An Alternative to Incarceration for Nonviolent Offenders Essay

Community corrections is a range of alternative punishments for nonviolent offenders. There are two basic community corrections models in the United States. In the first model, integrated community corrections programs combine sentencing guidelines and judicial discretion with a variety of alternative sanctions and parole and probation options. In the second model, some states have instituted programs in which correctional officials may direct already sentenced offenders into alternative sanction programs and parole and probation options. Both models are designed to help reduce prison overcrowding and are less expensive alternatives to prison. Widespread development of community correction programs in the United States began in the late 1970’s as a way to offer offenders, especially those leaving jail or prison, residential services in halfway houses. The first state community correction programs began in Oregon, Colorado, and Minnesota as pilot projects with very little government-funded support. They diverted nonviolent offenders in selected pilot project areas from jails and state prisons into local alternative punishment programs. These programs allowed judges to sentence offenders to a community-based punishment rather than jail or prison. Rehabilitation programs were the preferred punishment option. In the late 1980’s, prison systems across the country began experiencing serious overcrowding of facilities. The overcrowding served as a catalyst for lawmakers to develop new options for sentencing criminal offenders. Nineteen states have now enacted various community correction programs. Community correction programs provide many communities with local punishment options as an alternative to prison or jail. These sanction programs are lower cost alternatives to increased prison and jail construction, based on the cost per offender. They provide local courts, state departments of corrections, and state parole boards with a broad range of correctional options for offenders under their jurisdiction. The goal is to match the appropriate punishment with the crime. Community corrections programs are integrated sanctioning strategies which seek to achieve the following goals: †¢The offender is punished and held accountable. †¢Public safety is protected. †¢Victims and local communities receive restitution from felons who work in their present jobs and/or in restitution programs. †¢Community service work increases. †¢Collection of court costs and fees increases due to contractual agreements with offenders who remain in their present jobs. Eight states have adopted comprehensive Community Correction Acts which create a network of correctional programs for specific types of offenders. The acts create mechanisms by which state funds are granted to local governments and community agencies to encourage local sanctions in lieu of prison or jail. While no two state programs are alike, a comprehensive community corrections program generally includes the following elements: †¢A locally integrated criminal justice system which supports a network of decentralized or centralized correctional programs for specific types of offenders. For instance, in Minnesota, local community corrections advisory boards composed of county sheriffs, chiefs of police, prosecutors, judges, defense lawyers, probation agents, and other local officials create comprehensive correction plans to improve the administration of justice at the local level. The plans detail the various options of punishment in the community which are available to judges and other criminal justice officials when sentencing offenders. †¢These integrated systems generally include restitution programs for nonviolent offenders. Offenders’ wages are applied directly to restitution, court-ordered fines and fees, and room and board. Placement in the work programs usually lasts from three to six months. †¢Programs are administered by local governmental or nonprofit agencies at the county or regional level, and are funded by the state under a single system which provides for local punishment options. Funds are provided contractually or directly depending on the involvement of nonprofit agencies. †¢Sentencing guidelines for local, district, or regional judges prescribe a uniform sentencing structure with a variety of punishment options for offenders. They differ from determinate sentencing by targeting alternative punishments for the non-violent offender population. †¢The punishment authorized under sentencing guidelines is generally tailored for the crime and applies to all similarly-situated felony offenders. For example, judges must follow a rating system based on the severity of the offender’s crime, the frequency of violations, and the nature of the crime. Rating scales are adjusted periodically by sentencing commissions to reflect statewide sentencing patterns. Non-violent crimes have the lowest criminal rating, allowing judges the broadest range of sentencing options. In contrast, judges must impose very specific sentences for violent or serious crimes. Serious or violent felons sentenced to prison receive very little if any good time credit, and must serve a specified term while in prison. †¢Responsibility for community correctional service is delegated to local units of government. This joins sentencing and punishment in one administrative level, with incentives for the most efficient use of local and state correctional resources. †¢A post-prison release program, operated through a parole or probation system, is an integral component of a local community corrections treatment system. Community corrections sanctions may include: †¢24-hour residential programs which provide a structured living environment for offenders who require supervision when not working or looking for employment; †¢Non-residential drug and alcohol treatment programs; †¢Electronic monitoring of offenders placed on home detention (offenders must wear bracelets that allow parole officials to monitor their movement); †¢Diagnostic evaluation and counseling ordered by the court as part of a pre-sentence process; †¢Pre-trial intervention which provides close supervision and support services to selected offenders prior to trial; †¢Community service programs; †¢Day reporting centers where offenders are required to discuss the progress of their job search and daily activities with parole officials; and †¢Mandatory education programs. There are several key elements to an integrated community-based correctional program: †¢Collaborative long range planning by local and state law enforcement officials to reduce the use of prisons for felony sentencing; †¢Coordinated use of local and state correctional resources; †¢A state funding mechanism to ensure a local level of correctional services; and †¢Ensuring public safety in community correction facilities. One of the goals of sentencing guidelines is to match the community sanction with the offender. The types of offenders which are considered for community sanctions include the following: †¢Offenders who might benefit from prevention services, and are of criminal activity in the future: school drop-outs, urban youth gang members, and juvenile offenders with learning disabilities. Prevention services could include mid-night basketball leagues, big brother programs, special education programs, and other activities. †¢Offenders who might benefit from early intervention services. This group is generally composed of first time offenders. Early intervention may reduce their chances for committing future crimes. They generally require services related to education, work-skill development, and substance abuse and alcohol counseling. †¢Offenders who might be eligible for diversion programs. This group is basically those people in jail or prison who may safely be diverted to alternative programs and services. They generally are second or third time offenders who have failed on probation and have been convicted of a number of non-violent offenses. Under California’s â€Å"three strike’s law†, they could face life imprisonment if their first two felonies are violent and/or if the third felony is violent. The goal of sentencing guidelines is to match target offender groups with the appropriate community sanction. While there are some variations among state sentencing guidelines, most establish punishment by the severity, frequency, and nature of the crime committed. For example, in Michigan, if an offender is arrested for burglary and has a previous drug arrest, state sentencing guideline ratings provide a range of sentencing options from alternative community corrections to up to a 24 month prison sentence. The community correction option allows the judge to sentence the offender to a secured community-based substance abuse treatment program for six months, followed by a short probation period. The judge has the discretion to choose from an array of options. On the other hand, if an offender is convicted of a serious felony and has previous non-violent felony convictions, sentencing guidelines provide that alternative community corrections is not an option, and require a minimum 24 month prison sentence. While offenders sometimes violate the terms of a community correction sentence, so far there is no evidence that the offenders currently entering these programs are a danger to communities. Evaluation studies are currently randomly tracking offenders who participate in community correction programs to determine the success or failure of the programs. The eight states which have enacted comprehensive community correction laws require a well-defined local implementation strategy that targets specific offender populations, and seeks to match their needs with the correct community sanction and service, before state funds are dispersed. Several states have also enacted on-going performance evaluation reviews to identify problem areas and fine-tune sentencing options. The other four states do not offer financial incentives or disincentives, although local implementation strategies are closely monitored by state legislatures. Four of the 8 states also offer formula-based incentives which require community agencies to develop comprehensive, integrated long-range community correctional plans. The greater local resources and services available under the plan, the higher the state funding. Most local plans are coordinated at the county level and identify all available community treatment programs, including prevention and intervention programs, training programs, and diversion programs. Local plans must include data detailing how the community correction programs are expected to reduce commitments to prison. The formula grants include a disincentive for sending certain kinds of felons to state prison, in the form of a per-diem fee which is deducted from the local grant. Grantees are also required to monitor offenders for possible parole violations after they complete the community corrections program. Louisiana has the oldest state boot camp program in the country. The Intensive Motivational Program of Alternative Correctional Treatment (IMPACT) has as its goals: †¢Provide an alternative to long-term incarceration for youthful first- and second-time offenders. †¢Reduce costs without undue risk to public safety. †¢Develop participants’ self-discipline, self-confidence, self-respect, individual responsibility, and respect for others. In order to participate, an offender must meet the following eligibility criteria: †¢Male and female offenders under the age of 40 serving sentences in state prison. †¢First time felony offenders committed to state custody for 7 years or less for an offense with parole eligibility. †¢Second-time felony offenders who have not previously spent time in state prison and who have been committed to state custody for 7 years or less for an offense carrying parole eligibility. †¢No offenders with outstanding felony charges, numerous outstanding misdemeanor charges, outstanding immigration detainers, mental or physical health problems, history of assaulting behavior or escape, overt homosexuality, sex offense against a child or any violent sexual offense, or absence of post-release plan. In 1987, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections began operating a 136-bed military-style boot camp program at the medium-security Hunt Correctional Center (Up to 20 female slots are also available at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women; these inmates are bused to the boot camp daily). The 90- to 180-day program uses a three-phase approach to promote its philosophy of discipline and treatment. Regular program activities include military drill and ceremony training, physical training and organized recreational activities. Treatment programs include a re-education therapy class that requires participants to evaluate their beliefs and values, substance abuse education classes and activities, and prerelease (life skills) preparation. Extra duty or incentive physical training are required for minor disciplinary infractions. More serious infractions may result in reduction in rank, additional duties, or, in some cases, dismissal from the program. About 55 percent of participants graduate from the program. On release, all IMPACT parolees are assigned to 3 months of intensive parole supervision where, in addition to the regular conditions mandated for all parolees (maintain employment or full-time educational training), they must satisfy the following requirements: a minimum of 4 face-to-face contacts with a supervision officer each week, adherence to a curfew, 100 hours of unpaid community service work and random drug and alcohol screenings. After 3 months, supervision standards are gradually relaxed. Depending on individual performance, at the conclusion of this period, the parolee will continue receiving intensive supervision or is placed in regular parole supervision. According to the Multi-State Evaluation of Shock Incarceration report to the National Institute of Justice, Louisiana is one of three states who’s program results in lower recidivism rates relative to comparison groups. Failures are more often for technical violations of parole than for new crime violations. It is estimated that each 100 inmates completing the program result in a cost savings of $750,000 to the state (Nieto, Marcus: Feb. 1996). REFERENCES Travis Hirschi, and David Rudisill, An Evaluation of California Probation Subsidy Program, Vol. 1: Commitment Reduction and Probation Subsidy: A Summary of Available Data, Center on Administration of Criminal Justice, University of California at Davis, (Davis), 1977. Probation/Parole Survey, Corrections Compendium, The National Journal for Corrections, August, 1994. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. A Survey of Intermediate Sanctions, Washington, D.C. September, 1990, and Nieto, Marcus, California Research Bureau, The Changing Role Probation In California’s Criminal Justice System, April, 1996. Peters, G.T., Intermediate Sanctions: A Discussion of Illustrative Programs. Office of National Drug Control Policy. Washington D.C. 1990. Stone, Susan and Fulton, Betsy, Achieving Public Safety Through Rehabilitation and Reintegration: The Promise of a New ISP, Presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Science Conference. Kansas City, Missouri. 1995. Nidorf, Barry, Chief Probation Officer, Los Angeles County, â€Å"Los Angeles County, Varied Uses of Electronic Monitoring: The Los Angeles Experience†, Edited by John Ortiz and William Selke. Intermediate Sanctions: Sentencing in the 1990’s. Anderson Publishing Company, 1995. Bourque, Blair, Han, B, Hill, Mei, and Sarah, M,. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. An Inventory of Aftercare Provisions for 52 Boot Camp Programs. NCJ 157104. Washington, DC. January, 1996. Nieto, Marcus, California Research Bureau, Community Correction Punishments: An Alternative to Incarceration for Nonviolent Offenders, Sacramento, CA., February, 1996.

Allowing Gays To Adopt

In most cases, the legality of adoption is based very strongly upon the principle of consent. Consent refers to the agreement by the child’s parents or the child’s guardian (the person or the agency under whose custody the child is) to accede the child for adoption and to expel the rights and duties with regard to the child. The process of consenting requires that the birth parents of the child notify a judge or court officials in writing.Alternatively, a part from the biological parents, other people issuing their consent can be the agency in charge of the child, the guardians, the court of law, or a close relative or the next friend who has already attained the legal age. In some states such as the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia for instance, the child should issue consent when or when above 14. Sometimes this may be abnegated if the child is mentally ill. The execution of the consent normally takes 13 days while cases with the fastest ratification speed may take 12-24 hours.Heretofore, the next stage may differ since rules are state-specific. In most states, the written consent is notarized to the concerned public, while in other states; the consenting parents are taken for counseling as touching the matter. A provision for the revocation of the consent is normally very limited but in most cases, the adoption process is irrevocable. States in which there are absolutely no provision for the revocation include; Mississippi, Samoa and the Nebraska.The limited provision come in when the parents or guardians were defrauded, coerced or were under duress when issuing their consent. Some states also issue a time frame within which any case of disgruntlement can be aired by the parents. Conversely if the application to revoke the consent has been found to be in the interest of the child or if both the biological parents and the adoptive parents have reached this consensus, it will be the duty of the court of law to consider the petition.The 14th amendment of the American constitution, a post civil war judicial reconstruction, was originally intended to bolster the 13th amendment which in turn had brought slavery to a grinding halt. This amendment was to promote the rights of the former slaves. When it was proposed in the June 13, 1866, it spelt out equal protection of all by the law, birthing the â€Å"Separate but equal† doctrine. This amendment placed all persons on the same pedestal since all became under one law. It is upon this concept of equality that the marginalized groups began to come out for equal recognition.Privacy rights such as abortion, homosexuality became subject to debates. Currently perhaps the most heated form of debate is the one touching on the prospects of gay adoption (Ricketts, 1991). The laws for the best interest of the child assume that for any normal child to develop well, this should happen under the jurisdiction of the two parents. It is on this backdrop that in the best interest of the child, the law has come up with regulations which are geared towards the child’s protection for instance, in case of a divorce.By default, the law stipulates that upon divorce, both parents should have equal access and responsibility to and over the child. This can only be negated upon a parent being found to be harmful to the child. As far as the issue of the best interest of the child in relation to gay parenting is concerned, the law is not yet unified and therefore varies from one state to another. For instance gay parenting is prohibited in Florida but reconstructions are underway to recognize it in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee.The pro-gay parenting legal practitioners argue that it is better for a child to have a two parent family than a one parent one, and that it will be furthering the interest of the child since a two parent family can easily fend for the child’s needs than if the child had one or no parent at all. A case these lawyers have bro ught to the fore is the fact that there are presently (Clifford, Hertz, Doskow, Curry 2007)119,000 needy children in the US alone waiting to be adopted. Furthermore, they posit that children have more serious concerns than their parent’s sexual orientation.Discrimination against children raised by gay parents is not so far fetched compared to the discrimination encountered by gay parents. In America, this is not much of a problem compared to Australia where the parents are discriminated against in areas touching on taxation, social security, and workers’ compensation. The only case of discrimination against children with gay parents witnessed in Australia is limited to the peer groups and is always manifested in schools and in the neighborhood.This is because the Article 2 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child which was ratified in the 1990 sternly warns against child discrimination of any kind (Ricketts, 1991). Although some maintain that there is no strong bas is for the prohibition of the adoption by gay parenting, yet children rights and welfare agencies cite the child bearing studies on the other hand to maintain that children raised in heterosexual marriages thrive best emotionally, physically and mentally.They maintain that spates of violence are 2-3 times higher in homosexual marriages when compared to the heterosexual ones. In addition to this, they posit that homosexual marriages are always susceptible to dissolution with the normal gay marriage lasting 2-3 years and that homosexual activities are often marked with substance dependence, mental illnesses, suicidal tendencies and a shortened lifespan in comparison to heterosexual marriages.The proponents of same sex marriage and the adoption by the same sex parents have countered that these dysfunctions accrued by this group are as a result of the US socio-economic pressure, to which the opponents of adoption by the gay parents rebutted that the same pressure rests on the normative/ conservative form of marriage without yielding such results (Lerner and Nagai 2001). They further deliberate that children adopted or reared under the same sex marriage are highly vulnerable to sexual confusion, homo sexual behavior and premature sex.Nevertheless, it must be kept in mind that numerous strides have been made to entrench gay adoption and this has also produced gradual acceptance of the practice. A testimony to this is Florida which since 1977 had proscribed gay adoption but as per now efforts are in the offing to abrogate this law due to the push by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the Supreme Court. In the same vein, the 1997 ACLU fact sheet, â€Å"the gay parenting statistics† to confirm this discloses that approximately, 6-14 million children are living under gay parenting.This could still be an understatement since most gays and lesbians are always reserved about disclosing the structure of their families due to fear of losing children (Mc Gurry , 2003). These changing prospects can be attributed to the fact that the emphasis on traditional form of marriage is gradually waning, and the subsequent overturning of state laws to assimilate gay marriages is in force. A case in point is when the then president Bill Clinton, signed the Defense On Marriage Act (DOMA), thus giving way to same sex marriage in Hawaii (Rimmerman, Wald, Wilcox, 2000).Gay adoption is also growing because of the fast rate with which gay parenting is spreading. Gay parenting, apart from the normal procedure of adoption occurs when one partner pulls out of a heterosexual marriage while still maintaining the custody of a child and moves into a gay marriage or, through lesbians opting for an artificial insemination upon siring a child enters into an agreement with gay partners for adoption. The co-parent adoption occurs when one gay who has an adopted child with him moves in with a partner who automatically assumes the role of a co- parent.This practice is co mmon in Washington, District of Columbia, Vermont, California, Minnesota, Alaska, and Oregon (Tonnerson, Andenaes and Wintemute, 2001). As touching on the stability of the children, the children grow up healthy and well adjusted compared to those who have one or no parent at all. This scores highly with the concept of the best interest of a child since the child’s financial and material needs are met. Conversely, the children under gay adoption turn out successfully just as the ones under heterosexual care.The American Psychological Association (AMA), out of its research maintained categorically that there was no evidence that children brought under gay adoption and parenting were susceptible to maladjustment or that they turned out less intelligent or suffered low self esteem; neither was there a connection between homosexuality and pedophilia or direct influence in the child’s sexual orientation in future. On the contrary, the AMA observed that 90% of child sexual ab uses were carried out by heterosexual men (Baker, 2005).To further dispel the misgivings on gay adoption, both the parents who want to adapt a child undergo a screening procedure which is a meticulous exercise meant to filter out those who have less prospects of making good parents. The fact that many potential gay parents navigate successfully these enchanted waters is a testimony of the type of parents they would make. Bibliography. Baker P. Public Discourses of Gay men. Rutledge: United States, 2005. Clifford D. Hertz F. Doskow E. Curry H. A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples. Nolo: United States, 2007. Lerner R. Negai A.No Basis: What studies don’t tell us about parenting. Marriage Law Projects /Ethics and Public Policy Center: United States, 2001. Mc Garry J. K. Fatherhood for Gay Men: Emotional and Practical Guide to becoming a gay dad. Haworth Press: United States, 2003. Ricketts W. Lesbians and Gay men as foster parents. Wendel/ Ricketts: United States, 1991. Rim merman A. C. Wald D. K. Wilcox C. The Politics of Gay Rights University of Chicago: United States, 2000. Tonnerson M. Andenaes R. Wintemute M. Legal Recognition of Same Sex Partnership: A Study of National and European Law. Hart Publishing

Motivation and Team Case Study Essay

There are four Theories of Motivation. They are Expectancy Theory, Goal Setting Theory, Equity Theory, and Job Enrichment Theory. Each could be used, individually or all could be used in combination, to help motivate employees to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities to achieve the success they desire. When employees are motivated and feel appreciated they tend to care more about their jobs and become more productive, which in turn can help the business be more successful. In the case study of Two Men and A Truck and Mary Ellen Sheets the Expectancy Theory and the Job Enrichment Theory were used to motivate her to grow her business. Even though Mary Ellen Sheets started the company she knew that with hard work she could grow her business and make it successful. Mary Ellen Sheets also understood that if she applied herself and worked hard she would have the success she desired. Even though she made many mistakes she was motivated to continue on and make her business a success. To create high performing teams Mary Ellen Sheets established Stick Men University where her franchise owners and movers could learn the basics such as answering phone calls to the final handshake after the move is completed. There is also a two story house and a computer lab. In the two story house the movers are taught the proper ways to move, and in the computer lab franchise owners are taught to pay royalties electronically and communicate with other franchise owners about what is working and what is not (Jones, 2007).The University gave all employees and franchise owners consistency in what was expected as well the ability to communicate with other franchise owners. In the case study for Siemens and Klaus Kleinfeld the Expectancy Theory and the Goal Setting Theory are used. Kleinfeld was motivated and he helped motivate all of the workers to pull together to save their jobs. By working hard and applying themselves they were able to grow Siemens Medical into Siemens most profitable business. He had goals that required workers to work flexible  shifts and also to work weekends to speed up production. Kleinfeld created high performing teams by emphasizing common goals and creating opportunities for joint gain. A common goal was to save the medical division of the company and make it successful. Many of the employees fought the changes but eventually pulled together and made the division profitable. Creating opportunities for joint gain allowed the employees and the company to come up with ideas that allowed them to be more productive therefore saving their jobs. Depending on the situation, job, company, and employee one, two, or all of the motivation theories can be used to help motivate employees to become more productive. Also an employee that is motivated and challenged to perform better will usually be more invested in the company and be more willing to work harder to achieve the success they desire. Reference Jones. (2007). Motivating and Managing People and Groups in Business Organizations. In Jones, Introduction To Business: How Companies Create Value For People. McGraw-Hill Companies.

Creativity in the workplace Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creativity in the workplace - Article Example eative individuals by influencing creative individuals intrinsically or extrinsically and the best way to influence them is to provide work that is challenging. She further states that managers need to allow creative subordinates to work on tasks in their own way and should provide them with complete support through resources and should be flexible when failures take place. She further adds that in an organization there are both creative as well as commercial employees and the commercial ones deal with the monetary side of the organization which the creative side is not concerned about. But instead of hiding the creative side from the monetary side, the creative side and the monetary side should meet each other for discussions on expectations and targets. She further adds that continuous work may make the creative workers weak and bore so enough time should be provided to them for other activities to keep their creative cells working and this may not be productive in the short run, b ut will be productive in the longer run. Managers need to manage creativity within their workplace and ensure that creative thinking and creative work takes place continuously within the organization as it is one of the most significant components of the organization. Before motivating creative thinking, managers need to provide a guideline regarding what the organization expects the employees to achieve. This will help employees think about different ways to achieve them. Individuals work hard when the task given to them is of higher significance, thus managers need to provide employees with such tasks to tap into creative minds. If they are not assigned significant tasks, employees will perceive that managers do not trust their decision making and will become de-motivated. Creativity is a process where trial and error takes place continually. If subordinates are not aware of the monetary limitations, they will continue to experiment and this can lead to heavy losses for the

Design in a Changing World Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Design in a Changing World - Case Study Example This feedback can be audible or visual. Feedback gives the user a feeling as well as a sense of confirmation that a system is functioning correctly and responsive. Consistency; User interfaces will be designed for consistency in appearance and function. Information will be organized on forms; the shape and size of icons, the arrangement and names of menu items, and the order followed to perform tasks will be consistent throughout the system (Satzinger, Jackson & Burd, 2012). Shortcuts; User interfaces, as well as dialogs designed for novices, are usually an impediment and annoyance to the productivity of experienced users. Users that frequently work with an application or for a long time want shortcuts for regularly used functions so as to cut down on the number of mouse clicks, keystrokes and menu selections needed to complete the task (Satzinger, Jackson & Burd, 2012). The system will have shortcuts such as voice commands and shortcut keys, like Windows keyboard sequences Ctrl+V for paste. Easy Reversal of Actions; Users should explore options as well as take actions that can be reversed or canceled with ease. This is also known as experimenting whereby users learn about the system. It is as well a way to avoid errors; since users can cancel the action once they realize that they had done a mistake (Satzinger, Jackson & Burd, 2012). Additionally, the design will include cancel buttons on every dialog box as well as allow users to go step backward at any time. Lastly, the system will ask the user to verify the action when he/she deletes something important like a record, a file or a transaction, if possible, the system will delay implementing that action.

Clinical update on the most effective sequence to first responding to Essay

Clinical update on the most effective sequence to first responding to unresponsive patient for optimal patient outcomes - Essay Example This should be done to the patient so that the unresponding patient can be revived from the coma state. The cause of unresponsive state of the patient is mainly caused by the low blood supply in the body of the individual which is insufficient to reach to the brain and to the heart thereby causing the individual to be unresponsive or otherwise faint. Throughout the study, some practices should not be done to the patient for example slapping the patient , giving of drink and food to the patient who is unresponsive should not be done among others will lead to other complications. When a patient is not responding or unconsciousness, it is impossible for one to talk or do any activity and this is commonly known to be a coma state or in other word comatose state. It is important for one to be aware of do’s and don’ts concerning the patient either a grown up or a child. Other patients have changes in awareness where they do not become unconscious where their mind is altered thus being termed as altered mental status or changed mental status. The patient becomes confused leading to yelling, production of foam from the mouth among others. The change of mental status should be treated as a medical emergency since it is a condition that can lead to death in a quicker manner (Cooke, 2009). In other times the patient may be awake but less alert where if asked questions like their name may lead to inability to answer the questions which indicate a change in the mental status. When a asleep, the patient can respond to noise and other disturbances like shak ing of their head or hands thus leading to waking up but in the case of an individual who is not responding or otherwise who is in unconscious mood the individual will not cough or clear his or her throat. This condition can lead to death if care and other medical attention are not conducted quickly since in most cases the patient airway may be blocked thus leading to instant death if first aid is not

Macro and Micro economics research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macro and Micro economics research - Essay Example Competitors sell products and services of the same description. A public is any group that has a potential interest on the ability of a company to achieve its goals and objectives. Macro environment Macro environment factors are also external to the firm and cannot be controlled. These factors hardly have any effect the marketing capability but affect the decisions of marketing within the company. Macro environmental factors may include the following: Cultural and Social Forces: This idea is considered in marketing literature as a substitute to the concept of marketing. The social forces try to make marketing as a practice that is socially responsible. This implies that companies ought to eradicate products that are socially harmful and only produce what may be valuable to society. Legal and political forces: Development in the legal and political field highly affects the decisions of marketing. Marketing decision may not be taken without considering the political parties in power, g overnmental agencies and laws regarding land. These variables often develop remarkable pressures on management of marketing. Laws often affect promotion and pricing, product design, capability and product capacity. In almost all the countries, the government always intervenes in the process of marketing despite their political beliefs. Demographic forces: In this situation, the marketer examines the population since the people create markets. Economic factors: The economic environment is made up of macro level factors that relate to a distribution and production means that affects the business of a company. Physical forces: These include the renewable and non-renewable resources of the earth. Renewable forces include food products and... Cultural and Social Forces: This idea is considered in marketing literature as a substitute to the concept of marketing. The social forces try to make marketing as a practice that is socially responsible. This implies that companies ought to eradicate products that are socially harmful and only produce what may be valuable to society. Legal and political forces: Development in the legal and political field highly affects the decisions of marketing. Marketing decision may not be taken without considering the political parties in power, governmental agencies and laws regarding land. These variables often develop remarkable pressures on management of marketing. Laws often affect promotion and pricing, product design, capability and product capacity. In almost all the countries, the government always intervenes in the process of marketing despite their political beliefs. Demographic forces: In this situation, the marketer examines the population since the people create markets. Economic factors: The economic environment is made up of macro level factors that relate to a distribution and production means that affects the business of a company. Physical forces: These include the renewable and non-renewable resources of the earth. Renewable forces include food products and the forest. Non-renewable resources include minerals, coal and oil. These components often change the level of resources that are necessary for a marketer.

Don't Know Much About History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Don't Know Much About History - Essay Example Nevertheless, in historical ages when American educational system was being conceptualized and developed, no one was interested to view the ideas from various schools of thought as complimentary but everyone was committed to prove that their part of the elephant is the best and they know the creature better than others. The neo-classical philosophers were of the view that schooling system should be designed with the help of their philosophy alone and that of others should be discarded. In the history of American schooling system, four distinct intellectual groups tried to influence the educational system and mechanism of the country. The first group is known as the humanistic school of thought that argued that schooling system must be designed in such a way that it should help in communication, prioritization and internalization of cultural norms and civic concepts in the mind of the next generation. The second group was in love with the novel concept of child development and conveye d that the schooling system must insure psychological and spiritual growth of students. The growth of students must be attained with the help of modifying and designing teaching and schooling according to various different needs of the students (Kliebard pp. 148). Then, another intellectual group emerged and it said that the schools must make the students learn the art and science of being a contributive human being. The focus of this group remained on the societal role of the individual in carrying forward the entire society in terms of economics, arts, and sciences. Finally, the re-constructivist approach appeared that stated that the schools are there to bring a vast scale social and political change in the community every now and then (Kliebard pp. 150). Highlights of Dinner with Philosophers from all Educational School of Thought Eliot invited Hall, Ayres and Counts to the dinner. Everyone was on time except Counts because he was busy in delivering lecture at the university and therefore, got late but rushed into the event approximately half an hour after its commencement. He apologized to everyone on the table, dragged his chair near to the host, and greeted him with warmth and respect. However, when he saw signs of annoyance on others’ faces then he seek refuge into stuffing his plate. The intellectual discussion started after the first round of wine and the host himself initiated it. He initially said that American schooling system is outdated and therefore, needs serious restructuring. He also added that he believes that the notion of ethics and civic virtue should be engraved in the students so that they should not indulge in crimes. Counts jumped into the discussion and argued that ethical standards of the society are closely related and correlated with economic outlook of the society and therefore, a man with a full belly can talk about righteousness. Ayres commented that we should classify our children into various groups in the light of th eir interests and capabilities and modify our teaching practices according to their learning needs. The discussion carried out and soon became a quarrel. The intellectual fight was interrupted by Counts when he noted that not all of the present approaches towards education are divergent but indeed, they are leading to the same objective that is human evolution. Everyone was stunned by the observation because each person was looking to

Report performance management (base pay & benefit) Essay

Report performance management (base pay & benefit) - Essay Example Performance management is a developing subject area. Not many current and up to date books are available. Journal articles are more helpful providing to the point and current research material. The material used is basically based on material printed in last five or six years. Material related to the Performance Management mostly depicts diverse direction of thinking by different practitioner and the theories stated by them. Findings: There is a big room for improvement, which is required for the company to improve its performance management process. It is also noticed from the previous research that the activities related to performance management process in the company were not synchronized with the organisational culture of the company. Limitation of the study: - There is a vast area related to the topic addressed, which needs to be researched and analyzed. The comparative study of performance management practices in different countries could also be undertaken. Practical implications: The study is a fair effort to help the individuals and the professionals attached to the field to understand the benefits attached to the right performance management process in the development of a company. Mullins (1998) defined motivation is a complex subject and is influenced by many variables. Individuals have a variety of changing, which they attempt to satisfy in a number of different ways. Motivation at work operates in two ways. First, people can motivate themselves by seeking, finding and doing work which leads them to expect that their goals will be achieved. Second, people might be motivated by management through such methods as pay, promotion and praise. These two ways can be described into two types of motivation (Armstrong, 1999): Intrinsic motivation- It can be described as the process of motivation by the work itself in so far as it satisfies people's needs or at least leads them to expect that their goals will be achieved. It is self-generated factors which influence people to behave in a particular way or to move in a particular direction. Intrinsic motivation refers to the intrinsic attractiveness of work itself (Child, 1994; Jackson & Bak, 1998; Tung, 1991). Extrinsic motivation- This includes rewards such as increased pay, praise or promotion. It is crude, easy and often effective. Money is individual basic need. As Duall (1999) said that when individuals are able to satisfy their perceived needs, they see themselves as being successful. In this view, the desire to achieve personal success is a natural phenomenon, and people are self-motivated to achieve, grow, and develop in positive ways (Greenberg, 1986a & b). Herzberg Motivator Hygiene Theory Herzberg (1966) proposes that all individuals have two sets of needs hygiene and motivator. Hygiene factor affect job dissatisfaction, these include such things as quality of supervision, pay, company policies, physical working conditions, interpersonal relations and job security. Job satisfaction appeared to be caused by motivator factors; these include promotional opportunities, opportunities for personal growth, recognition, a sense of achievement and responsibility. Most of the employees prefer to be recognized and appreciated through increment in pay

Narrative Technique of Sula Essay Example for Free

Narrative Technique of Sula Essay Although Sula is arranged in chronological order, it does not construct a linear story with the causes of each new plot event clearly visible in the preceding chapter. Instead, Sula uses juxtaposition, the technique through which collages are put together. The effects of a collage on the viewer depend on unusual combinations of pictures, or on unusual arrangements such as overlapping. The pictures of a collage dont fit smoothly together, yet they create a unified effect. The pictures of Sulas collage are separate events or character sketches. Together, they show the friendship of Nel and Sula as part of the many complicated, overlapping relationships that make up the Bottom. Morrison presents the novel from the perspective of an omniscient narrator one who knows all the characters thoughts and feelings. An omniscient narrator usually puts the reader in the position of someone viewing a conventional portrait or landscape rather than a collage. (In such situations, the viewer can perceive the unity of the whole work with only a glance.) To create the collage-like effect of Sula, the omniscient narrator never reveals the thoughts of all the characters at one time. Instead, from chapter to chapter, she chooses a different point-of-view character, so that a different persons consciousness and experience dominate a particular incident or section. In addition, the narrator sometimes moves beyond the consciousness of single, individual characters, to reveal what groups in the community think and feel. On the rare occasions when it agrees unanimously, she presents the united communitys view. As in The Bluest Eye and Jazz, the community has such a direct impact o n individuals that it amounts to a character. In narrative technique for Sula, Morrison draws on a specifically modernist usage of juxtaposition. Modernism, discussed in Chapter 3, was the dominant literary movement during the first half of the twentieth century. Writers of this period abandoned the unifying, omniscient narrator of earlier literature to make literature more like life, in which each of us has to make our own sense of the world. Rather than passively receiving a smooth, connected story from an authoritative narrator, the reader is forced to piece together a coherent plot and meaning from more separated pieces of  information. Modernists experimented with many literary genres. For example, T. S. Eliot created his influential poem The Wasteland by juxtaposing quotations from other literary works and songs, interspersed with fragmentary narratives of original stories. Fiction uses an analogous technique of juxtaposition. Each successive chapter of William Faulkner novel As I Lay Dying, for instance, drops the reader into a different characters consciousness without the direction or help of an omniscient narrator. To figure out the plot, the reader must work through the perceptions of characters who range from a seven-year-old boy to a madman. The abrupt, disturbing shifts from one consciousness to another are an intended part of the readers experience. As with all literary techniques, juxtaposition is used to communicate particular themes. In Cane, a work that defies our usual definitions of literary genres, Jean Toomer juxtaposed poetry and brief prose sketches. In this way, Cane establishes its thematic co ntrast of rural black culture in the South and urban black culture of the North. Morrison, who wrote her masters thesis on two modernists, Faulkner and Virginia Woolf, uses juxtaposition as a structuring device in Sula. Though relatively short for a novel, Sula has an unusually large number of chapters, eleven. This division into small pieces creates an intended choppiness, the uncomfortable sense of frequently stopping and starting. The content of the chapters accentuates this choppy rhythm. Almost every chapter shifts the focus from the story of the preceding chapter by changing the point-of-view character or introducing sudden, shocking events and delaying discussion of the characters motives until later. In 1921, for example, Eva douses her son Plum with kerosene and burns him to death. Although the reader knows that Plum has become a heroin addict, Evas reasoning is not revealed. When Hannah, naturally assuming that Eva doesnt know of Plums danger, tells her that Plum is burning, the chapter ends with Evas almost nonchalant Is? My baby? Burning? (48). Not until midway through the next chapter, 1923, does Hannahs questioning allow the reader to understand Evas motivation. Juxtaposition thus heightens the readers sense of incompleteness. Instead of providing quick resolution, juxtaposition  introduces new and equally disturbing events. Paradoxically, when an occasional chapter does contain a single story apparently complete in itself, it too contributes to the novels overall choppy rhythm. In a novel using a simple, chronological mode of narration, each succeeding chapter would pick up where the last one left off, with the main characters now involved in a different incident, but in some clear way affected by their previous experience. In Sula, however, some characters figure prominently in one chapter and then fade entirely into the background. The first chapter centers on Shadrack, and although he appears twice more and has considerable psychic importance to Sula and symbolic importance to the novel, he is not an important actor again. In similar fashion, Helene Wright is the controlling presence of the third chapter, 1920, but barely appears in the rest of the book. These shifts are more unsettling than if Shadrack and Helene were ancestors of the other characters, generations removed, because the reader would then expect them to disappear. Their initial prominence and later shadowy presence contribute to the readers feeling of disruption. The choppy narration of Sula expresses one of its major themes, the fragmentation of both individuals and the community. Sula. New York: Knopf, 1973. Rpt. New York: Penguin, 1982

Advantages and Reasons of Being Bilingual

Advantages and Reasons of Being Bilingual Saunders (1988) states that Fishman, a well-known writer in bilingualism, declares that more than half of the worlds population today uses more than one language while engaging in activities basic to human needs (Saunders 1988 p.1). Numerous causes contribute to the emergence and dominance of bilingualism. There are various optional or compulsory factors. Immigration is a major factor of being bilingual, whereas Immigrants move from one country to another, because of various reasons. For example, some of them escape from wars or poverty in their countries to search for better life in foreign linguistic communities. As a result, they will be forced to learn the language of the host countries and become bilingual in order to have wider contact opportunities and getting jobs. According to Saunders (1988), most immigrants speak the language of the new culture and environment. In Australia, for instance, 86.3% of immigrants speak their second language more than their home languages. Geogr aphical proximity of two countries is a possible factor of being bilingual, where people of the two communities need the communication among each other for different purposes like trade and other social relations like marriage resulting in bilingual families. Saunders also states that commerce and trade are critical factors motivating people to acquire a second language. Most economic business and commercial markets involve bilingual individuals to deal with customers from multicultural areas. 2.3.1 Education as a great reason of being bilingual: Education is one of the most fundamental factors pushing or motivating individuals to learn a second language. Being bilingual through education can be optional or obligatory. I notice that, in all Arab Gulf countries, most school students become bilingual due to their learning of English as a compulsory subject. However, there are some students, including colleges and universities students, who learn their second language English as an optional subject. The learning of English in these countries seems to be the result of the international relations between them and the United Kingdom. It is worth mentioning that the main focus of my research paper is being bilingual due to education. According to Baker (1988), bilingual education refers to any program aiming to teach students a second language besides their mother tongue at school. It takes various classifications based on the following factors. First of all, bilingual education is classified to elitist bilingualism and folk bilingualism according to the incentive of being bilingual. Elitist bilingualism is regarded as a reward offered to certain special individuals by government. Some students, for instance, are rewarded by being allowed to study abroad or study in prestigious universities in their countries. On the other hand, folk bilingual education is deemed a crucial need people have to meet in order to remain alive. When immigrants move to a new place, they acquire the language of that place so that they can interact with people there. Bilingual education is also categorized into immersion and submersion bilingual education based on the use of both languages in learning. In the immersion education, student s are allowed to speak their mother tongue while experiencing their subjects and communicating with teachers. They learn the second language gradually as time goes by. In contrast, students are not allowed to speak their home language in the submersion bilingual education. They are taught all their subjects in their second language. According to the major used language, bilingual education can be also categorized into transitional and maintenance or enrichment bilingual educations. Transitional bilingual education essentially aims to develop and make students fluent in one language only, which is the majority language. Therefore, this bilingual education focuses on the bilingualà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s first language in the learning procedures with few extra classes to learn the second language. For example, in the USA and Europe, the minority of languages are taken into account and cured in order to make the minority groups to be able to continue the education in English or other majority languages. Huddy and Sears (1984), state that bilingual education is improved in the United States by the Bilingual Educational Act in order to meet the needs of children who speak minor languages (Huddy and Sears 1984). On the other hand, maintenance or enrichment bilingual education aims to teach children their subjects with both languages to guarantee that children get good levels of proficiency in both languages. Baker indicates that some students are taught some subjects such as grammar in their native language, while mathematics is learned in the second language. Consequently, students master both languages, and the two languages are developed simultaneously. This type of education is used for example in Canada and Wales as Baker shows that à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"English speakers are taught French or Welsh to enable them to be fully bilingualà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  (P, 47). I assume that maintenance or enrichment bilingual education refers to th e same kind of education used in Oman but, here, the government uses the term dual education to refer to it.

Providing Independent Living For Disabled People Social Work Essay

Providing Independent Living For Disabled People Social Work Essay Independent living is about disabled people having the same level of choice, control and freedom in their daily lives as any other person. Everyone will need assistance or equipment of some kind, although many people with learning disabilities, physical and/or sensory impairments, mental health support needs, long-term health conditions or who experienced frailty associated with old age, will have additional needs for assistance. Although these additional needs for assistance and equipment may be met, it is not always giving people choice and control over the matter, others will decide on behalf of them which can lead to segregation and social exclusion. It is necessary for everyone, whatever their impairment, to express preferences and therefore express choices about their needs and how they should be met. What evidence is there that it is an issue? With reference to Christensen, K. (2010), The late 20th century rhetoric about empowering people by providing them with more independence in their lives has recently emerged within developed welfare states and led to the introduction of cash for care systems in many European countries. These systems allow local authorities to pay people cash instead of providing care if they are assessed as eligible for community care services and are willing and able to manage the payments alone or with assistance. What evidence is there that different policy options will affect the issue? The Prime Ministers Strategy Unit produced their final report on, Improving life chances of disabled people, in January 2005. Within this report it sets out an ambitious programme of action that will bring disabled people fully within the scope of the opportunity society. By supporting disabled people to help themselves, a step change can be achieved in the participation and inclusion of disabled people. This report sets out a strong vision for improving the life chances of disabled people, which is needed to help disabled people face fewer disadvantages. It is never going to happen straight away so they give themselves a 20-year vision: By 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life, and will be respected and included as equal members of society. This report plans to have big changes as a result of this strategy, to make these changes the strategy will empower and involve disabled people, personalise the support they receive and remove the barriers to inclusion and participation. Reference!! The centrepiece of this strategy is the promotion of independent living. Independent living is more than about being able to live in their own home, its about providing disabled people with; choice, empowerment and freedom. For the government to give disabled people more choice and control over their care The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act was introduced in 1996. With reference to the Directgov website, Direct Payments are local council payments got people who have been assessed as needing help from social services, it gives the individual the chance to arrange and pay for their own care and support services instead of receiving them directly from the local council. Direct payments and individualised budgets are central to the UK governments independent living strategy for disabled people to live autonomous lives, and have the same choice, freedom, dignity and control over their lives as non-disabled people (ODI, 2008:27). While Direct Payments have delivered important choice and control for some people, they are not suitable for everyone. Furthermore, the fragmentation of peoples needs across different budgets means that Direct Payments are not always sufficient to deliver a personalised and holistic response to individuals needs. The report, Improving life chances of disabled people, therefore suggests proposes that different sources of funding should be brought together in the form of individual budgets while giving individuals the choice whether to take these budgets as cash or as services. The overall aim would be to enable existing resources to be allocated and services delivered in ways that personalise responses to need, and give disabled people choice over how their needs are met. The Independent living strategy was published in 2008 and its aim was to ensure that all disabled people, including those with significant learning disabilities or other forms of cognitive impairment (including dementia), are enabled to have choice and control over how their support needs are met, and also to have greater access to housing, education, employment, leisure and transport opportunities and the participation in family and community life. REFERENCE!! Of paper. Within this strategy it includes; Putting People First, a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care, introducing personal budgets and help gaining information, advice and support, Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbours, a national housing strategy for an ageing population, the development of a national employment strategy to enable individuals to remain in employment when they become disabled or when an existing condition gets worse. Therefore the strategy covers all aspects of a disabled i ndividuals life. Why is this an important issue? What should we do about the issue? Disabled people themselves, employers, health professionals, educators, local communities, and providers of goods and services all have a key role in improving the life chances of disabled people. Disabled peoples experience of government support and services needs to change. Too often disabled people feel that they are fighting a system which is fragmented, complex and bureaucratic, and which does not put the needs of disabled people at the heart of service provision. Public service reform and investment has not yet benefited disabled people to the extent it should. REWORD paper improving life chances of disabled people. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/financialsupport/DG_10016128

Abortion is a Constitutional Issue :: Free Abortion Essays

Many people believe abortion is a moral issue, but it is also a constitutional issue. It is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body, and it should not be altered or influenced by anyone else. This right is guaranteed by the ninth amendment, which contains the right to privacy. The ninth amendment states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." This right guarantees the right to women, if they so choose to have an abortion, up to the end of the first trimester. Regardless of the fact of morals, a woman has the right to privacy and choice to abort her fetus. The people that hold a "pro-life" view argue that a woman who has an abortion is killing a child. The "pro-choice" perspective holds this is not the case. Before the 1973 landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wage, whereby abortion was effectively legalized, women died by the thousands at the hands of back-alley butchers. S ince Roe, less than 1 woman in 100,000 will die from an abortion. In fact, the procedure results in fewer deaths than childbirth or even a shot of penicillin. Despite the official legality of the procedure, it is still largely under attack by opponents. The fight is far from over, and is important that anyone who champions a woman's right to choose understand the ongoing threats abortion faces. The New Civil War offers a clear, compelling explanation of the issues surrounding the procedure and the ways in which antiabortion activists attempt to criminalize it. Divided into five parts, The New Civil War does not leave one stone unturned. This collection of essays is well written, succinct, and concise. Indeed, such a book is a necessary resource for anyone interested not only in the abortion debate, but also in the overarching patriarchal structures that create and maintain women's subordination. Part I is entitled "The Sociopolitical Context of Abortion." The first chapter in this section reviews abortion's status in the courts since Roe. Wilcox, Robbernnolt, and O'Keefe highlight the necessity for psychologists to remain vocal in the debate, primarily by providing research supporting the findings that abortion does not promote ill effects in those women who have them. Antiabortionists continue successfully to push forth legislation designed to prevent women from willfully terminating their pregnancies.

CHINAS RESPONSE TO OVERPOPULATION :: essays research papers

Introduction Today so many children and people in the world suffer from poverty and starvation. In so many third world country's families are going without food or good water. Never before have we seen so many children die before the age of five. It is impossible to feed all of these mouths and clothe all of these backs. The world is full of natural resources at our disposal. These resources are taken for granted and not preserved the way they should be. As a result, fossil fuels will not be available in a matter of years. Nature is missing links due to the extinction of many species, many we don't ever get a chance to learn about. More people means more products made in factories, more jobs needed, and more consumption of this earth's precious resources. Were are overcrowded! We are overpopulated. Not to mention all of the disease that is spread through the poverty stricken slums that the malnourished live in."We are already living with the consequences of human population growth. Ther e are now so many people, that we were probably pretty much forced to modernize and give up smelly outhouses in favor of the more convenient and practical flush toilet. Sanitation workers are paid to collect the trash that huge cities of people generate, as large populations need proper sanitation."(Garrett Hardin) We try to regulate this epidemic by using birth-control and other devices, but we see what good all of that is doing. We ourselves are setting up for extinction. There must be a way to control the overpopulation. We should not be a disease to this planet. Do we not see the connections between science and society!? Gaylord Nelson was quoted as saying, "The number one environmental problem facing the earth today would have to be population. Where on Earth Are We Going? He said the answer is: "It's all up to us. The level of human population and the scale and intensity of human activity has reached a point where we are literally affecting the very conditions o n which human life and well being depend. "The first major effect of overpopulation is consumption of valuable resources. This is one of the major causes of depletion of our natural resources. When mentioning consumption, we are referring to all the products we buy and use. In the United States, Americans consume far more than what is necessary.

Kurt Cobain Essay

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994) was an American musician and artist. He was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit† from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled â€Å"the flagship band† of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as â€Å"the spokesman of a generation†.[1] Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. He challenged Nirvana’s audience with its final studio album In Utero (1993). It did not match the sales figures of Nevermind but was still a critical and commercial success. During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the US, and over 75 million worldwide. Cobain was inducted – along with fellow Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl – into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, the first year in which they were eligible. Early life Kurt Donald Cobain was born on February 20, 1967, at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington,[2] to a waitress, Wendy Elizabeth (nà ©e Fradenburg) (born 1948),[3] and an automotive mechanic, Donald Leland Cobain (born 1946). His parents were married on July 31, 1965 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. His ancestry included Irish, English, Scottish, and German.[4][5][6] Cobain’s Irish ancestors migrated from Carrickmore, County Tyrone in the north of Ireland in 1875.[6] Researchers have found them to have been shoemakers, originally named Cobane, who came from Inishatieve, a townland within Carrickmore parish, settling in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and then in Washington.[7] Cobain himself believed his family came from County Cork in southern Ireland.[8] Cobain had one younger sister named Kimberly, born on April 24, 1970.[3][5] Cobain’s family had a musical background. His maternal uncle Chuck Fradenburg starred in a band called The Beachcombers, his Aunt Mari Earle played guitar and performed in bands throughout Grays Harbor County, and his great-uncle Delbert had a career as an Irish tenor, making an appearance in the 1930 film King of Jazz. Cobain was described as being a happy and excitable, while sensitive and caring child. His talent as an artist was evident from an early age. His bedroom was described as having taken on the appearance of an art studio,[2] where he would accurately draw his favorite characters  from films and cartoons such as Aquaman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Disney characters like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Pluto.[9] This enthusiasm was encouraged by his grandmother Iris Cobain, who was a professional artist herself. Cobain began developing an interest in music early in his life. According to his Aunt Mari, he began singing at two years old. At age four, Cobain started playing the piano and singing, writing a song about their trip to a local park. He listened to artists like the Ramones[10] and Electric Light Orchestra[11] and would sing songs like Arlo Guthrie’s â€Å"Motorcycle Song,† The Beatles’ â€Å"Hey Jude†, Terry Jacks’ â€Å"Seasons in the Sun† and the theme song to The Monkees television show at a young age.[12] When Cobain was seven years old, his parents divorced.[13] Later in his life, he said the divorce had a profound effect on his life. His mother noted that his personality changed dramatically; Cobain became defiant and withdrawn.[14] In a 1993 interview, he elaborated: â€Å"I remember feeling ashamed, for some reason. I was ashamed of my parents. I couldn’t face some of my friends at school anymore, because I desperately wanted to have the classic, you know, typical family. Mother, father. I wanted that security, so I resented my parents for quite a few years because of that.†[15] Cobain’s parents both found new partners after the divorce. His father had promised not to remarry; however, after meeting Jenny Westeby, he did, to Kurt’s dismay.[16] Kurt, his father, Westeby, and her two children Mindy and James, moved into a new household together. Cobain liked Westeby at first, who gave him the maternal attention he desired.[16][17] In January 1979, Westeby gave birth to a boy, Chad Cobain.[16] This new family, which Cobain insisted was not his real one, was in stark contrast to the attention Cobain was used to receiving as an only boy; he soon began to express resentment toward his stepmother.[16][17] Kurt’s mother began dating a man who was abusive. Cobain witnessed the domestic violence inflicted upon her, with one incident resulting in her being hospitalized with a broken arm.[17][18] Wendy steadfastly refused to press charges, remaining completely committed  to the relationship.[18] Kurt behaved insolently toward adults. He began bullying another boy at school. These behaviors eventually caused his father and Westeby to take him to a therapist, who concluded that Kurt would benefit in a single family environment.[18] Both sides of the family attempted to bring his parents back together, but to no avail. On June 28, 1979, Cobain’s mother granted full custody of Kurt to his father.[19] Cobain’s teenage rebellion quickly became overwhelming for his father, who placed Kurt in the care of family and friends. While living with the born-again Christian family of his friend Jesse Reed, Cobain became a devout Christian and regularly attended church services. Cobain later renounced Christianity, engaging in what would be described as â€Å"anti-God† rants. The song â€Å"Lithium† is about his experience while living with the Reed family. Religion would remain an important part of Cobain’s personal life and beliefs, as he often used Christian imagery in his work and maintained a constant interest in Jainism and Buddhist philosophy. The band name Nirvana was taken from the Buddhist concept, which Cobain described as â€Å"freedom from pain, suffering and the external world,† which paralleled with the punk rock ethic and ideology. Cobain would regard himself as both a Buddhist and a Jain during different points of his life, educating himself about the philosophies through various sources, including through watching late night television documentaries on both subjects.[20][21][22] Although not interested in sports, Kurt was enrolled in a junior high school wrestling team at the insistence of his father. Kurt was a skilled wrestler, yet despised the experience. Because of the ridicule he endured from his teammates and coach, he allowed himself to be pinned, in an attempt to sadden his father. Later, his father enlisted him in a Little League Baseball team, where Cobain would intentionally strike out to avoid playing on the team.[23] Cobain befriended a homosexual student at school, and suffered bullying from heterosexual students who concluded that Cobain was gay. In an interview he  said that he liked having the identity of being gay because he did not like people and when they thought he was gay they left him alone. Kurt stated, â€Å"I started being really proud of the fact that I was gay even though I wasn’t†. His friend tried to kiss him and Kurt backed away and told his friend he was not gay but would still be friends with him. In a 1993 interview with The Advocate, Cobain claimed that he was â€Å"gay in spirit† and â€Å"probably could be bisexual.† He also stated that he used to spray paint â€Å"God Is Gay† on pickup trucks in the Aberdeen area. Aberdeen police records show that Cobain was arrested for spray painting the phrase â€Å"Ain’t got no how watchamacallit† on other vehicles.[24] One of his personal journals states, â€Å"I am not gay, althou gh I wish I were, just to piss off homophobes.†[25] Cobain enjoyed creating works of art. He would often draw during school classes, including objects associated with human anatomy. When given a caricature assignment for an art course, Cobain drew a posing Michael Jackson. When his art teacher told him the caricature would be inappropriate to be displayed in a school hallway, Cobain drew an unflattering sketch of then-President Ronald Reagan.[26] As attested to by several of Cobain’s classmates and family members, the first concert he attended was Sammy Hagar and Quarterflash at the Seattle Center Coliseum in 1983.[2][27] Cobain, however, claimed that the first concert he attended was the Melvins; he wrote prolifically in his Journals of the experience.[28] As a teenager living in Montesano, Cobain eventually found escape through the thriving Pacific Northwest punk scene, going to punk rock shows in Seattle. Cobain soon began frequenting the practice space of fellow Montesano musicians the Melvins. During his second year in high school, Cobain began living with his mother in Aberdeen. Two weeks prior to graduation, he dropped out of Aberdeen High School upon realizing he did not have enough credits to graduate. His mother gave him a choice: find employment or leave. After one week, Cobain found his clothes and other belongings packed away in boxes.[29] Feeling banished from his own mother’s home, Cobain stayed with friends, occasionally sneaking back into his mother’s basement.[30] Cobain also claimed during  periods of homelessness to have lived under a bridge over the Wishkah River,[30] an experience that inspired the Nevermind track â€Å"Something in the Way†. However, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic said, â€Å"He hung out there, but you couldn’t live on those muddy banks, with the tides coming up and down. That was his own revisionism.†[31] In late 1986 Cobain moved into an apartment, paying his rent by working at â€Å"The Polynesian Resort†, a Polynesian coastal resort approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Aberdeen.[32] During this period, he was traveling frequently to Olympia, Washington to go to rock concerts.[33] During his visits to Olympia, Cobain formed a relationship with Tracy Marander. The couple had a close relationship, but one that was often strained with financial difficulties and Cobain’s absence when touring. Marander supported the couple by working at the cafeteria of the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, often stealing food. Cobain spent most of his time sleeping into the late evening, watching television and concentrating on art projects. Marander’s insistence that he get a job caused arguments that influenced Cobain to write â€Å"About a Girl†, which was featured on the Nirvana album Bleach. Marander is credited with having taken the cover photo for the alb um. Marander was not aware that â€Å"About a Girl† was written about her until years after Cobain’s death.[34][35][36][37][38][39] Soon after Marander separated from him, Cobain began dating Tobi Vail, an influential DIY punk zinester of the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill. After meeting Vail, Cobain vomited as he was so completely overwhelmed with anxiety regarding his infatuation with her. This event would inspire the lyric: â€Å"Love you so much it makes me sick,† which would appear in the song â€Å"Aneurysm†.[40] While Cobain would regard Vail as his female counterpart, his relationship with her waned. Cobain desired the maternal comfort of a traditional relationship, which Vail regarded as sexist within a countercultural punk rock community. Those who dated Vail would be described by her friend Alice Wheeler as â€Å"fashion accessories.†[39] Kurt and Tobi spent most of their time together as a couple discussing political and philosophical issues. In 1990 they collaborated on a musical project called â€Å"Bathtub Is Real†, in which both Vail and Cobain sang, played guitar and  d rums. They recorded their songs on a four-track tape machine that belonged to Vail’s father. In Everett True’s 2009 book â€Å"Nirvana: The Biography†[41] Vail is quoted as saying â€Å"(Kurt) would play the songs he was writing, I would play the songs I was writing and we’d record them on my dad’s four-track. Sometimes I’d sing on the songs he was writing and play drums on them†¦.. He was really into the fact that I was creative and into music. I don’t think he’d ever played music with a girl before. He was super-inspiring and fun to play with.† Slim Moon described their sound as â€Å"†¦ like the minimal quiet pop songs that Olympia is known for. Both of them sang; it was really good.†[42] Cobain’s relationship with Vail would inspire the lyrical content of many of the songs on Nevermind. Once, while discussing anarchism and punk rock with friend Kathleen Hanna, Hanna spray-painted â€Å"Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit† on Kurt’s apartment wall. Teen Spirit was the name of a deodorant Vail wore; Hanna joked that Cobain smelled like it. Cobain, unaware of this, initially interpreted the slogan as having a revolutionary meaning. The slogan inspired the title to the song â€Å"Smells Like Teen Spirit†.

E-Commerce Security Issues

[pic] INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT Name of the candidate: ISHA Enrollment no. : 01215903911 Course: MBA Batch: 2011-13 Subject: E-business Subject code: MS-114 Topic of assignment: Is security a real or perceptual problem in Web commerce. Subject Teacher’s name: Ms. Sneha Chopra ABSTRACT This project report contains the study of â€Å"is security a real or perceptual problem in web commerce†. The content includes the security related issues being faced by the companies or organizations in their business through e-commerce. The tools being available in market to cope with such issues and a company named ZANTAZ being involved in solving such issues like threats, hacking, frauds, and theft etc. The example of such company facing hacking issues (Facebook) is also included in the study. The emerging security related issues how been tackled and their impact on the business transactions are being discussed. Table of content |S. no |Content |Pg no | | | | | |1. Introduction |4 | |2 |Advantages & disadvantages of e-commerce |5-7 | |3 |Security a real problem |7-9 | |4 |Security issues |10-11 | |5 |Security tools |12 | |6 |Ex-Facebook |13-14 | |7 |Conclusion |15 | |8 |Viper report |16 | |9 |Source |17 | INTRODUCTION According to Wiegand (1997): â€Å"Any form of economic activity conducted via electronic connections† is called e-commerce. Web commerce  is a form of  electronic commerce  that is conducted primarily through the  World Wide Web  and other aspects of the  Internet. In e-commerce the business transactions are carried out on internet and includes purchase and selling of goods and services. Many business firms set up their website in order to display their products & services for consumers to purchase or to get access by using web browser. Websites present the consumer with various options for searching and selecting products and services, which offer speed and convenience of shopping from home or the office. The consumer gains benefits of shopping 24 hours a day. [pic] Recently the Worldwide E-Commerce Fraud Prevention Network was formed by American Express and e-tailers such as Amazon. com and Buy. com to establish common grounds for reducing the threats created by increasing reliance on the Internet for commerce. Membership has expanded swiftly to now include 375 large and small players united to promote the growth of e-commerce in large part by keeping fraud to a minimum. Consumer privacy is becoming the most publicized security issue replacing theft and fraud as top concerns in e-commerce. The DDOS attacks demonstrated that business sites did not maintain adequate security protection and intrusion detection measures. Security, however, is not just a matter of technology; implementing technology without the proper organizational processes will not solve security problems. There are a number of critical social and organizational issues with security. The first is that the weak link in security is often users or employees, rather than the technology. The second is software engineering management, or managing how security technology is deployed. The third is the development of adequate organizational processes for risk management, separation of duties, and development of security policies, access control, and security assurance. Advantages of E-commerce Lower Cost Doing e-business is cost effective; it reduces logistical problems and provides a small business with competitive advantage with giants such as Amazon. com or General Motors. E commerce helps in reducing cost of business as it enables to get access to large population. Economy It helps in development of economy. It provides the business an international platform to do transactions and get a competitive advantage in the economy and increase the productivity. Higher Margins E-business along with higher margins helps in gaining more control and flexibility and enables to save time when manual transactions are done electronically. Better Customer Service E–commerce means better and quicker customer service. Online customer service makes customers happier. Instead of calling your company on the phone, the web merchant gives customers direct to their personal account online. This saves time and money Quick Comparison Shopping E–commerce helps consumers to comparison shop. Automated online shopping assistants called hop bots scour online stores and find deals on everything from apples to printer ribbons. Productivity Gains Implementing the web throughout an organization means improved productivity. For example IBM incorporated the web into every corner of the firm – products, marketing, and practices. Teamwork It has made the interaction easier through e-mails. It has transformed the way organizations interact with suppliers, vendors, business partners, and customers–mail is one example of how people collaborate to exchange information and work on solutions Information Sharing, Convenience, and Control Electronic commerce improves information sharing between merchants and customers and promotes quick, just–in–time deliveries. They can interact at any time through internet without any traffic jams, no crowds etc. Disadvantages of E–commerce Security Security continues to be a problem for online businesses. A customer does not feel confident about the secrecy of the payment process before they purchase anything. Unauthorized access and hacking of information are the major concern. System and Data Integrity Data protection and the integrity of the system are serious concerns. Viruses cause unnecessary delays, file backups, storage problems, danger of hackers and other similar difficulties. System Scalability A business develops an interactive interface with customers with a website. A website must be scalable, or upgradable on a regular basis to make sure customers remain with them. E–commerce is not free Establishing a web based organization involves huge funds or investment by the management. Brands are expected to lower search costs, build trust, and communicate quality. Customer Relations Problems It is the foremost objective of the organization to maintain the customer’s loyalty with them because they cannot survive in the market for long term without them. Products People won't buy online People mostly don’t prefer to buy furniture’s for ex, online because they want to sit on it feel the texture of the fabric and therefore a website called furniture. com or living. com, have failed. Fake sites There are many bad sites which eat up customers’ money. Product quality There is no guarantee of product quality as customers cannot touch or test the product before the deal. [pic] Security is a real problem in web commerce. Security issues are rising day by day in web commerce and have become a major problem in the economy. The opaqueness of data collection methods on the World Wide Web has given rise to privacy concerns among Internet users. The number of hacking cases has risen and fake sites are countless on net. From this we can assume how secure our business transactions on the internet. To overcome this problem many software such as firewall, etc has been developed and installed in the organizations database so that the information is been secured from outside users. Security means â€Å"freedom from risk and danger†. In e-business security is the main concern of the business. How safe you are while conducting business on internet is the issue of nowadays. Consumers fear the loss of their financial data, and e-commerce sites fear the financial losses. Studies have shown that consumers are concerned about the lack of privacy on the Web. For example, Ryker et al. [2002] quote a Price Water House Coopers study indicating that 92% of consumers are worried about privacy, with 61% refuses to shop online. Forrester research has found that privacy fears inhibit nearly 50% of consumers from shopping online and suggests that consumers often decline to provide data requested by websites and provide false information. Online privacy and online security are distinct. Privacy concerns arise when consumers' personal information is retrieved online without the consumer's consent or knowledge and is sold to third parties without the consumer's consent or knowledge. Whereas, online security relates to the confidentiality of the information, system's ability to secure itself against the conduct of unauthorized third parties, such us hackers, who attempt to access the Web site's stored information. Security Issues in web commerce:- Three types of security threats 1. Denial of service, 2. Unauthorized access, and 3. Theft and fraud 1). Denial of Service (DOS):- Two primary types of DOS attacks: spamming and viruses a) Spamming Sending unsolicited commercial emails to individuals E-mail bombing caused by a hacker targeting one computer or network, and sending thousands of email messages to it. Surfing involves hackers placing software agents onto a third-party system and setting it off to send requests to an intended target. DDOS (distributed denial of service attacks) involves hackers placing software agents onto a number of third-party systems and setting them off to simultaneously send requests to an intended target. b) Viruses: self-replicating computer programs designed to perform unwanted events c) Worms: special viruses that spread using direct Internet connections d) Trojan Horses: disguised as legitimate software and trick users into running the program 2). Unauthorized access a) Illegal access to systems, applications or data b) Passive unauthorized access – listening to communications channel for finding secrets. May use content for damaging purposes c) Active unauthorized access. †¢ Modifying system or data. †¢ Message stream modification †¢ Changes intent of messages, e. g. to abort or delay a negotiation on a contract d) Masquerading or spoofing – sending a message that appears to be from someone else. †¢ Impersonating another user at the â€Å"name† (changing the â€Å"From† field) or IP levels (changing the source and/or destination IP address of packets in the network) e) Sniffers – software that illegally access data traversing across the network. 3). Theft and fraud a. Fraud occurs when the stolen data is used or modified b. Theft of software via illegal copying from company’s servers c. Theft of hardware, specifically laptops, pen drive, cds, hard disk etc. E-COMMERCE SECURITY TOOLS:- 1. Firewalls- software and hardware 2. digital certificates 3. digital signatures 4. ublic key infrastructure 5. encryption software 6. Biometrics- retinal scan, fingerprints, voice, etc. 7. passwords 8. Locks and bars- network operations centers. An example:- Driven by information preservation rules, corporations within the financial services sector have begun to seek assistance from companies such as ZANTAZ, a leading provider of Compliance Technology Solutions. With the help of companies like ZANTAZ, a corporation can deploy proactive compliance initiatives that: a) Automatically capture, archive and instantly retrieve email, attachments, and IM; b) Monitor and supervise email, IM and other electronic communication; and ) Quickly restore data from back-up tapes in the event of an audit, litigation or investigation. Companies like ZANTAZ have gone to great lengths to empower a corporation to quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively deploy proactive compliance solutions associated with electronic communication preservation, supervision, and record-keeping regulations. Example- â€Å"Facebook – security issues† One of the example of the company facing security issue worldwide is Facebook. Facebook has been under heavy attack since the last two year as the popular social networking site has become the victim of a severe hacking spree affecting nearly every user on the site. it has become a severe problem worldwide and is still increasing. The hacks do not seem to have specific targets but happen at random with some user’s newsfeeds being littered with objectionable content and others not seeing anything. This led to the temporarily blocking of site and unable to access the information by the users. Some of the hacks happen in the form of â€Å"click' spam being sent out. A popular spam involves Kim Kardashian with a link to a video. It will say something like â€Å"After watching this video I lost all respect for Kim. † Upon clicking, the link takes the unsuspecting person nowhere, and hacks the account sending the same spam to all of the user’s friends. Other spams include mass messages and tagged photos leading people to believe they are in the link or involved with it because it is not personalized. Those will also have the same result, and continue the spamming of others walls. Impact on customer Users are outraged and some are considering deleting their profiles. Actress and director, Courtney Zito, told The ChristianPost, â€Å"I have 5000 friends. My feed is littered with porn. I can't even check my news feed with anyone around because of it†. This led to the decrease in the market share and people have removed their pictures and are now afraid of posting anything on profile. Computer hackers attempt to break into at least 600,000 Facebook accounts using stolen username and password details every day, the social networking giant have revealed. The latest revelation came after Facebook issued a security announcement promoting its new ‘Trusted Friends' password restoration technique. Many of the hackers are caught out by additional authentication questions, such as asking users to identify friends in pictures, but many attempts are successful. this problem has helped contribute to the demise of Myspace a couple of years ago. The spam ran rampant ultimately causing many of the users to switch to the â€Å"safer† Facebook. [pic] Conclusion Security is now understood to be largely imperfect, the continual cat-and-mouse game of security expert and hacker. Important technical developments have been deployed in the last five years; however, it is clear that organizational policies may play as an important role in site security. The results of this study provide support for the assumption that consumer e-commerce adoption/rejection decisions are determined by rational behavior in terms of channel net value seen as the perceived balance of power between the overall benefits that are likely to accrue by using the Internet, and the overall barriers encountered to using it or to deriving the sought benefits: Internet adopters, and especially the consumers who have embraced online shopping, perceive the total benefits of e-commerce as exceeding the total impediments to embracing/using e-commerce, whereas Internet non-adopters consider the impediments to e-commerce as drastically surpassing the benefits offered by the commercial Internet. VIPER REPORT [pic] SOURCES 1. http://www. allbusiness. om/technology/software-services-applications-online-security/11565464-1. html#ixzz1kNGJjj94 2. http://www. allbusiness. com/technology/software-services-applications-online-security/11565464-1. html 3. www. manjeetss. com/art icles/advantagesdisadvantagesecommerce. htm 4. http://www. allbusiness. com/technology/software-services-applications-online-security/11565464-1. html#ixzz1kNOllPwd 5. http://www. pcworld. com/article/160545/facebook_hit_by_five_security_problems_in_one_week. html 6. http://www. dailymail. co. uk/sciencetech/article-2054994/Facebook-hackers-attempting-crack-600-000-accounts-day. html 7. http://www. eecs. umich. edu/~ackerm/pub/03e05/EC-privacy. ackerman. pdf

Choose One of the Following Models of Psychosynthesis

Choose one of the following models of psychosynthesis: (a) subpersonalities, (b) ‘I’ and the sense of identity, (c) the egg diagram. Discuss and critique its usefulness as a tool for understanding your own development and its possible application to clinical work. This essay will choose to discuss model (b) ‘I’ and the sense of identity, particularly in relation to the work of John Firman.This essay aligns with the definitions of â€Å"I† and Self as outlined by Assagioli (1965), that â€Å"I† is one’s sense of personal self, the centre of our consciousness and will, and not to be confused with the psychological contents of consciousness. Assagioli recognized a powerful integrative principle acting within the human psyche – the Self, stating that â€Å"I† is a â€Å"projection† or â€Å"reflection† of Self, seeing Self as the Ground of Being, the luminous Source from which our being flows.I agree with Firmanâ €™s (1997) singular use of the term Self to refer to the entirety of â€Å"I†s deeper being. Through the process of psychosynthesis, Assagioli believed that the â€Å"I† could become freed up to establish itself as an autonomous centre serving the Self, and it is this â€Å"freeing up† of â€Å"I† from its surrounding â€Å"contents†, including its many constellations of personalities, known as subpersonalities in psychosynthesis, that can allow for a person’s authentic sense of identity to emerge.This essay will focus on the fundamental nature of empathy in psychosynthesis thought, as an inherent quality of â€Å"I†, with its source in Self, and how, through the emerging sense of my own sense of â€Å"I†, the development of my own personal centre, this psychological tool assisted in my understanding of my own development, and was in fact utterly key to it. I will then discuss and critique the â€Å"I†s possible appl ication to clinical work, especially in relation to the importance of developing empathy.Empathy in this sense refers to the potential of â€Å"I† to be fundamentally loving towards all aspects of the personality (Firman and Gila 2007). This emergence of â€Å"I† may be seen as the heart of psychosynthesis therapy, and the pre-requisite for authentic self-expression in the world, as Assagioli affirms, â€Å"I am a living, loving, willing self† (Assagioli 1973, 156).It is precisely the ability of the therapist to provide an authentic unifying centre for the client that Assagioli emphasized as imperative to the development of personal identity, seeing such a unifying centre as â€Å"An indirect but true link, a point of connection between the personal man and his higher Self, which is reflected and seen in that object† (Assagioli 1965,25). Thus, the empathic, relational interaction with such an external unifying centre conditions the formation of an inner r epresentation or model of that centre, which can be called an internal unifying centre.In this sense the inner centre becomes capable of fulfilling the same function as the external one. In psychosynthesis, the â€Å"I† is taken as the sense of identity with its roots in Self. Assagioli (1965) affirmed the essential unity of â€Å"I† and Self, but he was also careful to maintain a distinction between them, since â€Å"I† is one’s personal sense of self flowing from the more universal nature of Self. In psychosynthesis, it is this relationship, between â€Å"I† and Self, that forms the very ground of Self-realization, defined here as one’s sense of authentic relationship.Assagioli’s insight into the nature of personal identity, or â€Å"I†, is central to psychosynthesis thought, and he was also clear not to confuse such personal identity with organizations of psychological content. Rather he saw â€Å"I† as distinct but n ot separate from any contents of experience, from any and all processes or structures of the personality† (Firman & Gila 2007, 9). One primary way Assagioli stressed to reveal the nature of â€Å"I†, was through introspection, an act of self-observation, attending to the ever arising contents of experience in consciousness. †¦the point of pure self-awareness (the â€Å"I†), is often confused with the conscious personality just described, but in reality it is quite different from it. This can be ascertained by the use of careful introspection. The changing contents of our consciousness (the sensations, thoughts, feelings, etc) are one thing, while the â€Å"I†, the self, the centre of our consciousness is another. † (Assagioli, 1965, 18). Here, a clear distinction is made between one’s sense of identity and one’s personality, a central and profound distinction within psychosynthesis thought.I began my own personal journey with a gre at need to establish my own sense of identity. I had a very broken experience of self that many times led me into a crises of identity. It was through the practice of introspection, or self-attention, in the form of continuous attention to the consciousness â€Å"I†, or the inner feeling â€Å"I†, that I developed my own sense of self. In my teenage years, my sense of identity would constantly move through what was for me, a very fragmented terrain of personality, and I had a very fragile connection to an authentic centre of identity within my personality matrix.Through the process of self-attention, I was able to establish an authentic sense of identity. Once this sense of â€Å"I† had been established as a â€Å"good enough† sense of self within me, a process of self-empathy could develop as a result of this, providing me with an â€Å"internal holding environment† (Winnicot 1987, 34), of empathy and love, an internal unifying centre, a ground fr om which to include ever more of my experience, allowing me greater exploration of self, and a centre from which to form such experiences into creative expression in the world.This leads onto one of the most useful aspects of this model in my experience, which is the concept of disidentification, a necessary requisite of empathic love. This refers to the capacity of â€Å"I† to not get stuck in, identified with, any particular contents of experience, such as thoughts, feelings, sensations, subpersonalities, etc, but rather to be able to shift and move through them all (Firman & Gila 2007).My personal practice of attention to the inner feeling â€Å"I† acted for me as an external unifying centre, that over time, coupled with my own therapeutic experience, became the internal holding environment of my own authentic sense of â€Å"I†. Through this psychosynthetic approach to identity, one may come to discover that one is not what one sees, that is the contents of c onsciousness, but rather, one is the seer themselves, the point of pure consciousness embodied within the various contents.Through this capacity of the â€Å"I† to be distinct but not separate from such contents of consciousness, the possibility of self-empathy may be born, whereby one learns to enter into a relationship with all parts of oneself, experiencing each, without losing one’s inherent sense of identity. This was of invaluable use to me in my development as it allowed me to find an anchor as it were, a point of stability, within an ever changing flow of experience.And for me, it was this process of disidentification that allowed me to disentangle myself from â€Å"survival personality† (Firman & Gila 1997), that defensive part of me that had formed as a result of not being â€Å"seen† and validated as an â€Å"I† when I was a child, due to what self-psychology calls â€Å"empathic failures† in my early holding environment. In my ca se this was due to a mother who â€Å"saw† me through a projection of her own self thus resulting in my own core essence not â€Å"being seen†.This led to deep â€Å"primal wounding† in me, and from this it becomes clear how Assagioli’s â€Å"introspection† may serve as part of what can heal such â€Å"primal wounding,† which Firman and Gila define as â€Å"an experienced disruption in the empathic mirroring relationship between the personal self or â€Å"I† and Self† (Firman & Gila 1997, 89). This may allow for a sense of continuity of being to be established, since the I-Self connection is that essential empathic connection, hinting at the relational source of human being.In my experience, one of the potential dangers of this model is that the concept of â€Å"I† may be taken literally, as a thought, rather than as a person’s authentic experiential centre of being. Here, a danger is that the tool of disidentific ation could act as a further form of dissociation rather than allowing space for the deeper vulnerabilities of the personality. For me, this manifested in that I would identify with the pure â€Å"I† as a single and specific mode of experience that rendered other modes remote, becoming a further aspect of my â€Å"survival personality†.However, since disidentification has been defined as â€Å"simple, introspective, self-empathic witnessing†¦. founded in the transcendence-immanence of â€Å"I† – the ability of â€Å"I† to be distinct, but not separate from the contents of awareness. † (Firman & Gila, 1977, 56), it is identification, and not disidentification that is the dynamic underlying dissociation. It is important here to bring in the concept of subpersonalities, that may be defined as the â€Å"many constellations of thought, each composing an identity† (Ram Dass, cited in Firman & Gila 1977,63), since the theoretical istinc tion between one’s authentic sense of identity and the many â€Å"subpersonal† identities is essential in psychosynthesis. Firman & Russel (1994) use the concept of â€Å"authentic personality† when referring to this â€Å"empathic reaching† within oneself to realize the authentic, whole expression of one’s essential nature or â€Å"I-amness†, which they argue is akin to the true â€Å"inner child†; and they distinguish between what they call one’s true personality â€Å"core†, and the varying â€Å"ego-states† or subpersonalities.Psychosynthesis therapy is able to provide a powerful environment of support and nurturance for the emerging sense of a client’s authentic â€Å"I-amness†, allowing for the client’s self-expression to begin to express their â€Å"true nature†, rather than their sense of identity and self-expression being based on an unconscious attempt at self-defence.So these ideas are very useful in relation to understanding how a person’s authentic sense of â€Å"I† or identity can become enmeshed in â€Å"survival personality† due to childhood wounding, and how, through the therapeutic experience of an â€Å"authentic unifying centre†, and a â€Å"holding environment† that fosters authentic, spontaneous expression of self rather than defensive focus on survival, the emergence of authentic â€Å"I† may emerge as the central feature of a person’s personality and identity, potentially allowing them a more creative and authentic life in the world.The point here is that identity is relational, and not an isolated event, and thus, a clinical setting may provide a holding environment that may allow for a â€Å"good enough† healing of a person’s I-Self connection to allow for enough personal continuity of being, begetting a stronger path of self-actualization. In my experience, my own therapist p rovided me with an external unifying centre that has continued to be a powerful centre for me and my journey into authentic relationship (Self-realization).My own psychotherapy became for me my first relational experience that allowed me to feel â€Å"seen†. â€Å"When I look, I am seen, therefore I exist. † (Winnicot, 1988b, 134), and thus begun my work of personal psychosynthesis with grounded and self-actualizing potency. For me, I realized that my true work lay in the mastery and integration of my total being â€Å"around the unifying centre of the â€Å"I†Ã¢â‚¬  (Assagioli, 1965, 51).Chris Meriam (1996) makes it clear, as already discussed, that the first principle of empathic enquiry, applied to ourselves, is our willing exploration of our subjective world as a way of understanding that world, holding ourselves as â€Å"I† distinct but not separate from all that we encounter. â€Å"When we relate to ourselves in this way – simultaneously t ranscending and engaging the vast array of psychological content†¦we become more deeply self-understanding, self-empathic† (Chris Meriam 1996, 18).Applying this to a clinical setting, Meriam speaks of the inner world of the client being engaged in much the same way allowing for the emergence of their own â€Å"I† and authentic sense of identity. In this sense, the therapist remains distinct but not separate from the client’s world, also taking the same stance towards the clients â€Å"issues†. It is referring to this capacity of empathic â€Å"I† that Firman & Gila (2007) speak of â€Å"I† as â€Å"transcendent-immanent†.This ability to â€Å"hold† the client in their â€Å"I-amness† allows them the opportunity for empathic engagement with â€Å"any and all† of their subjective experience. Thus, the emerging sense of empathic â€Å"I† that is given possibility through psychosynthesis therapy, allows a c lient to bring to awareness unconscious identifications that may be functional within their psychological patterning, constricting their consciousness and inhibiting their growth. In this vein, Assagioli writes, â€Å"We are dominated by everything with which our self becomes identified† (Assagioli 1965, 22).Here Assagioli is speaking of unconscious identification where we have become â€Å"captured† by our subjective world rather than standing in a â€Å"free† position to it. So the empathic â€Å"I† or personal self of the therapist allows the therapist to offer interventions based on an emerging understanding of the client’s subjective world as an interpenetrating mixture of higher, middle, and lower unconscious material â€Å"-of personal and transpersonal activities and states of awareness-all underscored and held together by a deeper empathic Self. (Chris Meriam 1996, 16) Here again, it is worth noting the potential danger of an individual m isusing the idea of transcendence as a form of â€Å"spiritual bypassing† (Firman & Gila 2007) of certain unwanted identifications or more â€Å"difficult† psychological content, thusly ignoring the deeper â€Å"transcendent-immanent† capacity of empathic â€Å"I† to engage in the full exploration of subjective experience.It is to be aware that withdrawal from psychological content as a form of avoidance is dissociating from the very ground of empathic relationship, and thus, authentic personal sense of identity is â€Å"disconnected†. However, within proper use of empathic â€Å"I† is held the tremendous potential that can be offered through the clinical setting in relation to the development of a person’s â€Å"I† and sense of identity.Here, as Chris Meriam (1996) notes, not only is â€Å"I† inherently of empathic nature, but also includes qualities of observation and awareness, responsibility, power, and choice. †Å"I† has consciousness and will. These potentialities of â€Å"I†, ever in line with true psychosynthesis, allow for the possibility of an ever deepening sense of identity and self-knowledge, an ever deepening degree of self-realization, and an ever widening field of authentic self-actualization, as one learns to express oneself with, and be guided by, integrity and creative self-expression in the world.In conclusion, it is clear how utterly central the â€Å"I† and sense of identity are to psychosynthesis and psychosynthesis therapy. In my own case, the profound insight into â€Å"I† underpinned my connection not only to my own inner and authentic sense of self, helping me distinguish between â€Å"I† and my â€Å"community of selves†, but also how it also lay down the foundations of my authentic relational experience with others.In this light, I feel that one of the major aspects of this model, is the understanding of the I-Self relationshi p as â€Å"containing† the very source of empathy, and thereby situating the very â€Å"heart† and â€Å"core† of personal identity as an empathic and relational experience, rather than an isolated event of personal liberation independent and detached from the relational field altogether, as posed by so many traditional spiritual paths. Also, through â€Å"I†s empathic presence in a clinical setting, and with applied echniques such as personal â€Å"introspection†, psychosynthesis therapy may allow for an ever more authentic and emerging sense of self within the client. Here the main point brought forth is that the psychosynthetic, psychotherapeutic relationship â€Å"works†, fundamentally, because of its allowance and nurturing of the clients emerging sense of empathic â€Å"I†, ultimately fostering the development of an internal unifying centre and the subsequent development of authentic personality. Taking this further, we might co nclude that empathy is the key to understanding our connection to all forms of life and all existence. We may even have a keen sense that everything from the tiniest particle of sand to the most distant star is held together in empathic wholeness. † (Chris Meriam 1965, 23) Thus, may â€Å"I† offer not only one’s authentic sense of identity, but â€Å"I† may also be the very point of relational connection itself, and the very heart of communion with All-That-Is.