About Tragic Mulatto

The tragic mulatto is one of stereotypical terms used to describe someone with mixed racial Identity (halfback and half white). It has been shown In American literature during the 19th and 20th centuries, from the 1 8405. Often In many literary works, these light skinned Individuals who are characterized as â€Å"tragic mulatto† are assumed to be remorseful and distressed. Due t o their such complexity, they fail to fit in the â€Å"white world† or the â€Å"black world†. As such. He â€Å"tragic c mulatto† is depicted as the victim of the society in society divided by race, where there is no place e for one who is neither completely â€Å"black† nor â€Å"white†. The word â€Å"mulatto† is originated from the Portuguese and Spanish word mulatto, deer Veda from the word, mull (from Old Spanish, from Latin mÃ'Ëœlulls meaning mule, a hybrid o offspring off horse and a donkey. Many Europeans suspected the offspring between a White Euro pa ean and a Black African would live very long. Thus the main reasoning behind the derivation oft his term is that al such offspring would be born sterile and incapable of reproducing themselves.In literature, mulattoes were often unaware of their black heritage. Upon discovering their African ancestry, tragedy comes because such characters find themselves barred fro m white society and, thus, the privileges available to whites. Distraught at their fate as people of color, tragic mulattoes In literature often turned to seclude. In other Instances, they pass for white, abandon cut off part of their black heritage. In Dalton, such characters were frequently portrayed as salacious or troubled because of their mixed blood.

Problems In Accessing Health Care Health And Social Care Essay

Nepal has made important advancement in cut downing infant mortality in the last few decennaries. The infant mortality rate in Nepal has dropped from 113 per 1000 in 1987 to 48 per 1000 unrecorded births in 2006. However ; this diminution is non equal to run into the Millennium Development Goal ( MDG-4 ) .One of the grounds for this is, the hapless diminution in neonatal mortality rate ( NMR ) .The neonatal mortality accounts 69 per centum of IMR ( 33 in 48 ) .1 The MDG-4 can non be met unless we do more to cut down neonatal deceases, particularly in developing states in Africa and South Asia.2 Further betterment in infant endurance is critically linked to improved newborn endurance. Each twelvemonth 4 million babes die in the four hebdomads of life – the neonatal period. That is more than 10000 deceases a twenty-four hours. Most of these deceases are live and remain unseeable to all. Virtually, 99 per centum of these deceases occur in developing countries.2 Government wellness services are non the chief contact points while they become sick. When unwellness occurs, a scope of local attention suppliers are available. Choices are made within a web of traditional and allopathic options that besides encompasses sensed costs, geographical and climatic restraints, and the clip of twenty-four hours, the type of unwellness, cultural and spiritual concerns and opportunity. Seeking of medical aid is done merely after supplier shopping. Family patterns and behaviour drama a cardinal function in the attention of newborn. Inappropriate eating and other patterns predispose neonates to hazard of complications and delayed acknowledgment of unwellness and delayed wellness seeking may take to a potentially preventable decease. Hence it is of huge value to understand community perceptual experiences about newborn wellness in order to invent behavioral alteration communicating schemes. Newborn mortality remains a serious job in the underdeveloped universe. Every twelvemonth 30000 Nepali kids die before they are 28 yearss old.The state with a NMR 33 per 1000 unrecorded births has the 3rd highest neonatal mortality in the universe 1 The hazard of decease in the neonatal period in developing parts of the universe is more than six times the hazard in developed regions.3 To day of the month, Child endurance programmes in the development universe have tended to concentrate on Pneumonia, Diarrhoea, malaria and Vaccines preventable diseases, which chiefly causes deceases after the first month of life. In add-on Safe maternity programmes have focused chiefly on the female parent. Prevention of newborn deceases has been lost between kid endurance and safe maternity programmes. 1, 2,Rationale for the surveyThe pattern of appropriate wellness seeking has a great potency to cut down the happening of terrible and dangerous newborn unwellnesss. Information on the wellness seeking behavior helps the policy shapers set schemes to diminish the mortality due to Newborn unwellnesss. However, no such surveies have been reported from Nepal specially done Dalit community. Newborns attention is one of the national precedence plans. Governments are get downing to include newborn ‘s demands in national wellness policies in conformity with the Convention on the rights of the kid and other international committednesss. A few states are developing specific policies for newborn wellness ; for illustration, Nepal, had developed National Neonatal Health Strategy ( 2004 ) , National Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health- Long Term Plan ( 2006-2017 ) and Community Based Newborn Care Package ( CBNCP ) 2008. Improved family patterns and usage of services, frequently at the community degree, will increase newborn endurance. Behaviour, that is, attention for or usage of services by female parents and neonates, is cardinal. Therefore, this survey has been designed to measure the determiners of wellness seeking behavior for newborn unwellness in Dalit community, which will be a utile piece of information for policy shapers to put schemes to diminish newborn morbidity and mortality. Besides, it will be utile for the research worker to place the factors related to newborn unwellness and attention seeking behavior of Dalit community and hence develop farther research in this country. The intent of this survey is to measure wellness seeking behavior of the female parents during newborn unwellness and to observe the consequence of socio- demographic, socio-cultural, economic and disease-related variables, on female parent ‘s attention seeking behavior during newborn unwellness. The intent i s to measure the grounds for preferred attention seeking behavior and female parents ‘ cognition about danger marks of Newborns.Literature ReviewNewborn CareThe female parent should take her newborn babe to the nearest wellness attention installation ( SHP ) if the babe has/is, hapless eating or suction, hapless call, refusal to feed, stiffness of the organic structure, xanthous stain of organic structure, fast external respiration, bluish babe ( bluish lips ) , discharge from the Umbilicus or eyes, hot or cold babe on touch, being born excessively early or excessively little at birth, grunting respiration, lassitude, diarrhea, etc.9 About all believed in giving foremilks, although a few grandmas were against it, because they thought that it was old and stored milk, and therefore non good for the babe. Almost everyone believed in utilizing day-to-day addendums, H2O, or honey along with chest milk. Very few female parents expressed cognition about sole breastfeeding ; nevertheless, they were concerned that they may non be able to pattern due to the contrary sentiment of the grandmothers.8Causes of Neonatal DeathEstimates from 2000 of the distribution of direct causes of decease indicate that preterm birth ( 28 per centum ) , terrible infections ( 36 per centum ) , including sepsis/pneumonia ( 26 per centum ) , tetanus ( 7 per centum ) , and diarrhea ( 3 per centum ) , and complications of asphyxia ( 23 per centum ) history for most neonatal deceases. Of the staying 14 per centum, 7 per centum of deceases were related to inborn abnormalcies 2 Late neonatal deceases are chiefly due to infections. Case direction of neonatal infections is chiefly provided through child-health services, both in installations and through family-community attention. Remarkable advancement has been made in cut downing neonatal lockjaw, but riddance is an unfinished planetary committedness, originally scheduled for 1995, so broadened to maternal and neonatal lockjaw and postponed to 2005.12 Neonatal lockjaw is now responsible for a little proportion of planetary neonatal deceases ( 6 per centum ) and is about entirely a disease of the hapless. It is eminently preventable, but the universe looks set to lose the riddance mark for a 2nd clip, while turn overing out much more expensive intercessions, such as bar of mother-to-child transmittal of HIV/AIDS. 2Problems in accessing wellness attentionOn being asked about health-care seeking, most felt that it was appropriate to first seek home-based redresss and so seek medical attending. If medical atten ding was required, they preferred to take the kid foremost to the unqualified small town practicians and so to authorities infirmaries. Reasons for non taking a ill babe to the authorities infirmary included distant location, long waiting lines, and impolite and indurate behavior of the staff. 8 It is likely that Behavioural alteration intercessions and communications preparation of wellness services forces could potentially better opportunities for endurance if they result in neonates being seen quickly and serious unwellnesss being identified every bit early as possible. 9Newborn – A National PriorityGovernment of Nepal developed a national newborn wellness scheme program to the twelvemonth 2017 through a advisory procedure, affecting representatives from diverse backgrounds e.g. , neonatology, safe maternity, and community mobilization. Although strong leaders are of import, the power of civil society, including the imperativeness, should non be ignored. Community authorization should be a basis of programme design.12 Involving and authorising communities-not simply aiming them-seems to amplify the consequence of intercessions 12 and increases answerability of clinical attention suppliers.Dalit community – province of exclusionDespite the best attempts of Pl an Nepal to make them, many people within its programme countries have still non benefited. Those surveyed, peculiarly Terai Dalits rely about wholly on agribusiness. Unfair and exploitatory labor dealingss in the agribusiness sector contribute to the digesting want. More than 40 per centum of Madhesi Dalit families, in a province of practical bondage, depend on ; local money loaners, normally rich husbandmans, to survive.13 There are Madhesi Dalits 4.7 per centum of entire population Literacy rate of Dalit adult females was 11 per centum and life anticipation of Dalit adult females was 42.14 Dalits are most excluded, partially due to their deficiency of consciousness and partially to caste-based favoritism. Dalits have the highest per centum of unmet demand of contraceptive method about 35 per centum and 2nd last entree to Antenatal attention ( 58 per centum ) .14 These are the factors that Mothers and their neonates remains most vulnerable. Among Terai Dalits, although about all w ent to a wellness station, the pattern of health- seeking behavior is really really hapless. They go to wellness stations for immunisation but are loath to travel when they are sick.13Research AimsGeneral aim& A ; gt ; To place factors impacting wellness seeking behavior for newborn unwellnesss in Dalit community of Sunsari territorySpecific aims& A ; gt ; To place socio – demographic and socio – cultural factors act uponing the wellness seeking behavior for newborn unwellness. & A ; gt ; To research cognition of female parents act uponing the wellness seeking behavior for newborn unwellness. & A ; gt ; To happen out wellness seeking pattern for newborn unwellness. & A ; gt ; To measure the handiness and handiness of wellness services act uponing the wellness seeking behavior for newborn unwellness.Operational DefinitionsHealth seeking behaviorBehavior of neonate ‘s female parent who consulted for aid and intervention of newborn unwellness from authorities wellness installations and private hospitals/clinics was known as Health seeking behaviour.Dalit communityThe socially excluded group of people given the name as Dalits such as Mushahar, Chamar, Paswan, Tatma, Khatway, Bantar, Dom, Chidimar, Dhobi, Halkhor are considered as Dalit community, as mentioned in ( Caste/Ethnic Groupings, Planning Commission )Education of the female parentIt was defined as figure of schooling twelvemonth completed by the female parent. It included nonreader who can non read and compose and literate who can read and compose with formal schooling. Among literate, they were categorized as primary degree instruction ( formal schooling up to standard five ) , secon dary degree instruction ( formal schooling up to standard 10 ) and above secondary.Income position of the householdIt was categorized on the footing of adequateness of the household ‘s income to feed their household. There were four class of income position such as: – Daily earning and day-to-day disbursal that has to gain day-to-day for day-to-day nutrient – Adequate for one-three months whose annual income was equal for one to three months to feed their household? – Adequate for four to six months, households that had income adequate for four to six months to feed their household. – Adequate for seven to twelve months, households that had income adequate for seven to twelve months to feed their household.Knowledge of female parents sing symptoms of unwellnessKnowledge of the female parent was measured in footings of the figure of the right reply of marks and symptoms as reported by respondent and categorized it as hapless cognition, mean cognition and first-class cognition.MotherMother holding kids less than 6 month of age of the Inaruwa Ilaka, Sunsari. However the inquiry was asked to the female parent about the first month of her baby.Percept on behavior of wellness workersThe old experience of female parents with the behavior of the wellness worker.Use of free servicesIt refers to the cognition about the handiness of free wellness services at Government wellness Institution, addition in the figure of visit by female parent of neonate from Dalit community after deduction of free services and the perceptual experience of service hr.Percept on service H ourPercept of wellness installation gap clip which is really frequently 10am to 2pm.Appropriate attentionCare sought from qualified medical professionals in authorities wellness installations and private hospitals/clinics.Inappropriate attentionOther type of attention such as buying medical specialties from pharmaceutics, place redresss, sing pharmaceuticss, temples and traditional therapists was defined as inappropriate attention.Prompt attentionAny type of attention that was sought/given within 24 hours from the acknowledgment of the unwellnessConceptual modelReligionEducationAge Occupation Economic StatusNew Born Baby Care PracticeKnowledge of Mothers Regarding Symptoms of IllnessSocio Demographic and Socio CulturalNo. of New Born Baby Aware of handiness of wellness service Health Seeking Behavior for Newborn Illness Transportation system Accessibility of Health ServiceHousehold Decision MakerUse of free serviceMethodologyStudy DesignA descriptive and cross-sectional survey designStudy AreaThe survey will carry on in Inaruwa Ilaka of Sunsari District. The territory and Inaruwa Ilaka will be purposively selected for the survey. Sunsari territory is one of the eastern territories of Nepal consists of 15 Ilaka, 49 VDC and 3 Municipality.III. Data aggregation technique– Direct interview with female parents of babies.IV. Data aggregation tools– Pre tested structured and semi structured questionnaires will be used for direct interviewSampling frameEntire female parents holding kids less than 6 months of age of Inaruwa Illka from Dalits such as Mushahar, Chamar, Paswan, Tatma, Khatway, Bantar, Dom, Chidimar, Dhobi, Halkor are the sampling frame.Sampling DesignSimple Random SamplingSample sizeThe entire no of Dalit female parents ( 150 ) holding kids less than 6 months of age from the choice countries are the sa mple size.Ethical ConsiderationsData will be collected merely after blessing from Research Committee, School of Public Health ( SRM University ) after taken permission from District Health Office, Inaruwa Municipality and Village Development Committee. Consent of the caput of the household or Husband of the respondent and the consent of the respondent will be taken prior to roll up informations. The information collect in the survey is merely usage for the survey purposes no individualized information will be exposed.Restriction of the surveyMerely one Ilaka will be taken as the survey country and merely Dalit population are the survey population therefore the consequence may non be generalized to the big population. To obtain such information big graduated table survey is necessary.Bias ReductionChoice Bias MinimizeRandomizationInformation Bias MinimizeStructural InquirersConfusing Variable DecreaseMothers Having Baby less than 6 months of ageTime LineS.N Activities 1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th hebdomad 1 Sample Selection, Rapport Building and Data aggregation 2 Data Collection 3 Data Collection Data Compilation and Data Entry 4 Dada Analysis and Report Writing

Emergency Management System in UK & USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emergency Management System in UK & USA - Essay Example However, it is an area where both nations have their unique features of emergency management. For instance, UK seems to have incorporated counterterrorism with current homeland security system; whereas the US emphasis on special strategies to combat hazards emerged from terrorism. 2. Animal Emergency Management: As compared to UK, the United States pays higher priority to animal emergency management known as National Animal Health Emergency Management. NAHEMS undertakes the whole responsibilities of co-coordinating the activities of animal health emergency management with other organizations and make preparedness to encounter the emergency conditions. The responsibilities of the organization include coordination of national response infrastructure, coordinated emergency response plans and agreements, research and developments, training, education, and awareness programs (landcare.org.uk). The animal welfare act 2006 UK enacted general laws intended to ensure the protection of animals. Unlike the US system UK’s regulations mainly focus on provisions of the protection of farmed animals and domestic animals. 3. Emergency Medical Services (EMS): emergency medical service usually includes ambulance service and emergency rescue squad. It refers to ensuring urgent medical care or a higher level of healthcare to individuals with critically ill conditions. One can find considerable differences between the EMS operation systems of UK and the US. As US maintains a free healthcare market, there is no unanimous mode of operation can be found in EMS service. Although the service sector is regulated by government at federal level and more strictly at state levels, it is not solely owned by publicly-funded institutions. In addition to governmental initiatives, numerous private and profit oriented organizations also take part in the US emergency management system. They provide a wide range

The Definition of Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Definition of Success - Essay Example This highlights one of the important aspects of success: you have to succeed or fail at something – so creating a general definition of success might be a very difficult thing. Bill Gates has succeeded in becoming a billionaire – but has failed badly at becoming a professional basketball player. To accommodate this fact any generalized definition of success must account for these expectations or contradictions; it must, in other words, take goals into account. But sometimes someone achieves success without ever necessarily meaning to: when Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, he had no intention of making billions of dollars – yet he is still successful (Veloso). Furthermore, if someone’s only goal is to get off the couch, then them doing so would not typically make them a success (barring situations like disability or injury). A close examination of etymology of the word â€Å"success,† along with cases both real and imagined, can show that a good def inition of success would be â€Å"achieving laudable or worthy accomplishments that bring satisfaction or joy to the person who has accomplished them.† The etymology of the word â€Å"success† serves as a useful starting point for an understanding of its meaning. The word entered the language at the close of the beginning of the 16th century, with a meaning of â€Å"result, outcome,† from a similar Latin word which had the meaning of â€Å"happy result/outcome† (Etymology Online). This etymology reveals an important thing about the word success – it is inexorably linked to results. It has been linked to results from the very beginning of its entrance into the English language, and even before that. So for someone or something to be a success, that determination has to be based on an outcome of some kind – success is not about effort or intention, but about result. This helps explain the first part of the definition I advocate –  "achieving ... accomplishments† – success has to be about something that someone has done that has tangible consequences. Success is a very results-oriented business, and has been since the word entered the English language, so any definition of success must account for results as a central aspect of its meaning – a real, concrete achievement is the central part of success. The primary part of the definition of success it that someone has accomplished something. But this cannot be simply anything, as a few real-world examples can help to demonstrate. Some people have been very able to accomplish their goals, but would not generally be deemed to be â€Å"successes† by our society. Joseph Stalin, for instance, managed to gain control of the Soviet Union and rule it for many years (Sebag 13), but would not be considered a â€Å"success† because his achievements did not meet the second part of the definition – they were not laudable or worthy ach ievements that he gained. He ruled his country with an iron first, and the quality of life in Russia during his time was incredibly poor (Sebag 15). So while he met his needs and perhaps accomplished his own goals, the lack of worth in those goals means that neither he nor his causes were successful. This logic holds true of all modern day

Customer's Grade Course Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Customer's Grade Course - Essay Example The focus in the third article is on performance variance among different airlines. The fourth conducts a multivariate analysis to assess the relationship between an airline’s financial and operating characteristics and the service quality. In the fifth study, the service quality is assessed on the basis of the Analytic Hierarchy Process which involves the evaluation and comparison of service quality among different companies. The sixth study looks at how competition can determine service quality by looking at the connection between market concentration and the delay of flights. The Scope and Objectives In the first article, the authors present an analysis of the underlying dimensions of service quality for low cost carriers. The study also seeks to determine the relationships between the aspect of service quality and the satisfaction of the passengers on the airlines services (Asbudin, 2010). The investigations of Park, Robertson and Wu (2005) were centered on the effects of airline service quality on its image and passengers’ future behavioral intentions in the Australian International Air. Thereafter, another study by Rhoades and Waguespack (2000) dwelt on service quality in the U.S. Airline industry. ... quality variables such as complaint rates, delays and involuntary denials of boarding; and operating and financial variable(market share, load factor, revenue per passenger) Mazzeo (2003) study examined the effect of competition in a given route on quality of services delivered in the U.S. airline industry. Finally, the last paper uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (Ahp) to come up with an evaluation of service quality of airlines (Pei, Peng & Mustafa, 2005). Methodology Ariffin, Salleh, Aziz & Asbudin sampling method to acquire their respondents through questionnaire method. The respondents who qualified for the study had flown in a three hour local low cost flight in Kuala Lumpa. Twenty seven questions enquiring on the service quality were at hand and 125 questionnaires were distributed, 100 filled ones were used for analytical findings. 17 queries were on the airline service operation expectations while 7 incorporated the original SERVQUAL parameters. The last three aimed at pres enting special service extent in the Industry. Eigen value measure, factor loading and multiple regression analyses were used in the final analysis of the data obtained. Those with Eigen value less than 1 and factor loading less than 0.5 were discarded. Rhoades and Waguespack article dwelt with airlines in the U.S. numbering 25 between 1987-1996 whereby 12 were major ones and 13 were regional carriers. Data on various complaints were obtained from the Department of Transport Air Travel Consumer Report. The one on departures from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and used in the normalization of the quality measures. Service quality rate was calculated adding the following: late flights, consumer complaints, involuntary deprived of boarding and mishandled luggage reports divided by

Personal view of early childhood education Term Paper

Personal view of early childhood education - Term Paper Example These early ages are the most critical in the development of a child. The parents or guardians of children should take extra care of the nutritional needs, learning and emotional protection of the children. When the children grow up a bit, it is the responsibility of the children to detect any changes in the child’s behavior as it would be easier for them to detect any difference in behavior in a class with many children. Early childhood is a precious time – a true window of opportunity – that cannot be re-opened later on. Early childhood care and development leads to the formation of a healthy society because of the children are well cared of they are most likely to become responsible citizens and human beings. The Micro-system The micro-system denotes the lowest level of environment. It is the immediate environment the child adopts as he is surrounded by it from the start. When a child is in a micro-system he develops the sense of differentiating similar faces from dissimilar face. Most of the development of the child occurs in this phase of life. The micro-system of children includes people who spend more time with them, play with them and take care of them. These people can be family members the child sees everyday for example mother, father, grandparents and siblings. It also contains caregivers at home, or teachers at day cares. The behavior which the child sees from these people, he will try to adopt that behavior naturally. It will have an effect on the growth of the child. If the mother of the child is patient and calm, the child would tend to be polite and less aggressive then the children whose mothers are short tempered. In the same way if the child is hand over to teachers at daycare who use bad language the child will be tempted to learn those words and will eventually learn them. If the care takers at home do not take care of their hygiene the child would learn to be like them since he would see a friend and mentor in them as a child at that level does not know the difference between right and wrong. It is the responsibility of the parents specifically, to correct their own selves first in order to represent themselves as the role models to the children. At this level all relationships are meaningful to the child. The child would know how loves him more and how gets angry on the things he does. Children are intelligent enough to grasp languages at a faster rate at this level. Therefore, it should be made sure that children are not subjected to abusive language at such early ages. Every person has a temperament and like everyone children also have a temperament which shows in a child’s personality trait. Personality traits are inherited genetically and biologically. As a person grows, he takes control of his personality. The more encouraging and nurturing care is provided to the child, the better the child will be able to grow in mentally and physically. â€Å"The period of early childhood should be given the top most priority especially if responsible governments make decisions about laws, policies, programs and money. Even then unfortunately for the children, the society and for the nation, these years receive the least attention.† – State of the World’s Children, 2001- The Mesosystem The next system which occurs in the early development of a child is the

Public Interest in Theories of Regulation Essay

Public Interest in Theories of Regulation - Essay Example Theories of regulation help us to find solutions so that investors do not get exploited. Public Interest in theories of regulation pertains to allocation of resources in a regulated manner to safeguard the best interests of public. These distributions may be haphazard or aimed towards satisfying fewer people’s interests, if not regulated. This failure of markets may occur due to several reasons such as: Absence of competition Monopolies try and create barriers of entry to other interested firms Asymmetry of information Products of public goods are produced The scarce resources get deployed towards their purposes with little resources remaining for other requirements. So, to avoid such discrepancies public interest of regulation has to be undertaken by the Government. (Hertog J.D., 1999) The Government will also intervene due to its own personal interests of: Gaining votes To act before any demand from public interested groups arises Acting as neutral arbiters before the issue becomes a problem However, there are cases where Governments also have failed as regulators as they are captured by self-interest of individuals who formed groups. The accounting professionals who have not confirmed themselves to self-regulation and legitimacy have thought of a way out of their irresponsibility. They started capturing the regulator and dictating it through manipulation of accounts. This is possible because accountants argue whether to release relevant or reliable information to the investor. In the guise of these terms, they undertake accounting standards which serve their interest and avoid regulation. Situation: The Act of Sarbanes-Oxley of 2002 is a classic example in this scenario. Public interest has made it mandatory that financial reporting has to adhere to the principles of corporate responsibility. Out of some eleven sections, 6 are construed to be very important as far as compliance matters. The gist of these sections is that financial reporting authoritie s have to prove their credibility very early by establishing detailed policy of financial security. They cannot relax till the end and try to capture public interests. They are required to report according to the IFRS mandates to the investors. (Anon. 2006). As per this mandate, Accounting Standards should also take into account social and economic consequences so that relevant and reliable information is pronounced to the investors. Private Interest Theory: This theory is based on the assumption that Government is not a neutral arbiter as supposed in public interest theory. It is in fact self-interested rationally due to various reasons such as: To avoid dispute with people of financial power during re-election To transfer their power readily if people who can help them in re-election so require. If they are in power, they would like to increase their wealth by doing so. If not in power, they want to attain power and so listen to these private individuals. There are many examples o f private interest. The Oil Spill in Deep Waters in 2010 would help us in understanding the process of domination of private

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Marxist perspective on Essay

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Marxist perspective on globalization - Essay Example The dominant group, which was identified as the producer, would depend on the proletariat for labour and manpower (Mann 1997). They, thus, would require the situation to remain as it is to ensure their power. Karl Marx believed that with economic power came social and political power. Looking at the world today, it is not difficult to see what he claimed. This paper will look at some of the strengths and weaknesses on his perspective on globalization. Philosophers and sceptics to Marxism may admit that some of Marx’s theories resonate with today’s world. In modern times, it has become a common occurrence for gigantic corporations to have a hand in most of what goes on around the world. There is the control of massive goods, products, and services through a few individuals who ensure that there is a continuous flow of labour (Schirato & Webb 2003). In doing so, the proletariat class ensures they survive. This is regardless of what they feel on what is going on around the m is not all fair. The strengths that show up in Karl Marx’s perspective on globalization offer an individual a concise image of what is happening today (Westra 2010). Strengths of the Marxist perspective on globalization One of the key aspects of globalization that Marx indicated was the positive trend that may benefit consumers. In the growth and development of markets, it is highly likely that the consumers may benefit from the production of more goods, services, and products. There will be an efficient way of allocating these products and goods to markets and consumers. This gets to prove that the individualistic driven market are getting higher up, and are present. It may be impossible to have national competitiveness if there is a regulation placed on the allocation of products in such markets (Scholte 1997). This is what Marx sought to claim during his time. However, it was only after his lifetime that individuals came to see what was happening. Karl Marx was a sceptic of globalization. He saw it as a means for the wealthy to get more powerful, while the poor remain poor. Nationalism and governments will remain the determining factors in every day and age. All these are controlled from the background by individuals who have a hand in the global market, which inadvertently controls the proletariat class. Competition allows capitalists to improve their products, make new products for consumers, and expand their bases. Countries that need their economies to grow must, therefore, compete with foreign markets and have a place in the expanding market (Ritzer 2009). Marx’s perspective indicated that lines along race will no longer be considered. Individuals will only be looked at as consumers that have the ability to pay for products. This is regardless of where they are, or who they are. Moreover, the Marxist perspective’s strength comes in the form of its ability to explain change and conflict in society. As seen earlier, for these indiv idualistic controlled markets to survive, it is imperative that they change their goods, products, and services to sustain their consumers’ urges. The proletariat class is responsible for the manpower and labour that enables the bourgeoisie class to have a hold on everything. If a shift occurred, there would be an unsettling balance that would indicate the dominant class is no longer in control. By maximising their control over the less dominant class, they have control over their

Shakespeare and Austen present Essay Example for Free

Shakespeare and Austen present Essay Exploration of the ways that Shakespeare and Austen present us with different aspects of love or the theme of love looking at similarities and differences in the two texts and bearing in mind the different times they were written in. In this essay, I am going to look two texts, Shakespeares A Midsummers Night Dream and Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice. The theme I am fascinated to write about is love and this is very significant in both books. In A Midsummers Night dream, love is displayed in a more light-hearted way and not absolutely serious, yet, Pride and Prejudice is introduced more meaningful and formal. I will additionally investigate the first impressions of both books. Pride and Prejudices first title was First Impressions. I will not only be investigating how the characters first impressions effect one another but moreover the first impression of the reader and how they are affected by passion. Pride and Prejudice and A Midsummer Nights Dream are, as a matter of first importance, two texts about getting through difficulties and accomplishing emotional fulfilment and those problems. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth, the courageous person, and Darcy, her resulting husband, the main difficulty lies in the books first title: First Impressions. Darcy, the proud, noble nephew, should break from his initial thought of Elizabeth as not handsome enough to tempt me and from his prejudice in opposition to her lack of money and the way her family live. Elizabeths first impressions, however, shows Darcy as arrogant and vain; as an outcome, she later receives offensive accusations in disapproval to him as right. The marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth uncovers the qualities that create a successful marriage. One of these qualities is that the feeling cannot be carried on by look, and should continuously improve as individuals as they get to know each other. At first, Elizabeth and Darcy were far off from one another because of how prejudice they were towards one another. The succession of occasions and bumping into each other which they have both encountered gave them the chance to understand each other and the chance to reveal their true emotions for one another. They discussed and shared that their understanding of each other will head them to a tranquil and enduring marriage. This connection between Elizabeth and Darcy uncovers the significance of getting to know the person before marrying. Both Elizabeth and Darcy are pressured to understand their beginning misunderstandings. The first part of the novel follows Darcys movement to the point at which he is right to allow his affection despite his opinions. In the second part, Elizabeths mixed up impressions are replaced by changed feelings about Darcys loyal personality. Darcys two proposals to Elizabeth show the true advancement of their relationship. His first proposal on page 185 of the novel shows he has grasped his fondness and love for Elizabeth but has not yet developed his hate for her family. When Darcy proposes for the second time, he positively confirms his affection for Elizabeth, now with full understanding of Mr. Darcys exceptional person, joyfully accepts. It shows how they finally achieve the ability to view each other fair eyes. Hermia and Lysander are the lovers where nothing goes their way. Their affection is so solid that nothing would get in the way of their love. This shows their relationship to be really passionate just like Darcy and Elizabeth. Hermia is confronted with a determination to marry Demetrius, the man she doesnt have feelings for. The father of Hermia is the one setting up the marriage. Their affection is so strong that they will let nothing stop them, so they run together into the woods. This sincerely is an indication of correct affection. However, Hermia and Lysanders relationship is almost completely opposite to Darcy and Elizabeth because their relationship is pulled apart by the magic potion, while Darcys and Elizabeths is growing as they are getting to know each other more. In my opinion, I believe that Hermia is the singled out person that speaks thoroughly, articulately, and is most unbelievably civilised in this play about love and any person Now much beshrew my manners and my pride If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied. But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy, Lie further off, in humane modesty. Such separation as may well be said becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid, So far be distant; and good night, sweet friend. Thy loves neer alters till thy sweet life end. This implies that Hermia is most obviously expressive when she explains her love to Lysander. An additional case is Why are you grown rude! What changed is this, sweet love? This indicates that Hermia is definitely caring towards her love to Lysander I think that Hermia is the most appropriate person in A Midsummer Nights Dream that speaks articulately, and most incredibly sympathetic in this play about love. Pride and Prejudice is a novel in which people marry for love, personality and happiness, however, A Midsummer Nights Dream portrays it as mad and a bit ridiculous but there is nothing to do about it. The marriage between Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley is also a case of successful marriage. Elizabeth shows her feelings of the relationship when she says, really believed all his (Bingley) expectations of felicity, to be rationally founded, because they had for basis the excellent understanding, and super-excellent disposition of Jane, and a general similarity of feeling and taste between her and himself. Bingley honestly adores Jane for who she really is. Unlike Darcy and Elizabeth, there is damage in their connection. The imperfection is that both characters are too nai ve and too great-hearted to ever act positively in conflict to outer forces that might try to split them: You (Jane and Bingley) are each of you so complying, that nothing will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will always exceed your income.

Best Practices & Most effective strategies for Curriculum Design in K-12 education in America Essay Example for Free

Best Practices Most effective strategies for Curriculum Design in K-12 education in America Essay Curriculum is a plan for learning that includes targeting a student population, conducting a needs assessment, and writing a mission statement. It includes developing goals, objectives, content, teaching strategies, and assessment tools. Alignment is critical in curriculum development from purpose and philosophy, to goals and objectives, to content and activities, and to assessment and evaluation. Working through a process of asking and answering who, what, where, why, when, how questions is essential in designing and developing curriculum. A curriculum serves several purposes that include: †¢ Explicit statements of ideology underlying the instruction (why are you teaching it, and why is the teaching the way it is? †¢ General long-term aims (what are students intended to gain from following the course? †¢ Specific, testable, short-term objectives (what will they be able to do as a result of following the course? ) †¢ Resources to be used (what is needed to deliver the course? ) †¢ The delivery methods to be employed (how is it to be taught? ) †¢ Timing of the units and their sequencing (when is it to be taught and in what order? ) †¢ Assessment procedures and the balance of assessments to be made (how, when and why will it be examined? ) †¢ A methodology for evaluating how well the course has been received (how will instructor acquire feedback from the students about the course? ). K-12 education is defined as educational technology in United States, Canada and other countries for publicly supported grades prior to college. The K stands for kindergarten and 12 denotes 1st to 12th grade before the 13th that is the first year of college. Curricular Theory and Theorists The word curriculum has its origins in the running/chariot tracks of Greece. It was, literally, a course. In Latin curriculum was a racing chariot; currere was to run. A useful starting point for us here might be the definition offered by John Kerr and taken up by Vic Kelly in his standard work on the subject. Kerr defines curriculum as, All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school. [1] This gives us some basis to move on. For the moment all we need to do is highlight two of the key features: †¢ Learning is planned and guided. We have to specify in advance what we are seeking to achieve and how we are to go about it. †¢ The definition refers to schooling. We should recognize that our current appreciation of curriculum theory and practice emerged in the school and in relation to other schooling ideas such as subject and lesson. In what follows we are going to look at four ways of approaching curriculum theory and practice: †¢ Curriculum as a body of knowledge to be transmitted. †¢ Curriculum as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students product. †¢ Curriculum as process. †¢ Curriculum as praxis. Curriculum as a body of knowledge to be transmitted Many people still equate a curriculum with a syllabus. Syllabus, naturally, originates from the Greek. Basically it means a concise statement or table of the heads of a discourse, the contents of a treatise, the subjects of a series of lectures. In the form that many of us will have been familiar with it is connected with courses leading to examinations. For example, when teachers talk of the syllabus associated with, say, the Cambridge GSCE exam. What we can see in such documents is a series of headings with some additional notes which set out the areas that may be examined. A syllabus will not generally indicate the relative importance of its topics or the order in which they are to be studied. Those who compile a syllabus tend to follow the traditional textbook approach of an order of contents, or a pattern prescribed by a logical approach to the subject, or the shape of a university course in which they may have participated. Thus, an approach to curriculum theory and practice which focuses on syllabus is only really concerned with content. Curriculum is a body of knowledge-content and/or subjects. Education in this sense is the process by which these are transmitted or delivered to students by the most effective methods that can be devised [3]. Where people still equate curriculum with a syllabus they are likely to limit their planning to a consideration of the content or the body of knowledge that they wish to transmit. It is also because this view of curriculum has been adopted that many teachers in primary schools, have regarded issues of curriculum as of no concern to them, since they have not regarded their task as being to transmit bodies of knowledge in this manner. Curriculum as product The dominant modes of describing and managing education are today couched in the productive form. Education is most often seen as a technical exercise. Objectives are set, a plan drawn up, and then applied, and the outcomes (products) measured. In the late 1980s and the 1990s many of the debates about the National Curriculum for schools did not so much concern how the curriculum was thought about as to what its objectives and content might be. It is the work of two American writers Franklin Bobbitt, 1928 and Ralph W. Tyler, 1949 that dominate theory and practice within this tradition. In The Curriculum Bobbitt writes as follows: The central theory is simple. Human life, however varied, consists in the performance of specific activities. Education that prepares for life is one that prepares definitely and adequately for these specific activities. However numerous and diverse they may be for any social class they can be discovered. This requires only that one go out into the world of affairs and discover the particulars of which their affairs consist. These will show the abilities, attitudes, habits, appreciations and forms of knowledge that men need. These will be the objectives of the curriculum. They will be numerous, definite and particularized. The curriculum will then be that series of experiences which children and youth must have by way of obtaining those objectives. This way of thinking about curriculum theory and practice was heavily influenced by the development of management thinking and practice. The rise of scientific management is often associated with the name of its main advocate F. W. Taylor. Basically what he proposed was greater division of labor with jobs being simplified; an extension of managerial control over all elements of the workplace; and cost accounting based on systematic time-and-motion study. All three elements were involved in this conception of curriculum theory and practice. For example, one of the attractions of this approach to curriculum theory was that it involved detailed attention to what people needed to know in order to work, live their lives and so on. A familiar, and more restricted, example of this approach can be found in many training programs, where particular tasks or jobs have been analyzed and broken down into their component elements and lists of competencies drawn up. In other words, the curriculum was not to be the result of armchair speculation but the product of systematic study. Bobbitts work and theory met with mixed responses. As it stands it is a technical exercise. However, it wasnt criticisms such as this which initially limited the impact of such curriculum theory in the late 1920s and 1930s. Rather, the growing influence of progressive, child-centred approaches shifted the ground to more romantic notions of education. Bobbitts long lists of objectives and his emphasis on order and structure hardly sat comfortably with such forms. The Progressive movement lost much of its momentum in the late 1940s in the United States and from that period the work of Ralph W. Tyler, in particular, has made a lasting impression on curriculum theory and practice. He shared Bobbitts emphasis on rationality and relative simplicity. His theory was based on four fundamental questions: 1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? 2. What educational experience can be provided that is likely to attain these purposes? 3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized? 4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? Like Bobbitt he also placed an emphasis on the formulation of behavioural objectives. Since the real purpose of education is not to have the instructor perform certain activities but to bring about significant changes in the students pattern of behaviour, it becomes important to recognize that any statements of objectives of the school should be a statement of changes to take place in the students. We can see how these concerns translate into an ordered procedure and is very similar to the technical or productive thinking steps set out below. 1. Diagnosis of need 2. Formulation of objectives 3. Selection of content 4. Organization of content 5. Selection of learning experiences 6. Organization of learning experiences There are a number of issues with this approach to curriculum theory and practice. The first is that the plan or programme assumes great importance. For example, we might look at a more recent definition of curriculum as: ‘A program of activities by teachers designed so that pupils will attain so far as possible certain educational and other schooling ends or objectives [4]. The problem here is that such programmes inevitably exist prior to and outside the learning experiences. This takes much away from learners. They can end up with little or no voice. They are told what they must learn and how they will do it. The success or failure of both the program and the individual learners is judged on the basis of whether pre-specified changes occur in the behaviour and person of the learner. If the plan is tightly adhered to, there can only be limited opportunity for educators to make use of the interactions that occur. It also can deskill educators in another way. For example, a number of curriculum programs, particularly in the USA, have attempted to make the student experience teacher proof. The logic of this approach is for the curriculum to be designed outside of the classroom or school. Educators then apply programs and are judged by the products of their actions. It turns educators into technicians. Second, there are questions around the nature of objectives. This model is hot on measurability. It implies that behaviour can be objectively, mechanistically measured. There are obvious dangers here: there always has to be some uncertainty about what is being measured. We only have to reflect on questions of success in our work. It is often very difficult to judge what the impact of particular experiences has been. Sometimes it is years after the event that we come to appreciate something of what has happened. For example, most informal educators who have been around a few years will have had the experience of an ex-participant telling them in great detail about how some forgotten event brought about some fundamental change. Yet there is something more. In order to measure, things have to be broken down into smaller and smaller units. The result, as many of you will have experienced, can be long lists of often trivial skills or competencies. This can lead to a focus in this approach to curriculum theory and practice on the parts rather than the whole; on the trivial, rather than the significant. It can lead to an approach to education and assessment which resembles a shopping list. When all the items are ticked, the person has passed the course or has learnt something. The role of overall judgment is somehow sidelined. Third, there is a real problem when we come to examine what educators actually do in the classroom, for example. Much of the research concerning teacher thinking and classroom interaction, and curriculum innovation has pointed to the lack of impact on actual pedagogic practice of objectives. One way of viewing this is that teachers simply get it wrong as they do not work with objectives. The difficulties that educators experience with objectives in the classroom may point to something inherently wrong with the approach, that it is not grounded in the study of educational exchanges. It is a model of curriculum theory and practice largely imported from technological and industrial settings. Fourth, there is the problem of unanticipated results. The focus on pre-specified goals may lead both educators and learners to overlook learning that is occurring as a result of their interactions, but which is not listed as an objective. The apparent simplicity and rationality of this approach to curriculum theory and practice, and the way in which it mimics industrial management have been powerful factors in its success. A further appeal has been the ability of academics to use the model to attack teachers. There is a tendency, recurrent enough to suggest that it may be endemic in the approach, for academics in education to use the objectives model as a stick with which to beat teachers. What are your objectives? is more often asked in a tone of challenge than one of interested and helpful inquiry. The demand for objectives is a demand for justification rather than a description of ends. It is not about curriculum design, but rather an expression of irritation in the problems of accountability in education. [5] Curriculum as process We have seen that the curriculum as product model is heavily dependent on the setting of behavioural objectives. The curriculum, essentially, is a set of documents for implementation. Another way of looking at curriculum theory and practice is via process. In this sense curriculum is not a physical thing, but rather the interaction of teachers, students and knowledge. In other words, curriculum is what actually happens in the classroom and what people do to prepare and evaluate. What we have in this model is a number of elements in constant interaction. It is an active process and links with the practical form of reasoning set out by Aristotle, which is as follows: Teachers enter particular schooling and situations with an ability to think critically in action and with an understanding of their role and the expectations others have of them, and a proposal for action which sets out essential principles and features of the educational encounter. Guided by these, they encourage conversations between, and with, people in the situation out of which may become thinking and action. They continually evaluate the process and what they can see of outcomes. Curriculum as praxis Curriculum as praxis is, in many respects, a development of the process model. While the process model is driven by general principles and places an emphasis on judgment and meaning making, it does not make explicit statements about the interests it serves. It may, for example, be used in such a way that does not make continual reference to collective human well-being and to the emancipation of the human spirit. The praxis model of curriculum theory and practice brings these to the centre of the process and makes an explicit commitment to emancipation. Thus action is not simply informed, it is also committed. It is praxis. Critical pedagogy goes beyond situating the learning experience within the experience of the learner: it is a process which takes the experiences of both the learner and the teacher and, through dialogue and negotiation, recognizes them both as problematic. It allows, indeed encourages, students and teachers together to confront the real problems of their existence and relationships. When students confront the real problems of their existence they will soon also be faced with their own oppression. The process model is modified to fit the praxis model, which is as follows: Teachers enter particular schooling and situations with a personal, but shared idea of the good and a commitment to human emancipation, an ability to think critically in action, an understanding of their role and the expectations others have of them, and a proposal for action which sets out essential principles and features of the educational encounter. Guided by these, they encourage conversations between, and with, people in the situation out of which may become informed and committed action. They continually evaluate the process and what they can see of outcomes. Proposed Curriculum Design: A curriculum prepared for the targeted students of K-12 education must be tailored to meet their needs for a fast and productive mental growth. Therefore a curriculum for k-12 education must be prepared so that it supports all children and young people from 3 – 18 to develop as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors, ready to play a full part in society now and in the future. As part of the review process we need to develop clear guidance which sets out expectations of what children and young people should learn and also promotes flexibility and space so that teachers can use their professional judgment creatively to meet children’s needs. Therefore, before beginning to design a curriculum for k-12 education, one must capture the essence of what young people will learn over the course of their schooling and express this through the experience and outcome statements. Curriculum Designing Guidelines Purpose The construction of experiences and outcomes that effectively provide progression in each curriculum area and convey the values, principles and purposes of A Curriculum for Excellence is central to the success of the program. In particular, it is important that you reflect relevant aspects of the four capacities in your work. If we can get this right these outcomes and experiences will have a significant, positive, impact on classroom practice and hence on the learning experience of all children and young people. It is an exciting prospect. Starting point In phase 1 each early review group should be asked to simplify and prioritise the curriculum (from age 3 to 15 in the first instance) retaining what currently works well and making changes where these were justified by research evidence. The output from phase 1 of the review process and the rationale for your curriculum area, research and other national and international comparators are your starting points. Your work will be based on the relevant parts of the Curriculum Frameworks: for Children 3 – 5, 5 – 14 guidelines, Standard Grade, and National Qualifications. It is important that experience and outcome statements you write at each Curriculum for Excellence level provide appropriate cognitive demand. The framework for outcomes The experiences and outcomes will sit within a framework of advice to teachers. Curriculum Area The eight curriculum areas are: Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Languages, Maths, Religious and Moral Education, Science, Social Studies and Technologies. Rationale The rationale provides an overview of the curriculum area states its main purposes and describes its contribution to the values and purposes. Subsets of the curriculum area Each curriculum area is subdivided either into fields of learning – or ‘subjects’ (e. g. Expressive Arts into art, drama, dance and music) or into aspects of learning in that area (e. g. Languages into listening and talking, reading and writing) Lines of development These identify learning tracks in each subset of the curriculum area. They are expressed in different ways in each area of the curriculum. For example within expressive arts they identify the skills to be developed: creating, presenting and evaluating in art, drama, dance and music; within science they describe broad areas of knowledge and understanding to be developed; biodiversity, being human and cells in Our Living World. Experiences and outcomes Within each line of development, experiences and outcomes describe the expected progression in learning for children and young people. Essential outcomes Essential outcomes are a small number of high level statements, derived from the main purposes described in the rationale, that encapsulate what learning in that curriculum area provides for all children and young people. Taken together, the essential outcomes are intended to sum up the expectations for the broad general education of all young people. The focus of your work will be writing the experiences and outcomes for your curriculum area. It is likely that there will be interplay between what you produce and the ‘essential outcomes’ , which are the ones helping to shape and refine the other in an iterative manner. Outcomes should be written in the clearest possible English. Where possible these should be accessible to children and young people, but not at the expense of clarity. It is also important to try to write lively and engaging experiences and outcomes. Best Practices of Writing the Curriculum Ultimately the intention is to produce streamlined guidance for the entire curriculum in a single document. We also intend to make the outcomes available in electronic format to allow curriculum leaders and teachers to identify and blend outcomes from both within and beyond curriculum areas. Several stages will be required to achieve this. Curriculum for Excellence Achievement framework In the first stage of work the aim is to produce experience and outcome statements up to Third level with provisional work done to Fourth level. Both Third and Fourth level have particular significance. Third level is important because it defines the point at which a young person has experienced a broad general education and has satisfied the essential outcomes in all curriculum areas. At this point there may be opportunities to choose what she or he wishes to study, typically with a greater degree of speciality and in greater depth to Fourth level and possibly beyond. For some pupils, their choices will result in continued, lateral progression, in curriculum areas at Third level. Fourth level is important because it will enable transition into the formal qualifications system. Experiences and outcomes at this level will tend to be more specific than those for earlier levels. The outcomes and experiences written during this stage will be subject to refinement through the engagement process. Writing an excellent outcome Always remember that the experiences and outcomes should have an impact on classroom practice and learning. The outcomes should not be written in the form of assessment criteria, nor should they constrain learning. Every outcome should therefore be tested against the following criteria: 1. It should express learning that is clear to the teacher, and where possible the young person. This will promote the application of formative assessment strategies. 2. It should indicate the purpose of the outcome and/or direct the selection of learning activities for all children and young people. 3. It should allow evaluation of the outcome. In other words, it should be clear from the outcome what evidence might be observed to demonstrate progress by the child or young person. Also bear in mind that there is no intention to produce an elaborated curriculum. Outcomes should therefore offer and support opportunities for enrichment and development for those young people with additional support needs who may not progress beyond the first levels. As you complete blocks of work a further test is to consider the extent to which you have prioritised and simplified existing guidance and to ask yourself if any changes are robust and justifiable. As a general rule outcomes should begin with the ‘I can’ stem. Experiences describe purposeful and worthwhile tasks, activities or events that contribute to motivation, personal development and learning. As a general rule they should be signalled using the ‘I have’ stem. The following additional general parameters will help you get started. †¢ Simplification and prioritisation should result in time and space being made to operate the seven principles of curriculum design. For example, teachers should have time for greater depth of study, to introduce topics or ideas in a relevant context or to respond to local events or circumstances and to ensure progression. †¢ Assume your outcomes can be taught within the time allocations typically applied in schools at present.

How Important And Relevant Is Mertons Strain Theory?

How Important And Relevant Is Mertons Strain Theory? In this essay I will analyse the importance and relevance of a structional functionalist view of deviance seen through the lens of strain theory and a symbolic interactionalist perspective through the use of labelling theory. Strain Theory attempts to explain why crime is resolute amongst the lower classes who are subjected to the least opportunities for economic achievement (O Connor 2007). It focuses on the positions that individuals occupy in a social system, not on the characteristics of the individual. Labeling theory explains why sustained delinquent behaviour stems from destructive social interactions and encounters (Siegel Welsh 2008). These theories work in harmony as the former theory explains why deviance begins and the latter gives an explanation as to why deviance continues through the lifespan. I will be describing and evaluating these theories to further answer the question of: just how important are these two theories for the understanding deviance? The sociology of deviance is the systematic study of social norm violation that is subject to social sanction according to (Henry 2009 p.1). Deviant behaviour is behaviour that does not follow common perceptions, when people are deviant they do not conform to expectations. It is difficult to give an exact definition of deviance as many major theorists have cast a vast variety of perspectives on what it really is. Some sociologists believe that deviance is the violation of any social rule, whereas other sociologists argue that deviance does not have to be a real behaviour for it to be labelled deviant (Thio, Calhoun Conyers 2008). Downes Rock (2003) state that deviance is everywhere and not only that but it leaves traces everywhere. Theories of deviance are rarely catapulted into political settings to be accepted or rejected in their entirety; rather they trickle in from many sources. The influence of ideas is always changing due to the instability of political circumstances (Downs Rock 2003). The increase in deviance may be due to the fact that people are confused about the correct values and morals to hold. As a result of this ever evolving world there are new variations of deviant behaviour occurring on a daily basis, ranging from minor violations of the law such as not paying a television licence to major deviance like abuse scandals in regard to the Catholic Church. These acts are considered to be deviant as they are acts which the rest of society deems as unacceptable (Tierney 2006). Traditional values such as religious views have been shattered to pieces because of ongoing scandals in the Catholic Church. Individual pursuits drive people; religion has no impact on the expected standards of people in todays materialist driven society, which in turn leads to an increase in deviant behaviours. The Functionalist perspective stems from the work of Durkheim who believed that peoples social roles or functions hold society together (Flynn 2009). In contrast to this is the Symbolic interaction approach where the emphasis is on the way people construct the meaning of others acts (Becker McCall 1990). Durkheim believed that crime is not only functional but it is necessary, it only become dysfunctional if the rates are either too high or too low (Covington 1999). The functionalist analysis of deviance begins with society as a whole; it looks for the source of deviance in the nature of society rather than in the psychological nature of the individual. Durkheim believes society is held together by shared values, and if these values are not constantly reaffirmed through the generations it may signify the collapse of society. One may put forward the argument that shared values are not a fundamental part of society today. It proves difficult to reaffirm values through generations when the family when parents are working long hours. Parental influence over children has declined; due to this children seek values from available sources such as the television or internet, resulting in the promotion of materialistic values which are in turn the norms today. If the community collapsed, and the collective conscience failed the result was a state of anomie (Covington 1999). In essence anomie represents the problems in society caused by social deregulation. Merton developed an anomie theory based on Durkheims earlier work which referred to a deinstitutionalization of norms that happens when there is a disjunction between the importance of cultural goals and institutional means (Featherstone Deflem 2003). Mertons strain theory argues that structures in society may encourage deviance and crime, it is a structural functionalist explanation. Functionalist theories offers the basis for policies that are wide-ranging in their scope (Downes Rock 2003), however Gouldner (1970) believes that Functionalism thinks of systems as mutually interacting variables rather than in terms of cause and effect, thus one may infer that it is impossible to implement policy to stop a particular effect if the cause is not highlighted. Theories of deviance are extremely important as Downes Rock (2003) believe that all theories of deviance have implications for policy making. That said however the ease of implementation of polices may prove difficult. For example doing something about anomie would be far more difficult than tackling vandalism by technical means (Downes Rock p. 317 2003) However, Mertons anomie theory is of great relevance to the realm of policy as it infers a definite cause and effect statement relating to the disjunction between goals and means (Downes Rock 2003). The main principle of Social Strain Theory is that some social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in society to engage in non-conforming rather than conforming conduct (Thio, Calhoun Conyers 2008 p.33). This is not to say that certain social structures leave the individual with no other choice but to turn to crime, rather inadequate regulation leaves the individual with a different perspective on means to financial gain. I agree that this system is a great source of inequality and subsequent deviance in our society today that the less powerful groups are labelled so negatively and punished severely. Every crime should be treated in the same manner, regardless of whether they are from an underprivileged area or a high flying business person. An impact of cycle of deficient regulation may also be seen in Beckers Labelling theory. This theory was greatly influenced by the symbolic interaction approach as it is people who determine and give meaning to labels. The justice system operates on behalf of powerful groups in society; hence one has to ask the question what behaviours are criminal? The two strands of this theory are a concern to address how a particular behaviour comes to be labelled as deviant and secondly what is the impact of this label. (Becker p.9 1963) states that The deviant is one whom that label has been successfully applied: deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label. In relation to deviance Labelling theory places the importance on the reaction to behaviour not the behaviour itself (Macionis Plummer 2007). It was this belief that leads Becker to place labels on types of behaviour, but who are the people labelled as deviant in society. To put it simply, labelling theory is concerned with what happens to criminals after they have been labelled, also suggesting that actual crime rates may be heightened by criminal sanctions. Unlike the Functionalist perspective, Symbolic Interaction is concerned with the process that underline social life and consequently the mechanisms by which meanings are given to those processes. It centres on the creativity capacity of humans and their ability to share interactions with others (Walklate 2007). In relation to deviance it is concerned with how certain behaviours come to be understood as deviant. Becker argued that behaviours of less powerful groups for example the poor, or disadvantaged are more likely to be criminalized than those who are privileged such as the white and wealthy. This happens because there is an assumption that crime is a social label along with the creation of law which are made by people in positions of power and enforced on people without power (Hopkins Burke 2002). The judicial system criminalizes less dominant and less powerful member of society, thus Becker argues that some rules may be cynically designed to keep the less powerful in their place (Hopkins Burke p.137 2002). Becker (1963) disagreed with the notion that those who break the law will be labelled as a criminal. He brought our attention to the fact that in many cases the innocent are accused, along with this only some of those who break the law are punished and brought through the system (Hopkins Burke 2002). Becker used a concept developed by Merton called the self fulfilling prophecy which is what labelling theory is most widely known for. When a situation is given a false definition it evokes a new behaviour in the person which as a result makes the false assumption comes through (Hopkins Burke p.142 2002). Becker felt that most criminals were in the first place falsely defined as a criminal, not only are their actions defined by society as deviant, the label is then extended to them as a person (Hopkins Burke 2002). Mertons concept of strain refers to pressure the lower economic classes feel when they try to achieve societys goals of monetary success (Flynn 2009). Merton felt that in society, people were focused on achieving high financial success which although exceptionally productive on one hand, on the other was a direct source of stress and strain for the individual (Cohen 1966). In effect there is a distortion between culturally induced aspirations for economic success and structurally distributed possibilities of achievement. This is in accordance with labeling theory view where the people who commit deviant acts are probably under strain from society to achieve monetary success. An example of this would be in relation to higher education, people without the means or cultural knowledge to aspire to respected professions are more likely to engage in deviant behaviour than those with access to achieving their goals (Flynn 2009). Within labelling theory there are two important concepts, those of primary deviance and secondary deviance. Merton thinks that the sense of strain that men feel is an accumulation of frustration, despair and injustice (Cohen 1966). Structural and Individual strain are the two main types of strain in society that promote deviance and crime. The former refers to the cycle of deficient regulation in society that has a negative impact on how an individual evaluates their needs, means and opportunities (Flynn 2009). The latter concept is defined by OConnor (2007) as frictions and pains experienced by the individual as they look for ways to meet their needs. Primary deviance in labeling theory involves acts committed by someone without a criminal identity such as an underage drinker. This act provokes little reaction from others around us, therefore it does not have any impact on the persons self concept (Macionis Plummer 2007). Secondary deviance develops through peoples actions towards the person committing the deviant act they may be pushed away and stigmatized making the crime worse, it is caused by the criminal label (Hopkins Burke 2002). It evolves from primary deviance being labelled, which is more likely to happen if you are from a less powerful group (Macionis Plummer 2007), thus mirrors Mertons argument about distortion between economic success and possibility of achievement (Flynn 2009). Merton noted that there were five possible responses or adaptations to strain that happen when people are not in a position to legally attain internalised social goals (Hopkins Burke p.107 2002). This is a perfect example of how labels are the cause of further deviant behaviour. Durkheim and Merton are one in believing that strain results in deviant behaviour, however Durkheim felt the main causes of strain were changes in society. Adapting through conformity is a self explanatory explanation whereby people both the cultural gaols of society and the means of achieving them (Burke 2002), this ensures the continuality and stability of society (Thio, Calhoun Conyers 2008), people do not break laws when achieving their means. Retreatism is considered the most uncommon adaptation by Merton, they reject social goals and the means to attain them (Hopkins Burke 2002), their behaviour is not normal and are considered true aliens (Thio, Calhoun Conyers p.37 2008). Ritualism is similar to conforming behaviour; they adhere to rules for their own sake with an emphasis on means of achievement rather than outcome goals (Hopkins Burke 2002). Innovation is a response to the pressure placed on the individual for success. The innovator embarks on novel routes to achieve success due to barriers for them to achieve success by socially approved means. They have the potential to be seen as deviant (Hopkins Burke 2002), as they engage in illegal means to achieve success. The final response is rebellion, whereby people not only reject but also want to change the existing social system and its goals (Hopkins Burke 2002). The very word rebellion connotes negative meaning thus showing the existence of labeling and stigma as used by Merton. People are stereotyped as being incapable of following normal behaviour and the general population treats them differently, resulting in discrimination in employment, and in many other areas of social life The internalization of labels by offenders may very well produce a career in criminality because of the negative reactions they receive (Hopkins Burke 2002). However, in contrast as Merton argued Cohen agreed that the root cause of the original emergence of delinquent behaviour was the economic pursuit of money success (Downes Rock 2003). A lot of labels come about through the stigmatization of a particular behaviour. Stigma is powerful negative label that has the potential to radically change a persons self concept (Macionis Plummer 2007), thus it is an influential force in the field of labelling. Slattery (2003) notes that a stigma can either be ascribed or achieved, you can be born with one or earn one. Similar to this is strain theories focus on negative relations between people, focusing on how the individual is not treated as they would like to be treated (Agnew 2002). Labelling theory has several limitations; firstly because labelling is very relative it does not take into account some behaviour like murder which is condemned virtually everywhere. Consequently it is most useful to apply to less serious behaviours like youth vandalism. Secondly, labelling may be seen in two ways- it could encourage more criminal behaviour of it could curb it because of people do not like to have a stigma attached to them. (Macionis Plummer 2007). Finally another limitation of labelling theory is that it does not tell us what are the root causes of primary deviance so how do these people become deviant in the first place? They cannot be labelled deviant if they have not engaged in that type of behaviour. Both labeling and strain theory emphasize the role society has to play in crime. Deviance is shaped in its transactions with events and people around it. Labelling theorists in particular have occupied themselves with the workings of the social reaction to deviance (Downes Rock 2003). Dissimilar to this is Durkheims perspective of deviance as performing functions that are essential to society through, encouraging social change, promoting social unity by responding to deviance, clarifying moral boundaries and affirming cultural norms and values (Macionis Plummer 2007). Sumner (1994) argued that deviance is not applicable to sociology today. He believes that the sociology of deviance died in 1975. Similarly Miller, Wright and Dannels (2001) claim to find empirical support for it and signify the death of deviance in respect to the world today. However, on the other hand Goode (2002) claims that at a certain stage in its history, the sociology of deviance developed a large number of ideas, concepts, and theories that influenced related fields. These ideas included: stigma which influenced disability and transgender studies, anomie in social theory, labelling in ethnic studies and the sociology of the underdog in queer theory. Regardless of the fact that sociology of deviance did not create these concepts, the field did help project them onto the intellectual map. Goode concludes that The social construction of deviance is once again controversial, relevant, central to our lives, and fundamental to our understanding of todays world (Goode 2002). I must agree with this statement as not a day goes by without some type of crime or deviant behaviour brought to our attention. Cohen (1966) believes that rules in everyday life provide a blueprint for every human gesture; consequently every rule then creates potentiality for deviance. However, as mentioned previously- are we really all aware of societal norms and values? I believe that society today has failed to provide a blueprint or clear rules for people to live by, hence leading to the unprecedented rates of crime and social deviance. Strain theory and labelling theory do not pay much attention to psychological factors involved in deviant behaviour, this is a limitation to both I feel. I would question the generalizability of strain theory as it emphasises the focus of materialism for society today. However, much crime is committed by people who simply want to get by in life, to survive. They feel they have no other option but to commit crime to put food on the table. Crime may not necessarily be about reaching the top in society, it may just be about getting by. Labeling theory is a lot more individual in its focus; it is more concerned with peoples reactions when placed in a designated role by society.

Truth and the Majority View :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Truth and the Majority View The majority view occurs in a wide range of judgments from a few friends arguing over a football game to worldwide opinion of global ecology. The purpose of this essay is to explore the formation of a majority view and test the validity of its judgment using the reality principle. The reality principle Wittgenstein's private language argument attacks the idea of the private object. Essentially, his claim is that if I cannot be wrong about 'the colour blue looks to me' then I cannot be right either. His reasoning is that no one else can see what is in my mind, therefore, there can be no objective corroboration of that which is my subjective judgment. The prime target for the reality principle is also the private object. In Dr G. Klempner's Pathways to Philosophy — Metaphysics 2/23 the reality principle is used as a tool to test whether a judgment is genuine or not. Our judgments are statements about how things seem to be to us, but we must accept the possibility that our judgments may be false. However, my beliefs about the world can be false only if there are possible circumstances that would lead me to override my conviction that I am right. The point of using the reality principle is that if we do not accept the possibility of our own judgment being wrong then there can be no distinction between truth and falseness. By applying the reality principle to a majority view definition of truth we can say that it must be possible for the majority view to be false. If this definition of truth produces judgments that cannot be wrong, then they cannot be right either. However, the judgments of the majority can be false only if there are possible circumstances that would lead them to override their conviction that they were right. Forms of majority view The term majority is imprecise and simply means the major part of a population. The part may be anything between fifty and one hundred per cent, and the population may be any number. We need to consider the way a majority is formed before we can value the majority view as a genuine judgment. (i) A majority view may form where individuals do not know what judgments are being made by others. Suppose a canvasser stops passers-by at random and asks each one 'How many times did Bjorn Borg win the Wimbledon men's single's tennis championship?

?Dead Poets society? :: essays research papers

â€Å"Dead Poets society† In the film â€Å"Dead Poets Society†, dir. Peter Weir, we can see vivid pictures from the life at Welton, a very old and traditional boys school. The action is taking place in 1950s. It is predominantly viewed by the eyes of Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawk), newcomer, who is very shy and timid and is under the pressure because of his elder brother, who was successful and popular student of Welton. He and his classmates Knox, Max, Neil Perry and the others, came here to get a classical education and they were expected so. But everything had changed when a new literature teacher, Mr. John Keating (Robin Williams), came. He graduated here and came to teach here. But he taught another way, his methods absolutely differed from those of other teachers and from the spirit of the school in a whole. He was trying to teach them out of the textbooks. He loved poetry very much and wanted his students to love it too and he believed that it would help them in their future life. And Todd, Neil an d the whole class loved him very much. They discover that while studying there, Mr. Keating organized the â€Å"Dead poets society† and decide to continue this â€Å"society†. In the secret from the whole school they get together in a cave at nights, smoked, read poetry and spoke About everything: poetry, girls, philosophy, about the life in a whole. But the principal doesn’t share the student’s admiration of their teacher. Especially after the fact that Neil Perry killed himself because he wanted to be an actor but his father didn’t allow him. He wanted his son to be a doctor. And the administration saw (or wanted to see) here the influence of Mr. Keating and his lessons. All the members of the â€Å"society† were punished and Mr. Keating – dismissed. But in the final scene, when he come to take his belongings, some his students stand up at the desks to show their protest and solidarity with their favorite teacher. In this film Peter Weir in a masterly way showed the conflict between hypocrisy spirit of Welton and fresh jet of Keating’s philosophy. In a broad meaning it can be considered as a conflict between romantism and realism, between the way we would like to live and the way we live, the real life and how should we do with this problem.

The Current Economic Climate

3. 0The Current Economic Climate * Our research clearly shows that retailers believe consumer spending will continue to be constricted throughout 2012. The fear of unemployment, particularly for those working in the public sector, will continue to depress consumer sentiment. Combined with inflation rates that will outstrip wage increases, and consumers continuing to pay down debt, it makes top-line growth difficult. RW 2012) * While the figure continues to tick up, and unemployment among the young particularly impacts on the retailers who serve them, the threat of unemploy- ment depresses the spending of many more. (RW 2012) * Several forces at play are making life difficult for those who want to promote high streets; not least the continued growth of online sales, plus the total costs of high street property compared with footfall and sales densities. (RW 2012) (RW 2012) * Inflation has squeezed disposable incomes, particularly among the C2DE socioeconomic groups. RW 2012) * 32% The percentage of British shoppers who feel they have no cash to spare, according to the BRC and Nielsen in August 2011 (RW 2012) * Coming at a time of squeezed income by heightened inflation in essentials such as food and petrol, one might have expected consumers to cut their cloth. Yet, a number of sources including the Office for National Statistics confirm consumer spending on clothing increased by more than the rate of inflation in 2011: Mintel estimates total clothing spend grew by 4. 7%, well outpacing CPI for the clothing category.Despite the economic context, consumers therefore grew their clothing spend significantly in real terms in 2011, suggesting an underlying resilience in the market: clothes shoppers may be deterred by rain, but they are very unwilling to cut their purchases in response to a deterioration in their spending power. (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Economy slowly recovering – falling headline inflation and recent falls in the number of people un employed suggests the economy is showing signs of recovery since the start of 2012. Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Double-dip recession * export * The UK economy is officially back in recession. The erratic economic growth seen in 2011 – up 0. 5% in the first quarter, down 0. 1% in the second quarter, up 0. 6% in the third quarter – ended down 0. 4% in the final quarter of 2011. This year the downward trend has been more sustained. Firstly, contracting 0. 3% in the first quarter and then by 0. 5% between April and June. It is the same story for year-on-year GDP growth, which has fallen from 1. % in the first quarter of 2011 to -0. 5% in the second quarter of 2012. Attempts to stimulate economic growth have been largely thwarted, despite a sustained period of historically low interest rates and quantitative easing measures. The unresolved euro-zone debt crisis continues to impact on the UK economy, hitting both jobs and growth. * (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * 3. 1 The UK retail environment. * after many years of erosion, neglect and mismanagement, something I felt was destined to disappear forever. (MP, 2011). out-of-town retail has drained the traffic and retail offer from our town centres, (MP, 2011) * With town centre vacancy rates doubling over the last two years and total consumer spend away from our high streets now over 50%,(MP, 2011). * †¢ The number of town centre stores fell by almost 15,000 between 2000 and 2009 with an estimated further 10,000 losses over the past couple of years;2 (MP, 2011). * †¢ Nearly one in six shops stands vacant;3 (MP, 2011). * †¢ Excluding Central London, high street footfall has fallen by around 10% in the last three years;4(MP, 2011). the overarching strategy for most retailers in 2012 is going to be presenting a great customer experience and its successful execution will depend on delivering a pitch perfect performance in all areas of the business. (RW 2012) * One operations direct or suggests that the Portas report is too late to reverse the decline: â€Å"I think the secondary high streets are finished, because you can’t sustain a store in a market where nobody wants to shop. What could happen in a low-rent high street is that new forms of retail entertainment will spring up. † (RW 2012) The operations director of a major retailer explains: â€Å"I think the secondary high streets are finished, because you can’t sustain a store in a market where nobody wants to shop. What could happen in a low rent high street is that new forms of retail entertainment will spring up. † (RW 2012) * â€Å"Research I have seen shows that even by 2020, 87% of all customers’ journeys will involve a store at some stage†¦ So I think talk of the high street’s demise is nonsense,† says the chief executive of a department store. (RW 2012) * â€Å"Change isn’t coming; it’s come and moved on† (Sibun, 2012).RMR * In the UK, several forces at play are making life difficult for those who want to promote high streets, not least the continued growth of online sales, plus the total costs of high street property compared with footfall and sales densities. (RW 2012, P. 58) * One operations director suggests the Portas report is too late to reverse the decline: â€Å"I think the secondary high streets are finished, because you can't sustain a store in a market where nobody wants to shop. What could happen in a low-rent high street is that new forms of retail entertainment will spring up. † (RW 2012, P. 58) â€Å"High-profile retail failures cannot be taken as indicative of the sector’s health. Consumers may be under pressure financially, but there is little sign of them cutting their spending on clothing. Retailing is a remarkably robust sector – and any retailer’s failure to secure growth is by consequence down to their own failings. † * – John Mercer, Seni or Retail Analyst (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Figure 1: Clothing specialists’ sales (? m, incl. VAT), 2007-17 * * * In-store technology designed to enhance the multichannel shopping experience is a key theme among major retailers’ innovations: (Mintel 2012, lothing retailing). * Marks & Spencer is reportedly investing ? 100 million on improving its digital offering to encourage customers to browse and learn more about products. The retailer’s new 151,000 sq ft outlet at Cheshire Oaks in Ellesmere Port includes a host of in-store innovation including HD display screen showcasing product, browse-and-order screens, and staff equipped with iPads. (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Oasis has introduced an in-store iPad shopping facility enabling customers to order clothes from the store’s fitting room and have them delivered to their home.Shop staff equipped with iPads can check garment availability from anywhere on the shop floor. (Mintel 2012, clo thing retailing). * Debenhams is launching free wifi in its 167 shops. Customers will be able to use their smartphones and mobile devices to access Debenhams information and special deals as they walk around the shop. Customers can check for sizes and availability and if it isn’t in store, scan the barcode to order it for home delivery. (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * 3. 2Threat of the internet. * But new technological developments now mean that the internet is one of the key threats to retail on our high streets.Although internet sales currently account for less than 10% of all retail sales some estimates suggest that e-commerce accounted for nearly half of all retail sales growth in the UK between 2003 and 2010, as internet access has become more widespread And we have seen dramatic growth in ‘m-commerce’ – sales over mobile devices – of more than 500% in the last two years. (MP, 2011). * De Kare Silver argues that this is, â€Å"gradually c easing to be a bricks and mortar world†9 and shows that a 15% drop in store sales of most high street retailers pushes them below break even and into loss.It’s not just the small retailers; many businesses on the high street are feeling the pinch. De Kare Silver M (2011) e-shock 2020: How the Digital Technology Revolution is Changing Business and All Our Lives(MP, 2011). mp 2011 * One retailer comments that if you want customers to come into store then you have to treat them really well, otherwise why wouldn’t they just go and buy from Amazon. (RW 2012) * * RW 2012 – Shows that the focus is moving away from purely focusing on new channel, looking to utilise existing channels too aka stores. It’s perhaps easy to blame the high street’s problems on the continued growth in online sales. But actually as retailers have begun to deliver more integrated multichannel services they have found that online and mobile channels benefit stores. Industry bo dy IMRG estimates that 10. 4% of all UK online retail sales in August to October 2011 were fulfilled through click-and-collect services. At the top end of the scale, retailers such as Halfords say click and collect is driving 85% of web customers to store. (RW 2012) * Mintel 2012, forecast that the total UK expenditure on clothing and footwear via the internet will rise 86% to ? . 4bn by 2016. (Past Disso, SJG) * VM will become even more important as retailers will have to excite and entertain customers who are being distracted through a forest of other media (Glen Folley, Head of VM T. M. Lewin. VM 2020). * Growth of online sales will prove a challenge to VM in capturing the customer in store. (Sarah Bailey LCF, VM 2020). * Stores currency will be rooted in providing spectacle, wonder and kinship as well as authority and expertise beyond what can be found online (Lorna Hall, Retail Editior WGSN) 2D will never be as fulfilling as 3D (Andi Grant, Creative Director SFD Inspired Retail Design. ) * The latest challenge is the internet, shopping from home is easier, price competitive, price of parking (Tony Morgan VM) * With the rise of online shopping and consumer’s spending less time in store (Bell and Ternus, 2006), (RMR) * â€Å"The latest challenge to in store retailers is the internet with online shopping. Shopping from home is easier and price competitive. Retailers are under more pressure than ever to insure customers return and spend. † (Morgan, 2008, p. 15). RMR) * Despite what we are being told about significant growth online, conversion rates online still tend to be substantially lower than in traditional bricks and mortar stores. Retailers believe this is due to the customer’s inability to physically interact with an item online. (Retail Week, 2012a). RMR â€Å"20 percent of people never buy fashion online, while 40 percent do so once a month or more. † (Retail Week, 2012a)RMR * Primark is a good example of a brand that is i ncorporating technology within their stores rather than â€Å"jumping onto the multichannel band wagon† (Pert, 2012).Primark is yet to have a transactional website because it wouldn’t fit within their brand ethos. Primark has a highly successful model and its choosing technology that helps support, enhance and replicate this model (Pert, 2012), rather than going fully online. RMR * * Peter Cross, business partner of Mary Portas – and manager of one half of her retail consultancy – Yellow Door, said: â€Å"Retail theatre is not a new thing, but the sheer power of the internet and its efficiency means that so much transactional retailing can happen online, so shops have to up their game. ttp://www. independent. co. uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/retailtainment-the-future-of-shopping-2303942. html * * â€Å"Offline shops have realised they have to do something else other than simply sell you stuff. † http://www. independent. co. uk/news/busin ess/analysis-and-features/retailtainment-the-future-of-shopping-2303942. html * Karl Lagerfeld Prefers Bricks over Clicks * Published: Feb 13, 09 References: nymag * Karl Lagerfeld prefers the physical part of shopping in person vs. the visual part of shopping online.Lagerfeld was meeting with the EU competition commissioner to discuss the loosening of restrictions of selling luxury goods—read: anything designed by Karl Lagerfeld—online. * Lagerfeld extolls the pleasure of buying where one can feel the fabric and see colors in natural light. Lagerfeld is not a Luddite; with the help of his assistant, bodyguard and sometimes model Sebastien Jondeau he will sometimes buy CDs and books from Amazon. com. But â€Å"And I still like bookshops, and not because I have one,† he said. (Lagerfeld’s store 7L sells photobooks. * http://www. trendhunter. com/trends/karl-lagerfeld-embraces-bricks-over-clicks * Figure 3: Main shops used for clothing in the last 12 months , instore or online, July 2012 * Base: 1,968 internet users aged 16+ who have bought clothing in last 12 months * * (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * How are online and in-store working together? We have argued that consumers make less and less distinction between the two. Even so, the message of the next figure is that they treat shopping trips separately.Overall, however, the results tie in with the fact that only around 10% of clothing is sold online and that buying in-store is much the most popular route. * Figure 4: How consumers made their most recent clothing purchase, July 2012 * Base: 2,000 internet users aged 16+ * * (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Our consumer research found nearly half of Next and M;S shoppers had bought online – yet, clearly, their online sales make up a far lower proportion of their total revenues, suggesting their customers are selectively mixing in-store and online shopping.Meanwhile, overall, 18% of womenswear shoppers and 19% of mens wear shoppers had used the internet as part of the browsing or purchase process, but a large proportion of this was in conjunction with store-based browsing and shopping. * Indeed, it tends only to be struggling retailers that are using the justification of a migration to online shopping for planned or mooted store closures: French Connection, New Look, and some of Arcadia’s fashion fascia, for example. * (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * * * (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). Key analysis: It is already obvious that consumers use in-store and online interchangeably as buying media. But there is still a bias to the young when it comes to researching online first. (Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Retailers who ignore a channel of distribution do so at their peril. A store based retailer must have a complementary online offer. But purchasers of branded goods from an online only retailer have probably seen the product first in a store. The online retailer only makes a sal e because the customer has decided not to buy it in-store immediately. Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * * Mintel estimates online clothing sales increased 18% to ? 4. 6 billion in 2011, and we expect growth of 14% for 2012 taking the online market size to ? 5. 2 billion, equivalent to 13% of consumer spending on clothing. * Mintel’s consumer research for our Fashion Online report found that consumers are buying online more frequently and the popularity of internet shopping is gaining ground on in-store shopping. Over a fifth (22%) of consumers now buy more clothes online than they do in-store, compared to just over one in ten (12%) in 2010.For full consumer research findings, and market size data for online fashion including footwear, see Mintel’s report, Fashion Online – UK, March 2012. * think with the nature of the high street and the amount of companies going into administration Online is the way forward. Independents are being hit with high rents for bri cks and mortar and are having to close after just a short period. (Surfdome Interview) * 3. Are surfdome purposely an online brand or is it because it is cheaper to trade online. would they branch out to having a highstreet presence). We wouldn’t branch out to open on the high street. We are already seeing amazing growth online, 2012 finished +76% vs 2011 (Surfdome Interview) * * 3. 3 Store Closures * Where retailers used to need 400 or 500 shops to touch the length and breadth of Britain, with the sheer power of the internet they now need far less. For example, as I write Sir Philip Green, CEO of Arcadia Group, has announced the reduction of his own retail estate as leases expire(MP, 2011). At the time of writing, Barratts Priceless had just fallen into administration, and HMV had issued results alongside a warning that the future of the business was open to question. (RW 2012) mp 2011 * Retailers at the value end of fashion have particularly found themselves exposed to the problem of too many stores in places where footfall can’t achieve the sales they need to cover their costs. Several we spoke to warned that their store portfolios will likely shrink during the year, and other retailers said they would reposition stores and look for better rent deals even if they don’t intend to shrink store numbers overall. RW 2012) * The businesses named as those in trouble are the ones likely to have too many stores. But property costs aren’t the only reasons mainstream fashion retailers are struggling to adapt to the realities of the market. Some are still running their buying operations as though it is the boom years. (RW 2012) * But retailers outside of these four struggling sectors are not immune from problems And indeed any business with too many stores, poor cash flow and large debts to service will face challenges to survive the year. RW 2012) * UK stores have become more important, and as later chapters of this report show, despite the fact retailers are reviewing the number of stores they need in a multichannel world, they are prepared to invest in those they keep open. (RW 2012) * The rate of highstreet shop closures is increasing due to rises in VAT, income tax and rent, high levels of inflation, and lower wage growth, meaning that consumers particulary in the middle class sector have less disposable income and are changing their spending habits. Past Disso, SJG) * The ‘Economist Intelligence Unit’, predict e-sales will make up a third of all retail sales in Britain in ten years time (Sibun, 2012). With online retailing proving such a success, many individuals have voiced concerns that the â€Å"Highstreet is dying† when faced with the â€Å"virtual onslaught† (Pert, 2012). It has been reported that a slew of shops have been closing stores to focus on their online offering (Blackden, 2012). RMR * RW 2012 * However, it’s clear that there is a space shift on the cards.The chairm an of a fashion retailer says his business may close 100 stores in 2012, as it wants fewer, larger stores; which he says are difficult to find. â€Å"We will only open stores in exceptional locations such as Westfield†¦ We have far too many expensive leases and we are having negotiations with landlords at the moment. † (RW 2012) * Another fashion chief executive, who is happy with most of his stores which are in prime locations, adds: â€Å"There are a few sites in difficulty. But when a shop is in trouble we run it on a cash-for-cash basis. If the property is taking more cash than it is costing, then the store stays open.If not, it closes. We may look at the lease renewal and then take a view as to whether to close, to renegotiate or to resite. † (RW 2012) * Retailers are falling into administration with the total number of retailers in England and wales increasing by 11% from 165 to 183 in 2011. (Past Disso, SJG) * Web retailing will have taken it’s toll by the year 2020, leaving highstreets and malls vacant of many of todays recognised brands. (Tanya Reynolds, Creative Director. Proportion London. VM 2020). * recorded 32 stores closing per day in the UK. (Sibun, 2012). RMR) * On Monday, clothes chain Jane Norman became the latest high street casualty of the recession, as it moved into administration. And as the internet threatens to guzzle up the profits of remaining high street retailers, perhaps it may take an outstanding shopping experience to stir droves of people from their chairs and into the shops. Various phrases have been used over the years to describe the enhancing of shopping stores: â€Å"retailtainment† and â€Å"entertailment† are obvious word plays. http://www. independent. co. uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/retailtainment-the-future-of-shopping-2303942. tml * Failures expected to decline, but will rise in retail sector * The number of business failures will fall over the coming three years but remain above pre-recession levels, according to a forecast by the accounting firm BDO. * It estimates that the number of failures will fall to 20,536 a year by 2015, from a peak of 26,196 in 2009. BDO identifies a squeeze on the disposable income of UK households as one of the primary reasons for the slow recovery and concludes that retail and personal services companies are likely to be the most severely affected. BDO predicts that the number of retail sector failures will rise by 12. 5 per cent to 3,104 in 2011 from 2,759 in 2010. It expects the personal services sector, such as hair, beauty and consumer goods repairs, to see an increase in failures of 2. 8 per cent to 1,288 in 2011, up from 1,252 in 2010. * http://www. independent. co. uk/news/business/news/failures-expected-to-decline-but-will-rise-in-retail-sector-2364863. html * The store will remain your key asset, use it to showcase your brand and generate maximum profitability by addressing issues at   individual store l evel (RW 2012, P. 58) * 3. 3UK brands vs US brands financials (The need for UK stores) MP 2011 * adapt to reap the major benefits from localising their product offers. (RW 2012) * Again, this is a trend where UK retailers can be proud of what they’ve achieved, as their private-label developments are among the finest in the world, and in some cases give manufacturers a run for their money (RW 2012) (RW 2012) * Retailers with international appeal are asking themselves how much of a return they’ll get from opening one more store in the UK compared with one abroad, especially one in the fast-growing emerging markets. RW 2012) * I would say not, we are a global brand on a global stage, we see ourselves as retail leaders, but would be influenced by any great retail idea not just from the USA. (Selfridges interview) * 1. Yes, Ted Baker is portrayed as a very British brand. Ted Baker is still considered â€Å"out of the ordinary† with strong UK roots. (Ted Baker Intervi ew) * 3. 4upper middle market retailers. (lack of british brands in this sector) * The fact is that the major supermarkets and malls have delivered highly convenient, needs-based retailing, which serves today’s consumers well. MP, 2011). * Woolworths is a prime example. They simply hadn’t realised how to talk to the new value-conscious consumer and allowed the pound shops, many of which are seeing astronomic levels of growth, to pile in and steal their market share. A fact made all the more painful when one knows that Woolworths was in fact the original pound shop offering all its merchandise at a fixed single price. (MP, 2011). * Primarily this is 16-25 year olds. They are faced with much greater higher education costs than previous generations and rising unemployment.And also C2DE socioeconomic groups; those on benefits, the elderly and low-paid have been at the sharp end of rising inflation during 2011. Even if, as many predict, inflation slows during 2012 the damag e to their spending power has already been done. (RW 2012) * And the director of a premium fashion retailer is mindful that her competition is likely to grow, so it’s not a time for the business to scrimp on what makes it attractive to customers, as the new competition sure won’t be. â€Å"The international brands that are coming in from the US, France and Australia have got quite a bit of money to invest,† she says. RW 2012) * Unemployment stands at 8. 3%. Both the rate and level of youth unemployment stands at the highest it has ever been, with 22% – or around one million – economically active 16 to 25 year olds not in employment. (RW 2012) * Clothes buying still a priority for under-25s – 61% of under-25s – a key market for clothing retailers – still include clothing and footwear within their top five biggest areas of expenditure, with fashion the ultimate spending priority for 15-19-year-olds, according to Mintel’s Y outh Fashion – UK – December 2011 report. Mintel 2012, clothing retailing). * Under-25s demographic group shrinking – The number of under-25s – a key market for clothing retailers – is contracting as a percentage of the population. The UK’s ageing population means the number of 15-19-year-olds is predicted to shrink by 7. 1% between 2012 and 2017, while the number of 20-24-year-olds is expected to fall to 5. 3% during the same period. (Mintel 2012, clothing