Current competitive strategies of Samsung and Apple Essay

            Both Samsung and Apple are the largest manufacturers of smart phones in the world. Combined, the two technology giants’ account for more than half of the Smartphones sold world wide. Traditional cell phones had very limited computing abilities. Many of them were designed to offer basic services like making and receiving calls. As time went by, the need for mobile devices with superior computing abilities increased as technology became a major part of modern life. More importantly, there was demand for mobile phones that could offer the same services as a computer. Although the mobile phone market was traditionally ruled by companies like Nokia and Motorola, Apple took over the market when it launched its iPhone Smartphone in 2007. This product became very popular with customers due to its large touchscreen and multi-touch user interface. Even though the company dominated the Smartphone market for some time, it has come under increasing competition from Samsung through its Samsung galaxy product line (Apple, 2013). Through massive advertising coupled with unique features, the Samsung galaxy has overtaken the iPhone to become the most popular Smartphone brand in the world. This fierce competition between these two technology giants has resulted in endless court battles in the United States and Europe, among other places. This paper will look at the current competitive strategies used by each company and what each of them needs to do to improve their competitive position in the future. More importantly, there was demand for mobile phones that could offer the same services as a computer. Although the mobile phone market was traditionally ruled by companies like Nokia and Motorola, Apple took over the market when it launched its iPhone Smartphone in 2007. This product became very popular with customers due to its large touchscreen and multi-touch user interface. Even though the company dominated the Smartphone market for some time, it has come under increasing competition from Samsung through its Samsung galaxy product line (Apple, 2013). Through massive advertising coupled with unique features, the Samsung galaxy has overtaken the iPhone to become the most popular Smartphone brand in the world. This fierce competition between these two technology giants has resulted in endless court battles in the United States and Europe, among other places. This paper will look at the current competitive strategies used by each company and what each of them needs to do to improve their competitive position in the future. The current competitive strategy of each company            On top of being bitter competitors in the Smartphone market, Apple and Samsung use different competitive strategies. As the pioneer producer of Smartphones, Apple uses the blue ocean strategy. In the early 2000s, the cell phone market was mainly made of phones with basic applications. This meant that companies assessed what their competitors were doing and strived to improve on it so that they could gain a competitive strategy. Such a strategy was not good for business because it meant trading off cost and value (Mourdoukoutas, 2012). However, Apple decided to create a new demand in a market that no any other company ventured into. This was done through the use of the blue ocean strategy. As noted above, there was no any other company that was producing Smartphones at that time Apple was in total control of the Smartphone market. Within a short time, Apple became one of the most profitable companies in the United States and the world at large (Gustin, 2012). However, Steve Jobs and other senior managers at the company were well aware of the fact that the company was under threat of new entrant due to its profitability. This strategy made the company immune from the porter’s five forces. The main competitive strategy of Apple Inc is developing new and innovative products that blend technology and art.            Unlike Apple Inc, Samsung uses the red ocean strategy. In this type of strategy, a company gains competitive advantage by venturing into an existing market and building on the weaknesses of its competitors. As noted above, Apple was the pioneer company in the manufacture of Smartphones. Through its flagship iPhone product line, Apple rose to become the largest cell phone company in the world. Unlike Apple, the main competitive strategy of Samsung is flooding the market with many products that are developed within a short time. This is very different with Apple which takes a lot of time before it launches a new product into the market. This strategy has been made possible by the fact that Samsung develops many of the components that are used in making its Smartphones. This gives it a huge cost advantage over Apple which relies on external suppliers. However, the red ocean is disadvantageous because it makes a company vulnerable to the porter’s five forces. What each company is doing to improve its current competitive position               There are a number of steps that both Samsung and Apple are taking to improve their current competitive strategies. As noted earlier, Apple Inc dominated the Smartphone market for many years before it was eventually overtaken by Samsung. The loss of market share to Samsung has forced the leaders at the company to come up with ways of improving its competitive strategy. The first step that Apple is taking to improve its current competitive position is focusing more on improving the existing products compared to coming up with new ones (Gustin, 2012). In the past, Apple invested huge sums of money in research aimed at coming up with new and unique products. Moreover, it would take a lot of years before the company released any new products into the market. However, the company pays more attention to improving its existing products. For example, the iPhone 5 did not have any tangible innovation. Instead, the company improved iPhone 4 by increasing its size among other innovations (Travlos, 2012). In addition, the company is investing in developing its components instead of buying from external suppliers. This will help Apple come up with products with unique features compared to their competitors.                  As noted above, the main competitive strategy of Samsung is building on the weaknesses of its competitors. In this strategy, the company waits for its competitors to come up with a product after which it develops its own with improvements on the one of its competitors. The first step that Samsung is taking to improve its current competitive position is investing more money in research. Compared to Apple Inc, Samsung invests 5.7% of its total revenues in research. This strategy is aimed at ensuring the company comes up with unique products so that it may not be seen as a copycat. The second action that Samsung is taking to improve its competitive advantage is investing heavily in advertising. As noted earlier, the main competitive strategy used by Samsung is flooding the market with different types of products that are targeted at different types of consumers. This is a huge contrast to Apple Inc. which releases few but highly anticipated products. To impr ove its current competitive advantage, Samsung has raised its advertising budget to $401 this year compared to $78 last year. This is $68 more than Apple Inc. Likely moves or strategy shifts that Samsung and Apple Inc will make                In the coming years, both Samsung and Apple Inc. are likely to witness shifts in their competitive strategies. Such changes will mainly be necessitated by heightened competition in the Smartphone market and the dynamic natures of the mobile phone market. As noted earlier, the main competitive strategy of Apple Inc. is developing new and innovative products that blend technology and art (Stein, 2012). The company controls the release of new products into the market unlike its main competitor, Samsung. Although this strategy helped the company rise to dominance of the Smartphone market in the early 2000s, there is need to institute a strategic shift. On top of investing heavily in research and coming up with unique products, Apple is likely to start developing a variety of products to meet the needs of different types of consumers. One of the main weaknesses of the current competitive strategy used by Apple Inc. is that it results in products for the rich in th e society. This makes the company miss on the remaining portion of the cell phone market. Moreover, Apple will also need to invest more in advertising.                  Samsung has overtaken Apple Inc. as the largest Smartphone manufacturer in the world. This growth can be attributed to the company’s competitive strategy of flooding the market with many products that are developed within a short time (Haydn, 2013). Moreover, the products of the company are relatively cheap compared to those of its main competitor, Apple Inc. As pointed out earlier; the other main competitive strategy of Samsung is building on the weaknesses of its competitors. In this strategy, the company waits for its competitors to come up with a product after which it develops its own with improvements on the one of its competitors. However, this strategy may backfire in the future because it will make the company to be seen as a copycat. With this in mind, Samsung is likely to shift its competitive strategy from playing second to its competitors to a dominant force in research as well (Powell, 2001). This means that the company will need to i nvest more in research and come up with products that are revolutionary and game changing. However, measures should be put in place to ensure that products don’t take long before being released into the market. Where each company is most vulnerable                The first major weakness of Samsung as a company is lack of innovation in its products. As noted earlier, Samsung thrives by waiting by for its competitors to come up with a product after which it develops its own with improvements on the one of its competitors. This strategy makes the company vulnerable because in future, people may begin to see it as a copycat. The technology industry is very competitive and customers love companies that develop new technologies compared to those that improve on what is already in the market (Powell, 2001). However, this should not be confused to mean that Samsung does focus on innovation, instead it means that the company is less proactive in coming up with new products. The other vulnerability of Samsung is that serves a mass market compared to Apple Inc. which caters for a niche market. The need to attract a large market forces it to set low prices for its products compared to Apple Inc. and this pricing strategy makes the company vulnerable. Although low pricing has helped Samsung win over a large share of the market, it makes the company vulnerable to being seen as offering low quality product by some customers. Many customers, especially in the United States and other developed countries, usually perceive low priced products as of low quality. Finally, lack of creativity makes the company vulnerable (Haydn, 2013). Many of Samsung’s Smartphones do not have a user friendly interface compared to those of its competitors. This may make consumers in places like the United States demand for lower prices therefore affecting the profitability of the company.               As noted earlier, Apple Inc, Apple Inc. does not target the mass market but rather a niche market. The majority of the company’s products are mainly meant for the affluent in the society. Based on this, the first weakness of Apple Inc. is lack of product diversification. Apple has only one product line, the iPhone. This makes the company vulnerable to saturating its small market. Moreover, the failure by the company to segment its market also makes it vulnerable. Some of the most successful companies in the world have products for every segment of the market including the wealthy and the poor. What competitive moves will provoke the greatest and most effective retaliation by each company?               As pointed out earlier in the paper, both Samsung and Apple Inc. have unique competitive strategies. The competitive strategy used by a company is important because it determines its position in the market as well as its profitability. The first move by Apple Inc. that would provoke the largest retaliation by Samsung is the production low end products. As noted earlier in the paper, Samsung has mainly survived by producing different products for different sections of the market (Powell, 2001). Based on this, any move by Apple Inc. to come up with products for the low end market would provoke retaliation from Samsung. The second move by Apple Inc. that would provoke retaliation by Samsung is lowering the prices of its products. Apple Inc. is famous for producing innovative products that blend technology and art. These products are sold at a premium price.               On the other hand, any move by Samsung to come up with revolutionary and game changing products is likely to provoke retaliation from Apple (Haydn, 2013). As pointed our earlier, Apple Inc. has been depending on this strategy since the time it was founded. Any move by Samsung to invade this territory would attract a serious technological retaliation from Apple Inc. Moreover, Apple survives by serving a niche market. Based on this, any move by Samsung to do away with its mass market strategy and adopt a niche market strategy is likely to provoke a serious retaliation from Apple Inc.               My recommendation on whether the two companies should continue with their current competitive strategies or should modify them             The current competitive strategies used by both Samsung and Apple Inc. have both advantages and disadvantages. As noted earlier in the paper, Apple Inc. was the largest producer of Smartphones in the world before being overtaken by Samsung. Based on this I would suggest that Apple Inc. modifies its current competitive strategy so that it can retain its rightful place in the Smartphone market. First, Apple Inc. should consider conducting market segmentation to ensure that they serve all segments of the market (Mourdoukoutas, 2012). Currently, the company only serves one section of the market. My second recommendation for Apple Inc. is that it should consider instituting product diversification. At the moment, the company offers the iPhone product line only. Finally, the company should invest in producing its own components so that it can shorten the time it takes to develop new products.               Likewise, Samsung should consider modifying its current competitive strategy. This is despite the fact that it has propelled the company to the position of number one Smartphone manufacturer in the world. To begin with, Samsung needs to modify its current strategy and lay more emphasis on innovation. If nothing is done, the current strategy puts the company at risk of being seen as a copycat by customers. Secondly, Samsung should modify its current competitive strategy and revise its prices upwards because some customers associate low prices with low quality. References Erica Olsen (2012). Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies, 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Gustin, Sam (2012). Why Apple Is Winning: Innovation, Opportunity and Execution.  TIME.com. TIME, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. . Haydn, Shaughnessy (2013). What Makes Samsung Such An Innovative  Company? . Forbes. Retrieved from < http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/03/07/why-is-samsung-such-an-innovative-company/ > .Web Mourdoukoutas, Panos (2012). Can Microsoft Adopt Apple’s Business Model?  Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. . Powell, Thomas C. (2001). Competitive advantage: logical and philosophical considerations. Strategic Management Journal 22 (9): 875–888 Stein, Scott (2012). IPhone 5 Review: Finally, the IPhone We’ve Always Wanted.†Ã‚  CNET. CNET, 4 Oct. 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. . Travlos, Darcy (2012). Apple: Product Commoditization?  Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 15 May 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. . Source document

God Delusion Debate Essay

American education have problem with creation and evolution. In education teach students that his idea led to atheism. Faith is rational based on evidence that call them evidence. The evidence of science in no way whatsoever supports â€Å"the God hypothesis†. Science has explained many important things. How does Lennox respond?: Atheism undermined science and the evidence of science does indeed support belief in God. He gave example of John Maddox’s journal about the Big Bang theory is â€Å"dangerous† , because it would give credence to the creation story of Genesis, also he motioned about â€Å"supernatural Plan†. 2. Lennox says â€Å"Faith is rational and evidence based†. When Dawkins asks for clarification, what analogy does Lennox use? Lennox said faith is evidence based and gave question â€Å"I presume you’ve got faith in your wife is there any evidence for that?† 3. â€Å"God Delusion† thesis: Design is dead because who made the designer? What does Dawkins mean by this?: He agree with cosmologists don’t have an explanation for the origin of the universe and that biologists have no explanation for the origin of life. â€Å"Biological evolution† make simpler to understand. Also he said who created God? How does Lennox respond?: Lennox responded that question asked about who crated God? Christian did not believe created God. God is eternal and un created but universe created by Him. Lennox said Dawkins argument which is God delusion is wrong and created God is definition of delusion. 4. â€Å"God Delusion† thesis: Christianity is Dangerous What does Dawkins mean by this?: Dawkins argued religion is dangerous because it teaches that faith is a virtue. The Faith is blind, irrational, and unjustified. He said all wars, injustice happening, and unrighteous history issues cause from religion. He did not say all religion and believers are wrong, but some people are harmful. Faith is terrible weapon because it justify the performance terrible acts. After Lennox said then Dawkins said the people weren’t psychopaths, they were well educated, rational people, who thought they were good, the same thing could be said of the Taliban. Once you grant people the premise of their faith, then the terrible things that they do follow. How does Lennox respond?: Lennox said Dawkins only focused on violent situation of religion and targeted Christianity. He asserted unfairly mischaracterized Christianity and classifying it as, in the worst case, an inherently violent religion. Teachings of moderate religion is open invitation of extremism is wrong than what about teaching of moderate atheism. 5. â€Å"God Delusion† thesis: You don’t need God to be moral What does Dawkins mean by this?: He said â€Å"no one needs God in order to be good†. People do not need Bible when they choose or pick, they need something else. Moral had nothing to do read bible. He taught each society and generation the standards of right and wrong. How does Lennox respond?: Atheists have no rational basis to discuss morality at all. We can be good and find moral in society, but cannot find foundation concept being good with God. There is no God means the foundation of moral is removed. 6. â€Å"God Delusion† thesis: Christian claims about Jesus are not true What does Dawkins mean by this?: If the world is hideous world, It gives us something to rise above and we clearly do rise above it. Dawkins sees that the central criterion of Christ’s teachings was out of the main stream of our modern thinking about equal rights for all. How does Lennox respond?: Lennox said Dawkins is totally wrong attitude through Jesus. He focuses on the historical reliability of the New Testament writings and on the meaning of the golden rule: love your neighbor as yourself (in Leviticus) which Jesus understood the term â€Å"neighbor† to refer to non-Jews.

Procedural programming languages and object oriented programming Essay - 1

Procedural programming languages and object oriented programming language - Essay Example Procedural programming languages are those that follow the procedural paradigm for programming as is evident. The procedural approach basically guides to transform processes into procedure. First the processes are identified, and then they are broken down into smaller processes which finally shape into procedures. There are several limitations in the procedural approach like extension and re-usability of code is quite limited because of its nature as compared to the object oriented approach, where objects can be reused, updated and redesigned without having adverse effects on overall system functionality. Furthermore, code management also becomes challenging because of its sequential nature. Several object oriented languages offer program solutions based on the object oriented paradigm like Java, C++, .Net, Ada, SmallTalk etc. One of the most important aspects of OOP languages is dynamic binding or late binding. OOP offers a rather different approach than procedural approach. The process of abstraction is managed by objects. Every process will be broken into inter object interactions. OOP languages supports objects, classes, instances, method, message, inheritance, subtype principle etc (Aaby Pg. 968). Class inheritance allows the member attributes and functions of one class to be used as if they were members of a second class. Inheritance is one of the primary characteristics of OO programing (Lippman, Pg. 391). In OOP methodology a system basically consists on interactions of objects and each object has to perform its own responsibility after that the responsibility is delegated to other objects. This delegation of responsibility is through the messages. In OOP methodology the system analysis and design consists of the following steps: Object definition or classes basically describe the objects. The class or object definition consist of properties/ attributes

Systems And Operations Management At Atokowa Essay

Systems And Operations Management At Atokowa - Essay Example Each organization has certain business objectives which are pursued through the operations of the organization. The success of an organization depends upon the efficiency of its decision making process and the execution of its operations. The systems and operations management in the organization helps the organization in achieving its objectives (Kolli 2000). The information system of the organization helps the organization collect and manage the information that is required for effective decision making and the operations management of the organization helps the organization conduct its operations in an effective and efficient manner (Slack & Johnston 2004). If the operations of an organization are performed effectively and efficiently, the organization would acquire its business objectives more easily. In order to make the operations of an organization efficient, the organization shall give high importance to the operations management (Greasley, 1999). ... There are numerous retail outlets being run by the company. The company also offers a facility to deliver stationery and office supplier directly to the organizations. The company also offers customized printing for organizations. The business of the company was initially established as photocopying business which later extended towards printing. The company prints; brochures, flyers, letterheads, business cards, compliments slips, memo slips, fax headers and NCR pads. The products by Atokowa are marketed to two distinct types of customers; the individual customers and the business customers. The retail outlets by the company offer products to both the individual customers and the businesses at the same time. The businesses make a significant proportion of the overall customer base of the organization. SYSTEMS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AT ATOKOWA From the study done on Atokowa, it can be inferred that the current systems management of the company does not provide sufficient and accur ate information regarding the type of market that generates most revenue. In order to make effective decisions, it is highly important for any organization to have complete and accurate information regarding its operations. The operations being conducted at Atokowa are also very complex. Invoices are generated after a complex formal procedure and the discounts are offered after significantly extensive paper work. In order to make the operations management at Atokowa more effective and efficient, the company may need to modify its existing information system that is called ASIS. The information system is outdated and with the introduction of new technology, the company may need to apply new information system in its organizational structure.

Relevant career Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Relevant career - Essay Example I think the most theory that appeals to me and I found interest in week 2 is utilitarianism, which maximizes the power of happiness. Utilitarianism is theory, which lead to the proper action as maximizing benefit and reducing the negatives. Furthermore, utilitarianism is not limited to the happiness caused by single actions but also contain the happiness of all the people that involved and the future consequences. Also, in week 2 I learnt about Bentham’s utilitarianism which is about the human’s feeling or basic emotions. Humans are more likely looking for happiness rather than suffering from problems. According to Bentham’s utility can be found in every single thing that contribute to the happiness, which is really good. In my opinion utilitarianism has many interesting points that can be used in most of the aspect of life. One of the most common criticism of utilitarian ethics is the perspective that â€Å"the end justify the means†. Since utilitarian theory aims to maximize the benefit of happiness and reducing negatives in its objective, the theory holds that the means or the way to achieve it is justifiable. Other theorist however misused and misunderstood this that an ideal end or objective is enough to justify a less than ideal means. Citing as an example in business, we can take the idea of profit to be able to give more to employees and its shareholders. As a business organization, it is only but natural that a business would like to keep its shareholders happy by giving higher returns and to give bonuses and higher wages to its employees so that they will become happy and be more productive. Taking the theory of utilitarianism to the extreme, it could mean that using any available means to increase profit including illegal means such as manipulating financial manipulating financial stat ements to make the company look profitable and increase its stock valuation in

Financial and Accounting Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial and Accounting Questions - Essay Example include a systematic representation of all the financial transactions carried on by an organization. These financial transactions are first identified, recorded and then communicated to the interested users in the form of financial statements. The users can be either internal managers of the organization or the outsiders like the stakeholders of the company (Kimmel, 2011, p.5-6). Out of many uses of these financial statements to its users, decision making is one of its most crucial aspects. Interpretation and financial analysis of these financial statements facilitates decision making process of a company. Business organizations have to take so many vital decisions on a regular basis. These strategic decisions, whether it is long term or short term, can either make or break a company. A company’s future is dependent the soundness and efficacy of the financial statements. Now in order to facilitate decision making, the financial statements prepared must exhibit relevant informa tion required by the managers to interpret and come to a decision. It includes information regarding relevant costs and revenues associated with it. A few examples of some vital decisions taken by an organization, requiring specific relevant information are as follows: Whether to make or to buy: Whether it is better to make the product within the company or whether it should be bought from outside by sub-contracting it to some other company is more often or not are to be decided upon the internal managers of the company. This often requires a comparative study of the relevant costs that are likely to be incurred in both the alternatives to come to the most cost effective decision. These costs data are provided by financial statements of an organization. Whether to increase output or sales: In order to decide whether to increase output or not, again a comparative study of the additional costs involved and the additional revenue that can be generated is required. This will give the es timate of the profits involved to help taking the decision. Decision to set up a new production line: Feasibility or viability of taking such investment decision requires projected figures of the running costs involved including the investments that would be required as well as the cash flows generated. These are all part of preparing financial statements that reflects these crucial financial elements of a business organization. Decision to put a hold or completely close down a business activity: This again requires information regarding avoidable costs and unavoidable costs involved in order to facilitate the management to take such decision which can only be analyzed through detailed financial statements of an organization (Bendrey, M, Hussey, R. & West, 2003, p.4-8). Thus, financial statements hold the key to various strategic decisions taken by business concerns in order to successfully run the business. b. Fundamental properties of reporting information identified by the IASB F ramework The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Framework, also known as Conceptual Framework provides information and guidelines that are to be maintained while preparing and presenting financial statements. The standards that are set out contains information regarding concepts about objectives of financial stateme

Discussion Question Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion Question - Research Paper Example e community holds a right to assess the relative value of the health care institution in the light of its effect on the general health status within the community along with the contribution of the institute to the compassionate response to trauma, care for chronically ill people as well as disease. Any health care policy that fails to completely satisfy the needs and requirements of a group of people within the community will lead to demands of abolition of the policy by the community itself. Not only this, but the impact of the institute, passing the policy, on the individuals would also depreciate over time. The community prefers institutional arrangements that tend to protect the privacy of the values of the individuals. The Medicare program in Canada is a program that embodies the distinctive Canadian national values. Public opinion regarding this program has played a major role in shaping this health care institution. In this instance it was noticed that the general opinions gr ounded in values are â€Å"stickier† as compared to community opinions about the particular states of

Hppiness and Mental Well-being of Society Essay

Hppiness and Mental Well-being of Society - Essay Example A society is crippled if happiness does not prevail in it. Similarly happiness is directly linked to the mental well being of an individual and together both of these components found an important part of the society. A society which does not have happiness may be known as partial or without an important component. In order to maintain a society one has to ensure that happiness is prevailing amongst individuals. This article would further describe happiness in relation to a society. It would tell how a society can be judged by the happiness or unhappiness which is prevailing in the society (Nettle 2005). Happiness is being governed by different components of life and all these together amalgamate to form a perfect circle of happiness. The feeling of happiness which one individual has depends on his own personal nature and varies according to his needs. Some people get happy when they are having immense power while some get happy when they are living in a society which supports equality. The factors of happiness can vary according to the experience one individual has to go through or it can be hereditary too (Layard). With the increasing time the factors of happiness have changed through out the world. Even if a person is wealthy it is not necessary that he would be happy and would have a good life. If he is wealthy he may have to go through other problems which would destroy the happiness in his society. In the previous years it is seen the living standard in the western countries has increased and so has the level of wealth. Gradually the level of wealth and living standards has be en compared to the level of happiness and research has clearly shown that the level of wealth and living standards does not count to a greater amount of happiness in the world. The amount of wealth does not illustrate an image of the society, however the amount of happiness does. It shows how well a person is leading his life and how the government is working towards the betterment of the society (Gilbertson 1987). In this regard a study conducted by Easterlin gave surprising results. According to his study though wealth did have an impact on a person's happiness but after a certain increase in a person's income it no longer left an impact and hence he suggested through his study that though increasing income did have an effect on happiness but only up to a certain extent. Different researches done by different psychologists and economists tell us about the impact of the factors of happiness affecting society. Different surveys conducted by the organization of World Value Surveys sh ow how different factors affect the societies and the happiness levels in them. The method of the research adopted by the organization is to measure the effects of happiness in accordance to their effect. Every factor is compared to the factor of income and the results are derived respectively. Following is a table which shows how the factors affect happiness in the societies respectively Fall in happiness(index) Income Family income down 33% relative to average 1 Work Unemployed (rather than employed) Job insecure (rather than secure) Unemployment rate up 10 percentage points Inflation rate up 10 percentage points 3 1.5 1.5 0.5 Family Divorced (rather than married) Separated (rather than ma

Compounding Pharmacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Compounding Pharmacy - Essay Example In order to answer this question, it is important first do define compounding pharmacy. Compounding pharmacy, as defined by the NABP, is actually â€Å"†¦the preparation, mixing, assembling, packaging, or Labeling of a Drug or Device (i) as the result of a Practitioner’s Prescription Drug Order or initiative based on the Practitioner/patient/Pharmacist relationship in the course of professional practice, or (ii) for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale or Dispensing.† (Walkup n. p.) In this case, it is important to note that in compounding pharmacy, ensuring quality must always be top priority (Walkup n. p.). Ensuring quality, which includes obtaining Certificates of Good Manufacturing Practices and Certificate of Analysis (in which a third party testing is used to extend BUD beyond USP standards) will ensure that one can do almost anything, even tailor-made for the patient, ensuring trust with consumers an d profitability. Works Cited Walkup, Kenny. An Introduction to Independent Community Pharmacy Ownership. Specialty Medicine Compounding Pharmacy, n. d. PowerPoint file.

Family Violence Essay Example for Free

Family Violence Essay Family violence is not a new phenomenon, as it has essentially existed since the beginning of time. Only in modern times, however have societies begun to recognize violence and family members as a social problem (Barnett, Miller-Perrin Perrin, 2005). For many years, the social problem of family violence had not only been heavily ignored, but for a number of years, had not been fully understood. For example, family violence takes many forms and has a number of different names. Family violence, also known as domestic violence, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation (Barnett et al. , 2005). Moreover, family violence includes but is not limited to physical abuse such as kicking and punching, but also includes sexual and emotional abuse. Emotional abuse includes controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; passive/covert abuse (neglect) and economic deprivation and in many cases is more severe than physical abuse. The changing visibility of family violence is the leading indicator of the necessity of an historical approach to understanding it (Gordon, 2002). Over the past few years, the general public in the US has become familiar with family violence through news coverage of highly publicizes cases, TV programs and movies. At the same time, researchers have made great strides in recognizing the scope of family violence and the context in which it occurs (Barnett et al., 2005). As sociologists know of it today, family violence is politically, historically and socially constructed (Gordon, 2002). In terms of power relations and functionalism, family violence arises out of power struggles in which members of the family are contesting for resources and benefits (Gordon, 2002). Furthermore, these contests arise from both personal aspirations and change social norms and conditions (Gordon, 2002). It is therefore important to know that family violence cannot be understood outside the context of the overall politics of the family. Historical developments that continue to influence family violence include prominent changes in the situation of women and children (Gordon, 2002). It is imperative therefore for a historical analysis of family violence to include a view of the changing power relations among classes, sexes, and generations (Gordon, 2002). Political attitudes have also affected research â€Å"findings† about family violence. Both psychological and sociological interpretations in the debate often ignore the gender politics of family violence issues, and the gender implications of policy recommendations, not only when women or girls were the victims, but also when women were the abusers (Gordon, 2002). Over the past 80 years, four major types of family violence have be studied and examined; child abuse, child neglect, sexual abuse of children and wife beating. In later years, there have been other forms of family violence, which include sibling abuse (which is the most common form of family violence), and elder abuse (Gordon, 2002). Family violence has had many different faces historically, and has been classified in five different stages with different focuses periodically. The first was the 19th century and child saving era, which was from 1876-1910. During this era, there was anti-cruelty to children movement that was influenced by the temperance movement. Emphasis on the cruelty done to kids was placed on the immigrant poor and never the respectable classes (Gordon, 2002). The progressive era was followed by a child saving era which lasted from 1910 -1930 which lead to an emphasis on child neglect. During this era, there was a decrease emphasis on alcohol and identified other forms of stress such as poverty, unemployment and illness (Gordon, 2002). The depressed followed the progressive era where there was an increased defense for the conventional nuclear family. During the World War world war 2 era and the 1950’s child neglect was increasingly seen as emotional neglect and the 1960s and 70s was a period of increased medicalization of family violence which, as sociologists have identified can have extremely negative affects (Gordon, 2002). A lot of attention to family violence began to gain increasing importance during the time of the women’s movement in the 1970s as a concern about wives being beaten by their husbands. Interestingly enough, there was a rise in what some call â€Å"the men’s movement† as response to the problem of domestic violence against men, which is largely omitted in the feminist theory (Barnett et al., 2005). Some flaws in the feminist approach to family violence (as well as others that will be further discussed in the paper), is that it has reduced domestic violence, especially against men as their likelihood of being killed by a female intimate partner has decreased six-fold (Barnett et al. , 2005). OVERVIEW OF SEMINAR READINGS: WEEK 2 Symbolic interactionism is a perspective which seeks to understand how people interact with others (Ingoldsby, Smith Miller, 2004a). The theory claims that people interact with one another by interpreting each others actions (Ingoldsby et al., 2004a). Their response is based on the meanings that they attach to such actions (Ingoldsby et al., 2004a). Thus, human interaction is largely mediated by the use of symbols (Karp Yoels, 1993). Authors Karp Yoels (1993) discuss notions of the generalized other and looking-glass self as examples of symbols with which we interact. In one instance, the self emerges from common expectations that others have about social norms within a particular society (Karp Yoels, 1993). But in another instance, people will self-evaluate themselves against the perceived judgments of others and act accordingly (Karp Yoels, 1993). The emphasis on symbols brings attention to the roles people play. Role-playing is a key mechanism that allows people to see anothe r person’s perspective to understand what an action might mean (Ingoldsby et al., 2004a). In sum, no situation is static but rather contextual (Ingoldsby et al., 2004a). Individuals then through their own behavior and interaction with others, construct their individual social realities (Karp Yoels, 1993; Ingoldsby et al., 2004a). Situating family violence within a framework of symbolic interactionism is important in that it provides a context within which people develop their personal interpretations of events. Therefore to understand family violence requires knowledge of the processes through which such interpretations emerge. Rosen (1996) and Mullaney (2007) illustrate ways in which interpretations of the self are at the core of domestic violence. Their findings are essential for understanding how family violence continues over time. Findings also help to account for the formation and preservation of culture and social roles in society. In one respect, interpretations of the self are mediated through two primary orientations of communication: processes of seduction and processes of entrapment (Rosen, 1996). This first is characterized by forces that tend to draw women into their relationships (romantic fantasies and romantic fusion) and the second by forces that keep them there: survival tactics, cognitive dissonance, roller coaster relationships, traumatic bonding, Romeo and Juliet effects, and peer-family collusion (Rosen, 1996). For example, within the framework of symbolic interactionism, processes of seduction can be loosely defined as a dependent emotional state (Rosen, 1996). Individuals then, connect with partners because they internalize similar understandings of weakness and dependency to communicate feelings of love (Rosen, 1996). The interplay of such communication patterns facilitates an environment of spousal abuse that is likely to continue so long as interaction is repetitive (Rosen, 1996). Processes of entrapment on the other hand, can be argued to demonstrate the externalization of the communication patterns found in processes of seduction. Once meanings of dependency and weakness have been internalized as being both legitimate and appropriate within the context of one’s relationship, these women rationalize such behavior as the norm and thus stay. Survival tactics for example illustrate these efforts, by which women actively engage towards relationship management of an abusive relationship, otherwise internalized as an acceptable social norm. In contrast, Mullaney (2007) identifies low self-esteem as a correlate of men’s violent behavior. Domestic violence then, is a reaction to the attacks or perceived attacks on men’s self-concept (Mullaney, 2007). Mullaney (2007) argues that men will most often justify, yet also minimize, excuse, or blame and offer no apology on account for their violence towards women. These categories serve as scripts through which perceptions of masculinity are restored (Mullaney, 2007). If threatened, masculinity evolves accordingly as men interpret the actions of those around them. For example, women’s irrational spending habits may undermine men’s role as financial provider (Mullaney, 2007). Men would argue that such habits do not align functionally with women’s domestic and social roles (Mullaney, 2007). By doing so, men’s responses are based on the meanings which they attach to such actions and reflect cultural expectations of gender difference. This is problematic because it helps promote and develop stereotypically gendered selves (Mullaney, 2007). Symbolic interactionism then, becomes useful in demonstrating how dominant ideologies of gender are enacted within the interactions of marital relationships, and lend to domestic violence in the process. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Feminist Theory The root of feminist theory begins with the inclusion of gender and power. Feminists argue that the distinctions between males and females are not inherent or functional; rather they are socially constructed to create and maintain male power in society and thus the family (Yllo, 1993). This sense of patriarchy reinforces traditional social roles and the relationship between the division of power and gender. The feminist perspective suggests that men use violence to retain their dominance or sense of control within the institution of the family. Thus, the feminist paradigm believes that domestic violence is utilized as another means of the social control of women, and takes roots at a personal, institutional, symbolic and material level. The application of a feminist lens to Rosen’s (1996) article allows for a very different approach to the processes of abduction and entrapment. The feminist perspective would likely explain that the forces drawing women into abusive relationshi ps were largely due to the social expectations of femininity and masculinity. The concept of romantic fantasies can be explored through gender identities. Here society portrays the male as being a strong, aggressive, independent individual and the female as a weak, docile individual that is largely dependant on their partner. For instance, the fantasy of Cinderella eludes that a man can protect a woman and save her from her problems. Feminists would suggest that women fall victim to these relationships due to the inequalities portrayed by traditional gender norms. Feminist theorists would likely explain the concept of romantic fusion as being due to the extremely controlling nature of husbands within a patriarchal marriage. This type of relationship is defined as Patriarchal Terrorism (Johnson, 1995). Here, the woman in the relationship would be forced to part with her individual characteristics and become completely devoted to her husband (Johnson, 1995). Furthermore, the husband may further restrict the identity of the woman by refusing to allow her to go to work or maintain friends outside of the actual relationship. The feminist lens would offer a slightly different interpretation of the processes that restrict women from escaping abusive relationships. Though women may still use coping mechanisms and adhere to other social forces, outlined by symbolic interactionaists, feminist theory suggests two main reasons why they stay in violent relationships. The first reason women stay in abusive relationships is fro the sake of their children (Emery, 2009). In cases such as these women will stay with the intent of maintaining some stability for their kids by trying keeping the family in tact. The other reasons women may stay are due to the normalization of gender norms in society. Feminist theory sees the root causes of intimate partner violence as a causation of living in a society that excuses aggressive male behaviours (Yllo, 1993). In other words, because these behaviours are so normative, some women may excuse the behavior and treat it as the norm. What is perceived as the norm also varies across culture. Even today, many cultures adhere to traditional hegemonic norms and strongly believe women should be completely subservient to their husbands. In cases such as this, abuse may be next to impossible to escape. The application of the feminist perspective to Mullaney’s (2007) article would allow for a similar analysis of the attitudes of men and their reasons for rationalizing their abusive behaviours. Mullaney (2007) suggests that men will often become violent due to low self-esteem and a perceived attack on their self-concept. The feminist lens would suggest that men become violent due to the inequalities in society that allow men an advantage position and with that gendered norms. Traditional hegemonic masculine norms suggest that men should be leaders that are strong, in control and tough. This is what the men in the study were trying to demonstrate. Whenever, they felt that their sense of masculinity was being challenged they would lash out in an attempt to regain control. The Control Model of Domestic Violence further provides a precise framework in displaying the interconnectedness between violence and other forms of coercive control. Simply put, the feminist theory suggests th at men use violence as a tactic of controlling their abused wives from participating in actions they have not sanctioned. Family Systems Theory The Family Systems theory provides a very unique, holistic perspective on the topic of violence in the family. This perspective describes the family as a unit of interacting personalities. Sociologist Ernest Burgess, best summarized this perspective when he stated that the family is more then just a definition; it is a living, super personality that has its essence in the interaction of its members (Ingoldsby, Smith Miller, 2004b). Each member of the family plays a very important role in the overall functioning of the unit. When applied to the topic of violence in the institution of the family, this paradigm focuses on the family dynamics that contribute to domestic abuse. Subsequently less attention is focused on the individual perpetrating the violence and more attention is paid to the environment surrounding the violence and the role each character in the family plays. The Family Systems perspective offers a diverse interpretation of Rosen’s (1996) article on the processes of abduction and entrapment. Family Systems Theorists differ with respect to how they feel that women are drawn into abusive relationships. This perspective identifies the connection between family goals, rules and control, and how together one can fully understand the development and causation of domestic abuse (Ingoldsby et al., 2004b). For example in the article by Rosen (1996), it can be seen that by using family systems theory and studying familial interactions that certain females may be predisposed to the Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast paradigms. By looking at how their families’ function, one may be able to see the recycling effect due to unresolved or violent backgrounds these victimized individuals may come from. They may fall into a similar pattern from what they know at home, thereby examining the origins of this behavior and viewing the interconnectedness of how one internalizes family rules and ideas of control. Family System’s Theory offers a unique interpretation as to the role women play in becoming stuck in abusive relationships. In the stages preceding marriage, women will often date their partner, while simultaneously leading separate lives which consist of separate relations. As the commitment in a relationship increases, a couple begins to modify their individual social lives. In these types of situations, both men and women will often make more time for one another. This allows for the woman to feel appreciated and loved. As the relationship continues to progress, incidents of sexual jealously among men will often become a major source of conflict. This sense of possessiveness will ultimately cause the female to begin severing ties with male friends, and become increasingly committed to her future husband (Dobash Dobash, 1993). Once married, dramatic changes occur and the extreme constriction of the wives social life takes place. With the introduction of children, comes the solidification of traditional gendered norms. Wives become extremely restricted and are left responsible for domestic work, such as the operation of the home (Dobash Dobash, 1993). This may cause women to become increasingly dependant on their husbands. Subsequently, when sources of conflict occur, such as sexual jealousy, disputes over domestic duties or the expenditure of money, women may feel that they have no mobility and are stick in their current situation. Lastly, Family Systems Theory offers a holistic approach to the factors found in Mullaney’s (2007) article that cause men abuse their partners. Like Feminists, Family Systems theorists also believe that a very important aspect of traditional hegemonic masculinity is the element of control. However, unlike the feminist theory this approach attempts to understand what causes men to lose control. One explanation is that violent men often feel as if they may lose control, if they express their emotions, and thus hold it in. This in turn, causes violent men to generally be less emotionally reactive to stress on a day-to-day basis, then non-violent men (Umberson, Anderson, Williams, Chen, 2003). Though in the short term, repression may be a successful coping strategy for reducing stress and anxiety, it causes the individual increased predicaments in the long run. Repression turns a violent man into a ticking-time bomb, one that is ready to explode in a violent manner. As a result, unlike feminist theories or social interactionism, family systems theory attempts to understand violence in the family by examining every interdependent part of the family. This includes the part both the victims and the offenders play, as well as the role everyday stresses and ones immediate environment have in contributing to family violence. Social Constructionism The methodological approach of Social Constructionism somewhat contrasts the assumptions of other theoretical perspectives that explore the issue of family violence. This paradigm suggests that the emergence of social problems is heavily due to how society, or more specifically institutions within society such as the mainstream media, portrays the issue at hand. Furthermore, social constructionists are often referred to as claims-makers, in that they present a claim that attempts to define the problem at hand. These claims can be heavily influenced by the agenda of the claims-maker, and will clearly identify the roles of the characters within the construct of the event. For instance, social constructionists will identify the perpetrator of the violence as the villain and the abused partner as the victim. The analysis of Rosens article surrounding the processes involved with seduction and entrapment, using a constructionist lens, provides a different interpretation to the ways women b ecome bound to abusive relations. This perspective focuses on the subjective definitions that cause social problems and look to frame the phenomena of family violence as a social problem (Loseke, 2005). For instance, symbolic interactionism maintains that some abused women are bound to relationships by the process of cognitive dissonance. In cases such as this, women create discrepancies between what they believe the violence in the relationship signifies and what is actually happening. Constructionists on the other hand will focus very little time into how women construct the violent situations. Instead this perspective theorizes that these women have fallen victims to the violent, controlling nature of their abusive, villainous male partners (Loseke, 2005). The media or other primary claims-makers would further emphasis on violent verbal claims, visual images and specific behaviours. The reason of this is to evoke the emotions of society in order to persuade society that a troubled condition exists. The application of a constructions lens to Mullaneys article on the reasons and types of rationalizations men provide for spousal abuse would allow theorists a better understanding of the ways victims and villains perceive family violence. The social constructionist lens suggests that men create their own social reality. This reality allows men to rationalize their behaviours. For example, in Mullaney’s (2007) article men would often minimize, justify or even deny abusive behaviours. These men will often excuse their behaviours by blaming social or external factors, such as alcohol abuse and the structural problems associated with poverty. These claims are sometimes able to persuade audiences and have allowed for some villains to be rehabilitated through the medicalization of their deviance. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES Symbolic Interactionism Symbolic Interactionism is a key tool to examine domestic violence and its various intricacies. In essence, SI theory attempts to look at domestic violence from the viewpoint of individuals and their interactions with other people. This theory explains that individuals are engulfed in a symbolized environment, where the meanings for these symbols are altered within the course of interaction with other people (Karp Yoels, 1993). For example, in the article â€Å"The ties that bind women to violent premarital relationships: Processes of seduction and entrapment†, SI is exemplified in the notion of cognitive dissonance. If a man were to slap his wife, while she may see this as an expression or symbol of love, many other people would see this as abuse. Therefore, the difference and meanings of symbols is very fluid, changing and subjective. Furthermore, SI theory is extremely effective in allowing researchers to understand and describe the individuals and their behaviors. It allows an understanding of how conflicts and complex behavioral patterns may arise in relationships, and how the interpretations of symbols may play a role in domestic disputes. This theory is quite effective in predicting future behavior (SI theory is advantageous to use as it grows and adapts to changes within society) and the roles they may play in the relationship either as a perpetrator or a victim, and the context in which these roles are played (Karp Yoels, 1993). Rosen (1996) explains and clumps together several types of entrapment processes, such as placation or isolation, which predicts why and how females are coerced to remain in that sort of relationship. In addition, this theory does lack certain key elements in understanding domestic violence in its entirety. Due to the quite narrow scope of analysis, it is not very useful in understanding more macro levels of interactions such as groups or family systems. Another disadvantage is that it is quite difficult to apply the theory to other cultures, as its findings and hypotheses are based on a singular cultural atmosphere. Since monotony across cultures does not exist, a grand, overarching theory of domestic violence cannot be established, thereby making international or cross-cultural comparisons quite trying. Feminism Domestic violence as viewed through the feminist perspective focuses on the relationship between gender and the division of power in the familial framework (Yllo, 1993). This framework allows domestic abuse to be viewed in a way that is quite distinct from other theories. Feminist theory reveals that the social expectations regarding masculinity and femininity give relationships their shape, which may result in violent and abusive familial relations (Yllo, 1993). Feminist theory allows for the recognition of the effects of patriarchy in an abusive relationship, which is normally neglected in other theories. For instance, the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) looks at the violence in families, however it neglects several other aspects that could contribute to violence. CTS assumes that males and females are both equally violent in domestic relationships however, feminists note that CTS fails to account for the social expectations (Yllo, 1993). The social expectations of the division of power between a male and female within a relationship can give rise to the abuse and therefore, it cannot be assumed that males and females are equally violent and there are statistical measures that portray a gendered view. For example in the reading, â€Å"Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: two forms of violence against women† it can be seen that feminism denotes a difference in the types of violence that occur in domestic partnerships and further differentiates between common couple violence and patriarchal terrorism. This article notes that while CTS looks only at a limited number of control tactics, feminism can shed light to several other controlling methods. While, one can see that feminist theory brings up key defining points that are commonly overlooked, it does remain flawed in many respects. Feminist theory is difficult to apply to forms of domestic violence except for spousal abuse; specifically it only examines the abuse directed towards women. It automatically victimizes the female, and thereby situates the male in role of the villain. Another disadvantage of using solely feminist theory is that same-sex relationships are also not taken into account in their analyses, since it is assumed in feminist analysis that males are the perpetrators and use violence in the relationship to control women. For instance in the article, â€Å"The ties that bind women to violent premarital relationships: Processes of seduction and entrapment†, the analyses are based on the observation of heterosexual relationships. It did not look at how and if these processes of entrapment are applicable to homosexual relationships, for instance, do the Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast paradigm still adequately explain why homosexuals remain in violent relationships. It can be seen that there is a victim/perpetrator structure of the violent relationship, however it cannot be concluded that the processes that entrap victims in violent relationship are similar for same-sex couples. Family Systems Theory Family systems theory is a more holistic approach to understanding abuse within the family and further looks into how everyone within this framework is interconnected. Therefore, it explains how the individual affects the family system and vice versa. Through this analysis, one key contribution of this theory is that it paves the way of identifying the connection between family goals, rules and control, and how together one can fully understand the development and causation of domestic abuse (Ingoldsby et al., 2004b). For example in the article by Rosen (1996), it can be seen that by using family systems theory and studying familial interactions, certain females may be predisposed to the Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast paradigms. By looking at how their families’ function, one may be able to see the recycling effect due to unresolved or violent backgrounds these victimized individuals may come from. They may fall into a similar pattern from what they know at home, thereby examining the origins of this behavior and viewing the interconnectedness of how one internalizes family rules and ideas of control. In the article, â€Å"Stay for the Children? Husband Violence, Marital Stability, and Children’s Behavior Problems† it clearly articulates that the violent behavior is internalized or externalized by children by prolonged exposure of violent behavior. The cyclical pattern of violence is foreseeable in these sorts of family arrangements, thereby being consistent with the idea that the system of family and the individuals within it are affected by each other on a constant basis. Family Systems theory also helps identify the different sorts of family structures in terms of their communicational boundaries and also allows the recognition of the various outcomes for a particular situation (Ingoldsby et al., 2004b). Understanding that there are multiple outcomes for a given situation sets a more encompassing investigation and limits the likelihood of leaving something out or missing a key-contributing factor. It also allows a point of differentiation, and assumes that not all people react the same when the situation arises. This is important as it further provides the researcher with a defining and narrowing point as to which sort of family has a higher likelihood for domestic violence to occur and persist. Some of the downfalls of using family systems theory are that it is often criticized that it is too general and therefore, its application remains vague. The vagueness stretches from the assumption that systems theory is not a true theory rather it is a model that is more methodological than theoretical. Social Constructionism Social constructionist theory is a popular theory used to examine the roles played in an abusive relationship. An advantage of constructionist theory is that it clearly identifies the victim and the villain within the construct of the particular event (Loseke, 2005). Claims-makers are portrayed as practical actors constructing successful claims that reflect existing culture, and producing new culture of various social problems, specifically family violence. Social constructionism also allows domestic violence issues to be raised to the forefront and become more public, through the media. Through its application and explanations, this theory can be used to show how knowledge is socially constructed and how that knowledge reflects power and politics in family violence situations. Furthermore, it can give shape to other forms of domestic violence through counter claims making, such as husband abuse. Unlike other theories, constructionism is quite useful in examining other types of abuse and not singularly looking at wife abuse like feminism (Loseke, 2005). Constructionism allows for the understanding of child or elder abuse in the household. This theory also helps understand how people construct realities that keep them in abusive relationships, and how the relationship may be viewed differently to other people. In the article by Mullaney (2007), the construction of the men’s reality of the situation may differ from what abuse has occurred to the wife. The husband may reframe the abuse as â€Å"non-violent† or suggest that in that instance of abuse that it was not the â€Å"real him† that was carrying out the abuse. The disadvantages of using social constructionist theory are that due to the fact that individual events are a crucial component to the analysis, its subjectivity allows much room for debate. This makes it difficult to develop a theory that can encompass all the social realities and have it apply to all domestic violence cases cross-culturally. While looking at the article â€Å"Creating clients: Social problems work in a shelter for battered women,† it can be seen that shelters create an ideal client that one must fit in order to be allowed to be in the shelter. Creating this sort of criteria leaves out many other people who typically do not fit the stereotype or do not meet the conditions set out by the providers even though they are in need of assistance. Using this theory, it seems as though society has constructed an â€Å"ideal† victim and those who do not appear to fit this idealistic view of a victim are often rejected despite their need for immediate attention. Social constructionism therefore does not grant that everyone experiencing violence will be offered assistance, as this is based on the shelter’s perception of what a victim should look like. Family violence is a very serious social problem, and while social critics focus on how to achieve social change in this regard, social constructionists work to achieve new knowledge. Thus, social constructionism does not only pose a potentially dangerous approach to understanding and treatment of family violence, but it also does not examine objective conditions in their own right and seek to solve this social problem; essentially there are â€Å"no real truths† due to the subjectivity of the theory. REFLECTION Although much research and knowledge has been gathered in the field of family violence, there are ways in which this research must progress. Theoretically, family systems theory, symbolic interactionism, social constructionism, and feminist perspectives each have advantages in their application. As previously discussed, they each additionally have faults that hinder the study of family violence. We propose that a new theoretical framework be considered which essentially combines different aspects of each. For example, the notions of cause and effect associated with family systems, with an understanding of roles, salience and identity associated with symbolic interactionism. These theories can additionally be used to critically examine the core concepts of each. For example, how is the process of the looking-glass self influenced by the double-bind. Theoretical application in these ways may lead to new ways of perceiving family violence. The study of family violence also should attempt to increase its scope. Studies of family violence must adjust due to emerging and increasingly common alternative family forms; same-sex parent families and polygamous relationships are such examples. Methodologically, the study of family violence should attempt to attain a more culturally diverse sample. Many of the readings focused on this semester relied on a predominantly Caucasian sample, and studies focusing on different ethnicities would be beneficial. If researchers are to examine alternative family forms they must also establish a methodology that is sensitive to the stigma surrounding different identities, for example the emasculation associated with husband abuse, or the intersection of a homosexual identity within a context of family violence. Researchers should also establish a methodology that accounts for those patterns of violence considered â€Å"less severe† than others such as verbal abuse, as studies pertaini ng solely to physical violence are not enough. Practically, we suggest that researchers focus on early intervention through education. Researchers should aim for the implementation of programs directed to informing children and teenagers about this social issue. With increased awareness may come increased action towards ending the problem. These programs may assist a young person who is dealing with family violence, giving them an opportunity to speak to someone about it. Making the issue visible, giving it a platform to be discussed and early intervention is requisite to decreasing the frequency of family violence. The application of different aspects of the theories discussed this semester will be beneficial to the study of family violence as a whole. The fallacies of one theory may be redeemed through the usage of another. When evaluating such troubling social issues such as family violence, it is important to always think critically. In the cases of physical violence, we know that though symbolic interactionism, family members react to a situation based on their ability interpret the situation. So, it is important to understand the symbols the family uses to understand their interactions and behaviors. If a family is exposed to continuous physical abuse, in what ways do the family members interpret and internalize it? Why is it that many of the abused women came from families where no abuse was present and moreover continue the cycle of abuse? Where has the self worth gone or was it ever there in the first place? We now know some of the reasons why family violence is not reported and a lot of it has to do with the social stigma that is attributed both by those receiving the abuse and those who are the abusers. By building on – rather than challenging – the theories we can expand our knowledge and practically implement programs to assist those dealing with family violence. REFERENCES Barnett, O. W., Miller-Perrin, C. L., Perrin, R. D. (2005). Family violence across the lifespan: An introduction (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications. Dobash, R. E. Dobash, R. (1993). Violence against wives. In B. Fox (Ed.), Familypatterns: Gender relations (pp. 299-317). Toronto: Oxford University Press. Emery, C. R. (2009). Stay for the children? Husband violence, marital stability, and children’s behavior problems. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 71, 905-916. Gordon, L. (1989). The politics and history of family violence. In A. Skolnick J. Skolnick (Eds.), Family in Transition (pp. 68-86). Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company. Ingoldsby, B., Smith, S., Miller, J. (2004a). Symbolic interactionism theory. In B. Ingoldsby, S. Smith, J. Miller (Eds.), Exploring family theories (pp. 81-92). CA: Roxbury Publishing Company. Ingoldsby, B., Smith, S., Miller, J. (2004b). Family systems theory. In B. Ingoldsby, S. Smith, J. Miller (Eds.), Exploring fa mily theories (pp. 167-179). CA: Roxbury Publishing Company. Johnson, M. (1995). Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: two forms of violence against women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 283-294. Karp, D., Yoels, B. (1993). Socialization and the construction of social reality. In D. Karp W. Yoels (Eds.), Sociology in everyday life (pp. 37-59). Illinois: Waveland Press. Loseke, D. R. (2005). Construction people. In D. R. Loseke (Ed.), Thinking about social problems: An introduction to constructionist perspective (pp. 75-96). London: Aldine Transaction. Mullaney, J. L. (2007). Telling it like a man: Masculinities and battering men’s accounts of their violence. Men and Masculinities, 10, 222-247. Rosen, K. (1996). The ties that bind women to violent premarital relationships: Processes of seduction and entrapment. In D. Cahn S. Lloyd (Eds.), Family violence from a communication perspective (pp. 151-176). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Umberson, D., Anderson, K., Williams, K., and Chen, M. (2003). Relation dynamics, emotion state, and domestic violence: a stress and masculinities perspective. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 65, 233-247. Yllo, K. (1993). Through a feminist lens: Gender, power, and violence. In R. Gelles D. Loseke (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 47-62). Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

Investigation on a variation of the Stroop test

Investigation on a variation of the Stroop test The role of automatic and controlled processing was examined in an experiment looking at the allocation of processing resources between the two. Previous research found that when a word is written in the same ink as the colour the word denotes, it takes longer to state the colour of these words than if the words are colour neutral i.e. not the name of a colour. In the present experiment the type of word used was manipulated, between colour associated and colour neutral words. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the completion times of the two conditions which provided further support for the idea that automatic processes can interfere with controlled ones. Introduction The cognitive process of attention is said by psychologists to be how an individual processes the information that they receive from their day to day environment and how it is selected to be stored. That is to say that not all information that we obtain from daily life is seen as important for storage, it is essentially a selection process in which the most relevant information is chosen to be retained. William James(1890) believed attention to be dependent upon an allocation of cognitive processing resources(James,(1890),p9). The idea that all actions implore the use of processing resources to some extent, and is reliant upon the amount of resources available to an individual is known as a controlled process. Up until more recent years it was believe that no demand was placed upon these resources when the processes were automatic i.e. occurring without conscious awareness. These automatic responses were thought to use up less processing resources due to the lack of conscious effort involved, thus leaving resources free to attend to other stimuli. Thus essentially attentional processing has to be divided between the two. This was termed the two-process theory by Shiffrin and Schneider((1977),p21). Researchers felt that this appeared to be a very useful concept as essentially it would leave more resources free but were interested to see at what cost. J.R. Stroop(1935) was one of these researchers(Stroop(1935),p21). He carried out an experiment into the relationship between automatic and controlled processes. This consisted of two conditions, in one participants were given a set of colour name words written in coloured ink but never matched to the colour ink they were written in. e.g. the word yellow written in blue ink. This is known as the Stroop condition. In the other the participants were given a set of neutral words e.g. the word rat all written in the same colour inks as in the previous condition. The participants were required to name the colour ink in which the words were written as fast as possible. It was found that participants could state the colour of the words in the neutral condition more rapidly than in the Stroop condition, leading Stroop to conclude that peopl e are inclined to read the colour the word is portraying rather than the one it is written in. This is said by Stroop to suggest that the automatic process of reading can hinder the controlled process of naming the ink. It also shows that automatic processes are not necessarily free as researchers once believe and can on fact be influenced by conscious strategies such as naming the colour in which the word is written. Many variations of the Stroop test have been carried out since the original to further test individuals attention and the allocation of resources in both controlled and automatic processing. One such variation is the reverse Stroop test.(Wikipedia) In this experiment there were still two conditions; one where the participant was given a list of colour words and had to point to a block of colour which matched the colour word stated. The second condition was the same as in the original Stroop test where the colour ink the word was written in had to be stated. It was found that it took on average 7 seconds longer to state the colours of the words aloud than it did to simply point to a block of colour that matched it. It was concluded that when the colour of the word stated differed from the colour ink it was written it the automatic process of reading the word again interferes with the controlled process of naming the ink colour. It was also discovered that this can be controlled but th at then a time delay is incurred. This idea that automatic processes do rely on resources just like controlled process, but that they occur without conscious awareness is still open to debate as despite the vast amounts of research done on this topic it still remains to be seen if the Stroop effect only occurs with colour words. The idea that it is not only colour words that cause an integration between automatic and controlled processes is explored in the present experiment, by testing a set of colour- related words against a set of non-colour related words rather than a collection of coloured words printed in either black ink or opposing colours. The hypothesis was that people take longer to state the colour ink in which 30 words are written when the words are colour- associated words rather than colour-neutral words. This is a one-tailed hypothesis. The null hypothesis is that there will be no difference in the time taken to state the words in each condition, and if there is it is due to chance. Methods Design The design of this experiment was within-participants as the same set of participants were used to acquire the data in both conditions. The independent variable was the colour associated words. This consisted of two conditions, a colour associated word condition (condition 1) and a non-colour associated condition (condition 2). In the colour associated condition (condition 1), participants were timed to see how long it took them to state the colour ink of 30 colour associated words when written in opposing colours. E.g. plum written in orange. In the second condition the same procedure was followed but with the participants stating the colour ink of non-colour associated words. E.g. plan written in blue. The dependant variable was the time taken to complete each task, measured with a stopwatch to the nearest second. Several things were done to try and control for any confounding variables. Firstly, all participants were given the same set of instructions in order to prevent them gain ing a different interpretation of what was being expected of them. Another thing that was done was to ensure that none of the participants could confer during the time in which the experiment was taking place, thus helping to prevent them from incurring demand characteristics. Participants also took the two conditions in different orders to help control for practice effects. Finally, all participants were shown the exact same copies of the stimuli which made it easier to ensure that this is not a reason for any differences that may have occurred. Participants Twenty five participants took part in this experiment. 16 of these were recruited by a researcher at the Open University and consisted of their friends and family. The other 9 were recruited through asking friends and family of the researcher. The age of the participants ranged from 17 to 69 and was made up of 12 males and 13 females. Materials A stopwatch accurate to the nearest second was used to time how long it took each participant to state the colour the words were written in. The visual stimuli presented in each condition consisted of 30 words placed into two columns on an A4 piece of paper. For condition 1 these consisted of 6 different words (blood,plum,carrot,sky,grass and lemon) written in 6 different colours (red,orange,blue,green,yellow,and purple). The word was never written in the correct colour i.e. sky would never be blue. In the second condition a different set of 6 words was used (plan,sty,ledge,grade,career and blame). These were written in the same 6 colours as the words in condition 1. In each condition each word was used 5 times and presented in a random order. A set of each stimuli is shown in the appendicies (appendix 1). A set of standardized instructions was also used to explain what was required of each participant (appendix 2). Finally each participant was required to complete a consent form bef ore carrying out the tasks (appendix 3). Procedures Each participant was asked if they would be willing to take part in a psychology experiment looking at cognitive processes, that would take about 5 minutes of their time. The ones who agreed to were given a consent form to fill in stating that they were willing to take part. They were then tested one at a time with their age and gender being recorded before being read the instructions as to how the experiment would work. i.e. that they would be shown a list of words and were required to state the colour the word was written in whilst being timed to state all 30 colours. They were also told that there would be two conditions and that the same procedure was required for each. (instructions appendix 2). Once all of this was understood and the participant had asked anything they wanted to they were given the words for condition 1. The stopwatch was started as they stated the first colour and stopped after they had stated the 30th. This time was recorded in the same table as used to recor d the participants age and gender earlier in the experiment.. The same was then repeated for condition 2 and the time recorded. The order in which the participants carried out the two conditions varied. Once all of this was completed the participant was given a debrief about the nature of the experiment and asked if they wanted to ask anything or needed anything. They were also made aware again of their right to withdraw at any point after the experiment should they decide they are uncomfortable with their data being use, and of the fact that their data would remain anonymous should they allow it to be used. Results The one-tailed research hypothesis was that people take longer to state the colour ink in which 30 words are written, when the words are colour- associated words rather than colour-neutral words. This was measured with a stopwatch accurate to the nearest second (appendix 4 raw data). Table 1-Paired -Samples T-test data Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Pair 1 Colour associated words 25.6190 21 4.95456 1.08117 Colour-neutral words 22.9048 21 3.94848 .86163 As can be seen from table 1 above, the mean response time for the two conditions was fairly different with the mean for the colour- associated words being 2.7 seconds slower than the speed for the colour-neutral words. This difference can further be seen from the error bar chart below(graph 1). Graph 1 shows that we can have 95% confidence that the population mean for condition 1 (the colour associated words) will lie within :- 1.08117 x 1.96 = 2.12 Therefore the lower bound is 25.62-2.12= 23.50 seconds Upper bound is 25.62+2.12=27.74 seconds Or 25.6 2Â ± 2.12 seconds Graph 1 also shows that we can have 95% confidence that the population mean for condition 2 (the colour neutral words) will lie within :- .86163 x 1.96 = 1.69 Therefore the lower bound is 22.9 1.69 = 21.21 seconds Upper bound is 22.9 + 1.69 = 24.59 seconds Or 22.9 Â ± 1.69seconds Therefore, although it appears from the experiment that when condition 2 is used the individuals can read the words more quickly, this cannot be confirmed with any confidence. It is possible that in reality that condition 1 could result in those being test reading the words than under condition 2. For example, if the real mean of the whole population is towards the upper bound for condition 2 and towards the lower bound for condition 1, the individuals will be able to complete the test more quickly under condition 1.if there was no overlap between the bounds for each condition it would have been possible to say with 95% confidence that one condition allowed the individuals to complete the test more quickly. A paired t-test was conducted on the data which showed that (t(30)=4.214;p=

Essay --

â€Å"We are here in this country to bring peace and harmony through financial stability of people across Pakistan. We are here to promote individual and corporate growth nationwide and we are best at it and yes, we can†¦..† Khan Banking Corporation â€Å"Your financial partner† Khan Banking Corporation Ltd. is such a bank which I feel proud to work for. People keep on dreaming their whole life to be part of such a glorious and significant company that makes you the top priority. Yes we are the Pioneers of Banking. We are â€Å"Your Financial Partners†. We Are Demonstrating Khan Banking Corporation is the bank which is striving for excellence nationwide and also managed to make a deep place in the hearts of the people of Pakistan with their excellent and unique services of banking and finance nationwide. We are proud to announce of becoming one of the most acceptable and appreciated bank not only in Pakistan but throughout the globe. We are here to provide the best we can for our honorable and precious customers nationwide. They are our top priority and the only asset. An Annual Re-Assurance This code of conduct is not just merely a piece of paper but it is our way of living, contributing, dealing and servicing the people of company and people of Pakistan. And we make sure and expect our beloved and respectable employees to follow these codes of conduct to serve the people of Pakistan at its best. Conducting our business with the highest standards of ethics and integrity is essential to living up to the ethical banking promise of our company. By doing things the right way, we can support our customers and clients while holding true to the values we believe in. Asad Ahmad Khan C.E.O Khan Banking Corporation (KBC) Purp... ...Rendering of Services ïÆ'Ëœ Implementation and following of policy document ïÆ'Ëœ Ensuring implementation of policies ïÆ'Ëœ No hidden aspects of policy of advancement of short and long term ‘Loan Financing’. ïÆ'Ëœ Easily understandable policies. ïÆ'Ëœ Clear Whistle blowing criteria (whom to report and confidentiality that is HR department) ïÆ'Ëœ Legal action and compliance against corporate crimes (C.E.O Decision would be ultimate) Last but not the Least: Integrity, honesty, care, morality, loyalty, cooperation ,teamwork are the much needed essentials which will guide your positive actions and behavior towards the company. High aims are guided by high levels of morality and ethics. So do the right thing to make things right for yourself and your company. Make your company proud of you because these things when put together make ‘Royalty’. May all the odds will be in your favor.

Cant Buy Me Love/3 Short Stories (check This Out) Essays -- essays res

Can’t Buy Me Love   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The depression was an era of extremes. A person was more than likely extremely poor, or in the lucky upper 1% that was extremely wealthy. The middle class was virtually not existent. All of these income groups, including those characterized in our three stories, wanted money because it supposedly brought happiness, but were actually struggling to cling to the intangible, unreachable feeling of love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If money leads to love, Dexter Green has bought it a thousand times over. He wanted not association with the glittering things and glittering people [but] the glittering things themselves† even if they come in the shape of an object, a person, a house, a manner, or as simple as a life (Fitzgerald Dreams 58). He is still the â€Å"proud, desirous little boy† of his youth (Dreams 64). This reincarnation of the Victorian gilded age reinstates the fact those things that look of worth might really be empty of value inside. This glittering hollowed thing for Dexter Green appears as Judy Jones. He wants her; he longs for her because he has everything else. â€Å"Often he reached out for the best without knowing why he wanted it;† just another trophy on his shelf, and seemingly the gift one might give a person who has everything (Dreams 58). He is desperate for the lifestyle, the glittering things, and belonging.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Judy, herself, is a symbol of wealth and to men, the ideal of love. She has proper breeding, incredible beauty, popularity, and above of all, lots of money. Though she is what men want to use as an example of love, she can not love. Rather, she is merely the idea of love and evidently the irony of love. She has no human capacity for it for she is only playing the game to prove that she can â€Å"[make] men conscious to the highest degree of her physical loveliness† and make them fall in love with her in an instant (Dreams 65). Judy had fun with men and â€Å"was entertained only by the gratification of her desires and by the direct exercise of her own charm† (Dreams 61-2). She optimizes the evils of money and loses all that is attractive about her when tied down to marriage. She was a goddess with no morals in the eyes of men but was desperate for power, lust, and the thought of finding love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Francis and Margot add an interesting tw... ...r have (i.e. money, love, her sister life, freedom from responsibilities).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Conclusion, all of these characters wanted something they could just not have. Most love, some courage, and some money, but the key here is that humans are driven by want. Money can buy a safari, or trip to Paris, or maybe a day on the links, but money can not buy happiness and money can not buy love. That is why all of these characters and all of us are desperate to feel wanted and loved because it is nothing you can buy; you have to earn it. Works Cited Page Fitzgerald, F. Scott. â€Å"Babylon Revisited†. Fiction `00. Third edition James H. Pickering. New York: Macmillan, 1982. 210-30. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. â€Å"Winter Dreams†. The American Tradition in Literature. Fourth edition. Sculley Bradley. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1974. 54-75. Hemmingway, Ernest. â€Å"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber†. The American Tradition in Literature. Fourth edition. Sculley Bradley. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1974. 1564-90. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: The New Press, 1997.

Plato Essay example -- essays research papers

The great philosopher, Plato, wrote two specific dialogues; the book Timaeus and the book Critias. Plato was a professional teacher who valued intelligence immensely. Plato founded the first Philosophical Academy in Athens in the early fourth century BC. He devoted his life to philosophy and the teachings of his friend Socrates. Plato learned from Socrates and passed on his knowledge to his students. After his friend's sudden death, Plato became dissatisfied with the government in Athens. He filtered away from his family and lived his dream of researching and teaching philosophy. Plato focused on many philosophical aspects and wrote numerous dialogues. In the book Timaeus, Plato spoke of the beginning of the world and the creation of living creatures. Plato believed the human body and soul were created with precise, divine planning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book Timaeus, Plato described the Father of the universe as a very masterful being and a divine planner of the human body. Plato revealed that the Father told the other Gods to create mortal figures of them. Plato recalled the words of God, â€Å"There are three kinds of mortal creature yet uncreated, and unless they are created the world will be imperfect, as it will not have in it every kind of living creature which it must have if it is to be perfect† (57). The Father of the universe is very precise in the way the beings are created. He tells his Gods to use the mixture from the soul of the world to create the ...

Saudi Student Organization; Objectives

Just like any other organizations for international students in the university, we aimed to provide family oriented environment for our members. We are genuinely inviting other Saudi students therefore to get involved with â€Å"The Saudi Student Organization at USI†, as we firmly believe that our common culture and social orientation will help us to work more effectively as family and organization. This organization will represent Saudi culture, civilization and history and link them to other USI students of whatever nationality. Furthermore, this organization will help strengthen the social bonds of Saudi students as we are going to redefine the common misconceptions about us. Basically one of its objectives is to increase the members’ understanding towards Saudi and Middle Eastern cultures and to provide them with better understanding with American culture as well. In this way, Arabic students will be able to cope and adjust to the American culture easier and faster. Since, we are anticipating an increasing number of students from Saudi Arabia; we are also aiming to increase the number of our members in SSO. Assuredly, this organization will respond effectively to the members’ special needs and to ensure smooth and positive integration and relationship between other students in the campus. The Saudi Student Organization will provide many opportunities to students from Saudi Arabia and the like to share the beauty and authenticity of their culture and tradition and thus engaging in meaningful and educational dialogues with American students and others. Apparently, the main objective of this is to increase mutual understanding among individuals inside the campus. Furthermore, to be involved in this organization will give the Arabic students opportunities to continue fulfilling and practicing their tradition and religion within their co Arabic members who share the same beliefs. Therefore, there will never be a sense of isolation in this organization since every member can always find something or someone to relate to. They can always accumulate updates towards their culture within the organization and can share ideas and thoughts on how to reaffirm their identity in a foreign country like United States. Meanwhile, SSO will also represent and address the concerns of its members in the administration. Thus, SSO guarantees its members that they always have a voice through their support group. New members, that are those who just came from their country of origin, will be guaranteed that they will acquire enough orientation through SSO about the university as a whole; its culture, trends, academic pattern and sense of community. Furthermore, members will be exposed too to various activities of the university inside and outside. In this way, they can widen their experiences towards different culture and people and as a result they will have more chance to widen their social network, learning and wisdom. Apparently SSO will guarantee its members that learning will not stop within the confinement of the four corners of the classroom but rather SSO will assure them that we will provide them free learning activities and experiences. These objectives will make the members more tolerant and flexible in a society where there is an apparent diversity of culture and different set of belief system. Aside from the aforementioned objectives, SSO will also help its members to develop their leadership skills and self esteem and to explore their full potentials. This will be beneficial for the application of their profession in the future. Interestingly, joining SSO will be a good and wise investment for future endeavors. Members will also be exposed to different kinds of experiences that will even give them many opportunities to help people through sharing and camaraderie. In the future, they will become tolerant and flexible individuals who are prepared to face different kinds of circumstances. Throughout these objectives, SSO conclusively encourage its members to be globally competitive to ensure success not just materially but socially, spiritually and intellectually. We are thus encouraging our co Saudi students to join Saudi Student Organization (SSO) as we want you to experience the fulfillment of our goals and objectives.