make the assignment more coherent. I worked with the client in the community for the duration of my placement. Therefore, for two months I had regular contact with the client everyday. The client needed nursing intervention because she needed help in coping with her agoraphobia. Due to this phobia she was reliably housebound and could not successfully carry out her activities of daily living. Her father did the shopping and housework. In addition to this the client's functioning was impaired due to other physical problems. She suffered from epilepsy and she had a tumour growing in the left hemisphere, which affected her right-sided mobility. â€Å"A phobia is a fear of a specific of a specific object or scenario† ... ...each session. I then used his list as a reference when the client began to ramble. If supervision had not been used we could have become stressed through interpretation and lack of reflection. Supervision is important because it enhances nurses' education, orientation, support and facilities and nurses to think about how to use of self. (Hinchcliffe 1994). Therefore, the nurses are constantly learning and gaining insight, which impresses clients'. Quality of cares and protects nurses. So we can see from this essay that all the care subjects we have gained knowledge of in the course can greatly improve the clients' care it and our ability to care for them. We are constantly learning in practice and need to use knowledge, but supervision, reflection and other disciplines to improve our standard of care.

Self-Concept Essay -- Self Concept

The Self-Concept is a complicated process of gaining self-awareness. It consists of mental images an individual has of oneself: physical appearance, health, accomplishments, skills, social talents, roles, intellectual traits, and emotional states and more –all make up our self-concept.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development process begins at about six or seven months of age. The child begins to recognize â€Å"self† as distinct from surroundings. They stare at anything they see, including their own body parts; hands, feet, toes, and fingers. As they grow, their sense of identity expands through interactions with others –creating self-esteem levels that become the â€Å"booster† for the ability to interact. There are two theories that describe how interactions shape our self-views. One defines perceptions of the judgments of others called Reflected Appraisal. It is the notion of receiving supportive and nonsupportive messages. It states that positive appreciation and a high level of self-value is gain when supportive messages are received. In contrast, receiving nonsupportive messages leads to feeling less valuable, lovable, and capable. Everyone that you and I interact with influences these self-evaluations. Either from your past or from present –all shapes how you view yourself, especially from our significant others. The strength of messages from significant others become stronger and eventually affect the health, when they are nonsupportive; depression, for instance, leads to less physical activities that are necessary for a healthy body. However, the foremost important influences are our parents. Supportive parents raise children with healthy self-concepts. While nonsupporti ve parents raise an unhappy child who view his/her self in negative ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The other theory defines evaluation of ourselves in terms of how we compare with others, called Social Comparison. There are two types, superior or inferior comparison and same as or different from others. We compare by attractiveness, success or failures, intelligence, and it all depends on whom we are comparing ourselves with. For instance, an individual might feel inferior when compared with an inappropriate reference group. Therefore, he or she might feel inferior because she feels less of everything from the reference. Similarly, the opposite occurs when compared with an appropriate reference group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition, we a... ... behavior. This means that self-awareness must also come into play. I will have to be concerned about the way I present my ideas, as well as my behavior; otherwise, it will be perceived negatively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So far, my self-concept has changed positively and in time, it will improve (optimists). The only difficulty that I have been facing is the ability to defend myself against negative comments from others. Because of my thinking process speed, it takes time for me to acquire comments and how to say them immediately. In addition, I found that it is not necessary to give a response back to negative comments in order to defend yourself, except in courtrooms. Nonverbal expressions are also as powerful. For example, ignoring critical comments create a serious climate between you and the speaker –sending a message that the comment was unnecessary and offensive. But in some cases, verbal messages are necessary, such as that in debates over issues. In conclusion, I would have to say that what has been written are only a scratch on a big surface of interpersonal communication skills that I have learned from this class. This concept just happened to be the most important for improvement.

Social Issues in Colonial Africa

The title of a book may give the reader an idea of the story or it may make more sense after reading the book. The title Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad prepares the reader for something unpleasant.The title Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe also gives the reader a hint of bad things to come. After reading both it is clear to the reader the titles refer to the terrible social issues caused by the appearance of European colonizers in Africa.The â€Å"darkness† is not just the absence of light typical in an African jungle. It is the mental and emotional dark side of the colonizers, and the dark result of their intrusion on African societies. There are many â€Å"things† that â€Å"fall apart† in Africa when the Europeans arrive. There is an immediate breakdown in communication between the two cultures. Then the domination and brutality of the Europeans causes the African society to â€Å"fall apart†.Both books show the terrible result to the Africans at the hands of the Europeans. Both authors are very effective in bringing the reader â€Å"into† the story. However, each author uses different methods and styles to illustrate the social attitudes, issues and impact arising from colonization.Joseph Conrad uses a narrator, Charlie Marlow, to tell the story of Heart of Darkness. Marlow is a sailor who tells his shipmates the story of how he had worked for a European trading company in Africa.He was employed to take a boat up-river from a company headquarters to bring back Mr. Kurtz, their best ivory trader. Marlow soon witnesses the European attitude and treatment of the Africans. He describes the horrible scene of the Europeans’ slave laborers: â€Å"They were dying slowly—it was very clear.They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now—nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom† (Conrad 64). One of the men who worked at the station was a clerk who tells Marlow â€Å"When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages—hate them to the death† (Conrad 66).Marlow learns that the behavior of the Europeans at their headquarters is just the beginning. Although Kurtz is the company’s best ivory trader, he is described as much more to Marlow: â€Å"He is a prodigy†¦an emissary of pity, of science, and progress, and devil knows what else† (Conrad 75). Marlow can begin to see the dark side of the company as the clerk relates Marlow is â€Å"of the new gang—the gang of virtue.The same people who sent him specially also recommended you† (Conrad 75). Marlow discovers a report Kurtz had written for the company describing his experience in the jungle with the Africans. Marlow states that in light of all that happened, and would happen, the beginning of the document â€Å"strikes me now as ominous.He began with the argument that we whites, from t he point of development we had arrived at†¦ ‘approach them with the might of a deity’† (Conrad 111).  It is obvious that Kurtz realized that with all of the â€Å"modern† European goods and weapons he would appear to the Africans as some sort of superior being. What would be even more ominous was Kurtz’ â€Å"note at the foot of the last page†: ‘Exterminate all the brutes!’† (Conrad 111).

European colonization Essay

Religion was a key factor for the European colonization but these events were all started by the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation triggered the events leading to the persecution of many people in many European countries. The Protestant Reformation was caused by Martin Luther and he opposed the church and made his own Lutheran Church. People all over Europe were inspired to make their own churches and religious beliefs which made religious persecution occur in many of the countries because they tried to suppress the rebellion of the Protestants. Religion had a profound effect on colonization because the Protestant Reformation caused great turmoil which lead to the persecution and conversion of the New World. Certain groups of religions were persecuted for the way they believed such as the Puritans and Huguenots after the Protestant Reformation. The Puritans arose after King Henry split from the Catholic Church because he could not get a divorce from his wife so he made the Anglican Church which led to the creation of these Puritans. The Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church of all the Catholic beliefs which caused much of England furious with these people and lead to the persecution of these people. The Pilgrims were a group of Puritans who were known as Separatists who wanted to break away from the Anglican Church and found the colony of Plymouth. Another group of Puritans followed John Winthrop who was convinced there was no future in England for Puritans made a joint-stock company called the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded the colony of Massachusetts with several towns and a capital named Boston. This lead to even more colonization as conditions worsened in England which made thousands flock to the colonies which is known as the â€Å"Great Migration†. Even in these colonies which were found to stop persecution and have religious tolerance there was still persecution and this led to the creation of more colonies and so forth many people were banished from Massachusetts and made colonies of their own due to this religious persecution. The Huguenots were French Protestants which led to colonization of the New World by the French because in that time France was mainly a Catholic country and under King Louis XIV one million people settled South Carolina, while other found sanctuary in Rhode Island, New York, and Virginia. The religious freedom of some of the colonies brought many other people from different countries which increased colonization as well such as the Scots-Irish, Germans, and etc. Religious persecution brought people from all the European empires to the New World. The Spanish and French wanted to convert these â€Å"Indians† in to Catholicism so they could be favored by God as a holy country and were inspired to spread. This was also one of the main reasons the Spanish Monarchs wanted to colonize the New World. There were missions built all over New Spain so they could convert these Natives which indirectly made the Spanish colonies spread throughout much of what is now Latin America and the South-west region of the U. S. There was also a road that linked these missions together is what is now modern day California known as El Camino Real or the Royal Highway which spread the Spanish Colonies. There were also Jesuit priests who went to some of the farthest reaches or most hostile parts of New Spain to convert these Natives which spread these colonies further as the Jesuits built more and more missions in various places that were not yet colonized. These Jesuits also worked with the French to convert these Native Americans to Christianity in the New France region. They were known as â€Å"black robes† by the Natives and the Jesuits tried to live with the Natives and convert them to the Catholic Faith. They also built missions in the New France region making New France larger as they converted more Natives. This increase in land allowed the people to spread and populate more land so more settler arrived. The Spanish and French kingdoms were driven to convert these Native Americans and this allowed them to spread in more and more land available so more people came and colonized New Spain and New France. This urge to colonize and convert was caused the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation made the events and steps which caused the church to be severed and caused conflict and persecution all over the European empires. People were inspired by Martin Luther bravery and made their own churches to defy the Catholic Church as it got weaker. This created the urge for most of the empires to convert the natives and spread. Religion had a profound effect on colonization because the Protestant Reformation caused great turmoil which lead to the persecution and conversion of the New World.

Argument Summary

Taking a Blue Book Exam is a Social Practice According to Literacy Practices by David Barton and Mary Hamilton, literacy is a social practice. To explain this, Barton and Hamilton point out literacy Is how people discuss and interpret written text. Literacy practices are described to us by Barton and Hamilton as â€Å"in the simplest sense literacy practices are what people do with literacy† (8). Literacy practices eventually lead to literacy events which are defined as observable episodes which arise from practices and are shaped by them.The notion of events stresses the situated nature of literacy and that it always exists in a social context† (8). Text Is crucial In molding our Institutions Into what they are and literacy is deeply rooted in our everyday lives in unexpected ways. In their essay, Barton and Hamilton present to us six propositions to further prove the nature of literacy as a social practice. Next, I will share a literacy event that adheres to two of tho se propositions. My first semester of college had started and I was feeling confident and determined to do well.Although I was fresh out of high school. I didn't doubt my abilities. In all honesty, I underestimated the difficulty of college due to the college courses and advanced placement courses I'd taken throughout my high school career. It was a simple and short-lived time. Then, I was Introduced with a bluebook test. You see, multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, and true or false worked just fine for me. But when my history professor told us to buy a bluebook, I had no Idea what to expect. When I went hunting for this said bluebook, most people didn't even now what it was!I went to Walter, office supply stores, book stores, and no one knew what I was talking about Finally. I found one In the campus store and when I opened it, blank pages stared back at me. Even though we went over what was to be expected on the test in class, I was still concerned. How am I supposed to succeed at something so foreign to me? Well. I spent a lot of my time just studying the best I could. And then I had an idea. I took my extra bluebook (which I'd bought for my second exam in the course) and I took a list of topics and began writing.The best way to see how to fill these pages with information is to do so without material in front of me as if I were taking the exam in my own home. Secondly, I went through my notes and asked myself the series of who, what. Where, when and why for each event. After discovering some new study tactics, I realized that not much had actually changed. The only deference between this dreaded bluebook test and a high school test Is that I have to communicate to my professor that know the material without a written medium such as a structured question.Instead, I simply had to write down everything I know about the topic and hopefully point out the aspects and details There are two of the six propositions from Barton and Hamiltonians Literacy P ractices that apply to this literacy event. The first is, â€Å"literacy practices are purposeful and embedded in broader social goals and cultural practices† (8). My goal is, of course, to get the best grade possible on this test. However, there is a broader goal that applies here as well. I want to do well in college and gain knowledge that could potentially be useful to me later in life.The second proposition from Barton and Hamilton that applies to my literacy event is, â€Å"literacy practices change and new ones are acquired through process of informal learning and sense making† (8). By leaving high school and entering college, I am acquiring a new literacy. At first, I was mistaken by thinking college would be the same level of difficulty as high school and I later realized I needed to change and adapt in order to be successful in my new environment. A bluebook test is not the only aspect of college that was new to me. In fact, there are continuously new things for me to learn here.Like the bus system, the campus alert system, being aware of traffic so I can predict my commute time, balancing a school schedule I'm not used to with my work schedule, trying to make friends with classmates, and even simply discovering the direction I really want to go in my life. Barton and Hamilton were right; I had acquired new literates and I had broader goals beyond that bluebook test. There are literacy practices, literacy events and those propositions prove true to me. Literacy is a social practice and I understand that now, thank you to Barton and Hamilton.

Response to Ex Post Facto Ethics

The document, â€Å"Ex Post Facto Ethics† by Stanley Schmidt reveals many important points to our society. He stresses the fact that historians today are Judging and frowning upon what important historical figures thought and acted upon in their time. Although his article was very specific in examples his generalization of society being a uniform mass is his own hypocritical example of â€Å"Ex Post Facto Ethics†. It also proved to be hypocritical in its argument about passing Judgment much after the matter has passed.Schmidt stresses the fact that people in our present day society are constantly condemning upon our ancestors for violation of â€Å"ex post facto moral laws† when, in reality, the general accepted standards and values are changing even at this moment. Therefore, we do not understand how these people of history thought, felt, and/or believed what was right or wrong. In other words, we are unaware of the great impact that the social context of their period had on basic morality. It is easy to make Judgment of other peoples' actions in spite of our own levels of what is right and what is wrong in our eyes.To most of us now, the perception and understanding of basic moral principles differ drastically from the perception and understanding of basic moral principles of the ancient believers, historical figures, or the primary establisher of our country. For example, the article explains how students and teachers rail â€Å"against George Washington and Thomas Jefferson because they kept slaves†. The establisher of our country had come from Europe, where it was taken for granted to have slaves; it caused no harm or foul to anyone but the slaves themselves. The slaves were only considered property). But that is where the controversy begins: today, slavery is immoral, cruel, and unacceptable. The article states that, â€Å"We can Judge the quality and importance of their [people of the past] contributions to understanding the universe only in terms of what they did with the knowledge available to them. † When Schmidt says this, he is referring to what Isaac Newton thought and believed he knew in his time about Physics. Consequently, Schmidt implied that we cannot Judge based on what we now now, but on what they knew then.In AP Euro, there are countless times where one, as a member of our society, learns about events, beliefs, traditions, etc. , that are now considered immoral and unaccepted by society. For instance, in the early ages and throughout the history of Europe, women were considered property. They were traded, sold, raped, and killed without any punishment whatsoever; it was Just the normal way to react towards women. Today, we learn, in history class, of these actions done by historical figures and our first reaction is, â€Å"What were they thinking? R â€Å"How can they do such a thing,† but in all honestly, that is Just the style of life they lived in at the time. Knowing and comprehending these aspects play a key role in understanding the history that have led society to where it is today. For this same reason, the instructor wanted us to read this article. It not only illustrates how the perspective and understanding of basic moral principles evolve over time, but also emphasizes the fact that we cannot Judge the actions of the people of the past based on our own perspective and understanding. We will use this understanding of the past throughout the year in class.

Reality creation and practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Reality creation and practice - Essay Example The social construction framework is useful to human service workers in the fields of family therapy and psychotherapy in that it allows practitioners to investigate and empower client’s creation of meaningful understandings of themselves and the wider world. The framework focuses on the key influences of sociocultural forces and the environmental context of human understanding, learning and accumulation of knowledge. Within family therapy this theory provides the therapist with a powerful ability to draw family members away from blaming each other for their behaviors, and placing these behaviors within a larger sociocultural context. For example, the Western values of independence, competition and profit contributing to the family to place pressure on their son to find gainful employment and to do better in life than what they have. In turn, the son has felt misunderstood, isolated and unable to achieve due to constant â€Å"failures† and has chosen to drop out of soci ety. Now living in a shelter, the son is attempting to find work, but constantly faces rejection, which is further inhibiting his self-esteem. His parents feel they are unable to help him, feel guilty for his poor upbringing and don’t have anyone to talk to. The framework is useful for the family therapist in this instance in that the family can be encouraged to exhibit agency within the therapeutic process, such as role playing each other as well as perceived ideals, and with their increased agency and autonomy be less dependant on the therapist to provide meaning for their experiences. The psychotherapist as well benefits from the use of the social construction framework in that theories such as Bandura’s self-efficacy model complement the concept of reality being constructed through human activity. Using social modeling of Bandura allows the personal counselor to empower their client by

E-Commerce Amazon Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

E-Commerce Amazon Company - Research Paper Example Some of the resources that are available for e-business are technology and Internet. This paper will therefore analyze how Amazon Company has used these resources in order to become one of the leading online companies. It will also analyze the products and services that the company produce or transact in order to earn its revenue. In addition it will analyze how the company reach and maintain a close relationship with its customers. Introduction With increased level of globalization, the world has experienced a great change in advertising and marketing sector. Globalization has enabled multinationals to open different branches in various parts of the world. They have also targeted different markets in the world due to efficient flow of information and opening up of trade boundaries by the countries. As a result e-commerce has become well established in order to fill the gap between the producer and customer. Companies have taken this opportunity and become successful. One of these co mpanies is Amazon Company. Literature review Amazon Company is an American company, which specializes with electronic commerce. It has its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. It was started in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. At first, they started as an online Bookshop but later, they diversified their operations to other items. These included VHS tapes and software, furniture, etc. currently the company has grown to employ approximately 14500 employees worldwide all of those who have specialized in different sectors of online marketing. The company has different websites for different countries such as, United States, Germany, Spain, Japan, etc. In 2011, the company partnered with DC comics. The main aim of the partnership was to get more digital rights to many comics (Amazon, 2012). The company has diversified its operation in order to reduce risks that are associated with online marketing. Some of the functions of Amazon Company include software development, warehousing, and retailing of go ods. Some of retail goods that Amazon deal with include books, music CDs, electronics garden items sporting equipments, jewellery, scientific supplies, etc. in 2007, Amazon went ahead to offer services that dealt with both perishable and non perishable foods. Customers needed to order and the products will be delivered in their homes either in the morning or at any specified time. In addition, Amazon provides a service referred to as Amazon prime. This is a service that involves two-day shipping on all purchases that are eligible, for a constant fee as well as shipping rates that are discounted. It also provides its customers with instant videos i.e. steaming movies and even TV shows at no extra cost. The company also develops and sell its software to different customers who are widespread in different parts of the world. It also acts as a distributer of different products by different companies at a low cost. This is made possible by different links that the company have overseas ( Amazon, 2012). Information technology and management had played a great role in helping Amazon Company to succeed. One of the greatest technologies that keep the company running is Linux-based. This technology enables Amazon Company to handle millions of back-end operations each day and about one million queries from third party sellers. In addition, the company uses information technology to record data on consumer behaviour which enable them to analyze and

Art Blog Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Art Blog - Assignment Example The psychology of the postmodern world is the continual state of change as we live in its idealist manufactured dream, built by developers† (Cullen). The poster in the exhibit reflected this statement through a number of fascinating ways. The first way in which it reflected this statement was through its graphically perfected nature, the art of the poster defined by edges that were uneven, but perfect, text that was bold, but rendered through the use of a typographically rendered font. This work was developed through the use of technology that separated the user from the medium, a brush or a knife not the connection between the artist and the medium, but the printing tools performing as the artist commanded to render what the tools were already capable of performing. The work feels manufactured, which is directly juxtaposed with the theme which expresses the freedom of the surfer. The surfer represents the extension of youth, the ‘Endless’ not only about time in a year, but about time in a life. Looking at the poster is reminiscent of the dream of the wave as it endlessly crashes against the sand, the heat of the sun as it beats out the color of the day until the ocean is a part of every moment of a day that will never end. The feel of heat, the grit of the sand, and the idea of following the waves is expressed through color and silhouette within the graphically rendered poster. Not only is the theme expressed, but the post-modern world in which technology and youth crashes into nature and defies it, is expressed. The work is an expression of a new world as it was emerging in the most socially volatile time in American history. The film that the poster was made to express was released in 1966 in the middle of a revolution that changed culture towards a more youth oriented aesthetic, even as it changed race relations, gender relations, and the relationship that the American people had with their government. Chasing the elusive dream, the next wave and a summer that never ended was emblematic of the new American dreams of freedom. Seeing this poster in the midst of the exhibit created a feeling of hope in which that dream of freedom could be discovered. See Pacific Standard Time at the LACMA which opened on October 1, 2011. (The images for the blog are easy to find, but I don’t know what parameters your professor gave you for copyrights, so I cannot help you with this. Since you didn’t submit the information until yesterday, my time to try and comply with this has been limited) Cullen Lauren. Interview with John Van Hammersveld on Pacific Standard Time. Examiner.com 30 September 2011. Web. 2 November 2011. Blog 2 Big Black Sun: The Loss of the Master Narrative within a Collective of Artists Minds The Geffen Contemporary at the MOCA is hosting an exhibition entitled â€Å"Under the Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981†. Paul Schimmel in his article on the exhibition website page quotes critic Arthur C. Danto as he discussed the idea of pluralism as â€Å"the implication that there was no longer any historical direction. That meant there was no longer a vector to art history and no longer a basis in truth for the effort to spot the historically next thing† (Schimmel). In looking at the works within the exhibit, the division of artistic direction is clearly evident and the works speak and reveal a wide variety of ideas from which

Environmental scan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Environmental scan - Essay Example However, the management should be aware of some of the shortcomings of semantic technique: it is limited in its data content, it can not be used for navigating the website and it is complicated for beginners. Currently, many people make use of search engines to retrieve and search for data on the internet. There are over fifty search engines that are available to the user worldwide. Some of the search engines are regional while others are universal. For example, Google, Yahoo Search and MSN are some of the global search engines. These search engines came to the market at the start of the last decade of the twentieth century. Following are some of the search engines that are currently in use: It is an immense search engine (Takakuwa, 2004: 23). It is claimed to be one of the biggest search engines that is currently available to web browsers. Levene (2006: 123) is of the view that Google uses the PageRank system to display the information that the user is searching for. This type of page ranking is named after one of the pioneers, Larry Page. This technology gives the user the pages that closely resemble what he is looking for (Takakuwa, 2004: 100). The page with the highest similarity is ranked at the top. This search engine is effective as far as giving the user a multitude of hits that closely resemble what he is searching for. It can be used to search for books, blogs, images, patents amongst others (Takakuwa, 2004: 100). It also links the user to other sites that are relevant. Though not as big as Google, it has an excess of twenty billion â€Å"web objects† (Thurow, 2007: 23). It gives the user shortcuts to the relevant site that he is looking for (Thurow, 2007: 23). The results are ranked using the Automatic AND technique. Apart from the two above, there are many other services such as Exalead, MSN and a host of others. The current search engines have some efficacies based on their size of database, search

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Business Law - Essay Example This method of justice strives to create an alternative forum away from the Courts which is more relaxed in nature, which allows for a more chilled out atmosphere and where the procedural importance given to the cases is reduced in order to allow the human touch a greater importance. Following is the definition of Alternate Dispute Resolution: â€Å"Procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by arbitration, mediation, or minitrials. Such procedures, which are usually less costly and more expeditious than litigation, are increasingly being used in commercial and labor disputes, Divorce actions, in resolving motor vehicle and Medical Malpractice tort claims, and in other disputes that would likely otherwise involve court litigation.†1 Reading and understanding from the above definition, it can be interpreted that ADR is an alternate mechanism for justice which is less costly and more expeditious. Alternate Dispute Resolution consists of Arbitration, M ediation and Conciliation. Arbitration is a process by which the parties to the dispute appoint an independent Arbitrator who judges the case for the respective parties. This independent arbitrator is appointed on the behest of both the parties. Once the arbitrator is decided, the venue for the arbitration depends upon the parties to the matter. ... These systems envisage a concept where the parties mediate and conciliate with the other parties on their own without the admission of an arbitrator. The process of Mediation and Conciliation is considered to be more in the zone of a personal conversation rather than a legal case going on.2 The idea of ADR has always been to allow a more open and calm approach towards justice delivery system. And it has ben quite successful in the Europe and UK with a streamlined method of arbitration, medication and conciliation process in practice. The ADR Group is a world-renowned commercial arbitration organization, which indulges in systematic approach towards the problem solving of arbitration. ADR, thus, improves the judicial system in the following ways: 1. Less Burden on the courts 2. Less expensive than litigation 3. Less time consuming than litigation 4. Less stressful than litigation 5. More freedom to the parties to represent their case 6. Greater opportunity for the party to be heard 7. More chances of better justice delivery since every argument is taken into proper consideration Tribunals The UK Tribunal system is extremely diligent in nature. The UK Tribunal system is part of the administrative justice system, which is the place for justice delivery. It is known as Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The Tribunals take the parallel role of dealing with issues ranging to different areas of law, such as Competition Law, Environmental Law, Taxation Law etc. The Tribunals are quasi judicial bodies which are responsible for granting justice as a means away from the basic court justice delivery system. â€Å"The tribunals are managed by the Tribunals Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Recently, the tribunals have been re-organized, so that

Guanxi and Ethical Judgement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Guanxi and Ethical Judgement - Research Paper Example Problem Statement: The study focused on the determination of the impact of the use guanxi concept in the Chinese organizational managements and the effects on the ethical standards and judgement of the organization. Approach: The research has been a secondary source based research and obtained its materials and understanding from the earlier researches conducted on the concerned topic. Results: It has been obtained from the study that the concept of guanxi has an extreme significance in the management of organizations, particularly with respect to the Chinese organizations. Conclusion: Although there are certain negative aspects of following the concept of guanxi, yet from the study it has been concluded that the concept is an essential factor for the Chinese organizations that have records of success stories from using the guanxi concept and maintaining enhanced interpersonal relationships. Discussion: The study reflected that if the misuse of the concept can be controlled, then the concept would prove to be an efficient and successful one not only for the Chinese organizations but for every other organization. If the world of business is considered, it can be realized that different decisions are taken within the managements that involve the relations that are prevailing among the organizational members. By Guanxi, it is referred to a unique form of relationship that involves reliance, favour, dependence and adjustment between the individuals thus enabling efficient decision making processes that are based on internal relationships. Theorists have speculated and mentioned that this could be used as an instrument for marketing as well since it is involves decisions related to the performance of marketing and the business as a whole. However, there are other theorists who focused on different views and reflected that guanxi if followed at a personal level might lead to unethical behaviour (Chan, Cheng & Szeto, 2002, p.327). Guanxi believed to be capable of leading organizational members to unethical practices; there are severe concerns for the ethical considerations for the business practice s in the Western countries. However, when China is considered for research, it has been observed that the Chinese organizations consider guanxi as an ethical practice (Chan, Cheng & Szeto, 2002, pp.327-328). Guanxi in China is recognized as a major activity in its world of business as well as the society. Guanxi had been realized and introduced in the management policies of Chinese organizations intending to cope with the ever-changing business environment. Although the concept of guanxi has not been clear with respect to China, yet, the process is considered as a realistic way of bringing accord between the different organizational members (Wong, Wong & Wong, 2010, pp.2142-2143). The current research focuses on the practice of guanxi and its relation to ethical judgement in the context of Chinese management behaviour. Literature Review and Propositions Development: Several studies have been conducted on the business ethics practice in Chinese organizations and the use of guanxi in the management policies among the Chinese organizational members. Other researchers who had conducted studies on the business ethics in China focused on how the practice of ethics developed in the country. Earlier the concept of ethics did not have any practical implication. However, their studies imply that ethical practice has now developed to a great extent and it is a part of the organizational management in the Chinese business world. Al-Khatib, Vollmers and Liu however mentioned that there has been a huge decline in the moral standards of the

Media Censorship in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Media Censorship in Australia - Essay Example According to Internet World Statistics (2007), the Internet is today found to be used widely in Asia by 460 million users, in Europe by 338 million users and in North America by 235 million users. About 90% of Internet users are young people in many nations, including Asia, North America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand. Today, school kids around the world are the busiest users of the Internet. (Anheier 2008:633). is now widely used by the government and business for their Internet on-line e-commerce and e-government transactions , there has been significant developments in Internet law-making and policy , there has been basic transformations to Internet governance , the consolidation of the internet for the popular culture and entertainment , the embedding of Internet with the contemporary identity , the changes in the media like on-line news , Internet’s impact in relationships , love , communication and desire. (Goggin 2002: 2). The 15th century media was the printing press, the 19th century had brought broadsheets, and 20th century brought radio, TV and the Internet. A new media may come into existence in the 21st century with all its permutations and parameters. Today, from neighbourhood to large companies are enjoying the ease and the speed of the Internet to create support for their objectives. Due to the Internet age, now companies are able to evaluate their public relations strategies in real dollar terms like revenue and sales. Today’s media is comprised of lap tops. ... siness for their Internet on-line e-commerce and e-government transactions , there has been significant developments in Internet law-making and policy , there has been basic transformations to Internet governance , the consolidation of the internet for the popular culture and entertainment , the embedding of Internet with the contemporary identity , the changes in the media like on-line news , Internet’s impact in relationships , love , communication and desire. (Goggin 2002: 2). Why Internet is a new media environment? The 15th century media was the printing press, the 19th century had brought broadsheets, and 20th century brought radio, TV and the Internet. A new media may come into existence in the 21st century with all its permutations and parameters. Today, from neighbourhood to large companies are enjoying the ease and the speed of the Internet to create support for their objectives. Due to the Internet age, now companies are able to evaluate their public relations strat egies in real dollar terms like revenue and sales. Today’s media is comprised of lap tops, cell phones with Internet accessing facilities, televisions, and digital camera. (Duhe 2007:2). The notion of mediated communication evaluates the public relation demeanours that happen through some varieties of mass media technologies like the Internet or televisions. J.E Grunig (2001) placed interpersonal and mediated communications are the two ends of the analogues’ aspect. Sha (1996) was of the view that dividing the mediated with that of interpersonal dimension was more proper. (Duhe 2007:9). Internet is regarded in the creation of contemporary Australian identities, and the dawning acknowledgement that Australia is one of the many nation benefited from the Internet as what Marcia Langton is of

EARLY CHILDHOOD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EARLY CHILDHOOD - Essay Example He walked around the table and chair sets which were there for the kids to use. Joey held my hand and showed me the maps, colorful carpets, tiny sofas, bright pictures, funny toys like baby dolls, and a baby calendar hanging on the kitchen wall. I saw him setting tables and chairs, serving his friends lunch using toy food, and playing chef, which showed that he was a social child. Yet I observed that he most often played quietly by himself. Perhaps the reason for this was that his peers found it hard to understand him because he was slow in speech and could not deliver proper sentences. I asked him his name but he kept on offering me toy food. His sense of creativity was astonishing. When he finished serving the food, he picked up the toy broom and started cleaning the kitchen floor to clear up the mess. An interesting thing I noted about him was that he got bored easily and kept switching from one activity to another. I concluded that he was not consistent, tried to be social but ea sily got frustrated when he would discover that others found it hard to understand what he was saying, yet he liked to explore things and occupied himself with activities that interested him. Jean Paige’s early childhood is the second of the four stages of cognitive development. The children between two and six use preoperational intelligence, language and imagination, but fail to use logical operations.

Cultural competency Essay Example for Free

Cultural competency Essay Cultural competency is an important strategy of eliminating racial disparities and improving quality in health, human and social services. The goal of cultural competency in these services is to create a health, human and social service system and practitioners who are capable of delivering the highest-quality care to all clients regardless of their cultural background, ethnicity, and race and language proficiency. If the professionals are not culturally competent they will not be in a position to handle social problems (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 71). Professionals offering these services do require an interpreter in certain situations such as; when the provider is not thoroughly effective and fluent in the target language should always use an interpreter. In situations when a client is not mentally fit a provider may need an interpreter. In cases in which language and literacy rate of the patient and practitioner vary due to different cultural groups, an interpreter will be required. Incase the client is a child who is under five years or more or an elderly person an interpreter is required. If the client is unconscious the provider can request for an interpreter (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 89). To minimize these problems, a professional should use an interpreter of the same sex as the client to avoid client from feeling insecure. Family members should be avoided as interpreters. Professional should learn basic words and sentences to minimize use to interpreter since they don’t deliver effective works due to biasness. They should address patients directly without any direct commentary to or through interpreter. Incase the professional suspects any problems and gets a negative response, then s/he should know that the interpreter knows what he wants. Interpreter should not be confused through backing up rephrasing or hesitating. Finally providers should attain training to be culturally competent to avoid cases of having an interpreter so as to offer effective service to clients (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 210). Using of an interpreter is not a good idea because the service given to the client will not be sufficient since an interpreter may be bias. Incase the interpreter is of different sex, s/he no knowledge on the service provided to clients of other sex leading to poor or wrong service being given to the client. There is no guarantee that practitioner’s conversion will be correctly interpreted to the patients and patient’s comments may not be conveyed accurately (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 211). List of References Lecca, P. J. , et. al. (1998), Cultural Competency in Health, Social and Human Services: Directions for the Twenty-first Century. NY: Garland Publisher

Reflective Practice in Social Work

Reflective Practice in Social Work Reflection is central to good social work practice, but only if enhanced action result from that reflection (Williams, 2006: xi) The underlying principles for this assignment are to critically evaluate my professional development in a practice placement setting and record reflections for future learning. Within this essay, I will include my reflections on the social work process of assessment, planning, intervention and review, and will critically analyse what I feel was successful and unsuccessful in each process, with efforts to identify what could be changed to enhance future practice. I will also include my knowledge, skills and values incorporated into my practice with two service users and my group work, while explaining my efforts to promote anti-oppressive practice. Throughout my assignment I will endeavour to portray my learning journey from the beginning to the end of my placement and conclude with future learning needs, to enhance my practice as a social worker. Introduction: The practice placement I acquired was a Court Childrens Officer (CCO), based at the Belfast Family Proceedings Court. It forms part of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. My role as a CCO, formerly known as a Child Welfare Officer, was to use my training and experience to ascertain the wishes and feelings of children and their families in private law matters. The role falls within family and child care services and determines that the childs interests remain paramount in court proceedings. As a CCO my role was to deal with cases where assistance was needed to help parties focus on the needs of their children, as opposed to continuing the incriminations as to who was responsible for the breakdown of their relationship. As a CCO I was then asked to present the information to court in oral or written report format. The CCO is used if other efforts to get the parties to reach a decision in the interests of their children have failed. This is to prevent the court process itself cont ributing to a lengthy breach in contact before it reaches a decision. As a CCO I was also responsible to act as liaison officer between the court and HSS Trusts, or other agencies (e.g. NSPCC etc) in respect of the courts decisions. Although employed by the Trust, I was responsible to the court. Before commencement of this placement I had limited understanding of the court process, and the legislation involved in private law cases. I was excited about the prospect of the experience I would gain having undertaken law and court modules, and attended court for certain flexible learning days, but I was also anxious about identifying the social work role within such a specific placement. I feel nervous and uncomfortable. Im finding the role intimidating being surrounded by legal professionals and legislation (being just a student). Im worried about having to provide oral and written evidence to the court, and perhaps having to disagree with the legal representatives views in court. I feel deskilled and anxious (PPDW: 21/01/10). After this initial anxious stage I began researching private law and knowledge, and used my practice teacher and on site supervisor to ask questions. Having completed a practice placement last year I already knew of the benefits of using reflection as a crucial aspect of my practice and learning. Thompson (2005) explains that it is important that practitioners use not only established theories, but use their own knowledge and experience to meet the needs of service users. He claims that reflective practice should help us to acknowledge the important links between theory and practice and to appreciate the dangers of treating the two elements as if they were separate domains (Thompson, 2005: 147). I was anxious to identify the social work process within my placement, as it was not evident on commencement. I was already familiar with the process of assessing, planning, intervention and review having had a previous placement with adults with learning disabilities. Within a court, however, this was very different, as a direction of the court determined my involvement with service users. Schà ¶n (1987) identifies that more than a process is needed with service users practitioners need to incorporate experience, skills and intuition for outcomes to be successful. The knowledge and skills that I identified, within my Individual learning plan, were skills in working with children, assertiveness skills, report writing and presenting skills, organisational skills, and group facilitation skills. I also wanted to enhance my value base as my previous placement helped me challenge issues around learning disabilities and the current placement is a very different setting. I wanted to devel op my values around childrens feelings about parental separation, and also working in partnership with children to ascertain their wishes and feelings about contact issues. I have outlined below the three cases I intend to use that will help identify my professional development within my placement setting. I will use these to provide an analysis of how my knowledge, skills and values have been developed through the social work process. Family C: Polish origin Child C (Age 7) currently resides with her father. The parental relationship lasted for seven years. Mother (Ms C) moved out of the family home to gain alternative accommodation when the relationship broke down. Ms C and the childs contact have been very sporadic since. Contact has not taken place since December 2009. Mr C is concerned with Ms Cs new accommodation being unsuitable for the childs safety staying overnight claiming alcohol misuse and the child coming home smelling of smoke. Ms C requires an interpreter and is seeking a Contact Order. As directed by the court I carried out an assessment of Ms Cs home, and also used mediation and counselling when meeting with the parties to focus on the childs best interests. The childs wishes and feelings were also ascertained. Family E: Child E (14) currently resides with his father (Mr E). Mother (Ms E) is seeking a Residence Order. Father currently resides with the child in a family hostel provided by the Belfast Housing Executive, which Ms E is concerned about. Court direction stipulated me to ascertain the childs wishes and feelings about residence with his father and contact with his mother. In addition to this I used mediation as an intervention to try to help the parties reach agreement about the child. I concluded my work with the family using a Person Centred Review with Child E to determine if the plans implemented earlier in my practice were working, and what he would like to change when his case was due for review in court. Group Work: My group work consisted of working with teenage girls at a high school in North Belfast; they were aged 14/15. I worked alongside the Health for Youth through Peer Education (HYPE) team who regularly visit schools to promote sexual health awareness. I co-facilitated this group and worked to educate the group about sexual health and relationships. This was to promote the need for the provision of accurate information to prevent teenage pregnancies and STIs, which have been highlighted as statistically higher in this area of Northern Ireland. Preparation of placement As indicated above, to prepare for this placement, I began by developing my knowledge base around the court setting and private law, so that I could be accountable to the court and the Trust for my actions. Trevithick (2000:162) claims to be accountable denotes professionalism by using knowledge, skills and qualifications, and adhering to values and ethics when serving a client. I began to tune in to the placement setting using knowledge, skills and values, with legislation such as The Children (NI) Order 1995, The Family Law Act (NI) 2001 and The Human Rights Act 1998. I tuned into the court setting and the rights of the service users who used it. Article 3 of the Children (NI) Order 1995 claims that the court should act in the best interests of the child, and I was interested in seeing if this occurred or if parental interests were considered higher. I tuned into the effects that divorce and separation have on children, and focused on gaining knowledge on how to minimize the negative impact this may have on children. The issue of contact in private law proceedings is a complex subject which raises questions of rights, responsibilities and ownership of children (Kroll, 2000: 217). I was initially interested in researching if children knowing both parents were in their best interests, and why. Having had a placement with adults and learning disabilities last year I had reflected on the medical model versus the social model of disability, this placement was very different in that it would be the a legal context versus the social work role. I found this initially difficult as the legal obligations of the court over-shadowed the social work process. Court directions dictated the aspects of work to be done, which I found difficult as service user needs were not necessarily established and met. Assessment: Ms Cs assessment required me to meet with her, discuss issues regarding contact with her child, and investigate her living environment to determine if it was suitable for the child to have contact in. Prior to Ms Cs assessment it was necessary for me to tune in to contact disputes between parents. I recognised that there is significant animosity with both parties, but that having contact with both parents is in the childs best interests to promote for attachment, identity and positive relationships. To initiate Ms Cs assessment I had received court directions, a referral and met with her legal advisor. I was at this time I was informed that Ms C was Polish and required an interpreter. The Human Rights Act 1998 and the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 both stipulate that an interpreter should be provided for health services to promote anti-discriminative practice and equal opportunities. I was then required to make a referral to the Trust interpreting service, and they informed me that they would make initial contact with Ms C. I found this unnerving, as the interpreter would be making first contact with the service user, and I would have liked the opportunity to explain my role. Having carried out previous assessments, I knew that communication was essential for the assessment and central to the process of gathering information and empowering service users (Watson and West, 2006), therefore to not be able to make initial contact with a service user I found to be restrictive and stressful. On initial contact with Ms C (and the interpreter) communication was difficult to establish. I found that by communicating through an interpreter I was limited in gathering information. I found it difficult to concentrate on Ms C, especially observing body language and tone of voice; instead I focused on the interpreter and actively listening to her. Ms C came across as frustrated and disengaged, showing signs of closed body language. I felt empathetic to Ms C because of the court process she was involved in, and the fact that she had to go to court to gain contact with her child. I felt the initial meeting with Ms C was not as successful as I had hoped, I was not able to discuss the issues affecting her, and unable to establish an effective working relationship due to the barrier on an interpreter. I left the meeting feeling deskilled and questioning my practice. On reflection, I should have provided more time to Ms C due to the language obstacle and gathered more information on her issues. I should have focused on Ms C and not the interpreter, and used the interpreter more effectively to establish a relationship. For future learning I will endeavour to use these reflections. The next part of Ms Cs assessment was her home assessment. I was initially reluctant to carry out a home assessment, as I had no previous experience, and did not know what was classed as an unsafe environment for children. I began tuning in and identified that a home assessment required strong observational skills for child protection concerns. I also discussed the home assessment with my practice teacher and on site supervisor for aspects I should be concerned about within the home. It was indicated that a safe environment for a child did not have to be overly clean, just safe considering where the child sleeps, fire hazards, is there evidence of drug or alcohol use, or smelling of smoke (as Mr C alleges). On entering Ms Cs home, as the interpreter had not arrived yet, I was reluctant to try and converse with Ms C. Ms C spoke limited English, and I did not want to confuse or alarm her by trying to discuss the case issues. However, I did try to use body language and facial expressions to reach for feelings and try to build a rapport by asking general questions about weather and work etc. I feel this helped our relationship, and helped me empathise about how difficult it must be to not be able to communicate effectively. By the time the interpreter had arrived I felt more at ease with Ms C, and addressed her (as opposed to the interpreter) with non-verbal cues such as nodding and body language. I felt more comfortable talking with Ms C, I felt more able to understand her frustrations at the court process, her ex-partner and his allegations. Prior to the assessment of the home I had gained stereotypical perceptions about Ms Cs home. I thought that the house, as it was in a working class area, would be unclean and neglected. However, the assessment of the home, using observational skills, indicated no child protection concerns, a clean environment for a child, and Mr Cs allegations unfounded. On reflection of my perceptions I feel I was oppressive to Ms C having been so judgemental, and I felt guilty about my opinions having been class discriminatory. Throughout the assessment with Ms C I found that by using an interpreter Ms C was able to stay informed and in control over her situation (Watson and West, 2006). I feel that by working with Ms C has helped my challenge my future practice with individuals who are non-English speakers. It will help me consider the needs of the service user, before judging them solely on language or their country of origin to provide equal opportunities. I now feel interpreters are required for a balance of power between the worker and service user, and promote anti-discriminatory practice. Planning: According to Parker and Bradley (2008: 72) Planning as part of the social work process is a method of continually reviewing and assessing the needs of all individual service users. It is based upon the assessment and identifies what needs to be done and what the outcome may be if it is completed. Prior to the beginning of placement I had limited experience of planning, or group work. It was important for me understand the facilitation and communication skills needed for successful group work, and help to develop my understanding of group dynamics, group control, and peer pressure for this age group. The key purpose of planning the group was to enable the young people to develop their knowledge and skills to be able to make informed decisions and choices about personal relationships and sexual health. I began preparing for the planning stage of the social work process by meeting with the HYPE team and researching their work. I was interested in the sexual health training for young people at school, as my own experience at school showed that the information was often limited, and I was interesting in finding out if it had been challenged. I then began by tuning in to how I wanted to proceed through the planning process, and researching the topics of the different sessions as I considered I had limited knowledge on sexual health awareness. As I had to plan every week separately it was important to tune in to each and use knowledge, such as group work skills to inform my practice. During initial sessions I noted how group members were quiet and withdrawn, this was important to note as the subject of sexual relationships may have been embarrassing for them to discuss. I too felt uncomfortable discussing the material, as I had limited understanding of sexual health, but it was important for the group to overcome these anxieties and work through them together. I identified that ice breaking techniques were required to facilitate trust and partnership. As the sessions progressed, one of the main challenges found was that peer influence was a major issue, with some of the participants controlling other quieter members. I felt it was necessary to include all members and encouraged participation using games. However, it was important not to push individuals when they became uncomfortable, as this could cause them to withdraw and disengage, disempowering them. Another challenge was that despite time management of the sessions, inevitably there had to be flexibility. Some of the group monopolised more time than others and it was necessary to be able to alter the plans according to time restraints. I also needed to be aware of my own values when planning sexual health awareness training, as it is still regarded as a controversial issue, especially in Catholic schools with teenagers (www.famyouth.org.uk). I considered sexual health awareness to be a great benefit in schools, but obviously due to religious considerations many Catholic schools continue simply to teach abstinence as the only form of contraception. This was important to consider as the group was facilitated in a Catholic school and many of the members or their teachers could have had religious views and opinions on the sessions, creating tension or animosity. Reflecting on this parental consent had been provided for the group, but the group itself were required to take part during a free period. I consider this to be an ethical dilemma as the childrens views werent regarded as highly as their parents. If undertaking this group in future, I feel it would be necessary to ask the group if they wish to take part, and gi ve the opportunity to withdraw promoting anti-oppressive practice. Intervention: Prior to this practice placement I had limited experience using intervention methods. My previous placement focused on task centred work with service users, but in the court childrens service this could not be facilitated due to the time restrictions of the court. I had also previously used Rogerian person centred counselling which I found I could use some of the theory and apply it to this setting. After gathering a range of information from the court referral, C1 and other professionals, I began to tune in to Es case. I had been directed by the court to ascertain his wishes and feelings in regards to residence and contact arrangements, and mediate between his parents to find agreement about the childs residence. As Child E is fourteen, I felt it was necessary to research levels of development for this age group and understand, according to psychologists, what level Child E would be at emotionally, physically and psychologically. I found that Child E should be at a level of becoming more independent, having his own values, and being able to make informed choices. One of the most important issues, through mediation, was challenging my own values and becoming aware of my own stereotypical views on adults who have separated, and the effects on their children. I had to challenge the idea that Child E just wanted to reside with his father as he was the less disciplined parent, or that Child E would most likely be playing his parents off against each other to get his own way. However, by challenging these views, and working with the parties through mediation, I came to realise that E had strong views about living with his father and had a stronger attachment to him. By reflecting on my values I realised that it was oppressive to consider the child as manipulating and could have affected my work with him. I found that having to be a neutral third party in mediation was difficult, I found myself having a role as a witness, a referee and a peacekeeper trying to find common ground. Despite this I feel a third side was necessary to help the parties work through issues. I found the most difficult aspect of this role to be impartiality as I found myself empathizing more with the mother (as the child refused to live with her). However, I also understood the childs reasons behind his decision. During mediation, and in court, I also challenged my judgements on gender and the notion that the mother is the nurturer or primary care giver in the home (Posada and Jacobs, 2001). The child clearly stated that he wanted to reside with his father, and when using questioning skills to probe about this, he claimed he had a stronger bond with his father, and that his mother was continually ridiculing him. I found myself having to alter my views about attachment and mother being the primary care giver and focus on what the child wants. As the intervention progressed I used family mediation session to work through issues. I found that effective communication was principal in ascertaining Child Es wishes and feelings, and helping the parties consider his views, as opposed to their own relationship incriminations. This not only empowered E by promoting partnership, but also gave him the knowledge that the court would be considering the information he provided. Within the meeting I felt I could have paced the meeting better and made better use of silences with E, as I dominated the conversation. I consider mediation to be successful as it helped the parties focus on the needs of the child, and helped them realise that they had a childs feelings to consider instead of the adversarial relationship built from court. Review: Prior to the review process I had experience of carrying out person centred reviews (PCR) through my previous practice placement. I had previous training on PCRs and found them to be more effective than traditional reviews, due to the service user involvement. A PCR is an example of a person centred approach and the information from a review can be the foundation of a person centred plan (Bailey et al., 2009). Within the family proceedings court the purpose of reviews are to reassess interim plans, and either change them, or confirm they are working for the child(ren). In Child Es case a review was necessary to indicate if living with his father was working, and to discuss if he wanted to change anything about his interim plans, which were introduced three months earlier. Within the court childrens team a review is fundamental to consider what is in the childs best interests, assess what is working and what is not working, and how to progress (considering the childs wishes and feelings). Child centred preparatory work with Child E was fundamental to the review success as it established what was important to him (Smull and Sanderson, 2005). Reflecting on my person centred work last year; I recognised that it was important to have preparatory work with Child E as it promoted choice and options to explore. I had also recognised that the information gathered from the preparatory work could be the foundations of the review itself, especially if Child E felt embarrassed or shy speaking out in front of his family on the day of the review (Smull and Sanderson, 2005) I conducted the review with Child E and his parents present, but reflecting on this it could also have been useful including his school teacher or other friends to have a holistic approach. Throughout the review I feel I was able to engage the participants successfully using goals to focus on, and we were able to create a person centred plan for Child E. During the preparation for the review Child E had expressed that he felt he was having too much contact with his mother, and would like to limit this, he also expressed that this was an awkward subject to discuss with his mother present. I identified this in the review as child E did not wish to. I used skills such as facilitation and communication to show that Child E felt strongly about this issue, and both parents claimed they understood his view point. The review was also useful in presenting the information in court, as the child could not be present and I could advocate on his behalf. On reflection of Child Es review I feel it was a successful measure to determine what was working and not working since plans were implemented from the last court date. I had confidence in facilitating the review, but I did feel I perhaps dominated the conversation as both parents were hostile towards each other, and Child E was shy and unassertive about expressing his feelings. During future reviews I will endeavour to promote communication between parties, while empowering of the child. I will use better use of silences and encourage active involvement. Conclusion: No matter how skilled, experienced or effective we are, there are, of course, always lessons to be learned, improvements to be made and benefits to be gained from reflecting on our practice (Thompson, 2005: 146) I feel this PLO has provided me with learning opportunities and identified my learning needs. It has encouraged me to reflect on my knowledge, skills and values and ensured that I used my reflections to learn from my practice. At the beginning of placement I was concerned I would oppress the service users by having limited understanding of the court process, and unable to work effectively as a result. However, through training, help from my practice teacher and knowledge, I soon realised that the placement was about providing support, not being an expert. I feel I was able to establish a balance of the legal requirements of court and social work role, which has contributed to my learning experience and future knowledge. As my placement progressed I used tuning in and evaluations to analyse my practice, and use them to learn from. My placement has enabled me to improve my court report writing skills, presentations skills and legislation knowledge, which I consider to be invaluable for the future. In terms of future professional development, I will endeavour to challenge my stereotypical assumptions about service users, I will seek advice and guidance from more experienced members of staff, and I will use knowledge and theory to inform my practice prior to meeting service users. Future learning requires me to continue to develop skills in working with children, to use silence as a skill, as listen actively to what the service user wants. Having an opportunity to work within the court system has been invaluable, but I would also like the opportunity to have more experience working with children to enhance my knowledge, skills and values further.