Art Appreciation Essay

While it is and can be said that what art is truly up to the viewer to interprete is true; it is up to the artist to display his definition of art. Thru his skills of observation, imagination, he displays to his thoughts and feelings condensed. Whatever their medium maybe it be painting, sculpture, or any of the many others. The world may or may not agree what art is, but the saying is true. It is with in the eyes of the beholder. The definition of Art has been a long debated topic I society. Some say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These being the case several people have tried to put a definition of it into words. One definition listed is â€Å"an occupation requiring knowledge or skill†, and goes on to say â€Å"the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also: works so produced† (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Also a far more simple worded, yet complex in thought definition is â€Å"Art is form and content† (Shelly Esaak, 2012). While both say two seemingly different things, they are part of the ever evolving definition and essence of Art. There are several types of art; with in this paper I will cover eight types. They include painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, printmaking, conceptual art, installation art, and performance art. While these are a small cross section of art, they are important pieces. The first example is painting. While there are several noticed painters and examples of their work, the example I chose to give is â€Å"The Adoration of the Shepherds†, painted by Andrea Mantegna (1450). This piece is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. While this piece does fit the definition of works so produced, what about the rest? While painted in the Middle Ages, Mantegna couldn’t have been able to witness the birth of Christ. He draws from the biblical tale of the birth and his own imagination to paint a portrait of the adoration of the lord, as well as his parents doting over him. He uses his skill to not only paint the adoration in the foreground, but also the landscape for miles. The way Mantegna paints the entire picture, while he could not have been there having happened centuries before, displays he posses the skill and imagination to product a true masterpiece even though he was only in his early twenties. One of the most widely known sculpture pieces is â€Å"The Thinker† by Auguste Rodin (1902). The painting was originally made to be a piece included in his â€Å"Gates of Hell†, a mass door made for the Paris Museum of Art (www. statue. com, 2012). While Rodin completed the sculpture he saw something greater in the form and made it stand alone piece. Rodin applied his skill and creative imagination to craft and see the greater potential within the sculpture. Although not talked about as paintings and sculpture Architecture is a form of art as well. One of the most highly noted Architects is Frank Lloyd Wright. Applying his personal motto of â€Å"Form follows function† (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 2012), he applied the artist eye to everything he created from building to furniture. One of his most noted pieces, the house at Falling Water. Wright used his skill and experience to craft the large stone house at the family’s request. Although the family originally wanted the home to face the falls; Wright chose to have it located on top of the falls as an integral part of the structure (http://www. fay-west. com/fayette/fallingwater, 2005). Ansel Adams integrated his keen observation and use of skill to capture the rugged land of the western United States during the period of 1916 to his death in 1986 (http://www. anseladams. com/ansel-adams-information/ansel-adams-biography, 2012). He took several photographs of the west, but is most famous for his photos of Sierra Nevada Mountains. Adams took photos of the wildlife and terrain, and using his skill and depth of knowledge of the medium he was a major contributing factor to the conservation of Yosemite National Park and the Serria Nevada Mountains. Although famous for numerous reasons, Andy Warhol was also a highly commended Printmaking Artist. Using his highly creative imagination and skill he took everyday objects such as soup cans and even people and made art of them. He refined a process involving projection photo images to a silk screen thus speeding up his production process (http://arthistory. about. com/cs/namesww/p/warhol. htm, 2012). This gave the public a new outlook on ordinary things. Joseph Kosuth is one of the most famous artists in the realm of Conceptual Art. His piece aptly name â€Å"Three Chairs† is currently on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The exhibit has a blank and whit picture of the chair, the actual chair, and lastly the printed definition of the word chair (http://www. moma. org/collection/browse_results. php? object_id=81435, 2012). While this may seem strange on the surface the artist is trying point out our lack of observation and is trying to make use want to study and dive deeper into his intended meaning (The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 257). Ilya Kabakov’s â€Å"The Man Who Flew into His Picture† Installation Art piece displays a look inside the artist true mindset. He displays true creative imagination and skill. It is a room modeled after a Soviet apartment and has a miniature version of the artist flying thru the fog on the white board. Possibly look for outside validation (http://www. moma. org/collection/browse_results. php? object_id=81057, 2012). Lastly is Performance Art. This style of art is defined by a piece of performance art must be centered on an action carried out or orchestrated by an artist (Kyle Chayka, 2011). â€Å"The Mirror† that has been created by Iselin Bruff and Torsten Klimmer aka Omananda, Liquid Crystal Vision is a current example of performance art (http://www. omananda. com/movies/performance-art/143-neon-pink-mangas-emerge-from-pyramids-into-qthe-mirrorq, 2012). The performers use light, projectors, film, dance and other mediums to explain the Star of David. While I personally feel this is the strangest of all art forms, it does fulfill the definition of art. While it is and can be said that what art is truly up to the viewer to interprete is true; it is up to the artist to display his definition of art. Thru his skills of observation, imagination, he displays to his thoughts and feelings condensed. Whatever their medium maybe it be painting, sculpture, or any of the many others. The world may or may not agree what art is, but the saying is true. It is with in the eyes of the beholder. References http://www.musee-rodin.fr/

Global Stratification and the World Order

Requirement One: â€Å"Global Stratification and the World Order† 1. )After reading what John Perkins had to say I really had to second guess my understanding and acceptance of our government. I did not realize how far the government is willing to go to ensure the world order and economic structure is always stacked in our country’s favor. I thought we were the country to help other countries out. The government does this, but makes it so the countries we are assisting are forever in debt to us, giving us what we want.We all seem to want to believe that we have a great government system but does tricking vulnerable countries and making them â€Å"slaves† to our economy sound like a caring strategy? I would have to say no. It was interesting to read from John Perkins that they will go through different levels of people until someone does the job and manipulates the other country or people. If those people do not succeed, then young men and women soldiers are broug ht forward to win the fight like they are doing in Iraq. This is pathetic. The government will put many peoples’ lives on the line just so they can have their way.After this information was brought to my attention, it made me and is making me feel very insecure about the government I live my life by. I love my country but the government is a completely different situation for me now. 2. ) American corporations keep our government alive and going. I say this because so many of our corporations look for cheap labor and other costs in different countries around the world that are vulnerable to our power. These American corporations will have their factors in other countries and control their workers. Then they can manipulate them and help out the government.For example, an American corporation like Target has a factory in Mexico. There might be some time of political thing going on in Mexico and a politician may be in favor to giving some control over the Mexico to the U. S. So Target will somehow bribe or persuade their workers to like this certain politician, giving the U. S. government what they want. This might me a dramatic situation but I believe it is happening. When I go to Target and buy a shirt I do not think about where it came from, what kind of environment it was made in, or who the people were who made it. American corporations can use their power against the government.If the government does not allow them to look elsewhere for cheap labor then they will no longer be funded and supported by that corporation along with other disadvantages. That could cause a domino effect with other corporations seeing this. It would simply tear our government apart. The government may be manipulating other countries but American corporations are the ones manipulating them. I always see commercials on TV, encouraging American citizens to help out others less fortunate in other countries. Sometimes the people that put on these commercials are American corporat ions.Those corporations have factors in other countries and are making it worse for that they are trying to â€Å"help†. It is a big act that the corporations put on to make it look like that they are not at fault; they are trying to fix things†¦ha. No matter where a corporation goes, labor is labor. Just because they move their factors to a poor country does not mean that the workers deserve less. They make surviving worse on them because they pay them nothing and never change it. Workers will work countless, harsh hours to make a tiny bit causing them to be mentally and physically ill.American corporations will promote help for the people that they are hurting. This is a concept that sadly I just figured out. 3. )No one should ever be murdered just for not agreeing and â€Å"going along with the program†. I would just go with it because I know how powerful the government is and I would not want to die. There have been many leaders and people of other countries w ho have not agreed with what the U. S. was trying to do with their country so they decided to put their foot down. Those people would usually end up dead or somehow their reputation got destroyed so they wished they were dead. It is a cycle that is hard to stop.People get scared of others who have power. That is horrible that power has to be used against people. I understand that this world is survival of the fittest but it is not a game to see who can win. It has been made into a game though and many people and countries lose against our government. The U. S. wins for all the wrong reasons. I understand that murder could be the answer if that person hurts our county in any way but I suppose they were just trying to make a stand in the wrong way. When I think about it I cannot think of how we can get out of this situation. How do I as a citizen of the U. S. ake our government stop this? I believe it will take a nation of citizens to realize this and make a change. 4. )The world†™s social class order is set up the exact same way as the United States’ social class. The dominant wealthy ones run the world while the rest of us live underneath them. In many social classes in the world the upper class has been distinguished by the possession of largely inherited wealth, while the working class has consisted mostly of manual laborers and semiskilled or unskilled workers, often in service industries, which earn moderate or low wages and have little access to inherited wealth.The middle class includes the middle and upper levels of clerical workers, those engaged in technical and professional occupations, supervisors and managers, and such self-employed workers as small-scale shopkeepers, businesspeople, and farmers. There is also often class permanently jobless and underemployed workers called the underclass. All of these things are related to our social system. I do not think the world has mimicked us but the U. S. has mimicked the world. We are a fairly younger country compared to others who also have had social classes sense their beginning.I do believe that when a nation changes their ways of social class sometimes others do too. The U. S. has much more equality in the social classes so other countries have seen how it works so they will make changes to their social class. The world social class as one has distinct social classes just like ours does. There are some differences though. The world social class seems to be ran more by the upper very wealthy social classes. These classes are made up of heirs that have lots of money. There are many countries who have families that have lots and lots of money.Our higher social classes do have heirs in them but I think many have made it to success and made lots of money. Social classes in the world have distinct different classes which I think we do to but there is a more mixture in each class. Sometimes people in upper class can also be categorized in the middle class, for example. 5. )Sense our world is getting older, goods and certain things are becoming limited. Each country has something that is known to them. A certain good that is in high demand is oil, for example. World political order has a lot to do with this subject.It is obvious that people who have money and are higher up in social stratification can manipulate each other which mean the average person just goes along with it. The United States has inequality as well as the rest of the world. Sometimes things that bring in money and power is more important to the ones that run each country. They will choose this over getting food to their starving citizens or put more labor into their country than into something else. I mostly am talking about the example given†¦oil. I think it is a product that holds lot of power and money. The people that have power over others, high social class people, ight over it all the time. Like I said before, countries will choose to put all of their time, energy and mo ney into the production or buying of oil. OPEC nations have this power over the rest of the world and fight against the other OPEC nations. They can easily bargain with the United States and manipulate us to give something, pay a certain amount or even sacrifice something that belongs to the citizens. It seems to me that due to economic sanctions Iran has been completely shut, both in and out. This is due to the United States and the power it has, to make their economy suffer so they can gain control.Other countries have followed along and that is why Iran’s economy has gotten worse. Requirement Two: â€Å"Move over U. S. A. -Our Biggest Economic Threats† 1. )From my research I found that China is one of the two countries that holds the biggest threat to the United States. China is second from the United States in gross domestic product at over $11trillion and gaining on the U. S. according to aneki. com (2012). GDP in the monetary value of all the finished goods and s ervices produced within a country's borders in a specific time period, usually calculated annually.The United States does have a higher GDP put China is growing on us and is determined to make more things and give out more services. This does not have to with economics but China’s education system is far better than the United States. Producing smarter people makes a better economy because those people are the ones that work for the economy making it better. United States is far away from have the same educational level as China, so this also poses a threat to us. China’s defense system is also growing towards our strong defense system.With recent reports of China’s threats to our nation it shows the tension and competition they have with us. India falls in next after China with the GDP at $4. 5 trillion. Their economy thriving. Even though $6. 5 trillion dollars from them to us with seems low, it really is not in this sense. Their economy has completely turned around in the past years and they could pass China then us any day. Like China, their education system is also thriving and becoming great. According to americaprogress. org (2013), by 2017 India will graduate 20 million people from high school.That is 5 times more than the United States. I think that India is not only getting richer but making extreme changes. Forty percent of India families survived on only $1. 25 a day. They are changing this through their education system by getting more children through school. It shows the drive for success this country has and how it can go from underdog to top dog. I know I really emphasized the educational success that China and India has been having but I believe that plays a huge factor in the future of our economy and position in the world.More educated people can bring bigger, brighter, and smarter decisions for things that deal with the economy. I am not saying that we as Americans are stupid but we need to push for better education to better ourselves. It may be an awakening for the United States. China and India’s rising GDP also shows that the two countries are making a better economy for themselves but this could cause problem for the United States. This causes a lot of pressure on us because it is coming close to the day when we are not the top dogs anymore.The government has to make careful decisions because knowing that 12% of our debt is owned by foreign countries could cause them to lose even more power. That 12% is a lot and with China and India becoming more powerful, that could become 100%. We could go from the top and powerful country to the slave to many countries. This would be a horrible situation but it could be a learning process for us. We have seen many 2nd rated countries go through some harsh things and somehow survive. Maybe as a nation we need a taste of this especially our government because they often take our society for granted.This may be a bit drastic for me to say but it is h ow I view it. References used in Requirement Two: (2012) http://www. aneki. com/largest_economies. html Cooper, Donna (2013) http://www. americanprogress. org/issues/economy/report/2012/08/21/11983/the-competition-that-really-matters/ Requirement Three: â€Å"Helping Developing Countries† Out of the theories I researched, I think that the dependency theory offers the best explanation for global stratification. This theory contends that the main reason why low-income countries are poor is because they are controlled by high-income countries.These countries exploit and dominate them. I think this is the perfect theory because it shows how much rich countries, especially the U. S. , take control of poor countries and make lives worse for the citizens. This is what this whole assignment is somewhat about†¦the power and control our nation has. Rich nations have a large amount of power by exporting jobs overseas, manipulating foreign aid, draining less powerful countries of th eir resources, and persuading or tricking national governments to comply their interests. This is what I have been discussing for part of my paper.Through this theory high-income countries benefit because the poor provide cheap labor and are no powerful enough to protest. I really believe that this shows how are world is ran. The government says they are helping other countries but really hurting them. The government I think wants to help less advantage countries but the thought of power, money, and being scared gets to them so they keep on manipulating other governments. This theory shows how global stratification works in this world and how it needs to change. The U. S. s not the only powerful country who falls under the dependency theory, other ones do and some are even worse. I believe that if we delete this theory and change global stratification, our problem with poverty in this world will stop. Christine Monnier (2011) from globalsociology. com says that dependency theory als o shows that the degree of dependency increases as time goes on. Wealthy countries are able to use their wealth to further influence developing nations into adopting policies that increase the wealth of the wealthy nations, even at their own expense.At the same time, they are able to protect themselves from being turned on by the developing nations, making their system more and more secure as time passes. Capital continues to migrate from the developing nations to the developed nations, causing the developing nations to experience a lack of wealth, which forces them to take out larger loans from the developed nations, further indebting them. This theory shows how bad countries manipulate each other and is also a never ending process. Reference used in Requirement Three: Christine, Monnier 2011 https://globalsociology. bworks. com/w/page/14711295/Theories%20of%20Global%20Stratification Requirement Four: â€Å"Open†¦. Yes†¦. ,But How Open? † a. After looking over my m atrix when I filled it out I noticed a few things. From my understanding and how I thought my matrix should be done I realized that each class of people is closed. Once a person is in a class, it is hard to be categorized into another by society. A person may go from manager to CEO and that would make them have more money and supposedly change their class. It is harder than that though.It is like what we talked about previously in our book, when society makes a stereotype there is no way to get out of that. I also noticed that I gave each class a certain annual income but after looking at it I think I was too low with each one. I thought that making $35,000 a year is middle class. I thought about it and that is more for the working class. It just shows that the modern society has changed and many people do not realize what â€Å"category† they are in. I also realized that while I filled it out I made it look like ever class besides upper and capitalist had no life or leisure time but actually their the happiest ones.Just because a person does not have a lot of money does not mean they are unhappy. Again, the stereotypical thought I had about each class got to me. After revising I would change a few things on my matrix. b. )The lower social classes are impacted hard by the out society’s stereotypical thought, like I said before. This is a huge obstacle these classes and it is hard for them to pass. It is also obvious to me that when a family is stuck in a lower class it is harder for them to get out of it within the next couple of generations.When a family does not have the means of sending their children to college, then usually that child will have to stay in the lower class because they cannot afford it either. This does not affect the poverty class but the working class and even the middle class as well. Lower class families also face the block of having a steady home. Due to money shortages, they have to move a lot going from house to house o r apartment. It seems to me that if you do not make a certain outrageous amount of money each year, then you will never get out and move up from your social class.The wealthy keep it this way by gaining more power while most of our society is trying to survive. I think that the rich have a lot of power in politics. They will sponsor and give money to politicians who agree with the way they think our society should be or keep it where it is at. Most politicians are wealthy anyways so they already know what to do. They are not there for the citizens but only for the wealthy citizens. They want to gain more power and money. It is all one big greedy cycle. Most wealthy people are good at building the people below them up, just to knock them down again.Like when huge corporations make expensive and big factors then higher people, then they turn around and lay off hundreds of workers because they cannot pay them. The wealthy want the best and to be the best so they overlook how much money they should be spending and then the workers are the ones to get damaged from it. Everywhere you go you can see how the wealthy make sure that the lower class people do not move up in class. For example, in the education system if you do not have the name, the money, or the power then you cannot attend some schools like the Ivey League schools.Tuition is pricey and is always going up. Who do you think raises that? Wealthy, greedy people do who have power to do that. Other classes have been created by the wealthy so when people of lesser class make more money they just move up to a little to the next class and are still far away from wealthy. Unless you somehow magically get millions and billions of dollars, it is very hard and usually not even an option to move up in class. The wealthy put us there and will not let us move. c. )I believe that social mobility plays a huge role in how I can understand the matrix I made.In my previous paragraphs I talked about intergenerational mobili ty (moving up or down the class hierarchy relative to the position of one’s parents). This is what I see happens a lot in our society. It is all about our last name, the money we hold, and the power we have just by the genes we are made up of. Intragenerational mobility (moving up or down the class hierarchy over one’s lifetime) does happen but from my matrix I think that people move down way more than they move up in class. I do not think it has always been this way but this is the way it is in our modern society.From reading about meritocracy (a belief that individual are rewarded for what they do and how well rather than on the basis of their ascribed status), it should be incorporated into our society and social class system way more than what it is now. This thought is just from my own beliefs and from studying how I filled out my matrix. People should not be punished or get rewarded through their ascribed status. I do not like using the term â€Å"ascribed statu s† because we all are our own individuals and should not be identified by our status.This reminds me of what we learned and wrote about from our first reflection paper. I like the idea that the Davis-Moore thesis (the functionalist view that social stratification benefits a society) has but I do not think it is implemented into our social class at all. From my view, social classes are negative but from this theory it is a positive thing. I believe that the people who need to understand this theory and make it work are the higher class people because they are the ones manipulating everything. After then accept it, we can then take advantage of our social stratification.I also believe that the use of corporate welfare (an array of direct subsidies, tax breaks, and assistance that the government has created for businesses) should be stopped because this is one of the many big parts to keeping lower class people where they are at. Instead of helping them out, the government will h elp the corporations out so they can keep their power and money. Helping them first makes sure that the government will still be supported and backed up as well. It is a never ending cycle to keep the poor†¦poor and the rich†¦richer. d. In my life time I would like have social mobility to move me up in class, just like everyone else would like. The first obstacle I cross is of course money. My parents have always helped me to get over this block because they pay for my college and support me with my living. This has helped me to focus on school and get good graded while having a part time job. I believe that getting through college is the first step for me to go up in social class. I also have picked a career in nursing which is a career that holds security and it is easy to advance in. I think that is a probably with today’s society.People choose jobs that they would like to have but most of them are unsteady with not very many openings and the chance of being laid off. Through college I can get my LPN, ADN, and BSN. Each degree can get me more money and more flexibility with the chance to increase my education. When I become a nurse I have to find the best area that can pay me the best and of course I have to like it. Once I am married and have a life I would like to have horizontal mobility (moving from one position to the another at the same class level) because it is not all about the money and class for me, I just want a happy life.This is just the way I would like everything to turn out in my life but after filling out my matrix I realized that this may not happen. As time will go one, society most likely will get worse and it will be even a bigger struggle to have social mobility. All I can do is set goals and try to achieve them but if I end up in a lower social class then I will have to accept that because it is not about my ascribed status with the little power and little money I have but how I live my life. All I can do is hope for the best. Requirement Five: â€Å"Socialism- American Style† a. I think that we will not come to terms with what our society is really like. I think that most of us dream and strive to have money and power because that is what America is all about. This is the country where your dreams can become true and you can live happily ever after. This is a great â€Å"idea† to have but it is not reality. Most poor people believe do not believe that the rich have put them there. Some do know this and try to fight it though. Rich people will help the poor but behind their backs they are just taking advantage of them. Most of us do not realize what is going on.I understand that this is the way it is because it is hard to know what the truth is†¦who to believe? Both rich and poor do not realize what truly is going on and how manipulating power and money is for both sides of the fence. It is a problem in a society that should be fixed but it is hard to find the first step to t hat. b. )Our nation’s welfare system I think helps the poor out a lot but maybe too much. This is how the rich can keep the poor poor. By allowing the poor to have an easy option to get welfare from the government, it enables them to try to better their lives.I do think that there are many poor people in American who need the help and take it while trying to give them a better life but there is also people who take advantage of it. It should become stricter with routine checks of how they are bettering themselves so they sometime will not have to use welfare. I explained this a little in this past week’s online discussion. By allowing more free money to the poor, this takes toll on the average American because they pay the taxes that fund the welfare system. More money allowed to the poor means more taxes being taken away from hard working people.It is a touchy subject because for some poor people it is hard to get out of poverty due to many factors and as a country we should help one another out. The welfare system does help many poor people but they should be pushed to get out of welfare and strive for better. If there are less people on welfare then this could take some power and control away from wealthy and powerful people. c. )I think that socialized medicine should be placed in our society. The health of each of us should be important to ourselves and also to our government.Medicine is a growing industry and with new technology and ideas it can help more people. Sadly though, many American cannot afford healthcare because they are not covered. After researching, I found that Obama-care has more pros than cons. I decided that I agree with it. Obama-care has been incorporated into our society for few years now and changes are happening, they are just taking time to be seen. According to Obamacarefacts. com, sense 2010 over 100 million American citizens have benefited from Obama-care.Its goal is to provide affordable health insurance for all US citizens and to reduce the growth in health care spending. Expensive health care means insurance companies are making more money when also means that the wealthy owners are gaining power. Obama-care may be what our nation needs for socialized medicine but it will take some time to figure it out. From my view, I think that we are on the right track and Obama-care has out us there. Being able to access cheaper healthcare or even just being able to get medical needs for everyone takes a lot of stress off of every citizen from rich to poor. . )In a perfect world I think that people over the age of 65 should have totally free medical care. I wish this could really happen but I do not think it ever will. I think that there might be a time where they pay very little for their medical care though. As a nation, we should strive to make the rest of their elderly lives comfortable because they have worked hard to get where they are at. Some elderly people have not worked very hard though an d those are the people who should be charged for their medical services. I think that when you put in the time you should get rewarded.There somehow needs to be a system where the government can tell how much time and effort that person has put into their jobs. This is kind of a crazy idea because it is hard to determine that we farmers or housewives for example who put countless hours into working and living for their family. Like I said before, I do not think that there will be a day where people older than 65 have free health care but we can aim to decrease their amount of paying as much as possible. I know when I reach that time in my life I will not want to be concerned about how much money I have to pay for healthcare.I would rather be thanked for all of my hard working hours that I gave to my community through cheaper healthcare. e. )I think that our society should incorporate more socialism because we are one nation so we should live as one. Many people are struggling in our society to survive and I think we need to come together to help one another out through forms of socialism. We should look at it as not being ran by the government but working together to benefit our nation not just ourselves as individual.I think that the education system should be available for all, from elementary through college. We should work as one unit to better educate our children. There also needs to be less power from the government and more power given to the people. It is basically what I have been saying throughout this whole paper. There needs to be equality through money and power going from each social class. I think my whole point of my paper is that socialism should be more incorporated into our society. Reference used in Requirement Five: (2010) http://obamacarefacts. com/obamacare-facts. php

Criminal Justice Ethics Essay

Lon L. Fuller, former Carter Professor of Jurisprudence at Harvard Law School, observed in The Morality of Law, â€Å"Even if a man is answerable only to his conscience, he will answer more responsibly if he is compelled to articulate principles on which he acts. † To me this means that you have to answer to your own self and that you judge yourself on your thinking and possible actions. You have to weigh the outcomes and ask yourself what you can you live with doing? It’s what your moral thinking is and how it is applied. Scenario 1 – Drugs at a Friend’s House There is a moral dilemma for this situation. I am an off duty police officer and observe several other people at a friend’s party using the recreational drug, cocaine. The friend of mine is outside with others and I don’t know if she knows that illegal activities are being done in her home. I would ask myself, do I call my supervisor and make them aware even though I’m off duty? Or do I ask my friend if she knows anything about the activities being done in her home and if she does, do I call it in and make arrests for what I observed and learned or let it slide with a warning because she’s a friend? My instincts are to go question my friend. I would still call it in, but depending on whether or not she knows about the activities, would mean if I would make an arrest on her with the others or not. Cocaine is an illegal drug and I have seen what it can do to people. I might lose a friend over it, but arresting them would not only get the drugs off the street, but it will also possibly help those being caught using the substance. There are rehabilitation programs out there to help them. If I chose to let it slide, it could be a slippery slope and lead to me letting it slide more often and letting criminals and possible addicts go. It would play on my conscience to know someone actually partaking in such activities and me not try to help them recover. Yes, I might feel bad for losing a friend, but I’d rather not lose my job and put my children at risk of being homeless. I think it would be for the greater good to call it in versus letting it go. Scenario 2 – Accepting a Gift There is a moral problem in this situation. I am a community police officer and the day before Christmas, an owner of a small marker that has been sociable towards me calls me behind the counter and hands me a fruit basket for my family, and a Christmas card with $30 gift certificate. The moral question is whether or not I accept the gifts. If policy allowed gratuity for officers, I would accept the kind gesture as professional discretion. After all, the owner has participated consistently in community crime-prevention meetings. If policy didn’t allow it, I would have to decline and explain it’s against policy to do so and thank him for his gesture. I strive daily to do the right thing. If it’s against policy to accept a gift given as appreciation for my friendship and service as an officer, then sadly, I would have to decline. If I didn’t, that could lead to a slippery slope. You never know what a person does behind closed doors. He could be the prominent community member he portrays or he could be hosting illegal activities. Scenario 3 – Homosexual Partner You are a supervisor on a medium-size police department. Office Ted Jones is an excellent officer and has been on the force for 16 years. He is also a homosexual and hangs out at a known gay bar in his off time. You have two person patrols and Jones was recently teamed with Officer James Davis. Officer Davis comes to you and asks to be assigned to another partner because Jones is a homosexual. Is there a moral problem presented in the scenario? If so, what is it? I don’t believe there is a moral problem for me personally regarding this situation. I’m a supervisor of a police department. An officer approaches me to ask to be assigned to another partner because the current partner is homosexual. Personally, I don’t care about a person’s sexuality. The homosexual office, Officer Jones, is an excellent officer and has been here for 16 years. I would ask the officer requesting reassignment with a different partner, Officer Davis, whether or not Officer Jones harassed him, and if he didn’t, I would tell him deal with it. If he did, I’d pull in Officer Jones for disciplinary action. There isn’t a policy that stops a homosexual person from having a partner. It’s discriminatory. Officer Davis may hate me after that, but unless Officer Jones harasses him or assaults him, it’s out of my hands. Consciously, I’d be okay letting Jones and Davis stay partners.

Answer those question and in the end write a discussion paragraph Assignment

Answer those question and in the end write a discussion paragraph - Assignment Example I am emotionally quiet a stable person, yet I need to work more on this side of my makeup. I have the innate strength and stamina to engage persistently till I achieve the desired objective. However, one thing that I realized I am weak at is that I am not able to cope up well with situations involving high uncertainty. Also, I was not aware that though I socially happened to be an unbiased and unprejudiced person, still, I am mostly uncertain as to what others need to expect of or desire from me. I am also not apt at stress management and dealing with stressful situations. I am also not sure as to my capacity to adapt to change, which I need to really sort out urgently. These weaknesses and uncertainties do take a toll of my self confidence. Yet, the saving grace is that I am an inherently objective and introspective person, who can diligently work on my personality to dilute my weaknesses and uncertainties and to tamper my essential

On the oregon trail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On the oregon trail - Essay Example I was used to seeing Indians hunt my relatives and neighbors for trophies and food. My family was lucky since my father was protective and always knew the paths to use in order for us to avoid confrontations with the Native Indians. At the beginning of the  1840s, my father and mother used to give me tales regarding a community that trekked as they moved towards the mountains. This community, which was different from the natives  in skin color and the mannerisms, had first made the trip to Oregon in 1836. However, the 1840s marked the largest migration when what I could hear being called ‘pioneers’ made the trip in a group that my family and friends estimated to be about a thousand (â€Å"The Oregon Trail†). They had different objectives to move to different locations. In this case, I heard that some looked for some stones called gold, which I heard people say was precious and was available in a place called California. Others looked for farmlands in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in order to carry out farming activities (â€Å"The Oregon Trail†). I did not know what farmlands were, but I was shocked to find out that my neighbors and I could not roam freely once this new group of people settled in a place. These people moved  with  strange  things, which I understood carried their possessions, and I had not seen such things in my life. However, some other strange animals used to pull these wagons with some of these animals resembling buffaloes while others had some similarities with zebras, although without the stripes with some of them very huge than zebras. I came to understand that the animals that resembled zebras were either mules or horses while those that were similar to buffalos were oxen (â€Å"The Oregon Trail†). One thing I could not understand was why these people could not mount on these carriages. Instead, most of them walked the 2,000 miles on foot. In effect, some of them died

A bona fide occupational qualification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A bona fide occupational qualification - Essay Example Accounting office seeks attractive female for receptionist position. While most clients might like an attractive female to be the receptionist, it is not a bona fide occupational qualification. Being female and attractive does not directly pertain to the position. Flight attendants wanted. Must meet height and weight requirements. This is also not a bona fide occupational qualification. If the ad would have said something like ‘must be able to remain on feet for 8 hours’ that would have been a BFOQ qualification. Height and weight should not matter for most applicants. Theater audition: Young, black male actor to portray Malcolm X in play. This is a BFOQ because it calls for a representation of a black male. Catholic school seeks 10th-grade science teacher. Must be Catholic. This is a BFOQ because religious schools are allowed to express their religion through their teachers. Designer taking applications for runway models. Must be at least 6 feet tall and weigh less than 125 pounds. This is a BFOQ because a designer can be looking for a certain type of model to wear their clothes. Assembly line worker wanted. Must have high school diploma. This is a BFOQ because most jobs require a high school diploma for maturity, safety, and knowledge in order to complete the job. Chinese restaurant seeks waitperson. Must be native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.

Operations Management in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operations Management in Practice - Essay Example Psycho sports did not have any automated system to record the number of purchases being made and when they are used and how much stock is maintained in the inventory. As sales were increases and the buyers now included large retail stores, it was becoming increasingly important for psycho sports to keep track of the production in order to meet the demands in a timely fashion. Peter found it difficult to get all the information as the structure was entirely disintegrated and manual. There was no system that recorded the information and there was no single worker that managed the entire inventory levels and kept the information in an integrated form. There was no central database or system that held and updated all the information regarding the inventory levels of different parts. The data was all decentralized and with different workers responsible for different parts who were more often than not, unaware of the inventory levels. Furthermore, the purchasing was also manual, hence, the re was no record of the number of item that were purchased and used. Exercise 1 (a) Draw a single level bill of material for each level of assembly; Face assembly Item no. Quantity 6511 Rubber Face 2 2547 Wooden Inner 1 8561 Foam Panel 2 Handle Assembly Item no. Quantity 1821 Handle 1 9110 Nail 2 (b) Complete indented bills of material Item no. Quantity Quantity 0499 1821 9110 Handle Assembly Handle Nail 1 1 2 7754 Shaft 1 0955 Connector 1 9110 Nail 4 8744 Rivet 4 0772 6551 2547 8561 Face Assembly Rubber Face Wooden Inner Foam Panel 1 2 1 2 Exercise 2 Create the materials requirements planning record for each part and sub-assembly of the bat Bat Lead Time: 2 weeks 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Gross Requirement Planned Receipts On hand Planned Orders

Physics assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Physics - Assignment Example There are certain standards set as to assert the safety standard of any nuclear power plant. The organization that regulates the policies around the globe is known as IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). This organization has set a certain benchmark; which are actually, major concerns of a nuclear reactor in any country of the world. Some on the concerns are: 1. Testing of emergency situations, if and when they happen. 2. Equipment and actions to adhere the consequences of such an emergency. 3. Probability calculations of units failing and their back-ups. 4. Examining the worst possible scenario and creating an emergency plan accordingly. 5. Actions taken, in the event of radiation emissions form the plant. 6. Proper training of the men working in these facilities. 7. Anti-earth quake and anti-flood systems, which have to be, installed (Hugh, 2011). Question 2 There are three types of radiation particles namely alpha, beta and gamma particle radiations. Alpha radiations have be en defined as helium nuclei, comprising of two protons and two neutrons. It is considered to be very stable. Beta radiations have been defined as fast moving electrons formed by nuclear decay, whereas gamma radiations are known to be high frequency, short wavelength electromagnetic radiation (Cheng et al, 2000). All three of these radiations have certain benefits and disadvantages. The disadvantage of alpha particle is that when it in inhaled, can cause damage to lungs and the respiratory system. Beta rays cause disorder in the molecular structure of humans, whereas gamma rays can directly damage the human tissue, since they are very high energy rays. Along with these disadvantages, there are some benefits as well. Alpha particles are used to detect smoke for engaging a fire alarm or water sprinkler. Beta particles are used to find thickness of aluminum foil, its variables and capable of treating cancer patients as well. Gamma radiations are used to locate flaws in pipes, other stee l products for leaks and the integrity of welds in them (Cheng et al, 2000). Medical benefits of radiations can be seen in the use of x-rays and treatment of cancer, whereas non-medical use of radiation can be seen in industries, for detection of leaks and welding faults in different metal mediums. Also for non-medical use, the rays are used for inspection on the production line to check emptiness or the thickness of materials like aluminum. (Cheng et al, 2000). Question 3 Apart from nuclear power, there are other ways to produce energy like hydroelectric, fossil fuel burning, solar and wind power. All these methods have a lot of advantages and disadvantages. Some of them will be depicted here. Hydroelectric power is free of cost, as water flow is easily available all around the world but the drawback is the amount of expenditure involved to build dams and huge water turbines. Furthermore, the environmental hazard for hydroelectric power generation is the disturbance of the ecologic al habitat of the aquatic life in the region. Fossil fuel is the best form of energy as it provides predictable and a constant power source but the major drawback falters this form of energy. It is the fossil fuel that is not a reusable or renewable source and is becoming scarce from the world at a very rapid rate. Solar and wind power both have almost the same kind of advantage and disadvantage. The setup for both is very expensive and is unpredictable in nature but the best advantage of these sources of power is

First they killed my father Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

First they killed my father - Essay Example The memoir named ‘first they killed my father’ presents to the reader the history of khamer rouge terror in Cambodia through the story of a little girl from Phnom Penh who expresses the story in dreams and nightmares. In the beginning of the story, loung belongs to a family of three sisters and three brothers and life seems to be in good shape. Their father works in a good government office and their family is wealthy. In the whole book, the writer uses the theme of dreams and nightmares to bring out the clear insight in the understanding of ‘the terrible descent the family makes during and after the revolution in Cambodia’. She explains the experiences of her life as a child with minimal exaggeration and hence brings out the picture of the situation perfectly. During this period, the government is overthrown, their life gets to a turning point and the family is forced to move to a camp where they live with food rations and fear. Loung begins expressing the situation by a dream about food on New Year’s Eve and imagines about the death of a teenager named keav and dreams about the coming back of her Pa. In her dream, she views herself sitting alone on a table that is filled with all the types of foods she desires but she says she is afraid that the Khmer soldiers will take her food away(Ung,2000). In this dream, she passes the knowledge that in this period, the issue of food shortage is rampant and she explains that there are many deaths due to starvation. This kind of information from the memoir takes the readers emotion making the source more effective since the knowledge is more memorable (Howell & Prevenier, 2011). The memoir is written from the first person perspective and she draws the reader’s attention by the way she d escribes the struggles and pains that her family is going through. Memoirs can therefore be a good source of historical information since the person describes situations that

Dynamics of Hospitality Industry Management assignment

Dynamics of Hospitality Industry Management - Assignment Example The study further concludes recommending few noteworthy measures which shall be beneficial for both the organisations in obtaining adequate competencies when aiming at sustainability through effective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 1.0Introduction 4 2.0 Brief Background 5 2.1 Westin Hotel Macau 5 2.2 Mission Statement 5 3.0Brief Background 6 3.1 Hilton Hotel 6 3.2 Mission Statement 6 4.0 Comparative Analysis on Environmental Aspects and Sustainable Business Practices 7 4.1 Water Wage Management 7 4.2 Food Wastage Management 8 4.3 Recycling Process as well as Initiatives 9 5.0 Identification of Gaps 10 5.1 Gap in Cultural Aspects 10 5.2 Gap in Terms of Resources 11 5.3 Gap in Mission as Well as Objective 11 5.4 Gap in Utilisation of Country Resources 12 7.0 Recommendations 13 Reference List 14 Bibliography 17 1.0 Introduction In the modern day context, the hospitality industry has emerged as a major economic dimension in the gl obal platform being directly related with the tourism and the transportation sectors. Subsequently, with the rising complexities in the various dimensions of hospitality industry, the management approach adopted in this context has also become quite challenging in the current era (Clayton W. Barrows and Tom Powers 2008 ) Among the identified challenges in this context, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be illustrated as one of the significant issues witnessed by hotel when practicing hospitality management, apart from being influences by rising environmental concerns and competitive forces. CSR can be defined as the notion focused on accomplishing mercantile success through ethical values as well as respecting the people, communities as well as natural surroundings which constitute of company stakeholders. In this particular juncture there has been no universally accepted definition, but overall it can be defined that doing business ethically imposes positive impacts on the society as well as on the environment which is the core social responsibility of any organisation (William Smith Clark 2006). Emphasising on these aspects, the discussion henceforth intends to perform a comparative analysis of two globally renowned hospitality companies, i.e. the Westin Hotel Macau and Hilton Hotels, in the context of the strategies applied by these organisations towards sustainable development of the society and to create a better world taking special concern on communities as well as environment through the effective implementation of CSR strategies. 2.0 Brief Background 2.1 Westin Hotel Macau The Westin Hotel Macau is a part of Starwood Hotels Group (SHG) which comprises a chain of 185 Westin Hotels as well as resorts globally. Westin Hotel Macau is one of the leading luxury resorts situated in Greater China since 1985. The 208 rooms comprising hotel is positioned within a picturesque site to give the visitors long lasting and memorable experiences. To differenti ate its services, the hotel has been providing a lavish variety of amenities as well as services, such as individually controlled air conditioned accommodation, satellite and cable programs, restaurants and bars, frivolous and sports facilities that includes swimming pools, ocean driving assortment, aqua aerobics, child care room and book library among others. In addition,

The Black Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Black Death - Essay Example An epidemic, on the other hand is single widespread outbreak. Plague is transmitted from animals to humans by a particular kind of fleas. It is transmitted from one person to another person by direct contact, or breathing droplets containing the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. It causes great suffering. Plague usually starts with a flea bite. The flea deposits Yersinia pestis bacterium in other animals. Y. pestis is transmitted from the flea bite site to lymph nodes that swell (buboes). This type of plague is termed bubonic plague (Plague, 2011). The bacteria then enter the blood stream and affect other organs. Some patients inhale or swallow droplets that contain Y. pestis infecting the lungs. This is termed as pneumonic plague. Death is certain in 50 to 90 %cases. The black death of 1300s have killed one third of the population of Europe. There were not enough people to bury the dead during that period. The decease spread very fast and no medicine were available at that time. Dr. Alexa ndre Yersin and Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato made investigations about the disease in 1894. Dr. Paul-Louis Simond, in 1898, discovered that the vector of the disease was a flea (Plague, 2011). For centuries, the plague bacterium was used as a biological weapon. Even now, it is a biological weapon. It can be easily sprayed into the atmosphere and would be inhaled by unprotected persons. Although many countries have banned biological weapons like this, it has potential to be exploited. The plague which reached in England in the summer months of 1938 mutated into pneumonic form in winter and spread to London in September. By 1349, it spread to Wales and other areas. Churchyards were filled with bodies. Few villages however, escaped from this pandemic. The Scots took advantage of the situation by raiding Durham in 1349 (Ibeji, 2011). The Scots believed that the English were overwhelmed by vengeance of god. Within a short span of time 5000 of them died. The rest became weak and they retreate d. The plague spread to Scotland too. The reason why it spread to Scotland is not clear. That is, whether it was a natural phenomenon or because of contact with the English people during the raid. It is possible that the retreating army might have carried the plague back home. In Scotland, there was great mortality due to plague. It affects the skin and swelling appears. Children were afraid to visit parents. Life was terrible during the period of plague. The parents were also afraid to visit children. People fled to other regions. The plague created panic throughout England. The year 1349 was regarded as wretched, terrible and destructive by many. By 1350, whole England was infected with plague and two and a half million people were dead. The plague continued in London throughout the winter and spring. It did not spread evenly. Even though it arrived in Bristol and Dorset, it did not spread to rural Devon that year. The disease also did not spread to St Albans Abbey until April 134 9. London was affected by the combined attack of pneumonic and bubonic plague. The British parliament was prorogued in January 1349. Three Archbishops of Canterbury and Two ex-Chancellors died. The plague continued in London until the 1350. I has killed over one third of the population. Persons infected with plague usually died in five days. On the first day, there was painful swelling, called buboes appear on the armpit and groin. It had the size of an egg. On day two, the victim developed fever and vomited. On third day,

Global Promotional Strategies Essay Example for Free

Global Promotional Strategies Essay The global companies try to achieve a strategic position on each market they are present in. To reach that goal, companies need to differentiate the products from competitors, while holding the costs of market communication activities at lowest level. Also global companies have to make an effort to sustain advertising campaign in all the markets in which there are present, because wherever they live people tend to react positively to companies and products they know about. In this point, global promoting strategies help brand familiarity, which plays an important role in the market. Global promotion strategies can use a standardized theme globally, but may have to make adjustments for language or cultural differences. Advantages: -Adaptation: Fully adapting an advertising message for local markets. Changes may have to be made due to media availability. -They have a high level of coordination of its market communication. -The companies can modify products for different countries. Also new products are designed for foreign markets. -To incorporate all the differences into one product design and introduce a global product. -Standardization provides benefit such as cost saving in production and marketing. Disadvantages: -It can cause communication issue based on verbal, pictorial, symbolic, idiomatic languages. -The product gives the consumer an identity so they can put the consumer in bad situations, if the products have a problem. -Cultural differences have to realize by the companies before entering the market. For example, when Barbie doll imported to China, consumer did not even buy one. Barbie was not related with Chinese appear, that is why kids did not want to play t with Barbie. After that, the company made new Barbie just looked like Chinese people; at that point they got consumer interest. In conclusion, global promotions strategies are your weapon in this economy and it is up to you to use them for your benefits or failure.

Role of the Nurse in HIV Prevention and Care

Role of the Nurse in HIV Prevention and Care INTRODUCTION This brief considers role of the nurse in the HIV prevention and care in the black African community. The document considers empirical literature from academic, governmental, and other sources. It is argued that the available evidence is too scant to warrant conclusive inferences about the role of nurses in HIV care and management for this ethnic group. This is compounded by ambiguities about the role of nurses in promoting sexual health, and uncertainty about the appropriate criteria for evaluating their impact on the African community. Black Africans in Britain According to the Department of Health (2005b) approximately 480,000 people living in England (less than 1% of the population) have Sub-Saharan African heritage, by birth and /or descent. More than 75% live in the Greater London area, mostly in inner London Boroughs. Compared to the rest of the UK population, Africans tend to be younger, well educated (just 13% of Africans reported have no educational qualifications), more likely to be unemployed and living in rented (often overcrowded) accommodation. Asylum legislation has meant that a significant proportion of the population has questionable migration status in the UK. New arrivals in the UK, including asylum seekers, are offered a medical examination that may include a HIV test if this is requested, or the medical examiner judges that a test is necessary. The test result is not necessarily considered when an asylum application is processed. Many Africans live in isolation, separated from friends and family back in Africa, (for asylum seekers), with no access to public funds, and struggling to adapt to a new culture (Millar Murray, 1999). Many are struggling to learn English. Sexuality is heavily influenced by traditional (tribal) beliefs, taboos, customs, religion, and spirituality. HIV is virtually a taboo subject. Thus, a sero-positive status has a significant effect on various aspects of a persons life, including problems dealing with the diagnosis, ambivalence about whether or not to test, gender issues (e.g. whether or not to breastfeed), and coming to terms with the possibility of death (e.g. implications for children, family) (Miller and Murray, 1999; Doyal Anderson, 2005). The prevalence of HIV infection is high in both the immigrant and British born/resident African populations. Asylum seekers and others with unsatisfactory immigration status have limited access to public funds, live in poverty, and generally avoid utilising public health services, until illness is at an advanced stage. Black Women There is considerable research on the plight of African women as distinct from men (e.g. Withell, 2000; Tabi Frimpong, 2003). Much of this literature highlights aspects of their increased susceptibility, or predisposing factors or experiences. Motherhood is an extremely important goal for many African women, so that unprotected sex becomes a cultural necessity. Doyal and Anderson (2004) document the devastating impact of HIV on the lives of African women living in Britain. Many women harbour serious concerns about the health of their offspring. There is a distinct reluctance to give birth to a sick (HIV-positive child). Many women have a vague immigration status, whereby they may not be entitled to state benefits, have no work permit and/or rely on charities for subsistence. The immigration issue is multidimensional. Many women live with a chronic fear of deportation, perhaps remaining in doors for days at a time, and/or refusing to open the door when the bell rings. Then there is the poor housing. Some put up with unsanitary and crumbling accommodation due to lack of funds and the awareness that housing conditions back home in Africa are much worse. Furthermore, some individuals become distressed or depressed because they are isolated from friends and family back home, and for a prolonged (and perhaps indefinite) period of time. Finally, many women may be unsure of their health care entitlements in the UK, and hence be unaware off and/or fail to utilise appropriate HIV care services. Additionally, religious faith remains a stable and salient characteristic of Black African culture. In the face of adversity many women turn to religion for hope and deliverance. Doyal and Anderson (2004) quote one woman: I have turned to God. I have really got to know more about God now. I know God exists . God is in control. I know there is an afterlife here (p.1736). The danger is that some women may seek therapeutic remedy from God, as a substitute for seeking medical care. Epidemiology According to Department of Health (2005a) figures provided by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Center (CDSC), up to 12,558 black Africans living in England by 2003 were HIV-positive. This figure was based records from HIV treatment clinics and care centers in England, and accounts for 36% of the total number of people in England living with HIV. In 2003 69% of heterosexual HIV-positive people (or 2624 individuals) were probably infected in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of cases (65%) were female. In 2002 black Africans accounted for 70% of the total number of diagnosed HIV infections. Furthermore, â€Å"of the 15,726 heterosexual men and women seen for care in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2003 for whom ethnicity was reported, 70% (11068) were black African, 19% (3009) were white and 4% (657) black Caribbean. Africans feature in all the main transmission routes for HIV†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.12) (see Figure 1). HIV positive Africans tend to be diagnosed much later in the course of the HIV disease, and show low uptake of clinical monitoring and antiretroviral treatments. Focus: The North West of England The North West HIV/AIDS Monitoring Unit (2005a, 2005b), based at the Center for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, regularly and comprehensively Figure 1 Distribution of HIV infections (those seen for care) across ethnic groups in 2003 monitors HIV trends in Northwest of England. The surveys are supported by the Health Protection Agency and the Northwest Public Health Observatory, and cover three main regions: Cumbria and Lancashire, Cheshire and Merseyside, and Greater Manchester. The Units data reflects both new and total HIV cases and dates back to 1996. The total number of HIV cases virtually doubled over the nine-year period from 1996 to 2005, rising from fewer than 300 in 1996 to over 600 by mid 2005. The data suggests that black Africans living in the Northwest have an unusually highly risk of contracting HIV compared to other ethnic groups. This trend applies to both newly diagnosed HIV cases from January to December in 2004 and 2005, and total HIV cases by the end of these periods. Also, this pattern seems to echo national trends. Africans accounted for almost a quarter (23.1%) of total HIV/AIDS cases (3574), by far the highest figure of all ethnic minority groups. For comparison, black Caribbeans made up less than one percent (0.7%, or 26 cases). The vast majority of black Africans (93.1%, or 769 of 826 cases) contracted HIV through heterosexual interactions. This contrasts sharply with Caucasian cases, of whom more than three-quarters (75.2%) contracted the virus through homosexual intercourse. When the data was collapsed by gender, again, black African women accounted for the majority (63.4%) of the 857 females diagnosed with HIV. These findings may be confounded by significant variations in the distribution of ethnic groups across the UK and native (British born) versus immigrant status. For example, population census figures show a much higher population density for black Africans compared with black Caribbeans in the Northwest regions. This may partly account for the over representation of Africans in some categories. Furthermore, it is not clear whether patterns observed are statistically significant. On the other hand the proportion of Africans amongst new and total HIV cases is over represented when compared with the proportion of Africans in the overall UK population. Current Health Strategies Prior to 2001 there was no official health strategy for promoting sexual health in Britain. In July 1999 the Secretary of State for Health presented a white paper to Her Majesty, the Queen, titled Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (The Stationary Office, 1999). Curiously the HIV/AIDS threat received little mention in what was otherwise a comprehensive document on the Governments health policy. The lack of an elaborate national strategy for HIV/AIDS meant that the steady increases through the 1990s in HIV-related morbidity and mortality (North West HIV/AIDS Monitoring Unit, 2005a) went virtually unchecked. This all changed in 2001 when the Department of Health published the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV (Department of Health, 2001, 2002, 2005a, 2005b). The strategy outlines several generic aims: Reducing the transmission of HIV and other STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections); Reducing the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV and STIs (in other words, increasing HIV testing for people at risk). Improve health and social care for HIV-infected people; Reducing the social stigma associated with sexually transmitted diseases, notably HIV. In 2005 the Department of Health published more detailed objectives for HIV prevention specifically within the African community (Department of Health, 2005b). These objectives were as follows; HIV Prevention: 1.Reducing transmission (sexual and vertical); 2.Reducing prevalence of undiagnosed HIV cases; 3.Eliminating the stigma associated with sero-positive status. Health and Social Care: 1.Ensuring that HIV-positive Africans have equal access to services; 2.Ensuring that those services are culturally sensitive; 3.Ensuring that service delivery is based on assessment of individual need; 4.Facilitating access to testing; 5.Making special provision for children and adolescents; 6.Improving adherence to anti-HIV treatment regimes; 7.Creating better access to education, employment and leisure; 8.Supporting carers and families; Eliminating social exclusion is minimized. Several strategies for prevention are outlined. The first plan is that HIV prevention must operate at both an individual and structural level. Prevention activity at the individual level must address knowledge deficiencies (e.g., awareness of available health services), tackle inappropriate attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and intentions, and teach relevant skills (e.g., condom negotiation). These goals can be achieved through various interventions including one-to-one counseling, out-reach work, telephone help lines, the internet, provision of sperm washing services, and clinical interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Structural prevention measures include reducing poverty, introducing and implementing appropriate laws and regulations, and modifying societal factors (e.g., social norms, stigma, discrimination), and organisational factors (e.g., supporting community health organisations). Structural change can be achieved through group, community, and socio-political level interventions. Strategies for social care include: making peer support available at special ‘flashpoints’ of maximum need (such as at diagnosis, or during times of emotional distress), in order to improve adherence to treatment regimes; and providing support, advice, and education to sero-positive people, to help them to return to education. Additionally, the Department of Health (2005a) has clarified how the National Strategy for Sexual Health can be implemented by primary medical services, through four contracting routes: Primary Medical Services (PMS), General Medical Services (GMS), Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS), and PCT-led Medical Services (PCTMS). All four services rely heavily on nurses, and â€Å"provide flexibility and opportunities to tailor services around the needs of the patients† (p.17). Thus, in theory, the current sexual health strategy can be tailored to meet the needs of minority ethnic groups. RATIONALE Black Africans are the minority ethnic subgroup most at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS in the UK. It is therefore widely acknowledged that this group has special care and management requirements (Department of Health, 2005a). Gaps in Care and Practice This report reviews the literature on nursing HIV care provision specifically for the black African community. The review identifies various salient issues that need to be addressed: 1. Uncertainty about the role and effectiveness of nurses in prevention and care of this ethnic group. 2. Insufficient empirical evidence on various aspects of prevention/care including; the role of nurse in facilitating uptake of antenatal testing by African women, and HIV testing by Africans in general; the degree of involvement and effectiveness of nurses in community-based African HIV/AIDS projects; sensitivity to cultural factors in, palliative care, and self-management; Dealing with the HIV stigma and its effect on health service utilisation; and nurses roles in supporting involuntary care provision. 3. Inadequate evidence on the role that African nurses can play in reducing cultural barriers, and providing liaison and training services. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature searches were performed using several electronic data bases: PSYCHINFO (BIDS), INTERNURSE, Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost databases), British Medical Journal On-line, HIGHWIRE Press, SOCIAL CARE Online, Department of Health database, and the Internet. Various combinations of the following key words were used: nurse, nursing, care, African, black, ethnic, minority, women, sub-Saharan Africa, community, HIV, AIDS, palliative, and antenatal[1]. Priority was given to studies published from the late 1990s, although due to the paucity of literature some earlier studies are reviewed. Furthermore, emphasis was placed on UK studies. However, limited evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa is considered to highlight certain cultural issues. Finally, the review is structured in relation to prevention (including antenatal testing and transmission through breastfeeding), and health and social care (Department of Health, 2005a). The Nurses Role The National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV (Department of Health, 2001, 2002) illuminated the rise in HIV sero-prevalence for ethnic minority groups in Britain. Nursing care was identified as essential in managing sexually transmitted diseases and promoting sexual health in these groups. The prevention and care strategies for African communities, specified by the Department of Health (2005b), provide a framework for nurses to tailor their roles to meet the cultural needs of sero-positive Africans. Miller and Murray ((1999) provide a comprehensive account of some of these cultural characteristics, specifically regarding response to a positive diagnosis, parenting issues especially for HIV-infected mothers, problems of disclosure, attitudes towards death, immigration issues, and common health care dilemmas, and effective engagement between carer and patient. Training According to the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health (2003) nurses do not receive any special training in HIV care and prevention. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approves special HIV training courses for nurses but these are not offered in all universities and colleges, and may be optional at institutions that offer them. According to Campbell (2004, p.169), Pre-registration training for nurses does not include mandatory education relating to sexual health services. Nurses working in sexual health gain post-basic education in an ad-hoc manner through working in the specialty, and by undertaking specialist post-registration courses. Moreover, although the NMC regularly monitors courses, it does not scrutinise individual courses that confer no special qualification, so that they may be considerable variability in the quality of courses offered in different institutions. Thus, it is possible that a large percentage of nurses have no special knowledge or skills in HIV prevention/care for ethnic minority groups. It follows that many nurses that may be ill prepared to deal with the particular HIV needs of African communities. However, nurses who work in Greater London, and hence are regularly exposed to African patients/communities, may quickly acquire some degree of ad-hoc expertise. By contrast nurses based in other parts of the country with smaller African communities may be especially uninformed and inexperienced. Role Ambiguity In the absence of mandatory HIV training, there may be some ambiguity about the precise roles/tasks nurses are required to perform in HIV care/prevention. Campbell (2004) notes that career pathways are patchy and ill defined, and it may be necessary for nurses to undertake placements in key areas of sexual health. Certain aspects of HIV care are applicable to other diseases, and hence may form part of a nurse’s standard training and job description (e.g. antenatal testing, patient pre-admission assessments). However, certain tasks are specific to HIV and/or a particular population group. Some nurses may be uncertain whether such roles are within their jurisdiction. For example, whose job is it to reduce the powerful HIV stigma that prevents many sero-positive Africans from testing for HIV, and/or benefiting from family support? Who is responsible for addressing cultural taboos and totems? Palliative Care This refers to nursing care aimed at maximising the quality of life for terminally ill patients, for example by reducing pain and discomfort. The National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services (NCH-SPCS) identifies seven domains of palliative care: increasing patient/carer understanding of diagnosis/prognosis; alleviating pain/symptoms; facilitating patient independence; reducing patients/carers negative affect (e.g. anxiety, depression); soliciting support from other agencies; advising on appropriate care locations as illness progresses; supporting families/carers, before/after death. To what extent do nurses meet these requirements met in sero-positive black African patients? There is a paucity of research addressing the palliative care needs of black African patients specifically. However, some studies have examined the needs of ethnic minority groups in general (Jack et al, 2001; Diver et al, 2003). Various barriers to effective palliative care for ethnic minorities have been identified including communication difficulties and the lack of trained interpreters (Jack et al, 2001). Diver et al (2003) conducted a qualitative study to identify the specific palliative needs of ethnic minority patients attending a groups regarding palliative care. Participants comprised two Jamaicans, one Indian, and one from the Ukraine, but no black Africans, who attended the day-care center once or twice weekly, for up to a year. Several key themes emerged. One concerned the individual needs of the patients, which were not related specifically related to culture (e.g. diet, religion, day care, avoiding social isolation). Two other themes highlighted attempts to fit in with the dominant culture, for example by eating English foods and communicating with staff in English. Another theme highlighted positive perceptions of palliative care: participants expressed gratitude to staff, with one individual noting â€Å"the Macmillan nurse had been sympathetic and had not pressurised her when she decided to stop having chemotherapy† (p.395). However, participants reported that staf f had not inquired about their culture albeit they simultaneously felt their cultural needs were being addressed. Although Diver et al’s (2003) study involved a very small sample, the findings suggest that nursing staff can effectively meet the palliative needs of minority patients. Some evidence suggests that nursing care can be more effective when a liaison professional is involved. Jack et al (2001) assessed the value of a ‘liaison’ worker that mediates between ethnic minority patients, their families, and health care staff. This study focused on the role of an ethnic minorities ‘liaison’ officer, appointed in May 2000. The workers brief is to facilitate palliative care amongst the Asian community specifically. Thus, he/she helps with communication, religious, gender-specific, bereavement, and other issues. However, several case studies are presented that illustrate the difficulties inherent in using a liaison person. For example, the liaison role is emotionally demanding and health care staff sometimes assume the liaison worker has medical expertise. Nevertheless, the concept of a liaison worker may improve the job performance of nursing staff involved in palliative care. Hill and Penso (1995) make recommendations that tailor palliative care to the needs of ethnic minority groups. These include: ethnic monitoring; having an equal opportunity policy; enforcing a code of conduct; staff recruitment/training; developing a communication strategy; health promotion; facilitating culture-specific care provision; appropriate food policies; community health initiatives. Given the paucity of research evidence focusing of HIV-positive black African patients in the UK, it remains unclear the extent to which these strategies facilitate effective palliative care in this population group. Some evidence is available concerning palliative care delivery in sero-positive women living in Sub-Saharan Africa (Defilippi, 2000; Gwyther, 2005). This evidence may provide additional insights that may apply to the care of black Africans who have emigrated to the UK. Gwyther (2005) documents the nature of palliative care in South Africa. Here, hospice care is primarily performed at home, with only a few inpatient units available on a short-term basis to selected patients (e.g. those with serve symptom control problems). A comprehensive community-based home care programme has been established, in which patient care is provided by the local community (e.g. extended family, neighbours), but managed by health care (hospice) staff. Thus, there has been a shift away from the conventional hospice domiciliary nurse as the primary caregiver to community care workers, who are trained, supervised, and supported by the professional nurse (p.113). This South African model has several advantages when applied to the UK theatre: Firstly, training extended family members (and perhaps even neighbours) in palliative care, with the aim of managing AIDS, and decreasing transmission of the HIV virus, may help resolve problems of communication, diet, custom, and other culture-specific issues that the patient considers relevant. This model goes some way to address Hill and Pensos (1995) recommendations for recruitment/training, effective communication, culture-specific care, suitable food policies, and community health initiatives. The professional nurse, free from some primary responsibilities of care, may be able to commit more resources to ethnic monitoring, enforcing codes of conduct, and ensuring equal opportunities in practice. Evidence-Based Practice There is a growing requirement in nursing and (other medical specialties) for evidence-based medicine/decision making (Thompson, et al, 2004). Evidence-based practice is particularly essential in the care of minority groups due to the relatively greater level of cultural ignorance in health care about ethnic minority customs compared with the dominant culture (Serrant-Green, 2004). There is a paucity of research assessing the degree to which nurses refer to empirical evidence when making clinical decisions about black African HIV patients. Thompson et al (2004) suggest that, in reality, nurses rarely consult evidence when making clinical decisions, irrespective of the patients’ background. Instead they are much more likely to consult their colleagues for information for advice. This is worrying because clinical decisions can be made about black-African patients based on incorrect assumptions rather than fact. For example, Gibb et al (1998) highlight the possibility that nurse midwifes may fail to offer antenatal HIV-testing to black African women, for fear of appearing discriminatory. Yet, there is little or no evidence about how black women may actually perceive such offers. Overall, there is a paucity of research on the role and effectiveness of nurses in delivering health and social care to the African community. Studies that focus on â€Å"black† patients (i.e. Afro-Caribbean or African parentage) cannot be generalised to Sub-Saharan Africans as HIV/AIDS incidence and prevalence is significantly different for these groups, suggesting different health care requirements. Similarly, data collected from Asians, Bangladeshis and other UK minority groups is generally inapplicable as the cultures are vastly different. The role of African Nurses A significant number of black African nurses work for the NHS. These individuals may play an important role in facilitating HIV prevention and care in the African community (Andalo, 2004; UNISON, 2005). There are two ways this may happen. Firstly, African nurses can serve as in-house liaison workers, improving communication and eliminating cultural barriers between the health service and African communities. Secondly, African nurses can help in educating other health-professionals on fundamental cultural issues, both in relation to the African community as whole, and individual sero-positive patients. The Department of Health (2000b) acknowledges the significant contributions of African nurses to sexual (and other) health issues in the African community, in the form of the Mary Seacole Leadership Awards. A recent article published by BioMedCentral (Batata, 2005) indicates that over 3000 nurses trained in Sub-Saharan Africa were registered to work in the UK in 2002/2003. These nurses originated from eight countries (South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Botwana and Mauritius), most of which have high HIV sero-positive prevalence rates. It therefore follows that these professionals will be very familiar with HIV preventive and care measures that work effectively with African communities. Approximately a quarter of all the foreign trained nurses registered during 2002/2003 (i.e. including nurses from non-African countries) worked in or near London, with 49% based in other parts of England, suggesting that there is a significant nurse pool available to support African communities in the London area. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research evidence on the role of African nurses in facilitating HIV care and prevention in African communities. Most studies focus on immigration, recruitment, or discrimination issues, rather than job performance and impact on care provision for local communities. The World Health Organisation (2003) indicates that one of the three top non-EU source countries for international nurses working in the NHS is from a Sub-Saharan African country (South Africa). The number of nurses recruited from Zimbabwe has increased recently. Nevertheless, recruitment and retention remain a problem. Although the NHS is thought to have one of the most effective nurse recruitment schemes in the public sector, there are still problems recruiting African nurses. For example, Andalo (2004, p.17) notes that although there has a been a significant increase in the number of Africans applying for nurse diploma courses, the rejection rate was more than fifty percent higher for African compared with white applicants. However, an argument for more recruitment can be better formulated given empirical evidence on the value of African nurses in promoting HIV prevention and care in their community. Department of Health (2005b) highlights the â€Å"need for basic information regarding HIV transmission, testing, and treatment. In particular, cultural practices that place some Africans at particular risk of transmitting or acquiring HIV requires specific, culturally competent attention† (p.13). Community nurses play an important role in this regard (Hoskins, 2000). Moreover, effective dissemination of knowledge requires collaborations between health professionals and agencies, access to services, and other recommended measures (Department of Health, 2000a, 2001, 2002, 2005a, 2005b). Community Nursing Community nursing care for sero-positive Africans in Britain has expanded rapidly over the last decade, reflecting a national shift in emphasis towards community care (McGarry, 2004). The Department of Health framework for prevention and care emphasised the importance of partnerships between HIV prevention agencies, Primary Care Trusts, local African community-based organisations, and other establishments (Department of Health, 2005b). According to the Department of Health (2005b), over 75% of black Africans in Britain live within Greater London. The largest concentrations live in Inner London Boroughs, which also have high sero-prevalence rates. Thus, the role of community nursing in the Greater London area is of particular interest. There is some evidence of collaboration between different agencies. One south London HIV partnership incorporates up to fourteen HIV prevention organisations, including several African-based projects: One African project covers up to nine catchment areas (Croydon, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton, Wandsworth), and promotes the access to and utilisation of local HIV care and support services. This project recently launched a new treatment service designed to encourage men to adhere to treatment regimens. There is a paucity of research on the efficacy of such partnerships in reducing the spread of HIV in the black African Community. More importantly, there is limited empirical evidence on the involvement and impact of community nurses in these projects. The partnership in south London offers complementary HIV care services across the local area. Some of these services are available from local HIV clinics, were nursing staff presumably play a key role. Furthermore, there appears to be specific community nursing provision for children and families. For example a childrens hospital in Croydon offers nursing care for HIV-infected children and their families. Community nursing services are also available for adults. A study was commissioned to review progress on African HIV prevention initiatives in Enfield and Haringey, from 1997 to 2002. The investigation collected data on HIV-prevention needs, and voluntary and statutory sector provision, all of which are implemented by nurses (e.g. health visitors, community nurses, nurse midwifes). It was found that a lay referral system, operated solely by friends and family, worked effectively. Medical support from nurses and other health professionals was requested when symptoms become too serious. Compared with other ethnic groups HIV-positive Africans were more reluctant to test for HIV, and those who were sero-positive showed lower uptake of anti-retroviral treatments. Furthermore, there was evidence of poor attendance at clinical monitoring sessions, and it was argued that lat

Ethnomethodology In Sociological Analysis

Ethnomethodology In Sociological Analysis Ethnomethodology is the study of the ways in which ordinary people construct a stable social world through everyday utterances and actions is now a major component of all sociology and linguistics courses. The tag was invented by Harold Garfinkel, the American sociologist, who put down the basics of ethnomethodology as a hypothesis, and as an awkward assessment of all conservative sociology. Elucidating on the genesis of the term, he proposes that ethno appeared to refer, in one way or another, to the accessibility to an associate of reasonable acquaintance of his social order as rational information of the whatever. In this paper, we focus more narrowly on this specific theory of ethnomethodology and how more specifically it is important in the aspects of personal and post-modernist perspective on contemporary sociological analysis. We will determine how and to what extent this theory is really convincing as well as adopt a critical stance towards it. There are two central ideas in ethnomethodology: indexicality and reflexivity. The fundamental initiative of indexicality is that the connotation of an expression or remark is reliant on its framework of how it will be utilized. In other words, the learning of what a statement implies relies on some consideration of the circumstance on which the declaration is used. The particulars of the relations in which the contributors are affianced are brought up in ethnomethodology. On the other hand, reflexivity refers to the actuality that our common sense of regulation is an outcome of speaking procedures: it is formed in conversations. Garfinkel Harold (1917) is the initiator of the ethnomethodology field of research. Ethnomethodology is a hypothesis that illustrates the assortment of procedures that people use to comprehend, and make their way throughout, daily existence. One of the behaviors that individuals make good judgment of their lives and relations to others is in the course of reporting observations. These are the different ways in which individuals substantiate or make good judgment of their measures to themselves and others. Ethnomethodologists dispute that descriptions are spontaneous, which implies that by presenting descriptions of ourselves to others, we as well transform the circumstances and the likelihood for communication in that state of affairs. Ethnomethodologists have furthermore used violation experiments to comprehend the manner that individuals put up social authenticity. In these lessons, ethnomethodologists get involved in actions that infringe the undervalued suppositions of daily life , and observe to notice how other communal actors refurbish or recreate the violation in the societal structure. These lessons demonstrate how people regulate their daily lives and how they deal with confrontations to that daily arrangement. Moreover, Garfinkel has revealed how the apparently ordinary grouping of sex is socially assembled. In his interrogation with Agnes, Garfinkel discovered that sexual category is a societal achievement that entails continuous consideration to the ordinary observations that permit individuals be judged as male or female (Janet, 199, pp.102). An ethnomethodological advance observes and evaluates social relations through endorsed behavior, what individuals do in social accomplishment and dealings. It is related to the perception of figurative interactionism, even though it centers most of its attention on the actions themselves and how they are carried out in specific frameworks, rather than taking into account how community actors create implication and understanding in relations. Authors in the ethnomethodological perception seem to be undisturbed with the philosophic emphasizing of social dealings or in increasing a comprehensive hypothetical composition that can enlighten on all features of social relations and the foundations and configurations that materialize from it. Rather, they evaluate social relations in specific circumstances and frameworks, trying to illustrate and comprehend the techniques, measures, and concerns that community actors apply in implementing social relations. For the ethnomethodologist, societ al connections must not be measured as coherent or ridiculous, or dependent on error, rather societal relations is a pack of reasonable measures people utilize to cope with circumstances and frameworks where there is some suppleness for societal attainment and possibly some ambiguity regarding the behavior and upshot of social achievement (Goffman, 1976). Similar to interactionist viewpoint, ethnomethodologists think of these daily relations, and the actions implicated in them, as containing a reliability or steadiness so they structure what sociologists call foundations and formations. These arrangements and outlines are constantly dynamically created through interface amid public actors, even though not automatically in a cognizant approach or as an outcome of intentionally allowing for implication and elucidation. Rather, communal actors are held responsible for their measures in the encounters that transpire in precise circumstances and framework. This implies that social action in a context is an actively produced accomplishment (Cohen, p. 90). The ethnomethodological point of view put emphasis on a communal interface that has a prudence of its own and the manner is one of achievement making good judgment out of circumstances and retorting in an answerable approach. Specifically, this social demeanor is not only devotion to a pa rticular outline of prudence forced by universal customs, positions, institutions, and arrangements of the social order. Ethnomethodology may perhaps be more a technique responsible for sociological approaches, unlike hypothetical ones. Here, sociologists are to position themselves far from the universal perceptive of community actors, circumstances, and social interactions, and observe the universally acknowledged perceptive that public actors have taken on and, at least absolutely, acknowledged as they keep on social relations and social interactions. It not only asks the sociologist to establish and evaluate what precisely these are and how they have progressed in terms of development, but also raise issues or assess critically these, to increase the likelihood of whether these are publicly appropriate and just, as well as to reflect on substitutes. A feminist approach can be associated to the approach by taking into account the realities of womens nature, needs, role, and place in society and how systems of ideas constructed in past interactions and sustained by present ongoing interactions (Wallac e and Wolf, p. 241). A feminist issues proper feminine positions and errands in stipulations of nurturing, socialization mothering as well as the personal field. These approaches may possibly be helpful to those in other circumstances where they are inferior deprived, tribal/racial factions and homosexual persons. Moreover, they guide the sociologist to doubt the place the persons dwell in and reconsider the undervalued postulations of their state of affairs. In this judgment, it may perhaps be critical, resourceful, and probably liberating. Harold Garfinkel, an American sociologist, largely developed ethnomethodology in the early 1960s. Ethnomethodology refers to the learning of the habits in which persons make good judgment of their communal planet. It is different from additional sociological viewpoints in one exceedingly imperative admiration. Functionalists, Marxists and Symbolic Integrationists are all markedly different from each other, but they nevertheless assume that the social world is basically orderly, i.e. that patterns of behavior and relations in the general public are standard and methodical rather than unsystematic and frenzied. They respectively define these regularities thus: Functionalists consider it as the upshot of assessment agreement in the public, which guarantees that behavior matches with commonly acknowledged standards. Marxists perceive it as a consequence of the inferiority of one rank to another, it is uncertain and open to interruption by insurgency but all the same it is present. Moreov er, interactionists vary from these inclusive-viewpoints in that they perceive order not so much as an attribute of the public structure but as something that is fashioned and reshaped daily in the diversity of interface conditions; it is discussed an outcome of the procedures of description, elucidation and concession which comprises social contact. Organization is nonetheless still supposed to be a purposeful element of community life. Ethnomethodologists, in contrast to this, begin with the assumption that social order is mere illusion. Social life merely appears to be orderly but is, in reality, potentially chaotic. Societal array is created in the mentalities of communal actors as the social order tackles the character as a sequence of intelligence imitations and incidents which one is required to in one way or another categorize into a coherent pattern. Garfinkels concept of indexicality implies that individuals make good judgment of a comment, signal or a specific action by indicating the framework in which it transpires; to be precise they register it to precise conditions. We make sense of a situation according to the context in which we find ourselves, looking for clues as to what the situation is supposed to be. This leads us to accept the situation as authentic. If a fellow student walks into your room in halls wearing a stethoscope and a white coat, you will be aware that he/she is not a doctor but maybe going to a fancy-dress party. However, if someone you do not know approaches you at a hospital in similar garb, you might be very likely to assume that they are a member of the medical profession (Garfinkel, 1967). The technique most favored by ethnomethodologists (particularly Garfinkel) is to momentarily interrupt the planet which its inhabitants undervalue and observe how they respond. The motive of this is to depict background suppositions that have been acknowledged as authenticity in due course. In one of his research tests, Garfinkel requested students to conduct themselves as if they were guests in their individual abodes, and document the bewildered responses of their parents as they put effort to understand the unexpected interference of the usually familiar association with their children. Ethnomethodology leans on disregarding information conveyed through communication, focusing solely on how the communication was executed. This is because the attitude of ethnomethodology advocates that all implications are, and can merely eternally be, one-sided and that the single purposeful common realism is the actuality of universally understood communication techniques. Ethnomethodologys reliance upon a kind of relativism is often used to criticize it. In taking this relativist stance, ethnomethodology leaves itself unable to make moral judgments about meanings and therefore it is largely unable to undertake problems like discrimination and authority. Nevertheless, it can be disputed that ethnomethodology is not purely relativistic because it obviously has to provide at least some rules for itself in order to work. The ethnomethodologist must make, and rely upon the assumption that others will appreciate the significance of his or her effort, in a similar approach that you might read and understand these words on the paper. I am discussing something and trying to be non-judgmental about it, but no doubt it does contain my own values. Ethnomethodologists might argue then, that the only thing which humans are really good at is the production of order out of chaos. All other human capacities, such as moral judgment, would be seen as merely subjective and having no truth. Ethnomethodology is certainly interesting as an analysis of how persons make good judgment of the globe as a social place, and how we construct a reality from the minimal amount of information available to us. It shares its investigative attitude with symbolic interactionism. It was mainly developed by Garfinkel. It has its roots in the phenomenology of Schutz and the writings of Talcott Parsons who was Garfinkels teacher at Harvard University (Farganis, 2000). Development of Ethnomethodology One of the achievements of ethnomethodological effort has been its exhibition of the significant penalties for both community presumption and study that flows from the fundamental spot of indexicality. What ethnomethodology presents is a replica of thoughtfulness which relies on intelligence being recuperated from speech in context via a variety of techniques of logic creation. (Heritage, 1984) Talcott Parsons Parsons had been attempting to link the three separate elements of personality, culture and the social system. Although society is largely systematic, individuals also clearly make choices about particular courses of action. What forces, Parsons asked, actually give a social structure to the choices that people make; when those same structural forces must necessarily be rooted in those actions resulting from those choices? The structural forces must transcend the action; and Parsons called these emergent properties, of which the most important are normative value commitments or the shared commitments that each of us has regarding social propriety in particular contexts. Because we share them, we are motivated to comply with perceived social requirements. And we do so because we are morally motivated to do so. This is Talcott Parsons answer to the question of how order comes about; it involves motivated compliance to the normative order. Parsons helps us to understand how a social system of action is derived from the orderliness of stability, rationality and predictability (James, 1994). Alfred Schutz Garfinkels perspective also derived from the phenomenological thinking of Alfred Schutz, for whom the system was an insufficient answer. He believed that the concept of action must instead be derived from the position of the actor in his/her daily experiences of life. He said that thinking of things from the objective perspective of a systems approach, although apparently highly suited to a scientific sociology, ignores the subjective position of the actor and transforms his/her perspective into that of the sociologist. Rather than analyzing what the actor might understand of a situation, sociologists would transpose these explanations into idealized sociological versions of what had actually happened which fitted and thus maintained the system. If one takes Parsons view, the whole concept of the actors view is lost. For Schutz, the world is an interpretive reality in which any particular action might have more than one meaning for the actor. A meaning is revisable as a perspective in the intersubjective space that exists between actors. In other words, although we experience the world through an individual consciousness, we understand that the experience of it is not entirely personal and unique. It is taken for granted by each of us that others see and mean much the same things as one. Everyday life is thus taken for granted as a largely objective phenomenon; yet we also take for granted the subjective position one has of it from ones own particular and unique perspective. The social world is a given, which existed before one came along. Other than when we are stepping back and taking a philosophical stance towards it, it is impossible to constantly subject its reality to question. Schutz suggests then, that our common sense appreciation of experience is constituted by typifications (rather lik e scripts or schemata in social psychology) which refer to what one finds to be a regularity, or typical event, object or action. These regularities make us accept the everyday world as mundane or everyday! (James, 1990) Language is a kind of iconography or library of such typifications which we have inherited in the process of our socialization. When we explain others actions to ourselves we again typify their reasons and intentions: Well he would behave that way because hes a or she clearly intends to etc. These attributions of cause or intention are quite a routine because we intuitively know the type of person we are seeing/speaking with etc. We hold the world in common with others which stresses for Schutz the importance of the reciprocity of perspectives; even where there is a difference of viewpoint it is socially organized an airline pilot is expected to know more about flying than I do!( James, 1990) In everyday life, one attends to the ongoing, practical process of living as events occur and attending to what is most relevant at this moment according to ones interests and purposes. Indeed, unless one is disturbed by a strong contestation of ones viewpoint, one will simply accept what is happening in the way it happens. Scientists, or more particularly sociologists, Schutz argues, do not do this; they stand back and analyze from an extremely diverse viewpoint from that of the performer. They produce concepts which refer to human actions as if they were fixed quantities (which they arent) and employ second degree constructs from the first degree construct of the actors actual, lived experiences. Thus, for Schutz, sociology had been making sense of events which already had sense for the actors (James, 1990). Our understandings of social situations are constructed from within according to Garfinkel. This means that the core elements of social order its order and intelligibility are products of the activity itself . This situation is particular to this moment, to these participants and is what Garkinkel refers to as locally produced by its participants. This does not however mean that any of us merely does whatever we like; we are bound by rules based on the social reality of the situation a practical reality. But it is very important to understand that Garfinkel stresses this reality being conceived as consisting only in actors understandings i.e. their understanding of social features as fixed, typical, required etc. is the only thing that makes them appear to be objective. We act on the basis of such understandings and thus produce our activities as social ones. They thus fit the context in which we find ourselves. There two suggestions of ethnomethodologists: to treat social settings as practically accomplished and to treat members of the action as practical enquirers. The social setting is thus, not out there, but is an ongoing accomplishment achieved through interaction; a product, a process and a practical accomplishment (Denzin, 1993). We may then perceive the world as a constraint, feel we must do things (like be polite) even though we would sometimes wish not to. It is unimportant here whether an action is morally right; Garfinkel isnt interested in what we construct, but in how we construct it. What actually happens is identical to how it is perceived and recognized by the actor. In the formulations or ways in which we describe an event, we are inseparably connected with that event we are the event! Describing, referring and naming are practical actions within that setting. Every time we speak and act we are engaged in the reciprocal consequences that we elicit from other actors who are also present. There is therefore no distinction here between an event and the description of that event by someone in the setting. One would generally produce actions in the setting which make clear to those present (in the course of the activity) what is going on; not make excuses and repairs after the event. What someone says is what they actually mean. When we give a reason for something, thats actually why we did what we did. The social world is orderly because we constantly make sense of contingencies and particularities as knowable, understandable entities. Ethnomethodologists engage in conversational analysis which demonstrates how conversational organization involves structures which are context sensitive. Through these we engage in conversations which are quite specific to their local context. The machinery is general, but its local uses and particular outcomes are specific. For instance: Whats your name sunshine? Dave You own this place? Yeah Conversation Analysis Appreciative the character of discussion analysis would be made simpler if it is thought as an improvement of ethnomethodology which has tagged along the insights concerning the reflexive and indexical character of achievement and use them particularly to informal relations. The apprehension with indexicality is here apparent in an alarm with how utterances recount to the spoken progressions to which they fit in; and the anxiety with reflexivity materializes in the secure concentration paid to the sort of interactional vocation utterances and entire successions achieve. Schegloff Emanuel, Gail Jefferson and Sacks Harvey, who have been mainly intimately linked to budding conversational study, also assumed the common ethnomethodological proposal that relations is systematically based. Therefore, in researching on conversation they began with the supposition that what is spoken is not the approach it is unintentionally, that structures of words are not uneven and complete make-dos, but are premeditated in their element to be receptive to their chronological framework and to their function in communication (Sacks, 1992; Sacks et al., 1974). A discussion methodical viewpoint on realistic conversation will begin by bearing in mind its part in proceedings which are, consecutively, rooted in series. Hence before we carry on with the subject of particulars we will require something of a parenthesis on the interface successions in which they transpire. The Critics According to ethnomethodologists, conventional sociologists are constructing a sense of social order in the same way as a layperson: namely, meanings are regarded as substantive and unproblematic. Consequently they are taken for granted. By contrast, ethnomethodologists argue that the proper task of sociology is to sort out the interpretive rules by means of which we establish our sense of order, rather than engage in reflexively establishing that sense. In this way, conventional sociology becomes an object of study for ethnomethodology, in the same way as any other human social activity is an object of study. Thus, Garfinkels book contains both an essay on coding answers to sociological interviews and an essay on trans-sexuality, the activities sharing an equal status as ways of producing social reality (Wallace, 1995). A common criticism of ethnomethodology is that it does not tell us anything very important. By definition, the big political and social issues of the day are beyond its scope, since the concern is with how we constitute this world, rather than what we constitute it as being. It is argued that the rules it draws out are also comparatively low level and merely tell us what we already know. It denies the constraints of social life upon the actor. It suggests that sociologists can do little more than report an actors version of a situation. These are based on misunderstandings of ethnomethodology and tend to come from sociologists with a very different perspective. They amount to saying that it doesnt look at things in the right way! It is microscopic and trivial; this also suggests bias. The ethnos clearly do have a defensible justification for their perspective- ethnos study the actors methods of construction, but simultaneously employ those methods of construction. It is itself an organized social activity which is practically accomplished i.e. the problem of radical reflexivity: the study of the study of the study! The answer they give is that this infinite regress is an acceptable critique but it isnt their problem; its a philosophical issue. It does not reflect negatively on their theoretical perspective (Sacks, 1992). Conclusion Ethnomethodology facilitates us to move beyond simple announcements of the appeal of processual anthropology to its concrete practice. Garfinkels methods of ethnomethodological breakdown authorize a spotlight on moments of crisis in conversation. It is such an instant that the negotiation of meaning is clearest and hence conversational analysis can be employed as an influential analytical instrument of processual anthropology. In stipulations of the associations connecting ethnomethodology and other sociological viewpoints, and involving the ethnomethodological design and its subjects of enquiry, this is conceivably an added foundationalist and productive progress than is occasionally accredited (Sacks, 1974). According to Dennis (2004), Lynch argues convincingly for the cross-fertilization of ethnomethodology and the sociology of methodical or rather scientific awareness to elucidate the procedural and epistemological practicalities of the common sciences. Lynch posits an epistemolo gical and practical break, situated about Garfinkels abandonment of Schutzs commencement of systematic processes. However, Garfinkels afterward works are disputed to be advanced to their previous, protoethnomethodological, equivalents to the point that they no longer break on Schutzs inconsistent and scientistic emergence to methodological inflexibility. Although ethnomethodological work continues, it is neither as prominent, nor as controversial as hitherto. On the other hand, a modified version of some of its insights is now almost taken-for-granted: there is, for example, a much wider recognition among sociologists of the problematic nature of meaning and of the way in which our talk does contribute to the creation of our social reality. Meanwhile, ethnomethodology has become a relatively prosperous alternative discipline, with its own conferences, journals, and centers of excellence.